Chapter Text
Take good care of what you've got
My father said to me
As he puffed his pipe and Baby B
He dandled on his knee
Don't fool with fools who'll turn away
Keep all good company
- Good Company, Queen
“And this is the employee bathroom. Yes, it’s clogged. No, we’re not gonna fix it.”
A foul stench filled Remus’ nose. Mr. Snape had been showing him around his new workplace, ‘Greasy’s Diner’. ‘Mr. Snape’ is what Mr. Snape had insisted Remus would call him when they had first met about twenty minutes earlier. It seemed a bit much, but Snape looked both 18 and 60 at the same time, so out of fear of accidentally being impolite Remus had decided to just go along with it.
“So, what if I need to use the restroom?”
Mr. Snape rolled his eyes as if this question tired him immensely.
“You just keep it in! Sometimes I go 24 hours without taking a leak. Not that hard.”
“That doesn’t seem healthy…”
But Snape was already moving on. He handed, or rather threw, an apron at Remus. “Put that on. You’re 5 minutes late already.”
He wanted to protest, but it didn’t seem like there was any point to it with this guy. By the looks of it, he had never known a moment of happiness in his life. Remus was starting to regret coming to this mysterious town. It had been kind of a last minute decision. He was planning on spending his entire summer staying up all night reading every book on his shelf, but to even his own surprise, spending all his time alone cooped up in his bedroom started getting old very quickly.
The advertisement for the job came like a sign from the universe. It seemed simple enough; his contract asked him to work every morning, except on sundays. The rest of the time he was free to dilly-dally around town to his heart's desire. In exchange for his work, he got a room to stay in and a small salary to spend on his basic needs.
Now that he was here though, he started to understand why it had seemed like such a good deal. The place looked nothing like the summery paradise he was promised in the pictures. When the bus drove past a run down sign displaying “Welcome to Gravity Falls”, Remus rather thought he had entered a summery anti-dise. Once he was dropped off in the middle of the woods at a makeshift bus stop that was just a pole in the ground next to a forest, Remus had felt a shiver down his spine. Hmm, must have been the wind.
-
The start of Remus’ shift was quite slow. Snape had ordered him to wash dishes in the kitchen, though there weren’t any dishes to be washed yet, so he just kind of stood around, staring out of the window. There were a lot of trees in this town. Probably more trees than people, he figured. Many trees to roam around in.
When it finally started to get busier, Snape had the brilliant idea to throw Remus into work right when the pressure was at its highest. Whoever put this guy in charge really knew what they were doing.
“Or,” Snape added, “you could unclog the toilet.” He paused. “You won't be paid extra for that, though.”
Remus peered past him at the dreaded break room, remembering the torture his nostrils had to endure only moments before. He swallowed.
“I think I’ll stick to this… Thanks.”
A satisfied smirk tugged at Snape's face. “Thought so. Well, get to it! The customers are waiting.”
Just then the bell above the entryway tinkled and an unreadable expression settled on Snape’s face.
“Actually,” he said, shoving Remus towards the front, “go serve that guy.”
Remus glanced over at an old man who took a seat in a booth near the entrance. He looked back at Snape with an expression that he hoped said ‘help!’ but greasy Snape didn’t give any further instructions. Oh well, how hard could it really be?
The guy squinted his eyes at the sight of Remus. “You’re not the usual waitress.”
“Yeah… well, I can still take your order, probably.”
“Oh, can you? Well, let’s see then.” He grabbed the menu and scanned it.
“This should be an easy one. Get me the breakfast pancakes, I’ll have those with bacon and syrup, and a cup of coffee , with 6 sugars and a dollop of milk. Are you getting this, buddy?”
Remus realised he didn’t have anything to write it down on. “I think so.” he replied, trying to think of some mind trick to store all the previous information in his mind.
“No notebook? No pen? No nothing? What are ya doing here, young man?” He slammed the menu down on the table.
“Sorry, sir,” Remus said with a tight smile. “I just got hired, I’m still learning the ropes.”
The man simply shook his head disapprovingly. “They’re really hiring anyone these days, huh?”
A frown fell over Remus’ face. But before he could wolf out on the guy, a sweet voice sounded behind him.
“Morning, Stan! Go easy on…” She scanned Remus’ chest, seemingly searching for a name tag, another thing Snape probably forgot to give him.
“Remus,” he helped her out.
The redheaded girl smiled at him before turning back to the customer, “Go easy on Remus here, would you? I doubt you get everything right on the first try.”
“I suppose that’s right,” chuckled the man. “But I better not catch him slacking when he serves me again!”
“Lily! Welcome!” Snape’s slimy voice slithered into the conversation. “I have your order ready to go, sir.” He said and set down a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee on the table.
Suddenly Remus realised why Snape had sent him to serve this guy. It was all just to embarrass him! This was probably Snape’s fetish, embarrassing newbies.
“Hi, Severus. All right?” Lily replied. Snape winked and left. Remus suppressed a laugh. He could see now why the guy went by his last name.
Lily put on her apron and then turned to face Remus.
“So, Remus. Is this your first time in Gravity Falls?”
He nodded, fiddling with one of the straps on his own apron. “Yeah, just here for the job.”
She smiled. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lily.”
Remus returned the gesture, “you too.” He glanced around the diner for another customer that needed help. Talking to people wasn’t exactly his strongest suit.
“How long have you been in town?” Lily asked while scooping up her hair into a ponytail.
“Oh, I just got here this morning.”
“Wait, seriously?” Her eyes widened. “And you just immediately started your little summer job? Well, that’s dedication.”
More like procrastination, but before Remus could correct her, the cook stretched his neck outside of the little window in the kitchen wall.
“One jar of pickles and breakfast pancakes with maple syrup for the goofy lady in the back.” He nodded towards Remus. The cook was quite a young fellow. Maybe even younger than Remus himself, but he had a certain aura about him that made him seem old. Not wiser, but definitely older.
“Well, I guess that’s my cue.” He shrugged at Lily and skedaddled over to the wall. He balanced the plate on his hand inelegantly, hoping it wouldn’t end up on the floor.
-
“Lupin, could you mop the kitchen? Seems like you don’t have much to do now anyway,” Snape said, after Remus didn’t even put away the last clean dish he washed. Snape had sent him right back to doing the dishes the moment Lily had clocked in to serve tables. Remus hadn’t really minded too much, but he did mind the way Snape seemed to watch his every move.
“Actually, I think it’s lunch break, isn’t it?” Lily walked into the kitchen, tossing her notepad on the counter.
Snape slowly turned to her. “I suppose it is,” he replied in a monotone voice.
“I’m gonna go see Marlene. Would you like to come with?” She asked as she was taking off her apron. Snape seemed to be watching her a little too closely.
“I think I'll stay here, Lily.” he managed to croak out after a cough.
“Okay, then. How about you, Remus? I could show you the Mystery Shack.”
Snape’s face turned into disgust like Remus was the grease on the dishes.
“Uh, yeah sure,” he said, starting to take off his apron as well. Any excuse not to stick around Snape any longer was strongly appreciated.
“The floor still needs mopping, Lupin.” Snape slimed on.
Remus failed to suppress the pleased smile that sneaked up on his face. “Actually I'm done with my shift for today.”
Snape glanced at his watch angrily, but stayed quiet once he realised Remus was right. The look he got instead was one of the reasons he regretted not taking his camera to work.
“All set? The shack isn’t too far from here.” Lily was heading towards the exit already.
He was wondering what the flip a Mystery Shack was. It sounded kind of suspicious to him. He regretted not reading more about this place before coming here.
The sun was peeking through the tree branches, but in the shadows Remus started to shiver. There was no sign of humanity in this part of the forest. No chatter in the distance, no hum of cars. There wasn’t even a proper path. It was just pine trees all over. Remus assumed Lily had taken a shortcut, but he was wondering if it was all too smart to go with a stranger into the unknown.
Lily walked a few steps ahead of him, her hands tucked into her coat pockets. The trail was too narrow to walk next to each other.
“Know a lot about Gravity Falls, yet? Or are you just kinda here to explore?” she asked over her shoulder.
“I just saw an ad for this job and took it,” Remus admitted, trying to keep up with Lily’s pace. She was surprisingly quick.
“Sounds like you don’t even know what the Mystery Shack is, do you?”
He nodded despite the fact Lily couldn’t see it.
“It’s still a mystery to me.” he called in a cheery voice, but immediately regretted it.
Luckily Lily laughed, though it may have just been for sympathy. “Well, most people, or should I say tourists, visit this place just for the Mystery Shack.”
“Huh. Well, now I’m curious.”
-
It seemed like there came no end to the trees, but after a while he noticed wooden arrows hammered into tree trunks, pointing to the direction they were going.
“Step right up!” the arrows would say. Or just “MYSTERY SHACK!!!”
A string of flags spanned from the trees leading right to the shack.
“Cool place…” Remus said as he looked around the clearing in the forest.
Mystery Shack seemed like an appropriate name for the place, as it was a mystery how it was still standing up.
“You’ll get used to places like this once you spend more time around here,” Lily said.
The shack seemed to be divided into two sides. One side had a sign above it that said: ‘gift shop’. They climbed up a small creaky set of stairs and made their way inside. It was entirely made out of wood, and it heavily smelled of it too. There were all sorts of strange trinkets on display. He nearly fainted when he saw a floating hand in a jar, that was standing on one of the shelves along the walls. “69 doubloons”, it said on the price card. What a scam. Remus thought this was an obvious tourist trap, but apparently not obvious enough seeing how it was still in business.
He sniffed around and picked up a hat with a blue tree on it. Not really his color.
“Lily, over here!” Someone called from the back. A girl with platinum blonde hair was sitting near an open window, peeling an orange.
“Taken up a healthy habit, Marlene?" Lily asked in an amused voice. "I was expecting to find you smoking.”
The blonde rolled her eyes in return. “Not allowed to anymore.”
“Gee, how unfortunate.”
“Who’s this then?” Marlene turned her attention to Remus, who was still fidgeting with the hat.
“My new co-worker.”
“Hi, I’m Remus.” Remus said quickly and made his way over there.
Marlene seemed to be taking him in for a moment, sucking on a piece of the orange. “Seems alright.” She waved her hand vaguely about in the air, “but then again, anyone would be cool in comparison to the rest of that lot working over there. Not sure how you do it, Lily.”
Lily let out a chuckle. “They’re not that bad.”
“Anyway.” Marlene put her feet on a barrel in front of her. “You’re still coming tonight, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Lily sighed, but then her eyes lit up. “Oh, Remus, you should totally come! It would be a great chance to meet everyone.”
“Yeah, totally.” Marlene agreed, lazily chewing on an orange slice. “There’s gonna be a party at the pool tonight.”
Remus gulped. He didn’t care much for pools.
“I’m not sure. Might have to, uh, recharge a bit...”
“Oh yeah, of course. Probably have to settle in at your new place, huh?” Lily asked.
Remus scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, guess so.”
Marlene leaned closer towards him. “Well, if you do change your mind.” She grabbed an old receipt and a pen from the counter. “Lemme get. you. the. address.”
She handed Remus the receipt where she had scribbled the place of the party. “Here. It starts at 10, but no worries if you’re a little late.”
“Thanks.” He waved it a bit in the air, before putting it safely in his pocket.
“There won’t be that many people at the pool,” Lily said, probably assuming Remus would be scared of that. “Marlene’s friend closed it down for the night, just for us.”
“Just for you, Lily,” Marlene corrected her.
Lily rolled her eyes, and then shot a smile at Remus. “But we understand if you want to rest after your first day here, of course.”
“Yeah, there will be tons of other opportunities to meet them. And let’s be honest, Lily and I are the only ones worth knowing anyway.” Marlene winked.
Remus returned a slight grin.
Lily looked at the clock and sighed. “well, I better get back before Severus files a missing person report.”
Remus chuckled, but Marlene cut him off; “She’s not even actually joking, you know? A real creep that guy is. Acts like he owns the place and all that. Highly strung too. I unfortunately had the displeasure of meeting him once.”
“Wait, he doesn’t own the diner?”
Lily shook her head.
Remus couldn’t believe he had been following this guy’s orders for nothing all day.
“Well, I’ll join you. My place is not too far from the diner,” Remus made a move to follow Lily.
“Sure. See you tonight, Marls!” Lily waved and went outside again.
“See ya!” Marlene said and quickly jumped up to arrange a nearby shelf.
Remus thought for a moment she was really dedicated to immediately start working after they left, but he then bumped into a man at the exit.
“Oh, excuse me,” he quickly said.
“Excuse accepted!” The man laughed heartily and stepped inside. “Marlene, I need your help to glue this beavertail on this duck.”
“Yes, mr. Pettigrew. Quack!”
-
After saying goodbye to Lily at the entrance of the diner, and her once more insisting on “I hope you’ll change your mind about tonight!” Remus took out the key he’d gotten earlier that day from his pocket.
He made his way around the diner. Behind it was a small field, on which two campers stood. A big one and a smaller one. When he heard free room, this wasn’t exactly what he had been expecting. He had to admit it wasn’t too bad on the inside though. There was enough space for all his stuff and it even had a small bathroom and kitchenette inside. On the tiny nightstand he had already placed all of the books he had packed. Other than that he hadn’t really unpacked yet. He had a feeling the bag still wouldn’t be unpacked a week later.
Remus made sure he closed the blinds on every window fully. He wanted to get out of his diner costume and change into some more comfortable clothes so he could take a nap. While he had tried sleeping on the bus, his first day on the job had taken more energy than he had anticipated. Remus had made a challenge out of changing as quickly as possible, to limit the chances of people walking in on him as much as he could. Without a shirt on, he caught a glimpse of himself in a small mirror on the wall. White lines covered his arms and torso. He made haste to put on a long sleeve with a werewolf design on it.
If he would wear a werewolf so openly on his clothes, it’d be impossible for anyone to think he might be one himself. That’s the reasoning he told himself to believe, but in reality he just thought it looked tough.
Time to nap.
He didn’t bother setting an alarm.