Sun And Mood

Kimsooja 김수자 (South Korean, b. 1957, Daegu, Korea) - A Reflective Palace Of Rainbows, 2006   The Palacio de Cristal was originally built in the late 1880s in Madrid, Spain. In 2006 artist Kimsooja transformed it into this rainbow reflecting palace.   Installations

The feeling of.

That feeling when you

Guys you get it right

Rainy Day Woman PT 4

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3

Young!Stan Pines x GN! Reader 

SFW

WC: 2,869

After a few minutes of waiting, Stan knocked on your door, you walked up and opened it.

“Ya ready?” He asked, looking you up and down so quick you almost didn’t catch it.

You looked at him too, a little less subtly than he did, and he looked good. His outfit was pretty simple, a white v neck shirt with a gold chain and brown jeans, but even a simple outfit on him managed to stun you, definitely long enough for him to notice.

“Oh um, yeah! Yeah. Where are we going?” You stumbled over your words. You wanted to compliment how good he looked, but you also didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, you were sure he saw you staring anyway. 

“Greasy's Diner alright? They've only got breakfast but it is good”

“I love Greasy’s DIner, only been there a few times though” You said

He laughed and smiled, “Alright, lets go”

you followed him down the stairs and outside to his car. 

You were a bit nervous, you haven't spent much time with Stan, and you were never good at small talk. You always thought you gave off bad first impressions. You were also worried about the town gossiping, as small towns do. They knew you worked at the Mystery Shack by now, but did they know you lived there? You hoped people wouldn’t stare at you while you were out with Stan. 

As you got to his car he opened your door and gestured for you to get in. “Thanks” you smiled and sat down. You were still nervous, but if Stan could manage to act normal after almost walking in on you naked this morning, then you could manage.

Stan closed your door, walked around to his side of the car, got in and started the car. “Ya ready kid?” He asked, “Yep!” You smiled

As he drove you sat in silence, some music In the background but it was turned down so low you didn't really pay attention to it. Greasy's Diner wasn't far away, it was maybe 5 minutes before the restaurant appeared in the car's headlights.

You and Stan got out of the car. As you started to walk up to the Diner you looked back at Stan's car. “How long have you had that car? For as old as it is it runs good, Looks good too.” 

“I've had the Stanmobile since I could drive! I upkeep it myself, it's broken quite a few times on me but nothing I couldn't fix” He beamed, based on the excitement in his voice you could tell it was something he was very proud of. It was nice seeing him talk so passionate about something. When he was running the mystery shack he had that same voice, But you could tell it was more staged when he was working. “The Stanmobile huh? Honestly one of the more normal names I've heard for a car.” Stan laughed

Stan opened the door for you, you both walked in and sat down. A woman you have seen many times came up to take your order, you learn her name is Lazy Susan. “Hello Mr. Mystery, I see you’ve made a new friend!” She says as she hands menus to you and Stan. 

“Hah, new friend and new employee! Y/N Here helps me run the Mystery Shack now.” Stan says.

“Oh that’s exciting” She pours you both some coffee and walks away while you and Stan decide what to eat. 

“So, you said you’ve had your car since you could drive, how long ago was that?” you asked. 

“Is that your way of figuring out how old I am?” Stan smiles at you, brows furrowed but a smile on his face. 

“Maybe” You laughed, he looked to be in his late 20s to you, but he seemed to mature to be that young.

Just before you could find out Lazy Susan was back to get your orders, Both you and Stan decided to get pancakes. As she walked away you looked back at him, narrowing your eyes. “I’m still waiting for my answer Stan” 

He rolled his eyes “alright alright, I’ll tell ya, but I want ya to guess first” He smiled.

 You stared at him for a second, his face, his hair, his hands. You could say you were looking to make a good guess, but really you were just taking this moment as an excuse to study him. His face looked young, but his hands looked like they had done a lot of hard work. You looked back into his eyes. Everyone says the eyes are the window to the soul, but you couldn’t read Stan's eyes, they had some emotion behind them but you couldn’t quite say what. “Hmmm, I'm going to say…24?” You wanted to guess older, but you knew if you guessed a little younger it would help his ego, and you wanted to make him smile.

“Hah, pretty close, but I'm 28, what about you?” He beamed. You were right when you wanted to guess late 20s, but it was worth seeing him smile more than it was being right.

“No, I had to guess now you have to” You smiled and stared at him. Having Stan stare at you like you stared at him was awkward. You didn’t know where to look

 “Hm” He said looking into your eyes, “26?” You smiled, “No, but you're a better guesser than me. I’m also 28. His eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“Pancakes!!!” Lazy Susan said as she walked up to you and Stan and gave you both your food. You both sat in silence for a while as you ate, you didn’t realize how hungry you were until there was food in front of you. 

After you all both were done, Stan looked up at you “Wanna take this back to my place” You laughed, and blushed.

“That’s the worst pick up line for someone who lives with you Stan”

He grinned “Well, ya saying you aren't gonna come back to my place? Cause I think you are, which means it works” 

You sighed and smiled at him fondly “Alright, I guess it is, but it’s still dumb” 

Stan rolled his eyes and smiled at you.“Alright let's go”. Stan got up and got out his wallet.

“Hey I can pay for my food” You started to say. 

He waved his hand at you. “Even if I let you pay it would still be my money, don’t worry about it” 

You sighed, “fine” he wasn't wrong but it was more of the principle of it. You didn’t want him to pay for you unless you were on a real date. 

“Don’t get into too much trouble you too!” Lazy Susan said as you and Stan left Greasy's Diner. You just smiled “We’ll try!” You could tell by the calculating look on her face that she was probably going to be gossiping about you and Stan. You weren’t in town very often anymore now that you had a place to live, so you found yourself not really caring for once. As you and Stan got outside and got back into the Stanmobile, Stan again getting your door for you, you made your way back to the Mystery Shack. 

During the ride home you kept stealing small glances at Stan, admiring how his arms looked as he gripped the steering wheel, watching his hands as they turned the wheel. If you were looking at his face you would have seen the glances he was giving you too, but you didn’t.

*Stan POV*

Stan could see the way you were looking at him as he drove, as good as having someone admire him made him feel, it also worried him. Stan saw himself as a disease. When he met someone he infected them with whatever bad luck he had that ruined everything, and ruined them too. He liked you of course, but he was just so tired. Tired of ruining other peoples lives, tired of running to new towns, tired of never being enough. He almost started to regret letting you move in. If something happened and the town started to gossip and try to run him out of town, what would he do? He couldn’t leave Gravity Falls, not until he got Ford back. 

Maybe he should start distancing himself from you. He knew in his heart he wouldn’t be able to kick you out, not when you only had your car to live in. He knew what that was like. Waking up freezing in the dead of night, having to start your car just so you can be warm enough to fall back asleep. The summers could be just as bad, sweating in a car but not rolling the windows down out of fear of someone robbing you, or worse.

He shook himself out of the thoughts of his past, and looked over to you for a moment as he drove. “So, how long ya planning on staying in Gravity falls?”

“Reader POV*

“So, how long ya planning on staying in Gravity falls?”

“I haven't really put much thought into it. I’m not really the planning type. Normally I skip towns when I have enough money or I get bored.” You said, you think that question was his way of figuring out how long you would stick around, but you weren’t sure if he was asking because he wanted you to get out of his house or because he enjoyed your company. You hoped it was the latter. 

“Ya ever think you'll find a town good enough to stay in?” He asked. 

You pondered his question for a minute, trying to find the right words without oversharing. ”Well, I have only been on the road for a few months, I hadn’t exactly planned to be on this road trip. Just kinda happened. As far as settling into a new town, It really hasn’t crossed my mind on a serious level. I haven't been financially stable enough to let myself consider it since I've been on the road.”

*Stan POV*

Stan could tell by the tone of your voice that you were probably on the road because you were running from something. He knew from experience that often people who were traveling were running from many things, some they weren’t even aware of. He could tell your reason was more physical than mental by the way you spoke. Whether it be a specific person or situation, he felt the way you phrased your words indicated it wasn’t your choice to be where you were now. Some people are out there because they are trying to escape themselves, others are running away from people they crossed a line with. He met many people from both situations, so he got used to reading in between the lines.

He hated how much you reminded him of himself, he knew how quick street life could get dark. He was a kid when he got kicked out, and he thought he was tough, but when he got out on those streets, he was the most scared he had ever been. It made him grow up fast, but he would never escape the nightmares that life gave him. While you were older when you started living in your car, age wasn’t something that prepared you for that life. You had a look in your eyes when you spoke that you had already seen some of that darkness. He didn’t want to make your life worse but he feared he would.. He wanted you to move on from Gravity Falls before he could ruin another person. But seeing that distant look in your eyes as you answered, he knew he would have to let you move on on your own terms. Hopefully he could keep you at arms length for however long that was. 

As he pulled into the driveway of the Mystery Shack and parked his car, he turned to you. “I know road life is hard, don’t worry about overstaying your welcome here. Stay here as long as you want, and if ya wake up one day and decide you want to leave, don’t think ya owe me anything.” He stated, trying to look into your eyes but instead more looking through you, still a bit lost in the memories of his past. “Just uh, helping around the shop is enough of payment for me” 

*Reader POV*

You always thought of Stan as just a conman, but you never thought about what he had been through, to become that. In that moment, the far-away look in Stan's eyes changed how you thought about him. He looked like he had seen a lot of shit, shit you knew would be too vulnerable to ask about right now. Your mind was blank after he finished talking, you felt so happy you finally had some stability in your life, but the man offering you that stability seemed like he had none. While he had the physical stuff, money and a roof over his head. Mentally he seemed fragile, like he was just barely making it. for a moment he looked like a shell of himself as he looked through you while he spoke. You knew he got lost in his thoughts often from the interactions you had had with him so far. You wondered what happened in his past to hurt him so bad, and you wondered if in some way you could help him. After what you knew was too long of a silence you finally managed to speak.

“That means a lot Stan, thank you. Really.” You said, reaching out and placing your hand over his. 

“Yeah uh, no problem” He said, he moved to get out of the car, but squeezed your hand for a second before he moved away from you. As he got out and you followed him into the mystery shack, as you entered the shack he turned to you. “I've got some work to do in the shack, see ya in the morning?” He said, pointing over to his office, avoiding eye contact.

“Do ya want any help?” You asked 

“No! No. It’s just uh, it’s confusing stuff, just a bunch of paperwork” His voice got too loud for a moment, but he corrected it, looking anxious. 

“Alright you have fun with that” you laughed. “See ya tomorrow” you smiled and started to head up to your room. As you got ready for bed you found yourself thinking about Stan again. You were hoping to hang out more when you got back, but he seemed anxious to work on whatever he was doing. As you drifted off to sleep you thought about Stan. The more you hung out with him the harder it was for you to keep your eyes off of him. You wanted to get to know him more, more about his past, about his family. You were hoping work was slow tomorrow so you could talk to him more. 

*Stan POV*

When you put your hand on Stans he almost panicked. He wasn’t used to casual touch from people. He didn’t hate it of course, it had just been so long since he had someone who seemed to care about him.

He didn’t want to abandon you when you got back to the Mystery Shack, but he had to work on the portal. He had been neglecting it since he had a new guest in the house, and the guilt of doing so was getting to him. As he went down to the basement and looked at the mess, he really wished he did have someone to help. He knew you couldn’t, how could he even begin to explain his situation without you thinking he was crazy? He sighed, looking through journal one, trying to make sense of how to help his brother. 

He hated coming down here. Everything down in this basement reminded him of what a failure he was. Ford could have been so much more if Stan hadn't ruined his chance at his dream college, his father made sure he knew it was his fault. He probably wouldn't have even built this portal. And if Stan had listened to Ford when Ford finally gave him a chance, Ford would still be here. 

As he looked up at the portal from his desk he just signed, banging his head down onto the table and laying there. His mind was back to calling him every name in the book, criticizing him for all his failures. He sat there with his head on the desk, rubbing the scar in his shoulder. He decided to go upstairs eventually, he needed to go out and look for the other journals. He couldn’t figure anything out with just the first one. As he went upstairs to go to his room, he passed yours. The thought of at least having someone to talk to in the morning made him smile. It was nice to not be alone with his thoughts all the time. Even though Stan planned to keep his distance from you, the company of another person still helped his mental state more than he realized. 

_______

Author's notes: Sorry this took so long!! School and family stuff have kept me busy. I’m also slowly getting writer's block cause I am not 100% sure where I'm taking this story. Will be updating regularly soon! I am almost done with finals :/

Rainy Day Woman PT 3

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 4

Young!Stan Pines x GN! Reader 

SFW!

WC: 2,423

As you walked down the stairs and into the mystery shack you were relieved to find Stan already there. You needed to get out what you planned to say before your courage was lost. He looked up as he heard you walk in but quickly looked right back down, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed you. 

The second you saw him. your courage started to slip. A part of you wanted to turn around and go right back to your room, but you couldn’t avoid him forever. His body language showed how uncomfortable he was, and you didn’t want him to think you were mad at him. You let out a sigh, and put aside you anxiety

“Hey Stan, sorry I didn’t lock the bathroom door earlier, I wasn't really thinking about the fact that I live with someone else now.” You laughed and smiled, but you knew your posture was giving away your anxious feelings as you wrung your hands together.  

As you talked he looked at you with shock, eyebrows raised and mouth almost hanging open. His look of shock made you wonder how his mind played out in this situation. Did he think you were going to come down here and yell at him for opening the door to his own bathroom? 

“It's ok, it's uh, I wasn't thinking either. Slipped my mind that I had a new guest this morning.” He mumbled, looking up at you only for a split second as he spoke. “But um, as far as the Mystery Shack goes, I was gonna let ya have some shirts from the gift shop to wear when you worked but I didn’t know what size ya were, if ya wanna just pick out a couple” He looked up at you finally after he was done talking, a hopeful but worried look in his eyes.

“Hey come on, you saw me half naked this morning. I think you could figure out my shirt size. Are you trying to get another look?” You were trying to lighten the mood but you think your joke went too far. Stan’s face got red as he started to stutter

“N-No I uh- I just didn’t wanna pick the wrong-um” he trailed off, a distant look in his eyes that refused to meet yours.

Well flirting made that worse. Won't do that again. Got it. The ‘Man of Mystery’ you first met when you walked in couldn’t be farther from the Stan you were getting to know now. This Stan was somehow soft spoken despite his raspy voice, and surprisingly easy to fluster. 

*Stans POV*

They’re sorry? They should be running out the door screaming about how much of a creep you are. Should have just come down here with their stuff packed and left. Guess they felt sorry for your dumbass when you ran like a coward. Always a coward. Always the worse twin. They can’t really like you can they? No, they just feel bad for you. Just wait till They know how horrible you are. You ruined your brother's life. Twice. They won't be pitty flirting with you much longer. God, you can’t even form a sentence in front of them. No wonder they’re being so nice you're acting like a flustered girl. Get it together Stan. This poor person is probably just apologising cause they’re afraid of the stranger they live with now. They should be I guess. I bring everyone down with me eventually. Maybe they can sense that. 

Stan was snapped out of his thoughts by the door ringing as a handful of people with a touristy look of wonder in their eyes walked in.

Alright, showtime. Stan thought to himself. 

Stan can step into character no problem. In fact stepping into the mystery man persona makes him almost forget how his life has started to fall apart, about how he lost everything. Almost. 

*Reader POV*

After an awkward silence from your attempt to lighten the mood, the door rang and customers flooded in. Almost instantly the man you met when you first walked through that door was back. Standing tall with a cheesy smile and eyes shining. 

“Welcome everyone to the Mystery Shack! Tours are $20 a person! Now who's ready to see the wonders of Gravity Falls! We’ve got the world's most distracting object, the invisible man and more!” 

$20? You smiled, wondering why he said tours were $15 for you when you walked in. Maybe you gave a better impression than you thought. As much as you liked this man of mystery you still preferred the real Stan, and were excited to get to know that version of him better. Maybe he wouldn’t be so quiet once he got to know you more. 

As Stan led tours of people throughout the day. You began to turn into a conman in your own way, overselling the items in the gift shop. You tried to convince everyone who walked in there that they needed enough souvenirs for their whole family. Everyone needs a Mystery Shack bumper sticker!! You knew from your small interactions that Stan greatly valued money, maybe more than anything else, and you wanted to impress him. To show him that you were worth hiring. Maybe if you did a good enough job he would pay you decently. He had already been kind to you, even though the two of you had hardly spoken

*Stan POV*

As the end of the day approached, the mystery shack slowed down, and the events of the morning had finally stopped repeating in Stan’s head. However, he still wasn’t sure he could just have a normal conversation with you after this morning. Maybe he could ask about your past? What led you to Gravity Falls of all places? No, if you asked him about his past and why he was here he would have to start an elaborate lie. As easy as lying came to him, he knew lying to someone close only lasted so long before everything fell apart. 

It was always easier for Stan to talk to people when he wasn’t trying to make friends. If he was only going to know someone for a short time, he could be whoever he wanted. When it came to being himself he was so guarded he didn’t know how to be himself. How was he supposed to form a genuine connection with someone without mentioning his twin, who was his only childhood friend, or the portal that kept him up every night. He was never the smart twin, he couldn’t easily hide so much of himself, so he preferred to not be himself.

As Stan came back into the present world and out of his own head, he realized the gift shop had become empty. He was standing next to the door a few feet from you, not saying anything. He hoped he wasn’t staring at you. God how long had he been doing that? As he jumped back to reality and looked around the gift shop, he saw that you were counting the cash drawer.

Now money, money was definitely something he could talk about. 

*Reader POV*

Stan slowly walked into the empty gift shop, you looked up to ask how his day was going but he looked like he was lost in his own world. You figured you would just busy yourself counting the register until he came back to reality. Didn’t wanna scare him off twice in one day. 

He wasn’t in his daze for long, shortly after you started counting the cash he looked up and started walking over to you. 

“Woah what have you been doing all day? You start pickpocketing my customers?” Stan said as he walked up to see the amount of cash he had made that day.

“Just learning from the best” You winked at him and smiled “It’s honestly pretty easy to sell to the type of people who walk in here, they aren't the brightest”

“Hey, are you insulting my hand crafted attractions? It takes a long time to make those.” He pretended to be upset with you, frowning and crossing his arms,

“Hey don’t skip out on me calling you the best.” You smiled wide, glad Stan was finally acting normal with you.

“Alright ya got a point, I am the best con-man in Gravity Falls, more than that really, I would argue I'm the best con-man in the Country! My cons got me banned in over 30 states ya know.” He smiled, sounding proud of the fact.

“OVER THIRTY, Stan I hate to say it but I don’t think that makes you a great con-man. Con-men are supposed to be caught.” You laughed but you were secretly a little worried. You were pretty sure he was joking, but what did this man do before he ran this shack?

“Sweetheart, do I look like I've been caught.” He smiled and held up his hands “I don’t see handcuffs, think that's a sign I’m doing a pretty good job”

“I think you do better with a partner, look how much we made today. Now I don’t know what ya make on a normal day but based on what ya said earlier I think you're not the only one to thank here.” You showed him how much you had made today, writing down how many of each bill was in the drawer, and circling the total after you had finished adding it all up.

His eyes widened “Damn, alright I guess I do gotta pay ya. Didn’t think havin’ ya around would help me this much.”

He handed you $40 dollars, which was more than you expected. Honestly you didn’t expect him to pay you on the first day, you thought you would have to work a lot harder to prove that you were worth keeping employed here. You weren’t gonna tell him that however. You looked up at Stan with a beaming smile, “Pleasure doing business with ya Mr. Mystery”

“Hah, yeah, you too Y/N”

You and Stan closed up the shop together, restocking the shelves, turning off the lights, locking the door, and switching the sign to closed. 

As you cleaned the gift shop you thought about dinner, you didn’t feel comfortable raiding Stan's kitchen, but you also had limited money. You couldn’t go out to eat every night, but tonight you decided you would spare yourself the awkwardness of using someone else's kitchen. You kept looking at Stan in the corner of your eye as you both closed out the shop. You just had your first real conversation with him, but you just wanted to know more. If he really had traveled through so many states you're sure the man had some good stories. You also liked the way his eyes lit up when you started joking with him about him being banned in over 30 states. For your own sanity you are going to assume that was his way of trying to impress you and not the truth. 

*Stan POV*

As Stan helped you clean the Gift Shop, he found that his mind had for once, taken a break from insulting him. He smiled when he thought about how you brushed off his hint at his past. You probably thought he was joking, but he wondered if you had a colorful past like him. He finally did get to talk to you, but he only talked about himself. He was hoping to hear more about you too. Would be nice to know something about the person he is letting live with him. He wondered what you were planning to do after work. Maybe he could get to know you more over dinner? He wasn’t sure how to get to know you more without sounding like he wanted to go on a date with you, but he wasn’t too worried about it. He was just enjoying thinking about things that weren’t his own fuck ups for once. Maybe he wouldn’t ‘drag you down’ with him. Maybe he could let himself be pulled up.

*Reader POV*

You and Stan both wrapped up your cleaning and headed into the ‘home’ side of the shack. As you both were off to your own rooms you looked back at Stan, and found him already looking at you.

“Hey, i’m probably gonna go out for food soon, ya can join me if ya want, don’t know what your plans are.”  You asked, trying you best to frame it as a suggestion that he could back out of if he wanted.

Stan just smiled “Yeah i’ll go with ya, kitchens empty anyways”

“Alright, let me know if you have any recommendations, I'm sure there are some hidden gems in this town. Give me a second to get out of my work clothes and I'll be ready to head out.” You smiled. You hoped you didn’t look too excited.

*Stan POV*

Stan couldn’t remember the last time he was the one who got asked out, he knew you didn’t mean it as a date, but yet he couldn’t stop smiling as he got ready. He wanted to say he decided to dress casual, but in truth he really only had a few pairs of clothes, and of those few pairs not many were clean or in a place he could find. 

*Reader POV*

You knew you were a little too excited to be going out to eat with Stan, but you weren't going to dwell on that right now. You deserved to feel excited to make a new friend. Were you thinking about him a little differently than you would a friend? Yes. But you were still a bit in the denial phase. You could think those thoughts all you wanted, it was when you acted on them that you would start thinking about the risks.

As you opened your door to find him, you saw his door slightly open. You figured he just left it open and he was down somewhere but then you got a glimpse of him though the crack in the door. 

You didn’t see much, just a small glimpse of him walking across his room shirtless. but you immediately turned to wait in your room with the door open. You definitely weren’t sitting there wishing you got a better look at him. And you especially not thinking about how his arms would feel wrapped around you, about how pretty his eyes would look up close.

Ugh, maybe you should start to think about the risks of these thoughts. 

_____

Author's Notes: The writing block is slowly hitting me because I’m not sure how to get into the depths of Stan and how he would confide in the reader. Like this man would open up instantly, but I also wanna keep the story moving.

Also I’m kinda writing about the 2012 version of the mystery shack despite writing about young stan…we're gonna ignore those errors.

hey, been a while. anyway, here's garfield and hatsune miku being besties (:

Dream on. 🌙

they dont pay me enough to witness this shit

Bringing my favorite toy, a really thorny and slightly rotted branch, through TSA before my 6 hour flight to dollywood, shrieking when they ask me to throw it away

Just realized the fic I'm writing is gender neutral but the title is rainy day woman...🤦‍♀️ woops