The One He Protected///Gravity Falls Fanfic///TW in desc.

Gossiping Like Little Girls

"Alright, boys. Bedtime - far past that." Elizabetta said, walking into the living room. She was in a simple black nightgown, and her hair was tied in a braid. William looked at her pleadingly. "One more story, Mama! Please?"

Miraculously, Elizabetta managed to resist the puppy eye. "No, no. Bedtime, sweetie." She said, walking over and picking up William from the floor. "I'll show you your room. I'll manifest you individual ones tomorrow. I'm just tired..." She trailed off for a moment, not wanting her children to know that she was tired from all the crying she'd been doing.

Zace nodded. "It's fine, Mother. I'm sure we all are." He assured, following as Elizabetta led them to a different room. She brought them to a bedroom with three beds and a wardrobe. "Goodnight, my dears." She said, putting William down in one of the beds. William scrambled into the sheets and fell asleep almost immediately.

The other two went to their beds, clearly exhausted from the traveling. Elizabetta looked once more at her sons, the crow's feet on her eye curling as she smiled. "Sweetest dreams..."

With that, the mother walked off to her own room.

There was a moment of silence.

"Zace, are you awake?"

Said demon sat up, looking to Ben's bed. "Yea, what is it?" He asked, whispering so as to not wake the youngest of them.

Ben smiled, crawling out of the bed and depositing him onto the floor. Zace tilted his head curiously as his brother patted the floor in front of him. "I wanna talk about something." He whispered.

Zace shrugged, thinking, 'Why not? I don't mind staying awake.' He was soon on the floor, looking across to Ben.

"What was that princess like?" He asked. Zace blinked a few times in confused surprise.

The red-clad one smiled a bit. "Ben, you heard me telling Will about her." He sighed. Ben shrugged, smiling. "Come on, it seems like you enjoy talking about her."

"Fine, fine, maybe I do." Zace said, laughing quietly. Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He leaned forward, though it was a little difficult to see him in the night. With his dark blue and black clothes, hair, and dark skin, he looked like a part of midnight. Zace thought that he looked a bit goth with his hair covering one of his eyes, though he knew why his brother did so.

"She has dark skin, and long, black-and-brown hair. She has these beautiful brown eyes... and she just... she has this wonderful laugh and this gentle manner where she can just... she can calm down anyone from a panic attack." Zace leaned back on the bedpost.

"She's amazing. She likes dandelions, and she made the guards let me out so she could show me the gardens. She loves birds and she can dance so beautifully." He stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"What's her name?" Ben asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Benita. Benita Demi..." There was a dazed look in Zace's eye that Ben recognized.

"You're in love."

Zace suddenly snapped out of his dazed trance and looked at Ben. "N- I mean- yea- I think- probably." He sputtered, attempting to make sense.

"Have you..." Ben paused dramatically. "Kissed?"

The older one shook his head, laughing under his breath. "No, no, she always has a veil or fan over her mouth. I think it has something to do with being a ghost and mortal wounds, something like that."

Ben nodded, smiling still. Zace narrowed his eye at his brother. "And what about you? Have you met anyone you like?" He asked, smiling teasingly.

Ben flushed, laughing nervously. "Well, yea, I've been wanting to ask him on a date for a while now. Just don't know where we'd go."