Chapter 2
A/N: Chapter 2, coming in hot! I actually had this one already written, so that is the reason for such a quick update. With that in mind I will have more to say at the end of the chapter, so read on! I own nothing!
For the next few moments, Steve's entire vision was a blur. The whirling began to make him sick, and he screwed his eyes shut to try and prevent himself from vomiting, and then, as if in answer to his prayers, everything fell still. Steve waited a moment just in case, then slowly opened his eyes to see that he was still in the parking lot, only now, it was…daytime?
Steve blinked rapidly as his vision struggled to adjust to the sudden change in lighting, and as he squinted in confusion, felt a cold metal surface just to his left. Turning, Steve saw that the Dodge Dart was still there, its dark brown paint now much more visible in the sunlight.
"Uh…Steve?"
Steve turned to the familiar voice to see Robin looking over at him from across the Dart from where she had been moments ago. Her hair and clothes were still wet from the rain that had somehow magically vanished, but he was at least glad to see that she was ok.
"What happened? Did we get struck by lightning or something?"
A commotion to Steve's right showed the man in the jumpsuit looking down at the pavement with his hands held on the side of his head in panic and worry.
"No…no, no no! Not like this! It can't be broken!"
Following his gaze, Steve saw that the tape measure from before was now laying on the ground, smoldering as though something on the inside was on fire.
"Hey! What the hell did you just do?!" Steve demanded, taking a step away from the Dart and towards the man, who looked up at him fearfully.
"No! You stay away from me!" the man shrieked, hastily gathering up the tape measure and rising to his feet. "I-I-I warn you! I know time karate! Y-you'll get a taste of my signature century roundhouse if you don't keep back!"
Steve balled his fists and took another step closer, which apparently was all it took to banish the man's resolve. Turning quickly, the man scurried away and into the forest, mumbling about how they were lucky that he was still learning the "chrono-kick".
"Get back here!"
Steve made to give chase, but Robin stopped him before he could follow the man into the woods.
"Steve, wait! We can't just blindly follow some guy into the woods! We don't even know what happened just now!"
"Uh, no shit, Robin! That's why we can't just let him leave! I mean, what the hell is going on here? Did he drug us or something? You see the sun too, right?"
"Yes! I see the sun, and it's freaking me out just as much as it's freaking you out! And frankly, you freaking out is not helping me to keep from freaking out as well, so cut it out!"
A look to her eyes showed how nervous she was, and that was more than enough for Steve to reign himself in. He ran a hand through his still wet hair, then gave Robin a slow nod.
"Okay. You're right. Sorry."
Robin gave him a small nod in return, then took a look around the motel parking lot, now bathed completely in sunlight.
"Okay, uh…let's go grab my parents and tell them what happened. Maybe if we are tripping off some kind of drug they can drive us to a hospital or something."
Steve nodded, and the two of them left the Dart and hurried over to the door to Robin's room while she fumbled the key out of her pocket. They then both stopped abruptly when they saw the door handle. Instead of a keyhole, the handle was now conjoined with some kind of slot that looked barely large enough to fit a baseball card through, and instead of a dull brass metal, the entire assembly was a silvery chrome.
Steve and Robin shared an incredulous look, then Robin reached out and gently prodded the handle and slot assembly as if to make sure it was real.
"That…wasn't there ten seconds ago."
Something was wrong here. Something was definitely wrong here.
Without speaking, the two of them turned and strode toward the motel office, and a terrible feeling began to grow in Steve's stomach as they walked in.
The first thing they noticed was that the office looked far different as well. It was like the entire place had been renovated in the few short hours it had been since the two of them had checked in.
A metallic door chime sounded to announce their arrival, and Steve frowned at the noise and looked over his shoulder as they entered, it not at all sounding like the small bell that had sounded a few hours ago when they'd checked in.
A bored looking teenager about their age sat behind the counter playing on what Steve guessed was some kind of calculator, and she gave them a frown as she took in the rain-soaked state of the two of them.
"Uhh, checking in?" the girl asked.
"No, actually," Robin said, her expression doing little to mask the no doubt extreme amount of nervousness she felt at that moment. "Um, my key is…broken, and I was wondering if I could have another one, please?"
"May I see the key, please?" the girl asked, still looking at the two of them quite suspiciously. Robin paused for a moment, then slowly produced the silver key that she'd been given upon check-in. A small lanyard with the motel's logo was attached, and the girl took it in her hands with the most confused expression Steve had ever seen.
"Is this supposed to be like, one of those prank shows or something? You guys got a hidden camera on me?"
"Wha–no…I…is there a problem?" Robin asked, her nervousness now blatantly obvious to all parties present.
"Ok, because this looks like the key to an old broom closet or something. Did you actually book a room with us?"
"Y-yes, we did. One family-sized room for July 23rd, under the name 'Buckley'."
As the girl turned to access a computer that had definitely been much larger before, Steve felt the conversation fade from his ears as his eyes locked onto a small store connected to the main office. Inside appeared to be drinks and snacks that one could find at any gas station, but it was the small digital sign hanging above the liquor that drew Steve's attention. Slowly, as if in a trance, Steve read the letters on the sign.
No purchases of alcohol may be made to persons under 21 years old. To legally purchase alcohol, you must present a valid driver's license and have been born on or before the date listed:
Steve's eyes traveled lower, and his heart jumped into his throat as he read the date.
Thursday…
July 24th…
1992…
To buy alcohol, you had to be 21, which according to the screen, meant you had to be born before…
"...ok, do you have anything under 'Harrington'? We did book separate—"
"Robin," Steve said in a voice that was much too high for him. "Can I talk to you for a second? Please?"
Robin turned and gave him an apprehensive look, and Steve gestured towards the door with a tilt of his head, and Robin's eyes flitted towards the door before excusing herself from the bewildered girl at the desk and following him as he swiftly exited the office.
"Steve? What's wrong?"
"Give me the keys, Robin," Steve said, his voice a low deadpan.
"W-wha—? It doesn't work, remember? It's got some kind of weird—"
"The car keys, Robin. I need the car keys."
Robin frowned and almost stopped walking, but she fished them out of her pocket and deposited them into Steve's outstretched hand.
"You're scaring me, Steve. Did you see something in there? Do you know what's going on?"
Steve wordlessly climbed into the driver's seat with Robin following suit along the passenger's side, and he didn't answer her until he started the Dart and pulled out of the hotel parking lot onto the road.
"Steve!" Robin said frantically. "What are you doing? My parents are still back there!"
"No. Nope. They're not, Robin," Steve said shortly, quickly realizing that his calmness was very quickly becoming short-lived. "In fact, they haven't been there for almost thirty years now."
"What?! Steve, did you hit your head or something? They were right—"
"Robin! We aren't in 1985 anymore!" Steve all but shouted. "Whatever that guy did, it sent us forward in time!"
There was a beat of silence, then Robin gave the most nervous snort ever as if to dismiss his theory.
"There's no way that's what is going on here, dingus."
Her tone of voice suggested that she wasn't so sure. Steve took a deep breath.
"Look, we were in the office, and I turned and I saw something—"
Steve abruptly cut off as his eyes wandered to the radio on the dashboard. With an awkward jerk forward, Steve switched the radio on and frantically turned the frequency dial, looking for the news station. A bunch of strange music flickered in and out of existence for a brief moment before Steve found the broadcast he was looking for, and he fumbled with the dial for a moment before the voice became clear.
"Gdehoiheghsioeg–ood morning and welcome to GFR 98.6, The Axe , Bringing you the latest news and music from in and around the Gravity Falls region on this sunny morning of July 24th. I'm your host Toby Determined, and I'll be serenading your ears with all the hit classics from the 80s, 90s, and today! To start things off, let's take things way back to this day in 1982 when John Mellencamp, then known as John Cougar, topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with this well-known piece. Two weeks later, this record would climb to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stay within the Top 10 for the next four months! That's longer than any other song in the 80s! And now, 31 years later, here's Hurts So Good, right here on 98.6, Gravity Falls Radio!"
The semi-familiar guitar riff began on the radio, but Steve and Robin were both far from finding comfort as the voice of John Cougar (Mellencamp?) began to play throughout the Dart.
"Thirty-one years…since 1982…" came Robin's incredulous voice over the upbeat tone of the music.
Steve pursed his lips and nodded. A small part of him had hoped and even prayed that he'd be proven wrong and that they'd suffered some sort of brain damage or something, but the voice on the radio had left no room for doubt.
"That means that the current year…is 2013," Robin said.
"Welcome to the new millennium!" Steve said with a sarcastic show of the pine trees and mountains that greeted their vision as they continued down the road, going nowhere in particular.
"That tape measure…the one that guy had in his hand," Robin said slowly, still processing the information. "That must have been it. That was the time machine!"
"Great, good thing we let him go out into the woods with no hope of tracking him down!" Steve shouted more angrily than he'd meant to. "I guess we'll just have to saddle up the rangers and—"
Steve's rant was cut off by a sudden sputtering from the engine of the Dart, and Steve watched with a mix of horror and disbelief as black smoke began pouring through the cracks in the hood of the vehicle.
"Oh, and that's great. Yep, just keep piling on!" Steve said as the car lurched and coughed.
"Steve, there!" Robin pointed over to a small wooden sign that showcased an attraction just off the main road. Even though Steve couldn't make out what the sign said due to all the smoke from the engine, any way to get the Dart off the road was better than nothing, so he turned the car off the pavement and onto dirt as the engine continued to whine and groan. Once he had safely pulled off to the side, Steve pulled the car to the edge of the dirt road and cut the engine. Without the engine competing for the noise, John Cougar's voice continued over the radio, lasting only a moment before Steve irritably switched it off.
Silence fell between the two of them for a moment, then Steve let out a heavy sigh.
"Do you think we could maybe just focus on getting the car taken care of first, and then we can deal with…everything else?"
Robin gave a silent but very eager nod. Steve then opened the driver's side door and popped the hood of the Dart. A plume of black smoke billowed out as Steve raised the hood to its open position, and he gave a helpless look before shaking his head and stepping back as Robin joined him.
"I don't suppose you know what might be wrong with it?" she asked hopefully, to which Steve shook his head.
"I barely passed Mr. Bitner's small engines class. I could never get that stupid lawn mower to start. So, your guess is as good as mine."
"Civilization it is, then. Shall we?"
…
"Well, this is promising."
Before them stood a large log cabin that looked like it had been refurbished for the sole purpose of tourism. Signs promising parking and gifts and wonderful attractions were plentiful, all of which seemed to gravitate towards the cabin itself, which was named by a large yellow sign sitting atop its highest point.
"Mystery Shack." Robin read aloud. "Kinda rustic for being in the future, isn't it?"
Steve found himself agreeing. If he was being honest, being here almost made him feel like he'd stepped backward a few years instead of forward. This "Mystery Shack" definitely had an older feel about it, despite the fact that it looked as though it had been added to just recently, as some of the wood constituting some of its outer structure was certainly newer than the main building's.
"More like Mystery Mansion," Steve said as the two of them approached the large building.
Looking around the parking lot, Steve noticed that even though there was room for quite a few cars in the big empty space, there only seemed to be two in the lot in total.
One was a rusty looking pickup truck, and the other Steve recognized as an old Impala El Diablo. He raised an eyebrow at the sight.
"We're in the future and this guy drives an old El Diablo? That was my dad's first car."
"You're not thinking, Steve," Robin said. "It's likely these people value vintage just as much now as they did back then. To them, that car is like if you saw a Thunderbird or something."
The realization clicked in Steve's head after a moment, and Robin smirked in response to his enlightened expression.
"So we'll be local celebrities if we get that Dart fixed up…"
"Let's not get our hopes up."
A look at a sign listed the shack as closed with a list of tour times posted adjacent, which Steve supposed did explain the lack of cars if they were in between tours at the moment. The sign then proceeded to direct them to the gift shop, which was open from ten in the morning to seven at night. So, the two of them walked around the shack proper to the gift shop on the side. A small porch with a soda machine, a penny press, and a freezer greeted them, with the vending machine advertising some sort of "Pitt Cola" that Steve had never heard of before. He chalked it up to being some kind of future soda as he stepped up onto the porch itself and reached for the handle to the screen door.
"Wait! We should get our story straight first," Robin said. Steve frowned back at her.
"We're Steve and Robin, our car broke down, and we're trying to call a tow truck, sound good?" Steve said back impatiently.
"And if they ask where we're from?"
"Hawkins, Indiana."
"And why we're here?"
"On our way to Portland to your cousin's wedding. Seriously Robin, let's not make this difficult."
"Steve! We have no idea what the future is like! Portland may not even exist anymore! What if tow trucks were rendered obsolete ten years ago? They're going to peg us as out of place immediately! What happens if they find out we are from 1985?"
Steve rolled his eyes.
"I know that sci-fi is like a thing with you and Dustin and all those other nerds, but considering that this place is twenty-eight years in the future and I still have yet to see anything drastically different from our time, I think it's safe to say things are pretty much the same."
Robin looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself.
"I guess I'm just…disappointed, honestly," she finally said.
Steve looked at her, then chuckled as well.
"Yeah, I think we both are."
Robin gave him a questioning look and Steve returned it with a sheepish smile.
"I was…kinda hoping we'd see a flying car or something, but instead all we saw was a rusty truck and a car that's older than we are. Not exactly a good first impression."
Robin chuckled. It was nice to hear her laugh. With her initial nervousness successfully quelled, Steve pushed open the door to the gift shop and walked inside, Robin close behind.
Immediately, the two of them were greeted by a scene of what Steve had come to know as the golden standard of gift shop appearances. Shelves and cases full of overpriced knicknacks lined the walls, each one promising itself to be one of a kind despite the obviously mass-produced nature of them all. Flyers and maps all jumped out at them as well from racks and other shelving units, promising discounts on amazing tours and the best sights to see as well as background information on the town itself. None of this interested Steve, and thankfully he was saved from the eyesore by a voice coming from his left.
"Welcome to the Mystery Shack gift shop," said a flat and monotone female voice that sounded like it had been forced to say that line a million times.
"Tours are every hour and the gift shop is open until seven. No refunds."
Steve looked over and saw a teenager sitting behind the cash register with her feet propped up on the counter, her eyes glued to a magazine that sat in her lap as she absentmindedly thumbed through it. The girl herself was dressed in a green and black checkered flannel and blue jeans, and her fiery waist-length hair was covered by a brown and faded bomber cap.
While he sized her up, Steve noticed that the girl was actually very attractive, and her bored expression, while certainly unappealing when worn by most people, almost seemed to work in her favor, giving her a laid-back look that people could be comfortable around. Had Steve still been in high school, he might have considered asking her out, but now that he had graduated, he decided to drop dating high-schoolers unless they were seniors, and this girl looked like she'd be right on the cusp of being too young for him.
With that in mind, Steve looked sideways at Robin and smirked deeply when he saw that her cheeks were tinted ever so slightly with color. Robin had told him a while ago that despite her crush on Tammy Thompson, she'd always had a soft spot for redheads, and this one had red hair to spare.
"You got this one."
…
Steve gave Robin a half reassuring shoulder touch, half push towards the counter, and she stumbled forward for a moment before righting herself and glaring daggers at him. He returned her glare with a wink and then turned around like he was even halfway interested in the cheap merchandise that was in this gift shop. He really was the worst sometimes.
Turning her attention back to the girl, who still hadn't looked up from her magazine, Robin stepped forward with a confidence she didn't exactly feel and cleared her throat, causing the girl to look up at her for the first time, and Robin immediately felt herself falter as she noticed that this girl had really beautiful eyes.
Seriously? Get a hold of yourself, Robin.
"Hello," Robin said, giving a slight smile to the girl. "I'm Robin."
Great opener.
The girl looked Robin up and down, then gave a friendly enough smile in return.
"I'm Wendy."
"Nice to meet you, Wendy. I'm Robin."
Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"And I…said that already, didn't I? Wow, I am sorry. That is not…"
"No worries, Robin," Wendy said. Her easy smile never left her face. "Now I've got no excuse to forget your name. Saves me the whole awkward part of asking it again after we've already met."
Robin breathed out a small laugh at Wendy's good humor.
"So, what can I help you with today?" Wendy said, folding her magazine and removing her boots from the counter to sit up.
"Our uh, car died just a bit up the road there," Robin said, slapping herself internally for forgetting their whole purpose here in the first place. "And we were wondering if we could use your phone to call a mechanic."
"Sure," Wendy replied. The redheaded girl then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small gray device that Robin had never seen before. It looked like the same small calculator that the girl at the motel had been using, except this one held a few different changes that Robin could notice as Wendy slid the device across the counter towards her.
"Knock yourself out," Wendy said gesturing to the device good-naturedly. "You know what number to call?"
Robin stared blankly at the gray object on the counter, confused for a few moments at what she was supposed to do, then it hit her.
Wait a second… this little thing was a phone?
At last, something futuristic and evolved! Robin reached down and plucked the small device from the counter, turning its tiny frame over in her hands and examining all of its grooves and features with excited eyes. Further inspection revealed that the device actually flipped open, and Robin slowly opened the phone up to see a digital screen on the top side and a keypad with numbers and letters assigned to each key on the bottom.
Reaching forward slowly, Robin pressed down on the "1" key, and before her eyes, the number 1 appeared on the top screen. It operated just like a calculator, but this thing could talk to other phones wirelessly. How was such a thing even possible?
Realizing that she'd been exploring the wonders of the next century without any shame or cognizance of where she was, Robin's gaze snapped back to Wendy to see the red-haired girl looking slightly sheepish.
"Yeah, I know, kinda retro of me to still be using a flip phone, right? I mean, I know they're old, but I still kind of like using it. At the very least I can still slam it shut after a bad conversation, right?"
Robin's eyes widened. There were phones that were more advanced than this? What did those look like?
"I think it's perfect," she said without thinking, internally kicking herself for the absolute fanaticism for the new technology she no doubt just showed. Wendy smiled back in response, then she seemed to contemplate for a moment.
"You know, you could call the mechanic in town and have him come get your car, but if it's not far away, maybe ol' Mr. Mystery himself could take a look at it. He's pretty good with his hands, and if he can't fix it, then you can take it into town. No worries."
"Mr. Mystery?" Robin asked aloud.
"Yeah, my boss. Before he took over the place, he used to be the resident handyman. He turbocharged the Mystery Cart one time with nitrous oxide, so I'm sure he'd be willing to take a look at your car."
Robin considered her offer, then turned to see Steve having what appeared to be a staring contest with a jar full of fake eyeballs. To no one's surprise, Steve lost the contest, and Robin caught his eye and beckoned him over to the counter. Introductions were made, then Robin repeated Wendy's offer to have "Mr. Mystery" take a look at their vehicle. Steve seemed hopeful, but his eyes cast some doubts.
"Does Mr. Mystery work with older cars?" Steve asked Wendy.
"Well, he does work on his truck, and I'm like ninety percent sure that thing is old enough to collect social security. How old are we talking here?"
Steve and Robin shared a look of uncertainty, but before either of them could answer, a new voice filled the gift shop, causing both of them to flinch at the sudden loudness.
"Welcome to the Mystery Shack, explorers of the unknown!"
Steve and Robin both turned to see a large man in his early to mid-twenties step into the gift shop from behind a door marked "Employees Only".
The man was dressed in a clean but slightly ill-fitting black suit and jacket with a maroon bow tie to match. Atop his head sat a maroon-colored fez that matched the color of his tie with a strange yellow crescent shape printed on the front. In his left hand, the man also carried a small scepter with an eight-ball from a pool table at the head. All in all, he looked like some kind of salesman or showperson, and Robin pegged him right off the bat as this Mr. Mystery they'd just been hearing about.
As the man gleefully approached them, Robin watched with a humored gaze as Mr. Mystery briefly faltered and hastily fished into his pocket with his free hand. After rummaging around for a moment, the large man pulled out a black eyepatch and fixed it over his perfectly functional left eye before starting forward again. Next to her, Steve squinted in disbelief, and Robin found herself agreeing with him. Just what kind of tourist trap had they fallen into?
"Before we go any further, tell me something you two youngsters…"
Youngsters? This guy could not have been older than twenty-five at the most .
"...what do the two of you know about the mysteries and anomalies of the universe?"
The man had lowered his voice to a mystical and serious tone, and Robin had to at least give him some credit. He certainly was enthusiastic. So enthusiastic that this little pitch he was giving might have worked on some other folks, but on two people that had just arrived from Hawkins, Indiana after surviving demons from alternate dimensions and infiltrating Russians? Oh and who also happened to have just arrived here from the mid 1980s? Mr. Mystery would have to do better than that.
"I'd say a little bit," came Steve's humored reply. "Not much, but a little bit."
To everyone but Robin, it might have seemed like Steve was humoring Mr. Mystery, and she smirked and tried to hide her wide grin by pretending to sneeze.
"Ah! Then allow me to be your guide to the weirdness of the world!" Mr. Mystery said, throwing his free arm over Steve's shoulders and gesturing to what Robin guessed to be a proverbial horizon with his eight-ball scepter.
"But be warned! Before this is over, you may find yourself questioning everything, even the most mundane of objects you may be suspicious of! Something as simple as a tape measure you might scrutinize for hiding more than meets your eyes!"
"Yeah, way ahead of you there…" Steve said as he shifted uncomfortably.
"Actually, Soos," Wendy said from the counter. "These dudes just had their car break down a little ways up the road. I told them you might be able to take a look at it?"
"Oh, for real?" Mr. Mystery, or Soos, as he was apparently called, said. Immediately, his whole demeanor changed as the salesperson persona was dropped in the span of a second. As if flipping a switch, he removed his arm from Steve's shoulders and relaxed his posture.
"Is that true, dudes? You guys run into some mechanical trouble in your car? Want me to take a look at it?"
"That'd be great if it's not too much trouble," Robin said hopefully. With a start, Robin realized that between her and Steve, neither of them had much in the way of money. She had a few bucks in cash, but she doubted that twenty-eight years of inflation had been good to them, so as it stood, they both were flat broke.
"Great! I got to give a tour in about fifteen minutes, but I can have Mrs. Mystery watch the counter while Wendy tows your car to the Shack. Then I can take a look at it after the tours are done for the day!"
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Steve said, sharing in Robin's surprise at the kindness they were being shown by these complete strangers. "Anything we can do to help out?"
"No need!" Soos replied cheerfully as he fished out a set of keys from his pocket and handed them over to Wendy. "Just let the Mystery Staff work its magic!"
A few minutes later, Steve and Robin had both met Mrs. Mystery, or Melody, as she was really called, and had piled into Soos's truck with Wendy at the helm to tow the car back to the Mystery Shack.
One the way up the dirt track, Wendy amicably made conversation with the two.
"So, where are you guys from anyway?"
"We're from Hawkins, Indiana," Robin ventured from the back seat. "I…don't suppose you've heard of it?"
Wendy shook her head.
"Sorry dude, can't say that I have. Never really been out to the Midwest before. Anything interesting out there in Hawkins?"
"Nah, unless you count how supernaturally forgettable that place is. Best thing the town contributes is a brief stop for gas on your way to Disneyland," Steve said with a shake of his head. Robin couldn't help but admire how easily that lie rolled off his tongue.
"Huh, sounds kinda like Gravity Falls," Wendy said. "Last exciting thing to happen here was Pioneer Day, as if dressing up like folks from the 1800s could ever rile folks into a frenzy."
Robin smiled at her joke, but Steve turned and looked at Wendy for a moment, a look on his face that Robin couldn't immediately recognize. Robin looked at him questioningly, but Steve shrugged it off and turned back to face the road as their car came into view.
"Whoa," Wendy said. "That's your ride? You guys really do go for retro. Stan is gonna love this when he sees it."
Neither of them inquired as to this Stan person Wendy was talking about, as they immediately set to work hooking up the frame of the Dart to the trailer hitch of Soos's truck. Thankfully, Soos kept a tow strap in the back, and after a brief familiarization, the three of them had successfully hooked up the Dart and had started back towards the shack. Wendy stayed in the truck, and Steve and Robin sat in the Dart with Steve steering the car and ensuring that tension was kept on the tow strap. As soon as they were moving steadily, Robin spoke up.
"What happened back there? For a second, it looked like Wendy had said something wrong when she mentioned that Pioneer Day thing."
"It wasn't about the Pioneer Day," Steve said. "It was about how she said it. How she said that nothing happens in this town. It didn't sound natural. It sounded forced."
"Something Wendy said sounded forced? Steve, she's been nothing but laid back since we've met her."
"That's exactly how I caught it," Steve replied. "Her tone, her pace, it's all agreeable, but when she talked about Gravity Falls, it felt like she was glossing over something, just not as smoothly as she would have liked."
"Well, maybe it's just the mannerisms of the 21st century, Steve. After all, we've only been here for about three hours, so there's probably plenty of social cues we haven't caught onto yet."
Steve smirked then.
"Maybe, but I'd say some of us are catching on a bit slower than others…"
Robin pursed her lips. She knew exactly where Steve was going with this, but she would most certainly not be giving him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.
Yes, as far as introductions with Wendy had gone, she could have done better, but in her defense, she'd had a lot on her mind, namely the fact that she was a girl out of time, and not just by a few years, no this was an entire twenty-eight years. Nearly one and a half of her life spans had flashed by and she hadn't caught any of it, so forgive her if she was just a little bit nervous when first talking to Wendy. Plus, Wendy's rugged lumberjack look had caught Robin completely off guard. No one back in Hawkins, or at least 1985 Hawkins, dressed like that, and if they did, Robin had no doubt they'd be ridiculed into oblivion for it. It was just pleasantly new to see someone dress how they wanted.
The trip back took slightly longer due to Wendy going slow so as not to strain the Dart, but soon, the three of them had arrived back at the Mystery Shack, and Robin noticed that quite a few more cars now occupied the spacious parking lot that the shack sported. The next tour must have been in full swing by now. And Robin imagined Soos turning on his Mr. Mystery charm to the maximum for a crowd of tourists. The thought almost made her laugh as she imagined him swinging his eight-ball scepter around wildly and presenting a slew of "strange" and "odd" exhibits that were more likely to be made of cheap plastic and not in any way authentic.
After situating the Dart in front of the Shack away from the other parked cars, the three of them strolled back into the gift shop, greeting Melody as they entered and returned the truck keys.
"Sup Mel," Wendy said amicably as she approached the counter. "Anything exciting happen while we were out?"
"The only thing you missed was me bumping up the prices for the usual end-of-tour rush," Melody said with a smile. Robin watched, slightly dumbfounded as Melody picked up a snow globe with a miniature version of the Mystery Shack inside and thumbed the price tag, which priced the object at seven dollars.
Without hesitation, Melody produced a pen from her pocket and managed to squeeze a "1" between the seven and the dollar sign, effectively now pricing the snow globe at seventeen dollars. Robin stared at Melody in disbelief, but the woman didn't seem to notice anything wrong as she placed the snow globe back onto the shelf and selected another one, likely to repeat the process.
"Uh, does that actually work?" Steve asked, giving voice to the question that Robin had floating around in her mind as well.
"More than you know, dudes," Wendy said with a chuckle. The teenager glanced at her watch, then gestured with her head to another door opposite the entrance to the gift shop.
"Watch this."
As if on cue, the door burst open to reveal Soos in full Mr. Mystery Mode, his bravado and showmanship on proud display for the semi-large tour group that he ushered into the gift shop behind him.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we conclude our tour of Mystery at the Mystery Shack's very own gift shop, where even more oddities and anomalies reside. One of a kind, each and every one!"
Soos sauntered over to a barrel that was filled to the brim with keychains with little question marks on them.
"Take, for instance, some of the Mystery Shack's trademark keychains. Each one is like a snowflake, distinctly different than the one before it, so why not take two or three?"
Soos scooped a few clearly identical keychains out of the barrel and let them drop back down in a show of pizazz.
"We also have authentic Mystery Shack apparel for sale," Soos then added, swooping over to a rack of dark green t-shirts that had a darkened question mark painted on the front. "It is said that if you don the shirt of Mystery, then every sentence you speak will be in the form of a question! Isn't that right, Mrs. Mystery?"
Melody smiled broadly, and Robin noticed that she happened to be wearing a shirt exactly like the ones on the rack, though hers had the word "STAFF" printed on the back in the same color and font as the question mark.
"That's right, Mr. Mystery, or is it?"
The crowd made sounds of excitement and wonder at Melody's question-answer, and Robin's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she realized that Soos was actually selling them on this. It wasn't even like they were just humoring him. They actually seemed to genuinely be falling for the obvious con he was running.
"It's like a gullibility contest over there," she heard Steve murmur from next to her. "And we're the suckers for watching it."
"Who knows?" Robin said with a smile. "Maybe the standard for common sense isn't all that high in the future."
Steve's head slowly turned to give her a pained look as the thought became a very real possibility in his mind, and Robin stifled a snort when she realized that even Steve "The Dingus" Harrington had his limits.
After a few more outlandish sales pitches, Soos released the eager crowd into the shop, and patrons were almost clamoring over each other to get to the merchandise. Soos proudly watched for a few moments, then came over to the counter when he saw Steve and Robin.
"Well dudes, what did you think?"
"I think you just might be the greatest salesman I've ever seen," Steve said, crossing his arms and staring with disbelief at two people arguing over a mounted trout that had fur instead of scales on it.
Wendy laughed at his comment, and Robin did everything in her power to ignore the small sumersault her stomach did at the sound.
"Aw thanks dude!" Soos said, oblivious to the undertone that Steve had given. "Did you guys get your car out here okay?"
"Yes! And once again, thank you so much for offering to help us!" Robin said.
"No problem," Soos replied enthusiastically. "Those folks were my last tour of the day, so let me get changed out and into my tool belt and we'll see what we can do about fixin' her up!"
…
After the last of the customers had gone for the day, Soos had changed out of his suit and tie and into a pair of shorts and a dark green mystery staff t-shirt like the one Melody was wearing. He'd also dawned a toolbelt with a promising assortment of devices on it before heading out to take a look at the car. Steve followed to lend a hand, and Robin offered to stay behind with the ladies and restock the gift shop and help clean. It was the least she could do after they'd already done so much to help them.
Despite the events of the day, Robin couldn't help but feel herself relax as she exchanged conversation with Melody and Wendy. The two of them were very kind and genuine, and Robin actually enjoyed herself as they continued to clean, organize, and restock the gift shop. Before long, the warm summer sun began to dip below the trees, casting the gift shop in a pleasant orange glow that Robin found very soothing.
As the last of their chores came to a close, the gift shop door opened again and Steve and Soos stepped in. Both of them had a few grease marks from working on the car, and Steve had chosen to remove his jacket in favor of not getting it dirty. Robin looked at him hopefully as to the condition of the Dart, but Soos spoke up before he could give her anything.
"I got good news and bad news," Soos said. Robin noticed that his voice still carried an upbeat tone, so she took that as a good sign.
"What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that your car won't be going anywhere for a while. I checked the engine, and it's completely shot. I don't know exactly what went wrong, but you're probably going to need a new one."
Robin's stomach dropped. Engines did not come cheap. She remembered how much it had cost to replace the Dart back when she'd totalled it in 1983, and that had been the most expensive purchase she'd ever made..
"In addition, everything in your car is old, dude," Soos continued. "It's not, like, broken or anything, but that car was made in like, the late 70s. I don't even think they make parts for it anymore."
The bad news was getting worse by the second. Robin sincerely hoped that the good news would be coming soon. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
Thankfully, Soos perked up.
"The good news is that despite how old everything is, it's in remarkable condition! Despite all the parts and specs being made over thirty years ago, everything has aged remarkably well! I've never seen a car in such good shape for its age!"
Steve and Robin shared a glance.
"Even better is that even though the engine is shot, I'm sure I can find you dudes another one with no problem! Even if they don't make parts for it anymore, there's bound to still be some!"
Robin felt a bit of weight lift from her shoulders.
"And at the very least, if we can't find an exact replacement, we can just find another compatible engine and use that instead!"
"Soos, that sounds great and all," Steve began. "But we can't exactly afford a new engine right now. I don't even know if we can pay you for your trouble of towing it out here."
"Well, I've actually thought about that, dudes," Soos said as he removed his toolbelt and leaned up against the counter.
"I don't know if you guys are in a hurry, but it's gonna probably be a little while before your car gets fixed up. So, if you two are stranded here, then I'd like to offer you both jobs at the Mystery Shack until your car gets fixed!"
Robin and Steve stared for a second, and a pregnant pause fell over the gift shop.
"Let me get this straight," Steve said in disbelief. "You're offering to fix our car and give us the jobs to pay for it? I mean, you're definitely going above and beyond to try and help us out here, man, but I don't see how any of this benefits you."
"Well, you dudes probably don't know this, but the Mystery Shack has undergone some serious renovations over the last year," Soos said. "I mean, our customer base has surged for some reason ever since—"
"—ever since we started our new website!" Melody quickly finished, cutting Soos off in the middle of his sentence. A look over at her and Wendy betrayed a flash of nervousness that surprised Robin completely, even Soos suddenly seemed apprehensive for a second.
Then as quickly as it came, the moment passed, and the three Mystery Shack employees went on like nothing happened.
"Yeah, our new website!" Soos repeated. "Because of that, I've had to have a whole new wing added on to the place, and customers are still demanding more! Wendy is great and all, but I'm gonna need some help if I can hope to keep up with my audience. I swear, it's like they're sucking me dry!"
Robin found herself questioning who was actually getting squeezed here when she remembered the outrageous prices on the merchandise here in the shop. She also had no idea what a website was, but she dismissed the thought as unimportant for now.
"The point is, the Shack needs some more members if we're gonna keep up, and since I was already thinking about hiring some help anyway, I'd figured I'd extend the offer to you guys! So, what do you say?"
A look over at Melody showed that she seemed to be onboard with the prospect, and Wendy gave Robin a thumbs up in encouragement as well. She then looked over at Steve, searching his face for a sign as to whether he was completely for or against the idea. She saw conflict on his face, and she politely excused them both so that they could discuss the idea further.
The two of them exited the gift shop and stepped out onto the porch for some privacy, leaving Soos, Melody, and Wendy behind them. A moment of silence passed, then Robin turned to her friend.
"So, what do you think?"
"I think something weird is going on here, Robin," Steve said, walking to the edge of the porch and back in a thoughtful pace. "These guys are nice, like really nice, almost too nice, even, but there's something they're not telling us."
"Well, it is the Mystery Shack, after all," Robin said with a forced laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood. Steve glared at her with a look that clearly conveyed that she wasn't helping.
"Yeah, I…noticed it too," she conceded. "It's like something happened here that they'd rather not talk about, and…"
Robin smirked then.
"...and I guess that means we'd fit right in here wouldn't we? We're like two missing attractions from the Mystery Shack. 'Two teenagers out of their own time!'"
Steve made a shushing noise and held his finger to his lips, reminding Robin that the door to the gift shop was not especially thick.
"Sorry, but you've got to admit, it is pretty ironic."
"I know. Believe me, the thick blanket of irony that has been covering me for the last few days has not gone unnoticed."
Steve was silent for a moment, then he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I guess, until we figure out how to get home, this is the best we can do. With any luck, maybe we can find that time guy hiding out here and eventually get back to Hawkins. He can't have gone far with his broken time machine."
Steve stared out at the treeline, likely contemplating what it would take to find that man again.
Robin nodded.
"Hey, and maybe while we are at it, we can find out what it is they're hiding out here in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls. You up for another round of super-spy fun, Popeye ?"
Steve gave her a look, then chuckled.
"Can't help it can you? At least this time I don't have to wear that stupid uniform."
"Do you want to tell them the good news, or should I?"
…
Soos had let his excitement at the acceptance of his offer show by enveloping them both in a tight and rather unexpected hug, crushing both Steve and Robin to himself as a "Welcome Aboard" initiation to the Mystery Shack.
Upon being let go, Steve had breathlessly inquired as to an interview process, which Soos assured them was not necessary, as he considered himself to be an excellent judge of character. It was then that the biggest surprise had come, which was the fact that Soos offered both Steve and Robin a place to stay at the Shack, courtesy of the numerous rooms that had been added since the renovation. Soos then began to discuss how he'd only need to move a few attractions around to make two rooms available when Robin, perhaps a bit too hastily, suggested that the two of them could share a room, making it completely unnecessary to clear out another room just to accommodate them. She glanced nervously at Steve hoping that he wouldn't object, and was immensely relieved when he simply shrugged his shoulders.
With their living arrangements now solidified, Soos excused himself to go and make sure their room was ready, and Steve followed him again to offer assistance. Once the men had left the room, Wendy turned and addressed Robin and Melody.
"Well, I'd love to stick around a bit more, but I promised my dad spaghetti and jerky tonight for dinner. It's his favorite."
"Sounds…tantalizing," Robin said with slight bewilderment.
Spaghetti and jerky? Robin tried to imagine what Wendy's father looked like, and after wrestling with her subconscious for a second, she settled on an image of a similarly flannel clad lumberjack man, which did fit the bill for a hardy dinner of pasta and dried meat.
I'll see you dudes tomorrow," Wendy said, grabbing her bag off the ground and a bicycle helmet stowed right next to it. "Looking forward to working with you, Robin!"
"Yeah, same here!" Robin said as Wendy shut the door to the gift shop behind her. She stared after the door for a moment, then turned to see Melody beginning to shut off the lights in the gift shop.
"Well, I'd better get started on dinner," Melody said.
"Oh! Let me help you with that!" Robin said eagerly. There was no way that she wasn't going to help out every single chance she got now that her and Steve were quite literally having all of their needs taken care of by Soos and Melody.
"That would be great if you could," Melody said with a relieved tone. "Family dinners can get pretty packed around here now that the Pines are back in town."
"Pines?"
As if on cue, the door to the gift shop flew open with a loud bang, causing Robin to nearly jump out of her skin as a short girl in a homemade sweater with a shooting star on it burst through the wooden portal.
"Boom! Entrance! Fireworks!" the girl called out in a voice that showed a level of energy that Robin didn't even think was possible. As if to compound her point, the girl stuffed her hands into her pockets and drew out two handfuls of multi-colored confetti before throwing them into the air in a cloud of rainbow paper.
"Bwaaaaa!" she said as a sound effect to her confetti explosion before striking a pose and freezing there. Robin stared at her, trying to figure out if the girl in front of her was having a stroke or not. Hell, maybe Robin herself was the one having a stroke.
"Mabel, you know you're going to have to clean that up, right?" came a younger male voice from behind the girl as another figure entered the room.
This one was a young boy, and the first thing that Robin noticed was that the two newcomers before her bore a very similar appearance. Both looked to be about the same height, both had medium brown hair, their eyes were the same color…
"Oh twin of mine, tis but a small price to pay for such a grand entrance!" the girl, Mabel apparently, said with a hand raised for dramatic effect. "After all, only the finest greetings must be observed for fair lady Melody and…"
The girl trailed off as she noticed Robin for the first time, but her enthusiasm returned almost immediately.
"...this person!"
The boy pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, the bill of his hat swinging back and forth as he did so. Robin noticed that the hat was of a white and blue color with the image of a pine tree printed on the front. It seemed to suit the boy well in addition to his orange t-shirt and vest that he wore over the top. At first glance, he faintly reminded Robin of that Dustin Henderson kid that she'd gotten to know this summer, at least based off his appearance.
"You'll have to excuse Mabel," he said directly to Robin. "She doesn't exactly ease into first impressions."
"No I don't!" Mabel agreed, thrusting her hand forward in the offering of a handshake which Robin tentatively accepted. "It sure as heck beats the whole awkward introduction phase though! Mabel Pines, matchmaker extraordinaire, at your service!"
"Robin Buckley," Robin replied as Mabel vigorously shook her hand.
"And I'm Dipper," the boy said politely offering a handshake of his own. "Mabel is my twin sister."
Robin was thankful to find Dipper's handshake a lot less turbulent than his sister's, and she offered him a small smile.
"You guys showed up just in time to meet the newest member of the Mystery Staff," Melody said. "Robin and her friend Steve are going to be working here now to help with the increased customer load."
"Two new people," Dipper mused. "Wait, Wendy didn't quit, did she?"
Melody laughed.
"Of course not, she'll just have some extra help now around the shop."
Both Dipper and Mabel turned to look at Robin contemplatively.
"So, uh, are you from around here? In Gravity Falls, I mean?"
The question seemed a bit pointed to Robin, but she answered the young teenager with honesty.
"No, actually. Steve and I are both from a small town called Hawkins, Indiana. I doubt you two have heard of it though. Not much really goes on there."
Robin felt her smile falter a bit as the twins shared a glance. Some sort of apprehension seemed to pass between them for a moment, then they both smiled and welcomed her to the Mystery Shack, though their demeanor seemed to have shifted a little bit. Even Mabel's overwhelming giddiness seemed to diminish slightly.
"Awesome! Can't wait to get to know you better, Robin!"
"Actually, you two are probably going to get to know her very well," Melody replied. "Soos offered to let her and Steve shack up at the Shack for a little while."
Dipper's face grew nervous, but Mabel's split into a genuine grin of excitement from ear to ear.
"Roomies!" she shouted. "We're gonna have slumber parties, makeovers, secret pillow forts! I am not going to let this opportunity pass me by!"
Wait, these kids lived at the Mystery Shack too? So now, assuming Soos and Melody lived here, that meant that there would be a grand total of six of them living under one roof? The Shack was big, but Robin didn't think it was that big.
"And we can dye Soos's grandma's hair when she isn't looking!"
And a grandma. Seven. Great.
"Wait, Melody," Dipper asked in a worried voice. "Is there still going to be enough room when Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford arrive in a week?"
"Oh sure, Dipper," Melody said with a dismissive wave. "Soos has had their rooms arranged for weeks now. He won't stop talking about how excited he is to see your Grunkle Stan again."
And soon to be nine…maybe living here wasn't such a good idea after all.
The fact that his "Grunkles" would still have room to crash at the Shack seemed to pull Dipper from his worried state, and he sighed once again in relief before excusing himself politely, Mabel following closely behind as they disappeared behind the "Employees Only" door and into the shack itself. Melody beckoned Robin to follow her, and the two of them entered through the door as well and into what appeared to be a living room with shag carpeting with a television set that looked old now but would have been cutting edge in 1985 sitting opposite from a large armchair.
Melody turned right in the living room and led Robin through a small entryway with another door that led to the outside before turning right again and leading Robin into what she immediately recognized as a kitchen. Most of the appliances like the oven and fridge looked worn and well-used, but Robin still found herself admiring them, as these appliances were still advanced by 1985 standards.
When Melody asked how much experience Robin had with cooking, Robin was proud to say that she had been cooking dinners since she was about the twins' age. She left out the part about her parents not really enjoying the prospect of domestic chores, but she assured Melody that as long as it wasn't too complicated of a recipe that she could keep up just fine.
As it turned out, Robin needn't have worried at all, as the two large casseroles they ended up preparing for the Shack residents may have had a lot of ingredients, but they were hardly difficult by any means. Mixing together the noodles, cheese, and vegetables offered Robin a sense of normalcy that she hadn't really felt since leaving Hawkins, and she once again found herself slipping into a very comfortable rhythm as her and Melody worked around the kitchen.
"So, are Dipper and Mabel your kids?" Robin asked innocently enough. She was still having a hard time figuring out exactly how everyone fit into the picture here.
"Oh no," Melody said light-heartedly. She then explained that up until last year, the Mystery Shack had been owned by a man named Stan Pines, or Dipper and Mabel's "Grunkle Stan". Soos had been an employee here since he was a child, and at the end of last summer, Stan had passed ownership of the Mystery Shack onto him. The twins had first come into the picture last summer when they had visited Gravity Falls from California and had lived with Stan here in the Shack. So now, even though Stan didn't own the Shack anymore, Soos and Melody were more than happy to still provide a place to stay for the twins on their second summer up here in Oregon, as Soos considered them just as much a part of his family as his own grandmother.
Stan, and his own twin brother, Ford, had been spending the last year sailing around the world, and they would be back in about a week or so to unwind and spend some time with their great niece and nephew. Soos, as Melody had already hinted at, all but worshiped Stan as a father figure, so he was just as excited as the twins to see the old man again.
The smell of baking casseroles soon permeated throughout the Shack as they neared completion, drawing Dipper and Mabel from their room in the Shack's attic and down into the kitchen, where they opened a few cabinets and drawers with familiarity and began to set the large table that dominated the kitchen. Two extra chairs were brought in to make room for Steve and Robin, and Melody noted with a hint of laughter that they'd likely have to move their dinners into the parlor once Stan and Ford arrived, as feeding nine people in a space as small as this kitchen could get really cramped really quick.
"I just hope that Grunkle Stan doesn't start insisting that he cooks when he gets here," Dipper said as he set out napkins and condiments on the table. "I think I ate enough brown meat last summer to last me a lifetime."
Robin inquired as to what this "brown meat" was that Dipper was talking about, and in response the young teen opened a cabinet that was filled with cans labeled as such.
"He started hoarding those cans in preparation for the apocalypse if it ever came. I always thought he was kinda crazy for doing it, but I guess I ended up eating my words, and we all ended up eating brown meat."
Dipper seemed to be suddenly lost in a memory, and Robin raised an eyebrow.
"You…ended up eating your words? So, was he right or something?"
Dipper's eyes shot open in terror.
"What?! No, no of course not! We…uh…we just lost power for a few days and the car ran out of gas, so we couldn't get any groceries for a while."
Robin could tell that Dipper was lying through his teeth. Apparently he was just as bad at it as she was. But rather than press the issue that he clearly didn't want to talk about, she decided to give him an out.
"So…I'm guessing this canned meat of his isn't exactly five-star quality?"
The relief on Dipper's face was immediate.
"Yeah–I mean no! It tastes like heavily salted dirt. I have no idea how he was able to eat that stuff day after day."
"My broseph speaks the truth," Mabel said as she produced a page of stickers from her pocket and began accessorizing the silverware with small pictures of stars and rainbows. "How Grunkle Stan can continue to eat that sludge without any sprinkles or frosting for days at a time is unnatural."
"Mabel, you are definitely not one to talk. Your diet consists of 90% sugar. I'm fairly certain you would be tried for crimes against humanity if the USDA ever caught wind of your eating habits."
"Dipper, my palate is refined to the point of perfection," Mabel countered, stepping up onto a chair to prove her point. "It is not my fault that a dork such as yourself can't keep up with my exquisite tastes."
"You put melted caramel on a slice of pepperoni pizza last week, Mabel. I think I'm ok with not keeping up with your exquisite 'palate'."
"And thus, I am once again proven to be the alpha twin! I now hold dominance over you physically, tastefully, and of course…of course…"
Mabel's voice trailed off and her arms dangled limply at her sides as she seemed to enter a trance, her page of stickers falling to the floor next to her, utterly forgotten. Her jaw fell open slightly, giving Robin a slight view of her braces, and her eyes grew wide as she stared off at something in the distance. Both Robin and Dipper followed her gaze to see Soos and Steve enter the kitchen with what Robin assumed to be Soos' grandma.
"Hey dudes! The room is all set up. Oh hey, looks like everyone is here now, so we can finally get everyone introduced to each other. Grandma, this is Robin. Steve, this is Dipper and Mabel. Everyone, say hello to everyone!"
Robin shared a polite greeting with Soos' grandma, who insisted that Robin call her abuelita. And Steve exchanged a friendly handshake with Dipper.
"Nice to meet you Steve," Dipper said in a friendly enough tone.
"You too, man," Steve said, and Robin watched his eyes and saw a hint of recognition there as well. If Robin had seen the similarities between Dipper and Dustin, then there was no way that Steve had missed them. Steve had all but adopted Dustin as far as Robin could tell, so he was much more in tune with Dustin's traits than she was. Robin was just hopeful that Steve would get along with Dipper even half as easily as he got along with Dustin.
"And uh, nice to meet you as well," Steve said with an uncertain wave over to Mabel, who Robin quickly realized had been staring wide-eyed at Steve ever since he had entered the room.
"It's uh, Mabel right?"
Mabel said nothing, but nodded her head in a hypnotic fashion as she continued to stare at Steve as though he were made out of solid gold.
"Oh boy," Dipper said with a sigh. "This is gonna be fun…"
"Is there any particular reason she's standing on a chair?" Steve asked with a confused glance around the room.
"Just ignore her," Dipper said tiredly as he finished setting the table. "She'll snap out of it eventually."
A ding from the kitchen timer announced that the casseroles were done, and Robin turned away from the group to help Melody with the oven, but not before she swore she heard Mabel repeat Steve's name reverently under her breath.
Ah, that would explain Dipper's exasperated reaction. This was going to be interesting.
…
Steve felt himself relaxing immensely over the course of dinner. The casserole that Melody and Robin had whipped up was amazing, and Steve hungrily wolfed it down when he realized that he hadn't eaten at all that day. The recipe they had used was phenomenal, and with a small amount of humor, Steve noted that he was literally eating food from the future. When he thought about it, he supposed that he had been expecting tiny astronaut capsules that grew when you poured water on them, but this was far better, as there was nothing like a homemade casserole to end the day on a high note.
Conversation drifted between topics rather easily, though Steve couldn't help but notice that Mabel kept stealing glances at him throughout dinner. The young girl had recovered from her initial stupor and had finally sat down to eat some time ago, but Steve noticed that she had been mildly reserved throughout the meal. Apparently, that was not a common occurrence, and Steve noticed a few concerned looks in her direction from Soos, Melody, and Dipper as the night went on. Even Robin looked at her strangely at one point, and when Steve inquisitively caught her eye, she shrugged and silently promised to explain everything to him later.
Once the meal was finished, everyone helped clean up, which took hardly any time at all considering there were seven of them. Once the leftover casserole had been stored in the fridge and the dirty dishes had been loaded into the dishwasher, Soos showed Steve and Robin to their new room, which was situated in the expansion of the Mystery Shack. The room itself was nothing spectacular, but it had two beds, a closet and a dresser for each of them, which was more than enough for the two of them to live comfortably out of this room. As a bonus, Soos had installed a new bathroom just down the hall as part of the expansion, and the two of them wouldn't have to share it with anyone until Stan and Ford arrived. After making sure that the two of them had everything, Soos told them that they started work tomorrow morning at ten o'clock sharp before handing them both a dark green Mystery Staff t-shirt.
"I've got a good feeling about you dudes! I'll see you two in the morning!"
And with that, Soos shut the door to let them get settled in, the both of them having already retrieved their luggage from within the Dart's trunk and bringing it in with them.
For a little while, both Steve and Robin said nothing as they hung their clothes in the closet and settled into their new space. After a few minutes, Robin was mostly finished unpacking, so she sat down on her bed and took a deep breath.
"This was lucky, Steve. Like, we are super lucky that we ran into these guys."
Steve stopped unpacking and turned to face her.
"I mean, we are broke. Like actually broke. I have about three dollars in my pocket right now, and I don't know what you have, but it would definitely not have been enough to stay at a motel tonight. The fact that we are not sleeping in the Dart right now is nothing short of a miracle."
Steve considered for a moment, then nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah, you know as much as I know these guys are hiding something from us, I have to admit that they've been super amazing so far. It's almost been too perfect."
He was quiet for a moment.
"You don't think they're cannibals, do you?"
Robin snorted at the unexpected question and looked at him dubiously.
"Well, they do have a rather large assortment of cans labeled 'brown meat' in their cabinets. That might be indicative of something…"
"Wow, I was actually really hoping you'd have some evidence to prove me wrong. These doors lock, right?"
Robin laughed as Steve walked over to check, then she frowned as the memory of the brown meat in the cupboard stirred another memory from this evening.
"On a serious note though, that Dipper kid slipped up tonight and almost mentioned that thing that everyone's still refusing to talk about."
She had Steve's full attention then, and she proceeded to explain how Dipper had mentioned that his grunkle had stocked up for the apocalypse if it ever happened, and how apparently he had been right. Robin remembered how neurotic Dipper had been when she'd inquired further, and she voiced her observations to Steve.
"Wow, he kinda sounds like you."
Robin responded by throwing her pillow at his head, which he easily caught and placed right next to his on his bed.
"Mine now."
His face then grew serious again.
"What could have happened? Was there an earthquake or something? It's like some kind of disaster blew through this town, but everybody is too scared to talk about it. Did a serial killer run wild?"
Robin shook her head, but didn't offer any theories of her own. Knowing her, she probably had plenty of theories to explain it, but she was probably double and even triple-checking each one to ensure that it was flawless and air tight. Unfortunately, none of his theories possessed any of those traits, and if Robin had not offered one yet, then hers likely didn't either.
"Steve," she said. "If it was really that bad that no one wants to talk about it, then we definitely shouldn't stay here for long. I don't want to waste any time, so we need to find that time traveler guy as soon as possible. Tomorrow, we'll go into town as soon as we get the chance and file a police report. If they find the guy, then maybe we can get a hold of his time machine and get back to 1985."
That sounded like a smart idea. If they went into town, then maybe some of the other townspeople besides those that resided in the Mystery Shack could fill them in on what they had been missing out on. Steve really did not like being left in the dark about stuff. Who could blame him? The last time he was left out of the loop, he'd almost been eaten by the Demogorgon, and that definitely sat in the top three worst experiences of his life.
He agreed, then finally laid eyes on his bed sitting against the wall opposite Robin's. A thought crossed his mind, and his face split into a humored grin as he walked over to his mattress.
"Alright, let's get some sleep. We got work tomorrow, and I feel like I haven't slept in twenty-eight years."
Robin rolled her eyes at him.
"You literally just went for the lowest hanging fruit, dingus. That fruit was so low-hanging that it was practically resting on the ground."
"Don't be jealous that you didn't say it first," Steve replied. "Besides, all I did was take a page out of your book for that one."
"I would never make a joke as cheesy as that," Robin retorted, but they both knew she was lying. Robin would have made that joke in a heartbeat.
"Whatever you say, Buckley," Steve said with a laugh as he grabbed his toiletries and headed to the bathroom. "I got first dibs on the shower in the morning."
Robin opened her mouth to object, but Steve had already stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. All she could do was annoyedly walk over to his bed and snatch back her pillow, mumbling to herself as she did so.
"And so it begins…"
A/N: And there it is! Our two protagonists have made contact with the Mystery Crew! I admit, writing Gravity Falls characters is a lot of fun since I can afford to be a bit more silly and spontaneous with them, but it's also cool because they're developed with personalities of their own. That being said, don't hesitate to let me know if they feel off or characterized improperly, as that's always the number one thing that I watch out for when writing fanfic.
Additionally, I want to address a question that was posed by one of the readers, which was if the setting and visualization is live action or in the cartoon style of Gravity Falls. The answer, ironically, is a bit weird. As I write the story, I actually haven't altered the style of the characters at all, which means when I write a sentence with Steve or Robin as the subject, I picture them exactly as they appear in Stranger Things: full flesh and blood, 3D, etc. And when I write a sentence with Dipper and Mabel and the others, I see them as they appear in the cartoon, with their large heads and 2D bodies. And then when they're together, it's almost like the setting takes the shape of whoever I'm focused on at the moment. Take, for example, the scene where Robin and Melody are making dinner. When Robin is talking, I picture her chopping photorealistic vegetables with a 3D knife on a cutting board that you might get at any old store. Melody is visible in the background, but she's a blur at the moment, kind of like how objects in the distance blur when you're looking at something super close. You can see them both at the same time, but only one is in detail. And then when Melody talks, Robin blurs and we see her shredding 2D cheese into a bowl that was drawn by an artist employed by Disney. The style shifts just like that in my mind as I'm writing.
Sorry for the incredibly long and complex explanation, but I thought I'd give a bit of insight into how I visualize characters of different styles interacting with each other. With that in mind, however, I urge everyone to visualize the story however you please! If you're more comfortable viewing Steve and Robin in the Gravity Falls style of animation, then please do! I've already seen fanart of Steve in that style, and I think it looks pretty good. On the other hand, if you'd rather see Dipper and Mabel and everyone else as live-action versions of themselves, then go for it. Let the cosplay commence!
Sorry. I'm rambling a bit, but I hope that clears up any questions regarding the style. Thank you and I'll see you all next chapter!
-ImpulsiveWeaver