Summary:
Mabel has a little love problem. well, more like having to DEAL with a love problem; and not for her
A week had passed since Connie had come to visit. Things had been relatively calm, and almost a little boring. Steven got off his shift working the gift shop to find the twins and Soos in the living room, watching a tv show about a tiger... with a fist?
"Hey Steven," Dipper said, not looking away from the screen.
"Whatcha watchin´" Steven asked.
"Tiger Fist," Mabel responded, eyes also glued to the screen.
"Tiger fist will return after these messages," the tv said before a commercial started playing.
"Hey look, it's that commercial I was telling you guys about," Soos said.
"Are you completely miserable?" The commercial asked. Steven immediately didn't like it.
A crying man appeared on screen, "yes!"
"Then you need to meet… Gideon," the commercial said.
"Gideon?" Steven said
"What makes him so special?'" Mabel asked, not really expecting a reply.
The commercial answered her question, "He's a psychic."
"So don't waste your time with so-called, 'men of mystery,'" the commercial showed a not so flattering shot of Stan coming out of an outhouse, with a stamp that said FRAUD stamped over it.
"Learn about tomorrow night at Gideon's Tent of Telepathy."
There was a bunch of rapid paced speech at the end of the commercial that Steven couldn't quite make out.
"Wow!" Mabel exclaimed, "I'm gettin' all curious-y inside!"
Just then, Stan walked in, "Well don't get too curious-y! Ever since that monster Gideon rolled into town, I've had nothing but trouble," He said, hanging his coat on the coat rack.
"Well is he really psychic?" Steven asked.
"I think we should go and find out," Dipper said, hopping off of the lounge chair.
Stan took off his bow tie as he protested, "Never! You are forbidden from patronizing the competition! No one that lives under my roof, is allowed under Gideon's roof!"
"Do tents have roofs?" Steven asked.
Mabel smuggly smiled, "I like we just found our loophole."
Steven pulled up his phone and found the time for the next performance.
"It says there's going to be a showing at 8 pm, if we leave now, I think we can make it."
"Ooooo let me go put on my good sweater!" Mabel said before rushing upstairs.
Steven looked at Dipper, "Are you ready or do you need to change too?" He asked.
Dipper shrugged, "I'm good, I like this outfit."
"Well, I'm going to change out of my work shirt, be right back." He waved at Dipper before heading to his room. He quickly changed out of the Mystery Shack question mark t-shirt and into a black star shirt. He liked the star shirts the best. He put on his pink jacket and looked in the reflections of the window. Yeah, that looked good. He rejoined Soos, Dipper and Mabel in the living room.
"You guys ready?" He asked.
They all nodded and the four of them walked outside and piled into Steven's Dondai.
________________________
"Step right up there, folk! Put your money in Gideon's psychic sack!" The man at the front of the tent announced. As people walked by him, they dropped bills into the bag he was holding. Steven put two $20s in and gestured to the rest of the group behind him.
"Those three are with me," he said.
The man smiled and gestured the four of them into the tent.
They looked around and saw rows of benches all facing a wooden stage, elevated only about a foot or two off the ground.
"Woah," Dipper said as they sat down, "This is like a bizarreo version of the Mystery Shack, they even have their own Soos."
He pointed over at a man with a tool box and a name tag that said 'Deuce.' He looked eerily similar to Soos, and if Steven didn't know any better, he would think they were cousins.
"It's starting, It's starting!" Mabel said as the lights dimmed.
Dramatic music started to play as two sets of spotlights moved around the room.
Dipper crossed his arms and stared at the stage, "Let's see what this monster looks like."
The spotlights had both converged together, lighting the curtain. Another light lit up the back of the curtain, causing the shadow of a person to get bigger as they got closer and closer to the curtains. Their shadow was taller than Soos by the time they stopped walking, and with their wide shoulders, they looked slightly intimidating. Suddenly, the curtains pulled away to reveal…
"Wow, he's short." Steven said.
Stand on the stage was a kid probably around the twins' age. He wore a baby blue suit with shoulder pads, cape, and a bolo tie with a turquoise stone in it. It looked almost too big on his little body.
"He's so… 'widdle'" Mabel commented.
Steven stared a little suspiciously at the bolo tie.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is such a gift to have you here tonight! Such a gift." Gideon said, addressing the crowd.
"I have a vision, I predict you'll soon all say 'aw!'"
He turned his back to the crowd for a moment before facing them again, now with what many would call a cute expression. Everyone in the crowd except the four of them said aw. Steven only found it to be a little cute, but not aw worthy.
"It came true…" Mabel mumbled.
"What? I'm not impressed," Dipper sighed.
Mabel poked him in the side, "You're impressed."
"Hit it, dad!" Gideon said, pointing to the man who was at the door, sitting at a piano. She started to play an upbeat tune. Gideon took off his cape and threw it into the crowd. A girl caught it, but was then jumped on by several other girls.
Now that's downright strange, Steven thought.
Gideon started singing
"Oh, I can see,
What others can't see,
It ain't some slideshow trick,
It's innate ability,
Where others are blind,
I am future-lay inclined,
And you too could see,
If you was 'widdle' ol' me!"
"Come on, everybody, rise up! I want y'all to keep it going!" Gideon placed a hand on his bolo tie and lifted an arm, gesturing for everyone to stand up. Everyone did, including their little group. Steven immediately knew something was wrong. His body moved on it's own, but not in a natural way. It was almost as if he was forced to stand up. Dipper noticed it too.
"How did he-" He started.
"Keep it going!" Gideon said, starting to point at people in the crowd.
"You wish your son would call you more,"
He pointed at a woman with a cat in the crowd.
"I sense that you've been here before,"
He pointed at a man decked out in Gideon merchandise
"I'll read your mind, if I'm able,
Something tells me you're named Mabel!"
Mabel looked at him, surprised.
"How'd he do that?!" She said as he walked away.
Steven noticed her sweater said 'MABEL.'
He wanted to say something to Mabel, but Gideon continued singing.
"So welcome all ye,
To the Tent of Telepathy,
And thanks for visiting…
'Widdle ol' me!"
There was an uproar of applause as the crowd cheered Gideon.
Gideon waved at the crowd.
"Thank you! You people are the real miracles!"
Mabel was the only one in their group that cheered. Gideon continued with the show, bringing up people from the crowd and using his 'psychic' powers to know what they're thinking or what they ate for breakfast that morning. Nothing big or super impressive, just.. strange. There was another musical number before the show ended.
"Man, that kid's an even bigger fraud than Stan! No wonder he's jealous" Dipper exclaimed as they left.
Mabel bumped her shoulder against his, "oh, come on, his dance moves were adorable! And did you see his hair? It was like whoosh!"
"You're too easily impressed," Dipper bumped her back.
"It did seem a little cheesy dude. Haha cheese," Soos said as they got back into Steven's car.
"Not just that, there was something just… strange about his act. Unnatural. I'd stay away from him if I were you guys," Steven added.
The way there were several things about what they just witnessed that didn't sit well with Steven. But the biggest was the standing up part of the opening act. He didn't stand up, he was sure of this. Something made him stand up. He had some suspicions, but he hoped he was wrong.
———————
The next morning, Steven was helping Dipper with the dishes when Mabel ran up to them, her face covered in plastic jewels. Steven froze.
"Check it out guys! I successfully bezazzled my face! Blink! Ow." Mabel blinked and a few jewels fell off.
Steven stared at Mabel and all of a sudden he could hear their screams. Tiny voices from each individual shard crying out, wanting to form. He could see it again, a giant amalgamation of shining gem shards. The Cluster. He felt his breath quicken. No! Everything was fine, he solved that problem. The Cluster is safe, and they are happy. He helped them! So why did seeing Mabel's face bezazzled bother him so much? He realized that he was stuck in a memory and took a deep breath. It's just tiny pieces of plastic that reminded him of something, that's all. But he was in Gravity Falls, not hundreds of feet below the Earth's surface. He heard his name being called and all of a sudden he was back in the kitchen with Dipper waving a hand in Steven's face.
"Hey Steven, are you okay?" Dipper asked.
Steven blinked a few times and smiled, "Yeah, uh, yeah I'm good. I just need to sit down for a moment."
As he walked to the living room to sit in the lounge chair, the doorbell rang.
"Somebody answer the door!" Stan yelled.
Mabel brushed all the gems off her face as she walked past Steven to open the front door. Seeing Mabel's clear face helped calm Steven a bit. He sat on the chair as Mabel opened the door.
"Howdy!" Steven heard a cheerful voice say.
He realized immediately it was Gideon and groaned. Something about him just rubbed him the wrong way. He was sure he wasn't a bad guy, but he gave off weird vibes. He leaned back in his chair, taking deep breaths, calming his racing heart. He focused on the sound of water running from the faucet in the kitchen. He felt someone shake his arm and he opened his eyes to see Mabel shackling it.
"Hey, I'm going to go hang out with Gideon, don't tell Grunkle Stan," was all she said before running out of the room before Steven could protest. He sighed. Well, Gideon couldn't be that bad of a guy.
——————
Steven and Dipper were watching TV when Mabel returned.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" She asked while waggling her fingers, making the fake nails on them clack.
"Whoa, where have you been?" Dipper asked.
Steven forgot to tell Dipper Mabel went to hang out with Gideon. Oops.
"I was hanging out with my new pal Gideon! He's one dapper little man." Mabel responded, clacking her nails together, playing with them.
"Mabel, I don't trust anyone whose hair is bigger than their head," Dipper said.
Steven nodded, "Yeah, something seems off about him."
"Oh leave him alone! You never wanna do girly stuff with me. You and Soos get to do boy stuff all the time." Mabel shot at Dipper.
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.
Just then, Soos came into the room holding a pack of hot dogs in his hand. "Hey dude, ready to blow up these hot dogs in the microwave, one by one?"
"Am I?!" Dipper exclaimed, rushing off to the kitchen with Soos.
Steven turned towards Mabel, "Dipper's right, there's something seriously off about him. And if you need someone to do 'girly' stuff with, you can always ask me! I love that kinda stuff. Oh man, I should tell you about the time I dressed up and performed, 'Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)' for a Beach City talent show."
Steven hopped up on the recliner and started singing.
"I can't help it if i make a scene,
Stepping out of my hot pink limousine,"
He stepped off the recliner as if he was stepping out of a car.
"I'm turning heads and I'm stopping traffic,
When I pose they scream,
And when I joke they laugh,"
Steven struck a pose, causing Mabel to give a little giggle.
"I got a,
Pair of eyes that they're getting lost in,
I hypnotize by the way I'm walking,"
Steven gave a little strut around the living room.
" I've got them dazzled like a stage magician,
When I point they look,
And when I talk they listen well,"
"Everybody needs a friend,"
He offered his hand out to Mabel, who took it.
"And I got you, and you and you,"
He spun Mabel around, causing her to giggle again.
"So many I can't even name them,
Can you blame me?
I'm too famous."
He pretended to flip his non-existent long hair off his shoulder before laughing. Mabel was laughing as well.
"So you sang that in front of a crowd of people?" She asked.
Steven nodded, "Yep! My friend was supposed to do it, but she got too anxious and so I quickly got dressed up, threw on the make up, and performed it myself. Everyone loved it."
Mabel smiled, "I'm definitely going to give you a makeover sometime, then."
She then turned and strutted up to her room, humming the song Steven was just singing.
_________
Mabel continued to hang out with Gideon, sneaking out behind Dipper and Stan's backs. But Steven caught it. He was worried, but Mabel seemed so happy! So he ignored it, until one day.
Mabel walked into the living room where Steven and Dipper were playing video games. Steven immediately sensed something wrong. He had the power as player one so he put the game on pause.
"Mabel, what's wrong?" He asked.
Mabel played with her hair.
"Well, I've still been hanging out with Gideon because he's really fun, but yesterday he asked me out on a date, but I only see him as a friend," She sighed.
"Well, did you say no?" Dipper asked.
Mabel sighed again, "Yeah, but he was like, 'Just give me a chance!' And gave me these puppy dog eyes and I said yes. I just didn't want to hurt his feelings, ya know? So I figured I'd throw him a bone."
"Mabel, guys don't work that way. He's gonna fall in love with you," Dipper said.
Steven nodded in agreement, "Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile."
Just then the doorbell rang.
Mabel took a deep breath and went to answer the door. When she opened it, though, Steven heard a loud neigh. He poked his head around the corner one the living room to see that Mabel had fallen over and there was now a horse in the doorway.
"A night of enchantment awaits, milady!"
Steven groaned. Oh no, not the milady. Steven already knew this was gonna be a disaster.
"Oh boy," He heard Mabel whisper.
"Mabel, are you sure-?" He asked, but was cut off.
"I'm good, it's fine," Mabel said, standing up and adjusting her sweater. "Welp, off I go! I'll see you tonight."
She followed a Gideon-adorned horse out of the house.
"Should I follow them?" Steven asked.
Dipper shook his head, "No, Mabel usually doesn't like it when people are in her business."
Steven sighed, "Yeah, I'm just worried."
Steven sat on the recliner and picked up the player one controller and unpaused the game.
_______
Steven was sweeping the gift shop the next day when Stan came storming in.
"Hey, hey! What the Jekyll is Mabel doing in the paper next to that greasy pick pocket Gideon?" He asked, holding up the front page of the newspaper. The front photo was a picture of Mabel and Gideon holding hands, but Mabel looked a little uncomfortable and disoriented.
"Oh, yeah, it's like a big deal," Wendy said, raising her phone to show Stan the screen, "Everybody's talking about Gideon and Mabel's big date tonight."
"What?! That little shyster is dating my great-niece?!" Stan said, scrunching up the paper in his hands.
"I wonder what the new name will be for the power couple," Soos poked head out from behind a magazine that said 'Gideon & Mable' on the cover, "Mab-ideon? Gide-Able? Oh! Ma-gid-bel-eon!"
Steven leaned the broom against the cashwrap.
"To be fair, both Dipper and I both told her it was a bad idea, there's something not right about him," Steven said.
Dipper nodded in agreement.
Stan threw the paper on the ground and walked through the employee door. He walked out a few moments later fully dressed.
"Something not right is correct. This ends tonight! I'm going right down to that little skunk's house! This is going to stop right now!" He said, storming out the front of the gift shop, slamming the door behind him.
Steven looked at Dipper, "Should we worry about that?" He asked.
Dipper shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know."
______________
Steven was worried. Gideon didn't seem the type to take no as an answer. To be honest, he seemed like a spoiled kid who always got what he wanted. But there was something more to it. There was something unnatural about how he was able to get people to always agree with him. Steven walked by Dipper, who was studying the journal at the dining table. He had an idea.
"Hey, Dipper."
Dipper looked up from the book.
"Hey Steven."
Steven sat down.
"Hey, is there anything in that book that talks about mind control?" Steven asked.
"Hm," Dipper hummed, chewing at his lip as he started to flip through the pages. "I'm not seeing anything. How come?"
Steven wasn't sure he wanted to bring up his suspicions about Gideon to Dipper, considering his sister is currently hanging out with him. Besides, he could be wrong. He shrugged.
"Just a random thought."
Just then, they heard the front door to the house open and close, and Mabel walked in holding a lobster.
"Hey! How'd it go?" Dipper asked.
"I don't know," Mabel said, walking over to the fish tank, "I have a lobster now."
She opened the lid of the fish tank and dropped the lobster in.
"Well, at least it's over and you won't ever have to go out with him again," Dipper said, closing the journal.
"Yeah, he seems really manipulative," Steven added.
Mabel didn't speak.
"Mabel? It's over, right?"
Mabel's eyes refused to look at them, instead focusing on the lobster in the tank.
"Mabel…" Dipper's voice warned.
Suddenly, Mabel turned around and started waving her arms in the air.
"Blargh! He asked me out again and I didn't know how to say no!"
That made Steven worry.
Dipper frowned, "Like this: 'No.'"
"Hey, Dipper-" Steven started to say, but was cut off by Mabel.
"It's not that easy, Dipper!" she said.
"Yeah, Dipper, people like Gideon know how to manipulate situations to get the other person to do what he wants. Mabel's right; it's not that easy. Cut her some slack," Steven said.
Mabel walked towards the table.
"And I do like Gideon… As a friend/little sister. So I didn't want to hurt his feelings," She paced back and forth in front of the table, hands behind her back. "I just need to get things back to where they used to be…" She stopped and looked at them.
"You know, friends."
Dipper and Steven looked at each other before looking back at Mabel.
Dipper sighed, opening the journal, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."
Steven gave Mabel a sympathetic smile.
"I know you really want to see the best in him, but just be careful. Something about him gives me the creeps." Steven thought for a moment, "Especially his bolo tie…"
Mabel sighed and walked out of the room.
Dipper glanced up from his book at Steven.
"What do you mean, his bolo tie?"
"It's just… I don't know. Something seems unnatural about it," Steven said, "it seems like something I've dealt with before."
Dipper closed the journal, giving Steven his full attention.
"Do you think it's Gem related?" he asked.
"Yeah, maybe."
Steven told Dipper about Lapis, and how she was trapped within a hand-held mirror. He stayed calm during the retelling, but there was a point where he needed to take a breath.
"So… you think a Gem is trapped in the bolo tie?"
"Yes. No? Maybe," Steven answered.
He looked at the doorway Mabel exited out of.
"Pray I'm wrong."
—-------------
Steven was getting ready for bed, heading over to the bathroom to do his nighttime routine, when he heard voices in the living room. He peeked inside to see Mabel talking to Dipper.
"I don't know! I was in the friend zone! And before I knew what was happening, he pulled me into the romance zone! It was like quicksand!" Mabel grabbed Dipper by the shoulders, "Chubby quicksand!"
Steven walked into the room.
"I'm guessing your date with Gideon didn't end well?" he asked.
"No," Mabel said sadly.
Dipper placed a hand on Mabel's shoulder, "Mabel, come one. It's not like you're gonna have to marry Gideon."
"Great news, Mabel, You have to marry Gideon!"
They all turned to see Stan wearing a "Team Gideon" shirt.
"What?!" Mabel exclaimed.
"It's all part of my long-term deal with Buddy Gleeful," Stan said, not noticing the grim look on Mabel's face, "There's a lot of cash tied up in this thing. Plus I got this shirt!"
Stan gestured to the "Team Gideon" shirt he was wearing. He frowned at seeing his belly bulging in the shirt, "Ugh, I am fat."
There was a pause of silence before Mabel ran out of the room screaming.
"Bodies change, honey. Bodies change," Stan called after her.
"Hey Stan?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you ask Mabel about this first?"
Stan thought for a moment.
"No. But with the money that tied into this, I'm sure she'll agree," Stan smiled and nodded his head in satisfaction.
"How about you talk to her," Steven said.
"Eh, I'll do it later," Stan said, "it's TV time now. Now you two, shoo. I need to watch my program."
Stan walked over to the chair and sat down, picking up the remote. Dipper rolled his eyes and Steven sighed. The conversation was clearly over. Steven left the living room, walking back to his bedroom. He was tired.