A Demon of the Sea - Gravity Falls

Chapter 11

The next morning, Dipper expected to wake next to his lover, and honestly, he was looking forward to it for once. However, when he awoke, he was in a small, rugged bed with thin sheets. He hugged the pillow in his arms, but unfortunately it was only a pillow. As he slowly became more accustomed to his surroundings, he realized that the sound of dozens of snores filled the room. He was in the sleeping quarters, away from the comfort of the captain's quarters and away from Bill. He sighed and plopped back down on the thin mattress. He really couldn't care less about the actual quality of the bed, but it felt so disappointing and lonely to be by himself... Well, without the captain next to him. (He wasn't exactly alone). I guess that's the price we have to pay to not be interrupted, he thought and laughed quietly to himself.
When he emerged from the room a few minutes later, almost everyone else was still asleep. He paused outside the door and stretched, only to be tackled to the ground mid-yawn. He scrambled out from under the person attacking him. It was Mabel! She quietly screamed and said, "You were in the captain's quarters last night, weren't you!!!" He flushed red and got her in a choke hold, using his palm to cover her mouth. "How did you know about that?!" he said frantically, looking in every direction to see if someone overheard.
She pried his hand away from her lips and replied smugly, "Well I do now~" He released her and face-palm-ed himself, cursing under his breath. "I can't believe you and Bill already hooked up! Good job, bro!" she said excitedly. "W-what?! I don't know what your talking about, I was just talking to him about, uh, nerd stuff. We're not that in love," Dipper's expression betrayed every word he uttered, and she easily saw past the lie.
      "You two are so in love!!! It's so adorable I can't stand it!!!" she squealed. "Mabel! Keep your voice down!" Dipper protested, hearing movement inside the next room. "I can't believe you haven't even had your first kiss before coming here and you already went to bed with someone!" she said mischievously, not bothering to get any quieter. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that a group of pirates walked out of the door at that moment and interrupted them was yet to be deciphered. Luckily, they didn't seem to care about Mabel's last words or Dipper's crimson cheeks and kept walking as though they didn't exist.
Mabel and Dipper helped out around the ship the rest of that day, as was expected of them, but they rarely left each other's side. The seas were a little stormy, but nothing life-threatening. That didn't mean it wasn't exhausting, though. Everyone scrambled around the ship without much organization, and the heavy rocking of the floor wasn't helping.
       Dipper looked up at the helm, where the captain stood steering the ship, sopping wet and miserable looking. Everyone else was on lunch break, but he must've been there all day, throughout all the rain. My coat is pretty dry... He thought to himself. He hadn't been up on the top deck in a while, so the rain hadn't penetrated his clothes too much. Before he knew what he was doing, he was already next to Cipher and taking off his coat and shirt as he steered. The captain only had to take his hands off the wheel momentarily as Dipper slid his own jacket onto him.
Bill looked shocked. "Arent'cha cold, Pine Tree?" he said, dumbfounded that anyone would give up their only source of heat in this freezing, winter rainstorm. It was honestly a bit foolish, and to be honest, the brunette already longed for the warmth his jacket provided. The cold wind and wetness chilled him to the bone in an instant. "D-don't worry about it, you need it more than me," he replied. Bill smirked. "You know demons aren't sensitive to cold, right? You meat sacks need this way more than I do." Dipper sighed. "Well, you've been out here all day, you desere it more than I do," he replied at last, "I'm gonna go hang this to dry in your quarters." Before he had the chance to turn around, Bill's lips found their way to Dipper's cheek, making what little warmth in his body flush to the surface of his skin. Avoiding the captain's eyes, he scurried below deck and to Cipher's quarters, dripping jacket and shirt in hand.
After hanging up the captain's clothing to dry, Dipper couldn't help but notice the leather-bound journal and fountain pen on the ground behind his desk. He gasped. "Oh, crap! I never brought this back with me when I... Wait, wasn't I carried to my bed last night?" It was a kind gesture by the captain to do that, but he forgot to hide the evidence. Dipper quickly picked it up and stuffed it in his shirt. It really couldn't be more obvious. The small book stuck out like a sore thumb beneath the thin fabric. He took it out and decided to simply carry it back to the sleeping quarters. Before heading out, he looked back at the additions to his journal made the previous night. He now had a page for sea serpents, sirens, and mermaids, but upon closer inspection, the pages on ghosts had things crossed out and added. The words that were not his own were extraordinarily neat and curvy. Dipper ran his fingers along the too-perfect letters that flowed with one another gracefully across the page. The Demon of the North Seas has such beautiful handwriting, Dipper thought to himself, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
       "Thanks for waiting up, Pine Tree!" said a familiar, cheery voice. Dipper nearly jumped out of his skin, launching the book in the air in the process. He fumbled to keep it from crashing to the floor and failed. "B-Bill! I thought you had to, you know, keep, ah, steer the ship," Dipper even fumbled with the words in his mouth. Bill sat hard in a squatting position and looked at the brunette out of the corner of his eye. "Got someone to cover me for a few minutes," he replied. Meanwhile Soos was living the dream, pretending to be a hardy captain of the harsh seas, shouting old-timey pirate words at random. Thank god they were no where near any rocky areas. Dipper smirked. "You really shouldn't leave your post over something so small," he said lightly. Cipher crossed his arms and wore a half-serious pout. "Hey, I had a perfectly good reason!" he argued, "I guess you don't wanna hear the good news."
"Good news?" Dipper asked, stroking his scruff inquisitively. Bill couldn't keep down a huge, genuine smile. "Pine Tree, how would you like to be my first mate!"
Dipper was... shocked. Mabel was right of course, he's barely been on the ship for a week. This kind of thing seems like it would take years of trust building to achieve. How does this man trust me so much? Dipper was so touched by the gesture. As Bill read his mind, his smile faded and a faint blush rose in his cheeks. "W-well, I think you're the best person for the job, being my right-hand man! You got a lot of guts for a poindexter... and you're trustworthy... " he said more to himself than Dipper, then added with his usual artitude, "Heheh, plus no one else will take the job cuz I'm a psychopath!" Yeah, that made sense.
After a moment of silence, Dipper finally answered. He knew he wouldn't be staying too long, but how could he refuse that adorable face? It pained his heart that he couldn't spend the rest of his life here with him. Wait, what am I saying?! He snapped himself out of it before a blush could rise. "Of course I will, Captain Cipher," he said with a smirk. Then Bill added, "Oh, and also, becoming first mate is kinda like getting married!" All the color in Dipper's face drained and his smile faded.
Just as he was beginning to feel numb, Cipher started cackling and rolling on the floor. "You! You should see your face right now! Priceless!" he said between breaths, "Its funny how dumb you are, it isn't like getting married!" All the suppressed blood in his face found it's way to the surface. He crossed his arms and protested stubbornly, "Well, I don't see how that would be a problem!" He covered his mouth with his hand. Did I actually just say that?! Bill looked just as shocked as Dipper, and was caught even more off guard than him. Neither man could do anything besides stare at one another in an uncomfortable, unbearably awkward silence.
Bill remembered himself and smirked. He went over to Dipper and kneeled, gently lifting his chin and sealing his lips in a kiss. "Easy there, tiger. One step at a time!" he ruffled the brunette's hair affectionately. Dipper wanted to just go die in a hole somewhere. "We'll have the celebration tonight! Don't be late~!" said the captain, standing and leaving the room.
As soon as he left, Dipper laid down on his back and stared at the ceiling. Ugh, I'm such an idiot! Both because of what I said and I'm only eventually going to let the captain down! You shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, now he's just gonna want to murder you more when the time comes! Why am I so stupid?!
The rest of the day, he had to work on the lower decks, seeing how his coat was still being used. He did his best during the party to have a good time and relax a little, even if it was only for that night, but he couldn't keep down a tiny twang of guilt in the pit of his stomach, no matter how hard he tried. He smiled uncomfortably whenever someone congratulated him (though their faces said 'yeah ok you have fun with that', and 'he won't last a week'). Mabel was the only one that sensed his unease. After the party, when most of everyone was in their beds, she stopped him before he entered the men's quarters.
"You ok, Dip?" she asked, doing her best to smile. He looked at her straight in the eyes, trying to fight back the tears. "Not really," he squeaked, then pulled her into a hug so she couldn't see them raining down his cheeks, "I just... I wish I could stay here forever..." He knew very well that it was impossible, but he couldn't keep the thoughts suppressed. His twin wrapped her arms around him in sympathy. "You know, maybe we can see everyone again if they ever dock near us," she said carefully, trying to comfort him.
They both knew it was a lie.

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AN: sorry guys, this story is turning out to be a lot more depressing than I originally intended XD