Seeds + Other One-Shots and Short Stories {A Gravity Falls Royalty AU}

Dreaming

This wasn't real.

The blankets were too warm on his skin and the pillows too soft. Dipper looked across the room to see the silhouette of his sister snoring away. However, he couldn't sleep. He knew whenever he did fall asleep, he'd wake up back on the streets. He'd wake up cold, tired, and hungry.

Instead of trying to sleep, he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself like a cape. Dipper wanted to enjoy the warmth before he woke up. He then exited the room as quietly as possible and closed the door behind him.

The castle looked different at night. The dark hallways created eerie shadows and much of the moonlight was blocked by the castle's walls. Dipper could see just enough to be able to tell where he was going, although that in itself was challenging. The castle was so big, it'd take ages to memorize.

Instead of walking in any particular direction, he decided just to wander for a bit. The boy didn't have a destination in mind, his goal was simply to avoid sleeping. This couldn't end yet!

Dipper wasn't sure what room he walked into when he began to hear footsteps. The lack of light prevented him from seeing what, or who, was there. Mabel could've been following him this whole time. On the other hand, this was still Gravity Falls. A monster could very well be lurking nearby.

"Dipper?"

Wait, that wasn't Mabel, and it certainly wasn't an anomaly. Dipper winced as a light turned on revealing Ford, "What are you doing awake?"

"I... I couldn't sleep,"

Ford smiled, "Yeah, it would probably be hard to sleep after such an exciting day, after all. I'm surprised your sister was out so quickly." 

Dipper couldn't help but give a light laugh at that. Mabel's sleep schedule was either waking up before the sun was up or "let me sleep forever," no in between. However, Dipper's mood dropped again when he remembered the original reason he wasn't sleeping. It wasn't insomnia keeping him awake; he was avoiding sleep on purpose. 

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that it's too late for you to be awake," Ford continued, "Go back to sleep-" 

"No!" 

The exclamation caused Ford  to flinch from the noise and Dipper to cover his mouth. He didn't realize he could be so loud and the echo of the castle certainly didn't help. It was now dawning on him that he'd just yelled at one of the two Kings. A moment's panic caused him to stutter out an explanation. 

"I'm sorry... sorry King Ford I didn't mean to... mean to yell. It's just..." Dipper sighed and wiped sweat off his hands, "There's no way that this is real! I'm probably dreaming and as soon as I wake up, it'll be to mother nature's harsh conditions, not a castle. I know this is selfish, but I'd like to enjoy this while it lasts. I've never felt so... warm before. If this is what real happiness feels like, I'm sorry if I don't want to give this up!" 

Dipper watched as Ford hummed in thought, "There's something I'd like to show you," 

He followed the elder along until they reached a door. Ford opened it and turned on the lights. It was an office with two desks. Both had papers scattered over them, though one had a significant amount more. "Sorry about the clutter," Ford said, sitting down at one of the desks. "We've been busy the last few days." 

Ford looked throughout the documents as if he was trying to find something. Finally, he pulled out two documents. "Now, I know in the village you and your sister came from, a lot of the kids worked as opposed to going to school. Can you and your sister read?" 

"Not that well..." Dipper admitted begrudgingly, "But yes, we can read." 

Ford nodded and handed him one of the documents, "Can you read this?" 

Dipper scanned the document, "It says... As of 8/27/12 Dipper and Mabel are the heirs of King Stanford Pines and King Stanley Pines corr-corras-corro, uhh....." 

"Correspondingly," Ford stated, "As of today, you're officially our heirs," he explained. "Admittedly, we still have to run this paper through the legal system, and Stanley still has to sign it," Ford mumbled, "But this proves this is real, my boy. You'll be right here when you wake up. Err... not right here in our office, but safe within the castle." 

Dipper scanned the paper one more time. It looked official. It even had the six-fingered hand with a crescent overlapping it in the corner; the kingdom's emblem. Dipper didn't know if he could dream up such details. He took a glimpse up to see Ford smiling kindly at him. 

"Ready to go back to bed? I know the castle can be daunting, especially at night. I'd be happy to guide you to your room if you'd like," 

Dipper was still a bit reluctant to go to bed. The fear of losing everything he had just gained terrified him. But the document seemed genuine and Ford had been nothing but kind to him. Even when he lashed out, the man still tried to comfort him and truthfully, it was working. Maybe, for once, this was real. 

"Yeah," Dipper yawned out, "I'd like that." He was starting to get tired anyway.