"Are you sure he's alright?"
"Yeah, man. He's got a lot of fat to him."
While Dipper and Wendy talked about the heavy set man sleeping deeply on the couch, Mabel sat in Stan's lap as she cried on his tuxedo jacket.
"Hush," he scolded softly, "it's okay. Soos is healed up fine and Dipper's on his way."
"Bu-but, I didn't m-move fast enough..."
"Did anyone die tonight?"
"No."
"Than it's been a good fucking day."
"R-really?"
"Yes, really. Now stop crying on the jacket, kid. It's the only one I've got."
"S-sorry, " she mumbled.
"S'okay, kid," he chuckled half-heartedly.
Mabel hopped down and walked over to Dipper and hugged him in a way that wouldn't hurt him. He hugged back gently.
"I'm sorry, Dipper."
The twelve year old gritted his teeth.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Mabel."
Stan sighed with annoyance and impatience at the girl.
"Look, kid. If your brother ain't even blaming you then no one is."
"But why would he blame me?"
The old man shook his head at her innocence. He really did miss it being in his own head instead of a foreign concept in his memories. But the sale was final, he supposed. That was life and nature. Experience didn't come with a tag of insured ignorance. You learned, and the childlike wonder disappeared. Eye for an eye, after all. At least that life for a life thing hadn't caught up with him yet. There was too much to be taken care of now for it to. Four people depended on his life's worth.
And he couldn't let them down. No matter how much he hid it from them, he needed them in a way he couldn't explain. It was supposed to just be work and blood, but it was something more than that.
He cared about them. It so new that it sent the old man into wonder every time he thought about it.
"Kid, just know that it's no one's fault, okay?"
Mabel smiled and nodded as she kept holding her brother.
"Wendy, go up to bed. Mabel, go with her. I'll watch the guys down here."
As Dipper slipped back under the blanket on the loveseat, the redhead questioned, "Are you sure, Pines?"
"Yup, go get some sleep, Courdory."
She shrugged and smiled at Mabel. "Yes sir."
Mabel walked back over to Stan and embraced him. "Goodnight, Grunkle Stan."
"Night, kid."
When he watched the girls walked upstairs, he looked at Dipper.
"How ya feeling, kid?"
"...Still really hurts..."
"It will...Derek taught you to be tough, huh?"
"To protect Mabel and Mom."
"Did I open a wound?"
"No, I just wish I'd done better for Mabel. I was being a terrified baby."
"You're a twelve year old kid who got hit with a rusty bullet. You deserve some screaming rights"
"I wasn't being weak?"
"Nah, you're pretty tough to me. Now go to sleep."
"Alright, night Stan."
He grunted in response, but watched until the boy fell asleep, then tried to catch up himself.
