Kingdoms

The String Game

Third Person

It had been a week since Bill had received the news that he would be getting married to Dipper. Every night since then he had been planning different ways to propose to Dipper along with coming up with a ring that his future husband would treasure. Last night Bill had the realization that he didn't know Dipper's ring size. The only jewelry that he's seen Dipper ever wear were necklaces so that was going to be a problem for him.

He needed to come up with a way to figure out his ring size without risking the surprise proposal. He spent all night trying to figure out a way to get his finger size without having him question his intentions. It took him a while but he had finally figured out a way to get his ring size and it was a simple game that he had made up.

The next day he wanted to put his plan into action even when he hadn't thought the game through yet. He waited until lessons were over and lunch since that would always be the time they would spend the rest of the afternoon together until dinner came. Bill hoped that no one would want to join them since that would ruin his plan and he still hadn't told anyone about the marriage or his proposal.

As the two walked down the halls Dipper asked, "What shall we do?"
Bill pretended to think and said, "I made up this game, would you like to play it?"
"You made up a game?" Dipper said.
"I did," Bill smiled.
"I would love to play," Dipper smiled.
Bill held out his hand and smiled, "Let's go."
Dipper grabbed his hand and chuckled softly, "Okay."

Bill just wanted an excuse to hold his hand as he led him to the library since that was their spot. They sat down on the ground across from each other and just stared at each other for a while before Bill started to explain the game. Bill snapped his fingers and what appeared in front of them was two bundles of string and a bag of marbles.

"Why do we need this stuff?" Dipper questioned.
"It's a part of the game," Bill said.
"Is it going to be complicated?" Dipper asked.
"I don't think so," Bill told him, "It should be an easy game."
"Are you going to teach me?" Dipper asked him.
"Of course. We are going to use the string to make small circles, but they have to be the same size as your finger," Bill explained.
"Why does it have to be the same size as our fingers?" Dipper questioned.
"Becaues if we make them too big the game won't last as long and if we make them too small we'll never finish the game," Bill explained, "One of the circles will be worth more points than the other ones. We have to roll the marbles into the circles to earn the points."
"That sounds simple enough," Dipper smiled, "Let's play."
"There is one more thing," Bill told him, "Once there are two marbles in the circle the person that put the marbles in takes the circle."
"Let's get the game going then," Dipper said.

They started to set up the game and Bill reminded Dipper to not tie it too tight, but not too loose either. Bill needed to make sure that Dipper made the colored string his ring finger for at least one of the rounds. He hoped that the game that he made, made sense because he made up the last rule out of nowhere. He just needed the excuse to take the string from him.

After going through the rules one more time they started to play the game. Bill gave Dipper ten marbles to start off with for the game. Bill was hoping that the game would be entertaining because he didn't want Dipper to be bored. He just needed the game to be enjoyable enough for him to get the string that he needed.

They started the game and it was harder than they both thought it would be. The marbles were small enough that they would fit in the circles, but you could exactly fit two of them in. Bill noticed how Dipper got excited when his marble entered the circle. He loved the way his eyes would light up while his hands went up in the air in celebration. It was cute.

"I'm going to win this time," Dipper muttered.
"You wish," Bill said.
"I am and you're going to lose," Dipper said.
"I don't think I'm going to lose," Bill smiled, "I'm going to win since I've been winning for the past five rounds."
"Because you cheated," Dipper said.
"When have I cheated," Bill asked.
"You distracted me," Dipper mumbled.
"I have not distracted you at all," Bill told him, "You're just a sore loser."
"You have distracted me," Dipper chuckled.
"Tell me one time that I have distracted you," Bill crossed his arms.

Dipper started to think and Bill laughed since it was taking him so long to think of a time while they were playing where he was distracting him. Bill realized that out of all the rounds that they have had he still hadn't taken the circle that he needed. He needed to make sure that this round he would get it.

"Still haven't thought of any?" Bill teased him.
"You kept staring at me and it made me nervous," Dipper said.
"That isn't distracting you," Bill said, "You being nervous isn't distracting."
"It is to me," Dipper stuck his tongue out.
"You big baby," Bill said.
"I'm not a baby," Dipper pouted. 

Bill crawled over to Dipper and sat right next to him. He stuck his tongue out at him as Dipper rolled his eyes. Dipper placed his chin on Bill's shoulder and stared at him for a bit before Bill placed his head on his forehead. Then out of nowhere Dipper licked Bill's cheek because he wanted payback for calling him a baby.

"Did you just lick me?" Bill moved his head back.
"No," Dipper smirked, "That was all in your head."
"That was not in my head," Bill said.
"Sure it was," Dipper said.
"I'm going to lick you back," Bill told him.
"You wouldn't," Dipper started to back away.
"Yes, I will," Bill threw him on top of Dipper.
"Don't you dare," Dipper chuckled.
"I will," Bill crawled on top of him.
"GAH!" Dipper shouted.
Bill licked him successfully and then rolled to his side, "How does that feel?"

They both rolled to their sides facing each other and laughed. Bill placed his hand on top of his cheek and just smiled at him softly. Dipper nuzzled his face into his hand while putting his hand on top.

They both just smiled at each other for a bit before Dipper mumbled, "One last round and then we do something else?"
"Okay," Bill agreed.

Bill crawled back to his place and they started the game. Bill was going to let Dipper win this round since he had one goal in mind. To get that circle. After a couple of minutes that game was close to over and Dipper was surprising in the lead. Since Bill was so focused on getting the different colored circle he hadn't really scored. He had one marble in the circle that he wanted and he had one marble left before the game was over. He took his time and pushed the marble. It rolled and started to slow down and stopped inside the circle.

"Yes!" He cheered.
Dipper chuckled, "You only got two points."
"Two points are two points," Bill smirked as he grabbed the circle.
"Let's clean up," Dipper said.

As the two cleaned up the mess that they made. Bill used his magic to teleport the circle in his hand into his bedroom so he wouldn't lose it. He was happy that he got the circle that he was after. Now all he had to do was go to the royal jeweler and have his ring made.