Little Dipper

Satisfactory

Mabel checked her phone for a message from Gideon and then put the phone back in her pocket before picking up her club again. "Almost done, Pacifica?"

"It takes patience, silly girl." Pacifica said teasingly as he hit the ball and send it rolling into the hole. "How about that?"

"It took five hits to get there." Mabel grinned, walking over to the pin and setting down her ball. "Let's see how many times it takes me."

Pacifica stepped out of the way and leaned her golf club on her shoulder, watching as Mabel lined up her club with the ball. "Hurry up, slowpoke!" She called, laughing a bit.

"It takes patience, silly girl!" Mabel called back good-naturedly, and then she shifted her club's angle a bit and hit the ball, sending it towards the wall, where it bounced off and hit another wall and bounced off again, stopping just short of the hole.

"Oh, really?" Mabel walked over and knocked it into the hole. "Well, that's two hits! Next hole! How many are we on now?"

"I think we're at the 10th hole." Pacifica looked around. "That means there's 8 left."

"We'll be done soon, and then Dipper can lie back down." Mabel nodded.

"Is he okay?" Pacifica looked over at the trio watching.

"He insisted on coming, but I had to make him promise to go right to bed when we got home after." Mabel nodded. "He'll be okay."

Pacifica nodded. "That's good. I mean, he is practically family, so it's only natural I should be concerned." Pacifica looked to the side. "Let's move to hole 11."

Mabel grabbed her bag and she and Pacifica retrieved their balls before they moved on to the next hole.

"How do you think your parents feel about me?" Mabel asked as they walked together.

"Well, I haven't seen any condescending whispering yet." Pacifica said optimistically. "I like you, Mabel, so you don't have to worry about impressing me. I mean, I thought you were the weirdest at first, but you're actually pretty fun to be around."

"Yeah, lots of people think that way at first. Gideon was the first guy to not be scared off." Mabel sighed.

"Well, I think it's a good thing that he met you. He's really mellowed out, and he practices in his room less often. He spends more time with you than he does with his spellbooks." Pacifica smiled.

"I'm proud to say I rescued him from being a nerdy hermit, then!" Mabel laughed.

"It's more than that. I haven't seen him so genuinely happy since before he had his coma a couple years ago." Pacifica looked towards the hole they were heading for. "Thank you for coming here."

Mabel smiled. "I'm glad I came, too. I've made so many friends here. You, Grenda, Candy, Wendy, Gideon, and Bill. Not to mention Gruntie Susan."

"Grauntie?" Pacifica questioned curiously.

"Dipper decided to call her that, since she's dating Grunkle Stan." Mabel grinned. "One of my finest works as a matchmaker!"

"Wow. Uh, that's cute." Pacifica stopped at the pin and set down her ball. "Alright, I'm going first."

"I know." Mabel stood back with Pacifica's parents. "So, uh...how am I doing?"

"Well, we aren't ashamed of your presence." Preston said curtly. "I suppose you'll do. Might even bring back some of the grace that the Gleeful man took from us."

"You mean Gideon's dad?" Mabel asked.

"I mean Gideon's mother. She's never been quite the same since he took her." Preston's lip curled into a scowl. "Gideon is a treasure, a pearl worthy of our family oyster, but his father is a blight on the family tree."

"Okay, then. Uh, I'm glad that I'm good enough, to you, to be with the 'pearl of your family oyster'." Mabel turned to look back at Pacifica.

"Yes, he is certainly special." Preston glanced at the trio. "Who is the man in yellow up there?"

"That's Bill Cipher." Mabel said, walking over to take her place at the pin when Pacifica finished.

"Bill...Cipher?" Preston breathed, looking over. "He's not anything like I imagined."

"That's an illusion, his real appearance is different. Why?" Mabel looked over.

"Oh, I just have heard of him before. I was quite awed by what I heard." Preston waved her on. "Come, now, let's finish this game. We still have seven more holes to go!"

Priscilla reached into her purse and pulled out her vibrating phone. "Yes? Oh, hello! Yes, it's been a while!" She walked away to continue her phone call.

Preston looked over at Bill again, looking thoughtful. 'Was the prophecy incorrect?' He thought.

–

"Alright, I won!" Mabel cheered.

"Congratulations. You are now privy to all of our stuffy gatherings." Pacifica said in a lighthearted way.

"You won't get in trouble for losing, will you?" Mabel asked.

"If this wasn't a test to prove yourself worthy of the family line, then I would be." Pacifica said quietly. "Not that there is much of a family line to be proud of..."

"Aw, Pacifica." Mabel placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Who cares how it started? What matters is how it's continued."

"All done?" Bill asked, walking over with Stan and Dipper.

"Yep. I am officially allowed to be part of the family." Mabel turned to them. "Let's go home, Dipper looks like he's gonna pass out."

"We will call you to invite you to the next family outing." Priscilla told her. "Come along, Pacifica."

"See you later, Mabel." Pacifica waved as she walked out with her parents.

"Yeah, let's go." Bill nodded and turned to go.

"Waaaait!"

Bill groaned and looked down. "You again?"

"Oh my gosh, it's so cute, what is it?" Mabel asked.

"It's a 'Lilli-putt-ian'. They make sure the balls don't get stuck in the different areas." Bill explained.

"You said you would decide which is the best!" The Lilli-putt-ian insisted.

"No, you said for me to decide, I said that none of your areas were up to the standards I'm used to." Bill rolled his eye.

"But, we have to know who is the best! We have been at war for a hundred years over this!" The Lilli-putt-ian insisted.

"That's a waste of time." Bill remarked.

"Oh, be nice." Mabel smacked his arm. "Hmm, I think, based on my experience today..." She looked thoughtful. "I liked the French one best, I think."

The Lilli-putt-ian gasped. "I'm from that one!"

"We guessed, from the outfit." Stan commented.

"Okay, so you can go tell them that I said yours is the best one and end your war." Mabel nodded and turned to go. "Make love, not war!"

"Did you just tell a golf-ball critter to make love?" Bill asked.

"That's not what I--" Mabel was cut off by Bill dramatically swinging his free arm out.

"It's time for you all to go forth and multiply!" Bill declared.

"Oh my god, Bill, you are so embarrassing." Mabel looked around to see if the Northwests heard him.

"Let's get out of here." Stan laughed, leading the way.

Dipper waved to the Lilli-putt-ian sleepily. "Bye-bye, little golf ball!"