-Maniac Interlude-

(Sorry for short chapter, I am sick)

———

Hectorgon pulled out his Com when it buzzed with a message. He glanced down and would have raised an eyebrow if he'd had any. But he had no eyes nor eyebrows, instead, his mustache twitched. "Found a brother? What does that mean?" He muttered to himself before forwarding the message to the others in case one of them knew. From what he understood, it sounded like Bill was off on one of his longer travels. He said he'd be back soon but knowing Bill, and how easily distracted he could get, Hectorgon suspected his friend was going to be gone for anywhere between a week to a few years. Not really a problem for them, per say.

But the twins and Quackers wouldn't appreciate that. Still, Bill could just time-travel and make up for it so Hectorgon didn't see any problem.

A few seconds after Hectorgon forwarded the text, his Com buzzed again. He glanced at it with a sigh. Kryptos. The Polytool was asking 'Brother?! Who!? What?! When did Bill get a brother???' which Hectorgon really didn't have an answer to. Even after all this time, and how much Bill shared about himself with them, they still didn't know much about Bill's past. They've been able to piece together many things from just what Bill has revealed so far. None of it was good.

Bill's life before them seemed to be nothing but loneliness, heartache and a desperate need to please people in a fruitless attempt to not be alone anymore. Pyronica had told them of how Bill followed her around when they first met.

"It was kinda creepy. Not gonna lie, it was somewhat uncomfortable, but at the same time, I could tell he didn't mean any harm." Pyronica admitted once during a time when Bill was away and they were all hanging out for lunch together. "I was worried at first that he was attempting to get close to me for…" The Cyclopian had gestured to herself, "…reasons. But I'm glad he wasn't." She had pressed her eye shut in a grimace. "I don't know if Bill even realized it was creepy. But luckily, everything worked out in the end."

All of them working together had managed to a draw a rough image of what Bill's past had been. A stunted childhood, perhaps Bill's parents hadn't taught them how to behave around people. And probably hadn't given Bill the love and attention that he desperately needed. Pyronica had scoffed. "And that damn lizard obviously hasn't helped. Sleeping all the time. What kind of father does that?!"

Bill spoke about the AXOLOTL often but they had never REALLY talked about their birth parents. They must have been Triangles too. That's what they suspected at least. But whoever these birth parents were, they were either neglectful or outright terrible, considering Bill never liked talking about them. Bill had mentioned a younger brother and sisters a few times but none of them knew the full story. They knew Bill's siblings were all dead.

So who was this 'brother' that Bill had found?

Well, Hectorgon didn't see any problem with Bill hanging out with whoever that was, so long as this 'brother' didn't make her cry…. them. Hectorgon sighed. He couldn't help… but accidentally think of Bill as a daughter girl sometimes. Well, Bill WAS a girl sometimes. Hectorgon rubbed his face with a groan. Nope, not going into that train of thought. Either way, once Bill returned home, he would ask them about who this brother was. It couldn't have been Bill's real brother, he was dead.

Unless Bill found a way to revive him? Or found his reincarnation? Was that something that could happen? Hectorgon didn't know anything about that but he DID worry a little. He could understand why Kryptos was so agitated. Still, there was nothing they could do so he wasn't going to waste brain cells worrying over it. Bill would be fine. Well, not fine, but Bill would return to them. He always did.

Hectorgon wasn't sure how to feel about the relief that spread through him at the knowledge that Bill always came back. It was simply a FACT. Bill was their Friend. Rather, they were Bill's friends. They were HIS and Bill took care of what was his.

Some people might be uncomfortable with the idea of belonging to someone in such a way. Bill's possessiveness was pretty intense. But frankly, Hectorgon stopped caring about things like that centuries ago. He belonged to Bill, but Bill belong to them too. That was how it was. And none of them really cared. Hectorgon wondered if Bill was going to bring this 'brother' home with her as a new Friend.

The Anglesphere finished up his work, i-mailed his client the complete program and waited for the confirmation of the Credit transfer for his payment before he closed his computer. Hopping off his chair, he headed out to the kitchen to get some snacks. He stretched his edges with a groan. Working over his desk for hours was killer on his back planes. The red alien found PaciFire in the kitchen, roasting some Gyai in the fire pit that Bill had installed for cooking large animals whole. He waved when he saw Hectorgon. "Hey, want some?" He asked, holding up a twitching leg. Hectorgon nodded, hopping closer to grab his plate from the cupboard. The two sat and watched the Gyai sizzle over the fire.

"So, Bill's found a brother?" PaciFire asked absently, his low voice rumbling through the kitchen. Hectorgon shrugged. "As long as this 'brother' makes Bill happy, it should be fine." PaciFire poked at the Gyai, ripping off another leg to hand over. Hectorgon looked through some homemade sauce that Bill had mixed up for seasoning and picked out one that Bill called 'Garlic herb oil' which he really enjoyed. Hectorgon dribbled some over his leg of meat and sat back to eat, enjoying PaciFire's company as they both ate.

"I haven't seen you all day." PaciFire commented as he chewed on his own unseasoned Gyai leg. His teeth crunched through the thick shell easily. Hectorgon had to crack the shell with a clamp and pull the meat out with a fork. "Well, my client needed the program done before the end of the week. I've been working non-stop for the past few days." Hectorgon scratched under his hat as he relaxed into his chair.

It was nice that Bill had Cursed all the public chairs in the house to be comfortable. It really helped to ease their aches. Bill had offered to make Hectorgon's work chair comfortable too but he turned Bill down because he didn't want to fall asleep while working. Bill had pointed out that Hectorgon already fell asleep while working. Well. Bill wasn't wrong but Hectorgon still preferred his work chair to be un-enchanted.

"Now I'm worried about retiring from wrestling to start an office job." PaciFire chuckled. "Sitting at a desk all day might be unbearable." He chewed and swallowed before reaching to tear off another leg. Gyai had a few dozen legs, large and meaty with a thick shell. Bill claimed it tasted like chicken, not that any of them knew what a 'chicken' was. PaciFire looked down at the roasted food and sighed. "I wasn't even supposed to be on Demon Baby Fights for so long." PaciFire admitted softly. "Generally, our contracts are for a few seasons on the show, we stay only as long as the fans still want to see us on the show. If our ratings go down, we are written out of the on-going storyline."

Hectorgon glanced over, unsure where PaciFire was going with this. The demon imp ate quietly for a while before rumbling out, "But my ratings are still going strong. I'm the most popular character on the show." He seemed both proud and exasperated. "More than that, the producers seem too afraid to write me off the show, like they're afraid that I'll be offended if they fire me." He scratched at his horn. "It's good that I have job security, but as much as I enjoy the bloodshed and violence, sometimes I wonder about what else I could possibly do with my life…" He stared into the fire.

"I had simple goals, way back when." He rumbled out. "Work on the show, earn revenue, get a basic office job after my contract ends, find a girl, settle down with kids." He chuckled. "But looking back, that seems so… boring." He settled down, his grin turning into a frown. "But now I don't know what I want to do. I have… all the time in the world to do whatever I could ever want. If I wanted to be a government worker, I could. If I wanted to be an antiques dealer, I could. If I wanted to be the king of my own country, Bill would make it happen…" He sighed. "There's so much I could do, and I have until the end of time to do it. But I don't know what I want."

"Well, like you said, you've got time." Hectorgon chewed on his own food. PaciFire looked down at his friend. "How can you stay with your programming job for all these years? How did you know that this was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?" The demon imp asked. Hectorgon laughed. "Well, what made you want to be part of Demon Baby Fights to begin with?"

PaciFire looked down at his lap. "Well, at first, it was because I wanted to prove a point, I'm tough. I'm strong. Things like that are important to my people." He shook his head. "And it was fun. I love the thrill of the fight, the way my heart pumps and the bright lights and cheering audience…" He grinned. "But I never wanted to do that forever, I've always meant for it to be for a few seasons at most."

"And now, you don't know what you want to do with your life?" Hectorgon asked. "You sound like Keyhole." That made the demon imp laugh. "Well, perhaps he and I should have a talk together about what we want to do?" He reached into the fire to twist off another leg. "I know that we should find what we WANT to do, something we enjoy. But I…" PaciFire paused, looking at Hectorgon and then glancing around to make sure no one else was here.

It was pretty late at 'night' (the Death Star didn't really have a day-night cycle like a place that existed planet-side near a star. They didn't have clocks on anything but their Coms for telling time. Instead, 'night' was simply the time when most of them went to sleep after dinner.) so the house was quiet. PaciFire figured only Hectorgon and he were awake right now.

"…promise you won't tell anyone about this?" PaciFire asked finally. Hectorgon smiled and patted the larger man's arm. "My lips are sealed."

The demon imp thought about it for a bit before finally speaking. "I want to be a Baker." He admitted. When Hectorgon didn't laugh, he continued. "I want to make cakes and pastries. I want to make sweet treats and sell them to people… and make them happy."

"I think that's wonderful." Hectorgon told PaciFire with a wide smile. PaciFire's tail twitched. "You don't think it's ridiculous?"

Hectorgon adjusted his hat as he settled down in his seat, sure that this was going to be a long talk. "No. There's nothing wrong with wanting to make people happy. You're an entertainer. You're already making people happy. So what's wrong with bringing joy in a different way? If you like to beat people up for other people's entertainment, that's fine. If you want to make sweet food, that's also fine."

PaciFire slumped in relief. "…Bill told me that too. But, hearing it from another person is…" He curled his tail around. "…nice."

"Why are you so worried about this?" Hectorgon asked. PaciFire groaned. "It's just stupid pride reasons. Bill's already talked to me about this. I should be over this. But I'm not."

"Well, take your time, I'm not sure I understand what the problem is, but if you're uncomfortable, then you're uncomfortable. Nothing wrong with feeling the way you feel."

PaciFire laughed again. "That's what Bill said too. What is it with the wisdom you two have?"

Hectorgon snorted. "Wisdom? Me? Heck no." He twirled his mustache. "But I've been a parent. I've also dealt with my daughter when she worried she'd get teased for liking the things she liked. It's just something that kids go through, young and unsure of who they are, who they want to be…"

Hectorgon sighed. "You're all immortal, yes. But you're all youngings. Me? I've been through this all before." He considered it before deciding that if they were sharing, he might as well tell his friend. "My parents wanted me to be a performer."

That made PaciFire blink. "What?"

Hectorgon slapped the chair as he laughed. "My father was a Ringmaster. I grew up in a circus, you know?"

PaciFire stared. "I have… I never would have suspected…" He said faintly. "You don't seem like the type for circus performances."

"Hah! I'm NOT." Hectorgon snickered. "I was awful at everything. Trapeze? I had a weak grip and couldn't build up the arm strength I needed. The jugglers? My clumsy ass was hopeless at that. Knife throwing? They never let me use real knives. It was too dangerous." He shook his head. "I wasn't cut out for the family business. I had none of the skill for it." He grimaced. "I was really ashamed for the longest time. Wanted to do better, be the son my parents wanted." He fiddled with his tie. "But I couldn't."

PaciFire placed a hand on Hectorgon's shoulder. "I never would have thought…"

Hectorgon laughed. "I know, right? Well, I realized at a young age that while I didn't have what it took for any physical or charismatic tasks, I had a head for numbers. That was all I was good at." He tapped a finger to one of his top sides. "Once I was old enough, I left the circus." He snorted. "I ran away from the circus. Funny, huh?"

PaciFire stayed quiet, thinking over what he'd just learned about his friend. "Did you ever…"

Hectorgon scoffed. "My father wrote me off when I left. I was a failure anyway. But when I got married, I contacted mother and she was so proud." He grinned. "But basically, I had a well paying job, a lovely wife and what did it matter if I didn't do what my parents wanted me to?" Hectorgon shrugged. "I realized that wasn't important. What they wanted for me wasn't what I wanted for myself, and damn if I was gonna spend my life being what other people wanted me to be."

The two sat in companionable quiet, eating the rest of the Gyai. Finally, almost hesitantly, PaciFire asked, "What happened to your wife?"

Hectorgon smiled bitterly. "She left after Helengon was born. She couldn't handle the stress of taking care of a newborn…" He sighed. "We had a long talk and made the decision together, for her mental health." He seemed nostalgic. "I was upset that she left, but I understood her reasons. And we didn't leave on bad terms. Still, I miss her sometimes…"

"…I'm sorry." PaciFire hesitated before patting Hectorgon's shoulder. "…Do you need a hug?" He asked awkwardly. Hectorgon laughed uproariously. "I'm not Bill, I'm fine, really." He snickered a bit before calming. "No, I'm happy with my life now. I have you all now. You'll never replace the family I lost, but what I have now? It's great." Hectorgon wiped his mouth of the sauces and spent a bit of time cleaning his mustache. "But what's important is that I'm happy, I can be who I am and not worry about what anyone thinks. And… you probably don't have to worry either." He hopped away, stomach full and planning to go to the bathroom to wash himself off properly.

PaciFire watched Hectorgon leave and thought about it. Both Bill and Hectorgon had told him it was fine to be who he wanted. That it was fine if he liked cute things, or wanted to do something as simple as baking instead of body slamming an opponent into the mat.

He knew that his friends would probably accept him even if they knew.

PaciFire knew this. But he still couldn't quite bring himself to tell everyone else. He wanted to. He just couldn't do it. Some ridiculous feeling of hesitance that he couldn't get past. He felt a little ashamed at his cowardice.

It shouldn't be hard, but it was. The idea of… coming out to his friends about his desires for cute things and a career in a gentle profession making soft treats with colorful frosting and perhaps even collecting his own pile of stuffed animals like Bill was so fond of doing…

He wanted to, but he just couldn't.

PaciFire cleaned up the kitchen before trudging back to his room, deep in thought and wondering how he could be such a coward.

———

Keyhole wiggled in his seat. Amorphous Shape sat beside him in the waiting room, calmly flipping through a magazine. Keyhole tugged at his suit, straightening his collar for the nth time. Amorphous Shape flipped another page, wondering why so many people cared about how that actress was seen eating lunch at a restaurant in public. What did it matter? Why was it so important? He would never understand what other people found important or not.

"H-hey, do I look okay?" Keyhole asked, fixing his shirt, pulling at the ends. Amorphous Shape looked over with one of his eyes. "You look fine." He responded blandly. Keyhole slumped and let out a whimper. "That doesn't actually help…"

"…you look not fine?" Amorphous Shape tried instead. A large Lepido receptionist called out, their mandibles clicking as they spoke, "Mister Keyhole. Mister Smithy will see you now." Keyhole tugged at his suit again. "Well, here goes nothing I guess." He hopped off his seat and waved at Amorphous Shape before walking over to the door. His clutched his resume in his hand.

"Good luck, break your legs." Amorphous Shape called. Keyhole twitched. "I think that phrase is only supposed to be used for stage performers." He still smiled at Amorphous Shape before closing the door. Really, having his friend come with him for his job interview as emotional support was both a good and bad idea. Still, it DID make him feel better to know Amorphous Shape was there.

"Hello." A large Fwoomp smiled at Keyhole as he walked up to the desk. The Fwoomp gestured to the chair in his office, "Please, sit down." He gestured to the chair. Keyhole managed not to trip over his own feet with nerves as he sat down. "Hello sir." Keyhole smiled, managing not to stutter. Mister Smithy grinned. "No need for formalities. I'm called Sir all day, but we're a close knit company, just call me Ritcham." He laughed lightly. Keyhole chuckled a little. "Oh, okay then, mister Ritcham."

"So, you stated in your application that you're quite skilled in identifying different stones and metals?" Mister Smithy asked. Keyhole nodded. "Yes. I've always been good at telling materials apart." He had his resume on the table. Mister Smithy wasn't looking at it though, he was gazing at Keyhole. "How good are you? Would it be too much to have a display of your skills?"

"O-of course. Just hand me anything and I can tell you what it's made of!" Keyhole sat up straight. If there was one thing he was confidant of, it was his ability to tell what metals were what. He'd gotten even better at it over the years. Bill delighted in testing Keyhole's metallurgy by building various jewelry out of all sorts of materials and quizzing Keyhole on what the composition was.

Mister Smithy pulled off a bunch of different rings from his fingers, the 8 digits absolutely covered in various rings and other jewelry. "What is this made of?" Mister Smithy asked as he pushed one of his rings across the table. Keyhole glanced at it and picked it up carefully, turning it around in his hands.

"95% silver…traces of carbon and iron…" Keyhole mumbled. "The gemstone is… Silica with some water, in other words, Opal." Keyhole nodded. Mister Smithy raised an antenna and nodded before taking his ring back and handing Keyhole another one. Keyhole turn the fancy ring around in his hands. "Platinum…68%…Gold… 30%…trace amounts of iron and bronze."

Mister Smithy nodded. "Interesting." He continued to drill Keyhole on the other pieces of jewelry he owned. A smile was slowly spreading across his face as Keyhole analyzed each one.

Finally the man pulled out a necklace. Keyhole frowned. "This is a computer chip."

"I know, but can you still identify it?" Mister Smithy asked, leaning on his desk. Keyhole scrunched his face and stared at the necklace. "Silicon, mainly. There's some traces of gold, copper, aluminum…" Mister Smithy raised his hand, "Enough, I can see you know what you're talking about."

Keyhole handed the necklace back and sat down quietly, awaiting his possible future employer's response. Mister Smithy hummed as he finally glanced down at Keyhole's resume. "Well mister…" His eyes widened. "Keyhole Cipher?" He asked.

"Ah, my… my legal guardian." Keyhole shrugged. "I actually asked to be allowed to take his name." Keyhole was proud of being Bill's Friend and family. When he asked to be Bill's legal ward in name and not just Deal, Bill had burst into tears and tackled Keyhole in a hug. The Lockin was quite fond of that memory. It made him feel warm inside.

"Well, just to clarify, by Cipher, are you… perhaps… related to Bill Cipher?" Mister Smithy asked. Keyhole tried not to frown. "Is this important?" He asked. Mister Smithy glanced up at Keyhole and seemed to ponder it a bit.

"No, I suppose it's not." Mister Smithy smiled and reached out his hand. "Welcome to the team mister Cipher."

Keyhole grinned and brought his head over to let Mister Smithy press his knuckles against his skull, the traditional gesture for an agreement of alliance in Fwoomp culture. "T-thank you mister Ritcham! A-and you can call me Keyhole!"

Keyhole left the office with a bright smile and gave Amorphous Shape a thumbs up when the multi-sectional being asked how it went.

"Congratulations." Amorphous Shape said blandly as Keyhole skipped merrily out of the office. "And you didn't have to inflict severe trauma on your mobility." Amorphous Shape pointed out. Keyhole snorted. "For the last time, break a leg has nothing to do with ACTUALLY breaking a leg…"

The two left the office, Amorphous Shape making notes while Keyhole giggled, still somewhat giddy and high strung from the nerves and relief at getting the job. Keyhole felt his Com buzz and looked down. "…a brother? What does that mean?" Keyhole wondered.

"Perhaps we will be getting a new family member." Amorphous Shape commented. He didn't care one way or another. Keyhole shrugged and typed a message back to try and calm Kryptos down when the Polytool began texting frantically.

"It would be nice to get a new friend." Keyhole smiled softly. "It's been a while since Bill's brought home another stray."

----

Pyronica laughed as she twisted on the dance floor, fire trailing her steps and shaking her shapely body against the rather handsome piece of manmeat she managed to entice tonight.

Lucky her that she found a Sin-Dolorian who was interested in having a wild night with her. He already fertilized some eggs for his mate and the couple were out to party wild in their last night alive. And who's better at wild partying than Bill Cipher's right hand woman?

Pyronica had a reputation. She was quite proud of it too.

Everywhere she went, people were awed and terrified. They feared her. They respected her. She loved it. She loved how powerful it made her feel.

(So much better than the disdain she'd grown up with as a homeless child living in the streets. If people weren't just outright ignoring her existence when she begged for food or money at least.)

Pyronica laughed wildly, the music was loud, the lights were bright and there were two gorgeous (and delicious) Sin-Dolorians ready and waiting just for her~

She wished Bill could be here but he didn't like dance clubs all that much. Oh, he WOULD go to them, for her, because Bill knew how much Pyronica loved them, but she'd noticed how stressed Bill got when in these places. It was something that seemed to get worse as time went on.

Pyronica suspected it was because Bill's powers were getting stronger. Things must be difficult when you had to keep reality bending abilities in check while being surrounded by loud people, music and flashing lights.

Pyronica looked around for 8-Ball (who had offered to come as her bodyguard, which amused her to no end). The ogre was dancing with some glowing tubular entities. Pyronica was glad he seemed to be doing well. She worried about him sometimes.

She didn't mean to be rude but 8-Ball wasn't exactly the brightest energy core in a Blaster Rifle. But he was sweet and Pyronica hoped he could have fun out in public without needing the rest of them to chaperone him constantly. He was laughing and letting the tubular entities jump around him to the beat of the music and the Cyclopian smiled. At least it didn't look like she had anything to worry about.

She refocused on her dance partners, the muscular male grinding against her front while his shapely mate pressed close against her back. Mm~ a Sin-Dolorian sandwich~ they finished the current song and Pyronica giggled as she shashayed off the dance floor, swinging her hips and winking flirtatiously at her 'dates' for tonight.

Well, date and dinner.

Hey, they were consenting, willing and have full knowledge of what Pyronica wanted with them. She WAS making sure to get an 'Ok' first!

Bill was always so anal about that.

Pyronica blinked her large eye when her Com buzzed. It was a text from Hectorgon...followed quickly by a spam of texts from Kryptos, which made Pyronica roll her eye and put her Com away without reading it. She could do that later, when she wasn't busy seducing a couple into a wild threesome with her. Besides, if it was important, Hectorgon would have called instead of texting.

She put it out of her mind and refocused on leaning forwards with a purr. "So, you two want to dance some more or get some food instead?"

They wanted drinks. Pyronica was happy to oblige. She tossed a few disposable Credit chips on the counter. Bill had given each of them a bunch as spending money for when he wasn't around. They were reusable. Bill transferred some Credits from his own account into them and they could use them until the stored credits ran out, at which point Bill would refill them again.

Apparently Bill didn't trust Pyronica with a Credit card. Which was fair. Pyronica knew she would end up spending too much. She couldn't help it. She WANTED things. Always had.

She wanted food. She wanted clothes. She wanted shelter. She wanted medicine. She wanted and wanted everything.

And Bill would give her anything and everything she could ever want. Pyronica had learned that over the years. At first she'd been a little hesitant, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But there was no other shoe. Bill would genuinely give her the world if she asked for it.

And dear flame, she had almost asked for it.

But Pyronica had also learned that just because she WANTED something, didn't mean she NEEDED it.

She didn't need the fancy clothes. She didn't need booze or drugs or mindless spending to fill some empty void in her heart.

She needed a family. Something she'd lost so very long ago. When she was so very young.

What Pyronica really wanted AND needed was that emotional connection to another person. It didn't have to be family. Not by blood. She was alone and just wanted to not be alone anymore. Even if it was just someone to exist nearby. That was all she ever truly wanted.

So when Bill had come and offered her the world, Pyronica had asked for Bill instead.

For Bill to stay around, to keep being someone that she could just HAVE in her life. Who might go off and do their own thing for a while, but always came back.

….but that wouldn't stop Pyronica from having fun spending Bill's money~

Besides, he loved going shopping with her just as much.

So Pyronica bought drinks for herself and her dates for the night, they all got massively hammered, she waved to 8-Ball and told him to get home before it got too late in the evening and swaggered out of the dance club with two giggling Sin-Dolorians around each arm. Life was good.

---

8-Ball waved goodbye to his new friends. They were nice. They glowed and they were squishy. He liked them. But Pyronica told him to get home before it got late. He knew she worried about him being on his own for too long. Part of him was annoyed at the lack of faith the others had in him for staying out of trouble but he'd gotten himself captured by some confused Egwanians just last year when they mistook him for a lost pet.

The kennel wasn't actually all that bad. They gave him belly rubs and a soft blanket to sleep on. Everyone had seemed both amused and exasperated when they came to pick him up the next day. Bill had to sign all sorts of paperwork to prove that he was 8-Ball's owner… before Bill realized that was stupid and spent an hour trying to convince the kennel workers that 8-Ball was a PERSON and not an animal. They apologized profusely once they realized their error.

Keyhole teased 8-Ball about the embarrassing incident for months!

So 8-Ball could understand why everyone worried about him being on his own. Even Xanthar got around more easily, though that might have been due to the fact that he was one of the last of his kind and everyone in the multiverse knew that he belonged to Bill and knew to keep their hands off. Xanthar was also HUGE and most kennels and poachers were too intimidated to try and take him down.

8-Ball stumbled out of the dance club and made his way to the nearest teleporter. His eyes spun a little from the wild dancing he'd done all night (though mostly from the bottles of Solar Gin he'd chugged as the other patrons cheered him on.) He couldn't see straight to type in his coordinates but the chains around his wrist had a chip built in to set the destination for him. 8-Ball remembered when Hectorgon and Kryptos built it together, exasperated at how 8-Ball constantly got lost using the teleporter by himself.

So he held up his hand and the machine beeped as it read his chip. He felt the tingling sensation of the transport and grinned when the familiar black walls of the Death Star appeared around him. Home sweet home.

He stepped off, absently noting how quiet the house was. The others must be out or in their rooms. He went down the hall on the left, through a door that looked like just another part of the wall and up a small flight of stairs to his room. He always knew where his room was, even when the house moved and changed around him. Bill had made sure of that. ("Here 8-Ball, this'll let you know where to go!") And Kryptos had once complained about the ever changing building, he asked Bill why they couldn't just have a stationary house.

Bill said that would have been boring.

8-Ball didn't mind either way, he liked the exercise of running up and down stairs and through the hallways. It was fun. And having a place that constantly changed was cooler than a place that was the same, day after day.

(Like a dark basement with the same four walls and same dangling light and same drab staircase…)

8-Ball got to his room and threw himself onto the soft bed. It let out little squeaking sounds. He giggled. He liked the funny sounds his bed made. He remembered when he first got the bed. They were all out on a shopping trip to get some shelves to decorate a new room that had appeared in the house. Bill wanted to turn it into a library and wanted to shop for pretty looking bookshelves instead of creating his own. Something about supporting local businesses or something.

So they were wandering through a furniture shop when 8-Ball had bumped into a shelf and fallen onto a bed. It squeaked. He liked it. His own bed back home didn't squeak. He liked the squeaking. So Bill had bought him that bed. 8-Ball rolled over onto his back, sighing happily at the memories. He felt something squish underneath him. Something that had been clinging to his back.

8-Ball sat up and twisted his head around to stare at the orange splatter of goo and slime on his bed. Oh. That looked like the bouncy tubular entities he met earlier. Did one of them follow him home? Did he squish them when he laid down on his back? 8-Ball worried for a second before the orange splatter wiggled and pulled itself back together. The small orange tubular blob shook itself off. 8-Ball stared. It was much smaller than the ones he'd been dancing with. Was this a baby?

The smaller blob looked up at him and chirped, wobbling its gelatin-like body and generally being very cute. 8-Ball decided then and there that…

So he scooped it up into his large hands and was about to run out to show this baby to everyone before he paused. If this was those tubular entities' child, then he would have to return the baby to them. It was only right to do if this was their baby.

The blob squeaked and rubbed its face against 8-Ball's fingers with a gentle smile. 8-Ball felt like his heart was going to melt and he cooed at the small thing. Well… maybe he could take care of it for a few more hours… and then he would return them.

Yeah. That was a great idea!

---

Kryptos paced around his office as he gathered his materials. After all his study and getting his Master's degree in Science, he applied for work in a research and development firm. He was brilliant, he knew he was. And his bosses knew it too. He rose in the ranks quickly and had his own office space AND lab by this point.

Technically, he was was still in school, trying to get a couple of Master's degrees in more fields of study. But he wanted to start working too. Besides, it got him access to some of the most high end technology available (not just the stuff found on market). His goal was simple enough, build a Temporal Destabilizer.

One well placed hit from that would be enough to kill Time Baby… for a while at least. Kryptos sure hoped so at least. He'd made all the calculations, and if he could build a weapon that messes with the flow of Time, it MUST be enough to take down a god.

Now, some may say that this was overkill, considering his end goal was being able to confess to Bill and knowing at last whether he had ANY chance at all with the demon god (Kryptos tried to ignore the little voice that told him that of course he wasn't good enough, Bill was a GOD) and while Time was dead, perhaps Kryptos could get Bill to break and remake their Deal so that romance could be an option.

Also, killing Time Baby would just be soooo satisfying! Fuck that asshole!

Kryptos's work was interrupted by a text from Hectorgon, forwarding a message from Bill. Kryptos glanced down at it and read quickly before freezing. Bill found a brother? And wasn't going to be home for a while? The polytool glared at his Com. Who was this man who has taken up Bill's time???

Bill had wrote 'Found a brother', not 'Found my brother' so this couldn't be someone that was actually her family. But who was it? Did Bill pick up another stray? But she's staying with them. For how long? And who were they? Kryptos scratched at his plane in agitation.

Bill was very particular about what she called things. Their Maniac-crew were Friends who were like Family. They were Friends first and Family second. Kryptos blushed a little at how Bill seemed to think he was a Sister. At first Kryptos had been quite annoyed by it, since he was a MAN and should at least be a Brother instead! But Bill had explained that for her, Sister and Brother were states of being that had nothing to do with gender identity or biological sex.

Bill explained how she'd had two Brothers in her life. One of them had told her that they were actually a girl and would like to be a Sister instead of a brother. And her other Brother was a younger brother who had died tragically. And Bill wasn't emotionally ready to have another younger Brother. An older Brother would be fine, or same age Brothers who were somewhat slightly older (like how Teeth ranked in Bill's twisted sense of reality), or male Cousins (younger like 8-Ball or older like PaciFire), or Children (Amorphous Shape, Xanthar and Keyhole 'felt' like children to Bill, in the sense that she wanted to take care of them, raise them, protect them…), or Uncles (like Hectorgon)...which finally left Sisters.

Pyronica was both an older Sister and Best Friend. And Kryptos…

...well, Bill couldn't emotionally accept a younger Brother and had relegated him to younger Sister instead.

After Kryptos got the full explanation out of Bill, confusing and non-logical as it seemed to him, Kryptos had begrudgingly accepted that he was going to be a little Sister. He also told Bill that he could just NOT be a sibling. That would be better. But Bill had looked so lost and confused that Kryptos dropped the subject.

So, for Bill to claim some… stranger than none of them knew as her brother… were they older? Younger? Even if Kryptos didn't like the idea of Bill thinking of him as a sibling (because you can't date siblings, that was weird and kinda fucked up, blood relation or not) he also didn't like the idea of Bill immediately attaching herself to someone so quickly.

Though, that's what Bill had ALWAYS done. Kryptos glared at his Com as he ranted over the group chat. Why did Bill have to be so TRUSTING? It was adorable, but not when it put her in danger! Kryptos didn't like how little he knew about this situation.

Finally, he slumped over his desk and sighed. There was nothing he could do. Whenever Bill runs off on whatever new thing has caught her interest, the only thing they could do was wait for her to come back. There wasn't a signal bar next to Bill's name on the Com which meant she was somewhere too far for their texts to get through or she was in a different Time.

All the same though, Kryptos rubbed his top point, where Bill had marked him. They still had Protections even if Bill wasn't here. The demon god had gotten better with their Curses over the years. And now, with the Blessings that Bill could somehow do, they were given basic protections from any harm. There was a recall spell that would pull them back to the Death Star if they were in danger, basic Shields from harm and it meant that Bill could go off exploring very far away without worrying for their lives.

Kryptos liked the security but he didn't like how it meant Bill could go off somewhere that they couldn't reach.

But at the same time, it meant that he and the others could plan Time Baby's murder without Bill finding out.

The dark blue colored alien sighed as he finally finished ranting over the group chat. He was sure no one was reading it, just scrolling past and probably rolling their eyes (if they had any) about the whole situation. Well, whatever. He turned back to his project. The Death Canon had been a success. He even got paid for it. Now he just needed to adjust this new gun to be able to contain an object within halted time. Once that was achieved, he would be able to mess with turning it lethal…

---

Xanthar slept.

He dreamed.

Other Panni were there. A small one nuzzled his side. Two larger ones were pressed against him, their presence warm and comforting. The world was warm and safe. Flowers grew as they walked together under a beautiful yellow sky.

In the distance, Xanthar saw a few other creatures. A large pink and white woman with horns. An angular red man. A rhombus shaped blue man. Many other shapes and colors of people. And high up in the air was a warm glowing triangle.

Xanthar nudged his family closer to the light. They can meet. They will be happy together. One big family. His mother can be the triangle's mother. His father can be the triangle's father. His sister can be the triangle's sister.

They could all be together.

Basking under that warm, comforting light. Safe.

Together.

Xanthar dreamed.

---

Teeth stretched and groaned. Clean up after a show always took forever! The sets had to be taken down, the props and decorations taken away for storage so they could be reused or repurposed for other props. He twisted, groaning at the muscle strain from all the heavy lifting. One of the tech guys patted his shoulder-ish area. "Great job tonight." They grinned.

"You too." Teeth grinned back. He always had the biggest smile. "I saw that piece of the scenery break off during Act 3, good job getting it back up without anyone noticing."

The tech guy (a rather round Equanious) flared his mane in embarrassment. "Yeah we all panicked about that. Good thing I managed to catch it."

Teeth laughed. As clean up was almost done, he went to the lockers to grab his belongings. One of his co-stars called out, "Oi Teeth! You comin' to the after party or what?"

"Sorry dude, I have to get home. It's super late." Teeth shrugged. One of the other actors laughed. "Does your demon have you on a curfew?" If Teeth had eyes he would have rolled them. "Actually, no. But I'm tired and I just want to go to bed." He didn't mind the heckling all that much. They were generally all in good fun.

He was about to head out when Lilie (one of the tech guys) came up to him. "J-hey Teeth, you wanna go grab dinner together?" The Alpicana asked him, large fluffy ears flicking quickly. Teeth gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry dude, I'm kinda tired and I was just gonna go home and sleep."

Those pink ears drooped. "O-oh… okay…" Lilie seemed pretty bummed out. Teeth kinda felt bad, Lilie was always so cheerful and seeing him down was… well, it made Teeth's gums ache to think about Lilie being sad. "Wait-!" The mouth called out when Lilie started to walk away. "I AM kinda hungry. And as long as you don't mind me being quiet company…"

Lilie turned back to him with a bright, eager smile, long tail whipping back and forth with glee. "I don't mind at all!" He squealed. His ears were moving rapidly, flicking up and down. Teeth chuckled at how cute it was.

"So you're ditching the after party but you'll hang out with Lilie?" One of the other guys called out. Another one of Teeth's co-stars hissed and smacked that guy's arm. "Dude, shut up!" She hissed before waving at them. "You two have fun!" She cheered.

Teeth shrugged and waved bye to everyone before following Lilie out. The Alpicana chattered about a new pub nearby that was open till late and served some really nice thinly sliced grilled Aba Loneefs. Teeth was already salivating at the thought. "I should bring Bill and Pyronica here, I bet they'd love to try some."

Lilie frowned a bit. "Oh…" he looked a little down. Teeth wasn't sure why. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Lilie tried to brush off his question but Teeth was pretty blunt about stuff, especially if he wanted to know something. "Did something I say upset you?" He asked. Lilie looked away. "It's nothing. I'm just getting upset over nothing."

"If… if I said something to upset you, I'm sorry." Teeth reached out to pat Lilie's shoulder. "I didn't mean to?" Lilie sighed. "It's not your fault. Um…" he looked down for a few seconds before pasting a smile on his muzzle. "So, ah, how long have you been together with them?" He was trying to sound cheerful, so as not to worry Teeth, but Teeth lived with Bill for centuries. He knew what fake cheer looked like.

"What's wrong? If this is about my friends…" Teeth frowned, hoping that Lilie wasn't one of those people who hated Bill and Pyronica just because they were considered criminals (which… was fair, but it still made Teeth unhappy). Teeth didn't think he was. Lilie was always friendly and open.

Lilie's ears perked up. "Friends?"

Teeth would raise an eyebrow if he had any. "Yeah? I know they're kinda problematic, but Pyronica's like a sister to me. She's actually really nice, don't believe what the wanted posters say! And Bill's one of my best friends. He's nothing like the monster they say he is!" Most of his troupe have known him long enough that they didn't care about his relation to Bill anymore, but Lilie's only been with their theater group for a year now. Teeth's relation with Bill wasn't brought up often but it wasn't like it was a secret or anything…

Lilie seemed happier now, for some reason. "So they're just friends?"

"Yeah?" Teeth scratched his head. "They like food and Bill especially likes trying new food, so whenever I learn about a new restaurant or something, I tell them." Lilie was walking with a happy little bounce. "So you're not dating them?" He asked.

"No. I'm not dating anyone at the moment." Teeth shrugged. Lilie seemed quite happy with this information. Teeth was starting to suspect something. He thought back to all the times he and Lilie hung out. They'd only been at the theater, working together on set, sharing snack breaks, telling interesting stories with each other…

This was the first time they were hanging out outside of work.

Teeth's jaw dropped as he put together what might have been happening here. He glanced over at Lilie, his photoreceptors easily picking up on the pink and teal Alpicana's twitching ears. "Is this a date?" He asked bluntly.

Lilie squeaked and shuffled his hind legs a little. "D-date? N-no! What gave you th-that idea…"

Teeth laughed. Well. WELL.

"I wouldn't mind if this was a date." Teeth said casually. Lilie damn near tripped over his own feet. Teeth continued walking, grinning widely as his receptors could still 'see' Lilie behind him. The Alpicana's ears were whipping around so quickly they made a buzzing sound. Finally, a huge grin spread across his muzzle and Lilie trotted back up to continue walking beside Teeth. "Well, th-then it's a date!" He bounced, legs jittering.

Teeth opened his mouth to tease him about that when his Com buzzed. Teeth flicked it on and hummed. Ok. Bill wasn't going to be home for a while. Then Kryptos began spamming the chat and Teeth groaned before putting his Com away. Teeth knew Kryptos had a thing for Bill. Heck, EVERYONE knew, except Bill. Which kinda sucked for Kryptos.

But that's his problem. Right now, Teeth had his own little date to go on. He liked Lilie well enough, the man was cute and laughed at his jokes. Teeth wasn't sure if he like, liked Lilie yet. But hey, he hadn't dated in centuries so why not? Lilie was cute. Teeth liked hanging out with him.

And he had really pretty teeth. Well taken care of and brushed to a shine.

So Teeth didn't mind if this was a date. He wouldn't mind if there were more dates. After all, dating was getting to know someone better. And Teeth wouldn't mind that at all. The bright smile on Lilie's face only reinforced Teeth's desire to see how this panned out.

He really liked Lilie's smile.

----