Chapter Text
Dipper and Mabel ran to the door of the Shack, Dipper pausing to scratch the lumps over his shoulder blades as Mabel knocked on the Shack’s door.
The door opens to reveal Stan, who pauses at the sight of them.
“Kids! I thought you weren't here til Monday!’
“It is Monday!” Mabel grins.
“Wow, well, I'll show you your room,” he replies, black wings flapping slightly as he looks at their backs, clearing his throat.
“So, how long left?” he asks.
“About three days!” Mabel grins, “I seriously hope I'm a falcon or a bird of prey! They're so cool! But being a dove sounds more likely because they're peaceful birds…” Mabel rambles on, until Dipper covers her mouth with his hand.
“I'm just hoping mine will be easy to hide,” he states.
Wings were always a precursor to puberty, though the process is much like one teething, except there was the weird layer of membrane from whilst the wings were developing, sometimes a bit of blood if the skin where the wings emerge from is not weak enough or is too small a gap for the wings to escape through. It also happened a lot faster.
Mabel and Dipper soon have their room sorted, emerging for dinner, after which Stan explains about what they will be doing the following day to help around the Mystery Shack; mainly cleaning and manning the register, though on the rare occasion they will be tour guides, should Stan be busy.
It takes about a day for them to settle in, getting to know Wendy and Soos quite easily. Wendy's wings were like the Dunnock’s, whilst Soos’ were similar to that of the Shelduck - just (like normal) Bigger.
But then Dipper’s sent into the forest to put up signs, finding a book.
He hides it in his jacket before he heads back to the Shack, the firsts words he had read ringing through his mind.
Trust No One…
Mabel gets a boyfriend. Norman.
Dipper first thinks he’s a zombie, but then,after much spying, finds out he’s a bunch of Gnomes.
Who want to marry Mabel.
Dipper is quick to save her, using a shovel on the Gnomes as the twins escape to the cart.
They get as far as the shack, before the Gnomes surround them.
Dipper is quick to shield Mabel…
Who uses a leaf-blower on them.
Dipper is quick to forget about the warning in the book, after that, reading it through cover to cover, even working on some of the codes! It’s amazing!
A week more and they try to find their local version of the Loch Ness, before just giving up and going and fishing with Stan.
Two days after this, Dipper wakes up to an aching in his back, finding Mabel out of bed and furiously rubbing at her own.
Dipper blinks, as he realises what might be happening.
“Ohh boy…” he groans.
“What is it?” Mabel asks.
“Wings. Might want to head somewhere easier to clean,” Dipper replies.
“Let's ask Stan!” Mabel runs off, though Dipper grabs her arm, before dragging her outside the Shack.
Stan finds them when he comes downstairs; they're gripping each other's hands, shirts swapped out for their Mum's loose shirts, which exposed the upper back.
“Your wings happening?” he asks.
“Yup!” Mabel squeaks, as Dipper nods.
Stan nods back, before sitting on the porch.
“Came out here to comb out my loose feathers, anyway,” he mutters.
Mabel’s emerge first, two wide spans of brown, which she instinctively flaps to break more of the membrane around the muscles.
“A Robin!” Stan remarks.
Mabel grins, as she folds her wings, finding they wrap around her shoulders and their tips brush half way down her upper thighs.
“Robins are so cute! I love them!”
Stan points to the door, grinning.
“Go wash up, I'll stay here with Dipper,” he smirks.
Mabel nods, grimacing as she tugs one wing round to see how mucky it is.
Dipper's take about seven minutes more, by which time Mabel has showered and is sitting by Stan as he shows her how to locate loose feathers. However, when his emerge, it frankly surprises all three of them.
Mostly Mabel; hers hadn't been painful.
Though Dipper's teeth are gritted when his wings emerge, blood being thrown out onto the ground.
“A starling!?” Stan exclaims.
“Wow!” Mabel grins, as she herself admires the way the light seems to reveal splashes of green and red amongst the black feathers, “You're definitely Dippin’ Dots!”
Dipper looks over.
“I'll go and wash up,” Dipper states, quickly hurrying by.
Any wounds from the wings tearing the skin take an average of one to two days to heal, though there have been times where a third day was needed. It was excruciatingly rare for an operation being required.
Once clean and preened, Mabel comes down with today's shirt cut open and the jumper she had made over the top, reading “Just Fledged!” with a pair of wings spread below the words.
Dipper is back in his usual clothes, though he doesn't modify his shirt, wings poking out beneath as they reach halfway down his lower thigh, a lot slimmer and more compact than Mabel's.
“Hey! You aren't thinking of crushing your wings already?!” Stan frowns.
“Yup,” Dipper frowns, “they're too flashy.”
Stan rolls his eyes.
“They take three days to strengthen! You aren't covering them up until then!” he demands.
Dipper blinks.
“But-” he starts, but pauses when Stan stands.
“You're not crushing then until they've developed. Now are you going to sort it out, or do I let Mabel do it?”
Dipper runs back upstairs…
“Woah, cool wings, man!”
Wendy remarks when she finds him standing behind the counter.
Or more, when she actually sees his wings.
Usually, seeing as it is Wendy, Dipper would smile and happily accept the praise, but given the fact that his wings were gaining more focus than himself…
“Hey, no need for that face; I'm proud! You're wings are just as cool as my little brothers’!
Dipper looks at her questioningly.
“My family has birds of prey or types of thick woodland birds. My baby bro just got his wings and he's an awesome falcon!” she grins as she joins Dipper behind the register.
“Cool! Well, I'm going to get out the sweeping stuff! Back in a moment!”
Dipper quickly escapes to the supply closet, taking a breath.
“OK, so, it's just three days. I can preen in the forest and just need to wait three days before I need to deal with my wings… OK…”
Dipper huffs as he grabs a broom, soon sweeping away dust and dried mud from the all-too-gullible patrons.
Some time later, when things had filled down to only a handful of tourists, Mabel enters the shop, Dipper almost dropping his broom.
Mabel had bedazzled her wings. Sequins and glitter sparkling.
Wendy's expression says it all.
“Wow! That's… Cool(?)!” Wendy attempts, trying to be nice.
“Aren't they?!” Mabel beams, stretching her wings out, before yelping slightly as dried glue tugs between feathers.
Stan's reaction is a facepalm.
“Mabel, go wash your wings off, your wings look like a pair of disco balls and it kinda hurts my eyes.”
“Sorry Grunkle Stan!” Mabel exclaims.
She runs off…
Half an hour later, Dipper goes to if Mabel's OK, only to find her crying, wings sopping wet as, yes, she's removed most of the sequins, but no, the glitter and smaller sequins were refusing to come off without a good deal of Mabel's feathers.
“Mabel? You OK?” Dipper asks.
Mabel bursts into a fresh wave of tears, as Dipper sighs.
Carefully, he studies his sister's wing, before wincing.
It takes about a week for any wrongly plucked feathers to regrow…
Wait! The Journal!
“I have an idea! Let me just double-check something!” Dipper grins.
Mabel looks over, hopeful, before Dipper's darted away, soon returning with a broad grin.
“I knew it!” he grins, “One of the nearby lakes has a type of algae known for its healing properties! The author himself has also successfully restored his lost feathers with it! Come on!”
Dipper leads Mabel out the shack once she's dry and dressed, instinctively flying them to their required location, where they settle by the water.
“There!” Dipper smiles, pointing.
Mabel scrubs away her tears, smiling, as Dipper tries to grab the algae.
A hand on his wrist stops him.
“My, my, whatever do we have here?” a voice purrs, as a head pops from below the water's surface.
Dipper's face turns to one of surprise as Mabel calls out to him.
Dipper determinedly starts flapping his wings.
The guy below the surface quickly releases Dipper, staring.
“Wow,” they state flatly.
“My sister and I need some of that algae so Mabel can restore her wings,” Dipper says.
“Fine, but I think the algae you want is the type a shade lighter that's right beside whoever little Miss overthere is,” the creature states, before chuckling, “Though for my benevolence, you're talking to me whilst you work!”
Dipper nods, as Mabel adjusts her sitting position on the rock so both can work.
The creature moves to lean on the side of the lake, as the pair work.
“Sheesh, what did you do?!” the creature asks.
“My wings are boring, but now I can't de-bedazzle them!” Mabel replies, hissing as one sharp tug on a sequin yanks out a clump of feathers.
Dipper glances at his journal.
“What are you, anyway?” he asks.
“I'm a Kelpie! Name's Sean!” the creature grins, looking like a humanoid fish with blue tinted skin, silver gills and eyes, as well as soaked-straight navy hair, arms showing thick muscle.
Dipper averts his eyes, Sean smirking as he catches the look.
“How old are you?” they ask.
“We're twelve! Though we turn thirteen at the end of the holiday!*
“Holy-day? So tomorrow?”
Mabel laughs good-naturedly.
“No, silly! Holiday! It means a period of time that we humans take from work to spend time with loved ones and take a break before going back to work!” Mabel grins.
Once all the sequins are gone, they use the algae to heal back Mabel’s wings, Dipper’s eyes sparkling as he gets sidetracked by all the knowledge the kelpie holds, the light shining just so to show the many colours his brown eyes seem to hold with his excited joy at the new knowledge.
Sean props his head on one hand as he watches the children go, before shifting back into his horse form and gliding underwater, a contemplative look on his face as he arrives to where his nest of skeletons is hidden…