Nothing heavy here, just something on the very light side. Enjoy! - SGA
Wendy loved her family dearly. How could she not?
However, that didn't stop them from being hands-down the biggest stress in her life time and time again. And unfortunately from the sounds of it, they were at it once more.
"...Wait, what?!" The aggravated teenager paced about behind the gift shop register, phone in hand as she tried to get a grasp on the latest chaos that had erupted back at home.
"Why do I need to go to the hardware store? Nails? Why nails? Hold on…. which ceiling beam? Wait, when? Why did you…."
Her oldest brother related a quick tale of an indoor football game gone terribly wrong. She let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, okay, fine. Do I need to pick up anything for dinner while I'm in town, or….Dad's cooking tonight? He's grilling? Okay. Wait, isn't it supposed to storm later? Like, really hard? Wait what'd you say….no….oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Seriously? He's not really gonna…."
She could already smell the acrid smoke and gamey scent of grilled deer. Ever the overly-practical man, Many Dan had once again lugged the entire grill into the house to avoid incoming rain. And if experience had taught her anything, the cabin was now going to smell like a smokehouse for at least a week. She didn't even want to begin to think about all the work that she was going to have to put in later to get the thick smells out.
"Okay, fine. So, I'll let you guys know when I'm leaving. Just make sure to try and save some..." He had already hung up. The teen grit her teeth so tightly that it made her jaw hurt. How was it possibly to feel so close to some people, yet feel almost murderously infuriated by them at the same time?
Even worse, this wasn't even that bad of a day at the Corduroy home. No, if anything this was mere routine. She's come home, do the bulk of damage control like always, then tomorrow she'd deal with their usual madness all over again. And maybe, just maybe, if she was lucky someone would remember to says thanks after she had picked up after everyone. She checked the clock and wondered if it would be possible to leave work a little early.
On cue there was a low rumble of thunder. She glanced outside just in time to watch the skies open up. It looked like the rain had started earlier than forecasted.
"Oh, you have got to be-"
There was another rumbling boom as the clouds unleashed a full-fledged downpour. It definitely was not going to be easy going biking home in that. The teen slouched back at the register and thudded her forehead on the countertop. Might as well just stay here until the full end of shift and try to delay the inevitable. At least things were calm at the Shack.
Her timing today wasn't great, to say the least. No sooner had she settled down when the gift shop door burst open. A sopping wet mess of limbs and feathers charged headlong into the shop. The badly startled teen needed a second to realize it wasn't some freak bird-tween hybrid, but actually a friend under vicious attack.
"GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GETITOFF!" Dipper raced around in frantic circles. Mabel quickly raced in hot on his heels. Moving quickly, she wriggled out of her soggy sweater and began twirling it in hand as she tried beating off her twin's assailant.
"Leave my brother alone!"
"Get it OFF! Get it OFF!" He was now rolling about on the ground as the feathery foe continued to buffet him with strong wings and peck furiously.
"What the-" Wendy dashed around the counter.
"STAY AWAY! OWL-CLOPS!" Dipper yelped hoarsely. The teen finally noticed that the enormous owl had only one gigantic eye in the center of its head that was currently blazing with fury. Disregarding the boy's warning, she grabbed a broom and joined the fray.
"Hey! You leave him alone!" She snapped. The owl-beast hooted with rage and made a lunge at her. The redhead yelled as she toppled the ground, swiping like mad with her ropey arms. Dipper sprang to her aid when he caught the creature in a spectacular tackle, but as soon as it whirled right back upon him he instantly regretted his decision.
"What's going on?" Wendy yelled above the madness.
"No idea!" He broke free and tried to take cover behind a rack of shirts. The bird-monster hooted angrily and dived at him. "Seriously, what do you want?"
"Yeah, what's your deal?" I gave back all of your...uh oh!" Mabel squeaked when she felt something move on her head. Hurriedly she dug into her thick chocolate locks, and a moment later she produced a tiny, fluffy one-eyed little chick. The angry mother owl-clops promptly chased the tween girl away from her child. The bizarre bird then tenderly placed her baby into a well-concealed stomach pouch that contained two other chirping cycloptic fuzzballs. Now that her family was complete, she beat her wings and took off into the rain.
Gasping for breath, Wendy staggered to her feet and got took stock of the damage. To say that the gift shop looked like it had been hit by a bomb would have been too kind. Cheap souvenirs and shirts lay scattered about among toppled racks and tipped shelves, and together they nearly covered the floor. As she surveyed the wreckage, Wendy started to think that perhaps the Shack wasn't quite the refuge she thought it was.
"Oh no, Wendy!" She didn't have much time to stew in dismay before a yelp from Dipper cut through her thoughts. The boy hurriedly dug out a small first-aid kit from behind the counter. When he began dabbing at her arm did she notice she had gotten a small cut from the angry bird-monster.
"Dude….." She snorted loudly. In the tween's haste, he had completely forgotten the several fresh scratches dotting his noodle arms. As a chuckle worked its way from her throat, she reached into the kit and the two soon were cutting an odd sight as they fixed up one another.
"Here you go!" Mabel scooped up her lumberjack hat where it had knocked off during the scuffle. "Sorry about that all that crazy biz! I thought those little guys were abandoned. Good thing they got such a good mom looking out for them, right?"
"Yeah, great." Dipper deadpanned. He finished applying an adhesive bandage just as Mr. Mystery himself finally arrived to investigate the racket. He took one look around at the damage and his wrinkled face crunched into an annoyed scowl.
"Wendy, I need you to clean this up."
The teen only had time to wince before Mabel butt in with a chipper reminder. "She gets paid overtime if she goes past five o'clock!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Not wanting a repeat of an earlier spectacle, Stan agreed before hurriedly sauntering back to his office. Both she and Soos now got time and a half thanks to a stunt two weeks before that involved the little brunette dramatically chaining herself to the Shack entrance. Wendy didn't even get a chance to move a muscle however when both twins attacked their mess without any urging.
"This is all us. We got this." Dipper headed to a pile of shirts. Mabel skipped over to some fallen snowglobes and began popping them back on their shelf.
"You bet this is all on you dorks." Wendy said affectionately before joining them clean-up. "Here, I'll help."
"It's okay-" Dipper protested.
"Nah, don't worry, dude." She brushed it off. After all, the twins had a way of making work not actually feel like it in the slightest. "Besides, The longer I stick around here the longer I put off getting drenched."
"Huh?" Mabel looked at her like she was out of her mind. They could all hear the rain gushing down in buckets loud and clear "Wait, you're not going in that, are you?"
"I-"
"You could just stay here." Dipper piped up eagerly, and in the blink of an eye he had gotten himself flustered. Ever since he had finally confessed his crush a few weeks back at the bunker, he was now wary of sounding too weird around her."I mean...if you want-"
"YEAH!" Mabel was instantaneously all on board. "You can crash at the Shack tonight! It could be a…."
The tween waved her hands and whispered for dramatic effect. "A sleepover!"
"Well-"
"We were planning on watching some bad movies on Gravity Falls Public TV tonight." Dipper chimed back in with a hint of a hopeful smile. He couldn't resist the chance to kick back and rag on a trainwreck of a low-budget flick with his best friend. Both he and his sister now bore expectantly into the teen, who couldn't help but grin back.
"I-" Again, she only got the chance to utter a single syllable.
"Okay it's settled then!" Mabel clapped her hands, whirled around and let loose with an earsplitting yell. "GRUNKLE STAN? GRUNKLE STAAAA-AAAAAAAN!"
"What?" Somewhere in the Shack Stan hurriedly turned down the volume on his hearing aid.
"Wendy's spending tonight here!" The tween announced very matter-of-factly.
"Okay, fine. Just don't use that volume anymore around here!" He begged.
"YAY!" Mabel was so jazzed by the prospect of having company over that in a flash she shimmied up her lanky friend's back and hugged her neck. "Are you ready to get crazy?"
Wendy now had a choice. Head back home, or be subject to whatever ridiculousness the Pines had in store for her tonight. In other words, it was no contest. In a flash she had her phone out. "Hold on, I just need to make one quick call home…."
A few hours later, yet another room had been reduced to a mess. A pizza box, several plates and a few half empty bags of chips and stray popcorn kernels littered the living room floor. Meanwhile, the atrocious cult-classic, "Help! My Personal Accountant's a Werewolf." played on the TV at almost full volume.
"...There! See? Costume zipper, right at the bottom of his neck." Dipper pointed out.
"Oh dude, you're right!' Now dressed down in an oversized Mystery Shack shirt-turned-improvised-nightgown, Wendy hugged her legs and cackled loudly. "It's totally sticking out there-"
"Hey!" A chirp rang from behind. "Hold still, I'm not done yet!"
Mabel then happily went right back to work braiding the teen's long scarlet locks together.
"Mabel, just watch the movie." Dipper's request was returned with a handful of popcorn thrown into his face.
"Nuh-uh! Not until Mabel's done giving her a new look."
"Face it. We can't stop her." Wendy conceded with a laugh.
"Nuh-uh! We're riding the braid-train now!" She joyously affirmed. The lanky teen made sure to keep her head in place for the enthusiastic young girl as she returned her attention to the movie.
"Uh oh, female lead about to make a run for it!" Wendy announced. "Okay, taking bets now. How long until she trips and falls?"
"Three seconds." Dipper threw in his guess.
"Two and a half!" His sister gleefully undercut him.
"Your dorks are cutting her short, I say she lasts a good five."
"Last slice of pepperoni says you're wrong." Dipper playfully challenged her.
"You're on." She snickered and gave him an affectionate shove. The three continued to happily tease each other as they waited for the inevitable poorly-done chase scene. All the while, the redhead sitting smack in the middle of the stupid fun beamed so hard that her mouth almost hurt a little. Jade green eyes twinkled brightly as she passed each tween a grateful smile in quick succession.
Wendy loved her second little family dearly. How could she not?