The Witch in the Woods (Bill Cipher x reader)

Chapter 7

    You take a deep breath before knocking gently on the wooden door three times, letting your hand come back to rest at your side. Bill is currently back at the house, cleaning up the remnants of your potion room so you don’t have to stress about it. You haven’t visited the Mystery Shack in ages so you suppose now is as good a time as ever, considering you haven’t seen them outside a life or death situation in months. You just wish it was under different circumstances as to the real reason why you are here.
    You hear a scuttle of feet along with two, almost recognizable, voices though the speech is unintelligible to you through the door. A second later, the door opens to reveal Dipper Pines, leaving you momentarily surprised. Another second passes for you to realize Mabel is right behind him with her usual large gin. “Dipper? Mabel? I thought you guys were supposed to head on the bus home?”
    “Well, we were but-” Mabel immediately jumps into the conversation, literally because she jumps up and lands in front of Dipper. “We asked our parents if we could stay and they said yes so now we get to spend more time with our Grunkles!” She bounced up and down on her feet, clearly very giddy about this. You laugh lightly and shake your head slightly at her eccentric tendencies. She hasn’t changed since you met her.

********

    You were, like usual, mixing ingredients to make a new recipe because you did like to experiment. It had been quiet recently which bothered you more than if it was utter chaos since you prefered to be busy. However, just as you considered going on a hike, you heard a commotion. Screaming and some sort of scuttling.
    You took a step out of the house just in time to see Dipper and Mabel run through the trees, barely visible between them, then followed by a giant spider; hairy, 8-legged, two large eyes, and a mouth that could slice any human in two. You didn’t know who they were at the time but that didn’t matter to you, so you marched out out of the house to meet up with the chase. You headed towards them diagonally so you could cut off between them and the giant spider.
    You did so successfully, and turned towards said spider with a stern look on your face. “Brittney!” Dipper and Mabel skidded to a stop behind you, both looked terrified and panicked at the prospect of you blocking them from inevitable doom. Brittney, which is the name you’ve given her (the spider that is), stopped immediately and rubbed her fangs together which created a quiet hissing sound. “Don’t you dare give me that. Come here, right now.” She walked over to you.
    You gently patted the top of her head, avoiding her eyes since that could mess with her vision. “Now, listen. What have you told you about trying to attack people, hm? Haven’t I told you not to?” She looked at you and slowly nodded as best she could given her anatomy. “Right. But I bet they were bothering you and went into your cave?” Another nod was given. You sighed. “I want you to head back home and I’ll deal with these two, ok? I promise they won’t bother you again.” She looked at the two again and gave another low hiss then scuttled her way in the opposite direction.
    You turned to look at Dipper and Mabel who both were still thoroughly scared but also amazed. You could very easily figure out why. “I’ve never seen you two around before. Are you new to Gravity Falls?” Mabel was the first one to make a move and strode over to you. “My name is Mabel Pines, and that’s my bro-bro, Dipper! We’re here to visit our Grunkle Stan for the summer!” The name Pines immediately clicked for you back then, but you had brushed it off since you knew exactly what had happened. ”My name is (Y/N).”

********

    A few minutes later and you are already inside the Shack, huddling up on the couch with Dipper on your left and Mabel on your right. “So how long are you two staying?” The TV is playing but it is mostly background noise of Ducktective. “A few months probably. We might just spend the whole school year here.” Both Dipper and Mabel seem excited at that prospect. You are happy for them.
    You spend the next hour or so, sitting and chatting with the two. Waddles comes every now and then so Mabel pours her attention to him, but you don’t mind since he’s such an adorable pig. Dipper talks to you about creatures and mysteries, though nothing is said about Weirdmaggedon nor Bill for obvious reasons. You are glad to see Dipper is still interested in mysteries despite the fact that they tossed the Journals down the bottomless pit.
    “Hey kids, I haven’t heard Mabel scream since…” Stan walks into the room and trails off once he sees you sitting on the couch. He still looks the same, only wearing a white shirt and striped underwear. “Hi Stanley, nice to see you again.” You greet him a bit formally, a little tense with the interaction. You and Stan never really got along before, when Dipper and Mabel weren’t visiting, and it strained more when you found out that he was impersonating Ford. “Yeah, hey. Didn’t realize you were visiting.”
    “My schedule lightened up, so I figured why not.” Your throat tightens slightly as you lie through your teeth, something you are not used to doing. You feel a pit of guilt settle into your stomach. The true reason you are here, and the fact that if it were different that you wouldn’t have visited in the first place, makes you feel a certain ache that you know no potion or herb could cure.
    “Grunkle Stan! Can (Y/N) sleepover?! Pretty, pretty please!!” Mabel suddenly leaps off the couch, standing in front of Stanley while bouncing up and down on her feet. You chuckle lightly and shrug at the look Stan sends you. He sighs. “Sure kid, whatever.” He shuffles off to another room. Mabel squeals and quickly rushes off, presumably to set up a spot for you to sleep...or maybe call Candy and Grenda. You simply smile and watch her run off.
    “Your sister is something else, huh Dipper?” You look towards Dipper to see him rolling his eyes which makes you chuckle a bit more. You know he loves his sister, she is just a bit energetic at times which you can understand. You pause for a second then quickly pull his hat down over his eyes. “Hey!” You laugh and get off the couch as he fixes his hat so he can see. He looks at you and you stick your tongue out at him causing him to roll his eyes for a second time.
    You both hear the sound of the vending machine opening which causes a spur of excitement to go through you, as you know only one person typically goes in and out of the basement, and that’s Ford. Ford is an oddity to you, at least he used to be when you first met him which was only a little while before Weirdmaggedon. 
    You both look over and see him walk in. He looks significantly better since you last saw him. The dark circles under his eyes are gone, and his glasses look brand new. His hair is much less messy and instead of the brown trench coat that he usually wore, it is instead replaced with a comfy looking blue shirt and some beat up blue jeans. Generally, much less scientific but you can tell he still has his smarts.
    “Hey Ford.” You give him a calm and gentle greeting. He looks a little surprised, but welcoming. “Oh, (Y/N), didn’t expect you to be here. How have you been the past few weeks?” You pause for a moment before answering, trying to figure how to word it without mentioning Bill. “Well, busy like usual. I still get a lot of visits from everyone and I saw Olross about two weeks ago. My potions room got destroyed yesterday though so…” You immediately trail off, thinking a second too late that you shouldn’t have admitted that.
    “Your potions? Destroyed? Who would have done that? The creatures love you, and the townspeople don’t bother you.” You have been wondering the same. You know Bill wouldn’t do it, the creatures don't ever sneak in, and the townsfolk pretend you don’t exist for the most part. You shrug. “I don’t really know myself, but whoever did it made a big mess. All my potions were destroyed along with all my beakers and stuff.” Ford looks insightful for a moment.
    “Then shouldn’t you be at home, cleaning it up and stuff?” Dipper chimes in, looking a bit worried. “You didn’t have to let Mabel make you sleep over.” You smile, feeling a warmth in your chest from the care Dipper seems to have. Sometimes you forget that other people exist, you’ve been isolated for too long. “It’ll be fine Dipper, I have time. And besides, I really missed you guys. I figured I needed a break.” 
    Dipper seems to accept this answer and nods to you, heading upstairs to meet with his sister. You glance over at Ford, who hasn’t said much of anything since he entered, and appears to have a thinking look on his face. You figure he might be thinking of a new invention, or maybe even a creature he’s seen in the forest. Either way, you don’t want to pull him from his thoughts so you leave him be and follow Dipper upstairs. 
    Mabel had enough time to set up a small sleeping bag in between their beds, though she did take care of making it as comfortable as possible by adding a bunch of pillows, stuffed animals, and blankets galore. She spots you the moment you walk in and looks rather proud of her work. You walk over and flop onto the pile, feeling yourself sink into the soft fabrics of everything, and you even bounce a little bit. Waddles goes and hops on top of you so you lovingly pet the guy. 
    It’s still early in the afternoon so you have some time to kill before it gets late. You sit up with your elbows and look at the two who each sit on their respective bed. “So...We doing truth or dare, or what?” Mabel squeals in excitement and jumps off her bed while Dipper sighs, already probably imagining what the rest of the day has in store. You are wondering the same, thinking of some truths and dares of your own while mentally preparing for what could possibly be asked of you. It’s about to be a wild night.