Mabel awoke to the sound of rain knocking against the windows and the roof. She scrambled up onto her knees, her usual optimism swiftly dwindling. It wasn't just light rain from a couple of slightly grey clouds. It was thick, heavy rain being shed down from a bludgeoned black sky. Her face fell and her entire body seemed to deflate, sagging back down entirely on her bed. Corners of her mouth turned downwards, she glanced over towards her twin brother.
Dipper was lying on his back, blearily looking back at her.
"Rain," Mabel said.
"I know. It woke me up," Dipper replied, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms.
Mabel took down her calendar, gave it a hasty inspection, and then held it up for him to see. "It's the summer, Dipper!"
"Yes…?"
"It's shouldn't be raining! Why can't it save all the rain for when we go back to school?" she turned back to the window and shook her fist at the bleak view. "GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER, YOU JERK!"
"Mabel!" Dipper jolted up at her sudden yelling. "Can you keep it down? You know you have to keep the volume down to a minimum until at least midday. That's one of the few rules we uphold as roommates."
He flopped back down and closed his eyes…only to open them once more at the sound of his sister padding across the room to his side.
"Dipper!" she whispered so as to abide by the volume rule.
"I'm not here," Dipper said, folding his arms over his face to shield his eyes. "Come back at a more reasonable hour—"
"Dipper!"
"Sorry we're closed! Please come back later…"
Mabel eventually managed to peel his arms from his face, pinioning them down at his sides. His eyes had snapped shut. Mabel pouted.
"What are we going to do today?" Mabel pressed.
"What can we do?" Dipper mumbled with his eyes still closed.
"Exactly! What can we do?!" Mabel exclaimed. She released him and began pacing around the room, deep in melodramatic thought. "We're going to be stuck here…all day…playing…CHECKERS or something equally as terrible! Watching reruns…painting eggs…READING!" Mabel threw herself face first down onto the bed, groaning loudly.
Dipper peeked over at her and sat up, slightly amused. "It won't be that bad, Mabel," he tried to assure her. She whimpered. "There's a lot for us to do." A high pitched whine. Dipper gave her a gentle poke. "We'll do whatever you want, Mabel…okay?"
Mabel was silent for a moment. She gave a sniff and turned her head ever so slightly, looking up at him with shining eyes.
"Promise?" she held out her pinkie finger.
Dipper offered an awkward smile. "Yeah…sure…promise," he said, twining their pinkies together.
0
Dipper was regretting those words within a couple of hours. He kept casting hopeful glimpses over to the window yet the rain was only getting heavier and heavier…and heavier. So heavy, in fact, that Grunkle Stan had decided to close the Mystery Shack as no tourists were going to brave such horrendous weather—including Stan. Instead, he went back to bed and Grunkle Ford, clad in multiple sweaters to keep out the chill, seemed deep in thought, muttering to himself whenever he did drift from downstairs to make himself another coffee, so it was just the twins on their own.
Mabel had taken Dipper's offer literally. They knitted clothes for Waddles (taking many pictures with Dipper posing unhappily alongside him), watched Dream Boy High (rewinding her favourite parts, tightly squeezing her brother's arm in her excitement), made her favourite sandwiches (jam with salty chips, peanut butter and sherbet), and now, she was asking Dipper to do her makeup.
"Uh, Mabel, you can do your own makeup…in fact, you never even wear any," Dipper pointed out.
"Yeah I do! It just looks so natural because I'm so adorable!" Mabel laughed. "Come on, Dipper, it'll be fun."
"For who?" Dipper grumbled, fumbling through her makeup bag, his frown deepening as he did so. "Urgh! I don't even know what most of these things are let alone what they're for! And most of them just look the same!" he presented two mascaras to prove his point.
Mabel snorted. "They're completely different. One is black, the other is waterproof, one's for extra full-luscious lashes and the other's for…"
"Okay, okay, sorry I asked," Dipper snapped, snatching them back from her.
Mabel looked momentarily surprised but then she smiled, playfully punching him in the arm. "You're being a real drip, bro. Dip-drip is what I shall call you from now on. Dip-the-drip. Dripping-Sauce…"
"FINE! I'll do your makeup."
"Yay!" Mabel threw her arms around his neck.
Dipper wasn't sure what his sister was expecting. He had no idea what he was doing. He would go to squeeze some liquid-looking stuff onto a brush only to get it smacked out of his hand with a shrill "NO THAT'LL RUIN MY BRUSHES, YOU DING-DONG!" He would try to apply some eyeshadow over her lids and she would complain he was putting on too much or brushing it on to hard. His mouth was pressed into a grim line throughout the entire ordeal. Mabel kept giggling to herself, apparently finding the entire thing hilarious. Dipper didn't think so.
"There. Done." He presented her the mirror.
Mabel looked at her reflection and immediately howled with laughter. "Oh my gosh, Dipper!" she wiped away tears. "I look like Lazy Susan!"
Dipper had to admit. She did. He couldn't crack a smile though or join in the laughter. He couldn't help feeling it was at his expense. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been a supposed-to-be-a-mess activity. Dipper knew Mabel didn't care about makeup that much so why couldn't she have just let him do whatever? Draw a black bridge between her eyebrows to make them one, put glitter on her cheeks, or glue the fake eyelashes to her chin to make a face?
"…and your lipstick skills, bro. They are weak!"
Dipper scowled. "Hey! I don't wear the stuff, how am I supposed to know?!"
He wanted to eat those words back up as soon as they escaped his mouth. He gulped as Mabel's eyes widened and a naughty grin spread over her face.
"Mabel…" he said lowly, shifting away from her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Mabel rummaged through her makeup bag, withdrawing the brightest red lipstick she had. She pressed her teeth against her bottom lip in her excitement.
"Mabel, whatever you're thinking of doing—please don't do it," Dipper begged, slowly getting to his feet.
"Pop!" Mabel removed the lid.
"Mabel, listen to me. Put that down!"
"Zooop!" she rotated the cylinder so the long red stick of lipstick ominously rose.
"MABEL!"
Before he could flee, Mabel had sprung and was descending upon him like a vibrantly coloured wave. Dipper didn't admit it to anyone ever but Mabel was the stronger of the two so she easily pinned him down, squirming, while she clumsily applied the lipstick. Some of it missed his lips, getting on his chin and the tip of his nose, but his mouth was soon a full, jam red.
There was such a scuffle, so many yelps and shouting, that they were completely unaware of the footsteps coming from downstairs.
Mabel admired her handiwork, sticking out her small pink tongue and closing one eye, mimicking what she had seen artists do in the movies.
"A vision," she breathed.
"Mabel, get off of my chest!" Dipper squealed.
"Dipper! I was wondering if you could help—"
The colour plummeted from Dipper's cheeks as his Grunkle Ford's voice penetrated the room. The twins looked round in unison and Dipper's stomach was a tight bundle of knots as he met his Grunkle's stunned face.
Mabel, oblivious, said, "Isn't he beautiful?" poking the tip of Dipper's nose. "BOP."
Ford cleared his throat, turning his gaze down to his feet. "I'll let you two carry on playing."
"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper cried. He gave Mabel a rough shove back so she fell off of him, enabling him to get onto his knees.
Ford was already returning to his room, to his knowledge, his problems that Dipper so badly wanted to be included in. The door shut and Dipper slumped, head bowed so his eyes were obscured by the bill of his cap. He rubbed the colour from his lips and chin onto his shirt sleeve so hard that his skin prickled.
Mabel's mouth was a small 'o' shape, eyes darting from where Grunkle Ford had been to her brother. Uncertainty uncoiled itself in her abdomen as the silence between the two extended and the first pang of guilt rang quietly within her.
Nervously rubbing her upper arm, Mabel worked up the courage to speak. "You okay, Dip—"
"URGH!" Dipper leapt to his feet, hands balled up into fists. When he swung around to look at Mabel, her chest constricted when she saw tears filling her twin's identical eyes. "HOW COULD YOU MABEL?!"
"Dipper…I—"
"YOU KNOW I'VE WAITED SO LONG FOR GRUNKLE FORD TO ASK ME TO JOIN HIM!" Dipper was trembling. "I'VE WANTED TO HELP HIM, TO BE INCLUDED, FROM THE MOMENT HE CAME HERE AND THE FIRST TIME HE COMES TO ME, YOU HAVE TO GO SPOIL IT!"
Mabel's cheeks flooded with a burning heat; she could literally feel herself turning red. She wanted to stand up but she felt weak. Dipper and her had fought many times growing up. They had squabbles and bickering matches and some small physical fights but he had never yelled at her like this before…she had never felt like she had hurt him so badly before and the shame stung.
The rain hit the shack harder.
"Dipper," she said quietly, wanting to reach out and hug him. "I'm so—"
Again, Dipper cut her off. "I'm going out."
Mabel blinked. "I-it's raining outside," she pointed out weakly.
"I don't care," Dipper stormed over to the door.
Mabel trailed helplessly behind.
The sound of the pouring rain intensified as Dipper opened the door. The world outside was incredibly dark and grey, winds battering the trees and grass, and Mabel didn't want Dipper to leave. Not only because they'd argued and she didn't want to leave things this way, but also because something felt wrong. Something inside her was urgently telling her not to let him go and she tentatively reached out to touch her brother's shoulder.
"Dipper…" she started, her voice small.
Her fingertips had barely made contact when he was sharply shrugging her off.
"I'm going out," he repeated. He turned slightly round just so she could see part of his face. "Don't follow me, Mabel. I want to be alone."
He slammed the door and was gone.
Mabel was in too much shock to move. Tears swelled up in her eyes and sped down her cheeks.
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