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MonthofMaybel2019 Week 1: Sweaters

Takes place after Dipper and Mabel have left the falls and started their school year. Enjoy, doods!

“ANGELAAAAA!” Mabel sang at the top of her lungs. And then promptly crashed into her on the school's front steps.

Luckily Angela was a veteran of surprise Mabel Hugs and managed not to fall over.

“Hello, Mabel,” she gasped. “I'm guessing you had an extra bowl of Sugar O's?”

“Try four,” Dipper said, grinning apologetically as he caught up to them. “She was up until 3 AM making that.”

“Making – whoa, Mabel, that is beautiful!”

Mabel laughed and twirled on the spot. Her brand-new sweater was a cashmere blend the color of a rosy dawn, soft as kitten breath, with a hem that flared out like flower petals as she spun. It even seemed to shimmer a little, although Mabel was pretty sure that was just a sugar high side effect.

“And that's not even the best part!” Mabel said. She stopped spinning and held out her arms. “Tada!”

Angela gasped.

The body of the sweater had the usual perfectly even braiding, but Mabel had sewn two words in Old Norse Runes into either sleeve, courtesy of Angela, who was a serious Norse Nerd. She even carried around a set of runes for fortune-telling in her big canvas bag.

“That's why you wanted my Old Norse dictionary!”

“What do they say?” Dipper asked, leaning forward.

“That one's 'wish' and that one's 'truth' and I will buy this sweater from you right now do you take cookies as payment?”

By the time they reached Mrs. Pierce's class, Mabel had agreed to knit three sweaters for Angela, each with different runes, in exchange for three batches of brownies and an Unlimited Smoothie Stamp Card from Blizzard's.

The rest of the class was already filing in after them. Several of them were loaded down with parkas, scarves, and mittens, because despite the still-summer weather, Mrs. Pierce liked to keep the room at a chilly 52 degrees.

“This was room temperature in Alaska and we liked it!” she'd tell them.

“Oh – sorry!” Mabel said, accidentally bumping into Ximena on her way to her desk. Mabel really liked Ximena – she always made sure everybody got included on the playground and told awesome jokes, mostly puns so bad they were practically Stan-worthy.

But today, she didn't even look up. Just grunted.

Chris, who sat next to Ximena, snickered under his breath. “Troll, meet Tree. You two make a cute couple.”

Mabel scowled. “Leaver her alone, Chris.”

“Or what, you gonna sic your pig on me? Huh?!”

“Forget it,” Dipper said sharply. He put one arm around Mabel's shoulders and guided her to her desk. “You okay?”

“Yeah, but did you see Ximena?” Mabel glanced back. She was hunched over with her head hanging low. “She looks seriously bummed out. I bet she's upset it's always so cold and we can't even make any snowmen...hey Dipper, do you think we could build a snow machine!?”

“It would probably melt, it's not technically freezing in here.”

“It feels like it,” said three separate people.

“Okay, class!” Mrs. Pierce called out, striding into the room. She immediately went to the thermostat and turned it down. Everyone groaned. “Now none of that! It's first thing in the morning and I won't have people falling asleep! Besides, this was room temperature in Alaska –”

“– and that was how we liked it,” the class changed.

“Correct! Now, homework out, please!”

Mabel took out her homework, glancing anxiously at Ximena. She already had her workbook out and she was writing along with everyone else, but she was all hunched over and her dark brown hair hid her face like a curtain of pure angst. Mabel tapped her chin. She'd have to think of a pun even worse than Stan's to cheer her up. But what?

Mabel was still trying to think of something fifteen minutes into class. That's when she automatically reached into her backpack for her thermos of hot chocolate – and then stopped when she realized she still wasn't cold!

She looked around. Everyone who'd brought a coat was bundled up, and Dipper was already taking sips of his own thermos. Angela had thrown an actual blanket around her shoulders and was still shivering. But Mabel wasn't cold at all. In fact, her whole body felt like she'd been napping in the sun with the world's best pig!

It's the sweater! she realized. It had to be the cashmere, right? But she hadn't thought it would make her this toasty. Even her bare legs were perfectly comfortable.

Ximena, on the other hand, was wearing a thin T-shirt and had so many goosebumps Mabel could see them from two rows back. Mabel grinned – sweaters were like hugs you could wear all the time, this would be the perfect way to cheer her up!

“Ximena!” she shout-whispered. “Hey, Ximena! Pst pst pssssst!”

“Shut up, Tree Sap,” Chris growled at her.

She stuck her tongue out at him and waved instead. Finally Ximena looked over.

Mabel whipped off her sweater and held it out. The cold instantly stung her arms and numbed her fingers, but Ximena took it with a nod and put it on. Mabel sat back, smiling happily. Being warm would make her feel better right away!

She returned to the worksheet she was currently doodling on. Her fingers were tingly and se was debating on the best way to warm them when Ximena let out a tiny sneeze.

“Bless you,” she said automatically.

Dipper leaned across the aisle, tapped Mabel's shoulder, and mouthed “Cold enough for ya?”

She mimed becoming an ice cube and they both grinned.

Ximena sneezed again.

“Bless you,” said Mabel, the teacher, and a few other students. Chris glared at her like the sneeze had been a personal insult. Mabel rolled her eyes. Now there was a permanent case of the grumpy-grumps.

Ximena sneezed harder.

Mrs. Pierce turned away from the board. “Ximena, if you need a tissue, they're – what on earth?!”

Ximena sneezed, and kept sneezing, and every time she did a spray of soap bubbles came streaming out of her nose!

Several students actually jumped up with shouts of surprised, leaning away. By now Ximena was sneezing nonstop and she was almost completely hidden behind a cloud of iridescent soapy goodness.

“Snot bubbles!” Chris shouted.

“Chris, that's enough! Ximena, if you thought it was funny to bring bubble toys to class –”

“I di – achoo! – didn't bring – achoo! ACHOO!”

She started sneezing so hard she clawed at her chest. Mabel and Dipper instantly rushed to help. She yanked the sweater off and Dipper made her sit back down with her head tilted back, just a little, to open her airways.

Nathan leaned forward, waving the sinking bubbles away. “Ximena? Is she okay?”

“I'm fine,” Ximena gasped.

Mabel winced. “I'm sorry, it's cashmere and wool, are you allergic to those?”

“What? No, I –”

“Betcha the Pig Princess rigged the sweater,” Chris said loudly. “Either that or the two of them planned the whole prank!”

“We did not!” the two said hotly.

“That's enough,” Mrs. Pierce cut in. She was looking straight at Ximena and Mabel, her eyes cold. “Nathan, please escort Ximena to the nurse's office. I'd like her checked out just in case. When you come back, Ximena, I'd like a word with you after class – you too, Ms. Pines.”

“So how bad was it?” Angela asked.

She, Dipper, and Mabel were sitting down for lunch. The weather was nice, so they'd decided to eat on the benches outside.

Mabel grimaced. “We didn't get in trouble, but I don't think Chris' comments helped that much. He stuck around afterwards because he said he was a 'witness.' Just because my pig ate his homework one time –”

“He's a grade A jerk in general,” Dipper said sourly. “Remember last year, with the Open House? He nearly got Summer suspended and nobody could prove it was really him. He just likes getting other people in trouble.”

Angela nodded. “He sure turned on Ximena fast, and she looked more freaked out than anyone. What the heck happened back there?”

Mabel shrugged miserably. “I don't know. I was just trying to cheer her up, so I loaned her my sweater.”

“Hmmm.” Dipper eyed the offending sweater critically. “Let me see that for a sec?”

“Sure, how come?”

“Actually, Angela, you take a look. Are there any runes that were sewn in by accident? I man there's one rune that's a straight line, so...”

“That's ice, I don't think – wait, look, there are extra runes!”

Mabel gasped. “Where where where?!”

She and Dipper leaned forward, and Angela held it up to the light. The cloth shimmered again, and this time Mabel could see tiny lines of silver thread criss-crossing in the narrow gaps between her stitches. The thread was as slender as a spider's web and so delicate that it was nearly invisible, but as it caught the light Mabel saw that the thread spelled out actual runes!

“Whoa, okay, I didn't do that,” Mabel said, still in awe. “Wow, that stitching is amazing! Look at that part, it's got combo stitches in it!”

“What does it say?” Dipper pressed.

Angela spread the sweater for a better look. “I'm not sure. It uses runes, and I know I'm new at it, but this doesn't even look like Old Norse. It's like a whole different language that just happens to use runes. But if I had to guess, they're spelling out something that made the sweater magic.”

“You gave me a magic sweater?”

They turned. Ximena walked up to them, hands in her pockets with her shoulders hunched, Nathan right behind her.

“Ximena!” Mabel shouted, leaping to her feet. “Omigosh I'm so sorry about earlier, I was just trying to give you a sweater hug!”

“Yeah, uh, do you think you could tell the magic part to Mrs. Pierce? I've kinda got a lot going on, I don't want to get in trouble again.”

“Oh, gimme a break.”

Suddenly a fist shot over Mabel's shoulder, grabbed the sweater, and yanked it out of Angela's hands.

“Hey!”

Chris dangled the sweater out of reach, grinning maliciously. “You want it? Come and get it! But no way is Mrs. Pierce gonna beweive it's weawwy magic.” He made his voice sound cutesy. “Bubble Snot just pulled a prank and is sorry she didn't get away with it.”

“Mabel's not a liar,” Nathan snapped. “And neither is Ximena, now give that back!”

They were starting to draw stares from other students. Chris saw this as encouragement. His grin widened and he waved the sweater in front of Chris' nose.

“Oooh, someone's mad I insulted his girlfriends! Quit acting like you're some big hero, you're just embarrassing yourself.”

“How 'bout I'm acting like a decent human being?” Nathan made a grab for the sweater, but Chris yanked it away.

Dipper was half-standing, hands out to placate them. “Okay, it's not magic, alright? Just give it back.”

“Yes it is,” Ximena insisted. “I didn't pull a prank!”

“I know you didn't and I'll prove it.” Nathan thrust out his hand. “Give me the sweater.”

Chris smirked. “You want to a fashion fail? Be my guest.”

He threw it at Nathan, who caught it and pulled it over his head. Mabel grabbed Dipper's jacket and squeezed, holding her breath.

Nothing happened.

After a few seconds Nathan pulled the front of his sweater over his nose and breathed in audibly, frowning. Still nothing.

“See?” Chris sneered.

“Well – well the sweater did something! Like Mabel just got some powdered whatever on it from her crafts by accident, right? Mabel, tell him!”

He turned to her, gesturing to Chris – and a fountain of live fish suddenly flung out of his sleeve and hit Chris square in the chest. He went down with a yelp, covered in flopping salmon. As soon as the fish hit the ground, though, they turned instantly into fish-shaped pastries. Chris sat in the middle of the pile, fish goo still dripping from his clothes.

For a split second everyone was so quiet Mabel could've heard a mouse flick its cute button ears. Then everyone started yelling at once.

“Did you see that, did you see?!”

“Lookit those things!”

“No way they'd all have fit in the sleeve!”

“– were actual fish a second ago, right?”

“Sweater's not even wet!”

“It is magic,” Nathan said, stunned. “I knew it, I told you it's not Ximena's fault!”

“Ohh, I wanna try!”

“Me next! Me next!”

“Hold on a second!” Mabel called out, jumping to her feet, but it was way too late. People were already crowding around the sweater, shouting and exclaiming and laughing with excitement as it was passed from person to person. She turned to her brother. “Dipper, a little help here?”

“Sweater...changes...abilities...per...user,” Dipper mumbled, scribbling in his quote-unquote “Journal” as fast as he could. She groaned.

“Just ride it out,” Angela advised. “Plus, honestly? It looks like everybody's having a blast.”

Mabel had to admit she was right. Once they got their turn with the sweater people wiggled around, trying to activate the spell.

One girl's hair started changing colors according to her mood, another boy's wristwatch turned into a tiny green garden snake that slithered up to his hair where it curled up and fell asleep. Someone else was suddenly fluent in ASL, with the sweater sleeves growing slightly longer and covering their fingers to shape each sign. There were squeals of excitement and laughter.

Mabel grinned. The sweater was a great way to cheer everybody up!

Except...

She looked around. Something still didn't seem quite right. The growing crowd? No, people were so excited about what the sweater had done for them that no one tried to grab it back; they just shared stories with anyone who'd listen. The squashed fish pastries? No, she could scoop those up for Waddles later, they wouldn't go to waste.

Wait. The squish-fish were the only things on the ground. Where was –

“MY TURN!” Chris shouted. He'd grabbed the sweater and stood in the middle of the crowd, his smile practically a snarl, flexing his fingers. Everyone immediately backed away. The laughter died instantly.

“Oooh, that's not good,” Mabel said.

His grin just got bigger. “Alright, losers, get ready to see what real power can do.”

“Wait!” Mabel shrieked.

But Michael leaned back and cocked an arm. His fingers curled into fists. Angela plunged her hand into her bag. Just as his punch arced through the air, Angela yanked out a rune and shouted.

Something exploded. Wind hit Mabel's face so hard she was knocked back into Dipper, who went crashing into the bench. Sand and grit flew through the air. Mabel scrubbed her eyes and jumped to her feet.

It looked like Chris had been standing in an invisible cylinder which contained the worst of the explosion. All the food and styrofoam trays around him had shot into the air, then rocketed back down, covering him in half-eaten turkey sandwiches, clotted tapioca pudding and Tropicola Juice packets. The people closest to him had been knocked over, too, just out of range of the falling food. Chris stood there, looking stunned, a few drops of ketchup dripping from his bangs.

“What is going on here?!”

Everyone scrambled to their feet. A supervisor hurried over, looking almost as stunned as Chris. “What was that explosion, why are you covered in condiments?! This is not a modern art exhibit!”

“Chris threw the food,” Nathan said, loudly and clearly. “Chris did it. The rest of us were clear of it. He called us losers and told us to see what 'real power' could do.”

“Is that true?”

The rest of the crowd nodded, murmuring their assents, backing away from Chris.

His face turned red. “I didn't – you – this is Mabel's fault!” he shouted.

“No it's not,” Dipper said coldly. “First, she's three yards away. Second, you're completely covered in food; if she'd thrown it at you one side of you would be clean. Third, everybody saw you do it.”

“Straight to the office, I think,” the supervisor said, her voice almost as cold as Dipper's. “I'd like a few students to come along with me and explain what happened.”

Nathan immediately volunteered, as did a couple other students. The rest of the crowd dispersed, quietly and quickly. The supervisor led the Nathan and the others away, with Chris in front, throwing poisonous looks over his shoulder.

“Oh, wait – my sweater!” Mabel cried.

Ximena cleared her throat and Mabel jumped. “Sorry. Just – look up.”

They looked. The sweater had been blown straight up with the rest of the food. It was slowly parachuting down, but as soon as Mabel saw it, one sleeve crumpled under it and it started to fall. She stepped forward and caught it.

Her brother caught the look on her face. “Mabel, c'mon, it's not your fault.”

“It kind of is,” she said in a small voice. “Fashion is supposed to bring people together, not tear them apart!”

“But you said you didn't make the tiny thread part,” Angela pointed out. “Someone else did. I think the tiny stuff made the 'wish' and 'truth' part come to life.”

Ximena looked like she'd been whacked in the face. “What, really? You're saying it – fulfilled our wishes, or something?”

“I guess?”

“That makes sense,” Dipper said thoughtfully. “I mean, Mabel was probably wishing to be warm, which explains why I didn't see her shiver while she was wearing it. I mean, that's what I'd wish for in her class. Plus, did you guys hear that kid with the snake? He kept talking about how he always wanted a little pet he could fit in his pocket.”

“It was an adorable green noodle,” Mabel admitted, feeling a little better. “And everyone was having a lot of fun with it.”

“Except Ximena,” Angela pointed out. “And Chris.”

The four of them were quiet.

Dipper shook his head. “I think we have to get rid of it, Mabel.”

“Wait,” Ximena said suddenly. “Wait, just wait.”

Dipper looked surprised. “But we can't let someone get ahold of power like that. If it hadn't been for Angela's spell, Chris could've really hurt somebody.”

“But that sweater used the wish to float off of him. It didn't do that for anybody else. It can tell the difference between good wishes and bad!”

“It almost got you in trouble, though,” Mabel said.

Ximena hesitated. “It...also kind of helped me out. I just didn't really get it until Angela said that thing about the wishes.”

“You wanted to sneeze bubbles?” Dipper asked.

“No, but – okay, my brother got this lesion on his spine, alright? They removed it but it gave him dissociated sensory loss. Like he can't tell where his body is in space. He's getting therapy for it but it's really discouraging, yesterday he up and quit. He said he hated that he couldn't even feed himself properly, he didn't want his limits thrown in his face.”

Dipper and Angela looked stricken. Mabel's eyes filled with tears.

“That's – that's awful,” she whispered.

“Yeah, but here's my point – I'd been sitting in class this morning thinking about him, I didn't even notice that I'd put on somebody else's sweater until bubbles started coming out of my nose. And then just now it hit me! My brother and I used to play bubbles all the time when we were little, we had those bubble kits and everything! If I got them out again, the bubbles would help him practice moving around, but it wouldn't be physical therapy. It'd just be us playing like we used to!”

Mabel squealed and threw both arms around Ximena. Ximena, who was not used to the power of Mabel Hugs, promptly landed on her but.

“Ximena that's so beautiful!”

“Uh – thank you? Also ow.”

“Yeah, you're pretty much stuck until she decides to let go,” Dipper told her. “She's like a koala. Also, the bubble idea sounds perfect. Let us know if we can help.”

“Yeah!” Mabel broke away and pulled Ximena to her feet. “We could have a bubble party! With bubble wands the size of our heads! And giant hamster balls so that we could pretend we were literally in the bubbles!”

“I would go to that,” Angela said immediately.

Ximena laughed. “You know, I might take you up on that when Leon's feeling better, thanks. So, the sweater?”

“KEEPING IT!” Mabel shouted.

“Yeah, okay, keeping it,” Dipper agreed. “Ximena is right, this sweater helped people. We'll save it for a rainy day. We just need to be careful about who uses it, but this thing could still come in handy.”

Mabel's face broke into a wide grin. “Excellent! I have the perfect hiding spot for it!”

“Mabel, you cannot label your craft box 'perfect hiding spot' solely to keep saying that.”

“I CAN AND I WILL!”

#monthofmaybel2019 #week 1 #sweaters #magic sweater #grants wishes #mayhem ensues