Chapter Text
Ford finds himself staring at his imcomplete journal with a certain… finality.
It would never be completed in the same way - or even come close to completion like it did when he treturned from the portal. Everything would be.. different,now. Better different. it had to be. It had to be…
"You done burnin' a hole in the page, poindexter?"
Ford huffed, looking back at Stan who was leaning against the doorframe of the study. The kids were fast asleep on the recliner in the foyer, where they both seemed to want to be, and Ford couldn't bring himself to wake them up and move them to his bed. It was fine.
"If you're done burning one into the back of my head" Ford retorted "What do you want, Lee?"
Stan furrowed his brow at the nickname "What's the sleeping arrangements for now?"
Oh. Right. Sleep. "You can take my bed - Fiddleford has the guest bed. I'll take the couch in here" Ford offered "I never sleep in my own bed anyway"
"You can take my bed - Fiddleford has the guest bed. I'll take the couch" Ford offered "I never sleep in my own bed anyway"
"Huh, alrightie then. Not the comfiest place for your to sleep. Don't have a cot somewhere?"
"Not yet. I'll get one once the kids are settled and Bill is no longer a threat."
".. Right" Stan looks out the window to the snow outside "When'd you think he's gonna come back? To your head, I mean. You said somethin' about soon"
"… From what I recall, it happens next week. We have time to get things done. He might change course, however. We must be prepared"
"That we do" Stan agreed "What's the mitigation plan, then? Been thinking about it?"
"Best that I can come up with until more research is done is just… tying me up"
"… Effective, i suppose"
"Best I can do. I will see that Fiddleford helps me tonight, though Bill shouldn't be back this evening."
"What, don't trust me to hogtie you?"
"You don't know how to hogtie" Ford responded rather flatly.
"I could learn!"
"Excuse me?"
Fiddleford spoke up. "Ah heard my name"
"yes, I need your help" Ford answered.
"Teach me how to hogtie this asshole" Stan pointed a thumb at his twin.
Fiddleford snorted "That really necessary?"
"Might be" Stan reminded "With that damned demon…"
"Ah, right. That Cipher business.." Fiddleford seemed to think about it "Alright. I'll teach yah. It ain't hat hard, but its mighty effective"
"yes!" Stan pumped his fist in the air "Ready f'r that, poindexter?"
"Practice on something that isn't me, Stanley"
"Where's the fun in that??"
"hey, hog-tiein' is plenny fun without a person bein' tied!"
"That's not somethin' i'll be believin' 'till I see it" He mused.
"Well, you'll see it! Le's grab a few pillows-"
Dipper woke up to an unnerving, groaning noise coming from the kitchen.
He knew it was Stan. It didn't matter to his nerves. He poked his head up.
Stan had a can of something - Dipper couldn't tell if it was alcohol or not from this angle, but he furrowed his brow regardless.
"Kid?"
Whoops. Caught.
Dipper coughed a little "yes?"
"Can't sleep?"
"Uh.. I guess? Heard somethin'" he whispered back, feeling Mabel shift against his shoulder.
"Ah.. Sorry, kid. I know you're exhausted"
"Eh… s'fine" Dipper muttered, feeling the pull of sleep already once again.
Stan chuckled a little, reaching over and mussing up his nephew's hair "Back t'sleep, dippin' dot"
"… Can I ask a question?" Dipper asked, even as sleep seemed to be winning.
Stan gave a raised brow "Sure"
"… Why'd you do it?" Dipped looked up at him.
Stan knew what he was asking, and yet- "Do what?"
"Take such a bad deal" his nephew worded carefully.
".. It was the only one where we got you kids, that was enough"
The air was quiet, before Dipper asked, as softly as he could manage "Was it worth it?"
Stan spotted Dipper's hand poking out from under the blanket, and grabbed it, giving the boy a squeeze. "Yeah, kid. Every bad hand is worth it if you get what you're lookin' for"
Dipper didn't answer at first, but squeezed the hand back. ".. I love you"
There was another stretch of silence, and then Stan responded, almost sounding resigned to his own admittance.
"Love you too, kid. Get back to sleep"
And then he left.
The morning came slowly in the house, mostly because of the snow outside and the heavy clouds keeping the sun from letting the inhabitants know that the day had even come.
But it came, and by the time the younger twins were awake, Stan and Fiddleford were outside, digging the cars out of the snow - it wasn't all that bad, really, but it was enough to make Stan think twice about going anywhere in the low-riding Diablo.
Fiddleford's truck was in a much better position, with good tires and a high-ride.
"You sure you don't wanna wait for this to melt a little?" Stan offered "Might make for a safer drive"
"Nah, Once I'm on the main roads I'll be right as rain" Fiddleford assured.
"If you're sure" Stan grunted, pushing the shovel repeatedly in the icy snow.
"Ah am" Fiddleford nodded "Need anymore help?"
"Nah, you should probably get goin' those roads going to Cali can get congested" Stan didn't look up from shoveling.
"Hm, that is true. Can I make a quick request though?"
Stan looked up from the shovel "Shoot"
"Try not bite y'r brother's head off, as it were"
Stan can't stop the laugh at that "Can't promise, but I can certainly try, McGuckett"
"That's all I can ask of yah, Stanley. Much appreciated"
"Sure"
The two didn't talk much more once Fiddleford's car was dug out, and the man walked back in to see if Ford was up and at'em.
"Stanf'rd?"
"Kitchen, Fiddleford!"
Fiddleford followed the noise to see Stanford doing something he'd never seen the man do before - cook for others. The twins - half awake and adorably bleary-eyed - were seated at the little table with plates that had some toast, and the smell of salted eggs filled the space.
"Smells like breakfast in here - ready t'eat, lil pines?"
"hehe, yeah… g'mornin' mister Mcguckett" Mabel greeted before yawning.
"Mornin' Mabel, Dipper"
Dipper just gave him a sleepy nod.
"Are you leaving?" Ford asked, eyes staying on the eggs.
"Indeed" Fiddleford nodded "I'll get goin' so I'm home by early evenin' - wanna beat the sun."
"Ah, makes sense, yes" Ford took the pan off the fire, looking ready to dole out the food "Do be safe, Fiddleford, and send my regards to Tate and Emma-May"
"A'course. You two younger kids keep the elders in check, y'hear?" Fiddleford directed his attention to the kids.
Mabel giggled "We'll do our best"
"Yeah, we'll make sure" Dipper said at almost the same time.
Fiddleford wondered if he should tell Stan and Ford to let the kids sleep more, but inevitably that was going to be up to the kids, so he dropped it. He could always bring it up when he came back.
"I'll see y'all again soon" Fiddleford grabbed his backpack "Bless yah! Be safe!"
"You as well, Fiddleford! Call when you get back to Palo Alto!" Stanford called out after the man
"Ah will!" And he was gone.
Dipper and Mabel munched on their breakfast in relative silence until Stan returned, his shoes and pants soaked from the snow "Eugh. I always forget how disgusting the weather is in the winter…"
"There is a certain beauty to it, but only from a distance" Ford seemed to agree.
"Its gross to me!" Mabel states like its a fact now that she's more awake.
"Eh, I don't really care. Just wanna stay warm" Dipper added.
"We'll keep inside for now" Ford offered "Definitely will need to go into town for food, but nothings open this early on a snowing day anyway"
"Sounds fine to me" Stan muttered "Got any other food t'eat? I could use some toast"
"Yeah, upper cabinet" Ford pointed.
The breakfast hour was quiet for more than a little while, with each of the Pines' having breakfast at a rather languid pace.
"Can we watch TV?" Mabel asked once she'd placed her dishes in the sink.
"A'course, Pumpkin. You an' Dipper go ahead. Ford an' I need to chat and then head downstairs"
Dipper looked a little wary at that, but Stan tried to give the kid a reassuring look. No Yelling. He tried to promise without saying. It seemed to actually do the trick, thank god, because Dipper followed his sister into the living room, which left Stan and Ford alone in the kitchen.
"Think they're adjusting?" Ford suddenly asked.
"…I think they're calming down. Not the same thing" Stan reasoned "You remember back when we were kids? And there was that whole rigmarole when we went from middle to high school?"
"You mean when you and I both had a hard time with the curriculum change?" Ford recalled "I remember"
"Think that but a thousand times more disorienting… I think we need to keep an eye" Stanley suggested "Once everything downstairs is all dismantled and safe"
"Yes, yes, we'll address things once we're certain there is nothing here that Bill might want." Ford agreed. "We just need to work on moving things out now. Are you ready?"
"As much as I can be. You head down there, I'll make sure the kids'r settled. Give 'em a timeline"
"Alright"
Stan sighed once Ford was out of sight. That was the more cordial they'd been since … a while. He wondered - a little bitterly - how long they could keep it up without Fiddleford mediating. He'd hope long enough that Dipper and Mabel didn't have to hear it.
He poked his head into the living room "Kids?"
"Yes, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel looked over from her seat on the floor
"You kids okay with entertainin' yourselves f'r a bit? Ford an' I have more to do downstairs?"
"Can we help?" Dipper asked
"When downstairs isn't full of shit that can kill you, sure"
Dipper scowled, but Mabel pulled at his sleeve. "C'mon Dip- I wanna try watching these old 'Is That Really The Price' episodes, and I need your help with'em."
Somewhat frustrated at being stopped on both sides of the conversation, Dipper sunk into the recliner "Whatever"
Mabel looked over at Stan with a mature, rather sympathetic look. Stan was grateful, even if there was a pang in his chest over it. "Alright. We'll be goin' into town for groceries later. Be ready"
"Got it, Grunkle Stan" Mabel gave him a thumbs up
Appreciative that they were being compliant (for now), Stan walked away from the living room and took a breath. He had a strange feeling that, like his niblings, what happened really hadn't hit him yet.
He'd see if that changed in the coming days.
Mabel sighed from the doorway, having followed her brother into Stanford's study after a full two episodes of 'Is That Really the Price' that hadn't been very fun. "Dipper?"
Dipper paused in his actions. "What?"
"What do you think you're doin'? I mean, I know what it looks like, but I wanna know what you think it is first before I say anything" She crossed her arms
Dipper looked back at his sister from the pile of Ford's notes he was scanning through. "… Looking at what Grunkle Ford was working on before this" he answered.
"Uh huh…. and the reason you're sorting stuff having to do with the portal is….." She led.
"Because its stupid that they don't want help dismantling the portal" Dipper grumbled "And I want to know more about it"
Mabel gave her brother the most obvious eyeroll she possibly could "Why do you want to do that? They already said its mostly just heavy equipment that's down there. You wanna try lifting stuff with your noodle arms?? Come on"
"They're actually doing the work and we're just sitting around!!" Dipper almost yelled.
"I kinda want to sit around, Dipper" Mabel admitted "After… everything. I wanna have time to just kinda not think before I spent way too much time thinkin'."
Dipper paused in his grumbling complaining at that "… Too much time?"
"What, you think I don't know what's goin' on?" Mabel frowned "What the effects are? Come on, Dipper. I'm not stupid"
"I never said you were stupid!" Dipper immediately got defensive "I just-"
"Don't wanna talk about it? About all of it?"
"They don't want to either!!" Dipper argued.
"No Shit!!!"
Dipper nearly jumped out of his skin at the very sound of his sister cussing - staring at her with wide, alarmed eyes.
"Of course they don't!! They're dumb adults who never talk about their problems!" Mabel pointed out "We're gonna have to- If anything's gonna get better - but I don't want to yet, but you're gonna get in trouble, and then they're gonna make us talk about it in the worst way, and-!!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop!!" Dipper stood up, hands up like he was trying to show he wasn't holding any papers "I'm sorry!"
"You better be!!" Mabel huffed, rubbing at her face with her sweater sleeve "Please, Dipper - I can't-" Dipper reached for his sister, and her head fell into his shoulder, heaving a sob. "They're - they're gone Dipper. All of them- All of them!! And it's so different now- it's - they're not even dead! They're just gone-"
She was holding him so tight it almost hurt.
He tried to hold her just as tight - he knew she preferred tight hugs, they made her feel safe. Its why she loved Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford's hugs so much (You know, the one hug they'd gotten from their newly un-estranged uncle).
"I know, Mabe, I know" He muttered, trying his best to keep a soft tone for her.
"Do you??" She pulled away "Because someone that knows doesn't go around kicking the bees nest!"
"hornets nest"
"Dipper, I swear to-"
"Sorry!!"
Mabel looked like she almost wanted to laugh, but couldn't get herself to with her blotchy face and red eyes "Just for a little, can you please just … chill out" She requested "Not forever, I know you're not capable of that"
Dipper scoffed "Neither are you"
"And yet here I am. Chilling" She argued weakly
Dipper gave a skeptical look "You just cried for like two straight minutes"
"Coulda cried more!" She retorted defensively.
Dipper sighed - immediately giving in "… I'll try. But if they start getting cagey-"
"Yeah yeah I knowww. Come on. I wanna get some water and maybe somethin' for my eyes" It was amazing how quickly she recovered from crying. "And.. We can talk about it, if you want"
Dipper paused at that, but let Mabel pull him out of the study room and back into the living room, where the television continued droning on.
"… Nah. Later" Dipper decided.
"…. Thanks"