Dipper liked the Tent of Telepathy. He'd visited a few times whenever he was in town and he found it welcoming and hospitable, if a bit bizarre. As he and Wendy opened the door and stepped into the dark of the bar, the slice of midday sun from outside cutting through the room like a knife. Pulling his tell-tale baseball cap over his eyes he lead his wife by the hand to a booth in the corner. He tried his hardest not to be noticed by anyone in the room, but he couldn't help but acknowledge the way the bartenders eyes widened upon seeing his hat. Dipper sat as she rushed into the back.
The denizens of the bar were as unusual as his last visit. A group of Gnomes, dressed in suits eerily reminiscent of probation era gangsters, clustered around a table pointing to areas of a map and mumbling. At the bar stood a centaur, horse legs incredibly prominent the woman's torso covered in a purple hoodie a few shades lighter than her hair.
But to Dipper the strangest sight was yet to come. A young man walked from a side door, his white hair and powder blue suit drawing looks from everyone in the room. He walked quickly to their table a colossal grin on his face.
"Dipper Pines, as a live and breathe!" Gideon Gleefuls voice had changed little over the years and so had the rest of them. He was still short and chubby but his eyes were brighter and kinder than they ever were in Gravity Falls. "To what do I owe the the pleasure?"
Dipper skipped the niceties and cut straight to business "We got a call from a friend a few days ago. He told us that he'd gotten evolved in some strange group in a city he didn't recognise. They called themselves the 'menagerie' and apparently they run out of your town." Dipper tried to hide the accusatory tone out of his voice but to little effect. Gideon had promised that he was managing to clean up the small city of Moonshine relatively easily. But to find out that a gang of cult or whatever the menagerie were had set up shop in the city was worrying to Dipper.
To Dipper's suprise Gideon waved his hand dismissively. "Y'all are referring to Thompson right? I already reached out to him, he's agreed to be my inside man while I deal with the Menagerie's smuggling operation. They keep trying to sell people Gnomes and other magical junk."
Dipper and Wendy simply looked at the ex-fraud with wide eyes as he shot them a dazzling smile. "Now that the business is dealt with I simply must insist you stay for a drink or two. We simply must catch up old friends." With that he flopped down next to Dipper and the three began catching up and swapping stories late into the night.