entranceway | Entry #1

Entry tags:

Entry #1

[It's entirely possible this man is trying to say something important on video, but there's a problem. Static keeps fuzzing intermittently across the screen in a multicolored frenzy, corrupting his words beyond much recognition. You might catch a glimpse of a face squinting at the video feed, tongue stuck out between his teeth in concentration, before the video blurs and dips. Now you're getting a lovely view of the front of his shirt, jacket strings dangling, in between the rushes of white noise.]

-nderland thing- [sorry, can't hear you over the roaring of ZZZZZFFFFFJFFZJZJZ now crackling merrily across the video feed] -iously? Is anyo- [and poor Alex is again interrupted by another squeal of distortion. This persists for a few minutes before the feed clicks off with the disgruntled air of a frustrated sigh.

Then, a line of text:]

alright i guess that idea wasn't happening anytime soon
so this is some kindof wonderland shitshow is what i'm hearing
i'll skip the obvious has anyone tried to get out blah blah blah youve all heard it
what i wanna know is this

how the hell do you keep track of time around here

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And, yep, just like Jay, he can already tell this isn't someone he's gonna be able to get off his case that easy. Alex fishes his newfound device out of his pocket and hands it over. It's pretty unobjectionable as far as phones go. Unbroken, too.]

You need to figure out what it is? [Weird choice of words.]

[Dipper starts poking at buttons, frowning, as he tries to figure out what might be messing with the signal.]

Yeah, I mean, it probably won't be the thing that blows this mystery wide open, but it might be. And anyway, it's a piece in the puzzle.

[Alex snorts. It's one part skepticism, two parts jitters. He thought he ditched the whole 'fucking with electronics' thing when he tied all those loose ends, but no. Turns out he still fuzzes things up out of sheer proximity.

He can only hope that Dipper doesn't try testing his own device in the vicinity because he's pretty sure the 'Alex Kralie static field of doom' radius is still in full effect.

Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to make this kid go away now that he's here. Whoops.]

What piece? I literally just got here. Maybe it's just, you know. Bad luck. Even Wonderland manufacturing can make a dud.

It's not manufacturing, it's magic. And if that were the case you wouldn't be the first one ever.

[Obviously, any good experiment needs a control, so after fiddling with Alex's device for a bit, he pulls out his own and turns on the video feed.]

...huh.

[Goddamnit. Alex scowls and crosses his arms. From the looks of it, yep, that's pretty solid proof that electronics really do hate him.

Not that simple, naturally. It's also some uncomfortable proof that whatever cosmic residue running into that fucking thing leaves behind hasn't quite worn off from him yet. And will possibly never.]

What'd I tell you? A fatal curse upon all your technical whatchamacallits, right here. [He spreads his arms with an exaggerated shrug.]

[Huh. Dipper tucks his away and hands Alex his back. That's one mystery solved.] So is it an actual curse? Like, did a witch lay it on you or something? I mean, it's pretty subtle as curses go, but I guess in today's day and age it would be effective. Doesn't seem to mess them up too badly for texting to work, at least.

A witch. [He repeats it flatly, as if that'll be enough to challenge the validity of the claim. Hey, Alex used to enjoy spooky ghost stories as much as the next college idiot, and as unreal as the last few months of his life have been, there's a limit to what he'll believe.]

We don't, uh, have anything like that. At home. Everything back there was pretty normal.

[Not to mention that he's still trying to work out what would be...safest to tell this guy. If he's really not the type to let a mystery lie, maybe it'd be best if he didn't find out what exactly went down in Alex's own history.]

Maybe I just came in with it. Wonderland jinx, you know?

Yeah, most people think that where I come from too.

[He's not convinced that anyone is from a normal world. Whatever that means. Not when half of everyone thought he was just a crazy, paranoid kid whenever he tried to point out anything remotely supernatural back home. Before he got to Gravity Falls, anyway.

He frowns, squinting up at Alex.]

Wonderland doesn't do that. Not like this anyway. Not to one person.

[Are you lying to him?]

[What are you talking about Alex is TOTALLY NORMAL]

How do you know? You said yourself this place is kind of a mystery.

[He's definitely lying to Dipper, but that's kind of Alex's whole shtick. He lies to people. Out of...concern, largely, but also a secretive/protective streak a few miles wide.

He doesn't want people getting tangled up in his problems, all right? They're not exactly easy to resolve. He had to kill several people just to get that damn thing to leave him alone.

And he doesn't like thinking about that.]

[Dipper raises his eyebrow, still looking skeptical.]

Why did you immediately assume it was you?

[Well, damn. Alex crosses his arms and tries to look as though he's scowling with nonchalant moodiness as he debates the logistics of what he should be telling this kid. Not the full scoop. Never the full scoop.

But maybe enough to satisfy his curiosity?]

I kind of have some experience in this sort of thing. [He holds his thumb and forefinger an inch apart, as if to imply that it's not that much experience.

Spoiler alert: this is also a lie.]

[Dipper crosses his arms right back, tilting his head up at Alex.]

So it probably isn't a Wonderland thing. If it's happened before.

[His story keeps changing and it's more full of holes than Grunkle Stan's boat. Dipper knows he's not telling the full truth, if he's telling any truth at all. The question is, how can he get it out of him?]

[One of these days he's gonna have to think of a story and stick with it for comprehensibility's sake.

Today is not that day. Alex is a lot of things, but a convincingly quick liar he is not. The most he can do is be calculatingly evasive, but he's too off his game and this kid's too astute.]

Maybe it is. Some people come in and out again, right?

[Including, allegedly, himself? He says it with a fair amount of authority, like it's totally a plausible side-effect that many a doctor would prescribe to the frequent Wonderland flier.]

They forget everything, though, and on the off chance you're the exception to that you probably would have said it's happened before in Wonderland.

[Dipper scowls, glaring up at him.]

You're just dodging the question. You know exactly what's happening, and you don't want to tell me.

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

[He says it in that hard deadpan fashion, so Dipper would be forgiven for thinking it's a joke. Still got that plausible deniability. Alex is a lot of things, but he doesn't threaten kids. Not openly anyway.

Sure, sounds ominous, but it's something Alex genuinely believes. He went through hell trying to patch things last time knowledge of that tall faceless thing got out. He'd hate to have to do that again. Especially to a kid.]

[Dipper glowers. If it is a joke, it's not a funny one.]

Yeah, well, good luck with that around here. People don't stay dead.

[OH THAT'S JUST GREAT that's great that is fantastic.

All right, fine. He won't push the point.]

Fine. Well, it doesn't have anything to do with Wonderland. [He crosses his arms as he tries to shrug in a decidedly non-petulant manner.] So it's not really relevant, is it?

Maybe not, but the fact that you're hiding it so hard makes me really suspicious. [And that makes him want to figure it out all the more.]

Ever think that maybe it's for your own good? [No, really. And Alex is really getting some huge Jay vibes, more and more by the second.

If this kid keeps pushing, Alex might be forced to do something drastic. What'd he do to get Jay off his back? Satisfy the curiosity. Feed the beast and let him go.

Yeah. Good tactic.]

What do I need to tell you to get you to leave it?

I think maybe it's for your own good. [Knowing more has only ever helped Dipper. Given him what he needs to stay safe and fight whatever it is that wants to hurt him.]

I don't know, you could try the truth.

It's better this way. [He says it with firm finality, but that's not gonna be enough to get Dipper to leave well enough alone now, is it. He rakes a hand through his hair for a minute, eyeing the phone with grim distaste. He should never have tried using that goddamn camera.

He sighs. No way out but forward, is there?]

I ran into something back home and it - it did stuff like that. You couldn't film it, not for long. And after a while it started rubbing off on me, I guess.

[He glares.] There. Happy?

Not particularly. [But it does sound like the truth, even if it's still vague and missing anything resembling details. So Dipper decides to offer him something back.]

You know you can get some other kind of communicating thingy from the closets, right? Doesn't even have to be technology-based. Like, would there still be interference with a magic... picture book?

No idea. It's not really an exact science. [Frankly, he hasn't tested it out at all, and he's more than a little disgruntled that for all his efforts and pains and struggles, he's still just as much of a weirdness magnet as ever. Fantastic.]

I guess at least the option's open. Maybe. [Though honestly, he prefers to text. It's harder for people to read his face that way.]

It's worth experimenting. But, uh, don't try magic mirrors or anything like that. That's just asking for trouble.

[He snorts.] Hell no. I'll stick with normal stuff, thanks. [He's not a total idiot.]

So? Did that solve your mystery for you?

Entry #1

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action

action