Across Dimensions //Will Cipher x Fem!Reader//

20// First Day of Freedom

You and Will head out of the house and into the forest. That's one thing you love about this summer home — the forest, with its wonderful-smelling pine trees and chirping birds and rushing streams, is only a few steps away.

You go fairly deep into the forest, making sure to go in a straight line from the house. You don't want to be near civilization if Will accidentally does something dangerous. A few supernatural creatures pass you and Will, and all of them stop, staring at Will before running off.

"What's up with that?" you ask.

Will sighs, not looking at you. "They recognize me. Not — not me specifically. But they feel what I am. So they run away. I c-can't really blame them, not after what Bill did to this place, but. . ." He trails off.

"But it hurts?" you say softly.

Will nods mutely.

This was not how you were expecting Will's first day of freedom to go. But you do your best to take it in stride.

The two of you walk for a while, not saying anything. The silence is oppressive, but you can't really think of anything to say.

"Yasmin?" Will says suddenly. "What's that?"

Huh? You follow his gaze. He's stopped, peering into the distance. Through the trees, you can see the stone arm of Bill Cipher, stretching out into nothing.

Your heart skips a beat.

Before you can do anything, though, Will suddenly appears in the distance. You jump, turning to look at him — he's still standing next to you, looking puzzled, but he's also over there by the Bill statue. Woah. You knew he could be in multiple places at once, but seeing both versions of him at the same time is unnerving, to say the least.

"Yasmin," calls the Will over by the statue, "why is there a statue of Bill out here?"

You snap back into reality. "Don't go near it!" you say. "There's a force field to keep people out. Dipper said it hurts."

"I doubt I'd get hurt." The Will next to you says this, and you jump. Very unnerving.

"S-still, it's better to just stay away. That's why the force field is there. Going in there could bring him back."

The Will over by the statue disappears, leaving only one Will standing next to you. "Dipper told me how they defeated him. It was rather ingenious, though I'm surprised he couldn't see through the ruse until it was too late. Perhaps. . ." He trails off and shakes his head. With a deep breath, he asks, "Is that. . . is that his body?"

"I-I guess?" you say. You're super curious to know what he was going to say. "Perhaps what?"

Will shrugs, but it doesn't look as casual as he seems to intend. "Perhaps his physical form limited his ability to see into their minds. I guess. . . well, I haven't really tried, but I haven't been able to read your mind since you freed me."

A startled blush springs to your cheeks. "C-could you. . . before?"

"I could. . . feel your thoughts," he said. "Not too often — and it depended on how far your energy jumped in the mindscape. When I pulled you to my cell, I could feel your mind pretty strongly, but it was still. . . fuzzy."

"Oh. Do you. . . want to try that? When we're experimenting?"

He shakes his head to reset his focus. "Right. Experimenting. Let's keep going."

He walks down the forest path, and you follow. You kind of want to ask Will more about his relationship with Bill, but you figure it's a sore subject. Will already has enough to worry about today.