Okay, this is about half of what I originally intended to write for this chapter, but I thought it better to split it in half. So, there's a lot of talking and setup for the next chapter. More characters are introduced.

Also, I probably won't update this fic during November because I plan to take part in Nanowrimo. Wish me luck (please)!

The loss of the stone bothered Dipper more than he wanted to admit. Wendy had told him to be sincere so he had been- he had put his faith in the black tourmaline being able to protect him. To say he was disappointed would be something of an understatement. He gathered the shards into the drawstring baggy that usually held his dice for Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. It didn't feel right to just throw the pieces away, but he didn't really know what to do with it.

He decided to show the shattered stone to Wendy before he did anything else with it. Luckily, she had given the twins her number the day before (which Mabel had teased him about on the way home). He shot off a short text to her and began to gather his clothes for a shower, picking out a faded red henley and black skinny jeans, and grabbed his towel.

He checked his phone to see an invite for him and Mabel to join Wendy for breakfast, to which he agreed and then tossed his phone onto his bed. When he stepped out into the hall he noticed a faintly sweet, musky scent lingering in the air and it took him a few seconds to realize Mabel must have used the incense she had bought. Dipper shook his head with a wry smile and walked down the hall to his sister's room to knock on her door.

"Coming," Mabel called from inside the room followed by something falling over. "Frick!"

"Mabel?" Dipper knocked on the door again. "Are you alright? You're not burning the house down, are you?"

"No! I'm fine!" It took a few seconds but Mabel answered the door, her hair damp and dressed for the day in a plain shirt (that would end up covered by her sweater of the day) and black, floral patterned capris. "What's up?"

Dipper stood up on his tiptoes to peer over her head, noting a mug on its side on the table and a towel thrown hastily in front of it.

Mabel grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tugged him back to standing normally. "Dipper."

"Wendy invited us to breakfast; you want to go," he asked, stepping back to free himself from her grip and then straightened his shirt with one hand.

"Really?" She perked up at that and pushed her hair behind her ear with a smile. "Wait," her smile turned sly, "I'm not intruding on your date, am I? Eh, you sly dog you." At that, she attempted to playfully nudge him with her elbow.

Dipper stepped back out of range, face hot with a blush. "It's not like that," he complained. "She just knows things and works at a store relevant to my interests." Not that Dipper thought saying that would get Mabel off his back; he never really felt any sort of romantic interest in anyone. (Thinking back on it, his childhood crush on Nancy having been more of a flutter of happiness at her treating him nicely. And once she had absorbed the opinion of the class about him, that little bit of happiness was snuffed out in an instant). Now that he was older, he could admit that he found plenty of people attractive- Wendy included- but he'd never felt more than an appreciation for someone's looks (and usually getting flustered by that attractiveness). At this point he wasn't even sure if he could feel that sort of romantic love.

Mabel was convinced he hadn't met the right person yet, someone who he could feel close enough to feel the stirring of romantic interest. Not that she wanted to force him into a relationship if he didn't want one, but she would keep encouraging him until he was sure about his romantic orientation.

"Pshaw," Mabel scoffed but dropped the subject for now. "Yeah, I'll come along."

Dipper nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready in about fifteen minutes."

She nodded and closed her door to finish getting ready herself.

"Fifteen minutes," he emphasized through the door and then turned to continue down the hall to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and began to undress; it was only when he had his thumbs hooked into his underwear that Dipper remembered his ghostly watcher.

How was it that he had managed to forget that he was being watched? To not notice the feeling of eyes on him, he wondered. His skin broke out into goosebumps and he shuddered- it was amazing what you could get used to. Though, now that he took the time to think about it, even while walking around the town he had the same feeling as when he was in the house, that he was being observed and followed. It struck him as weird; weren't ghosts stuck in one location? Places like their old homes, places where they died, or cemeteries or some such, or was he wrong? Or was this another case of his paranoia getting to him and he only imagined that someone was watching him? He knew the ghost existed but maybe it wasn't watching him like he thought; if that were true it would be a big weight off his mind.

The more he thought of it the more secure he felt about it. Still, he rushed through the process, trying to cover his modesty as much as he could, and only taking the time to shave only his face- not that he shaved anything else that often unless he was in the mood for it. When he tried to race out of the tub, Dipper hit his shin on the rim of the tub and wasted a minute cursing at himself and the tub before he took his time to pull on his clothes. After he brushed his teeth and put on deodorant, he scooped up his dirty clothes and returned to his room.

He dropped his clothes in a corner, telling himself he'll put them in the hamper later. Then he pulled on some socks and slipped on his red spiderman slip ons; he added a short jean jacket that he had sown a few patches on and then his sister had bedazzled along the collar and lapels. On the back she had also bedazzled a pine tree outline as he refused to have his name or the big dipper there for everyone to see. As he did the day before, he pulled on a beanie but chose a black one with little crochet flowers along its brim that his sister had made for him.

After he grabbed his phone, wallet, and baggie with the broken stone, he went downstairs to find his twin talking to their parents in the kitchen.

"-and she's really cute and I think she totally likes Dipper because-"

"Mabel," Dipper yelped, his face burning once more, "we just met her yesterday; there's no way she likes me like that." He knew his twin could see romance in just about everything, but he didn't need it projected on his every interaction.

"Oh, Dipper," Mabel cooed with a slightly patronizing look, "sometimes that's all it takes. You'll understand one day." She was now wearing a sweater, a pastel monstrosity with unicorns on it.

He scowled back at her.

Anna reached up and lightly tweaked her daughter's ear. "Don't tease your brother so much, sweetie." She stood up and walked over to pull her son into a jasmine scented hug. "'Morning, hunny."

Mabel rubbed her ear and then put an abashed smile on her face. "Sorry, Dipdop." Quieter she added, "I still think I'm right though."

Dipper stuck his tongue out at her from over Anna's shoulder.

Playfully dramatic, Mabel dropped her smile with gasp, clutching at her collar as if he offended her delicate sensibilities. Then she stuck her own tongue out, taking it a step further by also hooking her fingers in her mouth to pull it open wider.

Anna stepped back and smooched Dipper's cheek, reaching up afterwards to rub his cheek out of habit even though she had yet to put on her makeup. She was dressed for comfort to work from home in a simple blouse and stretchy pants, as her job as a website designer didn't usually need her to meet her clients face to face.

Dipper pulled a face at both women. "Attractive, Mabes."

"Your face will get stuck that way," Doug added with an amused smile, leaning against the counter with a mug in hand. He was in a robe and slippers, not in a hurry to dress as he also worked from home as a graphic artist. Not that Anna would let him stay that way all day.

Mabel dropped her silly face and planted both hands on her waist. "I'd still be fabulous!"

"Of course," Anna replied and walked over to plant a kiss on Mabel's cheek as well, and rubbed her cheek just as absently. "Now get going you two; don't keep your friend waiting."

"Yes mom," the twins chorused.

"Let us know when you'll be home," Doug added with a bit of sternness.

"Yes dad," they managed to say in sync again.

"Oh!" Doug suddenly perked up as if remembering something. "Since you'll be in town, mind making some copies and deliver them to the bookstore? I have a lot of work to get done, so there's fifteen bucks in it for you both," he added with a crooked grin.

"Deal," Mabel agreed in an instant. They got an allowance every week if they had done their chores but as it was only fifteen dollars a week, they were usually eager for an opportunity to earn more.

Doug set down his mug and walked out of the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "Great, I'll go get it."

Dipper sighed and pulled out his phone to text Wendy.

To: Wendy

We need 2 get copies. b a ltl l8

Then he shoved his phone back in his pocket before he could be tempted to correct it and type the message out fully; he had picked up some text speak from his twin, but part of him always cringed when he used it. (Mabel told him it was his inner nerd crying out in pain).

A moment later he felt his phone vibrate and had to take it back out.

From: Wendy

kk

It wasn't much for Dipper to go off of; should he apologize for the delay, he wondered. Or was it just an acknowledgement of his text? Choosing to take it as the latter, he put his phone back in his pocket.

Hopefully this errand wouldn't keep Wendy waiting long.

(Line Break)

Their dad had handed them the flyer in a folder to keep them from creasing it, gave them both their promised reward and the money to pay for copies, and then they were out the door. The Gravity Falls copier store wasn't located on Main Street, but it wasn't that far down a side street from it.

The store wasn't very big- what with most of the building being used to hold all the equipment in the backroom- but there were a few displays with examples of things they could make. There were calendars, mugs, t-shirts, and more, or so their banner proclaimed- another example of what the store could handle. Posters and flyers covered the walls in a mural of projects, some of them laminated and not, and all were colorful with upbeat and quirky statements on them. Overall, it was a rather cheerful store which included the copier technician.

He was a big, hispanic man with prominent front teeth, giving him something of a gopher appearance; his expression was open and friendly, and he had a sparse amount of facial hair along his chin and upper lip. On his shirt, a name tag simply said 'Soos.'

"What can I help you doods with," he asked with a boyish grin, resting a large arm on the small counter, and tilted up the brim of his cap.

"Uh, hi," Dipper said haltingly, an automatic response as he tried to gather his thoughts. As always, the act of starting social interaction created a flare of panic that swept aside all rational thought- all he needed was a few seconds for it to pass.

"Hey, nice to meet you dood," he said cheerfully and offered his fist for a bump, taking it as a genuine greeting.

"Um, you too?" Dipper reached over and bumped his fist against Soos' fist timidly.

Soos made exploding noises with his mouth as he pulled back. "My name's Jesus Ramirez, but everyone calls me Soos."

"I'm Dipper," he replied with a bemused half-smile. "Dipper Pines." With the man's friendly, open attitude it felt as if he'd been automatically accepted as a friend despite not having said a full sentence yet. Dipper was a tad blown away by Soos, feeling as if he'd been swept up in a bear hug with just the man's sunny disposition; the only other person who managed such a feat was his own twin.

"Me next," Mabel cheered and bounced closer to the counter and offered her own fist to bump. When Soos bumped her back, she made a few different explosion noises before she managed to reign in her enthusiasm. "I'm Mabel Pines, nice to meet 'cha."

"Same, hambone." Soos tilted up his hat to beam at both of them. "You must be the new doods who move into that creepy shack in the woods."

"Yep!"

Dipper frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Word gets around fast in this town," he answered easily with a shrug. "Everyone's just excited to have new neighbors is all."

"Oh." Dipper shuffled a little in embarrassment. "That makes sense."

Soos chortled with good humor. "What can I do for you little doods? You can't have come to see ol' Soos."

Dipper opened up the folder and put the flyer on the table in front of Soos. The flyer was professional but cheerful, with easy to read script and a somewhat fancy border on the top and bottom; along the sides were tiny books lining the words in the center.

"That's pretty nice," Soos complimented. "Do you want it as a poster? Or maybe on a hanging banner?" He snapped his fingers as if he got a brilliant idea. "Postcards, right?"

Mabel 'ooh'd and 'aww'd at the suggestions, pressing her hands against her cheeks. "Is there anything you can't do here?"

Soos hummed and rubbed his chin, clearly attempting to recall what they didn't do.

"Nevermind that," Dipper interjected, "we just need a hundred copies of the flyer." He pulled out a sticky note that was stuck to the inside of the folder he had been carrying. "These are the specifications dad asked for."

Soos took the sticky note and looked it over. "Oh, that'll be easy peasy-"

"Lemon squeezy," Mabel finished with a cheer.

"Yeah!" The big man offered his hand up for a high five.

Mabel obliged him with a full force smack of her hand to his- she hardly knew the word 'restraint.'

"Woah, strong aren't you, hambone." Soos grin turned slightly bemused and he shook out his hand to get feeling to return to it. Then he picked up the flyer and turned to walk into the back room. "This'll be done in a jiffy," he called but then added in a quieter voice, "or is it giffy?"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, shrugged, and then moved to separate side of the building to look at the displays of items. Mabel headed for the calendars and Dipper headed towards the mugs.

At random, Dipper picked up one of the mugs and brought it up to eye level- it was a plain white mug and on the side there was Gravity Falls in big blocky letters, and inside the letters there was a glimpse of a scenic forest scene. Dipper tipped the mug over to look at the bottom- $4.99 was on a bright orange sticker.

He put it back down and picked up another one- this time a cute cat held on to a branch as its bottom half dangled down; across the bottom and top it read 'Hang on to that branch cat OR DIE.' Even though he felt he shouldn't, he still gave a short laugh at that.

Behind him, the door of the shop opened and then closed, but Dipper didn't bother to check out who had entered. He picked up another mug only to find the face of some chubby pre-teen on it, with tall white hair and the fakest smile Dipper had ever seen. With a frown, he put that one down carelessly but that sent it tumbling to the carpeted floor and behind the shelf.

With a curse, he knelt down beside the shelf and carefully, slowly edged the shelf forward to give him room to reach behind it- it rattled a bit but nothing fell off. Dipper turned himself so he was facing the wall and could wedge his shoulder between the shelf and wall to give himself more reach; that put himself just in range to grab the mug by its handle, but Dipper paused mid-grab. On the wall, shallowly scratched into the plaster was the Eye of Providence- the edges were jagged to the point it looked like someone had scratched it there with their nails. It sent a cold shiver down his spine because it almost felt like he was making eye contact with someone, that it would suddenly blink and break their staring contest.

Dipper slapped his palm over it. That was just his imagination, he told himself firmly; so he found an illuminati symbol in this town, there was nothing too eerie about that, right? Probably just some teenager looking for a bit of fun out here in the sticks- who ever consider that fun he wondered, but then pushed that thought away.

Out of curiosity, he lined himself up with the symbol and looked back out at the shop. It gave a pretty good view of the entire front room of the place, including the girls he could see talking to his sister. Dipper turned back towards the wall and moved his hand away from the eye reluctantly; he couldn't just sit behind this shelf all day. He grabbed the mug and moved to get out from behind the shelf.

A trio of screams pierced the air.

Dipper jolted, knocking his head into the shelf. Everything rattled loudly and Dipper swore just as loud. With agitated movements, he escaped from behind the shelf to see who was screaming and why.

Two girls and Mabel were talking to each other excitedly, passing a calendar between themselves and pointing at it emphatically. They all had big, dreamy smiles on their faces and giggled to each other secretly.

One of them was an asian girl with straight black hair that hung around her shoulders- a Venture Tyme barrette kept her hair out of her face. She was skinny as a rail and tall even though she slouched a bit; she wore rimless glasses and dressed in a flattering but plain shirt, a dark skirt, and white tights. As she laughed she would cover her mouth with her hand. The other girl was tall, too, but also broad and muscular. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her short bangs kept out of her face with a plain pink barrette. The pink top she wore clung to her wide shoulders and flat chest, not that the girl seemed to notice or care; she wore blue jeans with little flowers embroidered on the pockets and pink sandals.

They were both cute but in a more subtle way than how Wendy had wowed Dipper with her looks, but he still chose to hang back and not make things awkward by just being himself. He returned the mug that had caused him so much trouble and pushed the shelf back into place. For reasons he couldn't explain, he shuffled around the items until it had blocked the Eye of Providence from view. That done he glanced back at Mabel to see her exchanging numbers with the girls, which brought a smile to Dipper's face.

It was then that Soos returned from the back room carrying a small stack of papers.

"Boom," the man said and placed the flyers on the counter, "one-hundred flyers, still hot from the copier." He pat the pile with a grin.

"Thanks, Soos," Dipper replied as he walked over to the counter as well. He paid and soon he and his twin were leaving with waves to both Soos and the girls- (according to the goodbyes his sister gave)- Candy and Grenda.

(Line Break)

Overall, that detour took longer than Dipper liked, but Wendy didn't seem to be bothered when they finally arrived at the diner. The twins joined her at the booth seat and Dipper apologized for keeping her waiting, but Wendy easily waved it off. Everyone took a minute to look over the menu in silence.

Wendy was done first and put down her menu. "So, what's up?"

"Breakfast," Mabel replied with the lilt of a question in her tone. After all, she had only heard that they'd been invited to eat with Wendy.

Before Dipper could answer, their waitress came to the table. She was the same older lady they had noticed the day before with the big hair- Susan; on a closer look at her, she wore a thick amount of blue eyeshadow and wore bright red lipstick. When she smiled she had small bit of lipstick on her teeth. Her nails were long and painted the same shade as her lipstick.

"What can I get you cuties," she asked with a warbling voice and winked playfully.

Wendy ordered the lumberjack breakfast, which had three different types of meat, two eggs, hashbrowns, and pancakes. Dipper couldn't help but stare at her; where did it all go? Wendy had some muscle to her but she still had a willowy figure. The twins both ordered pancakes, though Mabel asked for whipped cream and sprinkles on hers; both Dipper and Wendy ordered coffee and Mabel asked for milk.

"I'll be back," Susan promised as she left to pass their orders on to the chef.

Once the woman was out of hearing range, Dipper blurted out with his usual social grace, "It broke."

"Huh?" Wendy cocked an eyebrow at Dipper for a second before understanding dawned on her face. "Oh. Did you drop it or something?"

"Drop what," Mabel butted in and leaned her elbows on the table.

"My rock," Dipper replied and reached into his pocket for the baggie. "The stone I bought yesterday- and no, I didn't drop it." He waved it in front of his face and jiggled it around so they could hear the sound of multiple piece knocking into each other.

Wendy took the baggie and looked into the bag, whistling at how many pieces there were. She passed it to Mabel when the girl made grabby hands.

"I woke up and it was like that on my nightstand," Dipper insisted and reached up to fiddle with the bedazzle stones on his jacket, letting his thumb rub over them as a minor distraction from his nerves. "I did everything like you said I should." Right now he wished he had the stone again; it had been a rather good worry stone and he wished he could soothe himself with the repetitive motion.

Mabel reached into the bag and pulled out one of the shards to hold it up to the light coming from the window. There were hairline cracks on the stone as if it had been crushed under something heavy.

"And you think it was the ghost," Wendy asked without judgement in her tone. "How are you sure?"

"Well," Dipper began only to shut his mouth as Susan arrived with their drinks.

She set them on the table and added a pile of single serving creamers between Dipper and Wendy. "Just holler if you need a refill," Susan said and patted Dipper's hand in a motherly fashion.

He was vaguely reminded of his grandma Verona in that moment, and offered a shy smile to the woman. Dipper wasn't used to affection outside his family but this town just offered friendly stranger after friendly stranger.

Susan cooed and moved on to the next table.

"Can't you still use these," Mabel asked as she dropped the piece she was holding back into the bag. "It was probably part of a bigger piece of rock that got broken up to make the small ones."

Wendy shrugged. "I dunno."

"Anyways," Dipper said, trying to get back on track, "what else could it have besides the ghost?"

"I'm not saying there isn't a ghost," Wendy replied in a soothing tone, "but there are wacked out legends about things in those woods, man." She pointed to the baggie. "It might have been something else that smashed your rock."

Dipper floundered. "But, I- what? That's…." He tugged his beanie down as if it would help him gather his thoughts.

Leaving the bag on the table, Mabel reached over to rub circles on his back, something she knew usually helped her twin to calm down. "Well, how do we figure out who smashed my brotato's rock?"

"Brotato?" That was enough to snap Dipper out of his thoughts and he turned his head to stare at his sister. "What's a brotato?"

"That's you, broski," Mabel replied and booped him on the nose. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Dipper repeated with a sarcastic tone added. He fixed his beanie so it wasn't about to cover his eyes. "She has a point though, how would we even find out if something else did it? It's not like we have cameras set up at the shack."

"I'm not an expert," Wendy replied and leaned back in her seat, grabbed her mug of coffee, and drained half of it in one go without adding cream or sugar. Then she set the mug back down to smirk and ask, "But why don't you ask your ghost?"

"Ask the ghost," the twins parroted back as one, both clearly bewildered by the idea.

"How would we do that," Dipper added, thinking of his favorite show and how the would yell questions in the dark waving around their audio recorders and other gadgets. "Would we need an EMF meter or maybe…."

"Nah, none of that," Wend interjected easily and waved it off with an actual motion of her hand. She leaned forward conspiratorially, resting her elbows on the table. "I'll show you when get to the shop."

"Wait," Mabel drawled the word out, "are you supposed to be at work right now?"

"Tambry's covering for me." Wendy said blithely, finishing off her first cup of coffee. "It's cool."

At that, their conversation turned to more normal things as they waited for their orders. Susan was prompt with refills and very friendly. When their food arrived, Dipper found that his pancakes had strawberries halved to act as eye on the top and bacon to be the smile- his breakfast was smiling at him.

"Enjoy," Susan declared loudly with a smile. "Let me know if you youngsters need anything."

"Thanks, Susan," Wendy said with a small smile.

Dipper and Mabel were quick to add their own thanks on top of that and digged into their food. Dipper let the conversation flow over him and only interjected occasionally to add a comment, but for the most part he was content with just listening to the girls chat. As they finished off their meals the conversation turned towards the town's Pioneer Day where the townsfolk dressed up in old-timey clothes to celebrate the day Gravity Falls was founded. Wendy explained it with the air of someone who didn't find it at all exciting. In a week they would set out all the booths and tents along Main Street, going so far as to travel by horse drawn, covered wagons.

Mabel was ecstatic about the idea- she even had her own pioneer dress from a play at their old school (though she would most likely end up making a new dress for the occasion). And, of course, she would make an outfit for her twin to wear to the event and probably even their parents if they could take the time away from work. She bounced in her seat, sparkles in her eyes as she pictured the sort of clothes she would make and what they would do that day.

When they finished eating they paid their bill, splitting it three ways, and then left a generous tip for Susan. They waved goodbye at Susan's boisterous goodbye and 'come back soon,' then they made their way to Mystic Falls.

Please leave me a review if you enjoy this fic :).