Looking around, Dipper could almost pretend that he was a kid again. Though it was near the end of the day and the Mystery Shack was set to close in an hour a fair but thinning crowd of gullible tourists still remained. They milled about the gift shop for some overpriced souvenir that they didn't need to remember a trip to a place that was about as authentic as the meat at fast food restaurants. Dipper had long since decided he would never understand it, but the scene brought back memories that elicited a smile on his face.
Soos had kept the tourist trap just the same as it had been all those ago, but his meticulous upkeep of the place showed just how much pride he held in managing it. While it was impressive on its own, anything would have been a step up from how Stan let layers of dust pile up until it would practically create an indoor simulation of the dustbowl from the 1930s. He'd claimed that it added to the antique look of some of the exhibits.
Though Dipper sympathized with Ford's opinion that the Shack was a giant insult to the real supernatural all around them in Gravity Falls, he was still very glad that his grunkle had allowed it to stay. It didn't only hold precious (and sometimes nostalgically scarring) memories, but Soos had been so passionate about keeping it open and running it himself that Ford would have had to be heartless to shut it down. Plus, though Ford begrudged the fact, the Mystery Shack did pull in a lot of revenue that had no little part in funding his and Stan's voyage around the world.
It was crazy to think that the brothers had sailed the world for ten years and only recently began to get their land legs back. It had started with the trip to the Arctic Ocean, but they'd had such a blast that it had continued to extend indefinitely until they'd been on the sea for a decade. Dipper guessed that, on some level, they were making up for lost time.
While the anomalies and discoveries they'd made didn't fill an entire journal let alone three like the anomalies in Gravity Falls did, they had still made some amazing discoveries, both natural and supernatural, the former of which had landed them some real world scientific recognition. It was probably the adventure and travel that had kept them so young and energetic despite them now being in their eighties. Dipper only wished he could be the same when he reached their age.
However, as much as he would have loved to join them on one of their expeditions, Dipper had been aware that he needed to get some things in order and some experience under his belt before diving in. Even though he'd been tempted, Dipper hadn't graduated high school early, instead taking advanced classes and some college courses here and there. Mabel's insecurities about high school hadn't just disappeared overnight, so he'd wanted to be there for her as long as he could. However, his reasons weren't purely altruistic. He was just as anxious as she was about the day that they'd have to part and he'd wanted to cherish their time as much as possible rather than ending it prematurely. Dipper might have been the "smart one," but Mabel was the bold one. She pulled Dipper from his shell of fear and doubt and he steadied her.
People always acted so knowledge about twins. They said that twins were opposites to explain when they fought. They said twins were like yin and yang, balancing each other out when they got along. They said twins were a set because they were born together and were each other's lifelong friend. They said twins were their own individuals and that being born together was hardly different from being born separately in the end. But Dipper knew that no one really understood the simultaneously intricate and simple relationship between twins unless they were one themselves. And it was because of that inexplicable relationship that Dipper didn't for a day regret his decision to make sure that he and Mabel had graduated together.
From then on, it was hardly like they were really apart anyway. They texted, video chatted and called one another constantly to fill the void of the other's presence as if it was only natural. Dipper himself had only realized how much they talked when one of his college friends had asked if Mabel was his girlfriend and his actual girlfriend at the time accused him cheating on him. For the first time, he'd realized no one knew him as a twin. It was such basic concept that overlaid his entire life, like his own name, that it honestly didn't bother him when he'd be made fun of by his friends for constantly contacting Mabel. They might as well have been teasing him for having two eyes, hands and feet.
No matter what anyone said, the constant communication had been good for the twins and before they knew it they were both college graduates. Though they'd opted to stay in their respective college towns, they'd still visited both Piedmont and Gravity Falls to visit with family. And then a few months ago, news of Wendy's engagement brought about a reunion unlike any they'd had in years. Dipper was just thankful that it wouldn't take place right away. Having only just arrived the day before, he was tired and hadn't even unpacked yet.
The sound of the bell alerted Dipper to the entry of someone into the Mystery Shack, pulling him from his inner reverie.
"Hey." His casual greeting didn't receive an answer as the person walked past the cash register. "Hello?" he tried again, but only got silence. When the person was about the exit the room, he called out idly, "The unicorns are back."
"What? I told those glittery jerks to stay off my turf!" Mabel spun around with a growl until she saw the smug look on Dipper's face.
"Have a nice trip to Venus, space cadet?" He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, amusement playing on his face as he chuckled.
"You wouldn't be laughing if you ever got a horn to the back," Mabel grumbled. Despite their team up to end Weirdmageddon, the unicorns had still proved to be the same obnoxious creatures they always were when Mabel had tried to make peace afterwards.
"So where have you been, sis?" He ignored her comment. "You were gone for so long I was starting to worry you got kidnapped by gnomes again." His laughter abruptly trailed. "You… You weren't, right?" he asked in concern.
"No." Mabel rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. "One time." She strode over to lean against the wall beside him. "I just lost track of time. Thinking and stuff."
There was no need to tell him about Bill. The demon was trapped in his stone body and likely couldn't do a thing unless he made a deal with her, something she wasn't planning on doing any time soon if at all. Knowing would only worry Dipper unnecessarily.
"I get that. It's been weird being back here. All the old memories keep popping up, ya know?" He playfully nudged her shoulder with his. "It's just so nostalgic."
"Yeah." Mabel let out a dramatic sigh. "The good old days when you accidentally summoned a horde of zombies and I was taller than you." It hadn't taken long after their thirteenth birthday for Dipper to finally hit a growth spurt and take back that millimeter of height difference between them and then some. Now he stood nearly a head taller than her.
"Right…" Dipper rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. The zombies incident was not his most shining moment.
"You know, if you're feeling really nostalgic, we could-"
"We're not summoning a zombie horde." Dipper cut in with a tired tone of annoyance as if it was the hundredth time she'd suggested it.
"Pfft." Mabel covered her mouth a snort. "I was gonna say we could probably find that flashlight to make me taller than you again." Mabel giggled as Dipper blushed.
"Oh… well, we're not doing that either." The day they found out he was taller than her was a day he secretly cherished.
"Although now that you mention it-"
"Mabel!"
"It's not like we don't know how to stop them." Mabel held her stomach, laughing. "I could dig out the old karaoke box. Just like old times!"
"You're not serious." He ran a hand down his face, trying not to cringe at the memory.
"Nope. But it's funny when you think I am, little brother." She poked his cheek affectionately and then yelped, yanking her hand back when he pretended to snap his teeth at her digit.
"Use it and lose it, Mabel," Dipper warned her playfully as he clicked his teeth together again.
She gave him an indignant look. "I see someone's been hanging out with the manotaurs again." Mabel cradled her index finger protectively, muttering under her breath. "Ya filthy barbarian."
"Nah. I'm this filthy all on my own." Dipper smiled with a shrug.
"Something I'm sure your girlfriend loves." Mabel mirrored his look, rolling her eyes. "Still showering only once a month?"
"You wish." Dipper laughed.
"So hey, where is the other half of ChipDip?" She elected to change the subject, smirking with crossed arms. Mabel's teasing was rewarded with a resounding groan from her brother.
"Ugh, I can't believe Soos came up with a ship name for us." As much as the man had grown in some ways after marrying Melody, getting his own place and successfully running the scam business of the Mystery Shack some things never changed.
"You can't deny it kind of works." Mabel chuckled shortly and cocked her head at him with a pointed look of amusement.
"Just because her last name is Zingles like the chip? It's kind of a stretch if you ask me." Dipper yawned tiredly.
"Anyway, where is she?" Mabel reiterated.
"Libby went into town. After the massive car ride here she's been restless," Dipper explained, glancing at the entrance as if she might return at any second. "She didn't even do any driving. Me, on the other hand? I'm still kind of exhausted." He swept the hair from his face. He wasn't wearing his signature pine tree hat, having grown less self-conscious about his birthmark over the years. He still wore it often, just not as much, though he still kept his bangs long enough to easily conceal the dipper.
"Poor poor Dippy." Mabel reached up to ruffle his hair. Dipper quickly gave a light smack with his forearm to shoo her hand away. "And what about grunkle Stan and Ford?" Stan had to be doing something if he wasn't trying to rush the customers to "buy something or get out."
"Giving the last tour and do you even have to ask?" They didn't know if it was meant to compensate for the excess travel, but Ford was often in the basement. Despite all the trouble that his research on Gravity Falls had caused, Ford was far from discouraged in his pursuit of knowledge. If anything, it had only made him more inclined to understand the weirdness in order to be better prepared to combat it. Though they didn't know where exactly, somewhere the dimension traveler had salvaged, consolidated and recreated all the information from the three journals lost when they had fought Bill and more. It had helped that Stan had copied all the pages from the journals previously.
Mabel blinked. "Has he come out since I left?" Though Ford had greeted the twins when they'd arrived, that was the only time they'd seen him. Before that Stan had complained that even he had hardly seen Ford in the last week or two.
Dipper answered with a simple shake of his head. Being a bookworm himself, it wasn't as concerning to him that Ford lost hours or even days down there. The twin would even be tempted to join him if not for his recent fatigue and a girlfriend that would chew him up and spit him out if he dared to drown himself in research during, what she felt was, their vacation. He did a lot of the same at work back home and he didn't know if he could handle the excitement of what Ford would show him without getting sucked in. Not that he wouldn't try to become wrapped up in Ford's discoveries, results and notes at some point during their stay.
Mabel was having none of it though. "Then I'm on a rescue mission," she declared before pushing herself off of the wall and heading out of the gift shop.
"From what, do I dare ask?" Dipper might have tried to stop her if she wasn't Mabel. It was this same sort of spirit, attitude and a certain amount of guilt tripping that gotten her to convince their parents to let her keep Waddles after that first summer.
"The same endless wasteland that you hail from called Nerdville." Mabel glanced back at him with her hands on her hips and a look of determination.
Dipper's response was a weary expression and a sigh. "Mabel. You're being self-righteous again," he pointed out.
"And what's wrong with that?" she challenged.
"The last time you did this you shoved me and Wendy into a closet and we ended up getting locked in with a deranged, homicidal shapeshifter," he said flatly.
"That's a mute point."
"You mean a moot poin-"
"NEEERD!" Mabel spun around and kept walking.
"Just please don't break anything," Dippy called after her helplessly.
"No promises!"
Author's Note: Woo! Two chapters in less than a week! I didn't know I had it in me. Anyway, thank you all so much for all your support and lovely comments. I wanted to get some background established here, so I apologize for the exposition in the beginning, but I hope some cliche twin banter made up for it!
I'm so happy that some of you guys think I write Bill well. I wanted to get him right, because, let's be honest, he kind of steals the show. XD Bill is fun to write and we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon so be prepared!
And props to those who notice the random little references. ;)
P.S. While I was writing this, I finally realized why it's called ChipDip...