Three Eyes, Six Fingers (Stanford Pines x Reader)

Chapter 29: Ahmad's Shop of Wonders

Y/N's POV

  Teddy and I stood in front of Ahmad's Shop of Wonders hesitantly.  I looked at my son.  "Are you ready?" 

  "Ready as I'll ever be." 

  I nodded as I pushed the door open.  Immediately my nostrils were filled with the smell of frankincense.  As I looked around, I could see a lot of purple and gold decorating the walls.  The items on sale were an assortment of clothes, incense, books, and more.  "Marhaba!"  A man suddenly appeared in from of us, startling both Teddy and I.  "Welcome to my shop!  I am Daluh Ahmad."  He shook our hands excitedly.  "Let me know if you see something to your liking, yes?" 

  Before the man could leave, Teddy stopped him.  "Excuse me, Mr. Ahmad.  I was wondering if I could speak to Isra?" 

  Daluh seemed to brighten up as he nodded.  "Most certainly!"  He turned around and shouted.  "Tifl, there's some people here to see you!" 

  "Coming, baba!"  I heard a voice from upstairs yell in response.  After a couple seconds, I saw a feminine person with dark purple hair with shaved sides wearing high waisted harem pants and a crop top bounding down the stairs.  They approached me with a charming smile.  "Hello, my name is Isra."  Their soft melodic voice washed over me as they held out their hand.  "Pleased to meet you." 

Teddy's POV

  I stared at the person claiming to be Isra as Ma shook her hand.  This can't be the same person I met yesterday.  The girl turned to me and smiled.  "I never caught your name yesterday."

  "Umm.  I'm Theodore Pines." 

  "You must be confused." 

  "That's an understatement." 

  She laughed.  "Come with me, both of you." She motioned for us to follow her up the stairs. Ma and I exchanged looks before following Isra.

As we entered their living room I could smell brownies, but there was another faint smell that I couldn't quite place as well. Ma could obviously smell it too, because she laughed. "No wonder you're burn strong incense in the shop!"

Isra grinned. "That's right. Want some? They're fresh from the oven."

"No thanks, I'm driving."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Ted?" She held out a tray. "Do you want a brownie?"

"He doesn't know what's in them and he's eighteen.  How about you put one in a baggie and I'll have some at home." Ma quickly interjected before I could respond.

Isra nodded. "Forgive me, Mrs. Pines. I should've known, I keep forgetting that not many people are accustomed to it around here."  She put a brownie into a baggie and handed it to Ma.  Isra grinned.  "This isn't your first experience with it, is it?" 

  Ma chuckled.  "It's been a long time, admittedly.  A lifetime ago.  One thing I know for sure though, you don't experiment unless you know that you're for sure in a safe environment."  (Seriously people, don't use any substances unless you know 110% you won't be in any sort of danger.  And please wait until you're of age so you don't get in serious trouble.)

  "It is good that you are cautious.  You never know what can happen outside your own home."  Isra grabbed a brownie for herself and motioned for us to sit down with her.  "Ted, does she know?" 

  I pushed aside my confusion and focused on the question.  "Yes she does know." 

  Isra nodded.  "Good.  So I can talk freely."  She bit into her brownie and savored the flavor as she chewed.  After she swallowed, she cleared her throat.  "Genies are gender fluid.  I'm still going through 'genie puberty' so I have pretty much no control over what I look like at the moment." 

  I frowned.  "Gender fluid?"

  "It means that there are times that they feel like a woman and other times they feel like a man.  But..."  Ma hesitated.  "When you first introduced yourself to me, Teddy seemed rather surprised.  Why is that?" 

  "My physical appearance changes as well.  Yesterday he saw me as a male."  Isra then gestured to herself.  "I don't exactly fit that description right now."  She laughed.  "Anyone would be shocked to have a short woman with an hourglass figure claim that they were the same person as the tall guy with a toned body they met the day prior."  She took another bite. 

  Ma leaned forward.  "Why do you trust us so easily with information about your kind?  Other creatures that I have interviewed always need to be convinced to divulge any information." 

  "I can answer that, wahidat jamila."  Daluh said as he finished coming up the steps.  Isra huffed and crossed her arms as Daluh sat down next to her.  "Both of you have power."  He lifted Ma's chin up to have a closer look at her face.  "You are not of this world, are you?" 

  Ma's cheeks turned red as she pulled herself away from him.  "How did you know?  Very few people know about me." 

  "Your necklace, of course.  It's one of many of his symbols." 

  Ma narrowed her eyes at him.  "Teddy.  You and Isra go somewhere else.  I need to speak with Mr. Ahmad privately."  She said without breaking her gaze. 

  I started to become nervous.  Ma never becomes this serious unless something bad is happening.  "Are you sure?"

  "Go."  She said more firmly. 

  I hurried down the stairs, Isra following behind me.  I turned to her.  "Do you know what's going on?" 

  She hesitated.  "I do.  It's a serious matter, so I won't reveal anything until your mother fills you in."  She smirked a little.  "In the meantime, do you wanna explore the forest?  I know some spots that I doubt that you've seen before." 

  "...Okay."

Marhaba ~ Hello
Tifl ~ Child
Baba ~ Father
wahidat jamila ~ beautiful one
(English to Arabic on Google Translate)

A/N:
I know this probably feels way off from typical Gravity Falls, but you gotta admit there's something fun about creating new lore for OCs.  We still have quite a ways to go before we get to where the Gravity Falls timeline actually starts so I hope you guys are enjoying the more original content!

-Rynn