Evergreen Chapter 2
Link to ao3/chapter 1: HERE
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines Characters: Bill Cipher, Dipper Pines, Wendy Corduroy, Mabel Pines, Original Characters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Past Character Death, Dipper died in Weirdmageddon, Mabel believes his soul is in a tree growing over his grave, BillDip, Triangle Bill Cipher, sixty years after weirdmageddon
Six months later, the tree died entirely. The needles had all fallen off, leaving the tree barren and lifeless. The town had tried everything to keep it alive, but nothing seemed to work. There were no bugs eating the tree, no diseases, and it was definitely getting enough water—but it still died. There was nothing he could do.
And there was nothing Bill could do either. He would never admit he’d tried to save it. He’d never say he’d used his powers on small parts of the tree to restore it—and more than anything he’d never admit it didn’t work.
In the end, nothing did. The tree was dead. The Corduroys informed the town that if left, the tree might fall onto the mystery shack and hurt someone—but still no one asked them to cut it down. They didn’t want to either, so no one did. The family just pretended that they didn’t know about the hazard, or that it wasn’t as bad as it actually was.
One of the few people that had lived through Weirdmageddon that didn’t seem too upset about the tree’s death was Wendy. And if shewas upset, she never showed it. Instead her face was constantly lit up with the biggest of smiles as she helped her daughter take care of the newest little addition to the Corduroy family. Wendy was a grandma now.
And in the twenty years that followed the tree’s death, Mabel never returned to Gravity Falls. A new generation grew up among the town, and hardly any of them knew why the dead tree still hadn’t been cut down. And if they were informed, no one believed Weirdmageddon had actually happened. If there wasn’t a weird yellow triangle sitting in the tree, no one would even think there was the possibility it could be true. And even that turned into just another joke. An apparent decoration that the mystery shack put up to draw in customers.
“Hey! Rise and shine Roderick, today’s a new day and the sun’s come out to greet ya’.” June Corduroy, Wendy’s daughter and Roderick’s mother, pulled open the curtains in Roderick’s bedroom. Light flooded into the small room and he groaned, pulling his blanket over his head. It had to be six am. Maybe five, judging by how tired he felt.
“Roddy, time to be productive! I get that it’s summer vacation, but you can’t be sleeping all day. I made pancakes, so come downstairs quickly or they’ll get cold. Besides, Grandma Wendy’s coming over today. Do you really think she’d appreciate you still being in bed when she shows up?”
Roderick muttered something into his pillow along the lines of his grandmother wouldn’t give a damn, hell she’d probably give him an extra blanket. His mom scoffed, but she couldn’t really deny that. She stood by her son for a second, bending down to pull the covers off of his face.
“Maybe so, but it’s noon. Get up, Roddy.” She then left the room, making sure that all the lights were turned on so that he couldn’t get back to sleep. He sighed as soon as she was gone, and blearily looked up at the much too bright room. Noon, huh? His earlier predictions had been way off.
On the one hand, he could just stay in bed, go back to sleep… but if Grandma Wendy was coming over, he might as well get up. He hadn’t seen her since he got back to Gravity Falls. Considering the last time he’d been back was around Christmas, he couldn’t deny that he was excited to see her again.
He and his grandmother had always been close. She’d taught him to swing an axe, and was there when he chopped down his first tree (sure, it was barely a sapling, but it definitely still counted, right?)
He tossed off the covers, standing up and stretching. Summer vacation. His first year of college was over, and finally he was back with his huge family. Not that he cared about the latter all too much. Through the sheer vastness of how many people were in his family, he hardly ever got to get close to a single one of his relatives other than immediate family. Well, excluding Grandma Wendy of course. That was different.
He turned off the lights in his room and then proceeded to go down the stairs.
He started to list off the relatives he had in his head. Well, he had three cousins on his mom's side, five on his dad's, grandparents and great aunts and uncles galore, and so many second and third cousins that he couldn't even count them all.
Oh god, he hoped he wouldn't have to meet with them all this summer. He'd much rather just sit around and read, keep to himself. Or just hang out with Prince, someone he hadn’t seen in over three months now. As he walked down the old wooden stairs of his small house, he tried to fix his greasy red hair so that it looked somewhat decent. He hadn't showered since he'd gotten back three days ago- he probably should get to that soon.
"Oh, good afternoon Roderick." His dad sat back in his chair, reading the news off of his cell phone, "Finally decided to show up?" Kyle was a stark contrast to the rest of his family. Blonde hair, glasses, he'd never lifted a log in his life. As a matter of fact, he was actually a lawyer. Technology spent its time in his grasp instead of the axes the rest of the Corduroy family carried.
"G'morning," Roderick replied, sitting down at the table across from him. His dad set down his phone and smiled.
"Let me guess, your mom promised you breakfast was ready, right?"
Roderick tilted his head slightly, but then nodded.
June was standing by the fridge, eating a pancake off of her plate, and then said with her mouth half-full, "I never said I made more than enough for me. But it sure got you up, right Roddy?"
Roderick groaned, staring at him mom incredulously. He stood up from the table, the chair grating against the floor. "There any pancake mix left?"
"Nope, we just ran out. We have cereal though."
"...Thanks mom."
June just chortled as her son went to pour himself some milk. He should have expected something like this- she'd always tended to joke around like this when he lived at home. He supposed he'd forgotten some of his mother's habits over the year he'd been gone.
He smiled slightly to himself, and grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard, pouring it into the milk, and then sat down across from his dad once more.
"Roderick, have you washed your hair since you got back?" His father noted, glancing over at him.
"What?" He gulped, "Yeah, yeah of course. What, you think I don't know how to take care of myself?"
"Mm, sure. Maybe just wash it again then." His father shook his head slightly, and Roderick sighed, eating another spoonful of the cereal before his father could comment on any other physical discrepancies he could notice.
"You should probably get it cut. It's gotten much too long over the year-"
"It looks fine, dad."
"How are you ever going to get anywhere in life if you look like you just crawled out of a dumpster?" His dad replied, "The way you look directly reflects how people view you. If you don't care how you look, then how are people supposed to expect you to care about anything else?"
"Kyle!" June said sharply, "That's enough, he just got back-"
"Get dressed after you're done eating. Your grandmother's coming over soon and-"
"Okay I get it!" Roderick stood up, taking his cereal with him, "I'm going upstairs."
"Roderick-"
"Good to be back." He said with a sigh, and then climbed back upstairs, cradling the bowl of cereal to his chest. Every damn time. Why couldn't he have a single moment with his dad without him commenting on appearances?
Roderick finished off his cereal sitting at his desk. He could definitely say he hadn’t missed eating with his family. He turned on his laptop as well, glancing over the files he still had open from the week before when he was still in his dormitory. Most of it was just study notes, but there were also the other files. Research on the town. For one of his history courses he was supposed to do a report on the history of a town. Gravity Falls was definitely his first choice for the assignment.
He smiled. Sure, he hadn’t gotten that great a mark on it since all he’d focused on were the myths about the place, but it had been worth it. He couldn’t help but want to learn more about this strange place… there was something here that people just didn’t know about. And today, after greeting his grandma, he was planning on heading out to the shack like he’d promised Prince he would. They’d been messaging one another for ages about the assignment, and from what Roderick could assume, Prince was eager to hear more about the myths and such that Roderick had uncovered.
In fact, he was hoping that with Prince’s help—he was working in the Mystery Shack after all—they’d be able to find proof it was all real. That, and… The commute from his college back to Gravity Falls was always a long one, so they hardly got to see each other throughout the year. He’d missed him. Roderick proceeded to scroll through his files, reading them as he finished his cereal.
Twelve YouTube videos and one hour later, the doorbell rang, indicating his grandmother had arrived. He blinked in surprise, glancing at the time and muttering a curse under his breath. He jumped to his feet, pulling off his pyjamas and throwing on the first clothes he could find off of the floor, those being old blue jeans and a purple sweater. He zipped it up over his bare chest, not bothering to find anything to put on underneath, and then rushed downstairs.
His grandmother was sitting in her wheelchair, a wide grin on her face, and June had just bent down to hug her. Over June's shoulder, Wendy spotted Roderick and winked. He grinned as well.
"Hey Grandma!"
"Roderick! Come here, gimme' a hug!" She called back as June pulled away, and Roderick immediately went to bend down and hug his grandmother. She smelled familiar, like freshly cut wood and... more than anything she just smelled like home. She squeezed him tightly, and when he pulled away, she took his hand.
"How were your exams?"
"Oh, I totally failed. Bombed all of them. I'll probably be expelled they were so bad."
“That good, huh?”
"They were so easy."
She laughed, "That's my boy!" She let her hand drop back down to her side, and she just looked at him softly. Her gaze drifted to his arms.
"You're still fit enough to cut down a tree, right?"
"Hm? Of course. I went to the gym... every now and then."
"You're so skinny—this summer, you are eating. A lot. Got that? We are going to feed you until you can't eat anymore."
"...Great."
"You bet it's great." She chuckled, wheeling herself towards the fridge. She opened it and pulled out a can of soda for herself, and opened it. She wheeled towards the table, where Kyle was still on his phone.
“Hey Kyle.”
He put down the phone, and gave her a wide smile, “Wendy! Hey, how are you?”
“You—” She pointed a finger at him, “Are going to make sure that Roderick eats this summer. Got that?”
“Sure, of course.” Kyle smiled at her, and then checked his watch, very obviously looking for a way out of speaking with his mother-in-law, “Oh look at the time, I have a meeting with a potential client. I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to get going.” He stood up from the table, and when he’d walked past her, Wendy rolled her eyes at Roderick, earning a chuckle.
Kyle gathered up his coat and kissed June on the cheek, “I’ll be home in time for dinner.”
“Yeah you will, cause you’re buying something from Greasy’s and bringing it back.” June replied with a smirk.
“What? June, really, we eat there every other—”
“Greasy’s, or no dinner at all.” She poked his arm, “Now get going, don’t want to keep your client waiting, right?”
He smiled at her, and then at Roderick, “And you take a shower. I don’t want to see that greasy mop of hair when I get back.”
Wendy glanced over at her grandson, who had leaned against the wall, looking annoyed, “Yeah. Got it.”
Kyle then opened the door, and just like that, left. Roderick sighed as soon as he was gone, running a hand through his hair. He felt like not washing it out of spite towards his dad, but that wouldn’t be helpful to anyone.
Wendy looked at him thoughtfully, “Hmm, how’s about you and I go for a walk? Poor choice of words on my part, but you up for it?”
“Oh, sure. Mom, do you need me for anything…?”
“No, go have fun with your grandma.” June smiled, “But tomorrow, you are doing some work around this house, got that, Roddy?”
“Got it.” Roderick grinned and then moved to hold the door open for his grandmother, who wheeled herself out, going down the handicap ramp that had been installed by the house. Roderick followed her, waving to his mom as he left.
“So… Roderick.”
“Yeah?”
“How long have you not taken a shower?” She said, a smirk playing at her lips.
Roderick groaned, “Uhh… four days?”
“Nice.” The two exchanged a look, and then laughed. She leaned back in her chair, and Roderick took that as a cue to begin pushing her chair so she wouldn’t have to exert herself. Sure, she’d argue that she was perfectly capable, and maybe she was, but Roderick was sure she appreciated the help.
She smiled, “I’ve missed you, Roderick.”
“Missed you too, Grandma.”
They spoke for some time then, catching up on different things that had happened throughout the year that they hadn’t had the chance to speak about over the phone. And eventually, they found themselves near the mystery shack. As always, Wendy looked at it with a sad look in her eyes, and she sighed deeply, glancing back up at Roderick.
He however, was staring straight at the dead pine tree. As always, he wondered why anyone hadn’t cut it down. It was partly rotting, dry, and overall just ugly at this point. Weirdly enough, this tree was one thing there was no definite story about. There were a million myths about the town, about this tree, but they were all inconsistent. His train of thought ended abruptly when he spotted Prince sitting on the porch of the shack. The man’s black hair was drawn back into a short ponytail, and more than one strand lay loose on his tan face. He glanced up at Roderick, and his deep brown eyes lit up.
“Roderick!” Prince waved, a stupid grin on his face.
He waved back, and then glanced at his grandmother, who just chortled.
“Go on, I’ll see you later for dinner.” He smiled gratefully at her and then walked towards Prince. The latter stood up off of the porch, then practically sprinted towards Roderick, tackling him in a hug. Wendy looked over at them.
“And this would probably be a good moment to sneak off…” She grinned, wheeling her chair backwards and Prince looked up at her sheepishly.
“S-sorry, Ms. Corduroy.” Wendy just rolled her eyes, turning around back to the path that she and Roderick had come from.
Roderick laughed, sitting up and pushing Prince lightly off of him, only to have the other hug him again, pushing him back to the ground.
“Agh, you’re crushing me—” Roderick replied, “Like geez, when are you gonna get over me?”
“I am.” Prince grinned, “Literally. Over you.”
“Oh my god.”
Prince laughed, and then kissed him. It had been so long—Roderick melted into it and when Prince finally drew back, it seemed like they’d never been apart. Prince sat up and helped Roderick into a sitting position as well. He tilted his head, looking at him curiously for a second before speaking up.
“Um, when’s the last time you took a shower?”