Symbols ~A Gravity Falls Fanfic~

One More Problem

        He might've been given an order, but Gideon wasn't finished: "You try coexistin' with this! Do you have any idea what it's like having to deal with this-this witch?" My eye twitched, my teeth ground together: I hate that word.

        Stephen turned on the heels of his boots and faced us with a stern look. He squatted before us, inches from my face. In a deep, hushed whisper, Steph made a threat: "I kind of do, and she's pretty nice. Maybe she has a bit of a mouth on her, but hormones aren't fun. You either get along with Eliza or I'll make your life a living nightmare." He stood up afterwards with a mixed look of frustration and annoyance.

        My arms crossed, still under Gideon's control. He scowled in return, not ready to back down. "Lookie here, Stephen Pines, I have dealt with the unimaginable: I have gone toe to toe with Bill Cipher. I used his own power against him. I've had to deal with your unruly grandchildren and that thieving brother of yours. I've been through more than you have in your lifetime, and I'm only nine years old. There's nothing you can do to make my life a nightmare..."

        Stephen was fully prepared with a rebuttal with a fist on his hip and a index finger pointed at us. His mouth was open to throw something back, but he closed it. His fist and finger fell to his sides. A shocked expression was painted across his features. "I-I have grandchildren?"

        Gideon pointed my nose to the sky like the snob he was. "Yes, and they are atrocious."

        I managed to grab a hold of the reins then. "Gideon!"

        Steph looked to the sky, his eyes darting from left to right. His fingers on his right hand went wild: each one quickly met with his thumb several times. His lips formed the word "no." Stephen shook his head and stared at the leaves under our feet. "That's impossible. Quincy's only 15... Eliza, what year is it?"

        That was when it hit me: The very thought must've just flown over my head: He couldn't have been here for three months. This rip in the space-time continuum doesn't run on the same time the real world does. "It's 2012. Steph, what year did you disappear?"

        "1982... Oh, sweet humus, I've been here for thirty years..."

        I looked to ground, having a silent argument with Gideon. I closed my eyes and my shoulders tensed up. For some reason, I thought we'd be abe to see each other if I did that. It, uh, didn't work. We still managed to carry on through a private in-mind conversation. "What did I say to you?" I growled.

        "How should I know? I wasn't listen' t'you."

        "You're such a pain!"

        "So are you, runt."

        "Would you both shut up already? You sound like a married couple! And frankly, I don't- wait, what are the kids calling it these days? I don't...boat it?," a voice we knew all too well interrupted our conversation. It was Bill, nonetheless. "Come on Llama, you're young. You're hip. What do they call it when you make couples out of people?"

        Suddenly, I could see Gideon standing in front of me. He came with a soft, green light shining behind him, overtaking a small fraction of the darkness that surrounded him. I then noticed a warm, scarlet light behind myself. It peeked out from the sides of my sneakers. It too brighten the what I had previously assumed was the inside of my eyelids.

        "We...fell asleep?" I asked myself as Gideon and I blankly stared at one another. We were just standing there with my eyes closed- how'd we fall asleep? Bill can just make you fall asleep? Why is that a thing?!