A Mabel x Pacifica Circus! AU from a request on Tumblr! I hope you guys like it!
"Let me go! Ugh! Let me go, let me go!"
"Another one jumped last night, huh?"
Mabel glanced at her brother. He was already dressed in his blue-sequined performing outfit, his matching blue top hat tucked under his arm. He gazed with steady brown eyes towards the teenage-looking blond girl who was struggling to wrestle herself free from Soos's clutch on her expensive-looking dress's collar. Hanging in the air, she was being carted away off to the train's priority cart, where their uncles Stan and Ford, ringmasters of the Pines Brother's Astounding Travelling Circus took up residence.
"Well, with all the bratty rich-kid runnaways jumping onto our train, it seems unlikely that she'd get any sort of job." Dipper's nose scrunched up. "She seems a little too snobby to be shoveling horse dung, doesn't she?" He laughed, and Mabel offered a little chuckle of her own.
"Another runaway…" Mabel mused. There were at least three other cases of rebellious runaway teenagers jumping onto their train within the past week, running away to the circus, looking for a 'better' life. The first two, teenage girls, were quickly dismissed and abandoned in the last city. The third one, a blond boy by the name of Jamie- was it?- managed to last four days shoveling out manure before getting into some trouble with Grenda, resulting in his being tossed from the train.
She felt sorry for them, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do. Her uncles made the rules, after all. Oh, that poor blond girl, she's probably going to get tossed off as well.
Up ahead, Mabel could hear the band beginning their opening march in the Big Top as the crowd began to file in. Children clutching cones of cotton candy dragged their parents by the hand in order to get a proper seat, families filled the midway and joined the chaos, stepping away from the sideshows and food stalls. Another packed show—Stan would be delighted.
Mabel caught movement at the corner of her eyes. She turned in time with her brother to find her Great Uncle Stan, all dressed in his sequined red-and-black suit, donning his classic eight ball cane and stepping gracefully out of his cart. He waved the two over with a gold-toothed smile.
"Mabel, Dipper, how are my favorite twins?" He laughed heartily, giving Dipper a firm slap on the back, which wasn't as greatly appreciated.
"Who's the new girl?" Dipper asked. Stan grunted, yet his smile didn't waver one bit.
"The usual—rich kid, ran away from her parents, begged for a job."
"Did she get one?"
Stan gave Mabel a rather unsettling grin. "Oh she's got one. Apparently the girl can handle explosives—you've got yourself a canon cleaner, Mabel!"
Mabel blinked. "Oh." Well… if the girl did her job right, she could be covered in less soot during her performances. If not however…
"That's it? You hired someone just to clean out Mabel's canon?" Dipper said incredulously.
"And to clean out the stands in the big top—maybe the even the sideshows—after all the performances."
Dipper thought for a moment, then quickly nodded in approval. "Now that's more like it."
Stan dealt out another hearty laugh, before ushering the two away. "You two better get to the big top, first act is coming up."
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, our most astounding, explosive-filled act that you've all been waiting for," Stan gestured up into the crowd with his cane, sending them roaring. Light bounced off his sequined suit as he grinned his trademark gold-toothed grin. The ringmaster could spot the dazzling pink canon sliding in from his peripheral vision. It was showtime now.
"Human Canon-ball Mabel Pines and the astounding Dipper Pines!"
The crowd roared in approval as Stan stepped of his stand. Several glittering hoops were lowered from the rafters above, the striking pink canon rolled into place, and the sparkling blue form of Dipper Pines strutted right in front of its gaping maw. The crowd fell silent in anticipation.
The young man held a series of firecrackers tucked within his top hat. He eyed the wires set dead in front of him. There were triggers placed under each of the hoops hanging above, set to explode in a mass of color as Mabel passed through each one, finally setting off a shower of glitter as she landed on a massive airbag fifty meters across the room. Now, Dipper had to get to work.
The band started up a classic drumroll as he took his stance. Then they launched into an upbeat march. Dipper flew into his acrobatic routine, swaying his body, landing perfectly on his tiptoes only to begin another jump. He summersaulted over the first trigger, securing the firecracker in one quick movement. The crowd screamed in approval. He hung on a handstand over the second trigger, placing forth the firecracker. He barely touched the ground coming upon the third one, and finally gave his classic twirl-summersault-backflip upon reaching the fourth and final one, bowing low as his hand flipped the third firecracker into place. He hadn't quite come up with a name for that move yet, although he was working on it.
The crowd burst into another applause. Dipper stood, barely out of breath. He walked as flamboyantly as possible over to the airbag, gestured grandly as his eyes scanned over it, double-checking, then immediately launched into a run towards the other side of the room. Halfway across, he flipped into a summersault, a twirl, another flip, and a final handstand as he waved at the roaring crowd.
Now it was Mabel's time to shine.
From behind the striped canvas, she emerged. Her glittering pink helmet was still held in one arm, her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders and tickled her ankles. Her athletic figure shone through her pink, sequined, skintight suit.
She donned her helmet and climbed gracefully into her canon, wordlessly sending her brother a thumbs-up.
Dipper fished out a sparkler from his suit, struck it against the canon lighting it up, and waved it around for the crowd to see. The band started up another drumroll. Dipper leaned away. He reached out exaggeratedly with his sparkler, then lit the fuse.
BOOM!
All at once, the band launched into a high-tension march, the crowd burst forth with applause, and Dipper, ignored in the corner, gagged slightly from the emitted black smoke.
That thick black smoke trailed up behind the sparkling pink ball that was Mabel. Her body uncurled just in time for her to slip through the first hoop, sending a spray of colorful sparkles lighting up beneath her. She twisted mid-air through the second hoop, the third hoop, and the fourth hoop. The stands trembled with the mass's frantic applause and the firecrackers exploded with colorful delight. Finally, with one last twist to her body, Mabel landed on the giant airbag, sending a burst of pink glitter raining down on the center-ring and confetti onto the stands.
The crowd went absolutely crazy.
With one last, perfectly synced bow, Dipper and Mabel made their way behind the canvas and the roustabouts quickly filed in to clean up the mess. Behind them, they could hear Stan back in the center ring, announcing the next act.
"Now if you thought that was something magical, wait 'till you're astounded by the mystery that is our very own magician…"
"Again, a perfect performance from the Pines Twins!"
Mabel grinned up at the eyepatch-wearing magician. "Thanks, Bill." She said, puffing out a breath. He nodded, gave Dipper a slight peck on the cheek which had the younger reddening, and made his way into the big top in time for his own performance.
Mabel raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?" She asked with a coy smile.
"None of your business!" Dipper snapped.
Mabel was about to give another teasing remark, but was quickly stopped when she saw a familiar blond approaching her resting canon. It was that runaway girl from earlier. Now, Mabel could get a good look at her.
The girl's expensive-looking clothes were caked with few patches of mud, her form was slender and firm, almost strong—Mabel could see why Stan thought she'd make a good roustabout—and she had that classic, bored-yet-terrified look of a circus-runaway. In one hand she held a swab for the canon and in the other a tin bucket, no doubt filled with soapy water.
"Go ahead," Dipper huffed. He had caught her staring. "I'll be here watching the rest of the performances."
"You mean watching Bill?"
"Oh, shut up! If you're gonna try and make a friend of that girl, just do it already."
"You know me too well, Bro-bro."
"Just go." And with that, Dipper set to ignoring her by turning his attention to peering between the canvas flaps.
"So, what's your name?"
"Wha- ah!" The blond girl, who was furiously scrubbing at the innards of Mabel's glittery pink canon, jumped at the question. She seemed greatly flustered and embarrassed as she looked up. There also seemed to be a pale tinge of lipstick on her lips.
Mabel could tell that she wasn't used to work at all. She had a sense that this girl was the type to complain, but was stubborn enough to know that by running away from whatever life she had for the circus, she knew she had made her bed and had to lie in it.
"W-what do you want?!" She glared up from her vulnerable position bent over the canon.
Mabel offered a kind smile. "Sorry. It's just that that's my canon your cleaning-out there."
"O-oh…"
"What's your name?"
The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Pacifica." She stated, a hint of forced confidence in her voice. "My name is Pacifica Northwest."
"Mabel Pines." Mabel stuck out her hand. Pacifica only glanced at it with disgust, then ran her eyes over the rest of her.
"You're covered in soot."
"Well, that's what happens when you get fired out of a canon."
Mabel was starting to dislike her, but she was dead set on making a friend. It was her self-proclaimed job to know everyone working in their circus. She was the person you approached if you needed a specific person—quite like a human catalogue, as well as a human cannonball.
"I…" Pacifica seemed hesitant, her eyes glazed over with a mix of worry and wonder. "Did you… Do you really get fired out of this canon?"
"All the time!" Mabel declared cheerfully. Pacifica's eyes widened, although it was evident she tried to hide it.
"That's pretty awesome."
Mabel shrugged. "I guess so. You didn't see the performance?"
"No…"
"Well you should. How about you watch tomorrow's? It'll be fun!"
"O-okay."
"In the meantime, I think you should just get back to scrubbing up that canon. Y'know, to avoid getting tossed off the train. Stan hates slackers."
Mabel quickly learned the reason Pacifica had run away from home.
Like most rich people, she had been subject to a state of normalcy in her everyday life. Money was nothing. Clothes were nothing. A thousand-acre mansion, five-hundred chandeliers, a front lawn filled with peacocks—all of this was normal. Pacifica wasn't easily content. She was never content. She got tastes of the outside world every once in a while—a show featuring a circus performance, interesting stories she found in novels, and the barest scents of street food that found their way into her limousine.
When her parents had stated that she'd 'get used to it all', Pacifica had immediately devised a plan to escape her future as a robotic treasure-hoarder.
Mabel saw that wonder inside her. She saw Pacifica's eyes gleaming in delight and fear was she watched Mabel get fired through glittering hoops. She saw her gasps of excitement during Bill Cipher's magical performance. And she saw an outright adorable sparkle in her eyes when she caught the show's acrobatic finale.
Later that day, Mabel had taken her to meet the rest of the performers. Unfortunately, Pacifica didn't take nicely to all of them. Pacifica still had, what Mabel guessed to be a default air of authority, even though she had none in her current position.
She had scrunched up her nose at Dipper, and begrudgingly apologized afterward. She had gotten into a slight argument with Bill after making a distasteful comment on his choice of costume. Mabel had her apologize, ushered her away, and gently gave the warning that Bill Cipher was not someone you wanted to make angry.
She had then met Candy, their leading acrobat, and Grenda, Strongest Woman in The World. Pacifica had taken relatively nicer to the two, though Mabel could see the hint of disgust and hesitation in her eyes.
Most people would think of her as just another unused-to-the-poor rich-kid, but Mabel saw what she truly was. She tried, oh she tried to change. She was succeeding, really, bit by bit. They were simply default responses and thoughts, but she saw how Pacifica fought. She saw Pacifica fighting to change.
And, in all honesty, for the entire week she'd spent by the runaway rich-kid's side, it was the most fun Mabel had ever felt she'd had.
Pacifica could be charming when she wanted to.
She had attempted to recreate sideshow-master Wendy's teddy-bear cotton-candy masterpiece, prompted by Mabel's little challenge, and had succeeded in creating a raging, pink, multi-armed candy-flesh monster. They both had a laugh out of that one.
Apparently, Pacifica also enjoyed smoking tobacco. After first week's pay, she'd spent half the money on a pack of cigars. She'd smoke during break times, after meal times, and while she was cleaning out the place. The most charming part about her little habit was how she blew smoke rings. The girl could puff those rings so perfectly they could hold their shape several feet up in the air before fading away, and sometimes sent them Mabel's way just to tease the brunette.
Another time, they'd spent an evening out at the sideshow, looking at attractions, and making snarky comments (courtesy of Pacifica) at their expenses, which resulted in several good laughs for the two.
Then there was the afternoon they'd spent at the menagerie. Pacifica had admired Lulu the monkey and Star-Bo the elephant all day. She'd admitted to those two being her favorites.
Of course she was still haughty and slightly full of herself, making the occasional mean comment followed by a strained apology, but to Mabel, she was amazing company.
And apparently, as Mabel was yet to find out, quite an amazing performer as well.
This is going to be a three-shot, so stay tuned for the next chapters. Leave a review if you liked it~
~Nixh