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Journal One

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A lantern's soft glow danced across the simple wooden table which was currently acting in lieu of a desk since the chaotic mess dashed across its surface required more space than the usual desk could accomplish. The most noticeable item while appearing rather plain was obviously handled with great care as it sitting in the cleanest area, everything else hazardly brushed aside to make room for the book resting open to blank pages. It easily captured the eye, drawing attention while seemingly tempting one to give into curiosity to check and see if it held any secrets beyond what was in sight. Darkness suddenly consumed the area, a mysterious shadow casting against the dimly lit walls, eerily shifting with each flickering movement from the flame even though the figure had not. The sound of footsteps starting to pace echoed loudly in the silence of the room, the shadow moving to follow the same pattern as the figure within.

Gentle mumbles joined in with the symphony of steps, soon being followed by the aggressive clicking of a pen which pointed to the sign that the occupant was clearly focused and trying to work through a problem. It continued on this way for several more minutes before the noises stopped, as if finally struck by inspiration. The steps strode forward with confidence, the table chair scraping against the wooden floor in protest at the harsh treatment of being yanked back so the person could sit. The scratching of ink on paper took over as the lone person wrote in a fever. It would be many hours before they resurfaced from their work, the call to document all their findings and memories of the past gripping them in its hold.

This journal is to document the oddities of the geographical location known as Gravity Falls, Oregon.

Inside will contain some of the collective knowledge that was once lost from the previous journals but with some minor variations and removed pages to counter any mistakes from the past. Knowledge can be dangerous if placed in the wrong hands and taking the temptation out of the equation was the best agreed upon solution when recreating this very journal and the other ones that are in production.

That aside, I am not the first to explore the mystery that is this strange town and I doubt I will be the last since this place has always been full of secrets that lie in shadows. There is always a new discovery to be made, a new item of power to grasp for, and new information to be learned about creatures I long thought were thoroughly investigated to the point where no more further studying required. It’s hard to believe how long it has been since the day I first found the previous journal #3 and the chaos of that same Summer which led to many more filled with paranormal mysteries. I still fear that someday everything will go crumbling into madness once again but with each passing year of silence, it has slowly become just a memory of the past. I can only hope that the warnings added into this journal will help to assist should the need ever arise. To the finder of this journal, I implore you to be careful who you trust and to use the knowledge I have gathered wisely and at your own discretion.

This place is a vast expanse of wonder that will bring never ending opportunities for those that have an affection for the bizarre and unnatural but not all creatures are friendly. Not everything is what it seems. The past will be hidden and with some hope, it won’t be necessary to uncover it. Take care, dear reader, and let your own journey begin….

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She lay awake, staring at the attic ceiling while listening to the atmosphere that was the early morning woods. The shuffling noise downstairs cued her in that her father had returned home safe and sound, currently preparing for bed and some well deserved rest after such a long shift. It wasn’t the first time she had woken at an ungodly hour, the sun barely starting to rise and peak through the window above. If she were to tilt her head to glance out of it, she would find a hue of lavender, slowly fading into the twinkling night that had yet to refuse to dissipate. She waited a few more minutes, making sure that the shack returned to silence before pushing herself out of bed, quietly trading in her pajamas for some jean shorts and a mint green t-shirt.

Carefully, she worked to avoid squeaky boards as she made her way down the first flight of stairs so she could brush her teeth and hair. It was nerve wracking that she might accidentally wake one of the other occupants as she didn’t want to be rude but also because she would likely be rejected in her request to venture out alone. Once finished, she moved down to the bottom floor until she successfully reached her destination, the kitchen. Snagging a pen, she quickly scribbled down a note for her brother and dad though more so for the former than the latter.

𝐻𝑒𝓎, 𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝑜𝒹𝓈. 𝐿𝑒𝓉’𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓊𝓅 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒! - 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝒜𝓂𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒶

She looked it over with a smile and a quick nod before pulling the brightly colored sticky note from the rest of the stack and sticking it on the fridge door. She easily snuck out the back door and was greeted by the morning air. Amelia took a deep breath, taking a moment in the sight of the sunrise and enjoying the rustling of the forest as the creatures of the night set themselves to rest and the creatures of the dawn started their day by foraging. She took a seat on the outside couch which graced their porch and that had pretty much seen better days while she pulled on her boots, lacing them up. After the task was completed, she walked into the forest without a single ounce of fear and finally feeling in her element. It should have spooked her but she felt more at home there than most places. It could be because her brother and her wandered around it so often looking for anomalies or the strange but who really knows.

Hours passed by in what seemed like meer moments, the sun beating down and 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 as if creating music just for her. She found herself at peace, feeling delightfully happy at the mornings events despite having her muscles ache in a slightly unpleasantly way at the abuse of walking for hours. She was working to maneuver her little stroll back out of the forest and head to Greasy’s Diner where she had promised to meet with her brother, Jack. Sure, it would have been faster to just turn around and head home so they could drive there together in one of the golf carts or waited until someone else could take them but honestly, she liked this time to herself now and then. It was better than sitting and waiting in the living room for him to emerge and on the plus side this was a great way to get out of any chores for the gift shop that could so easily be handled later or by one of the other part timers but that wasn’t something she was going to ever admit.

Either way, she knew it was about time to make her exit and head for some food if the sun's position meant anything at all. 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 full light and reached to pull her phone out of her pocket to read the time but sadly was only greeted by a blank screen, the device dead as a doornail. A small pout reached her lips at the discovery but there was no use crying over spilled milk and so she shoved the phone back in her pocket.

Amelia had planned to make her way across the road when she 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, not wanting to get in the way but also because the driver wasn’t really rainbows and sunshine. Honestly, she wouldn’t put it past him to forget to not run someone over and thus she found herself waiting for the passengers to disembark.

---

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. Ludwig stared at the driver for a moment, face slightly scrunched as he was still upset about the fake food. "You know, I'm surprised you don't have more complaints considering the cashews." Ludwig voiced his complaint and was met by the driver's head slowly turning. His glare turned quite nasty, seeming to be wanting to resume the drive sooner rather than later. "Giddoff my bus."

"I was just leaving-- _ACK!

Ludwig found himself punted out of the bus, flipping forward with his bags hitting the ground before him, followed by him landing on top of them: Only to spring off of his own luggage and plant face-first 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 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. Maybe it was the pain from impacting with the ground but Ludwig felt like he had bigger problems than the bus and some cashews at this point. 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. He decided to cope with this by declaring this his first mystery. Nothing better to do than to look around, and maybe find a local to converse with.

This was far from his first attempt at gathering information, and what he was trying to figure out now was much simpler than anything that he was usually asking around about. Unless there wasn't actually a place he could stay here, in which he'd feel pretty stuck. That was just him being a worry-wart though, as that outcome made no sense! He put a smile on his face, and truly began his search.

Glancing about, he managed to catch view of someone: A blonde girl, green 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 pure logistics, right? Maybe her phone was working at least, so she could pull up a map. That reminded him, he needed to check if that fall cracked his phone... Things for later.

He hushed his squirrel companion, who hid itself inside his floofy hair before he spoke up to get the blonde girl’s attention.

"'Scuse me, miss?"

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A gentle voice snagged her attention and had her turning to the source which revealed a guy around her age with a floofy mop of chocolate brown hair and dark eyes. She tucked some hair behind her ear nervously as she took a quick glance around, slightly hoping by some chance there was another person she had missed in the area but it seemed he was indeed 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, her phone was dead, and Greasy’s usually had most of her orders on lock or it was easy for her to point so in a normal day those other problems wouldn’t be an issue. 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 pen 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 tried not to bite her lip. She tilted her head a 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. This was her own fault though for not thinking about all the possibilities this morning could bring before sneaking out of the house. She might have even forgotten to bring a pen if it wasn’t for the message she left on the fridge which would have been even more problematic.

The boy wasn't particularly good at charades, to be honest. His head tilted to the side, staring at what she was doing with a slight amount of confusion, but it was something he could definitely put together. Her palm was paper, and her finger was like a pen, right? Did she need something to write with? Her silence kept him focused and he had to wonder what was going on. Was she a mime? Did she take a vow of silence? That is absolutely not what is going on. He thought to himself, bags ending up on the ground as he felt he'd be here for a minute, especially if she needed something in return. "You, um... Need something to write on? Or with?" He questioned, wanting to help if he could.

Amelia was relieved that her gesture had made enough sense to decipher or at least partially. It was a valid question as it could be either of the items needed but luckily this was an easier question to answer compared to the last. A bright grin lit onto her features as she fished into her pocket and produced with a dramatic flare an ordinary pen as if it was something marvelous to behold before giving it a click. She blamed the Mystery Shack gig for her animated expressions but at least it helped to get points across without a need for words or sign language if the person didn’t know how and in the situation without paper just like this moment. Her smile toned down a bit before giving a weak thumbs up, asking in her own way if he understood her.

"Oh, yeah! Just a second, I've got something." Ludwig was quick to flip one of his cases flat on the ground to pop it open, rummaging through a few things, such as a book called "Garbage Gophers And You", a spare set of glasses that he thankfully didn't need yet, and a small blanket for Moe before pulling out one of his spare notepads. He slammed his luggage shut again, before standing and offering it to the girl without hesitation. "Here ya go! You can just keep it, by the way. I have plenty of them crammed in my bags." He stated kindly, offering a nervous smile that was wide enough to put his tooth gap into view. He figured he should have left her an extra pen as well, but he was already holding it out, so that would've felt awkward to retract his hand. If she needed one, he had plenty in his jacket pockets! It'd be fine, right?

She gave a quick nod, gently taking the notepad that was being offered to her. She flipped open the cover, quickly working to write down a message so that she could explain the situation and ask what he needed help with.

𝐼’𝓂 𝓈𝑜 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝓀𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒜𝓂𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉’𝓈 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊! 𝐼’𝓂 𝓂𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒𝓅𝒶𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝒹. 𝐼𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽?

The boy's eyes read the note quickly, and he slightly deflated due to what was said. Mute? Oh, man. Ludwig couldn't imagine what that was like. The mime thought from earlier kind of pinged him with guilt now, though she'd never know about it. He wanted to approach this as kindly as possible now, trying to watch his ground as to not upset her at all. If he hadn't already done something. "Oh, it wasn't awkward at all, no worries! I'm sorry I didn't realize it, Amelia." He attempted to calm any concerns, which were mostly his own, before continuing. "I'm Ludwig! It's a pleasure to meet you! I approached you because I just arrived for the summer, but my phone service is out and there weren't really any guides on the bus. Do you happen to know where a motel, or something is?" His question was followed by a nearly beastly growl from his stomach, causing him to wince. "Maybe uh, food too? I am starving after that bus ride."

She waved her arms soft while shaking her head as he tried to apologize about not realizing. It wasn’t like she was gonna blame him when he had no way of knowing. Instead, she just smiled brightly and thought about shaking his hand in greeting but decided it was better not to do so for the time being and started to scrawl a message to reply to Ludwig’s question. She only paused for a moment when his stomach growled in the same complaining manner hers had earlier which was followed by another question she would happily answer along with the one she was currently working to reply to.

𝒩𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓅𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝒾𝓏𝑒, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓂 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒾𝓉’𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒹.

𝒜𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝐼𝓃𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓁𝑒𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝓎. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓋𝒶𝒸𝒶𝓃𝒸𝓎 𝓈𝑜 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓃𝒶𝑔 𝒶 𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓂 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒.

𝒜𝓈 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽, 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓎’𝓈 𝒟𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓁𝒻 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒲𝒽𝓎 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒿𝑜𝒾𝓃 𝓊𝓈? 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝓇𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐼𝓃𝓃 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹? 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒.

As he read the message, he found himself satisfied with the idea presented. If the Inn was so far away, then it wouldn't hurt to just get a bite to eat first, especially if he could get a ride after. Man, this was turning into a fortunate encounter he hadn't been expecting. He figured she'd just send him on his way, but instead he felt like he was sorta making a friend already! If he was going to be here for the summer, making a friend or two seemed like a necessity. "You know, the diner sounds like a great first stop anyways. So why not? I'll join you." He felt good about this; A good meal, a new friend (or two? Maybe her brother was a nice guy.) And perhaps a better connection with the local area through them. He bet they had all sorts of answers for questions he had, but he didn't want to be overbearing. Maybe he'd ask something over breakfast? That sounded better than spewing his need for information now; Not to mention polite. He didn't want to make any bad first impressions.

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. Amelia pointed across the road, letting him know the direction they would be heading before she took the first step to embark on their small journey to the diner. She led the charge as Ludwig followed behind, keeping at a leisurely pace so he could glance around and take in the view of the town as they walked by. They continued to travel down the single dirt path along the road, Amelia stopping every now and then to not get ahead or to check that she hadn’t lost her companion.

Fortunately, the trek didn’t take them very long and within a good twenty to thirty minutes they were on the diner steps. She opened the door confidently, the little bell of it ringing to announce their presence but instead of having a seat right away, she took a glance around. 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 but at least while quickly scanning over the diner she noticed a few faces she recognized in the group of people she didn’t which she could possibly introduce Ludwig at a later time. 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 so with that thought in mind, she plopped into her usual booth. She patted the tabletop across from her, letting Ludwig know to have a seat.

Bags beside the booth, the boy slid into his seat. His hands rested on the table in front of him as he looked over the homely little diner, and the folks inside it. A few curious faces were around, though Ludwig wasn't exactly about to start rushing up to folks. One, because he was hungry. Two, because that'd require a tad too much socializing for his liking. He already had a second person coming, right? Amelia's brother. He'd talk to them first, then maybe branch out later. Or perhaps Amelia knew some of the folks in here, and that'd lead to a bit of a pileup in the diner. She seemed like the sort to have a lot of friends; She'd been kind enough to him this far to make him feel that way, anyways.

He figured all there was to do now was wait until the waitress arrived, or make small talk until her brother got there. Regardless, he was feeling pretty good about his first day in Gravity Falls so far. He hoped as the summer went on, things would only get bĕ̴̛̻̼̍̇͐̒̊̎̊̚͝tte̷͚̫̜̯͙̱̣̯̾̏͐͋̏͋͜ͅr.

Walking through the woods so early in the morning was relaxing. Or, it should be for most people. Garfield, on the other hand, had a different goal from just merely spending time with nature. He had made it one of his duties to keep an eye out for the... other residents of Gravity Falls. It was a thankless job. Mentioning it to anyone would just end up with people calling you senile and moving on with their lives. Garfield should know - it would be how he would react if someone told him about the things he'd seen.

He fixed the warning sign that he had hammered onto the tree a few months ago. Garfield knew that if some kids really wanted to, they wouldn't pay attention to the warning signs but he at least wanted to make an effort. He stared into the deeper parts of the forest where they were holed up in. Garfield's ventured over a couple of times - usually to just check on them too. It wasn't a regular occurrence but if something went horribly wrong that was unexplainable, it was the first location he would go to.

Still, it had a mysterious allure to him. It was the main reason he had gotten involved with the supernatural in the first place. Some curiosity and a hike and the next thing he knew, he was keeping an eye out for them. Garfield really couldn't blame anyone who would venture out there - whether they be kids or adults themselves. The rumors and legends of Gravity Falls are the reasons why they still get tourists - why businesses are still open and the town gets traffic.

He shook his head, turning around to head back home. There was a time and place for curious adventuring and unfortunately, he had other duties to attend to.

The morning rounds were finished before the sun had even risen. He pushed open the door with a small grunt and was greeted with his wife sitting on their comfy chair, watching a documentary. "Welcome back Gar." She rose from her position, pausing the documentary and giving him a peck on the cheek as he hung up his coat. "How was your walk? Found anything interesting?" She questioned as she headed back to the seat, eyes following her husband as he began to put away his things from his patrol. They never went out to the woods without some form of protection nowadays. It was just for emergencies but you'd never know what would pounce on you when you're deep enough.

"Well, everything's calm on the homefront. Been a while since any of them showed up." Garfield took a seat beside Emma, letting out a sigh of relief as they settled against each other. He could feel his tense muscles begin to relax the longer he stayed with Emma. "Think we should visit Vex to make sure?" He mumbled out, his consciousness already drifting away.

Emma let out a warm laugh. "I think if something's really amiss, Vex would contact us first. Don't worry about it." Garfield had already dozed off as she said this. She looked over at the clock. She really should be getting ready but between Garfield's warmth and the droning of the documentary, sleep began to drag her back. Settling into him and feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders, she drifted off as well.

Garfield woke up to the jingling of Emma's keys. "You good there, sleepyhead?" His only response was a groan as he began to stir. She chuckled. "I'm heading off to school. We have a meeting coming up." She began to put on her shoes. "How about you? What's the agenda for today?"

Garfield stood up and stretched, trying to recount what he should be doing for today. "Breakfast at the Diner first and foremost. Then I'm heading over to the Mystery Shack to clean up and prepare just in case some customers come over. It's been a few years since he had been passed the mantle of the Man of Mystery. It was supposed to be a temporary job until they found an apt replacement but it ended up falling to him. He wasn't complaining though. It was a good job to keep himself busy and he was helping out the Price family while he was at it.

Emma walked over to him and smiled while patting his head. "Alright then. It's time to wake up." Her hand dropped to his cheek and pulled to which he yelped.

"Hey- hey- I'm awake!"

"Good!" She dropped down to give him a kiss. "I'll see you later for dinner then?"

Rubbing his cheek, he nodded. "Or earlier. Take care. Love you."

"Love you too!" With that, Emma was the first one out of the door.

With a sigh, he headed off to grab a change of clothes and a shower. Once he was done with that, he passed by the kitchen and debated whether or not chugging down a cup of coffee now would be worth it or just ordering one later at the diner. He could just drink one now and one later again - there wouldn't be any harm to that right? As he approached it, he spotted a small note propped up on the coffee machine.

'Remember our deal'

"Thorough, aren't we?" He grumbled as he peeled away from the coffee machine. After checking the entire house, he grabbed his flannel and headed out.

As Garfield made his way to the diner, he listed off what else he should do. Robin and the kids were more than capable of running the Mystery Shack themselves and he had already inspected all of the items there to make sure nothing was dangerous. As far as he knew, only some of them were real. There weren't many weird rumors circulating around Gravity Falls. There was the radio that's been spouting off weird messages in the middle of the night in Faustine's place so he'll swing by at some point to check it out.

Ah yes, another normal day in Gravity Falls.

---

Where others may be out and about, Sid had been at home asleep. The rubberhose lass was snoring away, a snot bubble increasing and decreasing in size as she breathed. This bubble suddenly popped as an alarm blared from her clock; The girl's eyes slowly opening as she groaned in a bit of frustration. It was daytime already? She reached out from under her blankets, lanky arm looming above the clock as she pointed a finger downward, aggressively pushing the button to silence the alarm. The quiet both made her want to drift back off, and actually wake up for the day. She decided on the latter, for better or worse. Crawling out from under the blankets, she sat on her bed rubbing her eyes. She was dressed in a pajama set, complete with a cute little nightcap.

Pulling herself to her feet, she stumbled a bit as she began to get ready for her day; Grabbing her clothes, her shoes, her comb... She momentarily looked at the comb, before throwing it back onto her nightstand, not wanting to bother with it. Messy hair was her style, she didn't need to comb it. She wandered into the bathroom and took a very short shower, simply rinsing off before getting out and dressed in her usual attire. She looked in the mirror, adjusting her bowtie and ruffling her hair just a tiny bit for the sake of maintaining a decent look. Satisfied with her work, she gave herself a grin in the mirror, flashing double peace signs as approval to herself. "Cute as ever, perfect for a day on the town!" She stated to herself, perhaps a little louder than she should have. This caused her to pipe down momentarily, hand over her mouth as she needed to be quiet.

Creeping back to her room, she quickly grabbed her wallet. It had some money, perhaps not hers, maybe just some she picked up around the house now and then, but money all the same. She was feeling particularly adventurous today and didn't want to spend the morning inside: So she prepared to go down her usual escape route. Opening her window, she looked out at the sight of the morning town, from the second story of her house. In front of her window had always been this old tree; Instead of creeping downstairs, she usually just climbed this instead. Without hesitation she hopped out, arm hugging a large branch as she turned to reach out and close the window. She struggled momentarily, but as she tried really hard, tongue slightly bitten and all, her arm seemed to reach out that little extra distance she needed to close the window. Feeling successful, she quickly climbed down the tree; brushing herself off as she made it to the bottom as she was now a bit dirty from hugging the tree so close.

"First objective of the day is food! And caffeine!" She stated to herself aloud, before beginning a walk cycle as she left her yard, making her way towards Greasy's Diner. Happily whistling a tune as she strolled along, seeming intent on having a fantastic day in Gravity Falls! She felt like she was sort of in suspense, like when you get a birthday present, as you never knew who was at the diner in the mornings! Sometimes you'd see a bunch of familiar faces, or some semi-unfamiliar ones that weren't as social, but just as hungry.

As she approached the diner though, she came across a strange sight; Amelia! But not just Amelia, which caused the rubberhose lass to duck behind an absolutely non-conspicuous object: A mailbox that didn't even hide her. Thankfully they hadn't been looking her way, and Sid had the chance to place her elbows atop the mailbox and curl her fingers into hand-binoculars to look at Amelia and the boy she was with. Who was this new guy? Sidney didn't mind new folks, but it was curious to see him around her friend so early in the morning! He'd never been around before, Sid was sure of that. As they walked into the diner, Sid stayed in her spot, scanning the building like it contained a target now.

"This looks like a classic Operation Friendship." Sid spoke to herself, as she began thinking of a way to introduce herself that would surely make her friends with the new guy instantly. She grinned and giggled to herself a little, enjoying her train of thought but also sticking out like a sore thumb and with no context (or perhaps even WITH context...) She was being a complete weirdo.

---

@Potemking

Jeremy couldn't help but grin as he walked back into town. It had been eight years, eight whole years, since he'd last seen the little slice of madness that was Gravity Falls, but somehow it seemed like it was still exactly the same as he'd left it. It was surprising, but nice. It was almost like he was a kid again. The only difference was that he didn't really see many people he actually recognised, and of the few who looked familiar, none of them recognised him. That was less surprising though, because while the town might not have changed, he certainly had! Surprising all his friends with it was actually one of the things he was most he was most excited for!

Right now though, he had another, even more important task to focus on. He'd been up since obscenely early that day, just a little before the sun had even risen, running around the woods and looking for anything new that might've popped up on the weirder side of things, just like he used to as a kid. Unfortunately though, he hadn't been able to find anything yet, and had eventually gotten too hungry to stay out there any longer, which sucked because he'd at least hoped to pop in and say hi to some of the weird things he'd already met back then.

But, on the other hand, food was food. As someone suffering from hunger, food was an appealing concept to the ol' caveman brain. Therefore, he figured it was finally time to reacquaint himself with the questionably nutritious, but unquestionably delicious food of Greasy's Diner. Not only that, but he had some pretty good memories of he and his friends all gathering around there, so maybe he'd be able to run into a few of them there too! Kind of a two stones with one bird type thing!

And speak of the devil, he'd just caught sight of someone he was all but absolutely sure was one of them, hiding behind a mailbox and spying on... he hadn't quite caught whatever she as looking at specifically, just that it was probably either near or in the diner. Naturally, he decided to sneak over and crouch beside her, just far back enough to be out of her field of vision, and mimic her hand binoculars himself.

"Ok Sid, what's the plan?" He asked, not even trying to keep the excited grin off his face. Maybe that'd already be enough to tip her off all on it's own...

Jayson Bradford pedaled furiously on the dirt road.
I need to run.
Fast.
"You can never investigate anomalous activity on an empty stomach."Jay muttered to himself. Besides, he needed some pancakes to contemplate what he saw. The anomalys were real. He was leaning against a birch tree writing in his journal when some chubby, stout unicorn, wearing a leprechaun hat, trotted up to him. He hadn't even had time to record it in his journal.

Jay slowed his bike to a stop when he got to Greasy's Diner. Rubberhose was hiding behind a mailbox, Mute was... well, not talking, but writing with some tourist, and some human giraffe was also there that looked oddly familiar. Jay got off his bike, walked into Greasy's, and ordered a pancake. "Yes, only a single pancake. Shout when it's ready." Jay went back outside and started to write about the Leprechaun-Unicorn... Uni-Lep? That's what he would call it. For a moment, he saw a flash of green on Tourist Kid. Doesn't matter. What matters is keeping up this popular disguise, getting a job, and discovering the mystery behind this town.

---

It felt natural; His fingers against the metal strings. He didn't know why, but there was just a certain soulfulness in the way that they sounded. Mama Bear told him that the guitar, especially the acoustic, was a very special instrument. From an early age, he wasn't sure why, the sounds of this wooden box with a tail soothed him like nothing else.

Theo had been sitting here for a good fifteen minutes, just jamming away in his room. He could go on like this for a while, that is, unless he was interrupted. Which he was; his door was knocked upon. Teddy rested his palm on the strings to silence them.

Brother Bear knocked the same way every time. Every person's knock sounded differently, even if only slightly, Teddy noticed. Different patterns, sure, yet the same amounts of pressure per person. The younger bro mimicked the knock on the body of the guitar in answer. The door opened and his brother smiled, leaning on the doorframe.

"Mornin bud." Terry chuckled and Teddy nodded in acknowledgement.

“Y’know, school’s over...you don’t have to be up this early.” The elder continued, knowing the younger wouldn’t speak back. Theo shrugged, even though he knew why Terry had come in here. It was early in the morning and his older brother worked nights. Which meant that he was trying to get to sleep now. Of course, he never came out and said when Theo was doing something to annoy him, just tried to give him other things to do.

"Well, since you and the sun are up...Carpe Diem?" There was some silence.

"...Is this another furuitless history lesson?" Teddy asked bluntly.

"Well, Dad did say that 'Every action you take makes history.'" Terry hinted, doing his best impression of their father, and they both laughed a bit. Well, Terry laughed louder, Teddy’s was more of an airy chuckle.

"Clawright."

"Good." His brother commended, placing fifteen dollars on Teddy's dresser. "Since I know you're gonna stop by the diner at some point, pick me up one of their bags of coffee, will you?"

Teddy nodded and Terry started down the hall. The younger exhaled some, putting the bear luna vista on a lower stand of his guitar wall. After that, he went to the first drawer of his nightstand to pull out a black and white mask with cartoon bear facial features on it. Tugging the straps around his ears, Teddy pursed his lips behind the fabric.
~~~~~~~~~~
It didn’t take long for him to have gotten showered and geared up. Teddy took his tricked trike and rode around aimlessly for a bit. Instinct would have sent him to Gar’s place, but the lad decided against it. Knowing his old friend, he was out and about already.

So, instead, he went to the local pet store he volunteered at earlier in the year. He went to go visit Otis the five-legged turtle. Apparently during development in the egg, something messed up and his tail ended up with toes that he moved sometimes. The guy had been there awhile, as most folks didn’t really like turtles as pets in these parts. Seemed boring, even in a town like this, but Teddy never gave up hope. Otis would find his home eventually.

After that though, Theo pedaled on to the diner, deciding breakfast was probably a good idea…Or at least a bit more than a bacon stick. As he came up on Greasy’s though, he noticed two figures perched behind a mailbox peeking forward towards the diner.

As he got nearer, he stopped briefly to give the jolly giant and slender Sid a once-over. Teddy let it sink in how awkward it looked to be spying on the diner from their hiding spot, then rang his bell in acknowledgement. Without giving much room for reply though, he swerved around and locked the trike to the bike rack before heading inside.

---

Sid had it all planned out in her mind. She had a quirky introduction, a cute demeanor, and a slightly sassy but positive attitude that would blend into the ultimate friendship making attack. She was about ready to head out, begin the operation on this chocolate-haired four-eyed individual she had spotted prior, before a voice piped up extremely close to her. Now, a normal person would react poorly to this. They'd scream. Or get scared and whack the surprising person. But that wasn't Sid; She was kind, polite, efficient-- Maybe just too oblivious to remember that nobody was there a second ago. The way she was casually addressed brought her enough comfort to not even shift from her position as she responded: "Amelia found a new friend. We've got two tasks at hand; Making sure he is friendly, and the befriending the heck outta 'em!" She stated in a serious manner.

A toothy grin crossed her face, her hands lowering as she turned to look at her soldier: Only for her to feel like she was shrinking in his mere presence. Even crouched down, this guy was huge! He looked like one of those heavy-class professional wrestlers if you gave them a babyface and slapped on some charm as extra. The girl froze in place as she attempted to process just who this guy was, and why he knew her name! You figure she'd remember a big dude like this, especially with that happy face! Operation Friendship was off to a fantastic start if she was already making friends with her sheer presence; Everyone was probably jealous of her astounding friend abilities, and while she had no idea who this guy was, they were friends now! Bpom! Abilities at work!

"Well howdy there, new friend!" She greeted, breaking her frozen state and leaning against the mailbox, a hand patting the top of the mailbox as she stared at him with extreme focus and interest. "Are you psychic? Is that how you knew my name? Did I accidentally roll over one of my 'kick me' signs while sleeping and it stuck to my back?" She found herself overly curious, turning her head to check her own back, but not seeing anything out of the ordinary. If there was nothing on her person, then maybe he really was psychic! Mind reading was so cool! She wondered if he'd reply to her thoughts, too! To the point she momentarily puffed up her cheeks with air and silently stared, waiting for a potential reaction to her thoughts. She was focused!

... Until she heard a bell ringing; Her puffed up face shifting to look at the source. Ooooh! Teddy too? She would've roped him in on the operation, but he was already heading in! That was good. A perfect addition to her plan, as the air shot out from her mouth, turning back to her big 'ol buddy. "One of my best men just infiltrated the target's location! We'll have support on the inside for this friendship operation!" She said, getting impatient and so overly excited. Man, she was good at this! With Teddy as their inside man, and the big jolly babyface'd boy in front of her, they were sure to make this go off without a hitch! They'd be making a new friend soon! She swore it!

---

---

Before the sun was up early in the morning, Robin strode out of her house towards the nearby dock of the lake, spotting one of her family’s jon boats perfect for a relaxing fishing venture before the tourists and locals poured in. She tossed in her trusty fishing gear, examining her tackles and bait one last time before hopping aboard, untying the boat from the dock and soon driving off. From the smell of the lakewater and the stillness of the lake itself, she knew it was gonna be an awesome day. Or at the very least, a relaxing one.

She stopped the boat far enough that her family's lodge had shrunk considerably in the distance, but still close enough to one of the edges of the lake so that if she needed to, she could confidently swim back to shore if the boat had run out of gas, something she didn't even check or worry about. She just shrugged the matter off, kicked back, and began the long process of waiting for a bite.

So long was it, that by the time the sun finally rose she had fallen fast asleep in the boat with her line still in the water.

---

The Reed family had deep roots in the history of Gravity Falls that often found itself entangled in the web of obscenity that was cast over the mysterious small town.

Nathaniel hadn't known that kind of reputation back in Portland where his grandfather Gus had raised him since the disappearance of his mother, and it was only last week that Gus dropped the bombshell that he had decided it was time to return to their home.

In truth it was obvious his grandfather missed his hometown very much after slowly coming to terms with the death of his wife after years of dwelling on her loss, which was what made him leave in the first place. However it was the other information that Nathan learnt about which had been bothering him since they had left the relative comfort of the city to a place he barely knew with no friends and shoddy social skills to boot.

Nathan hadn't slept very much as too much was on his mind, and so he took his trusty sketchbook and left the house at the crack of dawn on foot. Gravity Falls was a new place with new sights to see and quiet places to hide.

It was fortunate that his grandfather used to live nearby the lake as it would have been way too much effort for the boy to make a longer trek this early in the morning, thankfully he arrived without delay although a couple of times Nathan could have sworn he was being watched but simply shrugged off as he was just too tired to care.

The sun had was only on the horizon and the lake was still dark, yet in his eyes it was a magnificent vista full of splendor yet to be defined by the light of day. Quietly Nathan crept to the peer shortly after he arrived, his footsteps light upon the wooden boards stopping at it's very edge to sit cross-legged as he took out a pencil from the pocket of his hoodie.

He furiously scribbled at the blank page as the sun began to light the surface of the lake, it was absolutely beautiful with it's multitude of colors going from the deepest of red to the bright yellow that shone like gold off the surface of the tranquil waters, however Nathan paused as he looked in the distance at a lone boat floating adrift. He stared out at it curious as to how it got all the way out there.

Meanwhile, Robin was slowly coming to on the boat in the distance, stretching just a bit to fully wake herself back up. She wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but waking up to the sight of the sun's rays hugging the water was the best surprise so far. After she took a few seconds to get her bearings Robin reeled in her fishing rod, taking a quick look around at the beautiful scene painted before her.

Nothing was out of the ordinary until she looked landside, spotting an unfamiliar face on a nearby dock in the distance. It was weird anyone was out and about around the lake instead of on it without fishing gear, but with Gravity Falls weird things like that aren't really all that weird. So naturally she waved at him, starting up her boat's motor so that she can see what this stranger was up to.

He nearly had a heart attack as someone just appeared from the boat from nowhere, at least in his perspective but it seemed he couldn't stand as his legs had fallen asleep so he waved timidly trying to get up in his haste to retreat with no avail. Getting to the dock he was on was the easy part, the hard part was parking the boat close enough without someone to catch you. It took her a couple minutes, but once she managed that, she tied it down and casually walked over to the guy. 'Oh god it's a girl,' he thought instantly grabbing his sketchbook and holding it tightly to himself 'Please don't ask what I was doing, please don't ask what I was doing...' Nathan silently pleaded.

"Hey there man! Whatcha doing?" Robin asked as she got closer, crouching down next to him as she brushed the hair out of her face."Hope I'm not interrupting, you just don't see people around the lake this early." Nathan was silent for a couple seconds as he was panicking and nervous being so close to someone, and especially on edge since this girl was a stranger who also more importantly was a girl. "Drawing." he said timidly while he avoided her gaze as he stared at his shoe lace.

After his comment, Robin glanced between him and the lake a couple times, nodding her head at the idea. I could get behind that, the sun seemed to dance on the water's edge a lot more than it usually does right now. "Nice man, this area is pretty when it wants to be. I'm Robin Alwood by the way, I take it you have a name too?"

Without thinking he blurted out "No," to which the boy cringed hard at and sighed as he silently died on the inside "Nathaniel Reed" he introduced himself with a lopsided smile.

Robin laughed a little at his initial denial of having a name, giving him time to recollect himself and nodding when she heard the real deal. She gave him a warm smile back when she noticed him smiling too, shifting from crouching to sitting down on the docks with her legs dangling now. The name sounded familiar, but it took her a second to figure out exactly why.

"Reed... Huh... You know, I swear I heard the adults gossiping of some sort of famous artists moving to Gravity Falls. Pretty sure they have your last name dude." If that were the case, it explained the drawing to her. Nathan relaxed slightly but only slightly as she was relatively close to him. "In the past my family was famous," Nathan looked out at the lake and the woods surrounding it quietly thinking "Now not so much." he shrugged.

Robing winced for a bit at the hint of his family's fall from fame, but if there was any place to escape back to, she supposed Gravity Falls was as good as any. "Well hey, no sense in dwelling on that sorta stuff anyway." She told him, her stomach grumbling just as she finished the sentence. She laughed for a bit at the sound it made, trying to not sound embarrassed.

"Sorry, I haven't really had anything to eat today... Actually, now that I think about it, wanna go to this diner in town? I could show you around afterward if you haven't had the chance to explore. You know, introduce you to some people and all that." Frowning, Nathan glanced at Robin, he didn't like the idea of people but food made it sound better. Hesitantly he nodded although he was more interested in the food he also began to like at least talking to someone. Robin wasn't like the girls he went to school with in Portland, as she seemed like a genuine person.

"Cool, sounds like a plan then. We can take the bus stop near my family's lodge since I'm pretty sure it's the only one around the lake." She said, getting up and hopping into her boat. She motioned for him to follow after moving her fishing gear aside. "Come on man, it'll be faster on my boat than walking." at this point there was no going back, and Nathan didn't want to be rude so he slowly stood still holding his sketchbook close to his chest. But the most difficult part was getting into her boat, which rocked back and forth slightly as he stepped off the dock. And he nearly lost his balance, had Robin not extended her fishing rod out for him to hold onto when he left the dock. It came in handy, as she felt he probably would have faceplanted the moment he touched the boat. Once he was seated, she untied the boat from the dock and started the motor, speeding off towards the lodge.

It didn't take them too long to get back, and any minute now she felt the tourists and locals alike would start pouring into the area. She parked the boat exactly where she took it, helping Nathan back out of it this time and snagging her fishing gear. She led the way to the bus stop, where just as they arrived a bus full of tourists from the Gravity Fall's Inn parked and the passengers were disembarking. Talk about a lucky break! All they had to do was wait for the bus to empty out before getting on themselves, and once that was done, Robin told the bus driver to take them back to town. Seeing as they were the only ones on the bus at the moment, the driver didn't have an issue.

On a Greyhound bus driving into Gravity Falls, Avery stared out the window at the steadily approaching town. They had been waiting to start their study here for months, and they were finally getting their first real glimpse of the town! It looked smaller and more normal than they had envisioned it, but that was fine. Smaller towns were generally weirder, and thus, more interesting. Excitement thrummed through them, although it was tampered down by fatigue. God, were they tired.

Their red-eye flight from Detroit to Portland had taken eight hours, and they hadn’t been able to get a wink of sleep. Once or twice they had come close to sleep. However, they were then rudely awakened by a screaming toddler in the seat behind them. After getting off the plane, they had immediately boarded the bus and settled in for a two-hour drive. However, as their destination approached, sleep had become even less likely. For the last hour or so, Avery had been idly scrolling through Oregon-related conspiracy theory and urban legend blogs, journals, and forums, barely able to keep their eyes open. But the sight of Gravity Falls made Avery feel awake.

When the bus came to a stop, they gathered up all their luggage out from underneath them (two suitcases and a duffel bag- they had way too many collared shirts) and shimmied their way off the bus. They took a breath of the fresh, warm summer air, and sighed deeply, satisfied. This was going to be so interesting! First stop, though- hotel.

Just then, their stomach made a horrendous gurgling noise. No. First stop, breakfast. But that just meant they had to find a restaurant open at 8 AM. They glanced around at their surroundings for a moment, and then reluctantly dug around in their pocket for a phone. Looks like they’d need Google Maps for this one.

They were just typing in the password to their phone when they started to hear the beginnings of a conversation. Or rather… just a kid talking to himself about motels and food? Strange. They swiveled around, only to see the aforementioned teenager talking to a young woman who appeared to be writing something down. Oh. That makes more sense. If they were going to a diner and then to the motel, well… wouldn’t it be in Avery’s best interest to follow? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. The girl seemed to be a local based on the one-sided conversation they were hearing. Maybe Avery could talk to her? It wasn’t like they were stalking children or anything. No, just following them to the diner.

So Avery conspicuously followed Amelia and Ludwig to the diner, trying not to eavesdrop as hard as they could. It wasn't too hard, considering one of the pair wasn't talking and the other was only responding every once in a while. Once they got to the diner they entered behind the two teenagers and took a seat at the bar. Not really a bar. Front table? Front desk. Diners were weird. They signaled over the waitress.

“Can I have a cup of coffee, two cream, three sugars? Oh, and… the Hungry Man’s Special. Please. I am starving.” Avery smiled up at the waitress like a dear, and she took their order and the menu and walked away.

Now, Avery was waiting for their order. They whistled quietly and examined the diner. It was rustic-looking- like, real rustic, not trendy hipster rustic. That was refreshing. And the food looked… very true to its name. Hopefully, there was a healthier restaurant in his town. Maybe following two teenagers to food wasn’t the best idea. They weren’t exactly known for prioritizing their cholesterol. Or their skin. Now that they were sitting idly, though, Avery didn’t exactly know what to do. They could pull out a book, but they were here, finally, and they were gonna waste time researching from tertiary sources when they could research from a primary source? Hell no! A bit of nervousness nettled them, but they dug around in their duffel for a moment and produced a sign that they had pre-made for this sort of occasion specifically.

‘Talk to me about urban legends! I’ll give you $15!’ They put it down on the countertop and waited, antsy. One never knew how this sort of thing would go.

---

@Potemking@DClassified

Ah, so she'd been spying on Ami, huh? As he thought, Greasy's Diner was defintely the right destination. Not only had he run into an old friend before even entering the building, but he was about to see another one and, from the sounds of it, also make a new one as well! A perfect start to the friend hunt! On the other hand though, Jeremy was a little surprised at the lack of reaction he'd gotten from Sid. She hadn't even sounded surprised at his sudden appearance... Wait, had she somehow figured out about his plans before he'd even arrived? Impossible! And yet, she must have been expecting him somehow, otherwise how had she been so calm at his-

And then she turned around, and he realised from her expression what he'd initially believed to be the result of either some elite spy network feeding her information or potential psychic abilities was actually just her not registering that he'd been a stranger until that point.

Still, she managed to snap out of it after a few seconds, greeting him and wondering how he knew her name, leading him to belive that she might not recognize him. Which again, was completely understandable given the changes he'd gone through over the last eight years.

"Nah, nothing like that." He said, laughing as he did. "I'll be honest, I fully get why you don't recognize me. It's been a good few years since I left town, and I look a little different. Heck, I used to be shorter than you back then, but now I'm practically a walking jungle gym!"

He wasn't entirely sure how much she heard, as he was pretty sure from her expression that she was trying to send her thoughts to him so he could read them with his psychic powers, but before he could do anything other than grin at how nostalgic it all felt, she'd spun around to look at a young man who was wearing some kind of surgical mask with a design he couldn't quite make out on it. As he entered the diner, she turned back to Jeremy, explaining that he was apparently one of her agents, and he mentally returned the possibility of her having formed an elite spy network after he'd left back to the 'maybe' pile. At the same time though, he felt his grin grow even wider as he got caught up in his own excitement once more.

"Nice! Let's get in there then, I wanna say hi to Ami and your new friend too!"

---

Sid was semi disappointed that he did not have psychic powers, but that was okay. She has a scheme involving a trout and a mind reader but she'd just have to keep searching for both of those things, not just the trout. Disappointment aside she didn't deflate however, still excited to figure out who this guy was as that was a good mystery in itself. She'd usually leave the thinking to someone like Amelia, but she put on a really tough thinking face, tongue sticking out and all, teeth lightly grinding against it as she tried to pinpoint him. So he had been shorter than her?! That seemed impossible, he was huge! How could he ever have been smaller than her? She took a careful look at his facial features, especially that big ol' smile that made her happy just looking at it. If he was smaller than her, then it must've been a long time ago right? What friend hadn't she seen in that long? A friend... That left...

She could place that face. That goofy smile looked like someone she used to know, alright. It used to be on a very enthusiastic but scrawny little boy that made her look like a decently built kid in comparison. She began to recall the laughs, the fun she'd had as a kid. She cherished her memories, and those times spent with that scrawny boy were no exception. It was probably because of how lighthearted and funny he was, having a weird humor like she did. They just clicked, and it had been really saddening when he left. They didn't manage to stay in contact either, though they were both kids at the time. Sid wouldn't have probably been patient enough for letters and such. Still, she thought of him. Even now, she'd managed to pull him from the back of her mind, and felt that click with this guy's enthusiasm.

A gasp escaped her, because as he mentioned the nickname Ami, it helped click even more! He always called her that! And had to explain it was spelled 'Ami' and not 'Ammy' like Sid had kept misspelling on pictures. She began shaking in excitement, in perhaps a worrying fashion as one might assume she was ready to explode with the big smile on her face. It didn't take long before she couldn't contain it anymore, and sprang up, wrapping her arms around the boy and firmly squeezing him, shouting: "Little Jimmy!"

After a moment she released him from the result of her emotional burst, falling back to the ground and landing onto her feet. "I knew that smile was familiar! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, you ARE a jungle gym! You grew up so much!" She was extremely excited, even more fueled than ever to get this operation underway. She wasn't only making a new friend, she had an old one sneak up behind her! And now she could go show him off to everybody, the big ol' guy he was now! If Sid was a lesser being she might have fainted from the pure joy she felt right now. It was like her heart and brain exploded into confetti, then the confetti danced on a huge dancefloor under a disco ball!

She snatched up Jeremy by one of his big hands, and began to drag him. "Yes! Let'sgolet'sgo! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Amelia is gonna be SO happy!" She was speaking at hundred miles an hour, quickly bringing Jeremy towards the diner. This was gonna be the best day of the summer, and it'd just started! She'd take her time and enjoy it, but first she had to get friends back together!

---

---

It was sort of strange how one moment Nathan was peacefully sketching a picturesque landscape and then the next he was somehow going to eat with a girl he barely knew, and getting on a bus to who knows where; all in less than a day of arriving in Gravity Falls. But as for Robin, this wasn't so strange. Well it was, but she didn't feel strange about it. It wasn't everyday that you can hop on a bus heading back into town with someone new, so why not take that opportunity and run with it? That's how she saw it.

The bus driver waited just a moment for anyone else to hop aboard, but it seemed Robin and Nathan were the only ones near the lake who needed a ride. The driver shrugged when nobody else came on, closing the doors and speeding off towards the town. They sat near the back of the bus where less people were seated, he hoped it would be a quiet ride so he could take in the scenery passing by as the bus made its way through the winding road. There was plenty to see as the bus ventured through the forest. A tree. Another tree. A slightly larger tree. And of course, some sort of green spiral that dissipated just as quickly as one could notice it. Robin didn't pay it any mind as she wasn't looking out the window, fixated on how odd some of the people seemed to look. She tapped Nathan's shoulder, doing her best to discreetly point at one of the people sitting in front of them. They were wearing some sort of zany hat, a long trenchcoat, and gloves to boot. Not to mention the colors did not match at all!

"Dude, get a look at this getup. They have like, no sense of style." Nathan glanced at the person in front of them and had to stifle a laugh that nearly escaped his mouth, he smiled slightly and nodded his head in agreement with Robin's comment. Robin lightly laughed when she noticed his agreement, trying to spot anyone else dressed wacky on the bus to no avail. She tried to find something interesting outside, but by now there was really nothing interesting... Unless you find plants interesting. It was funny seeing Robin want to make him laugh more, and the harder she looked for something the more difficult it became for him to keep his guard up. It felt nice to feel comfortable around someone other than his grandfather. And as for Robin, she was just happy to meet someone new. It's not every day you get a family to move to Gravity Falls after all, let alone one that has someone around her age. So naturally, she'd include them in the shenanigans that she found herself in constantly by working at the mystery shack.

"Oh yeah, since you're new in town and all, do you know about the Mystery Shack?" She asked Nathan, turning her attention from the window to him. She wasn't sure if the 'oddities' of Gravity Falls was something he could be interested in, but it didn't hurt to ask.

Nathan nodded his head slightly "My grandpa told me some stories, all I know is it's a tourist trap."

Robin laughed at that comment, nodding at how correct that statement was. "Yeah, that's the one. My boss would probably say it isn't, but I think everyone in town knows it's kind of a scam at this rate. You should stop by sometime still, just don't expect anything inside to be real, you know?" She told him, smirking when she thought about all the random oddities the Mystery Shack has conjured up over the year she'd been there. It felt like there were too many to count at this rate. Nathaniel smiled slightly, maybe because it was funny or how ironic it sounded as it seemed nothing seemed real in Gravity Falls, at least not exactly as it wasn't something one could easily put into words. "Wouldn't have expected anything less." he put it simply.

Robin nodded in agreement before the both of them looked out the window, their short conversation ending just as the bus reached the part of the forest where the trees thinned out by just a bit. It wasn't long before the gaps were wide enough for buildings to appear, and before they knew it they had entered the town. It was hard to tell with how little there was around to someone who may not know, but at least to Robin she knew they were close. A couple more turns here and there, and the bus finally parked itself at the stop near the Gravity Falls Diner. Essentially dragging Nathan out of the bus, Robin thanked the bus driver before jumping out of it behind him.

Garfield leaned back on the seat, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and his phone on the other to check for any updates. So far, no one really needed any emergency help. That was a blessing to his own time since he would be able to spend more time in the Mystery Shack. From what he saw inside the diner, the kids might have some new folks to bring to the shack too. He knew that maybe convincing teenagers to buy items from the gift shop wasn't exactly something an adult should do but hey, business was business. Surely, they'd forgive him for bringing a bit more money into the shack.

The bells at the entrance of the diner jingled and he curiously peeked over. The diner was always busy during this time of the day - their breakfast was one of the best around. Robin was dragging around a person he's never seen before. Huh, did some tourist bus come and bring a lot of new people around or had he not been paying attention at all? Nevertheless, Garfield raised his hand and let out a sharp whistle to catch Robin's attention before motioning for her to come closer.

Nathaniel was simply resigned at this point in time, that he was just going to have to get used to Robin invading his personal space. Or maybe he didn't mind her dragging him to who knows where, but that currently didn't matter as someone let out a whistle after they had gotten off the bus. Nathan looked around confusedly. Robin in turn looked to see where the whistle came from, spotting her boss as a smile came across her face. She turned to Nathan, pointing at the man who was motioning for them to come towards him.

"Let's go see what my boss wants," She said, starting to drag the poor soul over with her before taking a quick second, "And don't worry, he's real chill you know. Probably just telling me not to be late to work or something." She quickly added, now deciding that it was time to take him over to where Gar was sitting. She took a seat across from him, letting go of Nathan's arm as she did so.

"Hey boss! Getting your morning coffee I take it?"

"And breakfast." He responded with a nod towards the half-eaten pancakes on the table. For a moment, he eyed Nathan as if trying to piece together who he could be related to before bringing his attention back to Robin. "Just making sure you remember your shift's gonna start in an hour." He reminded with a light chuckle. "And to offer you and your new friend here some breakfast since we're all here anyway. My treat." Garfield brought the cup of coffee back to his mouth to take a sip and letting out a sigh of content. "Who's your friend over here? New in town?"

"Yeah yeah I know, I'll be there." Robin replied, adding in her own lighthearted laugh with his own. Her eyes lit up at the prospect of free food, only then realizing that Nathan had not said a word this entire time once Gar had asked who he was. "This is Nathan Reed, I saw him earlier at the lake near my place. His family just moved here, so I figured I'd try to show him what I could before work. Right Nathan?" Nathan tilted his head as if thinking of a reply, truthfully he was stalling as the attention was on him and thought maybe if he wasted enough time pretending to come up with a response, he wouldn't have to talk. His stomach however had other plans, grumbling loudly as he looked at the pancakes "Yep, places." the boy said continuing to look at the food hungrily.

"Nathan Reed huh, nice to meet you." Garfield gave the younger man a small nod and a friendly smile to try and ease Nathan's nervousness. Reed huh? Why did that last name sound so familiar? "I'm Garfield Pollard." Upon hearing the grumbling of Nathan's stomach, Garfield let out a chuckle before waving over the waitress to take their orders. Added to this, he asked for a refill to which the waitress lightly chided him for his coffee addiction but nevertheless bringing over the coffee pot to refill his mug. "Hey, out of curiosity, you don't happen to be related to Old Man Gus are you?"

Nathan was hesitant to take a seat, however before he could decide he found himself getting dragged into one by Robin who evidently knew nothing of personal space. She sat next to him once he was settled. Gar had asked him about his relation to Gus and Nathan brightened slightly as maybe this man knew his grandfather growing up here. "Yes he's my grandpa," he slowly pulled the plate of hot pancakes towards him with a hungry look in his eyes "Gus wanted to return here for his retirement, and to accept the past for what it was..." he said sighing at the thought, Gus hadn't been able to handle the grief he had for the loss of his wife and daughter for many years until recently. It was for the best his grandfather finally came to accept that the things that happened were out of his control.

"Man, brings back memories. I used to see him, his wife and his daughter back when I was just a kid." Garfield reminisced, a bittersweet smile tugging up on his face. People come and go in Gravity Falls. Most residents would spend their entire life in the town - but there were always the choice few who left. Gus was one of them. Garfield didn't know exactly what had happened but rumors spread across the town fast. When his wife died, Gus and Nelly just up and left and the next thing everyone knew, the deed of the house was already sold. "I'm glad he could come back here. He's always been tied to this place just like the rest of us." A shrug rolled off his shoulders as he continued eating his own pancakes. The Reed family wasn't without their own respective rumors. Being a family that's been in Gravity Falls for multiple generations, there was always bound to be something about them that old residents knew. Garfield used to brush it off as just rumors and speculations but now he couldn't be too sure. "In any case, welcome to Gravity Falls then kid. My only tip for living here? Make sure you stay out of trouble." He eyed Robin and let out a laugh. Trouble always seems to find the right people in this town anyway.

Nathan's mouth upturned slightly, while nodding in agreement with Garfield. Gar seemed nice at least, and if he was Robin's boss how bad could he be? It was at the very least enough that this man knew his grandfather so perhaps Nathan could relax a little, but only by the tiniest bit. He dug into the plate before him and ate a few bites of the delectable pancakes before him, setting his fork down after finishing a mouthful of his food "Gus told me weird stuff happens here," he remarked with a slight shrug of his shoulders, looking at Robin with a smirk tugging at the edge of his face "I never thought I'd end up here this morning, so I guess weirdness isn't awful." he chuckled softly..

Robin was glad that Nathan was getting along with her boss in the meantime, chowing down on her own plate that she received during their conversation. It seemed Gar knew a bit about the Reeds, enough to make Nathan come out of his shell even faster than she had. While it didn't surprise her that Gar was able to get Nathan to warm up to him so fast, it was still impressive with how quiet she felt he would normally be. Granted she had only just met Nathan, but he didn't seem like one to relax so easily. Either way, it was a plus in her eyes, and if that was weird then she didn't want to be normal. "Right? It's always fun when Gravity Falls throws something unexpected your way. You'll definitely get used to it though, or at the very least expect it."

"Weird is... definitely one way to put it." Garfield admitted, taking another sip of his coffee. Whether it was just weird coincidences like Robin dragging Nathan around because of a chance meeting or something that was a bit more unexplainable, Robin was right, that's what made living in Gravity Falls fun. Or at the very least, it was never outright boring. Maybe a little bit dangerous but nothing too bad... most of the time. "You just need to learn to go with the flow." Better not to question things too much unless you wanted to end up in a deeper rabbit hole than you intended. He should know. He was idiotic enough to look for answers for... peculiarities way beyond his comprehension. Well, whatever, what's done was done. He shifted, raising an arm and propping it on the backrest of his seat. "Since you like a bit of weirdness, why not swing by the Mystery Shack? We'll make it worth the visit."

"Yeah! The exhibits we have on display are worth a good laugh or two." Robin added. He was already past the point of no return so it would have been rude to even disagree with the suggestion. Nathan shrugged "Why not." he admittedly had nothing better to do today, so it worked out both ways.

"Wow, way to advertise our business, Robin." Though he tried to sound admonishing, his tone was anything but. No one in the town believed that any of their exhibits were real. And if he was going to be honest, he'd rather let it stay that way rather than deal with people who would steal the exhibits to use for themselves. "I'm sure the kids will like having another person their age to hang around with."

"What, you know it's true boss don't give me that!" She chuckled, recalling several of the so-called mythical creatures they placed on display that were meant to trick tourists. After all, she had come up with some of them to put on display, even if they could be goofy at times. "And he's not wrong Nathan, we haven't really had a new kid show up in town in, well, forever basically. A new face has gotta liven things up around here and I'm sure you'll fit in." Nathan gulped hard, nearly choking on his pancake. If she wasn't kidding and he was the first new kid in town for a long time, it could only mean one thing! Everybody would want to meet him and he wouldn't get to be alone.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Yeah, yeah, but you don't have to tell everyone that. Who's gonna buy from the gift shop and pay your salary?" Garfield did appreciate the help the kids could give him when it came to coming up with descriptions about their displays. The younger the person, the wilder the imagination. The wilder the imagination, the more people bought the story. Even if they didn't, they'd be inclined to buy a souvenir which was still a win for him. "Ayup. More people to drag on to their adventures." He sighed, shaking his head. "I swear you kids never listen when I tell you to be careful."

Robin couldn't help but laugh a bit after Gar mentioned the gift shop, nodding alongside it as she ate. It wasn't like she was telling the tourists that the shack was a scam, just the people who'd stick around in town. And while she felt that didn't really help her reasoning, she'd rather be a bit more straightforward with the new kid to curb his expectations. "And hey, I try to be careful Gar. But it isn't like the adventures will stop, you know?" Nathan chewed the last bite of his food while listening to the two, he was interested to see the exhibits. Maybe they had some art, although no doubt of dubious nature he was more curious about how interesting things might look from an artistic perspective "Hey," he finally spoke up after finishing off his plate and unable to quench his curiosity any longer "Could I perhaps, maybe see the exhibits...After this?" he scratched the nape of his neck, looking a little embarrassed with a lopsided smile on his face.

"Your adventures will be the death of me." He let out an exaggerated grimace. While he did outwardly admonish them for their actions as any sane adult would, he did admire how adventurous they were. It wasn't like he was doing anything to stop them from doing so aside from verbal warnings. Garfield honestly couldn't bring himself to do anything more than that. They have at least a brain cell each. Hopefully that would be enough to keep them out of the real trouble. He turned to Nathan, mildly surprised to see that he had already scarfed down his breakfast, and let out a chuckle. "Okay, okay kid. We can head on over. Just let me pay for your food first and we can go." He urged them to go ahead as he walked over to the counter to pay.

---

Jeremy hugged back when Sid jumped ujp and grabbed him, though notably less firmly, in the interest of not snapping her spine. Once she was back on the ground, the excitement was already mounting in the monochrome girl to quite possibly dangerous levels, and just like back in the old days, Jeremy was matching her beat for beat.

"Yeah! Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah! I'm really big now! And it's gonna be great because I get to surprise everyone! And not just you guys, but all the weird ones out in the woods! Like, can you imagine what the Manotaurs are gonna think? It's gonna be awesome!"

By this point he was practically rocking back and forth on his heels, his smile looking increaingly as if it was going to split his face in half.

"Yeah, lets go! OH, but we should try this the sneaky way maybe. Go in and sit all inconspicuous-like, ya know?" He paused for a moment, suddenly deep in thought, before snapping back to his grin just as quickly. "Or not! Maybe we should just bust in there, grins blazin'! It's a toughy, but I'm sure we'll figure it out in the moment!"

Almost immediately after entering the building, he got a blast of nostalgia so hard he all but fell into the closest booth, waving Sid over to join him.

"Ooooh Sid... Everyone's so big now! I know I saw Ami and Mr Garfield, and that was Robbie right? Idunno if I should just sneak over and ask if they recognize me one at a time, or just shout it so I can ask everyone all at once!"

Truly, it was a great dilemma, especially to someone as hammy as Jeremy. The plans of befriending Amelia's mysterious new friend, meeting the mysterious masked man Sid had pointed out, or discussing the weird stuff that called Gravity Falls home with the lady at the counter were all put to the side of his brain as he struggled with his own excitement. Hell, even the fact that he'd actually been really hungry before running into Sid had ceased to be a concern.

However, after a few moments, he finally regained control, clapping his hands against his face a couple of times to calm himself down. Or as close to calm as whatever Jeremy's normal state of mind could be called.

"Alright, I think I've got it! Operation: Friendship Againship is GO!"

And with that, he got out of the booth and moved to the one closest to Amelia and the other guy, sitting on the further seat so Sid could take the ajoining one.

"Ok, plan, you ask who Ami's new friend is, and then when you ask, she'll see me and be all like 'oh, this is Idunnohisrealnameyet, but hang on, who's your new friend?' and then I'll be all like 'more like old friend!', but in sign language as a hint that I already know her too and then we'll see if she can recognize me or not and it'll be great!"

Of course, being quiet wasn't exactly Jeremy's strongest area, so whether or not anything he'd just said would surprise anyone was really just up to how deeply invested they were in their own conversations.

---

---

Upon entering the diner, there were assuredly some eyes on him as the bell sounded. Though, as he made his steps inward, the newly arrived tourists made themselves obvious in trying to avoid glancing at him repeatedly. Or rather, glancing at the different bears that stared back at them, clinging to Teddy’s form. Panda watched his back, Grizz watched where he was going, and Koala watched– a new guy sitting with Ami in a booth.

Briefly did Teddy’s head turn to them, tilting his head a bit to cause his two beaded braids to knock into each other briefly. He waved with his palm out from his forehead to sign ’Hi’ to his friend as his eyes roved about.

All in a moment’s glance, Teddy could figure the situation. Another tourist it seemed, one planning on being here a while going by the bags. Amelia likely didn’t intend to meet up with this guy, going by the notebook, which wasn’t one of hers. Going by the guy’s appearance being thin, a little messy, and unassuming, he didn’t seem dangerous. Though in the Falls, nothing was truly as it seemed.

The question in turn: Was Ami out without her brother bear? This theory seemed the most plausible given the evidence.

His eyes narrowed just a flicker as his glance caught the new guy again before he remembered his mission. He didn’t say or indicate anything as he went to the register first. Near it, for quick pickup, were different bags of coffee and Theodore settled on a ten ounce bag with a rooster on it. When a waitress came over, she recognized him.

Having other long time quiet customers seemed to be of benefit as she simply pulled a menu up and placed it on the counter. Pulling one of the Cockadoodle Coffee sacks from the spot for her to take note of, Teddy also ordered chocolate milk via pointing to it on the flipside of the menu. When the question was soon to come out about being for here or to go, Teddy pointed to the table where Ami and the new guy sat. Throwing some cash on the counter to quick pay for the coffee bag, the bear bearer bearreled over to the booth.

Seeing as no one sat in the booth behind the side where Ami sat, he stepped atop the headrest. Then, he balance stepped along until he was far enough to comfortably lay across the top on his back, sitting Backpack Panda beside her instead. Eyeing the new guy, Teddy threw up a peace sign as a means of finally greeting him.

Ludwig had noticed the strange bear-clad lad walk into the diner, though had tried to avert his gaze as best he could. Which wasn't difficult, as he instead became distracted by the individual sitting up at the front counter: 'Talk to me about urban legends! I’ll give you $15!' was what Ludwig heard, and it admittedly caught his interest. Someone else that had interests in the going-ons in Gravity Falls, in this very diner! He had plenty of legends from back in Portland he could talk to them about. Particularly the garbage gophers! He knew they were real, there was no other explanation for the trash problem around Portland's alleyways. When he was younger, he saw one pop out of a trash can! It definitely wasn't a raccoon or something, though he couldn't remember it's exact appearance. People called him crazy, said the street lights were playing tricks on his eyes. But he wasn't crazy! At least, he hoped he wasn't.

That was the past however. Now, the bear was in front of him, and this situation had become just slightly more overwhelming! It'd be rude to question him about the bears, right? It was probably just a fashion statement here in Gravity Falls, nothing else to consider! That was the excuse he'd stick to though, as with the quiet nature of the bear-boy he wasn't quite sure if he was a mute too, or not. He figured he would just communicate normally and see how it went; If all went bust, he still had pen and paper for communication. Better than nothing, right?

"Oh, h-hello!" Ludwig responded to his sign, understanding that much at least. This couldn't be her brother, right? Though it could just be a lack of blood relation... They obviously knew each other or the bear wouldn't be lounging as he was. He was a hard person to read, that mask of his hiding most of his expression and his eyes giving Ludwig nothing but neutral signals. Ludwig wasn't as panicky as he thought he was going to be, and he considered that a positive at least. But uncertainty raised his anxiety a bit, too. He'd be beary weary of the bear for the moment.

"Did you hear that person at the counter?" He questioned them both, uncertain what was going on with her now after the offer she made. Some locals were probably lining up to try and get some quick cash. Ludwig was focused on the two people in front of him for the moment. "I suppose it isn't as uncommon as I thought that people like me would come out here to investigate all the supposed 'weirdness', huh?" He didn't see it as a bad thing; It was a pleasant surprise for him. Having a few people to talk to about such things could help his own search, as he wasn't exactly sure about what these two thought of all the urban legends and supernatural hunting ideals he himself and some other tourists had.

Amelia’s attention had turned away from her companion for a split moment as the bell to the diner rang, hoping the new entree would be Jack but instead what she got was a view of her brother from another mother which wasn’t a bad sight at all. A dazzling grin lit up on her face at the sight of Teddy and the three bears, returning the sign of ‘Hi’ with her own quick sign of ’Hello’. She figured she might run into a few people she knew but having him here was a relief in some ways as he was the one she could relate to the most. Sure, Teddy wasn’t actually mute but he was just as quiet as she was which made her feel more normal. It made her feel not so alone when it came to being a bit of an oddity. Amelia knew how some people saw her after all which didn’t make it hurt any less to be dubbed for what she was lacking and not who she actually was.

She took a moment to peek around the diner, seeing if she could spot anyone else she knew. There were mostly faces she didn’t know or those she was not close to but there were a few she did know but wouldn’t want to bother, letting them enjoy their breakfast. She felt a jolt of surprise, happy to realize that Teddy had actually decided to join them, lounging on the back of the booth in a relaxed manner. The backpack he had been wearing set next to her for that reason. The little panda next to her brought her immense joy, this being her favorite of the three bears and she found herself sitting the little pack up straighter as if it were alive and readying him to join for a meal. She gave the panda a small pat on the head with a soft smile before her attention moved back to Ludwig who was greeting their new guest. It was nice to see the two getting along already since she really did want to make a new friendship with the boy in front of her who had been so kind this far. She quickly scribbled down a note, showing them both even though she could have signed to Teddy but didn’t want Ludwig to feel left out of the conversation.

𝐿𝓊𝒹𝓌𝒾𝑔, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒯𝑒𝒹𝒹𝓎! 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈.

𝒯𝑒𝒹𝒹𝓎, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝐿𝓊𝒹𝓌𝒾𝑔. 𝒲𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒻𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒥𝒶𝒸𝓀. 𝐼’𝓂 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐼𝓃𝓃𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝐼𝓃𝓃.

Amelia’s head tilted a bit at Ludwig’s question, her eyes moving towards the counter until she saw the sign. That was one way to get legends from the Falls but also a way to drown money down the tubes since there were just so many to cover, not that most adults wanted to talk about it. It would be better off to just go to the Mystery Shack for those kinds of things. ’Maybe I should suggest that to them…’, she thought before Ludwig’s next statement got to her. Her eyes widened, sparkling with excitement as a huge grin lit up her face as she leaned closer before frantically scribbling down notes for the one across from her to read.


𝒴𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝐹𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝑜! 𝒥𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝒹𝓋𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓇𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑒! 𝒲𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶 𝑔𝓃𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓁𝓈 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈.

𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝑀𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒢𝒶𝓇, 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑀𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝑀𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓈. 𝒪𝒽! 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐼𝓃𝓃!

She quickly slid the notepad over, tapping it for him to read while turning around to smile at Teddy. Her excitement and happiness full blown which was showing in her lively motions as she signed to him. ’Did you hear that!? There are more adventures in town now. Isn’t that exciting!? I wonder what Jack will think about that? Hey, thanks for joining us by the way. It’s nice having you here.’

Theo’s head tilted to the side, mirroring Amelia from the delayed hello from the new guy. From the way his eyes wandered about before speaking, Teddy took a guess that he was an overactive thinker of sorts. Calling attention to the person up at the counter offering money for secrets, his tilted head bounced from shoulder to shoulder in consideration of what Glasses had questioned. In regards to people investigating weirdness in the Falls, it was nothing uncommon. In fact, it was a highlight, even for the people that lived here for many years.

Looking down to Ami as she spoke, he took notice of the notebook’s contents. Learning his name to be Ludwig, as well as the explanation for their meeting, Teddy felt a little more at ease. Although alert as always, Ami automatically alienated any aimed antagonism. As she elaborated, he caught a glimpse of some of what she wrote before she passed it over.

The explorations of Jack and Ami were definitely something to remember, and he could relate to their curiosity. For as far back as his memories of the Falls furloughed, the Forest was part of Teddy himself. Even before his time in the Lost Woods, there was something he felt that he couldn’t explain. A draw--ing of attention was afforded and awarded to Ami as she addressed him directly. A glimmer of his eyes and a slight squint was indicative of the smile beneath his mask. Her enigmatic enthusiasm was energetic and infectious.

“Pawlways a pleasure.”

Her grin brightened as she took note of Teddy’s smile, happy that she was the one to put it there and brighten his day. The mask blocked it from view but she had found that the saying ‘eyes are the window to the soul’ to be extremely helpful when it came to her friend, using them to read his emotions or reactions. She would usually observe facial features to go about reading others and figure out what they were thinking, noting when to give silent support but Teddy was one she had to really try to read. She hadn’t expected him to use a bear pun to answer her even if she should have but her eyes sparkled in amusement anyway, her shoulders shaking in a silent giggle.

'So he CAN speak.' Ludwig thought to himself, glancing at... Wait, what had the paper said? Ludwig looked back at what Amelia wrote. Teddy? This guy really was all about bears, wasn't he? Between the name, the pun, and the fact he was literally toting around a bunch of bears. An itch in his hair made him realize that the bearington bear over there wasn't the only strange thing in the room. Moe was starting to get annoyed with being stuffed away, but there wasn't time for that right now. He scratched the top of his head, but in secret, was getting the squirrel to pipe down.

Looking at the rest of Amelia's message, he found surprise in the fact that she was so invested in the whole mystery solving business already. If his eyes popped out any farther his glasses would have shattered. This was fantastic news! Having a local who was this interested to help him on his way would be very helpful! And they even knew what gnomes were! Ludwig felt at home more than he ever thought he would, right about now. "Oh yeah, I heard about that Mystery Shack thing. I just figured it was a tourist trap." He admitted, scratching his head genuinely this time. "I'll definitely have to go check it out." Amelia didn't seem like the type to send him in the direction of something fake, though she did admit her family owned the place. For the sake of their mutual enemy that was uncatchable gnomes, he'd just see for himself.

Well, if they were invested like this, he could probably share his little secret. Moe was getting annoying, and probably needed to poke out from the hairy mess she was in anyways. "Well, if you guys like mysteries, then maybe you wouldn't mind one more?" Knowing that'd catch their attention, he clicked his tongue before reaching into the mess of chocolate-colored hair on his head.



"This," He spoke in a presenting manner, hands gesturing to the fidgeting creature. "Is Moe. I discovered her years ago, and have never found out the reason behind her coloring. But it's not only that, she's smart t--" He paused as the squirrel turned to face him, up on its hindlegs and tapping a foot at him. Rolling his eyes, Ludwig reached into his coat and broke off part of a beef stick, pulling it out before flicking it at the squirrel, who caught it effortlessly before plopping down to chew on it.

"She's unlocked windows, hamster cages, _{my cell phone that one time...}" He trailed off, before getting back to what he was saying. "Genuinely, I have no idea where she came from, or what kind of family she potentially had. But the closer we got to this place, the happier she seemed to be. So I figure there's got to be something somewhere making her feel that way. Or she just really likes the sight of all the trees, I don't know."

Amelia’s gaze fell on Ludwig as he spoke up, her smile drifting a bit into a nervous one as he spoke about the Mystery Shack as a tourist trap which it kind of was but there were some stories that seemed a little more valid or at least sounded that way when Gar told them. She lifted her hand tilting it slightly as to warn him that it kinda was. She was still glad that he was willing to check it out and make an opinion for himself. She tilted her head questioningly at the boy before who spoke of another mystery, making her look to Teddy curiously as if asking him what he thought before turned to pay attention to Ludwig. Not even a moment later, her eyes were wide and her jaw slightly hanging open as she was practically out of her seat to lean closer, admiring the squirming creature in his hands. She had so many questions flying through her head and was so excited that she kept looking between the two boys not sure if she should frantically scribble it down or just spill her thoughts to Teddy directly.

She listened to the details Ludwig stated and nodded with each fact as if to commend it to memory. Amelia had never seen a green squirrel in any of her walks through the forest but that didn’t mean the creature couldn’t have been from here. Maybe it was an unexplored area or maybe he was right that the trees just called to Moe but there was always a chance the strange and unique were just drawn to love this place. She wasn’t really sure but all she knew was that Moe was completely and utterly adorable! She desperately wanted to pet and cuddle the small squirrel but knew better. It took time for animals to trust others and a smart one probably even more time. It was just amazing to see something like this, watching her eat the beef stick happily. Amelia quickly wrote out a note, making sure both boys could read it.


𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓇𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒! 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈! 𝑀𝑜𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹....𝐼 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓉?

"W-Well, actually..." Ludwig was quick to speak up as he read Amelia’s note, finding it funny to the point he let out a small chuckle. "Squirrels are omnivores, so it actually isn’t that odd that she eats meat." He explained, smiling. "But due to multiple circumstances, they tend to have more vegetarian diets, so I don’t blame you for not knowing. I was pretty surprised it was normal, too. But I tossed some pieces of a beef stick out in a park and sure enough, other squirrels picked them up."

Amelia couldn’t help but feel shocked and stunned by the new information given to her. She instantly turned to Teddy and signing,’Did you know that?’

Teddy’s head bobbed left and right before slowly nodding to answer Ami’s question. Furthermore, he signed; ’Squirrels eat like chickens.’

Brown eyes studied the emerald eating enigma. He’d seen a lot of things in his travels, but a green squirrel wasn’t one of them. Much less one that had enough sentience to show irritability in a humanlike manner. Somehow she was interested in the Falls too apparently? Did this Moe live here before ending up with Glasses? Theo had many questions, though few would he actually ask.

His peripheral vision caught movement from two directions though. The front door, and from behind the counter. A hand went down to Grizz’s zipper as it seemed the drinks ordered earlier were coming at least. Though the diner was pretty lax about people’s animals, it was at least a thing to not have them on the tables. Bad look for the business, for obvious reasons. What was more, a green squirrel ought to bring more attention to Ludwig than he may have wanted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have the creature hidden in the first place.

Thus, before the waitress came over, or the group of people he heard walking in, he pulled out another beef stick from Grizz. Pulling off the plastic pretty easily, he zipped Grizz up loud enough to surely grab the rodent’s attention. Noting the bigger boy with Sid from earlier on the swift approach to a nearby booth, he tossed the jerky just above Moe to crash onto the seat beside Ludwig closer to the wall. The squirrel’s head followed the trajectory of the jerky with large, beady eyes that showed the plan was a success well before it lunged towards the jerky, falling into the seat beside Ludwig and laying there, content to chew on it’s new prize.

Crushing the jerky wrapper in his hand, Theo stuffed it into his pocket smoothly as the waitress showed up.

Although eyeing Teddy for his odd seating choice, his chocolate milk made it to the table.

Ludwig hadn’t understood why Ted threw the jerky until the waitress walked up. Realizing he was in a diner, and he had left his rodent on the table, he slumped back in his seat a little, embarrassed. The orders came in quick, the waitress seemingly just kindly smiled at Amelia and knew what she wanted, and wrote down Ludwig’s order that involved sausage, bacon, gravy, with a few biscuits on the side.

As she walked away, Ludwig was getting a little ancy in his seat, and decided to do the same. ”I’ll be back in a few minutes,” He said, figuring the wait for the food would be a great time to talk to that person who was at the counter. Clicking his tongue, Moe glared at him momentarily, still gnawing at the jerky in the seat. There was an awkward moment of silence before the squirrel quickly brought itself, along with the jerky, to the end of the seat for him to scoop up.

Quickly, he brought her over to Amelia’s side of the table. She was still gnawing on the jerky while in Ludwig’s hands. ”Sorry to ask so suddenly, but can you keep an eye on her for a few minutes?” He asked, holding out the tame little green creature. ”She won’t bite-- Well, especially not with food.”

Her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning before she nodded enthusiastically to the request to watch over the little green squirrel. She has wanted to hold and give Moe affection but she hadn’t thought she would be able to soon. She carefully held out her hands, not wanting to startle her or to harm her by picking Moe up wrong. The moment she was snug in her palms, she tucked the squirrel up near her neck and gave Moe light little pets, being extremely careful as if she were made out of glass. She figured if the squirrel wanted to hide at any point that being closer to her hair would be the best spot since that is where she had naturally been hiding on Ludwig.

”Thanks! I promise I’ll be back soon.” Ludwig said as the squirrel left his hands. He turned, heading towards his objective for leaving in the first place: He approached the counter in as casual of a manner as he could, looking back nervously once or twice to make sure Moe wasn’t trying to eat his new friends. Not that… He thought she would, really. But you could never be too wary with that little devil.

Approaching the individual, Ludwig attempted a greeting. ”Hello--”

”Hold it right there, buddy!”

But that was extremely short lived, as a voice behind him cut him off quickly. Ludwig’s body went stiff as he slowly turned, trying to see who was shouting at him.

---

"Everyone's gonna be like WWWWOOOOOAH and then like OOOOOHHHHH!" Sid shouted excitedly in response to Jeremy's perkiness matching her own. Little Jimmy had so much energy all the time, they had made a great match in the past! And even as big as he was now, he was still carrying all those happy thoughts with him! She thought she'd explode from joy, but so far she was only a ticking time bomb that hadn't gone off just yet!

As Jeremy suggested stealth, Sid almost brushed the idea off. But, Jeremy had been the guy who was gone for so long, so why not let him run the operation? "You're the boss! You take point, and I'll follow your lead!" She spoke with authority, as she passed said authority to her big friend. Without hesitation she followed him into the diner, half-tempted to kick the door open and make a notable entrance, but instead she found herself creeping in behind Jeremy.

He essentially swooned into a booth from pure nostalgia, the short girl running over to him and comically fanning his face to ensure he was okay. As he spoke about the others, she couldn't help but have a toothy grin at his thoughts. "Who knows, ya big lug? It's your surprise, so you gotta decide!" She instructed, sliding into the booth while trying to look inconspicuous... Which, for her, wasn't very effective usually.

... Which made it a good thing as Jeremy got an idea, and began heading toward Amelia and the others. Sid slipped right back out of her seat and followed, listening to his plan. Though as he took a seat, Sidney noticed something: That new guy... He got up, and was walking to Amelia's side of the table. He gave her some green stuffed-animal holding some jerky, which was super weird even by her standards, but whatever. The real issue was that he was now walking away from the table, towards the counter where some other folks sat. And as Sid's eyes scanned the counter, she saw a sign offering money... For legends and such? Sid's eyes turned into literal dollar signs in front of Jeremy, but quickly poofed back before they squinted, focusing on their target.

"Okie doki, chasing the new guy!" She replied to him, darting off past Amelia's table, the wind from it probably enough to cause her and Teddy's hair to shift as she followed after the guy with the coat. That little money-grubber was trying to steal her cash! As soon as he tried to open his mouth, Sid approached him and interrupted with: "Hold it right there, buddy!"

The boy turned around, eyes behind his glasses scanning Sid with confusion. "C-Can I help you?" He questioned, unsure of what was going on. He stepped back as Sid approached, one of her fingers trailing on his shirt as she applied a little force to help push him. "Yeah, in a sec, pal~" She sang, crawling up onto the stool next to the person with the sign. Elbow on the counter, she rested her head in her palm, her other hand pointing at the rumormonger with a finger gun.

"He can't tell you anything, he's a tourist~" She stated in a sweet, but oddly factual tone. To place emphasis on who she was talking about, her eyes darted towards the spectacles-wearing boy, who's eyes seemed to narrow a little at being pushed aside. Sid looked back at the stranger who was offering cash, before the finger gun turned into a thumb, pointing at herself. "Now if you want to know about weird stuff, or know who has the info around here, I'm your girl! I know everybody!" She continued, pitching herself to earn that cash. "Once of my sources about a certain creature out in the woods just came back into town! Ever heard of a Manotaur?"

---

Ah, right, yep. Probably should've expected that. Jeremy didn't even blink as Sid vanished from the seat across from him, running off to pester the poor guy Amelia had befriended. Or no, not even that, as she skipped past him and started talking to the person offering fifteen bucks for mystery stories. Not that he could blame her, he was pretty sure her sporadic attention span was somehow one of the funnest parts of her personality, always helping her find new fun things for her and the rest of the gang to do.

Of course, it still screwed his plan up at it's most fundamental level, so time to improvise again. But what to do...

Ok, plan B.

"Hey, hey Ami! Do you recognize me? Do you remember who I am?" He asked, leaning over the seats to look into their booth, having decided to just take the blunt force approach now that his more intricate plan had become impossible. Normally, he would've just signed it to her straight away, but he figured this would be a good way to get her attention first, and then he'd sign for the rest of it.

The waitstaff served Avery their Hungry Man’s Special only 20 minutes after they had ordered it- remarkable service, they thought. Small towns had always had the best hospitality, and Gravity Falls was no exception. They smiled at the waitress and dug in. The plate consisted of three pancakes, two scrambled eggs, three pieces of bacon, two pieces of sausage, and hashbrowns. Plus the coffee that Avery had ordered. Even if they didn’t finish, it would be great for leftovers.

Just as they were starting to dig in, however, a commotion sounded behind them. They turned around, expecting one person, but instead got two. An amused smile bloomed on their face as they saw what was happening, though. This goth girl (looking very heavily made up, mind) shoved aside another kid who she deemed “a tourist” and boosted herself onto the seat next to Avery. They laughed. They could remember their own goth days, and, recalling that period of their life, decided to give her the Hot Topic gift card in their wallet.

“Come back after her,” they mouthed to Ludwig- even if he was a tourist, he might still know something- and turned to Sid, cutting them off in the middle of a ramble. “Morning! I’m so happy you came up, I love interviewing. Before we start, though, let me introduce myself. My name’s Avery Washington and I’m a doctoral student of sociology at the University of Michigan. I’m studying urban legends in the American Northwest, which includes Gravity Falls! Do you consent to be recorded in this interview? I’ll give you fifteen bucks1” They winked.

Once Sid said yes, Avery switched on an archaic-looking tape recorder and placed it on the bar. “There we go. Lovely, lovely. Now, you were saying something about Manotaurs? Is that possibly related to the ancient Greek legend of the Minotaur? Please explain that to me. But- wait, I'm sorry. I got ahead of myself. State your full name and then start talking.” They leaned forward on their elbows, clearly interested, although 90% sure this tiny goth girl was bullshitting them.

---

Sid's eyes focused on the card in front of her, picking it up and eyeing it for a moment. She paid no attention to Avery talking to the tourist, or that he nodded and sort of disengaged from the conversation to wait his own turn. 'Cha-ching!' She thought to herself, not sure if she'd use the card personally, or pawn it off on someone else for cash, but she'd definitely take it. She had a huge grin, feeling like she'd already made a good profit, and that was before they even began the questions! Hah, someone was paying for her breakfast this morning!

As the introduction began, most of it ended up going up as white noise in Sid's ears as she happily stared at the person in front of her, mainly noting the cute button-up shirt they were wearing. All the girl caught was 'Avery Washington' and 'consent to an Interview, Fifteen bucks'. Get paid for yapping? Sid LOVED yapping. She loved yapping so much, she carried throat spray just in case her shouting left her feeling hoarse! "Yup, yup. yup! You can talk to me as much as ya want!" She replies to Avery, returning the wink from earlier while including a wide, cheeky grin.

Sid's eyes peered to the recorder, then back to Avery. Oh, this was exciting! Felt like she was on some kind of documentary, except instead of talking about something lame it was about something totally awesome! As she was asked to state her name, Sid took the opportunity to pull her own wallet out, flipping it open in a sassy fashion to both expose her I.D while also using it as a chance to put the gift card away like a dragon stashing it's treasure. "It's Sidney LeBlanc." She stated as if it was a name everyone should know. Which in town, maybe that was the case because she bounced around everywhere. But anyone hearing this recording wouldn't know who the hell she was, not that Sid was thinking that.

"You got that right, pal! But they're like two-legged containers of testosterone, big 'ol stompy hoof feet, barrel chests, and arms bigger than you could ever hope to be." Sid says this, despite being the shorter and younger of the two by a long shot, with extreme confidence. "It's in the name, but they're manly! And they only respect manly things! When they aren't wrestling and punching each other or destroying things, they're working out, chugging rootbeer, and stocking up their shaved chest hair for their trial of manliness!" She points a thumb at herself, a very smug expression on her face now.

"You might be wondering how such a cute gal knows about such burly bros, but I can tell you how, buddy! Because I've met 'em! And I know an absolute piece of work that was actually manly enough to be their friend!" Sid herself kind of fell out of touch with those big burly boys after Jeremy had to leave, the younger her not being enough to really prove herself to them and with Jeremy gone, she wasn't exactly as welcome. But with Jeremy back, and the power of a Hot Topic gift card and fifteen dollars, Sid was eager to give it another shot after all these years. She had to go with Jeremy anyways: Why not bring her new bestest friend along? What's the worst that could happen?

"So, whaddya think? You wanna meet some men?!" She questioned, making this sound a lot weirder than it had to before she said that. Though, considering what she said before sounded batshit bonkers, maybe it wasn't so out of left field. The little supposed goth had the most eager expression Avery possibly had ever seen in their life, though compared to the adult in front of her, Sid was just a child. And children had very active imaginations...

At the sound of her nickname, Amelia carefully tucked Moe against her neck and pulled her hair around to hide her a bit before carefully turning in her seat so she was on her knees. She easily peered over the booth, even with Teddy sitting upon it and stared up at the goliath with a goofy grin that was before her. Clearly she had to know him if he knew her nickname and she found her head tilting to the side, a finger under her chin, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion for a moment as she tried to rack her brain for an answer while looking over the features of his face. Her eyes suddenly widened and her face lit up in hopeful recognition that this was the friend she thought he was though he seemed to have changed a lot over the years. 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 when 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 but when she twisted to grab the notepad, she noticed that Sid had overtaken the attention of the person at the bar. Ludwig now standing awkwardly since he had been brushed off probably not by one but two people. She felt bad that she had completely forgotten him for a moment. She gave a little clap of her hand before waving, hoping to get his attention before curling her hand in a motion to come over. 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 besides, she was sure both boys would love to meet a fellow adventurer in the seeking and exploration of the weirdness that was Gravity Falls.

Grabbing the notepad, she quickly scribbled down a message so both boys could see it.

𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐿𝓊𝒹𝓌𝒾𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝓂𝓎, 𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓊𝓈!! 𝐿𝓊𝒹𝓌𝒾𝑔, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒥𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓂𝓎, 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈. 𝐻𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝐹𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈.

Amelia beamed happily, glad that she could make Ludwig 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. She was enjoying being surrounded by friends even if she was disappointed that Jack seemed to have missed her message or was too busy to even show up. At least she wasn’t her alone and she wouldn’t let her mood get brought down so easily. He really was missing out though on so many special events. Moe was a fantastical puzzle to be solved in her own right, Ludwig was another serious explorer which meant they could have a fresh pair of eyes, and now Jeremy was back in town which was just amazing! It seemed like things were looking up today.

Garfield's gesture to pay was indeed generous as it gave Nathan an excuse not to say he had no money currently on him, embarrassingly enough yet thankfully that disaster of a conversation was successfully averted.

However he was tentative about getting up as it seemed the activity within the diner had picked up in the short time they had spent in the restaurant, all these people made him nervous and he clutched his sketchbook tighter while his eyes darted from person to person as he silently prayed that nobody would come over or spot him sitting with Robin who more than likely saw how nervous he was becoming.

"Wanna go outside?" he asked with a sheepish grin on his face, an attempt to cover his rather panicked demeanor.