"Here we are, dudes- Greasy's Diner!" Soos said to Dipper, Mabel, and Melody as they walked into the restaurant.
Dipper and Mabel took a few steps forward inside as they looked around. This was the first time they had been to Greasy's since they had returned, and it was somewhat surprising to them to see how similarly the place appeared after all these years.
"Woah," Dipper said as he eyeballed the interior.
"And it's still just as greasy as I remember!" Mabel said happily as she looked around too.
"Yeah, this place really hasn't changed much at all since you dudes left," Soos said as he walked everybody over to one of the booths and sat down. "Still the same ol' Greasy's. Same ol' food, same ol' people…"
"...same ol' windows, same ol' tables, same ol' menus!" Mabel continued listing enthusiastically as she gestured toward everything.
Dipper picked up one of the menus from the table to read. Within seconds, the entire menu itself disintegrated to ash in his hands.
"Welp, you definitely weren't kidding about the menus," Dipper remarked as he looked at the menu remains in his hands.
"I feel like there's gotta be a safety hazard there," Melody said, raising an eyebrow in concern.
"No kidding," Dipper agreed as he wiped his hands on his jeans, dusting himself off. "No worries, though. I'll just ask for a new one."
"Well, here comes Lazy Susan now," Soos pointed out to the side. "Actually, I forgot- I think she became the new manager of the place a few years back."
"Woah, really? Lazy Susan's in charge now?" Mabel said in amazement. "That's great!"
"And somewhat concerning," Dipper added as he vividly recalled Lazy Susan's less competent tendencies.
Suddenly, Lazy Susan stepped up to their booth holding a small notepad in her hands. She looked as though she hadn't aged at all in the time since Dipper and Mabel last saw her, looking basically the same as she did four years ago. Her eyelid was still just as lazy and dysfunctional and she still wore the same grayish rose uniform with a white apron that all the waitresses wore. However, she had a badge beside her dress collar that read 'Manager', solidifying what Soos had just mentioned.
She smiled as she stood over the booth in front of the four. "Hello people!"
"Lazy Susan!" Mabel exclaimed in a greeting fashion. "Do you remember me? You went out with my Grunkle Stan when I was twelve! Not that that went anywhere, but yeah, that was a thing you did, and I'm his great-niece, and now I'm back!"
"Oh, I remember you!" Lazy Susan said as she glanced at her. "Maple, wasn't it?"
"Mabel," she corrected. "But close enough!"
"Oh that's right," Lazy Susan realized, shaking her head clumsily. She then looked over at Dipper. "And you're the twin, right?"
"That's correct," Dipper nodded with a smile. "Dipper Pines."
"Ah, yes. I remember you too," she acknowledged. "You've gotten taller." Dipper sat up pridefully in his booth by this compliment as she continued to examine him. "Or have you gotten shorter?"
"What? No!" Dipper denied. "I've grown at least a whole foot taller since last time!"
"Oops, sorry," she apologized. "Part of my decaying eye condition is the lack of ability to tell height!" she said as she began laughing, although everyone else at the table except Soos started exchanging concerned looks.
Soos, however, began unironically laughing along with her, pounding his fist against the table as he cracked up. "Haha! Good one, Susan!"
"Anyways, what can I get you people?" Lazy Susan asked as she raised her order notepad up readily.
"Hmm..." Soos said as he eyeballed his own menu. "Would it be crazy if I ordered the stack of twenty pancakes? Because I'm feeling like the stack of twenty pancakes right now."
"Dude, twenty pancakes sounds kind of hardcore," Melody commented, sounding somewhat unsure of this decision.
"Which is exactly why I'm gonna do it," Soos said as he put his menu down. "One stack of twenty pancakes!"
"I'll just take a regular stack of pancakes, please," Melody said, putting her menu down as well.
"I'll also take a regular pancake stack, but with a whip cream smiley face and blueberry dimples! Ooh! And a cookie milkshake! God, I missed the milkshakes here!" Mabel ordered, rubbing her stomach eagerly.
Dipper looked back down at the table to see the remains of what used to be his menu. He looked back up at Susan. "Actually, Lazy Susan, my menu kind of just fell apart. Any chance you could please get me another one from that stack right behind you?"
"Oh, sure," she said as she glanced behind at the stack of menus that Dipper referred to. "There they are." She looked back at him. "I'll go tell someone to get that for you. Be right back."
She then stepped away from their booth and walked off in another direction away from the extra menus that were right behind her a mere second ago. Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Melody watched her walk off, each of them with confused looks.
"Weren't the menus right behind her?" Melody asked, gesturing toward them.
"Yeah, and she even looked at them," Dipper added. "Yet she's going to go get someone else to get it for me." He looked back at the stack of menus across from the booth. "I should just grab one myself, shouldn't I?"
"Don't worry about it, just take mine," Mabel said as she slid her menu over to him on the table.
"Thanks, Mabel," Dipper said, holding the menu up in his hands. "And thank you, Soos, for treating us all to breakfast today."
"Of course, dude," Soos nodded. "I thought it'd be nice to spend a morning outside of the Shack with my favorite dudes and my favorite dudette," he said, putting his arm around Melody, who smiled.
"What about Abuelita?" Dipper asked, realizing her lack of presence.
"She's back at the Shack watching Waddles," Mabel told him. "We can't bring him to a place that sells bacon as one of their main courses. That's like a form of emotional abuse for him!"
"Yeah, and I love Abuelita to death, but I've lived with her since I was a kid," Soos told them. "She's probably seen more than enough of me to last a lifetime by now. Meanwhile, I only get the summer to spend with my best dudes. Gotta start making it count. You never know. I could die one of these days. I don't know what from, so that's why it's important to live in the moment."
"Here's your Heart Attack Pancake Stack, sir," an old waitress said in a monotone voice as she put down a giant stack of pancakes on a plate right in front of Soos.
As the waitress walked off, Soos eyeballed the giant stack of pancakes in front of him that rose above his head. He then picked up a fork and began diving into it. "Like I said, who knows what I'll die from? Let's just live in the moment- right after I live in these pancakes."
Dipper, Mabel, and Melody watched as Soos then began to gorge on the pancakes that he stuffed into his mouth with his fork. Mabel even grabbed her phone and aimed it at him, filming as he went to town on his Heart Attack Stack.
As Dipper kept reading over his menu, his eyes darted upward as he suddenly caught a blonde waitress walking around the corner carrying a stack of empty plates and dishes to the front counter. She then moved over to the stack of menus and started organizing them. Just from looking at the side of her face, Dipper felt an odd sense of familiarity. Her blonde bell bangs paired with her summer tan were enough on their own to remind him of the Northwest daughter, Pacifica.
He leaned back in his seat toward Mabel while she was recording Soos. "Hey, am I crazy or does that waitress over there look a lot like Pacifica Northwest?"
Mabel turned her head toward the waitress. The waitress' head then turned slightly and at that point, her face was in clear enough view to identify her features more clearly than from the side. The twins instantly recognized and remembered the blonde's face and knew for a fact that it was, indeed, Pacifica Northwest.
Mabel's eyes widened in surprise. "That is Pacifica!" She suddenly put her phone down on the table and shot up in the booth. "Hey, Pacifica! Over here! It's Dipper and Mabel!"
Pacifica glanced back behind her in surprise upon hearing her name being suddenly called out and looked over at their booth. Upon seeing the twins and immediately realizing who they were, her feelings were far from excited. Instead, she cringed upon seeing how Mabel was shouting her name for everyone to hear.
"Pacifica! It's me, Mabel!" Mabel shouted as she began waving her arms to appear more obvious to her. "Remember me?!"
Pacifica nodded furiously at her as Mabel continued to wave and shout at her from only a few feet away. She glanced around at people at the other tables, whose eyes were starting to glance between Mabel and herself. She turned her head back toward Mabel and used a cutting-throat gesture for her to stop.
"What?!" Mabel asked, not understanding the gesture. "You want me to slit my own throat or stop talking?"
"I think she means the latter," Dipper casually told her, also growing slightly annoyed by her behavior.
"What does a ladder have to do with anything?" Mabel asked, not catching his vocabulary usage.
Dipper grabbed her arm and pulled her back down into her seat. "Just take a seat."
Pacifica then walked over to the booth with a stack of menus in her hand. "Apparently I was supposed to bring you one of these?" she said bitterly as she slammed a menu down in front of Mabel.
"Oh, that was actually supposed to be for Dipper, but I already gave him my menu so it's all good," Mabel told her, not detecting an ounce of her attitude.
"Terrific," she said sarcastically. "Well, I see that after four years, you still haven't learned anything about subtlety."
"What? That's the greeting we get? No 'Hello' or 'It's nice to see you again?'" Dipper asked somewhat playfully.
"I honestly thought you both got eaten alive by wolves or something," she admitted. "Glad to know that didn't happen, I guess?"
"Hey, it's something," Mabel shrugged off, with Dipper nodding his head in agreement. "Anyways, look at you, Pacifica! You're looking hot, girl! Well, hot for someone who lost their family fortune and now has to live and work like an average Joe along with the rest of us lower-class citizens."
"Who had to live like the rest of you," Pacifica corrected as she crossed her arms confidently. "In case you haven't heard, my dad got our money back late last year."
"Wait, seriously?" Dipper asked, shocked. "You mean you're just as rich as you used to be?"
"Not just as rich," Pacifica clarified. "We're, like, ten-percent less rich than we used to be. Which is upsetting, I know. But, I guess it'll do."
Dipper narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing that her rich girl tendencies still hadn't quite dissipated over the past four years.
"So why do you work here if you're loaded again?" Mabel asked.
"Well, I got this job before we got our money back because I needed some way to afford new designer bags after losing my weekly allowance," she started to explain. "Anyways, my family's money struggles aside, I actually wasn't doing that bad. My parents, on the other hand, were desperate to get their money back and it's been all they've been working at since losing it. My dad finally got lucky gambling during a Vegas convention trip around New Years. We actually just recently moved into the new Northwest Manor a few weeks ago."
"Hold up... new Northwest Manor?" Dipper intervened. "Your parents had a whole new family manor built in about six months?"
"Now you know how desperate they were," Pacifica confirmed. "Anyways, since getting rich again, they've been wanting me to quit working here so we could start the family business again, but I told them I wouldn't do it until I lost my job here."
"And he allowed you?" Mabel asked.
"He was persistent on getting me to quit, but eventually he gave up and just let me do me," she further explained. "But if I ever quit or get fired, he's forcing me back into the business and I have no way out."
"Yeesh. A bit controlling, don't ya think?" Mabel asked.
"That's my parents for you," Pacifica said, rolling her eyes at the thought. "They already have me back on my old preppy, perfect rich girl things again to start reselling our image as some perfect family again. It's terrible. Aside from being able to go on long shopping sprees again, there's not much else that excites me about being having money again. This job is the only part of a semi-normal life that I'm still clinging onto."
"But... Greasy's?" Dipper questioned. "Out of all the places?"
"Hey, I got this job years ago," Pacifica reminded him. "And it's not like any place is willing to hire a used-to-be-rich girl that just got kicked to the streets, regardless of what our name used to mean. Lazy Susan was one of the only people in town willing to hire me. My other option was working for Toby Determined, and that was obviously a no-go."
"I'm sure Gideon will appreciate that decision," Mabel told her cheerfully.
"And besides, working for Lazy Susan hasn't been that bad," Pacifica admitted with a slight smile. "She's nice even though I'm not the best employee. And I've learned a bit from her."
"You dang pies! Why won't you just spin?!" Lazy Susan shouted angrily in the background as she started repeatedly banging on the top of the pie spinner with her fist.
"Emphasis on 'a bit'," Pacifica said as her eyes darted back to the Pines.
"Yeah, we get it," Mabel nodded. "But you're doing awesome, Pacifica!"
"Hold up," Soos suddenly intervened midst eating his pancakes. "Isn't Pacifica that really mean and awful rich girl who always used to make you feel terrible about yourself last time you two were here?"
Dipper and Mabel warningly glared at Soos for a moment before awkwardly turning to look at Pacifica, who was also glaring at Soos, but her eyes also displayed a bit of guilt upon recalling her past actions toward the twins. Still, Soos' description of her felt uncalled for at that moment.
"Uh, I'm standing right here," Pacifica reminded him.
"Oh, I wasn't talking to you, ma'am. I was talking to them," Soos told her innocently as he pointed toward the twins. It seemed as though he had no idea that Pacifica was right in front of him. "Anyway, so Pacifica was, like, your rival, right Mabel? And Dipper, didn't you call her the wors-"
"Just eat your pancakes, honey," Melody interrupted, picking up his forkful of pancakes and handing it to him.
"Heh, you don't have to tell me twice," Soos said as he accepted the fork and inserted the contents into his mouth and seemingly forgot about his involvement in the conversation.
Dipper and Mabel stared at Soos for another moment before looking back at Pacifica.
"Uh, sorry about that," Mabel told her, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
"It's fine," Pacifica said as she crossed her arms. "Who doesn't like a reminder of what a terrible person they used to be?"
"Aw, don't be like that. You've changed, remember?" Dipper sympathetically reminded her. "I mean, look at you. You're managing to hold onto a normal job even though you're basically back to living in a palace where you don't need it. You've still come far from who you used to be."
Pacifica continued rubbing her arm, but looked up and smiled at him. "Thanks. I guess I still just feel kinda guilty for all the things I used to do and say to you both."
"Don't sweat it!" Mabel assured her. "Although if you're really feeling bad, maybe now that we're hanging out again and you have your money back, you could make up for your past by throwing a chocolate fountain party!"
"Um, this isn't us hanging out. This is more of a mutual reunion. Kind of like meeting a teacher in public, except slightly less awkward," Pacifica told the two, breaking apart from her emotions and reverting back to her normal attitude. "Secondly, there are a bunch of things I'd do before throwing a 'chocolate fountain party'." She then stepped away from the table and straightened out the rest of the menus in her arm. "Anyways, I have other tables to serve. I'll see you dorks around."
As she walked off, Dipper and Mabel sat somewhat caught off guard by her sudden shift in attitude. Seeing her go from emotional back to her valley girl attitude so quickly felt jarring to witness.
"Well, guess you can't change everything in four years," Dipper admitted, turning toward Mabel.
"She's definitely doing a lot better," Mabel said. "She just needs to loosen up a little and learn how to have fun. It sounds like the one thing she's done for 'fun' in the past four years is shopping with every bit of money coming in from her paychecks."
"Well, she can loosen up. I've seen her do it before," Dipper insisted as he thought back to her splashing mud and other dirty items onto her parents' favorite carpet patterns at the mansion party four years back. "I guess it just requires pushing her to a certain point."
"Well, I think I just pushed myself to a certain point, dudes," Soos said as he leaned back in his seat sickly. "I think I had one too many of those pancakes."
"Maybe ordering a stack of twenty pancakes wasn't the greatest idea after all," Melody told Soos as she patted him on the back.
One of Melody's back pats then pushed Soos to burp loudly, which prompted Melody to flinch away from him. He then fell back in his seat and shut his eyes before immediately reopening them and smiling.
"Nope. Just a false alarm," Soos said before immediately digging into the pancakes again. As he ate, Dipper, Mabel, and Melody just looked on at him with very questionable looks. He eventually looked up from his plate and saw the looks on their faces, raising an eyebrow as he chewed slowly. "What?"
A lot of time had passed that day up to the point that the moon and stars were the only things illuminating the night sky. It was about to be 11 o'clock in the evening and most of the town had already closed shop for the day.
Greasy's, however, was only just about to close up. Pacifica stood cleaning one of the tables with a slight look of disgust on her face. Although she had long since grown used to the chore, helping clean up the diner at the end of the day was still her least favorite part of the job. To her, probably the worst part of wiping down the tops and bottoms of tables was how it frequently messed up her nails. She felt as though the number of times she had to get replacement manicures to fix the paint jobs was a crime.
As she wiped down the table, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She wiped her wet hands down on her apron and then grabbed her phone, answering it.
"Hello?"
"Pacifica, darling," replied the voice of her dad, Preston Northwest.
"Hi, dad," she answered casually as she held the phone with her neck so she could continue wiping down the table.
"I have fantastic news," he began. "You remember my old buddy, Monty, from the art museum, right? Well, the lawyer just called back and it turns out we won the case against him! Now he and his family are in debt, and we got him for everything he owns!"
"What?!" Pacifica said, shocked by this revelation. "That's terrible!"
"What did you just say?" Preston questioned, unsure if he heard her response.
"I mean…" she stopped herself and took the phone away from her face for a moment so she could give a sigh out of annoyance. "That's great, dad..."
"That's what I thought you said," Preston said cheerfully. "Now we're only nine-percent less rich than we used to be instead of ten!"
"Yeah, yeah, but what's happening to Monty?" Pacifica asked, not so interested or enthused by the fact that they were now slightly richer than they already were.
"Well, he and his family are probably going to have a couple of fights with the bank before they end up getting kicked to the streets. Peasant problems, am I right?" Preston told her. "But that's okay. At least that bastard finally gets what he deserves for betraying me at the auction and taking the painting that I so rightfully deserved at the time. Revenge is truly sweet, my dear."
"But his whole family though?" Pacifica asked somewhat mournfully. "I don't think they deserve it."
"Yes, I agree. The rest of his family are good people and it's unfortunate, but it's only a minor loss. The point is- we took down Monty!" Preston tried to justify.
"I thought his son Richard was kind of cute, though," Pacifica added.
"Don't fret, darling. There is plenty of other fish in the sea. Including richer ones. Trust me," Preston said dismissively, to which Pacifica rolled her eyes. "Anyways, when will you be coming home?"
"Um, when I'm done?"
"Very well then," Preston replied. "Because Mason made a mess in his stable again and it smells in there. I need you to take care of it when you get back."
"What?" Pacifica asked in disgust. "Isn't that the butler's job?"
"Bernardo had to go home early for the evening. Something about a colonoscopy appointment? I didn't want to ask," Preston answered. "Anyway, since Mason's your pony, he's your responsibility otherwise."
"B-but…"
Pacifica grabbed her phone away from her face again and groaned loudly in annoyance. She had spent the last hour cleaning up Greasy's. Cleaning up after her pony was the last thing she wanted to do upon getting home.
She had an idea though. It was one that she's used several times before and one she tries not to abuse. But it became apparent to her that this was one of those nights.
"Actually dad, I totally forgot!" she began. "Lazy Susan put me on the graveyard shift again tonight. So I'm not gonna be home until morning."
"What? But you just had one of those shifts a few weeks ago," Preston remembered. "How is it that you're already being placed for another one so soon?"
"Well, you know, there's not really any other workers around to take the job, so-"
"You voluntarily accepted this duty?!" Preston asked, unpleased.
"What? No, of course not!" Pacifica denied with a nervous chuckle upon realizing her mistake with the wording of her made-up circumstances. "Voluntarily staying overnight at an ugly, dirty stinkhole of a restaurant to keep selling food to low-lives? Does that sound like me, dad?"
"I'm not sure..." Preston said skeptically. "If you truly felt that way, why would you continue to be so insistent on keeping that job instead of working for your family?"
"Because... it's a tolerable, ugly, dirty, stinkhole of a restaurant," Pacifica justified. "I've grown comfortable working here after all these years."
"Well, you already know how I feel about you working there," Preston said, still unpleased with her choice. "But if it's your duty, then... fine. We'll just have Bernardo handle Mason's own... duty... in the morning. As for you, come home as soon as your shift finishes tomorrow morning. Your mother and I still have to discuss the scheduling of your advanced croquet course with you. That's another skill of yours we need to strengthen again after the four-year hiatus."
"Yes, father," Pacifica said while growing physically nauseous at the idea of having to eventually play croquet again. "See you tomorrow."
She hung up the phone and let out an annoyed sigh. She was glad to be getting away with using her graveyard shift excuse yet again but already began to dread the next day.
"Goodnight, stove! Goodnight, pots! Goodnight, pans!" Lazy Susan said as she emerged from the kitchen, waving at different inanimate objects as she walked along. "Goodnight, cash register! Goodnight, pies! Goodnight, tables!"
"Hey, Lazy Susan?" Pacifica intervened, grabbing her attention. "When you're done saying goodnight to everything in the restaurant again, can I ask you something?"
"Sure thing, sweetie," Lazy Susan nodded happily. She then turned away and started waving around at the place again. "Goodnight, lights! Goodnight, windows! Goodnight, floorboards with possum holes! Goodnight menu stand! Goodnight, doors!"
Pacifica knew this was a regular thing from Lazy Susan, but it still tended to make her feel concerned about her. Nonetheless, she stood patiently in place by the table she was cleaning before as she watched her continue to bid nightly farewells to all the objects in the restaurant.
"Alright, Pacifica," Lazy Susan said as she walked up to her, having finished giving her goodnights. "What's on your mind?"
"It's nothing, really. I was just wondering if we could extend our open hours for the night and I could take the graveyard shift," Pacifica suggested.
"Graveyard shift?" Lazy Susan questioned. "Oooh, that sounds spooky."
"Really?" Pacifica asked, somewhat frustrated by Susan's inability to remember the previous times they'd had this conversation. "We've gone through this a million times!"
"Have we?" Lazy Susan asked, still confused. "You mind filling me in again, dear?"
Pacifica facepalmed before sighing and deciding to just suck it up again. "Look, I'm just asking if you'd be fine with keeping the restaurant open all night and if I can stay as a waitress."
"Well if you can manage it, then that's fine," Lazy Susan said with a shrug. "All the others have gone home already and I'm heading home for the night, so it'll just be you and Franklin in the back."
"That's perfect," Pacifica nodded acceptingly with a smile.
"Alright, but are you sure you can wait the place on your own?" Lazy Susan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course! I've done this before. It's a piece of cake," Pacifica confidently assured her.
"Alright. I trust you," Lazy Susan said as she dug into her purse and pulled out a pair of keys. "These are the keys to the restaurant. Take them just in case," she said as she handed the keys over to her. "Just make sure you don't lose them, okay?"
"I got it, don't worry," Pacifica continued to assure her as she accepted the keys, seeing as these were the same beats she had gone through every previous time she took the shift.
"Alrighty then," Lazy Susan said as she walked toward the door and waved at Pacifica. "Goodnight, Pacifica!"
"Night, Susan!" Pacifica waved back.
Lazy Susan then walked out the door and shut it behind her. Pacifica looked out one of the booth windows to see her happily waving at other inanimate objects outside the restaurant as she walked down the sidewalk. Soon enough, she passed a fence and was out of sight.
Pacifica leaped out from the booth and made her way behind the counter and into the kitchen. There stood the restaurant's cook, Franklin, who appeared to be putting away the kitchen utensils for the night.
"Well, Franklin, Lazy Susan put us on the graveyard shift," Pacifica said as she stood by the kitchen doorway.
"Aw, really? But I just put away my tools for the night," Franklin said, slumping over in slight annoyance.
"It's no big deal," Pacifica shrugged. "In fact, why don't you just go home anyway and I'll handle the restaurant on my own?"
"Well, who's gonna cook the food?" Franklin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll figure something out," Pacifica assured him. "So what do you say?"
"Sorry, but no can do," Franklin rejected. "I don't wanna get in trouble for not serving my duty and I'm not so sure I should trust you in figuring out how to handle things here by yourself."
Pacifica suddenly pulled out her purse, dug into it, and pulled out a wad of cash, holding it out to him. "I'll give you a thousand bucks if you leave now and don't come back until exactly seven in the morning tomorrow."
Franklin blankly stared at the cash Pacifica held out to him for a brief moment. He then took off his cook's hat and placed it to the side before grabbing his work briefcase. "On second thought, I don't see why not!"
Pacifica smiled as Franklin walked over and accepted the cash. He then walked out of the kitchen and made his way toward the main door as he counted the cash in his hands with a wide smile on his face.
"Have a wonderful evening, Pacifica!" Franklin happily called back to her as he stepped out the door.
"You too, Franklin!" Pacifica waved to him as she walked over toward the door.
As soon as he left, Pacifica took the pair of keys that Lazy Susan handed her and locked up the door. Afterward, she walked over to the 'Come in, we're open' sign and flipped it over so it would now display 'Sorry, we're closed' to those who walked by. She then turned around and looked around the restaurant, seeing how she was now completely alone.
Following her usual graveyard shift routine, she walked behind the counter where the cash register sat. She opened it up and grabbed another giant wad of cash from her purse before promptly stuffing it all into the register without properly organizing it. She forcefully closed the register and sighed. She knew she had to make it look like actual work had been done and customers had actually come in that night, so she had made sure to take precautions in assuring that image to Lazy Susan.
With everything else basically handled, she decided to settle in for the night, seeing as that there wasn't much for her to do anyways and she couldn't allow herself to kill the battery on her phone. There wasn't a bed in the restaurant, of course, but after doing this routine multiple times before, she had learned to work with what she had.
She walked into the kitchen and opened up a cabinet. From inside, she grabbed a big, sealed bag of white rice and dragged it out onto the wooden floorboards. She laid it out flat on the floor. She then walked over to a wall and hung up her white apron before turning off the lightswitch, cutting off the lights to the entire restaurant. She walked back to the rice bag she had set, kneeled down, and sat on the floor before laying her head back on the rice bag like a pillow.
She sometimes pictures her current circumstances. How Pacifica Northwest had become rich again, yet she still has a filthy diner job where some nights, she voluntarily chooses to 'work' for the entire night and sleep on the floor of a dirty, sometimes possum-infested restaurant. She was just happy that no one else knows about it besides her.
She grabbed her phone and set an alarm for the morning before promptly setting it aside. She then turned over to her side and stared forward for a moment before drifting off and shutting her eyes.
Suddenly, there was a noise that sounded like it occurred right outside the wall next to her, causing her to immediately jolt up from her attempted slumber. She sat up on the ground and listened as the noise continued. It sounded something like some sort of plastic shuffling that was paired with some crunching. It was very audible considering the walls were made out of plain wood.
Given how many times Pacifica had saw possums around the diner, she figured the noise may have just been one that was digging around in the dumpster outside. The assumption didn't make the noise any less distracting. She decided to suck it up and try to sleep through it. She lied back down on the floor, shutting her eyes, attempting to drift off and have the noise fade out of her mind.
However, the crunching and shuffling only got louder and more frequent. Pacifica peeked one eye open worriedly as she then glanced over at the wall the noise seemed to be coming from behind. She was more so concerned by the fact that if there were possums outside, they could always make their way inside, given how many open holes and unintentional entrances there were for them. The last thing she would want to wake up to was a rabid possum in her face. She had to scare them off.
It's not like it would be the first time she was appointed to scare off rodents or possums in the restaurant before. While she never liked doing it, it was a lot less frightening to do in pure daylight with several customers and other employees around than being alone in near-midnight darkness. Nonetheless, she stood up from the floor and grabbed the broom from the corner of the room.
She slowly walked over to the back door before placing her hand on the doorknob and turning it. She carefully opened it, exposing herself to the cool air of the Oregon night. The outdoors were dimly lit due to the nearby streetlights, but still not nearly enough to see things clearly. Using the door as a defense, she peeked behind it to view the dumpster. She didn't see any possums on top of the dumpster, but that didn't make her any less fearful. She stepped from behind the door with her broom held out defensively as she cautiously walked toward the dumpster.
"Stupid, oversized rats!" Pacifica shouted nervously as she got closer to the dumpster. "You don't scare me!"
She stepped out and looked at the other side of the dumpster, but there was nothing there. She raised an eyebrow as she suddenly realized that the noise had also stopped. She started to calm down as she began to simply assume that the possums may have scurried off upon her opening the back door.
"Pacifica?"
Pacifica shrieked in fear as she immediately turned around and swung her broom with all her strength at whatever stood behind her. Feeling the impact of hitting something, she continued to swing and beat at the thing with her eyes tightly closed.
"OW! OW! PACIFICA! STOP IT! IT'S ME!" the voice yelped in pain.
Pacifica opened her eyes and paused from swinging the broom. She glanced down at the ground at who she was hitting and realized it was Dipper, looking up to see Mabel standing right behind him, laughing at his pain. As she glanced between the two, she noticed they were both wearing backpacks. Her attention was redirected back to Dipper though, who was laying in agony on the ground as guilt started to flush over her.
"Oh my gosh, Dipper!" Pacifica said with concern. "I'm so sorry!"
She bent down to grab his arm and helped him up from the ground. She then realized that she was randomly encountering the twins for the second time that day right behind the restaurant and her feelings of guilt quickly dissipated and turned into angry confusion.
"Wait a minute…" she said, narrowing her eyes at him before using both her hands to forcefully push him back down to the ground. "I'm not sorry! What are you two doing here?!"
"First of all- OW!" Dipper shouted, rubbing his chest after being pushed down by her yet again.
Mabel grabbed his arm and helped him back up again as she continued chuckling. "I told you it wasn't a good idea to sneak up on her like that."
"I wasn't trying to sneak up on her!" Dipper defended before turning back to Pacifica. "Look, we were just in the area and we overheard you freaking out a second ago and wanted to check and make sure you were alright."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" Pacifica said bitterly. "My question is- why are you two in the area? It's almost midnight! Shouldn't you two be back at the Crab Shack or whatever you call that run-down hut of yours?"
"Chill out, sis. We're just coming back from an adventure," Mabel told her calmly.
"Yeah," Dipper nodded. "Apparently, there was an area in the woods that recently had a high count of giant vampire bat sightings so we went to investi-"
"I haven't cared about vampires since watching those romance movies about them in fifth grade," Pacifica interrupted, walking away disinterestedly.
"Oooh! You were a Nightfall fan too? Were you Team Elliot or Team Joshua?" Mabel asked excitedly.
"I wasn't a fan, the movies were terrible. I just watched them for the hot guys," Pacifica clarified. "But... Team Elliot, obviously."
Mabel scoffed. "So basic..."
"Vampire bats," Dipper finally clarified in an annoyed tone amidst the two's discussion. "Not vampires. There's a huge difference."
"Vampires would've been a way more interesting adventure though," Mabel said.
"Anyways, long story short- we spent almost all day hunting down those bats only to find absolutely nothing," Dipper explained.
"Which sucks considering we wasted half an hour packing gear," Mabel said, gesturing toward her backpack.
"Yeah, but we'll get them again another time," Dipper said. "We went pretty far into the woods and just happened to pop out of them right around here. Almost at the exact same time as we found you freaking out and waving a broom around."
"Bravo, bravo. Brilliant story," Pacifica said sarcastically, paired with a slow clap. "And as for me 'freaking out and waving a broom around', I heard some type of plastic-shuffling and crunching outside and I thought there were possums eating out of the trash."
"Oh! That was probably me finishing a bag of Cheese Boodles by the dumpster!" Mabel assumed as she took out a fresh bag of Cheese Boodles from her backpack and showed it to her. "Hunting vampire bats really makes ya hungry at the end of the day."
"Me too," Dipper said, rubbing his empty stomach. "But I'd rather my dinner not be a bag of chips."
"They're not chips. They're boodles," Mabel corrected, hugging the bag of Cheese Boodles.
"Whatever," Dipper said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, since Greasy's is still open, let's just eat here real fast before heading home."
"What? I mean, no, you can't!" Pacifica denied as she stood in front of the back door. "We're not open."
"What do you mean? You're still here," Dipper said, looking at her uniform.
"Yeah, well, you see…" Pacifica began, trying to think of an excuse.
"C'mon, Pacifica. After almost four years, a girl needs her fix of Greasy's pie!" Mabel said, casually stepping past her and entering the kitchen.
"Hey! I said you can't come in!" Pacifica called out to her.
Against her wishes, Dipper also stepped inside the kitchen, slipping right past her. He immediately noticed how all the lights were off. "Geez, why's it so dark in here?" he asked as he and Mabel slipped out of the kitchen into the main dining area.
"Dipper!" Pacifica called out angrily. "C'mon, you two! This is an important night! I can't have you two hanging around!"
She followed the two out of the kitchen into the main area. She immediately turned her head to the window by the front door and noticed Dipper looking at the 'Open/Closed' sign. Dipper flipped the sign to see that the 'Closed' side was facing outside. He looked over at Pacifica and raised an eyebrow.
"Important night for what exactly?" Dipper asked. "You guys really aren't open."
"Why are you still here by yourself then?" Mabel asked, popping out from over the counter.
Pacifica was getting aggravated with the twins' presence but realized she wasn't going to get away with her made-up excuses. She calmed herself down and sighed. "Look, I'm trying to avoid my parents tonight so instead of going home, I asked to take the graveyard shift and stay overnight. Except instead of actually taking the shift, I just close up shop, stuff money into the register, and spend the night here on my own."
"You go through this much effort to get away from your parents?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow. "That sounds concerning."
"It's for an admittedly petty reason," Pacifica assured her. "I'm not in mortal danger or anything. Just want to avoid a chore, that's all."
"So you're spending the night at a filthy restaurant in your work clothes to avoid a chore?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah, still sounds like you're putting too much effort into this," Mabel said.
"And can't you get caught?" Dipper asked as he started glancing around at the top of the walls. "There's not, like, security cameras or anything?"
"Not since Lazy Susan took over management," Pacifica explained. "She took down all the security cameras because she was afraid they were watching her."
"Again- Lazy Susan as manager? No idea who let that happen," Dipper said, repeating his earlier feelings.
"Well, if you can't get caught, then what's the big deal with us hanging around here?" Mabel asked as she began spinning herself around on one of the rotary seats by the counter.
"Before you two showed up, I planned on getting some sleep. Which was already hard enough to do before you two showed up," Pacifica said, crossing her arms annoyedly.
"Sleep? Seriously?" Mabel questioned. "You have the whole restaurant to yourself and you planned on sleeping?"
"What do you expect me to do? Throw a party for myself?" Pacifica asked.
"Well, I mean, that sounds more exciting than sleeping," Mabel said. "But I figured you would at least attempt to make more use of this place if you won't get caught." She then hopped off the rotary seat and ran over to the spinning pie stand. "Like eating these pies!"
"I can't eat those! If Lazy Susan sees anything missing from that stand, she'll kill me!" Pacifica exclaimed, walking over to the stand.
"Why?" Dipper and Mabel asked simultaneously.
"You're already trying to make this place look like people had come here overnight," Mabel added. "Doesn't that include a 'customer' coming by and ordering pie?"
Pacifica opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself once she began to process what Mabel had said. She was right. She could easily get away with eating those pies because it would've looked like she had sold them. Her face began to redden from the embarrassment of never realizing this herself the many times she had done this gimmick before.
"Have you seriously just stuffed money into the register and planned on doing nothing else afterward to make the place look like it's been visited?" Dipper asked, smiling amusedly.
"Well, I've never had to before..." Pacifica said, crossing her arms and looking away in embarrassment.
Mabel looked over at the pie stand and smiled. She slid the glass door open and took a pie out. She held it in one hand while using her other hand to tap Pacifica on the shoulder to grab her attention. Pacifica turned back around and saw her holding the pie.
Mabel then held the pie forward to her. "May you do the honors?"
Pacifica blankly stared at her for a moment as she glanced back and forth between her and the pie. She wasn't quite sure what to think of this offer. On one hand, she wasn't quite fond of the idea of agreeing to stuff herself with pie as it goes against most of what she was taught about body image as a Northwest. On the other hand, she was already spending the night at the restaurant to get away from her parents. Perhaps it was time to break a few of the rules she had grown up to follow as well.
She held out her hands and took the pie from Mabel. She stared at it intently before glancing back and forth between it and the Pines twins again. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she smiled daringly. The twins were right. She wasn't going to get caught by Lazy Susan, and she knew that her parents were never going to learn of this either.
This was going to be a much more fun graveyard shift than usual.
Pacifica is one of my favorite characters, if not my favorite, and coming up with her dialogue was very fun for me. Can't wait to delve more into her character as the story goes along.
-Absolute Rift
(Chapter updated as of December 18, 2022)