#since most of the tooth is gone and the tooth behind it is deformed because of that 🔥🔥

[avamoeba]

life update for tha mutuals👯‍♂️💕

[stones-x-bones]

It’s Claw-bering Time || Sasha and Bex

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @sasha-r-blog and @inbextween SUMMARY: Bex is heading to class on campus when a something or other attacks her. Luckily, The Claw is nearby to help. Only...she forgot her mask. CONTENT: Blood

Bexley was just leaving another ‘come check out the campus’ events at the university (this one was about looking around the dorms and she’d gone just to make herself upset, she supposed, and long to be able to live in one, to be free of her parents’ grip) when it happened. Her parents had encouraged her to go and make “good friends” at the event, but she’d gotten swallowed up in the atmosphere and lost herself a little, letting go of all the pressure and stress it took to uphold her personality. She hadn’t even had anything to eat or drink, but by the time she left, her skin was buzzing and that strange anxiety that always clouded her head was building back up. Something was wrong. Usually, she would ignore it. But more and more lately, she couldn’t bring herself to. Ever since blowing up the computer lab, she’d been trying to keep her emotions more in check, and ignoring her own anxiety wasn’t going to help with that. And when she turned the corner, she realized why she was anxious-- there was a hunched figure, standing over what looked to be another body. Bex screamed for only a split second before slapping her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. The attacker had heard her and they looked up, red eyes glaring at them, blood covering their mouth. “Oh shit,” she muttered, backing away, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” But when she turned to run, she found herself closed into one of the dead-end corridors. “Oh, SHIT!” 

Sasha was in her dorm room where she heard the scream. It was only there for a second, but Sasha had learned from her time living in the dorms that she was rarely able to filter out sounds, either outside or inside the buildings. Her heart started pounding in her chest and she found herself grabbing the parts of her costume before she processed what was happening. Was the person who screamed close? It was hard to tell with noises in the dorms. But it sounded urgent. Like super urgent. Sasha had gotten on most of her costume when she heard someone shout “Oh, shit!”

With her brain lagging behind her body, Sasha rushed out of her room and into the halls, heading out of the building and following where the sound seemed to have come from. The sight that she saw when rounding the corner nearly made her hammering heart stop on the spot. 

There was blood. Oh fuck, there was a lot of blood. Someone was on the ground bleeding, and moving away from them, hunched and unnatural looking, was a person. Or something person like. Sasha had no idea what to make of it, and didn’t have time to figure it out. Because someone wasn’t moving on the ground and someone else, a girl around her age, was staring at the creature in fear. Heroics or instincts or something kicked in. Whatever Sasha would call it in hindsight when looking back on this tremendously stupid decision didn’t matter right now. She let out a horrible growling noise from deep in her chest and launched herself at the creatures' back. Her claws slashed into the thing, trying her best to stop its movement towards the bystander. She got some good hits in. At least it seemed that way. But it wasn’t long before she was flung off its back and just barely caught her balance when landing on the floor.

The creature turned towards Sasha, eye glowing and mouth covered in blood and bits of something Sasha didn’t even want to think about. But it was focused on her. Good. The Claw was keeping someone safe. But unbeknownst to her she had forgotten her tooth patterned face mask in the rush, and her domino mask had fallen to the floor when she was knocked away, leaving her face exposed.

Whatever that thing was-- a deformed wild animal, or maybe even a rabid human?-- it was closing in on Bex and she had nowhere to go. Her back pressed against the wall and she felt her knees begin to shake. But then suddenly there was another girl there, dropping in as if she knew exactly what to do. There was a loud roaring noise and the sound of tearing flesh and Bex closed her eyes, turning her head away. “Don’t panic,” she told herself, feeling her heart begin to pound, “don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic!” But it was too late. When she opened her eyes next, the thing was lunging for the other girl, and as Bex got a closer look, she realized she was wearing what looked like a mask. In her flurried movements, the mask tumbled from her face and Bex was staring at a normal girl. Big eyes, dark skin, and almost recognized her. She’d seen her around campus, right? That-- that wasn’t important right now, though. The creature knocked her away and was lunging for her again. 

“Watch out!” Bex called, pushing away from the wall and running towards the girl. She wasn’t sure what possessed her to do that, but in the next moment, the thing was on top of her, snarling and gnashing its jaws. “Get oFF!” she screamed, shielding her face as claws tried to swipe. “GET IT OFF!” Next to her, the trash cans began rattling. A wind kicked up in the alley. A window above them shattered. “HELP ME!”

As Sasha slashed towards the creature and it launched itself towards her. She felt her claws swipe against something, maybe it’s face or chest, Sasha wasn’t sure. She was ashamed to say that even while in fighting mode, the sight of the monster rushing towards her made her reflexively close her eyes in fear. She heard the girl shout out, and suddenly Sasha’s claws stopped hitting anything. When she forced her eyes open she realized with a start that the creature had decided to go after the person she was trying to protect, likely seeking the weaker target.

In a panic Sasha rushed in again, but as the girl screamed a strange tension filled the air. Sasha vaguely heard the sound of rattling and shattering but didn’t have time to pay it mind. Soon she was on the creatures back again, slashing across its shoulders and trying to reach towards its face. But strangely the previous slashes looked shallow, as if they were already fading from the creatures body. What was this thing? Was this just a nightmare? Why wasn’t it stopping when she attacked? It was a scary moment, realizing her superhero namesake might not be hurting this thing like it should. Sasha tried to get a good grip on its shoulders, growling as she wrestled it to the side as it writhed and fought. Eventually, with enough force that even Sasha’s muscles felt the strain, she shoved the creature into the nearby trash cans and tried to grab the girl's arm. “We need to go! Come on!” Sasha didn’t have a plan besides running at this point. But this person was going to die if they didn’t leave. And Sasha was already feeling the pain in her arms, straining muscles and small cuts from the creature’s own claws that she didn’t have time to tend to. They needed to get out of the alley.

Bex was watching all of this in disbelief. She had no idea what to do, what was going on. Her mind traveled back to her encounter with Mina, and the bird. This place was out to get her, wasn’t it? Suddenly the thing was off her again, and the other student was scrambling with it, slashing its back with-- her hands? Claws? Maybe she was wearing special gloves. She did have a mask on at one point. Was this girl trying to be some sort of vigilante? Bex’s head pounded and another window shattered and she shrieked as the other girl shoved the thing into the dumpsters. 

Still on the ground, hands raised above her head, Bex was blinking in a daze. Suddenly the other girl was calling out to her, telling her to run. Bex wasted no time. She wasn’t the most athletic by any means, but she could sure run if she needed to. And she did. “There!” she called out, pointing for a side door, scrambling to grab her ID. “That door has a security lock! It won’t be able to get in!” At least, she hoped so. 

She made it to the door and fumbled to scan her badge, noting the shake in her hands. The creature was making loud noises in the alley behind them, slamming around as it clawed its way free of the trash cans. “C’mon, c’mon,” she muttered, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure the other girl was close by. Behind her, though, she could see the thing. “Ahh! Hurry! Hurry!” 

Sasha followed the girl’s lead as she made her way over to the door. Only when the girl started fumbling with the ID did Sasha dare to turn around and look and the person creature thing again. Throwing it in the trash had slowed it, but unsurprisingly, considering how little her claws did against it, being tossed seemed to only temporarily distract it. She held her hands at her sides, claws out, a strange growling rumble in her chest. Panic mixed with anger and Sasha couldn’t honestly tell which was winning. But she had to make sure the girl got through the door first. She couldn't think of what might happen if the creature got to her first, or if Sasha couldn’t get through the door herself. If she did she would freak out.

The key card was taking too long, and the creature was quicker. It was rushing towards them and Sasha rushed to meet it halfway. The force of tackling the thing head on nearly knocked the wind out of her. It certainly knocked her back a few feet, further towards the entrance of this alley between the dorm buildings. There was no skill in Sasha’s attacks, just mad slashing. She felt the creature’s claws tear against her thigh and shouted, it half sounding like a roar. 

Then suddenly there was another set of screams. The grip the creature had on her started to loosen to the point that she was able to break away. A strange burning smell filled her nose and nearly made her gag as she stumbled back. In her mad thrashing against the creature she had managed to push them to the end of the alley, where the shadows of the nearby buildings didn’t protect the area from sunlight. The creature screeched, wisps of smoke curling off of its skin. Sasha noticed blood dripping from the claw marks she left on it. They were fading like before, but slower. She didn’t have time to think about this. She turned and rushed back towards the girl, hoping she had managed to get the door open during Sasha’s distraction. For now the monster seemed too in pain to react. 

Bex continued to fumble with the key card, and the moment she glanced back, she wished she hadn’t. The other girl was running straight for the deranged animal, and the two were suddenly tussling. The card slipped from Bex’s hands and she dropped to her knees, remembering last time with Mina, and how she’d freaked out. How she’d felt herself lose control and the pavement had cracked and the world had seemed to slow down. Her gaze turned back to the girl and the monster, and even though she knew-- she knew that if she concentrated, she could help, she could do something, she could maybe do what she’d done to that bird-- she could help, she found herself frozen. Whatever she’d done last time, she didn’t want to do again.

So, instead, she grabbed the card and jammed it into the swipe and yanked the door open. “C’mon!” she shouted, turning back just in time to watch claws dig into the girl’s thighs. “No!” she shouted, so loud it felt as if it reverberated in her head. So loud, it reverberated in everyone’s heads nearby. A pounding headache suddenly smashed at Bex’s head and she reached out blindly for the other girl, finding her arm and yanking her inside with her. The thing howled in pain and Bex heard it inside her own head like an alarm and she slammed the door shut. Voices echoed in her head and she grabbed it, shaking it back and forth. “Stop it!” she shouted, “Shut up!” 

And then suddenly, silence. The only sound was her heart pounding in her ears, and the panting of the two girls in the cement hallway of the building. She blinked, looking around, eyes falling on the other girl, her bleeding thigh, her claw-like fingers. “What...are you okay?” she asked, breathless.

Sasha had only made it a few feet away from the burning creature before pain made her nearly double over. A noise rang in her head, as loud as that time the gun had gone off near her when her and Nell were facing that bounty. So loud it felt like she couldn’t see for a moment, and she nearly lashed out at the hand that grabbed her arm, thinking it was the monster striking again. But instead she let it drag her away, into the dorm building and behind the safety of the locked door. 

Her heart was still pounding in her chest as her eyes adjusted to the indoor lighting. The girl shouted for something to shut up. Was it the noise Sasah had heard? But then suddenly the girl seemed to come to her senses. Sasha, on the other hand, felt dazed. Adrenaline was still coursing through her, screaming at her to run or lash out. She took a shaky breath. There was no noise from behind the metal door. It seemed, at least for now, that they were safe. She blinked a few times at the other girl before realizing she had been asked a question.

“I’m fine. I’m just glad we are away from...that.” As if on cue, Sasha felt the sting of pain start to cut through her adrenaline. She looked down, touching lightly at the tear along the striped spandex on her leg. There was a gash there, and the sight of it made Sasha feel woozy. She leaned back against the wall and pressed a hand over the wound. She nearly poked herself in the process, forgetting to sheath claws. 

“A-are you okay? Are you hurt?” It didn’t look at first glance like she had any injuries, but she had been gripping her head like something was wrong a few moments before. Maybe the creature had hit her on the head when Sasha wasn’t looking, gave her a concussion or something. “Do you...do you know what that was?”

Bex blinked, looking around, then back at the other girl. “You-- you’re clearly not okay,” she said, a waver in her voice. She tried not to let it get to her too much, swallowing. She needed to be brave, like she had been with Mina. Her eyes looked out the glass window to see if the whatever it was was still there. She didn’t see anyone. Good.

“Y-you’re leg is--” she motioned to the other girl’s leg, where blood was seeping through her striped tights. “And you--” she pointed to the scratches on her arms. Bex’s head just hurt, as if an enormous pressure had built in it, and she still felt the solid pound of it, like that energy was screaming to be let out. But she couldn’t. She just couldn’t. Not here, not now. She swallowed again. 

“I’m okay,” she said, motioning the girl away from the door and farther into the hallway. “H-here, sit down,” she muttered, then began digging through her purse as she sank down next to her. “I don’t have too much in my purse, but I have enough to um-- to clean that up.” She didn’t look back at her, biting her lip. “Um...no. I mean, it was just-- it was just a person, right? Or an-- an animal. IT had to just be an animal.” Licked her lips. “Can I um-- can I ask what this is about?” she motioned to her tights, the outline of a mask on her face.

“It’s fine.” It certainly didn’t feel fine though. The cut didn’t look that deep but Sasha wasn’t a doctor. What if she needed stitches or something? She couldn’t exactly explain to a doctor that she had gotten beat up fighting some sort of crazed... whatever it was. 

“I think it was a mutant.” It sounded completely responsible in Sasha’s head. After all, wasn’t that what she was? Just some sort of x-men like mutant. Some sort of messed up genetics or whatever made her able to grow claws and stuff. So why couldn’t it make someone turn into a weird, super healing monster like that? “It was a person. Just like, a mutant person.”

As Sasha spoke she sank down onto the ground, not even thinking about how she should probably be standing all tall and brave and not letting the girl she just saved try to fix her scratches. When the girl motioned towards her outfit, Sasha let out a tired chuckle. “I’m the Claw. I protect White Crest.” It was that moment, as Sasha spoke, idly wiping hair from her face that was stuck down with sweat or maybe even blood, that she realized she didn’t have her mask on. She flinched, hand moving to cover her face. As if this girl hadn’t already seen her face this whole time. Shit shit shit shit.

“I need to-” Sasha abruptly got up, nearly knocking into the other girl. “I-I’m glad you are okay.” She moved to make her way down the hallway. Where? She had no clue. But between the mutant person and her bleeding leg and now this girl seeing who The Claw was she needed to be anywhere but here right now. She felt like she was going to panic. 

“M-mutant?” Bex repeated, as if she wasn’t sure that was really the word the other girl had just said. “That’s-- how could a person mutate into that!? Is it some sort of disease? I-it scratched you, does that mean you have it? Should you go to the hospital?” Panic rose in her voice as she rattled on, thoughts snowballing. If that person was infected with something and then it infected this girl and Bex’s hands were covered in her blood, did she have it? She looked at her with wide eyes.

“The Claw?” she started, ready to ask more questions when the other girl-- The Claw-- jumped up and started backing away, almost toppling Bex as she tried to stand to follow. “Wait!” she called out, “i-it’s okay! I won’t tell anyone! I just want to help you!” More questions were bubbling in her head, her mind, and she wanted to let all of them tumble out of her mouth, but it was obvious whoever this girl was, she didn’t want Bex to know her secret. Bex could understand that.

“Please, your leg is bleeding pretty bad, and I just--” wanted to do something to help, unlike with Mina, where all she’d done was mess up. This girl had come to her rescue, and she obviously thought herself some sort of vigilante. “I’m Bex,” she said abruptly, “Bexley. Ochsenstein. I-- I don’t live on campus, but if you ever need anything, you can message me, okay? But I prom--” her mouth snapped shut. Mina had told her to not use that word, but Bex felt the need to say it here, to let this girl no she wasn’t a threat, “I promise I won’t tell anyone about you.”

Sasha turned to look at Bex, hesitating. Could she really believe her to not tell anyone? Maybe it was fine, maybe Bex would forget her face and not even remember once they were both away from this mess. But the problem was she couldn’t know. Everything she had ever read or seen about superheroes said that people finding out who you were was a one way ticket to trouble. How had she messed this up so badly? She had barely started her crime fighting career and already did the one thing you were never supposed to do.

“I can’t stay.” Her voice shook slightly, but she shook her head and tried to hide her panic, or at least as much as she could while still trying to cover her face. “You should get out of here. There... was that body. I don’t know if he was dead or not, but I need to...” Need to what? Call the police, let them know there was a monster killing attacking people on campus? She would have to, because what else could she do. And she would have to fix her leg and clean off the blood and not accidentally get involved with people looking into the body and not have this girl see her again and-

Too many thoughts were swirling in Sasha’s head, she needed to stop before she started rambling and saying more than she should. The Claw wouldn’t freak out. The Claw wouldn’t be scared. “I’m fine. You should wash off that blood. I think there is a bathroom down that hallway, on the right. And then go somewhere safe. Just stay safe.” And with that, Sasha ran away. Ran away as if Bex was somehow more of a danger than the monster Sasha had just charged at the moment before. But this was different. Nothing good could come of someone knowing who she really was. 

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN — “day three, pt one”

The five of them decided to go out for lunch that day.

It had been so long since they'd done anything fun outside the apartment. In fact, in her time staying there, Nic couldn't recall a single memory made anywhere but the apartment or a protest. Besides, they were getting sick of eating box pasta and shitty sandwiches all the time.

The plan was to pick the location in the car ride there, which Nic thought was completely stupid and bound to result in them driving around for at least an hour, but Tank and Athena insisted that it was a genius idea. Nic decided it wasn't worth it to argue with them; Tank and Athena were no doubt the most stubborn minds in the whole apartment.

Nic finished tying her curly brown hair into a loose braid. It was day three hair, which meant it wasn't greasy enough to be washed, but it was deformed enough that it couldn't just be worn out. She stepped in front of her mirror, patting down the light blue dress she was wearing. Nic didn't typically wear a lot of dresses, especially since the five of them didn't go out a lot, so she figured she might as well wear one at the rare chance she got.

Nic's head turned when she heard her door creak open. She smiled slightly when Alpha walked in, closing the door behind him. As usual, he wasn't wearing a smile on his face. Those were rare and only used for specific purposes. His grey eyes stared her down in that intimidating way they did, but Nic was starting to get a feeling that he did that on purpose.

"Hello," she said quietly, turning to face the mirror again, pretending to adjust the straps on her dress. Really, she just wanted to busy herself with something because being in front of Alpha made her an awkward wreck.

"I like the dress," he said in his raspy voice, stepping up to stand behind her. He was wearing black jeans and a simple white shirt.

"Thank you," Nic said. It was weird talking to Alpha like this. She had gotten really used to him giving her rude, blunt sentences or just intimidating glares. Then, she had gotten used to him whispering dirty things into her ears. Normal conversation? Still something new.

"I have a surprise for you," he added, his lips dipping down to Nic's exposed neck.

Nic closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as Alpha placed light nips from her collarbones to the bottom of her jaw, sending tingles down her spine. One of his arms came around to firmly wrap around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head to give him more space.

Alpha chuckled into her neck, his warm breath oddly making Nic shiver. His hand slowly went down her thigh for the hem of her dress, making Nic's mouth drop open just slightly. So far, he hadn't really touched her there yet. She tensed up as he pulled the hem of her dress up and reached for her panties.

Alpha's fingers slipped inside them, but to Nic's surprise, he didn't start fingering her. No; her eyes popped open in surprise and a gasp left her lips when what felt like two cold, metal balls entered her.

"What the fuck is that?" she exclaimed, the only appropriate response to something like that. She looked at Alpha in shock through the mirror.

Alpha slid his hand out of her panties, fixing the hem of her dress. He shot a glare at her reflection, a warning for what he'd call her "attitude."

Nic took a deep breath in and out, trying to cool herself down. She knew that if she even remotely snapped at him, he'd find some way to "punish" her—which she didn't usually mind, but it was probably more productive to speak to him peacefully if she wanted answers.

"What was that?" she asked, her voice painfully light. It was obvious she was forcing it, but it was enough for Alpha. "What did you just... put in me?" she said that last bit with a weird look on her face, because it was weird.

"You'll find out soon, babygirl," he said with a small smirk, placing one last kiss on Nic's shoulder before stepping away and taking her hand. "Now c'mon. If we don't get to the car before Riot, he might convince Athena to go to Subway." Alpha shuddered to himself at the thought.

They ended up getting in the car before Riot, managing to shut up him up before he could start a speech on why going to Subway was a good idea. The five of them bickered for a while, arguing over which cuisine they should eat. Riot still wanted subway, Tank wanted Thai, Alpha wanted Italian—Nic couldn't even keep up with who was arguing about what.

She pulled out her phone, making a quick search before speaking up. "Okay, shut up!" she called out, surprised when all the bickering actually subsided. "There's a black-owned restaurant nearby. It looks pretty good, lots of pancakes and crap if you're more in the mood for brunch—" she shot a look at Tank, known for his sweet tooth "—and some really good sounding sandwiches. This one has brie... anyway, it has a bunch of other stuff."

"I vote supporting black-owned businesses," Riot piped up, his voice followed by some merry cheers from across the car.

Chuckling, Nic passed her phone to the front so that Athena could get the directions. As she moved, she suddenly remembered the two little balls that Alpha had put inside her. God, that's weird, she thought to herself as she leaned back, wondering what the purpose of that even was.

The ride was spent passing Nic's phone around looking at the menu, talking eagerly about what they were going to order while nobody really listened to each other. She finally got her phone back as they pulled up to the restaurant. It was brightly colored, lots of blues, greens, and yellows on the outside. They walked in and were quickly seated by a young woman with a big smile.

Nic tucked into the booth, sitting near a window. She glanced up as Alpha sat beside her, his knee brushing against her thigh. She so desperately wanted to grill him on what was inside her, but, clearly, the time and place were all wrong. Sighing, she sunk into her spot and opened up the menu, skipping right to the sandwiches.

When the woman came by with a notepad to ask them what drinks they'd like, Nic set her menu down and waited for her to look at her.

"Sparkling water, please," Athena said with her award-winning smile.

"A chocolate milk-shake," Tank said with his lopsided grin, flashing the waitress a wink.

"Coffee would be great," Riot said calmly as he he flipped his menu shut in his nimble fingers.

"Water, no ice," Alpha said, his voice smooth.

The waitress turned to Nic, clicking the end of her pen.

Nic opened her mouth to say "water, please," but instead a gasp escaped her. All eyes turned to her as her cheeks turned bright red. She didn't even notice the smirk on Alpha's face as she started pretending to choke on her own spit to cover up her gasp. Inside her core, where two little balls lay, a vibrating sensation started spreading out, making Nic clamp her legs shut tight.

"Uh, I think she'll have a water," Alpha turned to the waitress, clapping Nic's back with his hand like he would if she were actually coughing.

The waitress gave Nic a weird look, but she nodded and walked away. As soon as she was out of eyesight, the vibrating stopped. Nic's coughing stopped in lieu, and she awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Spit went down the wrong tube," she said in a weak voice, making her three friends across from her give her amused looks and resume their talking

"'Spit went down the wrong tube,' huh?" Alpha whispered next to her, his hand gliding to rest on her thigh.

Nic tensed up, slowly turning her head to face him. "Are you doing this?" she muttered angrily, but she kept a smile on her face in case anyone was looking.

"Doing what?" Alpha responded innocently, giving her a feigned expression of confusion that made her want to slap the shit out of him.

Right then, that vibrating sensation returned, but it was stronger this time. Nic grabbed the hand on her thigh with her own, clutching it tight like a lifeline as she clamped her lips shut. Her eyes dropped to Alpha's other hand, which was holding onto a tiny remote.

And just like that, the feeling was gone.

Nic angrily picked Alpha's hand off of her thigh and dropped it onto his. The lady came back with their drinks, setting them down at each person's respective area. Nic waited nervously as each person before her ordered their food. When the waitress got to her, she waited a moment for the sensation to come, but sighed when relief when it didn't.

"Can I get the grilled chicken sandwich with the greens, tomatoes, and Chipotle m—" Nic bit her lip harshly, turning her head to the side to face the window so that nobody could see the expression on her face. She pressed her hands to her thighs and crossed her legs as the vibrating gradually got stronger and stronger to the point where it was impossible to stay silent. Rather than moaning like a dumbass in front of three of her other friends and a waitress who already thought there was something wrong with her, she faked another coughing fit, giving the waitress an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry about that," she heard Alpha say over her coughing, "she has a respiratory thing. I think she wants her sandwich with the Chipotle mayo."

"O-okay," the waitress said, clearly stunned. "Will she be alright?"

"I've got this, thank you."

Nic assumed the waitress must have walked away when the vibrating finally stopped. She sighed out of relief, brushing some loose hairs from her face. She didn't dare look at Alpha, instead choosing to deal with the stunned looks on her friends' faces.

"Respiratory thing?" Athena questioned, giving them both an odd look.

"I didn't know what else to say—that she accidentally inhaled her spit twice?" Alpha retorted beside her. Normally, Nic would laugh or snort at the joke, but she was in a rather angrier mood compared to humorous.

Athena, Riot, and Tank all snickered.

"How do you fuck up swallowing spit twice?" Tank sniggered, taking a swig of his milkshake. It left a brown mustache on his upper lip. Nic was going to point it out, but decided that leaving it there was payback enough for his comment.

"Yeah, look at Nic, she doesn't know how to fucking breathe either," Nic muttered saltily, sinking lower in her spot.

She was able to bite back her gasp this time when the vibrating came back suddenly. She shot a look to Alpha, who gave her a wink and a smirk.

"Okay, I have to go to the bathroom," she said all of a sudden, attempting to step over Alpha who seemed to make it his job to make it as hard as possible for her to leave the booth.

However, there was no point trying, as a waiter who was passing by overheard and said, "Oh, we don't have restrooms here. Sorry, sweetheart."

His face looked genuinely apologetic, but Nic wanted to punch it in.

She sat down with a huff, arms crossed like an angry toddler, mind churning for ways to escape the booth and dig those stupid balls out of her fucking pussy. Her face brightened up all of a sudden as she announced to the group, "I have to grab something from the car!"

She tried to climb over Alpha, but he merely pushed her back in her seat.

"What is it, doll? I'll go get it for you," he said with the fakest and sweetest smile on his lips.

Nic wanted to tell him that his little act would be more believable if there was less smiling and more intense staring, jaw clenching, and growling.

"No, I can handle it, thank you," she said back in a sickly voice, smiling at him sweetly but showing poison with her eyes. Said eyes grew wide as the vibrating started up again, this time at a low setting, but enough to drive her mad.

"I don't think so," he said, eyes narrowing just enough for her to catch it. He then turned to the rest of the group. "Don't let her leave—I don't want her to choke on her spit again. What if nobody is there to save her?" He got up with a grin, no doubt going to the car to grab the imaginary object that Nic needed.

Nic huffed, rolling her eyes. "You know what? Forget it," she called out, forcing a smile onto her lips as she looked at Athena, Riot, and Tank. "I don't need it..."

Alpha sat down beside her with a satisfied smile. He placed his hand back on her inner thigh and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Remember, darling, say that one word and I'll stop any time.

That would have been the perfect time for her to spit out "vanilla" right in his face, but the dark and sultry look in his left Nic speechless. He didn't bother her with the vibrating for a little while, allowing Nic to actually listen in on the conversation her friends were having. Every once in a while, Alpha's thumb would rub her skin, or his hand would move an inch higher, making shivers dance across her. Occasionally they'd make eye contact, and he'd still have that dark look in his eyes that made Nic's heat wetter.

The food finally came around, the sandwich placed before her eyes looking leagues more enticing than any box pasta she had at the apartment. Right as she picked up her fork, the vibrating came back, stronger than any time before. Nic couldn't take it.

"God, vanilla!" she exclaimed, dropping her napkin. The vibrating stopped immediately. Nic didn't even blush as she bent down and picked the napkin up off the ground. She glanced up at her friends across from her. "Vanilla ice cream," she clarified, their confused expressions dissipating.

Nic turned to look at Alpha—his grey eyes stormy and wandering all over her skin—as she spoke again. "That's what I want for dessert."

[arthurtristankingsmen]

Merry Christmas from Phantom

//AAA I’m sorry for being so slow about posting this but it’s so cute and I love it thank you @phantoms-lair for writing this!!!

“Is it snowing?” Lewis asked, peering out the window of the van.

“It better not be, I don’t have snow tires on my girl.” Arthur growled, glaring at the small pieces of white fluff falling from the sky.

“It probably won’t stick, Arthur.” Vivi said logically. “It’s a shame it wasn’t a week earlier, we could have had a white Christmas.”

“Probably not. We are a bit farther in the mountains than Tempo.” Mystery pointed out. “There’s probably no snow in Tempo at all.”

Arthur grumbled some more as they pulled into the empty camping ground and parked in a carport by the Grand Lodge. It probably looked friendly and welcoming in the spring and summer, when it was full of life. But now, with the lack of power or any sign of life, it seemed foreboding.

They had been hired by the camp’s owner to deal with a haunting in the off-season before it opened. According to him, it was the ghost of an old woman that appeared at night, usually in the individual cabins. It was driving away customers and he wanted it taken care of before the campground opened in the spring.

“Let’s start with the cabins; light equipment first” Vivi jingled the key ring she’d been given. “Since that’s where the ghost normally shows. If one looks promising, we can camp there tonight and set up the heavy duty equipment.”

“Was that a camping joke, or an accident?” Arthur asked as he rooted through a box labeled ‘Lewis-don’t touch’, pulling out random pieces of handheld equipment.

“And you’re sure they’re not going to pick up on me and we end up chasing our tails again?” Lewis asked.  

“Yes and no. I mean some on this stuff is going to pick up on you no matter what.” Case in point Arthur pulled out an EMF reader. “But I know what your frequency is, so I can ignore it when it shows up. Likewise the silent hill radio for picking up talking ghosts shouldn’t pick you up unless you purposefully try to use it to flirt with Vivi. Again.”

“It was cute.” Vivi stood on the edge of the van to give Lewis a kiss on his cheek, “but we’re on the clock so we have to be professional.”

“I’ll be the most professional ghost you every saw.” Lewis promised as he kissed her back.

“Get a room you two.” Arthur said jokingly, handing Vivi her share of the light equipment. “We’ve got the campground to ourselves, so you’ll have plenty to choose from.”

~

The individual cabins were small, consisting of one or two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, and kitchen. None of them got a single blip on the equipment outside of Lewis.

“Well, the ghost is only supposed to come out at night, maybe there won’t be anything until then?” Vivi suggested, trying to keep her hopes up. She really hated dead end calls.

“Let’s head back to the Lodge.” Lewis suggested. “These cabins aren’t exactly built for cold weather habitation and if I remember from the description it has a fireplace.” It’s true the cold didn’t bother him anymore, but that wasn’t true of Vivi and Arthur, especially with his arm.

“Just let me set up a recorder here. Hopefully it will give us something.” Vivi set the last of the recorders from her bag.

“If we’re going to camp out in the Lodge, we might as well set up the major equipment there.” Arthur suggested. Given the cold, he’d rather not leave it in the van.

Despite Vivi’s earlier prediction, the snow was, in fact, sticking to the ground, an inch or two having already gathered by the time they made it back to the van. Vivi and Arthur hauled the equipment in while Lewis carried in the food they had brought.

The Grand Lodge was a large, imposing building. There was a check-in/information desk by the door leading to an open main room with couches and comfy chairs around a fireplace, while pictures of different summertime activities such as hiking, canoeing, and fishing were plastered all over the walls. There was a kitchen and dining area off to the side and a staircase leading upstairs, which they had been told was employee quarters and storage.

“There are some non-perishables in the kitchen,” Mystery reported. “We might be stuck here longer than anticipated with the snow actually sticking.”

“Snowed in at a haunted campground. We’re stuck in a horror movie.” Arthur rolled his eyes. “Allegedly haunted. We’ve yet to see any sign of anything other than us here.” Mystery reminded him.

“Don’t remind me.” Vivi huffed as she started a fire with the wood stacked to the side of the fireplace. “I really hope we didn’t come all the way up here for nothing.”

“That’s the job sometimes.” Mystery said pragmatically, curled up by the fire. “We have food, heat, and good company. Worst case scenario it should be quite a relaxing vacation.”

~

The night was passing with relevant silence. None of the equipment so much as chirped, and Arthur and Vivi fell asleep on the sofas, Lewis and Mystery keeping watch on both the equipment and the fireplace.

“I’m going to grab some more wood from outside,” Lewis volunteered as he saw the flames shrink. At Mystery’s small woof of acknowledgment he got up and floated outside. Thankfully the firewood was under an overhang, keeping it free of the dampness of the snow.  He had grabbed several pieces of wood when he heard a voice behind him.

“You are already past my judgement.”

Lewis whirled around and saw and haggard old woman dressed in white. Though she stood in the snow, it was undisturbed around her. “Are you the ghost we were told about?”

The woman gave him a sour look, then vanished.

“GUYS, I FOUND THE GHOST!” Lewis called out. Mystery was by his side in a moment, Arthur sleepily following him. “Where is she?” Mystery asked sharply.

“Gone. She was standing right there.” Lewis pointed. “An old woman like we were told. She was dressed in ragged robes and seemed to have one leg deformed. At least it looked bigger than the other.”

“None’a tha ‘quipment went off.” Arthur muttered, still waking up. “Shoulda picked up a ghost that close.”

“I saw her.” Lewis said with some heat in his voice.

“We’re not doubting that.” Mystery scolded, “But if the figure you saw didn’t set off the ghost hunting equipment than it’s possible she’s something other than a ghost. We do exist you know.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lewis’s hair flickered in embarrassment. He was still working on not flying off the handle as easily, but it was hard. “Wait, where’s Vivi?”

“Probably still inside. You know how deeply she sleeps.” Mystery reminded him.

“The woman said something about me being beyond her judgement. If she’s here to judge us…” Even as the thought formed, Lewis dropped the firewood  and went through the wall, something he normally was loath to do. His golden heart let out a pulse as he saw the old woman leaning over Vivi.

“NO!” He cried out, his hair and fist igniting. A blast of flame shot towards the old woman, but she dodged it, letting it fly past and explode in the fireplace. She gave him another sour look and vanished.

“What was that!” Vivi shot up at the sound of the explosion. She blinked the sleep from her eyes as she tried to focus, mostly on the now blackened and charred fireplace. “What’s wrong, Lew?”

“Oh thank God.” Lewis grabbed her in a hug. “You’re okay.”

“Is she alright?” Mystery ran in, all seven tails flowing behind him, Arthur at his heels.

“What’s going on? Why wouldn’t I be?” Vivi looked around.

“She was standing over you when I came in.” Lewis explained, not letting up his grip.

“She…? The ghost? The Ghost was here!” Vivi pulled back, wide awake. As she did so something fell off the sofa and clattered on the floor. “What was that?” Vivi reached down and picked up the small silver object. It was a coin with a handprint on one side and a symbol on the other that looked sort of like a cross with dots, either that or four stick figure people joined in the middle. “I’m pretty sure this wasn’t here when I went to sleep.”

“It’s a Heller, an old Germanic coin.” Mystery said, puzzled. “I don’t think those ones have been in use since since the thirteenth century. But why would…unless…but that makes no sense. Why would she be here of all places?”

“She? You know who our not-ghost is?” Arthur asked.

“Frau Perchta, the Christmas Witch. It fits. An old woman with one foot larger than the other, who visits homes during the twelve days of Christmas and leaves a silver coin by the bedside of those who are good.”

“That sounds like what I saw,” Lewis agreed. “So nothing to worry about?”

“As long as you’ve been good.” Mystery said dryly. “If you’ve been bad, she removes your entrails and replaces them with rocks and garbage.”

Arthur paled.

“But what I can’t figure out is why she’s here. If anywhere she should be appearing in Central Europe.”

“Maybe it’s not her.” Arthur said quickly. “The owner said the ghost appeared in summer, that’s out of season for a Christmas witch.”

“There is something not right about all of this.” Mystery’s tails twitched anxiously.

Vivi took a deep breath. “You’re right. Too many things both point to Frau Perchta and don’t add up. We need to search this Lodge.”

“Because by telling us to focus on the cabins it lowered the chances of us going through here with a fine-toothed comb.” Arthur picked up on what Vivi was saying. “This is a set up. What’s the play, Vi?”

“We don’t split up.” She said straight off. “We search this place from top to bottom with our flashlights. Lewis and Mystery, I need you guys at the ready.”

Mystery nodded and Lewis snapped his fingers, a flash of violet flame coming off them.

She nodded back. “Arthur you okay?”

He snapped to attention. “Yeah, I’m good, just don’t like, well, anything about this,” He shrugged awkwardly. “No power, freak snow storm, a possible set up, and a judgy witch. Not a good combo.”

“You’re not wrong.” Vivi snapped her flashlight on. “Let’s go.”

~

“Well, any doubt that this was a set up is out the window,” Vivi growled. Her flashlight was trained on a corner of the attic with two ritual circles. “That one was for Frau Perchta and that one looks like weather manipulation. I’m guessing that’s the cause of the snow.”

“It’s a simple circle, so the snow shouldn’t be that hard to get rid of, though we will have to wait for enough to melt so we can drive safely.” Mystery observed. “The one for Frau Perchta, concerns me, though. It’s certainly meant to bring her here, but undoing it wouldn’t necessarily make her leave.”

“Except why?” Lewis’s hair flickered more. “What does he gain, trapping us in here with the  female fusion of Santa and Krampus? This reeks of a murder attempt, except for the summoning of a spirit that isn’t evil and would only kill us if we were.”

“She still kills people.” Arthur reminded them. “And given the normal subjects of Christmas entities, she kills children. That sounds pretty evil.”

“I believe she’s technically considered neutral. She’s merely the judge, whether you fall under good or bad in on you.” Mystery supplied. “Which is why he selected her. Summoning a judge tends to be less costly and prone to backfire than summoning something openly malevolent.”

“Okay, but why would he think we were bad enough to fail her judgement?” Vivi mused, “The way this is set up it seems like he found it a foregone conclusion. Why would he think we were that bad?”

“Not necessarily bad, but perhaps lazy? That is one thing, according to legends, that Frau Perchta cannot abide.”

“Lazy?” Vivi sounded more than a little offended.

Arthur facepalmed. “Are you telling he was sure she was going to kill us because of the ‘Lazy Millennial’ Trope?”

“Paranormal Investigator isn’t exactly seen as a legitimate career, usually as a scam.” Lewis allowed. “And we don’t exactly advertise that we have second jobs.”

“Well, Frau Perchta isn’t going to kill us, so I guess we just disable the weather circle, wait till we can leave, and then have a long, possibly violent, talk with the guy who hired us.” Vivi thumped her hands together for emphasis.

Easy for you to say. thought Arthur. Vivi hadn’t murdered her best friend that year. He knew if he voiced it out loud, they’d deny it. Say it hadn’t been his fault, that he wasn’t to blame. But if he couldn’t believe that, how could he expect Frau Perchta to? How could he expect mercy from someone who disemboweled children? (And frankly, if this was his fate, he thought he’d rather die from one of Lewis’s rage explosions than from being gutted and stuffed with garbage.) Was this like a final destination thing where he didn’t die when he was supposed to, so now he was going to die in a worse way?

“Arthur?” He jumped as Lewis put a hand on his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be okay when we get out of here.” Arthur shuddered. “I don’t feel good about staying here.”

“Then we’re gone,” Lewis said. “Let’s get rid of the circles and we’re out of here.”

“How?” Vivi asked. “It’s not safe to drive.”

“We’re not going to drive, we’re going to fly.” Lewis said with conviction. “I know you don’t like me ‘ghosting up’ the van but-”

“Given the circumstances, Lew, you can go full dekotora on the van and I won’t say a word.” Arthur promised. “We should probably pick up the recorders from the cabins.”

“We can bill him for the replacements after we kick his ass.” Vivi growled. She took the weather circle and Mystery took the one summoning Frau Perchta.

They did pack up the bigger equipment they had brought in, though, and carried it out to the van. Vivi slid in the back with Mystery, letting Arthur sit up front with Lewis. It was an unspoken arrangement, but as Arthur was clearly uncomfortable they moved to be able to protect him as much as they could.

“You ready?” Lewis asked, rubbing his hands together.

“Let’s get out of here,” Arthur agreed.

Lewis grabbed the wheel, channeling his power through it. He was half tempted to take Arthur up on  his permission to dekotora up the van, but decided to restrain himself. (He did miss Rooster’s truck, but he obviously couldn’t keep it). The violet flame spread over the vehicle, transforming as it was infused with Lewis’s soul.

Vivi made a happy little noise as she watched it happen. She loved seeing Lewis flex his powers. He really was amazing.

When the van finished changing from yellow to black and magenta Lewis floored the gas. Arthur grabbed the handle on the door and Vivi squealed with delight as the van blasted forward, ignoring the snow completely.

Arthur let himself relax. Admittedly he was a bit nervous, after all the last time Lewis had done this with a vehicle he had been trying to kill him. But it wasn’t so bad on this side of things. It felt like being in the van was like being surrounded by Lewis, and that wasn’t scary at all.

~

De-ghosting the van was a bit harder for Lewis than ghosting it, but he knew they couldn’t drive through a populated area in a semi-possessed vehicle. At least the snow was completely absent about a mile out of the campgrounds. “Home or client visit?”

“Client visit.” Vivi answered grimly. “He’ll think we’re trapped, so he won’t be expecting us.”

“Got it,” Lewis adjusted his direction. “Look, I know I’m the last one who gets to say this, but remember, killing him is off the table.”

“Oh, I don’t want him dead,” Vivi said faux-sweetly. “That won’t make him suffer enough.”

It took a few hours before they reached the outskirts of the town, and by that time the sun was beginning to come up. Arthur could feel the lack of sleep starting to catch up to him a bit, but he’d fought off worse exhaustion than this and he did not want to sleep until the case was done. It didn’t prevent the nightmares completely, but it did cut down on them, not having something he was actively worried about.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones looking for him,” Lewis commented as they got closer to the client’s house. There were several, rather familiar flashing lights. Lewis manifested his sunglasses quickly, as it became quickly apparent the police cars were parked outside the very house they were looking for.

“Hey, I know that guy.” Vivi leaned forward to see a dark haired man talking with the police. “That’s Jerard Jansson. He runs a tourist service that focuses on haunted locations.”

“Sleazy?” Arthur asked.

“No, pretty on the level. Does his research and is pretty respectful of the sites. Doesn’t let the tourists mess with them either.”

Lewis parked the car and one of the officers flagged him down. “Sir, do you live in the area?”

“No, we had business with the guy who lived there,” Lewis pointed to the building now blocked off with crime scene tape. “He hired us to investigate the ghost of an old woman haunting his campground, and tried to get us killed.”

“An old woman? Mr. Jansson said it was the ghost of three youths- Wait, did you say Mr. Hammond tried to kill you?”

“We were supposed to stay overnight and there was no power, so we needed to keep the fireplace going to keep warm.” Arthur cut in, knowing Lewis wouldn’t have a lie ready and they couldn’t mention Frau Perchta. “I think one of the logs was treated with something explosive. Detonated in the fireplace.”

The officer muttered something under his breath that had Mystery’s ears perking up. “We’ll have someone check it out. We’re going to send you to the station to get a statement. Do you know anyone else who had dealings with Hammond?”

“No, I recognize Jerard Jansson, but didn’t know he had any business with Hammond.” Vivi wanted to be as up-front as possible with the police, supernatural aside. The officer took their information (and license plate number) before sending them on their way.

“We were meant to be the ghosts.” Vivi said quietly as they drove away. “He preemptively hired Jerard to try to get his ‘haunted’ campsite on the tour to drive up business. Then he hired us to investigate the ‘ghost of the old woman’ and get killed by Frau Perchta and become the ghosts.” She shook her head. “But Jerard does his research. I bet he figured out there were no ghost stories tied to the campground before.”

“Well, I’m still the only ghost on the team, so he failed.” Lewis was trying to sound reassuring, but couldn’t keep the concern out of his voice, or flames from flickering off his hair. It was a good thing they had practice with Mystery keeping an illusion over him during interviews and meetings, as this promised to be less than relaxing.

“He didn’t get away with it, at the very least.” Mystery mused. “His plan backfired completely. When you said he’d tried to kill you, he was muttering about Hammond being garbage before, ‘he was full of it’. I imagine Frau Perchta was not pleased by being used as a murder weapon.” He turned to Arthur. “Quick thinking with the exploding log.”

Arthur shrugged, “I was trying to think up a way to explain the fireplace Lewis exploded on the way here. And the guy did try to kill us.”

“He got what he deserved.” Lewis growled.

~

By the time Arthur got home, he was beyond exhausted. They’d been questioned, but honestly hadn’t known anything much about Hammond other than that he was their client, owned the campground, etc. They had told the police about the magic circles. Between that, and hiring them and Jerard, indicated Hammond was into some occult shit, but nothing really pointed to what had happened.

Arthur didn’t bother changing as he collapsed in his bed. He drifted off into an uneasy sleep almost immediately, his mind playing over past events. The time before the cave, the mansion, Lewis confronting him, learning the truth of what happened, Shiromori— everything.

Arthur’s eyes snapped open. He couldn’t even scream as he saw the haggard face of Frau Perchta bent above his. She raised a hand with claw-like nails above him and Arthur squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the end.

Instead he heard a small pap next to him. He risked glancing out of the corner of his eyes and saw a silver heller coin next to his head,

“Why?” He asked without thinking. “How could I be good? I murdered my best friend.”

Frau Perchta looked right through him for a moment. “No,” she said in a raspy German accent. “You didn’t. You worked very hard, even with every excuse not to, and were not responsible for anyone’s misfortune, much less death.” She lifted her hand again, the same hand that had killed their client, and patted him on the head.

Then she was gone, leaving Arthur alone in his room, with only a single coin as a testament to it having happened at all.

Arthur picked it up tentatively. He didn’t know how much the ancient coin was worth monetarily. But it was a gift from a neutral entity, someone who had no reason to give him a pass, saying that he was innocent. Nothing would induce him to part with it, for that alone.

He lay back down, coin clenched in his good hand, and sleep forgotten completely. He wasn’t sure he truly believed he wasn’t to blame for the cave. But this was certainly a point in favor of that.

~~~~~

[pines-troz]

New Middle Name

**Ford used to associate family with high expectations, selfishness, betrayal, and mistrust. But over the course of that fateful summer, Ford learned many valuable lessons from Dipper, Mabel and Stan; that teamwork would accomplish the most difficult of tasks, how trust should be given to those who earned it, and that second chances are possible in this world.

Now he wants nothing more than to show his family his gratitude for them.

Based on a headcanon of mine that I shared on tumblr with @a-million-chromatic-dreams**

April 11, 2013

Aboard the Stan O’War II gently sailed the cold waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean. Stan and Ford Pines recently completed their supernatural mission on the Arctic Ocean. They come across a threatening Kraken, some buried treasure and no babes (much to Stanley’s dismay). The two brothers had finished traversing the Bering Strait and were a day’s trip away from Nome, Alaska, which was the perfect place to stock up on supplies.

Since there was a low amount of food on the ship, the seafaring brothers had to make do with what little food they had in the cabin for dinner. Stan indulged himself with a tub of ice cream, while Ford was rummaging through the cabinets for something to satisfy his sweet tooth.  

The twins were glad to have gone on their dream trip together. They were able to make up for forty years of cold shoulders, betrayal and separation of a terrifyingly cosmic scale. Though Ford and Stan learned to make up during the end of the world, it would only make sense that they would continue to mend their relationship by embarking on an abnormal expedition.

That’s not to say that their time sailing the world was a walk in the park. Both brothers had their fair share of bad days on the boat. Stan would be revisited by painful memories of his years on the run from the authorities. Other times it would be during the ten-plus years spent as a homeless grifter, a hapless prisoner, or a desperate man trying to fend himself from the vicious men he owed money to. Ford was also haunted by his past. Most of the time it was the horrific abuse Bill Cipher had inflicted on him after refusing to open the portal. But there were instances in which both men remembered a dark figure that loomed over their childhoods: their father Filbrick Pines.

To say that their Pa was a stoic man would be a massive understatement. Filbrick was the type of man who rarely smiled and was never amused by sentimentality. Hidden behind his dark sunglasses were the eyes, constantly on watch for any misstep Stan and Ford would make. He also cast Stanley out on the streets and threw an already packed duffle bag at him, banning him from the Pines household before the poor teen had the chance to complete high school. The disgruntled father also channeled his disappointment into Ford, who expected their son to make millions after completing college. When Ford decided to pursue a career in studying anomalies, Filbrick was angry with his son’s decision and the two never spoke since.

Worst of all, his father would always be attached to Ford by namesake. When Ford and Stan were born, their father had lazily named both of their sons Stan, mainly because the couple never planned to have raise twins in addition to their older son Shermie. In addition, the man had the ego to insert his name as the middle name of the eldest twin.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eye! Stanford Filbrick Pines! My old pal!!”

Ford shuddered. The old man refused to revisit those horrible memories again. He needed to find a way to take his mind off of his past.

Shuffling through a couple empty boxes of crackers, he noticed a crumpled bag of jellybeans. Ford immediately retrieved the bag of his favorite candy from the cabinet and closed the door. The researcher inspected the item within the palms of his six-fingered hands. A close glance at the crinkled bag of sweets sent his mind back in time...

The summer sun shone on the grassy hill near the outskirts of Gravity Falls. Ford had brought his nephew Dipper near the town border to answer his biggest question: why the heck are there so many weird things in Gravity Falls is a magnet for all things weird. The scientist took out a handful of the jellybeans from the bag, including an oddly-formed one, and threw them down the hill. As the normal beans tumbled down the hill without issue, the deformed bean bounced upwards by the force-field surrounding the town.

Ford turned to his nephew, whose eyes widened with curiosity and fascination at the bizarre oddity. The boy had realized that Gravity Falls was a magnet that attracted all things strange and unusual. Everything from gnomes and leprecorns to people like Dipper and Ford, born with unusual anomalies such as weird birthmarks and polydactyly.

Ford put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder and smiled. “You and I are some of the strangest beans this town has ever seen, Dipper.”

“Mason,” The boy blurted out. He was shocked by what came out of his mouth. After a moment of silence he looked up to his great uncle and repeated what he said.

“My real name is Mason. Dipper is just a nickname. But everyone got used to it, and now it feels too late to tell everyone the truth.” He explained with an almost apologetic look on his face before casting his eyes downwards. “And it’s kind of a dumb name anyway. Don’t tell anyone.”

Ford was in awe by Dipper’s admission. He didn’t know what compelled the boy to tell him of all people the truth of his birth name. But the researcher’s heart swelled upon realizing that his nephew, the one person whom Ford held great admiration for and trusted the most had decided to confide in him.

Ford beamed at his nephew while gently tousling his hair. “Your secret’s safe with me, Mason.” He told Dipper. “And I think it’s a great name. The Masons are a great secret society, you know.”

Dipper gazed at his uncle and smiled. Seeing the look of joy on Dipper’s face made Ford realize how much his nephew had come to love him, something he had not received in an awfully long time. Not since his days with Jheselbraum the Unswerving had someone given him the trust and compassion he desperately needed.

Ford would forever be grateful for Dipper’s presence and companionship.

A warm smile appeared on his face.

Ford had learned to utilize his deformity as calling card, a badge of honor he could proudly showcase to the world. When Ford returned to Gravity Falls from the Nightmare Realm, he learned to become more comfortable with his polydactyly. Mabel complimented him on his fingers when she introduced herself. Dipper also looked past his physical flaw as the two spent time together. After Ford reclaimed his three journals, he read Dipper’s entries in his third book and was surprised to learn that his nephew’s nickname stemmed from his unusual birthmark.

Ford used to associate family with high expectations, selfishness, betrayal, and mistrust. But over the course of that fateful summer, Ford learned many valuable lessons from Dipper, Mabel and Stan; that teamwork would accomplish the most difficult of tasks, how trust should be given to those who earned it, and that second chances are possible in this world.

Now he wants nothing more than to show his family his gratitude for them.

“Earth to Ford!”

The researcher spun around to find his brother smirking at him while clutching onto his tub of ice cream. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

Ford looked over at Stan. “I’ve been reminiscing over the summer.”

Stan put his ice cream on the table and approached his twin, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Thinkin’ about the kids again?”

Ford gave his twin a knowing smile. “Every day.”

“Same here.” Stan agreed, smiling at the shared sentiment.

The researcher pushed his glasses upwards as he continued to speak. “But I’ve also been thinking about changing my middle name.”

“Really? You gonna change it to Isaac Newton or some other nerd name?” Stan joked. “At least then it would be a step up from Filbrick.”

“No, no.” He dismissed with a wave of his hand. Ford then placed his hands behind his back, his face softened. “I want my middle name to be Mason.”

Stanley’s eyes lit up. He had not heard that name in a while. Back in September, a while after Dipper and Mabel left Gravity Falls, Stan found an aged photograph in his wallet of his younger self holding two precious twins with a tearful smile. One look at the picture created a spark in his mind, reeling back to the day the niblings were born. He broke from his trance and ran to Ford. Stan showed his brother the picture and told him everything he could remember of that day;  Mabel punching the doctor in the jaw, Dipper cheating death after the umbilical cord was removed from his neck, how Stan was able to hold the precious twins before Shermie had the chance. He also told Ford how the twins were named Mabel and Mason so that they were even more special. From that day on Stan would never allow himself to forget that special day.  

Stanley looked to Ford and chuckled. “You actually have a great idea for once poindexter.”

Ford rolled his eyes before giving his brother a wry smile. “So you think Mason would be a good alternative.”

Stan lifted up his arm and playfully pulled Ford close to him. “I think it’s a great middle name Ford!”

Ford gratefully smiled back at his brother.

Mabel and Dipper were mindlessly watching a rerun of Cash Wheel at home when they heard a small buzzing sound. They looked around the room only to realize that it came from Mabel’s cell phone.

“Hello?” Mabel answered.

“Well hello Mabel dear.” Ford warmly replied on the other line. “How are things back home?”

The girl was surprised to hear her Grunkle's voice. Normally the Pines had set up their long video chats over the weekend, but it was a pleasant surprise that Ford had called on a Thursday.  

“Things are going well.” Mabel happily answered. “Dipper and I have been busy with school and all of the clubs we go to. I’ve been enjoying Art Club and Model U.N., and I’m sure Dipper will tell you all of the stuff he’s been up to with Band and Gaming Club.”

“All of that sounds wonderful sweetheart.” Ford said.

“We’ve also been thinking about you and Grunkle Stan a lot.”

Ford’s heart swelled. “I’m touched to hear that from you. Stanley and I are always thinking about you and your brother.”

“D’aww, Grunkle Ford…” Mabel cooed. She looked over at her brother and decided that he should have a turn speaking with their Grunkle. “Oh, you can talk with Dipper now if you want. I gotta finish working on my sweater for one of my friends.”

“Okay, well I enjoy hearing your voice again dear.”

“Love you Grunkle Ford!”

“I love you too Mabel.”

“Alright, here’s Dip-Dop!!” Mabel announced as she passed her phone to her brother.

The teen held the pink phone against his ear and spoke up. “Hey Grunkle Ford!”

“Greetings my boy.” Ford answered. “So Mabel informed me that you’re busy with school.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a truckload of stuff goin’ on, but I’m glad to have Mabel around during my down time.”

“Yes, having a sibling you can count on is always a blessing indeed.” Ford agreed. “So Dipper, I wanted to speak to you about something important.”

Dipper’s ears perked up and he went into the kitchen to better hear what Ford had to say. “Alright, you’ve piqued my interest.”

“So I’ve been thinking during my down time with Stan on the boat.”

“Careful Grunkle Ford, I heard that’s a dangerous pastime.” Dipper joked.

The researcher chuckled at his nephew’s jest. “Stan would tell me the same thing.” Ford laughed. He cleared his throat before getting back on topic. “But as I told Mabel, you and your sister are always on our minds. You kids showed a foolish old man such as myself how important family is...and I have another confession to make.”

Dipper cupped the cellphone closer to his ear to better listen what his Grunkle had to say.

“My original middle name was Filbrick, after my father...”

Dipper cringed. From what Stan had told him and Mabel last summer, great-grandpa Filbrick Pines was anything but great. “That’s...that’s awful.”

“I know, which is precisely why I’m going to change my middle name when Stan and I return to Oregon.”

“Really?” Dipper asked.

The teen imagined that Ford would probably decide to have his new middle name based on one of his idols in the scientific field, like Nikola Tesla or Carl Sagan.

“So I’ve decided to change my middle name to Mason.” Ford announced.

Dipper’s eyes grew wide. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

When Ford heard the silence from the other end, he was afraid that he had reopened an old scar by planning to adopt the boy’s name as part of his own. Ford ushered an explanation. “I know that you’re sensitive over the name, but I wanted to ask for your permission before doing so. If you don’t want me to, I completely understand.”

Dipper remained speechless. His great uncle, the man he looked up to last summer, wanted his middle name to match as his nephew’s true name.

On the other end, Ford began to feel anxious. Perhaps Dipper’s birth name was a sore subject for the boy and was too uncomfortable with his uncle using it as his middle name.

“Dipper? Did I upset you?”

“No, no. Not at all.” Dipper admitted. He let out a joyful laugh as tears of joy ran down his face. “I’m honored...I’m absolutely honored that you would do that Grunkle Ford.”

Ford heard his nephew’s voice cracking with such raw emotion. The researcher wished he could magically teleport to Piedmont so he could give his nephew the biggest hug imaginable.

“I want my middle name to reflect the love I have for this family. To do away with the past and move forward with the people I can trust. And I feel changing my middle name to Mason best reflects that.”

Dipper’s smile grew wider after hearing his great uncle’s explanation. “I’m happy for you Grunkle Ford. Mabel and I will absolutely support your decision.”

Ford smiled. “Thank you my boy.”

Back in the living room, Mabel overheard her brother’s sniffling. She dropped her knitting items and immediately got up to check on Dipper. The teen was about to approach her twin when she noticed that he was still on the phone with Ford. After impatiently waiting for some time, Dipper bid Ford good-bye before ending the call. Mabel carefully walked over towards where Dipper stood as he wiped away his tears.

“Is everything okay bro-bro?” Mabel asked quietly.

“Yeah, everything’s great actually.” Dipper replied with a reassuring smile. “Ford wants to change his middle name to Mason. Mabel, he wants my name to be his middle name!”

Mabel shrieked ecstatically before wrapping her arms around Dipper. The boy laughed joyfully as he accepted his sister’s embrace.

June 1, 2013

Stan stood outside of the Mystery Shack as a beat-up pickup truck rolled down the dirt road. When the vehicle parked outside the tourist trap, all four doors immediately flung open as Dipper, Mabel, Soos and Wendy emerged from the car. The four young people noticed Stan standing by the steps.

Dipper and Mabel ran towards Stan as they tackled the old man into a playful hug. After sharing their first embrace of the summer, Stan and the twins slowly got up from the ground.

“Where’s Grunkle Ford?” Mabel inquired.

“I’m here.”

Dipper and Mabel turned to see Ford stepping outside the Mystery Shack in an almost dramatic flair.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself.” He announced with a soft baritone. “My name is Stanford Mason Pines.”

The twins graciously beamed at their great uncle. Ford sprinted towards Dipper and Mabel, scooped them into his arms and lifted them up in the air. The young twins laughed as they returned the warm embrace.

The love Ford felt for his family had truly changed him for the better.