Something seems off...

Chapter 19

The reservations didn't take long to make, just as Dipper had expected, even though to Wirt the absence of trips to the actual bus station to pick up their tickets was a bit difficult to understand, and ultimately, had to be explained by Mabel. Greg tagged along, shaking his head in what his brother hoped was only mock amusement when he asked such questions as "And the paper travels through thin air?"

With the intervention of Dipper and Ford (who, in the few months of having returned to the dimension from which he had first come from, had grasped the concept of technology faster than his brother had with considerably more time and guidance), he managed to comprehend enough to use the most basic of functions, but he was still bewildered by the advances that had been made in the short amount of time they had been 'gone'.

Then, more to Greg's horror than his own, they had a lesson in modern history. The younger boy quickly fell asleep despite the poking and prodding from Wirt and his whispers of "this is important", but after Mabel reassured him that she would make him catch up in a more child-friendly fashion later, he let him be.

The whole thing was quite horrifying. It didn't help that the twins and Ford had conflicting views on the utility of the second Gulf war, and in the end he resorted to looking up student material on the recently-discovered Internet for some less political views concerning the subject. He was busy trying to translate the only decent article he had found (it was in Italian), when he was interrupted by Stan walking in on the chaotic scene. [1]

"Er, sorry to interrupt, kids," he said, pointedly looking in Ford's direction, "but seeing as it's time to eat you should come down and have a light meal," with this time the insistent look being addressed to Mabel, "and then get your stuff packed and beddy-byes 'cause you're going to be up at flippin' four in the morning tomorrow if you don't want to miss that bus of yours."

Greg had to be carried downstairs, but apart from that they were all relatively happy with eating together. Stan, unsurprisingly, mumbled all through the meal about how the kids were so impertinent these days, mentioning after a few minutes their "preposterous music" and "outrageous clothes". His spoon went flying in shock when this immediately triggered a burst of uncontrollable laughter from both Wirt and Dipper, which quickly turned into hilarious rage when he realised that he was the subject of some sort of elaborate mockery.

On the other hand, Jason Funderburker had made a spectacular recovery, and was now trying to get out of the shoebox on any given occasion, whilst Greg still spoon-fed him scraps from his own plate. Not only that, but Mabel was making sure to dote over amphibian, swine, and small human at once, that ended just as well as expected coming from Mabel, that is, pretty awesomely.

At the end of the day, only Ford remained relatively quiet and calm throughout the meal, the last one that they would all have together while retaining full consciousness (he severely doubted that his brother would have as much coordination when they would come to enjoy their early breakfast next morning). It was a different silence that he would usually display though, this one interrupted from time to time with small smiles and chuckles at all the other's antics, and sometimes dropping a comment that would usually trigger a wave of groans and occasional mutters of "big-head".

It was only at the end of the meal, when everyone was more or less falling asleep onto their respective plates that he cleared his throat.

"Kids, are you all listening?" They nodded in unison. "Good. I would just like to remind you all to make sure that you've got everything that you need, spare clothes, toiletries, and any other things you think are necessary and that can fit in a small bag. No, not Waddles Mabel. Also, I know that physically you should all be apt to go on this journey, even though I'm slightly doubtful in your case, Dipper, but I trust your judgement on this. I would therefore like to make sure that none of you have second thoughts about this trip. If you're up to a long, back-and-forth, and really boring journey with a high chance of finding a disappointing answer to your questions on the other end, put your hands up and shout!"