Sincerely Yours, Bill Cipher

Loved Any Less

As we turn to leave, Tyler calls out in a broken tone, "Wait! Can- can all of you see and hear him?"
I shake my head. "No. That's the thing. Only five people can. That's it. Me, Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica, and Merrily." They each nod their heads in turn as mentioned. "We think it's because he died with regrets concerning the each of us. I'm- I'm sorry you're not one."
"So am I," he replies softly.
I walk up to him and murmur softly while the others are putting themselves together, "But when he first appeared a few days after the funeral, nearly the first thing out of his mouth was how upset he was over the fact that you and your mom couldn't see him. He was so distraught, it's so apparent how much he loves you."
He smiles, his lip quivering. "And never let him forget how much his older brother loves him too." He straightens and clears his throat. "Anyway, I'm really sorry about everything. But I hope you can understand why I... acted out, I guess you could say."
     Man, has Yule worked some wonders on this guy. "Of course. I understand."
     Brindle has latched onto Florian behind us. He's assuring her that he's okay, though I can see the deep bruise forming on his face. He's looking much less like Yule now, all of his glamour wearing off. He looks warily at Tyler. Florian pulls away from his wife to stand face to face with his replacement. "You're taller than I thought."
Tyler laughs. "Well, I guess aging works differently in our worlds. You look just like I did when I was Yule's age."
Florian tilts his head. "I still can't believe you lived. You were one of the sick fae babies- a throw away, practically, permanently glamoured up to look like me. And yet, your family must have still loved you and cared for you very much, for you lived. About what you said earlier- they never found out you were different?"
"With hard work on my end," Tyler admits. "You can't imagine how long it took to replace all the steel utensils with aluminum ones without getting caught." He laughs, trying to brush it off as no big deal.
But Florian's face falls into a frown. "But would it have really turned out so bad if they did know? Your life could be so much easier if your family was aware. Think of how many less allergic reactions you'd have, how much better it would be to discuss you just being you, and not me, with your mother?"
"I'm afraid she wouldn't understand," Tyler whispers. "I hid this all my life so I wouldn't be loved any less. So that I wouldn't be seen as a monster by those I cared about most. And yeah, I'm scared that I really did cause my family members's deaths, just because of what I am. How could my mother ever even look at me after that?"
Florian shrugs it off. "Anyone can die. Anyone. It's nothing to blame yourself for. Everyone will die at some point, you just don't know when and how. It's natural. And please excuse me for saying this, but I think it may actually make you feel better about this: death is more natural than you are. It's sad to say, but everything dies, but changelings are pretty artificial, at least as far as appearances go. But whenever something unlucky or horrible happens, don't pin it on yourself, because, almost always, those things aren't because of you, they're just life."
     Yule, who must have been eavesdropping from where he is with Merrily, yells back to me, "And tell Tyler that my life was better because I had him! I heard what he said earlier about wanting what the human he replaced had, but tell him that I don't care who's human or not- I don't want that other Tyler, I want my brother! And my real brother is only the person I spent my whole life growing up with, changeling or not."
     I tell Tyler this, and he practically glows with happiness.
     "For future reference, if there ever is one," Florian says, dipping his head, "My name is Florian, not Tyler."
     Tyler grins. "It's nice to meet you, Florian, not Tyler. Maybe we'll have the pleasure of meeting again."
     "Perhaps," Florian replies with a curious cock of his head. "Come, Brindle," he says, extending a hand to his wife. They grasp hands and he dips his head to us all. "It's probably best that we take our leave."
"Wait!" Mabel shouts before they can go. "Where's your kitchen?" she asks Tyler. He points her in the direction, and she runs off.
After a few curious glances between ourselves, she returns within the minute. She's holding a kitchen cloth wrapped around what I assume to be a handful of ice. "Here." She hands it to Florian. "You're going to get a black eye soon enough. Hold this to your face, and it should numb the pain for now."
Florian receives it with a smile.
Dipper also steps up. "What can I give you both in trade for your help? I remember we had a deal? I know things didn't quite work out as we expected, but we're still in debt to you."
     "Hmm..." Florian ponders. "Your firstborn should do nicely."
     "What?"
     "It was a jest! Only a joke!" Florian shakes his hands in denial and laughs. "In all seriousness though, I have an odd request, if it's okay with Brindle." He flashes a look at his wife. "I know as fae, we're meant to be pretty secluded from humans. However... it's true that I'm not really a faerie. If we ever show up here again, would it perhaps be alright to visit, see what the human world is like? I've always wondered. Of course, if it's trouble, I could visit on my own, or-"
     Mabel stops him. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!"
    Florian smiles back. "Yeah?" He tenderly touches Brindle's belly. "I also want our baby to experience... both worlds, I guess? It's something I never got to do, but for a child that's half faerie and half human... I want it to have the chance to choose which to spend its life in."
     Brindle gasps. "Florian, are you serious?"
     "I am." He smiles sadly. "Because I never got that choice." She starts looking sad too, so her lifts her and swings her around with a giggle. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have chosen where I ended up, my darling!"
     Dipper nods. "Well, all three of you are welcome back at any time."
     "Wonderful," Florian replies contentedly. "And with that," he says, looping arms with Brindle, "we away!" They grin and turn, walking away with bouncy charm in their step, their heads together lovingly. They leave their sweetly earthen smell behind them, and I wonder how soon we will see them again.
     With a final farewell to Tyler, the six of us find our way out in pairs as well, echoes of the lovers before us.