I Went to Jail There Once

"Hey, wanna hear a joke? Okay, here goes. My ex-wife still misses me...but her aim is gettin' better! ... Her aim is gettin' better! See, it's funny, 'cause marriage is horrible!"                                                                                                    Mystery Shack Owner, Ravenclaw Alumni

[zombiehunter-kim]

Migraine||Dale&Stan

[punchateenager]

vampirehunterdale:

Dale needed to get out of the castle. He had a headache, a migraine. He couldn’t stand to be in his room anymore. As much as he loved his roommates, they weren’t helping his headache, in fact, they were making it worse. He didn’t say a word as he got up and walked out of the room.

He walked his way towards the only secret passageway he knew about in the castle. It led him to Hogsmeade, and it was much easier to use that passageway than going through the front doors of the castle. He tapped the statue with his wand and it opened up for him.

“Lumos,” Dale whispered, lighting up the dark corridor. He knew the tunnel well, but he would never want to walk through it in the pitch black that it normally was. There were just too many obstacles that he had to find his way through.

It took Dale 10 minutes to find his way through the passage. He ended up where he normally did, near the Mystery Shack. He was always surprised how far the tunnel actually went, considering it never took more than 10 minutes to walk at average speed through it. Dale had always assumed it had something to do with the magic that surrounded Hogwarts.

He sat down against a tree, just wanting a break from the school before he decided to go back. He didn’t want to stray far from the tunnel.

Someone was on his property, they had triggered the charms he had set up for security purposes. It was probably just some dumb kid but he needed to see to be sure. If it wasn’t some dumb kid, if it was that Cipher boy...well he would need to deal with that with extreme prejudice. He wasn’t about to let that monster anywhere near the shack, or anywhere near his nice and nephew if he could help it.

Without bothering to put on a house coat he walked out the front door and cast a floating light spell. His tension faded as he saw that it was, in fact, just some dumb kid. “Ugh...” he groaned, “kid, you need to go back to school,” he recognized him as the weird vampire kid’s brother.

[punchateenager]

moira-wants-the-diamond:

“I thought we were done with all the ‘world burning’ nonsense. And no I’m not going to tell you where my money is, do you think I’m stupid?”

“I do but that’s beside the point.”

[punchateenager]

pedrarojas:

Why must I bury it?

The apocalypse is coming. Just trust me on this.

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

Is this why we never have money?  Are we burying all of it? Are we gonna have a treasure hunt!?  Grunkle Stan!  Do we have treasure maps!?!?!?!?

“No, maps would show the people I don’t want to find the gold where to get it. I keep it all up here,” he says, tapping his temple.

[punchateenager]

pedrarojas:

My gold?

Yeah.

[punchateenager]

adventure-carl:

What? 

[punchateenager]

feistypantsgryffindor:

“Um…Well, I…no?”

“Hmmm, well, you should get on that.”

[punchateenager]

moira-wants-the-diamond:

Why would I want to bury it? Then you can’t use it.

“You’ll understand when the world starts to burn. Trust me, it’s safer in the backyard than Gringots.”

[punchateenager]

[punchateenager]

talk-to-the-claws:

I’m aware that I can be quite the comedian however this time I don’t recall making a joke.

You sure? You said that funny word the sh, sh-ARE? is that how it’s pronounced? What does that even mean, sh-are, sounds like some nerd thing.”

[punchateenager]

talk-to-the-claws:

Whoa, hey there pal you’re gonna help a girl out and share that right?

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

“I’m not stupid.  I mean–I know what Dipper thinks, what everyone thinks.  I know Dipper’s the smart one and that I’m just–just goofy, or whatever.  I’m silly, yeah.  But I’m not stupid, Grunkle Stan.  I can be just as smart and as succesful as Dipper can!  I can go places and be me because I’m not stupid!”  Mabel froze briefly, catching herself before she said anything more.  In the back of her mind, she knew that Stan wasn’t saying she was stupid.  She knew he wasn’t accusing her of anything or of being any sort of way.  But, the words had sprung up before she could really stop them; they had been sitting inside her for so long that they just burst up at the first chance she gave them.  Despite everything else, that alone felt like a small weight of of her chest.  Because she wasn’t stupid–she was right.  She didn’t have to change herself to be any kind of way just because her brother didn’t believe in her, or because other people didn’t find her as charming as she thought she was.  Shifting in her seat, Mabel tucked her hair behind her ear and tucked those more liberating feelings back down deep inside.  She’d deal with them later.  

Instead, she reached over to place her hand over Stan’s, gripping it firmly in her own and looking at him very seriously.  “You’re not stupid, either.  I mean–you’re not.  It’s not stupid to act with your heart or to love more or anything, and you’re not–we’re not stupid.”  She gave her great-uncle’s hand a squeeze, but she averted her gaze down to her lap.  Did she really believe what she was saying?  Maybe, but not as much as she should have.  The more she talked, the more it sounded like she was just trying to justify it to herself.  “We’re not stupid, she repeated, “but I think that maybe we do stupid things, sometimes.  Really, really stupid things that we’ll regret for forever.”  Clenching her teeth and ignoring the tears she felt coming on, Mabel looked up at Stan for a quick second before pulling her hand away, twisting away from him to get her bag from the back seat.  “Grunkle Stan, I made a huge mistake, which is why Dipper’s–why Dipper’s in a bad place.  And why he’s so mad at me.  It’s my fault we’re fighting,” she explained while she went through her bag.

Finally, she felt her fingers brush the cover.  Slowly, Mabel fished it out of her bag and stared at it, taking a moment to just take it in before turning and offering it to Stan.  “I found this when Dipper and I moved in with you…  I thought it was just some dumb, jokey thing and so I gave it to Dipper, and–and everything’s gone downhill from there.  He’s like, so into it–that’s where we always go, and stuff.  To find all the dumb fake monsters in this book.  And I didn’t want to tell him it was a joke because he loved it so much and it’s just–Grunkle Stan, he was so happy.  But then at school he just–we were fighting and I got so mad and it just came out–like…like, I couldn’t stop myself.  And then Dipper got mad at me and we weren’t even talking because he ran away and–I don’t know where he went, Grunkle Stan, but he found something really bad there.  The–you know.  The thing in his head.  And I said sorry and we tried to make things better, but I don’t think we can.  I think he’s going to hate me for forever and it sucks.  But also, um–also, I think…I don’t know.  I don’t know what I think, nevermind.  But, I’m sorry we lied to you.  And that we didn’t tell you any of this and that things got so bad.  I’m really sorry.  And please don’t tell Dipper I told you. He already hates me enough, y’know?  And he’s my only brother, so…”

Stan took the journal from her, not roughly of course, but lacking any sort of hesitation. Holding it, he turned it over and over in his hands, taking in the familiar weight. His brother’s journal, one third of the key to finally getting him back. All the mistakes he had made, he could finally redeem himself from them. He looked at Mabel, “I’m really glad you showed me this,” he said, “some of these monsters in here would make great attractions...no, but really, this is some pretty dangerous stuff. It’s also my stuff.”

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

“Family, yeah…” Mabel offered a weak smile, turning to look out the window rather than continue the conversation.  Her stomach was twisting, and she felt sick.  Family was important.  Of course you trusted your family…  Yet, here she was, stolen journal tucked away in her bag because she couldn’t bring herself to trust Dipper.  Here she was, convinced that her brother hated her because she was a terrible sister and had messed up everything for the rest of forever.  Some family she was.  She bit her lip, feeling tears prick at her eyes and doing her best to ignore them.  She couldn’t cry right now–not in front of Stan, anyway.  Not while he was driving.  The last thing they needed was to crash and die or something.

It hadn’t really registered with her when they arrived, Mabel being too far gone in her own mind to realize that the car had stopped.  But, it had.  She swallowed hard, reaching over and placing a hand on her uncle’s arm before he could open the door.  “Grunkle Stan, um–what you were saying about family, earlier…  I just–I wanted to ask…I wanted to ask like, what…what do you do when…what if your family doesn’t like you?  What do you do when you’ve just–you’ve ruined everything?  And everything is bad and it’s all your fault….how do you fix that?”

His eyebrows knitted together briefly as his heart clenched violently at the question. He kept his face as neutral as possible, he was a gambling man and knew how to keep a solid poker face but there was something so disarming about Mabel. He saw so much of himself in her, in Dipper too but with Mabel it was as if she carried all of his good qualities and none of his bad ones and so it shocked him to hear that she was in such a similar situation to his own.

He sighed and gripped the steering wheel, the question had him thinking on Dipper and how much like Ford he was in his best qualities but like himself in his worst. The dynamic of traits made Stan want to keep his distance, made him want to avoid influencing him so much. Had he and his brothers places been reversed...he couldn’t say how he would have reacted in all honesty, just as he couldn’t say how Mabel would have reacted. Ultimately, despite having gone through so much, he just didn’t know anything any more. He didn’t know the kids and he didn’t even know himself.

“Mabel, sometimes...people just need time,” he said, “sometimes that time takes forever and you can’t...you can’t blame  yourself for that. It isn’t your fault if Dipper can’t pull his head out of his ass long enough to see that it’s better to be with than without you,” they were words he had always longed for someone to say to him. “We do the best we can, we’re not perfect, especially not us, we...we think with our hearts and we act with our hearts, you and I. People like us are stupid but no one loves more than people like us and that has always been more important.”

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

Mabel felt that stabbing again at Stan’s comment, so she let the subject change.  She didn’t want to lie to Stan, anymore.  She didn’t want to lie to anyone.  But if it was going to protect them, then it just couldn’t be avoided…even if it wasn’t really “protection” anymore.  “What made you want to go back?”

“Family did, I guess,” it was as much of the truth as he was prepared to give her. He couldn’t tell her that the first time it was because his father had kicked him out of the house and he definitely couldn’t tell her that the times previous had mostly been trips to find ways he might help his brother. “Nothing’s more important than family. I know a lot of people have it in their head that you can’t trust anyone...” like Ford, ford had it in his head and now it seemed that Dipper did as well. “...but you ave to trust your family, even if they keep secrets. Just...ugh, just try to remember that, kid.”

They finally reached Munich and were on their way to MacGucket’s house...or, what he used for a house. He pulled up to the junk yard....

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

She sat up straight, staring at Stan in mild disbelief.  “What, really?  How come you never mentioned it?  Never like, ‘hey kids, I’m going to Germany! Man the fort!’ or anything.  You don’t have to sneak, Grunkle Stan.  We all live together, we don’t keep secrets.”  She felt a small stab in her chest at that–apparently, they all kept quite a few secrets.  Too many, probably.  Now wasn’t the time to bring it up, though.  Mabel tried not to focus on that, giving a shaky smile in response to the musings about her and her brother growing up.  “Nope!  We’re basically grown now.  Bonafide junior adults.”  She paused, the achy sadness she’s brought upon herself simply spreading.  “But, we’ll always be your kids, so you can call us kids for forever.  Well, you know.  Not your kids, but–close enough.  You get what I mean.”  She was somber again as he mentioned his youth–or, vaguely referenced it.  Mabel herself had never asked about the family history, she’d never really cared for it.  The past was the past and she was all about the here and now.  Dipper was the one who’d always been more curious about that junk.  She stared at her uncle for a long, quiet minute, gauging him.  “None except you, huh?  Since you go back so much…”

“Everyone keeps secrets,” he said as they crossed the border into Germany, “not a soul out there who doesn’t. Don’t have to be a genius to know that there are things you two kids-” he paused, “junior adults,” he amended, “don’t tell me....” Trees blurred by them as they continued on their way, “after the war there weren’t many Pineses left and no one wanted to be in Germany, except recently me.”

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

At some point, the chatter had died off and the two of them were just quiet.  There was the occasional person noise, but mostly it was just rumbling of the car on the road, traffic noises, and radio stations in languages she recognized but couldn’t understand.  But, once the newness of everything had settled and it became more ‘mundane’, Mabel could feel her brain practically drip out her ears as it melted from boredom.  Occasionally it wandered towards her brother and her pets, but as soon as it did, she made a conscious decision to not think about that.  Stan’s question, sudden as it was, was a welcome change to the routine she’d settled into in that short time.  “Nu-uh.  Never.  Nowhere else in Europe, either.  Or, I dunno.  Maybe when we were babies, but nothing that I really remember.”  She shrugged, staring up at the roof.  “Have you ever been to Germany?  I mean–you know.  After you went to Britain.”

“Yes,” he said somberly, “a few times...quite frequently actually. Usually I manage to sneak out before either of you kids catch me.” He paused and sighed, shaking his head, “I’m not going to get to call you two that much longer...” he said. They had grown up so fast. He was sad to have missed them when they were younger. “When I was a lot younger than you are now, I used to live in Germany. Some things happened though. The Pines family never came back here.”

[punchateenager]

Up in the Air || Stan & Mabel

[punchateenager]

mysterytwin-mabel:

“That didn’t answer my question, but okay.”  She leaned back thoughtfully, pulling her feet up to the seat.  “Grunkle Stan, are you going to make me wait in the car the whole time?  ‘cause I didn’t sign up for carsitting.  I came along to watch your back and if you leave me in the car, I might just have to sneak in behind you and get in trouble along the way….”

He laughed, “Yeah, I knew better than to expect you to sit tight and do what you’re told. We shouldn’t be getting into anything too dangerous anyway...” They continued on as they were, driving through France and Belgium on their way to Germany. “Have you ever been to Germany?” he asked idly as they made their way through the border.