Chapter Text
There it was again. For the third time his concentration was broken by… something. It was hard to pinpoint, whatever it was, beside being a vague feeling almost like a tickle. But where? Curiosity demanded he find the source now, and he turned away from the stars he had been studying, grounding himself once more in the limited perspective of his physical form.
Imagine his surprise when Bill wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Usually when something pestered his physical form, it was the annoying entity of chaos begging for attention or otherwise bored. If he really was being needy, he’d follow Stanford into whatever higher dimension his consciousness was busy in; or else destroy the object of study. But not today. He hummed and went to stand when he felt it again, this time able to understand the feedback. A tiny tap against the inside of his cloak. The eggs; they were moving.
Stanford let the material fan out from his body and inspected the brood clinging there. How long had they been incubating? Time was so meaningless now, but after a moment of thought he decided two to three months. He hardly paid attention to them after Bill put them there, after all. Just thirty six hours ago Teeth had licked some from his coat-tails. Now though he took a moment to really examine the eggs. There were hundreds of transparent oblong shapes, and inside each one something half-formed and gold shimmered. One squirmed and tapped against its shell; the source of the irritation he’d felt earlier. Stanford suddenly wanted to know more about them; when would they hatch? What would they look like? Did they need constant care like human infants or would they be independent? He drew his fingers through the clutch and the little forms stirred to life in reaction. A smile spread across his face.
“Hey nerd, you still looking at stars or ya wanna come hang out? That creature with like 86 faces dropped by and wanted to play cards.” Bill entered with all the grace and subtly he possessed; aka none.
Ford frowned at the intrusion and rolled his eyes, exasperated but tolerant for now.
The moment he turned more than half his attention away from Bill, though, the demigod noticed. His single eye followed Stanford’s gaze to the eggs and he let out a barking laugh.
“Oh-ho! How’s my little side-project coming along?” He floated closer and pulled Ford’s coat open, ignoring the way he tensed in reaction. “Hmm, not bad! They’re growing pretty quick, I knew you’d be a great host Fordsy. You look good carrying.” Bill pressed a hand to Stanford’s midsection, his eye crinkled in amusement, before turning back to the eggs themselves. He carded his hand through them like he so often did with Ford’s hair, and the ex-man felt a tinge of fondness at the action. It was ruined when Bill grabbed a handful and ripped them off his coat, tossing them into his mouth without hesitation. “Ugh, not ripe yet, need a bit more time. Keep up the good work though! Now, let’s go crush that thing’s 85 faces or whatever- what’s with the look?” The triangle stopped his monologue and put a hand on his side, staring at Ford.
He was shocked and a bit hurt, and he didn’t know why. He shouldn’t be. So what if Bill pulled the parasitic eggs from his body without thought? It was Bill Cipher, he did that all the time. “...I’d rather not play today.” Stanford admits, still mulling over his own emotional reaction. Bill huffed and dropped the cloak so he could put his OTHER hand on his side as well.
“Aww, c’mon Sixer, don’t be such a stick in the mud and have some fun! You know you waaaant toooo~” He made an obnoxious kissing noise and Stanford had enough. He narrowed his eyes and wrapped the billowing cloak tight around himself, baring teeth even.
“I said ‘no’. You can’t MAKE me either, Cipher, not anymore.” He was being irrational, he knew, but the anger came easy.
“Yeesh, who spit in your Cheerios! No one’s making you have fun and also not be so lame, since ya wanna be moody! Join in later when you get over it.” Bill ignored the threat of Stanford’s body language and planted a kiss on his nose anyway before floating away. He relaxed by inches once the triangle was gone until finally he let his coat fall open again. Some of the eggs had been knocked askew and he meticulously straightened them without realizing what he was doing.
Why did it matter?
He floated up into the air, drifting while he got lost in introspection. It wasn’t like he’d asked to be host of nearly a thousand eggs; Bill had just done it one day. At any time he could have destroyed them, but it seemed like more trouble than it was worth, right? Was that the only reason? Ford curled his legs up and let his coat surround him, fingers tapping against the little yellow orbs. Sometimes they tapped back, after a moment, and he smiled again. He thought Bill destroyed all of his humanity, but apparently a few instincts slipped through the cracks. That was fine though, he thought as he began humming to his clutch; some song he’d long forgotten the words to, but the tune still comforting. Hundreds of little potential lives. Ford sighed and let himself be lulled by the rhythmic pulse of their movements.