Chapter Text
" But mom!" [M/N] whined, he dug his heels into the dirt, trying to stop his mother from pulling him towards the shack. " Why do I have to work? I have money!" " Fifty dollars won't support you at all [M/N]! Plus, you working somewhere poor which would look great on a college application." Addison [L/N] said as she pulled her son closer to the Mystery Shack. " Plus, he agreed to make sure you stay out of trouble while me and your father-"
" Step-father." [M/N] corrected, his feet still planted on the floor. " He's not my dad."
" Whatever! Mr.Pines agreed to watch you because I'm paying him and he needs some extra help around the shop." She snapped as she pushed him towards the wooden porch, almost making him trip up but he kept himself from falling. " Be a good boy, you hear? I swear to god, If I get one more phone call from the police that you did something bad..I will end you. Do you hear me? END YOU!" Addison snarls and curled her perfectly pedicured hand into a fist. " I swear boy, do not test me."
"Yeah, mom." [M/N] sighs and watched his mother turn right around and walked towards the waiting car. His step-father sitting in the front, and honking the horn loudly. He watched, eyes narrowed on the woman before barely lifting his hand and she stumbled when her heel caught into a rock. He chuckled as she shoots him a heated glare. " Jerk."
"And I thought my dad was always pissed.." [M/N] perked up and turned to a girl leaning against the Mystery Shack with peach cola in her hand. She had long red hair with a classic bomber hat on her head, green flannel dirty jeans with black boots. " You must be the newbie, I'm Wendy." She asked as she sips her soda.
" Yeah, freshman." [M/N] said before looking around, trying to avoid her gaze, feeling a bit bad that he acted like that in front of her. " [M/N], [M/N] [L/N]. Is it true about here...that it's a scam?"
" Sh!" She made a quiet gesture, " Yeah, but it pays for my food and I basically get to goof off if I wanted to. Come on, I'll show you around." She placed a hand on his shoulder, leading the [E/C] eyed male inside. All around the store were ugly knick-knacks, some poorly made 'mystery' and a half-filled snack machine that needed to be refilled and cleaned. " This is paradise..." She said as she walked behind the counter and down on the stool.
" For who?" [M/N] asked as he looked around, wondering where Mr.Pines was. Probably selling his mom for a quarter. " The dust bunnies and flies?" He asked as a few flies flew around him, with a frown, he shakes them off with his hand and they flew away.
" Us, we get paid for doing nothing," Wendy said with a smile, picking up a magazine and holding it up. " Just clean once in a while, smile and promote the scam then you can relax." She winked before looking down at the magazine and was immediately in grossed by it. [M/N] shakes his head a bit before he looked around the things. Most of them had question marks and things in glass displays. [M/N] then stared at one that looked like a monkey mask with goggle eyes glued to it. " Why?"
" Because chumps enjoy this crud," A voice said behind the teen which made [M/N] freeze up, his eyes looked behind him to see an older man. 5 O'clock shadow on his face, eyebrows need to be plucked, he was also dressed in a suit with red tie and fez on his head. " You must be Addison's kid, right?"
" I think, as far as I know, I am." [M/N] replies with a frown, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. " what's it to you, geezer?" Mr.Pines looked startled for a moment before smirking down at the kid. "What?"
" HAH!" Mr.Pines chuckled, loudly before roughtly patting the [E/C] eyed teens back. " Nuthin', you just remind me of myself when I was a rugrat. Spiteful and a jerk, I like you." The older man smiles down at the young man who stared back warily. " Call me, Stan. Mr.Pines was my dad's name. Now come on, let me show you around since Wendy is busy." He glanced to the female who was reading the magazine and flipped a page, obviously in her own world. " What's your name again?"
" I never gave it to you." [M/N] replies cooly before looking at the older man. He seemed pretty okay, not some creepy old man that would lure away kids despite the look and his smile.
" Fair enough, but come on, you can trust me. Not the establishment but me for sure!" Stan assured the teen before ruffling his hair. " The resemblance between me and you, it's amazing." The teen rolled his eyes at the older man's statement before looking at him then around, then at Wendy who gave him a welcoming smile of her own. Maybe he could trust the place, or get use to the people in his life.
" I'm [M/N], and can I scam people too?"
"HAHA! Of course you can, anything is possible in the mystery shack. HEY, SOOS! COME MEET MY MINI-ME!"
" NO WAY! Mr.Pines, you have a mini-me, where is he!?" A voice called from down the hallway. [M/N] peered over but looked around the place. Maybe it wouldn't be bad as he thought, maybe they could be in trouble with the scam but that didn't seem to bother him really. The thought of going to jail didn't bother him. " Aw, he's cute with his [H/C] hair and big [E/C] eyes. He's still an innocent kid." A large man with buck teeth and a hat said, a big question mark on his shirt.
" HEY! I'm 12, almost a teen!"
" Yeah right small fry, that's a gateway to teenage years." Stan laughs, " As for your first job, go broom things up. Easy things, but don't expect the easy jobs." Stan smiles as a small one came into [M/N]'s lips.
" Sure, Stan."
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1 Year Later
" What's with Stan throwing out the boxes in the attic? And taking old mattresses upstairs?" [M/N] asked as he opens the door for Stan who held boxes of junk hanging out from them and throw them out into the dump outside. It's been a year of working under Stan Pines, full-time during the summertime and part-time during the three other seasons. He was quite used to everything Stan did or his weird ideas. " Are we hiding something illegal? Like pugs again?"
" Not this time, Stan's niece and nephew are coming to stay with him," Wendy said as she counted the money from inside the cash register, doing her job for once. " They'll be here soon and Stan is just making room. Plus, their around your age too, I think a year younger." [M/N] smiled, finally people who be around his age. It wouldn't be someone like that cult-like Gideon, that preppy and fake Pacifica Northwest.
" Finally! Someone to hang out with me, I can't stand being around Robbie and his emo makeup." [M/N] said as he goes, grasping the broom and began brooming the usual dirty floor.
" He isn't that bad, I'm friends with him for a reason," Wendy said as she closed the register. " Aren't you hot in that? I mean, I like the new look especially the yellow but the jeans man?"
[M/N] looked down at his clothes and shrugs. He felt like wearing them, a black shirt, with black jeans to match. There was a yellow triangle outline on his chest and yellow Converse shoes with a yellow flannel shirt tied around his waist. He thought he would've looked cute in it but he didn't feel hot. " I wanted to actually look nice today and I grabbed these. Mom wanted me to hurry up too, she said she didn't want me to be late for work."
" Oof, where is she going this time around?" Wendy asked with a raised eyebrow. " Somewhere to spend her 'honeymoon' with Barney?" Wendy knew very much about [M/N]'s situation and how the woman treated him. She was a crude, mean, and selfish person, and wonder how [M/N] was ever produced.
" I think Hawaii or Jamaica, it was an island so..maybe both? I didn't really listen to her." [M/N] said as he kept brooming up any dirt or dust that was on the floor. " She was even mad when I walked here instead of letting her take me. Pft said I was being a brat." Wendy laughs, " Man, that sucks."
"THEY HERE! [M/N]! WENDY! SOOS!" The employees stop what they were doing, leaving their workstations but the broom that [M/N] once had kept cleaning the floor, putting the dirt into a pile on the floor.
" WELCOME! I'm your Gruncle Stan!" Stan introduced loudly and rubbed his hands together. " You're my new employee for the summer! Plus, probably help with my scams and hacks. Before taking you under my wing fully and introducing you two to 80s business scams. I want to introduce you to the group of freaks." Stan laughs as the bus zoomed away making everyone cough when black smoke hit their faces.
Two twins stood there, one boy and one girl. Both had the same brown hair and the same brown eyes mixed with some hazel coloring. Both seemed curious and wide-eyed about everything around them. " Wow, you own a cabin in the woods? FARRRROUTTT!" The girl exclaimed loudly. The boy rolled his eyes before looking behind their Gruncle Stan.
"This is Wendy," Wendy waves at the two with a little smile. Immediately, the boy flushes Red at her and the girl waves back happily. " Sup guys?" The guys blush intensified more and he looked away.
" This is Soos, the repair man and employee of the year." Soos waves happily at the two twins, " Sup guys, if you need anything that needs to be fixed then let me know, I'm totally the guy to go to." He grins at the end, " We'll keep that in mind." The guy said as [M/N] rolled his eyes at his answers.
" And this is [M/N], he's been working here since last year. Anything you need, go to him but don't you two use him like some toy either 'cause he's special." [M/N] rolled his eyes at Stan's statement before feeling an arm hook around his making the teen flinch a bit. " HIIII! I'm maybe and supppper single! Ready to mingle! HAHA." The girl, Mabel, speaks up with a fake laugh at the end making the teen wince. " Ow, okay, I'm [M/N] and super gay." Mabel pouts before letting go. " No chances?" Mabel asked.
" No chances." [M/N] assured before rubbing his arm. " You have a killer grip." Mabel brightens up and flexed at the teen boy. " Why thank you!"
" She's like that, especially since she wants a summer romance." The boy said walking to his sister and the guy. He looked normal, he didn't know Gruncle stan made him to be some special thing. " I'm Dipper." Dipper offered a hand and [M/N] shakes it. " [M/N]."
" Alrighty! Now that you're acquainted, [M/N] go show them to your room." Stan said before looking at the twin's bags. " and take their bags too." [M/N] rolled his eyes as he moved his hand and grasped the bags, lifting them without trouble, unlike Dipper who had trouble getting them out. " WOW! SO STRONG!" Mable gasped.
" Mabel, keep your hormones in check."Dipper scolds his sister as he watched the team lift the bags with ease, a bit jealous that he could even do that without breaking a sweat.
" It's fine, my strength is a gift." [M/N] said as he walked inside, he could hear the twins follow him in. He leads them upstairs and opens the door, [M/N] placed their bags down and Mabel sighs dramatically as she falls onto the bed, moving his arms and legs, almost like she was going to make a snow angel in the dust that was on her bed. " I can see it's no trouble for you to make yourself at home." [M/N] chuckled.
" Yeah! Man, that bus we came on was superrr smelly!" Mabel said as she sat up, her legs hanging off the bed a bit, kicking them a bit and stars in her eyes. " So! Like, what's the scoop around here?" She asked, her hands pressed against her cheek as she leans over a bit.
" Gossip?" [M/N] asked, eyebrow raised as he leans against the door.
" No!" She shook her head violently, [M/N] almost thought the girl would snap her own neck. " I mean, cute guys, cute boys- the scoop!"
" Oh!" [M/N] hummed as he thought over, yes there have been cute guys that came and went through Gravity Falls and into the Mystery Shack. " Well, it honestly depends on the days. I mean, one day there can be four hot guys in the store at once, others are one or none. Take it or leave it, usually, they're tourists coming in and coming out once Stan says there's not public restroom."
" Aw man," She sighs loudly as Dipper rolled his eyes just a bit, as he opens his suitcase and began putting his things away. "Whatever, there is still hope for me yet!"
" Sure, Mabel, just try not to get us kicked out," Dipper said, eyebrow furrowed a bit. " Anyway, how long have you been here?" He asked [M/N] who smiles a bit.
" All my life, but I began working for Stan last year." [M/N] hummed, " I actually sleep downstairs, right beside Stan's room. That's my room for the summer."
" You live here?" Dipper asked, a bit surprised.
" Well for the summer, I am, I have my own home so don't worry." [M/N] said, " Stan doesn't like me staying cooked up in that house and my mom refuses to pay the bills, other than the rent. So it's like mega hot in there and no food in the fridge. Stan is like my summer guardian."
" Aw, that's nice." Mabel cooed, her great uncle was such a saint.
" My mom sends him around sixty dollars a month." [M/N] deadpans bluntly.
" Still, it's the thought that counts," Mabel said, her great uncle was a greedy saint.