[closed]

[gobblewonked]

Who: The Pines clan and the McGucket clan
What: A big old family dinner mingle log.
When: The night of Dipper and Mabel's arrival
Where: The Goldenrod City junkyard

Well, it's not the Northwest Mansion, but it's home.

The old train car Fiddleford's chosen to make his home is a marked improvement on his junk-heap lean-to: much less drafty, much more structurally sound. With Jean around, it's also gotten tidier: there are still wrenches and welding masks and jugs of god-knows-what, but they're up on shelves above the seats or tied in bindles or stacked in boxes. A sheet-metal table has been installed between a set of four train seats that face one another: an old wooden stool has been pulled up to the end to provide a fifth seat. The cooking is generally done outdoors: there is an open firepit made of a metal drum, but also, McGucket has hooked up a stove that's powered by a tiny glowing reactor to the outside of the car. It's got an awning over it for bad weather, and it doubles as a heat source in the winter.

There's a door in the back of the train car, and past it is sleeping quarters: it's not a sleeper car, just a normal one, but there's blankets and pillows aplenty and the seats are small enough to curl up on if you're really good at curling.

Dinner is omletes with a side of beans, and there is plenty of coffee (and hot chocolate for the kids) and dessert is day-old pastries Jean brought home. The Ribombeeshine doesn't come out at dinner, but there's nonalcoholic apricorn cider to supplement the coffee.

After dinner, when the scraps have been fed to Eren and Buddy the Trubbishes, McGucket will get a fire going in that trashcan pit. Fixings for s'mores are gonna come out, and possibly the honeyshine on request, and once it's properly dark and the stars are out, McGucket's going to get his banjo. No arguments.

Comments

Mingle!

[starry_forehead]

As someone who has seen the last dump McGucket used to live in.....yeah this is better. Still a bit strange and he's on the look out for any raccoons but eh. He's seen worse.

Feel free to run into Dipper

a. looking around the place with Crafty his Phantump. Oh hey glowing reactor...must investigate.

b. eating some food while trying to look through his gear at the same time.

c. sitting around the fire and silently hoping Mabel won't make them sing.

[d. locked to sister. Okay a lot has happened and he promised they'd talk about it. He goes to find her with two cups of hot chocolate.]

Hey....uh Mabel. Do you want to talk now?

b!

[notvaljean]

So clearly these kids come from a world where technology is more advanced than Jean's, considering the way Dipper is pouring over that gear. It reminds Jean of a certain other nerd he knows, and he approaches, taking the seat next to Dipper.

"Pretty cool, huh? Which ones have caught your eye?"

Besides all of them, which is how Jean felt when he first got here.

[starry_forehead]

"Um...like all of them!"

He's super excited at the moment putting the food aside to move the gear better. He knows it's the guy who doesn't like his Grunkle that much but he's close enough to McGucket that Dipper will just leave that for Ford to deal with. unless insults happen Anyway, excited preteen.

"I used to hunt for monsters back home in Gravity Falls where almost no one believed me that they even existed...but this place...just like hands one to you and tells you to go find more! The first thing I'm doing is getting a journal so I can write all this stuff down."

D~

[maybeitsmabelline]

[Mabel was enjoying the junkyard. A lot. The train car was all sorts of amazing, Jean was pretty great and all in all she felt a lot better now about everything.

Except that one thing. That one thing that Dipper was on her wavelength about.

Perched on an old tire, Mabel nodded, scooting over to make room for him.]

Yeah..we probably should, huh?

[starry_forehead]

Yeah....um here...

[He passes her a cup of hot chocolate as he sits down.]

It's ....kinda hard to know what to ..talk about. So....um....what do you want to know?

Specifications in comments, in roughly chronological order!

[gobblewonked]

A: Meet the Pokemon! Open to anyone, but attn: Mabel Pines

Skitterin' skitties, I nearly forgot! I toldja I was gonna show you my Pokemons!

[He reaches into his beard and starts digging around, and then pulls out a Pokeball.]

B: Dinner, OTA

I hope you fellers like omelets! Here, have some more beans!

[He will refill everyone's plate, always, at any moment. Nobody is leaving this train car hungry.

Speaking of which, Buddy the Trubbish is peeking hopefully around one of the seats a little further down the train car. He's not begging, totally, he's just watching, right?]

C: S'mores and songs!

[McGucket is seated in one of two rocking chairs. Now that the fire's a-goin', he's tuning his banjo contentedly, warming up the playing fingers.]

Jean here sings and plays the ukelilly! I bet if you ask him nice-like, he'll play somethin' for you!

D: After the campfire, open to Jean and/or Ford

[For just about the whole night, Fiddleford is pleased as punch: he's so happy to be having what can only be called quality time with his guests. He's gregarious, excitable, happy, and the wackiness in his manner isn't the affected craziness he's been putting on, it's just genuine McGucket. After the kids have left or gone to bed, though, he can be found outside the train car, sitting by the dying fire, gazing at it quietly. He's picking out notes on his banjo, but very softly -- it's hard to hear from more than a few feet away.]

A

[starry_forehead]

Oh, I want to see them!

[Runs over as well. Because more pokemon is always awesome. Crafty drifts behind him. Curious too.]

JUMPS IN HERE TOO

[maybeitsmabelline]

Pokemon time! Let's see what you've got, McGucket!

[Mabel is already bouncing on her toes in preparation for this show and tell session, her Espurr cradled in her arms looking very confused about life, the universe and everything.]

D

[meteorman]

[Okay. Okay, Ford. You can do this. Fiddleford has been saner than he's ever been today, and maybe that means now is the time to start trying to bridge the gap between them in earnest. Maybe it means Fiddleford is ready to let him get close enough to try.

He walks over to the fire but doesn't yet actually sit down.]

Mind if I join you?

[gobblewonked]

[Ah. Yes, this...this should probably happen.

McGucket pats the scrubby, dirty grass that is the only thing that manages to grow around here, and even it is few and far between.]

Go on, pull up a patch of dirt. There's plenty to go around.

c!

[notvaljean]

Fiddleford!

[Said in a loud, despairing stage whisper!]

I'm not any good!

[Okay, he can sing nicely, and does when Fiddleford plays his banjo, but Jean is not doing his shitty ukulele playing in front of new people!]

[gobblewonked]

[McGucket cackles.]

Go on, go on, show 'em what you got! Here, I'll play along with you!

MINGGLLEE

[maybeitsmabelline]

[A.]

[Mabel didn't hesitate to explore the entirety of the train car, only pausing for a few minutes to introduce herself to Jean before darting off to see what all McGucket had created. Not only was there the train car itself to explore but there's also the dump so really she could be lost for hours if left unchecked--

Or at least until she finds a Pokemon.]

You are a mess, you know that, Tabby?

[Seated by the unlit firepit, Mabel is currently busy trying to peel garbage off a really, really gross looking Meowth.

Someone please make sure she washes her hands before dinner.]

[B.]

[DID SOMEBODY SAY S'MORES?!

Sleeves pushed up to her elbows and tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, Mabel is meticulously crafting a double decker s'mores sandwich for herself and some smaller ones for her Pokemon. Her four Pokemon because somehow she's acquired not only her Minior and Skitty but an Espurr and a Meowth as well. Hopefully all of this stuff is Pokemon safe~]

[C.]

[A little later in the night, after getting in on the singing action once McGucket breaks his banjo out, Mabel will disappear to hide out in that mass of pillows and blankets. She's not tired but there's still a lot weighing on her mind and if the way her sweater is pulled over her knees is any indication she's close to just trying to disappear for a little bit.

Her trio of cat-like Pokemon are curled up beside her while Little Dipper hovers quietly over her, glowing softly in a comforting manner as Mabel rests her head on top of her knees, lost in thought.]

A

[notvaljean]

[That's gross, Mabel. That is one gross trash cat.]

[Fortunately, Eren the Trubbish is not a discerning Pokemon, and comes waddling up beside her, giving her his most charming grin and highly pitched Trubbiiiiiiiish! You're not going to just throw away that delicious trash, are you? He can take it off your hands!]

[Literally, he'll lick it off her hands if she allows it.]

[maybeitsmabelline]

[Someone else might be a little perturbed by the idea of you licking their hands clean, Eren.

Good thing this is Mabel!

She looks at the Trubbish, having paused in pulling a banana peel off the Meowth who has gone limp in defeat, mewing weakly at the other other. Mabel grins a second later and holds the apparently delicious treat out.]

Want it, buddy? You know, you're made of trash so isn't it weird for you to eat it? [That doesn't stop her from handing that peel right over to Eren though!]

B

[meteorman]

You have impeccable craftsmanship.

[Double-decker s'mores? That's revolutionary. Holy shit.]

[maybeitsmabelline]

[Mabel grins, pausing in her building to look up at Ford.]

Snacks are my specialty! Why settle for ordinary when you can have extraordinary?

[She throws her arms wide as she says it, unaware that Hambone the Espurr is already trying to eat the marshmallow off one of the small s'mores.]

Want one? I can make plenty!

C, if you're good with it!

[gobblewonked]

[McGucket has an eye on everyone at his party. He knows that Mabel's crawled off. And he knows that there's something going on with timelines and memories and other stuff he doesn't rightly understand. But he does understand a little bit of how it feels to not be able to remember things when other people around you do, and it doesn't feel great.

So, he does a disappearing act himself. He waddles into the sleeping-car, his bare feet making a quiet rustling noise, and he sits down in the blankets next to Mabel.

He's got a can in his hands, wrapped in a tea towel. He holds it out to Mabel -- it's full of apricorn cider he's heated up.]

I broughtcha somethin'.

Mingling

[notvaljean]

Jean is keeping in the background for most of this dinner. He'll keep the coffee/hot chocolate and the omelets flowing, but will let the little family spend time together without his interference. He knows he's something of the outsider here, so he's content to let them catch up while also being friendly to anyone who approaches him.

He can be found:

a.) making coffee/hot chocolate, and he'll even make special requests if you ask nicely enough this means you, Ford

b.) hanging out around the campfire, being befuddled by these s'more fixings. These go together somehow, but he can't quite figure it out.

c.) sitting near the bonfire once the stars are out, accompanied by Blitz the Electrode, and carefully, quietly picking at his ukulele. He's not very good.

A

[maybeitsmabelline]

"Jean!" It's a hissed whisper as Mabel pokes her head around some junk, double checking to make sure no one's around before she runs over to him. "I need your help with something it's really important but we just got here and I don't know where I can get stuff so I need help from someone that's been here for awhile because McGucket's birthday was not that long ago and he didn't have a birthday cake!!"

Do you see how distressed she looks over this Jean? She's extremely distressed right now and she clasps her hands together in a pleading manner, giving him a big smile.

"You'll help me find everything and make him a cake won't you?"

RIZOWC

[meteorman]

Today has been... a lot. Up, and then down, and then up again, and even Mabel not remembering him can't really dampen Ford's good spirits when it gets right down to it. That just means he has a second chance to make a good impression. He can be found:

A. At Dinner.

If he thinks the omelette and bean combo is odd, he doesn't say anything about it. He's been in enough situations where he's glad to have any food at all that it doesn't occur to him to be picky (if he's annoyed about anything it's that he can't just subsist off pills anymore, but there's something to be said for good cooking. It balances out). His Sableye is crouching on his shoulder like the horrible goblin she is and occasionally he stops eating to reach into a pocket and pull out a plastic gemstone for her to devour. It's her dinnertime too!

B. 'Round the Campfire

"I'm not singing." This is what you say when sitting around the campfire with your two youngest family members and two people who know how to play stringed instruments. It is also what you say when you are absolutely about to get roped into singing something and, really, he ought to know that. Whatever happens next is his own damn fault.

C. Closed to Mabel

Is it too soon for this? Ford isn't sure. He's not ever been good with subtle emotions, with tact, with timing. Still, after dinner and after the campfire he seeks out Mabel. He isn't sure entirely what he's going to do once he finds her but he's got a cup of coffee (thanks Jean) to bolster himself and he's as ready as he'll ever be to try and reconnect. Or is it just connect, from her point of view? Uh.

"Mabel? I was wondering if there were any, ah. Questions you wanted to ask me."

There. That's a good opener. Neutral.

B

[starry_forehead]

"Don't give Mabel any ideas." Dipper is next to him. "The next thing you know we'll end up as...Love Patrol Beta or something."

Shudders. And also yeah, he's making this worse. It's the Pines family curse.

A as well because I can

[starry_forehead]

Dipper walks by then stops short because what?

"Does that have jewels on its eyes? ....how does it see anything?"

A

[gobblewonked]

McGucket, cutting his omelet with a knife and fork, eyes the Sableye. His eyes are narrowed, his mouth pursed, like he's trying to decide what he thinks of her.

Then, he gives an solemn nod.

"That critter's got good taste," he says, approvingly. McGucket respects someone who appreciates eating plastic gems.

C!

[maybeitsmabelline]

Having swiped a blanket from the big old nest of pillows and blankets, Mabel's set herself up comfortably with her Pokemon and was idly going through her 'gear to mentally make a note of everything she wanted to find. Her new Meowth is sprawled across her lap while Hambone and Miss Bonnie are curled up at her side and Little Dipper...well he's just be-bopping around like normal.

She pauses on the entry about Gibles to look up at Ford, starting to smile then it melts into something thoughtful, maybe even momentarily nervous.

"Well..I..have a lot, actually," she admitted, looking down at her 'gear and shutting it off after a second to tuck it underneath Tabby Puss. "Dipper told me some stuff but he said I should ask you about what happened between you and Grunkle Stan."