Gravity Rising

Unusual

Movie(s)/Book(s)/Show(s): Gravity Falls, Paranorman, Danny Phantom, Steven Universe

AU(s): Trans!Dipper, trans!Lars, trans!Danny, pan!Mabel

Character(s): Steven Universe, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, other

Pairing(s): Parapines, slight Lars/Sadie, one-sided Mabel/lots of people, Amethyst Ocean

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Steven Quartz Universe doesn't understand how the friendship between Dipper, Mabel, Norman, Danny, Lars, and Sadie works.

Sure, Mabel and Dipper are twins, so it does make sense. Norman and Danny are really nice, and Steven likes Lars and Sadie. But they're all so different, so how are they friends?

Norman, Dipper, and Mabel all showed up at around the same time a few months ago. Danny came about half a year before that, and Lars and Sadie have been here for as long as Steven can remember.

The boy has never been to the house of any of them, but he's seen Sadie and Lars's. So it's a surprise to him when he discovers that they have been living behind The Big Donut the entire time, sleeping in the non-drafty spots all huddled together.

Steven tells Mayor Dewey, who doesn't do anything at first until he realizes that this will help people to vote for him. As it turns out, there is an abandoned house that just needs a bit of renovation before the four move in.

The friends are practically joined at the hip, and it doesn't take long for them to be established as a group that you don't want to mess with. Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck all like them, so the high school group lets them fit in pretty well.

It's a tourist that says it first. Danny, Dipper, Mabel, Norman, Buck, Lars, Sour Cream, Sadie, and Jenny are all standing around outside of the arcade, waiting for it to open.

Steven does not hear exactly what the tourist said, all he knows is that Jenny, Sour Cream, Buck, and Danny attacked him mercilessly. Mabel has to be held back by Sadie, who is cheering her friends on.

Later, when Steven asks, Jenny tells him that if anyone ever says something like that to anyone ever again, he can beat them up.

"But they're human!" Steven protests. "I shouldn't hurt them!"

Jenny snorts. "Yeah, so what? Someone who says something like that is no better than one of those weird monsters that you fight."

"Oh." Steven frowns. "What does it mean? Why is it so bad?"

Buck scowls, and even though he usually has a laid-back demeanor he still looks as angry as Jenny. "You'll have to ask your weird alien moms that, little man."

So he asks Pearl, who explains that it is a rude and mean human word for someone who was born in the wrong body. Steven gasps.

"That can happen?!"

Pearl nodded. "Yes, Greg explained it to me once. It's what happens if you're a boy trapped in a girl's body, or the other way around."

"But why would someone say that to Dipper, Danny, Norman, and all those guys?" Steven tilts his head.

"I don't know, Steven. And I don't think that you should ask them, okay?"

"Okay..."

But he still doesn't quite understand. Oh, he won't ever call anybody that word, but he still wants to know more about this whole trapped-in-another-body stuff. It sounds scary, and confusing.

So he tells Connie, who explains it in a bit more detail. That clears some stuff up for him.

It's not until he catches Dipper and Norman kissing that he realizes something is off.

Steven had been walking into their house, looking for Mabel. The girl had promised him that she would come hang out with him, but she seemed to have forgotten. So he went to her house to remind her.

Dipper and Norman were kissing on the couch, and it was the way that Steven had seen Ruby and Sapphire kiss. As of nothing else mattered. That wasn't what attracted his attention.

There was something white on Dipper's upper body. It was kinda like an undershirt, but shorter and with hooks in the back. It was pulled tight, and Steven gasped.

The two boys sprang apart, each a furious beet red. Dipper grabbed his shirt and yanked it over his head, scowling and looking away when Steven looked up at him curiously.

"What is that?" The younger boy asked. "It looks like it hurts."

"Well, it doesn't," Dipper growled, skin flushing. "I just... Need it, is all."

"For what?" Steven blinks up at the fifteen year old.

Norman gives him a small smile. "Sometimes people need different things for their body, like braces or wheelchairs. Dipper needs a binder."

"Binder?"

"Yeah," the spiky-haired boy explains. "It's not so uncommon. Danny has one, and so does Lars. That doesn't mean that you should think any less of them."

"Okay. I won't. But... Do you know where Mabel is?"

Norman laughed. "She probably cornered some poor tourist in near The Big Donut. Try checking over there, then by the arcade."

As it turned out, Mabel was flirting (sort of) with a relatively attractive tourist girl that was returning her affections with gusto.

Danny is telling Jenny and Buck about a girlfriend that he apparently has. One with black hair and gorgeous purple eyes. They look happy and content. But there's an odd set to Danny's spine and shoulders, like he's waiting for a fight.

Steven decides that even though the friendship is weird, the people are weirder.

And that's a good thing.