The rest of the day was dominated by Pacifica's bubble bath. Willingly so. She laid back in the hot water quietly, taking a deep, relaxing breath and inhaling an oversaturated blend of lavender, soap and incense. Clearing her lungs. Cleaning her still filthy, clay addled skin. Relaxing. Trying to do absolutely nothing and rest up her weak, bruised limbs.
God, what a couple of days it had been. She was ridiculously proud of herself, of course, but that roughly balanced with god knows how much trauma.
Hours past, but she could have done with it feeling twenty times longer. For a brief time, there was no concerns about dirty tiles or rampant pigs or the leaking faucet over the sink. It was just Pacifica and her thoughts.
She knew that the future was still uncertain. There had been no alleviation to that. No solution. There might never be a solution that's perfect. For her, perfect would be speeding up time, marrying Dipper Pines and living in the forest peacefully. No kids, no drama, just adventures with his dorky science stuff and her running a profitable diner.
Obviously that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
For her, perfect would be an idyllic life wherein she didn't have to, like, revolve around the constantly disappointing adults that raised her into privilege without giving her anything to do with it.
Hell, she'd been awesome today. She was swinging around and blowing stuff up like a proper action hero. She'd been like an adventurer.
By the time Pacifica was bathed, redressed and had her hair back in order, it was already reaching twilight. She finally felt freaking clean, freaking calm and her hands had stopped shaking.
She sighed happily as she sat back on the bright pink sheets of her bed, painting her fingernails and contentedly pretending everything was normal, comfortable and less… tumultuous in her head. And contentedly pretending she hadn't just blown up half of Geron Street to kill a giant millipede called Curzon.
It wasn't an easy job but the Pines were specialists in pretending everything could be sorted out. What did she have to worry?
Besides, chances are Geron Street was owned by her Dad. Not her problem.
Mabel popped her head through the door and grinned. "Hey, Paz, Dipper's back from the hospital. And the Grunkles want to talk to you!"
"You seem unusually calm."
"I stole some vitamins from the hospital!"
"...Great. You doing okay?"
"I'm totally perfineeeee, superdooblegood-"
Pacifica blinked.
"Ignore her." Dipper shouted up the stairs. "They were just mints."
"They were not!" Mabel shouted gleefully. "I'm totally off my rocker!"
"That I can agree on." Pacifica smiled, blowing her nails dry as she got up and followed her surrogate sister in law down the stairs.
Dipper stood at the base, his arm in a cast and sling and his bruising looking… well, literally no better. Being the teenager he was, he couldn't resist showing it off a bit. "The Doctor said I could have lost my arm!"
"No he didn't." Mabel laughed. "He said Dipper should stop falling down holes."
Dipper's brow furrowed. "I could have lost it! A building collapsed on us!"
"But the doctor doesn't know that." Mabel replied snootily, sticking her tongue out.
"How bad is the damage in town…?" Pacifica winced.
"Eh. Couple of shops destroyed, a car was found stuck in the cliff face, pretty sure a couple of gnomes are in orbit…" Stan mumbled.
"We wiped Tyler's memories of the evening." Ford smiled, scratching is head absently. "It seemed… necessary, considering the um… unusual situation you plunged him into."
Pacifica chuckled nervously. "Poor guy."
"He doesn't know that." Ford winked. "Morality is a bit of a grey area when it comes to justice, Miss Northwest. Now, come on - we need to have a chat."
"Ford, stop trying to pretend you're a superhero. You're like that creep in the spider pyjamas. Spider-creep or whatever."
"Quiet, Stanley."
Dipper and Mabel watched as the two grunkles led Pacifica into the kitchen and closed the door.
"Coffee?" Stanford smiled. "Freeze-dried, I'm afraid."
"Thanks." Pacifica replied, somewhat suspiciously. "What's going on?"
"Look, kid, about this morning…" Stan started.
"I know Stanley made an idle remark about you joining us on our… adventures."
"Yeah, on the Stan O'War, y'know?"
Pacifica sipped her coffee and sighed. "And you think that's dumb and unrealistic?"
"Of course it is." Ford chuckled. "It's also a great idea. After what Stanley saw today, he thinks you'd fit right in."
Ford paused and raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Pacifica's perfectly applied fingernails, her pristine clothing, her jewellery…
"...More or less, that is."
"Yeah, I mean-" Stan cleared his throat. "I don't know many kids with the moxy you have, blondie. You might be a bit prissy and clean but you've got that… you've got that get up an' go. You swing up there over that, you can swing on a boat's sails, you get me?"
He took a big sip of his coffee and grinned.
"Besides, you do make better coffee than Sixer. Counts for something out at sea, believe me."
Pacifica giggled to herself and looked at the black liquid in her mug. "I'll think about it."
"Please do." Ford grinned. "From the way Stan described you this morning, it sounds like you're a born sailor."
Stan grinned and pulled out a battered little sailor's hat from the box of junk he had picked up at Thrifty's.
"Agreed." Stan beamed, popping it down on her head. "Like a sailor, Pacifica."
Pacifica looked up at the hat on her head, at the two brothers with their coffee cups and warm, honest smiles…
And smiled back.
"I'll definitely think about it."
She wasn't sure how enamoured she was with the idea of living on a boat, out on the high seas - but she was enamoured with the idea of belonging. Right now, the prospect was the best damned proposal she'd ever heard. She felt overjoyed, not just at the fact they had offered it to her - but the fact they thought she'd be good at it.
She had come out of one of the weirdest, most over the top, ridiculous adventures of her life almost completely unscathed. Apart from her boyfriend breaking his arm and her make up getting ruined.
It felt good to say she got out of that. Her and her family.
Pacifica Pines - Future Pirate.
Hell yeah.