Captured

Chapter Seven

Dipper shot awake when he heard his cell door creak open. He looked up and saw his mother entering the dark cell. She left the door open behind her and Dipper felt a sudden spark of hope. Was he finally getting out of here?

"Come on Dipper," She smiled and held out a hand for him to take. "Your getting out of here." Dipper shot to his feet. He was one step closer to being free!

"Thank god, I thought you were lying when you said that I would be offered a spot on the crew." Dipper sighed in relief and his mother smiled sadly.

"I would never lie to you." She took his hand in hers and lead him up the creaky stairs towards a narrow hallway. "Captain Cipher wishes to speak to you so I'll be taking you to his personal cabin."

"Why would he want to see me?" Dipper mumbled, after that first day Bill had been avoiding him. Probably realizing what a nuisance he was.

"It seems the Captain has a soft spot for you." His mother smiled and tugged his arm so he would speed up. Soon they same across a door at the end of the hall. "Well this is where I leave you." She quickly pulled him into a hug and walked away.
    Dipper watcher her retreating form before hesitantly knocking on the door. A faint 'come in' was heard and he slowly opened the door.

    "Ah Pinetree!" Bill smiled up at him from behind a desk and Dipper entered the room. It was impressive. A large bed was pressed into the corner to make room for the desk and the maps hanging everywhere.

    "Uh hello Captain Cipher." Dipper moved further into the room. Bill stood from his desk, looking slightly flustered.

    "Well you see Pinetree, we weren't expecting a new crew mate so we don't exactly have a sleeping area for you—" Bill rattled off and Dipper felt his heart sink. This was it, Bill was going to kill him. "—got that? Pinetree are you listening?"

    "Uh sorry I kinda spaced out there." Dipper snapped out of his daze and forced a small smile.

    "Well I was just saying that you'll be sleeping in here, with me." Bill smiled widely and Dipper felt all his blood rush to his face.

    "I-I am s-sleeping h-h-here!?" Dipper stuttered our and Bill blushed lightly at the confused look on Dipper's face.

    "That's the plan Pinetree~" Bill winked at Dipper and his face got even redder.

    "Oh, um, t-thank you?" Dipper mumbled and fidgeted with his fingers, something he often did.

    "Don't worry about it." Bill slung his arm around Dipper's shoulder and lead him to the bed. He pushed him onto it lightly. "Now get some rest, I'll be showing you the ropes tomorrow."  Dipper nodded and crawled the the opposite side of the bed. Bill soon followed but stayed on the other side.
    Dipper closed his eyes tightly and tried to ignore the heat in his face as he listened to Bills steady breathing. Soon enough he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

-=- -=- -=-

    Bill woke up very warm. At first he didn't notice anything off but soon something shifted in his arms. He cracked open his eyes to see a certain brunette snuggled into his chest. Warmth bloomed across his face at the sight and he resisted he urge to run his fingers threw Dipper's messy curls.

'God what is this not doing to me, I'm going all soft.' Bill thought as he pulled Dipper closer into his arms. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the extra warmth Dipper provided, the boy was basically a walking furnace.
Dipper shifted slightly in his sleep and a look of distress passed over his face. Bill looked down and gently petted Dipper's hair, that's when he noticed a strange birthmark on the boys forehead. It almost looked like the Little Dipper...
    Bill held back a little chuckle, this boy just had tons of surprises didn't he? Bill let Dipper's hair fall back to cover the mark and instead just went to examine the boys sleeping face.
    After minutes of Bill staring, Dipper's eyes fluttered open and made contact with Bill's. A blush formed on Dipper's face as he noticed the close proximity and he tried to move away but Bill only tightened his arms.

    "What are you doing?" Dipper asked, his blush growing darker. Bill didn't answer, instead he just buried his face into Dipper's messy hair. "Bill?"

    "Your warm." Bill mumbled and Dipper stopped moving, instead he just wrapped his arms around Bill's waist.

    "I-I guess a few more minutes would be fine." Dipper muttered and snuggled closer to Bill. Bill felt his face go hot, again, what was this boy doing to him?
Bill laid their with Dipper for some time before he remembered that Dipper still had to meet the crew and learn some rules and stuff. Bill mentally groaned and sat up slowly. Dipper pulled away with a red face and Bill had the sudden urge to pull him back into his arms.

"Breakfast is probably ready, you need to meet some people and that'll be the perfect time." Bill smiled and crawled out of the bed. Dipper followed close behind and a comfortable silence fell over them as they put on their boots.
Bill glanced over and frowned at how skinny Dipper was. His clothes were so big they practically fell off, Bill could see one of Dipper's collar bones sticking out prominently and that was not a very good sign.
Bill snapped out of his daze when he heard Dipper clear his throat. He stood up awkwardly and walked towards the door signing for Dipper to follow. Bill lead him down to the dining hall of sorts and the room quieted when they entered.

"Hello everyone!" Bill smirked. "I'd like to meet your newest crew mate. Pinetree!" Dipper shuffled his feet awkwardly as the crew turned his stares towards him. Bill turned towards him and pushed him lightly towards the food line.
Dipper stumbled slightly but stayed upright. The crew started talking amongst themselves again as Bill stood next to Dipper and pointed people out in the crowd. A few he had already met, when Dipper had been brought aboard the ship.

    "You don't need to remember any of their names, since nicknames are pretty much all anyone uses round here." Bill reassured when he saw Dipper trying to remember everyone Bill introduced.

    "What? You have a memory problem or something?" Dipper said with a small smirk and Bill chuckled.

    "Nope." Bill said. "Just think is more fun this way." Dipper shook his head and grabbed a piece of bread from the table. Bill did the same and lead Dipper over to where Anna Beth was sitting.

    "See you survived your first night Dips." Anna Beth smiled sweetly but was still tense.

    "Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Dipper sat down next to Anna Beth and Bill sat next to him.

    "It was just a joke darling." She patted his cheek lightly and went to nibbling on her bread.

     "So Pinetree, What did you do on your old ship?" Bill changed the course of the conversation and Dipper turned to face him.

    "Well I'm not very strong so I mainly just help clean, navigate, and take inventory." Dipper said and Bill nodded.

    "I'll show you the navigation room later, let you see if your up for the challenge." Bill leaned against to table as Dipper hummed in what he assumed to be agreement.

    'Hopefully Dipper is up for the challenge, then I'll get to see him more.' Bill thought as he finished off his bread.

    "Come on Pinetree, don't have time to waste!" Bill jumped to his feet and dragged Dipper along towards the navigation room. It was fairly small, since no one really knew navigation skills. "This is where we keep all the maps you'll need as well as a table to work on!" Bill gestured towards the covered table in the middle of the room.
    Dipper took a step forward and examined the maps covering the table. Almost everything was marked. He was amazed at how far Bill had traveled, even though he didn't seem that much older than Dipper himself.

    "So what do you say?" Bill leaned against the door frame. 'Please say yes, please say yes.' Bill changed in his head.

    "Hmmm." Dipper thought about his options for a moment. "Yes."