0 an hour ago 0
Stepping through the waiting room doors of the prison, Gideon winced at the bright florescent lighting humming just overhead. He waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust; the brightness was so different from his darkened cell.
"So you're like, that Gideon kid with the giant robot thingy. Smashed up the old railway lines and like tried to kill that Mabel bitch."
The blond debutant was a far cry from what Gideon had been expecting to find waiting for him in the prison meeting room. Maybe Sandra Jimenez come for a sound bite, maybe his father come to beg for forgiveness, but certainly not this spoiled brat with golden hair and perfectly manicured nails. Never mind how nicely her dress fit her figure, but then maybe his eyes were lingering too much, better play this one smooth and lay on a little extra charm he told himself.
"Right you are my dear, Gideon Gleeful at your se-"
"Yeah whatever. Look, do you know about the journals or what?"
The interruption had caught him off guard. Nobody interrupted him, EVER. Who was this girl? She looked to be about his age. Still, the expensive brand name cloths that most people tried on but never bought, the obvious twice-a-day facial scrubs; this girl came from money and lots of it, maybe even a senator or two in the family. Moreover, she knew about the journals. This admittedly enchanting beast knew about HIS journals, he was going to have to be careful around her.
"Why no, I don't recall any journals. My incarceration in this establishment has really jostled my mem-"
"Cut the act Gideon! I know you want the journals as bad as I do.
"Never mind what for." She snapped before he could ask his next question.
"Get them for me and you'll never have to see the inside of another prison again. Sound fair?"
Clenching and unclenching his fists Gideon let out a deep breath. No one had ever treated him this way before. "Okay fine, but I'm in a little bit of a bind at the moment, if ya can't tell. How-"
"Never mind how, I've asked daddy to take care of it so whatever. Several people have been bought to lose evidence, change stories and retry your case." There was definitely a senator in the family but also maybe a president or maybe a freemason or high ranking illuminati member as well. Whatever the case Gideon was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"If you're in then your zombified escort will take you to-"
"Wait, wait, wait. Zombified?"
"Never mind, look are you in or am I going to have to find someone else?"
He couldn't lose this, couldn't let someone else take his journals, his rightful power. Besides, another minute in prison and he might actually go insane. "Well, in of course."
"Great, we'll be in touch. Verner will take you to the taxi waiting outside. Go to 412 Gopher Road tomorrow at 9:00 P.M. and maybe you'll learn a little more."
And just like that Gideon found himself in the backseat of a taxi heading to god only cared where, unsure of what was going to happen next.
000
"SURPRISE!"
The lights flickered on bathing the dark room in the yellowing glow of dying light bulbs. Eyes slowly adjusting to the light the twins found themselves surrounded by the familiar faces of their coworkers and Gruncle Stan as he pulled both twins in for a hug
"Hey, hey, it's great to see you two knuckle heads again. Getting kind of lonely here with just me and these rubes (motioning to a disinterested Wendy and a slightly distracted Soos).
"It's great being back" chirped Mabel "I have so much to tell you, like how I broke my arm or how Dipper finally stopped being a creepozoid and asked a girl to the big school dance. Pulling Stan close she whispered "he totally got rejected though so be nice about it."
"Not a chance kiddo."
Not much for birthdays, anniversaries, or any kind of celebration for that matter Stan pulled himself away from Mabel.
"Ha-ha, it's great to have you kids back in the old house, the Shack hasn't been the same since you left, but seriously though, celebration's over. Now make yourselves useful and start picking up this mess. Got a whole tour bus of wallets coming out this way and I can't take them for everything they've got with this mess laying around. Bedrooms upstairs by the way and make sure you're unpacked and dressed by dinner." With that Gruncle Stan left the room with Soos in tail giving the twins furtive thumbs up and a quick "Glad to have you back dudes."
The reception may have been lukewarm but Dipper and Mabel were happy to be back in the Mystery Shack, happy to be amongst friends and happy to be around a semi-responsible guardian for a change (at least Stan cooked every once in a while).
Partially out of courtesy, partially out of fear that Gruncle Stan may have been serious about the clean-up duty, the twins began putting away the sparse decorations while Wendy played on her phone on the couch. Once they had finished she put her cell away and stood up "Sorry if Stan seemed abrupt, I think he's just a little nervous about tonight. Something about a big surprise or whatever. The feast of the century he called it" she said motioning with her hands just how legendary a feast it would be.
Walking over to Dipper she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead while Mabel received a playful punch to the shoulder. "Glad to have you doofus' around again, maybe things will start to lighten up around here. I gotta get going but I'll see you guys at work tomorrow."
With that, Wendy waltzed out the door leaving Dipper to stare off in the distance, entranced by the moment. It had been a whole year but his crush on Wendy hadn't gone anywhere. Her rust colored hair, the splash of freckles across her face, her hearty laugh, the faint smell of lilac that wafted over his nose when he stood close to her. Dipper was positive; Wendy Corduroy was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, bar none. Mabel on the other hand tried to be supportive but the sight of her brother contending with puberty was too much. Laughter was almost mandatory.
000
As it turns out, Gruncle Stan's big surprise was a dinner at Gravity Falls' most expensive restaurant, The Club. A real rarity for him since anything not marked as discount in the grocery store was highway robbery.
The casino themed restaurant was the fancy sort that served strange artisanal dishes with chefs who have never heard of sizable portions, still the atmosphere was incredible.
Mabel gave a little shiver reminiscing about the night she and Gideon had spent here on that pity date so long ago, his creepy beady eyes burning a hole in hers even as she tried to cover up her face with the menu. *Shiver* too soon Mabel, too soon she thought to herself.
Dinner came and went leaving everyone slightly disappointed with the small meals and empty stomachs prompting Stan to ask "Hey you kids want to get out of this fancy pants high society snore factory and head into town for some ice cream?" enthusiastic nodding followed.
000
An hour later the twins were alone in the dust covered attic getting ready for bed. Not much had changed since they left last summer. Their beds folded as if waiting for their return, Mabel's posters still plastered to the wall, affixed in a way that removing them might compromise the integrity of the structure and Dipper's bookcase still filled to the brim, though missing the #3 journal. The only difference seemed to be the growing cobweb issue and something like a low growling coming from under the floor boards that neither twin dared investigate.
"So Dipper, are you going to go all Wendy crazy again or did you finally get over her?" Mabel said as she dug through her suitcases looking for her favorite floppy disk nighty.
Images of Wendy slowly flickered through his mind before landing on the kiss she planted on his forehead mere hours ago. The thought of her soft velvet lips lightly brushing his skin caused him to break out in a cold sweat and made his trademark shorts feel a little tighter.
*pft* "No. Maybe. I don't know Mabel, are you going to go boy crazy again? Honestly, I'm more concerned with surviving another summer here."
"Yeah same here dipper, it's just that, well you know, we're only here for the summer. Sooo….maybe don't focus on Wendy so much, I mean you should make more of an effort with the people at YOUR school in YOUR home town. You know back in California…aha success (3 suitcases and 20 minutes of searching had finally yielded her night gown).
"Mabel, those people hate me and you know it!" (unbeknownst to Mabel her brother had found the words: don't com bak, spray painted across his locker on the last day of school. poor spelling but the sentiment was still there).
An uncomfortable silence soon followed prompting Mabel to stare at her feet for far too long. "You know I'm only saying this because I love you, right dipping sauce? I mean you're a cool guy, I think you're cool so if you made an effort with-"
"Mabel you know no amount of effort is going to erase "Little Dipper" from people's minds."
More silence. Dipper rubbed the back of his arm. He didn't mean to be rude or abrupt with his sister especially considering how close they had become last summer, it just came out that way.
"Sorry for yelling but I don't want to be friends with those kids, I'm happy right here. This place feels more like our home ya' know what I mean Mabel?"
"WADDLES!"
"what?"
"Waddles, remember Dip? Won him at that carnival; Gruncle Stan said he'd been sick lately. I forgot I have to go see him."
Tension broken Dipper couldn't help but break into a smile "mmm, bacon"
Mabel was legitimately shocked for a moment "That's not funny Dip! What if Waddles heard you talking like that? He'd be sooo offended."
Anger completely deflated by his sister's absentmindedness Dipper got down on his knees and did his best to put the globe theater to shame "Might sir Waddles forgive my abhorrent transgressions m'lady?"
Not knowing half of what her brother said but noting that he looked sorry Mabel responded in kind with her best royal pig ambassador accent "I shall away to his highness and see if he might pardon your gooberness. Maybe a cob of corn might help."
With that Mabel ran for the door to go check on her ailing pet.
"Mabel?"
She stopped her sprint just at the door frame not sure if she heard her name or not. "Yeah, what's up Dipper?"
He wanted to say that he was sorry for snapping at her, that he'd known she only had his interests at heart when she said those things and that she was the best sister he could've asked for. Instead it all fell into silence and then "Good night Mabel. See you tomorrow."
"Love you to Dipper." and then she was gone out of the attic and down the stairs leaving Dipper to crawl into bed, alone in their room.