Pacifica sighed as she stared at the email from her mother. Another date with Cristian. Why was he still in town? He had no business in Oregon that she was aware of, and her father had mostly ignored him at the party. Idly, she twirled a finger in her hair as her eyes unfocused. She considered what Cristian might be doing there, aside from occupying what little free time she had available, glanced at the clock and sighed again. Half past six. If she was going to get anything done today, she had to get started.

Pacifica stood, pushing back the rolling chair that sat behind her desk, and stretched. She would have to skip some of her regular routine in order to get everything done, but she was due for a cheat day.

'Jonathan?' She spoke in to the intercom, 'I need to you to clear my morning. I have a few projects to attend to.'

'Yes miss.' Came the crisp response.

It was late afternoon when Pacifica rolled up the drive to the shack. Considering how late Dipper had been up, and the importance of his work, she hoped that he had been able to negotiate a day off with his boss. It was no coincidence that he had ended up working for one of the matriarchs of a local coven. Pacifica shivered at that thought. While she was familiar with the strangeness that surrounded the Pines family, and Gravity Falls as a whole, she was made uncomfortable by those who were so clearly in the weirdness camp rather than the human one. Well, most of them, anyway. Mabel and Dipper both seemed clearly on the weird side of things, but managed to never make her as uncomfortable as say, Gideon did. Granted, that might just be Gideon.

She parked in the gravel right in front of the porch, forgoing any of the 'official' parking spaces, leftover from when the shack was a tourist trap, and hopped up the steps. She knocked, but promptly let herself in. The Pines never seemed to lock their door, but Pacifica figured anything that actually meant them harm wouldn't make it down the driveway.

'Hello! Anybody home?'

'Pax!' Mabel came bounding down the stairs, smiling gleefully. She grabbed Pacifica by the wrists and danced in the doorway for a moment. 'I'm so glad to see you!' She beamed. Soon, they were joined by an equally excited mutt of some sort, who pranced around them just as excitedly as Mabel.

'I see you have a dog now. What a surprise.'

'Heeelllloooooo!' The dog howled.

'Is this a talking dog? Mabel, did this dog just say hello?'

'Whaaaat? Of course not.' Mabel smiled. 'That would be RIDICULOUS.'

'It's totally a talking dog. You're a talking dog, aren't you?' Pacifica directed her last question at the dog, who stopped prancing to look soulfully up at Pacifica.

'Whaaaat?' Kibbeth whined.

'What a surprise.' Pacifica deadpanned. 'Where's Dipper? I heard all about his escapades up at the mine site, we should debrief.'

'Wow, you are all business today, what's got your panties in a twist? You want a beer?'

'Yeah, a beer would be great, actually, and I'm not… I'm mad or anything, he actually did a commendable job, but he was… y'know, himself, and that leads to… confusion.'

'Oh, you are just ALL SORTS of confused over Dipper, aren't you sweetie?' Mabel fluttered her eyelashes, and Pacifica blushed, but maintained her composure. 'DIPPER! YOU AWAKE YET?'

'WHAT?!' Came a yell from down the hall.

'PUT SOME PANTS ON AND COME OUT HERE! WE HAVE GUESTS!'

A few minutes passed in relative peace, Mabel hummed to herself as she pottered about the kitchen, Kibbeth sniffed at Pacifica, chased her tail, then lay down in the corner. Presently, Dipper appeared in the doorway, yawning and scratching at the stubble on his chin, but wearing pants- if pants that looked as though they'd been slept in.

'Oh hey Pacifi- Pax. YAWN. What can I do for you?'

'Hey Dipper.' She smiled brightly for the first time since arriving, causing Mabel to raise an eyebrow and smirk. 'I was just stopping by to check in on you. Heard you put in some late hours last night.'

'Just stopping by.' Mabel mouthed silently, rolling her eyes. Pacifica kicked her in the ankle in the middle of another of Dipper's yawns.

'Yeah. Those dwarves drive a hard bargain, but Ed seemed like he got out with as close to a fair deal as you can get with them, and we got the coven to agree to help with moving the nymphs and whatnot.'

'I also heard that you told Ed you didn't need payment for your work.'

'Well, I was really just doing it for you.' Dipper said, confused.

'Oh Dipper.' Pacifica smiled softly, putting her hand on his cheek, causing him to blush, despite his exhaustion. 'You can't just do work like that for free or people will take advantage of you. My dad already thinks you're pretty bad at negotiating this kind of thing, but I managed to talk him in to thinking that you were planning to collect on the favor later AND get you a pretty sweet deal with Ed. His company deals in all sorts of metals, and I secured you a massive discount on whatever you need, as well as a shipment of titanium ingots for your craft projects.'

'Pacifica, I… I don't know what to say. Thank you.'

'You're welcome. You could start by calling me Pax.'

'I ALSO have news.' Mabel crowed. 'I met a hot guy at your party, and we're having drinks on Friday!' She sang the last part, dancing around Pacifica.

'Oh? Glad I could be a part of you finding your latest beaux, what's his name?'

'Jack.'

'Huh, is it a nick name? There wasn't anyone named Jack at the party, or at least, no one you'd think was hot.'

'You probably don't know him, he said he was somebody's brother or something. Defintely hot, too- I even got a little drooly.'

'That's cause you were drunk, Mabel.' Dipper chimed in.

'Mabel, I wrote the guest list myself. I guarantee you there wasn't a hot guy named Jack.'

'Maybe he was a party crasher?' Mabel suggested hopefully.

'Mabel. Have you known ANYONE who's ever succesfully crashed a Northwest Party?'

'Well...'

'I feel kinda weird about this.' Dipper said darkly. 'Maybe you should rain check?'

'No!' Mabel stomped her foot, pouting. 'I found a hot guy, who's interested in me. I'm going on this date, so stop being paranoid, DIPPER.' She said, pointing. 'I might even let him touch my butt.' She waggled her eyebrows at this, smiling mischeviously.

'Alright, whatever.' Pacifica said, rolling her eyes. 'Look, Dipper, just... we'll have to talk about negotiation in the future. Maybe...' She smiled, almost as mischeviously as Mabel, dragging her finger slowly down his jaw to the end of his chin. 'I'll give you some lessons.' Then she winked, turned on her heel and walked to the door. 'Ta-ta, Mabel darling, have fun on your date!' She waved as she walked out.

Mabel smirked. 'Close your mouth, Dipper, you'll catch flies.'

'Tch.'

Pacifica rubbed the fabric of the dress between her fingers as she thought. It was way too skimpy for a second date, especially for one with Cristian. Black, strapless, and gave Cristian a much better view than he deserved. What was mother thinking? This would never do. She tossed it over a chair and turned towards her closet, stroking her chin thoughtfully. Something a little more... professional would do- put him off the idea that it was a date without actually saying so. Maybe... she pulled out a silk blouse and a charcoal pencil skirt. Turning to her vanity, she picked out some pearl earrings, and a thin gold chain with a pearl pendant. Looking down at the outfit, she frowned.

'I wish mother would stop arranging these god-awful dates.' She muttered. Looking over at a picture of the Pines twins tucked in to her mirror, she smiled. 'I suppose she'd stop if I was seeing someone.' That day would come, but both her parents and the twins needed a little work, first.

'Pacifica!'

Cristian was still too loud. Too imposing. It was as if he filled the room with smarm and hot air.

'Cristian.' Pacifica responded cooly. They were meeting at a chic little restaurant that served tapas and cocktails, and had a nice view of the lake, and on any other occasion Pacifica would be thrilled at how clear the night sky was, and the way the moon illuminated the cliffs behind it, but tonight she was with Cristian.

'I have brought you a small gift, Pacifica, to celebrate the time I am spending with you.' His smile was so irritating, more so considering he couldn't keep his eyes off her body, even with the more conservative outfit. 'I think you will enjoy it, if you should ever come visit me in Sweden, yes?'

The box was large, but flat. A garment of some sort, likely for cold weather. Pacifica did her best to smile appreciatively, and opened it. A fur coat, with matching muff and hat. For a moment, it was as if her heart stopped- the distinctive patterns of gold, black, and white; thick fur for heavy snow. Leopard. A lot more than one might expect on an average sized cat, too.

Focus! She had to focus. Cristian was still talking.

'- we think that this method will allow us to corner the market on natural materials for clothing without violating any international laws. Do you like it? I could only think of you when I had it made.'

'Yes... yes of course.' Pacifica said, still trying to gain composure. 'It's lovely. How can I thank you for such a fine gift?' She cooed, bile rising in her throat.

'I can think of many ways. But for now, just try it on- let me see that it fits you.'

Dutifully, Pacifica obliged, trying her best to act as though she enjoyed the fur, but its rich softness only made her sick. She needed to tell Dipper.

'I am so glad you like it!' Cristian beamed. 'Tomorrow, I am going to collect some more, and I will have a little stole made for you.'

Pacifica was still dazed from her meeting with Cristian. Unsure what either of them had said throughout the meal, she had made excuses of stomach problems to leave early, waiting until she was safely in the car before hurriedly calling Dipper.

'Dipper!' She cried as he answered the phone, tears coming to her eyes.

'What! What's going on? Pacifica, are you okay?'

'Dipper, it's Cristian! He's...'

'He's what? What'd he do?'

'Dipper, he's your hunter. And he's going out again tomorrow.'