Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dipper wakes up to an irritating beeping.

He’s immediately awake, and he rises to check where it’s coming from. The brunet easily figures out it’s coming from the supernatural equipment Ford brought along, due to the fact they’re camping in the supernatural forest.

Looking to Mabel, he finds she’s still fast asleep. She’s drooling onto her cat pillow, headband resting on the ground beside her rainbow sleeping bag. Her hair is all askew due to this, even messier than it is during the day. Mabel is still wearing a sweater, this one a pale green with a blonde puppy on the front.

Dipper rummages through his bag and pulls out the source of the incessant beeping.

Dipper blinks in surprise when the screen turns on, despite the faint yellow glow. He squints as his eyes adjust, and there are two blaring words at the top of the screen-

‘GHOST NEARBY.’

The device beeps for a second, before displaying a radar. There’s a huge white dot about half a mile away (he doesn’t know for sure, he’s just guessing) and various smaller dots that are more faded.

He sits and pauses, considering his options. On one hand, there’s a big chance for family bonding with Great Uncle Ford and searching for the supposed ghosts. After all, it is the reason they are here. (Aside from camping, Mabel insisted on that part.) He eyes his dead-asleep (ha) great-uncle, sleeping in the tent next to them through the bug screen.

Ford’s been swamped with work the entire week, and this camping trip is a possible getaway from everything. (Seriously, Mabel insisted.) It’s been the first night that Dipper’s actually seen the man get some shut-eye. Between running the Mystery Shack (Soos couldn’t be trusted with the financials), travelling with Stan, and dealing with magical/supernatural entities, Ford has enough on his plate already.

So Dipper decides to let Ford sleep.

Dipper bites his lip in concentration and checks the noisy device once more, the strength meter bouncing between level one and two. Dipper nods to himself in confirmation, as if to solidify his decision.

Surely, he can take care of a level two ghost on his own.

A sudden worry strikes him, the idea that Ford will be upset with him for going out on his own. That he’ll be upset that he misses this opportunity.

But then another thought follows this, and it’s the reminder that Ford needs his sleep. It’s better for one person to research than not exploring the ghost at all.

Besides, they’re bound to find more interesting spirits on this camping trip. It’s several days long. There'll be more interesting ghosts rather than a plain old stray level 2 wandering the area. There'll be more exciting discoveries to have together.

Throwing on his trusty blue-and-white snapback and his navy blue vest, he snatches his bag filled to the brim with ghost hunting equipment and heaves it onto his back.

Dipper turns his head to glance at his twin sister again, who has turned into her sleep and is now facing away from him. Her snores fill the tent, and he gives a slight smile and unzips the tent open.

Stepping out, he zips the tent shut and pulls a flashlight out of the bag, clicking it on and letting the beeping machine in his right hand lead the way into the nearly pitch black darkness.

Fallen leaves and twigs crunch underneath his sneakers, the moonlight barely making it through the canopy of leaves above. It makes it so the only possible light Dipper has is the faint light from the spectral device and his bright flashlight.

Despite this, he paves his way forward nervously, wary of knobby roots sticking out from overgrown shrubbery and and leaves he could possibly trip on.

It feels like Dipper walks forever, but the tracker says he hasn’t gotten any closer to his destination. Despite this, he will not give in.

A gust of wind rattles the brittle branches above his head and Dipper curls in slightly in on himself, regretting not having grabbed a thicker coat.

A shiver runs down his spine, and he’s not sure if it’s fear or just general chill.

A branch snaps somewhere behind him and Dipper spins around reflexively, brandishing his flashlight. (He’s not quite sure if it’s that effective, unless it’s some kind of mythological creature that has a weakness to light. He doesn’t stop, if only to relieve himself.)

His grip tightens around the ghost tracker in his hand, wary eyes jerking around along with the beam of light from the flashlight.

Dipper can hear nothing but the racing of his own heartbeat, the uneven breaths he takes in, and the steady beeping of the device in his hand; he does not let his guard down. The young teen takes in a deep breath, attempting to even his diaphragm. His eyes sweep the landscape, but he sees nothing.

He narrows his eyes at the lack of activity. It’s fairly odd, but he is in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night, so some things can be forgiven.

Instead of relying on sight, Dipper turns to the machine in his right hand for guidance. It continues to beep incessantly, remaining as before with the exact same words plastered at the top and the radar showing an ectoplasmic entity in front of him. The only difference he finds the white dot is closer, and the level counter toward the bottom of the screen is higher.

…

Wait, what?

Dipper does a double-take, but the screen does not change. What used to be a ghost around level two is now a staggering level five, and continues to steadily rise.

Dread pools in Dipper’s gut. He jerks his head back and forth, starting to panic, searching the landscape for the ghost as the white noise of the beeping suddenly is no longer white noise and is it speeding up ? Great Uncle Ford talked about this to him, but for the life of him he can’t recall what it means. The sound grows louder and it’s starting to grate on his ears, and he shoves the device in his pocket and sticks the flashlight in his mouth, using his now free hands to cover his ears.

Dipper takes a breath to calm the rising fear inside his chest, but it isn’t effective.

There’s an abrupt cacophony from behind him, making him jump. He turns to the bag hanging off his shoulder frantically and finds that every possible instrument contained in the fabric was going off. Chimes, bird tweets, beeping, you name it.

(As he shoves a hand into the bag and attempts to silence the racket, Dipper fails to notice the device settled in his pocket is beeping even more rapidly and signals a presence higher than a possible limit on the screen.)

As if things can’t get any worse, he finds the bulb in his flashlight sparking and then dying right then and there.

And then there’s silence.

It fills him with dread incomparable to what he felt before.

Dipper’s breath catches for not the first time that night, and he freezes as he realizes there is no sound at all.

The silence presses on his ears, and he attempts to fill it by hitting the side of the flashlight with the heel of his palm, pretending his terror is nonexistent. The sound is a quiet whump and he cries to himself, trying to make it work.

It doesn’t, and instead, the echo of Dipper’s failed attempts sound in the pitch-black clearing (is it a clearing? He can only guess due to the fact he hasn’t stumbled into a tree yet). The newfound hush that’s fallen over the forest like a cozy blanket does nothing to help his nerves.

In fact, it makes him much, much more nervous.

Dipper isn’t sure how long it takes until the flashlight fizzles back into view, and he lets out a sigh of indescribable belief.

He reaches into his pocket and grabs the device, and the screen graces him with an entirely blank black canvas.

Dipper furrows his brow, his terror forgotten for a split second before the implications sink in. It means the ghost is gone, which does mean that he doesn’t get the chance to catch it and his efforts were in vain. And all he gets is a bag of broken machines. But it also means that he can actually head back to the tent, so he’s happy about that.

(Ford will be disappointed in him.)

He sighs and kicks a rock illuminated by the dim light of his flashlight, turning his head and starts to head back.

Wait a minute.

Which direction is the campsite again?

Dipper freezes, his hand going slack and the light pointing straight down at the ground.

There’s a crack from behind and he whirls around, meeting eyes with a pale black-haired boy, his blue eyes reflecting the light directed at him.

“Oh, uh. Hi?”

There’s a split second, and Dipper opens his mouth. (No, Dipper did not scream. And even if he did, it was incredibly manly, thank you very much.)

Danny stands awkwardly in the middle of a forest, in his ghost form, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. To be honest, he isn’t quite sure of how he got here. Just a few seconds ago he was flying through the Zone on a visit to the Far Frozen.

He can only assume that a natural portal popped up right as he passed into it. But for now, he’s just currently stuck in a place he doesn’t know.

He takes to the air, getting a good view of the landscape. The night sky is splattered with stars, and he smiles at the pretty sight.

Danny decides to sit on one of the taller trees, taking a spot on a higher branch and he watches the moon. He does this for who knows how long.

At least, he does until the branch cracks from his weight.

Danny knows he’s fairly light, in both human and ghost form. He isn’t sure how the branch broke, but it did and now he’s hurtling to the ground.

As he lands, he turns human in a wave of warmth and light. It’s unbidden, and he flicks some stray dirt off his t-shirt and licks his scratches. Danny steps out of the bush and belatedly realizes the world around him has gone quiet.

There’s a boy in front of him, having whirled around and the flashlight in his hands is directed straight into Danny’s eyes.

He looks fairly young, his huge blue-and-white pine cap dwarfing the rest of his body. Fluffy brown hair sticks out, partially covering his freckled face and wide hazelnut eyes stare at him gawkingly. 

“Oh, uh. Hi?”

And the boy screams like a little girl.

Dipper isn’t quite sure what he expected, but brandishing a flashlight like a weapon at a teenager rubbing the back of his neck is definitely not it.

He only sees a hint of black hair and pale skin for a split second, before his brain catches up and tells him to put down his flashlight.

“So, what brings ya out here?” The boy says to Dipper, and he tries to calm himself by taking in a deep breath. (It doesn’t work, he should’ve expected that.)

“That’s something I should be asking you,” he says defensively, pretending as though he didn’t scream. 

Dipper hears a quiet chuckle. “I came out here to stargaze, pretty much. Then the time flew by. Time flies when you’re majestically falling out of trees.” The last sentence is said confidently, but it only makes Dipper more uncomfortable.

“Yeah, sure,” Dipper says under his breath. He still doesn’t quite trust this stranger.

“Still though,” the teen says, and Dipper can imagine him looking to the side casually. “Why are you out here by yourself, kiddo?”

(Dipper wants to bark back “You’re a kiddo too” but finds that he doesn’t have the words. You can’t exactly say, “Oh yeah, just snuck out in the middle of the night to find a ghost only to get lost in the woods. No biggie.”)

So instead, he replies hastily with, “I came out here for a walk. Couldn’t sleep.”

(It’s the truth, just not the whole truth. But the other teenager doesn’t need to know that.)

The teenager lets out a sudden laugh. “Yeah, I get’cha.” He pauses before he says, “I like to, uh, take walks too. In the middle of the night. Yeah.” It’s said quite uncertainly, and Dipper raises his brow.

(Danny can see the kid raise his brow at his suspicious wording and almost sweats nervously. Thankfully the kid can’t see him so he’ll get away with it.)

“Anyways, it’s getting dark.” The teen says in a by-the-way tone of voice.

No shit, sherlock. It’s been dark for a while.

“You should be getting home. I mean, I should too, but yeah. Your family might get worried if they can’t find you in the morning.” (A little bit of his Phantom persona seems to be seeping in.) “I dunno if it’s just me, but kids back home aren’t too happy to stay out this late without a friend, at least.”

Dipper isn’t sure what the boy says next, as it’s muttered under his breath. (But is it just him going crazy, or was that something about ghosts?)

Dipper casts his eyes to the ground, his flashlight following. “I don’t really remember where I was,” he finds himself saying. As he says this, he bites his lip lest he say more. He grips the strap across his chest a little tighter.

“Ah, d’ya want some help getting back, then?” His tone is genuinely friendly, and it only adds to Dipper’s initial embarrassment.

The brunet almost declines the offer but then realizes he likely has a better chance getting back with someone who knew the woods rather than roughing it alone with no guide. His ghost hunting device sits heavily in his pocket, as a reminder of how he has no other way to get back.

After all, the idea of being left to fend for himself in the pitch black night, his flashlight possibly breaking again. . . it isn’t very appealing. He could stray further from the campsite, or even die. 

“Okay.” Dipper nods in confirmation, knowing he won’t see it, but it makes him feel better so he still does it.

Somehow, they find themselves walking through a forest, with the occasional tweet tweet of a bird calling out. Morning must be approaching soon, as the sky dyes a deep indigo rather than pitch black. Both of them are silent.

(Danny finds the silence awkward, and he glances up at the open expanse above him. He’s briefly reminded of the peace just a few hours before of staring at the stars, and then attempts to strike up a conversation. It makes things easier when they walk out into a clearing.)

“You see that really bright star?” he asks, and Dipper nods out of courtesy. “That’s actually several stars, it just looks like one because of where we are in space right now.” He smiles, and pulls his hand down. “It’s actually my favorite. I just like the message it has in astrology.”

Dipper doesn’t really study the topic of space, but he can still admit it’s fascinating. And seeing the teen beside him speak so highly of the topic makes him want to research it later. He makes a mental note to ask Great Uncle Ford about the concept of space.

“Oh look! You probably know this one already, but that’s the Big Dipper,” the stranger mentions, and Dipper looks away.

“Yeah, I know about it.” Dipper doesn’t elaborate. Silently, discreetly, he brushes a hair out of his face. Danny remains silent before pointing out another star.

This is how the conversation goes until Dipper steps into a clearing, his flashlight illuminating two twin tents. He can hear his sister snoring, and he knows he’s back.

He gives out a relieved sigh. Dipper gives the boy a quick “thank you” out of obligation, and then realizes he’s forgotten something. He turns to ask the boy for his name.

There's nobody there.

Dipper blinks, and then he sees a light above the trees. The glow reminds him of a ghost, and he squints up at it.

It is a ghost, that’s for sure. It seems to wear a black jumpsuit, with snow white hair. But the most startling thing? Its glowing, acidic neon green eyes.

Dipper blinks again, and it’s gone.

Dipper is manning the register and Mabel is sitting on the floor, finishing sticking glitter all over Waddles with a huge grin on her face.

He spreads a paper over the counter, eyeing the ghost depicted on it (the one he saw last week). “Ugh, this is one elusive ghost.”

There’s a sound, and Dipper raises his head to stare at a vaguely familiar looking boy. His hands are shoved into the pockets of baggy jeans, and his scruffy black hair falls into his face. It doesn’t hide his expression, but Dipper can’t quite identify it so he leaves it.

“Did you say ghosts?” The teen asks, tilting his head slightly.

“What about it?” He says, rolling up the paper and stashing it away in his pocket.

The brunet looks off to the side and fiddles with the fold on his pocket. “I dunno, my parents are ghost hunters. S’kinda hard not to learn a thing or two 'bout them, so I might be able to help.

(Danny weighs over the words and finally decides on sharing that minor detail. It’s not like he’s sharing their surname after all.

It doesn’t take away from the fact the words feel awkward in his mouth, because he’s spent his whole life denying his parents believed in the impossible. Now, he’s the impossible, and he can’t really say no to them anymore. But he doesn’t stop denying his parents.)

Mabel pops into Dipper’s realm of sight, and before he can make a gesture to stop, she grins and immediately says, “Yeah! That’d be awesome!” Her grin is even wider, which seems almost impossible, but she’s done much odder things. (Like that time she made several clones of herself to naysay his own self. That was odd.)

“Mabel!” He scolds. “You’ve never even seen this guy before!” He can’t exactly say the same for himself, as he’s still struggling to place where he knows the teen from.

Mabel leans over and shields her mouth to whisper to him. “Exactly. Ain’t he cute?”

“You can’t just try and kiss every boy you think is cute,” Dipper groans. He speaks the next sentence louder. “Yeah, sure. We’ll take any help we can get.”

Dipper pulls out the paper in his pocket, unfurls it, and shows the paper to the black-haired boy.

“Ever heard of this ghost?”

The teen immediately blinks at the ghost on the paper.

“I might’ve heard of him,” he finally says.

Chapter Text

Danny is currently curled up in a rainbow blanket (given to him by the boy, but he mentioned it was knitted by Mabel- he doesn’t necessarily need it because of his ice powers, and therefore likes the cold, but he figures it’d be weird to refuse) in the attic, aka the twins’ bedroom.

He glances over to Mabel, who is currently laying on her bed coloring in a coloring book on her belly with her feet in the air, her tongue sticking out playfully, he starts to reflect on what landed him in this spot in the first place.

(Danny accidentally mentioned he didn’t have anywhere to go that night, and Mabel had none of that and scooped him up, dragging him to another room in the Mystery Shack and asking her great uncle if Danny could stay over for the night.

The older man didn’t seem to care all that much, only giving them a few warnings such as “Don’t stay up too late”, and “Never let Mabel have any Smiley Dip”, and “Don’t raise the dead again”.

Danny found everything he mentioned fairly standard sleepover rules.

The two children thanked the man, one certainly more enthusiastic than the other, and Mabel rushed up the stairs, hopping each stair two at a time, gripping Danny with her right arm.

Mabel’s brother didn’t seem quite as eager to have Danny over as Mabel was, but remained quiet throughout the process for the most part. Well, he did reprimand his sister for inviting over a stranger, which was a reasonable response. But. He was right here, jeez.

All Mabel did was blow a raspberry at him and told him not to worry, but her brother didn’t calm.)

Still feeling the kid’s gaze focused on the back of his head, Danny pulls out his phone and dials two very familiar numbers, one to a specific techno-geek and the other to a goth activist, but is only met with “The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, please call back later or leave a message at the beep.”

He sighs, dropping his phone back into his jeans pocket and gives the twins a smile, saying, “I’ll try again in the morning. It is kinda late, anyways. And who knows how late it is for them in Illinois.”

Mabel gives him a wide grin and nods her head, but her brother just gives him an uncertain glance before returning to the journal in his hands. It looks fairly odd to Danny, a red cover with a six fingered hand slapped on the front and a bold number 2 in the center. But he’s not one to judge.

(So now here he is, kidnapped by a thirteen-year-old girl, staying in the attic of a tourist trap wrapped in a multitude of blankets in between two twin beds.)

He still feels as if he’s gotten whiplash from this whole scenario. But he just pulls up the blanket draped around his shoulders to cover his cheeks, content with the situation as well as he can be.

Mabel is now laying on her back, placing her bare feet on the slanted ceiling. Her brother is still scouring his journal, with two other identical covers sitting on his bedside table. He’s chewing on the end of the pencil he holds, occasionally pausing to write a thing or two in the margins. Their pig, deemed ‘Waddles’, is snuggled up to Mabel on her bed.

Danny himself is in a make-shift nest (no matter what you call it, Mabel will say it’s a bed, but Danny will call it a nest) surrounded by a various amount of blankets and pillows.

“By the way, what do ya like to do, Danny?” Mabel says, her tongue stuck out quite dorkishly and she grins a wide brace-filled grin at the boy.

Danny blinks, and then the audio forms itself into words in his brain. “Video games, I guess?” He says, tilting his head slightly and the blanket falls back onto his shoulders. “I don’t have a whole lot of free time.”

(Danny doesn’t share the reasons for this.)

“Cool!” Mabel draws out the syllable, and flips over onto her belly again and props her arms up on her pillow. She turns to glance at her brother. “Hey, bro-bro? Do we have any video games in the shack?”

The small teen furrows his brow. “I don’t think so,” he mutters, setting the book in his lap aside on his bedside table to join the two other identical volumes. “Soos probably has some, but for now I think we just have board games downstairs in the gift shop.”

Mabel gasps, and smirks. “How about Candyland?” Mabel grins, and her brother groans.

“Fine,” he says. “You okay with that, Danny?”

Danny shrugs, and says, “I don’t really care, to be honest.”

Mabel takes the neutral answer and grins even wider, sliding off her bed with an “oomph” and trotting downstairs to retrieve said board game.

The brunet on the bed sighs and looks over to Danny, who simply blinks at him in confusion. “What?” Danny says, and the boy tentatively offers a slip of paper attached to a clipboard along with the pencil he was chewing on to him.

“Can you write some things down on Phantom?”

(Danny is suddenly reminded of the fact that he had agreed to hunt essentially himself- his brain hasn’t quite caught up and he’s sure he’ll bolt up in the middle of the night and go “I’m hunting myself with two thirteen-year-olds”.

But he hasn’t quite comprehended this fact yet.)

Instead, Danny grimaces at the chewed and slightly wet pencil, but takes the clipboard and starts to write in slanted print anway.

After a few minutes, he offers the paper back to the boy, and he starts to read the text out loud. Danny rolls his eyes at this. (He knows what the paper says, thank you very much.)

“Phantom’s a pretty friendly ghost. He’d save people from oncoming ghost attacks back in my hometown. Nobody really knows where he’s from or how old he is-”

(It’s not like Danny’s going to go and share his life story to this kid he doesn’t even know the name of. Besides, it’s technically the truth. Excluding a certain trio, a sister, and a whole world of ghosts.)

“-or how he died, but they never can find out because Phantom is fairly elusive. He typically stays in his own haunt, so it’s unlikely you’ll see him anywhere else.” The boy pauses his reading, glancing up from the paper to meet sky blue eyes with hazelnut brown. “This is all you know?” He says, shaking the scrap of notebook paper.

The door is slammed open to reveal an excited Mabel with a decorated cardboard box in her hands. (To be honest, both boys had pretty much forgotten she was downstairs.)

“Who’s ready to play Candyland?” She exclaims, and doesn’t wait for an answer before she plops down on the wooden floor and sets up the game.

“I get red!” Mabel says, and picks up the piece that is now ‘hers’ and sets it by the start. She grabs a blue and sticks it by the start as well. “Danny, which color do you want?” She shakes the green and the yellow gingerbread man figures, a wide grin still adorning her face.

“Green.”

Mabel shoves the yellow one back in the box. “Poor yellow guy, he’ll be all lonely in there. Well, we’ll make it quick!” She grins, and offers the deck of cards over to her brother who shuffles and sets it down next to the board.

The first card is a purple, and Mabel decides that she goes first and moves the red figure. Danny goes next, and takes an arm out of his blanket nest and moves his character five blocks forward.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the yellow man is reunited with his best friends after Mabel yells “I win!” and flips the board over in victory.

(For a quick second, Danny is reminded of when Sam would brag whenever she’d win the round of Doom they all played together, slamming the controller down on the couch and announcing her victory to two sour boys.

Though of course, this girl is the complete opposite of Sam so he isn’t really sure why he thinks of her.)

“Seriously, Mabel?” The boy groans, and looks at his sister with The Look.

“Yes, seriously,” she says, in a tone that is anything but serious.

Danny snickers, and stops as he sees Mabel’s wide grin as she believes Danny is on her side.

(He’s neutral.)

“Anyway, let’s focus on Phantom,” Dipper says, and pulls out the slip of paper that Danny filled out. He reads it out loud again to his twin, and she smiles as she listens.

She seems to almost deflate like a balloon when he mentions that they might not see Phantom, but when Dipper thinks of that night last week of seeing a bright light above the trees at just before sunrise-

He’s pretty sure they’ll see Phantom.

And besides, Danny’s parents are ghost hunters so he knows a couple things. They’re bound to find something .

“Though you guys could probably find a bunch of animal ghosts and stuff in the woods. Seemed pretty supernatural to me,” Danny throws out, and glances up at the twins.

Suddenly, Mabel’s balloon is filled with helium again and she sits up straight with an excited expression. “That sounds sweet ,” she says, drawing out the last syllable annoyingly long and Dipper groans on the inside.

But he can’t say he isn’t excited, because he definitely is. He just doesn’t show it as much as the girl does. His heart is still beating fast, and a grin adorns his face. He just doesn’t flail his limbs around like Mabel is currently doing, hammering questions about ghosts at Danny, while the boy looks at the floor and responds with short, concise answers.

‘Yeah,’ Dipper thinks. ‘Let’s do this.’

And then Mabel hits him over the head with a pillow from Danny’s nest, knocking his snapback off his head and he turns to glare at her.

“C’mon, lil’ bro! It’s sleepover time! We can focus on those ghostie thingies tomorrow!”

Dipper abstains from responding, but he thinks ‘You were just asking Danny a bunch of questions about them’ as Dipper tugs his hat back on.

“Now, let’s paint your nails, boys!”

She lifts a few bottles of nail polish in her hands and a smirk adorns her face.

Danny groans, and says, “Ugh, fine. But I want black.”

(He’s still thinking of Sam and Tucker.)

Dipper soon has rainbow nail polish smothered over his fingers, carefully painted and Danny has all black nails and toes. (Danny found it hard to object to that puppy-dog-eyes face when she begged to paint his toes.)

“Who’s ready for makeup?” Mabel smiles, opening a drawer.

“Uh, no,” Danny deadpans, “I didn’t agree to this.” Dipper falls over onto his bed with a groan.

If Mabel didn’t notice her brother’s clear discomfort from this entire situation, she’d call herself blind.

She believes that she knows Dipper better than he knows himself, and now is just proof of that. Danny’s examining his makeup in the mirror, and Mabel watches Dipper fiddle with the pen in his hand unconsciously, spinning it around. He stares down at the hardwood floor as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world with brown hair falling into his eyes.

Dipper has a tendency to avoid things that makes him uneasy, so it makes sense he’s quiet throughout the sleepover. Not that he was ever really that loud in the first place; Dipper usually waits until attention is diverted away from him so he blends into the background when he’s wary of anything.

Or anyone.

Dipper has never been a social butterfly like Mabel, and she doesn’t blame him for that. He still tries. . . Well, at least he used to. Ever since their last summer at Gravity Falls, he seems so different, so closed off.

With everything that occurred last summer, he’s grown even more distrustful of people in general, and she can’t blame him for this either. (She still feels guilty about what she said to him when they were trapped in that ideal world, paradise, but was really just a trap. She was too blind to see, and she has Dipper to thank for ever getting out of there.)

It makes sense, after all.

(A small part of her blames this mysterious town for what it’s done, who’s really responsible for this shift in Dipper’s personality, and Gravity Falls no longer has him haunting the streets but that voice still echoes in her brother’s head.)

Mabel knows that Dipper doesn’t particularly trust Danny yet. She’s still trying though, okay? Games, makeovers, icebreakers; nothing seems to work for them. The two could get along so well if they just talk to each other! (Danny seems down to get to know her brother, but it doesn’t go the other way and she hates it.)

It really irritates her, how she can’t do anything to get Dipper to trust Danny.

She huffs to herself, pulling out another packet of blush and sticking it in the other makeup she holds in her arms.

Mabel knows that she can’t force him to get closer to the teen, or Dipper’ll just shut them both out, which wouldn’t do either of them any good. He may not be sure of Danny, but Mabel just knows he’s nice.

Mabel likes to think she’s a good judge of character, and she’s gotten better at it in the past year. Danny has yet to make her suspicious, so that’s positive!

Besides, there’s no way he’s one of those annoying gnomes, or a vampire, or anything else. He wouldn’t have been able to get through the weirdness barrier if that was the case.

(Though she knows this, she finds herself checking his eyes as she smothers makeup over his face. Just to make sure.)

She definitely cares about her brother, there’s not doubt about that. But Danny had nowhere else to stay! She couldn’t just leave him to the wolves, or even worse, the crazy town members. After Danny mentioned he had to go, he just seemed so lonely and that wouldn’t do!

Even if Dipper doesn’t like Danny, he has to understand why she’s doing this.

She does want them to get along, but she can’t just throw them into a closet together. (last time she did that with Dipper- well, there were some unforeseen occurrences.) She can’t force them to be friends. So for now, she’ll just try to lighten the mood. Try to have fun, it is a sleepover after all!

There has to be some way to get them to talk to each other and she’s gonna find out how.

“Hey, Dipper, you good?”

Dipper has a full face of makeup, the makeup surprisingly working pretty well on both Danny and himself. “I’m fine,” he says, and it’s true. Mabel can be annoying at some times but he still loves her.

“Dipper?” Danny questions, and Mabel immediately responds.

“Yup! It’s his nickname because of a birthmark he got on his forehead!” She gets a little closer to Danny, and stage whispers, “It's the Big Dipper.”

“Mabel!” Dipper exclaims, feeling his ears reddening.

“What?” Mabel shrugs. “He was wondering.”

“No, I was double-checking to see if that was his name.”

Dipper turns to glare at Mabel, and then calms. “Yeah, uh, my name’s Dipper.”

“Do you really have the Big Dipper on your forehead, though?” Danny asks, and it’s a fair question, but it still slightly irritates Dipper.

Dipper nods, and wipes the makeup off his face and grabs his cap from the ground (Mabel had thrown it off to make it easier to apply makeup), steadying it on his head once again.

“Cool,” Danny says, sounding genuine, and Dipper pauses. He was almost expecting him to laugh at Dipper for it. “Space is awesome, I think it’d be cool to have a space birthmark or something.”

“Um, thanks.” Dipper says, and glances at the floor. 

(He thinks of how familiar Danny feels, not for the first time that night. He still can't place why, though.)

Stan pops in, slamming the door open. “Kids, get ready for bed. Your Grunkle wants to be able to watch babies fight without the ruckus above his head.”

Dipper finds himself yawning, and nods in agreement.

“C’mon, Grunkle Stan! It’s a sleepover ,” Mabel argues, and Stan shakes his head, arms crossed.

“Lights off in five,” Stan says, and it sounds odd coming from such a gruff voice.

“Okay, Grunkle Stan,” the twins say in unison, Mabel’s in disappointment and Dipper’s with agreement.

Despite her craziness a few minutes ago, as soon as Mabel’s head hits the pillow she’s out like a light. Dipper watches Danny curl up in a ball on the floor, his head facing away, and his eyes start to droop.

He falls asleep.

Danny is left the last awake, with Mabel snoring and Dipper exhaling softly on his bed. He’s curled into a ball, The blanket essentially a cocoon around him, and he gazes out the open window. The window lets in soft chilly air from the summer night, but Mabel and Dipper are both curled up tight in their blankets so they don’t notice.

Danny slides his blankets off, instead settling them into a mattress shape and curls into a ball again on the fluffy floor.

He still gazes out the open window, watching the waxing moon gently shine through the panes of glass and make pretty shapes on the floor. It’s serene, and there’s no sound except for breathing in the room.

The halfa sighs, tracing a circle in the floor as a stim as he watches the moon. He isn’t sure how he’ll get home if he can’t contact his friends, but he hopes they’ll be awake in the morning.

He finds himself yawning, and eventually drifts to sleep.

Chapter Text

It’s the next day, the sun high in the sky. Birds are chirping, wild animals scurrying through the trees, and three kids are walking through the woods with one certain great uncle trailing behind them.

Dipper is in the front, a now fixed ghost tracker sitting in his hands and a bag of a dozen more sliding off his shoulder. (Dipper mentioned the problem to Ford a couple nights ago and he agreed to fix it. It’s even upgraded so it won’t break the way it did last time.)

Mabel is close behind, her baggy sleeves trailing behind in her graceful yet clunky movement. Today she wears a navy blue sweater with a cartoon ghost resting on the center surrounded by itty bitty stars. Her headband is white and her skirt a lighter grey, with her own ghost device settled in her sweater pocket. She’s ignoring the faint buzzing in favor of watching the scenery.

Danny is about a couple meters behind the twins, his own beeping device shoved into his big jeans pocket. He’s watching the scenery like Mabel, trailing a hand along the grass and occasionally picking a long piece to fiddle with in his hands.

There’s a long groan, and Dipper glances behind him to see Mabel leaning her head back to stare at the clouded sky, her feet planted on the dirt and unmoving.

“Why are we all just quiet ?” She says, prolonging the last two syllables and sticking her bottom lip out a little. She takes a lock of her hair and begins to twirl it around her finger. “Let’s do something that isn’t just staring at those silly devices.”

There’s a quick shout of indignation from Dipper, but Danny interrupts by giving a slight nod and saying, “Yeah, it is kinda boring.”

Danny catches up to Mabel, his eyes drawn to the sweater she has on. He isn’t really sure what else to say (he’s not the best at small talk) so he compliments, “Nice sweater.”

It earns a toothy grin from said girl and she twirls in place as if to show off her creation. “Thanks! I made it myself!”

“I like the ghost, it looks pretty cool.”

“I thought it was fitting!” Mabel chimes, still grinning.

“Are those stars around it?” Danny asks, because his brain always comes back to the topic of space. Mabel nods, and Danny smiles widely, saying, “I love space!”

Mabel draws out a gasp, pressing her hand to her chest right on top of the ghost’s eyes. “ Me too .”

Dipper’s pretty much sure that Mabel’s just saying it to make Danny happy. It works, as Danny’s eyes light up. She always does this, and Dipper won’t barge in this time.

Anyways, he’s paying attention to the pad in his hands more.

“Isn’t it just so cool?” Danny grins. (His face is full of excitement and he knows he’s going to rant about his special interest now. He’s practically prompted.) “Stars are amazing, and just so beautiful. But honestly, I’m super excited about space travel and all that stuff.”

Mabel nods along as if she understands every word that makes its way out of his mouth when Danny simply continues to rant on and on about astrology and other topics about space with an intense passion.

Dipper is more focused on the device grasped in his hand. His eyes dart about the monitor, looking for any sort of ectoplasmic signal but comes up empty. Dipper makes the quick hypothesis that ghosts are more active at night.

He glances back at his sister and Danny, who are still talking about space. Well, it’s more the latter who does so, rambling passionately while Mabel struggles to stay focused on one topic for this amount of time.

As Dipper realizes the irony of the situation, he stifles a laugh with his hand.

Mabel constantly tries to steer the conversation away from scientific aspects, preferring creative or ‘girly’ subjects like glitter and rainbows. She’d likely come out here in the hopes of finding a ghost cat and cuddling it or something. Probably to hang out with Danny too, maybe flirt with him or whatever the heck Mabel thinks she’s doing.

Instead she has to listen to the boy ramble on about various studies of space.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Dipper can tell how absolutely bored Mabel is with Danny’s speech, and he still struggles to hide his chuckles.

(He’d probably get along better with the teen better than his sister, if he weren’t so skeptical of Danny’s unknown intentions.

He is still a stranger, after all.)

Mabel’s hands are fiddling with the loose threads of her newly made sweater. Her attention had clearly drifted off elsewhere a while ago, but Danny still hasn’t noticed, ever so caught up in his one-way conversation.

Dipper catches her eye, throwing a smug expression her way as Danny continues to speak animatedly, and his sister returns a raspberry as she slumps over.

‘Very mature’, he thinks.

Dipper rolls his eyes with a smile, about to return to examining the machines when Danny mentions a topic that Dipper had recently heard about.

“The Apollo missions inspired an entire generation of people to pursue math and science careers, and it’s amazing! Our society continues to become more technologically advanced and dependent, and the general populace need to become more scientifically literate to keep up.

“I’ve always dreamed of being an astronaut,” he says, his excitement slowing as he gazes down at the floor. “I’ve just- I’m not what you’d call a star student.” He gives out a chuckle, a chuckle that is absent of actual humor, and it makes Dipper hesitate in his step as well. “And outside of school, I’m pretty busy with other stuff. Uh- extracurriculars, and all that.”

With those last few sentences, it finally clicks, and Dipper whirls around.

“It was you !”

“I’m sorry, what?”

It’s the first thought that runs through Danny’s head, and apparently it spills out his lips too.

“You-You were the guy who helped me back to camp a week ago!” Dipper exclaims, his finger still pointed at the confused boy.

(For some reason this makes Danny think of Wes.)

“What?” It’s Mabel who says this. She’s eloquently ignored.

“Y’know, when you- uh, when you fell from that tree, and pointed out the constellations to me?” Dipper stammers, and Danny’s eyes widen in recognition.

“That was you?” Danny asks, and Dipper nods slowly, as if he’s uncomfortable.

(Mabel looks on in pure confusion. She is still promptly ignored.)

“What a coincidence, huh?” Danny lets out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. “Well, uh. Nice to meet you? Again, I guess.”

(Danny truly does see it to be a coincidence. It’s so odd, how the universe chooses to dump on him in a place that isn’t Amity Park. Hasn’t he had enough?)

He stretches out his hand awkwardly, and cautiously, Dipper steps forward and shakes it. They’ve already met, but this makes it feel more official, Danny thinks. Maybe not quite that, but he imagines it’d make the scenario much more awkward if he jerks his hand back now.

Instead, Dipper is the one to pull his hand back, replacing his steadfast grip on the pad in his hands. It gives out a solid beep, and then returns back to its muted noise.

“Well,” Dipper starts, his face screaming the fact that he feels very awkward in this scenario. “How about we go back to looking for ghosts?”

“Sure!” Mabel chirps, and Danny shrugs, finally pulling out the device in his hands. He’s down for pretending that never happened.

Dipper pauses, and then says, "Hey, I can't see Great Uncle Ford."

Mabel pauses in her balancing act on a toppled tree trunk, glancing up to her brother. She takes a look back behind her. "Yeah, I guess so."

Mabel takes a seat on the ground, adjusting her skirt. Danny leans against a tree, and then a thought pops into his head.

“Oh shit, I pointed out the Big Dipper to a kid named Dipper.”

“Language!” Mabel sing-songs, blowing a small raspberry from her pleasant spot on the ground as Dipper's face reddens.

"Seriously?" Dipper bites out as Mabel gives a dorky snort, a fair imitation of the pig sitting back in her room.

(Ford can hear the tail end of the conversation as he settles his hiking stick in a knot of roots and heaves himself over it. A fond smile tugs on his lips, and he lets out a chuckle.

He's glad the kids are getting along.)

"Go back to your dorky devices, guys." The last word is said even more dorkishly, and Mabel gestures to said devices. Danny imagines that she's already shoved her gadget back into her sweater pocket.

As Ford steps back into the small clearing that Danny and the twins are sitting in, everyone rises and Ford hands out snacks to each kid individually.

Five minutes later, they’re back on track and return to their task.

Danny this time trails in the back, stimming by shaking his hands, deep in thought.

Dipper is clearly wary of Danny, probably due to the fact that Danny said he fell out of a tree with little to no explanation. (He really needs to control what comes out his mouth.) Danny must seem pretty suspicious.

Or maybe it’s just how the kid acts. He can’t be entirely sure.

He’s still surprised that Dipper hadn’t mentioned his run in with Danny. The two don’t seem to be quite attached at the hip, but he can still tell they’re very close. He sees how they can just communicate without speaking, how comfortable they are around the other. It’s nice, he thinks.

(If later asked, he’d deny it. But Danny can’t help but secretly wish he was as comfortable around Jazz as the twins are around each other.)

What surprises him even more? It’s the fact that Mabel doesn’t question it. She’s been pestering Danny with questions non-stop since ‘inviting’ him over for a sleepover. Mabel is a chatterbox and it’s so odd that she doesn’t press, because it seems like it’s practically part of her nature to find out more about things.

The only reaction out of her hearing of Dipper and his meeting (aside from the earlier input) is a questioning glance at her brother, to which the boy shrugs halfheartedly in response.

Mabel throws him that look that Danny knows as ‘We’ll talk about this later’. He knows it well, having been on the receiving end of it countless times from his own sister. She then slows down, another grin on her face, and she strikes up another conversation.

To be honest, the constant conversation is starting to wear him out, but he still does it anyway.

“What’s your favorite animal?” Mabel asks, skipping happily.

Danny isn’t entirely sure. He says so.

“Me too!” Mabel grins, moving her hand to fiddle with her headband. “I just can’t decide! There’s cats, but dogs are really cute too! And not to mention koalas, and elephants and just. So many animals I can’t choose between them all.”

All in all, it’s a fairly uneventful day. All they seem to have done is walk through the forest, checking the devices, enjoying the scenery and engaging in small talk.

It leaves Dipper with a dissatisfied feeling sitting in his gut, but he doesn’t express it like Mabel does. Mabel sinks in disgruntlement with a roll of her eyes, slumped over slightly with her energy drained as much as it can be for Mabel Pines. That is to say, she has the energy of a normal person.

“Don’t worry, there’s still tomorrow,” Danny says, with an awkward pat on Mabel’s shoulder.

(Danny’s silently wishing they actually don’t come across any other ghosts. But alas, they’ll find someone, he’s sure. This woods has the same eerie feeling as the Ghost Zone, so he knows that there are supernatural entities in this place.

He’s not eager to find out what they are.)

Dipper’s head nods slowly in agreement, and it occurs to him that this isn’t the only day they go out to search for ghosts and he isn’t a failure-

Mabel elbows Dipper in the forearm, her mood having taken a 180 and a slight smirk resting on her lips. “Why you sad, bro-bro?” The brunette asks innocently, as if she wasn’t the one just dragging her feet along on the forest floor. “You still got a lot of-”

Mabel purses her lip, searching for the right word.

“Data. That’ll help, right?” She elbows Dipper again.

(Dipper’s sigh has a hint of disappointment, and Danny knows that Dipper is actually the one more disheartened in this situation. Mabel tends to exaggerate her feelings.)

“You’re right, Mabel,” Dipper mutters, fiddling with the pad in his hands again anxiously. “We have a lot of data now.”

Dipper glances up slightly, and sees the silhouette of the Mystery Shack illuminated in the near sunset, the sun beginning to slide behind the wide expanse of trees. He turns his head back to face the device, pressing buttons occasionally to change the view.

From behind him, Mabel straightens up, and pulls on Danny’s sleeve. “You ready for another sleepover?” She asks excitedly, her voice lilting.

“Nah,” Danny responds. “I’ll find somewhere to stay tonight.”

(Danny doesn’t want to bother Dipper again.)

Dipper doesn’t entirely care. He’s almost glad that he doesn’t have to sleep in the same room as Danny tonight, but he won’t say it out loud.

(Mabel huffs, and she has the social awareness to give a glance to the boy who is scouring the devices in his hand and in the bag on his back.) “Fine, just be okay, okay?” She pauses, and then giggles. “I said okay twice.”

Dipper inhales sharply, and Mabel instantly quiets. The next few minutes are pretty awkward, as all they do is walk. Dipper’s feet are tired and he’s more walking on impulse now, waiting for the moment to sit down. Mabel seems to be out of energy as well, as she doesn’t break the silence with her excited gestures or bubbly sentences.

The twins step up onto the slanted porch promptly, Dipper collapsing sitting on one of the stairs. Mabel groans and fans her face with her baggy sleeve, and Ford is a few meters behind them. Danny puts his hands in his pockets, staying a good few feet away from everyone, and gives a quick wave.

“See ya guys tomorrow,” Danny says, and as the two twins step inside, Dipper rushes to the nearest window to look out at Danny.

(He doesn’t see anything, as Danny is already long gone.)

Dipper sits in a fold-up chair as he watches Ford review the data they’ve collected that day, pouring over the gadgets. There haven't been very many ectoplasmic signatures, but any information is helpful and will allow them to know how to better handle it when they do come across a ghost for the first time.

The brunet still pipes in here and there with his own views on the data, but his mind has already drifted elsewhere.

(He does remember his first meeting with Danny. It was a week ago, and it’s still very fresh in his mind. The flimsy excuse of ‘stargazing’ had been so odd. But what other reasons could Danny need to climb a tree for? Was he hiding from something? Someone?

How had he even gotten up there in the first place? The branches on the trees in the forest are often placed far from each other, and once you do get a grip on them the brittle branches give up on your weight and you go collapsing back to the ground.

He’s seen Mabel try to climb the trees on multiple occasions. She’s never gotten past five feet above the ground.

And how does he just disappear into thin air? One second he’s beside Dipper and the next he’s nowhere to be seen. It’s also absurd how many times he hasn’t noticed the teen beside him; it’s like the teen has no presence whatsoever.)

He rests a hand on his forehead, letting out a sigh with a frown.

(Danny is such an enigma and it’s just so frustrating being unable to figure him out.

Though, he says this as if there’s anything to discover in the first place.

For all he knows, Danny could just be a regular teen with somewhat questionable hobbies. He hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary, ordinary for Gravity Falls at least. He gets along with everyone around him just fine with the occasional awkward sentence or body posture, fiddling with things when he’s nervous like Dipper does.

Dipper’s probably just going crazy overreacting.)

He glances up, combing a hand through his hair, letting out another unsteady breath.

(But if that's the case, why does he feel so uneasy?)

Ford pauses, taking a glance at his great nephew. He turns to him, devices still in his grasp, and asks, “Are you okay?” He cocks his head slightly to the side, eyeing Dipper’s tense body language.

Dipper nods sharply, rubbing his arm and staring down at the slick lab floor. “Yeah. . . Just, uh, thinking about some stuff.”

Ford seems unconvinced, his eyes still trailing on Dipper before he turns back to his devices. He hums in confirmation, making Dipper feel slightly guilty for the white lie.

A few minutes pass, and Dipper still can’t focus, catching more than one concerned glance from his great uncle.

"So, care to tell me what 'stuff' you're thinking of?" Ford questions, idly rifling through some papers.

Dipper fiddles with his lip with his two front teeth, rubbing his left arm. He winces slightly, refusing to meet his great uncle’s gaze.

“I-I dunno, it’s just. . .” He sighs, his hand dropping to rest by his side. “Danny’s been- He’s been super helpful and gets along with Mabel, but I- but I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something here.”

Ford’s eyes soften, and he sets down the papers on another tall pile of paper. He leans down and pulls out his own chair from underneath a table, twisting it to face his great nephew and Dipper does the same with his chair.

“I get how you feel, Dipper. I understand, really I do, but not everything needs a dramatic reveal.” Ford says, gently patting Dipper’s head. “Oftentimes, people are exactly who they claim to be and that’s rather normal. Just because something may feel off about someone, doesn’t have to mean they’re dangerous.

“Gravity Falls is indeed a strange place, but not everyone who steps foot into the town is a monster in disguise.

“Puzzles are marginally harder to solve when you can’t see each individual piece and fit them together, or when you refuse to see the pieces in front of you. I myself had a difficult time grasping this after so many years spent living here.”

("And in the portal" remains unsaid, but Dipper can hear the hint of it behind the words Ford speaks.)

"You certainly have a knack for picking out who or not to trust, so if you really believe Danny has harmful intentions, I'll listen. To me, Danny just appears to be a typical teenage boy, similar to yourself, but it's your call, Dipper. Just remember that putting your faith in others isn't always harmful."

(“ Not as easy as it sounds” whispers in the back of his head, and he shakes it away by bobbing his mechanically and allowing the words his great uncle speaks replace the dread sitting in his gut for absolutely no reason-)

Ford is right; he’s getting worked up over nothing. Not everyone is out to get him.

Danny isn't out to get him.

(It's irrational to think Danny would do anything to hurt Mabel, or anyone else for that matter.)

Danny’s just a random teen who made his way into Gravity Falls, a teen obsessed with space and finding himself wrapped up in Dipper’s research. From the start, Danny has done nothing but help them, and he likely thinks Dipper is weird when he refuses to meet the teen’s eye, hands shuffling nervously.

Guilt rises into Dipper’s chest, and almost immediately Dipper feels terrible. He’s only made things feel more awkward for Danny. By making the teen feel uncomfortable during their outings. Disappointing Mabel by ruining her sleepover.

(‘You know they would've been happier without you there, anyway,’ his brain barges in, and he can’t find the heart to deny it.)

Dipper is always bringing people down along with him. It’s his fault Ford’s machine broke. If he hadn’t gone out that night, none of this would have happened, anyway.

(Dipper always needs other people to help him. He’s just useless by himself.)

(Why can’t his brain just act normal for once? Why can’t he ever seem to let people in?)

His eyes begin to sting, and he feels the panic taking hold, leaching into his chest and refusing to let go. He curls in on himself slightly, because he can only just live through it and mentally hit himself-

Is it really so hard to trust people again?

(Dipper already knows the answer to this question; he knows because of the being that frequently haunts his nightmares.)

(‘Trust no one’ echoes endlessly in his mind, reflecting off every boundary and always making its way back to the center-

Dipper’s hand burns, engulfed in blue flame-

His laughter, resonating within his ears-

There’s no escape- )

His lungs refuse to take in air, and his vocal cords won’t work to even choke out a scream.

( He can't breathe- ) 

In a split second, there’s a warm hand resting on his shoulder. It’s vaguely comforting, but Dipper still jerks away from it and takes in a shaky breath as his lungs start working again.

His mind slowly clears, and he glances up to see Ford resting beside the chair on his knee, hand pulled back slightly with a concerned expression on his face.

(‘You did that to him. You're the one troubling your great uncle. You're just a burden’, his brain screams at him, and he can’t find the courage to scream denials back.)

“Dipper?” Ford asks tentatively, concern hidden in his eyes. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah-Yeah,” Dipper manages to choke out, still taking shaky breaths and refusing to look the man in the eye. “I’m good.”

"Are you sure?"

Dipper pauses for a moment, but then nods slowly. “I’m okay, Great Uncle Ford.” His breath is starting to steady, and he takes his first deep breath. “Thanks. For everything.”

(Really, he’s okay.

‘Keep telling yourself that’, his brain taunts, and he sighs again.

He's fine.)

Chapter Text

It’s another sunny day.

The digital clock sitting on the desk reads at about 9:00, the sun peeking through the triangular window and bouncing light off the bed sheets. It makes Dipper squint slightly as he leans over a various array of papers, some with occasional runes and others with the familiar latin alphabet. There are also a few books scattered around as well, open to random pages with annotations. He needlessly has the desk lamp on, shedding light on the papers on his desk.

Only in the physical sense, Dipper still doesn’t have any answers whatsoever.

“What’cha doing, bro-bro?” Mabel asks from her spot on the rainbow carpet, poking Waddles with a cat toy while the pig himself just chews on the feathers at the tip. Today she has her hair pulled back with a baby blue headband and matching skirt, her sweater a dandelion yellow with a sky colored raccoon in the center.

Dipper chews on the pencil in his mouth, also clicking the pen in his hand irritatingly. “Trying to figure out more about Phantom,” Dipper says, looking over his shoulder at Mabel.

“Y’know,” Mabel offers, twisting her body around so her legs lay underneath her, “maybe we just won’t find him?” Her eyes are still on Waddles, and she fishes the feathers out of his mouth before beginning the poking again. “Danny said it himself, it’s unlikely you’ll find him or something.”

Putting away the fact he hasn’t managed to find much about Phantom, he leans an arm on his chair and furrows his brow at his sister. “Weren’t you the one super excited to meet him or whatever?”

"I don't really care," Mabel shrugs, blowing a quick raspberry. "If we see that cutie ghost boy or a little ghost puppy, it's still ghosties. And I really wanna meet a ghostie."

"You like a ghost?" Dipper deadpans. "Besides, you've met ghosts before."

(And was possessed by one, but he prefers not to think about it.)

"You can't deny he's cute," Mabel smirks. "Also, there was Smiley Dip. I can't say no to Smiley Dip."

“Whatever,” Dipper says, rolling his eyes and returning to the papers. He makes a quick switch and uses the pencil to jot down a note, but it isn’t anything new to him.

Mabel rolls her eyes too. “Stop worrying so much, Dipper,” she assures, but it’s anything but assuring from her mouth. “If he’s here you’ll find him.”

(If only she knows how right she’d be.)

There’s a ring at the doorbell, and Stan shouts up to the twins from downstairs. “The scruffy looking kid is here for you two! Y’know, that playdate stuff!”

(Someone who knows the whole truth may say “Speak of the devil”.)

Mabel bolts up from her spot on the floor, almost tripping over her feet as she slides around the banister and trots down the stairs, Waddles in her arms. Dipper gives a slight sigh, and then sets the papers down and begrudgingly follows his sister.

It is indeed Danny standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets and an awkward expression sitting on his face. “Uh, hey?” Danny greets, and it sounds more like a question than an actual greeting. His eyes meet Dipper’s for a split second, and then dart away to stare at the floor.

“Hi,” Dipper says in return, and it doesn’t sound any more confident than Danny's greeting. He himself slides his hands into his vest pockets, leaning his head down and making it so the snapback obstructs Danny.

Mabel chirps, “good morning!” And she waves a hand at Danny. “How ya doing, Danny?”

“Fine, I guess,” Danny says, relaxing slightly and taking a deep breath.

He then pulls out. . . A soup flask?

“Ready to hunt some ghosts?”

The day is fairly uneventful, until noon comes.

Dipper glances up at the cloudless sky, his hat blocking the glare of the sun, squinting his eyes, and then turns to Ford and says, “It’ll be lunchtime soon.”

Ford nods and takes the rucksack hung around his shoulder, rummaging through the bag and eventually coming up empty. “I seem to have left the food at the Shack,” he informs the group.

It earns a dramatic groan from Mabel, and she drags her sleeves along the forest floor. “I was looking forward to that donut,” Mabel drawls, irritated, and then chomps into her sleeve as a mock imitation of eating. (Yes, the sleeve that was just on the ground. Don’t question it.)

“There was never a donut, Mabel,” Dipper groans, plopping a hand into his face. He then turns to glance at Ford, and asks, “Should we head back?”

Ford shakes his head in response, saying, “That won’t be necessary. You can all go on ahead, I’ll catch up later.” With that, he heaves the pack back on his shoulder and retreats in the direction of the Mystery Shack, leaving the kids to themselves.

There’s a pause and then when he disappears from sight, Mabel’s cheer is back to normal. “Wellp, ya heard the man!” She pipes up, clapping her hands together. (She doesn’t notice how both boys flinch at the noise- both for different reasons.) “Let’s keep movin’!”

She follows her own direction by spinning around 180 degrees and marching forward, arms swinging at her side with energy. Dipper almost rolls his eyes, but still smiles, fondly watching his sister lead the group. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Danny shrug to himself, beginning to walk on and following Mabel. Dipper himself rushes to catch up.

The conversation from last night pops into his head, and it makes Dipper glance at Danny. The older boy is looking around the area, eyes caught on the occasional butterfly or squirrel.

Dipper musters up some courage and he trots forward slightly, forcing his pace to match the other boy’s. It earns a questioning look from the teen.

"So..." Dipper starts, ever so eloquently. "What’s- uh, how are you?" 

(His palms feel sweaty, and it’s certainly not the heat that is now blaring down at him- is his face warm too? Danny simply eyes him in confusion, his eyes back on the floor.)

“I’m alright?” The way it’s said makes it sound more like a question, and he doesn’t elaborate, which makes an awkward silence start to hang over them.

"Uh- How is- How are you liking Gravity Falls so far?" Dipper asks, a simple small talk floating to the surface of his mind. He takes a shaky breath, fighting the urge to curl up in a ball and die.

"I guess it's fine." Danny shrugs, reaching out to grab a piece of grass and starts to fiddle with it.

“What?” Dipper questions, tilting his head slightly.

Danny backtracks immediately, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. He waves a hand in front of him. “No wait- I just- I mean, uh, it’s different from what I’m used to but, not bad? Definitely, more, uh, more trees.”

(He calms down slightly, the grass now back on the ground and it’s crushed underneath his foot. He looks around at the surrounding trees, almost looming over him with their height.)

“It kinda reminds me of my home town in a way, I guess. I dunno,” he finishes, a hand trailing the back of his neck.

Dipper can’t do anything other than hum in understanding, rubbing his arm anxiously as they walk. (It’s Awkward Silence: The Sequel, a very exciting action movie.)

He searches in his mind for something to say to dispel the awkward silence, or an excuse to leave this nonexistent conversation, but comes up empty, and just proceeds to rub his arm.

(He debates jumping off a nearby cliff or finding a supernatural monster to devour him, but decides against it. Neither options seem terribly plausible at the moment.

Dipper still entertains the thoughts, however. Anything would be more tolerable than this- this awful silence, as Danny fiddles with the hem of his shirt.)

Neither of them quite know how to continue the interaction, instead remaining quiet. Dipper just isn’t sure what to say to this boy, as he’s just proceeded to make him uncomfortable before and small talk feels awkward here. Plus, Danny looks uncomfortable in this situation anyways, so he can’t do anything.

(Danny’s just zoning out, to be honest.)

There’s an unbearable moment until Mabel swoops in, saving their pathetic attempts at conversation with six words.

“Hey guys! Come check this out!” She calls out from in front of them, rushing forward and out of sight.

Dipper lets out a sigh that’s utter relief, and he’s almost sure his soul leaves his body in the process- (Don’t think about it, Dipper!) He shoves away the thought and his walk turns into a jog to catch up to his sister.

As he does, his eyes lock onto an especially large stump.

It’s about 7 feet tall and 8 feet wide, uneven roots splaying out from the ground and branches surrounding the base. Mabel is standing on one of the larger roots toward the bottom, gesturing her hand to the trunk.

‘It looks like a fun climb’, Dipper thinks.

“C’mon guys, I wanna climb it!” Mabel cheers, mirroring her brother's thoughts, and tosses her flats and socks onto one of the roots. She then grips a branch steadily with one arm and the other out to keep her balance, but doesn’t get any higher.

She leaps off the root with bare feet, grabbing her brother by the wrist and dragging him to the trunk. “Help me up, Dip-dop!” She whines, trying to jump onto the stump with no climbing whatsoever.

Dipper chuckles, and then wraps his arms around Mabel’s waist, heaving her up high. Her hands clasp the flat wood, pulling her body up. She struggles to pull her leg up, but once she does, Dipper gives her a shove and she rolls onto the stump.

She stands up steadily and throws her arms in the air triumphantly, shouting, “I have conquered the fabled stump! I’m the ruler of the world!” A wide smirk adorns her face, energetic voice echoing throughout the trees. “Bow down to your new queen!”

Danny is sitting on one of the bottom roots, letting out a snicker at Mabel’s antics. Dipper looks on, unimpressed, but still amused.

Before he realizes, Mabel reaches down and grabs Dipper’s wrists again, pulling him up with her. He uses peeling bark as footholds, the bark sliding down to settle on the forest floor. He flops on his stomach at the top, letting out a slight groan.

"A queen can't rule without her subjects!" She says, hands placed on her hips proudly.

Dipper takes in air again, heaving himself up. He puts his hands on his knees for support as he rises, and then stands next to Mabel.

(The stump isn’t that big, but the view from here is rather nice. He feels strangely confident from here.)

It’s a vast expanse of trees, a medley of green and brown and occasional other colors. The open, deep blue sky stretches out over the forest with sun peeking through and shedding warm light on the taller trees.

Dipper pauses to take in a breath, warm air filling his nostrils and the sun warming his body all over. From beside him, Mabel’s brace-filled grin still adorns her face, and she seems to be enjoying the view as well.

“This is my kingdom now!” Mabel declares, waving her hand over the trees. She gives out a satisfied sigh, looking over at Dipper.

“Gnomes?” Dipper says, the thought barging in on him and it spills out of his mouth before he can stop it.

“Pfft, nah,” Mabel sputters, rolling her eyes a little. “S’just pretend, bro-bro.”

Mabel makes to hop off the stump, but a foot catches on a branch, and instead she’s catapulting to the ground. Her tumble is anything but graceful. She doesn’t seem to react, instead a shocked expression on her face. Dipper’s body stays anchored in its spot, and he just watches.

In a split second, her feet are planted on the ground with an “oomph”, and Dipper’s brain takes a few seconds to connect the dots. He looks down to see Danny’s arms settled on Mabel’s shoulders, and then he sighs in relief.

“You need to be more careful,” Danny says, a serious expression on his face, looking her straight in the eye.

(It’s so uncharacteristic, coming from a teen that Dipper knows as a carefree person who likes to crack jokes.)

“Uh, okay?” Mabel says, and her tone makes it clear she’s just as confused by the sudden mood switch as Dipper is.

“Good,” Danny grins, and offers a hand to Dipper. “D’ya need help getting down?”

“Uh, nah, I’m alright,” Dipper says, and slides down the side of the trunk, holding onto a particularly thick branch.

Danny gives him a thumbs up, and Mabel sits back down on the root to slide on her socks and flats, when Danny holds his hand up.

“You’re bleeding, Mabel,” he says, gesturing to the scratch on Mabel’s left foot.

“She’s fine,” Dipper adds. “You’d be amazed about what she can shake off.”

He still reaches into the bag, hoping there are bandaids. Thankfully, he pulls one out and plasters it on Mabel’s foot, and she groans at the plain beige fabric. She still slips her socks back on, stretching them tight and plops her flats back on her feet.

She ignores the cut, hopping up and dragging Dipper along by the arm again to find something else, whatever it might be.

The three carry on, Danny a couple feet behind Mabel as he chats about various topics idly, and Dipper trails slightly behind. He’s in the middle of a word when his stomach growls loudly.

His ears grow hot, Mabel hiding a giggle at his expense behind a sleeve. However, karma is served when her stomach rumbles as well.

“Ughhhh,” Mabel groans, throwing her arms back a little and staring up at the sky. “When is Grunkle Ford gonna be back? I’m so hungry, and it feels like he’s been gone for years!”

It may be an exaggeration, but he still has to agree that the man has been absent for a strangely long amount of time. Perhaps he got caught up with something?

“Maybe we should just wait for him?” Dipper suggests, pulling out his pad; Danny’s almost forgot the reason they’re out here. “He’ll probably be back soon, and staying in one spot would be safer.”

Mabel gives a reluctant nod, dropping to the ground and criss-crossing her legs. Danny shrugs and sits down on a log, while Dipper settles down next to her in the grass. Everyone’s stomachs grumble with voiced hunger.

Ford should be back soon. At least, Danny hopes so.

The chat about ghosts starts anew, but it doesn’t last long. Their collective hunger drives them to head back the direction they came, hoping to run into Ford on the way.

In the end, they don’t find Ford.

Mabel blows at her hair irritatingly, and Danny looks at the ground like it personally offends him. Dipper shows his irritation less from his spot several feet behind them, but Danny can tell it’s there.

Mabel’s eyes light up, and she points at a small dark thicket growing underneath a young tree, and she licks her lips. It’s a small bush with heart shaped leaves, round scarlet berries laying on the branches, untouched by insects.

Danny’s abdomen rumbles once again, and he glances at the girl beside him.

She stares hungrily at the plant, and snaps off a few branches from the stems. “Look how pretty they are!” She says, cheerfully tossing off the rotten berries onto the ground. “Grunkle Ford said something about huckleberries and how they’re safe to eat, and these look a lot like what he described. I bet they’re okay.”

She hands a few over to Danny, and he turns them over to observe the bright berries, catching a glimpse of a small dark dot adorning the underside. He turns to stare at the bush, and agrees with Mabel- she’s right about them being pretty.

He decides to trust her.

He’s about to pop a handful into his mouth when Dipper is suddenly there in front of them, smacking the berries out of their hands.

Danny’s eyes trail on the tumbling berries, rolling underneath the bush to settle down on the brush of grass and sticks. He then turns to glance at Dipper, whose face is full of something he can’t quite identify- but he’s sure it’s negative in some way.

“What on earth are you doing?” Dipper yells, eyebrows furrowed but lip quivering in fear. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

Mabel raises a hand, about to pipe in with an excuse about her being hungry, but Dipper holds up his hand and shoves it over his sister’s mouth, and she’s promptly shushed.

He gestures to the branches beneath him with his hand once Mabel shuts up. “Those are actaea rubra, mainly known as red baneberries or chinaberries. They’re constantly confused with huckleberries,” he says, the syllables running out of his mouth at a speed that makes Danny wonder how he understood it perfectly.

“Yeah? What about them?” Mabel huffs, reaching out a hand to grab another handful when her arm is smacked away again.

“They’re native to the Pacific Northwest, and are very, very poisonous , Mabel,” Dipper says, and jerks his hand down in frustration. “They have an immediate sedative effect, and because they’re so harmful when introduced to the bloodstream, they’ve been used as coating for arrowheads. Just eating a few of them could be deadly!”

His rant is finished with a huff as he glares at his sister, who stares back at him wide-eyed and slack arms. Danny himself has froze, and he isn’t sure if he’s even breathing, the only thing on his mind is the fact that he had almost eaten toxic berries.

(He’s very grateful that Dipper is there to stop him and Mabel from doing something so dangerous. Yes, Danny is half-dead, but there is still a high chance that the berries could’ve harmed him, especially in human form. Danny isn’t sure if he’s immune to poison, but he doesn’t really want to find out.

It’s not like he wants to die a second time, and certainly not to a handful of innocent looking berries. It’s very impressive how quick the boy reacted, having identified the berries right away and jumping in to save them. Dipper’s knowledge of nature is certainly admirable, to say the least.)

Dipper’s concern-fueled anger/adrenaline has run out, and now he just stares back at the two staring at him blankly.

Danny forces himself to take in a breath, shoving away the thought and pretending it doesn’t shake him. “Thanks for saving us from that, Dipper,” he says, forcing a chuckle. “That could’ve been berry rough.”

Either Mabel doesn’t recognize the pun or simply ignores it, stepping away from the bush. “Yeah, no kidding?” The words are casual, and she waves her hand, but the shake in her voice betrays her fear. “Thanks for not letting us die, bro-bro!”

Dipper tilts his head down slightly, pulling on the cap to shadow his face. It does nothing to hide his blush. “Yeah- well just- just make sure to do research on this kinda stuff. Before you go and eat stuff you aren’t sure about.” It’s a mutter, but both Danny and Mabel can still hear him.

Mabel gives an earnest nod, and Danny does the same. When he eyes the berries it sends a queasy feeling through his stomach, and he walks away so he doesn’t have to stare at them. Mabel and Dipper follow, their feet quick as if staying in the vicinity will infect them with the poison of the berries.

Dipper falls in step with Mabel, and Danny can barely catch what’s exchanged between the two, but still does with his enhanced hearing.

“Your recklessness could land you in the hospital one day, I really don’t wanna see you get hurt again like that.”

Mabel stays silent, instead responding by giving him a tight side hug. She then mumbles something indistinct that he can’t catch, but as Dipper’s shoulders relax and his face softens, saying something back.

Danny turns his head away from the conversation, feeling as if he’s barging in on something private. He turns to eye the berries once again for some reason he isn’t sure of, when his stomach rumbles once again. He almost wishes he could return to the berries, if only to settle the beast in his stomach-

It’s truly a shame they’re so deadly.

“Woah! Look at this, Dip-dip!”

Mabel trots up the boy in question, a wide grin on her face like usual, a hop in her skip. She shoves the results of the device in his face, and Dipper blinks and shoves it away so he can read it.

“There’s something on it! Does it mean there’s a ghostie ‘round here?” Dipper simply stares down at his own device, and Danny is in the back chuckling slightly. “C’mon Dippingsauce, answer me! Is it a ghostie?”

“Yeah, Mabel,” Dipper sighs, adjusting his hat on his head and shoving his device in his pocket.

(To be honest, Dipper is excited. But based on the readings, it doesn't look like Phantom, so he isn’t terribly thrilled.)

“What d’ya think it is?” Mabel pesters, poking him in the arm with her finger and Dipper grabs it from her, gazing down at the screen.

“Probably some sort of animal,” Dipper says, handing the device back to her after reading the level at under level one.

Mabel hops forward, bringing her hands up to her cheeks and her eyes lighting up. “Could I meet a kitty?” She squeals, her voice almost breaking at the high pitch.

Dipper shrugs casually, and Danny speeds up his pace, feeling a small wisp of frost escape his mouth. It feels fairly weak. “It’s an animal alright,” he says, his pace now matching the twins. “I mean, it could be a cat?” He trails off, and Mabel turns to him, eyes wide.

She jumps up and down in unreleased excitement, her legs bouncing and her hair moving from the wind. “REALLY?” Her voice raised to a shout, and it’s still very high pitched. (It makes Danny wince at the volume, jerking his hands up and onto his ears. It’s one thing to be autistic and it just adds to the hype when you have enhanced senses. So yeah, it’s very nice being Danny.)

“Yeah,” he says, forcing his voice out in response, but it’s still very quiet compared to the excited teen bouncing on the heels of her feet next to him. Instead, he nods, and she immediately runs off in happiness.

Mabel having left and the over stimulation out of his brain, he asks Dipper, “Uh. . . Where is she going?”

“To pet that ghost cat,” Dipper replies absentmindedly, pouring over the stats displayed on his device that he had just pulled out again from his spot a few feet next to him.

"Of course,” Danny says, looking to the side to where Mabel has disappeared in the distance in pursuit of a ghostly animal. “Should’ve figured that out.”

They stumble out into a clearing, yellowed grass surrounded by oak and pine trees towering overhead. His eyes are immediately drawn to the stone figure sitting in the middle, warm yellow light drifting onto it.

"Hey, Dipper? What’s that?”

Dipper glances up, and almost immediately a chill runs down his spine and his face pales.

(A few days after Weirdmageddon, the statue went missing for a while.

Dipper simply returned to California, an uneasy feeling sitting in his gut along with homesickness. Ha, funny, huh? It’s ironic, that he’d feel homesick returning home.

Ford called them, telling the twins that he finally found the statue of Bill Cipher and had hidden it deep in the forest where no one could find it, let alone disturb it.)

Yet here it is, the all-seeing eye staring straight into his soul. Hand out to shake, sitting there, like nothing happened, plain as day -

Danny from beside him sticks his lip out slightly, simply watching the boy and occasionally switching his gaze to stare at the statue in the middle of the clearing. “You good, Dipper?”

He finds himself hyperventilating and looks away from both the statue and Danny, which the other teen seemingly takes as an answer. Dipper forces himself to take in deep breaths and get his heart rate to calm but it’s just so difficult.

(It’s just a statue, he’s gone, he can’t hurt you anymore-

The nightmares beg to differ.)

He forces his chin up to stare at Danny, who walks closer slightly, examining the weathering remains of a particular dream demon-

(‘Don’t think about it’, he tells himself, and it’s so hard to listen but he almost manages it.)

Danny kicks one of the pebbles closer to the stone, staring at the statue down at his feet. “Looks like a fuckin’ dorito,” he says, a deadpan expression on his face. He reaches down to poke at it-

“Don’t touch that!”

The words spill out of his mouth before he can realize it, his breath catching and he suddenly discovers his whole body is tense, one arm reached out to Danny with one foot forward slightly as well.

Danny gives him a confused look, eyebrows raised slightly, and raises his arms up and backs away from the stone triangle sitting ever so innocently on the yellowing grass. He telegraphs his movements to Dipper so he knows that he’s moving away. (He almost appreciates it, but he’s also passed the bring of a panic attack, so oh well.) The boy tosses another look at the statue before heading towards Dipper’s side, a question so obviously wanting to be asked.

Instead, the boy lets out a small sigh, settling for, “are you okay, Dipper?”

“Ye-Yeah,” Dipper manages to choke out. Danny looks at him with that suspicious look, and the shorter teen knows that he sees through the lie.

“Are you sure?” Danny asks again, this time less casual and more serious in a way. (Almost as if he’s used to talking people down from panic attacks- perhaps including himself.)

“I’m just- That statue-” Dipper stammers, his brain failing to give him the words needed to express his dread. “It gives me the creeps, just. . . just get away from it,” he settles on, the words tense and ‘don’t ask’ behind them. “Please.”

(Danny knows it’s not the whole truth, but it’s enough to get him to understand the hidden warning behind the words.)

Danny still has an unconvinced expression, but mutters, “okay,” and it floods relief over Dipper. He’s more than ready to get away from that harrowing figure sinking into the dirt.

Danny doesn’t press, and Dipper’s thankful for that.

“Let’s just find that ghost,” Danny says, dragging his feet along the forest floor and walking away from the figure, and Dipper can’t find it in himself to refuse.

He casts one last glance at the statue, swiftly turning away and shutting his eyes, heaving a breath with his heavy lungs. He treads forward, flanking Danny as he says, “Y-Yeah, let’s go.”

Chapter Text

“Uh, if I- If I can ask? Why’d you listen to me about that?”

(With that Dusk 2 Dawn adventure with all of Wendy’s friends, he’s far too familiar with the concept of older teens refusing to listen to him.)

This inquiry comes from Dipper. He’s fiddling slightly with his hands, eyes darting around nervously. The shiver that runs through his body is not from the cold- it’s quite hot out today. He takes a gulp of sharp summer air and Danny hums questioningly, a hidden ‘whadd’ya mean by that?’ behind it. Dipper continues to fidget with his hands, his eyes trailing along the ground.

“Y’know, why’d you- how come you didn’t even ask me why ?” He asks, eyes having settled on the grass underneath his feet. “Or-Or like try- try and grab it or something?”

Danny is quiet for a moment. Dipper can’t see his face but can feel his gaze burning into the back of his head.

“When someone warns you, you have to pay attention,” Danny says, his voice fairly quiet but certain.

It makes Dipper stop in his tracks for a second, and then he rushes forward to match pace with the other boy. “Wh-what?” Dipper stammers. He isn’t really sure what else to say.

“Gravity Falls is pretty crazy,” Danny mutters, kicking a rock idly and sending it straight into the roots of a tree. “Back home things are crazy too, so you have to be careful. You’ve been here longer than I have, so I’ll listen to you.”

“I guess,” Dipper stammers, dragging his feet a little bit.

Hey, cheer up Dipper,” Danny says, a mischievous grin on his face. “No need to be so stony faced, dude.”

It makes Dipper groan a little, but he still huffs a small laugh. He appreciates the attempt at cheering him up, even if it didn’t work too well.

“Hey, don't take my jokes for granite, I'm doing my best. Just be a bit boulder. C’mon, you can do it,” Danny’s grin hasn’t faltered, and he elbows Dipper in the forearm, making him jerk his hand up and rub it.

(It’s slightly difficult to grasp onto Danny’s reasoning. Dipper’s so used to people ignoring him altogether, be it on the street in passing or when he speaks up and people dismiss him. Though it does make sense- if Danny’s hometown is as wild as he claims it to be, visiting another hotspot for weirdness would make him cautious. Tourists would want to listen to the locals if they want to avoid getting hurt.

If only Wendy’s friends were the same.)

Dipper’s eyes trail the ground, his tongue stuck out slightly. (He doesn’t see Danny awkwardly slide his hands in his pockets and look away, the grin dropping from his face.) Dipper sighs, sliding his own hands into his vest pockets.

(He’s glad Danny understands. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if Danny had touched that statue.

Danny is peculiar, that’s for sure. But Dipper’s finally beginning to warm up to the notion that maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.)

“C’mon, guys!”

It’s a shout off in the distance. The slight high pitch, lilt and lisp easily define it as Mabel, and Dipper raises his head, sliding his hands out of his pockets. “D’ya think she’s okay?” He finds himself asking, and Danny gives him a slight worried glance.

“Coming!” Danny shouts in return, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder. He then drops his hands down to rest slack by his hips, and Dipper gives him a quick glance. He nods, saying. “She’s not dead yet.”

(It’s not entirely reassuring.)

“And hey, if she is, that means we found a ghost,” Danny says, and Dipper gasps. “Wait- sorry, that was the wrong thing to say. I shouldn’t have. She’s fine, I promise.”

Dipper relaxes slightly, still a bit tense, and trots up to meet his sister.

(‘I’ll make sure of it’, Danny thinks. ‘It’s the least I can do’.)

The unease sitting in his gut surely won’t be leaving anytime soon, he knows. But Dipper still wants to enjoy this outing as much as he can, try to learn some new stuff about ghosts and record his findings, and who knows? Maybe he’ll have some fun while he’s at it.

If he doesn’t, then he’ll make sure everyone else does. It’s the least he can do.

Danny pushes a few branches out of the path, holding it up so that Dipper doesn’t hit his head. He slinks forward, eyes on the area where he assumes Mabel’s voice came from. As they get closer, he can make out the back of a sunny sweater partially obscured by wavy, bushy hair. She currently faces away from them, leaning over slightly, hidden behind a bush.

Dipper rushes forward, raising a hand to wave at his sister, saying, “hey, Mabel-”

“SSSSHHHH!”

Well, alright then.

Mabel huffs, then sitting down a little and putting her weight on her knees. Her sweater bunches around her waist, and she turns her head back.

Danny gives a glance to Dipper, who simply shrugs, an equally confused expression on his face. Getting no answers, he looks around for Mabel's cause of insistent silence, and his eyes catch on a figure hidden in the gnarly roots of a tree.

Sitting tensely, paws driven close towards herself, is a small raccoon with a soft blue aura drifting around it. There’s a low echoey growl humming in the back of her throat, dark eyes locked onto Mabel’s wide grin.

Dipper steps forward cautiously to join Mabel in sitting on the grass, quickly pulling out a notebook and pencil and scribbling down notes. Danny gives a quick glance at the twins, and then sits down cross-legged on the ground, leaning over slightly with his hands in his lap.

Mabel’s eyes don’t leave the raccoon, and Danny’s almost sure he sees stars in her eyes. Her face is the pure embodiment of excitement, and she seems like her entire life has changed- quite dramatic for seeing a ghost raccoon. (Then again, she had said she’s never seen a ghost.)

“It’s just so cute ,” Mabel stage-whispers to Danny, her voice going high. “We even match!” She tugs on the hem of her sweater, pulling it out to display a sky blue raccoon sewn in the middle.

Huh, what a coincidence.

The raccoon tenses in Danny’s peripheral vision when Mabel attempts to crawl slowly towards her, and he throws an arm in front of her. “Wait a minute,” he says, and Mabel gives an indignant squeal.

Danny glances over at the raccoon, raising his other hand to hold a finger over his mouth. He jerks his head in the direction of the ghost, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“She’ll run off if we’re not careful,” he explains, his voice low. “Here, lemme try something.”

Mabel pauses, curious of what he’ll do. She hesitantly backs up a little, giving a glance between Danny and the raccoon. Dipper sits next to her, pen pausing over the paper in his lap.

Danny slowly steps toward the wary creature, hand stretched out carefully. Instead of reaching out to sniff it, she crouches down a little, making her growl louder defensively.

The kids both watch expectantly, but Danny is getting nowhere like this.

Quickly glancing back at the twins, he makes sure that they can’t see his hand from this angle, and makes a split second decision.

What’s the harm in using his powers, just a little bit?

He takes a slow breath, channeling some ghostly energy into his palm. It creates a small ball of ectoplasm that glows faintly against his hand, and he knows his eyes are glowing their acidic green as well. Neither twins comment on it so he assumes they haven’t noticed.

He crouches, putting his knee on one of the tree roots and offering his hand out for the little raccoon to sniff. He makes sure to angle his body away from the twins so they don’t see his display of his powers. She’s still very tense, body drawn together and bristling tail straight in the air, but she does lean forward warily to catch a scent of ectoplasm.

Danny sighs, relieved, and then dispels the energy into air and it makes the raccoon glow slightly, before she relaxes and butts her head against his jeans, much like an affectionate house cat. A slight smile slides onto his face, and he pets a hand through her frigid fur gently, using the other hand to gesture to the twins.

Dipper tucks his notebook under his arm, pushing brush away and Mabel hops forward, an awed expression on her face. Dipper follows, pencil tucked behind his ear and a slight grin adorning his face as well.

“How’d you do that?” Mabel breathes in an awestruck tone, watching Danny continue to pet the small ghost down at his feet.

Once Dipper is close enough, he sits on one of the roots and opens his journal back up, vehemently jotting down information. Dipper’s focus seems to be mainly on his notes, but Danny can see the hint of excitement and wonder sparkling in his eyes.

“Experience, I guess,” Danny responds, running another hand through the raccoon’s cerulean fur. He then raises his hand off her, making the ghost let out a small sound in dismay. “D’ya guys wanna pet her?”

“Do I!” Mabel gasps, and Dipper nods along with her.

Danny picks her up, making her dark eyes dart up in surprise as he offers her over to the wide-grinned brunette.

“Ah! She’s so chilly!” Mabel remarks as soon as she’s in her arms, but instantly wraps her arms around the ghost and pets her gently, giving her a nuzzle under the chin. Her grin is still wide, her braces glinting in the raccoon’s soft glow.

“Yeah,” Danny laughs for a second. “Ghosts don’t really have bodies to help them stay warm, so they are pretty cold.”

“Can I pet her, too?” Asks Dipper, eyes eager and his notebook and pencil back in his bag.

“Fine,” Mabel says begrudgingly, handing the raccoon over to him gently.

Along with Mabel, the boy gives a little shiver when she’s put in her arms but still gets used to her temperature rather quickly. He has a fond smile on his face, hand gently petting her fluffy body. She snaps at him with sharp teeth when he touches her tail, but he jerks his hand back and then rubs her head. She calms, a deep resonating purr echoing from her throat.

“What are you gonna name her?” Dipper asks, giving said raccoon a rub behind the ears.

“Mary Magnificent?” Mabel crows, making Dipper wrinkle his nose a little.

“Where did that even come from?” He asks.

“Rainbow Sprinkle Honeykins?” She grins, joining Dipper in petting her. She then pauses, her body filling up with energy. “Ooh, I know! Queen Fluffy Kitten Sparkles!”

(Even the little raccoon seems to wrinkle her nose at the suggested names.)

“Mabel, those names are horrible,” Dipper says, rolling his eyes.

“Like you could think of anything better!” Mabel retorts, huffing and sticking her tongue out.

“I promise you I could come up with something better than ‘Fluffy Kitten Sparkles’.”

Mabel gasps in offense, raising her sleeve up to her mouth. “That’s Queen Fluffy Kitten Sparkles to you,” she says, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes a little. She takes the unnamed raccoon from Dipper’s arms, holding her up to gaze into her eyes with a contemplative expression, lips pursed. She bites her lip dorkishly, turning her around to Danny. “Whadd’ya think, Danny? Any name ideas?”

(He ponders for a second, thinking about when he researched synonyms to the word ghost.)

"How about Catori?" He says, because he's a little shit like that.

(Yes, Catori means spirit.)

Mabel turns the raccoon in her arms around to stare into her dark beady eyes again, almost as if to see if the name suits her. “Catori?” She asks, more trying the word out on her tongue than confirmation. “Hmm, I like it! It’s cute, and has the word cat in it!” She giggles, raising the gho- Catori a little higher.

Catori seems to be content with the name, letting out a satisfied trill and wagging her tail a little.

“Thanks for the name, Danny!” Mabel chirps, hugging the blue raccoon tighter.

“No problem,” Danny responds, a slight smile on his face as well. He hides a cough in his elbow, a hint of frost cascading over his skin before dissipating.

The naming ceremony over, Mabel takes a seat down on the ground with Catori snuggled up in her lap. Danny rests his cheeks on his hands, laying down and kicking his legs. Dipper is cross-legged, his notebook back in his lap and peppering questions about ghostly animals over to Danny, who does his best to answer.

Mabel has a wide grin on her face, petting the small raccoon in her lap while she adds her own opinions into the conversation. Dipper never seems to lose inspiration for more questions to ask, continuously jotting down notes.

Dipper flips his notebook open to a blank page, his pen hovering over the paper. “Do ghost animals need to eat?” He asks, ready to jot down more notes. “Do ghosts even need sustenance?”

Danny thinks for a moment, his eyes looking up to the side at some leaves that are drifting down to the forest floor. “Well, a lot of ghosts just stay in the Ghost Zone and feed off the ectoplasm around them,” he explains, biting his tongue a little in thought. “They don’t really need to eat, they kinda just absorb it.

“Ghosts that choose to roam earth though, have to find sources of ectoplasm here. Or they can eat human food or occasionally return to the Ghost Zone to recover energy.” He ponders for a second, squinting his eyes and moving his hand to his chin. “Though, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure most ghosts get sick from human food. It’s kinda like eating stuff you’re allergic to- it works for the time being, but it doesn’t agree with your system.”

“Are there other things?” Dipper says, pausing from his note-taking. “I would’ve thought there were more.”

Mabel lets out a snort while pets Catori, who has moved to lay in her lap. “Might just be the ghost stuff you’re researching, bro-bro. The internet has corrupted what you think is real!” She grins mischievously, having made her voice spooky- or at least attempting, which means she failed.

“Like you haven’t had your fair share of internet diving,” Dipper retaliates, rolling his eyes. “I’m nowhere near a scientist yet, but I can say you definitely can’t change your eye color to pink by drinking a gallon of Kool-Aid.”

Mabel gasps dramatically, holding a hand to her chest in mock-offense. “You don’t know that, you haven’t tried!”

“But you have.”

Mabel groans, looking off to the side and crossing her arms. “Shut up, Dipper,” she says, but both boys know she’s joking.

Danny chokes out a laugh, and reaches out to give Catori a nuzzle. “You’re not wrong about there being other ways for ghosts to get food, though,” he says, and Dipper sits up straight.

“Like what?” Dipper says, ready to begin writing again.

“The ones I just said are the most common ones, but there are some other ways. Some ghosts can intake energy a certain way exclusive to them. But for ghostly animals, they usually eat smaller non-sentient ghosts. They don’t really need it, it’s more out of habit from their times as actual animals.”

“Cannibalism!” Mabel breathes, giving Catori a weird glance.

“It’s not terribly common, though,” Danny interjects. “Most of the time, ghosts will just take energy from regular ectoplasm.”

Dipper has his pencil on the paper and is about to ask another question when there’s a little rustle in the bushes, and Ford pops out with a bag on his back and a soft smile on his face.

Mabel gets up immediately, dropping Catori right in front of Danny and he gives her a soft pet while Mabel attacks Ford with a hug.

“Grunkle Ford!” Mabel shouts, a relieved grin on her face.

The man places a hand on her head. “Sorry I took so long, kids,” he chuckles. “Apparently Waddles got into our lunches, and well, you can put two and two together.”

Mabel sniffs the air and rummages in the backpack, pulling out four paper bag lunches. She licks her lips, opening the one with her name on the front and handing off the other two to Dipper and Danny.

“Thank Clockwork, I was so hungry,” Danny says as he bites into his sandwich, gaining a weird glance from Dipper. Catori jerks up and tries to take a bite and Danny raises it up with a laugh. “You can’t have this, girl. It’ll just make you sick.”

The raccoon pouts, and Ford gives her a confused glance.

Mabel pauses, having already devoured her PB&J. “Oh, we found a ghost! Her name’s Catori and she loves to cuddle!” She then looks down at her hands, and realizing she hasn’t thanked him yet, she chirps, “Thanks for the food!”

Danny snorts at that, taking another bite of his sandwich and Ford glances at Catori for a split second with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

“Good job,” Ford then says, a proud grin adorning his face. “This will help exponentially in our studies.” He gives a pat on Dipper’s shoulder, making him swell in happiness.

“Thanks, Great Uncle Ford!” Dipper says, an actually happy expression on his face for the first time that day. “Mabel was the first to find it, she saw it on the ghost detector and ran off to find it then Danny helped us get closer to her. Now I’m just writing down notes!”

He picks up his journal and turns it around, offering it to his uncle.

“Let’s review that later, Dipper,” Ford says, and reaches over to pet Catori, when her tail bushes and she growls. “How do I get her to trust me?”

Dipper sets his pencil down on the grass, instructing him on how to gain Catori’s trust, with occasional assistance from Danny.

Having calmed from the new ‘threat’, Catori relaxes and pushes her head into the palm of Ford’s hand, eager to gain more pets. She’s almost immediately done however and returns to Mabel and Danny’s gentle hands.

Danny continues to inhale his lunch while Dipper slowly chews on his turkey sandwich while reading over his notes, trailing the text with his pencil. Mabel sticks a few carrots in her mouth, finishing them off with a satisfying crunch and starting on her gummy bears next.

Mabel continues to pepper question after question at Dipper, asking him more things about what he wrote down and Dipper answers with long elongated summaries.

Throughout it all, Catori doesn’t move off of her spot curled up in Danny’s arm.

Mabel is ecstatic at her inclination to stick around, and while Dipper and Ford are not as excited everyone is glad to have her around. Danny himself likes having a benevolent nearby to relax with.

He snuggles her, rubbing his nose into her belly fur and then choking on a cough, a small wisp of frost exiting his mouth. He jerks back to cover his cough with his left arm, and no one says a thing.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the first thing Dipper does is pull out his papers again.

It’s fairly early, the clock reading at about 8:10 with soft beams of light peeking through the isosceles window into the decently lit attic. The lamp sits off to the side, turned off and various pencils and pens sitting on the base. The papers are more organized today, ordered chronologically.

He pushes back in his chair with his feet, glancing over his shoulder at Mabel’s empty bed. It’s wrinkled and has a set of clothes hanging over the foot, Catori snuggled up on said clothes in a ball and Waddles half-asleep on the pillow.

Mabel stumbles into the room on unsteady limbs, swaying back and forth, a toothbrush in her mouth and a frizzy mess on her scalp. She probably hadn’t dried her hair with the hair dryer. She sits down next to Catori, who nuzzles her and Mabel gives off a giggle, but moves her from her spot and Catori trills in disappointment.

Mabel slips on her red skirt, pulling on her sweater over a sports bra. Catori rubs her head against Mabel’s ankle, and she says, “I’m getting dressed. Go bug Dipper!”

Catori does so, hopping up on the desk and sitting on an open notebook. Because of course she does. And then she butts her head against Dipper’s arm, and he laughs a little before giving her a nuzzle.

“Are you gonna do that all day?” Mabel says, tying a red ribbon through her hair. “Catori has the right idea, you need a break.”

“Actually, yeah,” Dipper says, picking Catori up and plopping her in her lap to which she objects and climbs back on the desk. “Aw, c’mon.”

“It’s Saturday!” Mabel says, and drags Dipper out of his chair, sending the old furniture to the floor. It leaves a bruise on Dipper’s shin, and Mabel mumble a quick “Sorry!” before she rummages through a drawer and tests the matching ribbon up against Catori’s fur.

She grins and ties it gently around the raccoon’s neck, it fitting like a collar. The big red ribbon dwarfs her head, sitting on the left side.

“Whadd’ya think, Dip-dip?” She chirps, turning around a little. Her hands are clasped together behind her while she leans forward a little, bouncing on her feet.

“It actually looks good. It fits her,” Dipper says, giving her a rub behind the ear. He hisses when he pulls his legs up, accidentally bonking it against the floor. “Think I’ll find a wrap bandage downstairs?”

“Okay!” Mabel cheers, pulling Catori up around the belly and sticks her in her sweater. The small raccoon almost immediately pops her head out, bright grey eyes eagerly watching her surroundings. “Look at my belly! I’m carrying a baby!”

(Well, it’s technically true.)

Waddles hops up from ‘his’ pillow, plopping himself down at Mabel’s feet with an indignant squeal, and it makes her giggle.

“Don’t worry, Waddles!” Mabel reassures, leaning over to give him a kiss on the forehead. Catori steels herself at the movement. “I haven’t forgotten about you.”

Waddles oinks in content, sitting down on her bare feet and Mabel gives him a pat on the head.

She stands up straight, and looks at Dipper, an excited grin on her face like always. “Now get on some decent clothes,” Mabel cheers, raising her arms to the sky, “we’re going out and we’re gonna have fun!”

Dipper glances down at his clothes with a blank expression. “This is what I always wear, though,” he deadpans.

“You know what I meant.”

Apparently, Mabel’s idea of ‘going out’ is visiting the arcade.

The sun is somewhere in the east, bright and shedding warm light down on the roofs. It’s partly cloudy today, the sky a mottle of blue and white, with occasional birds on a flight throughout the sky. It’s vaguely hard to see, but Danny’s eyes had adjusted quite a while ago. The atmosphere is a little colder despite the sun, compared to Illinois, but it doesn’t bother him much with his ice core.

The light masks the glow of the slanted ‘ARCADE’ sign on the side of the building, a concrete slab with brick around the bottom. There’s a rocket ride off to the side, and a bright orange sign resting behind the door reads ‘open’.

Catori is nestled up in Danny’s hair, her nose buried in the black scruffy curls. (He isn’t entirely sure why he’s here, he was just dragged along by Mabel and Catori jumped up on his head and now they’re here.)

Dipper has a yellowing bruise sitting on his shin, a slight grimace on his face. His cap is pulled down a little to shield from the bright sky. Mabel leans on him, a smirk resting on her face and a red ribbon tied around her head.

Danny scuffs his foot against the sidewalk, eyes down to take his gaze off the blue sky. Catori digs her claws in tighter to get a better grip but it doesn’t hurt, instead a slight tickling sensation. She seems a little tense.

Dipper walks forward and opens the door for Danny and Mabel, and Danny pauses in hitting his shoe against the concrete to walk forward.

Except Catori doesn’t like that. She jumps off Danny’s head immediately, claws digging into the sidewalk and on all fours. Her fur bushes, attempting to look threatening. “ First Human ”, Catori hisses, static growing more warbled and her aura brightening.

Danny steps back instinctively, eyes catching on her. “She seems uncomfortable,” Danny says to the others, tilting his head but his gaze still on Catori.

Mabel squats, her hands drifting towards Catori. She runs a hand through her fur, attempting to smooth it down. “Are ya alright, girl?” She says quietly, surprisingly solemn.

All she gets in answer is another growl, and Danny doesn’t really know what it means.

Mabel glances at the door, heaving Catori into her arms and taking a step back from the building. Her fur goes down a little, but her ears are still pressed against her head and her aura is still bright. “I’ll stay with her,” Mabel mutters, giving Catori a nuzzle behind her ears.

“But you were the one who wanted to go to the arcade!” Dipper says, giving his sister a bewildered glance. He fiddles with his vest zipper, unsure of what else to do.

“Meh,” Mabel says, shrugging as much as she can with a raccoon in her arms. “I wanted to cuddle with her some more anyway.”

Danny sighs, giving a concerned glance to the agitated raccoon. “You’ll be okay, right?” He mutters under his breath in Ghost Speak, and he can’t catch if Catori responds. He pushes the door open instead, Dipper pausing to give the girls a glance too before trotting in.

The building is bigger than it seems on the outside. There’s a tiled floor underneath his sneakers that gives way to green carpet as he walks, countless arcade games lining the walls and various people huddled around different games. The only windows are in the front, which opens up the walls to more games. Some of them he recognizes, but most of them he doesn’t.

There’s a money converter sitting off to the side by the snack counter, a sign dangling over it that reads ‘get your coins here!’ It’s not terribly big, and a few paper cups sit on the side for people who want to keep their coins in one place.

Dipper pulls out his wallet, a worn leather thing with tears at the sides. He fishes out a two-dollar bill, turning to Danny. “D’ya have money?” Dipper asks, and Danny checks his jeans pockets.

“No,” he responds, irritated at the fact.

Dipper puts the two dollar bill back in, rummaging through and pulling out a bill that Danny doesn’t recognize. “What’s that?” He asks, pointing at the dollar that. . . Is that a -12 sign?

“It’s worthless,” Dipper says, immediately shoving it back into his wallet. He successfully finds a five dollar bill and slides it into the machine, and it beeps and spills 20 golden coins out at the bottom. Dipper then grabs one of the paper cups, dropping the 20 coins in. “We’ll share.”

“Nah, can I have mine?” Danny says, and Dipper shrugs and spills 10 into his palms. Danny shoves them in his jeans pocket.

“What do you like to play?” Dipper asks, and it makes Danny pause for a second.

“Battle royale games, I guess,” he says, scuffing his feet on the green carpet. “Shooter games are fun too.”

Dipper points out a deer shooting game, stepping carefully around an older one-on-one fighting game. “How about that one?”

Needless to say, Danny easily wins the round. And the one after that.

(It’s a bit harder because he’s used to shooting with his hands alone, but he does have experience with ectoguns and just has overall good aim.)

“Hey, can we take a turn on that?”

Danny turns around and is met with a red-headed teen, a lumberjack hat sitting on her head and wearing a green plaid shirt. When Dipper meets eyes with her, he goes red a little, and steps back.

“Yeah, sure!” Danny cheers, and this teen steps forward and picks up a gun.

The friend next to her has dark violet hair, likely dyed, with a pink streak running through it. She’s typing on her phone.

“Hey, Wendy? Uh, how ya doing?” Dipper says, clearly nervous.

“I’m doing good,” she says in between shooting a buck. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Dipper chirps.

Danny finds the sudden shift in attitude rather jarring, as the Dipper he'd gotten to know previously seemed far different from the one he's witnessing now. He chooses not to comment on it though.

“Oh, who’s your friend?” Wendy says, her score getting higher every second. “I haven’t seen him around before.”

“I’m Danny,” Danny says. “I’m kinda just here for a little while, and then I’m home again.” (Well, he’s actually not quite sure about that part.)

“Oh, cool!” Wendy grins, and the game is over. She puts the gun down, sliding it into the slot. “Hey, where’s Mabel?”

Dipper points his head to the door. “She’s outside. We found a raccoon, but she got scared when we went in so Mabel’s staying outside with her.”

“Oh yeah,” the other teen says (honestly, he’d forgotten she was there), “remember when we rehabilitated that injured raccoon when we were kids?”

Wendy snaps her fingers, clicking her tongue. “Yeah, I remember that. It couldn’t stay with me because of my brothers, and shit. What happened to it, by the way?”

“It ran away for some reason,” the teen replies shortly, still typing furiously on her phone.

(‘Wait a minute’, Dipper thinks.)

“What’d it look like?” Dipper asks, and Danny looks at him for a second.

“How the fuck do you expect me to remember that?” The teen deadpans. “I was like, 8.”

“Though, wasn’t it hella chubby? Like it ate a lot. And it had these gray eyes and stuff.” Wendy offers, slipping another 2 coins into the game.

“Yeah, guess so.” The purple-haired teen nods her head unenthusiastically.

“Hey, doesn’t that sound kinda like Catori?” He says to Dipper, and said kid pales.

Dipper grabs him by the sleeve, dragging him out of the arcade.

“We still had 16 coins left,” Danny pouts.

“What does it take for animals to turn into ghosts?” Dipper asks, his face contorted in an emotion Danny can’t identify.

Danny pauses at the unexpected question. “Well, all ghosts run by an Obsession that keeps them on earth. Typically for animals, they have to have a traumatizing life and when they die their so called purpose is unfulfilled. Or whatever.”

“D’ya think that Tambry might’ve neglected her raccoon?”

(Ah, Tambry must be the name of that girl.) “I mean, maybe?” Danny shrugs. “We can’t really know for sure.”

(Though it’s fairly likely.)

Mabel is sitting around the corner, her sweater rubbed up against cement wall. Catori sits in her lap comfortably, curled up into a ball and her small paws pressed on her snout. Her fur is still bristled, but when she smells Danny approach, it flattens slightly.

“Still dunno why she did that,” Mabel mutters, running a hand through her fur. “But she seems better now.”

“She could’ve been spooked by something here,” Danny says, glancing off to the side. “Seemed like it at least.”

There’s a beat.

“Uh, why don’t we head back to the Mystery Shack? She’d probably prefer that.”

No one objects.

Tall douglas fir trees loom over the trio, the sun sending heat through the passing clouds. They’re all walking through dirt paths, ridden with sticks and the occasional root. The sky is more clear than it was an hour ago, along with the sun higher in the sky, but thankfully they’re shielded from the heat by the trees.

Mabel has an uneasy Catori nestled in her arms, her tail dangling along with her head pressed against the brunette’s chest. Dipper is a few feet away, glancing over at the girls in concern, but Mabel only offers a slight shrug, suggesting she’s just as confused as he is.

(Danny bites his lip, kicking a certain rock in front of him a few feet every other second. He isn’t really sure what to say, instead keeping his mouth shut and aimed down at the ground. He turns his head for a quick glance at the twins, Catori letting out an anxious trill.

He still doesn’t quite understand why Catori reacted that way. To be fair, he doesn’t think any of them do.)

The dirt path gives way to gravel as they make their way up the driveway and to the clearing that doubles as a parking lot. The light here is more open with not as many trees surrounding them. The wooden cabin peers into view as they turn the corner, and everyone simply walks calmly up the front steps.

Danny, being in the front, opens the door and Mabel gives a nod to him as she walks through the doorway and he follows her. Dipper shuts the door behind him, and they walk down the hallway and Dipper’s eyes land on two familiar people playing cards at the rickety dining room table.

Taking the dirt ridden stony path through the forest, the group soon reaches the familiar wooden cabin. They all silently make their way up the creaky stairs and into the house. 

Entering through the screen door, Dipper glances around the area for their uncles, eyes landing on two people sitting at the dining table, playing cards.

“Read ‘em and weep, sixer!” Stan barks triumphantly, splaying his cards face up in the pattern of a royal flush.

“We’re playing Go Fish, Stanley,” Ford deadpans, but the grin tugging at his lips betrays his amusement.

Stan huffs, looking at his hand of cards again. “Ugh, really?” He grumbles.

Ford chuckles, and Dipper pops his head around the doorway, and Ford seems to perk up.

“Why, hello kids!” Ford says, shuffling the deck of cards in his hands. Stan gives them a quick wave as well.

“Hey kids,” Stan adds with a nod, and makes a ‘gimme’ gesture with his hands. Ford hands him the deck. “You’re back early.”

The action earns a hardy chuckle from Ford and soon after, he notices the three figures standing by the doorway.

"Well, hello kids!" Ford greets as he shuffles his deck of cards. Stan turns around as well, waving at them easily.

"Hi, kiddos." He adds with a nod before snatching the cards from Ford's hands to continue shuffling them.

The man turns his body fully towards the kids now, "I hope you had a pleasant outing." 

To this, Dipper feels himself frown, looking towards the raccoon next to him in Mabel's arms. He sees the other two wear expressions of unease as well.

Ford seems to notice this and his smile drops slightly "What happened?" He asks.

Dipper winces "We went to the arcade but Catori kinda freaked out." He explains "She didn't want to go inside for some reason, hissing at the entrance with her fur all poofed up."

"Yeah, I've never seen her act like that before." Mabel admits, still petting Catori soothingly. 

She neglects to mention the fact they've only known Catori for a day or so but Dipper doesn't say anything.

Ford hums, eyes narrowing slightly, "That does sound concerning." He mutters "Do you think we could take Catori downstairs to see if she's alright?"

The three nod, Mabel and Danny seemingly more hesitant. Ford then gets up from his spot, motioning for the kids to follow him to the lab.

They reach the vending machine, (Danny looking incredibly confused), and Ford begins to punch in the password, each number sounding with a slight beep. From beside himself, Dipper sees Catori's hair rise in Mabel's arms. His sister's eyes widen when she notices it as well and decides to voice the observation.

"Um, grunkle Ford?" Mabel says, trying to gain her uncle's attention while he heaves the entrance to the lab open.

Ford doesn't hear her.

"I really should oil the hinges on this thing." Ford muses under his breath while the metallic door creaks open. 

Catori continues to bristle, a low growl in the back of her throat sounding similarly to when they'd first met her. Her teeth are bared slightly and the kids' warnings grow more urgent.

"Great uncle Ford, wait-" Dipper attempts, but it's too late.

Once the door to the lab is wide open, Catori is out of Mabel's arms in a flash, causing the girl to exclaim in surprise. The raccoon's nails click against the hardwood as she runs up the stairs, fur puffed up in fear.

"Catori!" Mabel shouts, running after her.

Danny follows quickly as well, sending an apologetic glance towards Ford as he heads upstairs.

Dipper looks back to his uncle who wears a shocked but concerned expression on his face. "I'm- Sorry for frightening Catori, Dipper." Ford apologizes "If I knew she'd react like that-"

Dipper cuts in to interrupt Ford's thoughts, "It's not your fault, Great Uncle Ford. None of us knew Catori wouldn't like the lab." Dipper says "She was on edge earlier, we should've postponed it until later."

Ford looks unconvinced but before Dipper can say anything else, the man sighs.

"You should go check on her with Danny and your sister." Ford suggests "I would but I don't think she'd be too happy to see me."

Dipper nods in confirmation, running up the worn stairs in a rush. He leaves his great uncle downstairs to shut the lab door alone. 

When Danny reaches the top of the steps, he carefully nudges open the door to the twins' room. He's met with the sight of Mabel laying flat on the ground by Dipper's bed, belly side down, head propped up on her bent arms.

Waddles is sitting up on the other side of the room atop Mabel's bed. He's watching Mabel from his spot wearily.

Danny can hear a faint static like noise filling his ears as he gets closer to Dipper's bed and can only assume it's coming from Catori.

"C'mon girl, it's alright." Mabel soothes from her spot on the floor, "No need to be scared, grunkle Ford would never hurt you!" 

Danny kneels down onto the carpet beside Mabel, laying down similarly to her. Underneath the bed, Catori sits curled up in a ball, striped tail wrapping around herself defensively. Her blue toned glow illuminates the corner she presses herself against, glassy grey eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"No matter what I try, she won't budge." Mabel whines quietly.

She sighs and sits up, legs criss-crossed "I'm really worried about her."

Danny nods as well as he can in his position, "Yeah, me too."

Right after this, Dipper rushes into the attic, stopping in the doorway. His eyes lock onto the two on the floor, then darting to his bed.

"Is Catori okay?" He asks, walking over to Danny and Mabel, both of whom shrug.

"She's just scared." Danny says, "We should give her some space."

Mabel and Dipper both listen, backing away from Dipper's bed to sit on Mabel's cot. Mabel sits down beside Waddles, scratching his chin in an attempt to help him settle slightly.

"I'm gonna see if she'll listen to me, if not we'll let her come out on her own time." Danny tells the twins as he leans back down.

Settling to the floor, he lays his chin on a hand while reaching his other out to Catori. Instead of sniffing it like he'd hoped, the static becomes instantly louder and she instead extends her claws to slash at Danny in fear, leaving a small gash on the back of his hand.

Danny hisses through his teeth, pulling back his right hand to inspect the wound. It's about three inches wide but isn't very deep, it'll probably take an hour or so to heal at the most.

"Danny!" Mabel and Dipper exclaim.

"Are you okay?" Mabel asks, looking at his hand.

Danny nods as he shakes his arm a bit while he stands, "Yeah, I'm alright. Nothing I can't handle."

Mabel is about to speak up again but there's a whimper from under the bed. This catches their attention immediately, all eyes turning to the floor.

The white noise from earlier is gone, instead replaced with a quiet shuffling sound. A small cerulean colored head pokes out from under the bed slowly, a slight trill coming from her mouth.

Danny's expression softens as he leans down slowly, crouching close to the bed.

"Be careful, Danny." Dipper advises wearily.

Catori's apologetic eyes peer up at Danny from her spot while she trots out from underneath the bed frame, scarlet bow tugging on the wood slightly. 

"Hurt Ghost Human." She mewls, sniffing the hand rested on his thigh, "My fault, hurt Human"

Danny pats her head reassuringly, Catori's head lifting up to face him.

"It's okay, you didn't mean to." Danny says as he kneels down, running his fingers through her fur.

The raccoon follows this by crawling into Danny's lap, resting her head on his leg. Catori licks his injured hand in apology before laying back down to sleep, beginning to purr as well.

"Aww, poor Catori." Mabel coos as she rummages through her bag, "She's sorry for scratching you." 

Danny hums, still looking at the raccoon in question, "It would seem so."

There's an "Aha!" From Mabel as she pulls out a pack of brightly colored bandaids from her backpack. She selects a neon green one, slapping it on Danny's left hand when he doesn't protest the action.

He supposes it's payback for when he did the same thing at the tree stump.

Mabel also throws a blanket towards Danny, which he promptly wraps around himself. Though it's hot outdoors, his ice core keeps him chilly enough to where it's not uncomfortable. The same seems to go for Catori who snuggles into the soft cloth.

Dipper's eyes are still on Catori, examining her sleeping form in Danny's lap before speaking, "I suppose she's exhausted from today." He notes.

Mabel bobs her head in agreement, "I would be too." She plops her head onto a hand, "I still dunno why she was so terrified tho." Mabel comments, causing Danny to pause uncertainly.

"I'm not fully sure either but what we can do is be there for Catori." He says.

There aren't any words spoken from the twins but he assumes they agreed with a gesture somehow.

"Oh, by the way, Mabel." Dipper starts, "Earlier at the arcade, I think Danny and I may have found out something about Catori."

From there, Dipper tells his sister what they know, discussing what they think happened to Catori and the conversation continues from there. Danny's only focused on the animal in his lap.

Danny continues to stroke Catori's fur, hand occasionally catching on her bow. Catori shifts every few minutes but more or less remains still. He feels her content echoey purrs vibrate against himself. Regardless, Danny can't help but feel uneasy.

He hopes she'll be alright.

Ghost Human is warm.

Warm, unlike those steel enclosures that she’d used to spend her time in.

The faint scent of ectoplasm wafts around her, circling the room. She doesn’t know if it comes from Ghost Human or herself. But she doesn’t really care, all that matters right now is these three humans in this room, all giving her attention.

She likes this.

They gave her a name. Catori, it seems to be. Catori doesn’t mind the name. She’s gone all her life without one, this is her first name. It suits her.

A thick string wraps around her neck, similar to those tight collars she’d use to wear. But this one is softer and brighter, bobbing in movement instead of dragging her down. It doesn’t glow like the rest of her, but she’s fine with that.

Sweater Human is in her nest. She doesn’t know what ‘sweater’ means, but Ghost Human mentioned that ‘she likes sweaters a lot’ as he ran a hand through her fluffy fur, so she thinks it fits.

Catori can smell Smart Human but she doesn’t quite know where he is. She doesn’t care, instead burying her snout deeper into the soft blanket, letting out a satisfied trill.

Catori hurt Ghost Human. She feels bad but he doesn't seem to mind, continuing to pet her like nothing happened. Catori doesn't know why he didn't do anything to her when she scratched him but she's silently glad he hadn't. The metallic smell of blood reminds her of the incident and she nuzzles into Ghost Human's cloth further. 

Ghost Human says something in that human language of theirs, and then returns to Catori and scratches behind her ear. She doesn’t know what he’s saying, either. But at least when he speaks in that language of static and buzzing, she can understand him, so she doesn’t mind that at all.

She hears mentions of First Human during the conversation which unsettles her but the reassuring pets from Ghost Human make it easier to calm.

The only other word she can recognize is ‘Catori’, and that’s her name. She hears it in what Ghost Human says, gesturing his hand as he speaks. About her .

And that’s really all Catori wants.