Chapter Text
Soft muted light filtered in to a small room housing its two occupants upon a single mattress lying on the floor. One of said occupants lazily opened their eyes and squinted at the window. They rose up from the bed slowly as not to disturb their counterpart on the mattress who still slept soundly in wake of the morning sun rising signally them to their daily jobs.
The two occupants happened to be a set of twins named Mabel and Dipper Pines, Dipper being the, regrettably, awake twin and Mabel the sleeping one.
Dipper however was quiet use to this by now and looked out the said small window that had allowed the dreadful sun disturb his peacefully dreams. They lived in a small seaside town cradled in the rocky waters off of New England. The small town of Gravity Falls relied on the shipbuilding and fishing industry to stay afloat having to compete with the more major cities of the area. Their port was always filled however but mostly by smugglers trying to bring in tax free merchandise into the country while avoiding the heavy thumb of the English Crown.
Dipper sighed as he looked over at his sister deciding to give her another five minutes. Her job was much easier since she had become friends with her boss Lady Pacifica Northwest. The Northwest family owned most of the town if not all of it. Every in Gravity Falls knew not to cross the Lord of the land or least just sign a ticket to go to a debtor’s prison for the rest of their natural born lives.
Pacifica however had taken a liking to Mabel and thus in turn had to take a liking to Dipper. The two were rarely seen from each other’s sides. They had learned to only rely on one another in the past eighteen years. The parent had passed in a small outbreak of river fever and their only living relatives being their Great Uncle Stan and Ford, who were out making a name for themselves. (Thus being known as smuggling)
Dipper realized the only way to make it in life was being born into riches. All other paths seemed lead to heartache and an empty stomach. Mabel on the other hand still had hope that their Uncles would come back and take them to the manor they always promised with grand tales of their adventures around the world. Dipper loved her too much to burst her bubble but it was starting to get ridiculous with the all nighters at the beach with a small sign saying ‘Welcome Back You Owe Us 8 Birthday Gifts!’
As he dressed for work at the docks Dipper noticed outside his window a new ship entering the port.
A very gaudy ship with sails of bright golden yellow.
Must be some noble coming to claim taxes in name of the ‘Crown’ like they really needed any more than they had sucked out of the poor colonist. (The English were a touchy subject for anyone who was not English.)
Mabel stretched and sat up smacking her lips and yawing. She looked at Dipper and smiled already ready to face the day (which for her would probably consist of helping Pacifica pick a new fabric for a winter dress or parasol that came into fashion in Paris for the Season. God forbid she was even a week behind in all the latest of Ton trends. Dipper really didn’t get the whole thing with fashion, if it didn’t fall apart while wearing it was still ready the day in his book much to both Mabel and Pacifica’s utmost horror.)
She jumped up and began brushing her hair and then tied it into a long braid and proceeded to dress in her uniform that all maids wore at the Northwest Manor. After both twins were dressed they walked downstairs to have a light breakfast of day old bread with preserves they had packaged from the spring harvest of their two peach and apple trees. They parted ways at the door and head off before the church bell could toll for school for the young children in the town.
Dipper made his way down to the docks to get to the small shop owned by the Corduroy family that sold building materials and were a small shipbuilding company that paid a small fee to the Northwest family to be allowed to run a business in their town. Dipper liked his boss well enough but he didn’t like the consist manhandling he received by all the sons and father.
Wendy the daughter of his boss had sprung a fast friendship with the young Pines and at one point been his first crush but his hopes were dashed when she married a British Officer. They had two lovely daughters one two and the other just shy of two months. Lovely girls all around.
Dipper noticed a bright yellow in the corner of his eyes. He turned and found the gaudy yellow sails from earlier (and the ship that they were connected to equally gaudy with dark ebony wood, gold detailing and what appeared to be bullet holes?) was docked in front of the shop.
He sighed and made his way inside greeting the youngest of the Corduroy sons just shy of 13 who was cleaning the front parlor but in reality was just staring at the yellow monstrosity outside while sweeping the same spot over and over. Dipper put up his old wool jacket and tattered cap in a supply closet.
He walked to the front door and flipped the sign to open then walked back behind the counter to get the record books and appointment books for the shop ready for their first costumer who would be arriving in two hours to check on the wood they had ordered for a small rowboat they wanted made for their son.
At the sound of at the doorbell jingling as someone entered the shop had Dipper raise his head to greet a new costumer. Thou this costumer was a bit… strange.
The man at the door had bronze kissed skin with sun bleached blonde hair. He possessed a lean figure but by no means was he lanky. He wore fitted trousers and a loose white cotton shirt. Over his ensemble he wore a plain black jacket matching his black leather boots. He had his left eye bandaged haphazardly as if he couldn’t be bothered with his injury. His one visible eye was a golden yellow (truly! Gold weird right? Maybe it was common where this man came from) that glinted with mirth matched with a wide grin to complement.
The man walked toward the counter and leaned onto the wood with one arm and rested his head in his hand still grinning like an idiot to Dipper.
For a split second Dipper considered poking the man’s good eye with his quill to get him to back off.
He resisted the urge and gave a small cautious smile to the guest. “Hello, Welcome to the Corduroy Shipping and lumber needs shop. How may I be of service today?”
The stranger pulled out a small pouch and settle it on the counter “I’ll need be needing several loads of lumber for some repairs to be made to the decking of my ship as well as needing to find a shop to refill supplies for a long trip to the Caribbean thou I wouldn’t mind a night of your company” the bronze stranger finished with a wink at the young clerk.
Dipper flushed a bright red at the assumption of the other man “Excuse you Mr…”
“Cipher, Bill Cipher”
“Cipher I will have you know I do not appreciate your advance upon me and if you would like to continue business with us I would strongly advise you to cease and desist” Dipper finished in a huff.
“Alright just the lumber and supplies then … but I will come back and see about that night Pine tree” the strang- Bill said as he leaned back with a laugh. His voice was a weird mix but strangely charming thou the man’s manners needed quite a bit of fixing.
Dipper filled his request in the log book and gave the price. After receiving payment the man left. Dipper was putting away the coins when he notice a folded piece of parchment. He unfolded it and found a small note
‘Meet me after the last toll of the church bell underneath the dock on the beach’
This was accompanied by a small crude drawing of an eye with an X marked threw it.
Dipper sighed but his curiosity was peeked.
Next time he’ll just leave the sign on closed.