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"Mabel, this is stupid."
It often felt like that was the mantra of Dipper's life. He was at least 90% convinced they'd end up being his final words, at any rate. Surprisingly though, he wasn't the one who said them this time.
"Shush! No back-talk! It's Therapy Day!" Mabel scolded her friend cheerfully, making both the blue-eyed girl and Dipper grimace.
Therapy Day. That was what Mabel had taken to calling Thursdays lately, which had become the personal hell of both Dani and Dipper. Somehow, Mabel had gotten it into her head that she could make Dani and Dipper more friendly towards each other by forcing them into each other's company for three hours a day and making them do ridiculous things that were supposed to make them understand each other better, such as handcuffing them both to an angry goose or imposing a rule that they were only allowed to insult each other if it was in limerick form. Of course, it was no surprise that both Dani and Dipper now tried to make themselves scarce on Thursdays, but Mabel somehow had ways of tracking them down no matter where they tried to hide.
Thankfully, today's challenge wasn't going to be as painful as the goose one, but it had managed to surpass the limerick thing in terms of silliness.
"Seriously, Mabel." Dipper agreed, frowning at his sister. "How is exchanging hats supposed to make us friends?"
"It's to help you get inside each other's heads." Mabel explained in her 'I know best, now do as I say' voice.
"I could do that even without the stupid hat. Mabes, remember?" Dani scoffed.
…Wait, what?
"No, none of that!" Mabel scowled. "You know the rules, Dani. Especially as far as THAT is concerned." Dipper looked between the girls in confusion as Dani rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Dipper couldn't quite catch what she said, but it sounded like something about it being easier to be over a shadow.
Not for the first time, Dipper wondered if his sister's friend was insane.
"Right then!" Mabel said cheerfully as she took up her usual spot in the spinning office chair with her clipboard (which Dipper was sure didn't have anything substantial written down on it and was just filled with his sister's nonsensical doodles). "Like I said, I switched your guys' hats so you can get a better feel for what it's like to be in the other's head. Dipper, you first. What does Dani's head feel like?
"Way too warm and uncomfortably itchy." Dipper answered. Dani didn't have head lice or something, did she?
"Dipper!" Mabel said disapprovingly with a glare at her brother.
"What? You asked!" Dipper defended himself. Mabel's glare hardened for a minute before she sighed in a long-suffering sort of way.
"Alright, never mind that then." Mabel said grudgingly. "Dani, I want you to ask Dipper a question about how he sees you."
"Do I have to?" Dani whined.
"You know the penalty for not completing Therapy Day, Dani." Mabel warned her friend, earning a wince before Dani sagged in defeat and turned to face Dipper.
"Fine, fine!" She sighed. "So Porcupine, do I look as dorky as you do wearing this hat or what?"
"Dani!" Mabel groaned.
"What? It's a legitimate question, isn't it?" Dani asked, hands on her hips. Dipper rolled his eyes before turning to look at Dani a little more carefully.
Straight away he noticed how well his hat suited Dani. Somehow, it looked even better on the tomboy then it did on him. Then again, this really shouldn't have been that surprising, since Dani was a cute girl. Even though he didn't like her and found her to be kind of a jerk sometimes, Dipper could at least admit that much to himself. But being cute was no where near enough to excuse her personality, especially when he so often caught her using her looks to help her sweet talk people into buying her free food. He was pretty confident she hadn't bought a single meal for herself since coming to Gravity Falls, and he was sure she scammed people into paying for her before she came to town, too. Dipper wanted to scream every time he saw her putting on her cute act to get strangers to cover her bill, lying to their faces and showering them with charm.
At least girls like Pacifica had the decency to be upfront with the fact that they were snobs and jerks. Dipper never felt like he could trust Dani after seeing how good she could be at acting when she put her mind to it.
"Well?" Dani prompted impatiently. "Do I look like a dork or not?" For a brief second, Dipper considered lying- he definitely didn't want to be responsible for inflating Dani's ego any more then it already was- But the knowledge that he'd be punished by Mabel if he got caught made him decide against it.
"No." Dipper answered flatly. "It looks good on you." Even though it was technically a compliment, his words were said without any of the emotions that usually accompanied praise. Still, no one could deny that he was being honest. Dipper was faintly surprised to see naked astonishment flash across Dani's face upon hearing Dipper's words. He always figured she was pretty confident in her looks, given all the times she scored herself free meals with them, but she seemed completely taken aback at Dipper's praise.
"Good, good!" Mabel said, clearly happy that her brother had managed to say something that wasn't an insult to her friend. "Now Dani, what do you think of Dipper wearing your hat?"
Okay, here it comes… Dipper thought, bracing himself for whatever mockery Dani could come up with. She was probably going to say something about the size of his head or-
"Honestly? He kinda looks like a Hobo."
-or that.
"Excuse me?" Dipper scowled. "It's your stupid hat!"
"Yeah, but I don't look like a Hobo wearing it." Dani pointed out. "You do." Dipper glared at that. He should've lied and said his hat made her head look fat or something.
"Mabel, isn't that against the rules of Therapy Day or something?" he complained to his sister, hoping to get the girl in trouble. He was a little surprised to find his sister giving him a funny look when he turned to hear her judgement. "Mabel?"
"Oh, um… sorry it's just… now that she mentioned it, I kinda see it too." Mabel confessed.
…What?
Turning, Dipper studied his reflection in a nearby mirror, eyes widening in horror when he realized that they were right. His cheeks burned red as he heard Dani snicker quietly to herself under her breath before he hastily yanked the red cap off of his head and threw it at the blue eyed girl before storming out of the room, ignoring his sister's cries of protests.
If Mabel really thought that he and Dani could ever be friends, then she was absolutely nuts.

Description

"Mabel, this is stupid."
It often felt like that was the mantra of Dipper's life. He was at least 90% convinced they'd end up being his final words, at any rate. Surprisingly though, he wasn't the one who said them this time.
"Shush! No back-talk! It's Therapy Day!" Mabel scolded her friend cheerfully, making both the blue-eyed girl and Dipper grimace.
Therapy Day. That was what Mabel had taken to calling Thursdays lately, which had become the personal hell of both Dani and Dipper. Somehow, Mabel had gotten it into her head that she could make Dani and Dipper more friendly towards each other by forcing them into each other's company for three hours a day and making them do ridiculous things that were supposed to make them understand each other better, such as handcuffing them both to an angry goose or imposing a rule that they were only allowed to insult each other if it was in limerick form. Of course, it was no surprise that both Dani and Dipper now tried to make themselves scarce on Thursdays, but Mabel somehow had ways of tracking them down no matter where they tried to hide.
Thankfully, today's challenge wasn't going to be as painful as the goose one, but it had managed to surpass the limerick thing in terms of silliness.
"Seriously, Mabel." Dipper agreed, frowning at his sister. "How is exchanging hats supposed to make us friends?"
"It's to help you get inside each other's heads." Mabel explained in her 'I know best, now do as I say' voice.
"I could do that even without the stupid hat. Mabes, remember?" Dani scoffed.
…Wait, what?
"No, none of that!" Mabel scowled. "You know the rules, Dani. Especially as far as THAT is concerned." Dipper looked between the girls in confusion as Dani rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Dipper couldn't quite catch what she said, but it sounded like something about it being easier to be over a shadow.
Not for the first time, Dipper wondered if his sister's friend was insane.
"Right then!" Mabel said cheerfully as she took up her usual spot in the spinning office chair with her clipboard (which Dipper was sure didn't have anything substantial written down on it and was just filled with his sister's nonsensical doodles). "Like I said, I switched your guys' hats so you can get a better feel for what it's like to be in the other's head. Dipper, you first. What does Dani's head feel like?
"Way too warm and uncomfortably itchy." Dipper answered. Dani didn't have head lice or something, did she?
"Dipper!" Mabel said disapprovingly with a glare at her brother.
"What? You asked!" Dipper defended himself. Mabel's glare hardened for a minute before she sighed in a long-suffering sort of way.
"Alright, never mind that then." Mabel said grudgingly. "Dani, I want you to ask Dipper a question about how he sees you."
"Do I have to?" Dani whined.
"You know the penalty for not completing Therapy Day, Dani." Mabel warned her friend, earning a wince before Dani sagged in defeat and turned to face Dipper.
"Fine, fine!" She sighed. "So Porcupine, do I look as dorky as you do wearing this hat or what?"
"Dani!" Mabel groaned.
"What? It's a legitimate question, isn't it?" Dani asked, hands on her hips. Dipper rolled his eyes before turning to look at Dani a little more carefully.
Straight away he noticed how well his hat suited Dani. Somehow, it looked even better on the tomboy then it did on him. Then again, this really shouldn't have been that surprising, since Dani was a cute girl. Even though he didn't like her and found her to be kind of a jerk sometimes, Dipper could at least admit that much to himself. But being cute was no where near enough to excuse her personality, especially when he so often caught her using her looks to help her sweet talk people into buying her free food. He was pretty confident she hadn't bought a single meal for herself since coming to Gravity Falls, and he was sure she scammed people into paying for her before she came to town, too. Dipper wanted to scream every time he saw her putting on her cute act to get strangers to cover her bill, lying to their faces and showering them with charm.
At least girls like Pacifica had the decency to be upfront with the fact that they were snobs and jerks. Dipper never felt like he could trust Dani after seeing how good she could be at acting when she put her mind to it.
"Well?" Dani prompted impatiently. "Do I look like a dork or not?" For a brief second, Dipper considered lying- he definitely didn't want to be responsible for inflating Dani's ego any more then it already was- But the knowledge that he'd be punished by Mabel if he got caught made him decide against it.
"No." Dipper answered flatly. "It looks good on you." Even though it was technically a compliment, his words were said without any of the emotions that usually accompanied praise. Still, no one could deny that he was being honest. Dipper was faintly surprised to see naked astonishment flash across Dani's face upon hearing Dipper's words. He always figured she was pretty confident in her looks, given all the times she scored herself free meals with them, but she seemed completely taken aback at Dipper's praise.
"Good, good!" Mabel said, clearly happy that her brother had managed to say something that wasn't an insult to her friend. "Now Dani, what do you think of Dipper wearing your hat?"
Okay, here it comes… Dipper thought, bracing himself for whatever mockery Dani could come up with. She was probably going to say something about the size of his head or-
"Honestly? He kinda looks like a Hobo."
-or that.
"Excuse me?" Dipper scowled. "It's your stupid hat!"
"Yeah, but I don't look like a Hobo wearing it." Dani pointed out. "You do." Dipper glared at that. He should've lied and said his hat made her head look fat or something.
"Mabel, isn't that against the rules of Therapy Day or something?" he complained to his sister, hoping to get the girl in trouble. He was a little surprised to find his sister giving him a funny look when he turned to hear her judgement. "Mabel?"
"Oh, um… sorry it's just… now that she mentioned it, I kinda see it too." Mabel confessed.
…What?
Turning, Dipper studied his reflection in a nearby mirror, eyes widening in horror when he realized that they were right. His cheeks burned red as he heard Dani snicker quietly to herself under her breath before he hastily yanked the red cap off of his head and threw it at the blue eyed girl before storming out of the room, ignoring his sister's cries of protests.
If Mabel really thought that he and Dani could ever be friends, then she was absolutely nuts.