Chapter Text
The last person Mabel Pines expected to greet her off the bus upon her arrival at Gravity Falls was Pacifica Northwest.
Over the past four summers, the two girls… coexisted. Even after getting over their petty rivalry of the summer of 2012, they only so much as shared a passing glance or a friendly wave. On the other hand, Pacifica and Dipper were like two peas in a pod, always joking and laughing whenever the chance arose, bonding over their distaste of Pacifica’s parents.
So you could imagine Mabel’s immense surprise when the heiress pulled her into a tight hug. She planted a dollar-bill into the palm of Mabel’s hand as she drew away.
“Wow!” Mabel said, holding the crisp hundred dollar bill very tenderly. “That’s like... the opposite of pick-pocketing.”
“Don’t get too excited,” Pacifica snapped, but her voice then softened. “Listen, Mabel, I… need your help.”
“Oh, thank the stars. I thought I was gonna have to call Dipper and have him exorcise the friendliest demon ever— wait, you what?”
“I’m kind of desperate, okay? This town doesn’t exactly have the biggest selection of… geniuses.”
“Why not ask Dip then?”
Pacifica shook her head and put her finger over her lips. “No, no, you don’t understand. I need you. You’re, like, the love expert, right?”
Mabel gasped, star-struck. “Oh, Paz, I know all about love! Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Good, because I need you to show me what a date is like.”
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“Okay,” Mabel said, her palms planted on the syrupy tabletop of Greasy’s Diner, “I know you just implied it, like, ten minutes ago, but don’t tell me you’ve never been on a date.”
“I’ve never been on a date,” Pacifica said coolly.
Mabel sipped her coffee, which was more like milk with sprinkles and marshmallows than anything else. “See? I knew—” Sugary goodness shot out of her mouth. “—what?” She coughed and wiped herself with a napkin before saying “What?” again.
“Well, since I’m an heiress and… whatever, my parents decided my future husband and everything already. They don’t want me getting comfortable dating any other… guys.” Mabel noted a hint of sadness at the word ‘guys’, but she didn’t think much of it.
“Well, who’s the lucky fella?” Mabel said lightly. However rich Pacifica was, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for her. As the self-proclaimed expert of love in Gravity Falls, she couldn’t say she agreed with arranged marriages— though she did laugh internally at the shenanigans her twelve-year old self got into. She could never forget the holy matrimony between Waddles and Gompers.
“That’s the thing, I don’t even know. They want me to meet him this summer so we can… spend some time together, I guess, before we get married as soon as we’re adults.”
“Pacifica…” Mabel said hopelessly. She knew there was nothing she could do.
At that time, Lazy Susan came around for orders, and Mabel ordered two servings of candy pancakes, against Pacifica’s pleading her not to.
“This’ll make you feel at least a little better.” She winked. “Trust me.”
Pacifica smiled weakly, but she had something else to her face that Mabel couldn’t quite place. Not sadness, or anger… was it fear?
“So…” The brunette tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table. “...would you like to practice dating?”
“Oh, sure,” Pacifica agreed. She stared blankly at Mabel. “Um, you start.”
“You got it, Northwest! Love powers, activate!” She cracked her knuckles. “So,” she said in a deep voice, “what does a gorgeous face like you do for fun?”
Pacifica cleared her throat. “Well, I like… I like to sing.”
“I’m sure you sound beautiful.” Mabel exaggerated her words, continuing her mock-masculine pitch.
“Drop the voice.” Pacifica said in a cold whisper.
“Right. What else do you like to do?”
“Well, I like mini-golf.” She shook her head. “Wait— you already know that.”
“Your boyfriend wouldn’t.” Mabel pointed out. Pacifica flinched a little. “Oh no… I shouldn’t have said…”
“No, you’re fine. It’s just… it’s not your fault, Mabel.”
They both looked down sadly until they were startled at the sound of plates clattering. The two girls watched as large stacks of fluffy pancakes were placed before them, dotted with multi-coloured chocolate candies and topped with butter and whipped cream.
“This looks like a heart attack.” Pacifica grimaced.
“It sure is! You’re heart’s gonna be attacked with LOVE as soon as you take your first bite!” Mabel said in a sing-song voice as she reached for all of the different flavours of syrup; strawberry, blueberry, maple, and pear. Pacifica looked on with horror as Mabel poured the syrups all over her pancakes, creating a colour she didn’t even know the name of. “You want some syrup?”
“I… I couldn’t,” the blonde stuttered, beginning to cut into her own pancakes.
Mabel swallowed a sweet mouthful of pancake. “You wanna continue? Maybe try asking me a question.”
Pacifica was about to take her first bite, but she really didn’t mind procrastinating. “Hmmm, what music do you like listening to?”
“Well, there’s a few musicals that I really like as of recently.”
“Oh— have you heard Little Miss Perfect? Huuuuge earworm.” Her face reddened after she spoke, like she regretted the words the instant they left her mouth.
“Wait, you know musicals?” Mabel asked excitedly. “I thought you only listened to rich people music.”
“Rich people music?”
“Yeah, like Beethoven or something fancy like that.”
“Seriously?” Pacifica laughed for the first time that afternoon. “I’m a sixteen year old girl, Mabel.”
“I got you to laugh! Ha! Success!” Mabel pumped her fist, but, when she noticed Pacifica’s full plate of food, she frowned. “You okay?” She began to ramble: “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you would be too upset to eat anything, I shouldn’t have ordered you all those pancakes, that’s my bad—”
Pacifica shook her head, though. “Oh no, it’s not because of that— it’s just— my parents would never let me eat this much sugar.”
“Well,” Mabel’s face went firm. “If your parents micromanage your entire life, you should at least enjoy these pancakes. You deserve it.”
“I… deserve it?” She denied it at first, but it was true. Any chance she had to disobey her parents, even the slightest bit, Pacifica wanted to take it. She sighed, picked up her fork, and took a little bite, making sure with Mabel’s encouragement that she had candy, cream and syrup on the scoop. In an instant, her mouth danced with flavours and sweet, sweet sugar, as though she had taken a bite of a rainbow. Was this how Mabel felt all the time?