[God, are they really having this conversation? They're both in such huge trouble and maybe it's selfish that he feels happy Dipper's in the same boat so he's not stuck being the weird one here. Suffer with him, bro.]
I didn't even know you were hanging out with her. [He tilts his head, considering this for a moment.] The kind of easy where you don't have to think about what you're doing or worry that you're gonna say the wrong thing?
[ Misery loves company?? Except it's not quite misery. It's anticipation, it's a puzzle. Honestly, it's a mystery, too. ]
I only met her like...a week ago. [ Shoot, has it really only been that long? Well, it hadn't taken long for his feelings for Wendy to surface, and once he knew they were there...but he doesn't need any repeats of the Wendy Story. ] That's it exactly. I don't feel like I have to pretend to be something I'm not. I can just be myself. The last girl I liked was incredible, but I was always worried about what she thought of me and I spent way too much time trying to impress her.
[He takes all of that into consideration. It's definitely a new mystery to solve and hey, if he has a friend to help figure this stuff out that's even better. So he listens, thinking about what Dipper says up until about the point he starts talking about trying to impress a girl.
So he stops. And stares.
And proceeds to start laughing so hard he ends up burying his face in his arms on the table.]
[Eventually he shuts up enough, laughter dying into just mild giggling before he pulls himself together and sits up, lips twitching still as he forces himself to pay attention to the conversation again.]
Sorry. The idea of you trying super hard to impress anybody is actually hilarious when I remember that I met you under the name "Disco Girl." [But okay. So in this case...Dipper has more experience than he does? How did that happen?] So what happened with that girl anyway?
Except Dipper can't help but laugh a bit himself, because what has this conversation even become. How had they gone from Cerealian conspiracy theories to girl talk all in a matter of minutes?
He runs a hand down his face. ] Oh man, it was a total mess. She worked at the Mystery Shack with me and Mabel, and her name was Wendy. To make a long and tragic story short, I liked her, tried to impress her, she dated this other guy who was a jerk, they broke up, she sort of found of I liked her by accident, but she wasn't interested so she let me down gently.
[ There are. A lot of details missing from this account. But not because he wouldn't share them with Hiro - he's just not sure how much his friend would want to hear about his dumb Wendy-related hijinks. ]
[Is this what having actual friends is like? It's not so bad. It's not bad to get along with kids his age and pretend he's not super awkward for once in his life. So maybe they're going off-track with their conspiracy theories and note-taking to talk about girls...which is really maybe something he should tell Tadashi but this somehow is easier. So he leans back in his chair and listens, doodling in his notebook without really looking at it. It's muscle memory at this point.]
At least you guys are still friends. [Please tell him about the time you tried to clone yourself, Dipper. Or the time you tried to get a video game character to help beat the crap out of Robbie. Or the time you almost got yourself killed by a shapeshifter because you didn't want to tell Wendy you liked her.] Annnd at least you're one-up on me, but don't you dare tell anybody that. [He then thinks on what else Dipper's said, realizing something.] So. If Wendy was the last girl...Xion's the current one?
[ It isn't too bad, is it? Dipper didn't have Mabel to talk to, who would normally be his go-to for this kind of thing, but with Hiro, he has the benefit of someone who didn't know all the details of his personal history with girls, and also who wouldn't turn around and lock you in a closet with the girl in question until you confessed your feelings. It also didn't hurt that Hiro seemed to maybe be in a similar position as Dipper. He could commiserate. ]
...Yeah. [ Oh, god, he's admitted it out loud, to another human being. It's real now. ] It kind of...came on abruptly. Like throwing up. If throwing up was at all pleasant. [ Um. Moving on from this metaphor. ] I don't really know what to do about it, though. I mean, I know a loooooot about what not to do, but...
[ He leans forward with his elbows on the table, flipping his pen through his fingers. ] What are you going to do about Ruby?
[Dipper didn't have Mabel, and Hiro was wary of talking to Tadashi about it right now. Tadashi has so much going on and it's embarrassing and dumb and he doesn't have to worry about someone just making it more humiliating by being related to him. Commiserating with a friend. In public. This is 100% fine.
He lifts his eyebrows, both pleased and startled by the fact that Dipper admitted it. Brave little dude.] ...that's both accurate and disgusting. [His lip curls into a small grin but he can definitely understand the sentiment.] It's been a week. Might wanna find out what she thinks of you before you bother doing anything.
[Which is funny because Dipper asks that question and he doesn't have an answer.] Who said I was going to do anything about Ruby? [And there it is, too. Admitting it to another human...sort of. It's still sort of bypassing saying the words but it's just as good.]
[ Commiserating with a friend in public who is comparing liking a girl to throwing up. Yes, it is absolutely, undeniably fine. ]
...Okay, yeah, that's fair. Still nooooot really sure how to do that without like, you know. Asking her out and seeing what she says.
[ Which is not an option, obviously. Duh. Even if Wendy had appreciated when he was honest with her, it still ended with her turning him down. Not exactly the ideal outcome. Maybe it was just better to avoid the possibility of that outcome altogether and do nothing.
Then again, he's never been good at "do nothing". He doesn't think Hiro is, either. ] Look, I think we both know we're not really good at not doing things. [ You know what he means. ] It's better to have a plan going in.
...Though not too much of a plan. That can backfire.
Like I said, who said I was going to do anything about Ruby? [He seems fairly adamant about that, despite his own personal feelings on the matter. He gets what Dipper's saying though and he agrees. They're both bad at not doing anything and they're both big on plans.] Anyway, I'm not saying you should actually be blunt and ask her what she thinks of you but you can probably get a good idea just from spending time with her.
..and between you and me, I change plans a lot anyway. Kinda comes with the job of being a superhero. [There's a slight beat.] This is gonna sound weird, but if you need help coming up with a plan I can probably help. Outside party without a bias, you know? [And somehow he thinks that's what friends do. And if Dipper's happy and focused then he can keep his friend and they can continue to work on other problems, too. Everybody wins.]
[ Just spend time with her? Dipper had been doing that, and everything he'd gotten back from Xion had been...overwhelmingly positive. In an incredibly platonic way, of course. He knew she liked hanging out with him, but who's to say she's interested in anything beyond friendship?
...Geez, that's distressing to think about. The whole situation is distressing. He looks at Hiro, a little surprised. ] You really wouldn't mind helping me with this? If I, you know, determine I should even do anything.
[ If he can even manage that. ] Uh - that goes for you, too, by the way. If you decide to do anything about Ruby.
[Catatonic distress, friend. Absolute distress. Still, he tries to be casual about Dipper's surprise even if he can't help the way his lip quirks up a bit.] Sure. It's kind of an interesting challenge until we can figure out what's happening in the colony. Plus we're friends and I guess that means helping even with dumb stuff like this.
[It's not dumb. And he knows Dipper knows he doesn't believe it's dumb.] ...I appreciate that, but I don't know if I can ever do anything about Ruby other than wait it out and hope it goes away. Crushes do that, don't they? [Hiro are you confirming or are you asking...]
[ A nervous chuckle. ] Ha, right. I mean, it's basically another mystery to be solved, and we seem to get further when we work together on those, so...
[ Well. At least comparing liking a girl to an investigation is better than comparing it to throwing up? ]
Some of them do, I guess, but some just kind of drive you crazy until you do something stupid. Unless you take control of it first.
[ He almost sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Almost. But he knew well enough from his experience with Wendy that being direct was better than dealing with it in a roundabout way. ]
Think about it like this. If you ask her out and she turns you down, then you can get over it. But if you try to ignore it and it doesn't go away, then you go crazy.
Dude, I'm pretty sure I'm already crazy. [It's stated so matter-of-factly and he's not sure if it's meant to be a joke or if he actually believes part of that. There are a lot of things going on inside his head and though Ruby currently takes up a huge part of it, there are other things hanging him up and making him wonder.]
I'll think about it. The last thing I need is for her to worry about me even more by trying to let me down easy or whatever. [Ruby would be like that, he thinks. Awkward though she may be, she's still nice to most people.] ...you've got a point though. We definitely get further when we work together on mysteries. Doesn't that mean you're going to drive yourself kinda crazy with the Xion thing?
Better to let you down easy than drop you off a cliff, right? [ Dipper doesn't know Ruby very well, but even from their limited interaction he was pretty certain she would be the type to remain a friend even after an awkward, unreturned confession.
And who knows? Maybe it would be returned. That was kind of the whole point of trying, right?
It's all so straightforward, in theory. Of course, he knows from experience its anything but and Hiro calling him out is entirely justified. ]
...I don't know, man. I think I need to get to know her better before I do anything. Like...what if she's a werewolf, or a vampire, or gnomes, or something? [ Okay, these aren't really serious questions. Mostly. And it could be kind of cool if she ended up being one of those.
--do you run into those kind of monsters a lot or what? [Because what a conclusion to jump to. Maybe Dipper's not serious but Hiro knows he's mentioned monsters in Gravity Falls before so it's a logical leap. It also helps take the conversation off of himself and Ruby.]
[ It also helps take the conversation off Dipper and Xion, and it's not like Dipper doesn't love talking about all things paranormal. ]
Actually? I've never run into a werewolf or a vampire. No, instead I deal with manotaurs and dinosaurs and zombies that hate party music... [ That's barely even scratching the surface. ] Oh, and gnomes. I've dealt with gnomes more than enough.
Nope. Manotaurs. [ He was confused at first, too, Hiro. ] Manly minotaurs, basically. Like, the most testosterone-fueled group of monsters you can possible imagine.
So basically giant bulls with a ton of facial hair and really big muscles constantly pumping iron and eating beef jerky? [He makes a bit of a face, but he has to admit he's a little curious.] How'd you run into those guys?
That's pretty much it, though you missed fists for nipples. [ Yep, fists for nipples. This is the world Dipper comes from. ] I ran into one in the woods and he took me back to their "Man Cave". I actually spent a little time training with them.
[ An extremely watered-down version of "one smelled out my emotional issues and agreed to teach me how to be more manly". ]
Fists for...huh? [The mental image. The mental image oh god what.] ...I know you're totally serious about that but are you actually serious? What kind of a place is Gravity Falls?
That's what I've been trying to figure out all summer. My whole world isn't like that. It's just Gravity Falls. It's like a hub of weirdness. There's got to be some reason why that town in particular draws so much attention from the paranormal. Even the journal doesn't have that much in the way of theories.
[ At least, not the journal he has. He hadn't exactly had a chance to read the other two yet. ]
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cryptologic) wrote2009-09-09 09:39 pm
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...Yeah, she's exactly like that. Being around here is just so...easy. [ And is that a touch of dreamy-eyed fondness in his voice?
...He is in so much trouble. Or, as it is starting to seem, both of them are in so much trouble. ]
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I didn't even know you were hanging out with her. [He tilts his head, considering this for a moment.] The kind of easy where you don't have to think about what you're doing or worry that you're gonna say the wrong thing?
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I only met her like...a week ago. [ Shoot, has it really only been that long? Well, it hadn't taken long for his feelings for Wendy to surface, and once he knew they were there...but he doesn't need any repeats of the Wendy Story. ] That's it exactly. I don't feel like I have to pretend to be something I'm not. I can just be myself. The last girl I liked was incredible, but I was always worried about what she thought of me and I spent way too much time trying to impress her.
2/2
What the heck did he just say. ]
Ooooookay, you can totally forget I said that.
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So he stops. And stares.
And proceeds to start laughing so hard he ends up burying his face in his arms on the table.]
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Sorry. The idea of you trying super hard to impress anybody is actually hilarious when I remember that I met you under the name "Disco Girl." [But okay. So in this case...Dipper has more experience than he does? How did that happen?] So what happened with that girl anyway?
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Except Dipper can't help but laugh a bit himself, because what has this conversation even become. How had they gone from Cerealian conspiracy theories to girl talk all in a matter of minutes?
He runs a hand down his face. ] Oh man, it was a total mess. She worked at the Mystery Shack with me and Mabel, and her name was Wendy. To make a long and tragic story short, I liked her, tried to impress her, she dated this other guy who was a jerk, they broke up, she sort of found of I liked her by accident, but she wasn't interested so she let me down gently.
[ There are. A lot of details missing from this account. But not because he wouldn't share them with Hiro - he's just not sure how much his friend would want to hear about his dumb Wendy-related hijinks. ]
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At least you guys are still friends. [Please tell him about the time you tried to clone yourself, Dipper. Or the time you tried to get a video game character to help beat the crap out of Robbie. Or the time you almost got yourself killed by a shapeshifter because you didn't want to tell Wendy you liked her.] Annnd at least you're one-up on me, but don't you dare tell anybody that. [He then thinks on what else Dipper's said, realizing something.] So. If Wendy was the last girl...Xion's the current one?
[It's still amusing no matter how you cut it.]
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...Yeah. [ Oh, god, he's admitted it out loud, to another human being. It's real now. ] It kind of...came on abruptly. Like throwing up. If throwing up was at all pleasant. [ Um. Moving on from this metaphor. ] I don't really know what to do about it, though. I mean, I know a loooooot about what not to do, but...
[ He leans forward with his elbows on the table, flipping his pen through his fingers. ] What are you going to do about Ruby?
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He lifts his eyebrows, both pleased and startled by the fact that Dipper admitted it. Brave little dude.] ...that's both accurate and disgusting. [His lip curls into a small grin but he can definitely understand the sentiment.] It's been a week. Might wanna find out what she thinks of you before you bother doing anything.
[Which is funny because Dipper asks that question and he doesn't have an answer.] Who said I was going to do anything about Ruby? [And there it is, too. Admitting it to another human...sort of. It's still sort of bypassing saying the words but it's just as good.]
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...Okay, yeah, that's fair. Still nooooot really sure how to do that without like, you know. Asking her out and seeing what she says.
[ Which is not an option, obviously. Duh. Even if Wendy had appreciated when he was honest with her, it still ended with her turning him down. Not exactly the ideal outcome. Maybe it was just better to avoid the possibility of that outcome altogether and do nothing.
Then again, he's never been good at "do nothing". He doesn't think Hiro is, either. ] Look, I think we both know we're not really good at not doing things. [ You know what he means. ] It's better to have a plan going in.
...Though not too much of a plan. That can backfire.
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..and between you and me, I change plans a lot anyway. Kinda comes with the job of being a superhero. [There's a slight beat.] This is gonna sound weird, but if you need help coming up with a plan I can probably help. Outside party without a bias, you know? [And somehow he thinks that's what friends do. And if Dipper's happy and focused then he can keep his friend and they can continue to work on other problems, too. Everybody wins.]
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...Geez, that's distressing to think about. The whole situation is distressing. He looks at Hiro, a little surprised. ] You really wouldn't mind helping me with this? If I, you know, determine I should even do anything.
[ If he can even manage that. ] Uh - that goes for you, too, by the way. If you decide to do anything about Ruby.
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[It's not dumb. And he knows Dipper knows he doesn't believe it's dumb.] ...I appreciate that, but I don't know if I can ever do anything about Ruby other than wait it out and hope it goes away. Crushes do that, don't they? [Hiro are you confirming or are you asking...]
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[ Well. At least comparing liking a girl to an investigation is better than comparing it to throwing up? ]
Some of them do, I guess, but some just kind of drive you crazy until you do something stupid. Unless you take control of it first.
[ He almost sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Almost. But he knew well enough from his experience with Wendy that being direct was better than dealing with it in a roundabout way. ]
Think about it like this. If you ask her out and she turns you down, then you can get over it. But if you try to ignore it and it doesn't go away, then you go crazy.
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I'll think about it. The last thing I need is for her to worry about me even more by trying to let me down easy or whatever. [Ruby would be like that, he thinks. Awkward though she may be, she's still nice to most people.] ...you've got a point though. We definitely get further when we work together on mysteries. Doesn't that mean you're going to drive yourself kinda crazy with the Xion thing?
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And who knows? Maybe it would be returned. That was kind of the whole point of trying, right?
It's all so straightforward, in theory. Of course, he knows from experience its anything but and Hiro calling him out is entirely justified. ]
...I don't know, man. I think I need to get to know her better before I do anything. Like...what if she's a werewolf, or a vampire, or gnomes, or something? [ Okay, these aren't really serious questions. Mostly. And it could be kind of cool if she ended up being one of those.
Well, except for the gnomes. ]
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Actually? I've never run into a werewolf or a vampire. No, instead I deal with manotaurs and dinosaurs and zombies that hate party music... [ That's barely even scratching the surface. ] Oh, and gnomes. I've dealt with gnomes more than enough.
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[ An extremely watered-down version of "one smelled out my emotional issues and agreed to teach me how to be more manly". ]
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[ At least, not the journal he has. He hadn't exactly had a chance to read the other two yet. ]
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