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It could have been one of many things.
It could have been that time Grunkle Stan refused to take them to the beach and instead suggested they go to the pool instead. Remembering they were banned from the pool for life, he’d wordlessly set up up a dingy little inflatable pool for them in the backyard. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation (or perhaps thanks to it), the twins had ended up spending all evening outside, playing and laughing in what was essentially a well disguised puddle, all the way until Grunkle Stan had noticed they were still outside when it had gotten dark already. The night air had gotten fairly cool by then.
It could have been that time a few days later when Mabel had attempted to give Waddles a bath and had ended up flooding most of the bathroom and drenching most of her clothing and every towel upstairs in the process.
It could have been the drafty room they still shared in the Mystery Shack, combined with the way Mabel sometimes dreamt of giant dogs and donuts and dancing sweaters and talking toasters and bears in business suits and ends up kicking her covers off in the middle of the night.
It could have been been insisting on wearing summer clothing when it wasn’t always quite warm enough outside for it.
Whatever it had been, it had resulted in Mabel developing a fairly high fever and being bedridden for the past few days.
Grunkle Stan had given Dipper a painful pat on the back, announcing “Well, good luck nursing your sister back to health, kid. I’m off for a few days to meet some old war buddies and certainly not doing gambling of any kind whatsoever”.
Wendy had convinced him that her and Soos could easily mind the Shack while Dipper make sure Mabel stays in bed and hydrated.
It had gone fairly well.
Mabel slept most of the day, getting up at times to go to the (now dried) bathroom, or trying to eat whatever Dipper brought up for her. With her body being in a weakened state, Mabel’s appetite was usually missing. He made sure she was drinking enough water during the day and eating at least a few spoonfuls of porridge or soup each time. She’d joke about how he should feed her, earning a light shove and a chuckle from her caretaker.
When she looked drowsy or just said she’d try to get some sleep, Dipper would tuck her in and nervously hover around the bed until he could once more hear her breathing soften, indicating she’d fallen asleep.
He’d carefully gather any dishes and used tissues, sneak back downstairs to do dishes and laundry, planning what he could make for her for dinner or next breakfast.
He’d try to help at the Shack, but Wendy or Soos would simply turn him around at the door, so he usually ended up reading in bed, listening to his sister’s light snoring and mumblings. If she sounded like she was having a bad dream or otherwise uncomfortable, he’d get up to wipe her brow of sweat and check if she should change her PJs or pillowcase.
He caught himself almost stroking her hair while looking down at her sleeping form, silently cursing and biting the inside of his cheek before walking out of the room and slapping himself twice.
"Get a grip, you idiot"
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The next evening Mabel had woken up with a start.
She’d sat up in bed with a painful whimper that had made Dipper fling the book he’d been holding, jump out of bed and land by hers before it had even landed in the corner of the room.
His sister had been completely drenched in sweat.
Her pig patterned pajamas, her blue linen and Donald Duck pillowcase had all been completely soaked. She’d been out of breath and her eyes unfocused. When she’d realized she was in her own room her breathing had calmed down and she’d let out an unsure chuckle.
It had been two days since Mabel had showered and in her current state it slowly became apparent to the both of them she was in need of a bath.
Wendy had gone home for the night.
Her fever was still too high to be taking a shower on her own.
"Dipper?"
They both sort of knew what she was about to ask him, but she eventually voiced it out loud anyway.
"Will you.. wash my back for me?"
They both sort of knew what he would reply, but he still twiddled his fingers, coughed and then replied with a weak “Um.. uh.. s-sure”
Dipper would have to change her bedsheets, but for now he helped her into his bed, and then ran to the bathroom to prepare two buckets of warm water, some towels and soap. His mind was racing.
"I can do this. No problem. Wash her back. Nothing to it. Just slide a rag on her back for a bit and she can do the rest of herself on her own. Besides, we’ve bathed before when we were little and I’ve seen her in her bathing suit plenty of times and I mean I’m just helping her get better and there’s nothing awkward or intense or or.. uh.."
He shook his head, took on a determined face and quickly rushed back to their room carrying everything he’d prepared. He almost dropped his carry when he saw Mabel had already taken off her pajama top and was sitting with her exposed back to the door.
"O-oh god.."
She peeked at him over her shoulder and as soon as their eyes made contact, he swallowed nervously and tried to will his heart to stop pounding so deafeningly. He moved carefully to the bed, set everything down and then sat behind her.
He dipped a folded towel into warm water, rubbed a piece of her soap on it and nervously turned to look at her back. Her unwashed hair was oily and unkempt, sticking every which way. Her skin looked pale and glistened in the low lighting of the ceiling lamp. Her shoulders raised and lowered slowly in rhythm with her breathing.
Mabel looked at him again over her shoulder, biting her lower lip, and he briefly allowed himself the thought of how he’d never seen anyone so attractive in all his life. And then the moment was gone, he coughed and spoke.
"Um.. your hair"
”..Oh. Right”
She sheepishly moved her long, tangly hair over to her right shoulder, revealing her entire back to Dipper. He moved his hand forward and carefully lowered the towel to the back of her neck. He could hear her gasp ever so quietly.
"I-is it too cold?"
"No. It’s warm"
"Oh. Good"
He moved the towel in slow and gentle circles.
”.. it feels nice” she added quietly, making her brother almost drop the towel entirely.
"O-oh? Good"
He felt like a mess. He felt wretched. Mabel’s too weak to wash herself. He can’t be having these.. confusing thoughts right now. Her well-being should be his top concern right now. He concentrated on wiping her back.
"Dipper?"
"Yeah?"
”.. I had a bad dream”
"When you woke up all upset?"
”.. Yeah”
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"…"
"Hey, I mean we don’t have to. Just.. you know.. dreams can be pretty weird and vivid. It was just a dr-"
"I was in school. And I came home and there was a person I didn’t recognize there"
"A burglar?"
"No, it was like.. mom said he was my brother. And suddenly in the dream it was like you were gone"
"Gone?"
"Yeah. Like no one seemed to even know you’d ever existed. And I was the only one who remembered. And it was like you’d died in some kind of accident but no one remembered. I was the only one who knew you’d been here. Who knew what kind of person you were"
Dipper stared at the back of her head.
"It.. it was just so overwhelmingly sad. We’ve fought off so many monsters and seen so many weird things and saved who knows how many lives and solved mysteries and.. and no one would ever remember who you were.."
He could hear her voice get teary, and squeezed her shoulder with the towel.
"Well.. It was a dream. We’re both here and that’s alright. Right?"
Mabel sniffled and let out a chuckle.
"I guess so. Blargh.. sorry, it was so vivid, it was just really freaky and it was like yo this is pretty dark.."
"Yeah yeah. I am pretty cool, so it’d be a loss if I wasn’t around"
"Pffft"
There was an awkward silence, as Mabel fiddled with the ends of her hair and Dipper tried to think of something else to say.
He eventually started moving his hand again. They continued until he’d gently wiped her entire back. Then her shoulders, her arms and hands, dipping the towel back in the water every now and then and applying more soap.
Soon the air around them was a comfortable warm scented cloud of cherries and olives. Dipper found himself absentmindedly toweling his own forehead a few times, drawing out a giggle from his patient.
He took a fresh towel, dipped in clean warm water and began to wipe off the soap.
He could feel a bead of cold sweat growing on the side of his head. There’d been a shift in the mood, and everything had gone deathly silent and heavy. The ceiling felt like it had lowered a good ten inches.
Dipper realized he’d run out of skin to wipe without turning Mabel around.. and..
"Uh.. I’m.."
He lost his train of thought as his eyes drifted to the back of her neck.
Mabel looked at him again and their eyes locked once more.
"I’m.. done.. here" he continued quietly. "You can finish the uh.. um.. yeah"
Mabel blinked for a moment, looked down on herself and then back at him.
"Could.. could you do it?" she spoke soft enough that Dipper wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. He was fairly sure his cheeks couldn’t get any more redder and that those previous thoughts were now back and no longer confusing but overpowering.
"I.. uh.. me I mean s-sure if .. uh.. a-are you sure that’s a good uh.. if.. maybe.. yeah. Okay. ..what?"
And by then his sister was already turning around on the bed and facing him, her long hair still slung over her shoulder, covering her right breast and reaching all the way to her navel. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, bit her lower lip and then slid her hair back behind her.
"get a grip get a grip get a grip get a grip get a grip
wait waaait
no no no no grips
stop thinking about grips
no gripping
grip the towel
the towel is good
grip that
think about the towel
you need to focus
i mean don’t focus on.. she.. oh shit”
His eyes wandered around her tummy, till he raised them at her neck, trying instead to stare intently at her chin. He noticed his eyes were now staring at her lips and in a panic lifted them up to look at..
Her eyes looked near tears.
His sister looked more nervous than him.
Her hazel eyes had so much trust for him, but betrayed a sense of nervous hesitation, like she was willing herself to not show how scared she was.
His twin sister, his adventuring partner and the best friend he’d grown up with and known and loved from the bottom of his heart, was in front of him, more vulnerable than she’d ever let herself be for anyone. Because she was his Mabel, and he was her Dipper. He would always be her Dipper.
He felt his whole world snap into sharp focus.
"I-I’m better than this. I need to do this"
He moved his eyes to her left shoulder, swallowed, then looked back at her eyes again and gave her a reassuring smile and a nod.
Her face immediately shifted and she started radiating a relieved grin.
He relathered the towel again and gently wiped her neck and collarbones. He softly hummed the theme tune of Superforce as he stroked the towel down her sides and along her tummy, feeling her squirm and shift her feet a bit closer to his. He didn’t need to look at her face anymore to know she was grinning sheepishly just like he was.
He hesitated for one a small moment before gently cupping her left breast with the toweled hand, moving it slowly around till he was sure he’d wiped it as well as he could without completely losing his composure.
He dipped the towel in water again, carefully repeating the process on the right breast and then proceeded to wipe off the soap.
When he grabbed a fresh towel to dry her off, he silently let out a breath he hadn’t realize he’d been holding. Much to his surprise so did his sister.
He helped her out of her pajama bottoms and they both agreed without words to keep her panties on as he carefully wiped her thighs, legs, feet and between her toes, earning a little snort from Mabel. They’d have to wash her hair at a later time, when her fever’d gone down a little. The sooner she got back to sleep the better.
After helping her change into a clean pair of pajamas, he changed her sheets, eventually dragging piles of laundry and wet towels out of the room.
Returning back with a fresh glass of water and some medicine, he found his sister had fallen asleep in his bed. He smirked and observed her for a while before carefully picking her up in his arms and carrying her over to her own bed.
"I know you’re awake you goob" he whispered as he tucked her in.
"Mmmyou don’t get to call me that, you double goob" she mumbled with a sleepy smile. "…. Dipper?"
"Hm?"
"Are we cool?"
He paused for a moment at her question.
"We’ll always be cool" he responded with a warm smile as he stroked some of her hair out of her eyes and rested his forehead on hers. "I’m going to take care of you and you’re going to take care of me, and the whole world will see how cool we are"
She let out a giggle and took his hand to give a gentle squeeze before sliding back under her covers.
"Now if you don’t mind, I have a book to read"
"Sure. Wouldn’t want to get in the way of that, oh well read one"
The twins chuckled together.
He gave her forehead a gentle kiss before wishing her good night, picking up his book back from the corner it had landed in, and going back to lay in his bed.
Mabel’s fever eventually went away and for once Dipper did not become sick after her, as was usually the case.
The two never spoke of that night afterwards.
They didn’t need to.
It was in every trusting glance, every reassuring smile, every laugh, every loving hug, every joking shove and gentlest touch.
Every kiss, every smirk, every wink, every lick and tickle and poke. Every cuddle, every breath, every spoken word.
Every laced finger in two hands holding each other.