Little Dipper

Countdown

Ford was woken up by Bill insistently shoving him until he fell off the couch. "Ow! Bill, what the fuck?!"

"I tried waking you seventeen times before I finally shoved you off. Get up, grab some cereal, and then get your uniform on. The shop opens in twenty minutes." Bill headed out of the room.

Ford groaned and got himself up off the floor. "Alright, alright. I'm coming." He grabbed his glasses and put them on his face with one hand, the other reaching for his comb.

"Come ON, Lee!" Bill said, walking past the room.

"How did I oversleep? I thought I set the alarm..." He looked at his alarm, which had been aggressively smashed into the wall. "...Oh."
He stepped out into the hall and had to move out of the way of Robbie and Tyrone moving the copy machine into the shop. "Right. Teenager. Works here."

"Are you still half-asleep? You better hurry and get dressed, it won't do for the main attraction to not be ready when the shop opens." Robbie said, rolling his eyes.

"Where's Gideon?" Ford looked around.

"Gideon is already at his station, waiting for showtime." Bill said, walking by adjusting his bowtie. "Do you need me to send a double to help you dress?"

"I can dress on my own!" Ford stomped off to Stan's room.

"Hey, Stan 2, why so sour? Late night? You got a hangover?" Wendy called.

"No, I did not get drunk last night!" Ford said defensively.

"Maybe he should've." Robbie remarked.

"We are opening in ten minutes, people! Blendin, how's the stocking going? Good? Good. Tyrone, machine hooked up and turned on? Awesome. Robbie, do you need anything out there? Water bottles, shade, anything?" Ford heard Bill asking.

"Nope, I'm good. Heading out now." Robbie replied.

"Great. Stanley Pines, we have ten minutes to open! You better be getting dressed!" Bill called to him.

"Okay, okay." Ford muttered, pulling his Mr. Mystery uniform out of the closet and putting it on. "This is so not fair."

"Five minutes!" Bill called.

Ford finished tying his shoes, adjusted his tie in the mirror and grabbed his own Mr. Mystery fez before heading out to the shop.

"Thanks for joining us." Bill nodded to him. "Two minutes, people. Blendin, take the boxes into back. We don't want people tripping over those."

Blendin gathered up the empty boxes and went to put them in the employee's only section. When he returned, there were already people waiting outside the door. Robbie had started playing for the people ahead of it, and a few people were admiring the reptiles.

"Ready? Five...four...three...two..." Bill walked over to the door, preparing to unlock it.

–

"One! Drive!" Stan said gleefully as Soos pulled away from the giant ball of yarn, the end of it attached to the back of the RV. The yarn ball started to unravel as they drove further and further away, Granny Sweetkins running out after them waving her cane and quite possibly spewing profanities that they couldn't hear at this point. Once they got far enough, they pulled over, untied the yarn, and slammed on the gas to get far away from that area.

"Whoooo! That was fun!" Mabel cheered as they drove down the road at borderline-illegal speeds.

"Did you see her face?" Pacifica giggled.

"I tied it real good, didn't I?" Dipper asked, pleased with his handiwork.

"You sure did, kid." Stan rubbed his head affectionately.

"You're not worried about retaliation?" Grenda asked.

"This IS retaliation! Besides, heh, the Shack has nothing to fear from that old crone. Onwards!" Stan dramatically pointed out the window. "Next stop, Upside-Down Town!"

–

"This is exhausting." Ford groaned, watching the tour group head out to their cars. "How much longer?"

"We're closing for lunch." Bill flipped the sign. "Let's head for the kitchen." He turned to go.

The door opened and Gideon came in with Robbie, locking the door behind them. "Busy day. How did you do, Stanley?"

"I just don't have the same...flair as my brother. He's always been more of a showman." Ford sighed heavily.

"You'll figure it out." Bill patted him on the shoulder. "We open back up in a half-hour, let's go get some food in us before then."

"Right." Ford took off his fez and sighed. "We really should be focusing on getting things ready for the apocalypse, though."

"Well, let's run through the checklist." Gideon said, floating an apple over to Wendy as she came into the kitchen with them. "We found the unicorns, got the hair, sealed up as many buildings as we could. I talked with the fair folk and they're ready to fight if it comes to it."

"How's the ol' snowglobe?" Wendy asked, taking a bite of the apple.

"Still intact." Ford nodded.

"Everyone is preparing for emergencies, and otherwise just trying to live their normal lives. We all know the drill, we're all prepared, let's not stress over the apocalypse." Bill told Ford. "Your brother seems to be managing to act like nothing is happening."

"My brother wasn't in the multiverse." Ford muttered.

"We're fine." Bill assured him. "Relax, try to have fun. Do you need a massage? You're really tense."

"What, from you?" Ford blurting out without thinking.

"Uh, I was going to suggest the local masseuse, but I guess I can try?" Bill shrugged.

Ford blushed pink. "O-Of course, I shouldn't have assumed. N-No, I think I'm...I'm good without that. Yeah." He nervously tugged at his turtleneck.

"If you're sure." Bill shrugged. "At least take a warm shower, loosen your muscles."

Ford nodded. "I'll do that." He picked up a sandwich from a prepared plate and took a bite.

"Whoa!" Bill held his head. "Holy CRAP, Pine Tree! Head-rush much?"

"What's the matter?" Gideon asked.

"He's upside-down and I felt it." Bill rubbed at his head. "Geez, kid!"

"Sounds fun." Wendy grinned. "Maybe I should've gone after all."

Bill rubbed at his head. "At least he's having fun. I'm gonna need a painkiller."

"The price of mind-links." Gideon said matter-of-factly. "This is why you shouldn't keep it up constantly. Can't you stay linked to him but detach yourself somewhat?"

"Uhm...I don't...really know." Bill admitted.

"I feel sorry for you." Gideon sighed and went to get a drink.

Ford glanced at Bill and thought about his offer again before grabbing a drink and gulping it down. He couldn't let Bill of all people see that! Even if he DOES look like he has really nice hands...long fingers...soft...imagining them without gloves made him feel all warm and he nervously rubbed at his neck.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one pining here." Robbie said quietly.

"You say something, Stitch?" Bill asked.

"Nope." Robbie shook his head, pulling his hood up to conceal his look of shame.