Chapter Text
“...Gravity Falls?”
You truly didn’t mean to voice that thought of yours out loud. Despite there being no one else in the car, your ears nevertheless darkened with blush. In fact— it was because you were alone talking to yourself that you felt a twinge of embarrassment in your gut. The countless hours spent on your own behind the wheel were clearly getting to you and there was no point in arguing otherwise.
As for why you spending so much time on the road…well, you wished you could say it wasn't by choice, but that wouldn't be entirely true.
You visited your family in Oregon twice a year at most: once during the winter holidays and if you weren't drowning in other more pressing obligations, once during the summer and every time you visited, you'd arrive by plane. However, when summer reared its ugly head this year, you— for whatever reason— decided to change things up and travel by car. Okay— once again, you weren't being 100% truthful. At the time of you hatching and carrying out this plan, you did have your reasons. You didn't live across the country, so it's not like a road trip was totally impossible or out of the question. The fact that you only lived a state over was actually your family's favorite topic of discussion based on how often they brought it up. It truly didn't matter what you said as the smallest things would trigger an all too familiar conversation.
Complain about your time spent dealing with TSA? Well, you wouldn't have to deal with them if you simply lived here in Oregon instead.
Caught stressing over your job? There's actually quite a few local businesses looking for new employees and any of them would be lucky to have you on their team.
Dare to even comment on the lackluster dating scene of your town? Oh! It's funny you mention that— your mother recently and conveniently met the sweetest and most handsome young man while out at the store and was this close to giving him your number.
That last incident still made you shudder to this day.
What were you thinking about again?
Oh right— why you decided to take your chances out on the road instead of in the sky.
Truthfully…you just needed a break from air travel. Sure, flying took considerably less time when compared to driving, which had its own host of downsides, but it was becoming too much. Your experiences on airplanes were so god awful, you wouldn't be surprised if it gave you some sort of screwed up Pavlovian response where the mere idea of visiting your family (which required a plane trip) had you feeling sick to your stomach and in turn, ruined your overall mood for the rest of your time spent with family. Their constant badgering for you to move states didn't help, but maybe changing your mode of transportation would.
Once you got past the annoying drivers, constant bathroom and snack pit stops and occasional moments of feeling trapped (turned out you much preferred feeling trapped in your car alone as opposed to feeling trapped between two strangers thousands of feet in the sky), it was actually kinda…nice. You quite enjoyed traveling at your own pace in your own private little bubble, taking in all the different sights up close and personal. The novelty of seeing cities and miles of dense forests from a bird eye's view had worn out for you a long long time ago and when you're in the sky, it didn't feel like you were truly traveling; you'd be in one place, get on a plane, fall asleep for a few hours, waste more time reading or staring out the window and then you'd land somewhere else. But when you were on the road, it felt like a real journey, a journey that picked right back up when it was time to return home.
A journey that took an unexpected turn when you decided to take a different route home and spotted a sign for a town you had never heard of in your entire life: Gravity Falls.
Since you weren't in any rush to return home and were admittedly a tad lost in thought, you soon found yourself heading right in the direction of this mystery town.
Two large mountains acted as a sort of grand gateway for an otherwise textbook small, quaint town and when looking up, you were surprised to see train tracks in between the rocky formations. You were further surprised when you also spotted a massive waterfall and lake to your left off in the distance. What a gorgeous location. How come you had never heard of it before today? How had your parents neglected to bring up the existence of such a place to you? For being such proud residents of the state, you'd figure they'd be eager to talk about the shockingly scenic Gravity Falls and how it's perfect for sightseeing. The place was so green too with tall pine trees as far as the eye could see, making the town seem even more nestled away and hidden from the rest of the world, not just Oregon. With a growing smile, you rolled down your window and inhaled deeply. It's not like you were breathing in pure smog until now, but the air felt especially crisp here. See? There are upsides to stepping out of your comfort zone! If you had taken a plane to and from like you always did, you would've been back home by now, but you also wouldn't have discovered this hidden gem so to speak. So take that past you who had doubts about this whole road trip thing!
You were so enchanted by your surroundings that you almost completely missed how low you were on fuel. After spending an extra less than scenic minute driving around town, frantically looking for a gas station, you had to make do with a hardware store and just pray to whoever or whatever was out there that they sold gas cans. Thankfully for you, they did and your previous panicked worries of being stranded dissipated in thin, crisp air. It helped that the man working at the cash register was comically kind to you and even offered to fill your car up for you. Even though a part of you wanted to accept his offer, your fears of being a potential bother to this stranger won over and you were left slowly and carefully funneling fuel into your car. If anyone happened to be watching, they'd probably assume you were in the middle of defusing a bomb or something with just how cautious you were being. It's not like your car would explode if you accidentally spilled the tiniest drop of gas…but what if you dropped a cigarette and—? But you don't smoke in the first place, so…but what if after you drove away, someone else parked here and dropped a cigarette and—?
Okay, what were you even doing?
Once you figured you had put in enough gas, you screwed the top back onto the can, placed it down onto the ground and leaned against your car with a heavy sigh.
Breathe, girl, breathe. You're not at your parents' place anymore. You're not being asked a million and one questions about your job and when you're gonna get a boyfriend. You're not surrounded by screaming nieces, nephews and little cousins. You're not thousands of feet in the sky or barreling down the highway. You're in a cute little town and taking a much needed break from the rest of the world. Stop worrying so much and just—
Your inner thoughts were interrupted by the sound of your stomach growling.
Oh…right…it has been a hot minute since you last had a proper meal, hasn't it? Maybe that's why you're currently acting like an antsy prey animal.
You hoisted the gas can into the trunk of your car and were about to return behind the wheel when another idea began to form in your mind.
This place didn't seem all that big and you'd been stuck behind the wheel for long enough…would it really hurt to stretch your legs a bit?
Making note of where the hardware store was located and the notable buildings nearby, you began your search for the perfect place to eat.
You were sticking to your guns about Gravity Falls being an equal parts adorable and beautiful town, but a new descriptor soon entered the equation: deeply weird.
Not weird in any sort of upsetting or uncomfortable way, just…weird.
You got the impression that they didn't get a lot of people visiting from out of town or they found tourists interesting, for whatever reason. While exploring the town, you caught sight of multiple different people looking your way— and we're not talking quick glances to be expected when you're sharing a sidewalk with someone or when you notice movement in front of you or whatever. Some were full on staring at you, but you never sensed any sort of hostility in their eyes. It wasn't as if you weren't welcome here— quite the opposite, really. A few of them approached you, all smiles and cheerful tones, asking if you just stopped by today and if you were planning on staying for any amount of extra time. You by no means saw yourself as an introvert, but their forwardness was definitely testing your social limits. When the fourth local introduced themselves to you, you finally had some sense to ask if the town had any good restaurants. They pointed you in the direction of a place called Greasy's Diner, excitably describing the food as "actually edible." That sounded…promising?
When you did eventually find the establishment, you didn't go in right away and instead spent…probably too much time looking up at it. It was certainly…different that most diners you've been to. It was shaped like a giant log and sat on top of a stationary train car. Below the large sign sporting the diner's name was a smaller one that had quite the declaration written on it: "WE HAVE FOOD." Well, according to your stomach growling at the prospect of being fed, that was good enough for you.
The sound of a lone bell ringing above your head signaled your arrival to everyone else inside and you tried to tell yourself that it was a perfectly natural reaction for people to turn and acknowledge whenever a new person entered a room, but your face still felt a degree or two hotter when it happened. With a sheepishly friendly smile, you ducked your head down and walked to the nearest empty booth and sat down. Hopefully it's cool for parties of one to sit at a booth because you really didn't want to sit at the counter and draw further attention to yourself. Once the irrational anxieties that came along with simply entering a local business as a non-local subsided for the most part, you were able to better appreciate the diner's…atmosphere? Sure, let's call it that. You had to give Greasy's one thing, at least: it smelled incredible inside. Since it was only an hour or so away from noon, plenty of people were still eating breakfast, so the combined scent of pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns and coffee was heavenly to the senses and you even caught a whiff of a few early lunches being had. If their food tasted as good as it smelled, you feel like "actually edible" was an understatement.
Not even five minutes after you sat down and began reading through the menu, a waitress— an older woman— approached your booth, notepad and pencil in hand.
"Hiya, hun!" she greeted you with a smile. "What can I getcha today?"
"Oh— um, hi there!" you smiled back. "I'm still deciding whether I'm in the mood for a late breakfast or an early lunch…or a really early dinner."
You didn't think your attempt at a joke was all that successful, but the waitress clearly thought differently judging by her amused chortling.
"You're a hoot, kid, y'know that?"
"Can't say I've been called a hoot many times in my life…or at all, really." you said, chuckling a little. "I would like some coffee to drink though and— uh—" you peered down at the menu then back up at her. "Actually, is there anything you'd recommend?"
You blinked in surprise when she reached over and plucked the menu from your hands to get a good look at it herself. She tucked her notepad and pencil away in her apron, using her now free hand to manually open her lazy left eye, a trait of hers that you were previously trying not to acknowledge as to not be rude. You watched as she scanned all of the different choices, humming thoughtfully the whole time. After a solid minute of this, she let go of her eyelid and pointed to one of the options.
"Well, since I've never seen you here before, that must mean you're from out of town! Which means you've never tried our famous pancakes!"
You picked up what she was putting down. "Ergo, I should go with the pancakes?"
"Oh! Good choice! I was gonna recommend our burgers, but our pancakes are pretty dang good too! And I dunno who this Igor fella is, but my name is Susan!"
You were so caught off guard, you didn't have the chance to give her your name as well before she walked away from your booth and handed your order over to the kitchen.
Guess you were going with a late breakfast.
Susan came back a few minutes later to pour you a cup of coffee and as you sipped on it and waited for your food, you partook in a little bit of people watching. The diner was decently crowded, so there was no shortage of subjects to pick from…which sounded more weirdly clinical than you meant it to sound. You were just interested in learning more about the types of people that lived here, that's all. The highlights included a burly lumberjack absolutely going to town on a massive stack of pancakes, a teen girl texting on her phone with one hand and eating a slice of pizza with her other (she was so focused on her phone, the pizza missed her mouth more than once) and a short, bespectacled gentleman sitting at the counter, kicking his feet and writing who knows what in a notepad as he drank what must've been five cups of coffee. Again— nothing too crazy, just…more evidence of the town's quirkiness. The smell of fresh pancakes intensified and your impatient stomach growled yet again.
"Either you're secretly a bear or that was your stomach!"
Oh! That scent was coming from your pancakes— the ones Susan just placed in front of you! And wow, just totally calling you out, huh?
Embarrassed, you chuckled and fiddled with your knife and fork.
"Oh wow, I must be hungrier than I thought if other people can hear that. But thank you very much. I can't wait to dig in."
The stack wasn't nearly as big as the lumberjack's, but it was nothing to scoff at either: five hot, surprisingly thick and fluffy pancakes, topped with butter and drizzled with a generous amount of maple syrup. It was comical the way you licked your lips and quickly began cutting into the stack like you hadn't eaten in days as opposed to hours. You didn't even take a spare second to blow on the forkful of warm fluffy goodness before eating, risking the very real possibility of burning the roof of your mouth. No burns for you though! Only satisfied taste buds. These really did deserve to be called "famous" and you suspected the only reason why they weren't referred to as "world famous" was because…well…how much of the world's population were even aware that Gravity Falls existed, much less their pancakes? As much as you wanted to continue shoveling piece after piece into your piehole at light speed, you needed to savor the deliciousness. It wasn't every day that you came across a breakfast like this. Honestly— that lumberjack was justified in his eating technique.
About halfway through your late breakfast, the bell above the entrance rang and a small, but talkative group of customers filed into the booth in front of you. Even though it wasn't obvious at first, you felt it in your now well-fed gut that they were fellow tourists. This suspicion of yours was quickly confirmed once they began talking about all the interesting places and things they found while exploring the town. You swear you weren't trying to eavesdrop, but how could you not when they were talking so clearly right in front of you?
"—And what about that Mystery Shack place?" one of them excitably interjected.
Most of them responded with chuckles before one of the girls offered a jokingly dismissive "Yeah? What about it?"
"I honestly thought it was pretty neat!"
More chuckles.
"What? You guys don't think so?"
"I mean— it was pretty corny, don'tcha think? Like…don't tell me you actually believed even like— half of that old guy's stories."
From where he was sitting, you could see the man shrug.
"Who knows, y'know? Is it really so crazy to think there could be stuff out there that's gone mostly unseen or— or undiscovered by the public?"
"Oh brother—"
"So, giants? Fairies? Griffins?"
"Sascrotch—" another girl joined in with a snicker.
"Yeah yeah, sascrotch! You think those are all real?"
"Well, I dunno about that one, but—"
"How about that 'pterodactyl' he had, huh?"
"Okay, but pterodactyls were like— actually real once!"
"Yeah, but do you think the one he had was real?"
"That's not fair— th— that one was obviously meant as just, like, a general model of what one looks like!"
"Uh huh, sure…whatever you say, man."
"I bet if that guy told you the word 'gullible' was on the ceiling, you'd be all like 'woah, is it really? That's so cool! Is there a souvenir of that I could buy?'"
The whole table erupted into laughter (minus the believer they were teasing, of course) and sure, you found the whole exchange highly amusing, but also…it made you quite curious to learn more about this so-called "Mystery Shack." Even though you weren't the type to strike up a conversation with perfect strangers out of the blue, something compelled you to speak up.
"Um…excuse me?"
You tried your best to steel your nerves when the group turned to face you, a few of them still chuckling and giggling from all their teasing. At least they didn't look all that annoyed at being interrupted.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Sorry, I don't mean to bother you guys, it's just— I actually just came into town as well and I heard you mention a place called the 'Mystery Shack'?"
They nodded.
"I was just wondering if you could tell me where I could find it."
"Oh— yeah, no problem. At the entrance of town, just turn right at the bridge, follow the path and there it is! Y'can't miss it."
"Yeah, even if you wanted to." the believer's friend snickered.
Ignoring the comment, you smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
They returned to their conversation and you returned to your pancakes. The butter on top had fully melted by this point and cascaded down the stack alongside the syrup. You ate a little slower than before, thoughts of all things mythical and otherworldly bouncing around in your skull.