I don't own the fanart in any way.
You may say that fishing is boring, but it proved out to be much more fun than it looked like. Especially when you are trying to catch mutant fishes.
The water was freezing, but Dipper said that he didn't want to lose the opportunity, since they were rare and they only appeared this close to the shore when the time was cold enough.
We spent a lot of time going after them, they always managed to get away.
"Are you sure the nets are set correctly?" I ended up asking at some point, after we spent half an hour chasing them.
"Yes! We just gotta herd them to the nets!"
"But it is not working!"
"Try harder, then!"
It took a lot of time, but finally Dipper managed to get one.
"Oh my god! I did it! I caught one! This is awesome!"
"Hey! I helped!" I threw some water at him, and he backed away in terror from the cold.
"...yeah, I guess. You helped me set up the net."
I stuck my tongue put at him, making him laugh, before smiling myself. I approached him as he held the net, the fish bouncing and bitting at the ropes.
I placed my hands on my knees, lowering my head to the same level as the fish.
"Do they bite?" I asked, as I saw it jiggle to free itself from the net.
The fish looked like something pre-historical, with huge white eyes and even bigger teeth, it's body filled with sharp, thin spikes and slightly blue scales.
"Yes, you might want to be carefull with those."
He lowered the net again, to give the fish some water to breath in.
"What are you gonna do with it now?"
I asked, noticing that the fish calmed down a little as it was set underwater.
"I'm gonna take it home, place him in a tank. There is no way I'm missing the chance to study this."
I streched myself, yawning a little.
Dipper just kep looking at the fish with a concentrated look and a small victory smile.
"Do you study every weird creature of Gravity Falls?"
He looked up at me.
"Huh?"
"Do you want to be a scientist or something like that for the future? An investigator?"
He looked up, thinking for a little bit.
"Something like that. I have always been interested in mysteries and resolving them, so why not study the mysterious creatures of Gravity Falls? This place is almost cut out from the rest of the world, who knows what I can find. I could even win a prize, or get a reward from the government for best investigator, who knows! But until then, I just have to keep looking for the right creature, or something that can change my whole life around. I tried studying the mysteries of Gravity Falls, made a silly little guide with video tapes..."
He looked hopeful and really sure of what he was saying, making me feel slightly disappointed with myself for not having my life sorted like he did.
But when I heard him talk about the tapes, my face lit up a bit.
"A guide? Can I see them?"
Dipper looked at me, wondering if I was serious, before laughing nervously.
"I-I mean, you don't have to, they are a little bit embarrassing, especially considering that they were made some years ago, I was like 12 or something..."
"Oh." I felt a bit disappointed, but I understood perfectly. "Let's just go back to the previous topic, then..."
He asked the question that was obvious to come after mine regarding a profession.
"What about you?"
I smirked, with a proud look plastered in my face.
"I want to be a director. Make decent horror movies that will leave people terrified, with scary monsters and zombies and werewolves..."
He seemed surprised.
"A director? You seem more like the type of person that would go for something more quiet or calm...books, maybe?"
I snickered.
"Like what, a librarian? That would be so tedious."
"I was thinking author, but fine. Ditector, huh? Just make sure that the blonde girl doesn't get killed in the first 5 minutes. And hey, what's wrong with being a librarian? There are so many books that are so much better than certain people!"
I agreed.
"Or make the character-Watch out!" I looked down at his hand, watching as the fish tried to bite him, making him jump.
I heard Dipper yelp and drop the net, the fish swimming away vigorously and quickly.
Dipper looked at the water with a dumbfounded look, his mouth slightly open.
He didn't move at all, until his hands slowly raised to his head.
"No! No, no,no, no- I had it! No! Come on! It took me forever to catch one!"
I watched as he became disappointed, his face looking sad.
I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry."
"Argh! I will just try again later..." he said in frustration, beginning to walk to the shore, and throwing the net in the water.
I looked back at the water.
I'm sure we could catch it again if we already did it once...
I picked up the net, trying to set it again.
It looked sloppy and unprofessional, but still my best attempt.
Maybe...just leaving it like that would catch something...
I sighed, and walked back to the shore, the water making my ankles feel heavy.
I could see Dipper sitting on the bench, looking down in thought.
I walked to the bench, and I sat there, putting my shoes on. And them we just stood there, looking at the water.
"Oh well. We will get one next time." I said to the air, but loud enough to make it seem like I was talking directly to Dipper.
His eyes looked at me in a discreet movement, something that I could easily overlook, and then he closed his eyes, his head falling even further. He sighed, and bolted his head up to address me.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe tomorrow."
I nodded, and looked back at the lake, a cold breeze passing by us.
The sound of the water was relaxing and calm, making me feel at ease.
You don't get much of this if you live in the city. The most likely thing to get is a park with a small pond.
"It is peaceful over here, isn't it?" He sighed. "Too bad the water is too cold, though. A swim would do good."
I tilted my head, with a satisfied expression.
"Feels much better than at home. The lack of people in here make it much quieter." I muttered.
Dipper looked over at me with a hint of hapiness and confusion on his face, just like he acomplished something
"You clearly are not a people person."
I chuckled.
"Acquaintances don't combine very well with me...nor people in general. They think I'm weird."
At least the ones that are alive.
"You said it before. Why? Why would they think that?"
I laughed, more to myself, since the irony of the situation couldn't be understood by somebody that wasn't aware of my big little secret. However, I decided to just skip to the next topic that popped into mind, once that a talk about my problems probably wouldn't be such a good conversation anyway. I think that nobody likes whining people, therefore I don't want to seem like it, even if I feel like I need to.
Besides, why would he listen? A whining person that throws their problems on the first person that they meet? What would he even think of me afterwards?
"I don't know, maybe they just didn't like my hair" I looked up and ran a hand on my hair " I have been trying to change my hairstyle for years, it just never works. I'm totally doomed!"
I joked.
I looked over at Dipper with a playfull smile, making it very easy to understand that my words were just a joke and that the topic never had anything to do with the events that happened.
Dipper chuckled, and smiled.
"Come on, the problem couldn't be the hair, what was it?" He asked with a curious look and still holding the smile.
I kept staring at him, sighing afterwards, and the smile decreased to one of slight embarassement, and my attention shifted from Dipper to the floor in front of me and to my feet, making time to think for a little bit.
Secrecy and honesty don't always go together, but after a bit, I looked back at him, noticing how his expression fell, probably he wondered if he shouldn't have asked me that.
I gave a sad smile, trying to give him some encouragement. He doesn't need to feel bad for asking, I could tell he was just being curious.
"People that usually don't have similar behaviours or act different are always judged at some point. It doesn't matter if it is the way you act, the way you look or the way you like things." I looked back at my feet. "Or in my case, the way you see the world."
I held my head high, looking at the lake that stood in front of us.
Dipper was looking rather thoughtful, I presumed he was trying to make something out of my words.
"Are you...an hippie? Cause you're freaking me out right now. You're not a psychopath, are you?"
I snorted, smiling.
"No, I'm not an hippie. Not a psycho either."
I added some more, wearing a teasing smile.
"And also the hair. Nobody has hair like me."
This broke his train of thoughts, making him release a chuckle
"I guess that makes sense. Sometimes, when I was younger, people used to make fun of me for being a scrawny, nerd-looking kid. It was the worst. I think that the only reason I got past it so well, was because of Mabel." He commented. He then stared at the lake too, with a look of satisfaction. "She was always there for me on those moments. I sometimes get afraid that things won't be even close to that anymore when we grow up and go our separate ways."
I took in his words.
Is that what it really feels like, to have someone that you trust so much that you get scared that they can get snatched away from you the moment you lose sight of them?
I guess I can say I don't trust anybody that much. Does that make me a bad person? Or is it just a normal thing?
I'm not really sure of what normal things are. When you grow up being judged by just being yourself, people get rough on you. They bother you for the littlest thing, just because you have some stupid label above your head in their minds.
For me, that's just how much I trust people.
I mean, I know for a fact that I trust Neil, but...then why don't I feel scared of losing him? I mean, in a way I do, I don't want to go back to what things were like before, but it wasn't a fear of mine.
I almost felt like it was inevitable, something so sure to happen at some point in the future.
"Sounds nice." I zoned out.
Sounds nice?! What the hell are you saying Norman?!
The guy just told you he is afraid to lose his sister!
I got lost in my thoughts again...
My eyes went slightly wide after realization hit me, and I quickly tried to explain myself.
"Hm! I-I mean..." I ran a hand through my hair in a pointless act, because the moment my hand was off my head, it returned to its original state " t-to have a sibling like that. N-not to loose them."
I felt my cheeks grow hot, as a blush invaded my face and neck.
This is embarrassing...
I looked over at Dipper, waiting to find him with a confused expression, or just a glint in his eyes that could shout out the fact that he was wondering why he put up with me, but instead I found him smiling.
It wasn't a big smile nor something that anyone could see and understand that he was having a good time. It simply was a caring smile.
"I got that. You don't need to be so flustered." He explained.
"Y-Yes, but...You know...I thought you might not get it, so-I'm just embarrassing myself now..."
He patted me on my back, two times.
"Don't worry. I'm pretty you will find someone you can relate to. Eventually."
I didn't looked at him for too long, just in case he thought I was being creepy.
"Thanks, Dipper." I finally blurted out calmly, trying to ignore the way my heart raced, probably due to the embarrassing moment I just have been to.
"Hey...I, hm, have some videogames at the shack, if you would like to come. It is better than just waiting outside, where it is cold..." He suggested, getting up.
I got up as well, putting my hands together to try to get some warmth.
"I guess. But let me just tell you that I'm not very good..."
~~~~~~△~~~~~~
"What?! No fair! I can't believe you won again!" I shouted at Dipper, my eyes glued to the screen as his character punched mine, making it fall to the ground.
"Hell yeah, baby, that's how it is done!" He happily exclaimed, throwing his left fist into the air to celebrate.
We were in his and his sister's bedroom, and we had been playing games for about an hour now, and we were on our ninth round of SuckerPunch, a fighting game that Dipper was good at.
Really good at, apparently.
"How good can you get?! Did you just came out of the womb playing this?" I asked, noticing how Dipper moved his character, throwing another punch and another kick to mine.
"No, but I spend a lot of time playing. There is nothing much to do here on winter, really. And when you live in the city, there's nothing much to do either." He explained, biting his tongue in concentration.
I gave up on playing when my character got knocked out again.
" Just let the nerd play, Norman, just let the nerd play."
Dipper shoved me playfully with one hand, while the other held the controller, a smile on his face.
"Hey! Don't call me a nerd!" He looked at the screen, watching as the record tablet displayed itself across the screen." What do you suggest we play, then?"
I thought for a while, and then smirked.
I got up and went to the shelf where he stored his games.
"The games are over here, right?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Yes, right there on that corner." He pointed, curiously watching me as I scanned the shelves.
It didn't made me feel very bad to look at his belongings, but it felt almost creepy to watch his sister belongings.
I guess this is the bad thing about sharing a bedroom, especially with your sister.
Don't get me wrong, Mabel seemed lovely, but that didn't stopped me from feeling guilty for eyeing her things just because I was in the room with her brother.
" 'Cute Kitty to the Rescue'? What even is that?" I ironically laughed when I saw the title of one of the games, that popped out among the rest due to the big, pink letters.
"Oh, that's one of Mabel's old games. It is about a cat that wears roller blades and that has to save the world from some invasion or something, I dunno. It is quite old, it just stood in the attic back at home until we decided to put the game console here at Gruncle Stan's house, since we have a better one now in Piedmont." Dipper explained, seeming like he was going to end up rolling his eyes.
I nodded for him to make sure I heard him, when a certain title caught my attention. I pulled out a game case, and his eyes went wide.
"Nooo, not that one! I'm just gonna end up embarrassing myself! I don't do well with jumpscares..." Dipper excused himself as I smiled at the game.
He grabbed a pillow from his bed and used it to cover his head and his ears.
I smirked, and moved towards the game console to change the game.
"There is no way I'm not playing that! I haven't played "Woods of Static" in ages!"
Dipper seemed rather tense when I sat back on the ground and stared at the dark themed screen that combined with the game.
I hit play, and I handed the controller to Dipper, that looked at me in terror.
"What?! You want me to play?!"
I nodded.
He gulped down the fear stuck in his throat, and grabbed the controller, giving me the pillow to grab.
"A-alright, so I just need to collect the pages and not let the monster catch me..." he muttered, sounding genuinely frightened by the silly game.
I just crossed my legs and placed the pillow on my lap, as I watched him play, his hands trembling slightly.
"Okay...now go here...there. 7 pages to go..."
I smiled in amusement, trying to understand how something could scare him like that when it wasn't even real.
"Why does it scares you so much?"
"Hm? What? I'm not scared- OH GOD, THERE HE IS!" Dipper jumped, throwing away the controller and before I knew it, he scrambled across the floor, backing awau from the television until he bumped into me and grabbed my arm in terror as the screen filled with static and the Game Over screen flashed countless times before returning to the Main Menu.
Dipper stood sprawled across the floor, with shock written all over his face, while his back was on the floor and his head was looking at the screen, his hands still grabbing my arm.
When he noticed me looking, he just shut his eyes and face palmed.
"Argh, damn it! I knew this was gonna happen!" He pointed at me "I warned you. Give me the pillow back, please..."
I shook my head.
"No, it is warming up my legs now."
"Fine!" Then he just placed his head on the pillow- so in another words, on my lap.
He adjusted himself as he wanted, not caring if I was even okay with it.
I was though, I didn't mind, and I was pretty sure he understood that. Kinda weird though.
"If you want the pillow, you're gonna have to bear with me. I'm gonna play it one more time."
I chuckled, watching as he seemed concentrated in the game.
"There! Let's hope that son of a Saturn moon doesn't catch me too soon, at least let me get to three pages!"
I kept staring at him rather than the game. Something was telling me that he was more interesting.
I studied his face and took in his feautures. Like I had first noticed when I first saw him, he looked a lot like Mabel, except the male version. I could now see that his nose was a little different.
I liked the way his locks of hair fell down on his face. Even though it made his eyes look smaller, it was a nice touch to his hair. I wasn't going to tell him that, I'm pretty sure he would think I was a creep and ask me why I had noticed or why I was staring. I think the worst part was the fact that I didn't really knew why either.
But on closer inspection, small dots on his skin were sprawled on his forehead. I involuntarily squinted my eyes, trying to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. They looked rather odd, almost making a pattern that reminded me of something. I couldn't see the rest, since it was covered by the rest of the hair.
"No, no, no! Argh, damn it! I was almost there!" He said, covering his eyes with one hand, while still holding the controller in the other.
My stare went unnoticed, until he uncovered his eyes and looked at the ceiling, before looking directly at me.
I was still debating on what the dots were making me almost remember, so I missed the confused and probably weirded out look he was giving me.
"Hum...Norman? What are you doing?"
I lifted a hand and tried to pass it through his forehead to see if the dots made any figure at all, but the moment I brushed a strand of hair out of his face, his right hand grabbed my wrist with a streght that I didn't knew he had in a rapid movement.
I clearly jumped, not expecting it at all, feeling a certain surprise that made my eyes widen and the colour disappear from my face for a while.
Dipper sighed, and gave me a cringe-y expression.
"Don't...do that." He said, sounding determined, but also almost... nervous?
His eyes didn't stop searching mine, he refused to keep them still for one moment, instead he just went through with short and quick eye movements, like he wasn't really sure of where to look or if he should just pick a spot to look at and stop, or just look away.
Even thought he appeared to be lost, he was still scanning me and hoping to find an answer without spoken words.
I finally realized what had happened, and how weird I must have acted. I felt a blush rise to my face. I lowered my eyebrows and looked to my right, clearing my throat and slowly but steadly lowered my hands, in a way to give him a sign that he could let go of me.
He let go of my hand as I lowered it besides me, and he sat up, giving me his back.
"Sorry, I was just curious." I scratched my left temple, my eyes never leaving the floor to my right, and carried on. "The dots on your head kinda remind me of something, I just don't know what..."
He turned his head, what made me look in his direction, giving me a side view of his face.
He also looked slightly embarrassed, a faint blush near his nose and eyes alternating from the ground to the front and vice-versa, even though he had nothing to be embarrassed about, since it had been me who had been staring at him.
I looked to my right side again, and he got up. I watched as he grabbed a blue and white hat that hung in his bed and placed it on his head, making sure to hide whatever it was that he didn't want me to see.
He sat down again, looking at the floor, looking sad and flustered at the same time.
We stood like that for a minute.
We just stared at the walls and the ceiling, both too embarrassed to do anything.
"So...are you gonna tell me?" I asked.
He didn't say anything, he just stood still.
"Are you?" I asked again.
No response.
I sighed.
Great, now he was ignoring me.
This wasn't going anywhere, was it?
"Hey, I'm not gonna laugh. Come on." I tried.
He shrugged his shoulders, and looked down, his eyes hidden by the hat.
"Why do you care?"
I blinked.
Seriously?
"Fine...I won't ask." I gave up, throwing his stupid pillow to the side.
He sighed, deciding to at least explain a bit.
"It's a really embarrassing, I don't really want people to see it. A lot of people made fun of me...still do sometimes." He scrunched up his nose like he had smelt because of whatever memories where running through his mind at the moment.
I looked at him and back at the ground, nodding twice.
"Sure. Sorry." I was feeling more annoyed than sorry, but whatever.
"You don't need to apolagize." He tried to play it cool, but what I did had obviously bothered him.
I kept looking at the ground, thinking that it was for the best.
He handed me the controller.
"Here, your turn."
I easily grabbed it, and started a new round of the game.
It wasn't exactly hard for me, I had played this game in my computer a lot when I was younger, since the alternatives where always something around going outside and doing nothing or staying inside and doing nothing.
I had managed to convince Courtney to play once. The results weren't pretty, but they were what I was almost expecting.
Courtney ended up getting the 'game over' screen quickly, and then burst out of the room, screaming that I was a weirdo, before running downstairs to tell dad that I had that game on the computer.
I was fairly young, probably 8 years old. It was just the beginning of my 'weird' likings, and my father didn't thought much of it at that time. He probably would have made everything possible to lead me into another road of inspiration to try to prevent the inevitable if he knew what it was going to become.
"How come that you can't even be phased by it?" Dipper silently asked.
I raised a hand from the floor slightly to match my speaking and opened my mouth to speak, but I ended up stuttering a little so I just gave up quickly.
"Just...it...doesn't fright me." I bit my lip and looked down for one more time today.
"You know, there's this creature here in Gravity Falls that looks a little like that one. It is called the Hide-Behind. Supposedly, it is always behind you, and you never see it. You can only hear it."
I looked up at him.
"So, a creature that you can never see and that can strike at any minute?" It honestly sounded cool to me, but seeing it from Dipper's perspective, it wasn't so appealing.
Thinking of it like that, it made it seem quite scary "So say that it is really late, like 2:36 in the morning, and everyone's asleep and it's dark...it could be right behind you without you even knowing?"
Dipper's eyes flashed, and the colour drained slightly from his face.
Noticing his change of expression, I smirked a little to myself.
It really seemed to bother the guy...
It was strange. To see a person feel small or scared just with words.
At the same time, it was funny. And he did annoy me.
...I wanted to see more of it.
"Or you know, you could just be laying in bed, totally defenseless and you could hear some footsteps..."
Dipper's eyes got wide.
"Jesus, man, what are you made of, nightmares?" He said, hugging and running his hands along his arms like he was cold.
Goosebumps? Really? The guy knows about the monsters but gets scared like that?
I smiled slightly, and shrugged my shoulders.
"The Hide-Behind thing sounds cool to me." I teased. "It's not my fault you get easily frightened."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Not so cool if you see it in person. You probably would get scared." He responded, crossing his arms.
He realised what I was doing?
So he was being a little full of himself on purpose, I could tell.
My first assumption why was because he was more experience in these kind of monsters, and I had no idea that they existed until recently.
My second guess was that he was actually doing it because he didn't want to look scared.
Can't a person just joke around for a little? Or am I the only one that people like to make suffer and that can't do anything back?
"How do you know?" I replied, feeling a little moody.
The need of being polite that society lives on to seem organized can be ignored pretty quickly sometimes.
"I just know."
I'm tired of people denying my opinions.
I'm a living, weird, human being. I have a mind of my own.
"Or maybe you don't." I said in an annoying voice.
He seemed to grow more tense and wild with my words, the look of disbelief that he was offering making up for all of the unpleasant words that he chose not to say.
It was annoying to say the least, looking at a person that thinks he knows so much about others but doesn't know a thing in the end.
That's what everybody does. They don't care to listen, they only care and listen to themselves.
It annoys me. It annoys me so much.
That's why I hate them.
He went on with whatever was running through his mind, presumably better being put out here than to just stay there and make him feel unable to have an opinion. Except that his opinion was more like a statement that made me feel lowered again.
"Look, I have seen stuff, I know what I'm talking about, these are real monsters, dangerous ones, and I can tell by looking at you that you'd probably be scared-"
"Well then, trust me, I have seen stuff too, and it wasn't pretty either, so you can shove your assumptions where they came from, because what I see and what I've seen -"
He didn't let me finish, his words coming out as a realisation. He scoffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"There, you see? You're back at that secret stuff again, how do you expect me to trust you? I can't if you keep shutting me off!"
His words lingered for a little bit in my ears.
"Shut you off? Really? Did I not talk with you yesterday? And today? Or do you think I go around telling everyone I meet about my life?"
"If you don't, then why me?" He replied almost too quickly.
I opened my mouth to reply to this, but I had no clue of what to reply with.
He busted me, trapped me in an alley, or caught me in the headlights, if you may.
I closed my mouth, my teeth clanking loudly, and I ended up scoffing and looking to my side in defeat, while I crossed my arms.
What was I doing? Why...did I start this useless fight?
Strangely, I couldn't help but to try shake off a feeling of deja vu and a certain nausea. What the...
"You say that you don't want to talk about it, you don't want me to ask questions- you don't want to ask me questions- and honestly, I don't know! For real, tell me- would you trust a person that you had never seen before nor did you knew anything about and that you know that is hiding big things from you?"
I sighed.
Something wasn't right.
"Maybe I should go..." I decided, getting up.
"Yes...maybe you should."
He didn't said anything else, so I just assumed it was what I should do.
"I'll see you tomorrow... I guess."
I turned my back and went downstairs.
It's scary to see how things change so fast sometimes.
3640 to 5083 words! People, this chapter killed me! I had it done before, but I didn't like how it ended up like, so I deleted almost 2000 words and did them again, plus adding what I had to in order to make it work. I hope you enjoyed, leave a comment or don't if you don't, but I wil give you a cookie if you do xD
Also, regarding updates for this story, I recommend you passing through my profile board, because that's where I post the time the new update is gonna be, if anything happened and I'm late, that sort of thing.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and stay weird, people!