Chapter Text
Dipper was an observant guy. It was something he'd always prided himself on. He paid attention to his surroundings and wasn't easily caught off-guard.
He could tell when Mabel was trying to pickpocket him. He could tell within minutes of returning to the Mystery Shack that Melody had moved in. And today, he could tell that Pacifica Northwest was acting strangely.
He hoped he was wrong about the why. She'd changed so much from the girl who'd mocked Mabel for being silly on Pioneer Day. After Weirdmageddon, he'd thought they were friends. He didn't want to believe that she would do what she seemed to be doing.
Maybe he was just finally going crazy. As Mabel said, it was bound to happen eventually. Or maybe she had a good reason for this behavior, and he'd understand once she got the chance to explain.
Dipper tried his best to force a neutral expression onto his face as Pacifica approached again with the rest of their order.
"Okay Mabel, we finally found the sprinkles. They were all the way in the back for some reason. Sorry about the wait. How much do you want on your pancakes?"
"All of them!" Mabel crowed happily.
"You'll literally have more sprinkles than pancake."
"Perfect! Do it!"
"Mabel, this is the only container of sprinkles we have. Are you going to pay the forty dollars and change it'll cost to buy another one? 'Cuz I don't think your uncles will."
"I'm sure not paying forty extra dollars for you to have all that junk," Stan confirmed. "You're lucky I'm springing for pancakes at all!"
"Aww," Mabel pouted. "Fine. Just give me a little."
Pacifica poured a moderately-generous amount of sprinkles onto Mabel's pancakes. "There you go. Will that do?"
"I guess it'll have to," Mabel sighed. Pacifica looked unsure of how to take that, but Dipper knew that she was just exaggerating her disappointment for dramatic effect. Probably, anyway.
Then Pacifica finally set the plate in her other hand down on the table in front of Dipper. "And an extra plate of hash browns. Don't worry, Dipper, I didn't forget about you." She made eye contact with him, a warm smile on her lips, and winked. "I couldn't, even if I wanted to."
Dipper looked away. Yeah, he decided. She's definitely flirting with me. But why would she do that? "Thanks," he muttered. "They look delicious."
"I'll be sure to tell Lazy Susan you said that," she replied. "She'll be happy to hear it. Enjoy your brunch." She turned and began to walk away.
"Wait," Dipper said, before she could get too far, and before Stan could go off on a rant about this being a late breakfast, not brunch, because brunch was a dumb word that only snobby rich people used. Pacifica stopped and looked back at him. "What time are you off?"
"My shift ends at noon today," she answered, and Dipper could swear that her eyes were actually sparkling. How on earth did she do that? "Why do you ask?"
Dipper resisted the urge to feel self-conscious. The knowledge that Pacifica was in some kind of trouble at best and had fallen back into her old ways at worst helped. "Could we meet up somewhere this afternoon? I just feel like we have a lot of catching up to do."
Pacifica looked unreasonably pleased with herself. "Dipper Pines, are you asking me out on-"
"Nope!" Dipper yelped, and tried not to think about how many people were probably staring at him. "No, I just want to catch up."
Pacifica nodded. If she felt disappointed by his response, she was hiding it pretty well. "You bet. I'll come by the Mystery Shack at two o'clock. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."
She resumed walking away from their booth, and Dipper turned back to his family. They spent the next hour teasing him, because of course they did. In all honesty, this time he couldn't even really blame them.
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Sure enough, not long after two o'clock, there was a knock at the door. Dipper managed to get halfway to his feet before Mabel body-checked him to the floor and ran downstairs to answer the door herself. When Dipper caught up, she was already chattering a mile a minute at Pacifica, who was making an admirable effort to listen politely.
Pacifica had changed out of her waitress uniform and into something more casual -- a pale purple dress/shirt/thing with black leggings and fuzzy brown boots. She looked... pretty good, although Dipper clamped down firmly on the part of his brain that wanted to explore that line of thought further.
"Yo Dippingsause, your girlfriend is here!" Mabel grinned, wiggling her eyebrows in a way that she probably thought had some sort of meaning.
"I can see that," Dipper said, because the previous summer had taught him to pick his battles more wisely and he knew it would be easier to explain the situation to her later once he had all of the information than to try convincing her of anything right now. Then he changed the subject. "Hey Mabel, remember how Mom and Dad confiscated all of your food-scented paint and glue?"
"Yeah."
"I hid some in a smell-proof box under my bed. Wanna make a delicious artistic masterpiece for Soos to put on display?"
Mabel gasped. "OHMYGOSHTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUDIPPERIMGONNAGODOTHAT!!" She turned and ran upstairs like her life depended on it. Dipper stepped onto the porch and closed the door. He looked at Pacifica. "You up for a walk?"
"After you rescued me from your sister?" she responded wryly. "How could I say no?"
Dipper started walking into the forest, and Pacifica followed.
A minute of silence passed, and then she spoke up again. "I wasn't out of line there, right?" she asked. "Saying you were 'rescuing' me from Mabel?"
"No, you're fine. She can be a bit much for some people. I get that. As long as you aren't being mean to her, we-" Dipper gestured between Pacifica and himself. "Don't have a problem."
"Okay. That's good. I'm, I'm trying to be a nicer person now, but I still really don't get your sister. It's harder being nice to her than it is being nice to you."
"Well, I appreciate the effort."
They lapsed into silence for another few minutes, until Pacifica once again broke it.
"So I know some of this is just, like, your default, but you seem like a man on a mission right now. You leading me somewhere specific?"
"I have a friend who lives in a cave up this mountain. I thought it would be nice to see him again. And I think his cave is a pretty good place for you and me to talk without any eavesdroppers."
"Yeesh, Pines, did you consider maybe just asking me to dinner before making me climb a mountain?"
"It's a small mountain. Not very far. Don't tell me you can't handle it?"
"Grrr."
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The Multi-Bear was delighted to see Dipper, and after a bit of small talk he agreed to let the two young teens use one of the back rooms of his cave to have a private discussion.
"So, um..." Pacifica began, somewhat awkwardly, as Dipper dug through his backpack for something.
"Have you seen this man recently?" Dipper interrupted, pulling out a picture of the Love God and shoving it under her nose.
Pacifica squinted at the picture. "No? Not since last year's Woodstick Festival. Dipper, what's going on?"
"You tell me," Dipper answered, putting the picture away. "You keep flirting with me. Why?"
"What do you mean why?! I like you, you dork!"
"I don't believe you," Dipper replied bluntly. Pacifica recoiled at that, looking stunned, hurt, and confused.
"The idea that you of all people could ever like me in that way makes no sense," Dipper went on. "So either you're trying to manipulate me because you want something from me, or something magic is going on."
"What- I- bwuh?" Pacifica asked in bewilderment.
"I want to believe the second one, but I'm not really seeing any evidence for it right now. You know me, Mabel, and yourself too well to be the Shapeshifter. And I can't see why the Love God would want to make you fall in love with me. He hates me and Mabel for stealing from him that time, and said he wants nothing to do with us anymore. And if you were possessed, your eyes would be different."
"So what, you think I'm just pretending to like you for my own selfish purposes or whatever?" Pacifica narrowed her eyes. Dipper narrowed his right back.
"That's what makes the most sense. You're a really good actress, I'll admit it, but I thought you knew by now that you don't need to put on an act with me and Mabel. We like your real self, and if you just tell us what you need help with we'll help you. What do you really want, Pacifica?"
"What do I want?" Pacifica hissed, tears springing to her eyes. "I want you to take me seriously! I want you to like me, and to trust me, and to think I'm a good person, and to tell me I'm good so I don't have to feel so awful all the time! I want to be able to go to someone, anyone, and talk honestly about my thoughts and feelings without it blowing up in my face!" She jumped to her feet. "I want you, you fucking moronic conspiracy theorist jerk! I want you to hug me and trade witty banter with me for hours and maybe even dance with me sometime! That's what I really want!" She fled the cave, leaving Dipper in shock on the floor.
The Multi-Bear poked his head into the room. "Are you okay, Dipper?"
"I think I messed up, Multi-Bear."
"Yes, it looks as if you have."
"What do I do? How can I fix this?"
"I'll help you. The first step is to calm down. Come and listen to some BABBA with me."
"...Okay."