Wanderlust (Bill Cipher x Reader)

Chapter 12: The Mystery Shack

The winter season passed by with its usual drab and lack of excitement.You had spent the majority of your time continuously devouring the book Bill gave you. The book had so much information in it, and you found out that it was the first book in a series of thirty. Spring brought warmer weather, and your family urged you to go outside to "get some fresh air and meet people your age."

I've met people my age, and I'll pass, you complained to yourself.

You did rationalize that you could continue exploring and add more pages to your scrapbook of strange creatures. You knew that your parents were just trying to get you out of the house so they couldn't feel guilty when they left you alone like they did every weekend. They had become distant over the past year, going out to bars with your aunt and going on a lot of "adult" weekend trips. You figured that they just wanted to enjoy life after their brush with death, but it kind of hurt that they didn't want to enjoy life with you.

You packed a lunch, threw it in a backpack with your camera, and walked out the front door. You decided to meander around the streets of Gravity Falls to people watch. You saw Toby Determined interviewing a goat with a turkey baster, and a little further down you saw the Corduroy dad teaching his kids how to wield an ax properly. You walked past the diner and saw Lazy Susan shooing squirrels out of the front door with a broom.

I wonder why her eye is all droopy. God, this town is weird.

You smiled and took pictures of everyone. You walked past a group of teenagers passing around what you thought was an extra smelly cigarette. Once they saw your camera, they all freaked out and ran away.

You saw a sign for the Mystery Shack. You had never visited it because your parents had always said that it was a tourist trap designed to steal your money. But you saw another sign for it and then another, and curiosity got the best of you.

What they don't know won't hurt them. It's not like the specifically said I couldn't go inside, and it's not like I have any money for me to waste.

You followed the signs pointing you to the shack and walked up its rickety wooden steps. You pushed open the door, the bell jingling as you walked inside. The place was deserted, so you wandered around the store looking at the "impossible mysteries." An older man rushed in from a door with a sing reading "Employees Only."

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack! Home of the weird and improbable," the man said in a gruff voice, fixing his tie.

"Hello," you said awkwardly.

"What're you doing here by yourself, kid? Traveling with your, hopefully wealthy, family?"

"Haha, no. I live in town. My name is Y/n."

"Oh? I don't believe I've seen you around town before."

"Yeah, I'm kind of forgettable. It doesn't help that I've always been kind of a shut in," you laughed.

"Heh, yeah. My brother was like that," he said nostalgically.

"Does he live here as well," you asked, pointing to the door from which the man entered.

"Who, my brother? No, no, no. He, uh, he's not around anymore," he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, I'm Stan Pines. I own this shack and all of the mysteries within," he waved his fingers at the word "mystery."

"Some of these are a little cheesy and noticeably fake," you laughed, gesturing to a statue of an owl with elephant ears sewn on its sides. Still, you took out your camera and took a picture of the figure.

"Hey! No free pictures! Ten bucks," he demanded, holding out his hand.

"I don't have any money, sir," you waited for the picture to print out and gave it to him. "Here, sorry."