Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“URRGH! THAT AGAIN!!”

“Grenda? What’s wrong? And where’s Candy?”

“Oh no Mabel, it’s THAT time. A WALKIE-TALKIE TIME!!!”

When Mabel returned from the toilet to join the last sleepover at Gravity Falls, she had no idea what just happened. Candy Chiu – one of her best friends in Falls along with Grenda Grendinator – was gone without a trace, leaving Grenda was terrified and alone. And she had never heard of “A Walkie-Talkie Time” before. 

Minutes ago in the floor room, both Candy and Grenda were fine. They helped clean up after Dipper and Mabel’s birthday party. A sleepover was arranged, provided the girls didn’t disturb Dipper. Mabel convinced Stan to let them borrow the more spacious attic for the sleepover. Acknowledging her past bouts of self-centeredness, Mabel was determined to relinquish the limelight and showcase her newfound consideration for others, particularly her brother. Choosing a space instead of the bedroom was the best option she could think of. Mabel even promised that she would clean up the whole room by herself.

They were supposed to enjoy the whole night in a place where they first met each other, having lots of snacks and activities brought over. 

“Grenda?” Asked Mabel. “What’s the Walkie-Talkie Time?”

“It’s Candy’s worst moment in every summer!” Grenda bellowed, still unable to shake off the fear as sizeable as the whole trio combined on her shoulder. “Every summer ever since I met her, she suddenly goes away from anything for hours. After that, she comes back with pink eyes. Pink eyes, Mabel. Pink eyes with soggy shirts. A terrible combination!

“And it’s not the worst. When she’s back, she doesn’t want to tell me what happened. She only says, ‘A Walkie-Talkie Time.’ Nothing else. She sounds hurtful. It happens completely out of the blue even when we’re happy and excited! And there’s nothing I can do. Even my SOOTHING VOICE CAN’T HELP! 

“DIE YOU MISERABLE PAIN THAT TORMENTS CANDY, DIE!!!” Shortly after that, Grenda shouted with both arms raised over the top as if she couldn’t hold her emotion anymore. “WHY CAN’T MY SOOTHING VOICE WORK WELL?? IT USUALLY WORKED FINE!!!”

“Hold on Grenda!” Mabel stopped her, holding Grenda’s muscle-packed arms tight after several moments of punching in the air. “There would be something we can do. Or, at least I can do that.” .

“Oh no, you don’t understand.” Grenda shook her head. “I don’t think she can hear you. All she does is listen to the same music again and again! And it’s loud! GRENDA LOUD!” Then, she held Mabel’s shoulder so tight that she nearly cut the blood circulation of a sugar-fueled troubleshooter with brown curls, signaling that there was nothing her friend could do to help their BFF. “You can’t. Look into my eyes.”

“No!” Mabel countered Grenda. “I’m too stubborn to give up my friend right now. Hold on!” Then, she managed to escape her friend’s extraordinarily powerful grip with well-focused tickling, making Grenda free her instantly. “I’ll be back later after finding out what happened to Candy!”

Within ten seconds, Mabel quickly disappeared into the bedroom.

“Dipper! I need your help!”

“My help?” Dipper asked, eyes widening. He was nearly finished with packing up his belongings before their departure – clothes and books all in his luggage. Mabel’s side, on the other hand, was still in a cluttered mess of glitter, yarn and other clothes.. Dipper took a quick glance at her bed. “Wait, aren’t you going to tell me to help clean up your bed?”

“No!” Mabel countered. “Candy is missing! And it’s serious! Have you seen her?”

“Oh. I saw her going downstairs a while ago. But-”

“Thanks, Dipper! “ She stormed off to the first floor.

Mabel searched through the whole Shack. She initially searched through the whole first floor including the kitchen (there were some leftovers from the birthday party) and living room (there could be a comfort show on TV, right?). Then she tried less likelier places such as the parlor, basement and the rooftop.

No Candy.

When she made it to the floor room in a desperate measure, she slowly noticed the uncomfortably heavy atmosphere around its entrance. A rocking, speedy melody consisting of electronic guitar and male vocals was gently vibrating the atmosphere surrounding her. She recognized the origin of the name a Walkie-Talkie Time; Steriogram’s Walkie-Talkie Man . She even noticed that the music was looping again and again. Kinda her comfort song, right?

And the floor room was, yes, the place where she met both Candy and Grenda! Dipper would find it weird if she chose a place to hide, but Mabel knew it was a special place for a reason. It was one of the happiest memories in Gravity Falls for Grenda and Candy as much as it did for her. 

When she decided to enter the place, a part of her signaled her that she should let Candy be alone. At the same time, another part was convincing her that her friend needs emotional support from the Relationship Genius. Is it worth interrupting her? Especially when Grenda told her it was severe and Mabel wouldn’t be able to help the case.

In an instant, she decided that it was worth a shot, running towards the stairs quickly to see her friend, calling her name at the maximum volume from her throat.

She hit the stairs, breathlessly ran towards the couch, and only halted herself once she managed to reach the place.

She found Candy sitting on the same couch where she met her two best friends in the town. One of her best friends with glasses was curling herself up while holding her flip phone with two hands. From what Mabel quietly observed, a device wearing a hot pink metallic color was the source of the music. Slowly watching her friend, Mabel also noticed Candy had a long face. Should she interrupt her? So that the Relationship Genius can troubleshoot her in no time?

Yes, she thought it was worth a try. She’s going to help her friend at any cost.

“CANDY!!” Mabel shouted. “It’s me, Mabel! Your best friend! Along with Grenda! Are you a-okay?!” She spared no expense in snapping her friend out of misery, but the only reply she could get was yet another silence under the loud music. 

“Candy?” Mabel asked, coming closer to Candy. “What’s wrong today? Mabel’s here to help you out. Can you listen to me? Please?”

Again, yet another silence. Mabel began to lose her confidence in and out.

“...Please?” 

It was followed by something hitting her consciousness to convince her otherwise.

When she thought she was the Relationship Genius, there was a fiasco of the Love Potion. Mabel thought she brought Robbie long-time happiness by shipping him with Tambry, by ‘borrowing’ the potion from the Love God to emotionally connect them (which eventually happened, even after three hours was expired by seven additional hours), but the Multiverse thing brought her the bad aftertaste of Wendy gangs’ troubled friendship caused by her action. Sure, it was eventually resolved and she could claim herself as a Great Matchmaker once again, but realizing her self-centeredness changed her perspective this time.

Maybe Grenda was right, Mabel thought. Leave Candy alone. Maybe she needs space right now…

Mabel decided to leave the floor room, finding out she couldn’t let the last sleepover of this summer be ruined. While she was quietly going upstairs and thinking Grenda might need a company to hang out with, she couldn’t think of the possibility that Candy might heard her voice calling her name…

At three ‘o'clock in the night, Mabel found herself awakened while Grenda was sleeping with her loud snoring. The noise was instead something familiar to her, not affecting her condition that much. It was coming from her concerns towards Candy. 

Her decision to give her a room may be the right choice, but it was also a way she rarely went with. It was unfamiliar enough to not be able to get rid of her concerns, and it was no wonder she wasn’t sure if it was not being selfish and helping her best friend or neglecting her instead when help was necessary.

When Mabel was too uneasy to sleep tight thanks to her concerns toward friends and herself, she couldn’t notice Candy was going upstairs to the attic.

“Mabel?”

“...Candy?!” Mabel couldn’t hide her surprise from her comparably weak voice.

When Mabel looked up at her friend from her sleeping bag, Candy had pink eyes with a weak pair of eye bags underneath her thick glasses. It seemed like she spent hours in the floor room, as the semi-dried traces of tears on her pajamas told her without actually speaking. At least, plenty of traces indicating her previous slumps aside, she didn’t look as gloomy as hours ago. 

“Are you okay?” Mabel carefully asked.

“Yes,” Candy calmly replied. “And to be honest, I knew you would find me.”

“What? 

“It was no wonder why you came. First, you care about people so much that you do not know when you should give people space. Like how all of us have been with everyone.” Candy calmly replied. “No offense.”

“Yeah, sounds like us. Ha ha ha…” Mabel answered, with nervous laughs followed.

“And second,” Candy continued, but she hinted at a degree of regret. “I didn’t tell you about my Walkie-Talkie Time before. Only Grenda knows it.” Then, she flashed a curious face. “Did Grenda tell you about it?”

“Yeah. She was so horrified.” Mabel answered with a trembling voice.

“Then, you were concerned about me. Very understandable.” She thoughtfully answered back.

As Candy took the hint, Mabel was concerned about her friend. She has done what she thought as good deeds to help people, including each other. They had been pushy. They believed that they were helping people when they tried that. Part of Mabel’s Guide series was about ‘helping’ people by doing so, such as establishing Flash Makeovers to ‘improve’ people’s fashion in no time by ‘saving time’ to invest in them. It was the way she, Candy, and Grenda believed that was right.

This time, however, was a bit different. While her involvement technically worked, it wasn’t as effective as she had hoped. Unlike the Flash Makeover or physically shipping people, there was no room for her to affect meaningfully. Maybe she shouldn’t have been carried away when Grenda was in a panic. Maybe she should be calm and ask her better about Walkie-Talkie Time better. Or, just wait and ask Candy about it.

As she kept agonizing over to reflect on herself, she found she could ask her about it directly. She wasn’t as unwilling to have talks with her as hours ago. But there was her self-centeredness issue. Should she hold herself up since her friend was upset for hours? 

“Candy,” Mabel finally opened her mouth. Then, she noticed Grenda sleeping in the tight sleeping bag struggling to contain her build properly. She wasn’t sure if it was the right moment to ask her - and Grenda’s - best friend something uncomfortable and personal issues. She was struggling more than usual to ask out something. “Can, can I ask…”

“Ask me about a Walkie-Talkie Time?”

With a question she was struggling to ask, Mabel was instantly snapped out of it.

“...Yes?”

“Yes, I can tell you.” As she finished the initial answer, Candy adjusted her glasses for seconds before carefully asking her friend a favor. “Can you promise me that…” Then, she lowered her voice and continued. “...keep our conversation private?”

Chapter Text

In the floor room, Mabel found the deja vu from the place. It was where she met Candy in the night, then it became the place where she spent the last night with her. Apparently, it was the most comfortable place for Candy to share something private. Mabel remembered that there was Ford’s underground lab and to a lesser extent, his study room, but she suggested otherwise. She immediately agreed because 1) she was trying to be careful this time and 2) she knew her friends very well. It was a special place in the memories of both, after all! So she thought it could help.

According to Candy, Steriogram’s Walkie Talkie Man was her comfort song. She had been familiar with it since she was seven, as it was used as background music to advertise the popular cartoon block at 4 PM. She had no idea about a popular cartoon block full of anime in Korea but could guess that it really was special to her. Childhood memory was a great thing, according to her opinion. Then, why does she have Walkie-Talkie Time every single year?

“There was a bad memory from my childhood,” Candy continued thoughtfully. “Mom and Dad always sent me afterschool activities without asking me. Girl Scouts, after-school programs at school, Hagwons , you name it.” Mabel shuddered in horror when she heard an unfamiliar word that meant private institutes in her friend’s country. Despite not knowing what it meant at all, it was full of misery when it was mentioned through Candy’s voice. “I thought they did not care about my happiness.”

“How sad.” Said Mabel, emphasizing to Candy for having a bad past.

“The sadder part is, they cared about me.” Candy continued miserably, turning her head to somewhere else. “Everyone kept staying away from me. Girls told me behind my back that I was too weird to hang out with. Nobody appreciated my genius of having a set of chopsticks or forks on my fingers. Teachers may be, but they had a hard time understanding a part of me. Even having a mom who could afford a Lexus didn’t help. Except for Mom and Dad, Grenda was the first who thought my ideas were cool. And,” Then, she turned her gaze to Mabel. “You too. Mabel Pines.” 

“Thanks, Candy,” Mabel replied with a weak, yet genuine smile before it dropped seconds later. “You must’ve been alone all the time.”

“You are welcome,” Candy answered in a similar tone to her friend. “And yes, I was alone. Watching TV was my biggest happiness along with playing online games, reading books, and collecting Monster-Mon cards before meeting Grenda. For me, Walkie Talkie Man is a reminder of the happiest memories. Even though I was only able to watch a part of it. That’s how I began writing fanfics myself. I really wanted to know how the show would go, so I imagined the episodes myself. 

“To go back to my Mom and Dad issues, they moved to America because they thought they could give me a new, fresh start. They told me we were moving because of economic issues (my mom lives in Portland because she works for the large hospital there), but I heard it from Mom’s phone call for Dad at night. They were even happy to learn that I made a friend in Gravity Falls. But, they thought sending me to after-school classes helped that, so they decided to send me to the music camp. Even though I could make none of them.”

“So, that’s why you have Walkie-Talkie Time…” Mabel told what she managed to theorize from the conversation, recalling when Candy said there was no escape from the music camp.

“Yes. That way I have something that can help me feel better. It was a miracle that they had to cancel this year’s music camp.”

Mabel realized that leaving her alone was a better choice hours ago, as much as Candy admitted that she should have informed her about her traumatic experiences. At the same time, she found the similarity between Candy and her brother Dipper. Sure, their parents were better than Candy’s, but her childhood reminded her of how Dipper was for years; a class weirdo who nobody wanted to join him. It was basically who Candy was in the past.

“I can understand that. That’s what makes Dipper sad. He had nobody back in California. Just me, Mom, and Dad.” Then, the extended realization from the then-current subject brought Mabel into a different, yet vaguely related topic.

“Wait, now I can see why he had a hard time moving on from Wendy.”

“Moving on from who?”

“Wendy. She’s working at the Mystery Shack. She was one of the girl friends he ever made. She’s cool, funny, handy, and even has an ax! And red hair! She may have bad taste in bad movies along with Dipper, but she was a real friend to him. Like you, Grenda, and Soos!” After introducing her brother’s former crush with overheated enthusiasm, she quickly added. “I mean, not girl friends. No offense.”

“None taken.” Candy simply replied. “She was cool and caring about you a lot. So does Dipper, if to a lesser extent. So I don’t doubt that he was good with her. If he didn’t flirt with too many girls and was confident for real , he could have been even better.”

“Oh,” Mabel recognized the day with yet another failure of attempting to become a matchmaker. “That time when I tried to ship you and Dipper?!”

“Yes. Why?”

“It was Grunkle Stan.”

“Really? Never heard of it before and even then, it is honestly hard to believe.”

“Yes, totally a real thing. Heard it from him when he brought Soos back from the Corn Maze. He had Dipper flirt many girls as many as possible. He made Dipper creepy all day, ruined your date with Dipper, and messed up the whole road trip! What the heck!?” After venting out her emotions toward her Grunkle, Mabel shouted with frustration and her fists lifted above.

“Wow, Stan is a jerk.”

“Yeah, a total poof-face!”

“Mwoya igeo? Museun magjang deulamado anigo!”

“YOU TOTAL POOP-FACE STAN!!!”

Despite different languages, both rants included “What the heck?” to summarize their opinions of an unexpected twist. An insane drama worthy of soap opera plots driven by a know-it-all, that ruined everything when Dipper had a hard time and Mabel was ready to deliver that. She used to tease him so much about his inability despite he tried to help her move on from Mermando. On the last night in Gravity Falls, she regretted that for not considering Dipper enough to help him better. What she could do for him this time…

After a brief silence, Candy asked Mabel a question.

“Mabel,” Candy carefully opened her mouth.”Does Dipper know Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons ?”

“What?” Mabel initially made a face as she heard of the board game she hated to play with a passion. “That nerdy Homework: The Game he likes way too much?”

But as she finished her emotional rant about the game her brother and her friend liked, she realized there was an opportunity she could help him better. This time, however, not forcing him to tie with her as a girl friend. A more of a girl friend with a rather stoic, healthy, and burdenless relationship. At least they could share some part of their own interests in this way.

“Yeah, he loves it. Like, dungeon-crazy! He even played that game with Grunkle Ford for days, having a whole living room to play with when I and Grenda were preparing to watch the Duck-Tective finale!” She effortlessly explained her brother’s passion for DD&MD, until she suddenly realized that she would return to Piedmont. “Wait, can you play with him after we leave Gravity Falls?”

“I have an account for the online version.” As she asked about an inevitable event, Candy couldn’t hide her melancholy. “I wish I could play a physical copy though. I have so many things to do together and it’s only a part of it.”

“I think so. But…we have the next summer. And Dipper would be happy with you. Like, you love that game! I just remembered that he already made an online account too.“

As Mabe injected a bit of a positive atmosphere into the conversation, Candy softly smiled at her. “Thank you, Mabel. I will memo my account when we are back at the attic.”

Soon, they rose up from the couch, preparing to return. Then Mabel noticed that Candy was busy browsing the screen from her cell phone, hearing her friend mumbling in an unrecognizable language. Even without understanding her friend’s home language stuff, however, Mabel could see she was better than hours ago.

“It was from my Dad,” Candy explained the text she received hours ago. “He said to have a good night with my friends, and he was sorry for not discussing the music camp with me.”

Mabel simply smiled at her, feeling happy and relieved that everything was done pretty well.

Until she realized that Grenda was concerned.

“Wait, should we tell Grenda about your Walkie Talkie Time?”

“I already did. But this time, I will explain it better.”

As they had a room to clean up and their friend to care for in an attic, they began going upstairs in a better condition from hours ago.