"Dudes. It's actually happening," Soos commented excitedly, leading the pack as they followed Stan into the town hall. People were already crowded inside. "I'll finally be related to someone in power!"
"Soos, Grunkle Stan isn't related to you," Dipper couldn't help but point out, walking beside Bill and Mabel.
"He is in my dreams," the handyman responded with conviction, staring cross-eyed in the direction of a woman. She scooted away warily.
"Why did I have to attend this again?" Bill rolled his eye, unamused. "It's not like I don't know exactly how the Gravity Falls mayor is elected," the demon stated sarcastically as he sat down in one of the uncomfortable benches next to Dipper.
"We get to get off of work," Dipper pointed out contentedly as he and most of the others were seated. "That's reason in itself."
"Grunkle Stan, when you go up there, be the most fantabulous old geezer this town has ever seen!" Mabel cheered encouragement. Some surrounding townsfolk clapped her on. Many of them were the people who visited the Mystery Shack the other day.
Stan nodded. "Thanks, Mabel! I'll do my best." His time to talk at the front of the room was coming soon. He looked around, noticing that almost the whole town had showed up. Stan took his seat, ready to start yelling at a moment's notice.
Bill shrugged and looked around, spotting someone he knew. He looked over at Dipper. "Look, Tad Strange is here." The demon pointed his finger toward the most normal looking guy in town. "Everyone here is a tad strange, except for the man ironically named Tad Strange." Bill laughed at his own little speech.
The man must have heard Bill for he stood up and spoke. "Tad Strange is the name and being normal is my game," Tad said in the most normal voice.
Dipper cracked a grin, Bill's laughter bringing about his own. Soos was making his own similar comment to Mabel. Maybe he has something weird going on that we're just not aware of.
Bill shook his head. Nah. I would know about it if he did. After all, I know lots of things! the demon thought back, grinning and watching as someone stood at the front of the room to talk.
Dipper sat quietly, watching but not listening too intently to the other candidates. Many of them were just weird and unfit for the part. Though he still applauded them for trying.
Stan stood up, throwing his fez into the circle. "I'm running for mayor!" he announced loudly. Right after he said that, another hat was thrown in the circle. Bud Gleeful's straw hat.
Bud smiled at Stan. "Well, Stanford, I'm running too. Ya' see, I'm much younger than you and have a better chance at making this town great!"
Bill narrowed his eye at Bud. Hmm . . . I wonder. Is Gideon behind this or does Bud really want to run?
Oh no. He can't seriously — of course he can. Dipper scowled momentarily, remembering the day before when Bill was summoned away. Since you declined him, Gideon's probably trying to get Bud to win so he'll set him free from prison. We have to make sure that doesn't happen.
I'm sure Stan or someone else will beat Bud. I can't imagine Bud winning. Bill shrugged nonchalantly. His vision of the future was clear, especially with it rapidly moving forward.
"What did you say?" Stan nearly growled out, pointing at Bud. "At least I don't have a fat face!" Now the whole room was watching the tension between the two candidates.
"Well, we will see who people like more in the polls. Ta-ta, Stanford," Bud said in his annoying accent before walking out of the room.
The twins were equally on edge. Mabel cast a worried glance at her brother, which he returned without a second thought. She was smart enough to sense the possible danger, too.
I wouldn't want to take any chances. Dipper frowned, huffing while the others talked.
"Give 'em your best, Grunkle Stan!" his sister shouted helpfully, prompting an introductory speech, though everybody seemed to be done listening to people talk for the day.
"Why are we here again?" Dipper echoed in a stressed tone, starting to drift away from the commotion.
Bill groaned unhappily. "I just asked you that question earlier." The demon impatiently stood up. "Come on, it's time to help Stan win, I guess. Don't want Bud winning anytime soon!"
Dipper gave in, sighing. He got up, a smile sneaking onto his face. After all was done, Bill grabbed Dipper's hand, walking him out and back to the Shack with Stan and Mabel.
Ford was standing on a chair, leaning over the kitchen table. He turned to them with a grin. His eyes darted over to Bill. "Hello! How did the town gathering go? I was just reinventing the lightbulb. Pesky thing took more than eleven minutes to perfect."
Stan shrugged. "I got myself a good competition against Bud Gleeful!" The old man grinned at his brother.
"Gleeful, huh? Isn't he that one prisoner kid's father?" Ford mused, rubbing his chin as he hopped back down to the floor. The lightbulb hanging in the room glowed blue until he turned it off.
"Gideon tried to take the Mystery Shack from us!" Mabel said, waving her arms around. "He's evil, too! He was the one who summoned . . ." Her voice quieted when Dipper glared at her.
"Me," Bill finished for her, a scowl on his face. "I don't like Gideon. Stupid kid broke a deal with me," he grumbled. The demon looked at Dipper. "You know that's true, right, Pine Tree?"
"Definitely," Dipper agreed, still holding Bill's hand. He noted that he was using their symbols again as their names. Is it habit? Or does he want to put Ford on edge? He secretly hoped it was the latter.
"It's agreed we all hate him, so I'll kick Bud's butt in the elections!" Stan grinned, excited to run for mayor and have some nice competition he could cheat.
"Well good luck with that," Stan's brother nodded them off, starting to walk away. He paused, giving Bill another look. This one was skeptical.
Bill heard Dipper's thoughts, deciding to comment. Habit mostly, though putting Ford on edge would work too. Basically, I don't really think much before I talk. So your names and symbols just get mixed up and I say whatever first pops up. It was true; the demon never really thought before talking.
Bill glanced back at Ford, giving a protective and possessive vibe over Dipper. He didn't want Sixer messing with his plans and hurting him.
The boy pondered that, accepting it. Though Bill sure had some impressive plans and a fascinating way of speaking for someone who didn't think before they spoke. He supposed demons were meant to be clever.
Ford held his gaze for another moment. He then said, "I'll be in the other room if any of you need me." He left.
Stan grinned. "Welp! It's time to start my campaign. How about this for a slogan: 'Give me your money and I'll keep it! No refunds!'" The old man laughed. "It's perfect, now I'll also be teaching children to swear and—" Stan kept rambling on and on. His plans only seemed to get worse.
"Grunkle Stan, how about I give you some advice on leading a campaign?" Mabel offered, guiding the man to the living room.
Dipper blinked, coughing. "That looks hopeless."
Stan looked down at her. "Advice? Please! People these days just want a guy who can rule like no other. They want me to yell at them to shut their yaps. And children should be exposed to the real world as soon as possible!" Stan grinned. His remarks weren't going to help him at all. Since his first radio interview was coming up soon, he needed to practice what he was going to say.
Dipper ran a hand through his bangs. Yeesh.
Yeah. He needs to work on it. Bill contemplated and peered over at Dipper. "Did you want to help him too?" he asked.
"I don't think I should," the brunet replied honestly. "Mabel will handle it. Besides . . . we should figure out what to do about . . . you know."
"Right. I actually have a plan, but . . ." Bill eyes nervously darted around, checking for Ford. "We can't let Ford hear," he finished and took Dipper up into the attic before speaking what was on his mind.
"Ford is one step ahead of us, but we can't let him win. I think he will take the rift to one of his secret spots and prevent me from getting to it. We need to get it back from him. When he goes out with the rift, we follow him and stop him in his tracks. What do ya' say?"
"Sounds like a plan," Dipper nodded, sighing as he closed them into their room. "I still can't believe it. Everything's flying over my head."
"What do you mean?" Bill studied him, confused. "It's going by so fast?"
"I mean that . . . summer's almost over. It feels like we just got here and now everything's changed. I can't even look at Mabel the same way anymore. It hurts," he said.
"Oh. I warned ya' though! Things change." Bill gave a grin, holding a triangle up to his eye. "I'm watching you!" He laughed.
Dipper found that funny despite the serious mood. A smile pushed away his frown and powerful sentiment rose up to greet him. The twelve year-old was so grateful, so in extreme awe and joy, that Bill Cipher could ever change for . . . him. Dipper couldn't help it. He wrapped his sleeved arms around Bill's torso, burying himself into the male, pure, burning affection making his eyes water. "I love you, Bill. I love you. Thanks for . . . for everything."
Bill froze at first, quite surprised even if the boy had already confessed, but he started to melt into the affection. A smile found its way to Bill's lips. His arms wrapped around Dipper, hugging back. "Oh, Pine Tree." The demon shook his head slowly. It was now or never, even if he wasn't sure what the words meant or even how emotions worked, Bill felt it was time to say it. "I love ya' too, kid." His cheeks burned with heat and his heart seemed to beat faster.
Dipper moaned softly, an invisible magnet making him press even closer. Electricity surged through his veins, bringing with it the warmth of being Bill's, being with Bill, having Bill. Their embrace pounded the moment into the boy's very soul and he relished every feeling, every second that they shared. He didn't speak, didn't think a stray thought. The boy felt his pulse thumping through him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the hug for what it was, not daring to pull back at all. He didn't want to. He never wanted to.
Bill was so warm, so comfortable. All his life stuck in a flat dimension with no warmth, happiness or affection. Maybe being human . . . wasn't so bad after all. He rather enjoyed it. Times like these especially. Bill didn't move, or say a word. In fact, he gripped the back of the boy's shirt tighter, not letting go. Pine Tree was his human, and his only. He wouldn't let anybody hurt him, ever. I'm calling you mine. I don't care what people think. You're my Pine Tree, and I care about you.
Dipper couldn't keep another passionate hum from escaping his lips, not even needing to breathe because Bill was keeping him alive instead. That's what it felt like, a burst of energy like no other. I'm all yours, Bill. Every part of me. I love you and . . . and please keep me. Let me stay yours forever.
Upon hearing those words, something within Bill's human body snapped, letting loose the emotions he had been trying to hold back. Heat and electricity flooded in, and every place their bodies touched was burning like fire, something indescribable for the demon. He let out a soft noise of passionate love. Pine Tree! I will keep you and protect you. I love you too. Stay by my side and you won't be alone. Bill could hold back no more, leaning down and slowly pressing his lips to Dipper's forehead, right where the constellation was.
The boy's hat fell off, hitting the wood floor softly. He didn't even care about it, Bill's kiss leading him to blush harder, his own lips tingling, longing to touch skin. Dipper could feel the blue flames of their current deal engulfing him, bound for eternity by the kiss. I will. Always. Love seared his forehead and spread quickly downwards until he couldn't feel anything else. Standing taller and opening his eyes again, the brunet chastely kissed the blond's cheek, unable to resist the urge. He wasn't even nervous, the terrified possibility of rejection gone completely. He hadn't ever felt so sure in his life. Not with Wendy, not with anyone else. Only Bill.
Bill felt his cheeks burn and tingle when Dipper's soft lips touched them. The demon finally understood why humans kissed. It felt amazing. His heart pounded in his ears as he smiled widely. And Bill couldn't believe it; he was a . . . a demon who had fallen for . . . a human. So it was possible. The myths must be true. Bill always had a soft spot for Dipper, but over the past few weeks since the deal, it seemed to grow with each passing minute. Thank you. For teaching me what it is like as a human.
The boy smiled back, joy filling his insides. He felt some of the intensity in the room recede. Yeah. I . . . I'm glad we were able to make this work out. Dipper beamed, his grip becoming less tight, allowing them a comfortable embrace. And thanks for showing me how great you really are.
Bill hummed softly, only wanting their embrace to last longer, but he knew he had to let go soon.
Somehow, the tween did too. He let a few seconds tick by then finally released his newfound lover, though not stepping back by even a hair. His face was flushed pink, an innocent gleam in his eyes. Dipper grinned.
Bill gave him a sweet smile in return before they heard Stan talking loudly downstairs. The old man was probably doing his radio interview. "We'd better go help out Stan," Bill spoke softly, walking to the stairs.
Picking his hat up from the ground, the boy followed him without a second thought. "Okay."
When they reached the first floor, Mabel could be seen with the most worried face in the world. She kept bouncing frantically from foot to foot until she caught sight of Bill and Dipper. "Oh my gosh! Boys, we've got a major problem!"
"What happened? Stan was yelling out random things left and right. We heard from upstairs." Bill looked at Mabel.
"That's exactly what's wrong! Grunkle Stan doesn't know how to win the people's hearts! He's gonna blow it and won't let me help him!" she exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Calm down, Mabel," Dipper tried, finding it harder to ease his sister than usual. "I'm sure there's a simple solution to this . . ."
"In fact there is," another voice joined in. Dipper turned around to see Ford standing with a tie in his hand, smiling at the children. "Here, Mabel: catch."
The brunette caught the accessory with wide eyes. She blinked, looking at the seemingly ordinary fabric. Without warning, the girl gasped in realization. "You're genius, Grunkle Ford! A burst of style is exactly what he needs!"
Dipper made a face, unconvinced. But this was Ford. Giving Mabel something . . . so . . . "Put that down!"
His twin cringed in shock. "W-what's gotten into you, Dipper?"
"Put. It. Down," the boy demanded, glaring until she finally shook her head in defiance, clutching the tie tighter. "Mabel." He glanced quickly at Bill, starting to panic on the inside. Who knew what that tie could do to her? To Grunkle Stan if he wore it?
Ford didn't appear surprised by Dipper's reaction at all. Actually, he was eyeing the two males with heavy thoughts running through his mind, which could be told by his expression. He looked suspicious.
"That tie isn't normal, Mabel. It's not . . ."
"Precisely," the Author interrupted the worried kid, pulling out what looked like a walkie-talkie from the inside of his trench coat. "I created it to help out my brother's interest in the governing of this town. You turn this on and" — Ford flinched, covering his ears — "and — goodness, what is Stanley thinking, saying that out loud? And on the radio, too!"
Bill glanced back at Dipper then glared at Ford. "Why would you give that thing to her?" He turned to Mabel. "Shooting Star, I'm with Pine Tree. Put the tie down, now. I'll destroy it." Bill pointed to the ground and was ready to stomp on it with his boots.
Mabel looked like she might, discomfort trickling into her posture. She didn't hold the striped tie as hard but kept it near.
Ford decided to jump in in case they did convince her. "This is just a prototype! I assure you; it's perfectly safe, if that's what you're worried about. I plan on making some changes to the control mechanism later but it seemed that my brother needed help immediately and that near-infinite lasting lightbulb project took more time than it should have." The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and returned to activating the device he held, using the dial. The atmosphere was so loud and offending that if Stan could hear them, he wouldn't have given the tie Mabel was holding a second thought. "Testing . . ."
Mabel seemed to grow oddly distant, her usual peppiness falling slack.
Dipper jolted in fear. Oh no! No, this can't —
"Testing . . ." the girl repeated in exactly the same tone as Ford, though her facial expression didn't match at all. She stood still until the inventor shut off the device. Mabel's eyes brightened, confusion mixing in with her awe at the others' faces. "What happened? Dipper's looking at me like I found his secret stash of girl pictures."
The boy made a face of indignation, not even thinking before he blurted, "That was only Wendy! And I got rid of them!" Dipper caught his mistake. He didn't turn to see what Bill's reaction was.
"Oh yeah. You've got other interests now." Mabel's tone sounded more matter-of-fact than anything.
Ford didn't wait for his grand nephew's reply, down to business. "This works successfully for audio interviews. Right now, whenever a person speaks into this machine while the tie is touching someone else's skin, they'll be able to control what that someone says without leaving them any recollection of the event. Though, again, it's in the works and might be a few seconds slow. Mind-control takes a lot to get right. I'll keep working on the full product but — Mabel! You have to stop him from saying these things! Go! Here, take this! Anything would be better than what Stanley's doing! It's like he wants to be disqualified!"
Mabel was handed the other item and hurriedly pushed into the room where her great uncle was holding his "conference". Ford stood with Bill and Dipper, appearing completely appalled.
Bill glanced at Dipper. "So that's what the box was. Ah, well. I already knew about your huge crush on her." The demon shrugged and was tempted to follow Mabel. "She shouldn't use that. Especially since you made it, Fordsy. Poor Shooting Star could get hurt and it would be all your fault." Bill glared hatefully at Ford. "I love the idea of puppets and mind-control, but it's dangerous if you don't do it right." His fists stayed at his side, trembling in rage. It was hard to contain his bitter emotions towards Ford.
"You're playing the wrong game, Bill. I may not be able to do anything to you now, but your pretend righteousness isn't going to pull through," came the confident retort. "I noticed that you snuck into my labs a few nights ago. You want something, don't you?"
"Yeah! He wants to stop you!" Dipper said quickly, getting over the initial fluster and replacing it with determination. He didn't really care what Ford would do, so long as he knew just how much his plans were going to change. "We know what you want! We're going to make sure you never get it!"
Ford regained his aghast look at the outburst, having to wait a beat before responding. He appeared concerned. "You've gotten to him much worse than I'd thought. 'Pine Tree', you called him? One member of the wheel that you've taken control over. One more victim in your play for Weirdmageddon."
"One who won't destroy me at least. Dipper won't agree with you, ever. My weakness won't work with him at my side anyway. You have no chance at winning, Ford. The game is set. I will win. You won't succeed in your plans." Bill was good at comebacks, especially if it was against his enemies. The demon reached over and grabbed Dipper's hand tightly since he was angry at Ford. "We work together now. And we can defeat you. I will protect my Pine Tree." Bill whipped around and started walking with Dipper out of the room, not wanting to lose more of his temper at Ford.
Ford didn't try and shout anything back, turning to see how Mabel was doing. Dipper was glad that he didn't. Because he had enough of Ford and his lies. The boy felt his emotions sizzle down after a moment of walking alone with Bill. He took a deep breath. Thanks, Bill. I can't believe that guy. He's so awful. When we prevent his plans from succeeding, I'm going to make sure everyone else finds out the truth. Maybe then they'll learn that you're better than him in every way.
Yeah! We'll stop him for sure. Bill's anger and hate for Ford died down but another emotion took its place. He looked at Dipper for a minute, Ford's words about Weirdmageddon still repeating in his head. Guilt. Just great! His soft side was getting worse. He couldn't afford to be guilty that he really was still just using Dipper. It wasn't the time. The demon forced that emotion back as best he could, giving the younger boy a nice smile.
"Well, we do have a day off and I don't think anything exciting is going to happen here anytime soon," Dipper grinned, pushing past his bad emotions completely. "What do you say for taking me on that mystery hunt you owe me? And we still haven't gone over that healing spell."
"Yeah! Let's go. Grab your bag and we can go into the forest. I'd like going back there after all the junk with Ford." Bill smiled. With that, their plan was set for a fun adventure in the woods.