A Demon of the Sea - Gravity Falls

Chapter 7

The next morning, Dipper woke up peacefully to the dim light of dawn sneaking it's way across the sky. He opened his eyes slowly. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized he was cuddled up to something soft. He shifted and tightened his grip. It felt very warm and cozy.
      Wait a second, what is it? He wondered. The beds in the living quarters didn't have many pillows, and everything around him felt far too luxurious or comfortable to be his normal bed. He opened his eyes fully and looked up. What he saw was Bill Cipher's sleeping face, merely a foot from his own. He was in the arms of the captain, laying his head on his chest! Dipper's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he realized that neither of them were wearing shirts, or pants for that matter! Upon closer inspection of his own body, his chest and neck were peppered with small red marks.
     He inched his way out of Cipher's arms as quickly and carefully as possible, even putting a pillow in his place for good measure. He scrambled around the room to find his clothes, throwing them on as he found them. The only thing he needed now were his shoes, so he sat on the edge of the bed to put them on.
       "Good morning, Pine Tree~" Dipper jumped out of his skin. He turned around stiffly, one shoe half on. "M-morning," he replied, voice cracking. Bill had a cocky grin on his face that made Dipper blush insanely. Not knowing what else to do, he sprang off the mattress to get away, but there was a sudden pain in his hips he wasn't expecting and he immediately crashed to the floor.
Cipher cackled. "Looks like I went a little too hard on you!" he said between breaths. The brunette pursed his lips and stared blankly ahead as he became accustomed to the pain and rose to his feet. Just as he got to the door, the demon appeared next to him out of thin air and, to his surprise, kissed him on the cheek. He froze in astonishment at the sweet gesture, heat practically radiating off his face. "See ya around, kid," the blonde whispered in Dipper's ear.
"Well obviously, we're stuck on the ship together," he replied nervously. Cipher's grin grew ever wider as he narrowed his eyes lovingly. He watched as his lover stole down the hallway and out of sight. "Mortals are so adorable," the captain said quietly to himself before heading back into his room.
As Dipper sneaked around the ship, he managed to avoid any patrolling pirates without detection, thank The Lord. He peeked into the room he was supposed to be sleeping in upon arrival. No one seemed to stir, so he tip-toed in. He never realized how loud the ship could be; every creak in the wood seemed audible throughout the whole deck. At last, two or so minutes and five near-heart-attacks later, he made it to his bed, which had remained a nest of papers since the day before. He carefully placed enough beneath the bed so that he had barely any room to spare as he laid down. Just as his head hit the pillow, he heard Soos' voice whisper, "Oh, Dipper! It's you! Where'd you go after you interrogated the captain?" He could've jumped to the ceiling and through the next floor. "Uuuuh, I fell asleep in the crow's nest!" he replied quickly, "Yeah, I went up there to get away from the party and must've fallen asleep." Oh god, if anyone found out what actually happened...!
       "Oh, well you're probably pretty tired then. Night dude," Soos replied. Actually, now that Dipper thought of it, he was exhausted. He had no concept of how much time he'd slept the night before. It could've been six hours or twenty minutes, but either way it felt like none. Almost immediately after he closed his eyes, a wave of sleep swept over him, and he was out like a light. Yet somehow, as he was falling asleep, the bed seemed lonely and empty.
      He woke up once again to the intense rays of sun streaming through a tiny window on the wall next to him and hitting his eyelids. He blinked tiredly and stretched. When he sat up, he saw that no one remained in the room. Normally, he wouldn't be worried; where were they going to go without him on this isolated ship? However, he heard noises outside the ship that seemed alien to him now: the sounds of a carriages and the low roar of casual chatter, almost like a busy street. He sprang up onto his bed and looked outside. It was a busy street! They had docked while he slept! Could now be a good chance to escape? He wondered. However, as he looked closer, he recognized members of the crew walking around in the crowds. It's going to be risky, but I have to try.
       He casually strolled to the main deck of the ship, nonchalantly looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone to stop him. So far, no, but he would have to be more careful once he got to the street. If he had ever gotten that far.
      Without warning, someone grabbed the back of his collar just as he was about to walk onto the ramp to the dock. His heart skipped a beat as he saw it was the captain. "Where you goin', Pine Tree?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer. "Just wanted to get some fresh air, see the sights, that sort of thing..." Dipper replied nervously. His palms began to sweat. "Not without an escort!" Bill replied, hooking an arm around his shoulders, "Can't have you running into trouble!" Then added, barely audible, "Or run away." Dipper gulped. There was clearly no running away now, nor escape from the one man he had wanted to avoid for at least a few days while he sorted his thoughts. Everything about him sent his heart aflutter, and he didn't understand it. Was it because Bill was a demon that he was so unnaturally attractive? It had to be, Dipper had never even thought of loving another man before, why would he start now?
        "You in there, kid?" said the captian, knocking on his head and snapping him out of his daydreams. "Y-yeah, let's go," Dipper replied. The demon took his arm off the brunette's shoulder to they could both walk down the narrow ramp. As Dipper walked behind him, the captain's hair seemed to dance with every step; it looked as silky as the many fabrics that decorated his quarters, which was impressive considering the lack of bathing they all had to endure. Dipper combed his fingers through the matted mop he called hair on the top of his head. He's been here less than a week and his appearance already matched that of a regular crew member!
      Speaking of which, didn't they just dock the night Dipper was captured? How did they already go through all their stores of food? He asked the captain this, and the man replied sarcastically cheery, "Well, we weren't docked for very long. And if you hadn't come along we would've had enough time to gather supplies!" Well, now he felt like shit. No wonder everyone seemed pissed at him the first day.
He sighed and agreed to help restock the ship. They stepped onto solid ground for what felt like the first time in an eternity. Cipher grabbed Dipper's hand, making his heart skip a beat. "No getting out if my sight," he said, smiling and narrowing his eyes with a venomous glare. Dipper gulped, happy and embarrassed to be holding Bill's hand, yet terrified for his life at the same time.
The rest of the day was spent carrying crates onto the ship and heading back out for more crates in an exhausting cycle. "Why can't they just take it by force? We're pirates, right?" Dipper complained as the day wore on. It seemed like it would take a lot less time and effort, and he was very done at that point. "Keep it down!" Cipher hissed, "If we revealed our location everywhere we went we'd have the entire navy of over fifteen counties after us!" Dipper widened his eyes in surprise. "You're that popular, huh?"
"You could say I've been around the block," said the captain, remembering himself and wearing a cocky grin. The brunette rolled his eyes and returned the grin, unable to hide it.
At last, the end of the day came and they were finally re-stocked. Dipper fell into one of the chairs in the dining area with a tray full of fresh food and sighed in relief. "Oh, man, it feels so good to sit after a hard day's work," he said contentidly. "You only moved like three crates," Red pointed out. "Well.. I, uh, carried some pretty heavy ones..." he quietly argued, face reddening slightly. Both her and Soos chuckled before digging in to their own food.
They resumed chatting after the novelty of eating non-rotting food wore off a bit. "I heard the captain was in some sort of bad mood last night," Red mentioned. Dipper choked on the apple he had just bitten into. Once he regained the ability to breathe, he replied, "Oh, I wonder why that was." He knew perfectly well. He saw it all unfold, and then some. "Dude I've been thinking: did you go up to the crow's nest to get away from the captain?" Soos said in a paranoid tone, then adding quietly, "Did you find out something you shouldn't have?"
        Dipper's heart sped up. Should I tell them that Bill's a demon? No, he only ever told two people, including me. He must really not want anyone to know. In the back of his mind, he wondered who that other person was in the first place, but then he remembered the problem at hand. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary. Unless you count being insane out of the ordinary," he replied lightly, "I told ya already, man, I just wanted to get away from the party." He spoke with far more confidence than he actually possessed.
        "But you could've just gone to the living quarters! Oh god, you discovered something so horrible you can't even talk about it!" he exclaimed with increasing intensity. Red looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, but Dipper just stared at him in terror. Suddenly, Soos stiffened, and Dipper could've sworn he'd seen the man's pupils narrow in a catlike manner. "Wait a second, that's ridiculous, haha, right guys? Whatever Pine Tree says must be true!" he said, a huge grin on his face. He stared at the brunette creepily as he spoke. Red slowly picked up her fork as she said, "I'm just gonna keep eating..." Soos slouched again, looking dazed. When he saw Dipper and Red looking at him strangely, he said, "What's up, dudes? What's with the creepy stares?" Red stood with her tray, which was still half full of food, saying, "I'm done."
"Yeesh, women," said Soos lightly. "Haha, I know right," Dipper replied nervously.
Without warning, someone burst into the dining hall, sweating and breathing heavily. "We got another one!" he yelled. Dipper looked around at the dining hall, which was deadly still and silent. A few of the burliest crew members followed the jumpy man out of the room as well. Red joined Dipper and Soos again. "Wait, what does that mean?" Dipper asked, concern obvious in his voice. "Another person snuck on the ship," she replied darkly. They all knew, even Dipper could infer, that most people don't make it off the ship alive once they set foot on it. He couldn't help but feel overwhelming empathy for the poor soul that was just as stupid as him for waltzing into this hell. Without thinking, he abandoned his tray and started running blindly in the direction of the uppermost deck. Before he arrived, the three men walked by, struggling to keep a hold on their freshest prisoner.
"Agh! Let me go you butts!" the person said, writhing like a snake as they were dragged along. To Dipper's surprise, the person was female, about his age. His heart sank into the depths of his soul as he realized he recognized the voice. He lost all feeling; every part of him was dead. That girl is... Mabel!