Hey, folks! Thanks for the reception I got for the last story! Due to that response, I decided to upload another "future glimpse" tale. Just keep in mind that this is a sequel of sorts to "Always There" in case there's any confusion about some details (it takes place in the same timeline, not too long after the other fic). I hope you enjoy!
-SGA
"...You doing okay?" Dipper hovered close while his sister clambered after him over a fallen tree. The young woman twisted her mouth in playfully faked discomfort.
"Uh-oh, doesn't look like it this time! Sorry brother, I think I have a super-serious medical complication now and it's all your stupid fault. Oh well!" She cheekily answered back. Considering that he had asked her that question at least three times in the last five minutes, the temptation to tease had just been far too strong to resist.
"Just wanted to make sure." He mumbled sorely before they continued on. His twin after all was a few months pregnant, and of course the last thing he wanted was for any misfortune to befall her while they trekked through the backwoods of central Oregon. Dipper hadn't actually planned on bringing her out here. However, when he first told her of this curious scheme, she immediately insisted on coming with him. He resisted, but as always he was little match for her cheery relentlessness. The Mystery Twins were doing this together, no ifs, ands, or buts (or butts, as she preferred to think of it).
Mabel looked to her brother. To her satisfaction, she could tell that she was right in aggressively tagging along. She could read the raging anxiety in his eyes like an open children's book as she trotted by his side He obviously wanted this curious outing to go well more than anything in the world.
Feeling so wound up that he didn't know what to do with himself, he obsessively passed her another wary checkup glance. Rather than continue watching her brother work himself into a fretful mess, she decided to prescribe him a big dose of silliness.
"Oh don't worry, they're doing fine! It's only a lil' hike through the woods. Isn't that right, babies?" She reached for her belly, and gave the budding bump beneath her windbreaker a delicate shake.
"Mmm-hmmm! Just smell that fresh mountain air!" The woman exclaimed in a high-pitched squeak on behalf of one of her unborn twins. She then slightly tweaked her voice into a shriller, whinier tone. "Mommy, my feet are getting tired! Can we go home yet?"
"Home? Oh, sure we, can just-waaaaait just a minute here!" Mabel wagged a finger at her stomach. "Now jus how the heck are your feet tired? Your Momma Mabes is the one who's doing all the work here! Besides, we need to give your Uncle Dippingsauce some support today with his thingy!"
"Well...I wanna go back! I think it's too chilly out here! And I'm hungry! And thirsty! And I gotta go to the bathroom, whatever that is!" She carried on with the one-woman show with her usual degree of over-enthusiasm, and it wasn't long until she got her brother to crack a smile.
"For just four months, they're pretty chatty." He managed to joke. Pleased with her success, Mabel beamed from ear to ear.
"For four months, they're pretty awesome!" She happily boasted. Dipper chuckled weakly as the two continued to troop along, just as they had done hundreds of times through those peculiar woods over countless summers. After a few more moment of hiking, the young man suddenly came to a stop. While he carefully surveyed the surrounding area, Mabel welcomed the rest and gladly plopped herself down on a nearby stump.
"Is this a break, or are we there yet?" She asked while she massaged her ankles.
Dipper motioned for her to wait a few moments while he slowly got his bearings. At first, it seemed no different than any other location in the woods. However, bit by bit, their surroundings grew more familiar, stirring up old memories from deep within. "Yeah...I mean, it's been a while, but...I think we're in the right spot."
"Great! Let's do this, then!" Mabel enthusiastically clapped her hands.
"Okay," Dipper reached into his battered backpack and fished out a massive bag of hickory smoked beef jerky. "So all we need to do it-"
"I know, I know!" Wasting no time, Mabel had already removed another large package out of her own pin, patch and sequin-studded pack. "The plan's not rocket science!"
"Right." He nodded apologetically. "Okay, so count of three?"
"Onetwothree!" She happily grabbed the initiative. With h a quick tug each they tore the plastic bags open, exposing the dried meat strips and releasing their pungent aroma into the air.
Now it was time to wait, which unfortunately meant that Dipper had yet another opportunity to worry. He dearly hoped that this stuff would still do the trick. Mere minutes passed before he started to nervously pace about, constantly peppering hopeful glances all around every five seconds.
"C'mon...c'mon...you guys go nuts for this stuff..." He mumbled impatiently under his breath. Mabel took out her camera, and after snapping a few artsy shots of a particularly bright flower blooming next to her, she glanced back up to find that her brother's face was falling fast with disappointment. Clearly he had already half-convinced himself that they wouldn't come, and his pessimism didn't surprise her in the slightest.
"Calm down, silly!" She gestured for him to relax.
"I can't." He confessed. "This was stupid, I just know it. I mean, how old was I the last time I saw them? Twelve! That was years ago-"
"They'll be here. All we gotta do is just wait a little longer and-" No sooner had the confident assurance rolled off her lips when the earth itself seemed to abruptly come alive.
Both siblings wobbled a little as the very ground began to groan and rumble violently beneath their feet, as high above a flock of birds hurriedly flew by, filling the air with their panicked squawks. Soon they were joined by several startled squirrels, a startled raccoon, and even a badly frightened deer that raced on through, and not a single one of the frantic animals paid the siblings the slightest ounce of attention.
A small tree suddenly went toppling to the ground with an earsplitting crack, clearing the way for a massive hulk of a beast; half man, half bull, and all rippling, bulging muscle. As it strode purposely towards them on finely toned legs, Mabel drew back with a sharp gasp of awe.
"Whoooa..." Her soft brown eyes widened to the size of saucers. Although she had encountered many strange creature in these mystery-saturated woods, this was the first time that she had met one of the mighty and testosterone-overloaded manotaurs. Until now, they had merely existed in her brother's stories.
Onwards the hulking bull-man-hybrid lumbered, while another one suddenly appeared out from behind a cluster of rocks to follow along in tow. A clump of bushes were half-uprooted as they were forcefully parted, and yet another one ambled into view. Within moments, the twins found themselves completely ringed by no less than half a dozen of the ultra-muscular creatures. As they temporarily blocked the sun from the sky and bathed the two in a blanket of shadows, Dipper took a deep breath and began to hurriedly gather every scrap of courage that he had. He was going to need it if this was going to go as planned.
"...Hi there!" Never one to turn down the chance to make new friends, Mabel finally shattered the curious silence with a fat grin and an enthusiastic wave. One of the manotaurs just pointed to the one of the bags of jerky with a gigantic finger the width of a small man's wrist.
"You gonna share that?" It asked bluntly in a booming baritone. Wordlessly Dipper handed over both bags, and in just moments nearly half the spicy dried beef had vanished down six greedy gullets. While they feasted, he awkwardly idled nearby, waiting for the right moment to interrupt.
"C'mon!" Mabel gave him a gentle push and a bug thumbs-up. "Do it!"
"I will!" He whispered back. "I just...I..."
"Hey..." Thankfully, one of the burly beasts finally realized that the young man standing amongst them looked surprisingly familiar."Hey, I know you, right?"
The others soon quickly took notice, and quickly they all dug up decades-old memories of a certain prepubescent boy. One scratched a shaggy head and murmured incredulously, "Dipper? Dipper the Destructor? Is that you?"
"Yes!" Dipper gasped with untold relief. So far they were off to a fairly good start. "Yes, it's me. And I-HEY! Hey, c'mon!"
He groaned loudly in protest as without warning, one of the manotaurs placed a heavy hand beneath his chin and effortlessly raised his head up.
"Still got a ways to go. The beard could use a little more work." He grumbled, looking over the finely trimmed goatee with a fiercely critically eye.
"Yeah. And don't humans get more muscle when they grow up?" Another asked bemusedly as he picked up one of Dipper's scrawny arms between his enormous thumb and forefinger. Nods of agreement went up, as all heartily concluded that the fully grown adult was anything but an impressive sight. It knocked quite a bit out of the young man's sails. Even though he now felt excruciatingly self-conscious, young man hurriedly tugged down his sleeves and grabbed back the reigns of the conversation.
"Hey, I do cardio a couple times a week, and...look, that's not important, all right? I'll be straight with you guys. The reason I've come out here is to ask a favor."
"A favor?" A hulking man-bull asked.
"Yes, from all of you." He explain. "I'm engaged now, and my fiancee...well, you know Gravity Falls, right? The place with all the people near here? That's her hometown, and we're having the wedding there-"
"A wedding?" One of them reflexively clenched tire-sized fists and raised hell with a howl of defiance. Fierce scowls popped up all around. "NEVER! The mantoaurs are a proud, mighty ,and MANLY race! We will NEVER come to a wedding!"
"Wait, no!" He yelped. "I didn't-"
"Frilly dresses, fancy cakes, and pressed suits!" Another snarled in absolute disgust at the very thought. "NOT MANLY ENOUGH!"
"didn't say that you were invited!" Dipper cupped his hands tightly over his mouth and hollered exasperatedly over the outbreak of protest. "Look guys, just hear me out! Okay? Hear me out! HEY!"
The hubbub quickly died down, and soon all eyes fixed back onto him. Now taking center stage again before the imposing creatures, the young man could feel his chest turn as tight as a snare drum. "The wedding is going to be in Gravity Falls in three months, and we're planning on an outdoor ceremony. Now I've been coming up to this area for years, and after seeing all of the...well, you know what I'm talking about, right? Sometimes you feel like you can't you can't walk ten feet without running into a pixie, or ghost, or a dragonbird, or those creepy guys with the five-"
"Where are you going with this?" One of them demanded with an impatient stomp of a giant hoof. Hastily Dipper steered his anxious babble onto a clearer track.
"I'm asking you guys to help me out." He tried to sound a little more firm. "You have muscle, and I need someone to make sure nothing crawls or flies or teleports or whatever out of these woods and messes things up. Understand? I'm asking for you guys to keep a lid on things in here for just one hour in a couple of weeks. That's all."
With barely a flicker of emotion, the gigantic bull-men briefly grouped up for a brief huddle. After quickly conferencing, one turned around and asked gruffly, "So what do we get?"
Dipper put on the closest thing he could manage to a fierce expression, and puffed out his skinny chest as far as it could possible could go. It was show time now. "You get...ahem...you get the greatest prize of them all, that's what! You will have the honor of serving under the one and only Dipper the Destructor! The one who single-handed defeated the ferocious and mighty multi-bear in fierce hand-to-hand contact when he was just a boy! The one who stood up to your leader and refused to be cowed! The one man who has ever run with the manotaur tribe, and the one who-"
With perfectly horrific timing, his voice not only broke under the anxious strain, but it broke hard. The ugly hoarse squeak sent him into a burst of coughing to try to force the anxiety out of his throat, but it soon became clear that it was of little use. If the blank looks he was getting were any clue, he really had't been very intimidating in the first place.
"...And?" One of the mantoaurs flicked his tail and cocked his head confusedly.
"Uh...and...and I..." Dipper trailed into an anxious sputter. His former exploits with them had been the only piece of leverage that he had hung all his hopes upon. Now that his plan had come to naught, he was left at a complete loss. Drawing a mental blank, he craned his neck and shot his sister a pleading look.
"...Help?" He mouthed. Mabel grinned and enthusiastically stepped up to the plate without a moment's hesitation.
"And if you keep all the crazy stuff away from us, then I'll bake you all cookies!" She clasped her hands and promised sweetly. Once this offer was went up on the table, the manotaurs crowded together for another hasty conference. As they debated in gruff whispers and low grunts, Dipper fidgeted like mad as he awaited judgement on their request.
"...What kind of cookies?" Asked particularly enormous fellow with a shaggy beard the size of a full-grown sheep.
"Oh, any kind you like!" She counted on her fingers and rapidly listed all their options off. "Chocolate chip, peanut butter, shortbread, maple walnut snickerdoodles, vanilla-frosted, chocolate-frosted, macaroons, whatever you want! And no matter what, they'll be some of the tastiest, most awesome cookies you've ever had. It's the Mabel difference!"
"...Can you do oatmeal raisin?" One hopefully pried.
"Pffft! Can I make oatmeal raisin cookies..." She scoffed. "Of course I can! Baking's just making art with food, and I'm great at it!"
The manotaurs began nodding silently to one another as they speedily reached a wordless consensus. There was just no refusing delicious homemade cookies, especially ones that were clearly going to be made with a hefty dose of love and care.
"So...you guys are gonna do it?" Dipper's voice cracked again, but now nothing in the world could make him care how he sounded. Fresh relief started to course welcomingly through his veins.
"We will." One affirmed.
"For Dipper!" Hooted another.
"No! FOR THE DESTRUCTORS!" Yet another made sure to include both Pines as he raised a massive arm high into the air. The others eagerly joined in on the cry, and soon the forest was soon filled with the booms of their thunderous cheers.
"Oh man, thank you so much! Seriously, you have no idea how great it is to hear that!" Dipper felt like someone had lifted a fifty pound weight off his chest. A grateful smile swept across his face while he dug an extra invitation from his pocket. "Okay, so here's what you need to know. The wedding's going to be on...uh, guys? Guys? Hello? Hey, can you give me one more sec?"
Their began to punctuate their cries with vigorous fist pumps, and quickly the manotaurs started to whip themselves up into a massive frenzy. In seconds they had gone from hearty chanting to giving one another fierce slaps one another's backs and hefty punches to the shoulder. Before a full fifteen seconds had passed, skulls were being knocked together, and full body slams had come into play. As things rapidly descended into testosterone-fueled madness, Dipper wisely concluded that a quick exit was in order.
"Okay then...um, so here's the info...and..." He gingerly placed the invitation in the branches of a nearby tree. "And, uh...I'll be in touch...I guess...see you later?"
One of the manotaurs had just broken a stone over his head. Several were now uprooting trees and shrubs with wild abandon. Dipper darted to his sister and protectively guided her away from the utter madness of the fast-escalating brawl.
"Okay, buh-bye! Seeya in a few weeks!" Mabel waved and merrily bid a warm adieu. "Nice to finally meet you!"
Soon they were out of range of the massive tussle. As they steadily continued to put more distance between them and the madness, Dipper pat her shoulder and rasped gratefully, "Thanks for the backup."
"Ah, it was no biggie!" She tittered, but still allowed herself to puff up with pride. She passed him a quick one-armed hug. "Anyways, how are you doing? Feeling better now?"
"Very much so." He turned around for one last look at the rowdy legendary beasts. As he pondered over the lengths he had to through for the woman he loved, he couldn't help mutter wistfully, "I wonder how normal people get to plan out their weddings."
Mabel snickered at the whiny lament and gave him an affectionate push. "Who cares? I bet it isn't even half as much fun..."