ghostharasser | Open Post

[Well, that was that. They were both on the bus, heading towards the highway. About seven hours from now they should be back home, safe in Piedmont. The goodbyes they had to make were heavy on Dipper’s heart, but in a funny way, he wasn’t sad. They’re leaving Gravity Falls, but all the friends they’ve made, adventures they’ve had, were all still fresh in his mind. Leaving was bittersweet, but in a good way.]

[The note that Wendy gave him is tucked lovingly into his vest pocket, and Dipper finally pulls his eyes away from the window after a few miles of no longer recognizing the scenery. He reaches down into his backpack to pull his journal out. It was brand new, fresh, and bearing the symbol of the pine tree on the cover. Originally his emotions on the symbol and what it represented were a little mixed, almost entirely because of the way Bill used it as a name for him, but he’s since realized its a title to be proud of. It was something that was meant to do good with, a weapon against that very same demon. So he’s decided to embrace it.]

[He begins writing, but before he gets swept up in it, he passes a look over to his sister sitting beside him and nudges her with a smile.]

Hey. You okay?

Yeah. I'm okay.

[It's true enough, but Mabel sounds resigned as she says it, as she often does after one of her huge bursts of emotion. Things that send her hauling butt to Sweatertown often aren't so bad anymore once she's been given a chance to get used to the idea, and she's had some time to make peace with the inevitability of saying goodbye to their summer in Gravity Falls. Just as she'd been able to look at the idea of Dipper staying with Ford with a smile, after her initial outburst. Still, Mabel is the sort of person who can look at a yarn ball and see a soulmate, and loss hits her hard.

One hand is fisted in her skirt, and the other arm is wrapped securely around Waddles. To be honest it's the pig that's keeping her as calm as she is. Knowing she'd have to leave him had been bad enough, and the way he'd clung to her skirt had threatened to swamp her in heartbreak all over again. The relief of having avoided that leaves her feeling small and quiet, but not too quiet to talk to her brother.]

...it's gonna be weird, huh? Getting used to things not being so weird weird.

Edited (I sure missed getting to put "fucking html" on tag edits) 2021-02-19 09:34 (UTC)

[He knows her well enough to know that she’s not being entirely truthful. But, there wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there? They knew they were heading into the unknown, into something scary and new. He didn’t expect her to be 100% fine. He wasn’t 100% fine. He gives her a small, encouraging smile.]

[Her question is a pretty interesting one, though. It’s something he’s wondered about. His smile falls into something more of a thoughtful frown.]

Yeah. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed. Sure, that stuff got dangerous sometimes but...

[He loved it, if he was being honest with himself. He felt like he’d found something he was meant for. That was what worried him about going back home. If everything was normal, then what could he do there? Were there mysteries to solve? Monsters to fight?]

[Mabel's attempt at a smile falls, as do her shoulders.]

But you finally had some real mysteries. [She finishes the thought for him.] I finally had some real best friends.

[It's not as though Dipper's dream of a ghost hunting show is new. That's been on his biggest list for years now. But ghosts are sparse in Piedmont, as are Mabel's People™.]

[It was true, Piedmont was a nice place, but it was terribly boring. Fine if you were someone completely normal! But neither of the Pines twins were. Gravity Falls had left a hell of a mark on them, and that’s probably why leaving felt so hard. The time was remarkably short, but the mount of memories and bonds they’d forged were astronomical.]

[He lets out a little sigh, turning over the words in his head. They’d made this decision together, knowing that it was going to be hard.]

...I’ll just have to look harder. Statistically, there’s got to be something mysterious about home. If it’s there, I’ll find it.

[And he turns to look at Mabel again.]

Candy and Grenda won’t stop being your best friends just because we’re in California. You can video chat them, right? And ...we’ll see them next summer. We’ll see everyone next summer.

Edited 2021-02-19 10:10 (UTC)

[That is not any more satisfying than it was when Dipper suggested they do it, when he was thinking about staying with nerdy Grunkle Ford for a nerdy apprenticeship doing nerdy things. But she knows he's truly trying to comfort her this time, rather than making excuses about why it might not be so bad, and after all the memories he pointed out during the trial, that means a lot. They've always comforted each other in times like these. So Mabel manages to summon a smile for him in turn, and one of her trademark careless shrugs.]

And we have Waddles. Grunkle Stan sure had my back there, huh?

[Grunkle Stan would rather die than see Mabel that upset and is going to have a grand time ranting on the phone when their parents call to complain and they all know this. The surprise will be when Grunkle Ford grabs the phone and starts talking the twins up in such a grandiose manner that Mom and Dad won't actually be able to remember after why they decided to let Mabel keep the pig.]

[He was hoping she would take it as him being genuinely helpful. He knows it’s not a perfect solution but, he’s seen how Soos and Melody make their relationship work long distance. If they can keep a romantic thing going like that, then surely Mabel and her friends can keep in touch, too. He didn’t want Mabel to think she didn’t have any options.]

[He’s glad to see her smile, in any case.]

Yeah! Oh man, not gonna lie, I was a little worried when Great Uncle Ford nearly pulled out his gun, but it worked out okay in the end.

[A pause.]

Mom is gonna have a cow.

I have a pig.

[Mabel is completely 100% immune to nuances such as the grunkles threatening people being "bad" and Ford being so much more businesslike about being scary that Stan's brass knuckles slip by completely unremarked upon.]

Hey, know what you need for your dork diary? Stickers.

[ she's feeling better ]

Edited (fucking --) 2021-02-19 10:55 (UTC)

[She is definitely feeling better.]

Absolutely not.

Aww, come on, brobro! They'll be mystery stickers!

[She lets go of Waddles just enough to lean down and pull her sketchbook out of her bag, opening it to a recent page. On it are various drawings -- the Sasscrotch, Stan's fez, the monkey with the fish sewn to its butt, and the shack itself. Only the shack is in color as of yet, and there's still space on the page.]

I talked it aaaaaall out with Soos. We agree that the Mystery Shack needs better merchandise for the gift shop, and I'm designing the stickers. We're going to get them printed and everything!

[Mabel is excited for this as she is excited for all of her BRILLIANT IDEAS which is to say ALL OF HER IDEAS EVER. Truthfully she'll probably be drawing snippets of their adventures for a while anyway, as a way to process things in boring old Piedmont, but they can examine that when they get there.]

Help me come up with more things!

[Wait, what? Dipper blinks, looking over at her as she starts to pull her sketchbook out.]

[Oh! So, this was a real thing and not her looking for an excuse to cover his journal in scratch-n-sniff stickers or something. His eyebrows go up! This is very interesting actually.]

I mean- I guess if they’re mystery stickers. Hey, maybe do one of the totem pole or the WHAT weather vane. Oh! Wait, how about.

[He snaps his fingers and then holds out a hand to do his best Stan impersonation.]

The Rock That Looks Like A Face Rock.

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