#absolutely feel like i am walking around in the worlds slowest nightmare

[vvitchy-succubus]

.

[autumn-pines]

Blank State-Chapter 2: Dipper

   Chapter 1

Before...

Switching. Danger.

A handshake.

Laughter.

  Unlike the girl, the boy wasn't saying anything. And even though he was quiet, he looked just as upset as the other child. He was simply staring at you with a depressed, knowing face, while rubbing his arm, like he was unsure what to do.

And when the girl is on her knees, crying, the boy puts on one hand on her shoulders while the other goes up to pull down his cap, partially hiding his face.

But even from where you were, you could see something shining on what was visible.

And maybe, there was a hitched sob.

 "We saved the world, but what's the point? Grunkle Stan's not himself anymore." The boy mutters, scuffing at the ground with his foot.

He looks like despair is starting to grip him, the same going for the rest of the people.

However, after the girl finds the scrapbook, he walks over to the right side of the chair, perching himself up on the arm.

"That time we went fishing?" He breaks in, sounding cautiously hopeful. Or desperate. "That Summerween we spent together? Don't you remember anything?"  

You don't.

But then you do.

Something small. Only a name. But then it turns into two names. And now the boy is happily saying to keep going as you sit down, scootching closer when you do.

After the laughter, you gently reach over to rub your knuckles into the boy's head. He only lets out a wide grin, his expression near giddy, and punches your arm in return.

Afterwards, you are told that the boy and the girls are twins...

And that they are your great niece and nephew.

Which makes a part of you glow with giddiness and pride. Though you didn't admit that.

And like your niece, your nephew has his own quirks, too.

He's sort of an awkward child, with a cracking voice resulting from puberty and his tendency to burst into rants and then stutter off when he realizes what he just did.

However, you notice he is a little firecracker, too. Not so much the way Mabel is with her happiness, but more like a determined feisty kitten.

It didn't help that he sometimes sneezes like a kitten, too.

"I do not sound adorable!"

You also note that the child wears the same clothes everyday. Literally.

A red short-sleeved shirt, a blue vest, gray shorts, and his blue hat with a pine-tree on it.

You never bring it up, but you hope that he at least changes to another pair of the stuff he wears instead of keeping the same pair on.

He also sometimes carries a red book around and writes in it while chewing on the pen or clicking it relentlessly.

One time, you saw a golden six-fingered hand on the cover. You felt a pang of familiarity, something itch your mind, but when you tried to delve down into your memories, the feeling disappeared.

But a image of the elder man flashed.

Whenever there are scrapbook memory sessions, the boy is always there, correcting details and adding to them.

"Uh, Mabel, the zombies were not made out of pink putty."

"Oh, no. The wax guys actually meant to kill you."

Once, he tells how he went into your mind and saw a memory of yours that he will never forget.

"...And when I opened the door, you were saying that I was a loser, and weak. That you just wanted to get rid of me." The b-Dipper paused, studying the table, not meeting your eyes.

You wince, feeling like an absolute jerk. You open your mouth, about to apologize when the boy raised his hand.

"But when I listened more, it turned out you were only talking about your past experiences, and that you were just trying to help me get stronger so I could fight the world if things got tough." He finishes, finally looking up at you, smiling.

Then, with some hesitance, he slides off his chair and walks over to hug you. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan."

"...Eh, no problem, kiddo." You pat him on the back, feeling a lot lighter than just a few seconds ago. But then suddenly having less breath when your nephew decides to turn the hug into a playful chokehold.

He is a bit stronger than he looks, and you feel pride for him.

Dipper though, is also a bit jittery.

Once he asks for a dollar, and when you hand him a one-dollar bill, he glances at the back and drops it, watching it as it floated to the ground. He didn't move to pick it up but nor did he move away from it.

You gingerly put a hand on his shoulder, "You okay, kid?"

"I-I'm fine." He utters, starting to look a little scared. "C-Can I just have some quarters, please?"

Swiftly you offer the silver coins, and with a nod of gratitude, Dipper snatches the coins and speed-walks out of the room.

When you pick up the dollar, you scan it, trying to see what frightened him. There was nothing suspicious looking, except for the weird triangle thing with an eye on the left side...

...a cackle. Screams. 

You leave the dollar on the counter.

Later that night, you had to your best to calm down a panic attack.

"Will he be okay?" Mabel frets from beside you. Earlier, she ran into you while you were heading to your room. Frantically, she brought you to their bedroom, where you found your nephew sitting on his bed, with arms wrapped tightly around his knees, breaths short and erratic.

You nod, putting your hands gingerly on Dipper's shoulders, causing for him to look up at you with wide, terrified eyes. You can feel your heart crack. "Alright, kid, deep breaths. Inhale...exhale..."

After about a minute, Dipper finally calms down. "S-Sorry," He mutters. "It was j-just a stupid nightmare."

You shake your head. "Hey, there's no such thing as a dumb nightmare. It's alright to be scared. Just uh, come get me if you need to, okay?"

Dipper smiles slightly, and nods. With his sister's help, the two go back to bed, and you can hear them chatter as you leave the room.

You had a feeling that the dollar-bill sparked this. But why, you don't know.

Sometime later, Dipper takes off his hat and shows you his birthmark, making you recall his real name, a hospital, and you holding two tiny babies. One that punched the doctor when she came out and the other already having something strange the day he was born.

You never have seen something so adorable.

So naturally you tried to hold them as long as possible.

That same day, the two of you go on a trek through the woods. Dipper saw something that he wants to check out, but since his sister and the other man were busy, he asked you to come with him.

"What are we looking for again?" You shove away a branch that just slapped you in the face.

"I don't know, actually." Dipper glances down at the notepad he brought along while holding the end of a pen to his mouth. "All I saw was a bunch of neon colors. It did kinda look reptilian, though. And I heard a screech type sound."

If you die because of this, it is 100% not going to be your fault.

"And what's your plan to track this?" You tighten your grip on your bat. You don't like going in blind, especially when you're with a child.

"Grunkle Stan, we've been following it's footsteps for the past six minutes." Dipper responds, sounding deadpanned.

You tilt your head downwards and realize that the two of you were walking on a trail of footsteps, with each one having four toes and what looked like claws. Huh. What an observant person you are.

You are preparing a snarky comeback when your nephew stops, perking up as if he spotted something. "Shhh," He hisses as he leans forward, carefully lowering a bush.

Ah, you see what he's looking at.

Just a few meters away, a tall, bright-colored...thing is standing on eight legs, sniffing at a tree. You guess it does appear similar to a reptile with it's scales and face structure. But there is something strange about it. Pure black covered the neck and head, making the rest of it's body stand out even more. And even from where you are standing you can see it has small red pupils.

That just flicked back and caught direct sight of you.

The thing lets out a purr and turns around, staring at you with a curious expression.

"Hey, kid." You whisper, not taking your eyes off it. "Do you think this thing is friendly?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Dipper mutters, writing and sketching on his notepad. "It might be. Like, I guess it did purr at us."

The creature then smiles.

It. Smiles.

Making it look a lot more creepy than it had a right to be, almost like a serial killer. It takes a step towards you, flexing it's sharp, hooked claws.

Oh boy.

"RRREEEEEEEEEEE!" The monster screams and charges.

Yup, that would be a no thanks to you.

You snatch your nephew around the waist and throw him over your shoulder before running as fast as you can without face planting into the ground.

There were a few times when you thought it would catch and brutally kill you both, but with Paul Bunyan's luck it get's lost somewhere behind you.

The two of you are covered with leaves and mud when you finally reach the Shack, and after you set your nephew down, you both burst out into hysterical laughter.

But then you remember being on a mist-covered mountain, letting some kids loose to destroy things, the slowest and most irritating sky-tram on earth, a spider lady that tried to eat you, and specifically you saying, "What do I look like, an amnesiac?"

You slap your forehead.

So far, your past was something, to say the least.

But the most important thing you recall, was Dipper smiling up at you, and saying sincerely.

"Hey, we're both losers."

After you tell the adventure the two of you had in the woods to the rest of the family, whose shocked faces making the event totally worth it, you go to the chair, feeling exhausted. 

What you didn't expect was to feel something lay on your side. 

When you look, you discover that Dipper was resting on you, already asleep. Without saying a word, you wrap an arm around him.

It was a pretty good day.

Your nephew is lots of things. Books that are scattered everywhere. Annoying and relentless pen clicking. Typical teenager awkwardness combined with eager curiosity. A constellation on Earth, in a spot least expected. A quiet type of happy, that shows itself in subtle ways. A secret name that only a few know.

A pine tree.

All that resulted in Dipper.

I always enjoy writing some Stan and Dipper bonding. They are such a stubborn pair.

Okay, the next chapter is Ford's! Which should be posted tomorrow, but don't worry if it doesn't. I'm a little busy right now, however the next chapter will probably be on schedule. Thanks for reading!

@stanuary