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About three summers had passed since Mabel and Dipper last visited Gravity Falls, which meant that the twins could now (regretfully) drive. Of course, they took that opportunity to drive up to the small town they knew so well. Mabel was somehow the better driver, so she was allowed to steer the car.
Of course, they’d argued over the music. Before the car ride, and during. They’d tried to make a playlist with both of their songs on it, but that turned more into who could skip the one song they hated first.
It wasn’t all bad, though, as they arrived quicker than expected, breathing in the woodsy air. Their first stop: The Mystery Shack.
Their uncles, Stan and Ford, quickly greeted them.
“Your car is absolutely covered in bumper stickers,” Stan commented, glancing over at Mabel’s coated car. “Might as well add one more,” he smirked, handing Mabel a bumper sticker that said ‘I Visited The Mystery Shack!’. “And one for your brother, too. Gotta advertise, y’know?”
”…Thanks Grunkle Stan.” Dipper said, “Haven’t these been in stock since we were last here?”
”Thanks! This’ll be my new favorite bumper sticker- next to the one I stole off of Brad.” Mabel nudged Dipper, clearly referencing something that her uncles might never get the context for.
”Atta girl.” Stan smirked.
“Dipper,” Ford said in an almost commanding voice, “do you still play Dungeons Dungeons And More Dungeons?”
”Oh yeah, of course! Not that much, though. Everyone back at home plays Dungeons and Dragons instead,” Dipper replied.
”That cheap ripoff? These kids…” Ford scoffed, which resulted in a snicker from Mabel. “What?”
”It’s just more simple. Easier to understand, I guess. Me and Mabel play with our friends back home. Mabel is usually the DM, she’s pretty good,” Dipper explained.
And with that, it was barely any time until they were all thrust into a game of D&D. Except for Stan, he would never partake (not when people were looking, at least).
Dipper played a druid centaur named Mansley, and Ford was a wizard human named Grayford (earned a creativity point from Mabel), while Mabel was allowed to be the dungeon master.
Silently, she had been planning this campaign ever since she got into the game. She wondered how long it would take Ford to crack it… her current estimate? Five minutes and 43 seconds, accounting for what she called “immersion time”.
The game was, of course, lots of fun. They fought orcs, saved a hot elf from a house fire, lost their beloved cow Petunia, and scared away a dragon.
Though it seemed like Ford somehow hadn’t figured out the secrets yet… Maybe he’s just really bad at this game? Or maybe I made it too confusing? Mabel thought.
“Dipper! Come and help me hang up signs!” Stan called.
“Coming!” Dipper replied, putting down his die he was about to roll and standing up. “Five minutes at least, twelve minutes tops.” He said to Mabel, to which she giggled.
“What was that?” Ford asked once Dipper had left.
“Oh, just an inside joke. It’s like… way too much to explain. I don’t think even you could understand it. It’s too weird.” Mabel replied with a hint of humor.
“I bet I could. Well… like gnomes and platypuses, inside jokes are just such convoluted creatures. Impossible to understand sometimes.” Ford sighed, “and no matter how much explaining you do, it doesn’t make sense.”
That worried Mabel, bringing her to immediately think of her campaign. ‘Did I make it too convoluted? Did I include one too many inside jokes? Does he even KNOW what a platypus is?!’ She thought frantically. She hoped other people understood it… and not just herself.
“Sooo… Grunkle Ford… are you having fun so far?” She asked nonchalantly. Or tried to, it didn’t really come out that way.
“Of course, Mabel. Though… I feel like there are a few inaccuracies.” He responded.
Well, she knew that would happen. “Like?”
“Well for example, these kobolds, in reality, wouldn’t be able to have poison spurs, not there, at least, really where they would have them is right above their wrists.” He seemed to nerd out for a second.
“Oh. Well I don’t know any of that stuff. What about the story? Have you figured out Caragoth’s secret?” She stared him down intensely.
“About his secret boy band? Well, of course.” He replied, which made Mabel sigh in relief. “But Grayford doesn’t know that. His intelligence isn’t that high. Despite the name. All he knows is man, this guy’s got a beautiful singing voice.” He smirked.
“That’s good! That’s great. I was worried I just made a secret only I knew… did I write it well?” She needed to know. If anyone could give her tips, it’d be him.
“Wrote it well? It’s perfect. The level of detail… I can tell you put a lot of thought into the gnomst village.” He pointed to her map, which showed a village of ghost gnomes which she insisted on calling “gnomst”.
“I’m back,” Dipper came back in after their minimum five minutes.
“Right on time. Stopwatch, too.” Mabel grinned. “Ford… how long do you think it took for you to figure out the secret?” She turned back to her great uncle.
“Hm… maybe about five minutes and forty-three seconds.”