The stars are just starting to come out when a pair of headlights cuts through the dusky darkness.

You lift your head from Will's shoulder, squinting at the car. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust against the sudden light, but once they do, you recognize the car. It's your mother's.

The car shuts off, and Pacifica Northwest-Larson climbs out. "Yasmin? Is that you?"

You gesture at Will to wait on the porch and then stand up. "Yeah, Mom." You head over to her to give her a hug.

Pacifica hugs you, then rolls her eyes. "I swear, I love that man, but he is keeping you too late. I came to pick you up and give him a talking-to. Why are you out here? Who's on the porch, Dipper?"

Your heart skips. Right. Yet another adult to explain Will to.

"No," you say. "Dipper. . . well, Dipper might end the apprenticeship."

"What? Why?"

"Because. . . Well, come see."

You lead Pacifica over to the porch. Will jumps to his feet when you arrive, and Pacifica looks him over in the light bleeding from the Mystery Shack. "Who's this?"

"H-hi," Will says. "I'm Will."

"Pacifica," she replies. She turns to you. "And what were you doing outside in the dark with this boy?"

"Mo-om!" you whine. "It wasn't anything like that. We just came out here to watch the sunset."

"And to leave Dipper alone," Will adds. "He doesn't like me much."

"Why not?"

"Because," Will says frankly, "I'm Bill Cipher's brother."

Stunned silence. Your mother is usually quick to process things, but she simply stands there, giving Will an expressionless stare.

"He's not like Bill though!" you say, rushing to fill the silence. "But Dipper still doesn't like the idea of another dream demon walking around."

"I don't either," Pacifica says slowly, her eyes not leaving Will's face. "Wasn't Bill a triangle, though?"

"He was," Will says. "We have the ability to assume a humanoid form in the mindscape, but he found that laughable. He stuck to being a triangle. I've always liked it, though, so this was the body I chose when Yasmin helped me gain a physical form."

Pacifica finally breaks her gaze to look at you instead of Will. "Didn't Weirdmageddon start when Bill got a physical form? And you're responsible for Will's?"

Your eyes linger on Pacifica's shoes. "Yeah. . . that's why Dipper isn't sure he wants to keep me on as his apprentice."

"If it helps," Will says, "I have no plans to start another Weirdmageddon."

"Mom," you say, "can Will come back with us? He just got a physical form today, and he needs a place to stay."

Pacifica hesitates. "I. . . I don't know, Yasmin. . ."

"It's fine," Will hurries to say. "I can fend for myself."

"N-no, I suppose you can stay with us," Pacifica says. "If you go on a destructive rampage, it won't matter whether or not you're in our house, will it? It'll still get destroyed either way." She tries to say it lightly, with a note of humor, but it falls flat. "Well, I guess I'll go in and talk to Dipper about all this. You two come in too, so Wendy can keep an eye on you."

Your face flushes. You get that it's a mom thing, that she doesn't want you alone with a boy, but geez, does she have to be so embarrassing about it? It's not like you and Will would get up to any shenanigans out here!

You obediently follow her in, though, to mollify her.

"Oh, hello, Pacifica," Wendy says, coming into the room. "Did you swing by for Yasmin?"

"Yes," Pacifica says, "but it appears that I need to talk to Dipper about this. . . Will."

"I believe he's still down in his lab," Wendy says. "I'll go down and get him. Watch Fordsie for a bit, won't you?"

Stanford is laying on a blanket in the middle of the room, toys scattered around him, waving his little fists and making gurgling noises. You crouch down beside him. "Hey, little guy. Sorry it's been so crazy in here today."

"Is that what human babies look like?"

You look up as Will sits on the ground nearby. "Yeah," you say. "They're pretty adorable, huh?"

"They are, I gotta admit," he says. "Dream demons aren't ever babies. We're just. . . manifested one day. A bunch of energy brought together to make a person."

You wrinkle your nose. "That's weird."

"Any more weird than being born a helpless little thing who relies on other organisms to survive?"

You laugh.

You spend a few minutes with Stanford, blowing raspberries and mimicking his various babbling noises. Will watches, amused. "Here, come say hi," you say.

Will moves a little closer. "Hello, small child," he says fondly to Stanford.

You pick the baby up and cradle him in your arms. "If you put your finger out, he'll wrap his hand around it."

Will does as you suggest, putting his finger next to Stanford's tiny hand. He latches on almost immediately, his miniscule fingers wrapping around Will's average-sized one.

Will lets out a small gasp. You don't blame him. Few things are more precious than having a baby's hand wrapped around your finger.

"His hand is so tiny," Will whispers in awe.

You hear footsteps on the stairs up from the basement, but they suddenly stop, replaced by a strangled noise. You look up to see Wendy, standing in the doorway, staring in horror at the sight of a dream demon touching her baby.

Oh gosh, you didn't even realize —

You move Stanford away from Will and put him back down on the blanket. You and Will stand up hurriedly. "S-sorry," Will says. "I just. . . your baby is adorable," he finished awkwardly, blushing blue.

Wendy rushes over to the blanket and scoops baby Stanford into her arms. "I'm sure you meant well," she says stiffly, "but I don't want a potential danger near my child."

She goes over to talk to Pacifica, who's settled onto a couch across the room.

Will growls in frustration. "A potential danger?" he says through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, Will," you say.

"I understand their paranoia," he says, "but that doesn't make it any easier. They're all just assuming that I'm a danger because I'm a dream demon. A name that your species came up with for mine, for the record."

You lean over to give him a hug. "I don't think you're a danger."

He sighs, his body relaxing. "Thanks, Yasmin."

More footsteps on the stairs, this time belonging to Dipper. He looks at you and Will hugging, then sighs and heads over to where Pacifica is sitting. They start talking quietly, frequently glancing over at Will.

You want to eavesdrop on their conversation, but then decide that it'll probably just depress you. Who knows what awful things they could be saying about Will when they don't think either of you are listening.

An idea strikes you. "C'mon," you say, grabbing Will's hand. "Let's go get some food. You'll love it." You lead him towards the door to the living room. "Hey Wendy, can we raid your pantry? I wanna introduce Will to the wonders of food."

The adults' conversation pauses, and they all look up at you. "Sure," Wendy says, waving a weary hand.

Well, a weary agreement is better than a denial. You pull Will through the door before any of them can change their mind.

You can't do anything about what the adults are saying, so you might as well try to distract Will from it. And what better way to do that than letting him try food for the first time? Food may not fix everything, but it sure does help.

You grab Will's hand and pull him behind you to the kitchen.