Looking Out For Mistletoe -Parapines

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"Not so far, about seven-eight minutes on foot. I couldn't bring the golf cart, makes too much noise." Dipper explained, his nose red with cold and his cheeks lacking colour.

"Have you done this before? Because I sure as hell haven't, and if we are about to get shreded to bits by wolfs and bears in that darned forest, I don't care, I'm getting back inside while I still can."

He rolled his eyes.
"Norman, don't be silly" ignoring the sidewalk that laid in front of us, he chose to look at me" there are far worse things than bears and wolfs in that forest."

"Haha, very funny." Avoiding the reaction he wanted, I bumped his shoulder, which sent him an inch to the side.

In response, he chuckled.
"Relax. I've done it before with like three or four different people already. The area is safe. Plus, we're not going in blind."

Stoping abruptly, he shed the backpack from his shoulders, laying on the ground. Kneeling down to open the zipper and rummage through it's interiors, I heard the clinking of glass and favbric stretching, plastic echoes and even what seemed like marbles and rocks.
On my own, I decided not to ask any questions.

"Catch."

A flying object was thrown up, its blurry figure passing in front of my eyes way faster than my hands when they tried to catch it.

"You have acquired a flashlight." The brunette informed with a quick witted look, his voice reminiscent of old video games, closing the backpack quickly and throwing it over his shoulders again. In his hand, another flashlight resided.
"Buckle up, Prendergast."

I threw him an annoyed look.

Dipper smirked.
"What? It suits you!" He gave me a sincere look "And I like it."

He didn't gave me the attention to keep for me to keep on being irritated when he launched himself forward on his feet, heading towards the end of the town.

I hit the flashlight in my hand with thought.

If I wanted to go back, this was my chance.
There were multiple things pulling me in different directions.
Fear. Adrenaline. Logic. The thrill of it all.

Dipper picked up on my doubts, stopping to look at me.
For a moment I thought he was gonna tease me. Force me to accompany him through a challenge that I'd certainly wouldn't question twice.

Instead he looked to his side for a moment, and after a while, there in the darkness, he reassured me with a small strech of his lips.

"You know you don't have to come if you don't want to, right?" He asked, his voice relatively loud in the silent, dark street. "I'm not gonna force you to do anything dangerous, Norman."

I gazed at him, my lips slightly parted.

Was it my fault? Was it me who did this to myself?
I noticed the redness of his nose, the way his hair messily covered his eyes a little, and how high his collar was pulled up to protect him from the cold.

I smirked, giving two steps ahead.
"Nah, it's fine. I've been feeling a little suicidal lately anyway."

In response, I got a raised eyebrow.

"I'm joking, calm down." I stated, letting the flashlight hang from my fingers with a careless swing.

"Don't go dying on me now, I need you."

I snickered.
"For the fireflies."

The brunette shrunk in himself a little, not looking at me.
Might have been from the sudden cold when we reached the path to the woods and the street lamps disappeared, as well as the ever so encouraging pools of yellow light surrounding the empty streets.