Normally, Alice would have expected the atmosphere to turn awkward, but she found herself anticipating something. She turned to Ford, a smile crossing her face.

"Good job calculating how much we needed to save the cakes," She told him, letting her hands fall to the belt of her apron.

Ford chuckled, leaning back against the counter, "Oh, I just eyeballed it and adjusted on the batter's viscosity, no calculation required. I couldn't let all our hard work go to waste after you suggested salvaging it."

"There is something I don't get," Alice prodded, her brow raised. "You wanted to start over?"

"Well-" He paused, pressing his lips together. "Well, I had a plan in mind. We were going to quintuple the recipe, and now it's more like... Octuple. But this was the better route to take, now that I think about it, that was the last of our flour."

Alice shook her head, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Wait, damn." Ford suddenly swore. "Stanley needs flour for pancakes this week."

"Do you think he'd take cupcakes for breakfast instead?" Alice asked, leaning against her section of the counter. "We'll have plenty to spare."

"Knowing him?" Ford said with a chuckle. "I think the probability is very high."

Alice was about to speak, leaning in to continue the conversation, when Mabel suddenly re-entered the room. Carrying a cardboard box stuffed to the brim with bright packets of Explosion Rocks.

"I'm back!" She singsonged cheerfully. "Alright, let's add these puppies in and make some cupcake magic!"

Alice exchanged a glance with Ford and began to help Mabel decant the rocks into the batter. His eyes focused on her as she shook the last packet into the bowl: knowing very well that the consumer of the cupcakes would get a surprise when the candy blew up in their mouths. Then it was time to split the batter and marble them in the pan. The three colors that Mabel chose matched her theme, deep purple, blue, and pink.

"Are we going to find out what the theme is?" Alice asked her, blowing her hair from her eyes. "Or do we have to figure it out?"

"Nope," Mabel grinned. "Now let's get these in the oven."

Ford lifted one of the trays and stuck it in the oven to bake. There was still plenty of batter in the mixing bowl: they'd barely scratched the surface with the first batch.

"Now time for the best part!" Mabel grinned, holding up two piping bags. "Frosting!"

"What kind?" Alice asked, hesitant of the answer.

"It's not what kind do we have, Alice," Mabel explained, presenting another recipe card. "It's what kind we are making."

Oh boy, Alice thought as an exasperated look crossed Ford's face. They were lucky that the frosting was easier to make than the batter. When Alice and Mabel separated the sugary results into a few different bowls for coloring, the first batch of cupcakes was out of the oven and cooling. And as Mabel put it, the cupcakes were ready to be "Mabel-fied", Ford grinning as he began to dye a bowl of icing bright pink.

Decorating the cupcakes was the most fun part of the afternoon.

The trio sat around the kitchen table, Mabel purposefully sitting Alice and Ford next to each other, while she took the remaining spot. Alice focused a little harder on designs than intended, enjoying herself if she was honest. Mabel finally revealed the theme to be in outer space as they worked on the cupcakes because space was "FULL OR ROMANCE" and "THIS WAY I CAN SAY THEIR COMPATIBILITY IS OUT OF THIS WORLD". So they covered the marbled cupcakes in galaxy-worthy combinations of colored frosting.

Ford, to put it simply, was delighted by the theme. Alice was sure the constellations he painstakingly iced on the last 25 cupcakes would pass as an illustration in a stargazer's guide. In the middle of completing his second Orion, Ford managed to get icing on his face. A drip of blue somehow made it onto his chin, probably from 'testing' the icing to make sure it was good.

Mabel kicked her under the table, and Alice let out a hiss of pain, as she nodded at her Grunkle, giving her a look that Ford missed. He wiped most of the icing off, but there was a streak of blue across his cheek. Alice leaned over, her thumb brushing across his cheek. Mabel watched them expectantly, but Alice wasn't sure she had the guts to do what Mabel wanted to happen. 

And I'm not convinced Ford is ready for it either.

"Here, hold still-" Alice told Ford as she reached for a napkin and gently wiped the streak away, hoping he didn't notice how hard her hands were shaking. He seemed to be just as aware as Alice, and she couldn't ignore how his gaze dropped from her eyes to her lips as she inched close to wipe the icing away. "There, I... I got it."

"Oh-" Ford muttered, his face as red as his sweater. "Thank you, Alice."

Eventually, the trio finished decorating over a hundred cupcakes. Looking at them all lined out on the counter, Alice could see the degrading quality as she, Ford, and Mabel got wor out. The last few only have frosting in solid colors, and star-shaped sprinkles thrown over the top.

"I can't believe we're finally done," Alice sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes-" Ford agreed, his eyes focused on the cupcakes. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I've had enough of the night sky to last me the rest of the week."

"Oh ho! But we're not done!" Mabel suddenly grinned, peppy as she had been all day, even though she had to be as tired as Alice and Ford. "There's just one last thing to do."

"Clean up?" Ford suggested almost hopefully. "Because we have a huge mess here-"

"No, Grunkle Ford, more important than that! More urgent, more desperately needed!" Alice and Ford exchanged perplexed looks.

"What could that be?" Ford asked, his voice laced with hesitation.

"The glitter!" Mabel looked shocked at his lack of knowledge as she drew out a sizeable tub of blue edible glitter that had been sitting in the back corner of the counter. Alice held out her hand, once again, resigned to her face as Mabel poured a handful into her palm. Alice was sure to sprinkle the stuff liberally over each cupcake.

The only one to hesitate was Ford, who shooed away glittering gradients to keep his pristine work clear of it. Mabel always came in after him to fill the blanks so the whole thing sparkled. Soon enough, the tub was left nearly empty.

"Great!" Mabel grinned, her hands on her hips as she stared over the cupcakes. "All of these are ready for the party. Except this one's for Dipper, this one's for Grunkle Stan, this one's for Waddles..."

Mabel placed the exception to the side, and when she was done, Alice grabbed a cupcake, her reward for the afternoon's work. The trip tapped them together in a pseudo-toast and devoured their treats. They tasted odd, but that was what made them amazing. 

A good, if not perfect, cupcake.

Mabel stretched and yawned dramatically before grabbing the plate of cupcakes that had been set aside.

"Well- I better get these out to the boys," Mabel said with a grin. "You know how Grunkle Stan gets when he smells something cooking and doesn't get a taste!"

Alice wasn't quite sure she did, but Ford's nod must have made it true.

"Aaaanyway," Mabel drawled out, sending a wink and a finger gun as she started. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. Thanks for the help- And you're welcome for my help!"

Alice felt her heart freeze in her chest as Ford looked at Mabel's exit, an unreadable look on his face, before facing her.

"I-" Alice started, taking a deep breath. "You see-"

"I know what's going on," Ford said with a sigh. "This isn't the first time Mabel's tried to 'find my match'."

There was a feeling inside her chest, something akin to relief and confusion. Bewilderment?

"I suppose she's at that age where kids are thinking about romance and... And dating," He elaborated with a wave of his hand. "Stanley and I are just two of her recent subjects for those compatibility experiments. Last time, Mabel reached out to Mermando to set me up with a merman. She didn't tell me what kind of situation it was, so I unknowingly grilled him with enough scientific queries about merpeople to send him back underwater."

Alice held back a snort as Ford gave her a small, genuine smile.

"But I can't say it's all been bad-" Ford confessed. "After all, I haven't managed to repeat that kind of mistake yet here."

"Well..." Alice breathed out, her heart suddenly clenching in her chest. "How do you think this match is going?"

Ford shrugged, though he was sporting a light blush, "I think this one has potential."

Alice glanced away, a smile crossing her face that she knew was goofy and red. She took in the disaster scene of the kitchen, since Mabel conveniently had other things to do, she'd left Alice and Ford with clean-up duty. Ford rolled up his sleeves and adjusted his glasses.

"Come on," He smiled at her. "Let's get this kitchen cleaned up."