Joy, expression, action: these are only a few of the words that can be associated with the Summer season for at least one resident of Gravity Falls. She expected nothing different to come out of this one. The sun beat down, shining filtered light through the leaves of the forest trees. A gentle breeze made the hot weather a little more bearable and provided a soft rustling that was pleasant to the ear as it joined the other noises of nature around her. Amelia Price had decided to take a stroll through the woods as she made her way to Greasy’s Diner for a little breakfast. Sure, it would have been faster to just drive there in one of the golf carts or waited till someone else could take her but honestly, she liked this time to herself now and then. Her father needed rest as he worked night shifts most, if not all of the time and Jack hadn’t been awake at practically the crack of dawn like she had. This is how the little adventure had started, not wanting to interrupt the sleep of the two most important people in her life.

There was something magical in itself about walking through the woods as the sun rose in the sky, bringing all the inhabitants to life. One she had braved many times even though they all say the forest is to be avoided if at all possible. It should have spooked her but she felt more at home there than most places. It could be because Jack and her wandered around it so often looking for anomalies or the strange but who really knows. Either way, she knew it was about time to make her exit and head for some food. It was as if her stomach heard that very thought as it growled a bit as if reminding her of its protest at having to wait. Amelia’s shoulders shook at her silent chuckle and with that she picked up her pace, popping out of the tree line.

She blinked softly, raising an arm to block the sun and see where she had ended up this time. It took a moment of looking to realize that it was near the local bus stop. She let her arm down, her eyes now adjusted to the light and pulled out her phone to read the time before shoving it back into the pocket of her jeans. Amelia noticed the rumbling of the bus engine as it rolled up and even if she didn’t, the distinct squeak of the breaks would have given it away. She decided to wait till the bus passed before heading across the road, not wanting to get in the way. The driver wasn’t really rainbows and sunshine after all and honestly, she wouldn’t put it past him to forget to not run someone over.

---

The bus came to a halt in front of what seemed to be nothing more than a regular bus stop; Motor of the machine humming as it stayed in place, the doors slowly opening so disembarks could begin. One boy had already jumped out of his seat, with two bags in tow; One in each hand, stumbling a bit as they were quite heavy, filled with supplies for his stay. It wasn't at all clear what was inside them, but one of them did have some papers sticking out; He brought plenty of writing materials so he could keep track of his entire trip! He'd document anything interesting, and keep it for future use / or just a fond memory. He was going to enjoy this trip one way or another!

"Well, it has been 'fun'." The driver spoke, as Ludwig approached the front of the bus to exit. His glare turned quite nasty, seeming to be wanting to start the drive back sooner rather than later. "Now giddoff my bus."

"I was just leaving-- _ACK!

Ludwig found himself punted out the bus, flipping forward with his bags hitting the ground before he landed on top of them: Only to spring off of his own bags and plant into the pavement. Picking himself up off the ground, he was quick to dust himself off; An itch in his hair telling him where his companion had gone. "I'm alright, Moe." He assured to the squirrel, glancing up as she glared back at the bus, irritated and blowing raspberries to spite the driver.

"We can be upset later, we've got to go." He urged, reaching up and giving his loyal pet a quick scratch before picking up his bags. Now, where was a motel around here? This bus stop didn't have pamphlets around, either: He had no idea how people were supposed to tour with no idea of what was around. Figuring things out was part of the fun now, he figured. Nothing better to do than to look around, and maybe find someone to talk to.

Glancing about, he managed to catch view of someone: A blonde girl, blue shirt. Seemed good enough to him; If she wasn't a local, at least she had gotten here before him. She'd have to have more knowledge of the area than he did by default. That's just from his pure logistics.

He hushed his squirrel companion, who hid itself inside his floofy hair before he spoke up to get her attention

"'Scuse me, miss?"

---

The gentle voice had her turning to the source of the sound, a guy around her age with floofy chocolate brown hair and dark eyes was what she was met with. She tucked some hair behind her ear as she took a quick glance around to make sure he was talking to her. Amelia felt herself give an awkward soft smile, trying to figure out how to tell the guy in front of her that she couldn’t answer. She had dumbly left her notebook at home, thinking she was going to Greasy’s and they had most of her orders on lock or it was easy for her to point. She had not been prepared for an obvious tourist, if the baggage was anything to go by, needing help from her.

It would be a long shot if he actually ended up knowing sign language and while she had a pencil with her, no paper kind of made it a problem. ’I wonder if he has any paper on him but how am I supposed to ask? I don’t want to sound rude.’, she thought to herself nervously and trying not to bite her lip. She tilted her head bit in question and moved one of her hands on top of the other like she was writing, trying to find a simple way to explain or ask if he had something to write on. It probably just looked ridiculous but if she started signing it might look just as strange.

Tilting his head in confusion, he observed her motions for a moment: She sort of looked like she was pretending to write something? He wasn't entirely sure as to why she was doing that, but maybe there was a reason behind it? Well, obviously there was: Did she need paper? Was she trying to communicate something else? Was she a mime?

Hesitant to question what she was doing, he finally blurted it out: "You, uhm... Need a pen? Some paper?"

Amelia nodded with a small thumbs up, a bright smile on her face as she pulled a pencil from her back pocket. She was glad that the ridiculous motions worked but sadly, it wasn’t the first time she had to do it and it probably wouldn’t be her last. He had her worried for a moment that he wouldn’t understand when he looked at her with confusion as if she was a puzzle to be solved.

"Okay, no problem!" Ludwig said without hesitation; Setting down his bags. If she needed it, then why not offer it to her? He had plenty of notepads and pens; Surely giving one away wouldn't hurt him, right? He was quick to dig into his coat pocket, pulling out one of the notepads he kept crammed inside; Always keep a few on you, just in case. That was important for a researcher like himself; Ludwig liked to take note of everything, and that wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Here; This'll work, right?" He asked, extending his hand to hold it out to her.

She gave a quick nod, gently taking the notepad that was being offered to her. She flipped open the cover, planning on writing straight away but instead found some of the pages had already been taken. She hadn’t meant to pry but she was a naturally curious person in the first place and couldn’t really seem to stop herself. It seemed to be a small log, depicting the bus ride and the reasons for coming to Gravity Falls. Amelia wasn’t sure who this Moe was since he seemed to be alone but pushed that aside for now, flipping to the next blank page. She scribbled down a quick note before holding it back out for him to read.

𝓗𝓲, 𝓶𝔂 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓪. 𝓢𝓸𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝔀𝓴𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷! 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓶𝓾𝓽𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝓮. 𝓓𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹?

"O-Oh!" He stammered, taken by surprise despite such a thing possibly being obvious with how she was acting: Everything made sense now. He reached up as if to scratch his head, but hesitated; Lowering his hand back down. "I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner, uhm-- Amelia? Amelia. It's nice to meet you! I'm Ludwig; I'm kind of going to be around here for awhile,,, For the summer, at least." He paused, figuring she didn't want to hear his life story about why he was here; He'd just bothered her on the street, after all.

"But, anyways: I couldn't find anything about motels at all. I figure there has to be at least one, but I have no idea where I'm going. Could you point me in the right direction?"

𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓷𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸𝓸, 𝓛𝓾𝓭𝔀𝓲𝓰. 𝓝𝓸 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓹𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓲𝔃𝓮, 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓲𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓶 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮. 𝓘𝓯 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓲𝓽’𝓼 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓾𝓵𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻! 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂! 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼𝓷’𝓽 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮’𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓘𝓷𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓻𝓸𝓸𝓶. 𝓘𝓽 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓲𝓽!

"Oh yeah, that sounds great! I've got money to last me awhile; Lead the way!" This was really looking up: Amelia was being a real life-saver here, Ludwig wasn't sure how long he would've been lost without her to help him out. Now it was just smooth sailing to getting settled in; Then he could get started on his real reasons for being here.

Ludwig found himself momentarily distracted by a shuffling feeling in his hair; Moe was scratching, or something. It didn't feel great, and he knew she was getting annoyed trying to hide during this conversation; Usually she'd stay in the pocket, but she decided to use his hair, today of all days... He reached up, scratching his head in an attempt to calm the beast: Finding a little success in his mission as he managed to retract his hand and instead pick his bags back up.

She waited patiently for him to gather his things, making sure he was ready for the little journey before leading the way. It luckily wasn’t too far from the bus stop since it needed to be in a prime location for future customers. She had thought she saw Ludwig’s hair move earlier but shrugged it off since his hand had been in his hair too. It must be her imagination plus it would be rude to insinuate anything like that to find out she was wrong. How awkward would that be? It was best to leave that be. It was nice though, that someone new around her age would be around this Summer. One that might be interested in the mysteries of this place. Jack would be thrilled to have someone other than her to bounce theories, ideas, and stories off of.

They started walking; Amelia leading the charge as Ludwig followed behind, glancing around and taking in the view of the town. He'd be writing down his thoughts, but his hands were currently preoccupied with everything he was holding: He'd have to remember to write stuff down later.

Things seemed... Really quiet; Like this place was perhaps just a simple location, despite the rumors and speculation Ludwig had made.

No, no; He had to be suspicious. The place was quiet, and quiet was wary! Plus it was like, really early. His brain was just going too fast; He had to take this slow, if nobody else had definitive proof of the things going on here, why would he after like ten minutes? While he wasn't impatient, he was eager to get to work: Maybe he needed to calm down in general, though. Day one he needed to focus on some priorities, rather than getting into the grit. Basic necessities, then research.

But, a researcher's mind never truly rests. Even now, he was curious: He observed everything in his own way; A side-effect to how long he'd been trying to do this, probably. He observed locations, wildlife, even people like Amelia with curiosity as if there were puzzles to be solved; Mysteries to be figured out. And Amelia's helpful nature was, perhaps, a small stone that could cause a big ripple in what he wanted to find.

"So, do you liv--" _"Ouch!" Ludwig's questioning ceased as he felt a painful scratch on his scalp; A hiss escaping him from the pain as he tried to hold it in, but he dropped one of his bags, causing a scene he hadn't intended.

Moe popped out of his hair; Taking a gasp for air and catching it's breath before deciding to lightly stomp on Ludwig's floofy hair out of frustration for being kept in there for so long. Realizing the gig was up, Ludwig snapped at the Squirrel: "That really hurt! What were you thinking, Moe?! _{Ooooouwch....}"

The squirrel hopped on Ludwig's shoulder as he rubbed his head, looking at her in a truly annoyed fashion. He had intended to be more lenient around here, but seriously? So soon?

Amelia spun on her heel to face her new companion when Ludwig’s voice rang out with the start of a question, slowly walking backwards so they could continue on their journey but not wanting to seem like he was being ignored. She halted all movement though when he suddenly yelped ‘ouch’ and concern instantly flashed on her features. She looked around trying to determine what went wrong, hoping that it wasn’t something like being stung by a bee or anything like that. The hiss of pain told her it wasn’t good whatever it was and when he dropped one of his bags, she found herself moving closer to help him pick it up and see if he was alright.

She didn’t even make it a step though as she was stopped in her tracks by a squirrel popping out of his dark hair. It wasn’t just the shock of an animal nesting in his hair though but that this one was completely green in color. It was possible the fur was dyed but that seemed like an impossible task and as they say when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. This squirrel was something special if she had any guess. She shook her head, Ludwig’s voice snapping her out of her thoughts as he looked at his pocket pal with irritation though ‘Moe’ didn’t really look too phased by his reaction as she sat on his shoulder.

Once she had processed what had just happened, she realized that there was no way that Jack was going to believe this. He would think she was messing with him or ask to see too and who is to say she would easily be able to find Ludwig again. She quickly dig the notebook back out of her pocket so she could scribble down her thoughts and some rapid fire questions.

𝓜𝓸𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓸 𝓬𝓾𝓽𝓮! 𝓘𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻? 𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝓘 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮? 𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓯 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓲𝓶! 𝓐𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂, 𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓰𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼. 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓜𝓸𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭? 𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓹𝓸𝓹𝓾𝓵𝓪𝓻 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼. 𝓘 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷, 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸....𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓻𝔂, 𝓘’𝓶 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭!

Amelia shortened the distance between them, holding out the notebook nervously for him to read. She couldn’t remember a time she actually asked anyone to the Mystery Shack, half of the time it just happened or they already knew where to find her since small town.

Ludwig composed himself, but wasn't expecting her approach: His eyes darted left and right, taking note of the mildly irritated squirrel staring him down from his shoulder: _WHAT? What right did she have to be irritated right now? She just scratched him and ruined seven years of secrecy in the span of half a minute! Deeply sighing, he began reading what Amelia had to say...

He mumbled through it as he read, eyes tracking each word and a slight concern coming to his tone as he spoke:

"Uhm, no pictures, please." He began, not truly trying to shoot her down; But Moe didn't even like him attempting to do that. The last time he tried he ended up needing a phone replacement; And if the glare of the little green bugger was any indication right now. that attitude towards pictures hadn't changed. But wait; there was actually some interesting information in what Amelia wrote: Mystery Shack? Now, Ludwig had tried to do some studying about the place before coming here, and this was one of the few things he managed to partially be aware of: It was just some highly notable tourist spot.

Ludwig wasn't much of a souvenir guy, at least ones just flat-out purchased, so the appeal wasn't there in that sense. However, Amelia mentioned her brother? Her interest and enthusiasm was a better sign; And if her sibling was the same way, they both might be extremely helpful in his cause! He had no 'great' leads anyhow; These two were a good start to discovering something, he'd bet his _{(Potentially bent)} glasses on it!

"To answer your other question; Yes, she's naturally that color. I know because I even tried washing her off at one point, and all it accomplished was her wanting more baths." The squirrel perked up, dropping it's irritation for a moment to nod along with what he was saying.

"--- And as for your invitation? Sure! I'll be happy to answer whatever I can; Maybe we can have a sort of exchange?" He was satisfied with the offer presented, but was hopeful they'd help him, too. A jumpstart with some natives would definitely be a boost in success rate! "I'll share what I know about the squirrel with you and your brother, and you two can maaaybe show me around the more... Mysterious side of this place?"

Ludwig was, of course, referring to the woods. The town itself seemed pretty tame; He wasn't certain he'd find anything on the streets. There was a possibility that they couldn't actually tell him much about the woods though, so he didn't want Amelia to feel shot down because of that.

"But, if you don't know anything about the woods, that's fine too. Because soon enough..."

_{There was a momentary pause, a grin growing on Ludwig's face.}

"I will!"" He declared, expressing his own enthusiasm: This conversation was getting him motivated, that much was obvious. Her interest was boosting his morale; He felt more confident than ever with curious souls like her and her brother being here.

---

Things were perfectly dark up until a few minutes ago.

Brightness disturbing her slumber, Sidney stirred and began to slowly wake up. She had a headache, she felt really groggy: What had happened last night? As she tried to sit up, she was startled by the sounds of plastic hitting the floor; and the slight slush of liquid that, when she looked down, she realized were coming from sealed cups with a familiar little logo... They were from the Arcade! There were multiple cups surrounding her, and it took her a moment to realize she was on the floor, in a corner kind of slumped weird.

"Wh--Whaa. . . ?" Sidney couldn't even form words at the moment; She planted a white-globed hand against the wall and slowly pushed herself up, wobbling a bit and nearly falling forward. The young girl's mouth was wide open as a loud yawn escaped her, followed by a light scratching of her arm. Slowly her eyes stopped being so glossy, and her sight through her blotchy black eyes became clearer: Oh, man. No wonder those cups were here... She was in the Arcade!

"You finally wake up?" An elderly voice questioned, sparking her attention. Sidney turned her head, seeing a person she saw on the regular: The Arcade Janitor. Everyone just called him 'Sweeps'. He was scruffy, he wore that silly blue jumpsuit, but he was nice. Sidney usually got yelled at for things like this; He gave her the break she needed.

"Looks like it, Mister Sweeps!" Sidney announced, her own loud voice causing her head to pound. She placed a hand on her forehead, groaning from her headache. As she lowered her hand, she noticed Sweeps was holding something out; A plastic cup full of water.

"Flush your system with something not so sugary." He advised.

Without hesitation, Sidney took the cup the gulped the whole thing down; A gasp for air and of relief passing over her afterwards. She approached the counter and set the cup there, managing to wake up somewhat. It was crazy; They just left her in here, huh? Did those guys even care? Most of the workers here didn't even look to see if there was a girl passed out from soda intake and gaming over in the corner?

She couldn't be mad; At least she wasn't at home.

"Thanks, Mister. Can't believe those jerks left me laying in here!" She said, face scrunching up.

Sweeps began to clean up the mess in the corner, seemingly not holding anything against the girl for making the mess. "I've heard you tend to swing while you sleep; They probably were just trying to avoid the trouble."

Sidney glanced away, unsure if that was true. She had vivid dreams; So maybe it was. Though if she scared people like that, at least they'd leave her alone during a nap! Shining a positive light on his words, she decided to change the subject quickly; Marching towards the Fight Fighters 3: Turbo Deluxe Edition machine. "So, now that my nap's over, I can go back to playing!"

"Not quite, missy." Sweeps said in an almost parental tone, shutting her down. "Ain't even open for a little while, can't turn on the machines with just me here: Go outside and get some air."

Sidney sighed, her black blob eyes rolling in a lack of amusement. "Fiiinnneee, I wanted to go eat anyhow! And go play in the woods!" She pretended to complain, beginning her march out of the Arcade.

"Be careful near those woods, Sid." Sweeps warned, brim of his hat covering his old, tired eyes. "One day you may find something you'll regret."

Sidney waved a hand back, ignoring most of what he had said. "Yeah, yeah!" She responded, making her way out of the Arcade. The difference in the warmth of summer outside and the chill of the Arcade was apparent; But the warmth comforted Sidney. The first goal was obvious; Greasy’s Diner! Breakfast! A glass of milk, and a mug of coffee! Everything to make a little girl's morning start off perfect!

She began walking off towards the Diner _{Like This} in hopes of starting her morning with a successful breakfast; And then follow it up with an even more successful day!

Garfield ran a hand through his hair - pushing it back for a moment with a grunt. He just returned from his patrol in the woods. Since the Mystery Shack didn't have a scheduled tour, he didn't need to be there to act as their Man of Mystery. Honestly, he appreciated the job but he only got it because he already had a reputation for dealing with the weird things in Gravity Falls and he thought that helping out the Price family after the tragedy would be ideal. He just didn't expect to hold down the position for so long.

"Oh, welcome back Gar." Emma greeted from the comfy chair in front of their small television. He walked over to her to give her a peck on the cheek. "How was your walk in the woods?" She asked, eyes following him as he moved around the house to put down some of his stuff. They never left the house without some form of equipment and they never walked through the woods without being prepared. Next thing you know, you're being jumped by a werewolf. You'd never know in this town.

"Everything's normal on the homefront. They're keeping to themselves for now." Garfield responded as he sat down beside her. The two settled against each other. He felt his tense muscles relax as he did so. It was too early to be out and about too but his daily morning walks tend to help him be alert against anything that goes wrong in their town. It was a thankless job considering they'd just call you the next senile fool if you tell them that there's anything like the supernatural going on. Gravity Falls residents are the masters of brushing these kinds of things off.

The sun hadn't even risen during this time and while Emma really should have been preparing herself for work, she couldn't help but relax into Garfield as he began to slowly drift away. She could afford a few more minutes of shut-eye before she really had to leave.

Garfield woke up to Emma's keys jingling. "I'm heading off to the school. We have a meeting coming up. Do you have anything to do today?" She asked absentmindedly after seeing that he had stirred from his short nap.

"I'll grab some food at the Diner. I think there's a couple of people due for a tour here in Gravity Falls so I might have to go out and make sure the Mystery Shack is prepared." And if not, well, he could always just make sure none of them were opened while he was out. The gift shop items were completely fine but he was a bit cautious about those that were on display. He knew that a couple of the Mystery Shack's items were hoaxes but he couldn't be too sure about those that looked kind of authentic.

Emma smiled as she patted his head. "Alright then. See you at dinner?"

"Or earlier." With one last kiss goodbye, Emma was out of the door first.

Garfield took a deep breath and headed off to change his clothes. He debated whether chugging a cup of coffee now would be a good idea or to wait until the Diner... or to drink one now and then drink one later. He was pretty sure that he had a deadly amount of caffeine coursing through his veins already so it wouldn't hurt to just continually drown himself in it. He narrowed his eyes at the coffee machine before spotting a small note beside it.

He let out a sigh as he grabbed his flannel and his hat and headed out. The sun was already high and bright. He brought his cap down further to block the shine of the sun before continuing his walk. Garfield was making a mental checklist of things that he should do after checking the Mystery Shack. There was checking in on the Price siblings - their father had the night shift so he was usually asleep during this time. Maybe Danny and his granddad needed some help over at the lake. There was something about a radio spouting off weird messages during the night in Faustina's house so maybe he should check that out.

Another typical day in Gravity Falls.

Morning, it was always a drag. Just when one was starting to enjoy their sleep, they'd peek at their phone only to find that the night was already gone and that was time to get out of bad. Yancy dragged himself to his feet with a groggy mumble. Moments like this made him almost regret having a summer job. How many others were still in bed, probably not intending to get up for another two or three hours at least? Meanwhile Yancy was up at the crack of dawn, staring at his tired face in the mirror while he brushed his teeth and ran his comb back through his hair. Sure, the feeling sleepiness and dread would be gone in an hour or two, but that didn't make the early morning feel like any less of slog.

After getting dressed, Yancy found himself in the kitchen, waiting for his bread to pop out of the toaster. Yancy was on his own in terms of figuring out breakfast. Dad was already gone, big surprise. Surely some toast and maybe a quick coffee on the way to the Shack would be enough, right? When the toast was finally done he yanked it out of the toaster and held it in his hand. With that he was out the door, toast still in hand and he munched on it as he went along. And it was about this time that Yancy started realizing the drawback of working at the Shack. He'd have to walk there, and the Shack was nestled besides the woods and just outside town. Bit of a distance to walk, but Yancy had made this bed and he was determined to lie in it no matter what.

"Hmm, is the Diner even open this early in the morning? If I swing by there only for it to still be closed then this going end up being an annoying morning..." he mumbled this to himself as he walked. He made his way in the direction of the diner, hoping to God he wasn't wasting his time. Between the actual trek to the Mystery Shack and whatever work he'd get saddled with once he was there, this cup of coffee was downright vital if Yancy didn't want the rest of day to end up being miserable. Well, it wouldn't be completely bad, since the girl running the register was probably going to be around for a lot of it. If Yancy was honest with himself, she may have been part of the reason he was willing to walk this distance to work every morning.

"Alright Yogel, head out of the clouds." he told himself as he slapped his cheeks with his hands in an attempt to get rid of some more of the grogginess. He'd long since finished off the toast, and he could see Diner slowly approaching in the distance. He had to remember his real motivation for this. If he wanted to eventually move out of here, then he'd need some money saved up. He landed this job, and now it was time to actually hold onto it.

Despite sleep's warm embrace making him want to clock out for the day, Jackson knew he had to get up and get the Mystery Shack set up in case of tourists showing up for the summer. So, even after fighting the urge to continue sleeping,

“Come on, Price, ya got work to-!”

He ended up rolling out of the bed and onto the floor.

“...Do.”

Atleast it woke him up a bit. Getting up off the floor, Jack looked around to see his sister had woken up first.

“Oh, Ami already left.” he said, and got dressed for the day. Jack didn't really have to worry about his appearance much, since he kept it rather simple. Throwing on his jacket, he went to the kitchen to grab a snack to tie him over till he went to the diner. Though he didn't really see much, not counting the fact that he skimed it.

Cookie and juice box it is.

Nibbling on said cookie, Jack entered the shack to get things set up before he left. Though he's mostly just tidying up the place at the moment.

---

Sidney's march eventually brought her to the diner. Thank goodness, too, as she had been getting hungry. She bounced up the steps with her usual pep, truly recovering from her awful awakening now. Bells chiming as she pushed open the door, he noted the place wasn't very populated yet; A few people here and there, but the place was far from packed in from morning goers. She decided to take advantage of this and plop herself in a booth; More comfy than the stools at the front for sure. Plus, people didn't always like it when she sat next to them. So she decided maybe keeping a distance was her best move.

That thought made he frown, though. Her mind shuffled over to thinking of herself, and the general outlook on her 'situation' throughout the town. It wasn't abnormal for her to ponder on it often, and while she mostly kept her discontent to herself, she couldn't help but feel annoyed at the fact everybody was so... In denial. 'skin problems', yeah. Issues with her eyes, too; That's why they look funny. No color out of them, must've been due the same eye thing, right? Heck if she really knew, but it didn't seem that simple to her.

The waitress came up, and Lindy placed her order with enthusiasm: "I need a pancake stack, and a coffee! O-Oh, and a water too, please!" With as quick as she appeared, the waitress disappeared to go and see to the order. Sidney simply glanced about, trying to find something to distract her during the wait.

Though not much came to mind, she did decide on something basic; A little humming. No particular song, just something she thought sounded good as she went along. She found herself smiling, rocking side to side as she continued her wait for pancakes.

---

Amelia’s eyes glittered with excitement at the sudden prospect of another adventurer out to learn the mysteries of this place. She couldn’t help but smile brightly, jutting her hand out to give a thumbs up in approval. This was one deal she would be happy to take part in and she couldn’t wait till Jack found out. She hoped he would be as excited as she was. She leaned slightly to the side, glancing behind Ludwig to see if any other people needed to be lead to the inn but that didn’t seem to be the case for the moment so she gave a soft shrug to herself. She turned her attention back on the boy before her and waved her hand in a ‘come on’ motion, waiting till he caught up to her. She made sure to take only a slight lead this time, that way if he wanted to talk to her it would be better than walking backwards and she could pass the notebook easier.

They walked together for quite a ways down the dirt path near the road side. It was much more peaceful now that Moe wasn’t being smothered in floofy hair which in turn saved Ludwig from random pain. She was still captivated by the tiny squirrel but that was for another time. For now, it was best to get her partner situated since the last thing anyone wanted as to be without a place, especially when night rolled around. Amelia scribbled out quick note, holding it out for the other to read as they continued.

𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓾𝓹 𝓪𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭, 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭𝓷’𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓷𝓸𝔀. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓮𝓻, 𝓔𝓲𝓷, 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓫𝓲𝓽...𝓮𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓬 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓷𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓰𝓾𝔂. 𝓐𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽, 𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓷𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮.

Just like she had stated, up ahead on the left side of the road was their destination. It was large wooden building that appeared to be rundown, it’s age clearly showing at this point. Dark clouds loomed above the structure as if threatening a heavy thunderstorm even though it was a nice sunny day practically everywhere else. A sign hung just near the iron gate that surrounded the estate, letters fancifully carved to read ‘Innkeep Inn’ though it wasn’t as cheerful looking as one might hope. The two carefully made their way across the road before Amelia pushed open the gate, it giving a loud screech in protest as she did so.

The porch creaked under each step they took but she paid no mind to it. She gripped the iron handle, pushing the door open before lifting up the door’s knocker and letting it clink down to draw attention.
A gruff, "What'chu want?", rang out as Ein popped around the corner to stand behind the counter. Amelia smiled softly with a wave to say ‘hello’ before jumping to the side dramatically, arms flared out to present Ludwig as if he were something amazing to behold. She was gonna blame working at the Mystery Shack for that one since you had to be over the top sometimes. The fact was, guest were always great and if she could send people Ein way then she would. It wasn’t just because it was the only place in the middle of everything either. She simply thought he was an honest and nice guy.

---

"Ow!" Gilberta cry out after one of the chicken pac, it was her turn to get the eggs out of the chicken coop but it's going to be hard since one of the chicken hates Gilberta and her family. "Ugh, come on! They are just eggs, you can poop out a around one!" Gilberta say to the chicken "And I want to get this over with, so can you be a good chicken and give me the egg?" Gilberta ask in the nicest tone she can but all the chicken can is just look at her, staring. even though she can't speak because she is a chicken but her eyes can and her eyes just say "No and I hate you..." Gilberta sigh, knowing that her sweet talk won't work on this mean chicken, she leaves with no choice. "....All right, chicken..." Gilberta rolls up her sleeves "...Guess we have to do this the wrong way."

A Hour later

"I got the eggs..." say a very exhausted and beat up Gilberta, she is just cover in scratchs from the deadly chicken from the farm. Without hesitation, Gilberta mom patch her daughter up with band-aids from the first-aid kit. "Is that the end of my farm work?" Gilberta ask her mother with a exhausted tone, her mind is just begging to make this day be over with "Wellll…." Oh no, there more "...It not much but can you go to the grocery store?" "Why can you go?" "Cause I'm very busy with cooking and I need someone to get something and since you are here and papa went to work, you can go to the grocery store" her mom say as she hand her the grocery list. "....Ok, mom" with a kiss from her mom, Gilberta walk out of the house and head to the store.

---

Amelia’s own enthusiasm met with his own; Her shining eyes and thumbs’ up causing a toothy grin to appear on Ludwig’s face, though he didn’t seem to mind much that it was revealing the gap in his teeth. Two heads were—- Wait, no. Three heads! Three heads were way better than one. This seemed like a good idea to him; He had already met more people with his interest here in a day than he had back home in his entire life. If that wasn’t a good sign? He didn’t know what was! As she motioned for him to follow, he enthusiastically grabbed his luggage and carried onward with her; Moe climbing atop his head to rest peacefully on TOP of his hair this time. Much less irritating, and thus much less aggressive squirrel. Thank goodness.

Moving along the dirt trail, it was something a bit unusual for Ludwig himself, though he did enjoy it. The air was as fresh as he thought it’d be, and in general the more nature-bound surroundings of Gravity Falls were an appeal he wanted to experience. He kept a step behind Amelia but didn’t lose that pace; He noticed she seemed to be writing something, and was curious to read it as she showed it to him.

”You seem like a good judge of character, Amelia. I bet the guy is great.” He replied, following further. Though, as they looked up to the left, across the street…

Why did it look like a horror palace? The place had an uneasy aesthetic and Ludwig personally did not like it. He was somewhat shaking in his shoes, not appreciating the sight of the building in front of him. As they crossed the street, he saw the sign; Innkeep Inn. Ah, yes. A very thoughtful name, eh? But he really shouldn’t be judging. Instead, he was more worried about the creaking gate that was a bit unnerving. He followed Amelia into the dark rainy aesthetic of the surrounding area of the Inn, with Moe creeping down onto Ludwig’s shoulder to hide beside his head.

The steps didn’t help either. Creeeeak,. Creak. Fantastic. His nerves were shot by the time Amelia opened the door, causing a noise loud enough for the owner to come up to the front. He would’ve just spoken to him normally, but as Amelia hopped to the side, he froze in place while being presented like he was some sort of prize on a gameshow. A slight blush crossed his face.

”That a rat on yer’ head?” Ein asked, tone casual.

Ludwig blinked. ”Rat…? N-No, it’s a squrriel.”
”Good,” Ein replied, sitting in his chair. ”Thought I was about to hafta’ beartrap the door.”

”B-Beartraps?” Ludwig questioned, eyes widening.

”That’s right. Bear-sized traps for bear-sized rats.” His tone was serious, but still a bit out there. Ludwig stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and fear, until the man roared with a short spout of laughter that startled his poor soul. ”Hah! Y’think I’m serious? Ya go believin’ everything ya hear and ya might need’ta run home before tomorrow!”

Ludwig sighed in relief, momentarily he had believed everything Ein was saying. Though, that did make him think… ”Rodents of unusual size are a thing. You’re saying they appear in this building?”

”Amelia, did you find a curious one?” He questioned, looking around Ludwig to eye her for a moment. She could be trouble, but she was usually a sweet girl. Just needed to stay out of the woods. Though his horror stories only ever got her more anxious. The bear-sized rats were probably going to do the same. ”’Preciate you bringing me the business.” He added, offering her a half-smile before glaring back at Ludwig.

”So what’chu want? A room, I get. But ya gotta help me visualize.”

Ludwig tilted his head, unsure of what he meant. ”Uh… Just a room? Cozy is preferable I guess? Don’t need it to be too big.”

The glaring continue for a moment, before Ein rolled his single remaining eye. ”Simple spectacle-wearin’ guy, aint’cha?” Ein shrugged it off, though. No matter. Without hesitating he spun the register around on his desk and faced it towards Ludwig. He raised a fist and slammed it down on top of register, causing it to pop open. A small sign popped out, showing a certain amount of money and an empty register drawer to deposit it into.

The price made Ludwig cringe, but he didn’t have many choices. He sat down a bag long enough to pull some of the cash otu of his wallet, shoving it into the register. By the time he picked his bag back up, it had closed shut and Ein had turned it around.

A key flew through the air; Catching Ludwig by surprise. Thankfully, Moe was being her helpful companion self and caught the key.

”Notta’ bad circus animal.” Ein commented, with a scoff. ”Room Wun-Oh-Wun. S’yours.”

Ignoring that his squirrel was compared to a circus animal, Ludwig turned to Amelia before gesturing his head towards the rooms. ”Wanna check it out? I’ve got to set down these bags.” He spoke his offer, before continuing over towards the hallway of rooms. Eyes finding themselves locked with 101: His hands were still full, so the only solution he had _{(aside from setting his bags down like a reasonable person)} Was to extend his arm and allow Moe to climb down and unlock it. She was even polite enough to press down on the handle so Ludwig could nudge the door open with his foot.

As he entered, the interior was simple, but nicer than expected. It had a bed, a small desk, a fireplace, and some shelves for his belongings. He definitely wasn’t going to complain as it had already went above his expectations. He plopped his bags on the floor, noting the smoothness of the wood in the room compared to outside. Aside from where a rug was laid out not far from the fireplace; Couldn’t judge the floor under there. Still a nice touch though.

”Wow…! This place is great!!” He announced his judgment of the room, simply glancing about at things and getting a feel for it. Meanwhile Moe jumped from Ludwig onto the floor, eying the fireplace with a mixture of curiosity and a necessity for warmth. Both were, admittedly, a little distracted. He had only intended to drop off his bags, but now he found himself just wandering around the place.

---

She stepped back, leaning softly against the wall so that the two could talk and sort things out. Amelia had heard Ein talk of the R.O.U.S. before but had never actually seen one despite the claim. She was pretty sure it was just a ghost tale, something to scare the customers or entice them to check out local lore. She believed in mythical creatures and magic but bear sized rats were a stretch, even for her. It made her silently chuckle a bit when a moment later Ein himself admitted to his not being serious about it. Amelia’s attention peaked when she was addressed with a question to which she answered with a soft smile and a shrug. Ludwig did seem to be the curious type but she didn’t know him well enough yet to judge anything for sure. It was a little startling for her to receive words of appreciation but it warmed her heart that the innkeeper had expressed them. She placed a hand gently over heart before giving a small bow.

Ein was a lot of things but she still respected him and it was the best way she could respond. If she could reply, she would have told him that she would do so any time. That she didn’t need the appreciation for such a simple act but this was the best she could manage. It seemed like a split second later, the older man was back in business mode as a glare was focused at Ludwig and they were back at getting things situated for the younger man’s stay. She pushed off the wall gently, listening to her companion’s reply and answers. This was one of the things that made this place amazing or at least people always said so. No matter what you were looking for, the Inn had it. It was just a matter of what you were wanting. She barely had time to register or think more on the matter though as a key flew by, Moe being the champion since she doubted either of them would have caught it.

Amelia gave a small nod, following close behind as they both headed down the hallway until they were outside the door with the glossy plaque reading ‘101’. She looked to Ludwig, noticing that his arms were a bit preoccupied with the bags and went to give him a tap on the shoulder, planning to offer assistance but she ended up stopping mid air. Moe was again, the champion of keys it would seem. The two having a simple rhythm down without words as the squirrel ran down the boy’s arm, unlocking the door and even opening it so Ludwig could do the rest. Amelia blushed in embarrassment, pulling her arm back to tuck into her chest and before it could be noticed. She bit her lip lightly, closed her eyes for a split second so could get her embarrassment under control. This is why she hated meeting new people. There was no way to judge what she could just do and so she either had to be useless or risk upsetting someone.

If she could have just spoken then she could have helped. Heck, there was a lot of things that would be easier if she could simply speak her mind. A lot of people misunderstood her actions or judged them without trying to see what she meant or ask her to clarify. She knew people that just avoided her because of how she seemed with others just by misreading. After all, writing only helped if people were willing to read it. It was Ludwig’s sudden exclamation about the room that had her drawing back from her thoughts. Amelia stepped closer, making sure to stay in the doorway so she wasn’t intruding. It did look nice and cozy. It looked in way better shape than the hallways, that was for sure. A growl from her stomach reminded her of where she had been headed when she had been side tracked with this adventure and clearly it wasn’t happy with her for doing so. Jack might have even been up and headed there by now too.

Amelia gave a small knock on the door to grab Ludwig’s attention. She nervously stepped into the room, digging back into her pocket for the notebook and pencil and started writing her message slowly. It was very possible the answer would be no because she was after all a stranger and some people after a long trip just want to be alone. If that was the case then at least she had been able to meet someone new and help them out but if he said yes, then they could have more time to talk and maybe become friends. If anything, at least she would understand the person that might become a new mystery partner since there was the matter of their deal.

𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓻𝓪𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓳𝓸𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝓮? 𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓮𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓖𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓼𝔂’𝓼 𝓓𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓻.

She held out the paper for him to see, looking at him with a hopeful expression. It wasn’t like she was in control of that but she did hope for a ‘yes’. It didn’t mean it would happen but at least she could say she tried. It was the best she could do after all. It wasn’t like she would beg if he said no. That would just be weird and okay, she was weird but not that weird.

Jeremy could barely keep the smile off his face as he walked through the streets of Gravity Falls. It'd been too long since he last saw this place, and he was a little surprised to see that it had barely changed. Happy too though. He hadn't seen many people he recognized though, and of those few, there were none who recognized him. But hey, it's not like he could be surprised by that. He knew how different he looked, and one of the things he was most excited for was to surprise all his old friends with it!

Right now though, his mind was focused on other priorities. He'd been up since obscenely early, running around in the woods like he had in the old days, searching around to see if there was anything new on the weird side of things. Sadly, he hadn't found any yet, and he'd eventually gotten too hungry, which sucked, because he was hoping to maybe say hi to some of those weird things he'd already met way back when.

But, on the other hand, food was food, and he hadn't eaten at Greasy's Diner in nearly eight years.

And funnily enough, by the time he'd finished his little mental recap, he'd made it right to the diners door. Upon entering, he was struck with nostalgic smells of extremely unhealthy diner food. It almost brought a tear to his eye, but hunger beat reminiscing in his head, so instead of just standing in the doorway on the verge of blubbering like an idiot, he instead went up to the counter and made his order.

"Hey there miss!" He said, not quite able to keep the excitement out of his voice. "Would it be alright if I just asked for four servings of bacon and eggs, but in one plate? I haven't eaten all morning, so I'm basically starving to death."

If he was being honest, that was only mostly a joke. He legitimately was getting pretty hungry, and he was beginning to suspect his stomach was starting to eat itself. Surprisingly though, the waitress he asked barely even raised a brow before going ahead and telling the kitchen his order. Then again though, when you live in a place like Gravity Falls, things like weird orders probably just weren't that weird anymore... So, glad that everything had gone simply, he went to find a seat, and no sooner had he done so that he saw a flash of black and white that seemed more than a little familiar.

"Is that who I think it is?" He said to himself, before standing up with a wave and called to the figure. "Hey Sid, that you? It's Jeremy! You still remember me?"

Garfield ran a hand through his hair as he dismounted the tree with a huff and a cat in his arms. This usually doesn't happen in Gravity Falls but there he was, helping a young lady with her cat that had run up the tree when she had accidentally let it out of the house. Of course, it just so happened that Garfield was heading down the Diner and passed by the incident. She tugged on his flannel and pointed at the cat and he just couldn't say no.

So now he had scratches on his arm but at least the girl was happy. He ruffled her hair and told her to make sure the cat doesn't get out of the house again. He stretched his arms and looked over the scratches. They weren't deep and he could just wash them at the diner. So he continued on, losing himself in his thoughts again as he walked.

He entered the diner, making a cursory glance over the occupants of it. As someone who had lived in Gravity Falls his entire life, he prided himself in knowing who everyone was. Especially for someone like him who helped people out on a regular basis. Surprisingly, it wasn't as active as he had expected. He gave the waitress a nod of his head as he approached. Garfield knew that Sidney - the oddball of their little town due to her odd black and white pigmentation - was there and someone called out to her.

He looked back at the waitress. "Breakfast special and uh..." He ordered and the waitress laughed at him when he trailed off, teasing him about his coffee consumption and if Emma was grilling him about it again. He rolled his eyes. "I didn't drink anything earlier. Spare me the lesson. He groaned out and she simply laughed and jotted down his order onto her notepad and shooed him towards the booths.

Garfield looked over to Sidney and the tall person, narrowing his eyes at the male because he couldn't-

Wait.

Jeremy?

He walked over to the boy and patted his back. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged back to this small town." He said with a small smile. The boy and his family had left Gravity Falls a couple of years back aside from Greg. To see the kid back at their little town was certainly surprising but Garfield couldn't wait to tell Emma. She would certainly love to hear all about what had happened to the family. "How've you been?"

He turned to Sidney and gave her a nod of his head. "Good day Sidney." Garfield had always kept an eye out for Sidney - mostly because of her oddity. But she was as normal as the next person and didn't pose any real threat so he let her be. Her energetic personality certainly brings a bit more color to the town.

@AmpharosBoy @Rabidporcupine

---

Ludwig turned his head as he heard a knock; Eying Amelia with curiosity as she walked in. This place was nice, but he’d look it over later. She was a guest now, he figured, so she took priority. ”Yeah, Amelia?” He said as a response to the knock, patiently waiting for her to write. As she finished, he observed the presented paper and his expression shifted a bit to a mixture of pleasant surprise and mildly growing panic attack.

She wanted to go eat? Well, he wasn’t one to refuse, really, as all he had the way up here was some shoddy bus station food and plastic pellets in the bus itself. But… The invitation was admittedly sudden: He fell silent for a minute, brain dialing how to respond as he bounced between assumptions and what could more easily be presented as fact: Hah, right. She, uh, probably wanted to talk about their deal. Their partnership. Over breakfast.

Right, well, no better way to respond then yes? Right? He hoped that was right. He looked up at her face, seeing her hopeful eyes and momentarily glancing back down as if doing a double take. That wasn’t pressuring at all, was it? Hah, well, good thing he was going to say yes regardless. Because otherwise that would’ve been awkward, huh?

He blinked at the realization of how quiet he’d been.

”Oh!” He blurted out, scratching at his shoulder momentarily.

”A meal sure sounds nice, actually. W-We can go, yeah!” He answered, pushing up his enthusiasm to hide insecurities from his thoughts. He smiled at her, unsure of where exact;y that diner was, but trusted her if she thought it was good. Looking towards Moe, he clicked his tongue and gestured towards himself, the squirrel running up to him before scaling his clothing to arrive on his shoulder. He could tell she was hungry, and figured he’d get her a nice piece of cooked sausage or something that’d fill her up.

”I’m not entirely sure where the place is, but you lead and I’ll follow? I’ll lock the place up on the way out and we can get going.”

@Akayaofthemoon

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Sidney had, after what felt like an eternity in her highly active mind, cheered for the arrival of her pancakes, coffee, and water cup. She offered a heartfelt thank you before starting on an instant road of pancake destruction; Knife and fork viciously digging into the plate, at least until she ended up hearing a voice to the side a short ways’ away.. A pancake was partially hanging out of her mouth as she turned her head, viewing the very large figure. He called her Sid; Barely anyone shortened her name like that regularly. So who was he? She figured she’d remember such a large lad.

Though, as he mentioned the name Jeremy, it clicked in her head: She was thinking big, when really, her memories needed to remember something small. Jeremy?! Scrawny Jimmy? He was practically an equal with a girl like Sid despite their age difference back then, but now look at him! He was huge! What the heck happened to him after he left?! Was he secretly related to giants?

”Jeremy?!” Sidney mumbled, slurping as she pulled the pancake into her mouth to chew and swallow it. Her tongue quickly circled her lips to clean off remaining syrup before her burst of excitement continued, her standing up from her seat… Even if it did nothing to help with their height difference! ”No way! You’re— Like… Like… A giant! Where’d you go to get so big?!” She was amazed at his change: He’d certainly grown! Lindy had liked to hang around Jeremy when they were younger; He was one of the nicer kids. She’d been sad to see him go, but the name was enough to bring all the memories flooding back. She had a buddy around town? This’d be awesome.

And the excitement didn’t even stop there: She wasn’t entirely surprised to see Gar approach and greet both Jeremy and her. This was great; The big guy was getting a welcome home! While she didn’t particularly know Mr. Pollard that well, the Mystery Shack was more than enough for her to trust him: He made the place a bit fun, though he didn’t like Sidney touching things too much. She couldn’t blame him; She’d be unable to afford buying it if she broke it. And she’d hate to accidentally make him lose one of his display pieces. But they seemed so intriguing! She just wanted to hold one. They weren’t real, so what was the big deal? Maybe having them made was really that expensive… Or maybe they were really rare. Huh.

”Good morning, Mr. Pollard!” Sidney greeted happily, looking between the two. Suddenly she was feeling awfully small, but that wasn’t a huge problem. Jeremy seemed like a gentle giant, and she was kind of thankful for that. Mr. Pollard was a reasonable adult, so she wasn’t very bothered by him either. In fact, she was glad that both of them were here: It made her happy for certain, and if Jeremy was staying around… That happiness might linger for quite awhile.

@Polaris North @Rabidporcupine

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He was being so quiet. Had it been a mistake to ask? Had she done something wrong? Oh goodness, maybe he was trying to find a polite way to tell her no? She bit her lip gently, the awkward silence making her nervous and she was debating if she could take back the offer somehow to save the situation. Amelia gripped the notebook a bit tighter, trying to judge if she should just jot down nevermind or something. That was when he surprised her with blurting out ‘oh!’ as if he had come to a decision. She waited for it, knowing that he had finally found a way to let her off gently. Why was she surprised? Jack was always the better one at making friends in her opinion.

She let go of the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and her eyes widened a bit. Did she just hear him correctly? He had said yes? It took her a moment to truly register his actual response instead of debating on it but when she did, a dazzling bright smile lit up her features. Amelia felt happy, light even as skipped lightly to the doorway before giving a small twirl so she was facing Ludwig once more. She waved him over excitedly, letting him know that she was more than willing to lead the way. It really was a nice surprise that he said yes and now she just had to hope that Jack had made it to the diner by now. If not, at least she had company and she could introduce him to some more of the locals or possibly play tour guide. Heck, there might even be some other tourists there since it was a popular location.

She waited, letting him lock up the room before heading down the hallway. A quick wave goodbye was given to Ein before she exited the inn. She tried to move quickly, not really wanted to get rained on at that precise moment even though it was her favorite kind of weather. Amelia traveled down the dirt path, stopping every now and then to not get ahead or to check that she hadn’t lost her companion. It didn’t take both of them long to reach the diner. She opened the door confidently, plopping into her usual booth before patting the table top across from her, letting Ludwig know to have a seat. It didn’t look like her brother had made it yet but nothing she could do about that. If they were lucky, he would be there soon and she could at least introduce him to a few faces she did recognize but that was for later. For now, the main focus was food and the delicious smells in the air were all the more tempting. If she wasn’t careful, her stomach might just eat itself if she waited much longer.

@AmpharosBoy@Polaris North@Akayaofthemoon

"Yep, the one and only!" Jeremy said happily when Sid seemed to recognize the name almost immediately. He laughed loudly when she mentioned how big he'd gotten and asked where he'd gone to do it."Hawaii! Yeah, it turns out that the giant genes were just waiting a while before kicking into gear, but now I don't have to worry about being too short for anything 'til I'm old and grey! Speaking of which, you dyed your hair black, which I've gotta say is a nice touch. I reckon it suits you, and not just because of the whole old-timey cartoon thing either."

He was probably going to continue, but he was interrupted by a pat on his back, and turned around to see someone who, despite not standing out anywhere near as much as Sidney, was still almost instantly recognizable to the boy.

"Mr Garfield!" He said, surprised at just how similar the man looked to when he and his family moved away. "Nah, no cats required actually. I love Hawaii and all, but I'd been getting pretty homesick for this place recently, so I eventually managed to convince mom and dad to let me come back and stay! But yeah, nah, things've been great! Had a bit of a growth spurt, developed a love for hawaiian shirts and the ukulele, developed a way bigger love for food than back then, it was awesome! But then when I think about it, I honestly still preferred my time here... I mean, wandering around in the unknown is in my blood, and compared to this place, Hawaii just doesn't have enough of it."

And then he saw someone else enter the diner who he immediately recognized. She was followed by someone he didn't, but oh well, he was sure he'd get to know him well enough soon.

"Ooh, guys, shut up, shut up! Don't say anything to give it away!" He whispered, before looking out from his booth again to see her and her friend sit down in a booth. He could barely hide the laughter when he called out to her, pointing to himself. "Hey, hey Ami! Do you recognize me? Do you remember who I am?"

Now, it may be true that he looked extremely different from the last time they'd seen each other, but after all the time they'd spent running around the area with Jack when they were kids, he had an inkling that she might be able to recognize him by the stupid, goofy grin on his face alone.

Jackson yawned once he got finished with his chores around the shack. "Huh, slow day?" He asked himself, seeing as no one entered the shop yet. Even so, it was still early, and his stomach's grumblings was a reminder of that. "Oh right, breakfast! Jack grabbed his journal and phone, and rushed out to the diner.

Walking around a relatively quiet town like Gravity Falls is rather peaceful, but in this case, is also rather unsettling. Eerie, with all the abnormality sightings and rumors. Kind of makes Jack wish he had some form of self defense with him. But as far as he knew, he should be okay.

Arriving at Greasy's Diner, he looked around for his sister, and anyone else he could recognize. He did see Amelia...with a boy. Suspicious is suspicious, indeed. Though he wasn't going to prod the guy for info. Not yet atleast. So Jack just walked up and sat down next to Ami. "Sorry I'm late!" He apologized, and looked around at the rest. Among them was someone he definitely had to note for later; They looked like someone that just hopped out of a rubberhose-style cartoon! But other than that, everyone was normal.

"Oh, and morning Mr. Pollard, Ami-" Somehow he managed to cut himself off once he recognized an old friend of his. He'd know that stupid grin anywhere. "Jer- JEREMY!?" Nearly jumping out of his seat, Jack had his own stupid grin appear on his face. "Dude, I dunno ether to bro-hug you or remark that I'm now a elf compared than you!" He chuckled.

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Amelia had been working to flag down a waitress when a voice spoke up with, "Hey, hey Ami! Do you recognize me? Do you remember who I am?". At the sound of the nickname her brother mostly used, she turned in her seat so she was on her knees to easily peer over the booth and stare up at the goliath with a goofy grin that was before her. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion for a moment as she tried to think before her eyes widened and her face lit up in recognition. In a flurry, she started signing to him in excitement and asking all sorts of questions, ’Remy!? Is that you?! You look so different! How are you? When did you get in?’.

It was only when she stopped signing that she realized that maybe Jeremy didn’t remember how. It had been a long time after all and he might not have needed it. He could be completely confused to what she was saying. Amelia blushed in a bit of embarrassment, planning to write down ‘Do you remember how to use sign language?’ so she knew if she needed to go back to writing to greet her old friend when Jack joined her in the booth. The bright grin on her face only grew more at his appearance and she happily greeted him with a,’Jack, you made it!’, before she started pointing in Remy’s direction but it seemed he was already scanning the restaurant which made her action a little null and void. Amelia was practically bouncing in her seat when Jack’s attention finally fell on Jeremy and was glad to see the stupid grin that appeared on his face before the two started up a conversation.

She plopped down properly in her seat again, her attention turning back to Ludwig and noticed he seemed awkward suddenly. She felt bad that she had completely forgotten him for a moment. The appearance of an old companion and fellow adventurer had been a wonderful surprise but that didn’t mean it was fair to leave out her new one. She quickly scribbled down a note before giving a loud clap to get the group’s attention.

𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝓛𝓾𝓭𝔀𝓲𝓰. 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴, 𝓡𝓮𝓶𝔂, 𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓯𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓾𝓼!!

Amelia beamed happily, glad that she could make the boy a part of the conversation. Heck, maybe she could loop some more people in and they could have a nice time together. Breakfasts were always much more fun in a group or at least that is how she felt. The more the merrier kind of deal. Moe could be a subject for another time. She didn’t want the squirrel to be overwhelmed and it didn’t sound like many knew about the creature. She didn’t want to overstep by bringing anything up. He had agreed to show Jack though so maybe after breakfast they could hit up the Mystery Shack if Ludwig was alright with it. She really couldn’t wait for her brother to see her. Moe was so intelligent and who knew how much more she could do or where she even came from. It would be a wonderful puzzle to solve but for now, just being surrounded by friends was enough.

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Persephone lay in the bed unmoving, both out of a fear of her wounds and what it might mean if she found she could not feel something. The nurse scrambled to and fro, changing tubes and IV bags with the kind of speed and accuracy one might imagine in a hospital drama movie. Persephone really didn't know what half of the stuff the nurse was doing, or what it actually meant, but it helped keep her mind off the stitches everywhere until Hera got back.

Right on cue, Hera slid through the doorway, almost like somebody who ran out of ideas had to think of something last minute.

"What are you looking at Persephone? Didn't you see the ring on that woman's finger?"
Hera chuckled, dropping into a seat with a mischievous grin and a bag full of candies. Persephone turned red, stammering as Hera laughed. The nurse grinned, waving her hand dismissively as she left the two alone.

"Y-you know I, I'm not."

"Pfft, I'm kidding, how are you feeling?"

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"Yes, I'm sure just water, I'm waiting for somebody."
The waitress gave Persephone a sympathetic grin, utterly convinced that the girl was being stood up by her boyfriend, after all she had been sitting there in the corner table for a good hour now, looking completely dejected. Meanwhile outside the diner Huginn and Muninn were perched atop the building, glaring with malice at Hera standing on the other side of the street across from the diner. Sometimes it was terrifying how much the two birds understood about the world around them, and how good of a memory they had.

Hera sat on the side of the road, re-reading the text she sent to Persephone. She changed their meeting place last minute out of sheer panic. She had no idea how Persephone would react, and was honestly terrified that something might have changed between them. She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing before standing up and moving quietly across the street in the direction of the diner. The Ravens shuffled on their perch as Hera approached the building, squawking quietly to each-other as if whispering. They almost seemed to grin as they glided over to a lamp-post to get a better view of the action as the girls saw each-other.

Hera shuffled up to the booth and sat across from Persephone, who was pretending as if she had not noticed her sit down and was doing a poor job of it overall.

"H-hey there M&M, long time no see?"
"..." "Please say something... you know I wouldn't leave without a reason..." "...Yes, but that's the thing that's bugging me... every time I get angry at you about it, I devolve into some wretched beast drooling over a jewel that was stolen from them. I know you aren't property but the only thing that comes to mind is...." "How I'm yours?" Hera chuckled, a small hopeful grin beginning to grow as she continued to speak. "I would have liked to see that, you doing a Smeagol impression while holding my picture." Persephone turned away, trying to hide her grin from Hera, trying not to encourage her, yet another thing she was failing at. "That's unfair, I'm supposed to be angry at you, not laughing." Hera's smile widened as she slid out of her seat and into the spot right next to Persephone, wrapping her arms around the girl trying not to smile. "It's too late! I saw your smile and now you aren't allowed to be angry!" Persephone rolled her eyes, looking through the window as if she were looking for her Ravens as she leaned into the hug. "Whatever, you still have to explain yourself little Miss Carmen Sandiego."

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"Stupid farm work, Stupid groceries, Stupid evil chicken..." Gilberta mumble to herself while she holding groceries in the streets, thinking about that her weekend is wasted by dumb work. Gilberta just want to relax in her room and hangout with Adoncia and Sir Emigdio, you know, normal pre-teen stuff "UGH!, I just want to relax!" Gilberta yell to herself, she stop herself when she realize that everyone is staring at her with confused expression "....Hehehe, um, just talking to my, um, friend on earpiece....ok bye" she say as she walk away from the crowd before she embarrass herself more.

As Gilberta walk in the streets of Gravity Falls, she look up in the sky and see that it look pretty, there not a single clouds up there. It usually very cloudy here but since season is changing, Gilberta guess that the clouds are just clearing up and for some reason, Gilberta feeling kind of nostalgic about that. Like she was back at her old home, just looking at the sky and just rela- Gilberta eyes quickly move to the streets and see two birds right in front of her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gilberta feet move over the two black birds but it was too quickly and fall on to the ground. Gilberta got up slowing and see that her groceries are all over the place "Ugh! seriously?!" Gilberta say to herself "Why are two birds sitting on the street?! Are they like pranking people?"

Garfield gave the two a wider smile than what he earlier had given them. Sometimes, you don't really notice how fast time passes by until it smacks you right in the face - like what it had done right now in the case of Jeremy. The boy was huge, bigger than he could have ever imagined. Though, he would have never thought that someone would willingly come back to Gravity Falls - locals tend to stay forever or when they leave, never come back. But to hear that Jeremy had asked his parents for him to be able to live in Gravity Falls again did make Garfield feel a little warm inside.

Though he also felt the sudden chill when Jeremy mentioned the unknown that surrounded and plagued the town ever since it had been started. There were certainly many things in the town that would grab anyone's subconscious attention - the part of someone who just knows that something is wrong. Nevertheless, Garfield leaned back and placed his hands inside his pockets and nodded. "The ukelele huh? Well, make sure to play for us next time." He stopped before adding a belated, "Remember to stay out of trouble kiddo." Though he knew that he was talking to a wall by this point as Jeremy turned his attention to the newcomer. Besides, the kids don't tend to listen to older people telling them to stay out of trouble.

Jeremy had stalked towards Amelia - letting her guess who he was and how excited Amelia had gotten as she started signing a flurry. Jackson had soon entered as well and immediately recognized Jeremy and suddenly Garfield remembered the three kids that ran around Gravity Falls, getting into and out of trouble and adventures. However, his attention soon shifted to the person Amelia had entered with - a new face around Gravity Falls. New faces meant new problems to work with. But at least it looked like this new person has new friends as well.

As an afterthought, Garfield swung by the children's table and turned towards the Price siblings. "I heard a tour bus is due later on so we're going to open up shop after breakfast. I'm going to check on the supplies and if you want to bring your friend and Jeremy here along, that'll be completely fine." He wouldn't mind the noise and, in the Mystery Shack, there was much more privacy than within the diner. And he could keep an eye out for them too. With that, he went back towards his original seat at the counter before turning to Sidney, silently beckoning for her to join the group of kids that had gathered together.