A Code to DeCipher (BillDip)

Chapter 8

"You're kidding me. You are freaking kidding me." Dipper slammed the door behind him, walking once again into an empty room. "Even when you're sick you still manage to piss me off!" Dipper shouted at nothing. He groaned and hit his forehead against the wall. Why can't he just stay in one place? Dipper wondered to himself as he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on to go out into the rain and look for the demon.

Nearly the moment Dipper stepped out of the doorway and onto the wet grass, he was soaked. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed through the dark sky.

"Bill!" Dipper shouted, hoping to catch the demon's attention, wherever he may be. The teen ran around in the pouring rain, calling over the storm, but to no avail. Dipper was about to give up when a figure appeared at the edge of the forest. Dipper squinted to try and make it out, but between the rain and the darkness, he couldn't. As the figure came closer, lightning flashed through the sky, revealing Bill Cipher, drenched in rain, blood staining his yellow vest, carrying something in his arms.

"Bill Cipher, where have you been?" Dipper demanded. Bill smirked at him slightly, amused by the boy's concern.

"Relax, Pine Tree. I'm keeping up my end of the bargain." He explained, gesturing with his head to what he was carrying in his arms. Dipper's heart dropped.

"Mabel?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Dipper Pines, if you don't stop pacing this room I'm going to tie you to a chair." Bill threatened. Dipper glanced at the dream demon, his eyes clouded with concern for his sister.

"But, Mabel..." The boy began. Bill rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. He interrupted Dipper's worries by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"...is fine. The manotaur didn't harm her other than a few bumps and bruises. Besides, I put her to sleep before any real damage could be done, so she hasn't really felt any pain. By the time she wakes up, she'll be good as new. If it makes you feel any better, the big oaf isn't going home completely in tact." He consoled. Dipper tried not to be disturbed by Bill's words, seeing as the demon had a strange view on what was comfort and what was just, well, disturbing. The teen frowned and looked at his sister's sleeping form, for once not uncomfortable with Bill's hand on his shoulder.

"I know, but... I can't help but worry." Dipper admitted. Bill half smiled and hugged him from behind, making Dipper's stomach flutter slightly.

"It's okay, Pine Tree." He assured him. He let out a slight laugh and spun Dipper around to face him, his hands now on his shoulders. "Have I ever broken a deal?" The demon inquired. Dipper thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, when you possessed my body and broke the laptop!" He said. Bill shook his head, laughing.

"Nope! You see, I said I'd help you out, and I did. If the laptop wasn't broken, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere with it! And, I said I wanted a puppet. It was you who failed to specify which ones I could choose from." Bill countered. Dipper frowned, slightly irritated that the used-to-be-triangle was right.

"Oh...then...no. Not that I can think of..." Dipper finally replied. Bill smirked.

"See?" The demon inquired, lightly tapping Dipper on the nose. "You have nothing to worry about!" Dipper screwed up his face when Bill tapped his nose, which made Bill laugh, letting go of his shoulders. Dipper walked over and sat next to Mabel on her bed, putting a gentle hand on her head.

"You had better be right, Cipher." He worried. Bill pursed his lips, thinking. He snapped his fingers when he had an idea.

"Oh, I know what'll keep your mind off things!" He exclaimed. The demon grabbed Journal 3 off the bedside table, but as opposed to opening it up, or running away with it, he grabbed Dipper's arm and pulled him over to sit on the other bed, then sat down next to him. Bill handed Dipper the journal, whom looked at the book and the demon skeptically.

"What is this for?" Dipper wondered. Bill grinned, reaching in to Dipper's vest pocket to retrieve a pen. Dipper had managed to stop chewing pens like he used to, but every now and then, if he was really thinking hard, he'd catch himself biting at the end of one. Bill twirled the pen in his hand.

"We're gonna do some deciphering!" He said with a flare, tossing Dipper the pen. The teen caught it, slightly surprised by Bill's words.

"Deciphering?" He repeated. "What for?" Bill rolled his eyes and bumped the boy with his shoulder.

"For fun, silly!" He laughed. Dipper smirked slightly. At least this time his version of fun isn't causing pain. Dipper thought to himself. The boy shrugged and opened up the journal to his page of various codes and ciphers. Bill laughed and pointed to a few of them, saying things like "I remember that one!" or "Man, that one took you forever to figure out!"

"Well? What are we going to decipher? There's nothing here!" Dipper wondered. Bill clicked his tongue, shaking his head. He put an arm around Dipper, huffing a laugh.

"Pine Tree, Pine Tree..." Bill paused and looked Dipper in the eye with a smirk. "You do realize who you're talking too, right?" Dipper grinned as Bill leapt to his feet, flourishing his arms.

"I invented code! Why else do you think they call it a cipher?" The demon laughed, then broke off in a cough. Dipper grabbed Bill's hand to pull him back to a sitting position.

"You're still sick, Bill, be careful." Dipper warned. Bill just shrugged and took the notebook from Dipper. "Hey!" The boy cried, grabbing for the book. Bill stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

"Relax, kid. What have I to gain by destroying this journal now?" He pointed out. Dipper frowned and was about to say something when Bill plucked the pen from his hand, clicking it open and turning the journal to one of the blank pages. He tapped his chin with the pen, humming in thought.

"You're too good at the other codes," he voiced his thoughts, "so I'll just have to make a new one!" He exclaimed. The demon began to scribble something in Dipper's journal, and Dipper attempted to see what it was, leaning into Bill's arm. Bill glanced at Dipper and smirked. In his attempt to see the new code, he hadn't realized how close he was to Bill. The demon blew a puff of breath in Dipper's eye making him jump slightly, his hand going to is eye as he pulled away. Bill laughed and handed Dipper back the journal. The boy blinked, looking at the coded phrase. He frowned at the letters doubled up with another letter in seemingly random patterns. The boy began clicking the pen in thought.

"This doesn't correlate with any of the ciphers I've seen before." Dipper noted. Bill hummed a laugh and put an arm around Dipper.

"That's because it's a new code I made up. Just to keep you entertained." He said before yawning. Dipper leaned back against the wall, a million different ways to solve the code floating through his head, and Bill leaned back as well, beginning to feel even sicker than before, thanks to being out in the rain. "And while you do that," the demon yawned, resting his head on Dipper's shoulder, "I'm going to sleep. Wake me when you're bored." And with that, the sick chaos god fell asleep, and Dipper didn't mind that he had become the pillow. Dipper just hoped that Bill would get better before the illness became something the teens couldn't handle without an adult. That was an explanation Dipper never wanted to give or even hear. He glanced down at Bill, whose head was on the boy's shoulder, and smiled slightly. Dipper rested his head against Bill's head, and continued working on the code.