The Unknown

3

Maybe a shower would clear his rampant thoughts, Dipper thought as he closed the bathroom door behind himself. He leaned against the aged wood and breathed a stressed sigh, peeling off his pyjamas after a few silent moments. His dream the night before had been anything but pleasant. After his whole exchange with Bill, he didn’t exactly expect to have sweet dreams anyway, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it.

Each article of clothing he stripped off his slightly sweaty body dropped carelessly to the floor as he traversed the room to the tub. He ran a hand through his damp hair as he stepped in and drew the curtain shut. The warm water on his skin allowed his muscles to relax. He took a cleansing breath. With the sound of the strong water current filling the room, Dipper couldn’t help himself from breaking into song.

“Disco girl, coming through! That girl is you!♪”

Twenty song-filled minutes later, the preteen stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed with a smile on his face. Before he could even reach for a towel, a light grey figure sprang from the mirror  leaving behind a ripple effect of dimensional dark matter. Dipper’s heart skipped a beat and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He stumbled back with a shriek, tripping over the edge of the bathtub and landing flat on his butt inside. Bill burst out into laughter.

“Boy, you have the grace of a drunken ox with two left feet!” he mocked, pointing and laughing. Dipper grumbled and pulled himself back to his feet. “So what’s up, Pine Tree?” He hesitated a moment, eye flicking down between the other’s legs and then back up to his face. “Clearly not you.”

Face flushing red as a cherry, Dipper gasped and scrambled to cover up. He yanked a towel down from the rack and hastily wrapped it around his waist.

“Seriously? What are you doing here?”

“Just thought I’d drop in on my little pet,” said Bill, examining his figurative nails.

“Pet?” Dipper protested, “No way, do not go around calling me that!”

“Would you prefer slave?”

“No!”

“How ‘bout underling? Minion?”

“None of the above! What’s with these degrading names, anyway?”

“Degrading? Wow, rude. You’re the minion of an all-knowing, all-powerful dream demon, and you think being my pet is degrading? Jeez, kid, where did you learn your manners?–or lack thereof, for that matter.”

“Ugh, whatever. Did you have to schedule your visit for just as soon as I got out of the shower?”

“Accidents happen, yanno.” Dipper rolled his eyes.

“So did you come to finish paying me back finally?” he asked.

“Yeesh, is your mind in the gutter twenty-four-seven?”

“Bill,” Dipper lashed, extending his arms emphatically, “why are you here?”

“I suppose I was curious about why you were so desperate last night that you were willing to exchange your soul for a good time,” Bill drawled in response. “If it were any other adolescent fleshbag I wouldn’t be surprised, but you…what’s your motive, kid?”

All of Dipper’s muscles tensed back up, jaw slacking agape. He went wide-eyed and blushed again.

“O-oh,” he stammered. What was he supposed to say? For some stupid reason, he hadn’t expected Bill to see through his façade and was ill prepared for confrontation. He squeezed his eyes shut, balling his fists at his side. A frog leapt into his throat and without even thinking about it, blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Well, y-you see the truth is that I sorta” he bit his lip, “have a crush on you.” All his blood ran cold.