Slices of Life and Family

by bluefrostyy

PART 3 of The life of Sebastian Pines! (Read that first, I doubt you'll understand what's going on) The story follows Seb's life after Gravity Falls. Bill was defeated, but the Pines family still have thousands of adventures together. Old characters will come back, new characters will make an appearance, all to accompany Seb through his journey as a human (Cowritten with Mizuuma)

35. Chapter 35 The summer ends

Hello! new chapter here! Theres no drawing this time but id love if you followed me on insta as bluefrostyy!

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Slices of Life and Family

Chapter 35: Summer ends

And then, at the end of the summer, the twins turned 19 themselves. And it was time for Shermie and Abi to cheer.

To no one's surprise, Max was at the hotel lobby early in the morning, wiggling his butt excitedly as he waited for his girlfriend to come down. He held a box in his hands, having learned that humans wrapped their gifts and tore them apart to satisfy their primal apex hunter instincts. He could appreciate this human tradition. It sounded so fun!

After Mabel was crushed with hugs and kisses along with Dipper by her family, she ran towards the boy and threw herself over him, laughing.

"Max! Oh my god! You got this for me?!" She gasped as her eyes welled up with tears a little bit. She opened the box and there was a bright pink pig stuffed toy with chocolate with sprinkles. "I didn't find glitter...the human selling the candies told me they didn't sell it in food places, but sprinkles are close enough, right?" Max asked sheepishly. Mabel giggled, "I love sprinkles!" She wanted to share the chocolate with Max but Miz told her straight out that chocolate would kill him (though hot chocolate was apparently fine, as long as it was heated up, Miz explained something about heat denaturing the enzymes, but Mabel didn't really understand all the science talk), so Mabel quickly ate the chocolate herself. And then had to go brush her teeth and wash her face because it was still dangerous to Max if he wanted to kiss her. Miz did tell her that it would take an entire bar of chocolate to kill Max, but she should still probably refrain from the treat in the future.

Still~ He was so brave~ Buying her something that was so dangerous for him~

While they were having breakfast, Stan teasingly asked Dipper when HIS girlfriend was going to give him his birthday hug. The boy shrugged, looking a little sad. Paz hadn't even written to him today… well, Dipper knew there was a large time difference between the East and West coasts, but still-

"I'm sure it's nothing, she will call you, Pinetree." Seb patted his shoulder. The Pines, Max and Amelie (who was invited by Miz) stayed at the table talking animatedly about different things and eventually, the other customers left, leaving them there only because the waiters were scared of kicking them out. Crazy family followed by crazy things.

When they were finishing their food, someone tapped Dipper's shoulder, who was being distracted by his cousin, and he jumped out of his skin when he saw the covered person behind him. His scowl turned into a huge grin though when the person, a young woman took off her head scarf revealing a grinning blonde. "Happy birthday, nerd~"

Everyone cooed and laughed when Dipper gasped and hugged his girlfriend. "You came…" Dipper whispered in surprise and Pacifica rolled her blue eyes. "Of course dummy...do you really think I forgot!?"

The two laughed and hugged each other. Dipper shyly kissed her cheek. Mabel made a sheepish Max stand up. "Look Paz! This is Max!" Pacifica looked him up and down before giving Mabel a thumbs up. "I'd give him a solid 7.5. Good job Mabel."

Max seemed confused and Mabel rolled her eyes. Max was a 10000/10! Paz was just cray-cray. "And what is Dipper?" She asked, just to bother her twin. The blonde looked at Dipper and hummed. "9.5." She declared and Dipper looked hurt. "What am I missing then?"

"Me~" She purred and kissed his lips softly, making the boy turn red.

Everyone went nuts, cooed and squealed loudly. "Wait, so how do the rest of us rate?" Stan muttered. Pacifica scoffed. She pointed at Stan "6. You're a slob." She pointed at Seb "8. Takes good care of his skin and hair. I approve." She pointed at Ford "7.5 because he doesn't try hard enough, but if he ever bothered to take better care of himself, an 8." She looked around and pointed at Shermie "Solid 7.5. His muscles are nice, needs to work on his tidiness." The Pines brothers gaped as their wives laughed loudly. Stan almost fainted as Seb cheered and Ford looked confused. "I love you too, Pacifica." Shermie grumbled.

She grinned proudly and waved at the little twins and Diego. They were bigger than she remembered. She saw a girl sitting next to Mabel, probably a friend, and then saw an Asian girl patting Ford's arm. "Who is she?" Pacifica asked. Seb blinked. "Oh. Right. This is Miz. Me and Wanda adopted her a few months ago." Pacifica nodded in understanding and smiled at her. "Well, I am Pacifica Northwest, nice to meet you. I'm Dipper's girlfriend!" She declared proudly. Dipper felt so proud.

"Nice to meet you in person as well! Dipper talks a lot about you!" She smiled and Dipper groaned in embarrassment. Miz grinned up at her. "Nice to see you've been doing well for yourself, Llama." Ford sighed tiredly. Miz why...why was she like this? He knew she loved chaos...but still.

Pacifica frowned at the little girl. "Um...thanks?" She poked Dipper. "Who's this kid?" Dipper sighed. "She's...not...really...human…" Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "Well, leave it to the Pines to adopt a magic kid…"

"How've your parents been? Still suffering? I hope so." Miz giggled. Ford nudged her. "Miz, don't be rude."

"Well, they're fine, I guess. Dad's investing in other stuff...and mom's also working right now. She's training kids for beauty pageants or something. She hates to work but she has to."

The Pines shared a look and then nodded. Right. Oh their poor multimillionaire life was harshly taken away from them. Now they are just millionaires! Poor them!

Miz frowned. "Child beauty pageants are awful. I'm sure she could find ANYTHING else to do with her time." Pacifica shrugged, she couldn't do anything about it, and hugged Dipper's arm. They only had a day together before summer ended. Then they would all be off to college.

They let the teens spend time together while the adults were packing and checking in for their flights. The kids were watching TV in Stan's room. Finally they all sat down for dinner together. The whole Pines family plus Amelie and Maxini. "I can't believe summer is done. It felt way too fast…" Abi sighed. Shermie sighed. "Yeah. But we're gonna meet up again for Thanksgiving. Who's in charge of hosting this year?"

"Fordsie!" Seb pointed dramatically at his older triplet. "An excuse to clean the house and try to make Question Mark give me a new nephew!" He grinned. Ford smiled slightly. "Right…" he would have to pick up around the shack...beg Abuelita and Melody to help make food for everyone…

He was glad he had made the extension of the house as the center was built as well.

He should build a food machine that would just cook things if he threw in the ingredients! Brilliant! As Ford scienced in his head, Miz pulled on Wanda's hand. "There's MY birthday in October!" She reminded everyone. Mabel gasped. "I need to get you a BIRTHDAY SWEATER!"

"So...it's at Seb's place next?" Stan asked. Wanda hugged her daughter tightly. "Yes~" She was excited, she would have to start figuring out what to do with the party. Miz didn't go to school and didn't have any friends in the neighborhood. They could invite her alien friends? But would they be...able to be hidden? Wanda frowned. These were questions that normal mothers wouldn't have…

"What do you want for your birthday, Miz?" Zoe asked. Miz hummed. "I wonder if my friends would agree to be shoved into human constructs? Or would I get away with them being here almost as themselves, since… Halloween?" Wanda hummed. That was exactly what she was thinking. "Well, if they do, it would be nice to have them in our...dimension to celebrate with you."

Miz snuggled with her mom and clung to her. "Thanks." Ford was relieved he wouldn't have to clean for a while. Of course, this lack of preparation would later result in him spending multiple sleepless nights trying to dust the rooms and nearly suffocating but that's pretty much what happened when Ford procrastinated.

Which happened, not surprisingly, most of the time.

The next day, after packing and after being kicked out of their rooms, they visited the beach one last time. Miz wanted to walk along the beach and picked out pretty rocks and seashells. Amelie went with her, wanting to spend her last moments with her friend before they would be leaving.

Mabel and Maxini went off for a little date together. Pacifica wanted to make it a double date and the girls squealed about it together. Dipper turned to Dillon and Phillip with begging eyes. (Max was just learning about human's courting rituals, so he was just happy to have more humans around to study!) Phillip laughed. "Sure, we can make this a triple date." Now Dillon and the girls were squealing together.

They had a good day, they walked around town, went in places like cafes and restaurants where the twins claimed it was their birthday to get stuff for free. It worked. In all of them. It was amazing!

After walking around, they ended up at the beach and walked along the shore. Max looked at Mabel, and then back at her hand he was holding. She was leaving...he was going to miss her so much… "Mabel...can we talk for a second?" He nodded to his left, begging that she understood he wanted to talk just to her. It took her a second, but Mabel nodded and they walked away, leaving her twin and cousin kissing their respective partners.

"What's up, Max?" Mabel asked. He shuffled his feet into the sand. "I've loved out time together"

Mabel smiled. "Me too!"

Maxini smiled at her. "I love how open you are…" He muttered before getting serious. "What will we do now? you're going to leave...How am I supposed to prove I'm a good boyfriend and worthy of marrying if you aren't here?" The boy asked, terrified of losing his partner.

Mabel paused as she realized she was going back to the other side of the country.

"I think we can try and see how things work! We can talk or video chat, right? There's that mirror-thing I have with Mermando, I can get one for you as well." She smiled widely and Max happily wiggled his butt before hugging her. "I don't know what that is, but anything will be fine!" He pressed his cool skin against her.

Mabel made a mental note to ask Miz for help, give her another mirror. Mabel could give Miz a brand new Mabel sweater in return. She blushed before leaning forward and giving him a small peck on his lips. "Don't worry, baby. Don't think you can't get rid of me so easily. We'll make it work."

The new couple laughed and held each other close. "I'm going to miss your hugs." Maxini sighed. "You give the best hugs." Mabel brushed her hands down his back. "Oh course! I'm the most hug-tastic!" They finally pulled away, Maxini gave her a smile. "When will I see you again? In person?"

Mabel bit her lip in thought. "I'm...gonna have to ask my parents. And...I'm starting college soon, so it might not be for a while...I'll ask Miz for help, don't worry your pretty head with that~In fact, let's go now!" She dragged Maxini with her as they ran around the beach searching for Miz and Amelie.

-.-

"So you're going to go back to Greenland?" Miz asked as she bent down to pick up another intact seashell. Amelie nodded. "It's back to the ocean with me. It's not bad, I've missed my home. But it would be lonely without you guys. You're fun."

Miz went up to hug Amelie. "I can give you a frame so you can still talk to me. And to everyone else." Amelie smiled softly. "I would like that." She sighed and gazed out at the ocean. The breeze was cool. Miz shifted into Xin, stretching out with a sigh. "I could always fly over to hang out- if you want~?" he joked.

Amelie giggled at that before her expression sombered and she sighed. "I won't deny, I kinda liked you when you were a guy. Still do." When Xin paused to look at her, Amelie looked away "It was nice to hang out with a really hot guy who was nice and fun to talk to." She rubbed her arm. "Most of the boys I know are all about starting a relationship and that sort of thing. So the fact that you outright said you just wanted to hang out as friends was so fresh and...it put me at ease." She smiled at him. "It was nice to know that you wanted to be my friend, no strings attached about wanting to get together with me or anything. You wanted to get to know me for ME and not because you wanted something from me."

Xin blinked. "Eh...so what's the problem?" Amelie laughed. "The problem is that I started falling for you." At Xin's startled look, Amelie giggled. "That look on your face is hilarious. But yeah...I found myself liking you. I know I shouldn't have." With him dating Mr. Stanford and all that.

Xin looked guilty. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no, don't be. I really loved hanging out with you and your family." Amelie assured him. "Besides, it was just a small crush that first week...and then I found out you were a little girl." She ran a hand through her hair. "But even when you had changed forms so drastically, you didn't change. You were the same friendly sweet person who talked to me. With your funny stories and crazy antics pulling me and everyone into wacky adventures."

"Like when we found that buried treasure a few weeks back!" Xin grinned. "Or when we had that swimming contest and Dipper got trapped on that island turtle." Amelie laughed. The two reminisced fondly over the misadventures they had this summer. "This has been the most fun I've ever had, I never thought going out to hang out with land dwellers would be so much fun." Amelie went up and hugged Xin. "So, thank you. For being my friend and bringing me with you on all these adventures. I have plenty of friends now. You, Mabel, Dipper, Zach, Zoe, Diego, Dillon...even your uncles and aunts. You've all been so good to me."

Xin hugged her back. "I'm glad you had fun. I...don't actually have many friends outside my family in this dimension. All my other friends are out in space." Amelie laughed. "Alien, right?" Xin nodded. "I'm going to try and bring them here eventually but, it's lonely without them. Even when I have my family." Amelie nodded "I can understand that."

"It's gonna be sad saying goodbye. We can still keep in touch, though it won't be the same." Well, Xin could set up teleporters.

"There's always next summer?" Amelie asked hopefully. Xin smiled. "I dunno where our family is going next summer but...well...if...you wanted, you can come with us?" He offered. The selkie grinned. "I'd love that. I would need to ask my parents for permission though..."

"I can assure them that you'll be safe with us! I mean, I kept you and everyone else alive all summer, after all." Xin cackled. The two friends laughed and held each other close. A loud voice squealed, "AHHH YOU'RE BOTH SO CUUUTE!"

""Ugh...Mabel…"" Xin and Amelie groaned.

"You're even groaning in synch with each other!" Mabel laughed. Maxini looked embarrassed. "Sorry, we didn't mean to eavesdrop, great dragon. Mabel had a question for you to help us with your great wisdom and powers, so we came to find you." Mabel would need to get used to Max honoring the dragon so much. He now knew the dragon could shapeshift and almost fainted from awe at the greatness he was experiencing. It took all the magic he had just to take a human form, Max had to work so hard on that, but the dragon had more than one human form! And changed between them so easily!

"Xin, can I get a new mirror to talk to Max? And also, what can you give us so we can keep in touch? Pleaseee! I would be depriving him of the best hugs in the universe!" She hugged the flustered boy.

The demon laughed. "I can give you a mirror because I SHIP you, but what'll you give me in return if I help you more than that?" He might love his cousin, but he's already given out too many freebies this summer. Mabel considered it. She looked around and made sure no one else was nearby. She whispered "I still have a secret stash of Smile Dip, but I may be willing to part with them in exchange for a way to see my boyfriend face to face."

Xin's eyes widened and he grinned toothily. "Ooh~you have my interest~" Mabel and him leaned in to whisper back and forth while Amelie snorted when she saw Maxini bowing to the dragon. Aaww.

Finally Xin straightened up and held out a hand. "So, a method of near instant transport to each other's locations and back again, in exchange for a week's supply of Smile Dip." He smirked. "And extra if I request it." Mabel nodded. "It may take a little time, my supplier's got a busy schedule." The two gripped hands and shook while Maxini and Amelie shifted uneasily. The reptile boy leaned over to whisper "Did we just watch a drug deal go down?" Amelie shrugged.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Xin laughed. He held up two pendants. They were triangles with a little heart shape inside. "There's one for both of you. If you squeeze it and whisper into it, the other can hear. So you can ask each other if you want to hang out. Once you both decide if Mabel's going to where Max is, or vice versa, just squeeze it again and you'll teleport to near the other. And when you want to go home, repeat. Simple."

Mabel hugged her cousin. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She went over to Maxini and handed him one of them as she slipped her own on. "I wanna test it!" Maxini laughed and the two started teleporting beside each other and back again. Xin glanced around. "You guys are so lucky I've had this Perception Filter going all summer."

Amelie laughed. "Should we get those pendants too?" She teased. Xin scoffed. "Mabel would never stop teasing me if we did." Said girl snorted with laughter. "YES! GET YOUR OWN MATCHING COUPLE PENDANTS!"

"We will get matching friendship pendants." Xin rolled his eyes. He looked at Amelie. "If you want to. Do you want to get a pendant to talk as well?" she laughed. "I would love that." Xin formed them, triangles with a teardrop shape inside. Mabel pouted. "How come SHE gets a freebie?"

"Because I'm doing it to spite you." Xin stuck his tongue out at her. Mabel pouted but held onto Maxini's arm. "Let's go Max!" Maxini grinned widely and the two teens walked away, not before Max shouted "THANK YOU GREAT DRAGON!"

Xin shook his head with an amused grin. He turned around and gave Amelie the pendant. "Here." The selkie girl smiled and hugged her friend, who reciprocated.

-.-

Eventually, it was time to go. After saying bye to Max and Amelie one last time, the Pines went to the airport and hugged each other, as they were returning to their respective homes and wouldn't see each other until Miz's birthday. Ford wondered if the portal gun idea really would be something worth looking into, at least to cut down on travel costs.

The little twins were back on their leashes and Zoe, sitting on a chair and kicking her legs, saw some men with funny hats and little luggages. "Look! Pilots!" She pulled at Uncle Ford's sleeve. Ford looked up and nodded. "You're correct. Zoe leaned on him. "Is it hard to ride a plane?" Ford chuckled. "Fly a plane, Zoe. And yes, pilots have to do a lot of studying and training."

"Oh, but that's only 2 things." The little girl shrugged and turned around to poke Queen Flutter in her cage. Ford hummed. Well. He...had never thought of things that way. It was an oversimplification but he found Zoe's naivety refreshing. When they boarded the plane, Zach fell asleep almost immediately, but Zoe managed to stay awake to feel how the plane took off. It felt so weird and cool! As the rumbling settled down into a background roar as the plane soared through the sky, Zoe declared "I wanna fly a plane too when I grow up!"

Seb, who was trying to sleep, nodded at his daughter with a tired smile. "That's awesome, pumpkin…" He slurred before he conked out, not really paying attention to her announcement. Zoe grinned widely and settled down to watch a video on the mini screen in front of her. Miz was once again next to Ford and she was passed out on his lap as he read. He petted her hair absentmindedly from time to time and the demon let out a purr. The plane ride was blessedly quiet.

Hours later, Seb was saying bye to his brother who had another trip by bus to Gravity Falls. (Ford didn't want to admit the portal gun idea was looking pretty good right about now. He was rather tired and travel took a lot out of him.) "Don't forget to eat and to sleep a few hours, Fordsie!" Miz waved with her free hand as she held Zach's one. Zoe was still sleeping (having passed out eventually) and her mommy was carrying her.

"I'll try to…" Ford nodded. He waved goodbye and went to the bus area. With the end of summer came the chill winds of the early morning and the coming fall. It was dark out and there weren't all that many people at the bus stop. Ford shivered while waiting there. Good thing he had his turtlenecks. He pulled one on and sighed. It was colder than he thought it would be. Ford placed his hands under his armpits to warm them. It was quiet, the other travellers sitting with their luggage without paying any attention to each other. Ford opened his journal and filled in a...less scientific entry.

He wrote about the summer, not the anomalies and discoveries though. Ford had a faint smile as he wrote about how much fun he'd had with his family. He sketched a little picture and jumped when the woman beside him commented "That's lovely. Is that your family?" Ford narrowed his eyes at her. The woman laughed. "Sorry for being nosy, you just...looked so happy while you were drawing that I had to see what it was."

Ford looked down at his sketch. He was standing beside his triplets. Seb was holding Zach and Zoe in his arms while Stan had Diego on his shoulders. Miz was clinging to him, one hand wrapped in Ford's and the other curled around Seb's shirt. Ford traced the lines where the drawings held hands. "Yes. My family."

When the bus came and Ford dozed lightly, he was still holding the journal that William had given him all those years before.

The twins started school and Wanda thought this was the best time to finally get Miz to sit down for therapy.

Linda told them that they really should get someone who specialized in traumatized children, that she could do what she could, but Linda wasn't trained for this. She wasn't qualified for this. And yes, she admitted that demons weren't in her studies either, but that was an entirely separate issue.

So Miz was there, in Linda's office. And Linda tried very hard not to stare at her long tail as it curled around at her feet. Or the antlers. 'Ok, my newest client is a dragon (demon alien) who's older than Lucifer...and is also a child. Who's apparently suffered a lot of trauma. What is my life?'

Linda gave the dragon a smile. "Hello again, Miz. Do you… know what we're doing here?"

Miz nodded, swinging her legs as she leaned back on the couch. "I tell you about all the terrible things I went through, and you tell me what's a healthy way to handle it all."

Linda nodded. "Not quite, but that is a good approximation of what we'll do."

The girl gave Linda a long look. "Will you be able to handle what I tell you? It won't… make you so upset that it'd traumatize you?"

Linda thought back to hearing about Sebastian's childhood and Lucifer's deranged rants about his own father. "I'm sure I can handle it. Or at the very least, if it gets too much for me. I'll tell you to stop."

Miz nodded. "Good."

She didn't start speaking right away. She was looking down at her lap, flicking her nails, cleaning them. "I… am a reincarnation." She said finally. Linda's first thought was, 'Again ?'

"I was human once… And then I was reborn as a triangle. Until I died again, and I'm a demon now. Bill Cipher." Miz told her. (Not Miz? So… her demon name was Bill Cipher?) Linda held up a hand. "So, are there… Three things I need to keep track of here?"

"Maybe. I figured that if I'm going to get you up to speed on who and what I am, I was going to need to start from the beginning."

Linda rubbed her head. "Alright. Let's do this."

"So the earliest memory I have of my human life, was when my great grandmother stepped on my pet chick and I saw it crushed to death…"

Linda twitched. Oh, she was going to be in for a ride, wasn't she?

((((((((((((((Warning for child abuse among other things))))))))))))))))))

"-nd he threw the tray at mom. I don't even remember what that argument had been about…"

"-took us to the beach, never realized how strange that was until years later, taking me and my sister out to a beach in the middle of the night without telling mom. But he took us home after and nothing happened, so I guess it was nothing…"

"-don't remember what I did wrong, but she had the coat hanger, and I didn't have anywhere to run so I just curled up and covered my head the best I could-"

"-as my own fault really, shouldn't have been playing near the stairwell. But shouldn't they have realized my leg was broken? Or at the very least, that I was hurt and might need to go to the hospital?"

"-ever listened to me. Ever! I got in so many arguments because he didn't understand English and I didn't know enough Cantonese to fully explain what I was feeling-"

"-they had me strip naked and examined me all over, even left me to lie there on that cold metal bed with nothing but a thin sheet, but still couldn't figure out what was wrong with me… or tell me anything at all-"

"-and then we lost the house! Like, Uuugh!"

"-then he asked me to give him my money, my savings, because he wanted to buy a new car-!"

Linda was holding her head at the ache that had started around the 3rd 'story' Miz told her. Wow. She was really… laying it all out. No hesitation, just telling her every last thing that had ever…

And the other part of Linda was belatedly realizing…

'Oh, she had daddy issues too…'

"-nd that's when I died." Miz sighed. Linda jumped, sitting up in her chair where she'd been slumped over after her back began hurting from sitting up so long. She had no other appointments today, and Miz had straight up hissed at Lucifer when he'd tried to barge in earlier, so Linda had spent the entire day listening to the abridged life story of Miz Cipher, part 1, the human years (as she called it.)

"R-right." Linda shook off her lethargy. "Well… that… is a lot to unpack, probably too much for one day…"

"I haven't even told you about my triangle life." Miz sighed. Linda wanted to sigh too. "One thing at a time. Once I've worked through your human life, as it appears a lot of who you are is based on that as a foundation, I can see about your other two lives."

"Okay." Miz agreed easily.

"For now… I think I can begin putting together a psychological profile, would help when I find someone who can help you better than I can."

Miz nodded. "Okay." She agreed again. Linda sighed. "It's not that I don't want to talk to you, I don't think I'm qualified to do so."

"But how would I even know if I can trust anyone else." Miz muttered. Linda sighed. "Yes, that will be the problem won't it? But I will try my best to find someone for you. And if all else fails…" Linda sighed. "I could start reading up on child development…" She muttered, "Wouldn't be the first time I had to speed learn something that isn't part of my job…"

(Miz's brother came back and they hung out for a while, stressing everyone else out. But that's another story.)

One of the things Miz's other Bill Cipher brother (Blue) influenced on this side of the multiverse, was making Ford host a dinner for his niblings and their partners, which ended up in him offering to teach Maxini more about human life and culture. So a few weeks later, in the last week of September, when Ford had his portal device fixed up (with him, Miz and Fiddleford working on it together to make sure it was safe to use) so he could get to a meeting spot to pick up Max, and bring him over for 'human' lessons, the mentorship officially began. (Ford wasn't going to just make handheld portal devices for people, that was too dangerous. But Miz had mentioned setting up Teleport Spots, where people could travel to, and use, to get to other Teleport Spots. Which sounded amazing. Ford was going to work on that, but he would need to make sure they were non-hackable.)

He was looking forward to making this a commercial thing. All the time and energy saved, as well as money and resources. Without mentioning the less impact on the environment~

The boy was dressed in a jacket this time, a jacket styled a lot like Native American ones. As well as boots. The clothes, while helping keep him a little warm, probably didn't do much for him with the weather dropping it's temperature into single digits.

"Hello, Maxini. Let's go inside so you can warm up." Ford quickly guided the excited boy inside. It was unsettling how cold he was, his lips were blue, but he was smiling and not shivering at all. Right, they didn't really shiver, did they? That… was… Ford blinked. "Should you be hibernating right now?"

Max should his head. "Not yet. The snow hasn't fallen, which means the god hasn't arrived yet to cover the ground with his icy blanket."

"Uh huh. Well, weather is a good first lesson, I believe!" Ford clapped his hands and grinned. "You'll learn scientifically why the weather changes without relying on archaic beliefs."

"Scientific means...Seeing it the human way?" Max followed his new mentor as Ford paced. "Scientific meaning the correct way!" Ford said proudly (being of the opinion that science was better than any silly religious beliefs. And no, he didn't realize how silly that was, considering he was friends with a literal god.)

"Oh…" Max shook himself as the warm enveloped him and his hair puffed. "I guess you're right...Mabel says you're the most intelligent human."

Ford waved a hand with false humbleness (already unconsciously knowing he was going to LOVE doing this and get Max's admiration). "Oh, I just know things, which I'm going to help you learn. Do you read in English?"

"...No…I know the characters and the numeric symbols though..."

"...Oh." Ford blinked. "Well then. Let's start with learning the human English alphabet…"

Ford couldn't believe he spent the next half hour in his lab singing the ABCs to Max.

He was also pretty sure his friends were behind the door listening. He sighed again. He made Max repeat the letters again and again, drawing them in a notebook as similar as Ford drew them. (Ford was kind enough not to use his cute extravagant handwriting, just a normal one).

"So...How do I write my name?"

Ford helped him sound it out, to get a spelling. He was quite sure it wasn't a direct 1-1 transliteration of his name, but it was close enough.

Max seemed to like it though. When he wrote it next to it in his own language, it looked...similarish which excited him a lot.

"Ok, you know how to speak, so forming sentences shouldn't be hard. I want you to write 5 sentences, yes? Whatever you want."

It took another half an hour for Max to finish them...Ford grimaced a bit, he was having a lot more respect for kindergarten teachers now, teaching english was hard.

How was he supposed to make him understand 'like' for 3rd person actually was with an s and wasn't written like it sounded but rather like, which didn't sound at all like the alphabet they just revised?

And… "Ok, hold on, I'll fix your hand...there." He fixed Max's position holding the pencil, so now instead of his fist, he was holding it the correct way, with his fingers. The pen shook even more when Max tried to write again. It seemed like his manual dexterity wasn't used to it. Ford frowned at that. "Ok, just… um… practice holding it… whichever way feels most comfortable?"

Max nodded, motivated by sheer positiveness which actually impressed the scientist a little. "Do I need to learn to write the words so you can teach me the scientific way of how the god brings ice and snow?"

"Of course. You need to take notes! You'll need them to revise when I evaluate you."

"Evaluate me?"

"After some lessons, I'll measure on a scale of 1 to 100 how well you learned the things I'm teaching you. That will give you an idea of your progress and I'll know if I need to change some method or explain a subject better."

"That sounds scary…" Max muttered.

"Well, I'm fairly certain you want to live in the human world with Mabel, and one of the things you'll need is to prove you know the 12 basic years of schooling and education human children go through."

"...I need to study 12 years to know everything humans know?!"

"Oh no, I said BASIC." Ford clarified, making the eix leel boy melt in his chair, NOW looking fairly less unmotivated than before. "Human learning is hard…" Max groaned.

They went through very basic sentences and words (making Ford feel like a kindergarten teacher, writing words like mom, dad, house, girlfriend, colors etc), before Max confessed he was hungry. He took his newest pupil to the cafeteria to get something to eat and sat with him, far away from the curious looks.

Too bad his friends didn't care about privacy. Max smiled as he chewed his meat and the other scientists slid over. They'd gotten a brief summary from their boss about how he was going to have another guest over. One who didn't know a lot of English, or American culture. "Where are you from kid?" "Are you from a very traditional society distanced from western influence?"

"Uh...Yes?"

"Aaww~ And why're you here? Can we know?" Dr. Wexler looked at the boy with the cutest braid ever and then at Ford. The scientist had given up on trying to stop his friends from just being here and talking. They were too curious for their own good sometimes.

"I want to learn about humans, so that I'm the best option for my girlfriend to marry."

"No, Max. Learning is not for someone else! It's for YOU to grow and educate yourself, cultivate your intellect." Ford exclaimed. Max nodded. "It's for me to grow!"

"Uh...What?" Dr. Poddar blinked

Ford rubbed his forehead. "Maxini's a different species and wishes to be closer to human culture. I'll teach him. But keep it to yourself, I don't want the entire staff knowing about him. He can't handle the attention as well as Xin can."

"Ooooh~ another supernatural? Hello there Maxini. It's very nice to meet you. You can call me Dr. Wexler." the ginger grinned at him. Max was looking at her hair. "Are you and Phillip related?" Max asked. Because Mabel and her family all had fluffy brown hair, aside from some who had black or yellow, but they looked similar enough. But Phillip had red hair, and so did this woman.

"I don't know who Phillip is, but I can almost say with certainty that we're not." Dr. Wexler raised an eyebrow. Ford patted Max's shoulder. "They aren't. While genetically, being red haired is less likely, not every red haired person is directly related." he paused. "Though they could be very distantly related? Many, many generations ago."

"What's geneti-cally?"Max asked curiously and Ford pulled at his hair. DAMNIT! "Do you know what...DNA is?"

"It's the letters of the alphabet!" Max said brightly. "Dee is the fourth letter. En comes after Em! And Ey is the first one!"

The group of scientists giggled behind their hands as their boss took a deep breath. Ford was the least patient person they knew when it came to others, why did he volunteer for this? Haha!

"Ok, let's make a note to explain this for biology..." He handed Max a paper. "Write red and hair and DNA." Max nodded, pulling his pencil out of his pocket and stuck his tongue out as he concentrated.

Fiddleford looked at Ford. "You'd be a terrible kindergarten teacher." he deadpanned.

"Yes. That's why I studied science and not kindergarten education. " Ford stressed, making the others laugh a little more, amused and worried about how high the standards were going to be set for Maxini.

The poor supernatural boy.

-.-

It took the rest of September for Max to get used to writing a little more fluently and with less mistakes. Ford, shamelessly, gave the eix leel homework, which Maxini dutifully brought back the next day. He did it at night, curled up in his nest with his sisters. His parents didn't even warm him when they asked the Queen if he was allowed to and Max excused this homework to his queen by saying that, "As the human ambassador, I have to pass human tests, it is the will of the Great Dragon."

She begrudgingly had to agree and Max was allowed to continue. The priestesses told her it was better this way, because he wasn't attending much to the apprenticeship and they were more than glad to not have the freak boy around. "He did cook well though." A lower-ranked priestesses complained, "Kind of a shame we can't have him here, working for us anymore."

Ford tried teaching Max basic mathematical operations, and to his immense pleasure, Max knew how to add, substract, multiply and even divide. "You see Max, the exact same thing you did with your symbols, you'll do with these ones, called arabic numbers. That's the wonder of math and science! It's completely universal anywhere you see it!"

Max nodded slowly. Ok…(?!)

Math was the easiest subject Ford was teaching him. Max seemed horrified as to WHY more math existed for humans. Why would you mix letters and numbers? Why are drawing lines and curves on a graph paper so important? ax+b. You don't go around measuring or weighting fish with ax+b!

"...what's this for? Why do humans learn this? What do we use it for, in human society?" Max was very confused about what the practical applications of this were. Did humans really need to know the degrees of a triangle in day to day life? Humans were so incredibly complex...

"Math is elementary for day to day life." Ford said solemnly. And triangles were important! (Ford fought down a blush at the memory of how he'd used a protractor to make sure all his drawings and paintings of Bill had been perfect-)

"You haven't even taught me the human way of seeing the weather. You say it's not the Gods, but you haven't told me who does it." Max crossed his arms, a bit petulantly. "I know that the Great Dragon can do it. So, is it her? Does she make the human weather too?"

"Alright. fine. We'll take a break from quadratic functions for ecology." Max happily turned the page in his notebook and searched for an appropriate pen. Mabel had gifted him a box with colorful pens and pencils! They were so colorful and had even more colors than the rainbow and he absolutely loved it. He grabbed green, because it sounded appropriate (it was a shiny pen, which also smelled of fruits) and looked up at Dr. Pines with a raised eyebrow. (Mabel had told him that if he was confused, he could use different colors for different bits of information, to help him sort them for easier understanding later.)

Ford grabbed a globe and showed it to Max. "This is the Earth. you are in this continent called North America, in the country United States in the state of Oregon. These are the other continents, which are big pieces of land. This is South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania."

"...I don't know about those other continents… and that's not how they taught me about how the territory is laid out…"

"The Earth's not flat. Get over it." Ford deadpanned. "Anyway! This is a planet." He drew in the whiteboard the Earth and the Sun next to it. "The planet Earth orbits around a giant Star called the Sun, which is millions and millions of kilometers away from the planet, but it's rays of light enter the atmosphere- a gaseous layer around the Earth, and warms it."

"Orbits...What?" Max frowned.

"When the planet makes an entire cycle around the sun, it takes 365 days, it makes a year. However! The earth also spins along its own axis, and that makes day and night. The side of the planet facing the Sun is the day, while the other one is the night, when it turns over like this-" Ford spinned his globe. "-now this other side is in the day."

"What's an axis?"

"The Earth also has a natural satellite called the moon-" Ford searched in his drawer for the moon that came with the globe and stuck it to it with a metal stick. "What's a satellite?!" Max asked, only to be ignored as Ford continued speaking.

Max was so incredibly confused right now. And mister Ford wasn't stopping to clarify any of his questions.

"The moon, unlike the planet, doesn't spin, it stays the same, and it appears at night, reflected by the Sun's light. It has phases depending on how direct the Sun's hitting it. That's why you get full moons or half moons." Ford finished. Max thought this meant he could finally ask a question, but Ford continued.

"SO! Weather! Depending on the position of the planet during its orbit around the Sun, it'll give different weather to different parts of the planet. While the planet is for example in July, the northern hemisphere is in summer, while the south has winter, due to the inclination of the planet, and while we're in December, the northern hemisphere is in winter, that's when you go hibermate, and the south is in summer. The in between periods create fall and spring."

Max was sobbing softly.

"Heeeey Fordsie!" a voice called out. A voice of salvation.

"Great Dragon!" Max sobbed as he ran over to fall to his knees before Xin, who blinked at this.

"I'm so sorry! I don't understand! I don't understand what Mr. Pines is teaching me!" Max sobbed, ashamed of himself. "I can't learn!"

Xin blinked down at him, and then gave Ford a very unimpressed look. "It's not your fault Maxini. Ford's just shit at teaching basic level things. It's why he was never able to help Sebastian or Stan with their homework as kids." ("Hey!") Xin knelt down to brush the tears from Max's eyes. "Oh, sweetie…" Xin coo'ed at him. "Let's sit down and lemme see what the issue is."

Max sniffled, rising to his feet, holding the Great Dragon's hand as he led them back to the desk. "Now Fordsie, what were you trying to explain to him?" Xin asked, crossing one leg over the other elegantly.

"How weather originated...in...the real way and not with his god myths…"

"I don't get it… I don't even know why Mr. Pines says the territory is a circle." Max sniffled. Xin sighed. "Ok, let's start from the very beginning." He gently pulled Max down until the eix leel was lying with his head on Xin's lap, moving his legs to rest them both on the ground so that his lep would be level.

Xin took a deep breath and started with, "Once upon a time, a planet called Earth was formed." Ford frowned. "It's not some story. And it didn't just take one moment, the Earth took billions of years to-" and then Xin reached out a hand, and even though he was sitting so far away, Ford could feel a finger press against his lips. "Shush Fordsie. It's story time."

So Ford grumbled and sat back as Xin continued. He'd fill up his paperwork then! While Xin prefered doing storytelling instead of actually teaching him. He thought, very etnocentristic of him and allowing Xin to see why he chose science instead of any social studies.

"The Earth is like a really, really big rock. But it also has water pooled within the uneven surface of it. Have you seen rocks like that before?" Xin asked Max, stroking his hair gently. Max sniffled, but nodded. Xin smiled at him, and continued, "Now, because that rock is so big and bumpy, it collected water into all it's little dips and cracks. But this rock is also round. So it rolls." Xin giggled. "But here's the thing, the rock really likes the water that it collected. So the water stays on it, even as it rolls around." Max gasped. "Is it a magic rock?" (Ford rolled his eyes, magic may be real, but gravity wasn't magic!) Xin shrugged. "Some people say it's magic. You see, the thing that makes the water stick to the rock is called 'gravity'. Gravity is an invisible power, a force, that pulls things towards other things. And the bigger something is, the bigger that pull will be. So, since this rock is suuuuuper big-" Xin opened his arms wide and MAx laughed a little. "-it was able to keep all that water pulled toward itself, so that it didn't splash away as the rock rolled around."

Here, Xin stopped to do a status check, "Do you understand so far?" Max nodded. Xin continued. "Now, the rock isn't rolling along the ground, no, this rock rolls through the air, like it's floating." Max gasped. "So it IS magic!" Xin giggled. "Nope. It's still gravity." he poked Max's nose. "You know the sun?" Max nodded. Everyone knew what the sun was. The great ball of light in the sky that warmed their bodies and brought them life. "Well, where is the sun?" Xin asked. "In the sky-" Max's eyes widened. The sun floated in the sky. Max was told it was because the gods placed fire into the sky, to create the sun. But from what Xin was saying… "So… the sun floats in the sky… because of gravity?"

Xin nodded. Max frowned. "But… wouldn't the sun be pulled towards us, because of gravity?"

Xin grinned and patted his head. "You're close, but it's the other way around. You see, the sun is actually much, much bigger than us. Our planet, our Earth, the big rock I was telling you about? It's much smaller than the sun."

"...that doesn't make sense. The sun is the size of a pup's fist." Max frowned. Xin continued petting him. "If I was standing very far away, how big would I be?" he prompted. Max blinked. "You'd look smaller, but you're not actually smaller, just farther away…" and then Max connected this information on his own to, "So the sun is actually very, very far away?"

"Exactly!" Xin nodded. "And it is huuuuge!" He pointed at the globe. "If the Earth is this size, the sun is the size of this entire building!" Max's eyes went wide. "That's… that's really big…" like… unfathomably big. "And that… Earth is… Earth is here." Max opened his own arms to gesture around them. "Where we are living, and standing on. And…" he frowned as he connected all the previous points together. "And… the Earth is round, and the reason we can stand on it, even though it's round, is because of gravity?"

Xin clapped. "Yes! Exactly! You're doing great! See? It's not that hard, now is it?" He cheered, making Max very proud of himself. "That actually makes much more sense…" Max rubbed his arm, sitting up and off Xin's lap now. The dragon gave him a gentle look, "Do you need a break to get a snack? Melody's in the house making cookies, you can eat those. They don't have chocolate in them, and I've run a bio-test of your body through all known foods, so you're gonna be fine with shortbread cookies." Xin told him.

"Ok! I'll be right back." Max nodded before running away.

"Aren't you babying him?" Ford asked immediately. "You're acting like he's stupid: the rock loves having water!" Ford said in a mocking higher pitched voice. "He isn't."

Xin deadpanned. "Aren't you the one treating him like someone who knows what a hemisphere even is? You're not even giving him any of the basics to build on."

"Any child can learn concepts, Xin. Do you think they need to learn like that?"

"Maybe they should! And I'm not treating him like he's stupid, Max's really intelligent, especially taking into consideration how you've shoved writing and grammar down his throat over the last 2 weeks." Xin shook his head. "I'm teaching him in a way he understands! Do you think their pups are sat down to write down 20 times their vocabulary list? they learn through oral tradition, storytelling~ and it's so rude for you to tell him to his face that his gods are not real, especially KNOWING Maxini is NOT going to fight you on it, or defend his beliefs. You just don't do that." Xin felt a little pang in his chest, hurt at the slight disappointment he was feeling at Fordsie. "I mean, I'm a god. Are you gonna tell me I'm not real?"

"But he thinks his gods control the weather-"

" I can control the weather." Xin deadpanned.

"Ok, but not on the entire planet, no. It's natural science working, it doesn't come from a God's job. I'd KNOW if there were seasonal spirits flying around bringing an icy blanket all around the land~" He batted his eyelashes

"Just 'cause you can't see them, doesn't mean they're not there." Xin deadpanned. "And just because their 'magic' works via manipulating the temperature and air pressure in order to produce the effects in a way science can understand, doesn't mean that they weren't using their powers in conjunction with the sunlight, and the rotational spin of the planet." Xin huffed. The gods worked WITH the planet. That's… kinda the point! It was only aberrations like himself that went against the natural order of things. Because Bill Cipher was a rule breaker! "I don't like how you're trying to force Max to ignore his own beliefs to shove down yours. You could easily explain things to him, but you don't. Just leave, I'm teaching him today. If you're not going to fully be into it, don't do it, because it's not fair for Max to feel 'stupid' because the 'most intelligent human' is teaching him and he doesn't undersrand him." Xin pointed towards the door.

"...This is my lab…"

"Fiddleford needs help. Now go." Xin glared. "You don't have the care and patience needed for teaching children, nor respecting someone's religious beliefs. If you wanna teach him how to read and write, that's fine, because at least then, you're not making him feel like an idiot for not 'magically' understanding everything you're saying." Xin pointed at the door. "Until you can learn to respect someone else's beliefs, especially if they in no way cause you any harm, or cause anyone any harm, for them to hold those beliefs, you are not allowed to teach Max about science."

Max returned with a few more cookies and sat down next to Xin for the next lesson. Ford sighed, looking a little miffed and left. Max blinked. "...is mister Ford okay?"

"He'll be fine. I'm just stomping on his pride as a teacher." Xin shrugged. "Now, where were we… oh right. So the Earth is a big rock with water, and the sun is a super massive ball of gas that is so hot it caught on fire…"

Fiddleford watched his friend drag himself into his lab, dodge a flying drone without a care in the world and went to sulk on his table. "Uh...hi. How's tutoring going?"

"Xin is angry at me and just kicked me out of my lab because I don't like the idea of babying Maxini in his lessons."

Fiddleford blinked. "He told you, you suck, didn't he?" The blond deadpanned. Ford groaned. Fiddleford chuckled. "Well, what were you doing in the lesson?"

So Ford explained what he tried to teach Max. And Fiddleford's eyes narrowed. "...you tried ta tell this boy to disregard all his religious beliefs because they weren't 'real'?"

"But they're not!" Ford waved a hand. "The world runs on science. Not the gods. Even if they are real. They don't create science. It'll exist even without them! So why shouldn't I tell Max he doesn't have to put his faith into appeasing them, or thanking them for making the sun rise or the rain fall?"

Fiddleford rubbed his temples. "Ford. Please shut up." he told him. Ford blinked, "What?"

"Ford, listen." Fiddleford put his hands on Ford's shoulders. "I am a religious man. I'm a good Christian man and I love God. And while I might be a man of science, I still hold my faith inside me, I don't have to choose between 'em." He tightened his grip on Ford's shoulders. "Now, I ain't one ta tell anyone what they can or can't believe in, so long as those beliefs ain't hurtin' anyone. And you-" He leaned in, glaring at Ford, "-are being very hurtful right now. You're being incredibly rude and disrespectful of mine, and Max's beliefs and values."

Ford blinked. "But-"

"No buts. Ford, I can't believe I have to explain this to you. YOU of all people should know what it means for people to decide FOR you what is or isn't an acceptable religion!" Fiddleford's eye twitched and waited for Ford to realize what he was talking about, and the horrified look of realization on Ford's face. "Yeah. That." Fiddleford deadpanned. "Just 'cause you've turned your back on your god, don't mean that you have to force everyone else to do the same."

Ford tucked his metaphorical tail between his legs. He looked down at the floor. He wasn't trying to be rude or disrespectful… but he clearly has been. Damn he already had this conversation with Fiddleford as a teen back in college… He was being as bad as…

"I'm sorry, F. You're right… And I should apologize to the boy as well…"

Fiddleford nodded, satisfied. "Good. Also, I don't think you should be teachin' him until you get this sort of thing settled. It makes for a very toxic learning environment."

Ford had to sit down. "...am I a bad person?" He wondered aloud. "Nope, you're just an idiot sometimes." Fiddleford rolled his eyes and went back to screwdriving something.

"Also, I think you just aren't very good at teaching, and that's a problem too. Your interns learn stuff because they're on the same page as you are. And they're here because they passed all sorts of tests to get accepted into the program in the first place." F chuckled. "And ya wanted to teach Dipper, huh?"

Ford grumbled and blushed a little. "I can learn teaching techniques...I WANT Max to learn...But I only know how I learn…" He mused.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, you know there are plenty of books on teaching and child learning? You could read up on a few of them." Fiddleford shrugged. "The internet is a thing, there are even online courses. Also, maybe ask Ashton about how to be more respectful to other people's beliefs. That should help a lot."

Ford nodded, he would do so. No matter how long this would end up taking him to do.

-.-

It took a while, as he scoured the internet and devoured the town's library (not literally of course, that would be very unappetizing). He even found a complete elementary through high school curriculum and the subjects and topics that Max should be able to do. So distracted with learning how to do this, Ford almost forgot that Miz's birthday was coming up.

Wanda bustled around the house. She absolutely refused to let Miz work today. It was her birthday after all. Her 13th birthday. Technically. Wanda sighed. She was a little worried about how Miz was going to pretend to grow older. Apparently Blue (Miz's older demon brother) had taught her how, but Wanda still worried.

The way Miz explained it was that if she kept the same Vessel, and edited that, without dispersing it and making a new vessel, then it would be able to keep the changes she gave it. So essentially, Miz would have to keep her vessel here, all the time, as Miz, in order for Miz to 'grow up'. She mentioned an older version of herself that Blue had made for her and claimed she was going to set a slow transformation between her current form and that older form, to take place over the course of 10 years. After that… she had another few older forms that Blue had helped her make, so she would be able to continue aging it past that.

Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem even if Miz didn't grow all that quickly. Wanda checked on the oven to see how the cake was going. She asked Seb to take the children out for the day so she could get all the preparation done and make this a surprise. (Not much of a surprise, everyone knew it was Miz's birthday, but it was the principle of the thing.)

Since Miz wanted her birthday in October, specifically Halloween, Wanda had a lot of work to do. Miz had said "October 26 would be more accurate but having a Halloween birthday seems more appropriate." which Seb had found hilarious. So the kids were out Trick or Treating during the day (their neighborhood decided to do this in the mornings) and Wanda was trying to get the food done. There was a knock on the door and Wanda found Carla, Stan, his mom, and their kids. "Hi Wanda! We came early so I could help you get things done in time."

"Thanks Carla." The friends hugged and she invited them inside. "Sebastian's out trick or treating with the kids. You can get Diego changed so he can go too." Diego gasped. "You're trick or treating in the morning?"

"Well it's a weekend. Our neighborhood does it during the day instead. Some of the other parents were afraid of letting the children walk around at night." Wanda explained. Diego immediately pulled on Stan's hand. "I wanna go trick or treating!"

"Ok, lets get your costume on…" Stan laughed as he led Diego into the magical wing of the house. Carla looked at Dillon "Do you wanna go trick or treating too?" Her eldest son shook his head. "Nah. I can help you and aunt Wanda prepare for Miz's birthday party." Carla gave him a hug for being such a good boy. Dillon rolled his eyes. He didn't trick or treat anymore. He only did until he was around 15 because he wanted to know how trick or treating with his dad felt. But he was 19 now, too old for this sort of thing.

They worked until Shermie and Abigail arrived with their own children. To Dillon's surprise, his cousins seemed sad they couldn't trick or treat.

"Aren't we a little too old for it already?" He asked, to which Mabel, with a new piercing in her ear (college changed people), said. "Well, after almost dying, Dip Dop and I realized the point isn't candy per se, but going with your twin and spending time together~" She dragged her brother to her and hugged him by his neck.

Dillon chuckled, kind of wishing he had a twin too. Uncle Seb and Uncle Shermie had twin children! He didn't know about Uncle Ford because he was never gonna give him cousins. Stupid Dad not making twins as well!

Wanda, Carla and Kari worked to cook everything while Shermie and the twins got the decorations set up. Abigail asked "Are any guests beside family coming?" Wanda sighed. "Well, the only friends Miz has outside of us are her alien friends and Amelie. I'm worried that she's not bothering to make friends with humans around her apparent age."

"Well, Miz isn't really 13. Perhaps she can't connect with the other children in the neighborhood because they aren't mentally on her level?" Carla asked. Wanda sighed. "Well, I don't know. I think Miz is unsure how to handle them. I've tried to get her to have some play dates with the other preteens in the neighborhood but she says they were all nosy and annoying." She sighed. "They ask her all sorts of personal questions and it made her very upset."

"Poor Miz." Abigail shook her head. "Children can be insensitive." She looked around. "So, are Miz's alien friends going to be coming tonight?" Wanda nodded. "It's Halloween, her friends would be able to walk around the neighborhood. I almost feel like Miz chose Halloween as her birthday just for that reason." Wanda smiled "That's how she is, she has plenty of hidden reasons for everything she does."

Wanda wondered if she really should be pushing Miz to make human friends. If Miz didn't like the kids here, she shouldn't be forcing her to hang out with them. Still, Miz seemed happy enough even without human friends in the neighborhood. That should be fine. "Well, Miz will be bringing her friends over later. She and the twins are out trick or treating right now."

"Oh, I can't wait to see their costumes!" Carla squealed. "They must look adorable!" Wanda laughed. "Yeah. Miz is going as a dragon, Zach is a knight and Zoe is the kidnapped princess." The women laughed. Dillon rolled his eyes. But dragons didn't kidnap princesses.

They worked to get all the food ready. The doorbell rang. "That must be Ford." Dillon went to get him. "Naw, it's just trick or treaters." He passed them their candy. Halloween in the morning? How weird. What would they think of next? Halloween in the summer? HAH! Only in Gravity Falls. Still, he understood the reason. Everything was more dangerous nowadays and anyone could hurt a child, especially at night.

Wanda looked at her nephew and smiled. "How's college going, Dillon? I know you three made a great effort to come." She thanked the college-aged kids.

"Pfft! Family is always first!" Mabel said with a smile. Dipper nodded. "Besides, it's been only like, 2 months, we don't have tests yet." The usually stressed boy said. He wasn't stressed...yet. The women and Shermie chuckled. "What were you studying, Dillon?" The green-eyed man asked.

"Business management. I'm continuing with the leadership of my future company…" Dillon rubbed his hands greedily. Carla smacked the back of his curly head. So much like his father. Mabel giggled. "Well...I decided to go with art for now at a community college and go from there…" She said, kind of sheepish, but her family just smiled.

"That's great, sweetie!" Carla ruffled her hair. Dipper opened his mouth to speak but Shermie cut him off. "We ALL know what you are studying, kid. You have known and tormented us with that since you were 12."

"You're mean." Dipper crossed his arms with mock annoyance. They all laughed. Shermie gave his son a hug. "It's fine. It's good that you know what you want. Makes it easier for you."

"Speaking of which, do you know what Miz plans to do? She has technically graduated from high school. I heard she took the exams to get her diplomas?" Carla asked Wanda. The blonde sighed. "Miz isn't sure. She's legally 13 years old so she can't actually work anyway. I think she mentioned making jewelry and starting her own business for custom origami art?"

"Origami? Oh, those little paper things you've texted us photos of?" Carla asked. Wanda grinned. "Oh, you should see them in person! She makes the most beautiful things! Hang on...Seb and I have been collecting the things she makes in a box…"

She went off to get the box. She and Seb had been amazed to see her folding them one day. Seb was especially impressed because there was no magic involved, this was pure skill. When Wanda had collected them in a box, Miz had been quite confused. "You're not throwing them away?" she had asked. When Wanda told her that she wouldn't throw away something that Miz spent time making, the girl seemed… blown away by that very idea. That they would willingly keep the things she made. (It was almost heartbreaking to see her confusion at the idea that they would keep her work.)

Wanda brought out the box and showed them the paper animals that Miz had made.

"Awww!" Mabel cooed. Her body screamed to touch them but her mind shouted not to because she could ruin them. "Aaahh!" She squealed instead, trying to fight her impulsive side.

Dillon and Dipper grinned at the stuff. "That's cool! I knew how to make a paper boat but I already forgot." Dipper shrugged, making Shermie gasp offended. "But I taught you that~" He whined. Carla blinked at the origami pieces and then back at Wanda, who was grinning proudly. She loved showing off her kid's stuff. No matter what it was that they made. Even if they had blood on them like in Zoe's case...her crazy baby…

"Girl, tell Miz to start doing something! Talent is being wasted!" Carla gasped finally. Wanda laughed. "Yeah, she's thinking of making them into jewelry. I was going to take her shopping for jewelry supplies tomorrow. And I have a few starter set tools for her birthday gift today."

Mabel gasped when she found an origami pig. "Can I have this?!" Wanda shrugged. "Miz likes giving them away so, sure?"

The teen squealed loudly and cradled the delicate animal to her chest. Then she went to stick it in her mom's purse. She didn't bring her own purse (she had a backpack, but it didn't have a safe place to put something so delicate), so she knew her beautiful mother would take care of it for her. Abi rolled her eyes at her daughter.

The doorbell rang a few more times, all trick or treaters, and everyone wondered when Ford would get here. Wanda sighed. "I'm gonna call him." She went off to do so, tapping her foot impatiently. Finally the line picked up. "H-hello?" A groggy voice said. Wanda held back a snarl. "Stanford Pines! Where the fuck are you?"

"Oh, hello Wanda...um...I'm in my lab? Oh- if you mean- w-well I was working on Miz's birthday present and- I lost track of time-" There was some shuffling sounds. "I'm heading out now! I'll be there- soon-" and then the phone clicked and Wanda got the dial tone. She sighed. "Well, he was apparently making Miz's birthday present and lost track of time." She told everyone. She hoped he made it here on time.

"Hey doctor Pines. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" The new intern, Jake (he wasn't in Ford's section so he didn't really know this boy very well yet) asked him. Ford didn't turn around to look at him as he continued walking to his house. "I'll be out for the rest of the day. My lab is locked down, no one gets in, DON'T let anyone touch anything." He warned the young man before rushing off to his house. In his hands was a large box. He searched for his car keys. If he drove fast, he was sure he would get there in less than 3 hours! Of course, he was also going to drive carefully, rushing shouldn't get in the way of safety. (And yes, he COULD portal over to Seb's place, but there was another stop he had to go to between the Shack and Seb's house, and he was still worried about people finding out about his portal watch.)

"I'll be gone for the day, Soos! Good bye!" He waved at the man in the Gift Shop before running to his car. AAH! Wanda was going to murder him!

He did hope Miz liked his presents though.

-.-

Seb laughed as he ran his hands through the heavy sacks of candy. "Twin costumes always get the most candy!" He cheered. Zoe whined as she pulled on her father's costume. "That's OUR candy! Not yours!" She complained. Seb, dressed as a jester, made his eye water and his lips wobble. "So you're not gonna share any candy with your poor, hungry daddy?"

"Like you can't buy your own candy?" Miz rolled her eyes, making sure to keep her tail motionless. (They'd gone with a fantasy theme. Zach was a knight, with a sword. Zoe was a princess, with a sword. Seb was a jester, with a sword. And Miz was the dragon, who also had a sword.) Seb turned his watery gaze upon her but the demon-dragon was unmoved. Left with only one last hope, Seb turned to look at his son. Zach bit his lip and looked like he might give in but Miz patted his arm "He's got a secret stash of Choco-chews hidden in his sock drawer."

"How did you find out?!" Seb gasped. Zach giggled, knowing it was ok to say no, and refused to share with his dad.

"Seb, I know lots of things~You should know this by now." Miz batted her eyelashes at him. The man huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have costumes and you wouldn't have come to ask for candies anyway! You still have to share with me!" Seb whined.

The twins pouted. "Ok...but just a little bit…" Zoe grumbled and Seb ruffled her hair. "That's all I ask for." He grinned. The group passed some neighbors and the kids greeted each other. Seb gave the other parents a polite nod.

"How has your day been? Got plenty of candy?" Heather from down the block asked. Seb grinned. "So much candy." The adults all laughed. "Well, we're having a Halloween party later tonight. Would your kids like to come?" Heather asked. The children were all comparing their bags of candy and making trades.

"Two Giggles minis for...a Twox bar?" "I don't like licorice. Anyone got milk malts?" "I don't even know what this is?" "Ooh! You have Jimmy Jammers? I'll trade you a Waffer Cream for it!"

Seb shook his head. "Sorry, we're going to be celebrating Miz's 13th birthday tonight." The other adults gasped. "Her birthday is today? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Kyle (a single father from a few streets down) asked. Seb rubbed his head "Well, we figured everyone else had their own parties and didn't want to get in the way of that. Besides, it's Miz's first birthday with us...as a family...so...we wanted it to be a more personal affair. Maybe next year, once Miz is more comfortable with making friends around the neighborhood?"

The other parents nodded, looking sympathetic. "Understandable. The poor dear, is she still shy around people?" Seb nodded. "She doesn't like large crowds. And I suppose she's unsure how to make friends? She hasn't really interacted much with other children."

"Well, she is quite the smart girl. Aced her graduation exams, right?" Heather asked. Ellie (a parent from a few houses down) frowned. "Shouldn't you have let her go to school? To make friends?"

"Well, going to a school wouldn't have taught her much, she's smart enough and already knows the subject matter." Seb shrugged. "And making her sit through classes that bored her wouldn't have helped. Wanda and I discussed this with her and she said she wanted to take her exams and get her diploma."

"So, will Miz be going to college?" Kyle asked. Seb shrugged. "Wanda and I both think she's too young to go so far away. Wanda has been looking for online courses she can try. Miz wants to go into Art."

"The art program?" Heather frowned. "Wouldn't that be a waste? She's so smart…" Ellie nudged the fellow mother. "There's nothing wrong with art. Why, Sebastian is a professional artist!"

Seb blushed slightly at the praise but he had learned to accept his own talents. "I'm a designer. Though, I think Miz mentioned wanting to get into Illustration or Fashion, like me?" she seemed a little unsure, mentioned how she didn't really want to do homework again. Seb lit up "You should see the things she makes. Miz loves origami. I think Wanda said she and Miz were going to get some supplies for her so Miz can make handmade jewelry."

Heather and Ellie gasped. "Really? Jewelry making? That sounds wonderful." Ellie cooed "Make sure you show me some of her work soon. I'm sure it would be lovely."

Seb nodded and bid the other parents farewell as he herded his kids back to their own street. "Come on, one last round and then we're heading home." The kids nodded. As they turned to leave, one of the other kids pulled on Miz's tail. "Eep!" she squeaked.

"Cool. It feels so real!" The boy grinned as he tugged on it again. Miz whimpered. Seb quickly stepped in. "Hey! Hands off!"

"Jeffery!" Ellie scolded her son. "That's very rude! Let go of her costume!" She pulled her 10 year old son away and looked at Seb apologetically. "I'm so sorry. He didn't break her costume right?" Miz was rubbing the base of her tail. "I-it's fine…" She mumbled as her siblings went to stand protectively around her. Zoe glared at Jeffery. She didn't care if he was twice her size, if he touched her big sister again...

Seb cleared his throat. "Well, let's head off now." He frowned at Jeffery and placed a protective hand on Miz's shoulder as they left. Ellie was still scolding her son about proper manners and how he shouldn't touch a girl or her clothes without asking first and getting her 'ok' on the matter.

"You ok, Miz?" Seb asked as they walked. Miz whimpered as she massaged the base of her spine. "I think he was trying to pull it off…" She complained. It felt really weird, having her tail pulled. Kinda painful.

"He won't touch you again, don't worry. Do you feel like going to one more house or do you want to go home already?" He asked and Miz hummed. "I think one more house is fine." She gave her friend a smile and the man nodded. "Ok let's go…" this next house was...oh. Seb frowned. He wasn't sure he wanted to go.

"Maybe we should go back after all…" Seb put his hands on the kids' shoulders, but unfortunately, the door was opened. Carol stepped out and immediately scrunched her face at them. "Oh. It's you." Her head was covered with a hat and... her wig. Sebastian couldn't stop the snort that escaped him. Carol glanced down at Zach and sneered. She looked to be about to say something when Amanda ran down the street. "I'm back mommy!" She said.

The girl, dressed as a...ninja fairy(?) saw the Pines group and smiled shyly. "Hi Zoe. Hi Zu-Zach." She waved. Zach smiled back. Even if her mom was mean, Amanda was still his best friend, even if they hadn't been able to play together recently. "Hi Amanda." He waved. Carol frowned and reached out to grab her daughter's hand before dragging her back inside the house. "Come on Amanda. Where is your father?"

"Daddy is slow." Amanda said before the door shut. She managed to give Zach another wave before the door blocked them from seeing each other. Seb sighed. "I guess we won't be getting candy from this house."

"I'm tired of walking anyway." Zoe shrugged. She reached to be picked up and Seb sighed. "You are old enough to walk on your own now. And we LITERALLY live across the street from here."

"Pwease~" The little girl pouted and Seb picked her up. "Ok, let's go home, then." Miz snorted and walked behind Seb with Zach. "You are weak." She taunted and Seb pulled out his phone. "Yes, yes I am." He managed to send Wanda a message. 'We're coming back now!"

Wanda almost didn't see the message. And when she did, she screamed and started barking orders to everyone. "We need to get this done NOW! They're coming back early!" Everyone screamed and ran around. Sir Bedazzle was running between their legs, barking. Dipper almost dropped a plate of food. They managed to get everything set up in the backyard and Wanda wiped her forehead as she surveyed it all. "Ok. We've got it!"

Just in time too as the front door opened and she heard Seb call out, "We're home!" She went back inside the house to hug her husband and children. "Welcome back, honey. Did you guys get a lot of candy?" Zach nodded and opened his bag to show her. "I got a lot! People liked our family costumes!" Wanda laughed and ruffled his hair. "Well, go greet everyone who's waiting outside and then clean yourself up and put your candy away. We have Miz's birthday party now."

The children nodded and tossed their shoes off. They had flip flops they could wear when going out to the backyard.

Seb went to the kitchen to get water and Wanda crossed her arms. "Will you take off your costume?" Seb, with his cheek puffed because of the water, smiled and gulped it down. "Nah, I like it. I want everyone to see it!"

"Well after you show them, can you please channgeee~? You look like the Prankster's boyfriend." Wanda whined. Seb laughed loudly. "Comic edition, or Suicide Squad's edition?"

"Comic. Now go say hi and put on normal clothes." Seb went to the backyard and greeted his dear mom, Carla, Dillon, Shermie, Abi and the older twins. "You look like Harvey Quinn!" Shermie teased so Seb took off his hat and shoved a point in his brother's mouth, making the twins laugh.

"I think you look really good, Sebas." Kari gave him thumbs up, Seb grinned gratefully and hugged her again . "Where's Stan and Diego?"

"They went trick or treating. Should be back in a while." Dillon informed him. "Uncle Ford is late."

"Doesn't surprise me." Seb sighed. He surveyed the tables with food and grinned. They took his suggestion to make the food look creepy and spooky. Meatballs made to look like eyeballs. A whole roasted chicken with 'organs' spilling out made of ground up vegetables combined together into a mashed potato-like paste. Jello hands (made from pouring the jello mix into a rubber glove and letting it firm up in the fridge) and ground beef shaped into brains. Pasta intestines with sausages. Fish steaks with red sauces. Broccoli fungus growing out of the meatloaf. Plenty of actual mushrooms as well. Everything also had vegetables that had been shredded or ground up into tiny pieces and mixed in with the rest of the meat to trick the children into eating vegetables. Seb grinned at the cake. It was shaped like Time Baby. He snorted. It would be so satisfying to cut into it later.

"This looks great." Seb grinned. He turned to see where Miz had to be held back from the food. "Dillon, let go." Seb laughed. His nephew had gripped the girl by the back of her dress. "But she's going to eat all of it before dad gets back." Dillon sighed. Miz drooled as she reached for the table. "Fooood~"

"Miz, you need to wait for everyone else to get here." Wanda laughed as she walked over to pick her daughter up. Miz whined but nodded. "But only because I'm willing to wait for Diego. The second he's back, I'm digging in…" She pouted.

"Well, while you're waiting, want to go get your friends?" Wanda asked. Miz nodded before slumping in her arms, fast asleep. Wanda adjusted her hold on the girl and went to sit down. "Well, hopefully this will give Stan some time to get back."

"And Ford some time to get here. I can't believe he forgot about Miz's birthday." Seb groaned. He sat down and decided to see where Ford was now…

Halfway to Seb's house, Ford made a quick stop to get the other gift for Miz. He realized that his gift, while Ford thought it was nice, didn't include any food . And if there was one thing Ford understood about Miz, she liked food. And while he knew there was going to be food at her birthday party, he knew for a fact that there was a certain dish that wasn't going to be there. Because Wanda wouldn't know how to make it.

Ford had heard about this dish from Xin after one of their sessions once, when the dragon was half asleep and rambling about stuff he loved. And Ford had asked again for more clarification later, to confirm that William really did like it that much.

So Ford strode into the Chinese restaurant and asked for a Yi Mein to go. When Ford told them that he was bringing these noodles for someone's birthday, they nodded and got it cooked quickly.

Ford left them a nice tip for getting the food made so fast.

"Sixer, where are you~?" Seb whined over the phone. "Everyone is here already!" Ford sighed. "I'm almost there. Give me 20 minutes?" Apparently that wasn't good enough "You have 19, bring your ass over here! What's taking you so long?" Ford understood why Wanda and Seb were together.

"I drove nonstop for hours, Sebastian. It was the fastest I could do. And I made a stop to buy something else for Miz." He tried. That made Seb's annoyance decrease. "Aaww, that's nice. Ok, you will be fully forgiven once you are here. It better be a good gift."

"It will! See you there." Ford hung up and started the car. He had 19 minutes to get there.

Miz laid on the couch in Wanda's lap. Rather, her vessel was. If she was checked by a doctor right this moment, they would declare her to be in a Coma. But luckily, she wasn't actually comatose and eventually stirred. There was also a lot of matter swirling around in the air above where she laid. Wanda and the others stared in awe. No matter how many times they saw it, it was still amazing.

Slowly, multiple figures appeared. They floated gently to the ground and swayed before shaking themselves. "Whoa! That feels so weird!" Keyhole groaned. All of Bill's friends had been given constructs that look essentially like their real forms but smaller. More… human sized.

If any nosy neighbors tried to peek over the fence they would just look like people in elaborate costumes or decorations. Miz opened her eyes and gasped. Oh. She definitely needed food now. She reached up a hand to tug on her adoptive mother's shirt. "Food? Please?"

Wanda laughed. "Well Stan and Diego are back. Ford should be arriving soon as well." She picked up her daughter (Miz squealed with laughter) and carried her outside. The aliens were looking around the house in wonder. Xanthar (shrunken to the size of a mastiff) and Sir Bedazzle shuffled around each other questioningly.

"What a lovely house!" Pyronica (now 6 feet tall and NOT on fire), exclaimed. Krytos wiped imaginary dust off his plane and looked around with a scowl. He knew he should feel happy for Bill...but he couldn't help but feel upset knowing Stanford would be here as well. He saw one of the triplets, that was Stanley, and Sebastian was nowhere to be seen yet.

Amorphous Shape was already touching everything and even slipped the TV remote into one of his blocks. Miz waved her hand and pulled it back out absently. "Come on guys! I wanna eat the food already!" She steered the multi-segment organism outside before he stole anything else.

Dipper smiled when he saw his alien friends. "Hey! Teeth! Keyhole!" The aliens ran towards the teen, who was slightly taller than the last time they saw him (Dipper was glad he was still growing, Pines genes and tall men WOO!). It didn't help that they were smaller. Keyhole gasped. "Dipper, your antlers! What happened to them? Do humans shed them?"

Teeth snorted. "Well, if the Atelatioan Deer shed their antlers after mating then maybe it works the same?" Teeth turned to Dipper "Congrats on getting laid dude."

Dipper looked horrified. "Wha-What?! No! Guys, I haven't had-had... sex , with anyone!" He hissed, blushing. "Those were just from the vessel Miz created…" He covered his face. The two aliens looked confused but shrugged it off.

Hectorgon was already looking at the level of technology available here. "Ah, this touch screen is so flat. Where are your 3D interactive holograms?" He asked Dillon as he fiddled with a tablet. The teen shrugged. "We don't have those yet?" the Polysphere (who looked almost like some kind of Halloween decoration) twirled his mustache in thought.

8-Ball was giving Stan a hug. The two were the same height now. Stan laughed. "You really do look like a guy in a costume! It's cool." the ogre grinned back. "I don't know if that was a compliment but thanks?" Stan looked at the alien and grinned. "Hey, arm wrestle rematch? Since we're the same size now?"

Over by the food table, Miz was already digging in. She had a plate piled high with food and was slurping up the noodles. She had told Wanda a few weeks ago that she NEEDED noodles. Because you have to eat noodles on your birthday. That was tradition. Miz also said that she wasn't supposed to take a shower on her birthday, which Wanda had shrugged and didn't question her on.

"Hweh Kwuptos! Yoo haaf to twy dis!" Miz said before handing the Compass a plate with much less food on it. It was mainly the mashed vegetables and ground meat, something easy for him to eat.

Kryptos gave her a small smile before receiving the plate. "Thank you, Miz." The demon nodded before focusing on her food. Even here, he was in a bubble, but… at least everyone had relaxed their 'punishment' of him to allow him to be close to Bill and all. As Wanda led Miz's friends outside to eat, Seb and the blond twins went to the yard, already wearing normal clothes, and greeted everyone.

"Pyronica!" Zoe ran towards her and hugged her legs. She patted the woman's legs and gasped. "Where's your fire?! Do you want to borrow mine?" She made her little hand catch on fire and looked up at her big eye. Pyronica laughed. "Aw~look at how much you've grown~" she picked the girl up. "I don't think you can give me your fire though." She giggled and hugged the girl.

"Why not? You can just catch on fire, like you were before!" The blonde girl tilted her head adorably. The Cyclopian grinned. "Well, Bill said this vessel was going to be non-flammable. Something about safety regulations?" She shrugged. "So. This is Earth huh? Bill talks about it constantly!"

"I wanna see what the theaters are like here!" Teeth chattered. "Can we go to one?" Wanda looked the Mouth up and down. "Well...you'd have to wear a very different form...you stand out too much. It's ok because it's Halloween right now, but…"

"What's Halloween?" Ammy asked. He was picking up the meatballs and squishing them a little before putting them back. Miz quickly put the ones he touched onto her plate. "Ammy! What did I say about touching food?"

Ammy blinked his many eyes. "It's rude to place it back on the serving plates afterward." He nodded. "I forgot. I am sorry."

Mabel giggled. "You're like a real mom." Miz scoffed and placed a hand on her hip, the other still holding her plate of food. "I AM his mother thank-you-very much." Carla leaned over to nudge Wanda. "You're already a grandmother. Ever thought about that?" Wanda rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Right, right." The blonde chuckled. It was weird to think about it, she tried not to, and it was SO unfair she was the only one who got to feel old while Seb got away with it! And he was older!

He was lucky Miz already had her own father, he was like her brother and he was more than happy with that.

"You like theatre?" Dillon looked at the mouth. "My Ma is a director and producer! She performs sometimes too!" The teen grinned proudly and his mom ruffled his dark curls.

Teeth gasped. "I've been performing for years! I wanna be in movies someday." He held his hands to the sides of his jaws. "Currently I'm in musical theater. Though, people tell me my voice is only good for comedic characters." Miz ran over to hug him. "That's your strength! You always make the audience laugh!"

Teeth wiggled bashfully. "Geez Bill…" the Mouth smiled though. It felt nice hearing that. Miz pulled on his arm. "Come on. The food is delicious!" She whined as she tried to get her friends to try some of the meal. Miz grinned. "My mom cooked it!"

"And if you don't eat, I'll feel really sad~" Seb grinned widely and floated Keyhole, Teeth and Kryptos over to the table. Kryptos protested that he already ate some of the food.

Ammy picked up some of the meatloaf and placed it into his stomach block. He turned to Wanda with a deadpan expression. "I will preemptively say this is delicious. It will take a few minutes for my digestion to tell me whether or not this is true." He looked down at his stomach block where the meatloaf was breaking apart. "And if it is not delicious, then I apologise for the lie."

Wanda blinked before nodding slowly. "It...it's ok, don't worry, Ammy." She nodded and picked up Zach. "Please, serve yourself."

"Don't mind if I do~" Pyronica laughed as she strode over to grab the chicken. "Hm~it looks delicious~" she opened her mouth and ate the chicken whole. "Om nom nom." Xanthar shuffled into the yard with Sir Bedazzle and Queen Flutter on his back and rubbed his face against Miz's side. She giggled and began pouring some iced tea and punch over him.

The Pines laughed at their antics and Wanda hugged Seb. She was so glad Miz was having fun with her friends. She had been worried about this, but everything was going so fine! Even Miz's blue friend, Kryptos, was smiling!

She scooped some food on Zach's plate as Seb did the same for Zoe and sat down to eat as well.

Kryptos kept sliding his chair closer to Miz as she was distracted. He didn't see that weird human with the glasses. Good. Maybe he wasn't going to be here. Kryptos was stopped from getting any closer by the bubble, but he was right next to her now. "Are you worried about being in another dimension?" Miz asked him. Kryptos paused. Well, he was. A little. "It's kinda weird knowing that the me now is nothing more than a constructed shell you have placed my soul into." He answered.

Miz laughed. "Don't worry! I exist like this all the time. It's perfectly safe." She patted his bubble. "I won't let you come to harm Kryptos."

The compass smiled widely. "Thank you, Miz. I know you wouldn't…and, being here with you...is-is pretty nice-"

"Sorry I'm late!" a voice that grated on Kryptos's audio sensory organs rang out. The compass scowled as everyone turned to see Ford coming into the yard. Stan had gone to open the door for him. The eldest Pines triplet grinned as he walked up to Miz with a huge bouquet of flowers, no, not a bouquet, several pots.

Kryptos snapped his fork in half.

"Fordsie! You're super late!" Miz complained. Ford laughed sheepishly. "I was...getting your birthday present! The flowers needed to be fresh after all." He excused as he handed her the basket filled with flower pots. "Happy birthday Miz."

Seb, Carla, Mabel and Wanda cooed loudly as the man presented her the flowers. The rest of the humans gaped in shock and Bill's friends looked confused.

Miz gasped at the basket and grabbed it to her chest. "Oh, Fordsie...they're so pretty..." She whispered. She looked around at the yard. "I could plant them next to the tulips. It would look so nice there!" she was slowly trying to make a garden in the back yard. Wanda had no skill for gardening and Seb didn't care enough so Miz essentially got free reign of the yard to herself.

Ford hid his relief, glad that she liked the flowers. "Oh, and these too." He handed her the wrapped gifts. And the takeout box of Yi Mein. Miz's eyes widened at the smell. "Is that-" She was salivating. "Mine!" She declared, pointing at the noodle box. "That's my birthday gift, so it's mine! I don't have to share!" Everyone else nodded, not wanting to compete with her for her food. They would lose.

Miz hugged Ford's arm. "Thanks Fordsie~" she ran to put his wrapped gifts onto the present table where everyone else had put theirs. She went back to hug the scientist. "I'm glad you're finally here. I'll get you some food! Mommy made it and it's actually great!"

Wanda narrowed her green eyes as Miz dragged Ford to the table. She wasn't that bad cooking! She could feel Seb suppressing laughter right beside her and elbowed him.

Miz got Ford his own plate, and then proceeded to devour her birthday gift. Everyone stared. "So… between sushi and… whatever that is, what's better?" Seb asked. Miz hummed. "Tough choice.." Ford was not seated beside Miz, on her other side.

Kryptos had his hands balled and trembling lightly. Stupid weird chinned human...looking so smug! He caught Keyhole looking at him worriedly and sighed. The compass allowed himself to relax. It's fine. The human was just a human. A mortal. Even if he somehow managed to charm Bill with his adorable incompetence (because why else would Bill like him?!) that meant nothing. In the end, the human was mortal. He would die and Bill would be sad. And Kryptos would be there to comfort her. The compass relaxed, assured in his position.

They all had lunch. Kryptos on Miz's right and Ford on her left. She wanted to spend time with him, but she wanted to spend time with everyone else as well. The demon girl jumped from place to place. She talked to her friends first. She explained to them about human food (which she'd made modified versions of, on their own side of the Door), answered Hectorgon's questions about human technology to which Kryptos mumbled to himself "Not advanced, primitive, dumb..." and the concept of Halloween.

"There's a lot of history to the holiday back when it was a pagan celebration but nowadays it's the one night out of the year where it is considered acceptable to dress up super suspiciously and go to people's homes demanding stuff without having the cops called on you immediately."

Dipper heard the weird explanation and chimed in. "You demand candies though...you can't go around asking for personal stuff." He glared at the dark-haired girl. "And it's kids who dress up, some teens also do it. When adults do it, it's weird and they don't get anything."

8-Ball blinked his weird eyes and grabbed a distracted Diego to hug. "So...it's a holiday for human cubs?"

"Eh, yeah, sort of." Dipper agreed and Miz rolled her eyes. "You're NO fun."

"I don't get it. Why would people want to give stuff to strangers? Even if they are human children." Ammy asked confused.

Miz laughed evilly. "Because It's trick or treating! If they don't give us a treat...we get to play a prank on them!" Dipper groaned. "Stop teaching them awful things about our holidays!"

"Human holidays sound pretty weird." Hectorgon nodded as Pyronica grinned and crossed her arms. "I think they sound amazing! What other stuff do you humans do, cutie?" The boy blushed but stayed sitting with the aliens.

Miz took that time to check on her other cousins. She asked Dillon and Mabel about their romantic lives and wanted everything in full detail. Dillon was doing great with Phillip and was upset to admit they hadn't used their now legally adults status for more exciting stuff. Miz patted his knee. "I'm sure you'll find a moment to make your first time special~"

"And how is everything with Maxi, Shooting Star? Have you used your teleportation amulet yet~?" Miz asked. She had spoken with Amelie a few times since the summer ended but they hadn't found a good time to hang out in person. The Selkie apologized for being unable to make it for Miz's birthday, some undersea issue came up. (Miz was worried, the warming of the planet and the oceans had disrupted a lot of the sealife. As a mammal, Amelie was technically ok, but her people's food and habitat was being... )

Mabel blushed. "Well~" she laughed. "We've gone out on a few dates, lots of snuggling as the weather got colder...and I knitted him a sweater with a built in battery powered electric blanket!"

"Isn't it dangerous to hook up electrical appliances to sweaters?" Dillon asked. Mabel snorted. "Naaaah~" there's no danger to having an electric blanket woven into an incredibly flammable article of clothing.

"Besides, my poor Maxi is always cold. His quadruplets handle cold much better than he does. By the way, his sisters are SO pretty! And his brother is really cute too, but Maxini is the cutest~" (Cute as they were, Mabel didn't know much about them. They didn't seem to like her much, because she was human. She knew Maxini was trying to hide that from her, but Mabel wasn't stupid, she knew that his people didn't like her.)

Miz and Dillon cooed and poked their blushing cousin. "And...have you…you know, yee-haw yet?" Dillon started and Mabel covered her face with a squeak. "Oh god, Dillon! We've only been seeing each other for a few months!" (Though, Mabel had considered it… look, she was a woman with NEEDS!)

Miz and Dillon laughed. "So I'll take that as a not yet. It's fine. You don't have to rush." Miz assured her. "After all, Dillon's been dating Phillip for….how long has it been?" She turned to the tall boy.

"Around 2 years." He said proudly. "And it's not that we didn't want to. Oh, we wanted to do it SO bad! There were some times we were just there, touching and-"

"Ok, we get it. No need to describe it." Mabel laughed nervously. "Yes, describe it." Miz grinned wickedly.

"We just wanted to be 18 for it. And now we're more than old enough. So we did. No problems and all." Dillon shrugged and looked at Miz. "You naughty girl~ What are you turning? 12? I'll keep your apparent kid mind safe." He grinned mockingly, much like Stan usually did.

"I'm turning 13! Thank you very much! I'm a teenager now!" Miz huffed. "And beyond that, I'm almost 700 billion years old!" She kicked her legs with a frown. Mabel sighed. "13 doesn't feel that different from 12. Trust me." She realized that after their crazy summer with Uncle Seb.

"Nah. You're practically a fetus." Dillon teased. " Stop it!" Miz growled as her eyes flashed red.

Dillon paled and raised his hands. "Ok! Ok! Phillip was on top of me, kissing my chest, we-we dr-dry humped too! Not saying anything more than that!" He said quickly. Miz pressed her hands to her cheeks and squealed, her eyes going back to normal. Oh~that sounded pretty hot. "Well I'm happy for you. Both of you." She said sincerely. "I ship you with your partners SO hard!"

The cousins grinned and blushed a bit. They were glad they had the support of a powerful demon. They wouldn't let their partners leave now, mwhaha.

"If Mabs get married to Max, will he be protected as well?" Dillon asked and the demon smiled. "Of course! Anyone married to those of Pines blood!" she thought that was good enough to protect their immediate families. "You know, I've asked Seb and Wanda about a Deal to be my family forever...so that they would be immortal...but they said no." She pouted. "Mom doesn't like the concept...and Seb doesn't want to be immortal again…"

Mabel and Dillon looked at each other. Oh boy. They knew what this was about but they weren't sure how to handle it. "Miz. It's...just how they feel. I know you feel upset about that but...their mortality is their choice."

Miz sighed and reached out to hug her cousins. "But why? Who doesn't want immortality? Seb is scared of being mortal! I know it...but he still doesn't want to live forever..." She sighed into Mabel's sweater. "If he's afraid of losing people he cares for, I can make them immortal too! I can make all of you immortal!" She looked up at Mabel. "Wouldn't you like that?"

"Um...I don't know, Miz." She stroked her head. "Living is nice but…"

"Living forever sounds exhausting…" Dillon bit his inner cheek. "You're really brave for doing it…"

"I don't have a fucking CHOICE." Miz snarled into Mabel's stomach, gripping the soft sweater in her little fists. "I can't die. I just keep coming back. Over and over and over…" her shoulders started to shake. "So why can't I take the people I love and keep them with me?"

Mabel pet Miz's hair. "I'm sorry. But...we just...can't. It doesn't mean we don't love you. We just...have things here that we have to do and being immortal isn't...part of that." She winced, wishing she was smart like Dipper and could say something more intelligent to comfort her little cousin.

Miz remained quiet and took a few deep breaths before her shoulders loosened and she pulled away. "I know. Sorry. I'm just...selfish is all." She wiped her eyes. "Well, enough about that. I know there's a piñata around here and I want to destroy it."

Dillon crouched in front of her. "Are you ok? You understand we love you really much, right? Even if we're mortals." Miz looked at the floor for a second before smiling. "Yup." Dillon nodded and ruffled her hair. "Ok! Then I'll tell aunt Wanda you are ready for the piñata!" he trotted away and Miz excused herself a second to go see how Ford was doing.

The scientist was sitting in the middle of his two youngest brothers who were arguing about a television series. "You just think I'm wrong because you never saw it!" Seb frowned. "House Full was a great series that showed the love family can have for each other! They went to live with him to help him raise kids!" Shermie stuck his tongue out. "It sucked! It was boring, the laugh track was too loud and nothing plot relevant ever happened! In fact there WAS no plot!"

Ford looked at Miz and grimaced. He didn't watch any of those shows his brothers were talking about, and they kept asking him to be the tie breaker. "Help me…" He mouthed. She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. "What's in it for me?" She mouthed back. Ford held back a groan. He made a serious expression. "A session." He mouthed. Miz grinned. Oooh~

"Hey Seb~" Miz singsonged as she leaned over to hug him. "I wanna steal Ford for a piggyback ride." the man nodded absently, more focused on his argument. "Sure."

"Okie dokie~" Miz grabbed Ford's hand and dragged him away from the escalating discussion about the merits of a show with no plot. Ford heaved a sigh of relief. "What's so important about some tv show?"

"People have strong feelings for shows they like." Miz responded wryly. "Now get on your knees."

"What?!" Ford sputtered. Miz pulled on him. "I want my piggy back ride! Now get down here you stupidly tall person!" Ford didn't appreciate the insult, but agreed and got on his knees, feeling a little incredulous. Miz climbed on and grabbed chunks of his hair to hold herself, making him grunt softly. It didn't hurt, she wasn't pulling, it just tickled somewhat. That caught Pyronica's attention and she laughed loudly. "Yes! Go Bill! Ride that human! Show him who's boss!"

Stan spat his beer as everyone who 'knew' about their 'relation' coughed uncomfortably. Miz giggled and kicked her little legs. "Go Fordsie! Fordsie the horsie!"

"That sounds stupid." Ford grumbled before holding onto her legs and walking forward. Kryptos stared at the two of them. He wasn't sure if he should feel jealous or not. On one hand, Bill was pressed close to the human, on the other, the human was being humiliated. Kryptos chose to just appreciate the annoyed look on his stupid face. Hah! (Not to insult Sebastian's or Stanley's faces, they were cool and not stupid like Stanford).

"The piñata is ready!" Wanda called out. Miz squealed and tugged on Ford's hair. "Come on! Go go go!" The scientist wondered if he would have been better off sitting with Seb and Shermie. He glanced over.

"I do admit PALS was a better show. But that's not the point of this argument." "Yeah well, if you just wanted a show about a family doing boring, everyday stuff, Grady Group was much better. They had the interesting and damn iconic theme song as well."

Nope. Being a horse was still better.

To his relief, Miz asked to be put down so she could play with the piñata. It was shaped like a baby with an hourglass symbol on the forehead. Miz's friends and those who lived through Weirdmageddon grinned, they knew about her dislike towards the baby. Meanwhile, the rest of the Pines were shocked at the shape of the piñata. Why did Miz want to hit a baby?

Miz wanted her siblings and Diego to try to hit the piñata as well, so they took turns to try to destroy the baby. None of them were managing to do it so Miz gave the bat to Kryptos. "Come on! Give it a try!"

The compass had a very vicious grin on his face. This would be practice for the real thing. (He didn't ineed/i to kill Time Baby anymore, but one could hope and dream.) He was blindfolded and he sent out his electromagnetic senses. He had been working on that for centuries. He could feel it. The energy within all living things. Bill shone brightly. Glorious, beautiful and radiant to his senses. He nearly gasped, once again beyond grateful for whatever luck it was that made such a powerful god take an interest in him.

Compared to Bill's supernova, everyone else, everyTHING else, were barely more than candle flames, flickering weakly. The humans barely even showed up, their own energies lost in the presence of Bill's all consuming glow. Kryptos shook his head. No need to be distracted. Even if Bill was the most powerful being he had ever felt, he had a baby to destroy.

With his senses stretched out, the compass felt the shape of the person (Wanda) holding the long stick with the baby shaped paper sculpture hanging by a string. She would move it around or pull it up to make it so people couldn't hit it. Kryptos tightened his hold on the bat. He was going to do this. He would destroy the baby, impress Bill and then…

Well, this was just a practice round. He had a long way to go before he would be able to actually kill Time Baby. Kryptos swung and managed to hit the paper baby square in his face. He heard the children cheer and grinned in triumph. Kryptos pulled the blindfold off and yelped when Bill hugged his bubble close. "You did it Kryptos!" She squealed. "You got us candy!"

Kryptos slowly hugged her back. "Yes...I-I got-"

"Now MOVE outta my way, man! Zoe's gonna take everything for herself!" Miz pushed the compass to the side and she threw herself to the ground to get the delicious candies. This was one of the few times she was allowed to have chocolate after all!

Kryptos hit someone lightly and he grumbled as he fell to the floor. "I-I am so-" He looked up and Ford nodded, tilting his head to the side. "It's quite alright. Are you ok?" He offered a six-fingered hand to help him stand up, completely oblivious to how much Kryptos hated him. The compass averted his eye and got up by himself, dusting his plane off. He ignored Ford's hand and walked over to where Miz was fighting off her little sister for a chocolate bar.

"Zoe." Seb warned lightly. "I see what you are trying to do. Don't bite Miz." The blonde girl whined. "It's Miz's birthday, remember, pumpkin?"

Zoe blinked and nodded. Right. She always fought for stuff, but she couldn't fight Miz! It was her birthday so she had to make her happy. "Ok! Have it! I'll get you more!" The little girl declared before she ran away giggling. She snatched her twin's chocolate bar and then stole Dipper and Dillon's. She would collect all the bars she could for Miz!

Her parents laughed but no one was getting actually hurt so they allowed it. Miz's friends watched as Zoe collected (stole) candies for their friend and smiled. That was so adorable. Pyronica was liking this girl even more! She was cute, strong and a fighter. Reminded her of herself when she was young.

Zach and Diego were now laying down with Xanthar and Sir Bedazzle, petting their bodies. Xanthar loved their pets. Their hands were so small and so soft~ he liked how gentle they were.

Keyhole was holding up a chocolate bar in confusion. "What IS this stuff?" He asked. Miz practically purred. "It's chocolate~ I haven't had chocolate in...like forever!" She got a bunch during trick or treating but she hadn't eaten any of her Halloween candy yet. Her alien friends stared at the chocolate. They had something similar out in space but it wasn't actually chocolate, this would be their first experience with the substance.

Teeth chopped down and chewed. He hummed. "Oh. It's sweet….with a faint bitterness…" that was when he began coughing and toppled over. Miz immediately went to his side to check on him. "TEETH!" She cried in panic.

She scanned her friend and paled. "Hang on...I can fix this…" She held out her hands and pulled. The particles of chocolate left the Mouth's body and he wheezed as she pulled it all out of him. "Ok. Mouths are deathly allergic to chocolate...that's good to know." Miz sighed in relief when Teeth's breathing got better.

The humans frowned in worry but knew Miz had solved the problem. Diego walked over to him and patted his hand. "Poor Teeth...he will never eat chocolate cake or chocolate milk, or chocolate-" Stan frowned. "Diego, enough. I think we understood."

"You humans have a lot of chocolate things." Pyronica frowned. "Is it as dangerous for you as it is for Teeth?" She looked at Miz. If it was, it reminded her of those lunatics asking for pineapple on pizza. Eating something capable of killing you. Actually, no wonder Bill loved this chocolate stuff, it seemed dangerous.

"Um...chocolate is actually incredibly toxic to most animals even here on Earth." Ford pointed out "It might be dangerous for them to eat it." Pyronica blinked. Incredibly toxic? Yup, definitely something Bill would love to eat. "Humans have a 'thing' where they find things that probably shouldn't be eaten, and then eat them anyway." Miz pointed out. "It's part of what I admire about them."

Miz looked sad that her friends couldn't try any of the chocolate. Ammy pet her shoulder. "It's fine mother. This just means there's more for you." That made Miz brighten up. '''Yay!" she munched on a chocolate Wafer.

Everyone rolled their eyes. After everyone was done, they were called to sing for Miz. Everyone crowded around the table, with her, Seb, Wanda and the twins 2.0 in the center. Then the other Pines and her friends at the front.

Miz stared at her cake the entire song, wiping happy tears from time to time. It-It's been so long since she's had a birthday...with the people she cared most next to her… "Thank you, guys...thank you for accepting me and being my family...thank you for being my friends...I don't know where I would be without all of you…" She grabbed Seb's hand and squeezed. She was so glad she disobeyed Ax. She met one of her best friends on that adventure, and met her big brother, and it led her to this. She was grateful for that. The children and Seb were drawing little post-it note spells to make dancing lights around the yard. It was all so beautiful. She was sad that Blue wasn't here. But he tended to bring down the mood for everyone else, so she didn't want him here to make her birthday… difficult for the humans.

Wanda squeezed her shoulder gently and smiled. "Make a wish, Miz."

Miz stared into the flickering candles and closed her eyes. A wish. As a demon who granted Deals, she had been begged often for Wishes. But she couldn't grant True Wishes. It was beyond her power. This birthday ritual was just a fun thing humans created. There was no god behind it. No real deity who could grant the wishes of those who blew out the candles. Still, with enough belief, power could be generated. She knew this from her creation of Hauntfest and other such rituals. So...maybe…

'I wish...I can stay with my family. That I will be a true part of this family. That...I can stay with them for as long as I possibly can.'

She breathed out and blew out the candles.

The rest of the party went smoothly until everyone realized that Miz was drunk.

Despite the insanity that followed, the night ended with everyone in high spirits and Bill's friends spending the night (since drunk Door'ing was apparently dangerous), they decided that the vessels Miz built would be turned into dolls for easier storage for next year's Halloween.

Miz opened the gifts, mainly anime DVDs, dolls and such. Ford had built Miz a tea maker, with sections for making infused flavors. She loved it.

The entire family banned her from eating all the chocolates from her trick or treating. "You can barely stand straight." Wanda sighed. Miz managed to sneak the truffle and half the box Ford gave her before they caught her. Ford actually didn't end up giving Miz another session after she passed out from her chocolate high. Everyone agreed that she was only allowed one chocolate bar a week at most . And only if she had supervision.

With Miz in her arms mumbling in a delirious daze, Wanda and Seb said bye to everyone and thanked them for coming, they could confirm that the all powerful god's first birthday was a huge success. "We're awesome." Seb grinned and Wanda laughed. "Hell yeah!" Miz snuggled into her chest happily. "Mmm wwhezzz…"