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"Are you absolutely, no-doubt-about-it, sure about this, Mabel?"
Mabel scoffed at the blonde's incredulously repeated question, she must have heard something along those lines for at least 10 minutes. And, yes, she was, in fact, absolutely sure about this. At this point it was just a foolish question.
Pacifica's eyes widened as she was still being pulled down the sidewalk without any hesitation on Mabel's part,"I mean, I can just take us somewhere nice! I have my allowance on me," the blonde heiress said trying to waver Mabel.
The brunette stopped and turned to look Pacifica in the face. "Oh come on, Paz, how many times have you spent money on me," Mabel took a second to ponder,"in fact you spent more on me this month, than I think Soos makes in a year."
Ah yes, the lumpy manservant, Pacifica thought trying to remember who Mabel was referring to.
"Can't I, just this once, pay for you?"
Pacifica stood stone-faced, but that quickly turned into a genuine smile (or some kind of comparable facsimile because, c'mon, this is still Pacifica we're talking about). She laced her hand with Mabel's, which was good due to her recently deciding to show her affection in public. Who cares what she'd hear from her parents later? She was over it.
A minute or two more of walking and they'd finally made it to their destination. A God-forsaken eyesore, Pacifica though when she got there, Mabel can't be serious. But, much to Pacifica's distaste, she was.
They had arrived at Gravity Falls' most...*ahem*..."prestigious eatery", to quote Mabel's words prior, that just happened to be a crappy diner that looked to be falling apart at the seams and also seemed to have been unclean for at least three decades. At least.
Mabel turned to face Pacifica, who was still staring in pure disbelief that this was happening. "Well, c'mon, why're we just standing out here? The food ain't on the street."
But it might as well be, Pacifica thought as she walked through the doorway.
The blonde didn't think such a think was fathomable: the inside was actually FAR WORSE than the outside made it believe. The walls and floors seemed to be made entirely out of driftwood and they seemed to be held together with just, like, luck or something. Every gadget in here seemed to be in a state of permanent disrepair, from the non-functioning pie-spinner to the completely demolished "Test Your Strength" game that simply had an Out of Order sign on it. And she couldn't exactly tell, but Pacifica was fairly certain she saw a snake or two slither out from the floorboards.
"So, what do you think, Paz?"
Pacifica turned her head to meet Mabel's gaze, she was completely stunned, not only BY this place, but the fact Mabel liked this place. The blonde tilted her head,"Uh, honestly?"
Mabel rolled her eyes and groaned,"Just give it a chance, not everybody can afford to eat at the places you do. Is it true that the complementary breadsticks are actually 25 smackers?"
"Actually it's just 20 bucks?"
"Oh, wow," Mabel said sarcastically,"JUST 20? What a steal. Now lets go get a table, Pazzie Pessimist."
And just like that Pacifica was en route to one of the many sanitation hazards, or "tables" as they were so liberally called, gaining some stares from the many people who didn't expect to see someone with actual status eating here. When they got there, Mabel immediately sat herself into one of the sides of the booth, but Pacifica had many, MANY reservations about this. But, she wanted to do this for Mabel, so she sucked up and sat in the chair parallel.
"Oh hi," screamed the unwarrantedly loud voice of Lazy Susan,"what can I get for you nice young girls today?"
"Normally you're supposed to ask that after you bring the menus," Pacifica deadpanned.
"Silly me," Lazy Susan yelled,"If I remember where they are, I'll be sure to bring them right over!"
The blonde groaned at this. If she had taken Mabel to a nice restaurant, they would be treated with some kind of professionalism. Even if it was one of those...ugh...chain restaurants. They say for 5 minutes, making unimportant small talk, when...
"Good news: I found the menus! Now what'll you girls have?"
Pacifica frustratedly rubbed her temples,"May we see the menus please?"
"Oh sure," Susan yelled. She then gave each of them a menu.
Mabel stared intently at the menu, carefully trying to decide what she wanted to eat. Pacifica, on the other end of the spectrum, simply eyed each item, hoping to find something the least bit edible, but her reading was interrupted by loud breathing.
"Would you mind giving us a minute, please?" Please. Still felt like she was speaking a foreign language or something.
"Okey dokey!" And with that, Lazy Susan went off to attempt fixing that derelict pie machine. Like she did every day.
"Hey Paz, see anything you like?"
Pacifica sighed,"Mabel, I'm going to level with you: nothing on this menu could even be legally defined as food."
Mabel waved her hand and dismissed Pacifica's claim. "Just because this stuff isn't 'broiled' or 'flambé-d' or 'cooked all the way every time', doesn't mean you can't give it a try." The heiress then felt a hand wrap around hers on the table.
"Trust me," Mabel said, staring affectionately into Pacifica's eyes.
It was a look that turned her to butter every time, hard to believe she used to hate it. "Alright," she said,"for you."
Mabel's smile got bigger as she blushed slightly. It still didn't make the food any less appealing, but there had to be something decent.
"How about..." Mabel said, trying to find something the blonde might actually like,"how about the steak, huh? I hear it's mostly beef now!"
"Mostly..." Pacifica started, but stopped halfway through because she knew it would just be a waste of breath. "Wait, how are you paying for this? Don't you work for your uncle for, like, no pay or something?"
Mabel chuckled proudly as she plopped the menu on the table,"Let's just say Grunkle Stan really needs to lock the cash register at night."
"He doesn't?"
"Well, he does, but he should really hide the key better."
Pacifica couldn't help but smile,"So you stole from your great-uncle just so you could buy me a meal? That's the sweetest, and, well, dumbest thing anyone's ever done for me."
"Well, I can only steal from him once before he gets suspicious and finds out," Mabel chuckled,"he's kind of a wackadoo when it comes to money."
"My dad's the exact opposite," Pacifica said,"he's used 20 dollar bills as cage lining for his pet parrot, Arpeggio. Ironically, he loves the stupid bird more than his own daughter."
"If it's any consolation, Paz, if I had to choose between a fancy bird or you, I'd choose you any day."
Normally, to anybody else, that be a crazy non-sequitur that could just be laughed off, but Pacifica was special in that regard. She loved getting complimented by Mabel and Mabel alone. Hers were genuine and unconditional, far better than the empty affection she used to buy from her former "friends".
"Should we order, or..." Pacifica asked, wanting to leave this place, sooner rather than later.
Mabel smiled,"You know what, how about I take us somewhere better than this?"
Pacifica chuckled some,"Where? Anywhere else?"
"I was thinking we'd head back to the Mystery Shack and have Dipper whip us up some grilled cheese sandwiches."
The blonde didn't argue, she simply intertwined her fingers with Mabel's staring deep into her dark brown eyes. They got up from their booth and exited the restaurant, still holding hands as they waked down the sidewalk.
"Thanks for everything, Mabel, but why the change of plans?"
"Well when my lady ain't happy," the brunette said in a sassy tone,"than I ain't happy either."
Pacifica pecked her on the cheek,"Thanks so much, Mabel."
"Well, y'know," Mabel started laughing awkwardly, blushing blood red,"that, and, I just realized I only stole 1 dollar from the register."
"I would've spotted you," Pacifica said.
"I know," Mabel laughed,"you always do, Paz."