Work Text:
“Boop Bap!”
Dipper snorts and lets out a whine mixed with a snarl as Mabel pushes his nose in. He gives her a warning glare, but that only seems to encourage her.
He shows his large fangs after a few more “boops," but Mabel can see through his bluff and pushes his nose again. Dipper shakes his head in annoyance.
“Knock it off Mabel!” he flattens his ears.
Mabel smirks, slowly placing a finger on his black nose, Dipper’s growling growing louder.
“Come on, what are you going to do about it? You’re not gonna hurt me.” Dipper ceases growling as the scowl expression remains. His left ear flicking, he turns his head away from her finger.
Mabel leans over closer to him; she supports herself with one hand on the floor as the other reaches over to his nose. His lips rise, then lower as he eyes below, his expression turning sly, one ear pointed upwards.
He dives under Mabel’s leaned body and, with his own head, shoves her over to her back.
She flinches as she flips over, looking dumbfounded as she lies on the floor. Mabel lands her eyes back on Dipper, his tail wagging as he looks smug, panting. She gives an exaggerated, suspicious expression as she squints at him.
“Really?” she lifts herself up, unimpressed. “That’s how you solve your problems? Is that the best you got?” smiling mischievously.
Dipper lowers his head slightly, still smiling.
“Yes.”
Mabel tackles him, wrestling him to the floor. Dipper lets out a surprised, non-threatening growl. He restrains himself so as not to accidentally hurt his sister again.
Mabel runs her hands all over his furry body, stopping to rub his ears.
Dipper finds himself mesmerized, letting out a relaxed wolf groan. He adjusts himself, rolling onto his stomach.
This goes on quietly for a good three minutes; the young werewolf looks like he’s going to fall asleep in Mabel’s hands as he sinks into them; the tip of his tongue sticking out a little as he makes another happy groan. His tail sweeping the floor as it wags.
She giggles at her goofy-looking, blissful brother.
“You gonna sleep in this pose?”
“Wha…” his eyes flutter open, his at peace expression slowly vanishes as he snaps out of his captivation.
Dipper shakes his head, snorting and licks the side of his snout. His ears flattened, trying to look confident.
“N-no, I thought I close my eyes for a bit.”
“Didn’t seem like that.”
“…Well you found a real good spot just then, feels nicer than usual.” He seems flustered.
“You still want it rubbed or is that feeling gone?”
“Keep going.”
He places his head in her lap; Mabel smiles as she continues; the content wolf curling up.
Her expression fades, and she looks at the ceiling in thought, scratching the werewolf’s neck anxiously.
“Dipper.” she whispers in his ear.
He yawns.
“What?” he cracks one eye open.
“Soos’ been pretty quiet, you picking up any Soos-related noises with those ears?”
Dipper’s ears flick, having them facing forward as he searches for sound; he lifts his head an inch from her lap. Looking at the ceiling inquisitively, focused but unsure.
“Not a thing, it’s pretty quiet up there, I haven’t actually heard anything from him in a while.”
The two wait for at least something.
“Maybe he’s transformed already and you didn’t hear it?”
“How could I miss something like that?”
“Having fun and being snuggled by me.” Mabel remarks cutely, smiling.
Dipper looks straight into her eyes in disbelief, his mouth slightly open as he tries to come up with a response. He closes his mouth as it morphs into a frown, glaring in frustration as Mabel snickers. He turns his head away with his eyes still on her.
She reaches over, patting his nose, his expression still sour.
“He’s still here isn’t he? Soos isn’t the kind of guy to stay quiet about this.” Dipper’s is voice sounds puzzled but soft.
“True.”
Mabel turns her head towards the stairway entrance.
“Soos are you still here?” she raises her voice.
No answer.
“Maybe he’s sleepy.” She whispers.
Dipper eyes her worriedly. He rises from his place and turns to where the stairway is. Creeping towards the doorway with his ears up.
Mabel raises an eyebrow, puzzled by his behavior.
“Dip?”
He shushes her.
“Wait a minute; there’s something.”
She gives him an annoyed frown.
“Seriously? You don’t need to go all super cautious on me; it’s just Soos, he’s not gonna turn out that bad, you honestly think he’s going to be a threat?”
“Not in the slightest, OK maybe a little but with the way he is I doubt its magic will work that well on him. He’s not going to be all that stealthy being a giant ball of hair.” he laughs slightly.
“A giant furry marshmallow basically; so then why are you going into super sneaky mode Mr. nervous?” She teases.
“Just playing it safe.”
It’s quiet for a moment.
“Anything; still nothing?” she smirks.
Dipper looks over his shoulder, frustrated. Mabel only snickers at him. His left ear twitches and he turns his head back to the stairway. His head lowers, and he sighs as his face turns to relief.
“He’s just snoring…” he mutters.
“See?”
He stays silent as Mabel smiles at him.
A loud scream comes from upstairs, startling the both of them; Dipper freezes in place, the fur standing on his back. His fangs gritting out of anxiousness; Mabel’s eyes grow wide, concerned.
The anguished familiar cries become frequent; Soos is struggling up there, no question about it. The changes are beginning and have given him a literal rude awakening.
Dipper bounds back to his sister’s side, his body up against hers defensively. She can feel his stressed breathing; she places her right hand on his neck, squeezing the fur out of anxiety.
The sounds of crashing and objects falling over can be heard by the both of them, probably throwing himself around everywhere; poor guy.
Dipper hears a tear, and his ears go back, knowing what that sound signifies.
Mabel stood on her knees.
“Soos?” she shouts out.
He groans before responding.
“Dudes!” his voice sounds hoarse.
“Soos, hang on OK? Just relax a little and lie down!"
“I can’t, it hurts too much!”
“Soos at least try!”
He continues to cry out in pain.
“Soos we’re coming up, OK? Mabel's gonna try her werewolf cool down therapy!”
“Maybe we should get him to stop moving around like that first.” Dipper adds.
“Why, I didn’t have problems with that with you and Grunkle Stan.”
“Yeah but he’s really flailing around and wrecking stuff up there.”
Another pained scream comes from Soos, followed by a loud crash, the sort heard from wood being destroyed. The pained groans are louder now.
The twins flinch at the crash; Dipper runs to the edge of the stairs, his ears still flat and his eyes grow big.
“The door!” Dipper cries.
Mabel follows after her wolf brother and skids to a stop; they both look up the stairs curiously with unease.
The floor creaks, thumping as the large figure runs across it, heaving noisily. It sounds like he’s heading right to them, whether if it’s out of panic or the curse taking control, they’re not sure.
Then something, something that looks like Soos comes into view. They can’t quite register what they are looking at first, being so tense and all. It’s Soos, but his appearance is twisted; torn shirt, halfway covered in fur, his back hunched, and his feet somewhere midway through the change. How he manages to run with those he’ll never know; Dipper found that impossible for himself to do during his change.
His eyes lock on the twins briefly, helpless. He convulses, losing his balance, and falls down the stairs; the twins recoil away, horrified and concerned for his well-being as he tumbles down.
“Soos!”
Dipper recovers from his shock, quick enough to stop Soos’ fall. He turns his body sideways in front of Soos, cushioning his fall, but not by much. Dipper is crushed by his weight. It doesn’t hurt that much thankfully, at least he managed to keep Soos from getting injured.
He feels Soos scrambling off of him unsuccessfully, his claws scraping against Dipper’s skin, lightly cutting him.
Dipper yelps and tries lifting himself, attempting to shove Soos off of him. The half-shaped man lumbers away from the twins.
Mabel turns her attention to Dipper, helping him up as he breathes heavily, clutching his chest with his right hand.
“You OK?”
“Yeah…” his voice is raspy as he struggles for air.
Soos weakly falls against the front door, his legs finishing its changes; his claws sink into the wood. Desperately trying to reach for the handle, his shaky hands make it difficult to grip on to it and he has little control over them; their new bloated shape certainly doesn’t help.
“Gotta get out…gotta get out.” he whimpers.
Noticing this, Mabel takes action instantly as Dipper follows.
“Whoa, hey no no no, Soos you have to stay. Werewolf bounty hunters, remember? They’ll be after you as soon as you get out there.”
Mabel pulls him to the floor gently. Soos moans weakly, looking defeated as he lies on the floor. She strokes his arm, attempting to lessen his pain. Dipper circles him on two legs, studying his current state; he draws away, disturbed by Soos’ torture. The process is nearly complete and Soos is becoming increasingly…calm. He seems to have eased up on fighting against the change out of exhaustion than despair. He’s still groaning and hugging himself with his eyes closed.
Soos cracks an eye open, looking hurt by Dipper’s reaction.
He looks away, feeling guilt from how he appears to Soos; he squeezes his own furry arm.
“Dipper…”
“I’m not creeped out by you, it’s just hard to watch.” he stutters.
“Hey, I can actually start to hear you a little…”
Dipper’s ears perk in surprise.
“Soos if you’re hearing me you need to...”
“Or maybe you’re just grunting, can’t tell yet.”
“Ack...Mabel.” Dipper eyes her, asking for assistance.
“Soos, Dipper’s saying if you hear him you need to…do what?” looking at the small wolf in confusion.
“He needs to stay-”
“Guys something’s crawling on my leg!”
The twins look over to his legs, and sure enough, a lengthening bushy tail is poking from the right shorts leg, twitching as it clings to his now wolf leg.
“It’s just your tail, don’t stress. It’s just a cute new addition.” Mabel smiles a little.
“I dunno it feels weird, I can’t even wag it.”
“You’ll get used to it…” Dipper mumbles. He, sort of, pats Soos to convey that he’s at least trying to comfort him. “OK, again Soos needs to stay with us, mentally. Just keep talking to him.”
Mabel nods.
“Soos stay with us, like in mind, got it?”
“I’m getting a major migraine, so that’s gonna be hard…” Soos cups his head.
Dipper’s eyes grow with realization; he drops to fours and rushes to Mabel’s side, protective.
“Hey, Dip, don’t worry.”
“Just in case.”
Soos winces and grabs his face, screaming; Mabel bites her lip in unease.
“It’s almost over, that’s good right?”
“Don’t like what’s coming up.” Soos stutters.
“Yeah, the face part, uh, just focus on us. Just stay calm Soos, it’s OK to scream but don’t wreck anything or move too much.” she stammers.
Soos eyes her helplessly. He lets out a pained scream and…gets up and runs out the front door, slamming it behind him.
Dipper and Mabel stare blankly, completely dumbstruck. They can still hear him groaning from the other side of the door, so luckily, he didn't get that far.
“OK, that’s not good…” Dipper approaches the front door, still in disbelief. “Soos, what are you doing?” he shouts. “Get back in here! You know what’s…” Dipper sighs. “Why am I still trying to say anything, he still can’t hear me.” He mutters.
Mabel approaches him, rubbing his back.
“Well he’s right by the door, so he technically didn’t leave the shack.”
His voice becoming animal, low growling escapes from him.
“He’ll be fine, just like you and Stan…” she trails off.
Mabel plops down sadly, upset by his plight.
“Bro…I hope he doesn’t run away.” she murmurs.
Dipper rubs his snout against her shoulder, giving her a soft whine of comfort.
“I doubt he will; he gets lost easily. He got lost in a laser tag maze of all things.”
“Hehe…”
The door shudders as Soos slams against it, a harsh snarl follows. Not a whimper is heard.
“You feeling OK Soos?” she asks quietly.
She’s answered with a growl; it increases in volume, vexed.
“Did he say something to you?”
“No…Soos, can you understand me now?”
He answers Dipper with the same; he turns to Mabel sadly.
“I believe that growl means he's not OK, he’s not talking. Hold on…”
Dipper lowers himself, pressing his nose against the crack under the door, sniffing curiously. He gets up, worried.
“I can’t sense anyone else around here and I don’t think he’s just growling at nothing.”
“It doesn’t sound like he’s rampaging yet though.”
“Yeah…yeah, he’s still calm, sort of calm, I think.” he thinks to himself for a moment. “Let’s check him out; see if we can get him to listen.”
Mabel nods in agreement.
He rises to two legs, gripping the door handle, looking back at Mabel cautiously.
Dipper carefully cracks open the door, squeezing his snout between it as he peeks through. His sister shoves herself in between him and the door, much to his annoyance. He gives her a warning glance to be careful but she only responds with a grin.
They turn their attention to the large hairy creature, standing some distance from them, which is a bit further from the door than they originally believed.
The wolf pants in exhaustion, head pointed to the ground, it does not seem to notice that a girl and a younger wolf are spying on it.
Funny enough, the first thing they notice is that the werewolf Soos is still wearing his human clothes. His shirt is torn but appears to be in better condition than Stan’s and Dipper’s have ever been from their own transformations.
Soos is large in size but smaller compared to their Grunkle's were-form and less muscular. His head is noticeably less furry than the other two, but there is a messy patch of fur.
The wolf stumbles backwards, pawing at his shirt as he tries to wiggle it off of himself, his shorts had already slipped off, and his tail could now move freely. The shirt gets caught on his head, panicking briefly and clawing at it until he yanks it off. He shakes his shaggy body now that his fur is no longer covered.
Now with his baggy shirt gone, the twins can tell he’s still pudgy, a little less so but still. Though they aren’t sure if that’s his actual weight, the fur might be making him look bigger than he is.
The wolf Soos sniffs the ground, still oblivious to the twins; they haven’t made a sound while observing him. They would have said something, but they’re unsure if he’s safe to approach yet, and they are rather amused by his shirt troubles. They don’t feel the need to rush as he isn't acting aggressive so far, though still they don’t want anyone coming across him.
The delighted Mabel beams at her wolf brother.
“I say he’s pretty calm!”
“Yeah, but is it actually him? You know what I mean. He’s just standing there and sniffing what’s in front of him.” Dipper’s expression shows uncertainty. “That doesn’t say much to me.”
Mabel looks back at Soos, who is scratching himself with his leg.
“It’s pretty much Soos so far, just wolfish-like.” She stands on her toes, peering further out. “Soos, hey you gonna come back inside? You can’t just stand there all night.”
He ignores her, she frowns.
“You can’t go anywhere else, so you don’t really have a choice…” her tone less excited and quieter.
His ears don’t even react to the sound of her voice. He just stares blankly out in the distance, appearing to be in an almost hypnotized state.
“I’ve seen this before…you’re not completely there? You at least recognize us right?”
The large wolf’s ears perk and he turns his head, staring directly at the two with a look of confusion. It’s unsettling, the fur rises on Dipper’s back, and he grows stiff as a terrifying detail becomes clear to them.
His eyes are blank.
The were-Soos bares his teeth and crouches, snarling as he turns his body; Dipper shows him his own fangs quietly out of anxiety.
The large wolf bolts over to them angrily, jaws wide open and hungry. Dipper grips the knob tightly, hunching slightly as he readies himself for the worst.
Mabel, despite the frown, is unfazed.
“Oh wait nope, guess not.” she grabs Dipper by the scruff, tearing him away from the door. She slams it in front of the charging wolf. The beast could not stop in time and crashes into it. The door jolts, and a surprised whimper comes from the wolf behind it. The werewolf can be heard stumbling around, his claws clicking against the wood, still whimpering; apparently that small crash hit him harder than it looks. He is frequently snorting, so he most likely smacked his nose against it.
Mabel watches the door patiently, her face surprised mixed with confusion. She bites her lip and brushes her hair back, pondering.
“He’s…not as crazy as you guys were.”
A loud roar follows her statement, seemingly offended by it; rapid scraping runs against the door. The snarling wolf wants in and for a not-so-nice reason.
“…Funny, he knocked a door down earlier easily, and he was still human. Yet he can’t break this one down as a wolf.” she says, wondering.
“Just be happy he can’t, what he did to the last one better be a fluke.” he grumbles, rubbing the back of his neck; frankly, he isn’t that pleased being suddenly grabbed by the scruff. “You could have shoved me…”
The snarling goes up in volume and the scraping turned to slamming; Mabel flinches and pushes against the door with her weight. The wolf boy takes notice and does not hesitate to help her. He leaps to two legs, keeping his hands on the door, his werewolf strength helping her greatly. He growls slightly, his claws sink into the wood, eventually curling his fingers up into fists. His sister sadly eyeing the door as Soos becomes increasingly aggressive.
“Soos, you need to stop, those were-hunter guys are gonna notice the angry wolf noises.” She keeps her voice quiet, hoping to pacify him. She eyes Dipper, expecting him to add on. Dipper blinks, his expression understanding.
“I know you can hear me now, come on man, you’re better than this. I know it feels hard but at least try to fight back. You’re…too nice of a guy…” Mabel cringes at his poor attempt and slightly shakes her head, Dipper shrugs and goes on. “You...uh, you honestly think you can’t fight against this? I’m just guessing here, but don’t feel that way, just remember us, we’re all friends, we don’t want you to suffer, don’t worry us like this. You’re sort of like family to us too. I don’t want to see anyone else close to go through the same as me…you remember that don’t you?”
Mabel gives him a small smile and continues from there.
“Soos think about those close to you, think about Abuelita…think about Melody, they’re worried about you too even though they aren't aware of what's really happening. Please, it's going to be OK, just calm down…”
The scraping stops instantly after their words, he continues to growl, but it feels subdued. His long growl morphs into a whine and he grew quiet, taking in their words.
A whimper-groan emerges from his throat, sounding deeply hurt. They can hear him moving across the porch, then nothing. Dipper’s ears lower, his twitchy nose checking for smells, he turns to Mabel.
“He’s still here.”
Mabel’s eyes grow wide, carefully backing away from the door.
“Soos, are you feeling better? You feeling OK to come in?” she asks cautiously.
A low howl responds to her, low enough so it wouldn’t be heard throughout the woods thankfully, which means he’s self-aware of what could happen if he made himself heard.
Dipper flinches as his sister grabs his snout, holding it shut. He let out a small growl out of surprise and eyes her questionably, eyes big.
Mabel shakes her head.
“Just in case your instincts kick in and make you howl back.”
He whines and lets out a long moan, growling at the end. He doesn’t have that need at the moment, isn’t in the right mood despite looking like it to his sister; but he does appreciate her attempt at “helping,” though she could loosen her grip. He holds still, waiting for Soos to finish.
The wolf outside goes silent, and Dipper pulls Mabel’s hands from his muzzle with his paw hands.
“Thanks, but at least let me breathe.” he pants.
“My bad, had to make sure.” She quickly reaches for the door handle. “I think he’s finished with getting all the savage bloodlust out of his system.”
“Sounds like it.”
Mabel swings the door open.
But he isn’t there.
Soos is gone, nowhere in sight.
It’s only been a minute or two, and they didn't hear him run off. Did he actually run away when they weren't paying close attention? The troubled Mabel walks out to the porch. There are paw prints in the dirt, but that’s about it. It looks like some of the prints were dusted away from his attempt to attack them.
His pile of clothing remains unmoved; dirty, they’re going to have to get those back inside and cleaned while they're at it, but Soos comes first.
She hops off and surveys around the shack, biting her lip stressfully.
“What really? He couldn’t just leave...maybe he’s hiding? Soos if you’re scared there’s no need; I want to see your fluffy form!”
Dipper lifts his nose in the air, wondering where Soos has vanished off to as well. He senses Soos but…strange, he isn’t anywhere in sight, yet he smells to be pretty close. He looks off to his left side, his ears checking for sound.
“Soos, hey Soos, I know you’re out there, we’re not upset if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Dude…hey Dipper…under here; I’m like literally under you.”
His ears twitch, and his right one points down, that’s Soos alright, and it sounds like he’s underneath him! His eyes go to the floorboards, he can barely make it out, but there seems to be a large figure moving beneath him.
Soos audibly shuffles around, sighing.
The younger werewolf tilts his head in curiosity, raising an eyebrow; he jumps down from the porch, his tail swishing anxiously.
“Mabel.” He whispers.
Mabel spins around, staring at him with large, wondering eyes.
He gestures to her to come over with his hand, with his head pointing to the porch. Mabel hurries over and drops to her knees. Simultaneously, the two lower down onto their stomachs and find themselves face to face with the glowing eyes of the frightened furry giant huddled underneath the porch.
Mabel notices that his eyes look away briefly from the both of them, his ears tucking against his head. Perhaps he’s still unprepared to face them after what he’s done, understandable. He is pretty sensitive in general and badly stressed by the whole ordeal; a good few pettings should lift his spirits quick.
“You’re under the porch?” Dipper asks.
“Yeah dude, feels good. It’s like my own personal den; it’s pretty warm and secure.” Soos tries giving a relieved expression, but he comes off embarrassed instead.
Soos places his head back on the dirt, sighing through his nose, which blows some dirt into the air.
“You dug this up pretty fast.” Dipper remarks.
Soos gives a short pause before answering, lost in his own thoughts.
“I think it took thirty seconds or something, didn’t have to dig that much. I know this is late, but hey I can speak wolf now! You know I kinda expected ya to sound different, like all deep macho like.”
“I can’t imagine that ever being true!” Mabel snickers. Dipper looks away from her, rolling his eyes in his grumpy reaction with a half-smile. If that was the case, that actually would have been cool.
“So only you dudes can talk to me?”
“Stan too!” Mabel adds cheerfully.
“Hey, how come you can hear me Mabel?”
“Don’t know and it doesn’t matter, I don’t really question it. I just can and that’s fine by me!”
“Don’t get me started on that and don’t think about it too much. I’m still figuring that one out.” Dipper grumbles with a chuckle.
Soos gives a small laugh.
“I’m liking all this fur too, it’s not that itchy. Feels pretty warm and comfy, kinda want to sleep being all nice. I’m also getting a huge need to rub up against everything and roll around.”
“That’s normal, werewolf fur is all snuggly. And you’re like a giant furry beanbag plushie, a living adorable timid one!”
Her brother gives her an amused look for her interesting description, she giggles.
“You’re all adorable in your own ways; you getting jealous of the new puppy?” she scratches his snout, his expression turning confused. “Aww don’t be like that Dipper, you’re still the best werewolf bro.”
“What, no, I’m not-”
Mabel brushes dirt onto his nose, giving him a sneezing fit, pawing at his nose.
“You feeling any better about this Soos?”
“Yeah…but honestly I don’t want to leave this hole, it’s like my sanctuary.”
“That’s…” Dipper sneezes and wipes his nose, shooting a glare at Mabel. “That’s a bad idea and I don’t need to tell you why.”
“I know dude, it just feels too nice to leave.”
The excited Mabel sticks her arm in Soos’ newly made hole, reaching for his head. Her fingers tapping his snout, his nose twitching, he shakes his head, but he appears uninterested in Mabel’s antics, his eyes away from them.
“You still feel bad about earlier? You don’t have to worry; we're all OK; we know you did your best to fight it. I don’t want to see an adorable wolf friend be hard on himself for a simple accident…and don’t worry Mabel will make you a just as cozy bed for you…will some nose rubs convince you?” she coaxes him sweetly.
Dipper eyes his sister with an amused sheepish half-smile; his eyes go back to Soos with encouragement in them, waiting patiently as he keeps his ears out on alert in case someone else approaches. His encouraging smile fades, now seeing that something is still bothering his friend emotionally.
Soos’ eyes lack that usual hint of cheeriness; instead, they’re doubtful, sort of empty, troubled. Deep in thought to the point he looks lost, his expression gradually changing as ideas go through his head. Eyes go from gloomy to serious to worry within seconds. He bites his lip before opening his mouth slightly. His eyes go back to the both of them, and they grow large, nervous; he looks away. He coughs, possibly trying to cover up his feelings, but it’s not convincing Dipper. His eyes keep darting back to and away from the twins, his stress growing.
Mabel pulls her arm back, picking up on Soos’ strange behavior as well. She frowns slightly, her face showing bewilderment. He’s outright ignoring her, was it something she did or said? She’s being considerate of his feelings. She glances at Dipper, who’s frowning at Soos himself. Something is wrong with him, and Dipper seems to be aware of it from what she sees.
Is he still upset for what he did? Maybe, she isn't a mind reader, but that would be awesome if so.
Trying to figure him out, she notes he has some scraggly whiskers near his nose and on his chin left over from his human form, and he does look rather adorable as he has a permanent puppy-eyed appearance, regardless of his emotions. It’s a little similar to Dipper’s…maybe not that much. He looks like a frightened, lost dog hiding under there, finding it both cute and feeling very sorry for him, wanting to dive into him and hug the adult sad pup.
She reaches back in further, stroking his snout with a comforting smile. Dipper watches her, his mind thinking of what to say.
“You can’t stay too long out here, I don’t want to move you from your happy spot but you gotta come out. You’ll get belly rubs and scratches and you’ll feel more snug inside the shack! Do it for Mabel!”
Despite Mabel’s continued playfulness, he does not crack a smile, not even a little compared to earlier. He’s completely distracted by whatever is on his mind.
“Mabel, he’s not feeling it.”
“I know he is Dip, I’m trying to help.”
Soos shifts in his spot, staring into the darkness under the porch.
“Soos, are you punishing yourself this way?” she asks softly.
“…Uh no, just sleepy… OK I still feel bad, I know it's like normal and I didn't mean it, but it's still spooky stuff. Glad you dudes are OK and thanks for telling me everything's cool." He gives a warm look, but his faltering smile and the stress in his eyes reveal his true feelings.
Dipper remains thoughtful, though unconvinced.
“So then it’s something else.”
“Nope, not at all, only still a bit freaked from the thing. Nothing else is totally not bothering me.”
The twins look at each other then back to Soos.
“No, it’s totally bothering you.” Mabel blurts.
“You’re still under the porch, which probably isn’t even that comfortable and has bugs crawling around. You know there’s guys out there hunting us down. We’re getting nowhere and you’re obviously brooding.’”
“You didn’t even react to getting nose rubs; you were looking forward to the snuggling earlier!”
He remains silent; he eyes the ground, looking reluctant to speak up.
“You don’t have to share it now if it’s bothering you that much; we just want to have you safe.” She whispers.
“Nah it's fine.” He lifts his head from the dirt and stares directly at both of them. There’s courage among the worry in his eyes.
Adjusting himself, he bounces a bit in his hole and lays his large arms out of it, attempting to drag himself out with his large paw hands.
The twins instinctively back away from him, giving him room to crawl out.
This is a relief for Dipper and on a personal level as well. He does not find the ground comfortable as several large pebbles are pressing against the skin of his underbelly, and it’s starting to irritate him. He brushes the dirt from his chest and heads off to the pile of clothing.
“I’m getting these in now before we forget, don’t want evidence.”
“Thanks Dipper…I thought they were gonna be more torn up but they actually made it out OK.”
“Good news for Mabel.” Dipper chuckles.
Halfway through, Soos appears to be stuck. He wiggles around in a panic and claws at the ground muttering “Stuck” repeatedly.
Mabel covers her mouth with her arm. She doesn’t want to look like she’s laughing at him. She isn’t laughing at all! She just thinks he looks adorable right there.
Freeing himself from the crawl space, he stands on fours, shaking the dust and cobwebs off of him, well most of them.
A helping hand brushes them off from his face; he freezes, seeing Mabel's hand suddenly come into view. With fear, Soos dashes inside the shack, catching Mabel off guard. Dipper darts in as well, wanting to get the clothes issue over with. She did catch a glimpse of surprise from Dipper as Soos ran in; guess he didn’t see that coming either.
“I don’t think I can go back dudes.” Soos speaks with a rather low defeated tone. He plops himself on the floor, huddling.
“What?” she gives a look of confusion.
The twins stared at him curiously as Dipper shuts the door.
“I don’t think I can go home again!” he looks around nervously.
“That’s what’s eating you?” Dipper tilts his head sadly.
“I can’t go back; I can’t even stay home at night with my Gram, she doesn’t know about this! An-And Melody, what about her, if I let her see me…oh man dudes. This is way too much what do I…oh man.” The wolf-man grabs his head stressfully, shivering greatly. His wide eyes fill with unknowing fear.
“Oh…” Mabel cringes, looking guilt-ridden. “Is this about what I said earlier?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“I mean I wanted you to think of them so you could stop…didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”
“Wait don’t feel bad I know you were helping. I’ve been thinkin about it since the bite. I wanted to say something about it to them…I couldn’t do it! I was afraid how they would react with all the werewolf hunting going on, ahhh I blew it guys. What am I going to do? I can’t just show them, I might give Gram a heart attack, I-I-I can’t do that to her, and I don’t want to hurt the both of them! She’ll probably just take a broom to me and kick me out, does she even like werewolves?”
His breathing short; he looks so scared, confused, helpless.
“Mel…Melody! What will she think of me? I don’t think she’ll accept me; she’s been kinda worried about what’s going on. She’ll leave if she found out, I don’t want her afraid of me…can’t just disappear all the time, she’s gonna find out, I can hide from Gram but her…she’ll find out, I can’t…I don’t want to be abandoned because of this curse, I’ve seen what happens in movies.”
He’s having a full-blown panic attack, panting and whimpering. He looks at his hands, shaking; he doesn't know what to do. He didn’t do anything wrong. Now, what…what can he…? He’s going to lose them because he’s afraid to tell. His mind is basically a broken record right now, and he can’t even try to think of something else.
“Soos…” the younger wolf approaches him carefully.
“They’ll find out...and they’ll-”
“Soos, breathe!” her voice shaky, worried for the state of her friend.
She runs over to him, putting both hands on his back. She strokes his fur slowly.
“Breathe OK? It's going to be fine. Hey, look at me alright?”
Soos slowly looks into Mabel’s eyes; she sucks in her lips as Soos’ puppy eyes are doing their magic on her again. It's just too cute.
Dipper sits near his sister and paws at Soos in a strangely reassuring manner. Both twins giving him sympathetic looks.
“Just chill OK? You don't want to go on a rampage again right? You need to chill, just breathe OK buddy?” Dipper gives him a comfortable grin.
He nods somberly and lets out a whine, his shivering lessens, and he moves himself slightly to face the kids a little more. He sighs, still feeling hopeless.
“That’s good, keep at it. Now just think positive! Do you really believe that they’ll leave you like this?” Mabel asks.
“I don’t know, I’m not sure anymore. I know they care but I dunno…”
Dipper eyes the floor. He can see what Soos is trying to say; he personally feels shame about revealing his own curse to others.
“I feel you man, it’s hard to tell how they’ll react, scary stuff. And on top of that, you don’t want to hurt them by mistake when you lose control or distrust you completely because of that possibility. You can’t even tell them how you’re really feeling or thinking either when they can’t even hear you speak.”
“You’re lucky dude, you got telepathy at least.”
“It’s not telepathy.”
“Still lucky, I can’t do that and they might just see me as a man-eating dog. They’ll just hear growling won’t they?”
“You can try whimpering and acting scared, it helps to make myself look harmless as possible, results vary on who it is though…” Dipper looks away with embarrassment.
“You got the right looks for it, so you can pull it off!” Mabel chimes in.
Soos forms a shy smile.
“I saw that, see it’s not gonna be so bad!” she scratches the left side of his furry cheek.
He giggles and trails off into a frown.
“What if they don’t recognize me and don’t buy the harmless act? I don’t even have a cool mark like you and Mr. Pines.”
“I wouldn’t call it an act and they probably can by just looking at you.” Dipper replies.
“Not helping dude, need more convincing.”
“Uh OK, the eyes, the fur color and uh…”
“It’s not that hard Dipper.” She huffs, showing annoyance in a teasing sly way. “OK Soos, you got way more than Dipper is pointing out!”
“Hey it’s a work in progress; I haven’t had time to notice them.”
“But he doesn’t have my eye for that detail.”
Dipper snorts irked.
“You still got the chin hairs, the hair color, shape and you written all over!”
“How’s that more?” Dipper grumbles, rolling his eyes.
“And the gopher teeth?” Mabel squints.
“Wait, seriously?” Dipper leans in closer. “Oh yeah, he does still have them. Weird they’re not fangs like the rest.”
Soos quietly laughs, soothed but only a little.
“You guys are great, but I’m still nervous what they’ll think…”
“I don’t think they’ll be scared of you as you think they’ll be. Melody doesn’t seem like the person to freak out easily. She’s pretty laid back from what we’ve seen. And your grandma tends to take things in stride.” Dipper gives a reassuring sheepish grin.
“She’s not easily bothered, and sneaky, I bet she already knows and is just waiting for your dramatic reveal.” Mabel chirps.
“But will she still want me around?”
“Why are you still nervous? Of course she will! Why would she abandon her favorite big boy grandson after all these years?”
“Cause I’m a werewolf?”
“No! Knock that off, she’ll still love you! And she won’t mind having a super soft cuddle bug by her side that she can pet endlessly!”
Her brother’s tail sweeps the floor in agreement.
“Heh, y-yeah…” his unsure smile grows. He eyes to his left, thinking, and then turns back to the kids.
“I really hope you’re right about Melody too, I don’t think she would be cool with a werewolf boyfriend even with her chill…I can’t stop worrying what she’ll think.”
“You really think Melody will reject you.” Dipper whines with surprised confusion.
Soos remains silent.
“She won’t, we’ll make sure of that. What makes you think she’s gonna leave after being with you through a lot of crazy stuff! And if by some impossible chance if she or they do, which again really sounds impossible, you still got us; this is your number two home!” Mabel smiles warmly.
“Soos you know them better than this, it is terrifying and you’re pretty stressed out but they know you enough, they won’t ditch you.” Dipper responds softly.
Soos gives a relieved smile, hugging the both of them. Mabel snuggles in his fur happily, giggling; Dipper leans in, his smile toothy and his tail wagging.
Soos presses the both of them tightly against himself, his own tail wagging wildly, letting out a soothed whine.
“Aww, thanks dudes.” They let go of each other, Soos shakes his shaggy body blissfully. “I feel way better about this, still a little scared, but totally better.”
“That's OK Soos, it’s OK to be scared, not hopeless but scared.” She pats him. “Bro bro was a nervous wreck too, but he runs on nervous too.”
Soos’ ears flick, the right one rises out of curiosity.
“So about them knowing about this…should I tell them or keep it a secret?”
“Well considering they’re close to you and you practically live with them, you don’t really have a choice since they’ll figure it out sooner or later.” Dipper answers sheepishly.
“Yeah, was hoping for the secret option. I don’t wanna change in front of them.”
“You don’t have to; you can leave and come back out…”
“How about you guys help me out during the confessing; makes things easier without too much stress.”
“I guess that works too?”
“I approve!” she pipes. “We got this Soos, and don’t stress, I totally see Melody as the type to be into werewolf boyfriends!”
“You believe that?” Soos’ eyes light up.
Dipper stares at his sister amusingly, one ear lowering.
“Yes! Werewolf boyfriends and even family ones are super protective and have luxurious fur; you’re the best dog friend to them! Look at Dipper here, he’s ridiculously spoiled!”
“I wouldn’t use spoiled…” Dipper mutters.
“And you know what; you’ll get these from everyone!”
She jumps at him, digging her fingers into his fur, rubbing his stomach playfully. Soos giggles and falls onto his back, his left leg kicking the air in rhythm like a happy dog; his tail wags wildly, and he wiggles on the floor excitedly.
Mabel laughs loudly.
“Who’s a good boy? You like that, you really like that? Haha it's great isn’t it? Get used to it because you’re gonna get a lot of these in the future!”
As the two enjoy their bliss, Dipper watches with growing unease, his right ear flicking. He wants to focus on more important things now, but he finds himself…wanting to be in Soos’ place, rather jealous at his pampering. He scowls with a whine and lowers his head.
“At least give me some when you’re done.”