Abnormal Gravity: A Parapines Fanfic

Chapter 14

Some time later, Norman was sitting on edge of the tub in the Mystery Shack's bathroom. His pull-over hoodie was currently being mended by Mabel in her room, and her twin was half-way inside the bathroom cabinet searching for Band-Aids, his cap resting on the sink.

"Well," Dipper said from inside the cabinet, "No Band-Aids, but we do have copious amounts of gauze and alcohol. That ok?"

"Better than nothing, I guess." Norman responded absentmindedly.

"Alright." Dipper backed out of the cabinet holding a brown bottle, a box of gauze pads, and medical tape. He walked over to Norman and crouched down in front of him. He applied some of the alcohol to a gauze pad and took Norman's hand in his own, facing upwards. It had begun to bleed a little.

"You ready?" Dipper asked, "This will sting a bit."

"Yeah..." Norman responded. He was more focused on the boy crouching before him than his own cut. Without his hat, Dipper's hair had a wavy, slightly shaggy look. Like he had just got out of bed and barely had any time to brush it. It suited him, too. He resembled a -

"Ah!" Norman's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain. Dipper was wiping the cut with the alcohol pad, and it stung quite a bit.

"Sorry," Dipper said.

"N-no, it's fine."

"Not just this. Sorry for dragging you into this. You got cut because I sent you down there."

Norman smiled a little. "That wasn't your fault. I mean, your theory was right, the ghost couldn't hurt me. I only got cut because I was careless."

Dipper placed another gauze pad in Norman's palm and began wrapping in medical tape. "I still feel a little responsible."

Norman decided not to push it. He waited patiently as Dipper carefully wrapped the tape around the pad twice. When he finished, the tape made the wound look more serious than it actually was.

"There, all done."

"Thanks," Norman said giving the bandage a closer look.

"No problem," Dipper said with a smile, giving Norman no choice but to smile back.

Dipper fell back onto his butt and sat. "So, this was certainly some morning, huh?"

"Yeah, it has. Is it always so... hectic, here?"

Dipper ran a hand through his hair.  "No. It's been peaceful here for a while. These ghosts are new. And weird, too. We've never seen anything like them."

"Did you find any other angry ghosts? Before you met me?"

"Only one. But, we couldn't see them and they weren't nearly as dangerous. We kinda just fooled around until it's presence left. Then we found out about the ghost potatoes. And met you."

Norman scratched his head. He was surprising himself. Besides Neil, Norman was never fond of speaking with boys his age. Well, anyone his age, really. Ever since the incident with Agatha, Norman had been more social, but to spend so much time with these two whom he barely knew...

Maybe that wasn't so bad.

"What about you?" Dipper asked, "You have any experience with angry ghosts?"

"A little. I had to save my town from my witch ancestor."

"That sounds awesome."

"It was actually pretty terrifying. I got hit with lightning more than once."

Dipper's eyebrows shot up. "Lightning?"

"Yeah, but it was like, ghost-lightning or something. I was fine."

"Huh." Dipper put his hands behind his head and leaned back against the wall. "Well, I also saved my town. Our entire reality, actually."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Me, Mabel and some friends of ours had to fight an evil space demon named Bill Cipher."

"Cuz' that's totally believable."

"Oh sure, Mr. My-dead-witch-ancestor-hit-me-with-lightning-but-I'm-fine."

Both boys laughed. "I guess we have to give each other the benefit of the doubt," Norman said.

"Yeah."

Dipper stood up and grabbed his cap. "Let's go see if Mabel's done."

"Alright." Norman stood up to follow.

Norman followed Dipper to a room further down the hall. The door was open, and inside Mabel was sitting on a pink bed on the right side of the room meticulously mending Norman's hoodie. The room was triangular, the two walls sloping to meet at the top  Above Mabel, there was a poster of a rainbow and several small watercolors of various animals. On the other side was a light blue bed with a large, framed painting of ship caught in a storm hanging above it. There was a plugged in laptop resting on top of it. Norman could guess which bed was whose. Between the beds was a battered circular rug and other random objects was scattered throughout the small room. Bags, articles of clothing, toys. Overall it was pretty messy. Like a teen's room.

"Hey, guys! I'm almost done."

Dipper sat down on the blue bed and opened up his laptop. Norman remained standing.

"So..." Mabel said, still concentrating on her sewing, "You guys took pretty long in there. What were you guys up to?"

"We were just talking." Dipper said. "I told him about Bill."

"Oh, yeah? Cool, cool." Silence returned. Norman hooked his thumbs in his Jean's and stared down at his feet, not really sure what to do with himself. He kicked at an empty soda can. So messy.

"I bet you guys were makin' out."

Both Dipper and Norman looked up in unison.

"W-what?" Norman said.

"Mabel!" Dipper said.

"Woah!" Mabel said with a grin. "What's with that reaction? Sounds like guilt to me."

Dipper and Norman glanced at each other, then quickly looked away.

"Whatever," Dipper said, focusing on his laptop once more.

Mabel laughed. "I'm just joking, guys. And by the way, Norman..."

"Y-yeah?"

Mabel lifted up Norman's hoodie. "All done!"

Norman walked over and inspected her work. The broken seam of the pocket looked as good as new. All trace of the tear was gone.

"Wow, Mabel. This is really good."

Mabel smiled broadly. "Oh, it's just a hobby I picked up. No biggie. But anyways, isn't it about time we opened the shop, Dipps?"

"Yeah," Dipper said, still typing away on his laptop. "I was waiting for you." He closed the laptop and hopped out of the bed, Mabel joining him.

"Soos should be here soon," Dipper said, walking out the door, "We sure have a lot to talk about."

"I wonder how much he's gonna freak out." The twins left the room, leaving Norman by himself. The boy put on his hoodie, - his hair giving him a little trouble-  enjoying once again its cotton comfort and warm pockets.

"Norman you comin'?" Dipper called.

"In a sec!" Norman sighed. This day was stressing him out. Boiling coffee ghosts, flesh wounds, cute boys, instigating girls - and it wasn't even noon yet. And yet, he felt weirdly... happy. Like he was having fun. He couldn't really explain it. He never enjoyed being around people this much. The living, anyway
 
Norman walked towards the door, wondering how much more he could take from this crazy town.