Nobody Forgets Bill Cipher

Advantages Over You

     As we walk home, Yule begins to tell me about his dreams from last night.
"They were so weird," Yule makes a face, explaining the henchmaniacs he came across. "The Teeth dude was honestly just annoying. And the scary part was, he just kinda looked like a teenager. But, like, in a super unsettling way, you know? It was creepy. I also met Pyronica."
"You did?" I grimace in disgust.
"You seem to dislike her more than the others," Yule notices and points out. "Why is that?"
"Oh man." I heave a sigh. "It's a long story, since I've known those guys for millennia, but I can make it short. Of course, I was fine with them up until I was turned human, but now I realize that Pyronica has always been unsettling. She'll take advantage of you any chance she gets. It's the worst because she does so by acting like you can take advantage of her. She acts like she'll do just about anything for you, but really, she's getting her way each time. I would know, she and I used to..." I spit out the next word harshly, "date."
Yule gapes and stifles shocked laughter. "No way!"
I give him a playful shove. "So what? I've existed for a trillion years. A mere seventeen-year-old like you couldn't comprehend what it's like to exist even close to that long!"
Yule crosses his arms. "Can, too," he counters. "You're only seventeen in human years. What if that's equal to a trillion years in demon years? You know, like dog years."
"No, that's ridiculous. I have existed for a literal (human, mind you) trillion years. Years are different in separate universes and worlds and dimensions, so I've converted my years conveniently into human time for you so you can easily understand it."
"Fine, fine!" Yule surrenders, throwing up his hands in play defeat. "Just continue what you were saying before."
I nod with a satisfied, victorious grin. "Anyway, I've dated many girls. I mean, none of them were human or anything. Most were dream demons, but I've come across millions of beings. All the ones I associated myself with were chaotic, though. I always made sure they weren't more powerful than I, but that they could aide me in destruction and other amusing things to me at the time. Not one of those relationships was actually serious, though. It was different from how Mabel and I are. I didn't really care about them. My entire existence, in my eyes, was to cause chaos and have a great time causing it. Nevertheless, yes, I 'dated' Pyronica. She always took advantage of me, but I didn't really care, because I was Bill Cipher. I could have anything I wanted! Now I realize that even so, it was foolish of me to stick around her, or any of them, for that matter.
"The worst part is, she acts all innocent and sweet, even when I saw her in my dreams, but I know, if she can lure anyone close enough to her, especially a human-" I make a slicing motion across my throat.
     "Don't worry," Yule assures me, "I'm not even into her." He gives me a grin and snickers.
     "Hey!" I yelp. "I'm not! That would be disgusting." I wrinkle my nose and stick my tongue out for emphasis.
     He laughs. "I know! I'm just messing with you. Anyway," he gives a playfully dreamy look to the distance, dramatically placing his hands over his heart, "our hearts belong other girls."
I raise my eyebrow at his statement. "And who exactly does yours belong to?" Of course, I'm only teasing him. I know exactly who he likes. I'm sure he'll regret telling me his crush soon enough, though. "Hmm..." I say in mock thought. "Could her name start with an M," I give him a sideways glance and a smile, "and end with an -errily?"
"Bill, stop!" His face turns bright red.
     I laugh. "C'mon, Yule. You know I'll be your wingman." I nudge him.
     Somehow, his face grows even redder. "I don't need a wingman."
     "You're not fooling anyone," I reply with a smile.
     "It's not like she even notices me anyway," Yule retorts briskly. "It's like I'm a ghost." He frowns and scuffs his shoe along the ground.
      I sigh dramatically. "Your day will come, my friend." I switch my mindset to our more serious matter. "So that's all you dreamt about?"
"Yeah. Those demons were just annoying and slightly creepy," he grimaces by scrunching up the right side of his face. "They tried to get to me, but they don't know me, you know? Especially because they can't read my mind or anything. So, if I had met 8-Ball, this might have been an entirely different story.
"You, on the other hand, well, they know you. They have advantages over you. Maybe that's why it wasn't so bad for me," Yule figures with a shrug.
"That..." I wonder aloud, "actually makes sense. Nevertheless, we should hurry back. The others may not have had a night as mild as yours."
Yule nods his agreement and we continue to head back to the house.
     As soon as we step through the back door of the Mystery Shack, Mabel turns her head from the far side of the room. She quickly approaches me with a worry-stricken face. I can hear multiple voices sounding from the kitchen at once.
     "Are you okay?" she asks me, then repeats the question to Yule, too, whose eyes are still red from crying.
     "Yeah," we assure her in unison as I close the door behind us.
     She sighs and gives a small smile. "Good. You can tell me if you aren't, though, okay?"
     "We're fine now, Mabel, thank you," replies Yule, gratitude in his voice. He looks calmer than he's been yet since I told him about the vision.
"All right, then," Mabel grabs our wrists and pulls us toward the kitchen. "We have a lot to talk about."