I was really missing lillytale today (an au by tumblr user @/nighttimepixels in which the various au sanses and papyri are very cute very saphic women) before I realised- hey. I’m an artist. I can just make the content I want to see In the world-
And so here we have a fem sans, who is most definitely of the saphic persuasion!
(Please note, while this is heavily inspired by lillytale classic sans, this is essentially a separate character)
This may or may not also be a reference sheet for a project I’m working on (that involves me trying and failing to write)
But yeah- I think she turned out pretty cute! Enjoy!
This lady is @sparticus2000art's fem Sans from Brilliant Bones and Bright Beginnings. If y'all like sapphic romance, I suggest giving it a read. I'm enjoying it so far, and chapter 3 was something else. 🤭
Dipper scrubs the bowl of the remains of yesterday's leftovers, the sight makes him gag a little. He makes a mental note not to let Bill do any cooking in the near future. His ego is still a little bruised from being forced to… apologize but the face Mabel made at him- he can’t say no to her. The dishes get laid out to dry and he turns to head back upstairs. Bill is currently in the shower (using all the hot water no doubt,) He doesn’t take two steps before he hears his Great uncle grunt, “Dipper, got a sec?”
Stan's voice raises gooseflesh on the back of his neck. Logically, he knows he isn’t in trouble, per se. His tone is just a little too close to disappointment for comfort. Mabel spilled the beans almost immediately and now he’s got to steer the whole ‘relationship’ conversation as favorably as possible.
He has a brief flashback to the year he came out.
It was the summer post-graduation, and he’d been getting close with a friend from the paranormal phenomenon club. Realizing that those feelings were more than just friendly spurred him into a panic. Mabel already knew about his bi-panic, she’d been the first to hear about his first sort-of crush the year prior. But this felt like the real deal. (Teenage hormones are a hell of a thing.)
So in said panic, he spilled his guts to their parents who were… disappointed, to say the least. Mabel did eventually coax them into an apology but the damage had already been done. After that, the twins departed for their yearly Oregon trip on less-than-great terms with their parents. He’d agonized for weeks about telling Stan and Ford for fear they’d give him the same rejection.
Eventually, he did tell them and the Grunkles took it better than his own parents by a longshot. It’s the awkwardness that had lingered the entire summer that he’s not exactly keen to repeat.
No, he shakes his head to clear his racing thoughts, Stan just doesn’t like Bill very much yet. Which is fair, he’s weird and annoying at his baseline and made that his first impression. It’s not because he cares if Dipper is a little gay. He takes a deep breath in and out before turning to answer him. “Yeah?” he asks, knowing full well that Stan is gonna want to have a ‘talk’.
The last time Stan had to have a ‘talk’ with him, he was still just a teen, unaware of the nuance of dating. He’s not confident it will go much better as an adult, even with a couple of exes under his belt. Now is not the time to bitch out though, so he squares his shoulders and heads over to Stanley Pines to have a very uncomfortable conversation.
Stan looks about as excited to talk about this as Dipper himself is. There's a pinched set to his mouth that says ‘When did I become the parent?’
“So…” he starts, “You and your friend huh?”
Dipper is starting to get sweaty. “Yuh-huh,”
A beat of heavy silence passes. Stan scratches the back of his neck, not making eye contact.
Dear god, it cannot get any worse than this.
“Look, you know me and Ford, we’re okay with it. You didn’t need to hide your- your boyfriend, you know that right?”
Dipper sucks his teeth, fumbling for something to say. “I know Grunkle Stan, I guess I just thought, I don't know, that it would be easier? That you wouldn't need to worry about me or make it into some big thing.”
Stan sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Kid, you’re not going to be in trouble, you're an adult for Christ's sake. You sure know how to pick ‘em though, I’ll say that. He’s just not really what I expected that's all.” he looks back at Dipper with a more serious edge. “If this is going to be a long term sort of arrangement,”
Very.
“All I care about is that he’s good to you.”
Not even close
Now he’s the one unable to look Stan in the eye. He feels an acute stab of contrition. But Stan is who he did this for. His life is worth more than the lingering guilt Dipper feels for misleading his family.
“Yeah, of course he is. I appreciate you worrying about me though. I'm good Grunkle Stan.”
Lies, lies, and more lies.
“Thank god, well my job here is done!” he says relieved. “Do me a favor, don’t make me have this talk again unless you marry someone.” Then as an afterthought he adds, “You’re telling Ford too, because I ain't explaining it.”
Dipper grimaces at that. Right, Ford. He’ll appear when he’s done…whatever the heck it is he’s up to. He’s been AWOL since Dipper got back yesterday morning. He’s probably engrossed in a project and normally Dipper would be thrilled to see what he’s working on but right now, he’s not exactly looking forward to talking about Bill. The first day now passed and they'd made it through undiscovered. It’s better than he’d feared and the bastard sure hasn’t made things easy. And better (or worse,) yet, Mabel has taken a keen liking to Bill. she’d taken him out while Dipper spent the day recovering and apparently, they had a great time. She apologized to Dipper as well, not knowing that their fight had nothing to do with her. She also forced Dipper to apologize to Bill, it practically cut his tongue on the way out of his mouth.
Bill sucks.
She did raise a good point though. Trapped under blankets and cornered by his sister, Mabel told him something he’ll keep in mind. “An apology is a tool that keeps relationships intact.” And while he had no intention of ever making amends with Bill, they did need to get along for, well… forever. So he’s probably better off keeping their relationship a working one rather than outright antagonistic. He’d very much like to continue the rest of his life at least somewhat unhindered by a pissed-off demon.
He excuses himself to see if there's any water left to take his own shower.
Dipper raises a hand to knock on the bathroom door but it swings open under his fist. A cloud of steam wafts out and he’s face to face with a very naked Bill. Wait, not completely naked, there's a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is water-dark and slicked back, and his skin is blush-red from the heat. Dumbly, Dipper pulls the door shut on reflex.
God, he forgot that Bill is hot. Not helping his current predicament.
Behind the door, he hears Bill laugh. It opens once more, this time Bill wearing a bemused expression that only serves to embarrass Dipper more. Without warning, a hand pulls him into the steamy bathroom, closing the door behind them.
“So, you didn’t give away the game yet, right?” Bill asks at a distance that's too close to be comfortable. Dipper leans away in the cramped space, unable to maintain eye contact with Bill while he’s like this.
“Of course not! I have answered a million stupid questions though.” Dipper huffs. It’s sticky and hot and Bill is impossible to look at.
“Great! You’re doing better than I thought then.” Bill gives him an eyebrow waggle that only serves to annoy him more.
Dipper flips him off. “Hurry up and get out Bill, I’m not discussing anything with you like this.”
“What, can't you say anything nice to your boyfriend?” Dipper absolutely does not dignify that with a reaction. He shoves the demon out of the bathroom and slams the door shut behind him.
Finally free from the various distractions of his family and Bill, Dipper huffs out a sigh of relief. He catches his clouded reflection in the mirror, he’s looking a bit better. Nothing some hot water and plenty of sleep won’t help along. He strips down and steps into the thankfully still hot water. It feels like heaven on his tired body. He scrubs his hair of all the sweat and oil that accumulated, and after he’s clean he still stands for a bit longer, allowing the tension to flow away with the spray. All too soon, the spray goes from hot to lukewarm. Annoyed, he finds himself reaching unconsciously for the threads of magic that float through the air unseen. It startles him, the ease with which they respond. The water warms once again to a comfortable temperature. It makes the air feel static-y. He almost forgot it was something he had the ability to do, now that he wasn’t using it for nefarious purposes. He’s not sure if he’s imagining it but it feels easier than it did days prior.
Mark that down on the list of ‘Things Dipper can do now’. If he had the time and energy, he might take more time to study it. After all, it’s not something people just do in their modern day and age. Maybe he could get good at it. Most of the reading he’d done in preparation to make the homunculus had talked about somatic and physical components. Things to help guide and channel magic for the user. But ever since Bill taught him how it feels, It’s like it barely takes a thought to summon it.
He wonders for a brief moment if it would change anything about his Thesis paper. Magic is present but a relatively unknown phenomenon. ‘Another day’, he murmurs to himself. His fingers are wrinkled but he feels refreshed, better than he has in a while.
He fluffs his hair out in a towel and tosses on the spare pair of green sweats hanging on the wall hook, then heads upstairs to hunt down a clean shirt.
There he finds Bill, surrounded by chaos and dressed in nicer clothes than he remembers having given him. He’s both irritated and unsurprised. His hair is impeccably styled, complementing his angular features.
“Quite the collection you’ve amassed here Pine Tree! Too bad a lot of it is wrong!”
It’s not entirely convincing, with Bill nose-deep in one of said books. Dipper wonders what he even wants, these are pretty much all from the making of the body. He’s halfway through shimmying on a t-shirt when something clicks.
“Bill if you think you’ll find a way out of this, forget about it-” He’s interrupted by an irritated hand wave by Bill. “Don’t be an idiot, I have better things to do at the moment. I’m not wasting my moment in reality and I’ve got more than enough time to wait your lifespan out.” He says annoyedly, without so much as a sideways glance at Dipper.
So much for that idea. At the very least, it's one less thing for him to worry about.
“Well, what are you looking for then, and was it really necessary to open every single book?
“I need a few things if I'm gonna be comfortable in reality for a prolonged sentence and yes, it is. Don't question genius at work, kid.”
Bill is currently occupied filling them with sticky tabs.
“I may not be metaphysical right now but I still have a job to do in that plane of existence and that requires magic. Whether you like it or not.”
Dipper just raises a skeptical eyebrow. He realizes leaving this all out in the open may not have been his smartest move, but he’s fairly sure that nothing Bill can do short of dying will break their bond. “Why should I let you do that? It sounds a lot like a sinister plan to mess with mortals if you ask me.”
Bill outright snarls at him, his sharp canines flashing menacingly. He can't help but to flinch. He nearly forgot his fear of Bill, wearing this different form but it is still very much the same demon underneath.
“You don’t control me, kid,” he says derisively. “And besides, you agreed to this of your own free will. We are going to have some fun. If that involves acquiring magical items for my personal use, well so be it.”
He feels an uncomfortable tugging sensation as he considers his reply. The word ‘no,’ feels like it’s getting caught in his throat. No matter how he tries to decline, it just won't come out. The deal in the car must have been binding then, damn. He settles on “You have a job?” instead. He’ll have to consider options for a loophole if what Bill wants gets too dangerous to allow.
He gets an exaggerated eye roll for that. Bil then explains, at length, that beings like him have heft in the universe, and with him essentially gone, lots of lesser entities have very likely muscled in on his domain; Sleep, dreams, and secrets.
“So you are gonna have to pull your oh-so-very moral panties out of your butt and help since this is entirely your fault, to begin with. Even before this whole body fiasco, all the way back to Weirdmaggedon.”
Trying to follow this maniac’s logic is giving him a serious headache.
“Bill, you started that. How the hell am I at fault here?”
He’s sitting across from Bill now, looking over what parts have been bookmarked. As annoyed as he is, it is interesting trying to follow the pattern of thinking at work here. What magical texts Bill thinks are useful, what he discards.
“You killed me. And in my defense, I was planning on an entirely new world order so it didn't matter at the time.” He says it so casually, like they're talking about the weather.
“Besides, you should love this next part because we,” Bill gestures widely, “are gonna murder a bunch of demons! Great right?”
Dipper is supremely put off by the idea, much to Bill's confusion.
“How can you be okay with that, killing your own kind?” he asks, disgusted. Bill doesn’t give a shit about anything but himself.
Bill makes a ‘psh’ sound at him with a dismissive hand wave. “Pine Tree, demons aren’t like, a single species. It's a broad descriptor for a function in nature, like gods or leprechauns. We destroy, we scavenge, we make clean slates for different forms of life. It's evil by your definition, but to the universe at large it’s just entropy in motion. Survival of the fittest, handsomest, smartest guy, which just so happens to be me! I can't put it in perspective for something that lives and dies in the blink of an eye.“
That's new information to him. If Bill is only a demon by name, then what exactly is he?
“And if nothing else, it would get Sixer off your case if you kill an actual demon. He’s not the type to quit before he gets results.”
“Good point,” Dipper cedes.
Bill slaps his knees, a beaming smile plastered on his face, as always. “Here's the deal - ha! I need access to the mindscape to do my job and find these freeloaders, you get to get that uncle of yours out of our hair. Also, you owe me. So we are going on an adventure!”
Bill shoves a book into his hands. “Now get searching, we’re gonna make some modifications to this baby,” He says, giving his cheek a painful-sounding slap.
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Dipper scrubs the bowl of the remains of yesterday's leftovers, the sight makes him gag a little. He makes a mental note not to let Bill do any cooking in the near future. His ego is still a little bruised from being forced to… apologize but the face Mabel made at him- he can’t say no to her. The dishes get laid out to dry and he turns to head back upstairs. Bill is currently in the shower (using all the hot water no doubt,) He doesn’t take two steps before he hears his Great uncle grunt, “Dipper, got a sec?”
Stan's voice raises gooseflesh on the back of his neck. Logically, he knows he isn’t in trouble, per se. His tone is just a little too close to disappointment for comfort. Mabel spilled the beans almost immediately and now he’s got to steer the whole ‘relationship’ conversation as favorably as possible.
He has a brief flashback to the year he came out.
It was the summer post-graduation, and he’d been getting close with a friend from the paranormal phenomenon club. Realizing that those feelings were more than just friendly spurred him into a panic. Mabel already knew about his bi-panic, she’d been the first to hear about his first sort-of crush the year prior. But this felt like the real deal. (Teenage hormones are a hell of a thing.)
So in said panic, he spilled his guts to their parents who were… disappointed, to say the least. Mabel did eventually coax them into an apology but the damage had already been done. After that, the twins departed for their yearly Oregon trip on less-than-great terms with their parents. He’d agonized for weeks about telling Stan and Ford for fear they’d give him the same rejection.
Eventually, he did tell them and the Grunkles took it better than his own parents by a longshot. It’s the awkwardness that had lingered the entire summer that he’s not exactly keen to repeat.
No, he shakes his head to clear his racing thoughts, Stan just doesn’t like Bill very much yet. Which is fair, he’s weird and annoying at his baseline and made that his first impression. It’s not because he cares if Dipper is a little gay. He takes a deep breath in and out before turning to answer him. “Yeah?” he asks, knowing full well that Stan is gonna want to have a ‘talk’.
The last time Stan had to have a ‘talk’ with him, he was still just a teen, unaware of the nuance of dating. He’s not confident it will go much better as an adult, even with a couple of exes under his belt. Now is not the time to bitch out though, so he squares his shoulders and heads over to Stanley Pines to have a very uncomfortable conversation.
Stan looks about as excited to talk about this as Dipper himself is. There's a pinched set to his mouth that says ‘When did I become the parent?’
“So…” he starts, “You and your friend huh?”
Dipper is starting to get sweaty. “Yuh-huh,”
A beat of heavy silence passes. Stan scratches the back of his neck, not making eye contact.
Dear god, it cannot get any worse than this.
“Look, you know me and Ford, we’re okay with it. You didn’t need to hide your- your boyfriend, you know that right?”
Dipper sucks his teeth, fumbling for something to say. “I know Grunkle Stan, I guess I just thought, I don't know, that it would be easier? That you wouldn't need to worry about me or make it into some big thing.”
Stan sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Kid, you’re not going to be in trouble, you're an adult for Christ's sake. You sure know how to pick ‘em though, I’ll say that. He’s just not really what I expected that's all.” he looks back at Dipper with a more serious edge. “If this is going to be a long term sort of arrangement,”
Very.
“All I care about is that he’s good to you.”
Not even close
Now he’s the one unable to look Stan in the eye. He feels an acute stab of contrition. But Stan is who he did this for. His life is worth more than the lingering guilt Dipper feels for misleading his family.
“Yeah, of course he is. I appreciate you worrying about me though. I'm good Grunkle Stan.”
Lies, lies, and more lies.
“Thank god, well my job here is done!” he says relieved. “Do me a favor, don’t make me have this talk again unless you marry someone.” Then as an afterthought he adds, “You’re telling Ford too, because I ain't explaining it.”
Dipper grimaces at that. Right, Ford. He’ll appear when he’s done…whatever the heck it is he’s up to. He’s been AWOL since Dipper got back yesterday morning. He’s probably engrossed in a project and normally Dipper would be thrilled to see what he’s working on but right now, he’s not exactly looking forward to talking about Bill. The first day now passed and they'd made it through undiscovered. It’s better than he’d feared and the bastard sure hasn’t made things easy. And better (or worse,) yet, Mabel has taken a keen liking to Bill. she’d taken him out while Dipper spent the day recovering and apparently, they had a great time. She apologized to Dipper as well, not knowing that their fight had nothing to do with her. She also forced Dipper to apologize to Bill, it practically cut his tongue on the way out of his mouth.
Bill sucks.
She did raise a good point though. Trapped under blankets and cornered by his sister, Mabel told him something he’ll keep in mind. “An apology is a tool that keeps relationships intact.” And while he had no intention of ever making amends with Bill, they did need to get along for, well… forever. So he’s probably better off keeping their relationship a working one rather than outright antagonistic. He’d very much like to continue the rest of his life at least somewhat unhindered by a pissed-off demon.
He excuses himself to see if there's any water left to take his own shower.
Dipper raises a hand to knock on the bathroom door but it swings open under his fist. A cloud of steam wafts out and he’s face to face with a very naked Bill. Wait, not completely naked, there's a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is water-dark and slicked back, and his skin is blush-red from the heat. Dumbly, Dipper pulls the door shut on reflex.
God, he forgot that Bill is hot. Not helping his current predicament.
Behind the door, he hears Bill laugh. It opens once more, this time Bill wearing a bemused expression that only serves to embarrass Dipper more. Without warning, a hand pulls him into the steamy bathroom, closing the door behind them.
“So, you didn’t give away the game yet, right?” Bill asks at a distance that's too close to be comfortable. Dipper leans away in the cramped space, unable to maintain eye contact with Bill while he’s like this.
“Of course not! I have answered a million stupid questions though.” Dipper huffs. It’s sticky and hot and Bill is impossible to look at.
“Great! You’re doing better than I thought then.” Bill gives him an eyebrow waggle that only serves to annoy him more.
Dipper flips him off. “Hurry up and get out Bill, I’m not discussing anything with you like this.”
“What, can't you say anything nice to your boyfriend?” Dipper absolutely does not dignify that with a reaction. He shoves the demon out of the bathroom and slams the door shut behind him.
Finally free from the various distractions of his family and Bill, Dipper huffs out a sigh of relief. He catches his clouded reflection in the mirror, he’s looking a bit better. Nothing some hot water and plenty of sleep won’t help along. He strips down and steps into the thankfully still hot water. It feels like heaven on his tired body. He scrubs his hair of all the sweat and oil that accumulated, and after he’s clean he still stands for a bit longer, allowing the tension to flow away with the spray. All too soon, the spray goes from hot to lukewarm. Annoyed, he finds himself reaching unconsciously for the threads of magic that float through the air unseen. It startles him, the ease with which they respond. The water warms once again to a comfortable temperature. It makes the air feel static-y. He almost forgot it was something he had the ability to do, now that he wasn’t using it for nefarious purposes. He’s not sure if he’s imagining it but it feels easier than it did days prior.
Mark that down on the list of ‘Things Dipper can do now’. If he had the time and energy, he might take more time to study it. After all, it’s not something people just do in their modern day and age. Maybe he could get good at it. Most of the reading he’d done in preparation to make the homunculus had talked about somatic and physical components. Things to help guide and channel magic for the user. But ever since Bill taught him how it feels, It’s like it barely takes a thought to summon it.
He wonders for a brief moment if it would change anything about his Thesis paper. Magic is present but a relatively unknown phenomenon. ‘Another day’, he murmurs to himself. His fingers are wrinkled but he feels refreshed, better than he has in a while.
He fluffs his hair out in a towel and tosses on the spare pair of green sweats hanging on the wall hook, then heads upstairs to hunt down a clean shirt.
There he finds Bill, surrounded by chaos and dressed in nicer clothes than he remembers having given him. He’s both irritated and unsurprised. His hair is impeccably styled, complementing his angular features.
“Quite the collection you’ve amassed here Pine Tree! Too bad a lot of it is wrong!”
It’s not entirely convincing, with Bill nose-deep in one of said books. Dipper wonders what he even wants, these are pretty much all from the making of the body. He’s halfway through shimmying on a t-shirt when something clicks.
“Bill if you think you’ll find a way out of this, forget about it-” He’s interrupted by an irritated hand wave by Bill. “Don’t be an idiot, I have better things to do at the moment. I’m not wasting my moment in reality and I’ve got more than enough time to wait your lifespan out.” He says annoyedly, without so much as a sideways glance at Dipper.
So much for that idea. At the very least, it's one less thing for him to worry about.
“Well, what are you looking for then, and was it really necessary to open every single book?
“I need a few things if I'm gonna be comfortable in reality for a prolonged sentence and yes, it is. Don't question genius at work, kid.”
Bill is currently occupied filling them with sticky tabs.
“I may not be metaphysical right now but I still have a job to do in that plane of existence and that requires magic. Whether you like it or not.”
Dipper just raises a skeptical eyebrow. He realizes leaving this all out in the open may not have been his smartest move, but he’s fairly sure that nothing Bill can do short of dying will break their bond. “Why should I let you do that? It sounds a lot like a sinister plan to mess with mortals if you ask me.”
Bill outright snarls at him, his sharp canines flashing menacingly. He can't help but to flinch. He nearly forgot his fear of Bill, wearing this different form but it is still very much the same demon underneath.
“You don’t control me, kid,” he says derisively. “And besides, you agreed to this of your own free will. We are going to have some fun. If that involves acquiring magical items for my personal use, well so be it.”
He feels an uncomfortable tugging sensation as he considers his reply. The word ‘no,’ feels like it’s getting caught in his throat. No matter how he tries to decline, it just won't come out. The deal in the car must have been binding then, damn. He settles on “You have a job?” instead. He’ll have to consider options for a loophole if what Bill wants gets too dangerous to allow.
He gets an exaggerated eye roll for that. Bil then explains, at length, that beings like him have heft in the universe, and with him essentially gone, lots of lesser entities have very likely muscled in on his domain; Sleep, dreams, and secrets.
“So you are gonna have to pull your oh-so-very moral panties out of your butt and help since this is entirely your fault, to begin with. Even before this whole body fiasco, all the way back to Weirdmaggedon.”
Trying to follow this maniac’s logic is giving him a serious headache.
“Bill, you started that. How the hell am I at fault here?”
He’s sitting across from Bill now, looking over what parts have been bookmarked. As annoyed as he is, it is interesting trying to follow the pattern of thinking at work here. What magical texts Bill thinks are useful, what he discards.
“You killed me. And in my defense, I was planning on an entirely new world order so it didn't matter at the time.” He says it so casually, like they're talking about the weather.
“Besides, you should love this next part because we,” Bill gestures widely, “are gonna murder a bunch of demons! Great right?”
Dipper is supremely put off by the idea, much to Bill's confusion.
“How can you be okay with that, killing your own kind?” he asks, disgusted. Bill doesn’t give a shit about anything but himself.
Bill makes a ‘psh’ sound at him with a dismissive hand wave. “Pine Tree, demons aren’t like, a single species. It's a broad descriptor for a function in nature, like gods or leprechauns. We destroy, we scavenge, we make clean slates for different forms of life. It's evil by your definition, but to the universe at large it’s just entropy in motion. Survival of the fittest, handsomest, smartest guy, which just so happens to be me! I can't put it in perspective for something that lives and dies in the blink of an eye.“
That's new information to him. If Bill is only a demon by name, then what exactly is he?
“And if nothing else, it would get Sixer off your case if you kill an actual demon. He’s not the type to quit before he gets results.”
“Good point,” Dipper cedes.
Bill slaps his knees, a beaming smile plastered on his face, as always. “Here's the deal - ha! I need access to the mindscape to do my job and find these freeloaders, you get to get that uncle of yours out of our hair. Also, you owe me. So we are going on an adventure!”
Bill shoves a book into his hands. “Now get searching, we’re gonna make some modifications to this baby,” He says, giving his cheek a painful-sounding slap.
It's been a long, long summer for Stanford Pines. He feels like the last month alone has aged him by several years. Upstairs, he can hear muffled conversation between his brother, his nephew, and a new voice he doesn’t recognize. But introductions will have to wait, He's so close. He holds his breath and makes a minuscule adjustment to the contraption laid out on his work table. For a moment, nothing happens but then- bright blue light fills the room before fading to a soft glow.
“Yes,” he shouts in elation. It worked, finally! Inside the clear glass housing of a handheld remote-like device, a light oscillates. He takes it gingerly in hand and walks through the lab, pointing it at different items on display. It dims and brightens according to…something. And that something is energy.
Demonic energy.
He’s encountered countless beings across the multiverse and demons are spread far and wide. Some of his specimens and trophies made it back with him when he stepped through the portal back into his home dimension some ten years prior. Teeth, exoskeleton, bones, etc. Or whatever passes for it in a non-corporeal creature.
With this, he’ll be able to locate this pesky entity and hopefully send it back to where it came from with a hearty helping of pain. Stanford will make any demon think twice before picking on their reality and his family. He’s already checked and rechecked Stanly but this will let him be absolutely sure that nothing else remains. Finding its new host has proved challenging, to say the least. He’s grateful for the protections he’d placed on his nephew and he’s wishing he’d done the same for Mabel now that the situation is more complicated. But for all his waiting and watching, she seems unchanged, as bubbly and full of fun as ever. The mystery shack’s manager he doesn't know nearly as well, never having formed a friendship with him like his brother had. He’ll certainly need to be inspected, first and foremost. If not him then…. He’ll have his work cut out for him.
Unfortunately, the battery life on his new sensor leaves something to be desired. A few hours of charging for 10-15 minutes of usage is far from ideal, but it will still be worlds better than his current method of collecting physical material samples and testing them in the lab and waiting whole days for results.
Notes are jotted in slanted script in a new journal. He couldn't leave it at just three, not after the experiences he's had. Journal number four is about one-third full, mostly of what he and Stanley had seen on their adventures and of his newest inventions. Satisfied, he snaps it shut and stretches. His back pops loudly. Age is catching up with him, he's not the young scientist he once was.
It’s frustrating how similar Dipper is to his younger self. He can see all the different ways they’re alike, from their awkwardness to their love of the unknown. He just hopes Dipper doesn't have to learn some things the hard way like he did all those years ago.
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Who does he think he is? And more importantly, who does he think he's talking to? Bill has smitten more powerful beings for far lesser offenses than this Pines idiot and he thinks he can talk to him like that?
Bill grumbles his way downstairs, past the old guy and the colorful sibling. He makes a beeline for the front door but is stopped by a hand on his arm. “William? Is everything okay?
Whelp, no avoiding it now. He turns to her with an easy smile that doesn’t show even a hint of the irritation Bill is currently feeling.
“Dipper’s just in a bit of a mood, but I get it. Not every day you bring someone home to the family, yanno? I assumed he told you was all.”
Her brow furrows in confusion followed by a look of sympathy. “Awh I'm sorry William, I hope I didn't start a fight. Dipper gets shy and sometimes that makes him defensive. I was just so excited, he's never brought anyone he’s dated here before.”
“Not your fault, he has been having a rough time.” He glances toward the upstairs, somewhere in his stomach his guts are all tied up in knots. Looks like this whole bond deal has some emotional transference, the kid is literally making him ill.
“I don't want that to color your first impressions of the Pines family! Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
Bingo! He pretends to think about it while tapping a finger to his chin. “Well, I do need to update my wardrobe.” He looks himself up and down as if to say ‘see?’
Know any place good?”
Shooting Star is so easy to read, unlike that brother of hers. Mabel practically wiggles with excitement and says “Give me 5 minutes to get ready and I'll show you ALL the best places!”
True to her word, 5 minutes later she's hurrying him out the door.
“I'M TAKING DIPPERS BOYFRIEND SHOPPING, LOVE YOU GUYS, BYE!”
He hears Stan echo “Boyfriend?” in alarm as he's being shoved out, but that can be the kid's problem.
“Sooooooo, how'd you meet? I'm dying to know, Dipper never tells me anything anymore!” Her eyes are on the road but he can tell he has her rapt attention. Eh, easy enough. He'll keep it vague so the kid doesn't have another hissy fit. It doesn't feel good and all these unpleasant feelings are rapidly losing their novelty to Bill.
“Oh you know, same class, same interests, and being dashingly handsome, he couldn't resist.”
She snorts a laugh at that. “Not that I'm arguing, because you are pretty cute, but Dipper is kind of an idiot,” Understatement, he thinks wryly. “I have a hard time believing he made the first move.”
Bill looks away from her, going for a shy response when he answers.
“You could say he stumbled into it.” Unintentionally summoning Bill back into the world of the living, trapping him, intimately intertwining their very essences. “We were assigned a little project together and have been inseparable ever since.”
Mable ‘hmms’ interestedly, unaware of the double meaning. “Well it’s good to see him with some direction in his life, sometimes I feel like Dipper just gets kinda… lost. He’s so smart but can be so dang dumb when it comes to his own needs.”
That makes Bill bark out an unexpected laugh. “You’re telling me!”
No shit, the kid treats his needs like a neglected goldfish in a tiny jar on the nightstand.
Before long, Gravity Falls's one and only shopping mall crawls into view, in all its underwhelming glory. The place looks like it hasn't had a paint job since the nineties.
She opens the truck door for him with a flourish and a bow and alright, it is a little amusing. He cracks a smile. “Okay William,” that dumb name is getting old fast “as payment for pissing off my brother and messing up your first day, let's pick you out something fabulous!”
Now this is the kind of treatment he should be getting! “After you, little lady. Your apology is graciously accepted!”
They browse and joke and annoy other shoppers in a way Bill is thoroughly entertained by. He tries on a few things she recommends, some he loves, others he wouldn't be caught dead in. He does find a few things that are to his impeccable taste. Two long-sleeved button-ups, one in black and one in cream with thin gold stripes, black jeans, black slacks, and one pair of snazzy loafers. Mable doesn’t bat an eye, she happily purchases all of it for him. He knows it's not exactly cheap, she must have something lucrative she does for work these days.
She tells him about their family, much of which he already knows. Pretending to be the kids' boyfriend was a good call, it seems, it makes more sense for him to know about Pine Tree's private life as a significant other than a friend. He doesn't have to work quite so hard at covering his tracks this way. Bill's people skills are impeccable when he puts in a little effort, he ‘mhmm’s and ‘oh really’s at all the right places. She seems none the wiser.
This’ll be cake if everything goes this smoothly. Once the kid can head back to college, they'll be home free. Thinking up an appropriate punishment should keep him busy and entertained in the meantime.
By the end of it, he's two nice outfits and one devout follower richer. (She refers to it as ‘besties’.)
This stupid body is certainly feeling better too, the kid must finally be over his little snit. Mabel ends their outing with frozen yogurt, which Bill privately declares to be humanity's best invention to date.
“Wow, you're way more fun than I expected, no offense,” she says between bites of overloaded froyo.
“None taken! You're more chaotic than I gave you credit for!” He has the strangest sensation of cold and pain in his head right now, it makes him grin. He takes another huge bite.
Something ‘clicks’ and he sees her snapping a picture of the two of them. “This is going in the scrapbook for sure!” She squeezes in close to show it to him, and he sees the body and its face for the first time. It's mildly disconcerting, to say the least. He looks so…. Human. He twists a lock of pale hair between his fingertips wonderingly. “Looking snazzy,” he says, mind focused elsewhere. He follows her out with their bags with a strange feeling prodding at the back of his mind.
When they return Bill notices that old Fordsy is still nowhere to be seen, and all the better for it. Bill isn't sure how that will go just yet. The old man shouldn't have any reason to suspect him but he'll bet that he’s on high alert given the circumstances at the shack as of late. As much as he wants to torment him, he should probably steer clear til he knows how to protect his stupid squishy flesh sack. He does want to murder the kid but dying with him isn’t actually on the agenda, no matter his earlier bluff.
“Hang tight really quick, I'm gonna go talk to Dipper.” she leaves him in the living room of the shack, alone. He wastes no time exploring, poking his head into each and every open door in the house. From the sound of it, Stan is in the gift shop with Question Mark and he'd bet Poindexter is downstairs in the lab. Those two spots are off-limits without a twin accompanying him for the time being. Of all the people who might recognize him, it's them. Having a buffer to detract from his presence is a top priority.
He finds a drawer brimming with fake IDs, a shoebox of interdimensional pinup magazines, and various science-y doodads, a few of which he ‘accidentally’ breaks. He doesn't need Ford sniffing him out before something fun happens.
Nothing is of use to him. He's disappointed but not surprised.
Bill eventually gets bored and if the uncomfortable rumble in his abdomen is any indication, hungry, so he starts rummaging through the kitchen. Stupid house, stupid humans, stupid physics. He longs for the power to warp reality, at least then he wouldn't be so damned bored.
He sets down what can only be described as a crime against food on the kitchen table, right as both twins descend the stairs. Pine Tree looks like he's feeling better, it's about time. The bags under his eyes have softened, he no longer looks like he’s standing on death's door.
Mabel gives her brother a nudge and does a “get on with it” hand motion. Not sure what they’re getting at, Bill just takes a bite and waits with one eyebrow raised quizzically. They both wince at him but say nothing about his delicious meal. Dipper huffs a sigh and without preamble, says “William, I’m sorry.”
It startles Bill so much he inhales the food wrong and coughs hard, trying to clear the obstruction. “Excuse me,” he croaks in surprise. The kid's cheeks take on a tinge of color but he continues “I was a jerk earlier and I’m sorry.” Behind him, Mabel gives a thumbs up. Oooh, she put him up to it. He almost bought it, but the kid wouldn't apologize for anything if it wasn’t for his morally upstanding sister encouraging it. He wheezes a little more and manages an “It’s fine, your attitude is my favorite thing about you.”
He can’t help it, rage is a good look on Pine tree, and if his cheeks were hot before, they're positively glowing now. Mabel just giggles. He’ll get an earful about it later but it will be worth it.
