A/N: Gosh diddly darn it. I cannot believe how amazing you guys are. In ONE DAY, I get over 400 views and 13 new reviews. AND yesterday morning, I woke up to find that Absolve got 1000 views. WHAT?! *dying whale noises*
IN CASE NO ONE TOLD YOU YET TODAY, YOU GUYS ARE PERFECT. PERFECT, I TELL YOU. PERFECT.
Here's a new chapter, and (spoiler alert, jk not really) it'll be a whole lot less depressing. cx
Pacifica had calmed down significantly since the events of the arcade. Now, she was lying on the couch with Mabel, watching reruns of Tiger Fist.
"So, what exactly is this show supposed to be about?" Pacifica asked.
Mabel paused for a second before shrugging. "I don't know. The tiger always punches itself in the face before it can get to the actual episode."
Dipper walked in, his hands in his pockets. He decided to give Pacifica some space after everything that had happened, but she seemed alright now. "Hey, Pacifica. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," Pacifica answered, twisting her finger on the end of the light blue sweater, trying to avoid eye contact. Ever since she pretended to be Dipper's girlfriend, she felt weird and awkward with the smallest thought of him. Was that the wrong thing to do? Should she just have stuck up for him like he did for her?
There was an awkward silence between the two before Pacifica said, "Thanks for sticking up for me back there. I know I'm not your favorite person to be around, and you're not really my type either, but-" Pacifica blushed. She didn't mean for that to come across as mean as it did. "I don't mean that, it's just-"
"I get what you mean," Dipper nodded. "It's fine."
Mabel looked back and forth between Dipper and Pacifica. Their conversation was too awkward. Something seemed off...
Of course, Mabel had to start a third-person conversation in her head before she put her plan into action.
"Why are they acting so weird, Mabel?"
"Maybe because they like each other, Mabel."
"You should probably set them up on a date, Mabel."
"Fantastic idea, Mabel!"
"Thanks, Mabel."
"Why are you ackin' so cray cray?" Mabel finally asked the two of them.
They both turned to Mabel with confused expressions at the same time. "Huh?"
"You guys seem so-" Mabel made a weird face and twitched her arms for emphasis. "-awkward."
"I'll talk to you about it later, Mabel," Dipper stated. He turned back to Pacifica and added, "It's nothing about you, it's Robbie."
"It's fine," Pacifica murmured. She knew it would be about her, though. Whenever someone said that to her, she knew they were lying. And even then, if it was about Robbie, why couldn't he just say it here?
"No, that's not it, Dippingsauce," Mabel threw her twin's thought away like an old tissue. "Perhaps you two should go... get to know each other better!"
Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "You mean, like a... date?"
"Exactly like a date! I-" Mabel's voice trailed off, realizing Dipper and Pacifica weren't as into the idea as she was. And so began another third-person conversation in Mabel's mind.
"They just need more reinforcement, Mabel."
"You read my mind, Mabel!"
"Literally!"
Dipper interrupted her thoughts. "I hate to break it to you, Mabel, but I don't think Pacifica and I are going to be a couple."
"Yeah, I just don't really see myself dating someone like Dipper. No offense."
"None taken."
Mabel stuck out her tongue at the two of them. "You guys are no fun. I really wanted to go to Greasy's Diner, too."
"We can still go to Greasy's Diner," Dipper compromised. "But no dating."
Mabel put on a reassuring smile. "Sure, bro bro."
Yet another third-person conversation, courtesy of Mabel.
"We're totally hooking them up, right, Mabel?"
"Definitely, Mabel."
"You're the best, Mabel."
"Oh, you."
"Well, here we are," Grunkle Stan announced, pulling into yet another handicapped space. He pulled out two twenty-dollar bills and handed them to Dipper. "Have fun, kids."
"Aren't you coming with us?" Dipper asked.
"I still have to come up with a specific excuse to Lazy Susan for my non-specific excuse. That makes sense."
"Bye, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel shouted. As she stood up in her seat to get out of the car, she pulled out a hand-shaped sticker and stuck it on her great-uncle's cheek. Stan pulled off the sticker and held it out in front of him.
"You're very HAND-y," Grunkle Stan read, a questioning tone to his voice.
Mabel let out a small giggle before saying, "You're HAND-ling this very well. Haha!"
Stan gave a small smile to his great-niece as she walked out of the car. He put the sticker back on his cheek as he began to drive back to the Mystery Shack.
"I'm so glad Stan has a HAND-le on these things!" Mabel exclaimed, laughing at her own joke.
"Is your sister going to keep saying bad hand puns all night?" Pacifica whispered to Dipper. Dipper shrugged in response.
When Pacifica walked into Greasy's Diner, she immediately felt welcome. The place was rundown, of course, but the feel of the place was irreplaceable. Her entire life, Pacifica had been showered with fancy restaurants and personal chefs. This was a huge downgrade from what she was used to, yet...
The pine-and-syrup scent was like an aura of pure happiness and the motley group of people sitting at the breakfast bar made Pacifica feel like she fit right in. It made her feel cozy and warm inside.
Perfection.
Of course, all coziness aside, there was nothing that could've prepared her for the beaver running straight towards her foot.
Pacifica let out a huge scream as she noticed the possibly-rabid animal running towards her at full speed. She jumped onto Dipper, clinging onto him for dear life. "Get it away! Oh my gosh, get it away from me!"
Dipper tried to nudge the beaver aside with his foot, but with Pacifica hanging onto him, his movements were kind of limited, and his kicks could only go two centimeters in front of him.
"Haha, Dip," Mabel laughed at how hilarious her brother looked. "Looks like you could use a HAND!" Mabel gestured to her right hand for emphasis before bending down to pet the beaver. The beaver immediately calmed down from the brunette's touch, and then, Mabel carried it out of the diner, using her sweater pouch to hold the beaver. A few seconds later, she returned like nothing happened at all. "That was fun," Mabel grinned.
"You can get off me now, Pacifica," Dipper spoke, struggling to stand up from the weight.
Pacifica hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Pacifica climbed off Dipper, blushing out of embarrassment. "Sorry I jumped on you."
"It's okay, don't worry about it," Dipper said, catching his breath in the process.
Lazy Susan came over to the trio, holding a pile of dirty dishes with one hand. "How may I help you three cuties today?"
"Table for three, please!" Mabel twitted. "And send your cutest waiter!" she added in a whisper.
Lazy Susan chuckled. "Alrighty, we'll do our best. Follow me."
She led them to a booth, handed them their menus, and then left to fulfill Mabel's request. Dipper slid into the seat next to Mabel, but Mabel pushed him back out and suggested, "Why don't you sit next to Pacifica?"
Dipper fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Mabel, I know what you're trying to do, and no."
"Fine, I'll go sit next to her. She'll be more willing to sit next to you."
Mabel ducked under the table and popped up on the other side, next to Pacifica. "Hallo there!"
Pacifica couldn't help but giggle at Mabel's craziness. She couldn't believe how she'd thought it was a bad thing before.
Then, the waiter came over, and he met all of Mabel's expectations. Mabel kicked Pacifica in the shin, letting her know about her latest crush.
"Hello there! Welcome to Greasy's Diner," he said, adjusting the eyepatch on his left eye. "My name is Bill, er, Billy, and I'll be your server today."
Pacifica froze. It was obvious who he really was. But the twins didn't seem to notice. How would they? He only appeared in her dream.
But the one thing running through Pacifica's mind was, "So Bill Cipher is real after all."
"Do you need some more time to decide?" he questioned, glancing at all three of them.
"Yeah," Dipper spoke up, flipping through the menu. "I don't know whether to go for the Belgian waffle or the smoked salmon."
"Alright, I'll leave you kids to order," Bill smiled, giving a sly wink to Pacifica as he left.
It took a while for Pacifica to react. "Did you see that guy?" Pacifica whispered nervously to Mabel and Dipper once she found her voice.
"Yeah! I did!" Mabel whispered back. "He was so HAND-some! Get it? Hahahaha!"
A/N: Ah, how I love writing about Lazy Susan. She reminds me of my grandma. :D Minus the one-eye part.
Once again, thank you oh-so much for all the reviews you gave me. I just love you guys. A lot. I keep saying that because it's true. Ilysm.
Here is this chapter's code. HINT: "A-B-C... easy as 1-2-3..."
2-5-12-7-1-9-14 23-1-6-6-12-5-19 1-18-5 1 7-9-6-20 6-18-15-13 20-8-5
7-15-4-19.
Love,
Amiable Hamburglar