Chapter Text
Christmas Eve
“These are molasses, and there should be peanut butter coming out of the oven soon.” Mabel placed yet another tray piled high with cookies on the living room table.
“Mabel, please. It’s like you’re fattening us up for the damn kill,” Dipper groaned, taking another cookie before going back to fall in Wirt’s lap in the armchair. Wirt laughed, taking the cookie from his hand. “Nobody is making you eat these, y’know.”
Greg leapt up from his space on the floor to grab the cookie from Wirt and cram it in his mouth before he could object. “Yeah!” He exclaimed, mouth full. “The rest of us are more than happy to help out.” Dipper chuckled at Greg scrambling to take as many cookies as he could hold before following Mabel into the kitchen, asking what else she was making. To the surprise of no one, Mabel and Greg had become immediate partners in crime in their mission of bullying their brothers.
Stan wandered in and scrubbed a hand over his face at the sight of more cookies on the table, even as Soos slipped past him to grab his own. “Good lord, someone stop her,” he grumbled.
“You’re telling me,” Dipper commiserated. “Can you pass me one?”
Stan tossed Dipper two cookies. “Way ahead of you.”
Wirt reached out to take one of the cookies only for Dipper to snatch it back. “Get your own,” he teased, licking both cookies to claim them as his own. Wirt, unphased, took one of them and ate it despite Dipper’s disgust. “Seriously? Those were mine!”
Wirt grinned, taking the other cookie. “If you stopped your bitching I wouldn’t need to step in like this. Maybe then you’ll realize that you have the power to not eat them at all.”
Dipper frowned, shoving his shoulder. “Nobody is making you teach me a lesson, either. Gorging myself on Mabel’s baked goods is a time-honored Pines tradition.”
Stan raised his arm, cookie in hand, not looking up from his newspaper. “Amen.”
Wirt only rolled his eyes. “Okay, well you have me and Greg to help so maybe you can stop your moaning.”
“Stan?” Dipper raised his hand, seamlessly catching yet another cookie tossed his way. “See? Never gonna happen, babe.”
Wirt and Greg had spent almost every day of their Christmas vacation at the Mystery Shack since Sara was back East. Wirt had initially been nervous about spending the holiday with Dipper’s whole family and Greg at the same time, but the shift into being part of the Pines’ dynamic had been damn near seamless. Mabel and Greg had clicked right away, teaming up for cookie madness even while Wirt asked why there were cookies in the first place.
"Aren’t you guys Jewish?"
"Any excuse to make and eat mountains of dessert is good enough for us."
While Stan had only begrudgingly accepted newcomers, it was becoming increasingly clear that he had complete trust in Dipper and Mabel to bring those newcomers in. In the same way that Dipper didn’t trust easily, Wirt could tell Stan was the same. They all were. But he came to realize that because Dipper trusted him and so clearly loved him, he really didn’t have all that much to prove. It was true what Mabel had told him all those months ago: He was in.
The one person Wirt hadn’t seen much of was Ford. He had heard a lot about him, and understood that Dipper was carrying on his legacy, but the man himself seemed very reserved. Apart from pleasantries, Wirt hadn’t really had a chance to talk to him at all. So when Ford poked his head into the room to pick Dipper’s brain about his research, Wirt let him go, figuring Dipper would tell him the gist later on. It didn’t matter much anyway, since Mabel and Greg came back into the living room, cookies in hand and demanding that Wirt turn on the TV.
“Ooh, The Duchess Approves! Grunkle Stan, you have to see this,” Mabel jumped up to grab Stan’s arm, not swayed by him shaking her off.
“Kid, please!” Stan scolded, batting her away. “The last thing I need is some stupid movie that’s just gonna remind me that I have a heart no matter how hard I try to swallow it.”
Mabel only rolled her eyes. “Cut the shit, I know it’s one of your favorites.”
“Don’t test me, I swear I’ll put on some Rankin/Bass monstrosity just to spite you,” Stan threatened, reaching for another cookie.
Mabel yanked the plate away. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I’ve never seen it!” Greg piped up. “Wirt, I bet you’d like it. We should watch it!” Wirt had been carefully silent, knowing that an Old Hollywood romance would leave him more vulnerable than he was comfortable being with this group of people. But he also couldn’t hide his intrigue. “Whatever you want, Greg. I’ll watch it if it’s on, but I’m good with whatever.”
“That’s a yes!” Mabel cheered. She plopped back down next to Greg, about to turn up the volume when there was a knock at the door and Wendy slipped in. Waddles, previously asleep in the corner, ran up to greet her.
“Oof, Waddles, down boy,” she gently shooed him away from digging into her pockets before looking up to greet everybody. “Hey guys! Dipper around?”
“I’ll go grab him,” Wirt stood up. “By the way, this is my brother Greg. He’s staying with me for the holidays.”
Wendy sat down on the floor next to Greg and held out her fist. “Nice to meet you, Greg! I’m Wendy.” Greg grinned and bumped her fist with his own. “Hi! We’re watching a movie, you should hang out!”
Wirt went down to Ford’s study and knocked. After a moment, Dipper opened the door. “Hey! Everything okay?”
“Yeah, Wendy’s here and wanted to talk to you.” He raised his eyebrow at Dipper, who chuckled in response. “Tch, I bet she does. Guess I’ll be a while.” Dipper turned back to Ford, who gave him a thumbs up in response, before kissing Wirt on the cheek as he passed him and went back down the hall. Wirt waved after him, lovestruck until Ford cleared his throat.
“Oh- uh, sorry,” Wirt said, blushing and completely unsure how to address the one person he had barely spoken to all week. Luckily, Ford smiled and waved him in. Wirt shuffled in, shutting the door behind him and sitting down on the couch.
Ford pushed his glasses onto his nose. “I want to first apologize for being so distant. I often have trouble inviting new people in, but Dipper has told me a lot about you. He’s a big fan of yours.”
Wirt’s ears burned. “No worries, I’m often the same. I’m a big fan of his, too.” He did his best to keep his voice from wavering. “Um, but he’s told me a lot about you too, and your work, and his work. I recognize the gravity of what you both do, even though I’ll admit I don’t always understand it.”
Ford smiled. “It can be a lot. Dipper… Dipper is like me in a lot of ways, but more refined. He’s much more open and approachable than I ever was. Brave, too. He jumps into things in a way that I struggle with. But also like me, he’s very careful and calculated. He told me that you know about Bill, and that you also had a frightening experience, although he didn’t tell me what it was.” He held up his hand as Wirt opened his mouth, prepared to defend himself. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask. I know better now than to ask.” Wirt relaxed, relieved to not have to retell his time in the Unknown even though he was sure Ford would be an understanding listener.
“I just wanted to thank you, I suppose,” Ford mused. “Our experience with Bill… it’s very difficult to describe, and troublesome to recount. I can’t tell you how glad I am that he has someone to listen to him, especially as engrossed as he is in his work. When I was doing what he’s doing, I didn’t have anyone. If he trusts you, so do I. So do we.”
Wirt froze for a moment, unsure of how to respond. “I… Of course. I mean, I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t have anyone to talk to. I have a lot of respect for him doing what he does. Like, I love him of course, but more than that I’m… I guess in awe of him.” He laughed nervously. “I don’t know if I’d call him refined, but careful and calculated is definitely true. I know how lucky I am.”
“He’s lucky, too,” Ford smiled. “You both are.” They both heard Mabel shouting about cookies from the other room, and Ford laughed, rising from his desk. “I think we’re being summoned. Hopefully you have a sweet tooth.”
Wirt chuckled. “I’m growing to. She’s a bit of a menace with these cookies though.”
“Son, you have no idea.”
Wirt followed Ford back into the fray, glancing at Greg and Stan, both engrossed and weeping at the movie on TV. He smiled to himself before snagging his coat and sneaking into the gift shop, climbing the ladder to the roof. He followed the sound of chatter to find Dipper and Wendy sitting on the edge of the roof, passing a joint back and forth and tossing stray pinecones at the totem pole in the parking lot. Wendy noticed him out of the corner of her eye, elbowing Dipper. “Hey, look who’s here!”
Dipper turned his head, lighting up at the sight of his boyfriend. “It’s Wirt!” He laughed, clearly more than a little stoned as he bumped Wendy with his shoulder. “Y’know this guy? I love this guy.”
Wirt sat down beside them, picking up a pinecone and hitting the bullseye on the totem pole. Dipper cheered, Wendy cackling beside him. “Okay, now I also love this guy.”
“Bummer he’s mine,” Dipper joked. Wendy grinned. “All yours, dude. I should probably head back inside.” She passed what was left of the joint to Dipper before standing, pulling down the bill of his cap and heading back inside with a final wave and wink to Wirt. Wirt waved back before looking up and seeing Dipper take a pull, face burning as he tried to ignore how hot that was.
“Man, I’m so glad you’re here,” Dipper said, exhaling. “Like, in general. I feel like I’ve been spreading the gospel of Wirt all week.”
Wirt laughed, taking the barely there joint from Dipper’s hand and putting it out. “So I’ve heard. I was just talking to Ford.”
Dipper snorted. “Oh yeah? That guy is so weird. Like, I really admire him, but he’s definitely a weirdo.”
Wirt smiled and laid his hand over Dipper’s. “In the absolute kindest way possible, it takes one to know one. He was telling me about how you two are alike, but you’re like, the better version.”
Dipper chuckled, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair. “He’s always saying shit like that. And like, I’m flattered, but the older I get, the more I realize how useless it is to just force yourself to be alone. It took him his whole life to get to that point, but I don’t know.” He paused to interlace his fingers with Wirt’s, lean against him, and look up at the stars. “Guess I got lucky.”
Wirt grinned, squeezing his hand and turning his gaze to the sky. “So did I.”