Chapter Text
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"The lonely one offers his hand too quickly to whomever he encounters."
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra
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It's 1 am, the sky's dark, and stars are sparkling in the night sky. A particular university in New York was, of course, silent throughout the whole campus as the hours of darkness went by. Pretty much everyone in the residence hall of the Rinchester Institute of Technology was asleep.
Except for Bill Cipher, who was studying for a quiz in his psychology class. He was wearing glasses with a big black square frame as he read through his book carefully. The lights were completely on in his room and he was sitting by his desk, completely focused. That is, until he heard a clanking and banging noise from outside.
Bill finally lifted his head and stood up. He was only in his yellow t-shirt and black boxers with eyes printed all over them, but he didn't care; he went outside to investigate anyway. As he opened his door, light flooded part of the dark hallway. He didn't bother bringing a flashlight as he could see quite well in the dark, and also because there's only one place where that sound of metal could have come from if it really was from the hallway; the vending machine.
Bill walked through the dark hallway with caution. Luckily, though, the vending machine wasn't that far from his room. It didn't take him long before he found a brunet with an arm stuck in the vending machine. He burst out laughing, only to have the brunet glare at him. The sound echoed throughout the hallway. Good thing he didn't seem to wake anyone up. Well, looks like he wasn't the only one awake now.
"Jesus, how did that even happen?!" he asked as he laughed. The stranger was clearly irritated when he responded. His glare grew more intense as he pursed his lips in annoyance.
"Shut up."
Bill was still chuckling, but he helped him get his arm unstuck. He got him out, but the can of soda the brunet held was smashed now. Well, that's better than being stuck till later morning. The stranger was hesitant, but he let him help. Not like he had much of a choice, anyway. No one's gonna pass through this hallway till a few more hours.
"Er, thanks. Why are you awake, though? It's freaking 1 am," he said, standing up. A smug smirk spread across Bill's face as he thought of a reply.
"I could ask you the same thing."
A faint blush of embarrassment crept up on the brunet's face when the taller man said that. He thought it was quite annoying though, both that look on his face and his words. He wasn't glaring anymore, but he still looked at the man warily.
"...I was writing."
It was only then that he noticed the can in his hand was smashed and the Pitt Cola was spilling all over his arm and part of his shirt. He groaned, even more frustrated now because his favorite soda was wasted.
"Uck, it's all over my arm and I didn't even get to drink any of it. I got my arm stuck in a vending machine for nothing, that's just great."
He attempted to wipe the soda off his arm with his hand, but that obviously didn't work. He just sighed, tired with all this. Bill chuckled as he watched the man who was clearly done with his life. He smiled and decided to give him a little break; it looked like he really needed one.
"Hey, want to go in my room? I have a few cans Pitt Cola there if you want some," he said, pointing at his room. The brunet looked surprised for some reason.
"Oh, our rooms are right across each other, apparently. Well uh, you don't really have to, it's alright..." the shorter man replied, politely turning down the man's offer. It was strange how he was nice all of the sudden. What's with this guy?
"Nah, I think you could use a break. You definitely love that soda if you got your arm stuck in a vending machine for it, right?" The brunet was about to get mad at the taller man for teasing him, but he had a point he couldn't deny. Bill smirked once again as he saw the brunet's facial expressions change. How amusing.
The brunet sighed in defeat and replied, "Alright, I'll be your guest." Bill's smirk became a genuine grin; he was actually quite excited to have a guest at 1 in the morning. He led the brunet into his room and closed the door. While his guest looked around a little, Bill walked to his closet and picked out a black shirt with yellow designs on it. He walked back and offered it to him.
"Here, you can borrow it for now. Some of the soda spilled onto your shirt too."
"It's fine, our rooms are across each other, I could just go and get one of my o--"
Bill placed the shirt into his hand before he could even finish rejecting his nice offer. The brunet stared at the taller man for a while, taken aback. In the end, he just shrugged and smiled. The look on the man's face was admittedly kind of cute, resembling a happy child's. He was insistent, but not so intimidating.
"Alright, alright," he chuckled. "Bathroom's over there, by the way," Bill said, pointing to the said room's direction. The brunet went inside and closed the door. He washed up before taking off his shirt and replacing it with the one the taller man lent him. It was a little loose, but it was comfortable. Once he was done fixing himself up, he went out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. He was in a better mood now thanks to this stranger.
"You can look around if you'd like, I know you're curious," Bill said. He was right, and so the brunet did; the room was pretty neat and organized. The furniture and appliances were the same as the ones in his room, of course, since they were provided by the school. Other than those, he saw books, papers, and writing materials on his desk. Other than Bill's textbooks, most books were either related to demons, romance, or smut. The first one was strange, but he didn't question it.
"What's your name, Pine Tree?" Bill asked. The shorter man raised his eyebrow and didn't exactly answer his question just yet. "Why 'Pine Tree'?" he replied. "It's on your cap." Bill pointed at it to prove his point. His guest shrugged, satisfied with his answer.
The brunet sat on the edge of Bill's bed. "My name's Dipper Pines," he said. Bill took a can of Pitt Cola from his fridge and, as he promised, offered it to Pine Tree. "Name's Bill Cipher."
Dipper took the soda and sipped from it. When the pit reached his lips, he immediately took it out and threw it in the trash can. He always wondered how the drink wasn't poisonous; the pit of a peach contained cyanide. Perhaps that was why this was his favorite soda; maybe it wasn't the taste, but the way it always piqued his curiosity.
"Hey, what course are you taking?" he asked, trying to start a conversation. Bill walked back to his chair and sat down before answering, "Psychology BS. You?" He went back to studying, but he still listened to his guest's response. "Media Arts and Technology BS. Oh, and thanks for the Pitt, by the way," he said. "It's a little late for you to thank me, but no problem," Bill replied. Dipper just sat there and watched him study from afar, sipping from the can every now and then.
Huh, this is the first time someone else is in my room. Nice. Now, why did I lend a stranger my shirt when he could have gotten one of his own?
An hour and maybe a half had passed before Bill was finally done studying. He yawned and turned his chair around along with himself, only to find his guest asleep in his bed. He chuckled and stood up, pushing his chair back to his desk. He carefully lifted the brunet's legs and put him in a more comfortable position, then tucked him in. He took off his cap and placed it on the nightstand. The taller man looked at the brunet's face and thought he was cute while he was sleeping.
He gently ran his fingers through the brunet's hair. Hm, fluffy.
Bill chuckled and walked back to his desk. He took out a marker from his drawer and went back to Dipper. Holding in his laughter, he held the brunet's face to tilt it to the side a little, then pulled the cap off his marker. He carefully pressed the tip onto Dipper's cheek and made sure he wouldn't wake up. He drew a dick. He took out his phone and snapped a picture, but he didn't post it or anything.
That's what you get for making me sleep on my desk again.
Laughing lightly, he put the marker back in the drawer and read just a little more from his textbook, just to pass the time. He really did fall asleep on his desk again.
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Dipper groaned and lazily opened his eyes. He was a little confused as he didn't see the usual surroundings he woke up to; this obviously wasn't his room. It took him a few seconds to remember that Bill invited him in here. The scent of bacon filled the room and that seems to be what woke the brunet up. He sat up, causing part of the blanket drop from his body. He was a little surprised; he couldn't even remember falling asleep in the first place. He guessed that Bill was the one who covered him with the blanket.
Well, if Bill did this, he might actually be pretty nice...despite teasing me and all. Not as suspicious as I thought.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, Bill walked in front of the bed and set two plates of eggs and bacon on his desk. He glanced at Dipper, snickering. The brunet saw his body slightly shaking and wondered if he was laughing. "Hey, how long have I been asleep?" he asked, yawning. Bill was definitely chuckling when he replied, "I dunno, it's kinda...hard to tell without a clock...pff..."
Dipper raised his eyebrow, even more confused now. "I'll go take a look..." Bill said, holding in his laughter unsuccessfully as he took a few steps and turned his head to look at the clock. "I think you need a little more sleep, Bill..." Dipper said, thinking that maybe he was going crazy because he stayed up past 1 am.
"You might want to wash up first, Pine Tree," Bill suggested, snickering more than before. "Okaaay...?" Dipper replied, still thinking that he needed some mental help. He walked to the bathroom, glancing back at Bill every few steps. The taller man was just watching him, desperately trying not to laugh out loud.
Dipper stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, then turned to look at the mirror. Now he knew exactly why he was laughing. His eyes widened in a mix of surprise and a ton of annoyance.
"BILL, WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Bill finally burst out laughing and slumped onto the bed, slamming his fists onto the sheets repeatedly.
I TAKE IT BACK. HE'S AN ASSHOLE. A TOTAL ASSHOLE.
"Don't worry, I made sure it's washable!" Bill yelled as he laughed. Dipper was still annoyed as fuck as he washed off the drawing on his cheek. He found it easy to remove, so Bill really did tell the truth. Still, that didn't change the fact that he's a total ass...and a really immature adult. Seriously, dick jokes in college?
Dipper slammed the bathroom door open and stormed out. Bill was still laughing until he glanced at the clock again. "Oop, it's 7:30, I better get ready!" he said. Dipper's suddenly froze in place, completely forgetting his anger for a second. His eyes widened when he realized he had 10 minutes left.
"I-I only have ten minutes left oh my god! I need to go!" he yelled, frantically putting on his cap and running to the door of Bill's room. Bill quickly grabbed one of the plates from his desk and gave it to Dipper. "Here, just take your breakfast with you!" he said.
The brunet didn't have the time to thank him when he grabbed it and immediately ran to his door. He accidentally slammed right into his own door, causing him to let out a muffled groan of pain. Rather than cringing like people would usually do, Bill laughed at him.
"Ooo that's gotta hurt! Haha, pain is hilarious!" he yelled, not caring about the people walking through the hallway. Dipper would have yelled at him, but he had to hurry before he was late. He grabbed his key from his pocket and unlocked his door, then ran inside and slammed it shut.
Bill just watched him as he laughed until the brunet was finally in his own room. He then closed his door and sat by his desk, then started to eat breakfast by himself.
Gotta admit, that's the most exciting thing that's happened to me so far in this university. I'm gonna bug him every day!
Oh right, he still has my shirt. Almost forgot!
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Dipper walked to Bill's door when it was his break time. He was holding the shirt he lent him last night with one hand as he knocked with the other. There was no response. He tried to knock again, but the result was the same.
Maybe he has classes.
The brunet put the shirt back into his bag and headed for the library.