seiya234:

Acacia has a very exciting life, that’s why. 😉 But I can tell you about

That One Time Acacia Became Claustrophobic

They weren’t supposed to go into Grunkle Ford’s super secret underground bunker.

Even though they knew where it was.

And that Grunkle Ford had gotten rid of his ‘murder puzzle entry room’ after that one time Grunkle Fidds almost got squished.

And that Uncle Dipper found a new home for the shapeshifter in his hat, and they had already been down there a million times with Grunkle Ford or Mommy or Uncle Dipper, and they wouldn’t have taken the tree of them down if it was really that dangerous and they were all big kids now and-

Point being, from the time they were allowed to start going deeper in the forest by themselves (”together kids!”), they had made the old lab one of their hangouts.

Honestly, they didn’t go as often as they could have; it was almost too big and even after Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Fidds had cleared all the dangerous stuff out, there was still… a presence. Or a feeling. Something creepy, whatever it was.

It was good for when it was raining out though, like today.

Willow and Hank wanted to go explore the caves for a little bit, and Acacia had volunteered to stay behind in the control room to keep a look out-

(they were eleven, they weren’t stupid)

Acacia blew out a big sigh, and kicked her legs as she sat on the control panel. This always happened: she never minded staying behind at first when Hank and Will went in the caves because she didn’t like getting dirty dirty, and every time she was super bored five minutes later.

Idly, she began to fiddle with the buttons and levers on the display. It was kind of fun-well, that was what she was going to tell herself because she forgot to bring her doodle book-to be able to press all the buttons and doodads without worrying about them turning something on. The power was long out, the wires cut, so she could mess with-

Acacia lost her balance suddenly, and began to fall off her perch.

“Shit!”

Hands flailing, even though she was falling a grand total of two feet, Acacia grabbed a lever-

-a hole opened in the ground-

-and Acacia fell in, the ground closing up over her before she had a chance to sit up or get out.

It was dark. It was cramped. And she was stuck curled up like a snail.

“Hank! Willow! Ha-” Acacia paused. They wouldn’t hear her. They were way back in the caves, looking for the one place Aunt Wendy totally kicked the shapeshifter’s butt. She’d have to wait for them to come out.

Okay. She was uncomfortable, but she could wait.

She waited. 

Her legs fell asleep, first pins and needles, then some minor pain, finally numbness. 

She waited. 

Her breathing was coming faster and faster and it felt like her chest was tight.

Her face was wet and Acacia didn’t recognize the noises coming out of her mouth.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

It was hard, to kick and punch from her side, but she did the best she could with the arm and leg on her left side. She hit the metal with her hand and foot, and told herself she was totally making a dent.

Was it getting harder to breathe?

No, no of course not.

But.. what if it was?

Acacia managed to flip around to lie on her back, so she could use both her feet and hands. She looked at the low metal ceiling, so slow she could only lift her head and shoulders up a bit, and it felt like the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

It didn’t matter that she just had to wait for Hank and Willow to notice she was gone, and either figure the levers out or call Uncle Dipper. It didn’t matter that she knew that Uncle Dipper would be able to rescue her period.

She. Needed. To. Get. Out.

Her hands began to claw mindlessly at the ceiling, soft skin and keratin against hard metal. Her fingers hurt, they hurt, she felt something tear and blood began to drip down from her fingers and on to her face, mixing with the tears and snot already there and this was dumb but she couldn’t stop.

Suddenly, light. Air. Breath.

Strong claw tipped hands hauling her out like she weighed nothing, even though she was almost up to Uncle Dipper’s shoulders already.

Uncle Dipper.

He hugged her and she burst into tears, burrowing her face into his suit. Absently, she felt him lift her right hand to his mouth. One by one, he placed a fingertip in his mouth, and Acacia winced as she felt her nails grow back at rapid speed, one by one.

Eventually, he let her down, and her siblings immediately claimed a hand each. Uncle Dipper looked at all three of them  with his most super serious Alcor face for a long moment. 

Later, Acacia would realize how freaked out she was when at the time the idea of being in trouble never even occurred to her. 

Finally, Uncle Dipper sighed. 

“I’m inclined to think that this little incident is punishment enough for your discrepancy.”

And Acacia noticed, for the first time, that Hank’s face was also wet, and the air around Willow had that weird burnt smell that came whenever she burned too much too fast.

“Will you hellions swear to me, on your blood, that you will never come down here on your own or without permission again?”

They all did so, using Willow’s little pocket knife to make a tiny cut on their forearms

(they used to use their hands, but people would notice if you were constantly cutting in one tiny spot on your body)

“Okay, lets get you guys home,” Uncle Dipper said after their deal was done, blipping them back to their room.

Acacia had nightmares for the next three months, off and on.

And she never could stand tight spaces after that.