Dipper's voice suddenly changed, flipping into a higher pitch.

"There's been crime! Someone has stolen my precious silver sword! You three look like heroes, won't you help me?" Dipper said, grinning at his Grunkle and then at Alice.

"Aw..." Alice pursed her lip in a mock pout. "Poor mouse."

"When I arrived in my room, I found these three suspects!" Dipper continued in his mouse-pitched voice. "A gnome, a kobold, and an owlbear. I knew someone was going to come and steal my precious sword, so I set up a wonderous feast as a trap for thieves!"

Alice exchanged a glance with Ford, her face twisting in a 'trying not to smile' face, as she wondered how a mouse would be living it up in an evil sorcerer's puzzle dungeon.

"I left them three goblets: the first held a truth serum, and the other two a lying serum." Dipper explained in his mouse voice."I don't know which one of these creatures drank from which, so I was going to hold an interrogation when they woke up. But now you're here! Oh heroes! Won't you help me figure out who stole my sword? I'm afraid that if I uncover the culprit, they'll slay me in cold blood, delicate mouse that I am."

"Alright," Alice mused, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've been looking for crimes to be solved."

"Took the words right from my mouth, Alice," Ford chuckled. "Let's get on with the interrogation."

"You approach the sleeping creatures in turn, waking them with a few shakes and asking who stole the silver sword," Dipper explained, his voice returning to its normal sound. "The gnome says he didn't do it and that the kobold did it alone. The kobold said he didn't do it, and the owlbear did. And the owlbear says that she didn't do it, the gnome did it alone."

Alice leaned back, humming under her breath.

"One drank a truth serum, and the other two a lying serum," She muttered aloud. "So one is obviously telling the truth, duh."

Ford chuckled at her response, she could practically hear his mind wiring, "Yes, exactly right. The trick is figuring out which one it could be."

"Was it the Gnome?" Alice tried out, testing the waters of her guesses.

"Nope," Dipper responded with a grin.

"Alright-" Alice grinned back at him. "Then the crime was a duel pair. Each of them is accusing another, but the owlbear and gnome point out that their accused did it alone specifically."

Ford raised an eyebrow as if impressed by her line of thought.

"That's a good point," He pondered, his hand lifting to his face. "They're both adamant that they're innocent and the other is the sole culprit. So if one of them is lying and the other is telling the truth."

"There's a contradiction in the confession of the owlbear!" Alice said, jerking straight. "It was the Owlbear and the Gnome!"

"Nice job!" Dipper grinned in his mouse voice. "Now cough up the sword, thieves!" 

Dipper shifted his papers, returning to his normal voice.

"The owlbear dis within her feathers to reveal an ornate, polished silver sword, and the gnome retrieves a matching scabbard from under his hat. The mouse gives you the sword, telling you that it's more trouble than it was worth. You move forward, leaving the mouse's room behind, and come to another doorway."

Alice glanced at Ford, a smile plastered across her face, to find he was watching her work the puzzle the entire time. Before she made eye contact with him, he turned his head, facing the gameboard on the floor and-

"You okay, great uncle Ford?" Dipper suddenly asked, his head tipping toward his grunkle.

"Hm?" Ford hummed, his gaze flickering to Dipper. "Oh, yes, Dipper, I'm fine."

"Then why's your face so red?" Alice could hear the skepticism in the boy's voice. Alice took a second look, finding that he did look a little red in the cheeks, only for Ford to stammer her way through 'it's just a little warm in here' as she asked if he was alright.

Guess wearing a turtleneck in the summer will do that to a man.

Dipper raised his brow between Alice and Ford, surprised, before scribbling on the margins of his notebook.

"Through the doorway, the air feels damper than before," Dipper continued his campaign. "The sound of rushing water from earlier only intensifies, and on your left, you see a bell."

"I ring the bell-" Alice turned back to Dipper, trying not to think too hard on Ford's red face.

"It may have been a trap, or it may have been the right thing to do," Dipper grinned, moving the figures once more. "Because the floor opens beneath you and the three of you land in a boat. It hovers above the rushing river below, ready to start its trip on command."

Dipper pulled a sheet of paper from his notebook and handed it to Ford. Alice leaned over and scanned the paper, and the directions on it. The paper consisted of a bunch of stops on the river, and how many strides it would take to get to each one.

"I'm guessing we don't want to go to the beast's antechambers," Alice guessed under her breath.

"Can I check the river's speed?" Ford asked, setting the paper between them.

"You find that the river flows at two giant strides per tip of the hourglass," Dipper responded with a grin. "So when do you want to stop the boat?"

"Oh, easy!" Alice grinned, her mind flickering in numbers. "1.5 tips of the hourglass."

"Nice!" Dipper beamed, shifting the pieces down the papers. "You command the boat to take you 1.5 tips of the hourglass, following the flow of the river. The boat comes to a stop at the entrance to a hallway and the three of you step out onto a familiar stone floor. Burning torches line the wall, lighting the hall as you enter. As you walk forward, you notice your steps are visible in the thick layer of dust on the floor. The place smells odd, and at the end of the hallway, the party approaches a set of two giant oak doors. Alice, roll to see how aware you are of your surroundings."

Alice rolled her dice, peering at the numbers and winding, "Not very aware."

"Odan steps on something," Dipper continued, marking something off on his paper. "A trap panel sets into the floor and you watch as a ghostly skull floats out of it, rising to about eye level, just in front of the door. You expect it to speak, or do something, but it just floats there. What do you do?"

"I open the door?" Alice asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Just as you're about to touch the door, the skull speaks," Dipper let his voice drop again. "KNOCK. Its voice is loud and booming, enough to match the grandeur of the giant oak doors behind it."

"Vhernon knocks on the door," Ford interrupted.

"The skull askes, 'Who's there?'"

"Spell-" Alice blurted out, recalling the paper she'd glimpsed earlier, her eyes wide."

"Spell who?" Dipper said in his skull voice.

"W- H- O-" Alice spelled out as a grin crossed her face, Dipper cracked a smile.

"That is terrible," He chuckled. "Okay- the skull demands more joke offerings."

"Knock knock," Ford smirked, his brow raised.

"Who's there?"

"To."

"To who?" Dipper asked, ignoring his skull voice.

"It's to whom-" Ford corrected with a grin as Dipper began to laugh, whether through the sheer smugness in Ford's voice or otherwise.

"Ha! Alright, you both pass," He said, stifling his chuckles. "The door opens and-"

"I KNEW IT!" Mabel cried out, her head poking from the doorway. "You always make those voices when you're playing your nerd game! Alice! You're playing with them? How's Homework: The Game?"

"Actually," Dipper chimed up. "We're telling knock-knock jokes."

"I could beat all of you!" Mabel suddenly gasped. "Get ready for this: Knock Knock."

"Who's there?" Dipper asked with his brow raised.

"Clean clothes!" Mabel grinned.

"Clean clothes who?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd forgotten what clean clothing looked like," Mabel suddenly cackled, Dipper's face flushing from shame.

"Mabel! Jeez-" He hissed at her as Mabel shot Alice a set of finger guns. "We're in front of a guest right now!"

"Good luck seducing the hot elf!" Mabel shouted as she waved and turned out of the room. Alice had to force her face to remain clear and calm, hot elf? Was she talking about Ford's character? He was elven, right?

"That hot elf isn't even in this campaign!" Dipper called after his sister, and Alice felt even more mortified. "Anyway... like I was saying. Its joke quota met, the skull gives you a nod and floats back into its trap panel. The oak doors open, and the three of you step through to freedom. And there it is! The end of the dungeon."

Dipper rubbed the back of his head, a shy smile crossing his face.

"I cut it down a bit on the fly," He explained. "I didn't want to make it too long. I would have run a murder mystery I've had planned out for ages but my test runs have never, um, gone very well with my focus group. So! What did you think?"

"So what happens next?" Alice asked, tipping her head to the boy. "When do we fight the sorcerer?"

"This was actually a transition into the next, super plot-centric campaign about infiltrating the sorcerer's tower castle," Dipper grinned at her, holding up a couple of pages of his campaign book, filled with various sketches and calculations crowded into every spare space.

"Well Dipper," Ford chuckled, leaning forward. "I think you did well! It's not easy, adding an extra player on short notice like that."

"I always write it in just in case," Dipper chuckled awkwardly. "Not completely, but just a few notes-"

They were deep in conversations before Alice had the chance to add, talking about DMing as they cleaned up the DDAMD setup, returning the came to its original, glossy fantasy box. They were too fast and practiced to figure out how to help, she collected the dice Ford loaned her and returned them to their velvet bag. 

Dipper hoised the box under his arm, starting out and up the stairs, then it was just Alice and Ford.

"Alice," Ford started with a smile. "You did well for a first-timer! I'd take you in a dungeon with me. I, I mean-"

Ford gave her an embarrassed smile, but she was already grinning along.

"I know what you meant," She chuckled, brushing her hair behind her ear. "And it was a lot of fun. Thank you, Ford."

Alice glanced up as a voice sounded from the kitchen, a voice sounding very much like Stan. Ford let out a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

"Well..." He replied, almost bashfully. "I'd like to talk more, but I'd better see what he needs."

Ford stepped around her, starting for the kitchen, and Alice was gripped by the urge to hold onto the moment. She felt like she needed to say something, even if she couldn't describe why.

"Ford?" 

"Yes?" Now that he was looking at her, she couldn't remember what she was going to say.

"Your- Your dice," She breathed out, holding the bag out to him. "Thanks for letting me us it."

"No, you keep it," Ford chuckled. "In case you decide to join us again. See you at dinner, Alice."

Alice smiled, pulling the bag back as he wandered into the hall and toward the kitchen. Her heart was fluttering in her chest, and she couldn't even begin to describe why. Glancing down at her jeans, she gently tied the bag around one of her pant loops, letting it hang at her side. Her hand fluttered up to her face again, pulling genty at her hair.

God... I haven't felt like this since I was a teenager...