#Or maybe they just remembered how happy Stan was when he saw Mabel and Dipper for the first time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fakeusernamelol · 7 months ago

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HI LONG ASKS ANON HERE

I feel like Shermie and Mariana would never let Ford be alone with their Pa while their Pa is still very confused and has trouble with remembering people's names and gets migraines and random ptsd flashbacks he doesn't understand - which means no boat for the first year, Stan goes between staying at the shack with Soos, staying with Mariana or staying with Shermie and his family, Ford is just kinda trailing behind Stan like a kicked puppy, either staying in a different room than Stan or in a hotel nearby (I like to think once Shermie has decided someone isn't his family anymore, he doesn't forgive and he doesn't give second chances, kinda like Filbrick). If Stan does start remembering who Ford was and what Ford did he would first keep pretending just because. Well. Ford's nice to him now. He's not above lying, and he really, really wants to be loved by Ford without having to break his back for it. At first it's just for that, because he likes Ford walking at his side and linking their pinkies together and gently reminding him of names and old childhood stories without any frustration in his voice even though it's the 17th time he's told him, he likes seeing Ford trying and he thinks maybe Ford won't care as much once he knows Stanley doesn't need fixing anymore - that he might go back to treating him the way he used to now that Stanley was back to being himself, that maybe it was the way Stan is when he's wholly himself that drove Ford to be violent in the first place.

But then, like any good conman, he started bargaining. It's not like he doesn't want to forgive Ford, he wants to so badly but he can't forgive someone that doesn't change. Maybe if he saw Ford being nothing but the boy he fell in love with for a year then he would believe it really is him, that he really has grown, and then he can start "remembering" more, then he can start moving past it and once he's decided he's moving past it surely his brain will get the message and stop making him petrified of only wearing a tanktop and boxers around him or being alone in the same room as him or eating too much in front of him or talking too loudly with him or drinking when he's home or when Ford gets too close to their son and daughter or when Shermie starts raising his voice at Ford or--

This doesn't work the way Stan wants it too but Stan has been dealing with his mental health through brute force alone since he was 4 years old and he's not gonna stop trying until it works (it will not Stan tried initiating sex but heard Ford undoing his belt and threw up they're not okay even a little bit)

HI BUDDY HELLO!!!!! so happy to see you again dear long-asks anon, your amazing ideas help me a lot to continue with this silly au 😚💖💓💓💖💓 I GOT THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THIS ONE BECAUSE YOU'RE GIVING ME TOO MUCH IDEAS IM SHACKING AND GIGGLING OVER THE FLOOR 🥴🥴🥴

Mariana, Shermie and Soos would surely take the position of caregivers for Stanley because they're the only ones who know the story between him and ford (Mariana and shermie because they lived most of it lol, and Soos because he heard them talking about how angry they were with ford and he ended up making them telling the full story to him with the promise of keeping it as far as possible to the knowledge of the twins) all of them have the same mission, help stan remembering things, going through that little break downs his memory could have and most important, have ford far from him.

Shermie and Mariana had it way easily, found kinda sweet that when dipper and mabel leave they take stan with them to California to stay with shermie and his wife for them to take care of him, that would make stanley very happy. His memory was still very floppy and can't remember most things yet but he remembered spending time with those kids and he was happy to have them by his side. In shermie's house he could feel that calmly senior life far away from attractions and anomalies. He would watch soap operas along with shermie's wife and hear his son telling him some stories while taking a cup of coffee, when it was about the younghood of his kids they were cautious with what they said, they wanted their Pa to remember but only the good times so they avoided any mention of Ford or things that could make those uncomfortable flashbacks came back to Stan. Despite that, Stan felt calm there, it helped him remember the names of relatives he didn't see as often, like Shermie's son, and on weekends the twins used to come to visit him and his grandpa so he was pretty happy with that too, even though, he can swear he sometimes see that man with red sweater in the windows or in the distance on the street..

With Mariana, He remembered that creative part of his life. Having fun making figures with animal parts or drawings little things remembering things like his old lil «stanley» comics he did in his childhood or the attractions he did for the shack. Mariana would help him remember that good parts of his life but taking care of certain things that could lead to remembering ford (for example, toffee peanuts although she knew stanley loved them, they were prohibited because she didn't want to wake up any bad remembering linked to them because they knew ford hated them for some reason)

With Soos it was the only time he was near Ford because they both still live in the shack but he had a restraining order with Stan (Significantly, legally no but if soos saw him very close he wouldn't hesitate to tackle him lol) they couldn't never be in the same room alone, Ford didn't have the right to talk with stan and in nights stans room will be closed with a padlock and only stan and soos had the key to open it. HOWEVER laws and rules where something the pines bros didn't respect lol, living in the same house although not interacting was leading stan to curiosity, he still wasn't sure who this man was, why was he doing here but nobody seemed to want to ask that question so he would have to find that by himself.

When soos not around he would see that man walking through the shack, going to the kitchen or to some secret room he wasn't allowed to see. In nights he would hear strange sounds coming from what seemed to be below the Shack, and sometimes he would open the lock and leave his room whenever to go to the bathroom or kitchen but he could see that man lurking around the shack late at night. Finally Looking into his eyes and feeling a strange but familiar silence. He didn't know who this man was but he wasn't feeling scared of him. His face looked tired and petrified in a dispirited expression, he didn't talk nor get close to him, they only looked at eachother before one of them left leaving that scene full of questions.

One time when the headaches were preventing Stan from sleeping so he decided to leave his room and go into the living room to watch television, hoping to kill some time while the pain relieved and let him to fell asleep. While watching he noticed something was gently touching his pinkie, looking to his side and seeing that man sitting next to him with his hand close to his while watching the tv with him, For some reason that didn't make him feel uncomfortable or scared, he Just, let the man slowly take his hand while watching the crap late night movies that were on tv. The man's hand was rough but warmed, it matched perfectly with his even with that extra finger he noticed. Slowly nights were becoming the only time he got to discover who that man was. Holding hands, staring at each other without saying anything, and when one of them finally decided to talk, the man's tone voice was soft even with that deep voice he had. He tell him about stories he haven't remember, names he hadn't heard, he make him feel things he hasn't feel before. The flashbacks and headaches were getting worse but Stan was remembering more details of them, remembering sounds, places, touches,names. And then he remembered who Stanford Pines was.

But..he wasn't acting like he remembered, he was being sweet, he was telling him stories in a soft tone and only touching his hands waiting for his permission to do it, he was acting different but why was now feeling fear ? Why he was now feeling intimidated while seeing at those eyes that made his chest ache, why did that soft touch made him wait for a twist, he was being just like he always wanted, his heart was feeling the same he felt when they were just 12-year-old kids, but he was scared. He didn't want to get through that again, didn't want to suffer again, he loved that man he see in the nights, but he was scared that man was Stanford pines.

I really love the idea of ptsd stanley, my poor baby, he really wants to try it again with ford, trust him and try to have for the first time a good intimacy life with him, he want it so bad but he simply can't, he can't help but feeling something bad is going to happen even if ford has showed him that he has changed, after so much years, he deeply can't be sure of that, he doesn't want to suffer again 😢😢

#stancest #old stancest #stancest prompts #teen dads au: bad ending edition #crying rn

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nataliedanovelist · 4 years ago

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GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.2

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

The BEAUTIFUL art pieces were done by @clownwry and @elishevart ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭❤️💋

ch.1 - ch.3

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was way more nervous than he was letting on.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

Ford would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Mabel’s company, but she was practically a stranger, and keeping a random girl in his house that was located in the middle of the woods was fishy and Ford couldn’t help but feel like it was illegal. But he couldn’t leave her out in the snow and send her on her way to find her home and family, so he decided to keep her warm or healthy, simply because it was the right thing to do.

But then she said she had no parents to call. Only a brother, who was lost, too. Ford can remember the old rule: If you’re lost, stay where you are until you are found. So he then decided that she could stay here until her brother found her, which should be by morning at the latest.

Still, he felt uneasy, so once Mabel was settled in front of the TV, Ford excused himself and went into the kitchen to make a phone call. There was only one man who would have better judgement in this situation than him.

The phone rang a few times. Ford checked his watch to make sure it was a reasonable time to call. It wasn’t Sunday, was it? But then the ringing stopped. “Howdy! This here Fiddleford McGucket.”

“Hey there, buddy.” Ford smiled to himself at hearing that cheerful voice. “How have you been?”

“Stanford Pines! Good t’hear from ya!” Fiddleford cheered. “M’just fine, just fine! How are ya?! Ya haven’t gotten eaten by monsters yet, have ya?” He laughed, making his old friend chuckle along.

“No no, I’m alright.” Ford almost brought up the reason he called, but then he remembered something very important to Fiddleford. “How are Emma-May and Tater?”

“OH! They’re doin’ great! We’re all very happy n’ doin’ well! Ya won’t believe how big Tate’s gotten since ya last saw him! He’s already crawlin’!”

“Wow, that's great to hear.” Ford sat in a chair at the kitchen table. “Has he said his first words yet?”

“No, not quite. Actually, he’s extremely quiet. Not a lot of baby-babble.” Fiddleford chuckled. “The doctor says that’s perfectly normal. Tate’s so smart, he’s reachin’ for specific colors n’ such, n’ ya can tell he’s thinkin’ a lot n’ knows what’s goin’ on, he just got nothin’ t’say.”

“I was very shy when I was young.” Ford commented casually. He didn't feel like mentioning why. “If Tate is anything like either of his parents he’s very intelligent.”

“Oh, he’s so much like both of us it’s scary. Ya know Emma-May, so clever n’ quiet n’ such. Tate’s got all that. But he already looks so much like me! But he’s got his mama’s hair! N’ Santy Claus brought ‘im this fun little fishin’ game where ya fish for plastic fish with a pole with a magnet on it, n’ he loves it! I can’t wait to take ‘im fishin’ when he’s big enough! Ya really outta give yourself a break n’ come down for a visit, he’d move to see his Uncle Ford again.”

Ford’s face felt hot. “Perhaps. Spring is when a lot of anomalies are active and breeding, so i would prefer not to miss that, but maybe I could visit for a weekend before that…”

“Well, no pressure, I won’t assume anythang until ya tell me to, just know there’s always a bed for ya here.”

“Thank you, Fiddleford. The same for you and your family. The clean air will do everyone some good.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Fiddleford sighed happily and perked up. “So! Whatcha callin’ for? Not that I’m not happy just t’chat, but ya never call.”

Ford laughed and shrugged to himself. “I suppose I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No need t’be sorry, Stanford, just wanna know what’s up.”

“Well, I was hoping to get your advice on something.”

“Shoot.”

“Um… well…” Ford rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tell him this. “I heard some unusual sounds outside today…”

“What kind of unusual sounds?”

“Cracks, like lightning. And some faint yelling.” Ford answered. “I thought it might be a tree branch or a new anomaly to catalogue, but when I opened the door a young girl was standing there in the snow with no coat.”

“Heavens! Is she alright?!”

“She’s okay, no frostbite. She was cold, but after sitting by the fire, drinking some hot chocolate, and changing into some dry clothes, she’s okay now.”

“Well, good.”

“So of course I brought her in. I tried to call her parents, she probably got lost playing…”

“Sure.”

“... but she says she doesn’t have any parents.”

“Oh.” Fiddleford sighed. “Oh. Now, wait, are ya sure she didn’t just say that so ya wouldn’t call?”

Ford chuckled and said, “I first thought that too, but she looked too sad to be lying.”

“Okay, I see. Does she got somebody ya can call?”

“She says she has a brother, but he was out there, too. So he is probably out there looking for her and therefore nowhere near a phone.”

“Fair enough, okay. So, I reckon y’all are waitin’ for him t’come ‘round.”

“Yup.”

“Well sounds to me like you’ve handled this all pretty well.” Fiddleford said confidently.

“You think so?” Ford asked. “I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m missing something. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Nonsense, buddy, you’re doin’ great.” Fiddleford assured. “Look here, ya can’t just leave a young gurl out in the snow t’try t’find her way home...”

“I agree.”

“... so ya really got one option n’ that’s t’keep an eye on her n’ let her in as a guest. N’ ya tried t’call, but nothin’. The best thang ya can do right now is be there for this lil’lady n’ just be kind t’her. N’ if nobody comes for her by mornin’, why don’t ya go into town n’ see if anybody knows her, then they can help y’all out.”

Ford nodded, then remembered that his best friend couldn’t see it, so he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“You’re welcome. N’ hey, are ya okay?” He asked seriously.

“Yes, yes I’m okay. I just want to make sure I do this right.”

“O’course. I understand. Ya want me t’come down there n’ give a hand?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Mabel will find her brother in the morning.”

“Mabel, huh? Well, if y’all don’t, please call me. N’ even if ya do find her brother, call me. Keep me updated.”

“I will. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Anytime, Stanford.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When Mr. Ford gave Mabel the remote for the old TV and went into the kitchen, she decided to use her awesome detective skills to figure out what year it was. If it was before Grunkle Stan lived here and opened the Mystery Shack, she must be pretty far back in time. But she had no way of knowing if it was 1999 or 2005 or the 50s.

The TV was old, but so was Grunkle Stan’s in her time. So Mr. Ford could have had this TV for a long time and didn’t want to replace it.

Okay, so when was the TV made? Mabel didn’t know. Dipper would have known.

Okay, Grunkle Stan mentioned watching TV when he was a kid once or twice. So at least Mabel was when Stan was a kid, okay.

Mabel turned the TV on and it was in color. Okay, so she wasn’t too far back in time. But the TV was playing a commercial for clear skin. The picture was gritty and all the people in it had puffy hair and long socks and oh my god was that woman wearing legwarmers?! Mabel grinned at seeing her favorite fashion on TV, but then her face dropped. When was she?

She tapped her chin and tried to think of how to know the date without being suspicious. She could ask Mr. Ford, but that might be suspicious. Mabel decided to start flicking through channels to try to guess what year she was in based on what was airing. A lot of shows were about cowboys, space, or game shows. Huh. Okay.

All the TV shows were definitely older. Nothing her dad would watch from when he was a kid, so if Mabel had to guess by everyone’s crazy air, the cheesy TV shows, and the music occasionally playing, she was in the 70s.

Huh. Okay. But she needed an exact year. So Mabel turned off the TV, saw an old radio on a desk, and turned it on to listen.

“... cuz it’s cold doesn’t mean you can't boogie, folks! So grab someone you wanna get warm with, turn up the music, and get your bodies warm in the coolest way possible! Here’s Night Fever, by the Bee Gees!”

Mabel grinned at the disco music. Her personal favorite song from these guys was More Than a Woman, but Night Fever would do. For a moment Mabel forgot her mission, jumped off the couch and left the blanket behind, and in the over-sized gray t-shirt Mr. Ford gave her while her clothes were drying, she danced along to the music, singing the chorus since those were the only words she knew.

“When you reach out for me. Yeah, and the feelin' is right,

Then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it! Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!”

Mabel laughed at herself as she spun around in her socks and tried to do the point-and-hype dance she didn’t know the name to, but everyone did it when a disco song played.

Little did she know that Ford had returned to check on her, and was smiling at her as she shook her hips and waved her hair around and had fun. He leaned against the doorway and planned to let her dance in peace, but when she did a spin and saw him, she grinned and took his hand. “C’mon, Mr. Ford, come dance with me!”

Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No, no! I can’t dance!”

“You got two legs that aren’t broken?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can dance! C’mon!” Mabel encouraged, let him go when they were both in the middle of the room, and she started to dance again. “Don’t make me dance alone!” She even pulled an evil move and gave him puppy eyes. Rude.

Ford smiled slyly at her and hesitantly copied her boogie moves. It was true that Ford never liked to dance, but there was no one around but Mabel, and though he had only known her for an hour or more, he was sure she would never make fun of him.

And he was right.

“Wow! Look at you, Mr. I-Can’t-Dance! Yeah!” Mabel hopped on the couch, standing, and took Ford’s hand. “Here, I’ll spin you!”

Ford laughed and allowed it, doing a single spin, but then scooping her in his arms to dip her and then let her down, making her laugh as they continued to dance.

“Alright alright, you crazy cats, that was Night Fever by the Bee Gees! It's a snowy day here in the heart of Oregon, with snow flurries coming in harder all night, but it should clear up by morning and be a fun day to go out and play! The date is January 26th, 1978 in case you gotta write a check or mail a thank you note to a friend or family member. I’m still writing letters for Christmas! We’ll be right back with some of your favorites after a word or two from our sponsors, so don’t go anywhere!”

Mabel stared at the radio. “Wow, 1978.” She breathed. Her parents were only kids right now, maybe only six or seven-years-old. Wow.

Ford chuckled. “I know, I’m still in the bad habit of writing ‘77.”

Mabel realized her mistake, but was grateful her host misunderstood her. “Me too.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for dinner. How about some ramen noodles?”

“Yes, please! Can we play a game after we eat?”

“Sure. I don’t have many board games, but I do have a deck of cards.”

“Do you know any card tricks?!”

“A few.” Ford admitted, wiggling his fingers. “There are some advantages to having more fingers than average.”

Mabel grinned up at him and followed him to the kitchen for dinner.

#GF #fanfiction #gravity falls #gravity falls au #timestuck au #ford and mabel bonding #Fiddleford McGucket #dancing #night fever #snow day

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maximumjinx · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Gravity Falls AU

~Yknow what they say, if you run out of content, ya gotta make it yourself. This is a ? shot (I might continue or not who knows not me) please don’t ask for more I have 18 unfinished fanfics on this site.~

California was nice, Steven had to admit. The people were nice, the food was fantastic, and the weather was splendid. It reminded him a lot of Beach City. Though there were just so many people, and traveling north, Steven was beginning to long for something small and simple again.

Oregon was the perfect place for that, right?

“Ronaldo wants pictures of Bigfoot, and if anyone can find him, its you Steven.” Petey’s voice was faint on Steven’s phone speaker, tossed into the passenger seat as Steven blindly picked a highway exit.

“Sure Petey, but couldn’t Ronaldo just go to a circus?”

“Not big feet Steven,” Petey emphasized, “Bigfoot.”

“Saying it twice isn’t helping buddy.” Steven was half paying attention. He was focusing on the winding roads and the looming trees surrounding him. Deep, in the pit of Steven’s stomach, he felt something start to tug him toward one direction farther away from the highway. He wasn’t quite sure if it was a good or bad feeling yet.

“Forget it, I’m going to take a blurry photo of that mean Gem in the woods and say its Bigfoot.”

“Just don’t let Jasper catch you, she’s no joke when she’s angry.”

“I saw her ripping grass out of the ground I think I’ll be fine. Later dude.”

Steven heard a small click and smiled to himself. He’s happy to see how far the people of Beach City have come and how they’ve taken to the gems. He remembers when the Crystal Gems were once the outcasts of town that locals warned you to stay away from.

He looked up to see a welcome sign.

“Gravity falls. Well, that’s a funny name.”

—

Steven wanted small and simple but he feels he may have overshot it.

This small town had exactly three attractions. A town museum that mentioned marrying woodpeckers (Steven couldn’t figure out if that was a normal human thing, like taxes and velcro), a small diner, and as one local described it ‘some tourist trap’ deep in the woods. It was a sticky summer day and the former two attractions didn’t have airconditioning. Steven gambled on the last stop in hopes of stretching his legs and maybe finding a source to the strange feeling in his gut. It had become much stronger since he entered this small town. Alluring, but nothing related to Gems as far as Steven could tell.

He parked in the nearly empty lot and stepped out. Jacket wrapped loosely around his hips, Steven made his way inside.

A girl that looked about 13 was petting a pig on the front porch. She was incredibly reflective, and depsite the heat wore a knitted bedazzled sweater that made her glow like a disco ball in the sun.

She looked Steven up and down as he approached, a wide smile taking up her face and Steven saw bright braces with colored bands.

“Hi!” She launched upwards, startling the pig away, “I’m Mabel, but you can call me anytime.” The girl winked and stuck out her hand, palm facing the floor.

Steven blinked.

“Mabel, stop scaring away the customers!” A gruff voice yelled through the screen door, and soon an older man stepped out in a suit, wearing a fez and eyepatch.

Immediately the old man squinted at Steven, sizing him up.

Stanley Pines knew this teen wasn’t local, but he wasn’t sure if he had any money. For all he knew he was another boy trying to hit on his giftshop cashier, Wendy.

Oh well, a customer is a customer.

“Come in, come in, and see our mystical and magical wonders!”

“Magical?” This could be it, Steven could figure out why this town has felt off. Maybe it was gem related after all.

Quickly this older man who had introduced himself as Mr. Mystery gave Steven a tour of what looked like failed taxidermy projects. Now Steven may have a lived a sheltered childhood, but he felt pretty confident there was no such thing as a Sashcrotch. And so far, nothing had felt magical or mysterious.

“That concludes our tour! Here is our mistifying giftshop and it’s purchasable wonders!”

“Right...” Well, at the very least he was able to spend some time in airconditioning.

There was a girl behind the desk in plaid that looked about Steven’s age, and just a half inch shorter than him. She looked bored, flipping through a magazine as a young boy that looked a lot like Mabel made googly eyes as he swept by the door.

Steven guessed there was no harm in asking around.

“Hi, I’m Steven.” He smiled easily, walking up to the register.

“No refunds, even if an exhibit bit you.” She sighed, peeking up before turning back to her magazine.

“Oh no, nothing bit me, I just wanted to know something.”

She looked up to get a better look at Steven and gave a small smirk.

“Sure, but only because I like your shirt. Mr. Universe merch, now that’s a deep cut.”

Unbeknownst to Steven, Dipper Pines would had been watching the exchange felt a twinge of uneasiness as this out of towner talked with Wendy.

“Have you ever seen anything strange or weird actually happen in this town?”

Wendy’s smile dropped.

“Why do you ask?” Her eyes flickered to Dipper, just for a moment, and that was all he needed to rush over.

“Excuse me sir, please buy something or exit the store.” Dipper spoke in the deepest voice he could muster.

Steven looked over with a questioning expression.

“Oh sure uh-“ He blindly reached for the wad of bills that his dad had given to him before he left. Steven pulled out a hundred dollar bill and put it on the counter. Wendy looked up baffled as Steven stuffed the other cash back in his wallet.

“Boy was I wrong about you kid!” Mr. Mystery, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, now bounded over. He had loosened his tie and lost the eyepatch which turned out he never needed.

“Whaddya wanna know? I’ll tell you everything. There’s gnomes in the woods you know-“

“Grunkle Stan!” Dipper protested loudly, dragging his Stan away and harshly whispering at him.

“Did you steal that money?” Wendy asked as Steven watched the pair whisper fight in the corner. He turned back to the girl and gave a sheepish smile.

“Uh no, my dad gave it to me before this roadtrip. He’s actually Mr. Universe.”

Wendy lit up.

“No freaking way! Your dad is Mr. Universe? I only got into him since he managed Sadie Killer and the Suspects and they always perform covers of his songs on tour, I can’t believe he’s your dad!” She rambled, stars in her eyes. Steven beamed, he loved when people praised his dad’s music. Greg really deserved it.

Steven learned Wendy’s name and they swapped stories back and forth, only interrupted as the girl from outside slowly rose from the behind the counter beaming.

“A cute musician that loves weird stuff, take me now.” She swooned. Steven blushed profusely, not used to the attention.

“Sorry, my girlfriend Connie probably wouldn’t like that very much.” He said gently. Mabel looked him up and down and pouted.

“I can wait, but not forever.” She warned, and winked, bounding to break apart her grunkle and Dipper, who are now whisper screaming with arms flailing.

“I wasn’t going to mention that Dorito shaped jerk! Just the normal stuff!”

“It’s dangerous! He could be a spy, or government, or another stack of gnomes!”

Steven raised an eyebrow and looked at Wendy. She chuckled and shrugged. Steven carefully approached them.

“He can hear everything you’re saying anyways so might as well tell him!” Mabel interrupted, nodding towards Steven as he came up.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely not government.” Steven technically didn’t exist at all. He never had a social security card and didn’t have a birth certificate.

Dipper only glared. Rich strangers with an interest in the paranormal didn’t come through gravity falls without some kind of agenda.

Steven hated the conflict he was starting. No information was worth this family fighting.

“Okay,” he surrendered, hands up, “I’ll just go. I’ll stick around town until tomorrow if you change your minds”

“Wait Steven-”

“Let him go Wendy,” Dipper glared as the boy in pink walked out, “We can’t trust him.”

“But I was going to ask for Sadie tickets...” Wendy groaned, defeated.

“There’s something weird about him.”

“Great!” Mabel beamed, “He’ll fit right in.”

~.~

Steven wasn’t crazy about sleeping in his car, but was seriously considering it after seeing the state of his motel room. It looked like it hadn’t been used in decades, a thin line of dust covering every surface. He was also pretty sure they didn’t even have free ice.

“Wish Pearl were here..” He mumbled, exhausted. He curled up on top of the covers, fully clothed, and let sleep take him.

Being Steven Universe however, meant rest was sure to allude the half alien.

Steven found himself in a dark space, fog all around him. Before a word could come out of his mouth he heard a fast, repetitive muttering.

“Stranger...Wendy looked pretty today..Can’t trust...Tell no one...Ford isn’t here..”

“What, the-” Steven quietly walked toward the source of dialogue, and saw the faded silhouette of the boy from the Mystery Shack. His back was turned to him, but Steven recognized the blue vest and mosquito bitten legs.

“I thought I was over the dream hopping.” Steven spoke a tad too loudly, starting the young boy - Dipper.

“What-” Dipper’s eyes grew wide in panic, and the boy fell back harshly.

“No, no, you can’t be in my head!”

“Wait, I’m not-” Steven tried to reassure him, stepping carefully towards the boy but Dipper let out a screech of terror, sweat gathering around his temples.

“Bill sent you didn’t he?! He’s not really gone- he’s going to hurt Mable again-” Dipper began to hyperventilate.

“Dipper please,” Steven took a step back, arms in the air in surrender.

“I-”

“I’m not going to hurt you I swear on the gems.” He placed a hand over his heart. “This is a total invasion of privacy but it’s something that happens when someone’s emotions are out of control-”

“How are you here?” Dipper demanded, scrambling to his feet. “Tell me what you are and what you want.”

“I’m just passing through!” Steven insisted, then lowered his tone to calm the younger boy. “I’m kinda of magnet for weird stuff. I just wanted to help in case anything was going on.”

“We deal with things just fine around here.” Dipper spat, then watched as Steven deflated. He seemed tired, like he hasn't slept well in a while.

“So what are you anyways? How can you be here?”

Steven winced, and laughed nervously. “It’s kind of a long story..”

Dipper raised and eyebrow and swept his arm around the void dramatically.

“You have until dawn.”

“I thought that was a conspiracy theory, it wasn’t even covered by major news outlets.” Dipper look exhausted, cross legged on the unseen floor as he ran his hands through his hair.

“I think Garnet is pretty persuasive when it comes to government and reporters. They all kinda fall in love with her.”

“She’s the one that’s really two aliens?”

Steven shook his head with a small smile. “It’s hard to explain but yes, I guess that comes close.”

“That’s actually insane. I’m insane, aren’t I?” Dipper stood up, leaving Steven on sitting next to an empty space. “It’s been too quiet around here and now I’m so desperate for weird, that I’m making it all up in my head.”

“I get that feeling.” Steven smiled without humor, “but no, this is real. I’ll prove it when you wake up.” Steven felt a shift, the fog in the void getting denser.

“Sooner than I thought, you’re an early riser huh?”

Dipper looked back at Steven, panicked. “You’ll come to the Shack again right? In just a bit?”

Steven smiled. “Promise.”

Dipper woke up to his sister braiding his hair. Mabel still had her pjs on, and a make up kit next to the bed. Dipper frowned, tasting strawberry shortcake.

“Stop testing party looks on me, Mabel.”

“Stop having my face structure and maybe I will.” She grinned, covered in blue glitter.

Dipper quickly washed up and got dressed for the day, feeling like he was anxiously waiting for something but not quite remembering what.

He felt like he had a strange dream last night...

He quickly remembered, choking on cereal as Steven walked into the shack right as it opened. Hair slightly frizzy from the heat and eyes strangely tired. Maybe dream hopping took energy that he anticipated.

“Steven!”

“Meal ticket!”

“Grunkle Stan.” Mabel chastised as Dipper rushed over to the older boy.

“Good morning everyone.”

Dipper stopped short, slightly hoping that everything he experienced wasn’t just his imagination. That everything exciting and weird and interesting wasn’t always trying to kill him, ruin his life, or steal his candy.

Steven looked tired, like he had been doing this much longer than Dipper, but he had still come out with enough energy to smile.

“Not insane?” Dipper asked hopefully, quietly. Steven snapped his attention from his Grunkle and Mable bickering down to the Dipper. He gave a reassuring smile, eyes quite serious.

“Not insane.”

#I feel like I made up a strange tension but please don't ship them THEYRE FOUND FAMILY #Steven universe #gravity falls #universe falls #???#what's the tag?#dipper pines #Mabel pines #grunkle stan #stan pines #bill cipher #this is something or maybe nothing idk people need to give me plot ideas #probably no plot just one shot series

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portalford · 5 years ago

Text

I Can Picture You So Easily

AO3

It hits Stan at the stupidest times.

Well. That makes it sounds like Stan just forgets, when really it never quite goes away — sometimes it’s just more.

Like now.

He’s looking in the mirror — he found it tucked way, way back in a closet (and he’s gonna skip right over that because when he got here the mirror in the bathroom was broken, cracked until you couldn’t see a thing and why was Ford—nope) — and he’s trying out a new look for Mr. Mystery.

Gotta keep it fresh, right? Accessorize?

Glasses aren’t accessories, unfortunately. He can’t go without them anymore.

(Really, he needed them years ago, but he was too stubborn to admit it, or too broke, or whatever, but he’s literally tripping over his own feet now. Needs must).

Ford wouldn’t be caught dead in this getup. No sense of fashion. So that’s fine.

The glasses—

(Ford started wearing glasses when he was six. Stan had laughed himself silly when they went to the drugstore and tried on the biggest, most obnoxious frames they could find. Ma had scolded, but she’d been too distracted checking price tags to do more than scold.

In the end, they went with some cheap horn-rimmed frames that Stan wouldn’t be caught dead in even now. Old-man glasses, at six. But that was Ford all over).

—they bring some stuff up. The twin thing sucks, sometimes.

(Looking in a mirror and seeing the changes, the lines in his face, the grey in his hair — does Ford have crow’s feet now? Is his hair going silver? It was always unmanageable — is it thinning like Stan’s is now, or is it still thick and flyaway, like it was when Ford was sixteen? Did he even live long enough to get lines in his face and aches in his joints, or is he forever twenty-eight, dead somewhere in the universe?)

Time to stop thinking.

Notice the differences.

Stan’s ears and nose are bigger than Ford’s, always have been. He’s heavier and his shoulders are broader.

(Has Ford gotten bulkier, fighting to survive? Or is still he halfway to gaunt, like the last time Stan saw him?)

Definitely time to stop thinking.

Stan flashes a smile, and yeah, that’s all him. Cheerful, magnetic, and a hundred percent fake.

Time to work the crowds.

*****

There’s an ad for the nice ink pens Ford saved up to buy when he was fourteen.

Stan turns it off.

*****

Mabel finds a picture, once.

“Grunkle Stan!” Her eyes are all lit up as she shows him the torn photograph. “I found this under a floorboard in the attic!”

If Stan ever had any doubts about his poker face, he can lay them to rest now. It’s all on the ropes and his expression is perfectly level, maybe even a little curious.

Mabel is still talking. “I didn’t know there were pictures of you before you were all old! Do you have any others?”

Oh.

Stan still forgets sometimes, even after everything, that most people can’t tell him and Ford apart.

He knows better.

The young man in the photograph is unmistakably Ford, taken while he was living in Gravity Falls. He’s got his head bent over that journal of his, but the photographer managed to catch the eager light in his eye, the edge of his smile.

Stan wonders who that photographer was, all those years ago.

A tug at his shirt reminds him he’s not alone, and he definitely can’t get messed up about this picture of his secret twin brother.

Mabel’s face has fallen a bit. “Grunkle Stan? Are you okay?”

Stan gives himself two more seconds to look at the picture — Ford just looks so happy; Stan can’t even remember the last time Ford looked like that, even before it all fell apart — and turns to Mabel.

“Yeah,” he says. He smiles and ruffles her hair. “Pretty good picture, huh?”

*****

The name is the worst.

Stan never thought identity theft could involve so little fun.

Usually he can get away with just “Stan Pines,” and that’s fine. That’s his name. That’s who he’s supposed to be.

Sometimes, though, that’s not enough for whoever’s asking.

“What did you say your name was again?”

He smiles. Lays it on thick. “Stanford Pines.”

“Could you sign here?”

He does. His blocky, uneven handwriting looks even worse than usual where he’s expecting to see neat, flowing script, the way Stanford Pines is supposed to be written.

“This is Stanford Pines,” someone will say. “Mr. Mystery.”

Stan smiles some more. Yes, Stanford Pines is certainly that.

Gideon is the worst. Stanford this and Stanford that and Stan’s never wanted to punch a child so much in his life.

“Stanford Pines!”

He smiles, and he lies.

*****

Dipper halfway drives him nuts sometimes.

It’s not like the kid’s a mini-Ford — he reminds Stan enough of himself, sometimes, though Stan’s not sure that’s great either — but he’s got the brains and the stubbornness and the love of weird nonsense, for sure.

He’s also got that obsessive edge, the drive that sent Ford right off the metaphorical cliff.

Usually Mabel tags along on the weirdness hunts — they make a day of it. They go out, just the two of them, and come back laughing and joking and shoving at each other.

That’s enough of a painful reminder, but sometimes Stan will catch Mabel sitting by herself, coloring or crafting with a little less energy than usual, and he’ll realize that Dipper’s buried himself in monster theory again.

He tries to keep the kid busy with chores and hustle, but it’s a losing battle.

It was the first time, too.

*****

There’s this old song that Ford used to love when they were younger.

It’s got no words, and Stan used to make fun of it — what's the point of a song with no words? But Ford insisted it had Meaning, capital M.

It comes on the radio now and then.

Depending on how masochistic Stan is feeling that day, he might let it play.

He still wonders what Ford heard in this song, and if Ford would hear it now.

*****

He realizes, one day near the end, that he’s been Stanford longer than he’s been Stanley.

What’s the point, really? What does a name matter if it’s so easy for someone else to take your place?

(Did Ford matter so little, in the grand scheme of things, that not one person could recognize him in a place he lived for six years?

Does Stan, in a place he’s lived for almost thirty?)

If he could just stop catching Ford in his reflection now and then, that’d be great.

*****

It’s not any better once Ford gets back (once Stan brings Ford back, the ungrateful bastard).

“Stanford!”

Stan’s got a smile on his face before he even turns around, and what’s wrong with him that he’s halfway made this lie into a Pavlovian response? Someone calls him Stanford, he smiles and lies.

(Stanford — the real Stanford — is in the basement right now. He doesn’t even exist, as far as anyone else is concerned. Stan is Stanford, Stanley is dead, and Ford is a nonentity.

What a life this is).

*****

“So how was it?”

Stan grunts. “How was what?”

Ford rolls his neck, wincing a little as he works out the unavoidable crick from hunching over a drawing for twenty minutes. “Being me.”

Stan shrugs. “Wasn’t hard. We’re basically the same person, y’know.”

Ford snorts. A long time (a lifetime) ago that comment might have gotten him worked up, but he’s steadier now, softer around the edges. “Very funny. I saw your lease renewal. You didn’t even change your handwriting, for heaven’s sake.”

“Ford, I rolled up to town, said I was you, and started a tourist trap. You had a total personality transplant and nobody noticed.” Stan grimaces. That sounded really bad.

Ford’s expression has gone rueful and a little sad at the edges, but he doesn’t seem like he’s about launch into full-blown self-recrimination, so that’s fine. “Yes, well. That’s what happens when you isolate yourself for six years and your only friend erases his mind to cope with the mistakes you made.”

And that’s Ford trying to shoulder all the blame again, but Stan keeps his mouth shut. They’re both too comfortable to argue right now. “Being honest — for once — it kinda sucked.” Ford’s looking at him, open and encouraging, so Stan keeps going. “Everyone thought I was you, and it—I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be.” Stan shrugs. “I wanted you you.”

Ford smiles, and it’s a little more worn than Stan remembers, but it’s real, and it’s him. “I understand. I met a few parallel versions of you on my travels, and they were you, but — they weren’t really you.” Ford closes his journal (his new one) and sets it aside, tipping his head back over his chair. More playfully, he adds, “I wouldn’t want to be you either, Stanley.”

Stan laughs. “Yeah? Couldn’t handle the salesmanship?”

“Have more self-respect than to wear any part of your wardrobe.”

“Says the man who wears sweaters in the summer.”

Ford lifts his head and smiles, and this time it’s almost exactly how Stan remembers — quick and a little crooked. “Fair enough.” Ford stretches, rolls his neck again. “For what it’s worth, Stanley, I am glad to be back.” A wry look. “Even if it’s going to take ages to sort out the criminal record you gave me.”

Stan slouches deeper into the couch. Any further and he’s going to slide off, but that’s a risk he’ll take. “Yeah, yeah. Talk to me when you’re legally dead.”

“You did that.”

“And?”

“I legally don’t exist.”

“I was trying to learn theoretical physics at the time, Stanford; cut a man some slack.”

Ford laughs, quiet. “Did I ever thank you for that?”

Stan cracks an eye open. He didn’t realize he closed them. “What, learnin’ physics? Because I’m pretty sure that’s some of the stuff that’s not coming back.”

Ford rolls his eyes. “For saving me.”

“Hm.” Ford’s thanked him several times, but lately it’s been less Ford kicking himself and more Ford cautiously trying to engage in the old back-and-forth they used to have, and Stan can get behind that one. “I dunno. Might have to say it again.”

“You’re burning through my gratitude very quickly,” Ford says mildly, “but all right. Thank you for saving me. You knucklehead.”

Stan never got called that when he was Ford. He thinks he’s missed it, at least the way Ford says it — like it means something completely different.

“Uh-huh.” Stan’s eyes are closed again. He figures he’ll just leave them closed. “Missed you too, nerd.”

And maybe there’s something to be said for being your own person.

It feels pretty good.

#gravity falls #gravity falls fanfiction #stanley pines #stanford pines #back on the angst with a happy ending train #feat. a side of introspection and melodrama!#i love it here

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ladylynse · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 6 [FFN | AO3] of Forewarning

All Dipper knew was that there was something buried in some special thermos behind the shack; all Danny knew was that he had no idea how he'd gotten here.

Based off this artwork by @hashtag-art. Happy birthday, @bibliophilea!

(beginning | previous)

-|-

Once safely back at the Mystery Shack, Wendy turned off the golf cart and grabbed her supplies from the rack in the back. It had been a bumpy ride, but she’d only needed to sacrifice one bag of marshmallows to the forest. That wasn’t bad, considering how many creatures she was fairly sure lived there.

And, fine, maybe it made her a little paranoid to think that some of the bumps she’d hit had been deliberate, a growth of tree roots just so or deep holes suspiciously covered with leaf litter, but it wasn’t like she voiced her thoughts to anyone else.

Besides, whatever lived in the forest seemed happy with the occasional sacrifice of candy. At the very least, she’d never been stopped by something yet, and she took a lot of shortcuts through here by herself. That wasn’t exactly recommended, even for those who knew the territory well. When her family went out for apocalypse training, they were supposed to pair off. They didn’t always, but they did more often than not.

It’s easier to survive if there’s someone you trust around to watch your back, but you have to know how to fight if there isn’t.

Whatever had stopped by the Mystery Shack wasn’t bringing the apocalypse with it—she was pretty sure about that—but she didn’t want this to turn into that. Taking the twins to see the haunted grocery store? Sure. She still hadn’t been sure they’d actually see ghosts despite the stories—no one had been until it had happened—but that was different. That was contained. That was very much not in the Mystery Shack. Where the kids slept. With only the oblivious skeptic Stan around to fight the things that went bump in the night.

Now, if those things were corporeal, she wouldn’t be concerned. The man knew how to punch, and he’d punch before asking questions. But whatever had turned up this time clearly had the option to not be corporeal. Like a ghost.

She remembered the footprints appearing in the scattered baking soda a split second before the boy who’d visited earlier appeared. The same boy who had flashed a careless grin and flipped through postcards and keychains and magnets in the gift shop before taking a tour with Mabel.

Whatever he was, he wasn’t a ghost, but he was entirely too much like a ghost for comfort.

There was no sign of Stan yet—not a surprise; she hadn’t heard his car—but chances were good he wasn’t far behind her.

She saw Soos walking in from the lane and raised her hand in a wave. He spotted her and held a finger to his lips before pointing, and something cold and heavy settled in her gut as she spotted three figures by the woodshed: Mabel, Dipper, and the not-a-ghost boy who’d called himself Danny.

She cursed under her breath as she hurried to meet Soos. “That’s him,” she hissed. “We need to get him away from the twins.”

“Did you find anything in town that we can use?”

“I bought a couple more boxes of salt.” Silver was expensive—too expensive for her, anyway—and she wasn’t exactly guaranteed to find holy water even if she tried breaking into a church, mostly because she didn’t know where she’d look for it. She could’ve bought a cast iron frying pan, but she might as well grab one from the kitchen. The ideas of what they might be able to do had quickly fallen apart when she’d realized what was actually feasible. “It’s better than nothing.”

“What about garlic?”

“For a ghost?”

“You said he wasn’t a ghost.”

“Close enough to a ghost. And, anyway, there should be some in the kitchen. We can always chop up a couple of cloves and see if it does anything.” If it didn’t, and they didn’t waste it, they could always throw it into hamburger meat or make garlic bread. “How long has he been here? The kid?”

“Just a couple of minutes,” Soos allowed, “but this isn’t the first time the kids have met him.”

Wendy closed her eyes. “I know, I just…. I’d hoped they wouldn’t realize he wasn’t normal.” More to the point, she’d hoped that he wouldn’t come back. What the hell did he want, anyway? Sure, he’d said something about fixing whatever was wrong, but their ideas about what needed fixing weren’t likely the same.

“They might not. He was pretending to be normal when he talked to me.”

“He talked to you?”

“Just to ask after Dipper and Mabel.”

Wendy frowned. Soos didn’t sound too optimistic that Mabel and Dipper wouldn’t realize there was something weird about the kid, and frankly, she thought he was right. Mabel might be more forgiving, but Dipper…. “We’ll play it cool. Keep doing whatever you were doing. Try to keep an eye on them without being too obvious about it. I’ll prepare the fire pit.”

“The wood, campfire forks, hot dogs, marshmallows—?”

His gaze had wandered pointedly down to the box of salt pressing against the white plastic bag she carried, its blue label clearly visible. “Yeah. I won’t ring it thickly enough that it’s noticeable, especially since it’ll have to be in the gravel where nothing’s growing anyway, but if he’s going to pretend to be normal, then we’ll see how long he can keep that up.”

“And if he’s not affected by the salt?”

“We cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“And if we’re wrong and he is normal after all?”

Wendy snorted. “If he’s normal, he’s only normal for here.” She saw Soos shift uncomfortably and added, “If Stan comes back before I’m finished, give him the pitch about taking measures to ghost-proof the Mystery Shack and advertising doing that because it’s haunted. He’ll know how to get more of what we need, even if he doesn’t think it’ll do anything.”

“What if he’s not bad? The kid, I mean. Not everything is bad. Not everyone is bad.”

The kid had claimed he wasn’t a threat. He’d said he was stuck, that he just wanted to go home, that he had to fix something, not break it. What if it hadn’t been a lie? She didn’t see how his sneaking around could mean his intentions were honourable, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t missing something.

On the other hand, if he were simply determined to show a friendly face to the twins to get them to lower their guard, only to strike once he’d fooled them—

Wendy wasn’t sure if she wanted to take that risk. Having a healthy amount of suspicion now and apologizing later sounded much better to her than being overly trusting and being burned—especially if she wouldn’t be the only one caught in that fire. She and Soos had lived their entire lives here. Mabel and Dipper had not. They might not yet appreciate the degree to which not everything was as it appeared.

“You don’t need to be ready to attack,” Wendy finally said. “You just need to be ready to defend.” Soos nodded, maybe thinking her words were for both of them, but they weren’t. She had no intentions of simply being ready to defend. She wasn’t about to attack unprovoked, but if this kid did anything that set off alarm bells for her, she’d act on her gut. She trusted her gut more than her head. It was reliable in these sorts of situations.

The trouble was, her gut should have made a call on this already. Instead, she was still conflicted, and more time to mull it over on her trip into town hadn’t helped. Part of her still wanted to take the kid’s words at face value, but the little she’d seen of what he could do backed up the part of her that insisted he was far too dangerous to blindly trust. Soos wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there was so much that could seem innocuous at first….

The knowledge that Soos was right and they had no idea if salt would actually help defend them didn’t make this any easier—especially when Danny was clearly interested in Mabel and Dipper. Soos had mentioned Dipper having a book, and she remembered seeing glimpses of it before. If that’s what the kid was interested in, how was she supposed to help Dipper and Mabel protect it while still protecting them?

Salt first. Purifying fire and questions later, if the kid decided to stick around for it. As long as he wasn’t hurting her friends, she was willing to give him a shovel and see how deep he dug.

XXXXXXX

Danny didn’t see the journal around, but Dipper apparently didn’t need it to draw his magic circle thing in the dirt. To be fair, Danny didn’t know if it was the same one as before, but he also didn’t want to find out. Which meant taking the initiative and trying to explain before they decided to pull more magic stuff on him.

“Please don’t do whatever you’re planning on doing,” he said, keeping his voice low in the hope that the guy he’d been talking to earlier wouldn’t hear it. “I just want to talk, I swear.”

“Are you ready to explain now?”

That was Dipper, with a bite in his voice that reminded Danny a bit of Valerie. Dipper might not sound even half as malicious as Valerie could when she was spitting curses at Phantom, but he was appropriately wary. “Yeah. But you have to promise you won’t try any magic stuff.”

“No. You’re not defenseless, and I’m not swearing away my ability to protect anyone.”

Oh. Right. He might think that particular promise carried more weight than a regular promise. He seemed to think giving his word would make it impossible to break. Danny didn’t know of any ghosts with that power, and frankly he didn’t want to meet one who had it. “You don’t have to. I just…. I promise I’m not here to hurt you or anyone else. I only want to talk. And not, y’know, risk being exorcised if you don’t believe me.”

Mabel looked from Danny to her brother and raised an eyebrow. He scowled at her but said, “Fine. If you don’t do anything except tell us the truth right now, I won’t try to exorcise you.”

Not ideal, but it wasn’t like Danny was planning on lying through his teeth to them, anyway—or that he couldn’t still attempt a lie if he felt he needed to. He had a feeling it wouldn’t work, though. He hadn’t had a whole lot of luck earlier. Maybe seeing through that thing was a kind of survival instinct around here, just like Secret Lab Guy had said.

Come to that, though— How had he had an entire conversation with someone, spilled half his life story to that someone, and not actually gotten their name?

Whatever. He’d ask later if he didn’t figure it out before then. It just proved the point, though. These people were good. Sharper than he was used to, unless almost everyone in Amity Park had already figured out his secret and was just being nice and waiting for him to make some kind of grand announcement.

Yeah, right. If Amity Park’s continued obliviousness wasn’t natural, then Vlad had done something. Not something Danny would thank him for, exactly, but something he wouldn’t fault him for, either.

“Thanks. Can I sit?” There weren’t chairs. There weren’t even logs. Dipper would be able to tell that he was staring at the circle drawn in the dirt, though, and know the question for what it was.

Mabel reached out one foot and drew a line through it with the toe of her shoe. “Yup!” she said, dropping down in place. “Pull up some grass.”

Dipper glared at her as Danny sat down on a patch that was more gravel than grass, but the other boy didn’t say anything; he just settled down and looked like he’d be ready to grab the axe beside him at a moment’s notice. Danny didn’t really want to find out if he knew how to use it. Then again, going by the assorted sizes of split logs nearby, he wasn’t overly skilled; even if it wasn’t a normal axe that Danny could avoid with intangibility, there was a good chance that Dipper was clumsy enough with it that he’d be easy enough to avoid.

“I’m sorry about not being entirely straight with you earlier when I said I would be.” Danny didn’t know where to begin, but an apology seemed smart when he still wanted their help.

“Which time, Phantom?”

Well, at least there wasn’t any lingering doubt. Danny sucked in a breath and let it out slowly to give himself a bit of time to think. Mabel looked ready to listen, but Dipper…. He still wasn’t sure about Dipper. “This isn’t exactly something I tend to tell strangers,” Danny said slowly, “but you’re right. I’m Phantom. I’m the one you let out of the thermos.”

Dipper was still practicing his glare, but Mabel asked, “So what are you? You’re not a ghost. We’ve seen ghosts.”

“I’m still a ghost,” Danny said, since as far as he knew, that was true. “Just…part ghost. Part human.” He rubbed the back of his neck and offered them a smile. “Remember when I joked about being the poster boy for interdimensional safety?”

“You expect us to believe you were in some sort of accident,” Dipper said flatly.

They didn’t need to know all the details, but— “Yeah. Lab accident. It didn’t kill me, or at least I don’t think it did, but I did get ghost powers, so that’s cool. Not something I’d recommend to anyone, but cool.”

Okay, Dipper definitely didn’t believe that, but Mabel nodded as if Danny had said something normal and not what probably sounded insane. “Why were you in the thermos?”

“Clockwork, I think. He’s the one who gave me the message to warn you in the first place, remember? Also the one who likes to pretend he doesn’t interfere but interferes like this. I thought it was Vlad, until I…until I realized how long it had been. And, no, before you ask, I don’t know who wrote that journal. I wasn’t lying about that. The only important bit I lied about was ‘Danny Fenton’ being a friend.”

“Why fess up now?” Dipper’s question was a challenge, sure, but Danny could hear the genuine curiosity behind it. Chance were, he wasn’t a great liar, either.

“Because I might need your help to get home. Especially if that help involves you trusting me enough to let me help you and you not trying to kill me first.”

“What were you looking for earlier?” Danny blinked, trying to figure out what that meant, and Dipper must have read that confusion on his face because he elaborated, “Mabel heard you. We know you were back before you showed yourself now.”

Right. She had been in the gift shop area, hadn’t she? “I was trying to find some clue about what else I’m supposed to do here.”

“And?”

That meant did you find it? Danny might’ve promised them the truth, but he’d also promised the other guy that he wouldn’t blow that secret, either. More or less. Hopefully that wasn’t what he was supposed to do here? “There’s something weird about this place,” he said instead. “It’s got this…feeling. I don’t know how to describe it.” It was something unnerving, like the feeling the Fright Knight could give you, but with more…. More I’m-watching-you vibes. Vlad times a hundred. If he didn’t need to stick around to get home, he’d be gone by now. Whatever Clockwork was trying to warn these guys away from, it felt like a danger on par with Pariah Dark.

Not that he’d be able to explain that to them.

Mabel reached over to poke Dipper in the arm. “Show him the journal.”

That would make things a lot easier for him. “I could tell you what it has wrong about ghosts. Or at least about me,” he offered. He wanted to do that regardless, but if he could give them more reason to show him, well….

“It seems to be right about you,” Dipper said, “unless you want to pretend that you’ve never been affected by anything we’ve done.”

Danny blew out a breath. “Look. Being part ghost doesn’t mean I’m exempt from everything that works on ghosts. It also means that I need to be careful around hunters, including you guys. But I’m not here to fight you or steal something or whatever your book says about me. I’m the good guy, I swear.”

“The good guy. Who needs his own little dedicated section in the journal.”

“Dedicated section?” That sounded worrisome. How much info did these guys have on him? Some of it had to be accurate, but if it was just full of things he’d done as a ghost with no context, like the stealing—

“More like a paragraph,” Mabel interrupted, “and it’s not even in the same language as the rest of it.”

Wait.

“Not the same language? What language is it?”

“See for yourself,” Mabel said. She elbowed Dipper when he didn’t immediately produce the journal and offer it up and then hissed a few things in his ear for good measure, which finally seemed to convince him. He pulled the journal out from beneath the vest he’d been wearing earlier, flipped through to the right page, and turned it around to show Danny.

Danny leaned closer, but he didn’t recognize the language, either. If it was something ghosts spoke, he’d never seen it written down, but aside from Wulf, most of the ghosts he’d met spoke English. He didn’t know how many other languages they spoke, though. He’d never asked. If this was some common language he had yet to learn….

“It might be the way it’s coded,” Dipper admitted, “instead of actually being in a different language. Some passages in the journal are coded, but they’re all the same code, except for this. I haven’t had any luck cracking it.”

Danny frowned, reading the page over before Dipper could take it away. He couldn’t see anything about a thermos or anything else that would have led them to him in the first place, but there was a bit of gibberish above that section written in green ink that might be the first code—

Wait. Green ink? Everything else in here was black or blue or some kind of brown that Danny really hoped wasn’t blood. “What else is written in this colour?” he asked, pointing to the passage.

“That’s it.”

“In the entire book?” That didn’t make sense. “But…why?”

“When I find the author of the journals,” Dipper said bluntly, “that won’t be one of the first questions I ask.”

“It won’t even be one of the first hundred,” Mabel added. “Dipper’s never understood the importance of colour.”

To be fair, it wasn’t typically high on Danny’s list of priorities, either, but this colour thing was definitely strange. How many other weird things were in that book if this didn’t make the list?

“Does it mean something to you?” Mabel asked.

Danny hesitated. The fact that it happened to be the same colour as his eyes—or his ectoplasm—in ghost mode could be a coincidence, but things tended to be a lot less coincidental when Clockwork was involved. Danny wasn’t really ready to bet that whoever had written this journal had simply run out of every other colour of pen that day. “Maybe,” he admitted, “but only in that it might point toward me.” Or another ghost like him. Hopefully not Danielle.

“So do you know who wrote it?” she prompted.

He shook his head. “I don’t know the handwriting. That’s not saying much, though. There are a lot of people—and ghosts—I know whose handwriting I’d never recognize.” He wasn’t even sure he’d recognize the Ghost Writer’s handwriting. “What does the other part say about me?”

“That something was stuck in a thermos behind the shack,” Mabel answered immediately, ignoring her brother’s glare. “Which it was.”

“It’s a Fenton Thermos, something specifically designed to contain ghosts. My parents build them.” If he wasn’t trying to keep his secret anymore, there was no harm in admitting that. “They’re paranormal scientists and inventors.”

“Like the author of the journal is,” Mabel said, shooting Dipper a pointed look. “That must be why the bit about the thermos is in there.”

“Not— I mean, I’m not thirty years old. Seriously. Do I look that old to you? I just turned fifteen last week.” Well. Last week for him. Not for whenever this was, five years in his future. “Me being in the thermos is Clockwork’s fault.” Probably. Except Clockwork wouldn’t have needed to catch him in a thermos to force him back here; he could’ve simply asked and called in a favour if Danny had complained, which he would’ve. More likely, Clockwork had merely taken advantage of someone else capturing him in a thermos, and that list of possibilities was long—and included more than one ally, even when the capturing was intentional.

“I don’t know all the details, okay? I just…. I haven’t met a ghost besides Clockwork that messes with time.” His evil future self didn’t count, not when Clockwork’s power had still been the vehicle for everything he’d done.

…Danny really hoped this had nothing to do with him. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t appreciate the thermos parallels.

Of course, now that he thought about it, the fact that he’d been stuck in a thermos had to be deliberate. Sure, it was a way to skirt the notice of the Observants, but Clockwork had messed with the timeline before without doing anything sneaky like that. If the thermos was important…. Coupled with the fact that there was a portal being built beneath a place called the Mystery Shack….

“That’s why I’m here.”

“You care to share with the class?” Dipper asked.

“The thermos, the portal—”

“What portal?”

Oops. “The, y’know, whatever, it doesn’t matter, the point is, you said the author of the journals was a paranormal scientist? Maybe an inventor, too?”

“No, no, don’t change the subject. What portal?”

“Like a portal to another dimension?” Mabel queried. “Is that why you talked about interdimensional safety earlier?”

Oh, crud. They weren’t going to let his slip about the portal go. So much for that secret. “Just…never mind that right now. Paranormal scientist. Inventor. Like my parents. He probably didn’t know them, it would’ve been too early on for them to have made a name for themselves, they might not even have been together yet, but…. Okay. This is gonna sound crazy—”

“Crazier than everything else you’ve said?” Dipper asked dryly.

“—but just go with me on this. Please. I know what happened when my parents messed stuff up, and—”

“And you’re warning us so we’re prepared and more careful,” Mabel finished. “So I don’t get impatient and Dipper doesn’t get complacent.”

Danny frowned. “What?”

“Your warning,” she repeated. “You’re not trying to get us to stop what we’re doing. It’s a terrible warning for that. That kind of thing just makes you wanna do it more, whatever it is. So you’re actually warning us to be more careful than you think we would be otherwise.”

Danny opened his mouth to tell her that warning someone not to do something obviously meant they shouldn’t do it, and then he remembered all the times his parents had warned him not to touch stuff in the lab.

Right.

Maybe she wasn’t wrong.

Just because that was what a warning meant, didn’t mean it would always have the desired effect.

Moreover, Clockwork would know exactly what to have Danny say to get the desired effect.

He’d thought he’d come to help with the portal, but he still didn’t know the blueprints of his parents’ portal as well as Tucker did. If this were just about helping them build or fix the portal in the basement without bad consequences, Tucker was a better choice than he was, and Clockwork could most definitely have arranged that.

But Danny had joked about being the poster boy for interdimensional safety, and he could still disassemble and reassemble most of his parents’ weapons in order to tweak them, even if he wasn’t as good at it as Tucker, and he’d be an idiot to keep ignoring the fact that Clockwork had made sure he had a thermos here.

The thermos wasn’t for him. It had never been for him. It had contained him, sure, but Clockwork must’ve made sure he was stuck in one so that he’d think of this. So that he’d think of what they’d done with his evil future self. And so he’d have it when he needed it.

There was a portal in a secret lab in the basement of the Mystery Shack, and the thermos written about in Dipper’s journal was for whatever was coming out of it.

(see more fics | next)

#gravity falls #danny phantom #phantom falls #crossover #fanfiction #gf fanfiction #dp fanfiction #my writing #ladylynse #snippets #crossover snippet #gf snippet #dp snippet

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fallen-gravity · 5 years ago

Text

awaken the stars, ‘cause they’re all around you

Stanford Pines never really believed in soulmates.

He can't imagine the idea that there's one person out there for him in the multiverse who would stop at nothing to love him for who he is, despite everything he is and everything he's done. He can't imagine that someone out there is meant for him, someone who will stand by his side until the end of time.

Or maybe he'd just been looking at it from the wrong angle.

Notes:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, @stariousfalls!!!!! I can't believe we've been friends for upwards of five years now?? You've been a huge inspiration of mine from my first day in the gravity falls fandom back in late 2014, and now you're one of my closest friends. I've been spending the last week and a half working on this behind your back, because I wanted to surprise you with a gift I thought you'd love!!

7.5k words of fluff was....not my original plan, but fluff brain wanted to go feral for you, I guess.

Huge, huge shoutout to @ariasofelegance for helping me keep my mouth shut about this, I absolutely would've internally combusted without your help & support

AO3

Ford never saw the appeal of romantic relationships.

One night when he and Stan were kids, they snuck downstairs in the middle of the night after their parents were asleep to dig through Pa’s “Secret stash” of movies he thought he was good at keeping a secret. They’d thought for sure they’d be coming across bootleg cuts of action movies that were still playing in theaters, or documentaries about how all of the politicians in power were secretly aliens.

What they actually found was much more…sensual. They were both horrified, to say the least, but each time Ford had to turn away to prevent himself from gagging, he’d hear Stan beside him struggling not to laugh.

For years, Ford was convinced coming across those tapes before he was old enough to fully comprehend what was happening in them is what had turned him off to relationships altogether. It certainly didn’t help that he was never able to experience romantic relationships firsthand, as every time he tried asking someone out in high school he’d just be laughed at or called a freak.

Though college was another story entirely, his feelings towards romantic relationships never seemed to change. He went out with a girl from his dungeons, dungeons, and more dungeons club for a few weeks, a guy from his advanced physics class for almost two months, and even tried going out with Fiddleford for upwards of nine months, but he never felt that deeper connection with any of them, no matter how much he wanted to feel that connection.

It’d be forty more years before he learned the term aromantic, but when he was still in college he would brush off his parents’ questions about his relationship status by telling them he was too busy working on his thesis, which technically wasn’t all that far from the truth anyway.

Still, the faint sense of yearning never seemed to leave him be. Whenever he found gaps in his schedule, he would spend hours in his university library reading up on the science of relationships and their place in society. Though he no longer remembers most of the papers he read, one scientific study that’s always stuck with him was a dissertation written entirely on the concept of soulmates.

Everyone has a soulmate, the paper claimed. Though it may be decades until you properly meet, your path always leads to the moment that you and your soulmate are finally united. Once finally together, not a single force on earth can tear you apart. Even if you are apart physically, the stars will always align to bring you together. Weirdest of all, the paper mentioned soulmarks, which were described as “the phenomenon that a person’s very soul is marked with a piece that belongs to their soulmate, which may appear as a physical anomaly on a person’s body, such as an oddly-shaped birthmark”.

Ford had thought for sure that somebody must’ve moved a romance novel into the sociology section of the library as a joke. The only sort of anomaly he had going for him was his polydactyly, and thinking too much about how that could connect him to a single person who was destined to love him gave him a headache.

Nowadays, though, Ford tries not to give it much thought. He’s perfectly happy right where he is, watching the sunrise from the deck of the Stan O’ War II through the steam visibly rising from his coffee mug.

He sighs contently.

“Mornin’” Stan’s voice sounds beside him, gruff with sleep. When Ford turns to look at him, he’s rubbing at his eyes with one hand while he holds a steaming cup of coffee in his other. He’s already donning one of the sweaters Mabel mailed to him, a deep blue with a tropical island and a treasure chest stitched across the chest.

Ford smirks. “You’re up early”

Stan cocks an eyebrow as he sips from his coffee. “A’course I am. I always get up early when we’re docking to see the kids”

Ford blinks, the teasing smirk on his face melting into a gentle smile. “That’s today?”

“Haven’t you checked the calendar lately?” Stan tosses a second handmade sweater at Ford. This one’s the same shade of maroon as his journal covers, and pictures an angry cycloptopus squirting ink towards the bottom left corner of the sweater. “The kids are on spring break. They talked to their parents about letting us have ‘em all week”

Ford is quick to pull the warm sweater over his head. “All week?”

He can’t help sounding like a broken record, but it’s been months since the last time he saw the kids face to face. Sure, they talk over video at least once a week, but nothing beats seeing their smiling faces and having them nearly tackle him to the ground in a hug in-person.

“Heh, you miss em too, Sixer?”

As little as two years ago, Ford would’ve flinched at the nickname. But Bill is gone for good, and Ford knows that Bill is gone for good, and Stan made a promise to do anything in his power to help him reclaim the nickname. He brings his mug close to his face without taking a sip, allowing himself to take in the warmth in his hands and the steam in his face.

“Not as much as you, clearly” Ford smirks, and Stan crosses his arms over his chest.

“You bet I missed them more than you. I’d been taking care of them all summer before you showed up and fell in love with them in half that time”

Ford smirks as he finishes up his coffee and heads into the navigation room to set their course. “By that logic, wouldn’t that mean that I miss them more, since I had less time with them?”

“Hey!” Stan groans as he follows him into the room. “It does not. It means that you don’t know them like I know them, genius. Everyone knows that it’s all about how much time you’ve spent with a person that determines how close you are with them”

Ford laughs as he enters the coordinates they need to get to the seaport they were meeting the young twins at. From the looks of it, it’d be three hours before they arrived.

“Mm, and who put that study together? Was it you?”

Stan doesn’t reply with words, just a noise that sounds halfway between disgruntled and baffled. It makes Ford laugh even harder, and he wipes at his eyes with a wrist. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Stan’s overdramatic pout melt away until he’s laughing too.

The sight of it makes the smile on Ford’s face widen. It’d been decades since the two of them were able to just be like this. It’d been so long since the last time Ford heard Stan’s genuine laugh that he’d gone and forgotten what it sounded like altogether. When he was still traveling the multiverse, he searched far and wide for a shred of hope, something to keep his anxieties and nightmares from catching up to him.

What a fool he’d been to ignore his childhood memories of home.

The trip is a quiet but familiar one. Ford can’t talk much when he’s steering because he needs to be on constant lookout, but Stan remains in the room to talk at him and keep him company anyway. The sun is well over the horizon by the time they reach the seaport, and call it instincts, intuition, or something else entirely, because Ford spots the kids sitting on a bench in the near distance the moment he and Stan step foot onto the dock.

They’re squished closely together, watching a video on Mabel’s phone. Whether they’re aware of it or not, they’re swaying their legs back and forth underneath the bench in perfect unison. On the ground beside them are their backpacks, overstuffed with so many things that both of them are popping open.

Most importantly, neither of them have noticed that Ford and Stan are approaching them.

Ford exchanges an amused glance with Stan, and clears his throat to catch their attention.

The phone nearly stumbles out of their hands in shock when they look up and meet their eyes.

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel squeals, standing to sprint past Ford to knock Stan off of his feet. Ford chuckles at the sight, but not quickly enough to hear Dipper’s “Great Uncle Ford!”, and before he knows it he’s hitting the floor too. The young twins are laughing messes, and stumble over each other as they try to stand to their feet and help their Grunkles up.

Mabel spits out the hair that stuck to her mouth, and pulls a hair tie seemingly out of thin air to tie her hair up into a ponytail. It’s only now that Ford realizes that she and Dipper are also both wearing sweaters, and if Ford had to guess, it looks like Mabel made both of these sweaters as well. Mabel’s is a galaxy print with actual twinkling stars, and Ford makes a mental note to ask her later what she did to make it glow like that. Dipper’s is also space themed, though his pictures the big dipper splotched across a black night sky with a bright orange meteor shooting through the center.

“You have to tell us about everything you’ve encountered”, Dipper beams, once Stan finishes brushing himself off.

Stan cocks an eyebrow. “Two years’ worth is a lot to get through, kiddo”

“Exactly!” Mabel beams, turning to pick up her backpack and put it on. “Which is exactly why you can tell us on the way to the hotel!”

“Hotel?” Ford and Stan ask in unison.

“Surprise?” Dipper giggles. “Our parents rented us a hotel room for the week cause they figured you’d appreciate some time away from the boat”

“It’ll be like our summer in Gravity Falls all over again!” Mabel grins. “But in reverse! You’re in our territory now”

Stan laughs. “You’re the boss, kiddo”

“You bet I am!” She beams, and hands Dipper his backpack. “Now c’mon! If you tell us all of the horrors you’ve encountered out at sea, we’ll tell you about all the horrors we’ve encountered in high school!”

“I...think I remember those horrors pretty well already, thank you” Ford smiles sheepishly, adjusting his glasses. “But we’d be more than glad to tell you some of our own stories”

It’s a short walk to the bus stop, but Ford honestly wouldn’t mind if they walked all the way to the hotel on foot if it meant an extra half an hour with the kids. They’re just as eccentric as he remembers, attached at the hip but still wildly different people all on their own. Dipper’s still hanging on to every word he’s saying, and Mabel’s still skipping along like she’s in her own world.

Once they reach the hotel and check in, Dipper collapses face first onto one of the beds the moment he steps into the room, groaning.

Stan smiles. “Something bothering you, kiddo?”

He turns on his side to look Stan in the eye, his face smushing into the pillow. “Mabel didn’t let me get any sleep last night. She insisted on getting to the seaport three whole hours early because she insisted that she had this gut feeling that you guys would have the same idea and we’d magically show up at the same time”

Mabel pouts, and sits on the bed besides him. “Well it’s not my fault you stayed up late reading that dumb book of yours. Plus, would you rather have kept them waiting for three hours?”

Dipper removes his hat and places it on the table beside him, exposing just enough of his forehead through his hair to reveal his birthmark. It has the same faint glow to it as Mabel’s sweater, and Ford wonders how the two could possibly reflect off of each other.

“Their boat has beds and a fully stocked kitchen, Mabel. They can afford to wait. All we had were those strawberry pop tarts that you ate five minutes after we got there”

Ford can’t help but smile softly at their banter. He missed them so, so, much more than he could’ve ever imagined. He’s got half a mind to stow them away on the boat at the end of the week and homeschool them both himself so he never has to be apart from them again.

Apart. The word still feels like a knife twisted into his chest. There’s nothing he regrets more than trying to separate the young twins from each other two summers ago because he’d been so caught up in projecting his own fears onto the pair. He’d tried apologizing to Mabel over the whole ordeal, but she stopped him before he could even start to tell him he had nothing to worry about.

He only wishes he could learn to forgive himself as easily as she did.

“...Can we, Grunkle Ford?”

He blushes. Had he just said all of that out loud?

“Can we...what?”

“Take the boat out! Not right now, since Dips is being a grumpy-grump and insists on wasting precious time with a nap, but we’ve been talking about it all week”

From across the room, Stan snorts. “Let me get this straight,” he takes his jacket off and hangs it up in the closet. At this point Ford swears his eyes must be playing tricks on him, because Stan’s old burn scar is glowing just as Mabel’s sweater and Dipper’s birthmark are. “All the time you spent groaning and complaining about fishing every time I took you in Gravity Falls, and now you’re asking to go fishing?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a joy ride,” Dipper yawns from under the covers. “But if agreeing to go fishing is what gets you to say yes, then sure”

He’s smirking under the covers, Ford can tell, because he inherited that expression from Stan.

Stan’s about to bite back, but Dipper must not have been exaggerating about how long he and Mabel were waiting for them at the dock, because he’s already out cold. Stan smiles at him, gently ruffling up his hair before he takes a seat on the adjacent bed, kicking his shoes off so he can kick his feet up on the bed and relax. Ford sits beside Stan, and Stan slings his arms behind him to support his head in his hands as he glances over at Ford.

“They make you wanna retire the whole ‘treasure hunting’ thing and move into the city to be closer to ‘em too?”

Ford chuckles. “I’ve already considered hiding them away on the boat twice today already.” He taps at his chin. “Though I suppose that moving in with them would go over better with their parents then taking them away to live on a boat”

“Hmm…” Stan taps at his chin as well. “Being stuck in the same stuffy high school for four years, or living on a boat traveling all over the world whenever they feel like it? I dunno about you, Sixer, but I have a pretty good idea on what the kids would prefer”

“Grunkle Stan? Grunkle Ford?” Mabel’s voice suddenly chimes in, and Ford blushes, wondering how much of that she just heard.

“What’s on your mind, pumpkin?” Stan asks.

“Well, uh, Dipper was right about us only eating once really early this morning, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to, uh” She twirls her hair between her fingers. “Cook something for us? For old time’s sake?”

Okay, it’s settled, Ford’s never letting these kids go again.

“Sure, kiddo. Soon as your brother’s up we’ll head right back up, okay?”

“Okay!” she beams, and crawls back into her side of the bed, staring at Dipper like she can will him into waking up on command.

Though Ford would’ve been okay if they’d had to wait hours for him, it’s really only about twenty minutes before Dipper opens his eyes again and nearly shrieks in surprise at Mabel’s face hovering three inches from his own. He smacks his hand into her face to shove her away, and she giggles as she rolls off the bed and onto the floor.

Beside Ford, Stan smirks. “Better get up before we leave without you and all our food goes to Mabel, kiddo. You’ve got plenty of time to crash in Ford’s bed on the ship, since he never seems to use it anyway”

Dipper yawns, rubbing at his eyes as he kicks the covers off. “I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep”

“I didn’t realize you were even capable of sleep, bro-bro” Mabel punches him in the shoulder as she walks past him to put her shoes on. He glares at her wordlessly, and Ford has to cover up his snicker with a fake cough.

This time, the bus ride and the walk back to the ship are a quiet one. Ford never really lets himself let his guard down and relax for an extended period of the time, so he cherishes any moment he can get where he finally feels like he doesn’t constantly feel the need to check over his shoulder for signs of danger. Most of the time, if you asked him about his heightened senses, he’d call them a curse. But on days like these, when he can hear the birds chirping and the waves smacking gently against the boats in the seaport, he’d almost go as far as calling it a blessing.

The kids take a seat at the dining table as soon as they enter the kitchen, and Stan grins at them from over his shoulder as he clicks the stove on. “Whaddya say, Stancakes?”

Dipper and Mabel grimace in unison. “Ewwww, Grunkle Stan, you promised lunch!” Mabel scrunches her nose, and Stan’s grin only widens.

“Ah, ah, you said like old times. That means I get to decide what to make, and you have to eat it because I’m your legal guardian”.

“Well I wasn’t even awake when you were talking about old times, so I’d say that cancels out” Dipper crosses his arms over his chest, and Ford can’t help but smile warmly at the three of them as he reaches into the cupboard for his favorite coffee mug. The younger twins clearly had just gotten two copies of the same mug, but crossed both of them out so they’d say #1 GRUNKLES on them instead of #1 UNCLE. Stan has the other one, of course, but he keeps it on his bedside to hold small treasures and keepsakes because it’s, in his own words, “Too special to waste on something as ordinary as coffee”.

Ford sits himself in the seat between the younger twins at their okay, and after some back and forth banter between the four of them, they end up settling for burgers. Truth be told, this is the first time Ford’s eaten a meal in a group larger than two since the last time he and Stan visited the young twins in the winter, and he can’t help but smile into his food at the thought. The closest he’d come even remotely close to eating with others in his research years was his very, very brief time at the truck stop diner, and the experience had soured his view of...well, other people for near decades.

Now, though, he’d burn his own research dozens of times over before he’d even consider eating alone.

Stan’s chair scraping across the floor as he stands pops Ford out of his bubble of serenity.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Stan cracks his knuckles, smiling mischievously at Dipper and Mabel. “I think I remember a couple of kiddos finally promising their Grunkle Stan he could take them fishing”

“Promise is a strong word-” Dipper starts as he stands to place his plate in the sink, but Stan’s already placing a fishing hat on his head before he can finish his sentence.

“Course you did! You wanna take our baby for a joyride, you gotta earn it first”

Dipper turns to Ford, like he’s expecting him to back him up.

Ford chuckles. “I don’t know, Dipper. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me”.

Dipper scoffs, sitting back down at the table. Mabel laughs.

“Aww, C’mon, Dipper! Aren’t you all about the supernatural? For all we know, Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford could be harboring magical glowing bait that only attracts, like, magical talking fish men, or something!”

Dipper raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just receive a bottle message from Mermando last week?”

“Exactly!” Mabel flashes a grin. “That must mean that he’s in the area!”

Stan laughs. “You tellin’ me you only agreed to go fishing so you could kiss and make-up with your long-distance fish boyfriend?”

“Grunkle Stan, what kind of person do you take me for?” she gasps. “He’s married! You know I would never want to break apart such a loving couple!”

Ford’s smile only warms. Where else could he partake in such a conversation that doesn’t turn heads and result in judgmental whispers? Where else can he just be like this, surrounded by loved ones who are just as weird, just as out of the ordinary as himself? In his younger years he thought for sure his place would be among the monsters and cryptids everyone in his childhood made him out to be, but even in the weirdness capital of the country he felt more alone than ever.

“...Don’t think you’re immune, Sixer” Stan’s voice cuts into his thoughts, and before Ford can ask what he means Stan is smacking a homemade fishing cap on his head. “It may ruin your badass image when we’re monster hunting, or whatever, but we’re fishing with the kids.” Stan gestures to them with his thumb. They’re already outside, leaning over the railing to look out at the water in a perfect mirror of each other. “If they have to embarrass themselves by humoring me for a few hours, so do you”

Ford waits for Stan to join the kids outside before he takes his hat off to admire the stitch work. It’s not perfect, and nowhere near the fancy embroidery he and Stan have found in various markets across their world travels. But it’s personalized, and Ford knows it comes from a place in Stan’s mind that’s been stuck behind lock and key since he was seventeen.

Ford runs his hands along each individual letter, which reads POINDEXTER, before placing it back on his head to join the others outside.

Stan has, miraculously, already pulled out his joke book. Stan’s laughing too hard at his own joke for Ford to really make out what the punchline is, but the younger twins’ collective groans is all he needs to know about it. When Mabel notices him stepping out of the doorway, though, her expression shifts entirely.

“So…” she draws out, stepping towards him. “Is there a trick for attracting merpeople to your boat? I mean, asides from being super cute, obviously”

Ford chuckles, taking a glance behind her to make sure that Stan is out of earshot. “Stan’ll kill me if I tell you this, but they’re really attracted towards shiny things. If you tied one of his gold necklaces around a fishing pole and dangled it into the water, the boat’ll be surrounded in minutes”

Mabel offers up her pinkie finger. “I won’t tell him if you won’t”

Ford interlocks his pinkie with hers, smiling. “I think he’ll notice when a whole family of merpeople show up”

“Hmmm…” Mabel taps at her chin with her free hand, visibly mouthing a plan to herself. “Oh! I know! Come with me,” she beams, and before Ford can even open his mouth to respond she’s already dragging him back into the kitchen. She kneels down on the floor and opens the cupboard below the sink. “Got any empty bottles I can use?”

Ford blinks. “Empty....bottles”

“Yeah!” Mabel pulls a neatly folded piece of paper out of her skirt. “If I can send out my response letter the same time we throw Stan’s necklace over, he’ll never be able to tell the difference!”

“Wait, wait” Ford shakes his head. “You really are dating a merperson?”

“Listening skills, Grunkle Ford” she taps at her forehead, folding the letter back into her pocket as she continues to dig through the cupboards. “Used to date. We met at the Gravity Falls Public Pool, where he was stuck, but then I drove him to the lake in a golf cart I stole from the pool grounds because he really missed his family, and then he was my first kiss, and then we were in a long-distance relationship for like, two months, and I kept every single bottle he sent me, but then we had to break up because he was arranged to marry to prevent a big undersea war.” She picks up a bottle, shakes it, and puts it back when it’s too full for her liking. “I know it sounds, like, super complicated, but it’s all okay, because we’re still pen pals!”

Ford laughs, shaking his head. “No, Mabel, I had to ask because I, uh…” his cheeks warm, and he clears his throat. “Before I...came to term with my orientation, I...dated a merperson too”

The bottles in the cupboard rattle as Mabel’s head smacks against the doorframe. She’s rubbing the spot where her head hit, but there are stars in her eyes. “Really?”

Ford’s cheeks burn even hotter. “Yes,” he whispers, and takes a knee so he can get at her eye level. “Technically he was a siren, but yes, we dated for about a month. He promised me he wouldn’t entice anyone else while we were together, but I guess there wasn’t anything...there.” He turns to help her shuffle through the cupboard, and finds a near-empty bottle of olive oil that’s definitely been sitting down there for at least a year. He hands it off to Mabel, smiling. “I’m glad that things worked out with you, though”

To his surprise, Mabel drops the bottle and throws her arms around him in a hug. “I can’t wait to introduce you! He’s gonna love you”

Ford huffs a quiet laugh, and pulls her close as he winds his arms around her as well. The hug only lasts for a few brief moments, but it feels to Ford in those moments that time itself had stopped. Mabel stands, taking the bottle in one hand and offering to help Ford up in her other.

Mabel places the bottle in the sink and turns the water on to rinse it out before she turns back towards Ford, stretching her arms up in the air as if she were warming up for an exercise. “Alright, here’s the plan. You tell me where Grunkle Stan keeps all of his jewelry, and I’ll sneak in and take his necklace while you distract him. Got it?”

Ford smiles. “Got it”.

As Mabel splits away for Stan’s bedroom, Ford heads back out to the deck. Dipper’s leaning over the side of the boat pointing at something jumping out of the water, rambling excitedly to Stan beside him. He’s holding his fishing hat in his hand to stop it from blowing into the water, and his hair is bouncing in the breeze. It’s just enough for the edge of his birthmark to poke through his bangs, and even in broad daylight it seems to be emitting a faint glow.

“I found it!” Mabel cheers, bounding up from behind him. She’s wearing the chain around her neck, and for some reason the gold seems much dimmer in contrast to her sweater. She takes it off and hands it to him. “You wanna do the honors while I go and throw this overboard?”

Ford smiles, ruffling her hair. “Sure thing.” He walks over to where Stan and Dipper are chatting and picks up one of the extra fishing rods. Making sure that Stan’s too engrossed with his conversation to notice, Ford starts wrapping the chain along the line, and at the signal from Mabel, he tosses his line as far from the boat as he can manage.

Five minutes pass before Mabel squeals so loud that Ford’s afraid his glasses might shatter. He reaches for the gun he knows he’s got stashed in his pants pocket, but when he turns to run to her aid she’s leaning halfway over the boat wrapping her arms around a young merman in a tight hug.

“...so good to see you again!” She’s beaming. “I didn’t think you’d be able to find us so quickly!”

“Yes, well, you were easy to track down after we figured out the coordinates to the seaport” the young man says in a thick Spanish accent. “It is good to see you too! My family was so excited to meet you”

“Your family?” she gasps. “Did they all come with you?”

“Of course!” he grins. “We merpeople are very family oriented. Wherever we go, we go together”

Ford winces at the uncanny familiarity of the statement. Mabel must recognize the statement too, because she responds with “Oh, that reminds me! There’s someone I want you guys to meet! Wait right here,” she says, and comes bouncing back over to Ford. Taking his hand in her own, she starts to drag him back to where she’d just been leaning. “C’mon! He’s the one I was just talking about!”

Three more merpeople emerge from the water when she gently knocks on the side of the boat again. “Grunkle Ford, this is Mermando!” she grins, gesturing to the young merman she’d just been conversing with. “He’s the one I helped reunite with his family after they were separated by tragic circumstances.” She wraps her arms around Ford in a side-hug. “Mermando, this is my Grunkle Ford! He was also separated from his family by tragic circumstances, but I helped with that too!”

Mermando laughs. “Even when you think it’s the end, family always finds its way, doesn’t it?”

Ford laughs, shaking his hand. “It always seems that way to me”

“Awwww!” Mabel squeals. “I knew you’d get along!” She grins, and turns her attention back towards Mermando. “Before I forget, though, did you see where Grunkle Ford threw that gold necklace? If I don’t get it back my Grunkle Stan’s gonna kill me”

Mermando laughs again. “I was wondering if that belonged to any of you!” He takes off his shell necklace to reveal that he’d put Stan’s necklace on around his neck. He takes that off, too, and offers it to Ford. “I much prefer this one, anyway” he clicks his shell necklace open, revealing it to be a locket with a picture of his family inside.

Ford takes the gold necklace back, and he means to thank him, but a bell ringing from elsewhere in the port interrupts him before he can open his mouth. Mermando turns to Mabel, taking her hands in his own. “We must go. I’m so sorry we have to leave so soon, but we merpeople recognize the sounds of fishing boats very easily. We’ll try to come back later this week” He opens his arms for her once more, and Mabel wraps his arms around him in a quick hug before she watches him and his family swim away.

“I am so glad that all you were doing was hugging,” Dipper shudders as he and Stan approach Ford and Mabel. “I’m not sure my stomach could handle witnessing you two kissing a second time”

“Awww,” Mabel punches him playfully in the shoulder. “You’re just jealous that I had a boyfriend before you did!”

Dipper cringes. “If you having a boyfriend before I do means I didn’t have to be the one dating a fish, then I’m glad you were the one who got stuck with him first” He punches her back, and gestures at Stan over his shoulder with his thumb. “But anyways, I came over here because Grunkle Stan says he wants to get out on the open water before everyone else gets the idea, or something”.

Ford pockets Stan’s necklace and makes a mental note to put it away sometime later tonight when Stan is too distracted to notice. “Tell Stan I’m going to untie the rope from the edge of the dock, and when he sees me back on board we’re all set to go.”

Nodding, Dipper bounds off towards the navigation room where Stan must be waiting, and Ford steps off of the boat to take care of everything else. On the way to the bow, he traces a hand along the white painted STAN O’ WAR II, and a feeling of warmth sprouts in his chest. Once back on board, he waves to Stan as he passes besides the navigation room once more, and takes a seat on one of the beach chairs they liked to keep aboard.

Most days, Ford prefers to be the one at the wheel. But every once in a while he just wants to be. All he wants to do is lean back in one of their beach chairs and let the sun warm his face. It’s a good kind of warm, the same way spending time with the kids and heavy rain hitting his bedroom window and planning new escapades with Stan feel warm. After so, so long of only knowing unbearable burns, it feels indescribable to have a constant back in his life that heals, rather than hurts.

“Mind if we join you?” Dipper asks, and Ford glances over to see both of the young twins dragging a chair behind them.

Speaking of healing constants.

“Sure,” Ford says, and can’t help the warmth spilling through his tone. They pull their chairs up on either side of him, and curl up to enjoy the warm breeze. Dipper places his hat on his lap to let the wind blow through his hair, and Mabel stretches her arms out behind her head to act as her own pillow. Ford chuckles silently at the pair, and closes his eyes to let himself relax.

All is quiet when Stan finally finds them a spot out on the open water without a single other boat in sight. The water is nearly still, save for the occasional small wave that gently sways the boat. The sun is at its afternoon high, turning the water beautiful shades of teal and aqua. Fishing is tedious, but it’s careful work, and gives Ford something to put all of his focus into. Two whole hours pass before any of them catch a thing, and Stan laughs himself to tears when it’s Dipper who pulls up a single sardine.

Typically Ford prefers much more immersive activities, but right now there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. The sun is starting to set before they realize they aren’t going to have much luck catching anything, and instead decide to take the boat for another ride around the harbor to look for a better place to eventually watch the stars.

“...Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper approaches him shyly once they’ve anchored the boat.

“Yes?”

He tugs shyly at the edge of his sweater. “I…” he starts. “I know you’ve told me that the multiverse was dangerous, and all, but...was there ever anything you enjoyed about it?” He pauses. “What were the sunsets like?”

Ford chuckles, patting at the seat beside him, and Dipper’s eyes light up as he sits down.

“You’re right,” Ford starts, folding his hands together. “I wouldn’t wish what I went through on even my worst enemies, Dipper. It was practically impossible to get any decent amount of sleep and even harder to find food digestible by human kind. I lost some of my best years to the multiverse when I could’ve gone on to become the most renowned scientist in the world.” Ford turns his gaze away from the sun setting on the horizon to meet Dipper’s eyes, but he’s frowning, eyes cast downwards towards the deck of the ship.

“But,” Ford adds before the poor kid can get too lost in his own head, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It definitely had its perks.” He smiles. “The sun in Dimension 18.2 would emit a sound that mimicked a lullaby every night as it set. Dimension 47’23 had three moons that would shift phases before your very eyes. I haven’t told Mabel because I’m afraid she’ll try activating a portal of her own and run away, but in Dimension 25-12, everyone and everything looks like a watercolor painting. There’s danger in the multiverse, but there’s beauty in equal measure”

“Do you ever miss it?” Dipper fiddles with his hands, like he’s trying real hard not to say the wrong thing. “I mean, I know you don’t miss being lost, or having no idea if you’re ever going to see home again, but...is there any dimension...where you could’ve seen yourself staying, if you thought you couldn’t make it back?”

Ford shifts in his chair so he doesn’t have to twist his neck so much to look directly at his nephew. “Occasionally,” he muses. “I met the most friendly faces in Dimension 52, so my mind does tend to wander there from time to time” he smiles. “But rest assured, there is something in this dimension that makes it my favorite”

“Oh yeah?” Dipper’s eyes light up. “Over every other dimension you’ve passed through? What is it?”

Ford gently nudges Dipper’s shoulder. “You and your sister”

Dipper’s cheeks turn bright red, and he looks as though he’s struggling not to bury his face into the collar of his sweater and disappear. “Really?” his voice squeaks.

Ford nods. “Everything I had in those other dimensions were fleeting, Dipper. At a moment’s notice everything I grew to love could disappear in the blink of an eye. The very thing happened to me in Dimension 52. When I fell asleep, I woke up in a new dimension I didn’t recognize. Things may have been more advanced, and there may have been dimensions crafted to give you your greatest desires, but in the end nothing ever lasted.”

Now it’s Ford’s turn to divert Dipper’s eyes, gaze casting towards the floor. “Stan was cut from my life completely in the dimension that claimed to be a perfect world. I had nobody. Even in dimensions that actively worked towards my happiness, I was all alone” Ford shakes his head, and turns his gaze once more out on the horizon. The sun is still touching the horizon, but it’s dipped just low enough that some of the stars are beginning to show in the sky.

“But...here, at home, everything is consistent. I don’t have to worry about waking up in the morning to find that everyone I love is gone. I can keep everyone in arm’s lengths, even when Stan and I can only communicate with you and your sister over a video call. I’m…” Ford gently squeezes his hands to reassure himself that this is real and now. “...happy. Happier than I’ve been in decades”

Beside him, Dipper yawns, and when Ford spares a glance over at him he’s smiling at him sleepily. “We’re really happy you’re here too, Grunkle Ford” he murmurs, and his eyes slip closed. Ford’s cheeks flush pink, and he has to choke back a laugh because that’s one of the first times Dipper’s felt comfortable enough to call him Grunkle.

Ford stands, so as not to wake Dipper from his nap. A small glance to his right and he catches a glimpse of Stan and Mabel leaning against the side of the boat watching the sunset just outside of earshot of his current conversation with Dipper.

“You finally bore him to sleep with all your nerdy science talk?” Stan asks as he approaches, sparing a glance behind him at Dipper. “Was starting to think that the poor kid would never get a nap in”

“Yes, well,” Ford smirks. “I’m sure it helped plenty that you bored him to death by taking him fishing first”

Stan gasps in mock offense, and slugs him in the shoulder. “Hey, at least I’m engaging them in something they can actually interact with, unlike your kooky alien stories, or whatever”

Ford can’t help the laugh that escapes him. “Bold statement coming from the man who dedicated thirty years of his life rescuing me from said kooky aliens” he says, returning with a punch of his own. Stan opens his mouth to argue back, realizes he has nothing to say, and closes his mouth. The sight of it makes Ford laugh even harder, keeling over and slapping a hand on Stan’s shoulder to support himself. It must be contagious, because it’s not long before Stan is laughing too.

Ford removes his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes, and cleans off the lenses with the edge of his sweater. Once his eyes adjust after he puts them back on, his throat nearly catches in his throat when he glances back out towards the water. He’s just able to catch a shooting star before it disappears over the horizon, and the boat’s just far out enough on the water that there isn’t an ounce of light pollution obscuring the rest of the stars in the sky. He takes a few steps back so he can look up and admire more of them at once, and if he looks close enough he can see them twinkling.

Before he can ask the others if they’re seeing the same thing, a bright flash of light coming from somewhere on the boat cuts into his thoughts. He turns, to make sure that none of the lights in any of the rooms are on, but no, they’d turned those off when they’d started fishing. Scratching at his head, he turns to Stan and Mabel to ask if they have any idea where the light is coming from, but that question catches in its throat as quickly as it formulated.

They’re the ones emitting light.

Or, rather, Mabel’s sweater and Stan’s shoulder, approximately where his burn scar should be. Those are emitting light.

...Surely it must just be the reflection of the starlight on the water, right? That same bright light must have woken Dipper from his nap, yes?

He turns heel to ask Dipper the same question, but freezes in his tracks before he can take a single step forward. Dipper’s forehead is glowing too, the same way it has since he and Stan docked the boat this morning.

It...It can’t be, can it?

Gripping his forehead, Ford takes a number of steps backwards until his back hits the wall. Maybe...maybe he just needs to call it a night. He’s been awake since sunrise, maybe his vision is just blurring because he needs to lie down?

He waves his hands in front of his face, but no, those don’t look any different. He squints, to make sure his hands aren’t shaking, but no, they’re perfectly still.

He squints at Stan and Mabel, just to try and see if his eyes are watering, and-

He gasps.

Mabel’s sweater, Dipper’s forehead, Stan’s shoulder; they’re not glowing; they’re twinkling like the stars. It was hard to tell in broad daylight, but now that they’re surrounded by a thousand shining stars, the resemblance is unmistakable.

But...that’s not possible. If he can see them twinkling, but none of them have said anything about it, that could only be if those were…

...soulmarks.

Ford suddenly feels like he’s going to pass out.

He slides to the floor.

Is...Is that even possible? Ford thought for sure that study he read years ago was nothing but a joke. Someone...who does everything in their power to bring you two together, no matter the cost? Someone who, even though you may not meet for decades, will feel as though you’ve known each other their entire lives? Someone who will do anything for you, no matter the personal expense?

Someone...someone like Stan, who spent a painstaking thirty years teaching himself quantum physics to rescue someone that anyone else would assume dead? The man who sacrificed his very mind, his very life, so he could be spared physical torture?

Or...someone like Mabel, the first friendly face he saw after emerging from the portal? The one who forgave him so easily after he tried to separate her from her brother? The one who insists on calling him a good person, despite all of those he knows he hurt?

Or...Dipper? His kindred spirit in all things supernatural? The one who, alongside his sister, sacrificed himself as bait for the most dangerous being in the entire multiverse? Who saw memories of him at his very worst, and apologized to him for snooping?

After everything he’s been through...could things really work out that well in his favor? To not have one soulmate but three, and the guarantee that they’ll never leave, because they’ve already expressed how they love him so?

There’s a tear streaming down his cheek at the thought, but he’s too distracted by a fourth light suddenly emitting from...himself to really notice.

He spares a cautious glance downward, and notices a pulsing light emerging from his chest in perfect time with his heartbeat. If he looks closely, he notices that the light travels down his arms and ties itself into a translucent bow around his fingers. If he looks closer still, the light looks as though it’s slinking faintly across the deck of the boat and reaching towards the gentle twinkling of Stan and Mabel’s marks.

Ford places a hand to his forehead, throws his head back, and laughs his throat dry, paying no mind to the tears pouring down his face.

#gravity falls #my writing #syd #cool kid squad 2.0 #ILYSM FRIEND

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dp-marvel94 · 5 years ago

Text

The Mystery Shack Spooks- Part 5

For Holiday Truce 2020

Summary: Elle Fenton had hoped for a normal summer, a chance to make normal friends with people who know nothing about her crazy family, ghosts, or, most importantly, her status as a clone. But ghosts always seem to find her, even in Gravity Falls. Now the Mystery Shack is haunted by a unknown apparition with an unknown connection to Dipper and Mabel, and to Elle herself. The half ghost struggles to open up to her new friends and to find a way to help this lonely ghost.

Part 1 -> Part 2 -> Part 3 -> Part 4 -> Part 5 (Here)

Also on AO3 and fanfiction.net

Note: As I'm sure you can see, this story now has an actual title! Credit to MagicalEevee on AO3 for that. And so here's the last chapter! Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think!

Again, Elle woke up to sunlight streaming through her window. She blinked up at the ceiling, remembering last night. Her conversation with Dipper, watching the boy and his clone’s reunion, talking to Danny on the phone. And Danny’s idea, using ectoplasm to help Tyrone. Tentatively, hope crept into her heart. Maybe, just maybe this could work. She just had to figure out where the other ghost was.

Sitting up, she called softly. “Tyrone?”

Again, her room was silent and bare as ever. Closing her eyes, she weakly reached out with her ghost sense. Sadly, she sensed nothing. Not too surprising though. Tracking a ghost once she’s sensed it was one thing. Reaching out to sensing another’s core when it was too far away or too weak was another.

Elle’s brow furrowed in thought; where exactly was the other ghost? Actually, where did he go when he wasn’t hanging around her? Or where would he have gone after hanging out with Dipper?

Suddenly, her core stirred in her chest. Cold air swirled in her lungs.

“Ty?” She questioned.

A moment later, a misty figure phased through the ceiling. Elle frowned, eyes falling on the other ghost. Again, his form was fuzzy and indistinct, blurring his facial features.

Tyrone tilted his head. His static voice formed a question that was probably ‘what?’

The half ghost’s shoulders fell. “I can't see your face now.” She sighed. “I guess Danny was right. The reason me and Dipper could actually see you yesterday was ‘cause it was your...deathday.”

The clone shifted nervously at the last word. Then he asked. “Da...nny?”

“Yeah.” Elle rubbed the back of her neck. “I talked to my brother about everything that happened yesterday. Ya know, figuring out who you are, telling the twins about my powers, Dipper finding out about you.” Her eyes lit up, remembering. “Oh, how did that go? You and him hanging out.”

Tyrone’s head popped up, his gaze fixing on her. He waved his hands, his voice tilted up in happiness.

The girl raised a brow. “So I guess it went well?”

The boy nodded his head enthusiastically.

“That’s good.” The corner of Elle’s mouth turned up but then she turned more serious. “I’m sorry about….” She motioned up and down the other ghost’s body. “But...the good thing is...Danny had an idea about how to help you stay solid.” Tyrone brightened, almost literally as the girl continued. “So I really should have thought of this earlier but...we were thinking ectoplasm.”

The ghost boy titled his head, questioningly.

“Here let me show you.” With that, the half ghost stood up and retrieved one of her bags. She pulled out a vial of glowing green liquid. “Basically...this is what ghosts are made of. We get energy from ectoplasm. Without it, we’ll get weaker and less solid….or at least regular ghosts do. I’m not sure about me. But anyway….” She held the vial out to him. “Do you want to try some?”

Tyrone floated forward, studying the vial. He shifted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It can’t hurt you.” Elle softly said, trying to guess why the boy was anxious.

The other ghost muttered something sheepishly; Elle could imagine him biting his lip.

The girl’s expression softened as she suggested. “Do you want me to go find Dipper and Mabel and see what they think? Wait...does Mabel even know that you're well...you?"

Tyrone shook his head.

“Oh…” Elle frowned. “We should probably tell her.”

The other ghost titled his head back and forth before nodding in agreement.

“Okay. How about I go get the two of them and-”

Just then, Mabel’s voice yelled up the stairs. “Elle! Come down to breakfast! There’s bacon!”

“And pancakes!” Shouted Dipper.

At the proclamation, the half ghost finally noticed the delicious scents drifting up the stairs. Her stomach growled in demand for food and she frowned down at it. “I should be getting down there. But…” She glanced back at Tyrone.

The boy waved her off. “Can wait.”

“Are you sure?” Elle bit her lip. He nodded and the half ghost took a breath. “Okay. I’ll go down stairs. We’ll have breakfast. Me and Dipper will tell Mabel about you. I’ll tell them the ectoplasm idea. Then we’ll come back upstairs.”

Tyrone nodded again and gave her a thumbs up.

With that, the girl headed for the door. “Hang tight. I’ll see you in a bit.”

With a wave which the other ghost returned, Elle exited the room. She walked down the hall towards the stairs. She’d just turned the corner to start descending when she almost ran into Dipper.

The boy stopped suddenly. “Oh, I was just coming to get you.”

Elle nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming.” Dipper turned around and they started down the stairs. The girl swallowed. “So...I was talking to Tyrone just now.”

The boy stopped, turning to face her again. “Tyrone? That’s...That really happened last night, didn’t it? He’s really back?” Though his eyes shone with happiness, he sounded like he could hardly believe it.

“It’s really him.” Elle confirmed.

Dipper shook his head. “Man….I half thought I just dreamed it but…..it’s really him.” He smiled.

“Yeah….and I think I have an idea to deal with his tangibility problem.”

The boy’s smile widened. “Really?!”

“Yep. I can tell you and your sister in a bit.”

“My sister?” Dipper blinked at her, suddenly startled.

“Yeah. Your sister. We need to tell Mabel. Ty wanted to, too.”

“He did?” He added, somewhat disbelievingly.

“I mean…he nodded when I asked about telling her.” Elle shrugged. “Actually talking’s still kinda hit or miss for him. But...my idea might help with that too.”

Dipper nodded soberly. “Okay. We can tell her. Come on.”

The pair continued down the stairs and into the kitchen. There they found Mabel pouring syrup on her pancakes.

“There you guys are.” Mabel smiled teasingly. “I was just about to eat all your pancakes.” She stuffed a heaping amount into her mouth and chewed.

Elle chuckled at the display. She grabbed her own plate and took a seat beside the other girl. As she grabbed a few pancakes, she asked. “Where are your Grunkles?”

Mabel shrugged. “Out somewhere. Grunkle Stan said to call his cell phone only if zombies attack the Shack again and Soos can’t handle it.”

That earned another laugh from the half ghost. Across from her, Dipper was not so jovial.

Mabel tilted her head. “What’s got you down, Dip-dip?”

The boy sighed. “Mabel...I’ve gotta tell you something, something I should have first thing this morning.”

At the serious tone, Elle frowned, a spike of guilt poking her heart.

Mabel also sobered. “What is it?”

Dipper swallowed. “Elle and I found out who the ghost haunting the Shack is and….” He trailed off.

Elle continued for him, taking a deep breath. “Mabel...it’s Tyrone.”

The girl’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, it’s Tyrone?”

“It’s Tyrone.” Her brother said more confidently. “The ghost who’s been haunting the Shack is Tyrone.”

Mabel blinked in confusion. “Tyrone?....Your clone, Tyrone? But that’s...that’s impossible.”

“I know but...it’s him.” Dipper’s more serious expression started to crack. “I actually saw his face last night.”

The girl’s mouth fell open. “You saw him. Tyrone? Our Tyrone?”

Elle’s brow furrowed; our Tyrone? But she nodded eagerly. “I saw him yesterday too.”

“And I talked with him.” Dipper’s eyes lit up. “Or...as much as we could with body language and short phrases. But it’s really him, Mabel.”

His sister’s eyes continued to widen, her face frozen with shock. “Wow.” She whispered, excitement growing. “That’s amazing! He’s….he’s really alive?!”

Just like that, Dipper shut down. “No...He’s not...I mean...he is a ghost.”

“Oh.” Mabel looked down, face reddening with shame.

The twins’ eyes both focused down, expression heavy with sadness. It hurt Elle’s heart, to see them so subdued after Dipper’s happiness and Mabel’s growing excitement.

“You know….” Elle said kindly, trying to draw the twins out of their somber mood. “With ghosts…it’s not always as simple as dead or alive.”

Dipper frowned, eyes narrowing. “Because half ghosts are a thing?”

“Well yes but...” The halfa shrugged sheepishly. “That’s not the point. Ghosts are complicated. There are different kinds of ghosts. There’s some that are born ghosts from parents that are ghosts. There’s ghosts that just kinda spring out of the ectoplasm from emotions and thoughts and beliefs.” She swallowed. “And yeah, there are ghosts that were once living humans but...I’ve talked to some of those and….some would tell you becoming a ghost was a second chance for them. Yeah, they died and their life as a human ended but...they got to start a new life. They get to do and see things they couldn’t before. They get to find love or a family. They learn and grow and explore and...it’s not so bad.”

The boy’s nose wrinkled in thought. “Okay, I get that, I guess. But...where does Tyrone fit in all this?”

“Well...Ty never was human.” Elle said softly. “He didn’t get much of a chance to live before but...he’s here now and that’s what matters.”

For a moment, neither of the other teens responded, both studying the half ghost thoughtfully.

Then to Elle’s surprise, Mabel spoke first. “Yeah, that is what matters.” A smile crept onto her face. “I’m actually gonna meet this Tyrone that Dipper told us all about.”

“Yeah.” Elle nodded, also smiling.

“Yeah.” Dipper parroted, though a thoughtful look remained on his face. “Elle….” He bit his lip. “Where do you fit into all of this?”

The half ghost blinked. “What?”

“With ghosts I mean. You said there are different kinds and….yesterday you told us you weren’t dead so...where do you fit?”

The look on his face, the tone was innocently curious, not probing. But Elle’s stomach flopped with nerves all the same. Where did she fit? That was an impossible question.

Dipper apparently noticed her anxiety. “I’m sorry. That’s personal.” His face reddened with shame. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No.” Elle shook her head. “It’s...it is personal but….I’ll tell you guys.” She sighed. “I don’t really know where I fit with other ghosts. I’ve never died. Obviously, my parents aren’t ghosts. And…I didn’t just spontaneously appear one day. Well...maybe that last one’s not completely true.” She smiled wryly. “I did kinda randomly show up in Danny’s room one day.”

Across from her, Mabel actually snorted. But Dipper blinked at her confusedly. “What are you...?”

Elle’s smile fell, realizing how weird what she just said was and...where this conversation was inevitably going. She needed to tell them the rest of the truth….and she would. Elle wrung her hands nervously before squaring her shoulders and steeling herself. “I...I didn’t tell you everything yesterday. Actually, I left out something really important but...I decided last night, I’m gonna tell you guys ‘cause I trust you and I know you won’t think any less of me because of it.”

That sobered the other girl, who’s eyes widened. “Elle…”

The half ghost held up her hand. “Let me finish before I chicken out.” She took a deep breath. “So..I told you yesterday that I’m half ghost because someone experimented on me. And that’s technically true but...it’s less I was experimented on and more...I was an experiment.” The girl paused, taking in the twin’s deeply concerned and slightly disturbed expressions. And….she was likely to make it worse.

No...the girl chastised herself. What she’s said earlier was true; she trusted Dipper and Mabel.

“What do you mean, you were an experiment?” Dipper asked, quietly.

Elle swallowed, looking down. “I wasn’t...I wasn’t born like a normal human.” She painfully forced out the words. “I was….made in a lab.”

Pausing, the halfa looked up to to gauge the twin’s reactions. She found Mabel staring at her with wide eyes. Dipper opened and closed his mouth in disbelief. “You were...made in a lab?”

Elle nodded in confirmation. “The bad man I told you about….his name was Vlad...he...well...he wanted a half ghost lackey to boss around. He tried to get Danny to join him but he wasn’t having it. So Vlad decided he was...kinda going to... make his own halfa. He made a bunch of clones and I’m the only one who survived ...so” She trailed off.

Again, the twins stared at her in shock.

“Dipper? Mabel?” She asked quietly.

Dipper finally reacted. “But that’s…” He put a hand on his head. “That’s crazy. That’s...How would someone do that and...why?...You said why… But….”

Mabel swallowed, looking at the girl seriously. “You mentioned Danny, again. What does he have to do with this?”

Elle frowned. Of everything to pick up from her ramble, Mabel noticed that. And that….that was the question. Because she’d barely mentioned the big thing, the big secret. Bracing herself, the girl wrung her hands. “Danny….Danny’s the person I was cloned from.”

Dipper’s startled eyes suddenly met hers. “What?”

“I’m a clone. Danny’s clone.” She said with as much confidence as she could muster.

“You’re a clone?” The boy’s jaw dropped. “A clone? Really? You’re a clone?”

Elle shivered. “Yes...you can stop saying that word now.”

“What word?...Oh…” The boy blushed. “So you’re...you’re like Tyrone.”

“Pretty much. I mean…” The girl shrugged. “I came from weird ghost science, not a magical copier but...yeah, we’re not that different.”

At that, the boy nodded. Beside him, Mabel asked. “And the person you were...cloned...” She hesitated on the word clone for a moment before continuing. “from is Danny? The one you’ve talked about and you showed me a picture of?”

Elle nodded in response.

Then Dipper frowned, stating plainly. “You told us Danny was your brother.”

The half ghost crossed her arms, glaring seriously. “He is my brother.”

“But-” The boy started.

“Look.” Elle held up a hand, cutting him off. ”Yeah, I’m his clone and he’s my original. But that doesn’t mean we’re not siblings too. Actually…” She uncrossed her arms. “We’re siblings first..because we’ve chosen to be. That’s more important than where I came from or how we meet.”

Elle paused, letting her friends take in her honest words. She meant every one. While her origin did matter, she was not just a clone. She was a sister, a daughter, and a friend. Having a family, being a Fenton was vastly important to her, a vital part of who she was. And it was one that she’d chosen; she and Danny had chosen to call each other siblings instead of cousins. The Fenton parents had chosen to take her in and she had chosen to accept.

A deep thoughtful look crossed Dipper’s face at the words, his expression softening. She could almost see wheels turning in his head as he considered her words. And maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t just thinking about her but how this related to his own situation with a certain clone.

After a while, Mabel asked. “How did you and Danny meet?”

“Well...that’s an interesting story….” With that, Elle expanded on the story she told yesterday. She properly explained how she met Danny and how they escaped from Vlad together. Looking down, she talked about her time living on the streets and worst of all...the time she almost destabilized.

Mabel’s eyes widened. “Elle...that is horrible. I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” The other girl waved her off. “I’m okay now. Danny figured out how to stabilize me.”

“But..you almost melted.” Dipper covered his mouth, a haunted look in his eyes. “No wonder you were so upset about what happened to my clones.”

“Yeah.” Elle agreed numbly. “I uh...I know from experience. Melting’s horrible whether it’s happening to you or you’re watching it happen to someone else.” She shivered again at the statement, her mind momentarily drifting with what happened to her clone siblings. She wrung her hands. “Like I said, I wasn’t the only one. None of us were stable but...I’m the only one left.”

Mabel gave Elle a compassionate look while Dipper’s eyes flickered down. “And you saw….?”

“Yeah.” Elle swallowed. “I was there when all of them, all of my clone brothers,...died.”

The boy looked up, sorrowful but kind eyes meeting hers. “I know it doesn’t make it better but...I’m sorry that happened and...I’m sorry you had to see it.”

“Yeah.” The half ghost wrapped her arms around herself. “It still hurts sometimes but...all I can do is remember them, honor them, and...I guess, try to live since they didn’t get the chance tp.” She let a small smile crept onto her face. “I like to think they’d be proud of me, if they could see me now.”

“They would be.” Mabel said with conviction. “Your brothers would be so happy for you if they knew.”

Elle nodded, trying her best to believe. It still hurt, talking about all of this but...having Dipper and Mabel to listen was helping.

The half ghost continued explaining the journey that led her to living with the Fentons. “So Danny told Mom and Dad about his powers and introduced me. And now I live in Amity Park with them.” Elle’s story ended and she waited for Dipper and Mabel to respond. Despite their favorable reactions, her heart still fluttered with nerves. “So...what do you guys think?”

Dipper and Mabel both seemed to notice the uncertainty in her voice, based on the concerned looks they traded with each other.

Mabel addressed Elle first. “I think you’re really brave, after going through all that.” She gave the halfa a smile. “And I still think you’re really cool.”

Elle sighed. “Well that’s a relief.” She tried to sound casual, like it was a joke but her tone gave her lingering anxiety away.

Across from her, Dipper swallowed. He addressed her seriously.. “Elle...I remember what you said earlier. We don’t think any less of you, because you told us the truth.”

“Yeah.” Mabel shrugged. “You’re still you...even if there’s more to you than we thought. And you’re still our friend.”

“Really?” Elle asked hopefully.

“Of course.” The other girl said, like it was the most obvious thing.

Dipper nodded. “You’re our friend. And…” The boy bit his lip. “I’m happy you told us. I think I get more why you reacted to the Copier like you did.” He looked down. “Everything I told you, everything I did with the machine. It must sound really awful, considering….your origin.”

“Yeah….” The half ghost rubbed the back of her neck. “Anything about clones is a sore subject for me. And hearing everything that happened was...well...it was not fun.” She wrinkled her nose before her expression softened. “But...you’ve learned since then and I saw how you were with Tyrone.”

“Yeah, I have learned.” Dipper agreed, sounding more confident. “And thanks for helping me see. What you said about Tyrone not being just a copy...well...I already told you.”

Mabel looked at her brother curiously but didn’t comment on that. Instead she excitedly interjected. “Speaking of Tyrone...when do I get to meet him?”

“And what was that idea you had, to make it so everyone can see and hear him completely?” Dipper added.

Elle nodded. “So I was talking to my brother and he thought…..”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With that, the half ghost explained the plan she’s come up with as the trio finally finished their breakfast.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Mabel practically jumped out of her seat as soon as the rest of her pancakes were gone. “Come on!”

The trio headed up the stairs and to Elle’s room, where the girl opened the door with a flourish.

“Tyrone?” The halfa called.

A moment later, the ghost materialized, form as misty as before.

Mabel squinted at the ghost boy. “Is that him?”

“Yes.” Elle nodded.

The other girl grinned. “Hi Tyrone!”

The ghost boy waved eagerly and again, Elle could imagine his bright smile.

Dipper finally spoke up. “Why are you back to looking…. like that?”

“Oh yeah.” His sister nodded. “You said you could see his face last night.”

Tyrone said something but his explanation was lost in static.

Elle sighed. “Danny thought it was because yesterday was his DeathDay and traditional ghosts are stronger on the anniversary of their death. But…” She held up the ectoplasm. “This should help. You should be stronger than ever if it works.” She turned towards Dipper and Mabel, jabing a thumb in the other ghost’s direction. “Earlier, I was trying to convince this one to give it a try.”

Dipper raised a brow at his clone. “It can’t actually hurt, right?”

The ghost shrugged before shaking his head.

“So you’ll try it?” Mabel asked hopefully. The ghost boy nodded, now more confidently, earning a grin from the girl. “Great!”

Elle also smiled. “You can absorb it through your skin so I can just pour it on you unless….” The half ghost held the vial out to Dipper. “Do you want to do the honors?”

Tentatively, the boy took it. “Alright.” He took a step towards the other boy. “Here goes nothing.”

Anticipation seemed to swirl through the room. In front of his original, Tyrone tensed, bracing himself as the other boy tipped the vial over with a similar tense posture. Mabel looked between the pair with wide, eager eyes. Elle held her breath as the ectoplasm touched the other ghost’s head. The substance dripped down and Tyrone’s dim aura brightened. Then there was a flash of light.

Elle covered her face on reflex at the brightness. Nearby, Dipper squeaked startledly and Mabel gasped. There was a long silent pause.

“Did it...did it work?” Someone said. No, not just someone. The voice was young, male, and...echoing.

Elle’s eyes popped open, her gaze falling on Tyrone’s face, his now very visible face. The other ghost’s eyes were pinched closed, his shoulders raised.

“Did it work?” Tyrone asked again.

The half ghost’s mouth fell open. His voice….it sounded different from the few times she’d heard it before. It was more….physical, like actual sound waves traveling through the air and into her ears. Less like pure thought and emotions telepathically communicated straight to her brain. (It was so weird that she could tell the difference between those things.)

Across from his clone, Dipper wore a similar expression of shock. Numbly, he nodded in response to the question.

Tyrone noticed, his eyes meeting the other boy’s. “Can you hear me?”

Again, Dipper nodded, this time more enthusiastically.

The ghost boy grinned. “You can understand me. You can understand me! Dipper!” He put his arms up, eyes flittering to the other Pines sibling and grinning. “Mabel! I think it worked!” In his growing excitement, Tyrone grabbed one of Dipper’s and one of Mabel’s arms.

The other boy’s eyes lit up as he looked at where his clone was touching him.

“I can’t believe this!” Mabel exclaimed.

At the same time, Dipper was mystified. “It worked.” He met Tyrone’s eyes again, his own excitement growing.

“Dipper! Tyrone! It worked!” The girl yelled as she took the human boy’s hand and started jumping in excitement.

Dipper and Tyrone both laughed. The clone grinned as he shifted his grip to hold one of Dipper and one of Mabel’s hands. He started jumping as well and Dipper joined a moment later. Soon all three were jumping up and down, all chanting. “It worked! It worked!”

Elle smiled, watching the elated reaction as the three celebrated with exclamations of pure joy and laughter. They spun, almost dancing in something reminiscent of children playing ring around the rosie. Dipper ran into the bed and fell onto it all the while laughing even as Mabel fell into him. Tyrone dipped forward with the force of gravity but let go of the other teens’ hands. Floating, he darted in front of Elle.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” The ghostly clone threw his arms around her, still jumping.

The half ghost joined in, starting to laugh as well. “Ty! It worked!”

A moment later, Dipper hopped up beside the pair. He threw one arm around Elle and one around Tyrone, forming a group hug. “Yeah! Thank you so much Elle!”

The girl grinned, more at seeing her friends so happy than the praise itself. It had worked! Not only did Tyrone look fully solid and visible, he was fully tangible. Hugging him didn’t feel like touching mist but instead like hugging an actual person. He wasn’t warm of course; the ever present cold and electricity that came with touching a ghost was present. But he was here and he could touch and be touched. He could be fully seen without distortion. Though his body and clothes had a very faint blue tint, possibly from his much more visible aura, he looked very human for a ghost and very much like Dipper’s clone. And finally, she could understand him. His words actually came out as English!

Mabel’s voice interrupted Elle’s thought. “Tyrone?” The girl questioned. Though her lips turned up in a smile, her voice was more serious.

The ghost boy turned, suddenly nervous at the girl’s change on tone. “Yeah?”

“You’re really him? The clone Dipper told us about?” Mabel questioned, her eyes shining with a mix of emotions.

“Yeah, I guess….” The clone said, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he lowered his hand. “Dipper told you about me?” He asked, slightly mystified.

“Yeah. Of course I did.” The living boy said softly.

Tyrone nodded, understanding dawning on his face. “Of course you did. You tell Mabel everything.” He then blushed at the strangely personal statement. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. ” Dipper shrugged. “You’re right.” Then he turned more serious. “But actually...I told her because you’re important to me, Ty.”

The ghost boy’s face softened. “Really?”

The other boy nodded. “Yeah.”

“You’re important to me too.” Mabel interjected, confidently through her voice wavered with emotion.

Tyrone turned to her, eyes wide. “What?”

“You’re important to me, Tyrone.” Mabel took a step forward, hesitating a moment before practically leaping forward to wrap the ghost boy in a bear hug.

The ghostly clone’s eyes widened even more. “Mabel?”

The girl tightened her hold. “I thought...I thought I’d never get to meet you, bro-bro.” Her words rang with affection and just a hint of sadness.

The clone’s widened with something that could be hurt as he sputtered “Mabel. I’m...I’m not your...”

“Of course you are.” The other teen pulled back, enough to see his face. “You’re my brother.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing. “You’re my bro-bro, just like Dipper is.” Mabel smiled kindly. “I’ve got two brothers now.”

Tyrone blinked, totally bewildered. He opened and closed his mouth before muttering in disbelief. “You….you mean that?”

The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. I mean that. You’re my brother and I’m your sister...if you want us to be.”

The clone also nodded eagerly. “Yes, I want that! Of course I do! But….” He glanced nervously at Dipper.

The still living boy walked forward. He gently placed one hand on Tyrone’s and one hand on Mabel’s arm. “I like that word, brother.” Though he bit his lip anxiously, he sounded sincere. “I think….I’d rather call you that, than my clone.”

Tyrone’s eyes widened as he asked hopefully. “Your….brother?”

“My brother.” He nodded. “We’re brothers.”

“Brothers…” The clone mused, his eyes shining with happiness. “I liked that. I really liked that.”

Tyrone leaned forward to wrap one arm around Dipper and one around Mabel. The three newly minted siblings collapsed into a group hug on the floor, laughing and muttering loving comforts to each other.

“I’m really happy to finally meet you.” Mabel said.

Tyrone agreed. “And I’m happy to meet you properly.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Two days ago doesn’t really count, Misty.” Her voice pitched up, teasingly.

The ghost boy groaned in somewhat mock annoyance. “No, Mabel! You can’t call me that.”

The girl grinned. “That’s not what you said, then.”

Tyrone rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s not like I could actually tell you guys my real name.”

“Dude, let it go. You know she’s never gonna give that one up.” Dipper added, with a hint of humor.

“Dipper! You’re supposed to be on my side.” The other boy argued.

The living boy held up his hands. “Not this time, Misty.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Tyrone groaned, putting his head in his hands. “You two are the worst.”

The three bantered back and forth. And again, Elle watched the scene with a smile. It was a beautiful reunion. And….her heart clenched as she remembered being in a similar situation. The first time she met Jazz and the girl called her, her sister. That was the first time she’d called Danny her brother and the older halfa confessed that he’d been thinking of her as his sister for a long time.

And Elle couldn’t help but think what she’d said earlier had had an effect as the trio’s conversation continued without her.

“I guess I should have told you last night but...I know you’re not me, Tyrone.” Dipper said sincerely. “You’re your own person and I…” His lips turned up in a smile. “I look forward to learning who exactly that is.”

“Me too.” Tyrone agreed, eyes shining with gratitude. “And...thank you Dipper. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Well….you know I’m happy to get to know you too.” Mabel shrugged. “And I meant what I said; I want us to be siblings.” She grinned. “We can be triplets now.”

“Triplets..” The ghost hummed in thought. He squeezed the girl in a side hug. “Yeah….Thanks Mabel.” The girl nodded. Then Tyrone met Elle’s eyes. “And thank you Elle.”

Dipper and Mabel also looked up at her.

“Yeah. Thank you.” Dipper said. “We wouldn’t have figured any of this out, without you.”

“That’s not true.” The half ghost waved off his praise.

“Yes it is.” The human boy insisted. “You brought us together.”

“And….you helped me see I’m not alone.” Tyrone blushed. “It’s nice to know there’s someone like me out there.”

Elle’s eyes softened, understanding his meaning. Slowly she lowered herself to the floor. “Yeah. I...I’m happy to not be alone. You guys accept me and….I’m glad to have you guys as friends.”

“Friends.” Tyrone agreed.

The ghost held an arm out to Elle and the girl let herself join the group hug with the siblings. In her chest, her core hummed with happiness. She’s helped Tyrone reunite with his new found siblings and find his way on to the material plan. And though the ectoplasm supplement was a temporary solution (and there was the question of what would happen after the summer was over), with her parent’s expertise, Grunkle Ford’s ingenuity, and Dipper and Mabel’s determination, they’d find a way.

As for herself, Elle finally had friends. Tyrone, who was a clone like her and intimately understood some of the hardships of being a clone- they’d have to talk more later now that he could. Dipper whom she’d shared secrets with and who had shared ones in return. And Mabel, whose positive, fun-loving, and accepting attitude encouraged her. Elle sighed; she really was lucky, not to be friends with normal kids, but with these three accepted her as she was- her crazy family, ghost powers, clone weirdness and all.

#Danny Phantom #gravity falls #CrossOver #dani phantom #elle phantom #Elle Fenton #dipper pines #mabel pines #tyrone pines #clone angst #holiday truce #holiday truce 2020 #dp holiday truce #My fic

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imnotoverlyobsessive · 4 years ago

Text

Looks Like Someone Picked a Whole Bushel of Oopsie Daisies

Chapter Nine: The Choices We Make

Thanks to @edward-or-ford and @pacific-ship for their invaluable feedback and support!

I don’t wanna spend another moment without you again. Just tell me, tell me how to keep this so it never ends. - Nothing More, If I Were

She didn’t notice when the door opened. It wasn’t her fault, honestly. Dipper was giving her this… this look, and then he was kissing her, which was at kinda a weird angle with her laying on his chest the way she was, but she was into it anyway.

Then, there was a scream. Not a “stop tickling me, dammit!” scream, or an “eeeek I just saw a spider kill it kill it kiiiiillll iiiiiiiiit” scream.

No, it was the type of scream you scream when somebody you love gets murdered right in front of you. The kind of eardrum-damaging, gut-wrenching, stomach-dropping, heart-attack-giving, oh-god-what-did-I-just-see type of scream where you just witnessed something so simultaneously devastating and horrifying that you can’t do anything but scream.

So, obviously, Mabel and Dipper were what could only be described as ‘hella startled’, and turned their heads towards the door, their lips still very much in kiss-mode.

Their mother was still screaming. Her purse had fallen to the floor, and she had one hand fisted in her hair, clutching it so tightly that Mabel wondered for a second if perhaps she’d pull out a part of her scalp.

Their father rushed forward, as if somebody had pressed play on him, or maybe even fast forward. Dipper squeezed Mabel’s hand tightly, as if to reassure her (Mabel wasn’t sure anything could’ve reassured her just then, though) and got off the bed. Mabel didn’t want to let go of his hand; she feared that if she did, she’d never get to touch him again.

There had to have been a reason their parents kept them apart. Mabel had always been under the impression she had an open, honest, loving relationship with her parents.

Evidently not.

They’d lied to her about a vital part of herself for longer than she could remember.

And she’d fallen for it. How had she fallen for it? For so long, she’d believed them, whatever they told her.

Had any of it been true? Anything at all? What else had they lied about?

Mabel had forgotten about their parents’ deception for awhile, too preoccupied with being in Dipper’s arms.

And also possibly with Dipper’s dick.

Okay, so she was definitely too preoccupied with Dipper’s dick to think about anything else.

Well. They’d seen that the truth was out. Maybe they’d accept it. What else could they do?

Except no, because their dad was trying to pull Dipper away from her, and their mom was sobbing hysterically and picking up Mabel’s clothes.

“Here, honey, just put these on, okay-“ Mrs. Pines said shakily, holding Mabel’s clothes out to her on the left side of the bed.

Mabel scooted closer to where Dipper stood to the right of the bed. “No, go away! You’re interrupting, could you, like, leave?” Mrs. Pines flinched as if Mabel had slapped her. “How did you even find us, honestly, like-“

“Your brother left a bunch of pillows in his bed to make it look like he was still asleep, and you weren’t at Candy’s, and when your father looked in his wallet he found Dipper had taken his hotel keycard, but he certainly didn’t take mine, so where else would you have been?” She was murmuring frantically, like her mind was racing a mile a minute.

Mabel scoffed. “You lied to me and Dipper for years, for our entire goddamn lives-“

“Language!” Mr. Pines snapped. It was the first thing he’d said, and it made something in Dipper snap, apparently.

“L- language?” he sputtered furiously. “You’ve been keeping me from my soulmate since we were babies and now that you see we’re together anyway, you’re worried about us using profanity?” Mr. Pines’ eyes narrowed at Dipper, and maybe that would’ve worked to shut him up if he weren’t so royally pissed off. “No. Fuck that,” Dipper said fiercely.

Mrs. Pines was opening and closing her mouth, and very much resembled a fish. “Come on, Mabel, let’s get you home-“ she was saying frantically. Mabel reared on her mother, and was about to tell her exactly where she could shove it, when Dipper spoke again.

“She’s not going anywhere,” he snapped over his shoulder. “She’s staying with me. We’re going to be together. I’m not going to let you take her away from me again because of your- your- your dumbass ideas of what you think we should be or what you wanted us to be, or whatever.”

Mrs. Pines was attempting to push Mabel’s clothes into her arms again, and Mr. Pines was meeting Dipper’s furious glare with one of his own.

“We’re taking her with us back to California,” Mr. Pines said, in a dangerously calm voice. “If you fight back, I’ll have you arrested for assault.” It was hard to tell if it was a bluff or not. Was it a bluff? It didn’t seem like one, but evidently they were infinitely better at lying than originally thought, so it was hard to say.

Suddenly, a horrifying fear gripped Mabel. She knew it was probably irrational, but in that moment, she felt sure she’d never see Dipper again if she walked out of that hotel room. A life without Dipper? But… how- no, that couldn’t happen. She couldn’t just never touch him again, never kiss him again. But even so, she felt sure that if she left, that’s exactly what would happen, and she’d be forced to live a Dipper-less existence for all time.

“No!” she gasped out, feeling the tears starting to fall, and scrambled up onto her knees on the mattress and throwing her arms around Dipper’s neck from behind. He reached up with one hand and stroked her arm affectionately.

“No,” she said again, her voice quieter. “Don’t let them take me away from you, Dipper,” her face was pressed between his bare shoulder blades, and god, but he smelled so good, even then. “Please, I- I love you so much, I never want to be without you again. Please,” she was sobbing now, her hands dropping to hold shakily onto his shoulders.

“Can’t we… can’t we live together? You don’t have to even see us together, or at all, if you don’t want, just…” he trailed off for a moment, putting his hand over where Mabel’s lay, still shaking on his shoulder.

“You can’t get an apartment unless we sign off on it,” their father pointed out, the sound of his voice mixing with the sounds of Mabel’s sobs. “And we won’t.”

“Why not?” Mabel asked tearfully. Both parents pursed their lips and didn’t respond. “Don’t you love us? Don’t you want us to be happy?”

“Of course we love you, sweetie, of co-“ their mother was cut off abruptly by Dipper.

“If you love us, then none of this makes any sense,” he said. “If you loved us, you wouldn’t have kept us apart our whole lives.”

Mrs. Pine twitched for a second before she spoke. “You’re just sick, Dipper, that’s all, we can get you help for that, really, it’ll be okay-“

“We’re not sick, mom,” Dipper told her angrily. “We’re in love, and there’s nothing wrong with us being in love. She,” he pointed to Mabel, “is my soulmate, and I want to be with her.”

“Regardless,” Mr. Pines cut in, ”you will not be receiving any help from us on that front.”

“Well,” Dipper said in that voice he does when he’s racing through a million options a second. “We could live with Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford, then, they’ll take us in, they practically raised me while you were forcing Mabel and I apart needlessly-“

“And why, exactly,” Mr. Pines cut in, “do you think they took you in to begin with, son?” He leaned closer, just barely. “To keep you away from your sister. They won’t help you.”

While agonized over that apparent betrayal, Dipper moved past it quickly, his voice hardly shaking. “Well… mom has family on the East Coast, doesn’t she? I’m sure some of them will-“

“They won’t,” Mrs. Pines cut in flatly. “Sibling soulmates are about the worst thing two people can be to my family.” When the twins turned to face her, astonished (she never talked about her family), she spoke again. “My mother hates soulmates. Especially soulmates she sees as morally wrong. When my uncle found his soulmate and introduced my mother to his new boyfriend, she…” shaking her head as if to force out some awful memory, Mrs. Pines went on. “They won’t help you. Don’t contact them. You’ll only put yourselves in danger.”

“D- danger, what-“ Mabel was astonished, too much so to form coherent thoughts. Was that why she’d never met her grandmother?

“So… your brother, then!” Dipper’s voice was hopeful, desperate. There had to be a way. There just had to be. “He’s used to so-called unusual soulmates, right? He’ll take us in-“

“No,” their mother said fiercely. “You are not to contact any members of my family. None of them. Do you understand me?”

Her tone was unlike anything either twin had ever heard from her before. They were so startled by this that they didn’t even consider arguing.

There was no one. They had no one in their family who would accept them and love them for who they were.

They were alone.

Mabel looked up at Dipper then, and said shakily, “can’t we like… run away together or something? I’d rather live under a bridge with you than in a house without you.”

Dipper sat down next to Mabel on the bed, and she could see in his eyes that he was sorry, which meant she wouldn’t like his answer. He never would’ve considered that, though, would he? He couldn't go that far, couldn’t expose her to that kind of risk. He was done fighting their parents. Crushed, she leaned into him without really thinking about it, sniffling against his neck.

“It’s only for a few months,” he whispered into her hair with a light kiss. She was clutching at him, and she couldn’t seem to stop crying. Her chest was hurting from it, but she still couldn’t stop.

“I- I don’t want that,” she whimpered.

“Me neither,” he agreed. “But we need to go along with what they say so we can be together later, okay? As soon as we turn eighteen, we’ll be together. We’ll be together before senior year, even.”

“But I wanna be with you nooooooow,” she whined, and he chuckled miserably.

“I know, Mabes, I know,” he pulled away from her slightly, wiping away her tears with a soft smile. “But we will be soon, okay? We’ll be together in just a few months, and then we have the rest of our lives to make up for it.”

“You promise?”

“Promise.” And for a moment, it was like their parents weren’t in the room at all, because when he kissed her, everything else fell away, and it was just the two of them. And they very much did forget, too, because when she tilted her head and leaned into his body, he moaned softly against her lips. When she opened her mouth slightly to deepen their kiss, their tongues brushing, he slid his hands along her thighs where the hem of his flannel shirt was brushing her skin. Trailing his hand up underneath the fabric to caress her ribcage briefly before reaching around her back and pulling her down onto the bed with her on top of him.

Their mother was sputtering something, horrified beyond belief, but they didn’t hear her. Their father was too shell shocked to move at all.

They didn’t notice that, either, though, because Mabel had slotted her hips against Dipper’s, and he was kissing her neck, eliciting an appreciative moan from her lips. Pulling his hand back, he smacked her sharply on the ass and squeezed it roughly, and she moaned again, moving her pelvis against his. She reached down to his hips to slide his boxers off him, and he could move her panties to the side, or, better yet, rip them off with his teeth, oooo yes that sounded nice, she’d let him rip up as many pairs of her panties as he wanted-

“Th- tha- that’s enough!” their father shouted angrily, his face red enough that Mabel would’ve laughed under different circumstances.

Under those specific circumstances, however, she blushed to her hairline, pulling herself away from Dipper, because, like, she had almost just sat on Dipper’s dick right there in front of her parents holy shiiiiiiiit oh god why she was never gonna live that down, good god.

“Time- time to go,” Mrs. Pines said shakily, ushering Mabel into the bathroom to change clothes. She put her bra and jeans back on, but not her shirt. She put Dipper’s on instead. It smelled like him. She wanted to smell like him. She wanted to get a big thing of Dipper-smell, put it in an oxygen machine, and breathe nothing but that for the rest of her life.

Particularly for the next eight months.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, Dipper was wearing his own jeans again, which, of course, was an international tragedy, but at least he didn’t have a shirt, so there was that. He smiled when he saw her, and it widened when he saw she was still wearing his shirt.

“Can I keep it?” she asked, walking up to him. He smiled again and cupped her cheek. Her eyes were red from crying, she knew, and even though she was dreading what would come next, his skin on hers felt like the best thing in the world, and she never wanted the moment to end.

“Anything you want,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her softly, gently, reverently. Mabel didn’t know if it would be their last kiss or not, but it felt like it would. Despite that, though, his words brought her back to the things he’d moaned against her skin what felt like ages ago, but it really hadn’t been long at all, had it?

“Let’s go,” Mr. Pines said from the car, his voice gruff. Their mother pulled her away from Dipper by her arm, handed Mabel her coat, and she shrugged it on.

Dipper was putting on his, too, over bare skin.

“See you soon, Mabes,” he said quietly, doing his very best to give her an encouraging smile as she stepped through the hotel room door.

“Yeah,” she responded over her shoulder, trying not to cry, their mother dragging her towards the car. When the door shut, and Mabel buckled herself in, it finally started to feel real.

She was leaving him. Leaving Dipper. Still, though, her eyes were strangely dry when Mr. Pines started the car. They were dry, too, when they pulled out of the parking lot.

It wasn’t until Mabel looked back at Dipper through the rear window of the car that the tears began to fall. He waved at her, smiling again, much more shakily this time.

The car door was locked (her stupid parents had turned on the child locks; they knew her too well, it seemed), but she could still roll down the window, so she did. She stuck her head out, her seatbelt locking and digging into her neck.

“I love you!” she shouted into the chill morning air.

“Mabel!” her mother exclaimed, but Mabel ignored her.

“I love you, too!” Dipper yelled out after her.

She pulled her head back in and turned around in her seat to look at him. She wanted to look at him as long as possible.

Well. At least there was that, then, right? She was crying harder, but hey. At least she got to hear him say it one more time.

Her father had rolled the window back up from the driver’s seat, but that was okay. Mabel had told Dipper what she’d needed to tell him, after all.

“Don’t do that again,” Mr. Pines told her firmly. Mabel didn’t say anything to him, either. She just watched Dipper turn from a person to a figure, then a dot, and then, he was gone.

She watched the road for a moment, wondering what he was thinking just then, the tears flowing freely still.

Turning back around, she locked eyes with her mother in the rearview mirror.

She couldn’t see her own eyes, but if she could, she might’ve been a bit startled; teary, red, splotchy, and, in her opinion, tremendously unattractive, but furious. Furious in a way Mabel couldn’t remember ever being before.

It didn’t matter what her parents’ reasons were. They were separating her from her soulmate. From Dipper. They’d have to learn to live without their daughter, then. Mabel wanted nothing to do with her parents. She’d never forgive them. She closed her eyes, and a few more tears fell.

She’d be with him again soon.

She had to be.

#gravity falls #gravity falls fanfiction #gf fanfiction #pinecest #mabel pines #dipper pines #fanfiction #fanfic #looks like someone picked a whole bushel of oopsie daisies #my writing #angst #oh god the angst #I can’t handle it #my heart

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frost-flame · 5 years ago

Text

Stan’s Ford plushie

A fic based on my post. This is also a practice to write more Stancest in the future. (It’s more of plot though)

His brother is such an ungrateful bastard! Why did he expect a "Thank you" from his brother? Right, he was hopeful. He should've learn to stop being so hopeful. Life in the streets taught him that. He'd gone soft.

He sighed sadly as he removed his fez and sat on his bed. He put the fez and his glasses on the nightstand and lied down the bed, staring at the ceiling with nothing in his mind. But sleep still hadn't come to him. He had gotten used to working on the portal every night. For 30 years that's what he did. Now... He feels incomplete without that on his routine.

All he wanted was a "Thank you" (and maybe even a hug) from his brother. Their reunion was completely different than what he thought it would be and yet... That was actually one of the possibilities he thought of. Ford punching him on the face. He remained positive and hoped that maybe one good thing would come to his life. He should've known no good things happen to him, except the kids. Them coming here is the best thing that happened to him.

Stan chuckled. He may not get the love he wanted from his brother. But he has the kids now. They love him. They made it obvious to him every day. With that thought, he fell asleep.

~~~~~

Next morning Mabel can't help but feel a bit down after remembering what happened yesterday. Her grunkle Stan seemed so sad. Then again, if she was in Stan's case, she would be too. Getting punched at the face by your twin brother whom you haven't seen for 30 years isn't really a reunion anyone would be expecting.

Mabel had made a decision. She wants to make her grunkle happy, but how? She could make something for him. But would that be enough? No. What would cheer up Stan? Money? Stan already gets that through the mystery shack. A date? Stan didn't seem to show any interest to anyone else in the Falls. Getting a tourist to go on a date may be a solution, but the shack is close. A plush? Now what would Stan need a plush for?

Wait a moment...

Remembering the wax figure that she made before (that unfortunately melted), Stan treated it like a person... Like his brother.

"Like Great Uncle Ford!" Mabel said out loud. "What about Great Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked with interest and a sparkle in his eyes. "Nothing, Dipper. I just want to cheer Grunkle Stan up. He seemed so sad yesterday" said Mabel as she sat cross-legged on her bed and hugged Waddles and played with his little pig arms.

"I know. I never saw how fake his smile was until that moment when he smiled at us before we went to bed" Dipper replied as he put his book on the nightstand. As much as Dipper wanted to ask the author a billion questions about Gravity Falls, the man had just got back last night and is probably adjusting. He needs to give the man a bit of space before asking him what he needed to know.

"What do you mean like Great Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked. "What?" Mabel replied confused. "You said "Like Great Uncle Ford" suddenly. What do you mean by that?" Dipper asked again.

"Oh right! Remember the wax figure that I made of Stan? He treated it like a person. And then we discovered Grunkle Stan has a twin and the wax figure look like him! It all come together Dipper. He treated the wax figure like his brother!" Mabel exclaimed.

"I never thought of that. No wonder why he was so sad when the wax figure "died" said Dipper thoughtfully. "But what's the point in all of this, Mabel?" Dipper asked in interest.

"Well, I want to cheer Grunkle Stan up! You saw how he looked last night. I want to make him happy" said Mabel with a happy smile. "How are we going to do that? Bring him out fishing?" Dipper asked with teasing tone to his voice. "Nope! I'll make a replacement Ford" Mabel exclaimed.

"A what?" Dipper asked, shocked at Mabel's statement. "You know, a substitute. A replacement for the wax figure I made so he could get the love he wants from his brother" replied Mabel with a big grin.

"And what exactly would this "substitute" be? Another wax figure?" Dipper asked.

Mabel hummed in thought and then snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head.

"A plush! Everyone loves plushies! I think" said Mabel but mumbled the last part. "What about a plush of Great Uncle Ford?" Mabel asked with a big grin.

"That can be a good idea" said Dipper thoughtfully, putting a hand on his chin. "But you need to ask for Great Uncle Ford's permission first" he added. Mabel's smile slowly turned into a frown as that idea came into mind.

"You're right. How am I suppose to ask Great Uncle Ford that?" Mabel asked. "I don't know. That idea was great and all but if The Author didn't approve of a plush toy of him, it will be pointless" Dipper stated rather than reply.

"It's not a question of yes or no. It's a question of when I can ask him" said Mabel confidently. "What made you certain Great Uncle Ford will say yes?" Dipper asked with a raised brow. "That's on me, Dipper" said Mabel.

She jumped from her bed and ran downstairs excitedly. "Wait! Mabel!" Dipper left his bed and grabbed the 2nd Journal to continue reading for later and ran after his twin.

Reaching down the stairs, Dipper hurried to the gift shop and saw his sister standing in front of the vending machine with a little reluctance etched on her face. She gave Dipper a grin and was about to reach to type in the code. But then the vending machine opened and out came their great uncle Ford. He seemed surprise to see them as well.

“Kids! What are you doing up so late?” Ford asked surprise. “It’s already morning, great uncle Ford” Mabel replied with a smile while Dipper nodded in awe at seeing their great uncle or the author again.

“It’s morning? I didn’t notice. Is there any breakfast?” Ford asked looking around. Only then did he notice that indeed it is morning, the light outside the shack making it obvious.

“Yes! There are pancakes in the kitchen for you” Dipper replied. Mabel noticed Dipper sweating a little bit. Mabel snickered at that.

So far so good.

They followed Ford onto the kitchen and watched him grabbed a fork, seeming to inspect it for a second and sat at the table. The pancakes were neatly stacked along with maple syrup and butter on top. A note was written Ford on top of it all.

“Do you kids want some?” Ford asked nudging the plate of stacked pancakes towards them. Both twins shook their heads no. Now’s the moment, Mabel thought.

“Great Uncle Ford, do you mind if we make a plush toy version of you?” Mabel asked quickly but shyly. Despite being a relative, the man is still a bit foreign to them (or to her). But she does want to make something for the man. How about finger puppets? He could be the master of finger puppets with his six fingers. She'll do that later.

Ford seemed to enjoy the food he was eating as he looked slightly blissful and happy as he ate the pancake. “Hmm? Oh yes, of course” said the author with a dismissive wave of hand. Mabel cheered and ran off, Dipper following suit.

“By the way, Grunkle Stan made those pancakes! it’s good right, Great Uncle Ford? So much better than the Diner's!” Mabel added happily. Both twins didn’t notice the surprise look of the author and the phantom smile that came after it.

Mabel and Dipper walked around town wondering where they can find a tailor to sew a plush toy of Ford and wondering how much it would cost. if it’s too expensive, Mabel would have no choice but to make it herself, whether or not it would look like Great Uncle Ford or not.

"Now where can we find a tailor that sews custom plushies?" Mabel asked to herself. "We should ask someone we know for a trustable source" Dipper commented. Mabel nodded her head in agreement. That would be preferable. If the price for customized plush would be too expensive, Mabel would have to buy all the materials needed and she has to learn how to make one too. But as much as possible she preferred to have it be created by a professional.

"Heya, dudes!" A familiar voice greeted. "Soos!" The twins greeted back in unison. Because of the events last night, the shack is once again in repair, being managed by Stan while his only two staff had the day-off. It seemed the town is also in the same condition.

"Soos, thank goodness you're here" said Mabel in relief. "Soos, you're just the guy we need" Dipper added. "Really? What for?" Soos asked curiously.

"We're looking for a tailor. Someone who is willing to make a customized plush toy of someone" Dipper replied. "We want to make a plush toy version of Great Uncle Ford for Grunkle Stan" Mabel explained. "To make him happy."

"For Mr. Pines, anything. Follow me, dudes. I know a tailor that might do your request" Soos said waving his hand to follow him. Mabel cheered then the twins followed Soos to the location of the tailor.

It took a lot of bargaining but since the tailor knew Soos, they were finally able to make the tailor agree with the price. It's a reasonable price but still a bit high. Soos decided to pitch in too. Mabel disagreed but Soos insisted because "It's for Mr. Pines" he said. Fortunately, they'll only pay once the product has been made.

"I'm glad that's over" said Mabel as she happily skipped back to the shack. "Yeah but we're going to wait a week to get it." Dipper complained. "For Grunkle Stan? I'm willing to wait" Mabel said.

Dipper shook his head but with a smile at his sister's determination or stubbornness.

~~~~~

A week passed and what happened yesterday still amuses Mabel. The fact that she went on an "epic magical quest" to save her brother was fun. She'd also been making finger puppets for her great uncle but he doesn't want to do it. Oh well, maybe next time. It seemed she's forgetting something. What could it be? What could it be?

Mabel looked at her surroundings and saw Waddles only lying down on the carpet. Her grunkle Stan is nowhere to be found because he's managing the shack again. Great Uncle Ford is still down at the basement as usual. Maybe that's where Dipper is.

Wait...

Ford... The Ford plush! "Oh that's what I forgot!" Mabel muttered, mentally smacking herself. She ran to the attic, grabbed the money and ran to where the tailor is.

Reaching the tailor, Mabel went inside and the owner of the little shop greeted her not so warmly.

"Took you long enough, kid. I was expecting earlier than this" said the tailor. Grabbing a box and giving it to Mabel. "Go ahead and check it kiddo, I did my best to make it adorable but detailed like those "chibi" things you showed me." The tailor made a circling motion with her wrist while rolling her eyes.

Mabel opened the box and took the plush. The fabric was nice to feel. There are exactly six fingers on each hand. And the plush is so soft. The hair had stuffing too. It seemed the glasses are removable. The jacket isn't though. That's fine.

"This is beautiful" said Mabel in awe. Someday she will make plush toys just as great as this, but nicer towards customers.

"Well, honey, of course it is! I made it!" said the tailor proudly with a smug look.

Mabel took the money from her backpack and paid the tailor. She put the plush back in the box and took the receipt and ran back to the shack with a big smile.

When Mabel reached the shack, she ran to her room and found Dipper there. Whatever he and Ford had been doing, it's done now.

"It's finished, Dippingsauce!" Mabel exclaimed showing the box where the plush is. "Really? What's it look like? Is that woman really great like she said?" Dipper asked with obvious curiosity. He would totally hate it if his sister wasted her money for nothing.

"Yes!" Mabel replied opening the box and showing the plush. "Wow, she is good" said Dipper. "I guess now we know why the price is like that"

"Worth it!" Mabel exclaimed with a huge grin. "I'm going to give this to Grunkle Stan later"

~~~~

Stan doesn’t know what he was staring at. Well he knows but he can’t believe what he was seeing. Mabel was holding a Ford looking plush right in front of him. It was pretty big. Maybe it’s about 40 centimeters? It looks expensive. Mabel was grinning at him with pure happiness and excitement. Is this for him?

“Grunkle Stan, what do you think? I had this made for you!” said Mabel with a big grin. Stan doesn’t know what to say really. He had no idea why Mabel would do this… and seriously that thing looks expensive.

“I- I don’t know what to say” he replied. Mabel took it as a compliment, fortunately. “I had this made for you” Mabel exclaimed and pushed the plush towards him. “Mabel, sweetie, how much did you pay for this?” Stan asked. “Doesn’t matter, Grunkle Stan” Mabel replied dismissively.

“Mabel if you spent a lot of money for this-“

“If I spent a lot of money for it and you decided to throw it away, then that would be wasting money” Mabel cut off with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.. That’s logical. But the tone… is she embarrass that he got this for him? It would be a waste of money to throw it because he didn’t like it. But he didn’t ask for this. But Mabel bought it for him (which is also embarrassing) because she was thinking of him.

“Why exactly did you bought this?” Stan asked unconsciously hugging the plush tighter. “Grunkle Stan, you were sadder – or grunklier – than usual again and I thought it was because of your brother. So I thought of getting you that so at least you can give as many hug as you can from your brother… like how you treated the wax figure before” Mabel replied while twiddling her fingers and face red. She is really that embarrass? Well, it is understandable now. An old man isn’t usually seen with a plush toy that is usually for children.

“Now I really think I wasted my money” Mabel muttered, embarrassed. That look doesn’t suit Mabel, not at all.

“Well, I kind of like it” Stan replied. “Mabel’s face looked surprise. “Really?” Mabel asked with her face starting to brighten. “Yeah! This is a lot better than the wax one. I like it. Thank you, Mabel” said Stan with a grin and playfully messing up her hair.

“Ack! Grunkle Stan”!” Mabel said removing the hand from her hair. She giggled and then gave him a hug, which caught Stan off guard. She skipped happily away with the knowledge of cheering up her Grunkle Stan.

The next day, Stan seemed to get attached to the plush quickly. Dipper and Mabel were proud of themselves. Stan’s mood lighten and he doesn’t glance at the vending machine nor hang at the gift shop often anymore. But he also doesn’t talk to the plush like a person unlike the wax figure. This is better. It benefited everyone! Stan’s happy with the plush and their Great Uncle Ford doesn’t need to be disturbed. It’s a great idea!

~~~~

Mabel and Dipper didn’t expect this…

Their Great uncle Ford obviously did not like it. He had been glaring at the plush whgenever he sees it for 2 days now, which was weird because he seemed to be okay with the plush at first. That was only three days ago. Does that mean it only took a day for Great Uncle Ford to hate it? Is it because they did it without his permission? That can’t be right. They asked permission and he said “yes”. Albeit dismissively, he still said yes!

…Then why? Why would he hate it? What if it’s because it is possessed…? No it can’t be possess. If it is, with or without permission from Stan, Ford would have destroyed it and explained to them why he had to do it. Then why? It’s an innocent plush.

Unless… is Great uncle Ford jealous of the plush, specifically the attention it keeps receiving from Grunkle Stan?

If that is the conclusion, Dipper would be doubtful… at first. It’s proof now. Stan just gave the plush a quick peck on the cheek and Great Uncle Ford seemed ready to commit murder. A few hours later, Stan did it again and Great Uncle Ford almost stormed to the living room if it weren’t for the fact that Mabel and him held Ford back.

Great Uncle Ford is jealous of the plush… This is going to be chaotic…

#gravity falls #stanley pines #mabel pines #dipper pines #stanford pines #stancest #maybe #f.f. fic #ford plush #ford plushie #gravity falls fanfiction #jealous ford

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nautiscarader · 5 years ago

Text

Wendip Week day 4 - same age

(Ao3)

- This is going to be the most boring holidays ever.

Dipper Pines put down the bags he's been carrying on the wooden floor of their new room, wondering if the creaking he was hearing would be the herald of their doom. But even if, the effect was nullified at once when Mabel began jumping up and down on her new bed, doing somersaults in the air, laughing and cheering.

- Oh come on, dipdop. This place ain't so bad! Come on, let's see what things are in the gift shop. - Mabel, we *live* in a gift shop now. - Dipper grumbled - And I have a feeling our grunkle would be willing to sell us...

The twins walked down the stairs (Mabel two at the time), getting used to the bizarre décor of the Mystery Shack. The modern merchandise clashed with old pictures and clearly fake paraphernalia that wouldn't lure even the most gullible of tourists.

- Man, can you believe this, Mabel? Who would believe in such things? - Dipper asked into the void, leaning against the counter. - Oh, you;d be surprised.

Dipper let out an embarrassingly high-pitched meep as someone jumped from behind the counter. The girl had long, red hair, wore a green plaid shirt, was missing one front tooth, but it somehow didn't detract from her beaming smile. It took Dipper a moment to realise he has been in Mabel's arms the whole time when she caught him, and stepped to the floor.

- Hi there! - the girl asked - You are Mr Pines' grand-kids, right? Oh man, maybe finally the borefest will end. - she kept talking, while she sat on the counter and dangled her feet, which Dipper now noticed were hidden in bizarrely huge boots. - Hi! I'm Mabel! - Wendy. Wendy Corduroy. - the girl reached her hand and fist-bumped Mabel, much to her delight. - Dipper! She knows the SECRET HANDSHAKE. - Heh, it's not very secret, isn't it? - Wendy looked at the chestnut-haired boy - And it's... Dipper?

She raised her brow, ogling him from head to toes.

- It's... it's a nickname. Anyway, - Dipper quickly changed the subject - You were talking about the, uh, clients? - Oh yeah. Lots of people fall for those. - Wait, how do you know? - Dipper inquired - Are you... working here? - Yup.

Wendy jumped to the floor and walked to the twins. She was fraction of an inch taller than them, though her oversized ushanka might have contributed to that effect.

- You are talking with Mystery's Shack best saleswoman! Mostly because I'm the only woman. - she added. - Wait, how come grunkle Stan let you? - Mabel tilted her head in confusion/ - "Grunkle"? - Wendy chuckled - What's that short for, "grumpy uncle"? - "Great uncle" actually. - Ah, makes sense. So, anyway, I asked him if I can work here to earn some cash, and he said yeah, and he was happy cos he thought he'd have to pay me only a half. So then I told him I might call the feds, and you'd have to see his face when he heard that.

Mabel and Dipper exchanged bewildered looks after the girl sputtered the entire history seemingly in one breath. Wendy looked around and lowered her voice.

- Between you and me, I think your grunkle has some serious skeletons in his closet. Or maybe the basement.

She jumped in place, and as she landed, the three heard a faint echo, just like when Dipper put down their bags.

- There must be one, but I can't find an entrance. Anyway, do you guys want to take a tour around the neighbourhood? And by "neighbourhood", I mean forest. - Sure! - Mabel exclaimed - Dipper, isn't she the coolest? - Uh, y-yeah. - Dipper spoke cautiously and followed the two.

Wendy grabbed something from the counter, and as they left the building, it became obvious what did she take.

- Woah, woah, woah. - Dipper ran forward - You're not gonna tell me you will drive this. - he pointed to the golf-cart parked in front of the Mystery Shack. - Oh, you can drive, too? Cool. - Wendy spoke nonchalantly and tossed him the keys. - No, that's not what I meant-

Dipper tried to argue, but the girls were already in the car, looking at him with mischievous looks. He sighed and passed the keys back to Wendy, who, with her big boots, were just tall enough to reach the pedals. While Mabel was singing some silly song, Dipper was saying his last prayer, but he quickly realised he might have underestimated Wendy's abilities.

The three drove into the forest, down the old, beaten paths, and the two city kids were suddenly engulfed by the untamed, serene nature that surrounded them. The sounds of birds chirping, leaves rustling and the distant roar of waterfalls created ambience they only heard in documentary films. And with the sudden rush of clean air came the oxygen shock, and Dipper couldn't stop himself from speaking his mind.

- Wow, Wendy, this is...

He looked to his left and saw the same girl, whose long hair now flowed with the air, while her face and her green eyes were partially obscured by the flickering shadows of the nearby trees. Words got stuck in his throat, and only one came out.

- ...beautiful. - Yeah, it's nice around here. - she answered nonchalantly. - It gets weird when the trolls come from the mountains.

Dipper blinked.

- I'm sorry, what? - Yeah, they are a pain in the behind, but they're not that bad, unless you know how to handle them. And then there are the unicorns, those are jerks, but again, they stay in their glades. Man-bats can be weird, they get rebooted every season anyway, so as far as monster go, they are not that bad, and then there's-

Suddenly, Dipper gripped Wendy's shoulders and turned her towards him, the sheer horror on his face.

- THERE ARE MONSTERS HERE?! - Woah, Dipper, don't do that, or I'll ran into- - A TREE!

Mabel screamed and Wendy slammed the brake pedal, just as they were about to crash into a mighty tree. But only thanks to her reflexes, the car stopped, making only the tiniest contact with the tree that arose in front of them.

- Oh, geez, oh geez, Wendy, I'm so sorry, are you-are you okay? Mabel? What about you?

But neither of the girls reacted to Dipper's questions, staring at the obstacle they nearly ran into. And when Dipper followed their sight, he realised why. There was now a hole in the tree. Not a round one, not one caused by any of the parts of the golf-cart, but a rectangular, precisely cut one, and the door it was hidden behind hang onto the only remain hinge.

- Woah, guys, we found a treasure!

Wendy eagerly jumped out of the cart and crawled onto the mask, her hand already diving into the hidden compartment.

- We-Wendy, be careful there might be some rabid animal there-

Dipper alerted Wendy, who, from the looks on her face, already found something inside.

- Guys, there's some mechanism here!

The red-head eagerly pushed the button inside, and Dipper once more let out a faint meep when he felt that ground underneath him began moving, uncovering another obscured hole, this time underneath thick, metal sliding door. Mabel and Wendy rushed to the spot, but this time, they let out disappointing sighs.

- Eh? A book? Come on, I expected a treasure chest!

But this time Dipper reached for the old, brown-red book as quickly as Wendy jumped up the tree before. The corners were encased in golden metal that once probably shone brightly, but years have made that shine obscured underneath the thick layer of dust. The center of the book's cover was an outline of six-fingered hand as well as number "3", and there was a magnifying glass attached to it on a string.

With trembling hands, Dipper opened it, worrying the book might crumble to dust, but to his surprise and amazement, the book was in almost immaculate state, sans the yellowish tint the once-white pages have acquired.

As he shuffled through the pages, Wendy and Mabel leaned over his shoulders, and with each new hand-made drawings, their curiosity deepened, though only one of the three knew what Dipper might be holding in his hands.

- Holy smokes, guys! - Wendy exclaimed - I think this is some sort of guide to all the monsters and weirdness that happens around here. - she nudged Dipper in his arm - Dude, if you didn't distract me, we would have never found this. - Y-Yeah. - Dipper replied with a equally ecstatic smile - And-and it looks like some pages are written in a code, look!

He opened the book and pointed to a series of mysterious signs that looked random, but upon further inspection were clearly written with some thought in mind.

- Guys, this might be something really big! - Dipper cheered - I thought we might get bored to death here, but-

Suddenly, Dipper remembered why he nearly made Wendy crash their cart.

- Wait, Wendy, did you mention "monsters"? - Oh yeah, the woods are chock full of them. - Wendy shrugged - Like manotaurs, giant ducks, and... - CORDUROY!

The three turned their head around as a new voice reached them. Dipper nearly dropped the mysterious book when a creature from the very same drawing he was looking at materialised itself in front of them, together with dozens of its spike-hatted brethren.

- ...gnomes. - Wendy spoke in disgust and spat - What do you want, you jerks? - We told you not to come here - one of the gnomes spoke - Not after your father tore down our forest. - Ugh. - Wendy rolled her eyes - He is a lumberjack, what else was he supposed to do? - We-Wendy, maybe we should-

Dipper's concern became real when the small, inoffensive-looking gnomes suddenly gathered around, and from the mass of colourful hats, a new, humongous gnome arose, comprised of the whole pack that just a moment ago looked comical.

- Er, okay, guys, it's time to scram.

Wendy didn't have to say it twice to the twins. The three jumped into the cart and Wendy slammed her foot onto the gas, driving them back towards the Shack. Mabel and Dipper watched as the monstrous mega-gnome was left behind, and for a moment, they thought they might have escaped its wrath. But a moment later, a deafening roar shook the forest and the colossal gnome appeared from behind the trees, running after them much faster than they anticipated.

- We-Wendy! It's-it's getting closer! - Check the book! - What? - Check the book, maybe there's something in it!

Dipper and Mabel quickly opened the mysterious journal back onto the page that described the gnomes. Dipper frantically looked through the hand-written descriptions, hearing the ominous, thundering footsteps behind him.

- Er... Er... We-wendy, there's nothing about their weaknesses! - Well, we'll have to improvise. - Wendy spoke - Hold on, guys! - Ah, my hat!

Dipper reached to grab his brown hat that flew with the wind and as it collided with the mouth of the gnome it was torn into pieces.

She made a sharp turn, and the next moment the twins found that for the second time this day their cart was on a collision course, this time with something much bigger.

- We-Wendy! The water tower! - Mabel screamed, but the red-hair was already steeping out of the cart as it slowed down.

Something metallic shone onto her belt, and with a quick "Be right back", Wendy disappeared.

- Oh, great, she left us! - Dipper panicked, but Mabel pointed up. Dipper followed her, perhaps just to avert his eyes from the oncoming death.

With an axe in her hand, Wendy was climbing up the water tower, as as the gigantic gnome was about to squish Dipper and Mabel, she struck the old cistern, and jumped to the nearby tree, as the pressure did the rest. A stream of water hit the gnome in the face, and it began disintegrating, as if it was made from sugar, revealing each and every single little gnome that were part of it.

Like cats treated with a sprinkler, the might enemy dispersed, cursing Corduroy's name as they came back into the woods. With the same grace, Wendy jumped to the ground, welcomed by Dipper's and Mabel's overjoyed cheering.

- Wendy, that was the coolest... - ...most irresponsible, but definitely coolest... - ...think we've ever seen! - Wow, Your mom must be so proud of you! - Mabel exclaimed. - Yeah... I suppose she would be. - Wendy looked away for a moment - You gotta learn how to deal with these guys. Maybe I can help you complete this book, eh?

For a moment, Dipper didn't realise Wendy was addressing him. Though the water around them made the air chilly, he felt hot when his eyes locked with hers, and only Mabel's hand breaking that contact brought him down to earth.

- Oh, oh yeah! Sure!

Wendy raised her brow, and only after a while she realised that was missing from Dipper's usual look.

- Dipper, your hat's gone. - Oh, oh yeah, but it's not a big deal, Grunkle Stan has tons of caps in the Shack, I'm sure he will-

But before he could end the sentence, Wendy plucked her oversized hat onto his head. And as she ruffled his hair, she suddenly noticed something peculiar on his forehead.

- Woah, what's that? A birthmark? - Y-Yeah - Dipper blushed - It kinds looks like... - A big dipper! - Wendy exclaimed - Wow, that's so cool! Now I get why people call you that.

Once more, Dipper found himself speechless, looking at the stunning, brave girl, whose red hair were now illuminated by rainbows from the last streams of water leaking from the water tower. And before he knew it, they were back at the Shack, saying goodbye, as the sun was setting down, and their new friend had to go home.

- Oh, by the way... - Wendy's cheeks turned crimson - You are not the only one with a weird name. My middle one's Blerble.

She stuck her tongue out and waved the twins goodbye, before she ran into the forest, following a path only she knew.

Dipper let out a sigh and was about to walk into the shack, when he collided with his sister, and was met face-to-face with the widest of snarky grins he has ever seen.

- What? - Someone's in lo-ove! - Mabel sang - Come on, Mabel. - Dipper rolled his eyes. - It's not like that. - Oh yeah, mister "It's not like that" - she mocked him - You couldn't take your eyes from her! We drove past like a dozen of weird things and you didn;t even flinch, you were ogling her soooo much!

Dipper walked faster, trying to escape Mabel's taunts.

- Mabel, Wendy is just our friend, we just met her! And yeah, she is cool, and can climb trees, and knows all about the wildlife, and she saved our lives, and she wants to help work on the... the book with me...

Dipper Pines stopped in the middle of the Mystery Shack, and uttered a single "Oh no", just as Mabel erupted into laughter.

#Wendip #Wendip week #wendip week 2020 #same age #nautiscaraderfics

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