Chapter Text
Before even talking to him, Stanley had seen the man hanging around in town.
Oh, he didn't notice anything strange about him at first. It's just one of these things that stay in your mind once you see them, like that strange flower or the broken stop sign, or that weird-looking shop or whatever. Besides, despite what many claimed, Stan did need to go in town to buy -or rob, really- things, so of course he noticed things.
The man, who looked to be around thirty, was pretty normal in appearance. His hair was a reddish brown, and he was always wearing a red flannel shirt, no matter how hot or how cold the weather was. In hindsight, that was probably the first sign.
The second was that no one seemed to know his name. It may seem like a normal thing, but in a small town like Gravity Falls, everyone knew each other, whether you liked it or not. And everyone had seen that man walking in town, even talked to him, and yet no one knew his name, or where he lived, or anything like that.
After thinking about it, Stanley decided to stay away and didn't do anything. That man -kid in his eyes- wasn't doing any harm, and it wasn't his business anyway. He knew better than to poke a sleeping bear. And he had other, more important things to do.
And so the man continued to walk around town, and Stanley never interacted with him. The man popped up for months or even years and disappeared for the same length of time, and visited almost every place in Gravity Falls. But he never went to the Mystery Shack.
But then Stanley got a call from his nephew, asking to take care of his kids for the summer, and he reluctantly said yes. He didn't like the idea of kids in his shop, near the portal, but this was family and Stanley wouldn't turn them away.
The day before Dipper and Mabel's arrival, the man came to visit.
It was late, near the closing hour, when the bell rang and the man stepped into the shop with a smile. Stanley stared for a second before smiling as widely as he could, hidding his shock .
“Welcome, customer! What can I do for you?”
The man in the red flannel shirt hummed, before shrugging and smiled.
“Just seeing how things are, I guess.”
There was something in his voice, something familiar in so many ways and yet so different from everything he knew. It bothered him, but Stanley acted as normal as he could, played the part of the conman under the younger man's amused eyes.
It went on for an hour before his client spoke softly. They were at the Mystery Shack's entrance when he said, still smiling.
“Things are about to change, you know?”
He was looking right at Stanley, eyes bright, and the conman found himself at loss of what to say. The way the man was looking at him felt strange, but more so was the pride in these brown eyes. For the first time in thirty years, Stanley felt exposed, like all his secrets were as clear as daylight.
“What?” he replied numbly, and the man's smile widened. He stepped out of the shack and glanced back at him.
“It's going to be okay.” he said, and Stanley felt something in his eyes burn, “You don't have to worry.”
Stanley wondered what he was talking about, the kids, the portal or his life in general, but the man was already walking away, waving at him from the trees. He wasn't going in the town's direction, but somehow it wasn't surprising.
“Goodbye, Stanley.”
He was gone before he could yell at him. Numbly, Stanley turned towards the shack. He stayed still for a long moment, breathing, and sighed.
It's going to be okay.
He smiled.
(Maybe this town wasn't so bad, after all.)