Hello, hope youre good. this chapter contains fluff and cringe, but GOOD cringe xD
Xin helped the twins bathe, change and tucked them into bed. He gave them each a kiss on the forehead. Their irresponsible parents had been having wild sex somewhere so it was on him to take care of these little monsters. The pool actually worked because they went to sleep without protest. Xin smiled at them fondly and flicked the lights off before going to Ford's room.
"Hey, Fordsie? I can spend the night with you, right?" He asked. Ford's hotel room was next to Sebs's, which was next to Stan's. Ford opened the door. "Xin? What?" The dragon was in an oversized t-shirt, his preferred pajamas. "I was wondering if we could have a quick session? And then just...snuggle?" Xin asked. Ford blinked. "Well...I suppose it would be a good test of my strength in this body…" He frowned in thought. "You're going to come every night? Not that I mind! I was just wondering."
"It's fun. Also, I don't like to sleep alone. But the twins kick." Xin admitted. "Besides, there's plenty of room since you're not sharing with anyone." Ford laughed. "Sure." He stepped back and Xin bounced into the room, wagging his tail eagerly. "Hey, maybe I'll actually overpower you this time~" Xin laughed. Ford snorted. "Well, if you do, this means I need to train harder…"
In Seb and Wanda's room, the couple were lazing in each other's arms peacefully. Walter had a hand on one of Sab's breasts, not squeezing or anything, just lying on her, taking comfort in each other's presence. They had gone multiple rounds and they were both exhausted. "This...has been wonderful…" Sab sighed. Walter nodded. "As nice as it is, I am looking forward to when our bodies turn back to normal, and doing this again as ourselves."
Sab mumbled something sleepily and Walter chuckled. They sighed and were about to drift off to sleep when a thump sounded from the wall leading to Ford's room. They blinked. A thumping came again. They heard a muffled "Ahhh~" and sat up. Was that Xin's voice?! There was a grunting sound that Sab recognized as Ford's female voice. The parents blushed.
"Fffffuck! Fordsie~how are you STILL so go~ooh~od at this?!"
"It's really all about technique."
"Ahhh~S-sooo tight…"
"Hey! Using your tail is cheating!"
"Well you've got me tied to the bed post! I need SOME leverage!"
"Well if you're gonna be like that, I'm just going to leave you tied up all night."
"...That actually doesn't sound half bad…"
Sab and Walter blushed madly and covered their ears. It was bad enough they had to hear Stan and Carla going at it. "I can't believe they're still doing this…" Walter groaned. "I know they got together before I adopted Miz...but STILL…"
"Well…" Sabri yawned. " We did it...I guess they also have the right to try it this way." She snuggled closer to Walter and covered her face with a pillow. "Besides, he's not Miz right now…" Sab sighed. "Just...put a pillow over our head and go to sleep...I'm tired…"
Walter nodded and, ignoring what sounded like Xin having sex with Fania, he drifted off to sleep.
Xin was panting hard when they finished their session. It had been amazing! Ford's hands were so much smaller but they still left tiny six-fingered marks over him. She knew she wasn't training as hard as before, but Fania was glad to know she was still just as strong as a woman, (She did break that guy's nose in the morning), enough to have Xin wiggling like a snake as he tried uselessly to escape.
Ford, wearing the loose shorts and t-shirts Seb insisted she needed to get as pjs because she 'looked amazing in them', collapsed next to his/her wrestling partner, sweating lightly. "Ah! This was amazing!" He laughed. "We haven't done this in awhile." Xin nodded and dragged the woman closer to him. He said session AND cuddles, and cuddling Fordsie who was FINALLY shorter than him, sounded amazing.
Fania rolled her eyes when Xin's tail hugged her waist. She easily curled up next to the dragon, resting her head between his shoulder and chest. "Now I'm tired." she said and Xin giggled. He turned off the light and they talked for a while in the dark. About Ford's upcoming projects, new things he had in mind, Xin's idea for a carbon scrubber to pull the excess from the atmosphere, the Island and what they were going to do with it, how the news that all the children had gone missing was apparently being kept quiet, but the info was being leaked and people were unsure how to deal with it (some were rejoicing that the children 'escaped' or were 'rescued', while the more pessimistic claimed that the US government had finally killed them all and dumped the bodies somewhere), and somehow, from a philosophical debate about morals, the topic eventually went to Filbrick.
Ford frowned. "You...you should have seen him. He actually...seemed sorry…Xin, he cried . I have NEVER seen him do such a thing… Or express any emotion whatsoever. Except… y'know… anger."
Xin grumbled. "So he finally realized Seb's his son, but it doesn't change what he did. What he felt justified doing. To a child who couldn't even defend himself."
Ford nodded. "I know that...it was unfair, it-it was so unfair that Sebas didn't have the help I did…I know I was also wrong, I let myself be blinded by what my father said...but I was also a child, I didn't know better...for me, fee-feeling like I was better than him made me feel better with myself ...if he had told Sebastian that he was good too, if...Seb hadn't been treated like a freak…" He hugged Xin's tail. "Maybe we would have stayed as best friends forever…" He sniffled.
Xin hugged Ford to his chest, patting her hair. "Wouldda, couldda, shouldda, that's all it is. You know...even in Seb's old dimension, where he was Bill Cipher and never messed with Filbrick, and it was just you and Stan, Filbrick STILL threw Stan into the streets when he was 17."
"But Stanley was going to college...he got accepted even before me...Why would Filbrick kick him out? He was impressed with Stanley."
"Because that didn't happen in the other dimension. Without Seb there to take the abuse, it fell on Stan, because he was no good at schoolwork and no one urged him to play sports, Stan was considered a loser. Filbrick never let him find out what he was good at, Stan in that world didn't have it as bad as Seb did, but he and his Ford both had to take Filbrick's bullshit growing up."
Ford was trying really hard not to cry, but he failed, eventually. Was Filbrick really so awful in every existing dimension?! He hated his brother for years! And that other Ford never helped Stanley! He was sure every other him was tricked by Bill though...and got saved by their brothers...even when they didn't deserve it. "I-I'm sorry…" He choked down a sob. "I'm so stupid! I should have done something! But I was a coward!"
"You were a child. It's not your job to stand up to an abuser, that's victim blaming." Xin sighed.
"B-But-!" Ford was a mess already, cuddled closer to the dragon, trying to seek comfort, and Xin gave hi/er a hug. "He's my triplet! I'm the oldest! I was supposed to help! To notice a-at least! Xin...af-after I...I erased his memories, it took some time for him to-to recover them...he woke up screaming...crying because he said Filbrick wanted to hurt him, or that he was being hit, or whiped...he-he said...please, please don't tell dad, Ford! -because I was that awful! I told Dad! I always tattled on him- I'm horrible…!" He sobbed.
Xin pet Ford's hair as he gasped through his crying. "I won't deny you were a pretty vindictive child-" Ford sobbed "-but children are assholes. They don't know what empathy is until they learn it. Filbrick certainly never taught you that. I'm amazed Seb learned it at all. You're still so-so at human interaction, but you're learning . And better yet, you're learning from good role models now, not from your shitty father."
Ford just cried, trying to muffle his sounds with Xin's arm. When he calmed down enough, his sobs reduced to hiccups, he mumbled "I am not...I am an idiot…" He sniffled. "A genius wouldn't hurt their triplets." He wiped at his cheeks.
Xin stroked his hair. Ford had talked about this to a professional, but this was something that weighed on both him and Sebas, it wouldn't really stop making them feel upset or sad. Not for a while. "Let me tell you, you can be both, actually, so don't feel too bad." He kissed her forehead. "Sebastian has forgiven you, remember? Go from there, show him the affection you think you didn't give him when you were kids."
He held Ford until she finally settled down, sniffling slightly. Quietly, Ford commented in a whisper "One good thing about being a girl...it's fine for me to cry..." Xin scoffed. "Crying is for BOTH men and women, that's a bullshit manliness idea your father has, discard it." Ford snorted, not sure if he should feel bad or not. "So, you think I should forget everything my father taught me?"
"I'm saying there are some values he impressed upon you that are problematic and toxic." Xin's tail curled around Ford's leg. "And you're allowed to cry whenever you want, whether you're a handsome man or a pretty woman. It shouldn't matter."
Ford laughed. Xin nodded into her fluffy hair. "Yup. Super pretty. Seb is still the hottest one though."
Ford burst out laughing. "Ahahaha! Really? So Seb's just the hot one in the family?" He started giggling at the idea. Xin rolled over onto his back, Ford cradled to his chest. "Yup. You're still 2nd, but again, really close."
"So what does that make Stan?" Ford snorted. Xin hummed playfully "Well~now that he's a woman...Stan's a THOT."
The woman on top of him laughed loudly, kicking her legs. "You-you really think that?" He giggled. Xin nodded. "Oh yeah, he WAS one as a man, so he continues being one as a woman." He smiled as Ford laughed. Xin was glad to make her laugh after the poor idiot cried nonstop for 10 minutes. "What about Shermie?" He asked again.
"Black belt is the sweet one, except when you get him angry because he will beat the shit out of you." Ford nodded. He agreed on that. "So...what about me?" He asked innocently. S/He was on Xin's chest, hands under his chin and staring at the dragon's dark eyes. Xin stared back, he loved the triplets' eyes, such a pretty shade of brown. Though he couldn't hold eye contact and ended up staring at Ford's cute little chin instead. But Xin wanted to try and look at Ford's eyes for once, without feeling uncomfortable.
Xin reached out to gently pull off Ford's glasses so he could look at his eyes without a barrier between them. Ford blinked when Xin grinned at him. "You're the sexy one." He folded the glasses and placed them on the side table. Xin brought his hand back to brush Ford's hair from her/his face, leaning up until their noses were touching so he could stare into his eyes. "Funny how that works out huh?" Xin huffed with faint laughter, his breath was warm against Ford's face.
Ford was blushing as s/he stared down at Xin. They were so close. He could feel Xin's lips brushing against his chin when he spoke. "Xin…"
The dragon's eyes widened out of the blue and raised a hand to boop Ford's, now smaller, nose. "Hehe-eh... go-good night, Fordsie!" Xin rolled over and dislodged Ford from his chest. He quickly found and hugged the stuffed animal Ford had bought him. Ford blinked, face red and mildly confused.
"Xin-" Ford started to say, but the dragon didn't respond, so he guessed he was already asleep. He hummed and curled up, his back touching Xin's. He was still confused about what happened...but he guessed it was nothing. Xin liked to mess with him. "Good night." He whispered before falling asleep as well.
At some point during the night, Xin turned around, and discarded the toy to hug the soft human next to him instead.
-.-
"You know, I have to admit having smooth legs is really something." Stan commented as they had lunch, a few days later after getting used to his transformation. "I haven't had hairless legs since I was a child." He spoke with his mouth full as he rubbed one of his legs.
"Ok. First of all, ew, we are eating. Second of all, we are eating!" Sab scowled. "I don't want to hear about your leg hair!"
The family laughed. Walter looked around. "Where is Xin? He normally loves eating with us." Come to think of it, Xin had been going out on his own a lot these past few days.
Markus grinned. "He must be meeting with his girlfriend !"
Walter spat his food back on his plate as Sab started choking on her drink. ""Girlfriend?"" They shouted and looked at Ford who was calmly cutting his steak instead of trying to tear it up like his savage triplets. The scientist rolled his eyes. "She's not his girlfriend! Xin made a friend when we were at the pool a few days ago." Ford explained. Markus pouted. "But she COULD become his girlfriend."
"And who is this girl?" Walter asked. Dipper spoke up "Her name's Amelie. She's here with her family." Walter narrowed his eyes "Hold old is she?" Dipper shrugged. "Like...20?" Markus shook his head "Naw, I asked her, she's 22. Had her birthday last month." Dipper shrugged. "Well Xin's somewhere in his 20s as well so it's fine right?"
Walter bit his lip. On one hand, he was glad Xin was finally reaching out to socialize, on the other, he worried. "Could you and Markus hang out with them too? Or Danna? I'm sorry, I just worry." Sab patted his muscled arm.
"Xin will be fine. He's got his senses up and scanning for malicious intent." Dipper shrugged. Walter sighed and Sab patted his shoulder. "It'll be fine. It's not like it was with Miz. Xin is an adult."
Walter pouted but he knew they were right. Xin could take care of himself… (Should be able to…)
Markus looked at Ford. "Hey, and why did you quickly affirm they aren't dating?" The boy raised an eyebrow.
Ford blushed a bit. "Because...Xin said they weren't, he told me." The other triplets and Shermie shared a look. Did they fight about that? Was Fordsie jealous about Xin befriending this Amelie, was that why Xin had to reassure him that they were only friends?
Was it so hard to just say that THEY were dating? (The adults still didn't know why Xin and Ford were keeping their relationship a secret. Or maybe they were in an open relationship? Many of them were very confused about their asexual brother apparently having wild sex with another asexual...) Well, neither of them wanted to out their brother/sister so they remained silent. Shermie simply told Markus to shut his mouth and eat. In truth, Ford had expressed his worries of Xin accidentally leading the poor girl on. Xin had told him that he had stated to Amelie that they were just going to be friends, because he wasn't interested in her in that way. Amelie had looked a little sad but accepted it, thanking Xin for being upfront and honest about it.
Ford took another bite of meat and wondered where Xin and Amelie were now…
"-so then, he says to me 'But I didn't know it was baking SODA that puts out fires! I thought they both worked!' and that was how my roommate Tee- ah, Theseus burned down the kitchen." Xin said. Amelie was snorting with laughter as she pounded the table. The two were out on the deck of the hotel's outdoor pool. Xin was glad the hotel allowed guests to take food out of the dining hall. There were bins all around for people to place their dirty dishes for pick up. Xin had been regaling Amelie with stories of his friends (changing their names to be more human friendly).
Amelie laughed. "Oh god! That's so funny!" She wheezed. Xin nodded with a smile. "Yeah! My friends are super crazy, but I really love them." The young woman nodded giggling. "I wish I had something as funny to tell you...the funniest thing I can think about is when I was little, I fell asleep in...the pool and my parents couldn't find me."
Xin snorted. "Well, I'm sure it was an exciting day for your parents. You have a pool at home?" The girl nodded "Eh, yes. We love water." Amelie grinned. "Ever since I was a baby, I was taken to the beach and to the water." Xin sipped his drink, a pineapple and strawberry mix "I used to go swimming a lot as a child...until my OCD and germ-phobia started getting worse and I couldn't stand public changing rooms anymore." He looked down at his hands. "I...feel kind of bad about that."
Amelie patted his hand. "You don't have to feel bad about that, you can't help it, it's ok." She smiled. "I hate closed places, if I feel like I don't have enough space to move around, I get really upset." Xin nodded. "Relatable." Both laughed.
'Unaware' to them, the Pines were all behind the wall, spying on the alien demon. Markus was sure it was a date, Dipper was sure people from different sexes could be talking and hanging out without it necessarily being a date. Sab smacked them both, sure they were making too much noise.
"She's very cute." Sab mused as she looked the girl up and down. Amelie had short black hair that curled and bounced as she moved. Her fair skin was healthy looking, there was some solid muscle tone in her legs and arms, a swimmer's build. Sab narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Too cute…" Walter smacked her arm softly.
"So what do you do when you're not swimming?" Xin asked as he took a bite of his sandwich, a turkey and cheese with plenty of spinach and tomatoes. Amelie shrugged. "I guess, I like people watching." Xin snorted "Mweh too."
Amelie laughed. "Don't talk with your mouth full." She picked up the napkin and reached over to wipe off some of the tomato juice dripping down Xin's chin. The Pines all gasped. "Did you see that? They're DEFINITELY dating!" Markus hissed. Sab rubbed her chin. "Her voice is really cute too. She MUST be doing that on purpose! Trying to seduce Xin!" Walter sighed. "You're all ridiculous. I'm sure they're just friends, like Xin said."
Xin brushed his hair away from his face so he wouldn't accidentally eat it. The wind blew softly and his hair fluttered into the air like long black ribbons. Amelie stared. "Beautiful…" she was entranced by his hair as it fluttered back down as the wind died. Xin blinked. "Oh, thanks?"
Sab gasped. "See?! Right there! She's definitely into him!" She didn't know what she should be feeling. Xin was her little brother (son)! Sab wanted to be sure he was with someone safe, who wouldn't take advantage of him! Besides, she was just a human girl! Xin was an all powerful and all knowing alien god! He had to tell her no! At least with Ford, he already knew that Xin was Bill Cipher! Ford rolled his eyes. "No, she isn't. Besides, everyone says that Xin's hair is beautiful." The unicorns had certainly liked it.
"Yeah, but not like that !" Markus pointed at them. "Ah, this is going to kill me…" He dramatically fake-fainted over his Dad and Abraham rolled his eyes. Dramatic, just like Shermie.
"What are you planning to do today? I hope I'm not keeping you away from your family." Amelie looked apologetic. Xin waved a hand. "It's ok. We went to the beach in the morning, everyone is just eating lunch now. Besides, I'm sure my Dad will be happy that I made a friend."
Walter nodded to their group. "Super proud."
"Right, Dad?" Xin turned to look at the wall where the Pines gasped and hid behind it a little more. "You guys are super loud, did you really think I wouldn't have noticed you?" Xin laughed. Markus groaned. "Dammit! Dipper! You were being too loud!" Dipper scoffed. "ME? You're the one whisper screaming."
"So, Amelie, this is my family." Xin giggled. He was dressed in some of the clothes Danna and Markus had picked out for him. Walter and Seb winced a little, at least this one wasn't all black, and the pants were stretchy instead of opened to expose skin. The shirt was not much more than a tank top though. Walter walked up with a polite smile. "Sorry, we heard that you were with a girl and your mother-" He jabbed his thumb back at Sabrina "-was convinced you were going to seduce our son away."
"H-hey! I didn't say it like that!" Sab pouted. "Well, regardless, it's very nice to meet you, Amelie right?" Walter held out his hand. The girl blinked. "R-right! Yes! It's very nice to meet you too. Are you Xin's dad?"
"Um, yes, yes, I am his Dad." Walter grinned and held back a giggle. Amelie shook his hand. He was a handsome man, married to a pretty woman. She extended a hand for Sabrina to shake. "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you. I met your triplet sister a few days ago…" She giggled. "Not to sound impertinent, but you don't really look that similar." Sab grinned and pulled Stan to him. "Nope! This is our other sister." Stan nodded. "Sup."
Amelie smiled and looked at the rest of the group who happily waved at her. There were a lot of people spying on them. Xin was so lucky to have such a large family…
They all introduced themselves and then Walter dragged them away to leave the friends to their playdate. Xin laughed. "They're so weird." Amelie giggled too. "Humans are wonderful." she said easily. They finished their food and went off to play with the amenities the hotel offered. The game room was filled with other young men and women hanging out. Amelie went a little closer to Xin who also pressed closer, worried about the crowd of strangers. He winced. Crowds made his head hurt. Even though he was layering now to filter out most of it, he really needed more practice. "It's busier in here than I thought."
"Should we go out to the beach instead?" Amelie asked. Xin nodded. "Might be better." They turned to leave when Xin felt someone walk up to them. He dodged just in time to avoid having his butt slapped. Seriously?! Why did everyone try that? "Hey!" He growled at the guy who grinned at him. "Sorry, it was just begging to be slapped." The guy laughed. His friends all laughed too. They were holding half empty bottles of beer. Xin groaned. Damn idiots getting drunk during the day.
"Seriously, I almost thought you were a woman, with hips like that." The guy came up, Xin wrinkled his nose at the scent of alcohol. Seriously, were all the assholes in the city going to bother him when he was away from his family? The guy leaned closer "It's a compliment babe."
Xin pushed him away, using all his self-control not to punch him in his smug fuckboy face. "Well thank you, but compliments should be given with words, not hands." He took Amelie's hand when she seemed a little afraid and she squeezed his hand. "Come on, let's get outta here." He and Amelie tried to get to the door but one of the guys blocked them. "Come on, it was just a joke."
"Well it wasn't funny. It wasn't even hilarious." Xin muttered. "Please excuse us." He huffed when they refused to move. "I bet this beautiful lady here understood it was just a joke, right darling?" The guy waggled his eyebrows at Amelie. She frowned at him. Xin wanted to start punching but they were only idiots… and not scum . He felt he shouldn't harm people who haven't actually hurt anyone. These guys were all talk, which was good (for them). If they had done anything for real, he would have already torn them apart.
"Move, please. We wish to leave." Xin pushed at the guy by the door, channeling some of his authority as a god, the way he normally addressed people as a dragon. He felt Amelie hold his hand tightly. The men scoffed. "Fine then. Think you're too good to hang out with us?" Xin frowned. "Not at all, I just don't think you'd be any fun to hang with." He pushed his way past and got Amelie out the door before him, just in case. The guy's friends all went "Oooh~he called you out!"
"I should clarify, you're all being incredibly unfun right now. Come back when you're sober and capable of polite conversation, if you're just after meeting people to make friends, we can see about hanging out. If you continue to act like a child, then I will be forced to treat you like one. Good day." Xin scolded them before closing the door. He heard the guys all laughing at their friend before one commented "Wait...was he talkin' ta us too?"
Xin sighed as they got to a more public area where staff from the hotel could be seen (and therefore, prevent incidents) and turned to Amelie. "Ok, beach then? I will change into swim trunks first." Amelie nodded and smiled. "I-I'll wait for you at reception then." Xin nodded and he quickly trotted upstairs. The room he was supposed to share with the twins was still a mess, the hotel cleaners hadn't come yet, that was fine (Xin liked tidying up himself), and it was empty. Maybe the twins were playing somewhere else. He grabbed his stuff, changed, and then knocked on Wanda and Seb's room. "Dad? You there?" He heard the, "Come in!" and entered. The kids were watching TV there while Walter was on his laptop and Sab was drawing. "Dad, Sab, I'm going to the beach with Amelie, is that ok?"
"Oh really?" Walter smiled and Sab grinned. "Have fun, but not too much fun." Xin rolled his eyes. "We want to go too!" The twins pleaded. "Oh, um-" Xin looked at them. He would have to ask Amelie first…
Walter looked back at his laptop and continued working, worried about the long vacation he was taking. The office was going to fall to pieces without him. "Take your siblings with you or you aren't going." He said emotionlessly. Sab laughed. "HAHA! Yes!"
Xin rolled his eyes. "Kay~" He picked up the twins, "Come on squirts. Let's go." Zoe whined "Can we take Queen Flutter and Sir Bedazzle? They've been stuck on the balcony for days." Xin sighed. "You know we can't bring them. My perception filters can hide them from anyone who sees them from afar but up close is more difficult, especially if they try touching them."
The plantimals had been given the balcony of the twin's or their parent's room. There was plenty of sunlight and room to run around. They watered them every morning but...the two DID look a little bored. The twins continued to give Xin sad looks. He sighed. "Alright. I'll see about disguising them as real animals…" The twins cheered "Yay!"
"But they'll need leashes, and you're in charge of making sure they don't escape and get lost. Ok?" Xin told them. Walter and Sab nodded. "The plantimals are your responsibility."
Zoe blinked. "But we're just little kids. Kids don't have respon-sibilies." She said adorably, trying to get away from it. Sab shook her head. "Nope. You asked for a pet, and we help you, but those two are yours." The twins groaned as Xin carried them back to their own hotel room and out to the balcony to see their pets. The two plantimals perked up, thrilled to see them.
Sir Bedazzle jumped up and down, excited as usual while Queen Flutter blinked at them, confused about what was happening, wary but unafraid. The twins and Xin looked at the plantimals. "This won't hurt, ok little ones?" Xin murmured as he knelt down and picked up Sir Bedazzle. The acorn puppy whined as he felt...weird. Queen Flutter stared as the round acorn stretched until he had become a real dog. He looked like a brown Maltese puppy. Xin placed the puppy down and Sir Bedazzle's eyes were wide as he wiggled around in confusion. What happened?!
Xin went to get Queen Flutter, who tried to flitter away but Xin managed to get a hold of her "Shhh...it's ok, this will only take a second…" She 'mew'ed in distress as Xin shifted her form as well. Finally Xin dropped the siamese kitten to the ground. "There. All set." Xin sighed. He materialized some leashes and animal vests. "Now, you two need to hold onto them ok? Don't lose them."
Zoe held Sir Bedazzle because he wanted to run around and she could keep up better with him, while Zach happily pulled the poor cat that didn't want to walk. "Come Queen Flutter! We will show you the beach!" He giggled and they stopped by to wave at their parents before leaving. "I just hope they don't get lost." Sab sighed and went back to her new design. Thank god for tablets and laptops.
The siblings got downstairs, the twins holding their pets and Xin holding an armful of towels and a basket with beach supplies. He was in a red pair of swim trunks and a white t-shirt. He also brought jackets for when the twins got cold because of the windy ocean air. He waved at Amelie who was in a cute one piece swimsuit with seaweed patterns on it. "Hey, my brother and sister are coming too, is that alright?"
Amelie cooed. Twins~ "Of course! And...I didn't know you had pets!" she knelt in front of the puppy and kitten. Sir Bedazzle pulled, wanting to see everything in this strange park. "He is Sir Bedazzle of the Forest, and she is Queen Fluttertail, Lady of the Feywilds! Xin made them for us!"
Amelie frowned and Xin laughed sheepishly. "She meant I brought them to the house!" He clarified quickly. Amelie giggled and knelt to pet Sir Bedazzle. He sniffed her hand before licking her. She cooed. "He's so cute. I've never actually seen a dog up close before." Zoe gasped. "What?! Really?" Amelie nodded. "I've only seen pictures of them."
"But doggies are everywhere! It's impossible you haven't seen at least ONE!" Zach argued. Xin patted their heads. "Maybe she lives in a place with no dogs, don't be rude." Amelie nodded. "I actually live in a place where dogs...aren't allowed." The twins pouted. That was so sad. Zoe picked up Sir Bedazzle and lifted him up from the flower pot he was sniffling. "Well, we can share him so you can say you saw a puppy!" Amelie laughed. "Thank you. That's very sweet."
They set off for the beach, Zoe tugging on Sir Bedazzle's leash to stop him from running off. He was delighted to be out and about, sniffing everything and everyone they passed. Oh. So this is like daddy/mommy pulling their leashes (Zoe realized) ...Queen Flutter refused to walk and Zach had to carry her. Xin and Amelie chatted about the different pets they've had. Amelie's family kept a lot of fish.
"But fish don't do much." Zoe commented as they walked. "Oh, I can assure you they do, you just need to pay them some attention." Amelie said with a mysterious smile. Finally they reached the beach. Xin settled the towel and the twins' stuff. Everyone sat down. Zach hugged the little cat to his chest and Sir Bedazzle started digging in the sand, excited. "Come on, sunscreen." Xin called out. The twins groaned but allowed Xin to rub them down with the cream. He quickly rubbed himself down and handed the bottle to Amelie.
"Oh, I already put some on earlier." She said. Xin shrugged. He made sure their towels were secure before turning to the twins. "Ok, go have fun. But no going deeper than your knees in the water." ""Ok Xin."" the two chorused and ran off. Sir Bedazzle ran with them while Queen Flutter curled on top the towel and went to sleep. Amelie sighed wistfully. "It's so nice here." She commented.
Xin nodded. Tourism in the area had picked up ever since he magically cleaned the beach. No one knew who had gone through the entire area and removed all the trash during the triplet's birthday party a few weeks back, but the hotels and other businesses in the area were quick to advertise the clean beaches. Xin remembered how everyone had been shocked to see Glass Shard Beach so swamped and bustling with activity.
Seb had commented that the nearby beaches had been so fucked up they had to drive further and further as they grew up. The beach was just the triplets' space to search for adventure.
"Yeah, this place is awesome. Have you been here before?" Xin asked but the girl shook her head. "No, this is my first time actually…" Xin nodded. "And when is your aunt's wedding?"
"Around the end of the summer but dad and mom wanted to hang around with the family here...I haven't gotten used to being away from home yet." She sighed. Xin pet Queen Flutter. "Are you far from home? Where are you from? My family's from the west coast."
"Oh...well, I'm not from this country." She smiled. "I'm from up north." Xin blinked. "Like, Canada?" Amelie laughed. "Nah, farther out at sea. Iceland." Xin stared at her in surprise. "That's cool. Hey, this might sound weird but, do you listen to icelandic pop sensation BABBA?"
Amelie laughed. "Of course? Who doesn't?" Xin giggled. "Oh man, you need to talk to Dipper, she's a huge fan of them."
"Oh really? That's so cool!" Amelie laughed. "And, what about you? What music do you like?" She sat cross-legged on the towel and looked at Xin with a happy smile. It was fun spending time with this boy. Xin grinned "I'm a huge fan of Vocaloid music." Amelie tilted her head "I don't know what that is."
"Well it's this software program with a digital Diva with their own unique voice, you can buy the software and write your own songs, and make your Vocaloid sing it for you. The cool thing is that, since anyone can buy and use it, there are SO many different types of songs out there. Every genre, every subject matter, a whole range of different music made by people online around the world…" Xin gushed. "My favorite Divas are Rin and Len, they're twins! Iroha's great too, I love her voice...ah...there's over 30 different Vocaloids by this point and I love finding new songs online!"
Amelie laughed. "You feel really passionate about this, huh?" Xin nodded "I love music so, so much!" He wilted slightly "So I'm kinda sad I'm not all that good at writing my OWN songs. I've only ever sang covers for other people's songs… I like Kalafina and other Yuki Kajiura songs..."
"You sing?" Amelie gasped. "I like singing too, but I am not sure if I am good by human standards." Xin chuckled. He liked how she said human instead of people. Reminded him of Seb. "Well, yeah, I sing a bit…" He petted the kitten's fur. Queen Flutter purred loudly, this body had extra legs but she could feel the pets better. Xin hummed a little to himself.
" Kono sora no kagayaki~kimi no mune ni todoiteru ~" He sang softly. "Yume miteta shirabe wa~shizukesa no you~ni~"
Amelie smiled as he sang. Eventually she started humming along. The two grinned as they began trading songs back and forth, Amelie sang a couple BABBA songs, laughing as she did. Xin made sure to keep an eye on the twins though. That's how he saw when Zoe lost her grip on Sir Bedazzle and he ran into the ocean.
"Shit!" Xin jumped to his feet and ran towards them. The puppy was barking in distress as the waves swept him out deeper. The twins were panicking as they couldn't use their powers in public. Xin was going to jump into the water when Amelie rushed past him and did a perfect dive into an oncoming wave. Xin gasped as she cut through the water expertly and scooped up Sir Bedazzle.
Amelie splashed back to shore to the cheers and applause of the other beach goers who had all watched the puppy getting swept away. "Wooo!" "That was awesome!" "Oh thank god the puppy is alright!"
"Sir Bedazzle!" Zoe wailed as she ran up to take the shivering puppy from Amelie's arms. "I'm sorry! I should have held on tighter!" She sniffled. This was her responsibility! She was supposed to keep him safe. Xin knelt down and hugged both of them. "Sir Bedazzle! Don't scare us like that! No running off!" He scolded as his vessel's heart pounded with panic. "God, I was so scared…"
Zach ran towards Amelie who wasn't even panting after swimming against the waves and hugged her tightly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You saved him! You're the best!" He sobbed. He was so scared! He didn't want to lose his puppy, never! Amelie crouched to hold him better. "It was nothing, don't worry." She stroked his hair, smiling at the gratitude of this little kid. Xin picked up Zoe who was still holding a whimpering, soaked Sir Bedazzle and he hugged the girl. "I own you a big one! Thank you." Xin thanked his friend. "Really, it was nothing." Amelie assured him.
They went back to the towel where Xin rubbed Sir Bedazzle down with a smaller towel. The puppy was still shivering. He wasn't going to run into the ocean again. It tasted funny and he didn't like it. "Poor Sir Bedazzle…" Zoe stroked his little brown head. "He is scared of water like mommy now…" Zach nodded. "At least he won't do it again…" The poor puppy curled up next to Queen Flutter who looked at him up and down before lying down again, in a way saying 'I told you so.'
"We will stay here making sand castles…" Zoe declared. Water mood was ruined for today, but they could still play in the sand. Amelie watched them. "How do you build one?" The twins frowned. What a weird girl! "Well you put in this bucket, a lot of sand, then water and then you turn it around and there! You have a castle!" They explained. She was very amazed as the twins showed her how that worked. Xin figured that if she was from up north, it must have been colder and didn't have many places for beach activities. (Was that how it worked?)
Soon, they were building more than just a sandcastle. It was a sand kingdom . Some other children and families began coming by to admire it and asked if they could build with them. Xin grinned. "Sure, just grab a bucket." They started making the largest sand kingdom ever, some of the parents were sent to run to the water for more wet sand. Sir Bedazzle barked and ran around the sand city, happy to play somewhere far from the scary salty water.
"Oh my god. What have you guys been doing?" Xin looked up to see Danna and Diego. "Hey~" He waved. His cousins gasped at the community built sand kingdom. "Dude, that's amazing."
"We all built it! Everyone helped!" Zoe informed the siblings. Diego pouted and punched Danna's leg. "You see?! We missed it! All because you didn't want to move!" He whined in accusation. "Ok, ok, sorry, kid." Danna rolled her eyes, not really sorry. "Just make another one. Can you make another castle with Diego?" Danna asked the twins who nodded happily and told him they should build a rival kingdom for them to fight!
Danna sat down. "Hey and these animals?" She petted the puppy's head. Xin smiled tense. "Sir Bedazzle and Queen Flutter, Danna! The animals Dad and Sab have ALWAYS had!" Danna blinked but quickly understood. Haha, even the plantimals went through changes this week.
They watched the children play together, the other kids on the beach joining in to enact a great war between the sand kingdoms. The great dragon (puppy) would run around and destroy the villages so they eventually came to an alliance and teamed up to capture the dragon and bring peace to both kingdoms. Everyone cheered as Zoe and Diego shook hands, cementing their alliance and the future prosperity of the now united sand kingdoms.
Xin leaned back, watching the kids play. This was so adorable. His siblings were adorable, his little cousin was adorable. His family was adorable. He was so happy right now, he loved his family so much. Amelie was watching the kids play too, entranced by the story they were telling as they played. Xin laughed. Her expression was adorable too. Everything in the world seemed so great right now. Eventually the sun began to set and everyone returned to the hotel.
"Bye Amelie. See you tomorrow~" Xin waved. She laughed and waved back. "I had fun today, except for when your puppy almost drowned, but the rest of the day was really nice." She rubbed her arm sheepishly. Xin gave her a hug. "Thank you again for saving him." Amelie blushed. "I-it was nothing…" She pulled away from the hug and waved as she left. Xin and the twins returned the plantimals to the twins' room and Xin de-transformed them. The spell was painless but you could see the little creatures were glad to be back in their real bodies.
Xin helped the twins bathe and they all went down for dinner. He noticed Amelie sitting at another table with an elder couple that Xin assumed must be her parents. They seemed nice. They were also all eating fish. Xin could approve of that. Markus poked him annoyingly and he huffed. "Can you stop it? I seriously don't like her like that, she's just a friend." He hissed at the boy. Markus shrugged. "We will see, we will see." Xin rolled his eyes. "Are you going to do this everytime I try to make a friend?"
"Maybeee~" Markus giggled. "Any friend you make is a possibility for romance!" Danna rolled her eyes. Was her cousin that desperate to love someone or was he just needy? He leaned in to whisper something to Markus that made him blush. "Ew~ Danna!" He whined.
Xin hit it on the nose "Are you just projecting onto me since you can't find romance for yourself?" Markus froze. "W-well…" Xin gave her a hug. "Look, how about this. Once the week is over and you're YOU again, I'm going to go boy hunting with you. Ok?"
"Really?! Thank you! Thank you!" Mabel squealed and hugged the man super tight. As a girl, Mabel was strong, as a boy (with longer arms and more leverage) he left Xin breathless when he hugged him that way. Xin gasped "Ribs! My ribs!" Amelie noticed the large group of Pines sitting close to them and she waved at Xin when he looked in her direction. To her amusement, the group of 15 people waved at her back. She giggled. A large family sounded lots of fun. It seemed unusual for humans to have such large family units, but it felt right for them.
The next day Markus had a wonderful idea while everyone was hanging out in the lobby. "WE NEED TO SING HAMILTON!" He screeched loudly. Xin was immediately by his side. "Yes." He grabbed Markus's hands and practically sparkled. "I call dibs on Burr." Xin whispered. Markus narrowed his eyes at Xin. "Only if I get to be John Laurens." The two giggled as the rest of the family sighed. Markus paced in front of his family. "Alright, you all have heard about the musical right? If not, get out of my country." Everyone nodded. They didn't know ALL of it but they knew most of the songs just from how much Mabel sang it.
Xin and him started assigning roles to everyone, roles were decided by who they knew would match the role. Ford screamed when Xin told him he had to be Angelica. "No! But-but-!" He stuttered. Xin shook his head. "No other way...you're the oldest, and the wittiest …" He sang softly and the poor scientist groaned loudly. Sab blushed when Markus told her straight out she had to be Eliza. Then Walter was Alexander...to make things spicy, Markus grinned evilly and said his mom had to be Maria. Carlos, being a dick and making Stan fear for his life, said that the week was still Stan's punishment to learn. So it was decided HE would be Maria and Shelly, as the youngest, would be safe and only be Peggy. ("Sweet! I'm only in one song!")
Xin waved his hand to create the lyric sheets for the songs with their parts highlighted. "We should do a full performance~" He grinned.
⅔ of the group seemed excited, the other third just groaned. Kari was simply enjoying this too much. She was going to record all of this! It didn't take them long to memorize their parts, and then they joked and practiced the choruses. They were planning to use the lobby of the hotel as their 'stage'. Carlos was trying his best to coordinate things, but he worked with professionals , his family was just doing it for fun. He tried not to get stressed.
"Stania, for God's sake...you're supposed to be flirting!" Carlos, Xin and Markus groaned at the woman's deadpanning glare. "Come on, Stania! Put some effort into this. We can't do a musical without pazazz!" Xin whined.
"First of all, I ain't flirting like a woman! Second, I ain't flirting with my brother's wife!" He hissed. Walter and Sab sighed. "We already said we don't mind since this is just for a performance. There will be no kisses, man, just...flirt how you would like a woman to flirt with you?" Walter tried.
"I'll get you another golden chain." Xin deadpanned. ("Stop bribing him with gold!") Stan sighed loudly and put more effort into it. The things he did for money…
Carlos and Xin high-fived. They got through the rest of rehearsal without too much issue. Markus wondered what they would do about the music and Xin scoffed before waving his hand to summon a music bubble. "We can hide this inside someone's phone and pretend we have really good speakers."
The manager of the hotel, who had been watching the customers work and invade the lobby all morning, decided to offer them the empty room that companies sometimes used for meetings. Markus, Carlos and Xin squealed loudly at the offer and immediately accepted. The man nodded, rubbing his ringing ears, he had never heard men screaming so high, and wondered if the hotel could let people know they were doing this. Stanley and Ford blushed and shook their heads, but Sab reasoned with them that they were women, no one will know who they really were so their ego and self-esteem wouldn't be affected.
"Ok, Markus, quick question. Are we gonna do costumes?" Xin asked. The boy gasped. "Definitely!" He squealed, imagining the sisters in pretty dresses. "But damn! We don't have enough time to get them! Um…"
Carlos shook his head. The three of them were in charge of direction and as they decided everyone's fates, everyone was eating and revising their lines. "We can't do full costume. As this is not professional, not even amateur, it's going to look forced...what we can do is get clothes that LOOK like the characters."
Xin raised an eyebrow. "Ah hem?" He coughed. Markus sighed. "We're not saying you can't make the costumes but the homemade look is charming." Xin considered his words. "Alright. That makes sense."
Stan was rocking back and forth. "I can't believe we're doing this...how did we get dragged into this?!" Ford took a bite of his hamburger. "Because...Sabrina threatened to burn us alive if we didn't do it...and then the kids begged us and we couldn't resist them."
"Fuck. You're right…" Stan sighed. "I'll die today." Ford sighed. "Look...just accept it, Stan. We lost." The triplets sighed. "Well, at least I'm getting some gold out of this…" Stan grumbled. Ford stared at him "You need to stop using Xin to get gold." he turned to the dragon, "Don't give Stanley any gold for this. He's not a dog you can train like that." ("Hey!") But Xin laughed him off.
"Guys~We need to find clothes for you~" Markus, Sab and Xin purred. The Stans hugged each other. "AHHH!" It took a while to search for the right clothes. They ended up looking on the internet for designs so Xin could create them, but at the end, it was perfect! They decided to go with short dresses (Sab was 1000% sure the Stans and Shermie were going to trip if they wore long ones), and with a half modern and old style. They were cute dresses. Those dressing up as men were so much easier to dress and Markus was laughing hard as he dressed up Dipper. "I hate this. I didn't think the crown would be so heaavyyy!" He shrieked as he fell sideways. "But you get to be king~ or rather, queen in this case." Markus grinned.
Dipper rolled his eyes and fixed up his robes. "Well, I'm all set for the lyrics at least." Everyone got their costumes and were holding their lyrics to make sure they remember their lines. "So...are we all ready?"
Everyone nodded, determined. Even the kids had worked hard. This was fun! They had spent all day with their family and got to argue with the adults! They found out their little family play had called the attention of a large group who were giggling and asked if they could see their improvised play. They started shaking. Oh god they were actually doing this! It took them all day to rehearse and plan out.
Xin set the music bubble inside a cell phone hidden from view. It'll know when it needed to change to the next song. It was magic after all. People were sitting down in front of the 'stage', laughing, wondering why a family suddenly decided to do this. Well, they wouldn't complain. Among the crowd, Amelie was sitting with her parents, who agreed to come see the show with her. Xin spoke into a microphone. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! On this beautiful night, our family got bored and decided to perform a cover of a musical! Hamilton! So please enjoy our improvised act. Have your phones off during the play please, we have kids and adults who get distracted. Thank you."
Everyone laughed and clapped, but fell totally silent when Xin started "How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a scotsman…"
Now. There were quite a few things to recall from this wonderful family experience.
Number One. Wanda as Walter was hot, and in character even more. He wasn't a fan of singing, but was glad he could do his parts. A few women mentally orgasm'ed as the sight of the handsome blond. Especially when he trailed a hand down his chest teasingly in "My name is Alexander Hamilton…"
Number Two, and to many, the most important thing to point out...They weren't sure if Xin and Fania were just very good actors and getting into character or...
"There's nothing rich folks like more than going downtown and slummin it with the poor! They pull up in their carriages and gawk at the students in the common just to watch them talk!"
Sab had been very concentrated on her role, swinging her dress side to side, and just loving the cheers they got from the amused crowd with their " Angelica, Peggy, Eliza! WORK!", raising their arms and everything, so it was really a shock to realize she got totally distracted watching the two…
"Angelica, remind me what we are looking for~" She had sung while Carlos and Abraham marched up to them. "She's looking for me!" Fania rolled her eyes and pushed them apart to give her space, embarrassed as she was, but no one could deny her oldest sister had a great singing voice. "Eliza, I'm looking for a mind at work!" "Work work."
Xin made a marveled expression and bit his lip. "Oohh! There's nothing like summer in the city…" He swaggered over to Fania and started circling her, gaining unimpressed looks from her. "Someone in a rush next to someone looking pretty…" Sab and Shelly gasped and looked offended behind Fania as she grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Excuse me, miss, I know it's not funny but your perfume's smell like your daddy's got money!" Xin stood behind her with his hands spread out to frame her and looked down, while Fania looked up.
"Why you slummin' in the city in your fancy heels, you searchin' for an urchin who can give you ideals?" He wagged his eyebrows.
Fania looked away with a smile. "Burr, you disgust me…"
"Ah, so you distrust me?" Xin grinned with a raised eyebrow. Sab and Shelly gasped, and not in character this time. "I'm a trust fund baby, you can trust me…" He looked down at Fania's chest with a smile. Fania grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her eyes. There were a few cheers in the audience.
"I've been reading Common Sense, by Thomas Paine…" She let him go and walked around him as his eyes scanned her. "Some men say I'm intense or I'm insane!" She exclaimed. "You want a revolution, I want a revelation..." She got face to face with Xin, looking up at him. They were so close, their lips were almost touching...Then she turned away from him. "So listen to my declaration!"
She stood between her sisters and the younger woman stuttered to recover from that. "We hold these truths to be self-evident! That all men are created equal!" They all said at the same time, and Fania looked at Xin with a grin, not realizing he was blushing. "And when I meet Thomas Jefferson!"
"Huh!" The girls behind her put their hands on their hips in a challenging mode.
"I'm a compel him to INCLUDE WOMEN IN THE SEQUEL! WORK!" Fania looked at the audience with a huge grin, making them all cheer and shout. She raised an arm and snapped her fingers (making Xin despair once more, that he still couldn't figure out how to do that.)
Number three. Stan's greediness transcended corporeal forms. In the break he negotiated with the staff to charge to 'support the artists'. Everyone sighed at that.
His ire also transcended. As vengeance, when his part came in, he decided to flirt with Walter as much as he could, just to get Sab jealous. Rubbing her body against his, trailing his jaw and chest with her hands. And it totally worked. Sab was behind the stage, biting her wrist and screaming internally.
"Really?! She's doing this on purpose! Fez you bitch!"
Number four. Seb's dramatic self transcended bodies and various lives. It also became very obvious that with some guidance and love, he would have made it high in this artistic branch as well.
Sab's anger from seeing Walter with Stania made her eyes water and she made everyone in the crowd cry as she broke down singing. She was really good. In the changing of the scene, Walter hugged Sab and asked if she was really alright. Sab patted his chest. "I'm an actress, sweetheart." The blond scoffed. Of course.
And number five. It was a very funny idea to have Walter being tackled to the floor by Stan at 'HE AIMS HIS PISTOL AT THE SKY!" "WAIT!" as a representation of the bullet. Their small audience seemed to like it.
"Who lives, or dies who tells your story~"
The audience cheered wildly, sobbing as well. The Pines family came up on stage and everyone bowed to thunderous applause.
"Thank you! We'll be here all night!" Markus waved at the audience and Dipper smiled. "No we won't!" Stan looked around and gasped when he saw the hotel staff selling snacks. The bastard was profiting off them by selling stuff! That wasn't the deal! He had the need to fight right now! He would have gotten off the stage if Carlos hadn't grabbed his hand. Danna was laughing loudly. "Pines! Pines! Pines! Pines!" He started and soon enough, everyone was chanting with him, the audience was still clapping and cheering.
Amelie had loved this little performance. She ran towards them and stopped briefly when she saw Xin hugging one of Sabrina's sisters really tight. "Damn! That was so good! We need to have karaoke night together! You sing so well!" The asian man roared before spinning Fania, still in a hug. "Aah! Xiinn!" Ford laughed and tried pulling away.
Amelie sighed. That was so cute. They were so cute. She sighed again, miss Fania was a lucky woman. Xin put Ford down and noticed Amelie, so she still approached them. "Xin, that was amazing! I didn't understand much but it was amazing!" Xin laughed. "Well, it's a musical called Hamilton, about the life story of one of the founding fathers of the United States."
Amelie blushed. "I don't know who that is…" Xin laughed. "It's the guy on the $10 bill." The girl pulled out the wallet her parents gave her and searched for a 10. She found one and showed it to Xin. "This one?" Xin laughed. "Yup! Dad is IDENTICAL to him, right?" Both laughed. The kids laid down on the floor.
"Tired!" They whined. This was fun, but now they were tired. Their parents happily picked them up and hugged them. "You three did an excellent job!" Sab giggled and Stan rubbed Diego's nose against his. "Better than you?" Zach asked and the parents laughed. "Definitely better than Stan." Sab teased. She turned to look at him and sobered. "Bitch, touch Walter like that again and I will destroy you."
"I was acting?" Stan tried. Seb was unimpressed. "I know you were doing it on purpose!" Eventually, Stan and Danna went off to fight the manager for their right to the money. Why? Because they could.
"I want food." Xin commented. "Alright, let's go eat dinner." Walter laughed. "I can't believe we spent all day on this…" Dipper groaned. Markus hugged him "I do! It was great! Thank you!" Dipper patted his curls. Before they went to get dinner though, Kari begged to get a photo of all of them, so they got together on the stage, showing off their homemade costumes and smiled. "Say something stupid!" Markus said and everyone laughed. "Something stupid!"
Stan reminded the guy of their deal and showed their earnings to everyone. "You see? When you don't charge yourself, another clever idiot will do it for you and rob you." He extended a hand towards Xin. "Kid, my gold." Markus jumped over to him and hugged him. "Uncle Stan! We all had fun, didn't we! Can't you do this just for fun? Without money involved?"
"Is-Is that even possible?" Stan blinked. Ford patted his back. "Let's just go eat dinner." Stan was led away, still muttering about how doing things without getting money was incomprehensible.
They had a well deserved dinner before could), were allowed to eat nuggets and french they tiredly slumped back to their rooms and fell asleep, happy.
-.-
After their play, the family was starting to adjust to their current situation. There were a few complaints here and there, especially from Stan, but all in all, they seemed to be doing fine, in Xin's opinion.
Wanda, Carla and Shermie were sometimes called from work, but they wrote down that they were sick and couldn't speak. Only text. They unfortunately had a job to keep.
It was a weird experience to go out to amusement parks or to tourist sites looking like they did and getting photos to prove it happened even more so. Stania had to admit that being left alone by the paparazzi was very refreshing though. And she gotta admit, Seb was having fun, it made him happy to see that.
Eh. Being a woman wasn't the end of the world.
"Stania, be careful! I'm gonna call Xin!" A very unmanly whine escaped from her now husband.
"Shut the hell up, Carlos!" Stania was in the gym, already positioned on the bench to lift weights. She wasn't stupid! It wasn't even the same weight he lifted as a man. She was going to test her muscles, see how much she could still do. She was wearing shorts and a sports bra. Those things were so cool and comfortable. Plus, she had to admit she looked pretty fucking hot. The few men in the hotel's gym tried looking at her, but with a scowl and an aggressive nod, inviting them to fucking test her, they left her alone.
Danna was ready to record this, Diego cheered for his (current)mom. Unfortunately for Danna, her now mom lifted them just fine with a smug laugh, even added a few extra weights to it. "Nothing-Stops-Stan-Pines!" Hah! Being a woman changed NOTHING! HAH! He was still as strong as ever!
Carlos just sat down with a huff. So hot…
Sab and Walter were on the beach with the twins and Kari, the two adults cheering and trying to convince Sab to take off her cover-up. She wanted to show off her bikini but couldn't!
"But I look so bad! Everyone will see my zodiac!"
"You're beautiful, sweetie!" "No one cares about it, honey! The strap covers part of it, I swear!" Wanda said. God, this was apparently something she never thought about. Seb was embarrassed about his body already, that wasn't anything new.
It wasn't working. She didn't want anyone to see the horrible zodiac tattooed on her back because of fucking Bill2. Not even the concealer worked on it. The damn thing didn't want to stay on.
"No~ Don't cry!" Walter patted his wife as Seb broke down. "It's okay. I swear it isn't bad. B-but you don't have to take off your shirt if you really don't want to."
"But I waaaantt tooooo!" Sab sobbed. Walter looked at Kari, not knowing what to do.
As they struggled with that, Xin sat down with Fania on a picnic blanket they set up nearby. Fania had a book and her journal and he had the food! "NOW we can talk! We can't work with an empty stomach now, can we?" Xin nudged Fania's shoulder.
"You know my answer is yes we can, but I'll humour you." The curly haired woman grinned and Xin sighed in pure exasperation before sitting close next to her with an arm around her. "Food and science is the BEST combination! Unless you're working with toxic stuff."
For them it was just like any other time MizBill visited him to do science, but for Markus and Dipper spying on them, it was totally something else.
"But they told me they weren't dating…" Markus frowned in contemplation. Dipper sighed. "They probably lied. Not doing very good in hiding it, if they were. Besides, bro...You'd be annoying them constantly if they told you the truth."
"Well, now I'll be annoying them for not telling me!" Markus huffed.
"Marrkuus! Dipper!" The second pair of twins walked towards them. "Play!" Zach demanded. Zoe raised her arms to be picked up by Markus. "Aaw~ Come here~" As soon as he had her, Zoe hugged him and bit his arm. "OOW!"
Zoe giggled before trying to escape by kicking him. "Ow! No!" "You're a dumb dumb! I'll eat you!"
"Nooo!"
Dipper stroked her chin with a contemplative look. "You know, I think you ARE right, she has baby crushes...You happen to look like a more muscular me right now~"
"OOOWW!" Markus shouted as a response as Zoe pulled at his curls. Dipper picked up Zach because he was an angel. "Look, Dipper, I found a tooth!" Zach squealed.
"Oh wow, that's weird and very gross." Dipper wondered why the hell there was such a pointy tooth around here. Maybe a shark? Didn't seem like it. She should investigate later.
"What are you guys doing?" The four cousins watched Amelie walk towards them. Markus finally fell to the sand from Zoe's kicks, and she ran over the young woman to hug her. "Amelie! Save me!"
"Save YOU?!" Markus cried as he rubbed his bruised arm. He decided right there that being the baby crush of this baby was horrible.
The foreign girl looked confused. "What's going on?" Zoe peeked out from behind Amelie's legs and stuck her tongue out at Markus. "Markus being a no-fun~!"
"Gasp! How dare you call me a no-fun?! I'm the MOST fun!"
"No, you aren't!" "Yes I am!" "Not you!" "Yes I am!"
Amelie rolled her eyes and looked around for Xin, but she noticed he was with Fania. How he was holding her. Oh… Dipper saw her expression and quickly explained.
"Oh, don't worry, Xin is actually MUCH older than he looks, and you know, not actual blood or anything... I think it's an Asian thing to not look your age." She hummed. "So, it's weird, but they're not actually… um…" Dipper rubbed her hair. "You know what? I'm just gonna… shut up now…"
Amelie blinked. "So they're… together?" She'd strongly suspected it… but to have it confirmed...
"We're pretty sure, I mean, they deny it, but… look at them!" Markus waved his hands in the direction of the two. Xin was leaning over to rest his head on Fania's shoulder, peering down at the journal she was writing in.
"How can they NOT be together!" Markus wailed. It wasn't fair! Everyone had a partner except him! Auuuugh! He was horny (-ier, probably, as a guy) as fuck and wanted his summer romance dammit!
Amelie smiled. Well...they did look happy together… "So, are they just too shy to admit that they're together?" She asked both sets of twins. Zach and Zoe shrugged. Didn't know, didn't care. Dipper thought about it. "Maybe they're worried about the whole, adopted family thing."
"If Xin's an adult, why was he adopted?" Amelie mused aloud before her eyes widened and she leaned closer to whisper, "Is it so he could immigrate to America? I heard all sorts of awful things about America's immigration policies…" She was here on a travel visa herself, not staying long.
Markus and Dipper looked at each other. Well, that kinda worked as a cover story? "It's… complicated." Markus said at last, not exactly lying. Amelie nodded very seriously. "Must have been hard."
"Aren't we being rude…? Too close to their date?" Amelie asked nervously, not sure about the habits around here.
Markus knew they were, but he wanted to see them! "Shh~ they'll hear us. Come on, we can hide behind that rock." He crawled in the sand to get closer, wanting to see how disgustingly sweet those two were being. Dipper shooed the little twins back to their parents while she and Amelie hid with Markus. And then Markus listened in on what sweet nothings the two were whispering at each other...
The boy had to hide a big roll of his eyes. Were they seriously just talking about SCIENCE on the beach?! When they could be massaging each other and applying sunscreen very leisurely?! What kind of humans they were!
...Oh. Right.
Dipper thought it was very appropriate, considering who they were talking about...It also made him think back when Stanford told him Bill was his muse and he learned and looked up to him...Was their relationship…like this ? Dipper shuddered a little. Author, no!
(His only source of relief was that this Bill Cipher was nice (even if they were kinda… scary sometimes). But still, imagining his uncle fawning over that asshole triangle gave him goosebumps.)
"Boo~ this is so boring~" Markus complained. "I wanna see them do something more romantic!"
"What happened to 'Sh'?" Amelie mumbled.
"Like what?" Dipper deadpanned. Markus huffed. "Like going to the movies and kissing in the dark! Or a fancy candlelit dinner-"
"It's 2 in the afternoon." Dipper deadpanned again. Markus reached behind himself, without looking, to smack Dipper's arm. "It's 7PM somewhere on Earth!" He retorted.
"Markus, first of all, we don't even know if they're even dating-" "They are!" "And if they are! They don't need to do all that, you read too much fanfiction. Me and Paz don't do all that stuff."
"You have a boyfriend?" Amelie looked at Dipper curiously, making him blush. "...Yes?" He squeaked.
"Dipper, you aren't normal either , what you do in your relationship is an exception, not a norm." The boy crossed his arms.
"Well, I had a partner for years now, I think I know more than you!" Dipper didn't even sound smug, s/he was just pointing it out.
Markus fumed though. "It's not my fault they don't like me!"
Amelie decided to intervene now. "Hey. It's ok, don't fight~" She smiled at them. "Let's all calm down, ok? I think couples can do the things they like the most, it's not a big deal if they do science, or math or reading as long as they're happy, right?" Amelie wouldn't say she wasn't a little disappointed, but she could see the clear feelings between them. It actually made her happy. "So, what's the game plan? Making them admit it?"
"No." "Yes!" The twins responded at the same time.
The girl sighed.
-.-
When they were called to eat lunch, The twins invited Amelie over to have lunch with them. She was the only other soul who knew about the plan and she must help him! They sat down in a nice seaside restaurant and the appetizer of fried calamari came out.
Markus took this chance. By the REIGNS! "You two should feed each other!" He practically screamed at them.
Shelly groaned after a long moment of silence. "God, why do you embarrass me like that…"
Fania thought about it. "If someone did so, then my hands would be free to write!" Sab nodded slowly, seemingly agreeing with her. "Yeah…Having a servant!" She turned to Shelly, "As the youngest sibling, you should feed us. Hop Hop." She grinned mischievously and clapped her hands.
Shelly deadpanned, "Fuck no. I did enough of doing stuff for you guys when I was a kid."
"I think you didn't do enough." Stania shrugged. Shelly turned red in anger. These bastards had the gall! They bossed him around all his childhood already!
Markus watched it unfold, with the triplets bullying his dad/mom. "Dang it." These idiots weren't getting the point! "No, I mean-" He tried to say, but they weren't listening, arguing over all the ways the triplets (specifically the Stans) had used their youngest sibling.
"You made me get stuff for you!" "Get OVER it, Shelly!" "That's why I destroyed your homework, you meanie!" "AAH?! So it was YOU?! I thought it was Sab!" " Thanks , Sixer."
"Ugh… okay, plan D!"
"What were plans B through C?" Dipper deadpanned once more. Markus rolled his eyes. "I don't have access to a goose right now, so we can't do that."
Before Dipper could question how Markus had a plan (two in fact) that involved a goose, Markus picked up one of the fried calamari and turned to Xin. "Hey! If you open your mouth- I'll throw food into it!"
Xin's mouth fell open instantly. "PUT IT IN MY MOUTH!"
Dipper buried his face in his hands. "I don't know you people!"
"Hey un-aunt Fania! You should feed Xin too! Or else he'd start eating the kids!" Markus slapped the table. Fania and the others stopped their argument and looked over. "Markus, I'm sure that Xin wouldn't eat the children no matter how hungry he is." Fania adjusted her glasses. Xin hummed and looked down at Diego. "You look juicy."
"HELP!" The freckled boy shrieked.
"See?! He's going to eat him! Save your nephew! Feed the hungry guy~"
Fania rolled her eyes and picked up the bowl of calamari. Markus was shaking with anticipation. But Fania just slid the bowl over. "Here, get some food before you eat the children."
"Damn." Markus muttered.
Dipper couldn't help but laugh loudly, and even Amelie giggled. They failed so epically!
Markus tried fruitlessly to get Fania and Xin to do something romantic for the rest of the day. They ACTUALLY went to the cinema, and Markus wanted them to sit together, but unfortunately, Xin was sent to watch a children's movie with the kids because he was prohibited from watching horror movies. "Oh come on!" Markus complained. He'd even pushed Fania to go to a horror movie because he'd been hoping for Xin to get scared and hug her!
At dinner, he pushed Xin towards Fania, expecting them to trip and hold onto each other. It just ended up on Xin falling on top of Fania and both slamming against a glass. The staff panicked over them getting hurt, but it ended up with Fania BREAKING the glass with her metal plated skull.
"...Oops?" Markus winced when Dipper and Amdlie glared at him. Ok. That was totally his bad. Sorry.
Dipper patted his back as they got ready for bed later at night. "I guess we'll never get the epic summer romance between them." Markus complained as he combed and untangled Dipper's long hair. He was still wearing an oversized t-shirt as pjs, but because he was taller, it fitted him better, so now he just wore his t-shirt of kitties and boxers.
"It's fine, Markus. Not all people display their affection the way you want them to."
"I guess." Markus sighed and went to bed when Dipper's hair was ready.
Meanwhile, over in Ford's room, Xin flopped onto the bed and groaned as his antlers and tail popped out. "It always feels so much nicer when I can let loose." He purred, rubbing his face against the pillow. "My poor tail gets sore if it's retracted for too long. And all the shit we went through today didn't help." The dragon whined.
Markus didn't know, but he had indirectly accomplished his goals.
"Sore?" Fania looked at the lazily wagging appendage. "Would you like me to massage it?"
Xin looked over. He tensed at the word massage, almost instinctively. But he relaxed. "Sure, but just my tail, and don't pull it."
"Of course." Fania smiled and sat down, laying the (surprisingly heavy) golden tail in her lap as she began to slowly squeeze and stroke it. Xin melted into the sheets, purring like a motor.
Fania was laughing at this, of course. It amused her to no end. "Are you enjoying it?"
"Y-Y-Y-ee-ee-ss~" Xin moaned softly. "I like your tail, the scales are so nice to touch. And I can feel all the muscles inside." Fania squished the appendage with a smile. Xin hummed, rubbing his face against the pillow. "And I love your hands~"
Fania flushed a little. Everytime Xin said that, she felt all warm inside. "...I like my hands too." She said at last, finally feeling that, yes, she was quite happy with her hands. Since they were able to make someone so happy. If Xin could love them so much, then, maybe they really were amazing. And if the way Xin moaned and arched back when Fania stroked along the smooth scales meant anything, her hands must have been quite amazing indeed.
She finished massaging Xin's tail and laid down next to him. Sleepily, the dragon held one of his hands, his five fingers fitting perfectly between her six. Fania felt her face heating up, but she couldn't pull away. She closed her eyes. And Xin smiled when Fania decided to stay close, because for some reason, it made him feel so relaxed.
-.-
The rest of the week flew by, until the day they had to change back. Xin decided to change them as they slept, so he wouldn't have to put a perception filter if someone saw them in the process of. He went to sleep with Ford, whose sleeping feminine face morphed into a sleeping masculine face. Xin curled up with him and fell asleep, only to be woken up by triumphant screams of, "IT'S BACK!" That was Stan.
Hope you enjoyed it! xD