Starting in Earnest

The following morning, the day after arriving at Gravity Falls, Raphael got up at his normal ungodly hour to go through his morning routine. By the end he had worked up a significant sweat and headed straight to the shower, when he came out the sun was shining its early morning light. Knowing the rest of the house would soon be waking up he took his book to the back porch to get in some early morning reading before the day truly began.

Some time later a call for breakfast rang out from within the house, upon finishing his page the 17 year old closed his book and made his way to the kitchen, curious what Stan would be serving for breakfast. Entering the kitchen dining area Raphael found that the delicious smell of waffles had permeated the room. After expressing his thanks to the chief dressed in an old white undershirt, he patiently waited for Mabel and Dipper to make their way to the table before beginning.

As they waited the two men made small talk. Raphael talked about school and the journey to Oregon. While Stan spoke about running the Mystery Shack and the nonsense that he puts on display. He was in the middle of boasting about how he easily and consistently fleeced tourists for their cash when two sleepy eyed pajama wearing preteens wandered their way in. As the two were so disoriented that it almost seemed like they didn't realize that they weren't at home and instead where at their great uncle's, evidenced by Dipper's comment about the lack of particular cereal at the table. Fortunately by the third waffle both twins were at normal cognitive capabilities and thus joined the conversation.

Once breakfast was all cleared away and everyone was dressed, Stan began preparing the Mystery Shack for the day's business. During this he told the new residents of his two employees. The first being the 20 something Soos, who has apparently been working for Stan for a great many years and is the general handyman for the shack. While not the most attractive person you will ever meet and he is nothing if not a little awkward, Stan says he has heart and most importantly is cheap labour. On the other hand his second employee is nearly the complete opposite of Soos. Wendy is a red headed 16 year old who Stan wasn't sure why he hasn't already fired, citing bad work ethic. After some thought he concluded that it was due to possible retaliation from her father, a hefty lumberjack named Manly Dan. It was here that he explained what Dipper and Mabel would be expected to do around the shop and sent them on their way.

Rubbing the back of his neck he turns to Raphael, "To be honest with you kid, I don't have any work to give you."

Raphael decided that this was the moment to put his plan into action, "Well, I do have something that I would like to do, that could be of benefit to you. But I'm not sure if you'd be up to it."

"I like the sound of the word benefit, do tell."

Raphael took a moment to formulate his argument, "To be honest with you, I don't like the idea of bunking with two 12 year olds for a whole summer."

In response Stan gets a really embarrassed look on his face.

"So, while I was at the library yesterday reading through the town's laws and ordinances I noticed that despite having a myriad of abnormal and outright ridiculous laws, there doesn't appear to be any regarding buildings and their construction. Thus I was thinking of knocking down a few trees off to the side of the main compound and putting up a small cabin to stay at."

When this conversation began Stan had had a few expectations for what it would be about and how it would go; the 17 year old would ask to ditch the shack and head off to town, get lost in a book, or even insist on helping out. But this was completely outside of any prediction that he had made, leaving him speechless.

Using the older man's silence as an opportunity to push his case, "And you don't have to worry about paying for it, at most throughout this whole project you might have to sign some paperwork." As he looked into the speechless man's eyes he failed to see any rejection to the plan, so he moved on forward. "I'm going to use today to once more review the laws and regulations, acquire the needed paperwork, and make a final decision on where to build. Would you like to take part in any step? Or are you fine with leaving it to me?"

Stan swallowed the spit that was pooling in his mouth with a gulp and slowly answered, "No, you seem to have a firm handle on things, but I better not have to pay a dime and not see any cops looking around. You hear me?"

Raphael let out a chuckle and smiled at the final words, "Crystal clear."

Entering the Gravity Falls library once again, Raphael quickly moved past the ancient bookshelves to the public records section. Admiring the orderly nature, quite possibly due to lack of use if the layers of dust are anything to go off, he slides his finger across the lines of books and boxes reading as he goes. Finally reaching a box labeled; Building codes, regulation, and laws. A short breath sends the majority of the dust flying, after pulling the box from the shelf Raphael moves to a nearby table and begins to carefully read through the documents being sure to write down any important details.

Back at the Mystery Shack Mabel was digging into all her spare creativity in hopes of cheering her brother up. She tried funny voices and skits, sock puppets, random surprises, and tons more.

But all she got back was, "That's cool Mabel." in the most uninterested tone ever.

Then a red head came in, who Mabel could only guess to be Wendy as she came in half heartedly apologizing for being late, and Dipper was instantly alert.

"Great" thought Mabel, "This is supposed to be my summer of crushing on boys and not Dipper's of following a girl around like a lost puppy.

It took a fair bit of time for Raphael to make his way through the stacks of paperwork, but by the end he was out of the library with a smile on his face and notes in his hand. Taking note of the sun up in the sky as he makes his way down the stairs, he makes his way to the mayoral office stopping at the local gas station on the way. While at the station he notices a strangely dressed short old man filling up a beat up truck that looked to be older than the man himself.

"Hey what's your name old man?"

He looked surprised to be addressed, like he had been spending the last decade without anyone to care about him. "Who me?"

"Well I don't see any other old men about, do you?"

"No…, I'm Old Man McGucket! And who might you be, young feller?"

Raphael chuckles at the antics of the old man, the insane have always interested Raphael due to their crazy nature and incomprehensible vision (not that Raphael didn't enjoy trying). "Well, Old Man McGucket, my name is Raphael."

A spark lights up in the back of the hillbilly's eyes, "Raphael, like the archangel?"

There was the slightest change in Raphael demeanor as McGucket mentioned the origin of his name, but it was swiftly covered up. "Yeah, my dad gave it to me. Anyways, how much longer until your arm heals up?"

He looks at his own arm surprised, "You know feller, I have absolutely no idea."

"No matter, but unfortunately I must be off. So I hope your arm is better or gets better soon, and may I see you around."

Old Man McGucket waved his casted hand as Raphael drove away.

The mayoral building like most buildings in Gravity Falls was constructed out of wood from trees commonly found in the surrounding forest, what made the office unique was the inordinate amount of spider webs and dust. Inside there was a singular path of progression, representing how only at most only a single person has used the building for an untold amount of years. Carefully making his way along the path, making sure to keep himself low enough to not have to worry about washing spiders out of his ears later, Raphael eventually makes his way to a simple door with rusted placard reading Mayor Befufftlefumpter on it.

After solidly knocking on the door he calls out, "Excuse me Mayor, I'm here to talk to you about getting approval for a small and private construction."

Noise of surprised shuffling was heard from behind the door before an aged voice spoke, "Come in young man."

The inner office carried on with the theme of the rest of the building, namely the excessive amount of spider webs and dust. To the point it not only obstructed the viewing of the innumerable trinkets and momentums that are on display, but also extended to the manor himself. The old man looked to be over a 100 years old and his carrying of his own network of spider webs and dust made an impression. As the 17 year old took in the strangeness, the geriatric across from him was doing the same. He couldn't remember the last time anyone other than him had entered his building, much less someone here on actual official business. While he in no shape or form knows every citizen in his town and even more so the youths, he knew for sure that the black hair youth before him wasn't from around here. For one the faint scars that are scattered upon his forearms aren't something that someone like himself would forget, even with his advanced age. And two, the respect for proper procedure and the will to make improvements, or at the very least changes, isn't something native to Gravity Falls.

"So, young man, you said that you had a project that you would like approval for?"

Raphael looked into the eyes of the mayor half wondering if the man's ability to speak, despite being an aged and raspy voice, was due to the apparent strangeness of the town. Deciding that there is no way to get an answer to such a question he instead spoke about his plans for a cabin, "Yes, I'm staying at 618 Gopher Road also known as the Mystery Shack, a museum of sorts run by a great uncle of some people I know, and it's lacking in accommodations. So, I would like to build a cabin on the property as housing."

Mayor Befufftlefumpter took a moment to process the request and the information that he was given. A moment of thought later, a hand of skin and bone reached into a long open drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. After signing it with an ink pen even older than he, Mayor Befufftlefumpter looked toward the strange teen before him once more, "Well, here is your permission. Might I suggest going to the Corduroy Cabin as the family has been lumberjacks and cabin builders for generations."

Raphael looked thoughtfully at the frail old man behind the ancient desk, silently questioning his intentions. "Thank you for the advice, I wish you good health and a heartfelt goodbye."

As he walked away Mayor Befufftlefumpter watched his back, curious to how the town will change the teen and vice versa.

Stepping outside and into direct sunlight once more, Raphael took a moment to let the sun's warmth flow through his veins while he read the piece of paper in his hand.

"Gravity Falls Building Permit. The bearer of this permit has permission to build on any public land within the Gravity Falls town limit as well as any private property where the owner has also given permission. Signed Mayor of Gravity Falls Eustance Befufftlefumpter"

Raphael shakes his head and laughs, "How typical of this town, who needs clear and useful laws when you can ban made up words. How I wish there were more places like this."

Walking back to his car Raphael's eye catches sight of the sun, "I swear there's something wrong with this town, and not just the fact that the people here are half out of their minds." Stepping into his car he put it into first gear and drove off to the Corduroy Cabin.

Raphael was cruising down the road back towards the Mystery Shack, a new ax in the trunk, plans for the cabin drawn out, and extra materials purchased and set to be delivered. Pulling into the lot he almost disbelievingly noticed the presence of tourists, and thusly decided to enter the shack through a side door. Planning to take his book and bounce off into the woods to get in a good reading session as well as a fabulous midday nap.

The mission was successful, within minutes he was laying with his back to a tree and mind in a book.

Dipper was closing up the museum, Stan was counting cash, Wendy ditched work early, Soos was hanging out, and Mabel was lost in her own little world. With a sigh Dipper was back into his moment of honest reflection from this morning. While he didn't really have any expectations for the summer, he sure as hell wasn't going to spend it mindlessly working for his great uncle the whole time. To be fair it was only the first day so there was definitely room for improvement, especially if Raphael was around.

Speaking of Raphael, he hadn't seen him all day. "Hey Soos have you seen Raphael around?"

Soos just looked at Dipper confused, "Sorry little man, I don't know who this Raphael is. So I can't tell you if I've seen him or not."

"Uh, okay I'll just ask Mabel then."

"Well, good luck finding the mystery man. I'll be here dutifully guarding the snacks until you return or 6 o'clock comes around, which ever comes first"

Walking over to Mabel, as he shakes Soos's strangeness from his mind, Dipper shakes her shoulder to get her attention and then asks, "Hey have you seen Raphael since breakfast?"

Mabel tried to remember if she had seen him today and couldn't come up with a time, "How about we look outside? He could be working outside."

Dipper agreed with his sister's logic and off they went.

After quite a few minutes of searching they found him, with a book in his hand, sleeping while leaning against a tree.

Mabel looked to her brother with a gaze that demanded mischief, "What do you say we give Raphael a bit of a makeover?"

Out of nowhere came markers of various colors. Dipper smiled back toward her and with a nod took a few, and so the two twins sneaked closer to their soon to be victim.

As they closed in they heard a "Don't even think about it."

Surprised they jumped back as Raphael stood up from his position and stretched out the kinks in his neck. A quick glance at his watch confirmed his suspicions as he addressed the preteens, "I still have work to do today and as it is only 4:34 how about you two write a letter home and tomorrow we send it out? And after dinner we look through Stan's game collection for something fun to do."

The two 12 year-olds shrugged as Raphael led them back to the shack in clear reluctance, but in silent recognition that they had nothing better to do.

After getting the twins inside and started on writing he confirmed once more with Stan that everything was okay, and got the ax from his car and began chopping down trees.

Author's Notes:

- Thanks BruhBruhBruhb for reading and giving suggestions. I've implemented some of them into this chapter and am thinking about going back and editing previous ones to match. I've made a note about the sensory scenes and thus they will become more prevalent in coming chapters.