Summary: Steven gets a job
Steven went back into the gift shop and sought out Mister Mystery.
He found him in the back of the gift shop, talking to a boy, and handing him a bunch of signs. He pointed at the door and the boy walked out.
"Excuse me," Steven said, getting the man's attention.
He turned around and smiled at him.
"Welcome back, my good sir! What can I help you with?" He asked.
"Well, I saw your sign," Steven pointed at the help wanted sign in the window, "and was wondering if the position was still open."
Mister Mystery nodded his head, "Yep! That spot is most definitely still opened. And if you want the job, you're hired! You're the first person to ask," he turned and motioned for Steven to follow him. Steven followed him to what looked like his office, and sat in the chair in front of his desk.
"So what's your previous job experience like?" Mister Mystery asked, rifling through some files in a cabinet by his desk.
"Well, uh," Steven looked around nervously. How do you explain to a human that you were a galactic ambassador for two years of your life?
"Um, I was a sales clerk at a donut shop," was all Steven was able to say. All of his other 'professions' were wrapped in gem stuff, and this road trip was about being human.
"Got experience in customer service I see, perfect," Mister Mystery closed the cabinet he was looking in and opened the one below it, "now where is that stupid paperwork," he muttered.
Just then, Steven remembered.
"Uh, so, the thing is, I don't have a social security number. Is that okay?" He asked.
Mister Mystery looked up at him before closing the drawer he was looking in and smiled, "Kid, that's perfect, less paperwork for me," he held out his hand, "You're hired!"
Steven smiled wide. He just got his first paying job! And it was a lot easier than he'd thought. He shook Mister Mystery's hand.
"Thank you, Mister Mystery!"
Stan smiled, "Please, calls me Mr. Pines."
Steven nodded, "Okay, thank you Mr. Pines!"
And with that, Steven became an official staff member of the Mystery Shack
—————
Steven got back into his car, buzzing with excitement. This was going to be his first job that didn't include gems, and he was ready for it. Mr. Pines said he would mainly just be working the gift shop, trying to get customers to 'empty their pockets,' as he put it. Which seemed simple enough to Steven. He turned on the ignition and realized he had no place to stay for the summer. Maybe he can find a room to rent somewhere in town tomorrow, but tonight he had to find a motel. He pulled up maps on his phone, and searched up motels in the area. As Steven drove off towards his destination, the Mystery Shack faded into the distance, and disappeared as he rounded a corner. He made it to the motel, got a room, and sat on the bed. Tomorrow would be his first real day of work; work at a museum for the weird. Steven laughed at that. He knew first hand what was 'weird' to humans, and the idea that he, probably the weirdest thing on earth, would be working there gave him a chuckle. He turned off the lights and crawled into bed. This would certainly be an interesting summer.
His sleep was mostly dreamless. Mostly. The one dream he did have was strange; not like his normal dream. Well, he's always had strange dreams, so his 'normal' to others was 'strange.' But it was unlike any dream he had had in the recent months. He was at the Mystery Shack, but everything was grayscale. He couldn't move, just look around. But there wasn't much to see that he hadn't already seen that day. But there was a voice. It only said one word.
Interesting…
The next morning, Steven woke up early. His excitement for what the first day of work would bring woke him up around 7 am. He spent a couple of hours searching online for rooms for rent, and had no luck. It seemed like there was no place to rent in all of Gravity Falls. He frowned, unsure of how to proceed. He'll just have to stay at the motel until he can figure out what to do. At 9 am, his alarm went off, signaling to him that his shift would start in 30 minutes. He took a quick shower, ate breakfast, and headed out to the Mystery Shack.
Steven was buzzing with excitement as he walked through the door into the Mystery Shack gift shop. It was empty aside from Stan and a red headed girl, who sat behind the register.
"Welcome back, kid," Stan said, giving him a little wave, "This is Wendy, she's gonna train you."
Stan pointed at the girl behind the register, and she gave Steven a little wave. Steven waved back. She stood up and walked over to him and Stan.
"'Sup, I'm Wendy," she said, giving Steven a welcoming smile.
"I'm Steven, Steven Universe," he held out a hand to Wendy. She shook it.
"That's an awesome last name, did you have it changed or was that your parents' name?" Wendy put her hands back into her jean pockets.
Steven scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, it's my dad's last name, but he had it changed. He was a musician and he thought Greg Universe sounded better than Greg DeMayo."
Wendy frowned, "Greg Universe? Why does that sound familiar?"
"Well, he was a musician, maybe you heard one of his songs?" Steven suggested.
"Hm, maybe? But I feel like it's something else…" she shrugged, "I'll think of it later. But now I gotta tell you how to do stuff."
Wendy proceeded to spend the next 2 hours teaching Steven how to run the gift shop. He got a little stuck on the register, but by the end of the 2 hours, he was put in charge. Well, technically Wendy was still in charge, but she was sitting on the ground reading a magazine while Steven manned the register.
"If you have any questions, I'm right here," she said before settling down to read her magazine.
Business was pretty slow, but that was a given considering it was a Monday. A few people had come through, but they mainly bought mugs and bumper stickers. Steven managed to sell a shirt, but that was the biggest purchase all day and it was already 3 pm. Steven drummed his fingers against the countertop of the cash wrap, trying to tap a tune to keep himself entertained. He found himself drumming the tune to Working Dead by Sadie Killer and the Suspects. It's been a while since he has talked to them. He should call them after work. He started humming the lyrics, forming the song with the tapping of his fingers.
"Dude, are you humming Working Dead?"
Steven looked towards the floor to see Wendy looking at him.
"Yeah, I am. It's a fun song."
A huge smile formed on her face, "I love Sadie Killer and the Suspects! Their music is so good, and I love their whole vibe."
"I know right! Fun fact, that song was created while we were watching horror movies in Sadie's basement!" Steven smiled at the fond memory.
"Wait," Wendy stood up, "We, what do you mean by we? You were there?"
Steven nodded, "Yeah! We were watching The Lurch and Sour Cream liked the background music, so he started mixing, adding drum beats and stuff, then Jenny started playing her bass, and I joined on the electric guitar. Buck joined on his acoustic guitar and then we just needed lyrics. Sadie had just gotten off of work, so she started singing about it. And boom! Working Dead was born, and Sadie Miller became Sadie Killer. And that's how the band formed."
Wendy's mouth was agape and she looked stunned.
"You… were there… oh my god," her eyes widened as she realized something, "your dad is Greg Universe! Their manager! I knew that name sounded familiar."
Steven gave a little laugh, "That he is. He has some experience in 'show biz.'"
Wendy pulled out her phone, "I'm soooo telling my friends about this," she sat back down on the floor and started texting.
The next few minutes passed in silence, with only the faint clicks of a keyboard to break it. But that silence is broken by a shriek. Steven stood up quickly, worried that someone might be in trouble. Suddenly, a girl runs into the gift shop, followed by a boy. They both looked pretty young; probably only around 12. The girl was laughing, holding something in her hand as the boy chased her.
"Mabel! Give it back!" The boy yelled
"Come and get it then!"
The boy tackled the girl and they wrestled on the ground as the boy tried to grab the item. The girl locked eyes with Steven and shouted, "Catch!" before throwing the object at him. Steven caught it effortlessly and saw that it was an almost solved Rubik's cube. Steven looked up from it to see the boy on the other side of the counter.
"Can I Please have that back? I'm so close to solving it," the boy said.
Steven smiled at him and handed it back.
The girl, who he presumed was Mabel, pouted, "You're not supposed to give it back to him!"
Steven shrugged, "Sorry."
The boy scowled at his sister before looking back at Steven, "Thanks! I'm Dipper by the way, and this is Mabel," he pointed at the girl.
"Whomp whoooomp," she said.
Steven smiled and gave them both a little wave, "Hi! I'm Steven, nice to meet you."
Wendy popped up from behind the counter.
"Hey Mabel, hey Dipper," she turned to face Steven, "these are Mr. Pines's twin great niece and nephew. They're staying here for the summer."
Steven looked back to see Dipper working on the Rubik's cube while Mabel stared at him.
"That sounds like fun. I'm going to be staying in Gravity Falls for the summer too! Although, I have yet to find a place to stay."
He looked at Wendy to see he had started texting again, "Um, Wendy?"
She doesn't look up from her phone, "Yeah?"
"Know any places in town that are renting? Right now I'm staying in the Moonlight All-Night Motel," Steven asked.
Wendy shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of."
Mabel's face lit up, "You can rent a room here!"
Steven twiddles his thumbs, "Uh, I don't want to impose…"
"Pfft," Mabel waved her hand dismissively at him, "It's no big deal! I'll ask Grunkle Stan right now!"
Before Steven could protest, she ran behind a door that said 'Employees Only.'
Dipper sighed, "I'll go talk to her."
And with that, the twins had both left the gift shop. Steven mulled over the idea of staying at the Mystery Shack over the summer. He would certainly be closer to work, and it was better than the motel for sure.
'If Mr. Pines says yes to Mabel, then maybe, but for now, I should get back to work,' Steven thought just as a group of tourists came into the gift shop.
———
As Steven cleaned up the shop, preparing to close, Mr. Pines walked in.
Stan gives Steven a pat on the back, "Wendy tells me you did a good job! Congrats on your first day of work. Now, just because you did good today, doesn't mean you get to slack off. I already got one lazy teenager, I don't need another one. Wait, how old did you say you were again?"
"Eighteen,"
"Okay, so still a teenager, I was right," Stan muttered.
He frowned, appearing to be deep in thought.
Steven waited for him to say something. When he didn't, Steven went back to sweeping.
"Mabel tells me you don't have a place to stay,"
Steven turned around to see Stan looking at him,
He laughed nervously, "Yeah, I rolled into town only yesterday. And I tried looking online this morning to see if there were any places nearby that were renting, but I couldn't find anything."
Stan smiled, "Well, there's a room open in this very house! Rent is only... $300 a month."
Steven mulled it over. He'd only be staying here for around three months, and so $300 times 3 would be.. $900. He'd have to ask his dad to give him some more cash, but he has enough for at least one month.
Steven nodded, "Sound good, I can do that."
Stan smiled.
"Great! Come back here with your stuff while I have the room prepped. Soos!" Stan yelled.
The 'Employees Only' door opened and in walked in who Steven suspected was the handyman, judging by the tool belt he wore.
"'Sup Mr. Pines? Whatcha need?"
Stan gestured towards Steven.
"Get the spare room prepped for someone to live in, I'm letting this kid rent it."
"Will do Mr. Pines!" With that, Soos turned and walked back through the door he came from.
Stan turned back towards Steven.
"The room will probably be ready in 30 minutes, be back by then. You can leave now."
Steven nodded, "Will do!"
Steven put the broom away before waving a goodbye to Stan and rushing out the door. He hurried back to his motel room, and packed him. This summer was already off to a great start, and he was ready for everything else it would bring.