Amidst her sleep, Pacifica Northwest heard the familiar clicking of dress shoes on her wooden floor. She opened one eye and glanced at the clock that sat on her nightstand. The hands read 8:30. The blonde closed her eyes, it wasn't time for her to get up yet. The person who had sauntered into her room clearly had no respect for her sleeping schedule because Pacifica heard a flutter of fabric as her curtains were ripped open, letting the sunlight bathe the room. Pacifica squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her comforter over her head.
"Pacifica Elise Northwest!" her father's voice snapped her out of her slumber. The girl immediately sat up in bed, her father's angry scowl greeting her.
She gulped before she opened her mouth to speak. "Yes, father?" She straightened her posture while addressing him. Her skin prickled with anxiety. It was rare that her father woke her up and when he did, he usually had something to say to her.
He crossed his arms, the grey fabric of his suit stretching to his stance. He furrowed his eyebrows and spoke. "I am very disappointed in you, young lady." The way he addressed her made Pacifica cringe. She was almost 18 yet he managed to make her feel like nothing more than a toddler whenever he said "young lady."
Pacifica shrugged off her nervousness, hoping that whatever she did wasn't catastrophic. She pressed her lips and tried to recall what she'd done in the past several days.
He let out a strained breath. "You do not have the authority to fire servants any time you want. This is the sixth time this month that you've done it." Pacifica was suddenly reminded of her outburst yesterday at her maid and butler. She bristled at the memory, she hated picturing herself as someone who was furious. But she had asked for hot tea. Her patience was too thin by the time her servants came back with her tea and it was warm. Mint tea was no good warm or cold, it was only ever good scalding hot. How hard could it be to make a cup of hot tea? She remembered yelling at them then relieving them of their work. The last thing she wanted to do was give the Northwest's a bad reputation for having bad servants.
Pacifica's blue eyes wandered around the room, searching for the right response. "I don't see what the problem is father. Us Northwest's must maintain a good reputation. Having terrible servants would only hinder that."
Her father released another breath, as if he was trying his best not to yell. "Our reputation won't be tarnished by our lack of decent servant's, it'll be tarnished by your outright selfish behavior. You are the heir to the Northwest fortune, I expect you to act like it. No wonder no one in town wants to work for me, your actions are driving them away." He rubbed his temples. "I'll be lucky if I find someone who hasn't heard of Pacifica Northwest's ruthless behavior towards help." He spoke as if she wasn't in the room. "Listen to me, young lady, when I hire new servants, I do not want to hear that they've been fired. So help me you'll be doing everything yourself if it happens again."
Pacifica slightly shuddered at his warning, the idea of having to do everything on her own made her cringe. "Of course, father." She said, her voice calm and collect. Though she had grown used to her father's outbursts over the years, he had never been so cruel as to revoke her servants. She just thought she was doing what he expected, upholding the family name.
"Thank you," he said letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, and don't forget you have a piano lesson today at noon." He added then exited his daughter's room, shutting the large oak doors behind him.
Pacifica waited a minute before she heaved herself out of her bed and padded over to her closet. Her delicate fingers thumbed through her plethora of dresses until she found a rose colored short sleeved tea-length gown. She placed the garment on her bed, her corset beside it and her shoes on the floor. She turned away from the clothing on the bed and walked into her bathroom where a hot bath had already been drawn for her. Pacifica smiled as she inhaled the smell of lavender oil and rosehips. She wouldn't even consider getting dressed without taking a bath first.
The young girl had rolled back her shoulders before she started walking down the hall. Her father taught her at a very young age to walk with power. Northwest's always walk with authority. Pacifica laughed at the irony, she walked with authority yet she didn't have any. The clicks of her heels echoed off the manor walls as she headed toward the music room.
Pacifica's worries, thoughts and entire demeanor melted away as she walked to the music room. Music was her one escape. Every Tuesday and Friday she didn't have to be the heir to the Northwest fortune, she could just be a girl who played the piano. Every other moment as Pacifica Northwest made her question what it meant to be a Northwest. She was rich but she wasn't supposed to act spoiled. She would eventually have an entire cherry orchard to run but no one had shown her how. She never knew what her father wanted, spoiled princess or smart young lady. Playing the piano allowed her to stop thinking about everything, the only thing that was on her mind was what note she was going to play next.
Pacifica closed her eyes and let her fingers glide across the ivory keys of the grand piano that sat in the music room. Dozens of other instruments were mounted on the wall or sitting idle in their stands. She knew how to play most of them but she preferred the piano. Her instructor hummed along with the piece Pacifica was playing. The auburn haired girl tapped Pacifica on her shoulder, pulling her out of her trance.
"Play with a little slower tempo at these parts." The young woman pointed at the sheet music. Pacifica nodded in return and started the piece again. She had just reached the climax of the piece when the door to the room swung open. Her nimble fingers had ceased all movement, the notes that she just played reverberated through the room.
"Pacifica, I need to speak with you." Preston addressed his daughter.
Pacifica nodded in reply then turned to her instructor. "I'll see you Friday, Miss. Corduroy." The young woman returned Pacifica's smile before she left the room.
"Yes, father?" Pacifica turned to her father.
"I found two servants for you." He gestured for his daughter to follow him.
"Wonderful," Pacifica tried to sound enthused and not sarcastic as she followed her father down the hall.
"I'm taking you to meet them. You might as well become familiar with them seeing as how you won't be firing them any time soon." Pacifica could hear the frustration in her father's voice.
She trailed after her father, down the main corridor which was adorned with family antiques and portraits then to the hallway that led to her own room. Outside of the ornately carved oak French doors that led to her room were two seemingly identical people. They had the same oval-face shape and the same deep brown eyes, but one was a girl and the other a boy. They stood on either side of the doors, their shoulders back and their hands resting at their sides.
"This is Dipper and Mabel. They are your servants from now on." Her father released a relieved sigh when he saw that his daughter wasn't throwing a fit over his choice. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to some work in my study." He spoke then walked away, his steps echoing off the wooden walls of the Northwest Manor.
Pacifica turned to her two new servants.
"We're pleased to meet you, Miss Northwest." They both did a short bow as they spoke in unison. Pacifica was still enamored of how they looked so much alike.
"Is there anything we can assist you with at the moment, ma'am?" The girl spoke, her voice was sharp and her manners were impeccable.
"Not at the moment no," Pacifica began. "But at four in the afternoon, I like a cup of hot mint tea brought to my quarters." Mabel gave a short nod in acknowledgement, her long chestnut hair slightly swinging in front of her face as she did so.
Her blue eyes took in her new servants. She was impressed with their politeness. Most new servants were quiet until they were explained the rules. The girl had an air of enthusiasm about her, as if there was no where she'd rather be that outside Pacifica's bedroom door. She decided that being overzealous was a redeeming quality in a maid. The boy had a completely different aura. His proud stance would normally deceive anyone, but the lazy look in his brown eyes told her that he wanted to be anywhere but here. She could relate, sometimes she'd rather be anywhere than the Northwest Manor.
Pacifica remained motionless for another moment before she turned back around and headed back toward the main corridor to the music room. She wanted to put in a little more practice before it got too late. Pacifica was shocked that the two hadn't made the mistake of looking her in the eye. All the servants knew not to look any member of the family in the eye, though sometimes the new servants weren't told right away. But that didn't stop him from staring at her when she wasn't looking. She felt his dark brown eyes burning a hole through her skin with his stare. She felt it linger the entire time she walked down the hall. There was the temptation to catch him but the temptation to play the piano was stronger. She was sure this wouldn't be the only time he would do it.
She made a mental note to keep an eye on him.
New story time! I'm not really sure where this idea came from but I combed through the Dipifica AU archive and a story like this wasn't in it so I've decided to write it.
Thank you for reading!
Edit: Just added a little bit more meat to this one in hopes of expressing some character traits. Also, I'm severely upset that Gravity Falls is over. If you haven't read Alex Hirsch's announcement on tumblr, read it. It brought a tear to my eye.