Chapter 12 - 『Dead Man's Store』part 1

It had been a couple of days after the whole Gideon's fiasco and everything was back to normal. Well, everything except one person: Joseph.

Although he smiled, laughed and acted as his usual self, there were moments when he would get this melancholic look on his face when he thought nobody was looking . Nobody commented on this thinking it was something that would pass soon enough, but Mabel was beginning to worry that there was something actually wrong with him.

So in her own way of helping she decided to teach him how to knit.

Currently they were in the gift shop sitting next to each other as she taught him the simple cast on technique of the backwards loop.

"So finally you just pull that loop tight by pulling on the working yarn, and there you have it, your first stitch!" She clapped cheering his accomplishment.

"Honestly, those grannies made this look far easier than it really is." There were like 10 steps just to make the first stitch! That's why they get so angry when people do not wear their hand-made clothing; it was a LOT of hard work! Something he wasn't very fond of, but was learning to tolerate the more he worked at the Shack.

"That's because they have lots of experience!" Mabel explained. "If you keep practicing soon you won't have to think about the steps; they will become like second nature." She herself could practically knit in her sleep, although the last time she tried she had gotten the color patterns mixed.

"And you said that you make a sweater in just one day!" Joseph was really surprised when she told him that she made her own sweaters and she made one each day to wear on the next. "You must have some sort of gift."

"Oh you charmer!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder, despite enjoying his multiple compliments ever since they started. But their little scene was rudely interrupted by Dipper, who was sitting next to the counter reading that journal he found in the woods.

"Mabel, do you believe in ghosts?" He asked not even taking his eyes away from the book.

"I believe you are a big dork." She responded, slightly annoyed for his interruption. But before anyone could say anything else, Stan entered the gift shop from the outside.

"Soos! Wendy! Joe!" He called them out.

Joseph stood up, Wendy just looked up from her magazine and Soos came in running.

"What's up Mr. Pines." Soos saluted.

"I'm headin' out. You three are gonna wash the bathrooms, right?" He reminded them despite the fact that he never asked any of them in the first place. And just where was he going with such urgency?

"Yes, sir!" Soos, the ever loyal worker.

"Whatever." Joseph, the resigned teen in need of money.

"Absolutely not!" Wendy, the slacker.

"Ha ha! You stay out of trouble!" The showman warned before slamming the door as he left to wherever he was going.

Now that the boss was out of sight, Wendy saw the opportunity to avoid even more her work. "Hey guys! What's this?" She walked up to a curtain and unveiled a ladder behind it. "A secret ladder to the roof?"

'What secret?' Joseph thought. It had been hidden behind just curtain in a place where such thing stood up like a sore thumb.

"Uh, I don't think Mr. Pines would like that." Soos was quick to point out, and though JoJo disliked agreeing in respect to Stan, Soos was right.

"Soos' right." The English boy nodded besides the handyman. "Just do your work Wendy."

"Pfft. If you want to be a bore and do chores more power to you. This girl is gonna chill." The redhead pointed both her thumbs at herself, "who wants to come with me?" She then turned towards the twins who looked excited at the proposition.

"Can we actually go up there?" Dipper said thrilled, usually roofs were out limits for Mable and him because of the height and how dangerous it was.

"Sure we can! Roof time! Roof time!" She encouraged them by pumping her fist up and down as she began climbing up and of course Dipper followed.

"Roof time! Roof time!"

Next to Joseph, Mabel looked like she wanted to follow too, but something was holding her back.

"You can go if you want to." JoJo said suspecting it was because of him.

"But what about…?"

"I got a job to do. You go have fun with Dipper and Wendy." He gave her a small smile to show that it was fine. "Just be careful up there, ok?"

"Okay." Though she was happy she could join Dipper and Wendy on the fun, she felt that it would've been a lot better if JoJo joined in as well.

"You can go with them if you want to." Soos suddenly said once Mabel was out of sight. "I don't mind cleaning the bathrooms by myself."

"Thanks, but no thanks. It is my job after all." The teen declined with a shake of his head.

"Are you ok, dude?" The handyman asked concerned. "I mean, you always complain about Stan working you hard, but lately you've been like…'whatever' and stuff."

"It's just personal stuff." Joseph answered honestly but vague at the same time. "It's something I have to sort of by myself, you know." He really must have been acting off if someone had managed to notice; could the others also noticed but hadn't said anything about it yet?

"Ok, but remember you have me and my repair skills if you need anything, dude." Soos offered his support and a raised fist.

"You know it man." Joseph smiled and give him a fist bump. "Come on, let's get this disgusting job over with."

く==OnTheRoof==

Wendy's spot on the rooftop was indeed a cool place of hang around. There was an umbrella for the sun, a lounge chair to relax on and a cooler with drinks in it. And for a little fun there was a bucket full of pine cones that they used for target practice to hit a target placed on the big totem outside the shack.

The fun lasted just a few minutes before it was interrupted by a van driving up to the shack playing loud music on the stereo. "Wendy!" It was Wendy's teenager friends.

"Hey, you guys aren't going to tell Stan about this, are you?"

Dipper was the first to answer, by making a zipping motion with his hand and lips eager to comply. And Wendy, glad that she could count on them to keep silence, returned the motion.

"Later dorks!" She waved goodbye before jumping from the roof to the tip of a tree that bent down to a small tree which she also used to bring her back to the floor safe and sound right next to the van what awaited her with an open side door.

Needless to say that was one of the coolest things Dipper had ever seen her do. "Later Wendy!" He shouted a little too excited to escape Mabel's notice. "Heh heh heh! Good times!"

"Uh, oh!" Mabel gave him a knowing look. "Somebody's in love!"

"Yeah, right! I just think Wendy's cool, okay?" He said defensively trying to play away the strange butterflies he felt within his stomach. "It's not like I lie awake at night thinking about her!"

く==LaterThatNight==

Dipper was in bed wide awake in the middle of the night with only one thing in his mind that kept him from falling asleep.

"Uh-oh."

He turned to his side trying to find a more comfortable position, when his eyes fell upon the sleeping form of his sister.

'She has a much bigger crush than me, how can she fall asleep so easily?'

And as if she had somehow been able to read his mind, she began mumbling in her sleep, while hugging her pillow close to her.

"Mm…Jo…Jo…"

So she could see Joseph in her dreams.

"Of course."

く==EarlierBackOnTheRoof==

"Besides, you are the one to talk," Dipper crossed his armed defensively. "You have a big crush on Joseph!"

"Yes, and I'm not afraid to admit it!" She puffed up her chest proudly.

"But only when he's not around though." Her brother pointed out, much to her chagrin.

"Doesn't matter! I'm already making good progress working my way into his heart, and soon I may be able to ask him out!" She announced very sure of herself. Ever since Joseph made his promise, they had been spending some more time together, and she was taking this as an opportunity to water and tend the seeds of friendship, and with time and dedication they might bloom into flowers of romance!

It was the perfect plan.

"Yeah right." Dipper rolled his eyes. Though he usually supported her sisters in many of her crazy endeavors, her plan to woo Joseph could only led to disappointment. "Good luck with that."

"Thank you very much." She nodded not registering his ironic tone, or maybe she just didn't let it bother her.

"Ok then, I'll go back down, maybe watch some T.V." Maybe he could catch an episode of Duck-tective. "Want a come?"

"Thanks but I think I'll wait for JoJo to finish work, we still have a knitting lesson to complete!" And in the meantime she could work on her sweater for tomorrow.

"Ok, have fun with that."

く==HalfAnHourLater==

Mabel was enjoying the view from on top of the Shack while knitting. It was a nice view and one where she could relax and work on without distractions and thanks to it she was half-way done with her sweater for the next day; and maybe when she was finished, she could work on making a matching scarf for Joseph, who was a fan of the garment.

Suddenly she caught sight of Joseph walking away from the Shack and into the woods.

"Where is he going?" She wondered out-loud as she put down her half-finished sweater. She didn't need second thoughts before she decided to go follow him. With how unusual he had been action lately she had reason to be worried about him after all.

Following Joseph trail was easy enough, and not so long after Mabel managed to find him in a clearing punching a giant rock of all things.

"OVERDRIVE!" He shouted as he delivered a powerful strike against the rock, while his fist sparked by the power of his Wave Energy.

Whatever result he got, it wasn't the one he expected, or so thought Mabel seeing the look on his face. But that wasn't the end of it, because Joseph then punched the rock again with his other fist.

"OVERDRIVE!"

That was when she realized that he come all the way here to train his Wave Energy.

"OVERDRIVE!"

Exactly he was training for she had no idea, but the sheer look of concentration on his face made her remain hidden, not wanting to interrupt him. So she remained quiet watching him punch the rock over and over again.

"HAMON KICK!"

After a while Joseph changed from his fists to his legs delivering powerful kicks to the defenseless rock. This continued for some more time until Joseph finally called it quits.

"It's useless!" Joseph growled looking at the rock with disdain. "Why can't I split this rock?" Split it? All this time Mabel thought he had being trying to break into pieces. "Speedwagon said my grandpa could do it, so why can't I?!"

'Joseph…' She didn't know why he wanted to learn how to split rocks, but it was obvious he was getting frustrated at his failure.

"I need to be stronger! My Hamon needs to be stronger!" He clenched his fists which looked in a pretty bad shape after all the abuse they endure. "I can't afford to be weak! I have to be strong to protect them! To protect Dipper and Mabel!"

Mabel put both hands over her mouth to stop herself from gasping. 'He is doing this for us?!' then she recalled his words on the night after they escaped Gideon.

"I put your brother in danger's way even though I promised to protect him and you…" That was reason why decided to stay in Gravity Falls and work for Grunkle Stan; because he knew about the strangeness of the town and how dangerous it could be.

'Gideon and his Amulet being the worst we've encountered so far.' Dipper told her about what happened with Gideon and how he threatened to cut off her brother's tongue or how he almost killed Joseph by slamming him over and over the place. It was thank to her timely appearance that they managed to get away with their lives and organs intact.

'The only thing that was damaged was JoJo's confidence.' His use of Wave Energy was his ace up his sleeve yet was next to useless against Gideon. Failing to stop Gideon must've made him realize that he wasn't as strong as he thought nor as he needed to be.

'That's why he's been so gloomy lately.' He must've been worrying thinking up ways to become stronger all by himself, since there wasn't any other "Hermit Wizard" master around that were willing to teach him.

く==MeanwhileInVenice==

A beautiful woman with long brown hair sneezed in the middle of her lesson with her recently acquired student.

"You aren't getting sick, are you Coach?"

"No, I'm fine."

く==BackInGravityFalls==

Mabel decided to leave Joseph alone, not wanting him to know she had spied on him in what was a very private moment for him. So she tracked back to the Shack and completing the knitting lesson for the day already forgotten.

'There's gotta be something I can do.' There better be, because she couldn't stand seeing him so gloomy and sad. 'Even though I can't help with his training of Wave Energy, I will find a way to cheer him up.' Because if there was one thing she never gave up with was brighten someone's day.

く==TheVeryNextDay==

"RANDOM DANCE PARTY FOR NO REASON!" Mabel announced right before she hit play on a boombox. As the music blared she started dancing followed by Wendy who chanted."GO! GO! GO! GO!" to the beat of the music.

Without stopping she turned towards Joseph who just watched from the side with mild amusement. "Come on JoJo join in!"

"I guess, only if Dipper also joins." He looked towards the boy who was writing on clipboard for some reason.

"Uh? Me!?" He asked startled, quickly hiding the clipboard from view.

"Yeah Dipper, aren't you gonna get on this?" Wendy asked this time, having fun.

"I don't really dance." He excused himself from joining not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Wendy.

"Really? Because I thought you knew this dance performed in a silly costume or something." The teen looked at the younger boy with a large toothy grin.

"Mabel told you about The Lamby Dance?!" Dipper asked looking scandalized that the secret got out.

"No, it was you; just now." Thought impossible, but Joseph's grin grew three sizes, enjoying the look of horror and shame on Dipper's face.

"OOOHHH! He got you good, bro-bro!" Mabel had to admit that was such a good burn.

"Yo, what's Lamby Dance?" Wendy asked wanting to get in on the joke.

"Mom used to dress him up in a lamb costume and…" Mabel began but was quickly cut off by Dipper through grinding teeth.

"Now is not the time to talk about the Lamby Dance." If looks could kill he would've been short of a sister.

"Lamb costume? Wow, is there like little ears and a tail or...?" Wendy turned to look at Dipper who could only mumble.

"Well uh, uh..."

"Dipper would prance around and sing a song about grazing." And to add insult to injury, Mabel pulled out a small picture of little Dipper in said lamb costume.

"Oh now that's precious." Joseph said trying to not to laugh, not at the picture but at Dipper's expression that was asking the earth itself to swallow him.

Luckily for the blushing Dipper, the teasing came to a stop when the clock made a cuckoo sound signaling it was 6 o'clock.

"Hey, look at that! Quittin' time! The gang's waitin' for me." Wendy announced all too happy to finally be done with her shift. Something JoJo was quick to point out.

"Oh! Would you look at that! Wendy actually staying 'till the end of her shift, what a rare sight."

"Don't you start, you!"

What wasn't a rare sight was Joseph and Wendy acting like they hated each other, throwing subtle insults and backhanded compliments back and forward, but it was all in good fun, right?

Noticing (or maybe he actually didn't notice) the room's sudden shift in mood, Dipper was quick to ask Wendy. "Say! Why don't I-or we come with you?"

"Ooh... I don't know." Wendy said slightly hesitant, but Mabel also chimed in, much to her brother's surprise.

"Oh! That's a great idea!" then she turned towards the other teen in the room. "And JoJo should come along too."

"Wait what?" Said teen looked at her confused.

"My friends are pretty intense. How old did you guys say you are?"

"We're thirteen! So, technically a teen." Dipper told, happy that Wendy was considering taking them along.

"Yep, totally thirteen!" Mabel agreed with a smile and a thumps up.

"All right. I like your moxy, kids!"She ended up agreeing seeing as there weren't anything to object to, "Just let me get my stuff." And with that she exited the shop, prompting Joseph to ask.

"Since when are you guys thirteen?" It was rhetorical of course. He remembered when they first met and the twins told him that their birthday was August 31st, at the end of the Summer Break.

"Come on, Joseph. This is our chance to hang out with, you know, the cool kids. And Wendy and whatever." Dipper explained which caused JoJo to raise an eyebrow.

"Okay…" He understood Dippers reason; kids always liked to hang around with bigger kids to feel cool and all, "So Mabel, what about you?" but that didn't explained why Mabel wanted to go along with the lie and drag him along too.

"I thought it sounded like fun!" Of course, Joseph thought. "Besides, I-I noticed you been gloomy lately and thought that this might cheer you up!"

'So they did notice.' The Teen grimaced. He didn't want them fussing over him, since this was something he had to do so on his own. "I don't know, I was planning of going to Soos' home and watch the black and white period piece classic The Duchess Approves, with Abuelita." Sure it was an incredibly long and somewhat boring movie, but it was one of those movies Granny Erina liked to watch and forced him to watch along with her. 'Man, I should call Granny Erina soon.'

"Come one JoJo, it will be fun!" Dipper and Mabel pleaded.

'Even so…' if Dipper was insistent on going and Mabel followed…, "Fine I'll go as well." What other option did he have, really? It wasn't like he could trust Wendy of all people to look after the twins, especially if she was going to be distracted with her friends.

"Yes!" Dipper pumped his fist while Mabel clapped.

"You will not regret this, I promise."

'I sure hope so.'

く==ToBeContinued==

I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley.

『Cyphers』

『Etq ime pdqmyuzs mnagf ftq nqef imk fa tqxb tuy. Sqf kagd yuzp agf ar ftq sgffqd.』

『Uz Hqzuoq, m nxazp Ufmxumz Nak tme mxdqmpk nqsmz tue Tmyaz fdmuzuzs.』

Author Notes:

A little gag I like is how different characters refer to the same thing with different names.

Joseph: Hamon!

Dipper: Ripple!

Mabel: Wave Energy!