STICKS AND BONES INBOX

[charlastan]

"Hi! You've reached Stan Pines' computer phone box thing or whatever. Leave me a message and maybe if I care enough about what you've got to say I'll actually get back to you. I probably don't, but hey! Test your luck! (Followed by obnoxious laughter until the BEEP)"

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[Early September]

[ghostharasser]

[It's been a pretty eventful day! Magic items were reaking havoc on the Grove. Some people who had been lost in the forest came back (some didn't), and Dipper's uncles just turned up out of the blue. It was probably only a matter of time before the rest of the Pines converged, but ...]

[Well. Dipper didn't want to get his hopes up just to be let down in the off chance the universe wanted to screw him over. It wouldn't have been that unexpected, considering. But no, both of them are here now, almost like a late birthday gift from that very universe.]

[He'll fucking take it. Once they've more or less settled for the night, Dipper found some adjacent rooms close to his and then ran off to the cafe to grab some snacks. He knocks on Stan's door, more as a warning than anything, pushing it open just a tad-]

Grunkle Stan?

[He'd just enter, but he'd rather die than walk in on his uncle naked by accident, thanks.]

[charlastan]

[A wise decision, really. No one wants to see that.

Thankfully, he's not naked. When Dipper first peeks in he'll see Stan with his back to the door, looking over something near his dresser. It's hard to get a good view of what he's doing exactly, and it's only a moment before he hears Dipper and turns around. His hand brushes by one of his pockets on the way, but it seems he's not holding anything anymore.

He hasn't exactly done a bunch of decorating, but he's still tossed his pirate hat on a bed post and placed the Mabel Tea Pot on the stovetop. Sure, they know it's not actually Mabel now, but Stan has always secretly been a crusty, half-burnt, sentimental marshmallow at heart. Of course it was put on display immediately.]

Hey Dipper. What's all this? Room service?

[Stan will gladly take free food any day of the week, especially if it's snacks. He waves Dipper in!]

[ghostharasser]

[Dipper only catches that because he knows Stan well enough to know he might have been doing some slight of hand. He doesn’t say anything though. Its fine, probably Stan was lifting some tangerines or something.]

These? Nah, thought I’d bring the crusty old man I know some crusty old cookies.

[They are not crusty, they in fact look really damn good.]

Are, um. Are you settling in okay?

[charlastan]

[He does like to shoplift the occasional tangerine, so it's a pretty fair assumption. He doesn't offer any kind of explanation for it though and assumes Dipper just didn't see.]

Ha! Being old and crusty has its perks now and then.

[He takes one and doesn't hesitate to take a bite of it, giving Dipper a thumbs-up before he even finishes it.]

Not bad, kid! And uh, yeah, yeah, I'm alright. The whole new world thing gets weirdly old after you do it a couple times? And there wasn't a blood apocalypse and we didn't wash up naked on the beach so, y'know. Solid six outta ten landing!

[Something seems to hit him on the second bite of the cookie though, and he slows to a pause.]

...Wait. Wait a minute. Is this weird with the cookie people around?

[He raises an eyebrow at the cookie in his hand (that he again, has already bitten into) as though he half expects it to start talking and maybe screaming. It better not.]

Taped to the fridge October 3rd

[ghostharasser]

October 16th or something probably. Right after Ghosts

[ghostharasser]

[Sure has been an October. Sure does continue to be an October.]

[It's much later in the night, like early, early morning. Pines being up at this hour isn't super weird since Dipper is all but nocturnal anyway, but it's late enough that even he should be sleeping. The house is weirdly still.]


[Something scratches at Stan's door.]

[charlastan]

[It's almost a relief to know he was right about October - not that he wanted any of this shitshow to happen of course, but it means he wasn't just being paranoid for no reason. It really was more dangerous than the month before it, and he was right to insist on boarding up the place. Despite that, they survived the manor raid. Stan destroyed Dipper's portrait in a blaze and freed his soul or whatever, and they made it back to the Shack in one piece before the night was even over. Stan felt himself relax for the first time in almost two weeks.

...So of course, he can't sleep. He should be beat with how much he used his cold blood, and he is, but he's been laying down for a while now and nothing's happening.

There's a scratching at his door, and Stan's pretty sure he knows who it is. There aren't a ton of options and it's a little too loud to be one of the porcupinecones.
He could pretend to be asleep, but...eh, the little guy would probably know. Might as well.

Stan pushes himself up off the bed and gets the door, fully expecting to see Alcaid there. If it's not Alcaid or another family member, he's going to be really ticked off that something got inside.]

--Don't you ever sleep?

[It's not sincere, no matter how grumpy he sounds about it. If he's getting a house call from Dipper's omen, it's probably for a reason.]

[ghostharasser]

S̶͇̰̘͍͋̏̽̏̌̄̅́͘̚c̸̡̡̧͈̩̟͍̱̜̆͛̈́ͅr̸̡̧̨̢̡̮̝̘̝̻͖̈͐́̈̂̋̅͗̚e̷̡̯̜͔̙̻̠̖̞̞̟̞̯͓͉͑̆̓̌̍̔ḙ̷̛̜̖̟́́̾̽͂̈́̚̚é̸̢̫̠̤͙̖̔̂̾́̏̂̀̓͘͜ͅͅė̸̠͇̯̥̝̪̫̱̝͎͓̹̒̑̊̀̈́̀̍̈̊͐̀̚͘̚

[No, of course they don't sleep. Have you met your nephew? Anyway, speaking of him, Alcaid flutters up in a puff of smoke to Stan's shoulder.]

[You should come check on him.]

[charlastan]

Alright, alright, I'm comin'--

[Stan lets Alcaid settle on his shoulder, and then heads upstairs to the attic. It's still weird how similar this house is to the Shack, but now's not really the time to get stuck on that. Alcaid came and got him, so something must be wrong.

He knocks on the door and then pops it open about an inch, not quite coming in just yet.]

Dipper? ...You up?

[DREAMING]

[sticksandbonesmods]

It must be an ordinary winter, right? Stan is out, fetching firewood. He's stopped by the general store for groceries from Heimr, eyed the Trader's tent a little, said hey to some folks as he passed by- so it must be just an ordinary day.

... Except as he approaches the house, there's smoke.

(There's the buzz of distant screams, flickering in and out of his mind.)

As he races forward, firewood and groceries forgotten, it's much too late. The house is in flames, and there's no sign of life but the smell of burnt flesh permeates the air. Some of the flame begins to flicker blue.

Something childish giggles.

"You can't save them, this time. Not from me. But you'll join them, don't worry~."




Stan awakens.

[charlastan]

Stan jolts awake, gasping for air, eyes unusually bright in the dark.

There's a flickering blue glow to things for a moment or two while he comes down from the nightmare, slowly remembering where he is. The house isn't on fire, he's warm in bed, he wasn't even out getting firewood. He's...

He's fine.

He isn't sure exactly how long it takes, but eventually he swings his legs over the side of the bed. He rubs at his eyes before reaching for his glasses, and that seems to fix whatever was going on with his vision (which he's decided, of course, is nothing. Nothing was going on with it). It'll be a while before he feels like sleeping again, but that's alright. He's alright.

He's just going to systematically check every single fireplace and woodstove in the entire house. Very normal 3AM behavior, obviously.

[ghostharasser]

Hey. Hey, do you know what's weird? That insane chill Dipper got in his sleep that woke him up faster than Mabel shoving his hand in a bucket of slime.

Alarm bells are blaring in his head like something crossed an electric fence and breached some kind of metaphysical containment. It's disorienting, and it takes him a few minutes to hone in on what exactly might have done that. Something crossed too close to one of his dream bubbles. Something grazed his little anti-nightmare zone and whatever it was, it was bad enough to wake him up.

So, in a panic, Dipper heads down the stairs to look for his uncles. He finds Ford in bed, but Stan is missing. His pace picks up as he reaches the bottom floor.

"Grunkle Stan? Are you down here?"

[charlastan]

Tackling this from the bottom up makes sense in his sleepy head. That way he gets to see the whole house first, see that it's not a pile of ash and bones. Then he can check a little more calmly, and keep himself from waking everyone else up.

Ford's lab is first, even though there's no reason for that one to be on if Ford's asleep. The kitchen is another quick check for the same reason - there's no reason for a stove to be left on or anything. The fireplace in the first floor bedroom is good for heating the middle of the house, but at this time of night the fire has gone out. He feels a little like he's going fucking insane here, but he can't actually feel warm or cold so he sticks his hand in the ashes a little and moves them around to see if there are any residual embers still burning.

He's staring at the small fire still burning in the family room, one hand still covered in soot. It doesn't seem like a particularly dangerous one - it's well contained and starting to die down, but he can't make himself throw another log on it right now. It's a cold night though, so he doesn't feel right putting it out either. He can't feel cold, but the rest of his family can.

He spaces on that thought a little, and then it finally hits him that Dipper's calling for him. Or called for him? Whatever, it's just hitting his brain now so after a minor delay he answers.

"Huh? Yeah, uh. ...Over here. Just checking on the fire."

[cryptograms]

[ it's quiet when Ford comes upstairs.

Not that being quiet is impossible in the Pines house, but he emerges just a couple hours after dawn, right about when there should be some bustle and noise in the kitchen from Stan or Dipper (or both) making breakfast, and perhaps even some of their acquaintances come to join them. There's usually chatter or the sound of some activity or something to indicate he's not alone in the house.

He doesn't see an immediate cause for alarm (aside from the complete lack of cause for any emotion whatsoever), so he's wary but not yet nervous as he starts to wander the house. ]

Stanley? Dipper?

[charlastan]

[Nothing answers Ford, at first. Just an empty house in cold weather, no one in sight.

Stan isn't sure how long he's been sitting on the front porch, debating if he should follow Dipper's tracks in the snow. The sun came up behind clouds and he barely noticed. His head's been in his hands, though sometimes he stares at the Pines family compass to reassure himself that Dipper probably went back to the inn. It's pointing that way anyway. There's forest all around them though, so what the fuck does he know? It wouldn't be the first time he'd screwed up tonight.

Hot and cold don't mean anything to him anymore, but the outdoor air feels good in his lungs, in and out. Then something finally slips through the haze and Stan startles. How long has Ford been calling him?!

He can't let Ford know he's been sitting out here like a sad sack, obviously. So he presses his good ear against the door and listens, trying to suss out where in the house Ford is. He can sort of hear walking around this door, so he gets up and bolts around the corner to the door that leads into what must have been a workshop for his past self - the gift shop, in a different world. Thankfully since it isn't a business there's no bell on the door, and he shuts it as quietly as he can behind him.

After brushing the snow off himself and ruffling his own hair to give it a little more bedhead, he makes his way through the living room to the foyer with a big, dramatic yawn.]

Morning, Ford! I was just gonna make some breakfast! You want any?

[He sure just got here and wasn't anywhere else, obviously!]

[cryptograms]

[ Where is everyone? He's just about to call up Castor to do some searching for him, and then someone is behind him.

Ford yelps and whirls, one hand reaching to whip aside his coat and the other jerking towards his holster. But each one only moves a few centimeters before his brain catches up with his reflexes, and he jerks to a stop just as abruptly. ]

Stanley?! How did--

[ He heaves out a sigh, which dissolves into a laugh. There's no way he could have missed Stan in the workshop, but he's thoroughly familiar with the layout of his own house. It doesn't take long for him to settle on what he considers the most likely situation. ]

You startled me. I didn't think to check outside this early.

Right before half the Grove tries to fight God

[ghostharasser]

[Dipper isn't going. There's a lot of good reasons why he isn't. It definitely sounds like a suicide mission and he's not interested in something unless he's at least a little sure they might come out on top. Even the Portal Disaster in Deerington had some optimism about its success. This? This does not.]

[But a lot of people he knows and cares about are going anyway, and he's really anxious about it. He also hates staying still and doing nothing, so when Gnosis makes his off handed comment about looking after Zonari, Dipper zones right in on it. It's a task, it's something he can do, and it could be important.]

[After all who knows what Zonari might do when she figures out they're trying to off her creator. Fighting her last time hadn't exactly been a walk in the park and a lot of the Grove's heavy hitters are leaving. Yes, this seems important and it could be a little risky with the plan he has in mind. But luckily that is the difference between him and what the rest are doing. He has a plan.]

[And he isn't going to just leave without saying anything to his uncles. Her tracks Stan down first since ...well. Things have been a little odd lately. He wants to be sure he talks this over with him first. He's not anticipating a lot of resistance from Ford.]

[He comes down to the kitchen dressed like he's planning to go out. Notably, he's got the Azure Pine holstered on his belt.]

...Hey, Grunkle Stan? Are you busy?

[charlastan]

[Odd is definitely a word for it. Stan's been soldiering on though and acting like nothing weird happened at all between them (which of course only serves to make it all feel weirder). And of course, Stan has no intention of joining in on this stupid mission half the Grove is going on - it feels like a death trap, because it is! They don't even have a plan!

That being said, Stan's clearly been a little bored today. He's tired, first of all, but he's been tired all month. For some reason he's had to work even harder to make his flames stay lit. He's still immune to cold at least, but sometimes the fires just stop burning for no damn reason and it actually takes effort to keep them lit. What he really wants is a nap, but he's pulling a Ford-or-Dipper and making some coffee.

Also in the kitchen for once is Pollux. She's decided she needs to hang around a little more often since something is clearly Not Right that no one wants to talk about. Right now, she's working on a nest right in the middle of the kitchen table, out of assorted stuff from around the house. Twigs from outside, scraps of paper, a shoelace, some of Stan's hair - it's a work of art.

Stan looks up at Dipper over the rim of his coffee mug and raises an eyebrow at him.]

No, but you look like you are. What's up?

[ghostharasser]

[Oh. That's where his pile of busted pens went. That solves that mystery.]


[Anyway, right down to business. He notes that Pollux is out and about and that Stan's drinking coffee outside of the Cafe.]

I'm going to head out.

[But not with the group. They should have already headed off. Where ever they're going it's outside the Grove somewhere, he thinks.]

Gnosis had a good point about keeping an eye on Zonari, so I'm going to head over and see if I can keep her from figuring out what's going on.

after PV's return as APV

[poaceae]

[ Fern has been looking for Stan! Of course, he hasn't been looking very hard. He does know where the guy lives. But he doesn't want to risk Dipper walking in on them and... making things awkward, he guesses? So he's mostly just been keeping an eye out.

But it worked! Because they're both here, by the river! ]

Hey, Stan! Uh, hi.

[charlastan]

[Every time Stan goes looking for Free Money at the river, all he can think about is how much easier his life would have been if he could have paid for everything with seashells. Then it gets into sort of delusional fantasy territory with him and Ford running New Jersey like mob kings dealing with shells like they're wads of cash and bars of gold, so he's not really paying a ton of attention when Fern approaches.

There's a squawk above both of them that snaps him back to attention, and he turns to see Fern! It's good to see the kid out and about and presumably not wallowing in guilt and misery. If Fern looks up, he'll see a smoky-looking seagull hanging out in the tree branches above them.]

Oh, hey Fern! You out here picking up a quick buck or two?

[Probably, right? There's a lot of reasons to swing by the river.]

[poaceae]

Yeah! Well, mostly.

[ It's a little weird, still. Stan seems actually happy to see Fern, despite everything. It almost makes it seem like things might actually be sort of okay. He steps closer so they can talk more comfortably, and waves at the seagull. ]

Hey, guy.

[ozmosis]

[ The Pines house is something of an activity center in the Grove, the family's various acquaintances showing up with various degrees of warning. The odd thing is not that there's an unannounced visitor this afternoon.

The odd thing is that this visitor knocks.

When (or rather, if) Stan comes to the door, Oscar will be there to green him with a small wave and a polite: ]

Excuse me. I'm looking for a Stan Pines...?

[charlastan]

[It's pretty much always going to be something weird if someone's actually knocking, so Stan sighs and gets up and gets it. Might as well rip the band-aid off and see what the hell's going on now.]

Yeah? And who's lookin--

[He starts talking before it registers who's there though, and it actually catches him off guard.]

--Oscar? When did you get here?

[If he's been here for months like Fern was, Stan's going to be so pissed off. Why's he always the last one to know everything??]

[ozmosis]

[ Oscar's not really sure who he's expecting to answer the door, but Stan isn't quite it. He can definitely see a little bit of family resemblance between Stan and Dipper, but Stan looks more like his grandfather than his uncle.

Still, he's not about to be rude! Obviously Stan recognizes him, but Oscar lifts a hand to forestall any further comments, eager to clear up the semi-misunderstanding. ]

Yes, but not the one from Trench.

[ As for how he knows that, and knows Stan, and even knows that it's something he needs to clarify, he holds up the journal. ]

I already met Dipper. He explained some things for me.