CURRENT.ly - Mystery Kids AU

13 - Hi/Hello

Sandra shook her head in confusion.
"Not now, Norman. Later. Go." She turned her back on them, made for the stairs "Inside. Now."

Norman looked at the twin one last time before the both of them stepped away.

He was already inside, hand on the door handle, when he felt a sense of rush and dred, and shared a look with his mom.
They didn't speak.
That was fine, he didn't know what he would have said anyway.

He turned back.

He caught up with the twin, reached for his forearm to get his attention.
"Wait."

Dipper stared at him, eyes lowered down to the hand Norman used to grasp at his arm.
Norman released him right after, wondering if that was overdoing it.

He opened his mouth for a second before any sound came out.

"I'm sorry. I should have thanked you right away. I, I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just...shock -I could have died. Thank you."

Dipper blinked away, his expression unchanging.

He nodded, turned back to face Norman.
"You're welcome. Why did you lie to your mother?"

Norman let his gaze fall down.
"I shouldn't, I know. But she'll worry, 'cause she always does. I don't want that."

He only brought them up to seek the twin's reaction.
He hadn't noticed before, but Dipper squinted his eyes very subtly when he thought hard about something.

"I'm sorry too." He replied, twisting a corner of his mouth. He rocked on his feet just once, surely softened "I didn't mean any of that. I don't think you're crazy."

Norman nodded at that too.
"Thanks."

They stared at each other.
Norman smiled.

Dipper scoffed, staring at the open air.
"Get inside. We need you for Thursday."

•••♧•••

The teen figured be ought to do this more times. Had he known his parents would take it with such a lack of grain of salt, he wouldn't have been as nervous in the first place.

"Mabel asked me, she really wanted me to go." The boy had explained later on after his mother asked him more about the sleepover.
He kept most fine details, waiting to be asked, playing them like cards in money games he was still too young to play.
This new information hit him loud and clear.

It went as following:

There's a certain coding that grows on parents and grandparents.

They live for it, yearn for it, dream about it.

It's about visions of the future, new roles to fill, the idea of easy growth for which they don't have to do anything other than remind, and ask, and signal, and propose - the visceral reaction of seeing the young ones mention a member of the opposite sex who seems to be more interested, or more interesting, than the rest of human beings in their still unlived lives.

Norman had seen this type of thing happen with his grandmother. He was too young at first, barely older than a toddler, and found it silly, perhaps even a bit closed minded in some generous places, and questioned himself for the higher meaning of it.
His grandma told him about love, spoke of attainable happiness through commitment. At the time, Norman had backed away from the conversation.