To the Nights in the Hold of Stone (BillDip)

Someone Should Tell Him(20)

Bill POV

Days went by in a very similar marry go round.

Dipper and I would spend the time his human body needed to rest within the dreamscape. A few nights ago he started us on a seemingly never ending roleplaying game, and not the fun type of roleplaying, the kind with a blank board, dice, and math. It had over time become interesting but that was only because of his love of the game and our combined storytelling abilities. In a sense we'd created our own dimension with creatures and lives and adventure, and with the aid of the endless dreamscape, were able to bring it to life. Once we'd run ourselves into a wall or a good stopping point we'd put it all to the side. Dipper had challenged me to several rematches of multidimensional chess, most of which he lost. When games would become tiresome Dipper would collapse back into the couch only to ask me question after question about the different dimensions. He was starting to show more and more interest in the dimension I and Ana originate from.

I'd had the idea yesterday, to bring in several books to give him. He might not be able to read their languages in his dimension but here they could translate themselves for him. Giving them to him was immensely satisfying. Watching him go from perplexed to ecstatic as he watched the words and symbols shift to English right before his eyes. Right away he started reading, falling into a concentrated silence. The flick of brown eyes melting over the page, drinking in each word. The twitch in his brow and the way he would twist his hair in between his fingers just below his ear. Air hiss through parted lips in a low gasp. The sound pulled heat through my veins, I wanted to hear it again and again.

"Read it aloud." I said as he flipped to the next page, shocking him out of the trance the book had placed on him.

"You want me to read it to you?" Dipper half closed the book, his full attention shifting up to me questioningly.

"I don't want to sit here in silence and watch you read, might as well read aloud so we can both enjoy it." I shrugged. Boy was it an understatement to simply say I enjoyed listening to him read.

Once he'd fallen into a good rhythm his voice became steadier, evening out like calm river waters, as he got himself comfortable against the couch his legs stretched out and his shoulder loosening into the velvet he looked at peace. I was able to stare openly at his face as he paid more attention to the book, letting everything about him wash over me. Dipper was constantly tense outside of the Dreamscape, but here I could ensure he didn't feel the pressure of journal pages or the unfamiliarity of the fearamid.

His voice filtered through my thoughts, picking up with excitement as he read faster, eyes jumping down the page with every new word. He gasped, that little hitch of air that made every muscle in my body jump, faltering on his narration. One of his hands shot out and gripped my knee. "You're fucking with me, you did not invent the wheel!"

I laughed, from deep in the chest and head tossed back kind of laugh, "No! I just made the guy who did think I did so I got the credit! It's much easier than actually rewriting history and a lot less messy."

He smacked my knee as he let go, curling back around the book as he continued to read. He looked up several times while reading after that, meeting my gaze with a soft smile, absolutely destroying everything I thought I knew.

I'd always thought I hated the dreamscape, it wasn't tangible enough, everything was so fleeting. By myself there wasn't much fun to be had, but something in the core of my being shifted now. I wanted to spend more time within the dreamscape, exploring its content with new eyes and new excitement.

Watching him read I knew it was because of him. All these new human emotions I was now subjected to dealing with was because of Dipper.

I wanted him to kiss me again, I wanted to kiss him again. I did everything just like before, pulling him into my arms on the couch so we'd wake up together like that morning. I'd lean into him when he spoke, unable to drag my gaze up from his lips as he spoke but still he hasn't kissed me. In the mornings he moves away too quickly, leaning out of my space and redirecting conversation every time. Ana's advice made me painfully aware of how much I wanted to be near him but was turning out to be utterly useless in getting him to feel the same way.