For a while, Mabel and I had just sorta... sat, on the roof in silence, and, well. It got...

Unnerving.

So I left, quickly, stating some excuse for her to hear, something about being needed inside, about having some important job or some bull like that.

She bought it, I think, because she gave the slightest nod to me, and I kind of just hurried off, because...

Well. Running is easier than dealing with the problems of those you don't know, isn't it?

(It's cowardly. And I'm not a coward, thank you very much, but I just don't know how to 'help'. It's a novel thing for me. In a way, it's a little bit scary, in a way all new things are to the young and sheltered. And rich and 'above everything, such as emotions, aren't we darling?'.)

So I leave.

Back into the shack through the hatch, and I see a fair amount of the others gathered, yelling, and escape upstairs quickly in the chaos.

Dipper must be missing, considering it's him whose mediating between the species. He's not too bad, actually, but I'd never tell him that. Compliments aren't easy to give, you know?

hmm... I guess I should find him. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Then, he can tell me what to do and I can be distracted again.

(oh god dad-)

So I go up the stairs, carefully checking each room that I can enter that I can't hear any voices, or voices that aren't Dipper, inside. 'Look, you can't just abandon your kid like that, even if the rest 've been taken, Dan! You're a big man, ain't ya? So, use you're strength for sumptn' useful, like defending the Shack, or-" Quickly, I hurry of, because that sounds like Mr. Pines and something I'm not supposed to be listening to. ('darling, what did we say about eavesdropping? Honey?")

I go up the stairs two at a time, and reach a landing with only one door. The twins' room. (I vaguely remember running up here before my panic attack, and I do remember being led down to my post by Dipper, who told me affectionate stories about the shack and his summer, ones to distract and deflect, to stop me from thinking or asking any questions. I was both grateful and annoyed, but ladies don't interrupt, so I didn't say anything, and I suppose that was what he wanted, because when we reached where I was supposed to be he switched topics without taking a breath, told me what to do and skedaddled, without hurrying off. It was quite clever, in a way, a way that's rather annoying. But then again, he does live with a con man, so...)

Hesitantly, I open the door and -

How on earth did she get here before me?

Actually, never mind. She probably just went straight here, and I must have missed her when checking one of the rooms or something. Hell, she could have just come in from the roof - looks like there's an access ladder and hatch. Weird, having that safety hazard in a room kids are staying in, but hey. It's not me who put it there, so it's not my responsibility. (You would have thought that their guardian would've locked it, but considering he's Mr. Pines... it's not so surprising.)

They see me now, and have stopped talking. Belatedly, I say "hey." like some shy schoolgirl, rather than, well, me. I clear my throat, and say clearly, my tone a bit better and more my own. (Honey, you're tone is all wrong. Never be hesitant, show your superiority in your voice, Pacifica.) "Hello. I was looking for your brother, Mabel. The others were wondering where he was, and-"

Before I could continue, I got a face full of low-quality material. Calmly, I removed the... quaint, sweater from my face, and stared at the lama on the front, allowing a small sliver of confusion to show on my face. (only let others see what you wish, Darling. They'll use your emotions and feelings against you, won't they, honey?) "What." I state, plainly, and lift my head to stare at the other girl. Girls. The large male-and-boxer-sounding one, and the foreign, possibly-Japanese-girl is there.

Wonderful. I was hoping to only have to interact with Mabel, if I had to interact with anyone other than Dipper.

(no, that means nothing. Shut up. You know I don't know the girl. Oh. You meant Dipper. Uh. Well. It's obvious, isn't it. He's the one who can tell me what my job is. Yes that- you know what I'm just gonna ignore you right now. You're not even real, voice in my head. Probably just him, messing with me or something.)

Mabel's grin is full of braces and false happiness, and her friends are more truthful in their expressions, wariness and distaste clear on their faces. Well, the small girl's face. The other one, while not happy with me being there at least seems slightly more open and kind. Slightly.

"Put it on," she grins at me, the words coming through the gaps in her teeth distorted. "Your clothes are all ratty and that's just not acceptable." I stare some more, unable to say the words I'm supposed to. (Never thank another, Pacifica, as they should be grateful that you accepted their worthless offering. but- No, Pacifca! (ring, ring.) You are a Northwest. You bow to no other, understood? Understood?) Instead, I blurt the first thing that comes to mind, a reflex reaction rung into me. "It's... quaint, but rather not my style, Pines. The material's cheap, the stitching is obvious, and it's horribly itchy. Besides, how on earth would I wear this in this weather without sweating? It'd ruin my already, carefully ruined, appearance." Her grin falters, and I feel bad about what I said but if I've learnt anything, asking for forgiveness is not something I really deserve from her, from someone I've hurt so much in the past few weeks. At any rate, so far as she knows this is what she should expect from me as a response anyway, correct? "Well alrighty then, thanks for the constructive criticism." She smiles, not grinning, and it's a tad more genuine. Wait, what? I blink, and her smile grows, and grows slightly more genuine. The others look confused as well. "I'll be sure to hide the stitching better, and put an inner layer on the next jumper with an itchy material. I'll also find a way to make 'summer sweaters' more of a thing, so you don't get all yucky when you wear 'em." Her smile widens. "And, you've also shown me that certain demographics won't like them! So, all in all, that was a very helpful response!" She seems genuinely happy, right now, her voice loud and excited. all of a sudden, the hatch is opened and a tall, redheaded girl, Wendy, that was it, drops down, and a few seconds later Dipper follows, climbing down a few rungs before dropping onto his bed. They look surprised to see us, and I figure we look as surprised to see them. Quickly and inefficiently, I mask my face with indifference, and drop (read: throw) the... 'summer sweater' onto the floor with a jerky arm movement, nudging it behind me with my heel. Dipper sits up, unnecessarily slowly considering how quickly he moved to come to my aid earlier, and I can see his careful movements for what they are; he's being deliberately slow about his movements, almost unconsciously, and his cheeks have a slight colouration to them under his sister's searching stare.

There's a slight frown on her face, but she covers it with a mask of her own, a braces-filled grin, and ignores her brother's entry to the room as if it hadn't happened. "Hey Wen! Nice of you to drop in" and she laughs, with a slightly forced edge. "Drop in..." she snorts. "I'm hilarious.". "Yeah, you are." and there's a cold, biting edge to Wendy's dry tone, and Dipper flashes a glance in her direction, and she winces, sits down, leans against the ladder. Mabel blinks a few times in rapid succession, and chances a confused glance towards her brother.

Ah, I see the dynamic here. She's the action girl, he's the plans and knowledge guy. She's the brawn, he's the brains, and she isn't too happy for the roles to ever switch, for him. At least, that's what I can gather from all their interactions that I have seen.

"Hi, Dipper." I say, and manage not to react to Mabel, as she turns her head, quickly, in my direction, hair whipping the larger girl on the arm. Her eyes are narrowed, slightly, and I remember calling her 'pines' and saying 'hello'.

Oops.

He nods in return. "Hey, Pacifica." Wendy flicks her eyes between us, raises a brow and then shrugs, and stares, hard, at Mabel, who has her mouth open, ready to say something. Wendy's eyes are almost saying 'don't you dare' and Mabel's jaw snaps shut with a click.

What the hell? Ugh, whatever. Dipper looks just as confused, so if he doesn't get what his friends are on about I'm not going to.

"We are leaving now." the small, glasses girl says, and the larger one adds: "Yeah! Grenda and Candy, out!" Oh. So that's their names. Okay. Wendy flails a hand in goodbye, I incline my head in acknowledgement, Dipper mutters a "See ya.", because of course he will, they're his sisters friends and he shares a room with her. Mabel pouts, and grabs her friends in a crushing hug, jumps back and waves in a hyper way. "Alrighty then, girls! Love ya! See you later!" She calls after them, and shuts the door they leave open.

My god, were they born in a barn? (If you leave a door open, it makes you look forgetful, daughter. Northwests are not forgetful.) Oh. Actually, yeah they probably were if they were born here, considering the hospital is a renovated barn. (I was born elsewhere, obviously. The Northwests wouldn't even consider stepping foot anywhere near a barn, no matter the renovation.)

I grimace, and gracefully sit down on a clear patch of floor, pretty much in the same place as I was when here earlier.

Dipper glances my way, and probably realises the same, because he sends an almost unnoticeable smile of reassurance to me. Neither of the others see it, and my pride makes me feel grateful for that, and I feel grateful for the smile because that's the sort of thing you feel grateful for.

Mabel sits down on her bed, and now we make a kind of makeshift circle, or a star with four points. or an irregular polygon. Whatever. We make a shape of some kind, at any rate, and so we sit there in silence. Wendy's still, her gaze moving from person to person; Dipper to Mabel to Me and back. Dipper's fidgeting with a pen, not clicking the end as it's a capped pen not a push one, but he does keep on chewing on it like most do. It explodes, and Wendy and me jump a little in surprise, but it must be a common occurrence as he and Mabel don't even react, except for him to mechanically drop the pen into a box I just noticed as he does so, one labeled 'broken pens' or something similar (I can't quite read it from here, but that would make sense), and then he automatically reaches out for another one. Before I can say anything, Wendy speaks. "Dude, ink's poisonous, right? Isn't that like, majorly unhealthy?" Brushing his arm across his mouth and removing any evidence of the ink's previous existence he shrugs, and she shakes her head. "Dude..." she grins, amusement with an undertone (overtone) of worry. "Do you have any self-preservation?" He pauses, thinking, and I flash back to the party, to Dipper standing on a table yelling things at the Ghost that I couldn't hear, to him being frozen into a wooden statue and I think that no, he really doesn't, Wendy, shouldn't you know that by now? Before I can do something stupid, like look like I'm about to blurt some ridiculous statement or something, He shrugs again and the topic is dropped. Again, the silence consumes the room, and this time no noise is made from any of us, not even Mabel, who had been humming to herself, messing with her hair and her bed sheets in intervals. we're all weirdly still, all wanting to say things but not wanting to break anything so close to the final battle.

(Because there will be one. I'm sure of it. Just as sure as that after all this, the Northwest name will be ruined, and the only thing that'll stop the businesses being affected, is because you can't really use the very good reason of 'tried to join the side of an evil demon alien thing' as an excuse for boycotting someone in the 'real' world. All we'll have left is our money, and well. That won't really be worth much to anyone in this town, after this. Just as sure that my name is Pacifica Northwest, and my life will never be the same, later.)

(Later.)

Dipper breaks the silence. "We all need to go back down." he says, finally, and to me it feels like a missed opportunity for something but what that is I don't know.

Lately, everything's feeling like missed opportunities.

Wendy nods, and the moment for fixing ourselves before the end is over, Mabel nods as well, her's more exaggerated, and salutes her brother "Where to, bro-bro?" He sighs. Can you and Wendy do lookout please? Mabel, use the window upstairs, and Wendy, you can use your usual area, right?" he glances at me. "Anyone up there." Mabel stares, and its obvious, but I ignore her and so do the others. "No, Dipper. There isn't anyone there right now, so far as I know." Dipper looks like he's mentally cursing, and Wendy actually does curse. "F-sh-crap, uh, okay, like, no-ones on watch now?" I shake my head. she mouths another curse, getting up as quickly as possible and wrenching the door open, sprinting towards her post. I wince, "Sorry," I mutter. "S'alright," he says. "Wasn't even your job anyway." and this time he actually glares at his sister, for a second, but looks immediately guilty and... chastised when she flinches.

Oh, no. No that does not get to be part of their dynamic. Nope.

I raise an eyebrow. "Mabel?" I question, and she winces, though not guilty and not regretting; rather, I think, upset at getting caught and letting her brother down so soon after she did... that... to him. She coughed, awkwardly, and hurried to the ladder. She climbs up, and opens the hatch. With one last glace at her brother, actual guilt and a little worry on her face for the first time I've ever seen it, she goes into the (apparently) soundproof attic, (not a roof hatch, but an attic trapdoor, made a mistake but as it was an uneducated guess I'll let it slide) leaving me and her brother alone.

(Again.)

"So, what job do I need to do?" I ask, because even if I wanted to talk I don't know for sure if the attic is soundproofed. "Uh - Yeah," he nodded, and got up, off of the bed. "Yeah, could you help with the mediating? There's a lot of beings to handle all -" he gestures vaguely, shrugging, and I know now he probably has as much of a pride problem as I do, in a different way. I nod, because sure, its something to do, isn't it? and he leads the way back down to the gift shop, it being the only room that can fit every single being that is with them. (there's a lot more than I originally thought, but then again, beings have been arriving since the start and more keep on coming. Some friendly, some... not.)

When we entered the room, a hush fell over the creatures for a second, then an avalanche of sound was thrown at us. Dipper sighed, and moved to the multibear in the corner, and murmured something to it. It nodded, and roared. Silence fell, and Dipper stood on a bench that had been moved into the room. "Right." he called out. "Everyone, one at a time, please." "I cannot work with this... imbecile!" A particularly snobby sounding, burly looking man called out. "I may be on guard duty because of my knowledge of fighting and martial arts techniques-" Right, of course, sir, that's definitely why you're a guard, Mr. Muscle Man. "You no real man!" a Minotaur roared, slightly smaller and less hairy than his brothers, with a weedy-er voice, but no less of a brute than the others. A few Minotaurs roared in agreement, and Dipper got the Multibear to yell for silence. "Manotaurs!" Dipper called out. Oh. Right, Manotaurs. oh-kaaay..."Calm yourselves. And you-" he pointed to the snobby guy, who folded his arms and rose to his full height, and looked down on Dipper. (I'll give him credit in the privacy of my own mind; he's not even a little intimidated. "Okay, first, stop that, it's not gonna work, and secondly - you have to get over yourself. Understood? Learn to work with the Manotaurs, please, Christ. It's not that difficult. If a twelve year old can do it, it really can't be that hard, can it?" and oh, I see. The snobby guy's eyes narrowed, and he nodded jerkily. The leading Manotaur nodded in approval, and Dipper inclined is head.

Challenge accepted.

the man grunted, more like the brutes he despises than anything else right now, and Dipper nods, satisfied.

I sit back, ready to enjoy the show.

"Right." he calls out again. "Whose next?" There's a cacophony of noise, and I let out a groan on accident at the same time he does.

(It's gonna be a long forever.)

(considering time is stopped.)

Um. Hi. There. You, all. Look - like you're gonna stab me with pitch forks, for being so late with a new chapter so um. *laughs awkwardly* I /am/ sorry about that. Very, very sorry, about that. I - I have time now to do stuff though, so that's good. I guess. (Please don't hate me I'd hate it if you people hated me...)

Heh. So. Yeah. I'm gonna go now. Bye, Tarah, I guess.

- Cesca