"I don't think Stanton is coming around…"

Dipper looked up from his book and turned towards Pacifica. The blonde sat beside him in bed, looking down dejectedly. He reached up and patted her shoulder. "Hey, Pacifica. We talked about this. He just needs some time to adjust. He'll come around when he's ready," he said trying to reassure her.

Pacifica sighed. "He's had plenty of time to adjust Dipper. I don't think that's the problem. If it was he wouldn't be coming around to Renee," she argued. She knew that they were cooking breakfast together, and that she was giving him rides to school and to the vanguard base. It didn't seem like much, but it was a pretty big step for Stanton.

He hadn't taken any steps like that with her. It was always hi and bye, without a second thought. She knew he wasn't trying to be rude, but… it sort of stung. Dipper noticed her troubled expression and wrapped an arm around her. "This… this is really bothering you isn't it?" he asked. "Maybe I should talk to him."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want him to feel like I'm trying to get you to force him to talk to me or anything. I just… I didn't expect him to start calling me mom but I thought this could be like… a second chance or something," she said shrugging.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "A second chance for what?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "Renee and I talked over everything, but I… back when we were with Remy I pushed her into putting up a front. Into being a queen bee. I wasn't a good mother. And I'm trying to be now, even though Renee's almost an adult now. And with Stanton it's just-"

Dipper cut her off. "Hey, hold on a second. Let's put it in reverse. You are not a bad mother," he said sternly. "You were in a bad situation, and you made some mistakes, just like all parents do. Besides, you're the one who came to me for help. A bad mother wouldn't do that."

The blonde grew a small smile on her face. "Thanks…"

"Stanton will come around. He just got closer with Renee first because she works in a field he's interested in. But sooner or later you two will find your common ground, and you'll bond over it. Heck, he might even really come to think of you as his mother. It's not like he has anything else to go off of," Dipper said with a shrug.

Pacifica looked down in thought. "Huh… our common ground huh?" she mumbled. "Yeah, that's the answer. Common ground. I'm sure there's something the two of us both enjoy. I just need to find it," she said, smirking.

Dipper cleared his throat. "Okay, good thinking but maybe let's not force it. I'm sure if you wait whatever you too bond over will come-"

"Honey, we both know I'm not patient enough to do that," Pacifica deadpanned.

"Yeah I figured… I don't suppose there's any talking you out of this is there?"

"Of course there isn't," she said before kissing his cheek. "But don't worry, I won't come on too strong. I'll just find what we have in common and let the bonding go from there."

Dipper hummed. "Alright then. Good luck." He had a feeling Stanton was going to need more luck than his wife tomorrow, but he was smart enough not to say it out loud.

Stanton looked over his cards as he made his way down the stairs and prepared to head out. Today he was finally going to get the chance to see what The High Priestess card did. Between school, visiting the Vanguard base, and trying to take the top spots at the arcade, the right moment just hadn't seemed to come for him to use it yet.

He thought about going to some isolated place to use it, but the only places he could find were quite distant away, and asking Renee for a ride would definitely tip her off. Today however he had more than enough time to get there and back without anyone being too suspicious.

The boy made his way towards the front door before suddenly bumping into a figure. He stumbled back, but was steadied by a pair of soft hands. "Oh, sorry about that Stanton," Pacifica said, helping him back up to his feet. You okay?" she asked, helping him back up to his feet.

Stanton nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you. Sorry for bumping into you. I'll be more careful about where I'm going," he said about to make his way around her.

Pacifica put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, it's fine. I actually was hoping to catch you before I left the house," she said smiling down at him.

"You were?" he asked, confused.

She nodded. "Yeah. You see, I didn't have any plans for today. So I was just thinking if maybe… you wanted to have sort of a mother-son day together? Just the two of us?" she asked.

"But we're not…" Stanton stopped. He was going to say that they weren't actually mother and son, when he had remembered two things. The first was something that Renee had told him a while ago. About how being family was more than being related by blood. He honestly didn't know why that specific thing had popped into his memory…

The second was the Arcana cards. He'd already had The Fool, The Magician, and The High Priestess. If this really was just like the arcana cards then the next one should have been the Empress. At first he had assumed The Empress would be Mabel. She was the most notable female figure in his life, minus his cousin. But he already had a bond with her and the card didn't activate during the family dinner, so she was out. He'd never considered it, but it was possible Pacifica could end up being her. Which meant… he'd have to form a bond with her.

He hummed and rubbed his chin as Pacifica looked down at him confused. He had just stopped mid-sentence and looked like he was in deep thought. She's seen the look on Dipper's face plenty of times, but he usually got far enough into a conversation to tell what it was about. "Uh, Stanton? Are you okay?" she asked.

The boy snapped out of his thoughts and looked back up at her. "Oh? Yeah, I'm fine… I think it's a good idea."

Pacifica grew wide eyed. "What-? Really?" she asked. She'd been sure she was going to have to go out of her way to convince him to come along. She didn't expect him to just go along with it.

Stanton nodded. "Uh-huh. Where are we going?"

"Oh… oh wow, I didn't think I'd get this far so soon. I really should have thought this out more," Pacifica said rubbing her chin. "Um… okay, how about this. We'll both take turns picking places that we want to go. I'm sure we have something we'll both end up enjoying."

"That sounds like a good idea. Where do you want to go first?"

She smiled down at him. "You can have the first pick. You were heading off to do something before I stopped you right? We can head there if you want."

Stanton hummed. He definitely wasn't about to show her the Arcana cards. But he did have something else planned. "I was going to head to the arcade. Are you sure you want to come?"

Pacifica nodded. "Definitely. It's your pick, so anywhere we go is fine," she said. She really had zero interest in going to the arcade, but she was willing to give it a shot if it meant Stanton might warm up to her. "Are you ready to get going?"

"Sure," Stanton said, shrugging.

The blonde looked pleased as Stanton turned towards the door to leave. Things were actually going pretty smoothly so far. Dipper, who had been watching from the kitchen, looked stunned. He couldn't believe his son had gone alone with it so easily. He had expected him to shoot her down. Or best case scenario he went with clear reluctance.

But he actually seemed… eager to go. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or concerned. Pacifica smiled towards him. "You see. Things are starting off pretty well," she said, smirking.

Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, so far. But are you really sure you can handle the arcade? It's not like the old one back at the falls. Stanton likes to hit up the competitive places."

She scoffed. "Dipper, I think I can handle a couple of kids playing video games."

"If you say so," Dipper said, shrugging. "Goodluck Pacifica."

She laughed as she made her way out the door. She didn't think she would need luck for something so simple…

Pacifica watched the group of kids, teens, and young adults all cheer as two of them played against one another. It looked more like they were in a sports bar watching a football game then it did an arcade. She knew it had been years since she even thought about stepping inside an arcade, but she had always remembered the place being half empty and sort of dull.

At least that's how the one at Gravity Falls had always been anyway.

This was one completely different. And she couldn't even tell what was going on in the game either. They were moving so fast and pressing so many buttons the characters on the screen almost looked like a blur.

"What game is this?" Pacifica asked, confused. She knew this was probably something she should have asked a while ago considering she was supposed to be playing next.

"It's Marvel vs. Capcom 3," Stanton said, not taking his eyes away from the fight. "It's a pretty fast pace game. We can try something else if you want."

She smiled nervously. "What? No. I'll be fine. Besides, you're up next right? I wouldn't want you to have to skip your turn after we waited this long," she said.

Stanton hummed. "If you're sure."

The crowd once again yelled out as someone took the final round, and the losing player threw his hands up in the air. The two both seemed to be fairly good sports about it and shook hands before the loser walked off. "Alright, who's next?" the other player asked.

Pacifica stood nervously but then walked forward. Everyone seemed a bit surprised to see her walking up, and she got quite a few whistles and catcalls as she took her seat. She rolled her eyes and sat down, the young man sitting next to her looking amused. "Um, Miss. Are you sure you're supposed to be here? This doesn't seem like your scene."

She narrowed her eyes. "Look, I'm trying something new here and I don't need some nerd on my case about it," she said as Stanton plugged in his controller and then handed it to her. The man shrugged and let out a chuckle as she looked over her controller. This definitely wasn't like the regular ones she saw kids using. This looked like someone ripped it out of an arcade machine. "So… how do the controls work?"

Stanton pointed to each button. "These are the light medium and heavy attack buttons, this one is to dash, then one is advancing guard…" Pacifica had been totally lost as he rattled off a quick explanation of the controls. The player beside her along with a few others in the crowd chuckled in amusement.

"Look lady, I hate to say this but if you're just learning the game now you really don't have any business being here. You're wasting your time," he said.

One of the others guys standing nearby frowned. "Aw c'mon dude. Ease up. Everybody starts somewhere."

"Well she's going to start with a big ass L on her record."

Pacifica narrowed her eyes. She had barely been sitting beside him for a minute and she already didn't like this kid. "Just ignore him and do your best," Stanton said.

She sighed and turned back towards the game. "Uh… which characters should I pick?"

"Whenever I play a new game I just pick whichever characters think looks coolest," Stanton said shrugging. He had no idea how she would play this game, so it wasn't like he could give her any reasonable advice on it. Pacifica clicked her tongue and took his advice, picking the characters she thought looked the most interesting.

The boy laughed. "Chun-Li, Viper, and She-Hulk? There's like zero team chemistry between-"

"Dude, just shut up and play the game!" Another player yelled from the ground.

They started the game, and Pacifica immediately began pressing buttons, and just hoping something would workout. The other boy backed up and laughed yet again. "Button mashing? Noob," he said before rushing in.

The match didn't last all that long. Pacifica had zero idea what she was doing, and the boy was obviously an experienced player. He easily dodged and blocked every attack she managed to send his way, and countered with one of his own. When she got down to her last character, he seemed to back off a bit, letting her get a few attacks off, and then ending the fight with a flashy Hyper Combo.

The crowd hadn't reacted much at all. Seeing someone so experienced beat down on someone who was obviously new to the place wasn't all that entertaining. And the boy was being a bit of a poor sport about it too. "Well, can't say I didn't see that coming. Next!"

Pacifica grit her teeth at the little punk, but then Stanton reached out and grabbed his controller from her. "It's okay. Maybe I should have taught the controls before we got up here."

"I honestly don't think it would have made much of a difference," Pacifica said honestly. "This guy is definitely good and I sort of have no idea what I'm going."

"He's alright," Stanton said, taking his seat. "After I beat him we can leave."

The other boy scowled down at him. "After you beat me? Kid, I know you're trying to be white knight to your sister over here but-"

"Step-mom," Stanton corrected.

He grew wide eyed. "Really? Damn. You look way too hot to be a step-mom. Or just a mom." Okay, Pacifica decided she disliked him just a little less now. "Anyway, if you think I'm going easy on you just because you're a kid, you got another thing coming."

Stanton ignored him and just picked his characters. When the boy saw who he had chosen he raised an eyebrow. "Vergil, Storm, and Wolverine? You run that team?" he asked curiously. Something then seemed to click for him. "Wait a second… are you Stanny_Hit-Stun?"

Stanton nodded. "Yeah…"

Everyone in the crowd seemed to look surprised, but none more so than the boy who was sitting beside him. "Oh shit…" he muttered.

Stanton had easily beaten down the other boy, even dragging it out a bit and finishing him off in the exact same way he did to Pacifica. She had worn a smug look on her face as she watched him sulk off to go play something else. After she had told Stanton it was fine if he kept playing, and just stood back and cheered him on as he went on a near hundred game win streak.

When he finally had lost, they made their way out and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to their next stop. Pacifica had decided to try out one of her favorite pastimes, shopping. She hadn't gone to her usual spot since she didn't think Stanton would be too enthused about it.

But she thought she could at least find something he might be interested in at Club Banana. "How about this?" she asked, holding up a shirt.

Stanton tilted his head and hummed. "Uh… it looks fine I guess," he said.

Pacifica sighed. "You really don't have much of an interest in fashion do you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry. I guess not. Maybe you should just pick something out for me."

The blonde shook her head. "I don't just want to pick something off for you. I want to get something you'd actually like. I'm sure we can find something in here you'd like," she said before grabbing a hat. "What about this?"

Stanton grabbed onto the flaps of his hat and pulled them down. "No new hats…"

She clicked her tongue. "Right, forget you keep that thing glued to your head. You really are your father's son," she said looking amused. For the longest time she hadn't even known what Dipper had looked like without something on his head. "Oh! What about this?" she asked.

She pulled out a pair of shorts and held it out towards him. "These look nice. It's different but it matches with the rest of your outfit, and I already spot a few other things it could match with."

Stanton looked over them. "They have lots of pockets…"

"Pockets?" Pacifica asked, confused.

He nodded. "To hold charms and things." His backpack already held a limitless amount of items, so it wasn't a matter of extra space. But in a quick situation he liked to be able to pull out something on the fly and not have to take his backpack off to pull it out.

She hummed. "Okay. So you're looking more for practicality more than you are fashion. I think I can find a few things that meet in the middle," she said smiling. Now that she sort of new knew what she was looking for she was sure she could make this work.

She started browsing once more, and Stanton hummed curiously as he watched her. Ms. Pacifica seemed to be having a pleasant time. And he couldn't say he was having a particularly bad one. So why hadn't the card activated yet?

"Perhaps she isn't The Empress after all?" Arcana said, already sending the boy's thoughts.

"Who else could it be? The Empress is supposed to be a mother figure. She's the only mother I have," he said. Was it really Mabel after all? He supposed he was closer to her, and she could qualify as a mother figure. But that still didn't explain why the card didn't activate.

"Stanton, are you okay?"

He looked back up towards Pacifica, who looked down at him slightly concerned. "I'm alright. Just mumbling to myself." That was partly true he supposed.

She hummed. "Right… okay then. I saw a shirt I think you might like. Do you want to try it on?"

He shrugged and just went along with it. He rarely ever took time out to get new clothes. A lot of his stuff was pretty worn out. So he might as well get some while he was here.

After about two hours had passed before they had called it in. Stanton had wanted to leave during the last half hour but he just went along with it since she seemed to be enjoying herself. She had apologized for her turn taking so much longer, and he'd told her it was fine. Seeing that it was starting to get a bit late, Stanton suggested calling it in.

He couldn't think of any other place to go. She had agreed, and suggested ordering dinner and maybe popping in a bad movie. He had a feeling she'd gotten that idea from her father since they used to do bad movie night once a week. But he didn't see any reason to refuse, so he once again agreed.

She was in the kitchen making up some popcorn, which he figured was something simple enough that even she couldn't mess up, while he was left to order some Chinese food. He was also left to wonder why the card still hadn't activated. He really didn't understand. Pacifica seemed to be having a decent time, and so did he.

The qualification for the card was that a bond was formed. He'd say spending the entire day together would count at least a bit. So why?

"Perhaps it's because you're trying to force it," Arcana suggested. "A bond is not something to be forged for one's convenience. It is a naturally occurring feeling between two individuals."

"So you're saying I'm still missing something then?" Stanton asked.

"How do you feel towards Pacifica?"

Stanton looked down in thought. How did he feel towards her? Up until now she had just been someone who his father cared about. First as a friend, and then as a lover. He hadn't felt anything towards her one way or the other.

He thought about how he felt towards the people who had cards already. Ezra was something he held a genuine interest in, and someone he didn't mind being around. He did find something pleasant about the times they ate lunch on the roof while the others and their trips to the arcade.

It was hard to describe how he felt towards Renee. She clearly wanted some kind of bond to be formed, and there was obviously something there. He felt it. He just didn't know what it was.

Then there was Maggie, who he understood perfectly. She was a confidant. Someone he could go to and vent his troubles to. He knew he could trust her.

But Pacifica… she seemed to want a mother and son type of relationship, but he'd been going so long without a mother he didn't even know what that was supposed to feel like.

"Stanton, the kitchen!" He looked up confused. "I sense something in the kitchen! Go!"

The boy quickly got up and rushed towards the kitchen, but Pacifica came rushing out and quickly grabbed him by the wrist. He didn't even get a chance to ask what was going on before she yanked him down next to her and then covered his mouth with her hand. She made a shushing motion and then nodded towards the door.

Stanton peeked around and looked into the kitchen, then jumped slightly at what he saw. There was some kind of… creature, making it's way inside through the back door. It was a huge, beast like thing with pitch black fur. Stanton could make out a pair of blood red eyes peeking out from its face, and it had a very intimidating pair of razor sharp teeth.

It let out a low growl as it sniffed around. Then it grew a large smile on its face. "I know you're here. I can smell you," it said chuckling. "Along with two others as well. What I feast I'll have tonight…"

Stanton frowned and slowly reached down to grab the deck from his pocket. He had never seen anything like this thing before. And it had to be truly something different since his dad kept the house protected with dozens of charms against numerous monsters.

But his curiosity had to wait. He had to get himself and Pacifica out of here…