Chapter Text
“Dipper? Hey, Dipper!”
Dipper recognised the boy calling him; Dilbert Membrane. Not in his class at school, but the same grade. Dilbert was hopping up and down near a shelf, trying to reach the top level.
“Little help here?”
“Oh! Let me get a chair…” Dipper quickly returned with one, knelt up on it, and examined the shelf. The contents, it seemed, were all about aliens, Bigfoot, and general bizarre happenings. “Which book were you looking for?”
“The biggest one. Thanks!”
It was as thick around as a dictionary, or at least seemed like it. Dipper handed it down.
“What’re you reading it for? School?”
“No. Just for, you know… fun.”
“What’s it about?”
“Conspiracy theories.”
“Wait, like, aliens and the government doing weird stuff?”
Dilbert’s eyes lit up. “You know? No one else in our grade knows about 'em!”
“Yeah, my uncle’s into that! Well, both of them like weird stuff.” Dipper hopped down and started carrying the chair back. “I think it’s awesome!”
“You… you wanna read it with me?”
“You wanna? That’d be great, Dilbert! Thanks.”
“Uh, I like Dib better,” the boy told him.
Dipper nodded. “Dib ‘n’ Dipper! I like that.” At nine, he was still young enough to bluntly say, “Wanna be friends?”
Dib nodded.
It started that way.