Thank you for the reviews! It's once again time for Ro's Question Corner!
I have caught up on The Owl House and I'm very excited for Watching And Dreaming. I'm currently trying to release a bunch of little fics about all my favorite ships with my post-finale speculation/hopes, I have one for Huntlow (Affection is a Haircut) and one for Gustholomule (Favorite Things) and more are coming.
I'm sure in the future Eda will get to meet Wendy :D
Cary probably is the best-case scenario in Manly Dan's mind
I think the beast and Cary are two souls in one, sort of like Eda? Except that Cary's magic, and therefore Cary's curse, are all contained in their mind
I'm not sure how it works exactly but the Owl Beast is kind of like Cary's other mom, yeah. I'm sure it would feel maternal towards Cary if they met.
If you want your questions answered in the next chapter feel free to leave them in the reviews!
Though safe in Wendy's arms, Cary's dreams were anything but sweet. In her dreams it seemed like she was fighting for control with the beast, screaming at it, begging for answers.
"Is the easiest thing to give up? Is the best thing to give into you? What if I'm not strong enough to control the curse?"
And as they woke up, shuddering from their nightmares, another thought occurred to them, "What if I don't need to?"
"Hm? What was that?" Wendy asked, looking bleary and tired.
"I need to talk to Handsel, she's my mentor here in Gravity Falls. I've been so afraid of not being able to control the curse that last night I let that fear and anger take control of me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Maybe I'm not supposed to control it."
"You lost me, babe."
"Yeah, I'm a little lost myself. But I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt because of this, because of me." As someone who could see the future, Cary knew better than anyone that you could change it. He would not be a slave to his fears forever.
"You really should talk to your dad."
Cary pulled a face.
"Hey, it's not like I won't be right there with you."
"Promise?"
"Always, Feathers."
Someone kicked their tent and Cary tensed.
"Hey! Are you nerds awake? There's doughnuts and cider in my kitchen," Robbie said.
After the night they'd just had, nothing sounded better than doughnuts and cider.
"Coming!"
They'd slept in their grimy clothes from yesterday but now Wendy and Cary changed quickly, neither of them looking at each other even though they'd been friends since they were five and had been changing in front of each other for about that long. Now it seemed different. An intimacy they weren't ready for.
When they got inside, Thompson, Robbie, and Nate were already chowing down.
"Lee went home. His mom was concerned he might need stitches," Nate explained.
Cary felt a lump in her throat. "Oh."
"He'll be fine by Halloween," Nate said quickly, seeing Cary's dismal expression. "It's not like you meant to. It's okay."
Cary smiled. Nate had never really been nice to them before. The closest he'd gotten to being nice was laughing when Cary dissed Lee. This was different.
"Thanks, Nate."
"Uh, to change the subject, I got a date," Thompson said.
"Really? That's awesome dude!" Cary smiled genuinely at him.
"Yeah, we're going to dinner before the Halloween party. We're gonna dress up together."
"Aww, that's fun."
Thompson nodded, beaming.
"Oh, Feathers, we should dress up together," Wendy said.
"I asked you about that like a month ago and you said we had plenty of time to think about it," Cary reminded.
"Well, I forgot."
Cary rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Why don't you just go as each other? Cary can wear that dumb green flannel you're always wearing and Wendy can wear that ancient leather jacket," Robbie suggested.
"That's my dad's leather jacket," Cary protested. "It's not ancient, it's vintage."
"I'd give it back," Wendy promised.
"Yeah okay, that sounds fun. And easy, which is a plus."
"Let me just wash the flannel first," Wendy suggested.
"Good plan."
"I'm gonna keep it simple this year," Robbie said.
"I mean all you need is a little extra eye shadow and you'd pass as a zombie," Cary said.
"I don't wear eyeshadow," Robbie lied.
"There's no shame in eyeshadow."
"Tambry and I are going as vampires. From her favorite series."
"Dude, that's so dorky," Nate said.
"If you were dating Tambry right now, you'd be dressing up as a vampire from her favorite series. Instead you and Lee are gonna play dress up as characters from some lame video game."
"Fight Fighters isn't lame," Nate argued.
"It's overrated."
As the boys bickered, Wendy and Cary ate their breakfast and stole glances. If the others noticed, they didn't say anything.
After breakfast they took down the tents, cleaned up the pizza boxes, and each made their own way home.
Cary had told Stan he'd get a ride from someone, so he found himself sitting in Manly Dan's truck with Wendy, feeling a little anxious about a lot of things.
"So," Manly Dan said, looking between Wendy and Cary, "Anything exciting happen on Fright Night?"
"I turned into a giant monster and nearly killed Lee," Cary said, knowing Manly Dan wouldn't believe him.
Manly Dan chuckled. "Anything else?"
"Cary and I are dating now," Wendy said.
"Wendy!" Cary hissed.
"I told him last night that I was gonna ask you out! I figured when you said 'let's not tell people' you didn't mean my dad!"
"I won't tell anyone Cary. I'm happy for you two. Of all of Wendy's friends, you've always seemed the most in control."
Cary thought about the attack last night, the truth Manly Dan would find much harder to believe than his daughter's dating life. In control was not the right word for them.
"Thank you, sir," is all they managed to say.
"Do you mind if I eat lunch with Cary? I'll come home after that."
"That's fine, kiddo. No shenanigans, the same dating rules apply with Cary as they did with your other relationships."
"Sir?" Cary asked. "May I be briefed on the dating rules?"
"No breaking curfew unless pre-approved, be responsible, don't get pregnant, which I guess doesn't apply here, no committing crimes with or for each other. Any dates outside of Gravity Falls have to be pre-approved as well."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Yes, dad."
"Hey! Maybe we can do a double date with Soos and Melody in Portland," Cary suggested excitedly.
"One thing at a time, Feathers. Let's get past Halloween first."
"Is the party our first date?" Cary asked.
"Huh. Yeah, I guess it kind of is."
Manly Dan didn't say anything else, but he was smiling to himself the rest of the drive to The Mystery Shack. He'd been right, last night. His wife would've been so proud of the young lady Wendy was growing up to be.
"Okay, so Soos knows I like you," Wendy said, "Anyone else in there know?"
They were about to go into the house, pausing just long enough to come up with a game plan.
"Abuelita knows I like you, so does dad and maybe Uncle Ford? I'm not sure about him."
"Wow, we suck at keeping secrets," Wendy mused.
"Lee and Nate don't know. And Thompson only knows I'm gay not that I'm gay for you specifically. But yeah, we suck."
"Well, I don't want to keep you a secret forever anyway," Wendy said, squeezing Cary's hand.
Cary blushed. "Yeah, me neither. One thing at a time, right?"
"We should tell them about the beast first."
"How about we tell them both things at the same time so they don't worry as much about the beast thing?"
"One thing at a time."
"Then I want to tell them about us first because, unlike your dad, they're not going to laugh about the beast."
"Deal." Wendy leaned over and kissed Cary's cheek before they went inside.
Cary realized as Wendy pulled away that they hadn't shared a real kiss, just cheek kisses, since the confession. Though that dare had been electric, it had just been a dare. Which meant they still had a first kiss to look forward to. Despite his nerves, Cary felt kind of giddy about that.
"You good, Feathers?"
"Yeah. We've got this."
They headed inside then, taking stock of the scene in front of them. Abuelita was getting things ready for lunch, Soos was helping Ford label the boxes he was packing, and…
"Where's dad?" Cary asked.
"Oh, he's giving a tour."
Right. October was a busy month.
"He'll be in for lunch, though."
"Good. We have a couple things to tell him," Cary said. "Well, to tell all of you…"
"Hey, dude," Soos said, looking both of them over but focusing on Wendy. "Why are you covered in bandaids?"
"Fell out of a tree," Wendy said, not ready to give the long version.
"Ouch."
Cary guiltily averted their eyes.
"It's no big deal," Wendy said.
"Abuelita, do you need any help with lunch?" Cary asked to change the subject, and soon she was setting the table for six instead of thinking about how Wendy and Lee had gotten hurt because of her.
Stan came in a few minutes later, grinning from a successful tour. Though he was excited to travel with Ford, he would miss being Mr. Mystery almost as much as he would miss his kids.
His grin disappeared when he saw Cary, knowing immediately that something was up without them having to say a word.
"What's up? Did something happen at your sleepover?"
"A couple things happened at the sleepover," Cary admitted.
"Are you okay?"
"That's also a complicated question," Cary said.
"Cary Leigh Pines," Stan said sternly.
"Okay so Wendy and I are dating now and also I turned into the Beast last night."
"What?"
Cary didn't repeat themself, knowing Stan had heard her.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Did anyone get hurt?"
"I'm okay. I hurt Lee and Wendy got hurt coming after me."
"Cary saved me," Wendy said quickly, "I fell out of a tree trying to get to them and Cary caught me and landed on the ground safely before turning back."
"Well, that's something," Ford said, "Would you say it was easier or harder to change back this time?"
"Uh… I didn't have to think about it as much this time. Suddenly Wendy was in danger and I had to save her, it's like the beast gave me back control."
"Interesting, interesting."
"No, not interesting. Cary, I specifically told you to tell me if something happened last night. Why didn't you tell me then?"
"It was after midnight, you would've been asleep."
"That doesn't matter! I need to know these things!"
"I'm telling you now!"
"I should uh… I should go," Wendy said.
"No," Stan said, "you can stay for lunch. Cary and I will finish this conversation later."
Cary looked too anxious to eat, but she felt a bit better when Wendy sat next to her.
"Congrats on the relationship," Soos said, to break the tension in the air.
"Thanks," Cary mumbled.
"Just you guys and my dad know so far," Wendy said, "So let's keep it that way until Cary and I get the chance to tell everyone."
"Mm-hm," Stan agreed. If looks could kill, the look he wasn't giving Cary right now would've stopped five hearts instantaneously.
"I've never met this Lee fellow," Ford said cautiously, "Is he badly injured?"
"He should be fine," Wendy said, Cary staying sullenly silent, "just scratches. He's tough."
"I suppose that means all of your friends know about it now?" Stan asked.
Cary nodded, "But they won't say anything. I trust them."
Stan thought about all of the times that Cary's friends had done something hurtful or childish. They were a lot of things, trustworthy wasn't necessarily one of them. But he'd said they could talk about it after lunch, so he kept his mouth shut except to eat.
Wendy buried Cary in a hug before she left, promising her partner that everything would be okay, but Cary just wasn't so sure. Cary wasn't used to fighting with Stan, this felt like a very bad omen.
"Let's talk in your room," Stan said, sounding serious still. The last thing he wanted was prying eyes and ears judging him.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I know I should have said something right away, but once the beast was gone I just wanted to finish Fright Night with my friends."
Stan sighed. "I hid a lot from my parents. I get it. It's tempting to keep secrets but we said we weren't going to do that anymore, right? Especially not secrets as big as the beast."
"I'm really sorry."
"I'm worried about you, Carebear. We thought the beast might be under control but now we know it isn't. I'm not sure if I should go on this trip."
"What? No, dad, you're not gonna miss out on your life's dream because of me. I have my weekly meeting with Handsel tomorrow, and I think I might have had a breakthrough with the beast anyway, like I can learn to work together with it instead of controlling it… I'm sorry for not telling you until just now, please don't skip out on the trip because of me."
Stan sighed. "I'm going to have to punish you."
Cary nodded, "I understand."
There was not a lot of punishing Stan could do, though, with less than a week left in Gravity Falls. The biggest thing coming up was the Halloween party, but Stan wasn't going to be the kind of dad who told his kid they couldn't do something fun on their birthday.
"You have to mop the shack for all of November."
"Aww, come on I hate mopping."
"Exactly. And I'm gonna tell Soos and Abuelita to make sure they enforce it." Stan leaned over and kissed Cary's head. "I love you, and I'm worried about you. I want you to be careful. And I need you to keep me up to date on things when I'm traveling. If you can't tell me right away when something happens, tell somebody. You're not alone, Cary. You never have to feel like you're alone."
He was right, of course. There were already so many people that loved and accepted them just the way they were. People who loved them for being genderqueer, and sapphic, people who even loved them for being a beastly little witch.
She offered him a fist bump. "Team Pines?"
"Team Pines."
