I successfully bedazzled my face!!

She giggled as she typed, but it fell when she looked at the time. “Wow, I’ve been out longer than I realized! Sorry I really have to go home and play with Waddles!”

Despite her confusion as to why she was still stuck hanging out with this girl, she could probably handle giving fashion advice. Even if spending time with her made her want to scream. If Shego could endure this torment, she could handle almost anything. This was a sheer test of will, and she would win.

“Hmm…it is pretty but I think the color might not be quite right for you. But I like the way you’re thinking. There are parties, and Pixie’s is a good place to go to just have fun if that appeals to you.” Shego really didn’t care if it did or didn’t as long as that was it with the questioning.

“I think….” Fuck, she was still supposed to be relatively nice. She couldn’t just tell the girl to leave her the hell alone. She couldn’t wait for the day that she finally was able to walk around the way she wanted without being fake. “that’s an idea. I can show you why it’s pointless to do all this for guys. They don’t appreciate all the effort put in.”

She didn’t regret any of them, however. And so what if she dressed up for boys? Before Mabel had a chance to think, her thoughts were being blurted out loud. “It’s not like I’m constantly thinking about what guys think about me. I have my own taste and style, and not all guys like that. I just want to always look nice in case I meet a guy that’s perfect for me. And if he’s perfect he’ll like my style. So I always want to dress nice in case. And if I’m wearing something that doesn’t represent what I like, then I could miss my shot.”

Boys were on her mind quite a bit she had to admit, but Mabel didn’t see how that was a bad thing. That was just how she was, and she was happy with it.

“I think I look good in pinks, do you see any pink dresses here?” Mabel asked. “I could show it off at Pixie’s if I find one.”

The blond let himself drop on the pillow behind him, and looked around once more. He’d never been in a hospital. Well, not in a human one, anyway. “At least you found me! So I guess you achieved your goal,” he said, with a shrug. “I’m a fairy, so… Yeah, there’s that!”

The sparrow man then began to think about things. What had happened? At first, it wasn’t clear, but as he went over it a few times, memories seemed to come back to him. “Well, I met someone. Scientist guy, about your size, really. Uh, he actually looked a little bit like you, I think. Or maybe I’m confusing things because of the bump on my head, right? Anyway, I think he pushed me or something like that. I’m not sure.”

Mabel was pretty freaked out right now. In a good way of course. He? Him! He was a fairy??? It was almost too cool for her brain to comprehend. “I’ve never met a fairy before...” she whispered to herself. She didn’t actually know anything about them.

“If you’re a fairy, prove it.... and what do you mean, science guy?”

Instinctively, his arms flailed, while his feet fought to find the ground. Out of instinct, the sparrow man deployed his wings and attempted to switch his size, but to no avail, because just at that moment he hit a tree and fell unconscious. So, the human-sized fairy fell instead, rolling down and bumping into a group of rocks at the bottom of said slope. Slowly, his wings vanished again as if they’d never been out in the first place, even though a scratch had damaged the edge of one, briefly. Not that he knew any of it. He wasn’t up any longer.

While he was out, his mind couldn’t stay calm. He could see Dipper’s face, strangely mocking him, as he fell down what seemed an endless pit. He could feel the fear of looking at him again but, at the same time, felt as if he didn’t mean it, for some reason. It was strange. Then he saw Dipper again. Except, it wasn’t Dipper, but it was someone who reminded him of the guy. But it was a girl. She was just resting there, on his chest.

But it was all a dream, apparently.

He thought so until he woke up. What was before him was the ceiling of an unfamiliar place. His head hurt terribly, and his hand reached up to touch it immediately, only to find a bandage strapped underneath his blond hair. Then, a voice called out to him, and he couldn’t help but turn in its direction. She was a familiar face, but he wasn’t sure from where.

“Uh, hi,” the confused sparrow man responded, rubbing his head, still. “Mabel? It’s… I’m Terence,” he added, wondering what that girl was even doing there. He seemed to be in a hospital room. Someone could tell his parents, maybe. Or Ber. That would be better. “What happened? I don’t know you…. Do I?”

Mabel had to think of words to say. Somehow, she was momentarily speechless. For Mabel, that was practically unheard of! She was looking him over... at the veins bulging out of his muscular arms. His tight fitting shirt. He was in a hospital bed, covered in bandages, but even that couldn’t hide his soft hair and symmetrical facial features. Talk, Mabel. Quit your staring.

“I... I’m Mabel. Mabel Pines.” You’ve already said that, stupid. “I guess this is the first time I’ve met you. But you can’t let the doctors know that! ... I might have kinda, accidentally-” Stop fidgeting you goon! “told them that I was your cousin, and I don’t want to get in trouble!”

Her mind was freaking out. This guy was talking to her! This beautiful, probable male-model, was looking at her and talking to her. And he could also probably get her arrested. Which was a bummer. But he didn’t seem angry yet? This exhilaration sent her into overdrive. She started to have little daydreams, all of the potential outcomes throwing themselves into her thought process at once.

“I don’t actually know what happened to you. But I saved you, you know? I was out in the forest and I was looking for faeries and then I found you on the ground and you were cold and there was a lot of blood...” Wait. “Do you not remember what happened?” That sounded really serious. Mabel briefly thought that maybe she was overstepping by getting involved in something serious like memory loss. Could this have been a real crime?

Mabel Pines Aesthetic

And then of course boys. Who would ever want to talk about boys with some annoyingly bubbly girl like this? Plus, Shego didn’t go after little boys. She went for men. Men like the sheriff of this godforsaken town. Now that was a man, at least in looks. In temperament well that was still debatable in her eyes.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

Really she would appreciate it if she didn’t have to talk to her at all. That would definitely be great. Unfortunately here she was, pretending to be trying to make friends with some girl she had no interest in. That wasn’t the plan at all. 

“Sure you do. Your reason to wear a dress is you want to look good for yourself. If you think you’d look great in a dress, then go for it. Seriously. Don’t let anyone stop you. Especially not boys. Because they’re idiots.” And wow, Shego actually cared about this. She didn’t think that clothes should be limited to dates or any of that shit. If someone wanted to look good, then they should wear what they wanted to wear regardless.

Mabel looked around at the clothes. She felt a lot better about being here in this fancy store now that she had that little pep talk. Boys? What do they matter? Well. They mattered a lot to Mabel. But she remembered now that she didn’t dress for boys, so why shouldn’t she buy a cute dress? She was an adult now and nobody was stopping her. She eyeballed a sparkly blue one. Blue wasn’t her favorite color, but sparkles were always a plus. She could imagine herself wearing it.

She turned towards her new friend, pointing at the dress on the display. “This is pretty, don’t you think? I could wear it.. to a club or something right? I’m sure there are a lot of fancy parties in Swynlake!”

“I think that, even though I really like boys, you’re right! Us girls need to treat ourselves! Maybe we should go out together sometime! Just us gals!”

He offered her a small smile, sheepish if anything, as he hesitated. The decision shouldn’t honestly be this difficult, he knew that. But still he struggled. Peace and quiet when he wasn’t around her or potentially making it to where he couldn’t use her unique naivety to his advantage. God, it was ridiculous. It took him a moment more before he sighed and began to rattle off his phone number to her.

“Nononono, it’s fine if you don’t respond. I know people are busy!! I mean I’m not really busy. But other people are. Cause they have lives. Ha-ha!”

Shego loathed the peppy. “What did I just say? I said we weren’t going to do the thing where we talk about them. Asking if there are single guys…that absolutely counts.” And frankly, Shego didn’t care if a guy or girl was single or not. If she could charm them into bed then it was a victory for her. Though she would only do that if she actually wanted something out of it.

Shego regretfully followed the girl in. She could be sarcastic, or at least mildly so, but not to the point where people questioned her motives or anything. So she would spend time with this girl, even if it was like getting root canal. “I think it’s fancy…classy clothing. You’ve got to have money to buy anything in here, which is good. There’s got to be a way to weed out the rich people from the poor.” Mostly so she could figure out who was better to steal from.

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking about boys...”

Great. Now what? 

What could she talk about that wasn’t boys? It was all she was thinking about right now. They weren’t the only things on her mind ever, but right now, her mind had been jogged and that’s all she was interested in.  She looked around... She was in a store. And it was an expensive store. How much would she be able to afford? She looked around at the tags. Maybe one thing and that would be it, honestly.

She looked around at all the dull colors. Some of the outfits were styled nicely, they just weren’t very... friendly. The colors were dark, some bold reds and deep purples. She could make it work, she decided. 

“Well, okay. Do you think I should get a new skirt? Or maybe another sweater? I’m not sure if I wanna be wild about it and try like, a dress or something... That might be a little bit too much for now. Besides, I don’t really have a reason to wear a dress...” because she didn’t have a boyfriend or any dates. Crap. She was thinking about boys again.

Belle felt thoroughly lost. For a moment, she felt like she was back in secondary–not at all relating to her peers, for Mable was just about her age, give or take a few years on either side. It was always stuff like this, tv, movies, music, such important part of secondary school social hierarchy. And something that Belle had never been very interested. In turn, people were never very interested in her opinions on books–even the ones they were reading for class (which never stopped baffling Belle, they were assigned after all.)

But, this was not secondary, and this girl was not making fun of her, and didn’t know at all just how–uninterested in these things that she really was. Which was not Mabel’s fault, of course. It was strange, because Belle was very curious naturally, always asking questions and wanting to know more. Yet, there was things she found frivolous like maths…or pop bands.

Still, she smiled politely at the redhead. She didn’t want to be rude, even though her eyes did flick longingly towards the door to Chapter Three–just a few steps away. 

“O-oh, um–yes, if you would. That’d be…interesting,” she settled on, her voice kind but hesitant. She was not certain she really wanted to read them, but she reminded herself it would be an educational experience. At Mabel’s questions, her cheeks heated and her eyes dropped to skirt the ground before rising up again shyly. “I-I really only listen to classical music–unless someone else get ahold of the record player in my shop. Which doesn’t happen often.” 

“I’ve actually never really listened to classical music,” Mabel said. It was actually meant to be something she kept in her head, and she didn’t even notice she had made the slip. “I guess classical music could be fun,” she replied. She actually didn’t care about it at all. I mean, where were the hot guys? The fun girls? The dancing, romance? She didn’t understand how anyone could like music that didn’t actually have words. She wanted to change the subject as quick as possible, as she realized how awkward it was that they didn’t agree on this.

“Do you text? I can give you my number if you’d like and we could talk about more stuff? We could even hang out sometime if you’re ever not busy. I don’t know what you’re life is like but I have a lot of time on my hands! I mean I don’t go to school anymore and I don’t have a dog, so I guess most of my time is spent with my pet Waddles at home...”

She wanted to mention Dipper, but even she knew that wasn’t a good idea. This was her problem, and if she told Belle about it she would just be getting her involved in drama that she had nothing to do with. Not only that, but it could get really dangerous, and this girl didn’t seem like the fighty type.

The smile was still on his lips, that same fake enthusiasm coating his features. Forest nymphs. Huh. That maybe could be fun. But it could also be an stupid trip that left with them finding anything. Either way it’d be better than sitting around and doing nothing. “I’m sure it’ll be great. We could probably find all sorts of magicks out there. I’ve heard there’s some fairies out there too. I dunno what kind but who the fuck doesn’t want to meet a fairy?” He chuckled to himself at how well he was keeping up this facade. He was also surprised at how it wasn’t that hard to do. Years of pretending to be interested when he wasn’t truly paid off. Careful not to be too forward, Lock moved forward just slightly, inching closer to her as fake excitement rolled off of him in waves. “We should do this adventure thing soon. It could be fun.”

At the mention of pain medicines he gave her a confused look. He didn’t have a headache (yet) and he hadn’t alluded to being in any sort of pain. But he didn’t say anything. Just dismissed it as if she hadn’t said anything. He had learned long ago that it was best not to answer to any form of stupidity. Especially if he didn’t want to continue to have to deal with it.

This boy, he must be bad. The thought of being friends with a bad boy excited her a little. Maybe he could teach her how to be like that... how to be cool and edgy and do drugs and stay out late at night at parties. The thought of living on the edge like sent a jolt up her spine.