Pointdexter: A Swooning Over Stan-fiction

Chapter Twenty-One

Alice wasn't sure what to expect, not with Mabel standing on a stool and readying two plates of food, the contents she couldn't hope to see yet due to her mass of hair and Dipper's hat. Ford waved at her from across the table, and Alice turned to him, leaning forward so he could whisper to her.

"Do-" He started, hesitating only for a moment. "Do you have any idea what's going on over there?"

"She has a bowl of jelly beans," Alice replied the corner of the bowl in her vision. "So whatever happens, I'm eating all of those."

"Oh really?" Ford asked her with a challenging look. "Not if I get to them first."

Alice shot him a playful glare, eye contact in the name of rivalry before she started to laugh. Ford grinned, shaking his head as Mabel whirled around and hopped off her stool. She brandished two glasses of something disturbingly pink, setting them down on the table with a flourish.

"Ta-da!" She grinned her metal grin between Alice and Ford. "Two tall glasses of Mabel Juice!"

Alice turned her smile to the drink and tried to keep it there when she saw two plastic dinosaurs floating in her cup. She'd had a daughter, she knew how to handle this.

"Oh! Such a delicacy!" Alice beamed, picking up her drink and swirling in her cup, trying to pretend she was at a wine tasting. She glanced at Ford, giving him the face of  'please god, play along. Do not leave me alone in this. "What ingredients do you use?"

"Uh- oh! Yes!" Ford seemed to catch onto her face because he peered intently at his cup. "Mabel, this looks truly exquisite! Pray tell, what's your method?"

"Are plastic dinosaurs and monopoly pieces just decoration?" Alice asked as seriously as she could manage. Mabel was too busy giggling at their answers, and she didn't seem to notice that neither touched their drinks. Ford was too busy smiling at her from across the table as Alice asked about the ingredients and her process. "-This is a true work of culinary art!"

"Anyway-" Mabel giggled, turning back to the stove. "Onto the main course- Voila!"

With a flourish that would have rivaled Gourdon Ramsey, Mabel placed two covered plates on the table, one in front of Ford and the other in front of Alice. Stretching across the table, she managed to pull both clothes off the plate at once. 

What awaited her on the plate was... Horrifying, to say the least. Alice glanced over the burnt dinosaur chicken nuggets, the half-wet, half-dry noodles with a slice of cheese draped over them, and the handful of jellybeans. Ah yes, a not-so-secret ingredient.

"The Mabel Special!" Mabel grinned, puffing her chest out with pride. "I'm not a fancy cook. I'm just a cute little girl! But I slaved away at this romantic dinner for the two of you, dang it!"

"Mabel-" Ford started, hesitant his eyes flickering to Alice, panicked. "I- Uh, this looks..."

"I'm not sure where to start!" Alice said, as enthusiastic as she had been over the Mabel juice. "So many choices!"

"I'd suggest 'cleansing your palate' with those jellybeans first, then digging right into the mac n' cheese," Mabel leaned into Alice, half whispering. "I got that bit from one of those cooking shows Grunkle Stan left on the TV when he fell asleep."

"Now that's an idea I can get behind-" Ford sighed, then straightened. "The- The jelly beans, I mean."

"Not if I eat them first-" Alice challenged.

"You can take my jelly beans, alright-" Ford arched his brow at her, grinning at the challenge. "Over my burnt chicken nuggets."

"You're on-" Alice grinned as she dug into the beans, going as far as to try and spear them on her fork to play along with Mabel's dinner experience. She watched as Ford relaxed as the dinner continued, but once the last bean was eaten, they both fell silent.