A Boy and His Bear
"So you'll be here in about a week?" Gregory asked, talking to Mike on his new phone. He was lounging on the bed in the attic rather than putting all his new clothes away like he was supposed to. It seemed kind of pointless to him anyway since this was obviously only a temporary arrangement until he and Mike could work out a more permanent housing situation.
At least he hoped it was temporary… he and Mike hadn't exactly talked about what their relationship and situation was going to be going forward and Gregory was terrified to bring it up. Sure, the others had welcomed with open arms and Mabel was already calling him her nephew, but there was no denying the fact that he and Mike had only known each other for one night and they had been mostly focused on just surviving. What if Mike didn't want the responsibility of taking care of Gregory? What if Gregory was too desperate and lonely that he had been too fast in bonding with Mike as the first kind adult that he really interacted with? What if he was only being nice to Gregory because that was just how Mike was and he didn't actually care about him?
"That's how it looks currently," Mike's voice replied over the speaker, snapping Gregory out of his spiraling thoughts. "With the evidence I have, the Fazbear Company is more interested in just paying off the fines and burying this whole mess rather than trying to press charges. They're still asking about the Glamrock's whereabouts but they haven't officially accused me of stealing them and I don't think they're going to. And if they do, I'll just bring up the other two kids that went missing in the Pizzaplex that they tried to keep hidden. They've barely been able to recover their reputation and they're not going to risk being called a murder company again."
"I guess them being an evil corrupt corporation is working out in our favor," Gregory replied with a snort.
"Yep," Mike laughed. "It's stupid and while a part of me wants to try and shut the company down again, I've realized long ago it's not worth the effort. Just as long as they don't build another pizzeria over a haunted sight I'm fine just washing my hands of it."
"Yeah, I'm happy not ever thinking of them again either," Gregory agreed with a grin. "I can't wait for you to get up here."
"Me neither," Mike sighed. "There's no place like Gravity Falls and being with my crazy family. How are you getting along with them anyway?"
"I'm doing okay," Gregory replied slowly. "They're being really welcoming and Mabel's a lot of fun but it's… it's a lot…"
"I bet," Mike chuckled. "We can be a bit much but once you get used to it, I know you'll fit right in with the rest of us kid. I'm sure of it."
Gregory swallowed thickly not entirely sure how to respond to that.
"Anyway I have to get going," Mike said. "Still have lots of stuff to pack and I promised Vanessa I'd help her pack too."
"Right," Gregory nodded, shoving his complicated feelings aside. "Bye Mike."
"Bye Gregory. Talk to you soon."
Gregory sighed and let the arm holding the phone drop onto the bed, thoughts tumultuous after hearing Vanessa's name. While he was certainly sympathetic to her, there was still a part of him that was terrified, hand instinctively tracing the faint scar on his neck where she had pressed the knife into his skin in threat. While logically Gregory knew that she was just another victim of William and if Mike with all his experience could still become mind controlled by William then it was hardly Vanessa's fault she fell for the trap when she didn't know any better, but that didn't stop those feelings of terror from existing, especially since the current plan was to have her come up to Gravity Falls so Mike and the others could help her recover and get her life back together.
Gregory pushed those thoughts away and forcefully focused on something else. Mike's mention of the Glamrocks reminded Gregory that he hadn't really seen Freddy or the others since they arrived and he decided he was going to spend time with Freddy today, sending Dipper a quick text asking for a lift to the manor.
It wasn't long before Gregory was walking through the halls of the Manor with Dipper, on the way to Dipper's workshop where all the animatronics were being kept for now, Dipper explained, "Right now only Freddy's active while the others are shut down and are planning to be that way until Mike gets here."
"Why?" Gregory asked in confusion and concern. "Is there something wrong with them?"
"Not exactly, just a complication," Dipper replied with a shake of his head. "There were some protocols that were activated that were trying to get them to return to Fazbear property and most likely a few tracking systems as well. I'd offered to try and remove the protocols myself, but Freddy's the only one who accepted. The others preferred just waiting until Mike gets here to make the modifications, even if that meant they had to be shut down the whole time."
Gregory nodded in understanding. With the whole thing of Vanessa and William infecting them with the virus and messing with their programming, it made sense that the Glamrocks would only want someone they trusted to do something like that again.
They entered Dipper's workshop, tables were set up, covered in blueprints, and various half-finished projects. Completed prototypes and various tools hung on the walls for testing and tinkering. On a large clear space that was usually used for testing stood the shut-down Glamrocks, hooked up to a makeshift charging station. Freddy was sitting on one of the chairs near his friends, looking through some sort of magazine. The bear looked up at the sounds of the others approaching and smiled brightly at them saying, "Hello Mason and it's great to see you, Superstar. How are you settling in?"
"Alright, I guess," Gregory shrugged before glancing at the magazine in curiosity. "What's that?"
"Well Mrs. Mabel wants to make me a sweater," Freddy said showing how the magazine was a catalog full of sweaters. "But I've never had a sweater before and didn't know what I'd want as a design so she gave me this to see some examples and get an idea of what I might want."
"Makes sense, she made me a sweater already too," Gregory grinned. "And I look forward to seeing you in yours."
The thought of the bear animatronic in a sweater was just a funny one to Gregory.
"I as well," Freddy chuckled. "But is there something you wanted from me, Superstar?"
"I thought we could go exploring!" Gregory said. "Try and see some of the supernatural creatures that everyone keeps implying are all around here."
"Sounds like a fun adventure," Freddy said, placing the magazine down and standing up. Glancing at Dipper, Freddy asked, "Is there any place we should try to avoid to make sure Gregory stays safe?"
"Nothing too dangerous stays near the town so as long as you stay within a mile or two of either the manor or the town you should be fine," Dipper replied and Freddy nodded in understanding.
"But how are we supposed to see anything cool then?" Gregory grumbled in annoyance.
"Oh, you'll get to see plenty even with that," Dipper assured with a chuckle. "And I promise we'll take to see even more creatures that are further out. We just want to make sure you're safe is all."
Gregory rolled his eyes but nodded, the idea of seeing magical creatures too exciting to be too annoyed with the restrictions.
With that settled, Gregory and Freddy headed off, heading out a small side gate in the manor's outer wall and following the well-worn path into the woods. Gregory looked around in curiosity, not even disappointed when he didn't immediately see some sort of magical creature, just intrigued by being in a real forest for the first time. It was a pretty place with the sun shining through the pine needles and various insects flying around. Gregory spotted a few squirrels in the trees and didn't really notice a bush rustling further down the path, not until a small little man came hopping out of it.
Both parties froze as they stared at each other, Gregory eventually blurting out in disbelief, "Is that a gnome!?"
And really it did look like a gnome that walked right off some old lady's garden, red-pointed hat and all.
"I believe it is," Freddy replied, sounding just as baffled as Gregory. It was one thing to hear stories about magical creatures and another thing entirely to see one in person.
Gregory took a step forward to get a better look and the gnome scampered off into the trees exclaiming, "Shmebulock!"
Gregory laughed and chased after the gnome in excitement, Freddy following right behind. Despite their best efforts, they lost the little gnome pretty quickly, but Gregory didn't mind. Seeing a real magical creature for himself filled him with excitement and he and Freddy picked a random direction to see what else they could come across. Gregory was not disappointed as they eventually came across a tiny pack of wolves chasing a squirrel.
Gregory and Freddy stayed out in the woods for the rest of the afternoon, seeing more gnomes and a few other creatures like one that was a mix of an owl and a cow. Gregory didn't even care that Freddy always made sure they didn't wander too far per Dipper's instructions as he had plenty of fun with the weirdness they came across.
"They weren't kidding about this place being full of all sorts of strange creatures," Gregory grinned, riding on Freddy's shoulders as the bear took them back to the manor.
"While we had no reason to doubt their honesty it is still surprising to see for ourselves," Freddy agreed with a chuckle.
"Think there's a dragon in here somewhere?" Gregory asked, thinking about how cool seeing a real dragon would be.
"Perhaps, but that would be an adventure that we would want the others with us for," Freddy replied. Gregory huffed but couldn't disagree.
The rest of the walk back was filled with the two talking about the creatures they had seen and speculating what creatures they would be able to see in the future because one thing was for sure there was plenty of exploring to do and adventures to be had.