Dangerously yours // Billford

I - Partners

Stanford's tired eyes shot open. He frantically looked around in all directions. One moment, he was peacefully reading beneath a tree, basking in the gentle mid-day summer sun. The next, he had awoken in some kind of dream-mind space? Papers and books carefully floated around him in the void-like space, Ford was suddenly pulled from his observations by an unexpected voice.

"Hiya smart guy." It exclaimed. Stanford jumped as his calm moment was disrupted. "Woah! Don't have a heart attack. You're not ninety-two yet." He heard the voice chuckle once more.
Ford turned around and finally came face to face with the voice's owner. In front of him, he saw another man, roughly the same age as him.
This man was slightly tan. had messy blond hair that almost looked golden, with a black top hat carefully placed on top. His clothing was formal, a black dress shirt, yellow waistcoat, black bow tie, and a sleeveless yellow suit jacket with long coat tails. Stanford studied the man's face.
His expression was relaxed yet slightly smug. His eyes- well eye - was golden. As for his other eye, Ford wouldn't know. It was covered by a black triangular eye-patch.

"Who are you?" Stanford asked hesitantly, finally managing to tear his eyes away from the man (he blamed his own curiosity. There was certainly no other reason).
The strange man stretched out a gloved hand as his mouth twisted into a wide grin.
"The names Bill Cipher." Ford stared at the man's hand anxiously, eventually deciding it would be best to not shake it. Bill pulled his hand back before he continued. "And yours is Stanford Pines." Ford's eyes quickly widened in shock , who- what was this man? How did he know him? Questions swirled around in Stanford's head. "You- you know who I am?" He stammered, Ford had to force the words out of his throat.

Bill sighed, still retaining his smile. "Well, of course, you're the man who changed the world, and I was very lonely, so I thought tonight I shall have an adventure. I shall make the aquaintamce of this brilliant scientist. But I'm getting ahead of ourselves, care for a game of interdimensional chess?" Bill asked, looking over at Stanford. Stanford nodded, clearly rather shocked. "You know my name?" He asked. "Oh, I know lots of things." The man replied.

It felt as if Bill's eyes saw right through Ford. They saw everything, every thought, every secret, it was a surreal feeling he wasn't familiar with. Suddenly, a table with 2 chairs appeared in his mindscape, with a game of chess already set up on top.
Stanford anxiously took one of the chairs and sat down. "Tea?" Bill asked, his voice cutting through the momentary silence. "Oh! Uhm, yes, please." He responded as he pushed his glasses further up his nose bridge. He watched as a tea pot appeared before his eyes and poured out a cup of tea for him. He gently grabbed the teacup from the air and sceptically took a sip. To his surprise, it really was tea, normal hot tea. Ford let out a relieved sigh before he placed the cup down once more, letting his guard down slightly before he looked over at Bill, who had taken a seat on the other side of the table.

He was currently occupying himself with his turn in their game of interdimensional chess. Stanford cleared his throat nervously. "So, what exactly are you?" He asked, hoping the man wouldn't take it the wrong way. Bill paused and looked up at him from his side of the table. He smiled softly, "I'm an all-knowing muse, I choose one brilliant mind every century to inspire with my knowledge."
Ford's eyes lit up. There was no way, absolutely no way. "A-Are you saying-" Stanford began but was quickly cut off by Bill. "Mhm, that's right, Sixer." Ford was taken aback by the name Sixer. He'd been called cruel names related to his sixth finger countless times, but this was different. It wasn't an insult. It was almost friendly.
Ford looked down at the chess board, cursing himself for almost forgetting about it during their conversation, he took a piece and thought for a moment on where to move it before he finally took his turn and spoke once more.

"But.. how do you know if I'm right for it?" He muttered. Bill tilted his head, his smile never faltering, "I suppose I'm taking that chance." Stanford couldn't stop himself from letting out a laugh of pure glee. "Oh my, this- this is incredible!" He exclaimed. "Some kind fate has wished to send a muse to study with me, I can only be grateful. You will do me the honours, won't you?" Bill let out a short chuckle. "Of course." He replied simply. "Oh my, I can't believe I have the opportunity to be your apprentice!" Stanford exclaimed.
"No." Bill said simply.
"Pardon?" Ford asked.
"Partners, dear." Bill explained, his eyes fixed on Stanford.