ghostharasser | Open Post

[It's a pretty average day for Stan, after a less than average night. He makes up the difference with coffee that has a small glimmer to it, and seems to slowly stir on its own.

It isn't quite time to open the shop up yet, not that he expects it to be terribly busy this time of year. He looks as human and normal as they come - human hands, human eyes, human girdle under his human suit.

Suddenly though, his big ears twitch. Something's outside, messing with the window latch. He huffs, and projects his thought to whatever little critter is out there.]

Ralph! What the fuck did I tell you?! Raccoons stay outside and outta the garbage!

[And just in case it isn't the local raccoon (or the local raccoon decides to ignore him) Stan grabs for the nearest long, blunt object - a broom.]

[So as Dipper has gotten inside, that psychic barrage hits him like a truck and he falls right into the shop with a startled shriek. What the heck was that!? Was that someone speaking into his thoughts?! No one's supposed to be able to do that other than Mabel!? Oh god-

What Stan gets actually, is an incredibly bedraggled, mud-covered, soggy twelve year old that looks ready to bite him if he gets backed into a corner. He scrambles to his feet and presses his back against the wall. He's scared but he looks ready to fight if Stan brandishes the broom.]

[There's a shine-like quality to his eyes, not unlike a cats. Something peeking through the glamor.]

D-Don't kill me! I wasn't gonna take anything, I swear! It was raining-

[Stan rounds the corner into the gift shop proper, broom in hand expecting to have to fight something, because whatever he connected with wasn't Ralph and is now inside.

...but, he lowers it when he sees what got in. There's a shine in his own eyes that the glamour doesn't fully take away, and he looks stunned.

Family. ...This is family.

Stan looks around, instantly knowing there should be two here, but this kid is alone. He puts up a hand, placating him like a small critter.]

Easy, easy! I'm not gonna kill you! Kinda overboard for a little breaking and entering anyway.

[And just to prove it,even though it isn't a lethal weapon anyway, he drops the broom at his feet.]

[It strikes Dipper just about as fast. He remembers this feeling because it's what told him that Mabel was his sister. It's not the exact same, it feels a little further away, but it still there unmistakable.]

[He doesn't move away from the wall, but he watches Stan drop the broom and takes a deep breath.]

I- ...who are you?

[A little wild to make demands after breaking in but, they may as well start there.]

[Family, family, family, family. It hums under all of his other thoughts in a way he hasnt felt since...

...well. In a long time.]

Stan Pines. And this is the Mystery Shack.

[Speaking of, he crosses the room to pull a small cuetain over the window on the door.]

Shut that window and c'mere. Let's get you a towel or something. You're soaked!

[He moves to head back into the main part of the house and motions for the kid to follow him. He adds a thought that he knows will be heard, but the kid probably needs it now.]

I'm not going to hurt you. I swear.

[As dubious of all this he wants to be, there is something inherently comforting about those words. They're being spoken to him telepathically, which is something he thought only he and Mabel could do, but ...if he's getting the same vibe off him as he did Mabel then that would mean this guy might be...?]

[It's hard to trust good things, especially when he's lived in the system, but he's just cold and hungry enough to be willing to give it a shot.]

[Gingerly he will shut and latch the window and follow him into the main part of the house. Now that he's not panicking he takes the chance to look at his surroundings. Is this some kind of tourist trap? Oddity museum...?]

Yeah. I um. I guess I was out in the rain all night.

[Not alarming or anything.]

[Stan scoffs at that admission.]

Sounds like a great way to catch a cold. Anyway, you hungry?

[He brings the kid into the kitchen and ducks out only long enough to grab a towel. When he returns, he plops it right on Dipper's head and ruffles it in an affectionate noogie - though even without knowing him, Stan is careful to avoid the horns hiddin in his hair. He remembers his own being sort of sensitive at this age.]

So, was anyone else with you? Or were out in the rain all night alone? Exactly how bad of an idea are we talking about here?

[Really he's trying to guess where the second kid would be, but if any other stupid things happened that would probably be helpful information to have.]

[He does tense up a little at having the towel dropped on him. They were sensitive, but also, he's used to being hyper-vigilant about his appearance. He can't help but get nervous just in case the glamor slips, even if he's starting to suspect this guy is a lot more like him than he looks.]

Yeah... I could eat.

[He's starving, but like hell is he going to make that obvious. His other question makes him pause, unsure of how much he should say. It just kind of brings last night back and he grips the towel.]

...My sister was with me. We were trying to escape someone and got separated.

[A deeeep breath and-]

If someone named Northwest comes looking for me, please don't tell them I'm here.

Ugh, that guy. Yeah, I won't tell. Rich jerk on top of the mountain, right? In the big mansion? The one who looks like he smells his own farts for breakfast? Speaking of, you like eggs? I could scramble you some eggs and meat.

[He's keeping it light, but rich people have power in this place so unfortunately whatever the guy is up to could actually be dangerous.

That being said, Stan does have to ask about his twin. Especially given the circumstances.]

...wait, so she's still out in the woods? What happened?

[He sounds a lot more concerned than a stranger probably should be. He hasn't even met her yet and he's still worried about her.]

Eggs are good, and that's the guy exactly. [Said with no small amount of bitterness.] He adopted us last week but I could definitely tell he was up to something super shady so Mabel and I bolted.

[Northwest had so much money it was stupid, which is also why it was scary to be locked in a cage with him. That's what the manor had felt like.]

[His expression falls, and he looks away for a moment.]

They found us, and- we tried to escape. I slipped and fell into ...I dunno, some kind of ravine. I think they took her back. I can't- ...I can't reach her from here.

[Stan nods, but he's getting out eggs and meat to scramble while he listens.]

Guess we'll have to figure out if your twin's in there without him catching you. Should be easy enough.

[It's a wild thing to say without more context, but true - if they can get him close enough, he should be able to reach her again.]

By the way, who're you? You gave me her name but not yours.

[Sometimes with his abilities he can wager a guess but it's kind of muddled for some reason? May-something to match with his sister but the feeling is foggy, like it's not actually the right thing to call him. ]

And I never told you we were twins.

[For all the reasons his instincts are telling him to trust Stan, there are others, the result of years of mistrust, that are screaming at him to be on alert. His hands are gripping the table, but he's as tense as you can get.]

[He's watching Stan, but also, he's watching the door.]

Tell me what's really going on.

[No, he didn't did he? Welp. Stan tenses too, and doesn't immediately turn around.]

...We're always twins. Everybody like us has a twin.

[When he does turn his attention back to the kid, the meat and eggs are scrambling themselves, spatula moving as though there's an invisible chef there.]

And, uh. You're gonna have to be more specific? You're the one who broke into my house-business, so. What do you wanna know, kid?

[That answer is pretty straight forward and it feels right so he starts to slowly settle back down.]

[He watches the food cook itself with quiet fascination, before finally looking at Stan again.]

What are we?

[That seems like the place to start, honestly. Dipper has always known there was something wildly different about him that set him apart from others. When he met Mabel he realized he wasn't the only one. That didn't mean they had a clue why that was and what it meant. If Stan had some answers, then...]

[It's funny, Stan has had to explain this to so many people over the years, but rarely anyone who wanted real, detailed answers.]

We're...tourists. Castaways. We're not exactly from here, but we turn up here as babies and a lot of the time we get separated from each other and forget everything about our kind.

[Maybe the easiest way to do this is to drop his own glamour - it fades bit by bit, because it's tough to manage undoing all of that and not burning this kid's breakfast, but it does come undone. His horns are large and ram-like, curling in on the sides of his head, and his eyes have a gold shimmer to them. His hands are dark and clawed, and a thin tail with a tuft of fur at the end peeks out from the back of his pants - it will probably be the first glamour to go back on, once he gets sick of how that feels. When he opens his mouth to talk again, he'll reveal several sharp teeth.]

Humans call us changelings sometimes - y'know, old stories about us swapping out our kids for theirs because they couldn't deal with the fact that the kid they adopted is a little weird. Stuff like that.

[Not from here. So ...did that mean- like. Aliens? Were they aliens?]

[It's honestly less shocking than he expected? Like okay, yeah, its a big deal to be told something like this, but it doesn't feel wrong. Dipper's always known something weird was going on he's just never seen what it's supposed to look like on another like him. The little horns he knows he has hidden in his hair, and the way his eyes sometime shine weird at night- things that have gotten him picked on or screamed at in the past, they've always been a part of him.]

...Is there a way to go home? Is- how many others are there out there? I only met Mabel a month ago but now there's you and I keep getting the same weird feeling from you that I did her like we're ...family? Is that just because we're the same kind or ...

[Huh. This kid isn't as surprised as Stan would have guessed? He reminds him of Ford a little bit, always learning hard into questions to make things make sense.]

Eesh, one at a time! How are you this full of questions on an empty stomach?

[Stan turns the heat off the stove and the frying pan lifts itself up and hovers, tilting to dump the scrambled eggs and meat on a plate. He takes it by hand after that and sets it in front of the boy, and then grabs a seat himself. He sits sideways in the chair to make more room for his tail.]

Anyway, not in order but...there's a lot of us! More than you'd guess. Most sets of twins are, but even without counting them a ton of people come here as babies and get separated for good.

[They just never learn the truth - they go their whole lives feeling like something is missing, like they don't quite belong in this world.]

I've met a lot of 'em, but it doesn't usually feel like this. I don't have any kids or anything, so you've gotta be some other kind of close-ish relative. Maybe a nephew? A nephew and niece?

[That feels right in a way that hums through his whole being, so that's good enough for now.]

And...yeah, I can get you home. It's, uh. Gonna be a while? I guess that works if we gotta find your sister though.

Please, if I'm ever not asking questions, just assume I'm dead.

[He knows this of himself because he knows he's been "returned" more than once for being an insatiable busybody. It, like the weird changeling thing, is also just a part of him the can't help nor does he want to.]

...An Uncle. [Yeah, that seems about right. That does confirm that Stan felt that same feeling too, so. It must be right, like with him and Mabel. Weird but, eh. It's par for the course these days. Weird powers and weird feelings and things that feel wrong or right based on vibes-]

...Really? Just like that? [It seems absurd. To feel like he's never belonged anywhere and to find out there IS a place that he should supposedly belong to and to just have it dropped in front of him just like that. Even if it sounds like he might have to wait a bit. Still, that. He isn't sure what to do with that. It feels too good to be true.]

[Unfortunately it sort of is too good to be true, but probably not for the usual reasons.]

Well...just like that and about nine years, give or take? I just sent a group of Tourists off last night, so you and your sister just missed the bus.

[It's pretty tough luck. If they'd broken out even a day sooner they might have been home by now!]

But hey, if you can hang around that long I can get you two there no problem!

Edited 2024-11-30 06:10 (UTC)

Nine years!?

[Welp, there it goes. The catch. Dipper leans back in his chair and- right food. He should....eat something...]

[He takes a few bites to try and process that. Nine years...He and Mabel missed the boat by a night, and if he hadn't gotten them caught, maybe they would have been fine! Maybe they would be home right now and all of this behind them.]

[Sigh. It really was his fault, huh? Getting distracted by that...]

...

[He sets his fork down.]

Was that crazy red light in the sky last night you?!

[At first Stan can't help feeling bad for the poor kid. Even if this would be a safe place for them to stay, that's still nine years to wait to go home. He and his sister would have to grow up here, instead of getting the chance to find the rest of their family even sooner. No matter how much Stan would like the company, that's still rough.

But then he brings up the red light and Stan lets out a surprised laugh.]

The one that went alllllll the way up to the stars? Yeah! That was me! I'm surprised you kids could even see it that good from the woods, especially with the rain.

[Half the town is going to assume it was weird lightning and then just go about their day like nothing unusual happened.]

Are you kidding? It was huge! It basically light up the whole woods! I-

[....sigh.]

I ...I got really distracted by it while we were trying to get through the forest. That's how I slipped. We were ...we were so close.

[And now they would have to wait. But ...still, it's something right? They have a goal? They have a destination to get to. That's better than running away and hoping for the best. And also ...he guesses he's found his uncle! So they might have somewhere to stay in the meantime! Maybe! He's not going to just assume but ...it could be an option.]

[Are there laws about breaking adoptions when real family gets found?? Is there some way to annul the adoption?]

[Stan's face falls a little, sympathetic.]

Heh. Oops? I'm guessing it won't make you feel any better to know that there's no way you would've made it from the Northwest's in time anyway. We can only open the portal up for a little while, 'cause the stars don't stay aligned all that long. By the time I gave you kids the rundown, the window would've closed.

[So pretty much no matter what, they would have gotten stuck for a while.]

But hey - the actual bright side is you're not gonna have to live with those rich jerks anymore. At least if you gotta wait nine years, you can do it with family?

[Stan has never cared about a law once in his life ever. If humans are gonna act like they're changelings, then fine! He'll steal a couple of orphans and Preston Northwest can die mad about it!]

[Well...it kind of makes him feel better? It feels a little less like maybe it was his fault, though of course if he had decided to act sooner, maybe they could have left the day before, maybe they would have made it in time after all-]

[He tries to banish those thoughts since he knows he'll get worked up in an anxious fit otherwise. He already feels terrible that he doesn't know where Mabel is and he's sitting here eating breakfast.]

[He chews on his scrambled eggsandmeat thoughtfully, before looking up, kind of with surprise.]

Wait- [Dipper wasn't about to assume Stan would just let him stay. He wasn't super sure how to feel about it to begin with. He literally just met this guy! Even though they're family- did he know what kind of person Stan was?]

[Nervously he taps his fingers on the table, gears turning, turning.] You'd really just take us in? [Because they were going to be a packaged deal, no matter what.]

[Stan shrugs, like it's nothing to just take in a couple of preteens.]

Sure, why not? You're family. Unless there's somewhere else you two wanna be?

[He's not going to force them to stay, but if they're really leaving Northwest Manor then they probably don't have anywhere else to go back to. Getting chucked back into foster care is probably the last thing they want.

There was never any question of whether or not it would be both of them. They're a package deal. You don't separate halves once they find each other.]

HELL YEAH

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