The summer after

Chapter 2 - Introductions and Ford

Chapter 2 - Introductions and Ford

Dipper froze, staring at the hand that this stranger held out to him. Mabel gently pushed him from behind, and Dipper suddenly remembered his manners.

"Nice- nice to meet you too, I'm Dipper. Dipper Pines." Dipper said, and almost shook his hand.

However Dipper reconsidered, and gave Steven what could only be described as the most awkward fist bump in the world. Dipper had fist bumped Steven's open hand, and both of them paused.

In the background, Dipper could see Stanley raise an eyebrow, and heard Mabel facepalming herself from behind him. With a small groan underneath her breath.

"Uh, sorry, I don't really, do handshakes-"

Stanley decided to save the conversation- despite Steven making a small chuckle in the background -so he made a gesture towards Mabel. "And this is Mabel, our resident crafts master.". Mabel grinned wide and quickly peeled off a sticker from a small pad she had stored within her sweater sleeve, deciding to slap it immediately onto Steven's jacket. It was a cat with glasses making finger guns, with bright pink text saying, "me-WOW!".

Steven lifted his pink varsity jacket to take a peek at the sticker, and made a small smile.

"Oh! Uh, thanks."
"It's on the house!" Mabel replied cheerfully, her face slightly redder than before. She leaned in towards Steven and cupped a hand over her mouth so the others couldn't see- despite them clearly hearing. "They're always on the house." Mabel spoke, her eyes bright.

Stanley, noticing the interaction and internally groaning at the thought of having to deal with one of his sister's kids crushing on another one of his employees all summer- AGAIN -spoke up.

"Anyway, over there is Soos, who you'll probably be spending the most time with. Y'know, so long as he doesn't ditch the shack for his new internet girlfriend." Stanley said, and the group turned to look over at Soos.

Soos was unaware of the whole conversation between the four, instead listening to his girlfriend talk via FaceTime on his laptop. He made a shy chuckle, turning red in the face. "Oh, dude, this is great!" He chirped, and took a bite from his piece of infinite pizza.

Stanley turned back to the group, straightening out his suit. "Anyway, the only other person you have to worry about is Ford. He's.." Stanley paused, putting a hand on his chin. "Actually, I got no clue where he is. Hey Dipper, Mabel, make yourselves useful and make sure Ford isn't blowing himself up with some time bomb or somethin'." Stanley told the two, and Dipper grew quite excited at the idea.

Of course! I wonder what great uncle Ford has been up to while we've been gone!
Dipper thought, and Mabel watched her brother start grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, you got it!" Dipper replied, and instantly ran off to go find Ford within the home. Mabel, however, stuck around.

"Time bomb?" Steven questioned in the meantime, and Stanley made a waving motion. "It's nothin' to worry about kid, trust me.".

Stanley then began to usher Steven away, but looked back at Mabel with a slight frown. "Hey kid, uh- you goin' with Dipper?" Stanley asked, and Mabel shook her head. Instead she stepped over to Steven and grabbed onto his arm, eyes sparkling. "Nope! In fact, Grunkle Stan, I think I should help show Steven around!" Mabel started, and Stanley crossed his arms in disapproval. Steven, in the middle, just looked incredibly confused.

"Now let's start that tour!" Mabel cheered, and Stanley groaned.

Is this what my life is gonna be for the whole goddamn summer?
Unfortunately, that seemed to be so.