Gravity Falls: Gruncle Stan's Sickness [private]

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Dipper actually did see the pill, but he thought nothing of it. After all, she could just have a stomach ache from the car ride, a head ache from their bickering, or some other thing he didn't know about and, at that moment, wasn't entirely sure he wanted to ask her about. He was still trying to figure out her statement about happiness.

He was happy. He loved what he was doing, and to him it was worth every scrape, every day without eating, and every trip to the hospital. It was worth the late hours he'd had to spend each night to finish his work, or the early days where he'd log in to get in line on the chat to wait for his turn to speak to one of his teachers. It was worth the frustration and the terror and the sensation that he was only now uncovering a tiny fraction of the mysteries of this world, a sensation that was equal parts horrible to consider and truly incredible.

But...how do you quantify it? Was he more happy than someone else? Was he less? How could someone not be allowed to be happy? Everything he'd experienced had reinforced one important thing: choice. It was up to every person on the planet to make their decisions, there was no guiding light or psychological pattern. There were systems in place, yes, but there was no definitive answer to "What do I do," or "Who am I?"

So the question became...why was Mabel choosing to not be happy...and why did he know that it wasn't that simple?

His musings were interrupted, though, when they finally cleared the trees, and there was the parking lot.

~~~

Business had been good, it seemed. Yes, everything was still old, almost-ramshackle, and appeared to be falling apart, but an artistic mind would notice that it was actually faked. The wear and tear was artificial, painted and sculpted and designed to give the appearance of a creepy building surrounded by foreboding woods. There were around ten cars parked in the parking lot area, most of them with out-of-state license plates, but they recognized Stan's old, beat-up car sitting in a reserved space at the far end of the lot. The golf-carts were still there as well, so everyone should be inside.

With a grin, Dipper pulled into the lot and found a space, making sure to leave enough space on his side for him to get out between the other parked vehicle. Mabel's side was empty, something Dipper had found he liked doing when he had people in his car. Plus, he didn't want to risk them forcing the door open to hard and slamming it into a neighboring car.

"Come on Mabel," he said, locking the doors once she opened hers then stepping out and closing the door behind him. "Lets go see everyone."
 
Mabel quickly followed behind Dipper. She was eager to see Grunkle Stan and Waddles. "Do you think Wendy still works here?"
Mabel grinned and prodded her brother teasingly. Even if she did, Wendy probably had a husband or boyfriend now. Dipper still wouldn't have a leg to stand on romantically speaking with Wendy. His job probably prevented him from staying in a long term relationship anyway. It was her sisterly duty to needle him about it despite all of this though. Even if she was depressed it didn't mean she couldn't jack with her brother.

Mabel opened the door to the mystery shack and looked inside. Soos was still working the shack. He was currently behind the register. Mabel waved with a small grin as a number of memories flooded back to her mind. Mabel looked back at his brother and snorted.

"Grappling hook."

She left it at that.
 
Dipper blushed heavily when she brought up Wendy. He definitely hadn't been thinking about her. Definitely hadn't asked Stan about her in their few conversations over the years. Definitely catch himself doodling pictures of her when he was bored. Definitely not. "I don't know, she might." He tried to sound aloof and disconnected, but she'd notice that he picked up his pace a little. When they reached the door, he stepped inside and just looked around, taking everything in once more.

Then she muttered her comment about a grappling hook and he let out his own snort of laughter, and that got Soos' attention. He turned around and blinked at them for a moment, before he broke into a crooked smile.

"Dudes!" He slurred, rushing around the counter to sweep them both into a huge, kind-of-smelly hug. When he finally put them down, he shouted "Guys, come see who just showed up!" He then turned his attention back to the two and patted them both on the top of the head. "You'se guys have grown! It's been, like, a forever amount of years!" He laughed riotously and hugged them again.

As he spoke, they heard some rummaging around in the store room and out walked Melody, Soos' girlfriend of almost ten years, and she smiled at them both. She was followed closely by a one hundred pound, bright pink pig, that promptly rushed out and slammed into Mabel, squealing in delight and nuzzling her on the face and throat.
 
Mabel laughed as she was was knocked on her butt by the overzealous swine. "Waddles! Oh I missed you too!"
She hugged her now giant pig excitedly as Waddle's rubbed his warm wet snout against her cheek. She looked up at Dipper with a big grin. Mabel then patted Waddles on the head before standing back up.

Quickly Mabel ran up and gave Melody a hug, followed by Soos and then since she was still on a role she went ahead and hugged Dipper again too. She felt so excited. "Where is Grunkle Stan Soos?"

She peered back into the hall leading out of the gift shop before glancing back at everyone. "Oh and Wendy too? Does she still live in Gravity Falls?"
Mabel spoke quickly, eager to get to see everyone. Everything seemed perfect so far. It was like nothing had changed at all. Clearly Stan was still a con artist. He even had melody working in the shop now.
 
She was grinning and laughing and Dipper was glad, and when she hugged him again, he hugged her back. It was nice to see her laugh, something he'd thought she'd do a lot more of. Whatever, it was good to see everyone, and he hugged Melody and patted Waddles lightly on the head. His ears perked up when Mabel asked about Wendy, though.

"Ah, not recently," Soos said, leaning back a little as he thought. "She's been real busy at the new lumber mill, I guess." He put his arm around Melody, and said "That's why Mr. Pines hired Mel!"

Melody smiled and hooked her arm around the large man's waist and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when a loud, crotchety voice shouted "What's with all this ruckus! I'm in here, watching my stories and working on our new "Invisible Man" exhibit, and all I hear is that stinkin' pig squealing!" Then he came in to sight from the hall leading into the rest of the house, and he stopped when he saw Mabel and Dipper.

Gruncle Stan looked about the same, though he seemed to have lost a decent amount of weight and was a little more hunched over than usual. He still had a big, red nose, a touch of five o'clock shadow on his chin and cheeks, and looked like he needed a shower.

"Kids!" He said quietly, blinking, before breaking into a smile. "It's about time you two got here. These two have been running me into the ground!" He walked forward, arms out-stretched, and Dipper quickly came in to meet his smelly great-uncle, hugging him tight.
 
Mabel looked over at Soos curiously. "Wendy works in a lumber mill now?" It didn't seem to off the ball for something she would do. "How far out of Gravity falls is she?" It made her a little sad to know Wendy was out of town but maybe they could visit her anyway if she wasn't to far out of the way. Wendy had been something of a big sister to her. It would mean a lot to see her again.

Her train of thought was quickly derailed though when Grunkle Stan appeared in the doorway. Mabel laughed excitedly before running up to Grunkle Stan and tackling the man with a hug. "Grunkle Stan oh I missed you!!" Mabel pulled away from Stan with a grin.
 
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