The Lemon Meringue Boy

Part 45

His torso thinned and his limbs elongated and thickened, filling out with muscle. His eye stretched and flattened horizontally, breaking into two. It reminded me of the demonstration of mitosis from eighth grade science. Two flowing suit tails fell from his back. His rough bricks softened to ivory human skin and tufts of thick blonde hair curled from his scalp. Lemon meringue hair.

Finally, the light dimmed and Bill, the same fourteen year old from his own dream, drifted to the floor. His shiny black boot soles gently caught his body weight against the cold, flat cement.

He stumbled forward, using his cane to catch himself. His legs were trembling and his knees bowed inward. He seemed to be having a bit of trouble.

"You okay there, mister?"

"Shut it, Pine Tree. It takes a while. Only humans are built stupidly enough to have these two bony Slim Jims for legs. Only giraffes and daddy longlegs should have to deal with this crap."

After Bill regained his balance, I gave him the once over.

"You're gonna have to lose the suit Bill. No fourteen year old boy wears a suit casually. Same with the pirate eyepatch and bowtie. And about the big eye on the front... that symbol was immediately outlawed after Weirdmaggedon. Lose that too."

"What do you suggest then?"

"I don't know. A hoodie? T-shirt? Jeans? Sneakers? Those are some normal teen things."

Bill's attire morphed accordingly. He now had on a black tee and jet black boot cut jeans, accompanied by a pair of black and white Nikes. Over top he wore a loose yellow hoodie with "Bill" monogramed in Jokerman on the right side of his chest next to a tiny embroidered triangle.

"Yeah... pretty good. But after Weirdmaggedon everything depicting the name Bill or William or the equilateral triangle was burned in a communal fire during which­_"

"I GOT THE MESSAGE!"

The embroidery faded from the fabric. It was then that I realized that one of Bill's eyes was covered. A white patch bandage clung against the thin skin around his eye.

"Bill?"

"WHAT?! I assume that the color yellow is an unholy sin! Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it Pine Tree I wouldn't want to offend you!"

"I was going to ask about that bandage. On your eye."

"Oh. Yeah. That." He straightened himself and relaxed his fists. "Eyes are tricky. Even if I can change most of my appearance, the eye is too complicated to replicate. Too difficult to add another."

"So you just have, like, a socket under there?"

"Something like that."

"Can I see?"

"No."

I decided to leave my curiosity be. So Bill was human. Great. Now we needed an excuse for why Bill was with me.

"Okay Bill. Here's your story: We met online gaming. I can't say that we met at school because I don't have that many friends and the ones that I do have Mabel keeps track of. You told me that you wanted to run away from home because your mom and dad were jerks. Stan will relate. He ran away as a teen and he'd love harboring a fugitive. That also means that you won't ever have to explain why you don't have parents."

"Got it. We met online and got to know each other. I told you that I had decided to sneak out and run away to see you because my jerk parents didn't approve of me or my life choices."

I felt the blood rush to my face. I probably looked like a tomato.

"Yeah... maybe don't say exactly that."

"Why...?"

"No reason. Just don't."

There was no more we could do. Mabel and Ford were bound to come down at any minute. Bill was my gamer friend. He needed a place to live.

A place to live...I had never noticed before, but I never really thought of the arrangement we had as living together. I was just keeping him hidden. But now he was human. He would be sleeping in a bed. I was living with this lemon meringue boy. I was living... with Bill Cipher.

"Okay Bill. Deep breath. Time to face the music."

I started to walk up the stairs, my heart pounding and my hand on the rail. I'd almost forgot a very important part of the lying process. Luckily Bill reminded me.

"Hold it Pine Tree. Is my name still Bill? Because i'm sure that'll be a little more suspicious than we're going for."

"Oh right."

A name. I got to name Bill. I wanted to keep it close, but not too close.

"Your full name is William, right?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

He seemed to hate his full name just like I hated mine. I'd have to remember that.

"Will?"

"NO!!! Will is a weak name! A coward's name! ANYTHING but Will!"

"Why?"

"I know this guy. A real downer. It's not important."

Probably a long story. I didn't push it. What's a good nickname for William? I looked at Bill.

"Liam. Your name is Liam."