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toothpastecanyon · 5 years

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Noie’s Brother, Chapter 15

A giant thank you to @feferipeixes and @gawain-in-green for helping me out with this chapter! They’re both awesome and you should check out all their amazing works!!

Fate sometimes rhymed, but Alcor felt like this one was a little on the nose. A newborn Mizar fading away in the hospital and a loving father pleading to him from behind a circle of candles.

Fate sometimes rhymed, but Naomi Argenta just wants this stupid vampire to stop harassing her brother. It’s making him go… weird.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

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“Kid? Kid?”

Plodding down the street. Sun beating down on her shoulders. Noie was vaguely aware of the burn in her muscles, the utter exhaustion in her joints.

Only vaguely, though.

Her mind was…

Alcor. Alcor the Dreambender. Standing there. Staring at her.

…elsewhere. Lucy Ann could clear her throat all she wanted, but the sound was lost in choking gasps of her brother’s last breaths.

Before he died, before he DIED she saw it stars she saw it she saw it SHE SAW IT-

A touch made her scream. Lucy Ann cringed and retracted her arm.

“Sorry,” she said - Noie felt a pit in her stomach at that. “Uh, kid?”

Noie opened her mouth, and then nodded.

“I was just gonna ask, how’re you holding up?” The vampire looked her up and down. “You look, uh…”

“I’m fine.”

Those words came out of her mouth, but Noie could barely recognise her own voice. It was fast, flat, devoid of emotion, and she kept walking.

“You sure?”

“I’m fine.” She repeated, then: “You don’t, you don’t have to- don’t worry about me. You’ve done a lot, um, today.”

“Heh, is this your way of saying thank you?” Lucy Ann’s awkward grin died as the silence stretched. “...Alrighty, then.”

A pause. They kept walking.

“Um. Wow, even when it’s cloudy it’s hot out here, huh?”

Noie nodded. “It’s kind of hot here a lot. In Arizona.”

“You don’t say.” She shuddered. “Ugh, I can’t wait to get out of this place. No offense, but you guys have the worst weather for vampires.”

"Sorry.”

“Sorry… for the weather?”

Noie made a face. “Yeah,” she said, and looked away. “For the weather.”

It was silent for the rest of the walk home. Silent as the gargle from Dipper’s slashed-open throat.

The knife’s hilt pressing into her palm. The little tug in his skin before it gave way. The blood on her hands, the look on his face-

And the look on its face as it slammed her to the ground. Its lip curled, it’s teeth bared. Its claws, tearing into her while it said she was mine, mine, MINE…

Her brother? How was that her brother?

Noie gulped, and found herself fingering the USB in her pocket. The edges were hard, and she pressed it into her palm until it hurt. Until it cut through her thoughts and let her breathe again, just for a moment.

She just wanted to breathe.

She didn’t want to think, she just wanted to breathe.

“Hey, Noie.”

Noie thought she heard her name being called. “Yes?”

“We’re at your place.”

She blinked, and yes, they were. The same old, stuffy house she’d been walking back to for years. Everything was the same, the same as it had always been, the same dark wooden door, the same red car parked the same concrete driveway baking in the same hot sun… but something was different.

Something was so awfully different, and she didn’t want to think about why that was.

“Hey, that’s your folks’es car, isn’t it?” Lucy Ann made a face. “They might be a little surprised to see you coming back so soon on a school day-”

“I’ll sneak in. I’ve done it before.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You have, huh. Oh, of course you have.”

“Of course I have. Don’t worry about me. Don’t…” Noie’s eyes strayed up to a spot just below the vampire’s eyes. “Um, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Where are you, um, gonna-”

“Gonna go? What, you’re still not gonna invite me inside?” Lucy Ann gave a guilty grin at the way she flinched. “No, sorry, that was petty, um… no, I’ll be fine, I’ll probably get something to eat and then skedaddle back to Portland.”

“Get… something to eat?”

“Yeah. You know of any icecream places round here that have blood flavour? That’s my favourite.”

“Uh, no, I-”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Guess I’ll go devour a whole human person then.” She crossed her arms. “Or, you know, literally just go to the supermarket and get a blood pack. I’m sure you know that’s way more convenient.”

Noie cringed. “Sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Um… I… Sorry.” She pressed the USB into her palm until she could feel her bones. “Sorry.”

Lucy Ann stood there for a moment, waiting. When Noie didn’t say anything more, she sighed.

“Y’know, it’s Dipper who gets hung up on reincarnations like a dummy, but… I dunno. I’m a little surprised.” Lucy Ann gave her a sad kind of smile. “You’re different from how I remember.”

Noie’s throat tightened. She couldn’t look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, and the vampire sighed.

“I know you are.” She made a move like she wanted to pat Noie’s shoulder, but stopped herself. “Look, kid, you’re…I don’t know your life. I don’t know why you decided to buddy up with a pro-nat angel who I literally told you wanted to kill me from day one- but nevermind.” She looked Noie in the eyes. “Look, you’re a young human. Just, go home, sleep, talk to your brother who is definitely a demon… and it’ll be okay, okay? I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but it’s not all terrible. It’ll work out.”

“Sorry.”

Lucy Ann sighed. “Okay. Goodbye, kid, and say bye to your grandma from me, too. Best of luck to you.”

Then she walked past Noie, her tattered red shawl trailing behind her. Noie opened her mouth, and:

“Wait!”

The vampire turned around.

“You’re leaving the state?” Noie grimaced. “That’s a l-long way, don’t you need help?”

“What, have you got a driver’s license?”

Noie didn’t say anything. Lucy Ann shrugged.

“I’ll take a bus, thanks.” She turned away. “Bye, Noie.”

Then Noie watched, wordlessly, as she walked away, and left her standing alone in front of the house.

Alone.

She didn’t want to think about it.

So she walked. Walked to the back of the house, where Lucy Ann told her all that time ago that Dipper was-

She nudged a doggy door with her foot, and then crawled through it. She was almost too big to fit; it’d been a long time since she’d had to use this shortcut.

Not since her grandparents started staying home all the time, and even then Dipper was skinnier, Dipper was-

She tiptoed into the kitchen, though she really didn’t have to. The TV was blaring from the backroom, trying to drown out someone else’s unwanted thoughts, painful memories.

Unwanted thoughts she gave him, painful memories she brought up just to get him off her case, just to pretend that Dipper wasn’t-

She nudged the bedroom door open, and sealed it shut behind her. Put her forehead to the wood.

That Dipper wasn’t-

Wasn’t a demon.

That Dipper wasn’t a demon a demon A DEMON

Noie felt it coming up like bile in her throat. She tried to choke it back, but THERE WAS HIS HAT THERE WAS HIS BACKPACK THERE WAS HIS BLOOD ON HIS BED WHERE YOU TOLD HIM HE COULD TRUST YOU

She crumpled. Physically crumpled onto the floor; she made a grab for the desk but only succeeded in spilling papers with Dipper’s handwriting and the hat that Dipper always always wore and it landed in a puddle of golden blood and glistened at her like the disappointment in Lucy Ann’s eyes. She jumped back from it, then with shaking hands she took it and she held it close and she tried to wipe the gold off but it wasn’t coming off it was never going to come off and he was never going to come back because SHE KILLED HIM

“No…” Noie hugged the hat to his chest, choking out, “No, no, no, n-no, I-I’m-sor-ry, I-I-m-so-sor-ry-I-di-dn’t-mean-to, I-I-di-idn’t-want-to-hurt-you I tried, I tried so hard, I tried so hard I didn’t mean to…”

She gulped down a breath, and heard the TV’s chatter as it filled the silence. She unclasped her arms a little, and looked down at his hat. Her chin crumpled at the sight; whatever composure she’d won back dissolved in an instant.

“Dipper, p-please come back…” Through blurry eyes she looked up at his empty bed looming far above her. “Please come back, please. I-I need you… I need someone.” She squeezed her eyes shut to drown out the TV’s blaring chatter. “I need anyone, please…”

Alone in a bedroom for two, Noie buried her face into Dipper’s hat and sobbed until she didn’t have to think anymore.

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Noie didn’t know when she fell asleep, but somehow, she woke up smiling in her bed. She’d had a good dream.

But as she woke up, felt the itch of her regular clothes, saw the dark night looming behind her blinds, that cold rush of dread swept in and extinguished every hint of a smile. She sat there, staring up at the ceiling, marinating in the memories of that morning.

The blood that sprayed from his neck, sprayed onto her, the warmth of it soaking into her as she stepped back-

And the shadows rising up, the demon tearing into her calling her mine mine MINE-

Noie didn’t realise she was holding the USB until she could feel it stabbing into her palm. With a sniffle, she took it out of her pocket, and looked at it like she was seeing it for the first time.

There was a logo, but apart from that it was grey, featureless. Strangely new, like it had just come off the shelf and not from…

Noie sat up, pocketing it. She stared down at their computer sitting on the desk. Slowly, she made her way to the ladder, and climbed down the bunk bed until her feet hit the floor.

The floor. It was clean; there was no more blood. The sheets were white and unblemished, clear of claw marks. There were no more reminders of this morning. No more reminders of her brother.

If not for the USB, he may as well have been nothing but a strange dream.

Noie gulped as she shook the mouse. It booted up from sleep, and she tapped in the password as she stuck the USB in a slot; as always, she fumbled to find the right side to put it in.

As the computer started, she heard footsteps down the hallway. She froze, but it continued past her door and into the kitchen. She opened her files, and found the USB drive.

After a moment of hesitation, she double clicked.

A video and a folder appeared. Noie blinked at the titles; the folder was named simply ‘Memories’, but the video had a much more cryptic label: ‘For_Naomi.mov’

What? She frowned, and clicked on the folder first. There were more video files, a dozen of them. She scrambled for her earphones, plugged them in, and clicked one.

It opened to some footage of a very young child pushing around a baby walker. A gentle laugh came too loudly from behind the camera; Noie jumped and turned down the volume.

“Heh, what are you doing?” The voice asked as the baby pushed their walker against a wall. Noie didn’t recognise him, or this house. “You need some help?”

Noie watched a hand come down and carefully turn the walker. As soon as the baby was free, they drove it straight across a living room and into the couch; the voice laughed a bit harder.

“You really like speeding around, don’t you?” The camera pointed down to the carpet. “I won’t be able to catch up once you figure out how to turn. Here…”

Then the video cut off. Noie sat there for a moment, utterly confused. Uh, what was that supposed to be?

She clicked another one. Same house, same voice, but the baby looked a little older; they were walking on their own, and holding a saucepan lid.

“Now where did you get that?” The voice asked with amused affection. The baby threw the lid and seemed to jump when it clattered. “Oh, that was loud, wasn’t it? Did it scare you?”

The baby came toddling over to the cameraman and pressed their face into his leg. A hand came down to comfort them.

“Aww, it’s okay. I’m here, it’s okay. You want me to pick you up?”

They started to make a crying sound.

“Okay, I’ll pick you up. Just let me…”

The video stopped there. Noie stared at the last frame, at the baby clinging to this man’s leg.

They had black hair, like her. She noticed that, then noticed the wedding ring on this man’s hand, then noticed the deep pit forming in her stomach.

She clicked off the video, hesitated, then backed out of the folder. Her cursor hovered over the first video, ‘For_Naomi.mov’... and she glanced behind her.

Dipper’s empty bed was the only thing that stared back, but she felt… weirdly watched. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, and then turned around.

She clicked the video, and watched it open into darkness. That voice again.

“Seriously? Are you gonna stay up?” There were knocking sounds as he fiddled with the camera. “Just… ah, that might be it. Okay, there!”

Then the man stepped back, and his face… Oh, stars.

“H-hey! Hey, Naomi.” His laugh. His laugh. “Well, you’re just a camera here but hey, Naomi! Yes, hi! Hi, nice to see you t-”

Noie shut off the video. Leon’s face still stared at her; she jabbed at the X until it disappeared then backed off fast from the computer. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

Leon. That was Leon.

That was what he sounded like.

She stood there frozen for a second longer, then opened her door and almost ran into the kitchen just to get away from it, from him, from all of this-

And came across someone she was not ready to talk to right now. Her grandfather looked up from stirring a cup of tea, his bushy eyebrows raised in surprise… and a bright shine to his stare like worry.

“Naomi?” He started. She cringed. “Oh, uh, hey! Just making tea for Allie, here…”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Just making tea for Allie…”

He stared into the cup, and Noie made a face. She tried to back away, but-

“So how’s Dipper?”

Her blood ran cold. “D-Dipper?”

“How’s his head?” He didn’t quite glance up at her. “Haven’t seen him all day, I-”

“Fine! He’s fine, he’s- he’s fine!”

“Okay… Uh, how was school today?”

Noie swallowed hard. They still thought she went to school today. Wow.

“Noie, is everything-”

“Everything’s good! Everything’s great, thanks.”

“Oh.” He hunched up his shoulders. “Oh, okay then. Guess I should, uh, butt out, then.”

Noie cringed. ”No, Grandpa. I’m sorry, I didn’t…you’re not…”

“No, no, I get it. You think you’re getting older, you’re at that age where, you know, you say stuff I shouldn’t take to heart.” He tried for a chuckle. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

It faded into silence, and his throat tensed at that. He looked away.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Noie stood there, once again out of words to say as her grandfather stirred the tea. She wanted to run away, wanted to melt into the floor, but the loose end of the conversation held her awkwardly in place until he started speaking again.

“Didja know,” he started. “Uh, I mean, it’s not the same thing, but when Leon was around your age - or a little younger, ‘round twelve or so - he got in trouble for sneaking food back to his room.” He shot a glance back at her. “Which, uh, wasn’t allowed back then. Allie’s- it’s a bit more lax with you kids, but… well, it doesn’t matter.”

She listened to the spoon scrape as it scooped out the tea bag. She listened to the wet noise it made as it plopped into the sink.

“Anyway, uh, Leon was talking back to her like you like to do. I’d never seen anything like it before - telling her to go away, to leave him alone, he doesn’t wanna say why… like, what’s going on, kid? What’s got you all wound up?”

Noie watched David smile into the tea. He shook his head, and snorted.

“Turns out a little family of gnomes had moved into the park by our house, and they were going through the garbage cans each night. Leon could see ‘em from outside his window, and he was bringing them fresh stuff each night. Thought we’d be mad if we found out - we weren’t mad. It was the sweetest sh-stuff I’ve ever seen.”

There was a distant rumble of thunder. David looked up at that.

“Oh, think we’re gonna get a good storm tonight.” He picked up the tea. “Anyway, we ended up inviting them in for dinner some nights, it was nice. The Bompossooms, they were good fun… shame when they moved on, but I think Leon kept in touch with ‘em.” His smile faltered. “For, uh, quite a while, before…”

Noie grimaced. “Before… yeah. You don’t have to-”

“It’s fine. It’s fine, it’s-” He gripped the mug. “I like that story. It’s good, it’s…”

His fingers tapped hard against the ceramic. Tap, tap, tap.

“You know, makes me think… you know, what you said this morning, makes me think about… about how…”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“With you… you kids, he would’ve made a… made a g…” David turned away abruptly. “Argh,” He sniffed. “I got a cold, I think. Yeah, I got a fucking… stupid…”

Noie watched him start off down the hallway, rubbing his reddened face and muttering things under his breath. He didn’t say goodbye, but the conversation was very much finished.

In the silence it left, she heard another rumble of thunder. She glanced at the blinds over the back door, at the darkness that peeked through, and swallowed.

She stood there until she heard another growl like the sound Alcor made when he had his claws in her chest, and she backed away into her room again.

Into her room, which still had the growls of the growing storm.

Into her room, that still had a neatly laid, empty bed on the bottom bunk.

Into her room, where the USB was still stuck into her computer, about to be played.

Noie could hear the wind whistling against her window. She could hear the palm trees rustling outside. A storm was coming, and she was going to end up watching that video.

She was. She just was, so she might as well do it now, right?

A gulp.

Find out why Di- why Al- why it was left for her, right? She had to. She had nothing else to do.

She took a deep breath, and took a seat behind the computer. She gave it a little shake to wake up the monitor, and came face to face with that file again.

For_Naomi.mov.

She put on one headphone, then the other. Then she clicked it, and braced herself for that voice again.

That voice. His voice.

“Seriously? Are you gonna stay up?”

She saw the darkness differently now. It was a little fuzzier, a little bluer, and she could pick out the creases of a shirt.

“Just… ah, that might be it. Okay, there!”

The shirt shifted as Leon stepped back, and his face still sent a jolt through her. It was smiling, but she could see it looked different to the photos of him; the bags under his eyes, the lines in his face, the sunkenness to his cheeks… wow, he looked older.

And he had a baby in his arms. Noie’s heart skipped a beat as Leon sat down on a bed, cradling it (her?) to his chest.

“H-hey!” He said, and gave an awkward half-wave. “Hey, Naomi.”

Then he laughed, a warm chuckle that made Noie’s blood run cold.

“Well, you’re just a camera here but hey, Naomi!” The baby made a noise, and he smiled down at her. “Yes, hi! Hi, nice to see you too! I’m talking to you, did you know that? For when you’re all grown up!”

She watched his smile go crooked. He looked up again.

“I hope you never have to watch this, but, uh, in case you do, hey. Sorry if this is, heh, a bit all over the place.” He rubbed his face. “Twins have… been a lot the last few months, you and- and the other one, that’s been…”

In the ensuing pause, Noie let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Twins. He said twins.

Thank the stars.

“Well, that’s been complicated, a-and that’s what I wanted to explain! By doing this.” Almost absentmindedly, he started to rock the baby. “There’s, uh, stuff I did, that-that you have a right to know, but I didn’t - I haven’t, I can’t’ve - told people, so if for some reason, um, I’m not around to tell you this-”

Leon seemed to cut himself off before his words got too fast, and took a deep breath. With a shaking hand, he wiped some hair out of his face.

“Um,” he started again, and swallowed. “Well, this is, this is in case it all goes wrong, okay? I think I’ve gotten myself in a bit over my head.” A nervous laugh. “I’m certainly planning to be there ten, twenty years down the road when you wanna ask me what the heck I was thinking, but I don’t even know what tomorrow looks like, so this is… this is insurance, okay?”

The baby made a noise, and he started rocking her again. He grimaced up at the camera.

“And I better make it fast, it’s your naptime soon.” He nodded to himself. “Okay, okay, so, I guess I should start with the elephant in the room. Your brother… you don’t have a brother.”

You don’t have a brother. Noie jumped back like she’d been struck; her mouth opened to retort, but Leon was already continuing.

“You weren’t supposed to have a twin. Alcor altered everyone’s memories so they think it’s normal, but-” He paused. “Alcor… um, Dipper- but I’m getting ahead of myself.”

Thunder rumbled as Noie stared wide-eyed at the screen. Her hand itched to stop the video, to rip the headphones out and run, but she was frozen in absolute horror. She could only listen.

Leon’s face was going red. “Um, at the hospital, after Pinni had you, th-there were complications and-” His voice went hoarse; he cleared it and shakily continued. “I-I’m sorry. B-but after Pinni… passed, that caused problems with y-you t-too and now you weren’t going to make it…”

He wiped under his glasses, then put his arm down and clutched the baby to his chest.

“I heard that, and I wanted, I needed some way to save you… I went through Pinni’s old demonology notes.” Another hard swallow. “And I found Alcor’s entry. ‘Nice to children’ she wrote, and… heh, well, that was better than all the alternatives. Nice to children; well, I thought, as long as he’s nice to you, right? As long as he’s nice to you.”

Leon looked away, at a point past the camera. An almost dark chuckle escaped his lips.

“I don’t make a very good demonologist. I knew it’d be a big deal - hah, a ‘big deal’ - and I was willing to offer anything to make it work. If it had taken my soul…” Another chuckle. “Seriously, I-I didn’t care. It’s kind of crazy, I just thought of you in the NICU and… I didn’t think twice.”

Noie watched him pause, mouth working like he wasn’t quite sure how to word the next part. She could only stare at him, watch him finally shrug and shake his head.

“Well, uh… didn’t take my soul! So I’m… about that, I don’t know…” He shook his head again. “No, I-I summoned him, and he didn’t want that. Instead… he said he wanted to grow up with you.”

Leon frowned to himself.

“He wanted to grow up with you. Wanted to make a human body, alter everyone’s memories to make it seem like he was a part of the family… I don’t know why he wanted it so badly, but if it was going to save you?” He tried for a smile. “I agreed. He asked me if I wanted to forget too, and I said no. I couldn’t.”

The baby made another noise, and he gently shushed her.

“Just a few more minutes, sweetie,” he murmured. “I don’t think it would’ve made a difference if I said I wanted to, um… Alcor isn’t very good at playing human. I don’t know what I expected, but his - bodies? His bodies keep breaking.” He seemed to shudder at a memory. “Ugh, yeah, it’s not pretty. And then he gets angry, and tears up the house - sometimes he fixes it, but I haven’t been able to have people over for weeks, the living room looks like a, like a wild animal went through it… yeah.”

Leon heaved a sigh. He stared down at the floor with a glassy expression, and Noie shuddered at how tired he looked. Not a grey hair on his head, but at that moment, he seemed older than David.

“Yeah…” He repeated, to himself. “It’s… it’s been hard. Some days I almost wish he’d just taken my soul; that would’ve been so much simpler, and you wouldn’t - I can’t imagine how confusing this’ll be when you grow up. I wish he’d just taken my soul.”

After a moment, he seemed to realise what he was saying. He straightened and cleared his throat, trying to rally a smile.

“But it’s okay! Or it will be okay, or…” He tried for a laugh. “Um, trying to put a positive spin on this is hard. This is all kind of awful… but Naomi?”

Leon stared right into the camera, straight into Noie’s eyes, and the smile dropped from his face for a very serious expression. The intensity made her shiver.

“I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how bad this gets… this was worth it, alright? I’m okay with this.”

He smiled down at the baby in his arms, and his smile is so wide, so warm, so very genuine.

“The deal saved your life, and that’s all that matters to me. I’d do it again, Naomi. I’d do it again a million times, because even if I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, I know it gave you the chance to grow up, a-and you never would’ve had that otherwise.” He smiled up at her, sadly. “Even if something does happen to me, a-and you have to watch this video… that means it worked. That means you got to grow up, and I’m so glad. I’m so glad.”

The smile wobbled a little.

“I hope I can be there for it. Stars, I hope everything works out, and I can be there to see the wonderful person you’re gonna grow up to be… but if I don’t, if something happens to me… I want you to know that I don’t regret a thing.”

He sniffed. Noie watched that, watched him look down at the baby again.

“Just know that I love you. And Pinni loved you.” His chin trembled. “I just want you to know that. I want you to know that, Naomi, I…”

The baby suddenly arched its back and opened its mouth, and the first hiccupping start of a cry got out before Leon stood up. He rocked the baby for a second, before leaning down to give the camera a sheepish smile.

“Uh, I think that’s my cue.” He extended his arm to the camera. “I’ll ask Alcor to, um, store this when he’s- next time I see him, uhhh… maybe I should redo this? Maybe later, I’ll see if I have more time, um, later.”

The video shook as he fiddled with the camera. He paused, and gave one final smile.

“Love you, Naomi. Hope you’re doing good. You’re, you’re gonna be amazing, I hope-” A loud cry made him snort. “Alright, alright, I have to go. Love you so much, Naomi… Um, bye!”

Then the video stopped. Stopped on that final frame of Leon, smiling down at Noie like she was his entire world.

Smiling down at her, and she wanted to melt into the floor. She just sat there for a second, stunned beyond belief, the pit in her stomach as dark and heavy as a black hole.

She shook her head, faintly. Shook her head at the video like Leon could see it.

Then she glanced behind her, tried to get rid of that awful feeling of being watched.

The thunder rumbled. Rain pattered on the roof, and the TV blared from one room over… and it was so, so eerily silent.

Noie just sat there. Uncomprehending.

Shivering, because for once she was cold. There were goosebumps on the arm she used to pull the USB out. She held it for a moment, then set it on the desk and scrambled back.

Now what?

The rain fell. The wind whistled. The bed springs creaked as she slumped into Dipper’s bed.

Now what? She asked herself, and stars, she really didn’t know what to think anymore.

#transcendence au #Noie #dipper #Noie's Brother #lucy ann #toothwrites

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