Dipper Pines woke to the smell of seared fish, the aroma drifting through the air, wrapping around his consciousness and pulling him from sleep. His eyes opened slowly as he shook off the lingering dregs of siren induced slumber. The teen sat up with a small groan, pressing a hand against his temple to fight off the drowsy headache clinging to him.

From her place within the cave, a decent distance from the water, Mabel looked over at her brother, her face passive as she watched him wake. She sat with her knees brought to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her hair was pulled up into a tangled mess of a ponytail, her bruised face covered in smudges of mud and dirt from sleeping on the cave floor. When Dipper saw the disheveled state she was in, he wondered for a moment why she hadn't tried to wash off. Then he recalled the beast that lurked within the depths, and couldn't blame his sister for steering clear of the glistening lake.

Then another thought occurred to him. If she hadn't approached the water, then where did the fish come from? And how had they been cooked? There were no signs of a fire being lit, no sticks, no ashes or embers...

"Mabel, how did..." Dipper was about to voice these concerns to his twin when her eyes darted to something behind him. His words died in his mouth and he whipped his head around to behold the lithe form of the monster break the surface of the water. The creature's golden eyes shone with pride as he dumped an armful of fish onto the cave floor. Dipper scrambled back with a start when the siren snapped his fingers and the creatures burst into blue flames.

Once the fire dissipated, Bill climbed onto the shore, the water shedding from him and leaving his human form completely dry, despite having technically just been submerged. The blond teen pushed the now seared fish over with the rest in the pile and beamed at the boy on the cave floor before him.

"Well it's about time you woke up, Pine Tree!" he remarked with a sly grin. Dipper, seeming to have finally found his voice again, scowled at the demon siren and got to his feet to be at eye-level.

"You put me to sleep," he accused. Bill smirked, shifting his weight onto one foot. His eyes glittered with amusement, as if Dipper's anger was more entertaining than concerning.

"You were tired," he countered. Dipper frowned, folding his arms across his chest.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Oh not long... about one hundred years maybe?"

Bill peered at Dipper, curious to see if his words had sparked any sort of humor from him. When he was greeted with nothing but the same hard scowl, the siren sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Well aren't you just a bundle of fun," he grumbled, crossing his arms in a pouting manner. "You slept the night, Pine Tree, relax." Dipper didn't relax. Instead, he gave the blonde teen a mistrusting look and went to sit by Mabel, whispering something to her as he sat. The twin nodded, whispering something in response. Bill pursed his lips for a moment, then brightened slightly when he seemed to remember something. He leaned down, scooping up one of the cooked fish and holding it out to him.

"Your sister was hungry when she woke up, so you should be too, right?" he guessed. Mabel glanced at her brother, noticing the hesitation in his eyes as he regarded the pile of cooked fish at their feet. She understood his skepticism, but at the same time... Bill didn't seem to have much reason to kill them at this point, especially after all the trouble he went through to bring them here. So... maybe accepting some food from him wasn't too dangerous...? She'd eaten a fish or two herself, after all, and so far she seemed fine. There was no point in starving themselves when food was provided... right?

Despite the reasoning, Mabel wasn't all that surprised when Dipper shook his head, turning his face away from the fish to keep his stomach from betraying the truth.

"No," the mystery twin replied coldly. His gaze trained on the ground, the young pirate didn't notice the light that fell from the siren's eyes. Mabel pursed her lips as she looked from her brother to the creature that stood a few feet away from them.

"Oh..." Bill looked down at the fish in his hand, and his brow furrowed slightly. "Well...okay..." He let the food drop back onto the pile. Mabel watched with a curious expression on her face as the siren shuffled his feet awkwardly, as if there was something else he wished to say, but nothing came else from his lips. After a few more moments of tense silence, Dipper groaned and stood, adjusting his bandanna then addressing Bill with a steely look.

"Am I allowed to explore the island? Or are you just going to make us sit in this cave until you finally decide to tell me how to hold up my end of our stupid deal?" he inquired bitterly. Cipher blinked for a moment, seeming startled by the utter hatred in the teen's eyes. He shook it off with a shrug, turning and heading towards the water.

"Sure, knock yourself out," he responded easily, his moment of insecurity having vanished from thought and mind. "Who knows what all is lurking in the bushes here, though. So do try not to get yourself killed. That would take all of the fun out of things." The siren smirked at Dipper over his shoulder, strands of his hair falling gently into his golden eyes. The brown haired teen shifted on his feet, his chest tight for a moment before he glowered once more.

"Then maybe you should give me my sword so I can defend myself," he suggested coldly. Bill let out a small laugh, in the water up to his knees. He patted the hilt of the blade at his side, wagging a finger at the teen in a scolding way.

"Now now, Pine Tree, we've been over this. You get your sword when you're willing to come and get it. Have fun exploring!" Then with a wink, that made Dipper's stomach crawl, Bill laughed and dived into the water, golden tail dousing the teen in water. Dipper spluttered, groaning in irritation at the siren as he attempted to wipe his face off the hem of his shirt, to no avail. With a huff, he turned to Mabel, who had gotten to her feet. She seemed to be trying not to laugh, her brother's drenched form and amusing sight despite their predicament. Dipper Pines rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. It'd been a while since he saw her smile...

"Come on," he suggested, heading towards the part of the cave entrance that lead to land. "It's better than just sitting around here all day..."

A/N: This chapter wasn't really worth the two month wait... XD I'm sorry it took so long, but as most of you know, I'm a pretty busy gal. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed! This chapter is more of a filler/set-up with some fluff. Though the fluff may be a bit under the radar right now. You'll definitely start seeing more fluff in the upcoming chapters. After all, what kind of BillDip doesn't at least have a little fluff, right? We're seventeen chapters in, and Dipper still hates Bill! At least... he thinks he does ;) After all, the easiest way to deny the feelings you're afraid to feel is to frame it as something else. Haha! Anyway, I figured I'd throw out this little filler chapter to let you know that more is on the way, and that I SHOULD get another chapter up within the week. No promises, though. :3 I wanted to thank you all again for being so quiznaking patient with me. I know it sucks that I don't get to update very often. I hate it too, and I am trying to fix it, I promise. ;~; ANYWAY!!! I love you all, and I'll howl to you later!