A Puppeteered Smile

northwestxprincess:

At the idea of having a birthday being so close to Christmas, she sighed sympathetically. She knew how that went. Halloween was one of the biggest days of the year in Gravity Falls, which meant having a birthday close to that got completely overshadowed no matter what. But that seemed fairly specific to Gravity Falls.

“Oh, I refuse to celebrate my birthday on the actual day. November 1 is in the top 5 worst days to have a birthday. So I always celebrate my half birthday instead and then I get to have a much better party than I would have gotten to have otherwise.”

At Petunia’s blatant excitement over the new pair of shoes, Pacifica smiled back at her in reflected excitement. “Oh I am a smart girl, but I appreciate you saying so. Those look fabulous on you.”

-

“I don’t mind having my birthday so close to Christmas. Just means double the gifts.” Petunia joked. “Though the half-birthday thing is rather clever. I’m glad you’ve found something to make aging so special! There’s nothing to be ashamed of when getting older as long as you focus on the right parts.” She certainly knew her own age (fifty-seven, nearly fifty-eight) but that didn’t mean she was an old crone by any stretch of the imagination.

Petunia inspected the boots on her feet before popping them back off quickly to replace them with her own shoes again. It was simple, a move made fluid by years of practice. She was an expert at quick changes and testing clothing. She didn’t have a ton of practice of stage performances but she still knew how to change in a flash.

“Maybe he didn’t feel like it because winter has been kind of rough on him?” Lachlann suggested after a second of consideration “Like, I get that. I’ve got the winter blues real bad, myself”

Now, the (former) pilot knew that gossiping wasn’t necessarily the best thing to do, but he didn’t consider that sort of thing gossiping per-se and, instead, thought of it like sharing information for the sake of other’s well-being, even if said person wasn’t aware that was happening or hadn’t asked for it; He liked to think that kind of chat was for the best, since one could never know when someone else could change things for the best when he, himself, couldn’t. 

“His musical posts some weeks ago seemed kind of…off, you know? The ones he made on twitter, I mean. I was so lowkey worried ‘bout 'em that I pulled a little gift together real quick to try and cheer him up” he wasn’t sure if that had made any difference, but… “like, maybe him not making it a scene out of a Hallmark movie was 'cause of whatever caused that? or maybe work made him extra tired? Whatever the case I really hope he feels better soon. The little buddy deserves just the best”

He then nodded at the mention of Phineas and had to make a little effort to remember about WIlbur’s current boyfriend -a feat he was able to do thanks to his usual interactions with the Spill and the fact that had been the talk of the town for like a week before people seemed to warm up to the idea and decided to let it be.

“Oh, Tony?! I’ve heard good things 'bout him, actually. He’s a friend of a friend, you know?!” which, granted, wasn’t a strong enough of a reference for many, but for Lachlann was as good as any “Had a bit of a…eh…moment with Phineas, back at the Town Hall fiasco but I think nobody’s to blame 'bout what happened then,  like, one can’t fully control magic or what happens during one of Swynlake Chaotic moments, right?”

It was best to not think about it. Specially when that had happened just a couple of days after Black Annis and he was absolutely not thinking about that while trying to drive carefully -he’d much rather focus on Petunia’s words and how comforting the idea of sharing that little moment sounded.

“That’s really sweet of you! Like, I admit ’s kinda hard to think 'bout spending the holidays away from home, but…” he shrugged, then chuckled (a little bit bitterly, even if he hadn’t meant to) “it ’s what it ’s, I guess”

Petunia sighed when Lachlann made his assessments of young Pip Seville. He certainly had seemed off since she had dyed his hair. The comments about his mother and the rest. She wouldn’t tell Lachlann that, of course. What was said in the chair stayed there. Petunia was a gossip and a flirt but she wasn’t planning on spreading Pip’s secrets with just about anyone. She was protective of the child, seeing him similarly to the way she watched Wilbur. A child, her grandnephew, to be spoiled and nurtured, typically in the most fun way possible.

“Right, yes, Pip seems off lately, I can agree on that. Plus the holiday season really does bring out such mixed emotions in people. I certainly love the holidays and my birthday being in the mix certainly helps that but I do understand that.” She paused, scanning his face. “You said you’re feeling the blues? Do you mind if I.. ask?” She didn’t want to pry despite the fact that.. of course she did! What kind of woman would she be if she didn’t want to pry? Certainly not Petunia Robinson, that’s the kind.

Hearing that boy’s name caused Petunia’s nose to wrinkle for half a moment before she composed herself. “He’s a little hooligan,” she muttered. “I agree on the.. magic front. Wilbur certainly has.. interesting opinions on his classmates, that’s for certain.” She didn’t know if she should get into her distaste for the child with Lachlann, his positivity was so catching? “All I know is that the boy’s got his own place at seventeen and dresses like he’s trying to get in a fight.” Truthfully, she wasn’t convinced the boy wasn’t on drugs.

Consider the Pot Stirred | Phinia

“It’s good!” Phineas squeaked, really hoping this conversation wouldn’t venture too close to the topic of Wilbur. He started rummaging through the box, looking for somewhere to start. As much as Petunia intimidated him, Phineas did admire her for her commitment to seasonal decorations. Phineas thought that if not for him, his own house would hardly have had any cool decorations for any of the holidays. It was a big responsibility to be your family’s holiday enthusiast, but it was an important one.

He picked out some scrapbooking paper that looked like a good place to start. He could start on a nice background with that. “It’s not even really like work to me, honestly. It’s so much fun. And it’s such an honor to work with Mr. Robinson, honestly, I can never really believe my luck,” he gushed. “Honestly, I wish school was just like this, hands-on type stuff, you know? I mean, I’m studying hard, of course…” An exaggeration. “But I just find I learn so much more here in Mr. Robinson’s laboratory than in a regular classroom.”

-

Petunia stood back while Phineas began to rummage for decorations, her own curiosity peaking as she watched. She figured this would be a good way to get to know how this teenager thought. Organization, an eye for detail, his ability to multitask under pressure of her judgmental gaze. She was certainly testing the young man but, also, she simply didn’t want to put in the physical labor of hanging things up. She was nearly fifty-eight, after all.

“You certainly sound like little Cornelius,” she couldn’t help but to utter. She remembered him speaking with her about how school was fine, he’d gotten to skip plenty, but he liked to build, liked to make things. She certainly hadn’t agreed --still didn’t-- but she liked that he found something he was passionate about.

Cornelius certainly kept changing the world.

exsqueak-me:

He simultaneously wanted Petunia to push and to not push. Wasn’t that always the case? Despite their nature, or maybe because of it, secrets liked to be talked about. They pushed at all of Pip’s walls, waiting for someone to come and open the door. It’d be easy, really. Aunt P would just have to ask and maybe…

But maybe not. Besides, it was kind of pathetic, talking about how he wasn’t sure if this time was gonna be like all the other times, when Mum said one thing and then just didn’t show up. He knew that most of those times, it was legitimate. She wasn’t some actress off shooting a movie after all– she was just a normal person, and sometimes surprise shifts came up, or there was car trouble she couldn’t pay off right away, or she forgot, haha. 

She’d promised though.

Still, lower your expectations. Amy had told him that every single night, and they both knew why. 

Anywayyyyy– enough thinking about anxiety he shouldn’t even have, because if Mum didn’t show up, that was her fault, not Pip’s, and he’d still look amazing! “Definitely! Have you heard the new Ari?” Pip asked right away because he considered it his job to keep Aunt P Informed. She didn’t try to be a cool aunt the way that Franny tried to be a cool mom– but she was cool and Pip helped her stay that way. 

“It’s not my favourite, but there are really nice moments on the record. It’s more intimate, which I guess I should use for inspiration. Finn wants to do Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” He made a face. “Which is– again, super sweet. Very sweet. But not fun, you know? I don’t know how to make that song my own.” 

Petunia pulled up her phone where she had different sorts of Spotify playlists and Pandora stations based on her clients’ interests. She raised her brows when he mentioned new music. “Not yet, I’ve had my hands a little full lately. Let me look it up for you.” She quickly typed into Spotify and got it playing through the speaker system in her room to make sure the young man was more comfortable before putting on her gloves to begin the process.

Starting with the blue was the best bet, a basic rule of painting in any form being lightest colors first. She began to pull some of the blue dye onto her brush and smiled encouragingly at Pip in the mirror. She loved hearing about all of his little dramas and the odd things about his classmates. This Finn kid seemed like he was being a pain in Pip’s ass but Pip was far too polite to say so.

“Right, yes, it’s a little slow and overdone. I suppose if you picked up the tempo and added a key shift it would help but not quite the showstopper you both deserve.” She wondered if she could find a fun version of a song to suggest. There was plenty of Christmas songs to choose from. She almost, jokingly, suggested an Elvis song but bit her tongue.

“When I first met Franny, I didn’t trust her. She was another girl Cornelius thought to bring around. All the others before her were precisely the same; they were after money alone. She, however, proved to be more than that. I will not apologize for how coldly I treated her right away because I was in the right to look after Cornelius.. but now Franny is a member of the family. She annoys the hell out of me sometimes but she’s a good mother and a good woman.”

“That’s horrifying! Why on Earth would anyone do that? I can barely watch a horror movie let alone decide to be in one!”

Petunia thinks a lot of television used to be better. Like, don’t get her wrong, she does love a good trashy reality show but she misses the day of the sitcom. She loved those roles, loved how cheesy but heartfelt they always were, even when she wasn’t a series regular by any means.

Paint By Numbers || Lasnia

He hummed, nodding. Yeah, those kits usually did give people the cheap ones since they were being mass produced as a one-time-use rather than something to invest in to use over and over again like the proper brushes. Not to say the cheap ones didn’t have their uses, how else would he have gotten through that first year at uni without them and their gloriously disfigured selves? 

At her insistence that she hadn’t wanted to disturb his things, he made a sound to dismiss such a notion. Disturb? If anything she would have made it more organized by taking something for herself. He wouldn’t have even noticed she had been in there unless she did something super obvious — like dump out a can of pain in the middle of the floor. Or put everyone on the ceiling instead.

Then oh out she came with the real reason she had been trying to do this all on her lonesome without wanting anyone to know. It made him soften and lose a good chunk of his jovial facet. 

“What’d you mean? They aren’t called the struggling artist because they’re always thriving.” (A good chunk didn’t mean all of it.) “I struggle all the time and I suffered through school for it. You, of all people, know that. You still own a lot of them even though I’ve begged you to toss them out.”  

-

Ah, there it was, the supportive lecture that she was expecting. She knew it was coming the moment he caught her because, well, he was her son after all. He took on more of his father’s temperament, thankfully, but she could still see herself in him. She wanted to reach out and smoothe the stray hair that was sticking to his forehead and tell him that there was nothing to worry about just as she had always done with him growing up. Instead of this being his worrying over school or his latest art project, though, this was him turning advice upon her which felt completely unfamiliar.

“It’s a little different, Lasz,” Petunia started, faltering slightly. “Sweetheart, painting and such is your thing, I only figured that perhaps I could give it another try. I’ve never been much for this sort of medium.” No, the visual arts wasn’t her style. Sure, she could color hair all day but what she longed for and had spent so much of her life working toward was to be on screens or in front of an audience.

northwestxprincess​:

“One time I had someone tell me to avoid shopping in November and December in case it interfered with Christmas presents. But where’s the fun in that? I’m perfectly capable of shopping for my friends and myself at the same time. And it means I find better present ideas, really.”

It was nice to meet someone she was so in synch with. There were so few people here who followed the kind of thought process she could understand. But there was something about this woman that reminded Pacifica of her mother at her best. It was the kind of kindred spirit she needed right now in particular. 

“I’ll be right there with you. They’ll have to listen to the two of us then. By the way, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Pacifica Northwest.” As she finished putting on the shoes, she stood up and admired herself in the small mirror provided for this. 

-

“I couldn’t agree more! You can text your friends photographs of things you do want and still get a little something for yourself. Treating yourself doesn’t simply disappear during this season! My birthday is three days before Christmas but does that mean I’m going to pretend like my life isn’t going on before both of those things? Absolutely not.” Petunia knew that many disagreed with her but Petunia needed her ways to de-stress too!

Especially in places like Swynlake.