Oak Tree | BillDip

Chapter 22 - Tears and Thrones

Dipper looked at himself in the mirror in the large private bathroom connected to his room. He rarely looked at himself and whenever he did, he pointed out details that weren't there when he was twelve.

His muscles were more defined from training with Bill and exercising with Pyronica and some other demons over the years. His hair was still curly and sometimes Pyronica would cut his hair when it got too long for his tastes. He went outside a lot; just to look around and explore like he has always done. Sometimes he saw people and they recognized and feared him...he only just walked away and went on with his own life. He helped survivors whenever he was out there, but never when they could see him. Sometimes he would turn himself invisible and give them supplies and all that...not like Bill or the other henchmaniacs would know.

He'd also grown taller. Bill provided him the clothes he needed and Dipper never ran out of bathroom stuff. He always took a shower at night—which was not something he would normally do before Weirdmageddon. He took a shower every night to not only wash off the grim and dirt but also to wash off the guilt of leaving his family behind.

His personality and interests have not changed, although. He still tried to solve mysteries whenever he could and sometimes when he was bored enough, he would ask some certain demons if they had any riddles for him to solve. He would sometimes complete small errands with Bill, but none were very important to mention. He had Kryptos or someone to bring him books from the castle's library to read since he could never stomach going in there again.

Dipper was yanked out of his thoughts when he heard rapid knocking on his door. Sighing, he sat up from his chair in front of his desk and walked over. When he was about to reach the handle, the knocking started again. He opened it irritably, "Chill out—Woah, man, are you okay?"

Bill stood there in front of his door in a terrible state—he was crying, crying, and his clothes and hair were all messed up. His face and eyes were red and this was never something Dipper would ever think he would see in his entire life.

"What do you think?" The demon shot back, pushing his way into Dipper's room. Dipper was to taken aback to even really notice or care. He shut the door behind him and sat on his bed, waiting for Bill to speak.

Said demon was clutching his arms and he was staring at the wall. He was still despite the sobs wracking his body. He didn't make any noise except the deep breaths he took, trying to calm his breathing.

"Bill," Bill jumped and turned his glowing eyes on him as Dipper patted the spot beside him on the bed. "Come lay down."

Bill furrowed his brows in confusion but cautiously walked over to lay next to him anyway. Dipper carefully brought his hand up to caress Bill's hair. Bill watched his every move. Bill looked so vulnerable, and it was something that Dipper could not really believe. But it was happening. Turning human must have given him these special emotions, too.

"A-are you playing with my hair?"

Dipper's hand stilled. "If you want me to stop—"

Bill's own hand stopped Dipper's hand from going away. "No, I," Bill closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "It feels...nice. Thank you."

Dipper smiled and continued. Mabel and his parents used to do this to him whenever he's had a bad dream. It had always made him feel better.

"Have you really gone four years without crying?" Dipper mused, wanting to break the silence.

Bill didn't answer for a second. "No," he said after a while. "I cried for hours the first time when the stress got too much for me—ruling the world, giving orders, all that. It's still weird to me. This is the first time I came to someone, though." Bill met his eyes and smiled up at him. "Thanks." Dipper smiled back. Being human really did make a big impact on him.

They both drifted to sleep after that.

Dipper awoke the next day to Bill gently shaking him awake. "C'mon, get ready, I want to show you something in the throne room." Then he left.

Dipper shrugged and got out of bed and got ready for the day. It may be interesting, seeing that Bill woke him for that. Maybe it was to just get a taste of what stuff happens in the throne room...which he had done before. Whatever this is, it might be special. But perhaps not.

He grabbed his hat off the dresser and walked downstairs to the throne room, gliding his hand along the walls as he did so.

Bill was waiting for him at the entrance. He was wearing his normal fancy yellow-and-black themed attire. He gave a mocking bow and said, "Your kingdom awaits milady!"

"I don't like you."

"I was just joking," Bill snorted. "Let's go. The henchmaniacs are waiting."

They walked through the entrance and Dipper asked, "Why is me coming here so special to you today?"

Bill looked at him incredulously. "Can I not invite my favorite Pine Tree to my throne room at any time? Aren't you my friend?"

Dipper blushed at my favorite Pine Tree. "Yeah, I'm your friend, but—"

"Great! Let's go."

Maybe it was their especially tender moment last night or something else, but Dipper really didn't expect Bill to grab his arm and teleport them onto the stone throne.

"Uhh..." Dipper said unsurely. He was sitting on people right now.

Bill must've read his face. "It's just stone, you know."

"Right."

Then Dipper paid attention to the rest of the room. The henchmaniacs inside a few moments ago were laughing and having a good time, but now they were hushed. They were looking up that them upon the throne and were exchanging hushed whispers. Dipper saw Pyronica from down below and he swore she gave him a thumbs up, though barely distinguishable from her flames.

That's when Bill spoke, "What's the matter with you lot?" His voice projected clearly upon everyone. "Odd to see Pine Tree sitting on my throne with me?"

The demons began talking again and Dipper shuffled. He wasn't used to all of this attention, especially while he was sitting on Bill Cipher's throne. He felt like he was in control.

Then suddenly the doors opened. Henchmaniacs shuffled into the throne room and he felt Bill stiffen. In the middle of the demons were a group of human survivors—they were all dirty and Dipper swore he could catch a whiff of them up there from the throne, but it was probably just the demon senses.

The survivors were staring up wide-eyed at both him and Bill.

One of them said, "Dipper Pines! That's Dipper Pines!"