I don't like walking around this old and empty house

[ghostharasser]

Who: The Pines Family + Friends.
What: A Semi-closed catchall for the month of September.
When: Throughout the month of September.
Where: The Bone Fortress + around town.

Content Warnings: PTSD, Hallucinations, Eye Gore, Referenced Insanity. More to be added as they become relevant.


Top-levels below

Comments

[sparklehorror]

"Nerd."

There is no question that this is a Sincere Sibling Hug, so Mabel squeezes him back without bothering to initiate the pat, pat. The Awkward Sibling Hug has its place and will never die, but this is something Mabel has organized whole-heartedly, to make her brother feel better. Like the time Dipper managed to pull her out of the hurt that made her want to stay in Mabeland.

The Awkward Sibling Hug is for the resolution of dumb stuff, like the time Dipper swiped the stripey socks Mabel was planning to turn into armwarmers because he was having a laundry emergency and then Mabel couldn't use them anymore because they'd touched his sweaty stinky boy feet.

"Got you something."

[ghostharasser]

Yes, that is the proper use of the Awkward Sibling Hug. He had gotten her another pair of loud stripey socks to apologize. All was well in the end!

This is certainly not the end of some little spat of theirs. It's much more than that, so after a few moments he will finally let her go. He is getting a tiny bit weepy, but entirely because he's actually upset, he is just having a lot of Big Emotions as a result of his powers and this kind of thing has just been happening a lot. He's starting to get used to it.

"Not fair, since I didn't get you anything yet," But he's not actually upset. "I'll just have to surprise you with something when you're not expecting it."

[sparklehorror]

"Haha, you're gonna have a super hard time beating this one," Mabel chortles, deeply pleased with herself. This is the sort of thing that might well secure her the alpha twin position until the end of time.

Given Dipper's recent emotional issues it also might straight up kill him but at least he will die happy.

"Come on, open it now! I've been going nuts keeping it a secret."

It is quite a small box when she swipes it off the table and hands it over to him, dwarfed by the giant burst of curling ribbons she's attached to it. It's long and thin, but with a solid weight to it. Inside the box is -- another box, which is very Mabel indeed, except that it's a beautiful handcrafted wooden thing with a fancy metal catch holding it shut. And when Dipper opens that, he will find, nestled safely in a plush velvet bed, the coolest fountain pen he has ever seen in his life.

It's not just that the deep blue barrel of the pen is decorated with stars and constellations. There are two rings of metal between the barrel and the nib, one inscribed with months and the other with numbers of days. As Dipper spins them, he'll find that a clear extra layer to the barrel spins slowly along with them, outlining which constellations will be visible in the sky on each date.

[ghostharasser]

Yes, the curiosity was threatening to kill him. When she finally pushes the gift at him, he doesn't waste anytime getting the thing open. He pauses at the second box, raising an eyebrow before he gets the clasp open and goes completely still.

That is, by far, the coolest fountain pen he has ever seen in his life. He's careful about pulling it out of the box and holding it reverently in his hands. He turns it over with unmistakable awe before he starts to fidget with the rings, watching as the barrel turns, lining up the constellations. It was... incredible. He doesn't think he's ever gotten a better gift in his life.

"Oh, no," He mumbles, before he feels the emotions overrun. He did his damnedest to not cry, but as they've all sort of noticed, keeping his emotions together was just not happening lately. He holds the pen tightly in one hand while the other tries to scrub at his face.

"Geez, Mabel," He says with disbelief between what's trying very hard to be sobs.

[sparklehorror]

It's super weird for Dipper to be the emotional one, between them. Not anything she's judging him for -- she's always cried more easily than he has, and it's never been anything to be mean to one another about. Just weird. Mabel's taking the stance of not making a big deal out of it, aware that if her own reactions are too big it'll only make his worse. That's how her own have always worked, anyway. Freaking out about a raincloud won't make it go away; you just have to wait it out.

There's a reason she's made it a point to give him this gift before the Grunkles turn up, though, and it's this right here. Definitely it would suck if he wound up crying in front of everyone.

"I found this amazing stationary store the other day," she explains, while her brother is working through it. "It's got a ton of neat pens, and some feather quills too, for ritual stuff. Weird ink! And wax seals like in fantasy movies -- you'll love it. Haha, I was super afraid you'd find it yourself before I could pull everything together."

[ghostharasser]

Mabel going into a detailed explanation is grounding enough that he's able to use it to find his way back out of that burst of emotion. He's gotten a lot better at being aware of what's happening to him and riding it out, at least. That's better than being blindsided and getting lost in the upset at the slightest provocation.

"Oh man, I can't believe I missed it," He says, his voice a lot steadier. He takes another deep breath and moves his hand away, finally facing her again. Eyes a little red, but clear.

"We're gonna go later, right?"

[sparklehorror]

Ah, good. There he goes. It's always easier to pull yourself back together when you're really happy.

"You bet. I've got a job there for a little while," Mabel says cheerfully. "I'm learning fancy letters and helping them out with their commissions and stuff to pay that off. You're gonna find so much good stuff there I bet you'll end up there full time! I dunno what a lot of the weirder stuff is for still, but I bet you can use it for your work with Grunkle Ford."

She refrains from mentioning exactly how long she is going to be working that pen off. She's genuinely enjoying herself there, so it's not as though it matters. Calligraphy is totally going to up the heck out of her scrapbooking skills and she's already messing with it at home.

[ghostharasser]

Dipper's eyebrow vanishes under his unruly, dubiously kept hair.

"Just how much did this pen cost, Mabel?"

The lack of money in this place has been a weird adjustment, but also, the idea of his sister shackled to this stationary store for the next ten years because of a birthday gift does not sit well with him.

[sparklehorror]

"Eh, how should I know?"

Okay but Mabel legitimately does not care. She does not look the slightest bit guilty. She is in fact capable of looking guilty, and she is not doing so now.

"Not enough that I wasn't gonna go for it. It was totally worth it for the look on your face."

[ghostharasser]

He lets out a sigh. Of course, what did he expect when he asked? He is a little worried, but for now, he'll trust Mabel didn't somehow sell herself into servitude for the next foreseeable future.

And he'll just investigate this stationary place to make sure. Later.

"Yeah, yeah. That just means I'm going to really get you back later."

He will slide into one of the chairs, though, because there is a cake here and they really shouldn't go on ignoring it any longer.

"Wanna light the candles?"

[sparklehorror]

"Let's."

She'd figured this would be a little party for all of them, but after Dipper's reactions, a quiet moment for just the two of them two acknowledge their birthday together feels just right. They can always light the candles again when the Grunkles come down, and it's not like Mabel didn't get way more cake than they could ever need. The Pines Family Sweet Tooth is no joke.

Mabel clambers up into the chair across from him and sits up on her knees, grabbing up the lighter she has alarmingly handy and going to town.