HOME | DD

Description

“So, what kind of clothes do you like to wear, Mayor? Outside of work, of course.”

“It has to be… white and green gingham plaid!”

“Ugh! Nobody wants ‘the Mable special’ no matter how hard you keep trying!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sisters’ bickering.
“The Mable special?” I said, “is that really what you call it?”

“It’s not the only thing I call that!” she winked in a very peculiar way. Sable told her to cut it out but I didn’t get it.

“So, when does that fancy shmancy sewing machine arrive?” I asked Sable, almost envious that the modest business women were able to invest in something so expensive.

“Oh, they’ve had to delay it until after the Toy Day season,” Sable rolled her eyes. “Oh well. I suppose these things can’t be helped.”

“When we first met,” I chuckled, “I don’t think you would have been so forgiving, Sable.”

Sable looked embarrassed. “I… wasn’t exactly in the best head space a year ago. I’m doing better though, so don’t worry about me.”

“You sure?” I asked, “because, well, between you and me… I wasn’t sure how well you’d be taking…” I checked around the store before finishing, “...your sister and shoe boy…”

Sable gave me a very Sable look. “Well, you’re right to assume that I might not be exactly all for it.” She paused. “To tell you the truth, I’m not happy about it at all.”

“Knew it!” I cheered, fistbumping. “I mean– oh no, really? Why not?”

Sable had barely opened her mouth when Alice entered the store. I waved her over after Mabel performed her usual greeting ritual.

“Alice! You’re just in time, my friend from down under.”

Alice approached Sable and I, perhaps a bit cautiously.
“Hello you two,” she nodded. “In time for what, Mayor?”

“Our good friend Sable Able was just about to explain why her sister shouldn’t have a skunk for a boyfriend!”

Sable was quick to respond. “What? It’s not the fact that he’s a skunk that I’m bothered about.”

“Oh sure,” I said, “but it’s obviously a concern, right?”

“Why would it be?” Alice asked me, shooting daggers.

“W-Well,” I stammered, “you know what they’re like…”

Their silence said otherwise.

“Anyway!” I was quick to proclaim, “I’m sure it has a lot to do with how Labelle is barely at work these days, right?”

“Something like that,” Sable muttered. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she didn’t want to talk about her personal family drama with me. “We got Tom and his crew to add that whole other section of the store once we heard that she was coming back from the city. And now look at it. Gathering dust.”

“I wiped it down this morning~!” Mabel added in a teasing voice. Sable responded with a sarcastic smirk.

“Well,” started Alice, “it’s not my position to say really, but I think it’s good that Labelle has been able to find a source of comfort in a place she’s not familiar with so quickly.”

“And her sisters don’t fill that role?” I asked her.

Alice shrugged. “They’ve clearly had their disputes.”

“And who's to blame for that?”

“It can hardly be all of Labelle’s fault, can it?”

“Are you two done gossiping about my sister right in front of me?” Sable asked through clenched teeth. “It’s none of your business and, quite frankly, I can’t stand the fact that you’ve both clearly been talking about it before.”

“Yeah,” I said, solemnly, “but Alice is in the wrong though, right?”

“Why are you always so eager to beat me in an argument?” Alice frowned. “And, I’m sorry Sable, but I just don’t agree with your attitude.”

“That’s fine,” Sable said to her with a blank expression. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion anyway.”

Alice looked blown back. “I was just…”

The door of the accessory department chimed open before Alice had the chance to dwell on her humiliating defeat, and with it entered the giggling pair in question. We all watched as Labelle and Kicks made their way into the main part of the shop. Once they noticed us staring, they came to a halt.

“What’s… going on?” Labelle asked.

“We were just talking about you!” I replied, to which Alice nudged me hard on my arm.

“Really?” Labelle raised an eyebrow and set her sights onto her older sister. “And here I was thinking that you were above gossiping.”

“Nobody would have anything to gossip about,” Sable growled, “if you hadn’t insisted on making so many scenes lately!”

“You act like I’m the instigator!” Labelle bit back. “If you weren’t so bitter and sorry for yourself then we wouldn’t have a reason to fight!”

Alice and I edged ourselves away from the heat of battle.
“Nice going…” Alice quietly scolded.

“Don’t look at me,” I whispered, “if you weren’t such a hopeless romantic, we could have backed up Sable.”

“I don’t want to back up Sable!” she murmured, the sisterly squabble still ongoing. “Maybe right now she’ll finally see reason and… wait, what do you mean? ‘Hopeless romantic’? What are you getting at?”

“What?” I asked, “It’s cuz you’re so eager to see young love blossom before your eyes, duh.”

“Oh, right,” she sighed, looking oddly relieved for some reason. “Hey! I’m young too, y’know! How old do you even think I am?”

“Uh…” Using my better judgement, I decided to not tell her that I thought she was going through a midlife crisis. “Shh! We’re missing the drama!”

We turned our attention back to the hedgehogs, with the blue one speeding in to try and establish some peace.

“Girls! Come on now! This is all so petty and it has to stop!” she pleaded. “Would mom and dad have wanted you two fighting like this?”

“Mable…” Sable said, sympathetically, “please don’t use the parent card now.”

“That’s right, Mabe,” Labelle added. “Sable doesn’t like being reminded of the past. That’s why seeing me actually manage to hold a relationship together brings her blood to a boil.”

At this, Sable stood up from her stool and looked about ready to bite her sister’s head off! Labelle as well was all too prepared to start slashing had it not been for Kicks there to hold her back.

“Alice, I hate this,” I admitted, “but I can’t look away.”

“I hate it too. What was Labelle saying just then?" she pondered. "I wonder who–”

The shop’s front door signalled that yet another confused face was about to enter the scene. This time it was none other than Tom Nook. The fighting stopped for a moment and, after analysing the performance before him with those round, tired eyes of his, Tom sighed.

“Oh dear…”

Sable looked positively crestfallen at the sight of him.
“T-Tom,” she whimpered, “Sorry… this really isn’t a good time…”

“I think it might be as good a time as any, hm?” he replied. He gave me and Alice a nod before addressing the sisters. “I can already tell where this argument has gone. You’ve had plenty of them just like it already, yes? It has to come to an end now. It’s time for some compromises to be put into action. Yes, yes.”

Tears started to roll down Labelle’s cheek. Just a year ago, I had never seen her emote at all. It was freaky and sad in equal measure.

“It’s not fair…” she said, meekly, “just because you don’t trust relationships anymore, you have to take away the one good thing from when I was in the city.”

“No!” Sable cried, much less aggressively now. “That’s not what I want at all! I want you to be happy, Label. You’re my sister and I promised to take care of you.” She sniffed, her own waterworks kicking into gear. “It’s just that I thought… We welcomed you back with open arms. I wanted - WE wanted - to start fresh, to forget everything that happened before. But despite giving you so much to find your footing here in Place, you stayed distant… you didn’t want anything to do with us. And I was just afraid… I was just afraid of losing you again.”

Labelle, or Label as Sable kept calling her, couldn’t reply despite how much she clearly wanted to. She stood away from everyone to collect her thoughts for a moment. Everyone took a breather at that point. Even Alice and I, who had been rooted to our spot for quite some time, relaxed our muscles as the tension eased up. I found Tom was looking at me.

“She started it,” I told him.

Kicks, who had at this point been rather quiet, finally spoke up.
“If I may just say somethin’, Miss Able?” he asked Sable, taking off his hat. “When I was but a shoe cleaner in the big city, I didn’t have as much as a shirt on me back. They weren’t happy days, but… Label made them brighter. She was kind to me, Miss. I found myself stood at that same spot just to see her every night.”

Labelle walked up and held his hand. Kicks continued.
“I’ll admit, I moved to Place hoping that I’d find her again. That and, you know, it was quite cheap to set up shop ‘ere. No offence, Mr Mayor.”

“None taken, pal.”

“What I’m saying is,” Kicks concluded, “your sister is a beautiful person. I love her. I really do. These last few months have been some of the happiest I can remember. She knows she should be in the shop more often. I remind ‘er all the time! But nothing she does is done out of malice.”

Sable sighed. “I know,” she smiled, “I know.” She turned to her sister. “Label, I–”

“I’m sorry!” Labelle said first and fell into her sister’s arms. Mabel joined the two of them in a very teary (and very prickly) group hug. Tom approached Kicks to credit him for the well worded speech, leaving Alice and I by ourselves.

“We should go,” Alice suggested.

We snuck out and stood outside the shop for a moment, taking a deep breath of the cool, December Main Street air.

“They’re gonna be okay then?” I asked Alice as if she had all the answers.

“I should hope so,” she said. “I wonder though… do you think Tom and Sable…?”

“Those two? Nah. No way. Believe me, I looked into it.”

“Really?”

“Really. I mean, I asked Phyllis one night and she was just rude to me so I gave up.” A moment of quiet passed. “Speaking of rude…” I mustered the strength to admit, “I’m sorry for being so confrontational and everything. You know, about the whole Labelle thing.”

“I’m sorry too,” Alice sighed, “we’ve survived worse though, haven’t we?”

That we had.

~Author’s Notes~
I can never draw the Able Sisters in a way I’m satisfied with. It’s those quills, man. I’m gonna have to practise. Anyway, I really found myself running away with this episode. I know it’s quite long, but given its relevance to the story and how easy the dialogue came to me, I hope it doesn’t come off as too much or anything.

Next>
Prev>

Description

“So, what kind of clothes do you like to wear, Mayor? Outside of work, of course.”

“It has to be… white and green gingham plaid!”

“Ugh! Nobody wants ‘the Mable special’ no matter how hard you keep trying!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sisters’ bickering.
“The Mable special?” I said, “is that really what you call it?”

“It’s not the only thing I call that!” she winked in a very peculiar way. Sable told her to cut it out but I didn’t get it.

“So, when does that fancy shmancy sewing machine arrive?” I asked Sable, almost envious that the modest business women were able to invest in something so expensive.

“Oh, they’ve had to delay it until after the Toy Day season,” Sable rolled her eyes. “Oh well. I suppose these things can’t be helped.”

“When we first met,” I chuckled, “I don’t think you would have been so forgiving, Sable.”

Sable looked embarrassed. “I… wasn’t exactly in the best head space a year ago. I’m doing better though, so don’t worry about me.”

“You sure?” I asked, “because, well, between you and me… I wasn’t sure how well you’d be taking…” I checked around the store before finishing, “...your sister and shoe boy…”

Sable gave me a very Sable look. “Well, you’re right to assume that I might not be exactly all for it.” She paused. “To tell you the truth, I’m not happy about it at all.”

“Knew it!” I cheered, fistbumping. “I mean– oh no, really? Why not?”

Sable had barely opened her mouth when Alice entered the store. I waved her over after Mabel performed her usual greeting ritual.

“Alice! You’re just in time, my friend from down under.”

Alice approached Sable and I, perhaps a bit cautiously.
“Hello you two,” she nodded. “In time for what, Mayor?”

“Our good friend Sable Able was just about to explain why her sister shouldn’t have a skunk for a boyfriend!”

Sable was quick to respond. “What? It’s not the fact that he’s a skunk that I’m bothered about.”

“Oh sure,” I said, “but it’s obviously a concern, right?”

“Why would it be?” Alice asked me, shooting daggers.

“W-Well,” I stammered, “you know what they’re like…”

Their silence said otherwise.

“Anyway!” I was quick to proclaim, “I’m sure it has a lot to do with how Labelle is barely at work these days, right?”

“Something like that,” Sable muttered. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she didn’t want to talk about her personal family drama with me. “We got Tom and his crew to add that whole other section of the store once we heard that she was coming back from the city. And now look at it. Gathering dust.”

“I wiped it down this morning~!” Mabel added in a teasing voice. Sable responded with a sarcastic smirk.

“Well,” started Alice, “it’s not my position to say really, but I think it’s good that Labelle has been able to find a source of comfort in a place she’s not familiar with so quickly.”

“And her sisters don’t fill that role?” I asked her.

Alice shrugged. “They’ve clearly had their disputes.”

“And who's to blame for that?”

“It can hardly be all of Labelle’s fault, can it?”

“Are you two done gossiping about my sister right in front of me?” Sable asked through clenched teeth. “It’s none of your business and, quite frankly, I can’t stand the fact that you’ve both clearly been talking about it before.”

“Yeah,” I said, solemnly, “but Alice is in the wrong though, right?”

“Why are you always so eager to beat me in an argument?” Alice frowned. “And, I’m sorry Sable, but I just don’t agree with your attitude.”

“That’s fine,” Sable said to her with a blank expression. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion anyway.”

Alice looked blown back. “I was just…”

The door of the accessory department chimed open before Alice had the chance to dwell on her humiliating defeat, and with it entered the giggling pair in question. We all watched as Labelle and Kicks made their way into the main part of the shop. Once they noticed us staring, they came to a halt.

“What’s… going on?” Labelle asked.

“We were just talking about you!” I replied, to which Alice nudged me hard on my arm.

“Really?” Labelle raised an eyebrow and set her sights onto her older sister. “And here I was thinking that you were above gossiping.”

“Nobody would have anything to gossip about,” Sable growled, “if you hadn’t insisted on making so many scenes lately!”

“You act like I’m the instigator!” Labelle bit back. “If you weren’t so bitter and sorry for yourself then we wouldn’t have a reason to fight!”

Alice and I edged ourselves away from the heat of battle.
“Nice going…” Alice quietly scolded.

“Don’t look at me,” I whispered, “if you weren’t such a hopeless romantic, we could have backed up Sable.”

“I don’t want to back up Sable!” she murmured, the sisterly squabble still ongoing. “Maybe right now she’ll finally see reason and… wait, what do you mean? ‘Hopeless romantic’? What are you getting at?”

“What?” I asked, “It’s cuz you’re so eager to see young love blossom before your eyes, duh.”

“Oh, right,” she sighed, looking oddly relieved for some reason. “Hey! I’m young too, y’know! How old do you even think I am?”

“Uh…” Using my better judgement, I decided to not tell her that I thought she was going through a midlife crisis. “Shh! We’re missing the drama!”

We turned our attention back to the hedgehogs, with the blue one speeding in to try and establish some peace.

“Girls! Come on now! This is all so petty and it has to stop!” she pleaded. “Would mom and dad have wanted you two fighting like this?”

“Mable…” Sable said, sympathetically, “please don’t use the parent card now.”

“That’s right, Mabe,” Labelle added. “Sable doesn’t like being reminded of the past. That’s why seeing me actually manage to hold a relationship together brings her blood to a boil.”

At this, Sable stood up from her stool and looked about ready to bite her sister’s head off! Labelle as well was all too prepared to start slashing had it not been for Kicks there to hold her back.

“Alice, I hate this,” I admitted, “but I can’t look away.”

“I hate it too. What was Labelle saying just then?" she pondered. "I wonder who–”

The shop’s front door signalled that yet another confused face was about to enter the scene. This time it was none other than Tom Nook. The fighting stopped for a moment and, after analysing the performance before him with those round, tired eyes of his, Tom sighed.

“Oh dear…”

Sable looked positively crestfallen at the sight of him.
“T-Tom,” she whimpered, “Sorry… this really isn’t a good time…”

“I think it might be as good a time as any, hm?” he replied. He gave me and Alice a nod before addressing the sisters. “I can already tell where this argument has gone. You’ve had plenty of them just like it already, yes? It has to come to an end now. It’s time for some compromises to be put into action. Yes, yes.”

Tears started to roll down Labelle’s cheek. Just a year ago, I had never seen her emote at all. It was freaky and sad in equal measure.

“It’s not fair…” she said, meekly, “just because you don’t trust relationships anymore, you have to take away the one good thing from when I was in the city.”

“No!” Sable cried, much less aggressively now. “That’s not what I want at all! I want you to be happy, Label. You’re my sister and I promised to take care of you.” She sniffed, her own waterworks kicking into gear. “It’s just that I thought… We welcomed you back with open arms. I wanted - WE wanted - to start fresh, to forget everything that happened before. But despite giving you so much to find your footing here in Place, you stayed distant… you didn’t want anything to do with us. And I was just afraid… I was just afraid of losing you again.”

Labelle, or Label as Sable kept calling her, couldn’t reply despite how much she clearly wanted to. She stood away from everyone to collect her thoughts for a moment. Everyone took a breather at that point. Even Alice and I, who had been rooted to our spot for quite some time, relaxed our muscles as the tension eased up. I found Tom was looking at me.

“She started it,” I told him.

Kicks, who had at this point been rather quiet, finally spoke up.
“If I may just say somethin’, Miss Able?” he asked Sable, taking off his hat. “When I was but a shoe cleaner in the big city, I didn’t have as much as a shirt on me back. They weren’t happy days, but… Label made them brighter. She was kind to me, Miss. I found myself stood at that same spot just to see her every night.”

Labelle walked up and held his hand. Kicks continued.
“I’ll admit, I moved to Place hoping that I’d find her again. That and, you know, it was quite cheap to set up shop ‘ere. No offence, Mr Mayor.”

“None taken, pal.”

“What I’m saying is,” Kicks concluded, “your sister is a beautiful person. I love her. I really do. These last few months have been some of the happiest I can remember. She knows she should be in the shop more often. I remind ‘er all the time! But nothing she does is done out of malice.”

Sable sighed. “I know,” she smiled, “I know.” She turned to her sister. “Label, I–”

“I’m sorry!” Labelle said first and fell into her sister’s arms. Mabel joined the two of them in a very teary (and very prickly) group hug. Tom approached Kicks to credit him for the well worded speech, leaving Alice and I by ourselves.

“We should go,” Alice suggested.

We snuck out and stood outside the shop for a moment, taking a deep breath of the cool, December Main Street air.

“They’re gonna be okay then?” I asked Alice as if she had all the answers.

“I should hope so,” she said. “I wonder though… do you think Tom and Sable…?”

“Those two? Nah. No way. Believe me, I looked into it.”

“Really?”

“Really. I mean, I asked Phyllis one night and she was just rude to me so I gave up.” A moment of quiet passed. “Speaking of rude…” I mustered the strength to admit, “I’m sorry for being so confrontational and everything. You know, about the whole Labelle thing.”

“I’m sorry too,” Alice sighed, “we’ve survived worse though, haven’t we?”

That we had.

~Author’s Notes~
I can never draw the Able Sisters in a way I’m satisfied with. It’s those quills, man. I’m gonna have to practise. Anyway, I really found myself running away with this episode. I know it’s quite long, but given its relevance to the story and how easy the dialogue came to me, I hope it doesn’t come off as too much or anything.

Next>
Prev>