"Why the long face, Danny-boy?" Jack asked jovially, piling six more pancakes onto his plate.

"Nothing, dad." Danny tried to smile, but it came out looking strained. "I just, uh..." Danny glanced at Dipper, "I had a nightmare last night. That's all."

Dipper narrowed his eyes, but continued eating in silence. Mabel glanced between the two of them nervously before locking eyes with Jazz, who shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"Well then, you should all go outside after breakfast," Maddie said matter-of-factly, apparently not noticing the awkward tension. "Nothing like some good, energetic fun to shake off negative thoughts." She held out a bowl to Dipper. "More strawberries?"

"Thanks," Dipper muttered, taking it and starting to spoon the fruit onto his pancakes.

"You do like your breakfast, don't you?" Maddie asked, still looking at Dipper in some concern.

"Yeah, it's great." Dipper gave a forced smile, but Maddie still seemed worried. Danny noticed her gaze flicking to Dipper too often.

Even though he knew his mom was just anxious to make their guests comfortable, some of Danny's old nervousness started to seize him. Did she suspect something was off?

Jazz seemed to sense his apprehension. "Sorry mom, we're all just really tired this morning." She gave a laugh that was pitched just a little too high. "We stayed up really late last night."

Maddie frowned. "Was that you kids making all that noise last night?"

"What noise?" Danny asked quickly, coughing a little on his juice.

"We heard some bangs and yelling," Maddie said.

"I was sure a ghost was on the loose!" Jack said loudly.

Maddie rolled her eyes and sighed. "I convinced him to stay in bed, though. I thought it was just the neighbors." She looked at the four adolescents sitting around the table. "Did something happen? Are you kids okay?"

Dipper's face was pale. He was staring down at his food, looking scared. Danny had to suppress an impulse to glare at him. He was only going to make them more suspicious.

Mabel nudged Dipper and gave him a look. "Yeah, we're fine, Mrs. Fenton," Dipper said, making a more successful attempt at a smile. "Like Jazz said, we're just tired."

Maddie still looked a little worried, but stopped pressing. "Then you should all be sure to go to bed early tonight!" She took a bite of her pancakes.

Danny looked across the table at Dipper. He still had his head down, but at least he was eating. Dipper's eyes met Danny's for a brief moment before he quickly looked down again.

"What are you kids planning to do today?" Jack asked, apparently oblivious even to Maddie's slight discomfort.

"I was thinking of taking them around town," Danny said, trying to sound casual. "They haven't gotten a chance to see much of Amity Park yet."

"Good idea, sweetie!" Maddie said happily. "Maybe you can introduce them to Tucker and Sam, too!"

"Oh…" Danny glanced at Dipper again. "Yeah, maybe."

"You know, I should really take your friends ghost hunting sometime!" Jack started enthusiastically. "No better way to get them familiar with Amity!"

"Um, dad-" Danny started, but Jack went blathering on.

"I mean, I've already made a jumpsuit for Dipper here," He clapped Dipper heavily on the back so that the boy's face was almost dunked in syrup. "I'm sure it wouldn't be too much trouble to get his sister one too!"

"Dad, really, I don't think-" Danny started, but this time Jazz cut him off.

"You need to let them do what they want to do, dad!" Jazz said in her familiar bossy tone. "They're here to hang out with Danny, not you!"

"But Jazzy-pants, I-"

Jazz held up her hand to stop him. "I'm sure if they want ghost-hunting lessons, they'll ask you." She shot a slightly sarcastic, surreptitious look at Dipper. "Won't you?"

Dipper blushed a little and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Uh, yeah, sure." He quickly looked back down at his plate.

Jack looked disappointed. "But Dipper was so excited about it!" He looked over expectantly. "Weren't you?"

"I, uh, well…" Dipper glanced at him nervously, his fork hovering two inches from his mouth. "I mean, I…"

Danny watched Dipper struggling; he was clearly intimidated. The arm holding his fork was shaking a little, and it seemed somehow paler than the rest of him. Danny felt his stomach drop as he realized what was happening. Dipper's arm was draining of color. In a moment, Danny knew, it would be completely translucent.

"You know dad, we really should get going!" Danny interjected loudly, drawing all eyes to him. "We've got a big day ahead of us, you know!"

There was a clatter and a low gasp as Dipper's fork fell through his now intangible hand. As his parents' heads started to turn back toward the noise, Danny stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair over, ensuring that his parents' eyes flicked back to him.

"Come on, guys!" He said loudly, ignoring his parents' startled faces and looking pointedly at the twins. "It's about time I showed you the ropes."