It had taken some time to calm Dipper down enough so that he was able to speak again. Hours full of soft sobs and tense silences had passed. Soos had made each of them a hot chocolate, in which Stan had added a dash of rum, while Soos had brought Dipper not just a cocoa but also another cup with green tea. Even when the sweet smell had brushed against his newly formed nostrils, his instincts had guided his hand to the tea instead. His nose was able to make out each different herb that was used for it, even the ones he couldn't name. Dipper kneaded the warm porcelain between his fingertips, while his face reflected in the golden liquid, so that he was able to watch his new muzzle twitch when he spoke up again.

"Bill came to me a few days ago, he knew that I'd been looking for a cure and he offered me a deal."

His Grunkle just sighed, taking another sip from his cocoa, shaking his head in frustration. "And you took it? After all the chaos, that- that thing had caused even without most of his powers after the curse?" He snorted skeptically. "Really, kid, I thought you be smarter than that."

"I am! I mean- I didn't want to at first, but-" Dipper bit his lip, taking a deep breath before he answered. "He told me that the only bad thing about the deal would be that it would leave me out, in order to turn you back. That I would stay like I was, a cervitaur, while the rest of the town would turn back. Everyone, but me." He whispered the last part.

"And you did it." Mabel's voice felt cold and distant in his furry ears. He swallowed, nodding slowly while his sister's stare seemed to burn holes through his skin.

"I thought that was it! The negative thing that was supposed to result out of Bill's deal. Me staying a deertaur in order to change all of you back." He choked.

"You did all of this for us?" Wendy looked at him skeptically, before she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Really, dude, I don't know if this is sweet or just dumb."

"Dumb!" Came out of the other three mouths at once, making Dipper shrink even further into himself, turning his voice low.

"I know... but it was my mistake that turned all of you into monsters in the first place, so I thought that if I stayed like this in order to change you back, then that would be it."

"But it wasn't." his Grunkle confirmed. Dipper just nodded, he had a hard time swallowing, while his ears were laying tense on the side of his face, his tail twitching in distress.

"No..." He escaped their looks to search for the right word on the floor instead. "I- at first I thought that is was because I would stay like that, that my instincts got stronger, or the extra fur but yesterday the fur was nearly everywhere! And well, I went out to summon Bill to ask him what was going on."

"Woah, dude, that's not cool at all, you should have got someone to help you with that crazy triangle guy." Soos announced.

"Yeah, Dipper, someone could have helped you." his sister chimed in.

Dipper flinched underneath Mabel's words and Stan eyed the twins with a worried gaze, but before the boy had the chance to defend himself Wendy cut in, impatient, as any teenager would be.

"So what did he tell you, man? What did he do to get you looking like this?"

He could nearly hear the demon's cold, echoing voice again, his words struggled underneath his unsteady breath. "He said that he needs something to fill your humanity back in, in the attempt to change you back." Dipper could feel his throat go dry, he took a sip of his tea but the fear still clenched hard around his throat. When Soos questioned him to go on, while Stan face had already darkened, so that Dippers next trembling words just confirmed his thoughts.

"Bill used me.. he took my human side to fill in yours, to break the curse."

A deep silence laid itself between then like a thick blanket, as the information made it's way up to their minds, even Soos voice was missing the casual tone by now.

"So that's why you are even more of a deer than before?"

He nodded, biting his lips before Stan spoke up again, searching for the Dipper's eyes to fix him in a firm look.

"How far?"

But Dipper just blinked, while his question was barely more than a squeak. "What?" Still his Grunkle's voice didn't give in, it stayed as hard as before.

"How far will it change you, kid?"

At this, even Mabel who had been looking at her feet more than anyone in the room looked up at him again. She could see Dipper tense under this question, she nearly could feel the fear crawling up her brothers spine. His ears moved defensively back, he tried to swallow but his voice stayed the raspy whisper it was.

"Completely... I- Bill said it will change me into a full deer, in a few weeks or so..."

Silence.

No one dared to move or breathe for a few seconds.

Stan was the first to give in, with a heavy breath he sunk deeper into his chair. The fingers which pinched the bridge of his nose numb. For once in his life he didn't want to be right, but he had been anyway. All his worries and suspicions of the past days were confirmed with this simple word.

Completely.

'No! Damn it, no!" he thought furiously.

The loss of words made the kid twitch, he had been expecting a reaction, but the silence made his hackles arch and his instincts scream to make a break for it, before Wendy finally found her voice.

"Wow- that's just, I mean- wow, man! That's really a lot to take in dude. I mean, no offence, of course we're going to get you out of this shit, we'll help you but- why the heck didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah Dipper, why didn't you tell us?"

His sister's voice made him jump, while his ears slowly perked up to face her. Mabel's own eyes harbored a wet shine, her cheeks burning red, but not because of her usual joy but because of anger and betrayal and grief, making her words too loud for her brothers sensitive ears.

"You did all of this on your own! You didn't even ask for my help, or talk to me before you accepted Bill's offer!" Mabel's voice broke, when she jumped out of her chair, looking at him hurt clearly showing of in her eyes. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

Dippers heart sunk. He should have known it... he wouldn't react any different from Mabel, after all. She felt betrayed and... she was right to. But Mabel just looked at him, shaking her head before she vanished up the stairs, leaving Dipper to follow her on skittish hooves.

"Mabel! Wait!" he called.

He didn't have a chance of beating her on four feet up the stairs, so that when he finally arrived in the attic the door was closed in front of him. Dipper swallowed, knocking softly on the wooden door.

"Mabel?" he asked. The answer came promptly.

"Go away."

But Dipper opened it anyway, he didn't even need to search for her. Mabel was huddled up between her pillows and blankets on her bed, while her whole body was buried in her yellow sweater, stretching the pink unicorn on it so that the animal was distorted. The overstretched grin of the unicorn made Dipper smile softly as he rolled his eyes.

"You know, I can see you even if you're in Sweater Town, right?"

"No."

He approached her, sighing while his heart ached under her firm voice. "Please Mabel, let me explain." The muffled answer didn't take long.

"Nope, sorry, can't hear you here, the unicorn traffic is too loud."

At that Dippers ears snapped back, he took the last steps towards her. "Fine." He tugged the sweater upwards, sticking his head under it, his ears stretched the fabric building up a tent-like cave around them. Mabel just squeaked.

"What?" She blinked at him, facing her brother in nothing more than her blue undershirt. But Dipper wasn't bothered, not about that or about his wet nose being close to her own so that she could nearly feel his breath on her cheeks while his large ears brushed against hers.

"See, now I'm in Sweater Town too! Please Mabel... let me explain." He begged. She just eyed him suspiciously. Normally, Mabel would have laughed at her brothers cramped appearance but Mabel, still angry, held back her amusement.

"Your butt is still in the cold, unknown world outside." She looked past him, getting a glance out of Sweater Town at his wagging white tail. Dipper just huffed, giving her a shy smile.

"Yeah, won't fit. You would need a bigger sweater for that."

Mabel frowned at this thought. "Maybe..."

A few seconds of awkward silence passed until Dipper took a deep breath, while she watched his muzzle twist and turn underneath his words.

"Mabel I- I know what I did was wrong, I know I should have talked to you about it."

"That's right, Dipping-dummy." She confirmed with a nod. Dippers ears shot back, moving the whole sweater without his notice. His voice still sounded raspy, reminding her of his own tears just minutes ago.

"But, you see I- it was my fault, after all. I was afraid for you... for Stan, for the whole town suffering from my mistake. I just, I just wanted to make it right again. And I thought that it would be okay if it was just me who had to pay for it, so that everything is going to be fine again." He swallowed, while Mabel gave him a look, playing with a string of her sweater while she spoke.

"But it isn't. You're turning into a deer, a sweet one, but still..." She could see him flinch, before his eyes lost their focus on her again.

"I know. I never thought that Bill could fool me like that Mabel I- I knew that something was wrong, and yesterday believe me not telling you was worse that the whole fur thing." Dipper's voice was barely more than a whisper now, so her question was as silent as her brother's words, searching for his eyes again.

"Then why didn't you?"

Dipper just sighed, one of his ears twitched in distress, tickling her cheek. "You were happy Mabel, I didn't want to risk that."

"But I wasn't happy, Dipper!" she protested. "I knew that you were hiding something, I just didn't know why or what and now..."

"It's too late." his voice was quiet, he needed some time to speak again, the strength for slowly fading away, leaving him vulnerable. "I- I don't want to change, Mabel..." She could feel him shiver, his fear made her own breath hitch in her throat, as he whispered the next words. "I'm scared."

Mabel blinked, before she swallowed her still somewhat hurt feelings and her own fear for Dipper, making a small smile appear on her lips, bumping his shoulder with her wrist.

"Okay, stop making that face, now! Together we will kick Bill's triangular butt into next week, we'll turn your furry butt back human bro-bro, believe me." She smiled, before her voice got stern again. "But... no more secrets okay?"

Dipper looked at her, reflecting the smile of his twin sister thankfully. "Okay. Now... Mystery Twins?" He held out his fist for her to bump and she did.

"Mystery twins!" She exclaimed with a laugh, until she eyed him again, while he was about to struggle his head and ears back out of her sweater. "And Dipper?"

"Huh?" He asked, but too late.

"Poke!" A warm finger pushed against his wet nose, making him bleat in protest.

"Eeep!"

Mabel just squealed in delight, the big smile on her face made her braces glitter, when she grabbed both his ears, pressing her own nose against his muzzle.

"Oh my God, you're so cute! You sure that you want to change back?" she questioned jokingly, only to get a protesting shout back.

"Mabel!"

Stan let out a relieved breath when Mabel's laughter and Dipper's complaining echo through the house again. But still Soos voice was firm, glancing from Wendy to Stan and back when he repeated their plan again.

"So we are going to figure something out to get Dipper out of the deal, before he becomes all deer, right?"

"Right!" Wendy and Stan confirmed. But again the old man's mind drifted away, anger and fear still mixing themselves in his thoughts.

'That's the last time you mess with my family Bill, I swear.'

The next day came with the bitter taste of burned, black coffee on his tongue and deep, dark bangs underneath Stan's eyes. He didn't get much of sleep that night, concern had filled his mind and made his pillow hard like stone. He wasn't used to that sort of worry anymore, hell, he didn't have to worry about anything but himself the last thirty years until this kids showed up and turned his world upside down. Not that he was complaining! He loved them, and he dreaded the end of Summer the first day they had shown up, of course he wouldn't ever admit it but the problem with all those warm and itchy feeling in his heart also came the concern.

A tiny little voice in his head that asked some nasty questions like, "How could you let that happen? You should have warned them of the things in Gravity Falls in the first place, what will you tell his parents? How are you going to break the Deal, and what happens if you don't?".

But the worst of all of them whispered in his ears with a pained voice full of old but not forgotten pain.

"You failed your family... again."

Stan's face harden for a moment, his heart clenched painfully in his chest, before he got the strength to shake this thought out of his head. He turned his attention back to his niece. Mabel's grin was able to ease his breathing. The little girl was standing on her chair, pointing to the sheet of paper that leaned against the cereal packet. He looked to the drawing of the little deer with Dipper's hat on and glitter, lots and lots of glitter that Mabel used as grass.

The drawing had red ticks marked across it's body. One on it's lower half, at it's ears and mouth, leaving only the face, chest and arms unmarked.

"See, now we can see how much is left to change and how much time we have until he'll be a full fawn boy." Her cheery voice made Stan swallow, the words tumbling out of his mouth as he struggled to explain it at smoothly as possible.

"Mabel, sweetie, you know that... Dipper changing completely would mean-"

But the clattering noise of his nephew's hooves (man, that still sounded strange even thinking it,) disturbed his speech. They both turned their heads to face the approaching boy. Dipper himself just yawed, scratched himself with one leg behind his ear a few times before the stares on his skin got his attention in the suddenly silent room. He raised an eyebrow, while one of his ears twitched in annoyance.

"What?" he said.

Mabel and Stan shared a look before his Grunkle spoke up again.

"Morning, kid. Anything...new?"

When Dipper just made a face, Mabel helped him out, making clear what their Grunkle meant.

"Grunkle Stan wants to ask you whether you're more deery than yesterday." she explained.

Dipper snorted, making his way to his place on the breakfast table, while he scratched the back of his head again.

"Thanks, Mabel. But no, at least it doesn't seem like it."

Stan let his look slide above him, nodding with his mouth full of pancakes.

"Well, all this fur and that snout of yours should be enough to get used to for a while." Mabel smiled but Dipper's ears went flat against his head, he took a deep breath to answer but before he even got the chance to speak a heavy cough shook his body. His whole body convulsed under the pressure of his lungs, again and again the itchy feeling in his throat made his breath explode. A burning feeling crawled up to his mouth covering his tongue with a warm, iron taste that was to familiar to ignore.

'Blood?' His breath hitched in his throat as he swallowed hard when his coughs finally came to a halt. Stan and Mabel gave him a worried look but Dipper just took a deep breath, shaking himself free from the pain. He could still taste the blood in his mouth, it seemed even more disgusting with his herbivore taste now and made the fear crawl back under his skin, before Mabel gave him an answer that suited his troubled mind much more than his own thoughts.

"Man, bro-bro, that's a nasty cold you got there."

Dipper swallowed, nodding thankfully for this much more plausible explanation.

"Yeah, seems so." He agreed finally approaching his own breakfast, his nose twitched as he sniffed the sweet scene of the salad, but before he could get the first bite he could feel a warm breath on his cheek, while Mabel looked into his ear.

"Um, Mabel?"

But his sister didn't answer but reached for his other ear, stretching it towards her while she turned his whole head to the side as she mumbled under her breath.

No, don't speak Dipper, let nurse Mabel help you."

"What? No, seriously Mabel, I'm fine, youaaaa-" And before he had the chance to react she pinched his nose forcing him to open his mouth, but the deer boy wiggled himself free with an angry bleat.

"Mabel! Stop!" Dipper's nose itched, causing him to sneeze, he could feel Mabel's look on him as he stopped his tongue on its way to like his nose clear.

'Eww...'He shivered, she never would let him forget that. But of course Mabel ignored him, as usual.

"Um... lets see, we need to take your temperature, but it won't function under your arm, I'm not sure about your mouth because of your sweet muzzle-nose, so the only option left is-" By now Dippers face was already red as a tomato, ears pressing to his head as he shouted out in protest and embarrassment.

"Mabel!"

But this time it was Stan that intervened their discussion with his raspy voice.

"That's enough. Mabel, stop teasing your brother he has enough to... deer-l with." He smirked but Dipper just groaned, picking at his food in annoyance.

"Eat up your food before Mabel and Wendy show up." At that Dippers ears finally perked up again, he looked up to his Grunkle with a questioning glint in his eyes.

"Huh?"

Stan just rolled his eyes at the surprised look on his nephew's face, rubbing the boys head with his knuckles.

"What, kid? Do you think we're going to let this nacho get away with this? We'll find a way to get your ass out of this deal." Mabel nodded raising her rolled up deer picture into the air like a lance.

"Yeah, we'll drown him in cheese until he begs for us to end the hot cheesy pain! Muhahaha!" Dipper couldn't help but laugh at his sister. Well it might not work that way but with his family and friends at his side his heart finally felt lighter in his chest.

Maybe they were right... maybe there was still hope.

His changes seemed to come to a stop for today, right?

Right?

"Okay kiddo, once again. You didn't promise his triangular head anything right?" Wendy asked, while the lollipop in her mouth clattered against her teeth, making Dippers own stomach grumble. It was past noon now, they had closed the Shack early today to discuss what to do about the deal and Bill. To Dipper it already felt like they were talking for hours by now, his mouth felt dry and his throat burned because of this damn deer-cold as Mabel called it, mixing every second breath with the slights hint of blood. But anyway Dipper sighed, repeating his sentence once again.

"No, I didn't. The deal was all about to change you back, the only catch was that I'll stay like this."

Silence.

Yeah, just what he had expected.

After some first suggestions of Soos like 'forcing Bill to do it in eating a pack of nachos in front of him', 'cutting his edges until he'll looks like a hexagon instead', or 'beating him in Stan's mind again, so that Dipper could change back on his own'. It took some time to explain that he still would stay a deer in the real word and Stan asking what the heck they had done in his head was not helping in this moment either. But by now his Grunkle didn't even ask about how and why they knew so much about Bill Cipher, he was sure that he was better off knowing anyway.

The old man sighed, watching Dipper with a concerned look. He really should have been looking out better for him. He had known that Dipper felt guilty and afraid for them, but what the hell must the boy have felt like selling his human life in order to change them back to normal?

How much pressure had he laid on himself to say yes to this kind of deal?

Dipper had literally scarified himself for the town, like it seems more than he actually thought, in the first place. All of this just to help them, to make them human again.

And human they were.

That oversized triangle told the truth, but of course Bill Cipher had tricked him anyway. Stan's brows knitted together, the empty can cracked in his wrist.

"Ah, I wish I could turn back into that stone gargoyle thing again so I could kick that flat pyramid's butt." he muttered. But what none of them expected was the shrill shriek that suddenly rang through the shack, making their bones vibrate and Dipper's sensitive ears ring.

"Grunkle Stan, that's it!" Mabel jumped on her seat, bouncing in front of Dipper who gave her a startled bleat when she grappled his front hoof instead his hands to make him dance awkwardly with her while she bubbled happy but faster than any mid could compare.

"Wegonnasaveyoudipper! WefinallyfoundBill'sloophole!" she cheered, continuing the little dance with Dipper, just as he nearly tipped over his own hoofs, but luckily Soos had already lifted him up from behind, so that his lower half hung still in the air, making the blushing boy thinking that falling may have not been such a bad option.

Mercifully Soos seemed to got the hind form the deer boy gone rigid in his arms and put him down while Stan stopped the still cheering Mabel, who was actually shooting glitter from the bellow of the chimney.

"Woah Mabel, stop screaming like that! You're giving me a heart attack if nothing else, because no one even what you are talking about!" Mabel's eyes turned wide in wonder, she bloated up her cheeks before the answer bubbled out of her.

"Don't you get it? We need to change back!" Once again the whole troop just blinked at her in confusion. Wendy raised an eyebrow her voice seemed uncertain to question the girl's sanity, she had been thought much, no wonder this would have to happen.

"Um, Mabel, no offence but isn't that was caused this mess in the first place?"

"No I- mean, yes, but no!" She blurted.

"Okay, raise your hands if you're as confused as I am." Soos said with an awkward chuckle, rising his hand to find three others to follow. But Mabel just face palmed, before she glanced at them with a stern look.

"Come on guys listen to me! Bill turned us back human right? Because that's what Dipper asked for. But what if we don't stay that way...?" She asked with a cheesy grin on her lips, seeing it finally click in their minds, when Stan's raspy voice pronounced the answer to all their problems.

"The river."

"Exactly, guys! That's just it, we take a nice long swim, the curse will turn us all cool and monster-y again and poof! The deal is broken!" she cheered, grabbing Dipper's ears to gesture with them.

"And this sweet, furry guy will turn back!" The grin on Mabel's face soon found itself on Wendy's, before the redhead nodded slowly.

"Well that... that could actually work."

"If the triangle guy can't keep his promise-"

"-Dipper doesn't need to either!" Stan finished Soos sentence with a triumphant smirk. Mabel nodded, petting her brother in excitement, who was strangely stil.

"So now that it's clear, time to go swimming! I was starting to miss the water anyway!" she exclaimed, making a mad dash for the stairs. "Wait a second, I'll just get my swimsuit, snorkel, bath shark and my water colors and we can go pool-river-saving-Dipper-party! Yeah!" But Stan stopped her with a word and pointed out of the window.

"It's already getting dark, kid, shouldn't we wait for tomorrow to jump into the water? We'll never find that river in the dark anyway." he reasoned. Mabel made a face but nodded anyway before the grin found his way back on her face.

"Okay then, one more night with fluffy Dipper and his silly nose. And tomorrow we're going to change you back bro-bro! Give your sister a Mystery Twin high five!"

But his quiet voice stopped her joy right away. "No."

Mabel blinked, facing her brother with a confused look. Dipper didn't meet her gaze, his eyes were glued to the floor.

"What?"

But Dipper just shook his head, scratching his pelt in distress.

"I-I don't want you to change again Mabel... none of you. It's nice that you want to help, but I-I just can't let that happen again."

Mabel's jaw dropped at that. "What? Dipper, are you nuts? Would you rather turn into a deer?"

"No but- I don't want you to change Mabel. We have to find another way to-" But his sentence was cut short by knuckles meeting his head, right between his two new formed antlers.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He looked up, just to meet his Grunkle's dark, sad eyes. Stan eyed him for a moment before he lifted his gaze with a sighed, shaking his head. His voice sounded tired.

"That's enough, Dipper. This is not your decision to make. It was okay that you blamed yourself the first time around, because yeah it might have been your mistake. But the only one who blamed you was yourself. The town wasn't pleased, yes, and some of the men-turned-gnomes might have been eaten by a ghoul or something but that was totally their fault, not yours!" he huffed, meeting Dipper's eyes again. "It was nice of you to try save us but now you need to accept that we're gonna save you." he exclaimed before Dipper interrupted once more.

"But-"

"Nah- no buts this time, boy. Besides, do you know what it would cost to harbor an actual deer? At least you kids are easy to handle. But a buck? No way, the pig is enough for my nerves already." A dry laugh ended his Grunkle's sentence, but Wendy just nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"He's right man! Beside it's not forever, we'll be still looking for a cure, right?"

"Yeah man, don't worry about us." Soos cheesy grin was followed by Mabels, who took a step to him, looking him deep in the eye, while she needed to hold herself back to pinch him in his sweet little black nose.

"You see Dipper? We are doing it and not even this think head of yours would change this! You see we find a cure and this time without Bills Creepers help, because we are doing it together."

Dippers heart still raced in his chest, but their reassuring smiles lifted the worries from his shoulders and he gave them a slow nod mixed with a shy smile.

"Alright then." he announced.

"That's my fawn-tastic bro!" Mabel cheered hugging him tightly. Wendy just laughed, sitting up to straighten her back while she looked at the clock.

"Okay guys, time to leave since I'm sure I don't get paid for these extra hours, right Mr. Pines?"

"Ha, of course not!" he chuckled, making Wendy roll her eyes in annoyance.

"That's what I thought. You coming, Soos?"

"Yep, on my way. See you tomorrow, dudes!"

He straightened his hat, picked himself up from the floor and soon they were heading for the door before Dipper's voice stopped them.

"Wait, I, um-" His friends and family went stiff, expecting some protest again, but this time a thankful smile was on his face. Rubbing his head,his cheeks showed a hint of red on them.

"Thank you."

Wendy smiled and walked back over to give him a light punch on the shoulder.

"No problem, man, we can't have you being the only cool monster in Gravity Falls, can we?" she teased.

"She's right dude don't worry about us!" Soos nodded in agreement.

With that and some final goodbyes they left, leaving Dipper in the doorway behind until his Grunkles called for his attention.

"See, it all turned right in the end! And you didn't even change further today! All in all, a clear victory for us!" He tousled Dipper's hair, heading for the kitchen to grab another can of beer. Mabel was already upstairs trying decide which top she would wear on her first day as a mermaid.

A shy smile made it up to Dipper's lips, watching how Soos and Wendy were swallowed by the dark. Hit heart jumped in sheer relief, they really found a way out of Bills deal.

They did it.

Dipper swallowed, he could still taste the iron like substance in his mouth that filled his gut with stones.

This all seemed so easy.

They found a loophole and he didn't change further today.

Dipper bit his lips, still standing in the doorway. He looked up to the sky above, but the night was too dark to see the stars.

This was almost too easy...

The night had stretched above them wrapping everything in their cold darkness. But the starless night couldn't prevent Dipper from sleep this time, so that Mabel's soft snoring beside him sung his now relieved mind into sleep.

But of course his newfound peace didn't keep for too long.

A wheezing cough shook his body away, ripping him out of his restful sleep. His breath hitched in his throat, his lungs spasmed painfully and the taste of blood was back on his tongue. Dipper clawed his hand into his blanket, knuckles going white with the pressure. The agony lasted for a couple of seconds, even when Dipper tried to control himself, pressing his hand on his mouth it didn't work and his nose felt strangely dry underneath his fingertips.

He gasped for air when the attack ended, leaving him breathless on his bedsheets. He peered to Mabel but luckily his sister always had a deep sleep. Dipper exhaled, slowly but while the pain in his throat died away a numb feeling curled itself up in his gut. Nausea created up this throat making him dizzy and sick.

Dipper let out a soft gasp, reaching up to his forehead to find hit hot and feverish, but when his fingertips touched his skin he felt something else. His fingers were wet.

'Why?' With a bad foreboding increasing his sickness, he brought his trembling fingers in front of his eyes, the twilight light from the hidden moon was not enough to see more than a dark, wet film, but his deer nose did the rest.

'Blood! No,' A shot of adrenalin brought him instinctively on his four hooves, but his body betrayed him. The world around began spinning, while his stomach grumbled in disgust, nausea and fear made his heart pumping against his chest in sheer panic.

'Mabel! Ma-'But his voice cheated on him, the cough had ripped it away.

'No!'

This was wrong! He needed help, he needed-

'Mabel!'

But before his trembling feet was took a step towards her bed, his stomach doubled over, forcing him to run in a completely different direction.

The bathroom.

His quivering forelegs gave in in front of the toilet, his fingers were curled on the cold seat while Dipper threw up. It felt like his whole body was turning itself inside out. His breath hitched in his throat while his stomach rejected whatever was left again. It took a while before the ringing sound in his ears finally stopped, giving his burning throat and pained stomach a break. But the disgusting taste in his mouth wouldn't end the panic in his bones, Dipper spat into the toilet to get it out of his mouth, the mild glow of the night that shone through the small window was enough to make him nauseous all over again. He didn't need to peek into the toilet itself, the small, reddish, glittering dots on the lid made him feel like vomiting all over again.

He was throwing up blood.

Blood.

"No!" He clenched his stomach, his head was pounding, his throat burned, biting away the last bits of his voice transforming his calls for help into nothing more than sore whispers.

"Mabel, Stan, anybody, help. Please...please!" Tears were streaming down his face now, leaving angry red trails on his cheeks. He slowly sunk into himself beside the toilet.

"Please..." His whole body shivered, his stomach was tightening itself again, announcing the next attack to his fogged mind. Dipper shook his head, struggling not to throw up again, but the bloody taste in his mouth reminded him that it was not over yet.

Why? Why was this happening now?

All his changes had at least been without pain. Why not this? And what was changing anyway? What was inside him that- Inside?

'Inside... I'm changing inside!' Dipper pressed his eyes close, shaking his head as best as he could.

His stomach, his organs, all of them were changing.

Didn't have deer four stomachs?

'God no!' A new convulse made him pick up himself, he hoisted himself up on the toilet seat, the iron smell making him dizzy while his stomach emptied himself again. When it was over he was sinking on his knees, his cheek pressed against the cold hard bathroom floor while his breath hitched in his throat underneath his silent cries. Tears were running down his face dripping on the floor to create a small puddle there where the moonlight reflected itself. His muzzle was smeared with blood everything tasted and smelled like it, his mind buzzed like a beehive, his tears were burning on his cheeks while he cried alone on the bathroom floor over the next part of his humanity that was literally flushed down the toilet. His voice was too broken to even whisper.

'Please, anyone, help me...' Again his soft plea was left unsaid and therefore unanswered.

He was left shivering on the floor while he clenched his spastic gut, black and red lights danced before his eyes, making him dizzy all over again so that Dipper closed his eyelids with a soft groan.

His ears were buzzing too much to hear someone coming in so Dipper only noticed the appearance of another body when something wet and warm touched his cheek, making him blink in startled surprise.

'Waddles?'

The pig was standing in front of him, tilting his head in confusion when his name left the half-human's lips silently. But the animal's blank stare just made Dippers heart clench in his chest, taking the last of his breath away and making the tears stream down on his face even harder.

Waddles just watched Dipper for a short time, before he took a step towards him, bumping his own snout against the boys, startling him once again.

'What?' he wondered vaguely.

Dipper looked into the pig's eyes for a moment, before he took the animal's offered support, reaching for his neck and pressing the pig close to himself. Tears were streaming down his cheeks while he pressed his blood smeared muzzle into the animals warm belly and cried.

And that's all he did.

He cried until his tired body let his mind find sleep again.

Dipper's eyes closed, his face all bloody and cheeks wet from tears, he rested his head against Waddle's warmth who already was snoring softly beside him on the bathroom floor.