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Master Escape Artist

Finished this in a sleep-deprived haze but wanted to get this one out before starting on Tickletober this year. This fic is heavily inspired from these headcannons from @cloudysfluffs

Also, I'd like to issue a formal apology for going MIA for literal months on end as I've been focusing on schoolwork and getting my certification but I'm hoping to get back into writing for this blog.

Anyways, hope you enjoy and feel free to send in any suggestions or prompts you'd like to see!

Pairings: Ler!Wendy, Switch!Dipper, Switch!Mabel (All Platonic)

Word Count: 3.5k (JEEZ)

Summary: Mabel has a reputation for being a ruthless tickler, dishing out tickle attacks to her friends and family whenever possible. To make matters worse, Mabel prides herself at being a so-called 'Master Escape Artist' as not a single person has been able to catch her. However, Mabel might've pushed her luck a bit to far when inadvertently challenging a certain friend who is more than ready to put her to the test.

Warnings: This is obviously going to be a tickle fic. Don't like? DOn't interact.

"AAAAHH-!! MABEL!- MABEL DOhohohoHOHON'T!! PLEHEHEHAAHAHAHAHA!!!-" Dipper squealed from his place on the floor where his twin had him pinned by the waist, as she ruthlessly dug her claws into his overly sensitive ribcage.

Dipper pushed, and screamed, and squealed as he fought frantically to escape even though he knew it would do him no good...he had been on the receiving end of his sister's cruelty enough to know that the moment she set her sights on you, it's over.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle! What's so funny, Dipper? I know you think that rude little joke you just made was hilarious, but you gotta get a hold of yourself!" Mabel said as she smiled through gritted teeth and dug in harder.

The twins had been hanging out in their room not five minutes ago when the topic of Mabel's weekly crush came up. Some boy she made eye contact with at the diner who was organizing stickers or something. This one's different! It's love at first sight...again.

Dipper just flipped through the pages of his journal as half-listened to Mabel's love-sick rant. He might've had a passing thought to himself that wasn't as silent as he had hoped. Something along the lines of making sure that boy didn't make out with his stickers or something like that.

And that little slip-up was what had got him chased all throughout the Mystery Shack until he was finally tackled to the floor of the gift shop, where Soos and Wendy happened to be no less, and was now getting the snot tickled out of him.

"AAAAAAAAHH!!! STOHOHOHOHOP! PLEHEHEHESE-IT WAS JUHUHUST AHAHA JOHOHOKE!! IHIH'M SOHORRY!!"

Wendy had long put down her magazine as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Resting her chin in her hand and leaning over the counter as she watched her friends play. Soos, on the other hand, seemed to be avoiding eye contact at all costs, still sweeping as he pretended not to notice what was happening.

Eventually, Dipper's frantic squealing died down when Mabel had slowly gotten off of him once she decided he'd had enough. She offered a hand, but the boy opted to curl into a ball instead as he worked on recovering from the attack.

Mabel bent down to poke her brother's head condescendingly as she spoke, "Next time, think twice about poking fun at my love life!" The girl laughed playfully.

"Dang Mabel, you're pretty ruthless. Honestly thought you were trying to kill him for a sec." Wendy commented from her spot behind the counter.

"Oh, that?" Mabel laughed. "That was nothing. Couple nights ago Grunkle Stand and I got him so good he was hiccuping for at least ten minutes after we stopped!"

"Mabel!" Dipper hushed from his fetal position still on the floor.

The boy forced himself to at least sit upright and save at least some dignity. He turned away to grab his hat he had shaken off during the tussle hoping it would help hide his burning face from Wendy.

The older girl just chuckled at the scene before turning her focus back to Mabel.

"Y'know, I'd watch my back if I were you. Push your luck too far and Dipper's bound to get revenge sooner or later."

Mabel barked out a laugh before chucking herself, as if what Wendy had just said had been the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.

"HA!- Hahahahahaa. Oh Wendy, Wendy, Wendy, you're hilarious! But I'll have you know Dipper, and everyone else for that matter, has already tried their luck and failed miserably. I'm a master escape artist and way to slippery for Dipper's sweaty little hands." Mabel giggled at hearing another hushed protest from her brother.

"In fact, I don't think I've been tickled in years! Guess everyone just gave up trying since they know it's pointless, that and the fact that I always get them back for even trying!"

Never in her life had Wendy seen so much cheek from a single person before now.

"Oh? I wouldn't say that if I were you, squirt. You might jinx your luck and test the wrong person." Wendy said looking down at the other.

"No. Mabel's right, unfortunately." Dipper chimed in, picking himself up off the floor with a small huff. "She's impossible to catch, not just for me and Grunkle Stan but our parents, Candy, Grenda, it really doesn't matter. No one stands a chance at catching her unless she wants to be caught."

"See!" Mabel smirked and gestured towards her brother. "I got tons of references! This master escape artist had yet to be defeated! My perfect streak remains unbroken and I dare anyone who would try to break it!"

Mabel boasted herself with the upmost confidence anyone would expect from a naive twelve-year-old. However, what she didn't notice was the older girl in front of her stretching her muscles during her entire rant.

"Welp, guess that settles it then." Wendy honed her eyes on her friend. "You ready?"

"Wait what-"

Mabel barely had time to blink before Wendy had effortlessly jumped over the counter meer inches from grabbing her. The girl shouted in surprise as she scurried away to the opposite side of the room.

Not wasting a second, Wendy ran towards her. Mabel shouted again, completely caught off guard by this turn of events which had unfortunately cost her a few precious seconds.

The younger girl managed to slip past her attacker and jump over a pile of merchandise which she toppled over in hopes to trip the other.

Mabel sprinted towards Soos, who was frozen and staring in shock at what was unfolding in front of him. Already flustered and feeling awkward from being in the same room as someone getting tickled, he did NOT want any part of what was happening now.

"AH-Dude! I really don't think you guys should be doing this-!" Soos exclaimed nervously towards the kid who was now behind him. Mabel managed to run behind her friend and grab onto him and was now using Soos as a human shield.

Soos grew even more sweaty and awkward as Wendy faced him and attempted to reach around to grab Mabel. The two kept this up for almost a full minute and Soos thought he was about to die of embarrassment.

Dipper, however, was having a blast! Never before had he seen his twin struggle this much to outrun somebody! Not to mention she actually looked nervous! Oh, how Dipper wished he had a camera on him right now! Mabel may have actually pushed her luck too far this time.

Realizing the human-shield plan wasn't working out to well as she'd hoped. Mabel climbed up on her friend's shoulders and managed to slide herself on top of the vending machine.

Unfortunately for her though, Mabel forgot she was being chased by an actual lumberjack.

Wendy followed her up with no difficulty and with no other places to climb, she managed to grab the girl around her torso.

Dipper gasped, thinking his sister had finally gotten herself caught. Until Mabel raised both arms above her head and slipped out of her sweater and off the vending machine with a surprising amount of grace.

Wendy grunted in frustration and tossed the sweater on Soos's head before jumping off herself and resuming their little chase.

Mabel sprinted towards the door of the gift shop. There's no way Wendy would be able to catch her if she'd managed to get outside. Almost there...

Almost!

It was at that moment that Dipper had made the split-second decision to sabotage his sister's escape by lifting his leg up to trip her up before she ran pass him.

The girl fell to the floor with a loud oomf, eyes going wide as she realized what had just happened.

Dipper felt a pang in his chest at the utterly betrayed look on his poor sister face. But that was soon forgotten as Wendy caught up to them and used her weight to pin Mabel down to her spot on the floor.

"Nice one, Dipper!" Wendy have him a thumbs up and a wink which of course caused the tween to stutter and blush.

"Oh! W-Well y'know, I-I just thought th-that I m-might as well try a-and-"

"LET ME GOOO!!!! AGH-NOOOO!!" Dipper's Stuttering was interrupted by his sister's panicked wailing.

Mabel fought and thrashed and shrieked as she struggled to wriggle herself out from under Wendy, who was now scrambling to catch Mabel's arms in order to pin them down.

"AAH- NONONONONO!! THIS ISN'T FAAAIR!! YOU CHEHEHEHEATED!! THIHIHIHIS DOESN'T COHOHOHOHOUNT!!!"

Oh God, Mabel was losing it. She must've already guessed what was coming if that utterly panicked laughter was anything to go by. Dipper couldn't remember seeing Mabel this nervous over anything!

As she'd mentioned earlier, it had been years since Mabel was on the receiving end of one of these attacks, so safe to say that she wasn't at all prepared for what was no doubt coming her way.

"Dipper! Ack- A little help?!" Wendy grunted as she dodged Mabel's flailing limbs.

"Oh! Right- Sorry!" Dipper said awkwardly as he shook his thoughts away and seated himself right above his sister's head.

Mabel's desperate protests doubled down as she watched Dipper approach her. She bargained and apologized and begged her brother not to do this to her as her thrashing continued.

Dipper just huffed out an apologetic laugh at her dramatics. "Heh. Sorry sis, but you've had this coming for a while now. Plus, you did tickle the snot out of me just now so I don't think begging is gonna get you outta this one..." Dipper said as he playfully ruffled her hair before reaching out to grab her wrists.

Oh she was so screwed...

Mabel screwed her eyes shut and threw her arms down over her torso and locked them around herself with an iron grip, suddenly realizing how exposed her upper body was without her sweater.

"Alright, you wanna play that game, huh?" Wendy let out an evil chuckle. "Well then, let's see how long you'll be able to keep that up." The older girl said before pinching what little she could reach of the younger girl's sides.

The answer was, apparently: not long at all.

Mabel broke immediately at the overwhelming tingling sensation the fingers brought to her sides. The girl howled and shot her arms down to grab at the offending hands. To which, Wendy twisted her wrists out of the girl's grip and finally managed to get a hold of the appendages.

"Dipper!" Wendy called out for the other to take the girl's wrists which the tween struggled to pull back above her head, eventually managing to pin them down although it nearly his entire body weight.

Wendy leaned back and wiped the sweat off her brow. "Phew! Gotta say kid, I underestimated you! You definitely weren't lying about being a, what'd you call it? "Master Escape Artist"?" The teen chuckled. "Luckily for me though that your latest victim was right here ready to sell you out, huh?" Wendy laughed and she shot Dipper another thumbs up.

The teasing only served to darken the girl's already pink face as she frantically shook her head. "You guhuhuhuhuys cheatehehehed! I'll get you guhuhuys bahahahack fohor this, I swehehear!"

The older girl just tutted and shook her head down at her. "There's that cocky attitude again. Well, maybe you'll learn to have a bit of empathy for you little victims once you've had a taste of your own medicine..."

And with that, Wendy's fingers found their way back to the poor kid's sides. Slowly spidering up to the bottom of the girl's ribcage and down again to the top of her hips.

Up...and down...and up...and down...

Mabel couldn't hold back the shriek that punched its way out of her throat.

The poor kid began kicking her feet out frantically and arched her back and the torturous feeling. Practically growling as she gritted her teeth and pressed the back of her head to the floorboards. Hoping to relieve at least some of the unbearable tingling in her stomach.

The gentle gliding of the older teen's fingers absolutely threw Mabel for a loop and did absolutely nothing to quell the swarm of butterflies that had followed her ever since the beginning of their little chase.

She had expected Wendy to go ham on her right off the bat just as she'd done to Dipper not even five minutes ago, but nope. Wendy's fingers just continued to glide their way up and down Mabel's sides, never straying from that agonizingly slow pace. Over and over and over again...

Eventually, Mabel's frantic thrashing had died down and the shrieking protests from before had dissolved into a stream of high-pitched cackling.

"Still feeling all high and mighty ya little brat?" Wendy playfully chuckled down at her friend. "Jeez, I wonder how this 'Master Escape Artist' is gonna get out of this one."

Mabel gritted her teeth at that comment, managing to stifle her laughter for a moment.

"Y-Yohohou guhuys are thehe wohohohorst!"

Dipper couldn't help but laugh a bit at his twin's predicament. "Aww, what's the matter Mabel? You not enjoying this game now that you're on the other end of the stick, huh? Maybe now you'll think twice before dishing out what you can't take."

"I'LL KIHIHIHILL YOU!!"

Wendy and Dipper both laughed at Mabel's dramatic outburst. Their teasing seemed to really be doing a number on her. Dipper made sure to remember that for later...

"Y'know what?" Wendy chimed in. "Maybe I'm being too nice...we really need to drill this lesson into her."

No sooner had the word left her mouth had the gentle gliding stopped, before Wendy's fingers began mercilessly drilling into the younger girl's hips and the frantic shrieking started up again.

"NAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA- STAAHAHAHA- STAHAP IHIHIT!!! NAHAHAHAA!!"

The absolute switch from zero to a hundred left the poor tween scrambling to form any sort of coherent words, completely unprepared for the sudden attack.

Dipper, being the good brother he is, had been keeping close watch on his sister's reactions during this entire ordeal. He had already guessed that Mabel wouldn't cope as well as he did being on the receiving end of their little game and although it felt good to finally get some revenge, the thought of pushing his twin past her limits worried him a bit.

So it was no surprise that he'd noticed the little hiccup Mabel's breath took as she was shocked with the sudden rougher tickling, and how she was struggling to accommodate for it through her frantic laughter.

With that, Dipper had motioned for Wendy to stop. The older teen had retracted her hands almost immediately, worried she'd gone to far until Dipper gave her a thumbs up along with a reassuring smile as the two of them waited for Mabel to catch her breath.

The girl kept her eyes squeezed shut as she gulped in air, refusing to look at either of them right now.

"Hah...you guhuhuys...are...evil." Mabel complained, which only earned her more chuckling from her tormenters.

"You still makin' it, squirt?" Wendy asked, ruffling her hair. "You looked like you were struggling there for a second."

Mabel scoffed, finally opening her eyes just to roll them at that last comment.

"Oh please! As if you guys would break me that easy! A little tickling isn't gonna make me curl up and die, I'm not Dipper after all!" She said as she shot a defiant grin up at her brother. One that definitely said that she'd get him back for this later.

Dipper and Wendy stared at one another, completely shook at the utter audacity of this bi-

"Wow. This really is her first time, huh?" Wendy asked as she cracked her knuckles.

"If it weren't obvious enough already, yeah." Dipper responded, adjusting his position on her upper arms. His expression was a lot less amused than the older girl's at that last jab. "Flip her over."

"Wait, what?!-" Mabel's smug grin was immediately replaced with confused panic as the two of them quickly flipped her over on her stomach faster than she could react.

"Hey!" Mabel protested as her thrashing picked back up once again and the other two struggled a bit to regain their grip on her.

Once they steadied themselves, Wendy shot her friend a questioning look, asking where they were going with this.

Dipper struggled a bit longer but eventually regained his footing even as his sister tried to bite him twice.

"Finally." Dipper sighed before acknowledging his friend's questioning look.

"Well okay, uh so...this is j-just a minor d-detail I've noticed a uh...a while back-it might not even be true, b-but I- uh- figured it'd be worth a shot..." Dipper struggled as he tried to cough out an explanation. Suddenly feeling very nervous about exposing this information to his crush.

"So uh...t-there's this one sp-spot I've noticed t-that is pretty...bad for uh- pretty much o-our whole family so I...I- uh- thought that-that might be something we could uh- t-try."

Wendy chuckled a bit to herself as she sat back and watched her friend stutter hopelessly through his word vomit. "Aaaaaand? What spot might that be, Dipper?" The redhead asked with a smug smile plastered on her face.

On the other hand, Mabel was a lot less amused by her twin's pathetic stuttering as a new wave of panic dawned on her when she realized exactly where Dipper was about to take this. And if this little hunch of his was right, and that this spot was even half as bad as it was for Dipper?...

Yeeeeah...Maybe that latest jab at her brother wasn't the brightest idea.

Mabel couldn't see her twin gesture towards the small of her back as she let out her own string of stutters that rivaled her brother's.

"W-Wait. Guys, c-come ohohon! P-Please? I was j-just joking around! L-Let's go do something else...I'm g-getting bored of this already..."

Mabel also couldn't see the truly evil grin Wendy flashed as she looked down at her once again.

"Oh, alright...if that's really the case then you can just apologize to Dipper for that little insult and for that cocky attitude of yours. That last one shouldn't be too hard, considering you've finally been defeated..."

"-AND you have to promise not to try to get either of us back after this!" Dipper made sure to add that little detail, more for his own sake than Wendy's as Mabel would surely go after him first.

But as always, Mabel's pride got the best of her...

"No way! Nuh-uh! Nada! You guys cheated and deserve whatever I- EEEEAAAAAAAA- AAAAAAHAHA-WAAAAAIT!!!- WAITWAITWAIT- NOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!"

"Welp, we tried." Wendy snickered as her fingers scribbled relentlessly on the tween's lower back.

Okay, yeah. Mabel definitely regretted that statement.

Oh gosh, it was so much worse than she thought...

Mabel had completely flipped out the second those fingers began wriggling on her back. Shocks of ticklish energy zipped throughout her entire body as her worst spot was tormented. The poor girl absolutely howled with laughter as she struggled harder than ever before to escape.

Her mind spun at the absolutely torturous feeling. The ruthless tickling left her brain to scrambled to even get a word out through her screeching fit, unable to apologize even if she wanted too.

Mabel wasn't sure how long this went on or when exactly she had been freed from the weight of her tormenters because the moment she regained consciousness, she found herself curled into a fetal position on the floor...

Dipper and Wendy groaned painfully as they sat up from the floor, where they had landed after Mabel had bucked and thrown them off during her struggle.

Mabel had survived a whole eleven seconds (Dipper counted) of back tickling before gaining some kind of god-like strength and was able to throw both of them off of her from sheer force of will.

"Hey...you ok?" Dipper asked as he made his way over to his twin.

"What...happened?" Mabel huffed.

"You LAUNCHED us dude!" Wendy laughed as she stood up and made her way to her friends. "Would never have guessed you had that kind of muscle in you! Girl doesn't know her own strength 'til being tickled to death, huh?" Wendy teased, giving her friend a playful punch to the arm. "You alright though?"

Mabel sat up as she regained her bearings. "Yeah...just uh...slightly traumatized." She said with the most shell-shocked expression she could muster, earning a laugh from the two on either side of her.

"Well, I guess this means that you've gained a bit of perspective and you'll go easier on us from now on, huh?" Dipper asked a bit hopefully.

Mabel slowly turned towards her brother. Fixing her gaze on him as she remembered he had betrayed her not once, but twice in the last half hour.

"Yeah. You'd like that wouldn't you?" Mabel said coldly before launching herself at her brother the second time that evening.

Dipper had barely managed to dodge as he scrambled off the floor. "W-Wait! Mabel we can talk about this!!"

And with that, yet another chase had broken out that evening. Wendy laughed to herself as she watched the two twins sprint frantically throughout the Mystery Shack, deciding to leave them to it before clocking out and going about the rest of her day.

A/N: Whew, okay I'm absolutely exhausted after this one and I'm not to sure if I stuck the landing or not. Either way, hope you enjoyed and lmk what you think!

Nothing To Prove || Gravity Falls Tickle Fic ||

A/N: there's a lot of buildup at the start but THIS IS A TICKLE FIC I SWEAR! more than anything though, I'm writing this for the sake of developing characters. This is familial love so if I see any i*cest, I am blocking you on sight

Summary: When Ford comes to realize how much Dipper looks up to him, he seeks out a way to show his young nephew that there's no need to be intimidated by him.

Word count: 2,454

----

Dipper

Life just got a whole galaxy bigger.

Dipper thought he knew what his life would become when he found that old dusty book in the forest; he'd pursue adventure, get into danger, fight monsters.

But meeting his number one hero? And then finding out that he's related?

Not a chance.

It'd been a year since Dipper and his sister left Gravity Falls. They had lots of time that school year to ruminate on everything they had been through together. In the span of three months, their whole universe had turned inside out.

They had another uncle. Someone else to look out for and protect them. Mabel, as she is with all news of this sort, was over the moon. Dipper, however, wasn't as content. It wasn't that he didn't like Great Uncle Ford. Far from it. He loved him unconditionally. He worshipped the ground he walked on. He would fight a thousand beasts to earn his mentor's pride. And that was the problem.

Dipper had spent so long dreaming of the author as this distant hero; an intellectual mastermind that surpassed all around him. He dreamt of meeting him, yes. Bombarding him with questions, absolutely. But now the man was part of his family. The same family that he cracked stupid fart jokes and goofed around with.

Dipper wasn't prepared to have someone so important to him in his life on a permanent basis. He couldn't help but feel a little small around Ford, like every move he made was a chance to embarrass himself in front of his idol.

After his first summer in Gravity Falls ended, Dipper hoped that his overwhelming sense of awe would pass with the time, and he would grow more comfortable around this new addition to the family. But the moment he stepped off of that bus and saw his great-uncle there to greet him, he knew it wouldn't be quite that easy.

He volunteered for as many of Ford's experiments as he could. He offered as much help as he could provide. When faced with an obstacle, Dipper made sure to prove to his uncle that he was smart and tough beyond his years. This, as one might expect, is a difficult and exhausting image to maintain. Being "the perfect, mature man of science" was hard when you were a young, hormonal teenage boy. But that wasn't going to stop Dipper.

When Ford had asked if him if he wanted to help engineer a stronger form of glass that could withstand abnormally high temperatures, he nearly fell over with excitement. He was going to be the best lab assistant Ford could ask for.

It seemed, however, that he couldn't get that right after all, because when bringing over the regular glass jar for experimentation, it slipped through his fingers and shattered.

Dipper was mortified. Not only had he broken the constant variable in their experiment, but possibly also the trust Ford placed in him to be a responsible assistant. How could he have been so careless? Was their experiment ruined now? Did Ford think he wasn't taking this seriously?

"Oh my gosh! Oh my- I- I'm so sorry, Great Uncle Ford! I don't know what happened. I thought I had it" Dipper rambled, throat tightening.

"Aw shoot," Ford cursed under his breath, "It's okay, Dipper, it happens. Here, why don't you go fetch me a new jar from the back shelves while I sweep up this mess?"

"Act- Actually you know what, I think you might actually have an easier time doing this if I wasn't here. I- I don't want to get in your way. " Dipper shuffled back towards the door.

"But I thought you wanted to-" Ford turned to his nephew only to find that he was already gone.

---

Ford

It was unusual, and not the kind that Ford enjoyed. The puzzling kind of unusual.

The conclusion did not follow the variables. Variable one: Ford was conducting an experiment. Variable two: Ford asked Dipper for assistance. Variable three: Dipper was eager to help. Conclusion: Dipper had panicked and ran off. It just wasn't right. Something was off balance.

Now, in a technical situation, Ford could figure out the root cause himself. He had well over thirty years of practice doing so. But this was a human being. Moreso, this was his great nephew, and he wasn't so skilled in the people area. He needed to outsource this predicament with someone who knew Dipper longer than he had. Someone he could trust to tell him what he was doing wrong.

That someone in particular was tucking away a large medieval flail in the cupboards of the sitting room when Ford found him. What it was for, Ford thought it better not to ask.

"Stanley, can I talk to you about something?" He said.

"I didn't know it was a bear, honest!" Stan yelled.

"What?"

"Uhh, nothing. What's on your mind?"

"I have the strangest feeling that Dipper is more anxious than normal. He ran out of my lab this morning looking like he'd seen a ghost, which I have ruled out as a possibility because the air did not smell at all of sulfur. Anyway, the point is, I think something's wrong with him. You've known him far longer than I have. I thought maybe you would have better insight into these things" Ford explained.

Stan stood silently for a moment.

"Stan?"

"Oh sorry I was just enjoying the moment you finally came to me for advice"

"Stanley."

His brother quirked an eyebrow at him. "You don't gotta be a genius to figure this one out, Poindexter. The kid's afraid of looking bad in front of ya."

Ford was stunned into silence. This was a new feeling. An new, terribly odd feeling.

"What?"

"Come on, you've got to have noticed by now. He looks to you like you're a god. He practically worships the ground you walk on. You were like his hero before you'd even met him. You think he's not gonna feel some pressure to live up to your standard? He just wants you to be proud of him."

"I love him! He's my brother's grandson! And of course I'm proud of him. He's very remarkable for his age" Ford said.

"Then why don't you tell him that once in a while."

Ford lost himself in thought.

"Well, time to get back to restocking my weapons. Good luck with your family tension. I'll call you for dinner," Stan sauntered away, seemingly unbothered by the problem, "Prepping for battle, do do do..."

Once again, Ford was left alone to think.

---

This wasn't the first time that Ford had heard someone tell him that he had a standoff-ish impression on people, but he never thought it would impact his kin. Someone he treasured so greatly. Now that he knew how Dipper was feeling, he couldn't waltz around and act like he didn't know. Something had to be done. The only issue was, he didn't know what.

Ford waited a couple days before asking Dipper to rejoin his experiments, knowing that the boy probably wouldn't be willing to assist him just yet after what happened. To his relief, Dipper agreed.

It was still painful to know that his nephew was intimidated by him, but it felt nice just to have him by his side again being his seemingly normal self.

The day went without a hitch this time. In fact, things went quicker than expected and they finished early. It was as they were readying themselves to leave when Ford spoke.

"Thank you for your help today, Dipper. I've been having trouble operating all of this machinery by myself lately. Must have thrown out my back or something."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Dipper replied, "Muscles get tighter with age, so I'm sure it's normal."

Ford turned to look down at his nephew. "Are you calling me old?"

The boy paled. "Wh- I- Uh- I- I wasn't-"

"I'm afraid I have no choice but to punish you for your disrespect" the scientist said darkly.

Before Dipper could have time to overthink that threat, Ford pulled the boy into his arms, sat himself on the ground and started tickling his belly.

The first few seconds were filled with frantic babbling; jumbled syllables trying to make themselves into a coherent sentence. Ford wasn't hearing a "stop", so he didn't.

Dipper giggled hysterically. His face had instantly screwed itself up tight and was looking for a way to bury itself into some hiding place. "GREATUNCLEFORHOHORD! WHAT ARE YOU DOHOHOHOING?!"

"Tickling you, of course! I thought that was obvious," Ford answered with cheer, all pretend-seriousness gone. He chuckled. "I guess you inherited more from me than I thought."

Dipper couldn't seem to figure out what to do with his hands, until he settled on hiding his face with them.

"Aw, don't be shy, son. I'm not the author today. Today, I'm just your uncle," Ford then added with a growl, "Your uncle: the tickle monster!"

The boy's arms fell from his face, settling down on his lap like little t-rex arms. He seemed to have surrendered to the silliness of it and didn't bother to fight.

Wonderful, Ford thought, that means he trusts me!

As Ford moved from belly to sides to ribs, Dipper's laughter went up and down like a rollercoaster, his child-like smile never leaving his face. "IHIHIHI'M SORRYHIHIHI!"

"Nuh uh, kid. "Sorry"'s not gonna cut it," Ford said playfully. He was surprised how good he was at this. He didn't have much experience with playing with children, and he had thought his decades of interdimensional travel would've hardened him to such silliness. Thank the gods that it hadn't.

As Ford's hand started to travel up to the boy's underarm, the boy shrieked and suddenly found the will to fight.

"EHEHEHEK! NONONONONO!"

Ford couldn't help himself laughing at his adorable little ward. "Ticklish there, huh?"

"YEHEHES" Dipper cried.

"Okay, okay, I'll make you a deal. You take back what you said about me being old, and I'll stop tickling you."

Ford had expected the kid to be worn out by now. He thought it was only fair to offer him an out. To his surprise, he didn't take it.

Dipper seemed to think it over for a second, then shook his head with an extra giggle, one that was not from the tickling.

This kid is going to be the death of me, Ford thought, not a hint of regret in his mind.

"Okay, if you say so," the man said playfully, and dug all six fingers into the boy's hollows.

A shriek, and then more rambling, and then loud laughter.

Dipper, despite being tickled within an inch of his life, looked happier than Ford had ever seen him. If this was a dream, Ford did not want to wake up.

"I've got some questions for you, Dipper. Smile for yes and laugh for no, ya got it?"

All he could do was laugh.

"Okay, are you smart?"

Dipper sunk his chin in to his chest.

"Dipper, this won't work if you say yes and no" Ford remarked with fake incredulousness, "Okay, hmmmm... are you brave?"

The teen began to snicker.

"I don't think you understand the rules of this game," Ford said, which only made Dipper laugh harder.

"Alright, alright, last one. Are you ticklish?"

Dipper let out a snort at that infernal question.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ford smiled smugly.

After several more minutes of goofing around, Dipper finally had enough.

"OKAYHYHYHY OKAYHYHY! I TAKE IT BAHAHACK!"

"Good lad." And with that, Ford released his victim.

Dipper wrapped his arms around himself and giggled till there were no more laughs left in him.

"You okay, son? I didn't go too crazy, did I?"

"No no, I'm fihihine. Mabel's put me through much worhorse."

"I can believe that. She got that from your uncle Stanley, you know."

After having regained his breath, Dipper got up from his uncle's lap. "So... are you really not mad about the jar I broke the other day?"

"Oh, Dipper, of course I'm not. You should see the things I've broken down here. You'd be shocked."

"But when you make a mistake, it's different." Dipper recoiled. Apparently, he didn't mean to let that slip.

"What do you mean?"

Dipper's timidness was returning, and Ford almost regretted even asking.

"It's just... you've done so many great things and are so perfect the rest of the time that the mistakes you make don't count as much."

That was some seriously flawed logic, but Ford chose not to point it out.

Dipper continued. "I make too many mistakes."

"Dipper, you're supposed to make mistakes. You're twelve. Do you think I was able to do all the things I do now at your age? Not even remotely.

"And more to the point, you don't have to embarrassed about those mistakes. Especially not with me."

"But you're different! You're the author! The author I'd been searching for all summer. You're a dimension-hopping scientist! And surprise, surprise, you're even cooler in person! And I'm just... so... small.

"I keep trying to make myself useful, to be someone you can be proud of, but-"

Ford kneeled down and placed both hands on the kid's shoulders. "Dipper, listen very close to me. I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to really hear me, understand?"

Dipper hesitantly nodded.

"I am so proud of you. You're my great nephew. I'm proud of you every minute of every day. That's not something that can change. You've got nothing to prove to me. You make me proud simply by being who you are. Never question that. Can you do that for me, son?"

The boy looked near to tears.

Oh gods, Ford thought, did he say something wrong? He thought this would make him feel better, not worse! Should he-

Little arms suddenly hugged his neck tight. "Yeah... yeah I can."

Ford could not get his arms around him fast enough.

"Now, don't you ever go comparing yourself to me. What a disservice to your incredible self."

Dipper hugged tighter.

Ford himself could feel little pin pricks in his own eyes. He released his hug and cleared his throat.

"Well, I think we've had enough excitement down here for one day. What do you say we head back upstairs for dinner."

Dipper wiped his eyes with a happy smile. "Sounds good to me."

The two walked back towards the door, a new kind of bond formed between them. It felt like something had been accomplished today, and that was all either of them could ask for.

"You are old, though."

"Oh, I'll show you old. Get back here!"

----

This has been an idea of mine for quite some time. Rewatching the show was just the straw that broke this writer's back apparently. So happy to have finally written this ❤️

AWWWWWWDHAJGDJWHA LOOKIT HIMMM

ART BASED OFF OF @anxious-lee GRAVITY FALLS TK FANFIC. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. BESTI- (I HOPE U DONT MIND ME CALLIN U THAT- I CALL PPL THAT WHO I JUST LIKE/WANNA BEFRIEND THEM AND STUFFS-) also TRYING OUT ANOTHER ART STYLE...

Tickle Monster!Ford all the way.

@mushyblushyredhead LOOOOOOK

TickleTober 2024 🎃

Hosted by: @august-anon

Day 4: Hide and Seek

I started this cute mini comic a year ago and it’s been in my drafts ever since. XD But I finally came back to finish it as I realized it’s perfect for today’s prompt! ^^