Ford never slept peacefully anymore. Being on his own so often was most likely the cause, but why should he admit that?
Each night was filled with nightmares and screams in his head. Flashbacks and twisted scenarios he feared when he was younger.
It came to a point where he gave up on sleep, and instead lived off of coffee. It helped, and he was able to get away with only a couple hours of sleep when he felt really out of it.
That was, until he started encountering this figure. It hid in the shadows for what seemed like ages. He finally started to sleep normally again, just for the sake of hopefully finding out what this creature was. Eventually, Ford gave up.
Until one night, Ford was exceptionally tired. He slept. While he slept, he dreamt of a deep navy blue room. It had some chairs with a small table that had a chess board on set on top with its pieces put together.
"Interesting.." He spoke, hearing his voice echo in the strange dream. He walked forward, finding he had no footing and could instead float to the table. Finally, he sat in the chair.
He wanted to work in a specific scenario in his chess skills. One that he knew could be beat when it happened, he just had to think harder.
"Enjoying the setup, Fordsy?" a voice that sounded like it was altered boomed through the area, echoing into his ears and back around him. Ford stared at the yellow triangle sitting in front of him, amazed, and somewhat frightened.
"I.. Who are you? No. What are you?" He emphasized on the "what".
Bill laughed. "What a greeting! Nice to meet you too! The names Bill Cipher, but you can call me your muse." If Bill had a mouth, he would have been grinning. Ford only stared at him with confusion and uncomfort. "Relax! I'm just playing. Call me Bill." Ford nodded.
"How fascinating.." He spoke to himself.
"I'm always fascinating." Bill laughed again.
Ford suddenly stood up and looked around, searching for his journal.
"You're not going to find it, Sixer. You're in the mindscape." Bill said simply, Ford looked over, his eyebrows raised.
"Sixer? How do you-"
"How do I know about your fingers? It's painfully obvious, Poindexter."
"Okay- Enough.. Enough with the nicknames!" Ford stared coldly, but he couldn't deny the immense interest he felt for Bill.
"Alright fine, Stanford. Sit back down. Were going to play a game of chess." Bill said decidingly.
"But-" Ford was cut off with a snap of Bills fingers.
"Enough talking. Move a pawn."
They played for only 5 minutes before Bill had Ford checkmated.
"How did you do that?" Ford said, stunned. He'd only lost chess once when he'd made a robot that played with him and he accidentally made it to where the bot had one move that guaranteed to checkmate him every time. He got rid of that robot the next day.
"Oh I don't know, I just did. Are you willing to be quiet and listen to me without a million questions yet?" Bill said blandly.
"I.. Yeah. I guess." Ford sighed, making a mental note to write in his journal later.
"Great! The names Bill Cipher but please, call me Bill. I am an all knowing God. I can beat you at chess, every. Single. Time. I can help you in your research, I can change things so your research is inaccurate, I can do almost anything." He explained, pausing for questions.
"Why are you here then? And what is here?"
"Good questions, smart, even! I'm here because you're the first person I've seen in a long time that has even a sliver of the high intelligence I'm seeking. You, are an intelligent man. And I need your help with something."
Ford listened carefully, taking everything in. "What is it you need help with?" He asked.
"That my friend, will come in time. But for now, I need your help to achieve my human form. I need to be in a human body so I can be in your world and not just the mindscape. Will you help me?"
"I.. I don't know. I just met you and what if.. how can I trust you?"
"Well you'll just have to understand I'm doing this for a good reason. I don't know how to make you trust me, Ford." Bill shrugged.
"I don't know. Let me think on it." Ford sighed.
Bill groaned, the sound echoing throughout the space. "Fine. See you next time Poindexter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ford woke up tangled in his blankets and soaked in sweat, which was odd because he always woke up absolutely freezing.
The next few nights went by easy, Bill never showed. But then finally, Ford had decided that next time he saw Bill, he would accept the request.
He slept easily that night, only to find himself in the mindscape again. "Bill?" Ford called out. Bill popped out in front of him.
"IQ! Good to see you old pal! Made a decision yet? Of course you have." Bill spoke quickly.
"I want to accept your request. But first, tell me what I will get in return."
"Oh. Easy, I'll help you with your research and do anything you could dream of!"
Ford thought for a moment before nodding. "Deal."
The two shook hands and their hands became engulfed in a blue flame that felt like wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Ford found a small sheet of parchment, ancient words inked into it. He assumed that reciting this correctly would somehow bring Bill into his world.
Later that evening, Ford sat outside in an open area, as the parchment said. Then slowly, he recited the words on the page. As he finished, the wind picked up. Spinning in a circle, the leaves and loose dirt lifted. Then, a circle carved itself into the ground, a triangle in the middle. Ford stood up and ran back, watching sight in front of him. The circle and other designs started to glow a light blue, the same color of the flame from the night before.
A body formed from thin air, the wind picking up too much dirt to properly see how it worked. Suddenly, everything stopped. Ford fell to the ground in astonishment. He stared at the new person standing, one leg in front of the other and hands splayed at his sides. He wore a black button up and black pants eith a bright yellow suit vest and yellow gloves. He wore a small black hate and he had slick blonde hair that was a decent length.
He was awfully pretty for a boy, Ford thought. Bill opened his eyes, revealing he had blue eyes the color of the flame, except one eye was the color of a blind person's eyes.
"Ah.. How wonderful it is to be back." Bill knew he'd regret this later, his powers lacked immensely when he was in this form. But, it was the easiest way to his goal.
Ford stared with astonishment. He was amazed, to say the least. "Woah." Was all he could manage manage to say.
"Hiya, Sixer!" Bill said excitedly. He walked towards Ford and used his pointer finger to move Fords head around by his chin. "My, you sure are much prettier in person." he hummed simply.
"I.. thank you?" Ford thanked him, mildly confused and somewhat flattered. "Are you going to tell me what you needed help with yet?"
"Not yet, Fordsy. That will come later." He smiled and tilted his head. "Are you going to stay on the floor? Or are you going to get up and show me around like a gentleman?" Bill asked playfully.
Ford stood, and walked Bill around the area. Showing him all the places he'd discovered lately. After that, he took him to the shack.
"Sorry, it's sort of a mess. I'll clear out a room for you.. or- actually, you can have my room, I normally sleep on the couch anyways." Ford rambled, Bill just listened.
"I don't need sleep, Fordsy! I'm a god, remember?" Bill lied. Although, he didn't know he was lying. Being in a human body would have downsides he wasn't aware of.
"Uhm.. Okay. Are you hungry? I think I have some freeze dried jerky in the freezer. Or I could get you some water?" Ford rambled again, but this time Bill cut him off.
"Alright, slooww down, sixer. I don't need anything at the moment, but how long have you been outside for? You'll catch a death of cold in that!" Bill looked him up and down, taking in the dark jeans soaked in mud and dirt. The tight red turtleneck and his muddy boots.
"I.. I don't know, a few hours maybe? I was out researching some things before I summoned you.. What time is it? I think I left at 11 this morning?"
Bill pulled out a pocket watch from his suit vest pocket, it was gold woth Bill and his Cipher engraved on it. "Ford.. It's 9 pm. It's dark out. Did you not notice?"
"I.. I guess not? I don't own any other clothes other than some pajamas- Uh.. I'll be fine, just let me start the fireplace and it'll be fine." Ford groaned, suddenly realizing how cold he was.
"Don't worry about it." Bill sighed, snapped his fingers, and suddenly Ford was wearing black pajama pants and a yellow tee-shirt.
"I- How did you do that?" Ford asked, stunned.
"I told you, I can do anything you want and more. I'm a god for.. for christs? Bills! Hah! I'm a god for Bills sake!" Bill laughed at his joke. "Now how about a fire, yeah?" Bill hummed, igniting a blue flame in him palm and setting the logs in the fireplace aflame.
"My lord.. What else can you do..?" Ford questioned, suddenly enthralled in Bills powers.
"Oh I can do lots of stuff. You'll learn over time, so patience, Stanford!" Bill smiled simply and ran a hand through his hair.
The rest of the night came easily, Ford slept in his bed and Bill stayed awake on the couch, occasionally pacing and testing the powers he had in the form. He found that he could still move things, but using each of his powers took a great amount of energy. So instead, he moved to meditating. It was simple enough and it helped him regain his energy rather quickly.
