Sincerely Yours, Bill Cipher

What Are We Waiting For

"You," Dipper guides Brindle, "help him."
Dipper's plan should work well. He wants Brindle and Florian to use their limited shapeshifting and glamour to make Florian look as much like Yule as possible. Their magic is not much, as they are still young, so they can only make slight alterations, but that is enough.
"Two dimples." Dipper pokes the sides of Florian's mouth. Florian squirms in discomfort. "One on each side."
With Florian's and Brindle's magic combined, dimples slowly indent his face as he grimaces.
"Hmm," I ponder, inspecting him. "See if you can make your hair appear just a little longer. And your eyes just a bit lighter."
The fae comply, and impressively make the changes I suggest.
"We probably can't hold these new features for more than an hour," Florian explains.
"That's far more time than we'll ever need," I assure him.
Brindle kisses Florian's forehead.
     Florian kisses her on the lips in return.
     "That was only for an extra bit of glamour, Flower," she explains, trying to hide her amused smile from Florian, "so the human will surely see what he wants to see: his brother."
     "Sure it was," Florian replies with a smirk. I'm just relieved that this is all working out so far.
Mabel smiles. "Thank-"
I pinch her hard. She squeals. I shoot her a look to keep quiet. She looks confused, but doesn't make another sound.
I dip my head politely toward the faeries. "If you'll excuse us for a moment." I take Mabel by the shoulders and pull her behind a nearby tree.
"What's this all about?" Mabel asks, throwing up her hands, though she looks concerned.
"Sorry," I mutter in apology. "It's just that there are things you must be careful with around a faerie. Always be polite, but never say 'thank you'. That's offensive to their natural etiquette. They hate boasters and selfish people, also gloominess, liars, and people who intrude on their privacy. We simply happened to run into each other today, so that shouldn't be a problem. It would be a problem, though, if we displeased them. We could receive horrible luck for the rest of our lives. Or favorable luck if we greatly please them. Please, just be careful. It's not like I mean to lecture you, but this is important."
She nods in understanding. "I don't suppose I should thank you for telling me this, then?"
"You're too much." I grin. She giggles softly. We walk back to the others.
"Sorry about that," I apologize when we get back. "Something came to mind that I needed to tell my girlfriend, but everything's fine now. Are we ready to go?"
     "Yes," Dipper replies. "We've delayed enough already."
     Will looks utterly bewildered, but I don't have the time to recap everything that's just happened for him. "We're leaving now," I simply tell him. "Stay behind us and don't do anything.
"But-"
"We have to hurry."
     He looks disappointed. "But, Bill, I came to help you. Isn't there anything-"
"Not now, Will!" I snap at him, losing my patience. I only get a split second to see his hurt face before he vanishes.
I throw my arm out with a cry, trying to stop the inevitable. "No, no, no! Galaxies, why?" I pound my fist against a tree, then pull it back in throbbing pain. "Will, I didn't mean it, I didn't!" I'm so stupid! How could I do that? I knew what happened when I got angry at and neglected Jill and Phil. I told Will that I wouldn't let anything happen to him as well. Tears of frustration and guilt spring to my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Bill," Mabel wraps her arms around me. "I don't know what you two were talking about, but I really am. But right now, the most important thing is to focus on Yule and rescue him. We can worry about everything else later. But right this moment- Yule."
Though incredibly upset, I agree, and we run the rest of the way to the Shields' house.
Pacifica and Merrily are already in the yard by the time we get there. "What took you so long?" Pacifica hisses, her eyes filled with worry. They both gasp when they see the fae behind us. Pacifica's eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Yule?" She looks at the house, then back at Florian. "But- how? What? I don't understand! A- A pulse...?"
"Long story short," I sputter quickly, "this is the real Tyler Shields all glamoured up to look like Yule. His name is Florian. He and his... wife...?" I look to Florian for confirmation. He nods proudly. "Yes, he and his wife Brindle are here to help us in Yule's rescue."
"My gosh, you nearly gave me a heart attack," says Merrily, obviously shocked.
     "The original Tyler Shields," Pacifica muses, "as in, the one that the Tyler we know replaced as a baby?"
Florian groans. "Does it always have to come back to that? I'm just me. I'm just Florian, not Tyler. Can't you please understand that?"
     "My sincerest apologies," Pacifica replies, slightly dipping her head. "Florian, Brindle, it's my pleasure to meet you." Dipper watches her with pride. She's obviously retained all the paranormal information that Dipper's spurted to her over the years.  Florian is gracious for a faerie. He accepts the apology. I suppose he realizes our negligence is not intended to harm him or his self-esteem. As far as fae go, I think we've come across the right ones.
     "Dipper has a plan," Mabel explains to Pacifica and Merrily, who sill look to be comprehending what's going on. "Just follow Florian's lead. Bill's too."
     Pacifica looks at the Shields' house, her eyes full of fear. "I can't hear him scream anymore. Bill, I don't hear a thing." I watch her eyes fill with tears now. "I can't lose him again. I can't."
     "I know, Pacifica," I respond, also fearing that we may be too late. I itch to get inside. "My stars, I know."
     "Then what are we waiting for?" Merrily asks, her hands twitching with intensity. I notice how frantic her run out here was. Her shoes are mismatched. Her hair is unbrushed, matted to one side of her head. I'm half sure that her shorts are the pajamas that she wore to bed. Her gaze is fearful and desperate. And yet, I'm still sure that Yule would go on and on to me about how beautiful she looks at this moment if he were here with us. "Let's go. Quickly, like you said." I think she means for her words to come out in a tone of stressed irritation, but they come out in a tone more choked with worry.
I turn toward Florian. "How good is your acting?"
"Oh, please," he says with a sideways smile. He looks so much like Yule in this moment that my mind is having trouble discerning the two from each other. Florian, this 'Yule' in front of me, brings back painful memories, happy times that I wish I could bring back for my best friend. "Don't doubt my acting skills for a second." Another grin. "We'll have this in the bag."