Chapter Text
When Mabel and Dipper were twelve, their parents had them go spend the first month of summer at their Great Uncle Ford’s home in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls. The twins had met their Great Uncle a couple of times before. He had been weird. At least, in Mabel’s opinion. He always seemed kind of on edge, always scanning the room anxiously at any family reunion or holiday he had attended, and he rarely spoke to anyone with more than small talk. Except for Shermie and, surprisingly, Dipper. For some reason, the two of them hit it off fast. Probably because they were both nerds, and Grunkle Ford was the only person Mabel had ever met who could actually play Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons with Dipper without dying of boredom once the graph paper came out. Even their parents, who tried to be supportive in their kids’ interests, often conveniently found housework to do or an errand to run once Dipper brought the game box out. It was nice to see someone being so nice to Dipper at least.
Mabel had looked forward to spending some of the summer at Grunkle Ford’s house. Though she had never been that close to him, she was sure he must have something interesting up his sleeve. Or maybe in his six-fingered gloves. Who knew? Either way, she prepared for the summer with high hopes.
And, unfortunately, that high hope wasn’t met with much.
Grunkle Ford was an incredibly paranoid man. Everyone was surprised that he had even allowed the kids to stay with him. Apparently, it was only through their grandpa’s suggestion that some quality time with the kids would be good for him that he had reluctantly agreed. And even then, he only agreed to it under the condition that they’d only be staying for a month. Grunkle Ford had argued that Gravity Falls was simply not a safe place- for anyone, really, but especially kids. However, from what everyone else could tell, Gravity Falls was just some quiet, rural country town in the middle of the woods. The most anyone had to worry about was graffiti from teenagers and the occasional goat eating your stuff. So off they were sent to spend the first month of summer- and hopefully get their Great Uncle to lighten up a little bit.
However, their presence didn’t seem to help his paranoia at all. In fact, it seemed to make things worse. Grunkle Ford kept the house locked up at all times, and informed the kids that it was the only completely safe place in town. He also told them that they were not allowed to go outside, go into town… do basically anything outside of the house unless he was accompanying them. The twins could tell that he wasn’t implementing all of these rules to be mean; no, they could see the genuine worry and concern on his face. He was just trying to keep them safe. But what was he trying to keep them safe from? He wouldn’t tell them. Was whatever it was even real?
Despite that, living with their Grunkle Ford wasn’t terrible. In fact, it could be fun sometimes. Apparently Grunkle Ford spent his time in Gravity Falls studying anomalies. He even let Dipepr and Mabel see some of them, like the weird gnomes in the forest. He also played Dungeons, Dungeons and Dungeons with Dipper, and Mabel was happy to watch the two of them enjoy themselves while she did something infinitely more interesting. And sometimes, when Grunkle Ford was exceptionally exhausted, he was happy to sit on the couch and watch some mindless T.V. show while Mabel sat on his lap and played with his six fingered hands.
Still, staying with Grunkle Ford was still a bit… lonely. Mabel was hoping that she’d be able to make some friends or maybe even have a romance this summer, but Grunkle Ford hardly ever let her leave the house, let alone mingle with other children. Dipper didn’t seem to mind the isolation as much, however. He had had a thing for this girl named Wendy when he had first laid eyes on her, but after she had been sent off to a cousin’s logging camp for the summer, he seemed happy to spend time with Grunkle Ford trying to get over the heartbreak. That, and though Grunkle Ford did his best to spend time with both of them, it was clear he liked Dipper more. Dipper was just… smarter, and more into his weird nerd stuff. He was more inclined to take Dipper when they went out to investigate safer anomalies, and he often seemed reluctant to take Mabel, whose silliness seemed to annoy him a little.
After about a week Mabel found that she was… bored. And honestly, she was looking forward to going home. Usually she was an optimist, but with little to no social interaction in a creepy cabin filled with strange and ominous artifacts, Mabel felt like she was suffocating.
Currently, Mabel was sitting on the floor of her and Dipper’s combined bedroom, knitting herself a new sweater. If there was anything good about all this free time, it was that she had accumulated a ton of custom sweaters from it. June wasn’t even half over and she had already made five of them! At least that was sort of entertaining. Dipper and Grunkle Ford had left a while ago, apparently to check out some UFO or something. Normally, Mabel would be interested in going with; even if she wasn’t interested in nerdy stuff, going on an adventure with Dipper was always fun! It’s just that… last time she went, Grunkle Ford had spent the whole time chatting it up with Dipper, and seemed to get annoyed anytime she tried to get in the conversation. Sure, maybe she didn’t have “intelligent input” to add to the conversation, but was a joke or two to lighten the mood really so bad? She had begun to wonder why she had even been invited. She knew they weren’t leaving her out on purpose, and she knew she should be happy to see her awkward brother and her reclusive Great Uncle socializing but she couldn’t help but feel a little left out. Today, she had stayed behind on her own accord. Grunkle Ford’s house was the safest place in Gravity Falls, and this way Dipper and Grunkle Ford could spend time together without her feeling like a third wheel. It’d be good for all of them. Probably.
Her train of thought was interrupted when her stomach growled. Knitting was hard work; she determined she deserved a break. She got up and headed down the creaky stairs to the kitchen. Maybe she could have an ice cream sandwich for lunch? It wasn’t like Grunkle Ford or her parents were there to tell her not to.
When Mabel reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped when she heard a strange sound coming from the living room. It sounded like… talking? It couldn’t be Grunkle Ford; the voice sounded much scruffier than his, and it was far too deep to be Dipper. But who else could it be? Surely no one had come in! Grunkle Ford always made sure to lock all of the doors and windows before even stepping a foot outside so there was no way someone could have gotten in... right?
Mabel knew she should return upstairs and wait in her room and stay out of sight until Grunkle Ford got home, just like he instructed her to do should anything go wrong. But her curiosity got the best of her. Besides, this couldn’t be the thing Ford had been protecting the house against, right? He had only put up five thousand different things to keep it from getting inside.
Mabel tiptoed inside the room, and found a man sitting in Grunkle Ford’s armchair. He was a younger man, probably in his late twenties, and he had a mullet. He was wearing a thick red coat despite the summer heat, and he was gazing at the T.V., complaining about the static that now shone on it.
“Can’t believe it. Idiot leaves the T.V. on for once and doesn’t even leave it on a watchable channel…” He muttered. “If you’re so paranoid, just turn it off, will ya?”
Mabel tiptoed closer. There was something strange about this man, other than the fact that he had somehow gotten into the house. He seemed to be emitting a strange blue light from all over his body, and if she looked closely enough, she could see the material of the armchair through him.
Mabel gasped and nearly stumbled back at the sight of it. She knew what this was. She had seen such things in spooky Halloween movies and books. This was… a ghost!
The sound of her gasp alerted the specter’s attention, and he quickly turned to look at her with wide eyes. Despite that, he said nothing. Was he… waiting for her to talk? Mabel felt like she should run, but something about this ghost seemed… friendly? Trustworthy? She felt like she knew him somehow. Regardless, he didn’t have blood coming out of his eyes or cuts and gore all over his body like the evil ones in movies tended to. Maybe she could trust this ghost enough to at least talk to him?
“Are you… um…” Mabel hated how shaky her voice sounded, but she couldn’t help it. None of the anomalies she had met in Gravity Falls thus far were this unsettling. “A ghost?”
The ghost stared back at her, then looked behind him, as if making sure she wasn’t talking to some unseen third person. He finally put his attention back on her, and asked:
“Whoa, Mabel, can you see me?” His voice was much softer when he talked to her, almost comforting. It was almost familiar, as if she had heard this person talk before, but she couldn’t quite place it.
“Of course I can see you.” She replied. “How do you know my name?”
“Oh. Well, uh…” The ghost hesitated. “You had a sweater that says it. It’s all purple and lights up and stuff! Can’t imagine you’d make something like that with someone else’s name on it.”
“I guess that’s true.” She replied. This ghost was shockingly casual. She had expected him to say some long-winded curse or something the moment she spoke to him. Maybe he really was friendly. “You look kinda familiar.”
“Ah… do I?” He asked nervously.
“Mm-hmm. You kinda look my Great Uncle Ford. Or what I guess he would’ve looked like half a century ago. He doesn’t keep pictures, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh, he keeps a few. But he usually hides ‘em. Thinks they’re watching him or something. It’s sad, really.”
“Oh.” Somehow, that wasn’t surprising to hear, seeing how paranoid her Great Uncle was. “How do you know that? Hey, are you the thing that’s been watching him or whatever? You’re really scaring him! You should stop!”
“Nah, kiddo, I’m not the thing that’s causing that. Your Great Uncle doesn’t even know I’m here.”
“How do you know? He deals with a lot of spooky stuff all the time.”
“Believe me, I know.” The ghost said bitterly. “He hasn’t spoken a word to me or even looked at me in the thirty years I’ve been here!”
“Thirty years? You must be so bored!”
“Eh, could be worse.” He shrugged. “If he did know I was here, he’d probably exorcise me or whatever.”
“But still, thirty years! I’ve been here for like a week and I already feel bored to death!” She gasped and covered her mouth. “No offense.”
“Ha! That’s a good one!” The ghost laughed. Mabel immediately felt a wave of relief at the laughter, and found herself smiling, too.
“Wow… that’s a really long time. Why have you hung around this place for so long?”
“I’d leave and go out to town if I could, but…” He floated out of the chair and towards the wall. He tried to phase through, but before he could even get a whole arm through, he was immediately pushed back and sent sprawling towards the ground. “See? Can’t leave. Dunno why.”
“Did you…” Mabel gulped. “Did you die here? I mean… sometimes in movies and books and stuff ghosts kinda just hang around where they die, y’know?”
“Oh I know.” The ghost said, returning to his place on the armchair. “And yeah, I died here. Well, I died near here, so I don’t know why I’m stuck inside.”
“Hmm…” Mabel placed her hand on her chin, deep in thought. “Maybe I could help you find a way to move on or whatever?”
“Eh… nah.” The ghost said dismissively. “I appreciate it, but I still have unfinished business to attend to.”
“And what’s that?”
“That’s something I get to know, and you get to probably never find out.”
“What? Come on!” Mabel pouted. The ghost glared right back, clearly showing no sign of changing his mind. Mabel continued glaring, but knew there was no way she could win a staring contest against a dead man. She gave up with a sigh. “Fine, keep it a secret. But can you at least tell me your name?”
“My name? Why would you wanna know that?”
“Well, you live here. And if I’m gonna be here for the next two and a half weeks, I might as well know everyone.” She approached the armchair and hopped onto one of its arms, like she always did with Grunkle Ford. “Plus, you look like you could use a friend. Right?”
The ghost looked at her awkwardly, clearly considering her words. He hesitated for a moment before finally smiling at her softly.
“Shoot, I guess I can’t say no to that. The name’s Stan.”
“Stan?” She eyed him curiously. “You sure you’re not related to my Grunkle in some way?”
“Hey, don’t give me that look! Stan’s a common name!”
“Well, Stan. It’s nice to meet you.” Mabel said, holding out her hand.
“Pleasure’s all mine.” Stan reached his hand out too, but it phased through hers completely. He drew his hand back immediately, looking embarrassed. “…Right. I, uh… it’s been awhile since I’ve really interacted with anyone.”
“It’s okay. Hold it out again.”
“Why?”
“Just trust me.”
Much to her surprise, Stan immediately held his hand out. After a week and a half of being told that nobody could be trusted, it was kinda nice to have someone immediately be so trusting. She raised her hand and held it just around his, making it look as if she was holding it.
“We can always pretend, right?” She said with a smile. She moved her hand up and down, and he followed suit. “There. It’s nice to meet you, Stan!”
“Y-yeah, it’s… uh…” He drew his hand back again. “Nice to meet you too, Mabel.”
“Stan, are you okay?” She noticed he didn’t look happy anymore. In fact, he looked like he was on the verge of tears. “Hey-”
Before she could question him further, they heard voices at the front door. Dipper and Grunkle Ford were back!
“Stan, you should-” But he had already read her mind and had sunk halfway through the floor, clearly making his way to the basement. He shot her a desperate look as Grunkle Ford was messing with one of the many locks on the door.
“Don’t tell anyone I’m here. Especially Ford. Got it?”
Mabel just nodded, and finally the door opened.
“Mabel?” Grunkle Ford rushed into the living room. Even though Mabel had assured him over and over again that she would be safe in his heavily guarded and locked up cabin, it seemed he was still nervous. “Are you all right? Nothing tried to get in, did it? You didn’t see or hear anything strange or unusual, right?”
“Grunkle Ford…” Mabel hesitated. She hated lying, especially to someone who was always so uneasy like him. But… his anxiety would only increase if she told him that she had indeed seen something abnormal in the house. From what she could tell, Stan seemed friendly. And he had been here for quite some time. If he had meant to do something horrible to Ford, he would’ve done it already, right? “Nope. Nothing weird here except you leaving the T.V. on.”
“I did no such thing!” Ford protested.
“Yeah, sorry Grunkle Ford. That was me.” Dipper said.
“Dipper, were you marathoning the not about history channel again?” Mabel asked.
“Hey, it’s interesting stuff!”
“I understand that Dipper,” Grunkle Ford said, “but you need to be more careful. Leaving the T.V. on could possibly alert something! We…”
As Grunkle Ford lectured Dipper, Mabel turned her attention back to the ground behind her. Stan had poked his head out from the floorboards and winked. Mabel just smiled back before he disappeared entirely. She liked Stan, but something about him made her a bit uneasy.
She did own a purple sweater that said her name and lit up, yes. But she hadn’t taken it out of her suitcase yet, let alone worn it.
So how did he know her name? Something told her there was a bit more to him than he was letting on. Regardless, she’d trust him for now. She had set out to Gravity Falls this summer to make friends, and if her Great Uncle wouldn’t let her leave the house, then she’d just have to make friends inside the house.