Chapter Text
Y/N POV:
“Your services aren’t needed anymore, I’m afraid, sir,” The man on the TV said. “My men have looked at the evidence, and this is obviously an accident.”
Mabel reached over, placing her hand in the popcorn bowl that was in front of the three of us. Dipper smacked her hand away, not looking away from the TV. On the screen was a man dressed in a Scotland Yard police uniform. After he finished his line, he pointed at a red telephone booth that had a dead man with his leg sticking out.
“An accident, constable?” A duck quacked, subtitles appearing on screen. The duck was wearing a green hat, as he was a detective. “Or murder?!” The duck sharply turned towards the camera.
“What?!” The policeman exclaimed in shock.
“Duck-tective will come back on after these messages,” The announcer said, the show’s logo on screen.
“That duck is a genius,” Mabel said in awe.
“It’s easier to find clues when you’re low to the ground,” Dipper said.
“Do you think you’re smarter than Duck-tective?” Mabel asked, placing her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes.
“Of course, Dipper is smarter, Mabel,” I said. “He’s the smartest guy I know.”
“Thank you, Y/N,” Dipper said. “And Mabel, I have keen powers of observation.” Dipper pointed to his head. “Take this, for example,” he said, leaning towards Mabel, putting his hand on his knee. “From smelling your breath alone, I can tell that you have eaten,” Dipper sniffed the air. “A whole tube of toothpaste?”
“It was so sparkly,” Mabel said, turning away.
“Dudes, hey!” Soos exclaimed, standing in the doorway. “Guess what I just found.”
“Buried treasure!” Dipper and I yelled.
I laughed, lightly pushing him. “I was gonna say that,”
“As I was cleaning up, I found a secret door,” Soos said, leading us down the hallway. “It was hidden behind the wallpaper. It’s crazy-bonkers creepy.” Soos leaned in, narrowing his eyes, as we stood in front of the door.
The hinges squeak as Soos pushes the door open. Inside was a bunch of creepy wax figures of different famous people. I switched on the lights as we were walking inside.
“I hate wax figures,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself. “They are so creepy, especially with how life-like they are. I was hoping to be rid of the wax museum forever.”
“You knew about this?” Dipper asked.
“Yeah, it was a popular attraction a long time ago, but I think Stan forgot about it or something,” I explained. “And it wasn’t like I was gonna remind him, I still have nightmares about these.”
“They are so realistic,” Mabel said.
“Yeah, everyone but this one,” Dipper said, pointing to a wax figure of Stan.
“I didn’t think Stan had a wax figure of himself,” I said, walking next to Dipper.
“Hello!” Stan exclaimed, causing us to scream. I grabbed onto Dipper and hugged him tightly. Stan laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s just me, your Grunkle Stan!” This caused us to scream louder.
“Behold the Gravity Falls Wax Museum,” Stan explained once we calmed down. “Before I forgot about it, it was the most popular attraction. I have ‘em all!” Stan walked down the line of the wax figures. “Genghis Khan, Sherlock Holmes.” Stan stopped in front of the Larry King wax figure and scratched his head, confused. “I don’t know, some kind of goblin man.”
Dipper shuddered. “Does it feel creepy to anyone else in here?”
“Now, for my personal favorite,” Stan said, ignoring Dipper. “Wax Abraham Lincoln, who is right over-“ Stan put his hands to his head in disbelief after he saw that the wax figure had melted. “Oh, no! Come on! Who left the blinds open?” Stan turned and pointed at another wax figure. “Wax John Wilkes Booth, I’m looking in your direction!”
Stan sighed in disappointment and rubbed his finger in the leftover wax. “Is there even a way to fix a wax figure?”
“Grunkle Stan,” Mabel said, walking up to Stan. “Cheer up. Where is that smile?” She started poking Stan’s face. “Beep, bop, boop.” Stan stood up, tired of Mabel poking his face.
“Worry not, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel said. “I’m going to make you a new wax figure from the old wax.”
“Do you honestly think you can make one of these puppies?” Stan asked, gesturing towards the wax figures.
Mabel put her hands on her hips. “I’m an arts and crafts master, Grunkle Stan. I mean, I always have a glue gun stuck on my arm.” Mabel shook her arm, trying and failing to get the glue gun off.
“Kid, I like your gumption,” Stan said, pointing at Mabel.
“Thank you, even though I don’t know what that word means,” Mabel happily said.
“So, if you could make a wax figure of anything, what would it be?” I asked Dipper as we walked into the kitchen.
“That’s a tough one,” Dipper said, opening the fridge. “Do you want a soda?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, as Dipper closed the fridge with a soda in each hand. “I think I would make a mythical creature. I mean, I’m never going to see one in real life, so it would be the next best thing.” I said, as Dipper handed me my soda.
“Well, is there a specific one you would want to see?” Dipper asked as we walked towards the wax figure room. “There’s a good chance we’ll see it, knowing what’s in Gravity Falls.”
“Good point,” I said. “A mermaid is the one I want to see the most.”
“Why that one out of everything?” Dipper asked, taking a drink.
“I’ve loved mermaids since I was five because of The Little Mermaid,” I explained. “It’s my favorite Disney Princess movie, and my second favorite Disney movie overall. So, it would be a dream come true to see one in real life, or as close as I can get.”
“What’s your favorite Disney movie overall?” Dipper asked.
“Lilo and Stitch,” I said. “Stitch is so cute, and I love the message of it. I cry a few good times whenever I watch the movie.”
Dipper laughed. “Yeah, that does sound like you. I promise, I will make sure that you see a real-life mermaid before the end of the summer. I want all your dreams to come true, and I want to be there to experience it all with you.”
I smiled, placing my hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Thanks, Dip, you’re the best,” I quickly kissed his cheek and ran into the room.
“How’s it going, Mabel?” I asked, standing behind her. “Do you have any ideas yet? Also, be careful with leaving that big block of wax out. I think that’s all the extras we have, plus Stan is way too cheap to buy more.”
“I think I’ve almost got it,” Mabel murmured, not looking up from her notebook.
“Is Mabel done?” Dipper asked, coming up beside me and taking a drink.
“Dipper, Y/N!” Mabel excitedly shouted, turning suddenly towards us, causing Dipper to choke on his soda.
I patted his back as Dipper coughed. “Did you finish?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Mabel nodded and held up her notebook. On the page was a blonde woman wearing a pink dress, a tiara, and a wand. Her lower body was like a horse's, with a crown.
“What do you think?” Mabel asked. “She’s part fairy princess, and part horse princess.”
Dipper and I shared a look. “Do you think you should make something from real life?” Dipper suggested.
“Like a waffle with big arms?” Mabel asked, drawing in her notebook. She turned it, showing the angry-looking waffle with big arms.
I chuckled. “Mabel, you’re something else,”
“Yo-kay, you could do something different, like a family member,” Dipper said.
“Have you seen my pants, kids?” Stan walked in and placed one foot on a suitcase that Mabel was using as a chair. Stan put one hand on his hip and the other on his head, like he was searching for something.
Mabel’s eyes went wide in awe. “You work in magical ways, muse,” She said, looking up at the ceiling.
“Why is your sister talking to the ceiling?” Stan asked Dipper.
“Congrats, Stan,” I said. “Sounds like you're Mabel’s muse.”
Over the next couple of days, Mabel worked on the wax figure. I helped where I could, speeding up the process. Finally, the Stan wax figure was complete.
“How does it look?” I asked Mabel.
“Hm,” Mabel said. “I think it needs more glitter.”
“Agree,” Soos said, Dipper standing beside him.
I grabbed the bucket of pink glitter and threw it on the wax figure. “Oh yeah, that looks much better,”
“I finally found my pants,” Stan said, walking into the room. “Now I’m missing my-“ Stan screamed, seeing the wax figure. He fell and slid a little bit away.
“What do you think?” Mabel asked, walking up to him and looking down at him.
“I think the wax museum’s back in business!” Stan exclaimed.
“It’s crazy how many people showed up,” Dipper said, the next day, at the wax figure reopening.
“I know,” I said. “Stan probably bribed them or something.”
“He bribed me,” Dipper said, pulling a twenty-dollar bill.
I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, and we both laughed. “Although I’m glad that we get to spend some one-on-one time together. I’ve been looking forward to this since Stan asked me.” I said.
“Wait, really?!” Dipper hopefully asked.
I laughed. “Yeah, dude. You’re my best friend, so I always look forward to spending time with you.”
“Oh,” Dipper disappointedly said. “Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, we’re just friends, after all. Just friends.”
I tilted my head to the side. I didn’t know why he would be disappointed, but maybe I was misreading it. I’m not very good with social cues, so I often misread things.
I winced, hearing the microphone’s feedback. “Dang it, Stan, I told you to fix that,” I murmured.
“You know me, folks, town darling, Mr.Mystery,” Stan said. “Ladies, please, control yourself. As I often do, I bring the people of this fair town novelties and befuddlements that the world has never known. But enough about me. Behold,” Stan walked away from the stand and towards the sheet covering his wax figure. “Me!” He shouted, pulling the sheet to reveal the wax figure.
I laughed as a couple of people clapped. “I figured no one was gonna be impressed,”
“And now a message from our own Mabelangelo,” Stan said, handing the microphone to her.
“It’s Mabel,” She said, taking the microphone and walking to the front of the stage. “Thank you all for being here. My own two hands made this sculpture! Plus, my best friend Y/N helped me, too! Stand and wave to the people, Y/N.”
I stood, waving awkwardly, not enjoying the attention. “Hello,” I said, before sitting back down.
“Yes! That’s my little sister!” Wendy cheered.
“The wax figure would’ve never gotten done without her,” Mabel said. “Anyway, this wax figure is covered in our blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids.”
“Ugh!”
“Ew!”
Mabel laughed, unbothered. “Yeah. I will now answer questions!” Several people raised their hands. “You there?” Mabel said, pointing at someone.
“Local kook, Old Man McGucket,” Old Man McGucket said, standing up. “Are the wax figures alive, and would I be able to survive the wax-man uprising?”
“Yes!” Mabel shouted. “Next question.”
“Toby Determined, Gravity Falls Gossiper,” Toby said. He had a copy of his newspaper in one hand and a turkey baster in the other. “Are you positive that this constitutes a wonder of the world?”
The only way I could describe Toby was that he looked like a goblin. Toby’s ears were bigger than his head; he had a large mustache and a big nose. He wore big square glasses that looked like they came from the 80s. He also wore an outfit that a reporter would have worn about a couple of decades ago. Lastly, he wore a hat with a piece of paper saying ‘hat’ written on it.
“Toby, your microphone is a turkey baster,” Stan said.
“It most certainly is,” Toby said, looking at the turkey baster, confused.
“Next question,” Stan said.
“Shandra Jimenez, a real reporter,” A beautiful woman said, standing up with a microphone in her hand. “Your fliers promised free pizza with admission. Is this true?”
Dipper and I exchanged uneasy looks as the crowd started complaining. I had offered to make the fliers, but Stan insisted on doing it himself. I wondered why he wanted to make them, since I usually do it, but now I know why.
“That was a typo,” Stan said. “Goodnight, everyone!”
Stan threw a smoke cloud, using the distraction to run off stage. He ran past us, grabbed the money, and ran inside. The crowd started yelling angrily as they left some kicked-down chairs. Dad, being over dramatic as always, even punched a wooden pole.
“That went well, I think,” Mabel said, walking up to us. “Hey, Y/N, do you want to spend the night?”
I shrugged. “Sure, why not. I’ll go home and get my stuff.”
Mabel nodded. “Alright, I’ll get everything ready!” She turned and ran inside the Mystery Shack.
“Do you want to come with me, Dipper?” I asked. “The walk will be a lot more fun with you around.”
“Sure, I’d love to!” Dipper happily said.
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Let’s go, then.”
Dipper nodded, and we started the walk home. Dipper and I chatted about whatever came to mind. In such a short time, Dipper had become such a critical person in my life. It feels like I’ve known him my whole life, instead of a couple of weeks. I can’t even remember what my life was like before. I’ve never felt this close with anyone in my life, not even Wendy. In that moment, I realized something. Dipper wasn’t just my best friend, but someone I was slowly falling in love with.