#heck i'm just splitting up my google doc title for this doublet for their titles

[fordanoia]

(I was gonna just post this when I had it all together, but you know what - we’re gonna play this doublet series loose here)

Hey Now, Hey Now (1/?)

Words: 2,900~ || CW: —  || Mabel’s Dream Bubble - But if Ford had been there for it. 

They rushed the waffle-guard armed castle, and it was easy enough to reach Mabel. However, the issue in the rescue turned out to not be any of the precautions around them.

She liked it here. She wanted to stay. Something sunk his heart to see Mabel going right in for the prison Bill had made for her, but he couldn’t get himself to say anything. Not when she talked about Dipper staying for the apprenticeship as the reason behind staying. He had thought it was a wonderful idea! However, listening to Mabel talk about it like this... he’d rather not think about it for now.

Soos and Wendy ran off with their utmost desires and Dipper and himself turned off elsewhere. He assured him he would go find Soos or Wendy and talk to them. The desires seemed like one time instances after all so it should be easy enough to convince Soos to come along after he got a few minutes of tossing ball with his ‘Dad.’

Ford didn’t blame them. It took a strong will to cast off the thing you desired most. Frankly though, he was glad Mabel had not gotten to his ‘turn.’ A triangular corpse really was not something he wanted to inadvertently expose to the kids. Chances were likely it would have been heavily mangled as well, all things considered.

He was walking out from Mabel’s castle along the beach trying to find Soos somewhere nearby. It was unlikely he would go far. However, someone calling out his name happened quicker than he had a chance to do so.

“Hey, Sixer!” It was a familiar gruff voice, that took him off guard as he spun around preparing for the worse - whipping out a gun.

Practically right behind him was a relatively small boat that had just come up on shore and Stan at the bow looking to him. He looked surprised at the gun though. “Woah there, don’t worry it’s just me.”

No.

Stan reached down towards him, bending over the edge of the boat. “Hey, hop on up here already. Don’t you wanna go sailing?”

His chest felt cold. “No,” he rebuffed icily, “no, I don’t.”

Stan’s hand retracted only a slight degree. “What’s got you in such a twist?”

You do. “The apocalypse is happening and I am not going to be so ridiculous as to go on some immaterial boat with a product of this damn bubble.” He spat out bitterly.

“All that apocalypse stuff is outside, right? I doubt it’s going anywhere.”

“That’s the problem.” Ford replied turning on his heels before the thing could waste anymore of his time. He stopped after a couple steps when he heard a set of new feet crunching down into the sand.

Looking over his shoulder he saw Stan who’d just hopped over the boat and started walking towards him in a casual demeanor.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He practically hissed at him. Stan paused momentarily, seeming hurt for a second causing Ford a slight jab of guilt which he crushed down with logic. This wasn’t Stan. Even if it were some inane desire to sail at now of all possible times was utterly ridiculous.

“Well, hey, I could go for a dock visit you know.” He said, walking again, with a smile. “You gotta stop on land now and then.”

Thus far none of the creatures here intended harm. He’d keep wary, but he’d just ignore it until he found Soos.

Stan walked beside him, seeming perfectly content doing so.

“Jeez Mabel really is all about the glitter, isn’t she? I mean I knew the kid was into it, but all this shiny stuff messes with the eyes a little bit doesn’t it.”

It did, but Ford said nothing. Where was Soos?

Stan continued. “Still nice though. Just not my cup of tea. She’s really happy here though and I’ve got nothing to complain about.”

... He’d probably leave once he was far enough from the boat or something, Ford told himself.

“Heck you should have seen the inside of the boat. That’s the Stan O War II back there, you know. It’s just like the old one, ‘Cept better than we built it.” Stan added with a grin.

“We used rotten drift wood for half the patches, not the best materials.” Ford responded, immediately internally cursing at himself for doing so. It was just a comment, but he should have just been ignoring him entirely.

“Hey, it worked though, didn’t it? Never got to take it for a real spin, but we at least got it off of the sand.”

Why did he even said anything in the first place? “Well, obviously, it was a waste of time.” Ford said derisively.

“Maybe, but it was still fun.” Stan replied, unbothered.

Ford didn’t say anything back and it seemed like Stan settled into silence as well. Not entire silence though. Every now and then Stan would make a joke or comment on something or other.

When Ford found himself almost smiling at something said, a bout of frustration quickly bubbled to the surface.

“What are you doing here?” He asked with a pointed look at him.

“What? You want some alone time?”

“I want to find the others so we can get out of this godforsaken bubble!”

“Well, why didn’t you just say so. I can help you find them, no sweat.” Stan said before he pointed off. “Kid should still be at the school with her friends.”

Ford glanced off in the direction and there were technically buildings in that direction. Although, he really didn’t want to take directions from any extension of Bill... even if he was certain Bill did not have any active eyes or control inside the bubble.

“Don’t really get why you’re wanting out of Mabel Land so quick though. I mean yeah, the bouncy ground deal is a little distracting, but the boat’s actually solid.” Stan said, perfectly casual. Trying to make him stay.

Ford rounded on him. “Listen here, I am not sticking in some sealed off getaway! I have things to do, Stan! Even if-“ No, no this wasn’t Stan. It was some cobbled fantasy version of him that talked to him and made jokes to him and tried to get him to smile and-

“WHY would I even want to be here with Stanley?!” He finally snapped, gesturing to him sharply. “The last time I even had a good moment with him was-“ that first night at the bottom of the stairs with the brief laughter in front of the mirror- “was DECADES ago when we were teenagers!” He grabbed onto his head with a hand. “And sailing?!”

He laughed bitterly. All the stress of weirdmageddon splitting apart his usual patience. If he’d been more careful this apocalypse would never have happened. Everyone was going through the most horrendous time of their lives. As well, it was rather obvious now that he’d been having negative effects on Dipper and Mabel without meaning to with his apprenticeship. He’d thought it was fine, but obviously it’d been enough to drive Mabel to complacency inside this prison.

“Why would I want to go sailing?!” Ford started freely ranting now. “Stuck on some tiny boat with my brother that would rather die than actually apologize for anything!” His eyes were burning. “Then he spent-“ Ford’s gut turned guiltily, but he pushed past it, “wasted 30 years to fix that damned machine at the risk of the whole world! Just to assuage his own guilt!”

“I was just five seconds away from finally fixing everything too!” His voice finally started to taper down, and he breathed out heavily. He thought finally getting to lash out about everything would be cathartic, but it wasn’t. It just opened up all the old wounds he’d been trying to ignore. “Look at what-“ This was all his fault. Stan had activated the portal again, but if Ford had kept the rift safe this never would have happened.

“Hey,” Stan’s voice gently brought out of his thoughts and Ford glanced back at him. “Listen, you’re right. Let me help, let me make it up to you.”

The genuine offer stung him, and Ford drew back before he crossed his arms behind his back, holding his head up. Then he brushed past the other, in the direction he’d pointed out before. Chances were it was the right direction.

Stan followed after him quietly, soon walking beside him.

Thankfully, this time he remained entirely quiet as they found the high school which - though sparkly - was not overall that different from how the actual building must have looked.

“Nerd Central, here we are.” Stan went up the steps to open up the door and held it open with a hand, looking back at him.

“Why are you still here?” Ford muttered in passing as he walked through the door.

Stan frowned, letting the door drop after himself. “Because you’re my brother and I’m sorry.”

Ford stopped, not quite daring to look back as he felt a sore ache in his chest.

“Sixer, look - I’m sorry I broke your project and ruined your chances at your dream school. I know I can’t fix that now. I wasn’t thinking straight, and I had years to apologize, but I just...didn’t. You deserved that apology over 40 years ago and that’s on me.” A warm hand went to his shoulder.

Burning tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he’d admonish himself for that if he was able to properly align his thoughts.

The hand reassuringly squeezed his shoulder and Ford had to shut his eyes tight.

The apocalypse was going on outside and everything was absolutely Hell. It wasn’t the most difficult thing he had to survive through, but the knowledge and lack of options weighing so heavily was what made it so much worse. Just... one thing going right would have been a blessing...

He took in an even breath and opened his eyes. This was not Stan. This was a construct of the bubble. An atypical prison that was largely banned in most dimensions.

Ford put his hand over the one currently on his shoulder in order to calmly and slowly remove it. Before he could though, Stan talked.

“I missed ya, poindexter.”

A sound stopped, halfway up his throat and threatening to come all the way out if he wasn’t careful. Ford shoved the hand off of him and jerked away from Stan. He refused to look at him, looking instead at the wall so that he could see the other in his peripherals.

“Ford-“

“Don’t.” He immediately interrupted him, voice sharp. “Don’t even think about talking about any of that again. Stanley never apologized to me because he was never sorry about what happened.”

“Listening to any lies otherwise is a waste of time, which I don’t have the luxury or desire to indulge in.” He said concisely, never once looking at him, before he turned back down the hall.

He’d find Wendy, then Soos if Dipper hadn’t. By that point... hopefully they could convince Mabel to leave.

He can hear him following after him a dozen feet back, behind him in the halls. Waste of time and energy. He should never have even acknowledged him in the first place. From this point on he’d make sure to just completely ignore him.

Eventually, he could hear the loud sound of teenagers. He eventually tracked it down to a bathroom. Inside were Wendy, her faux friends, and a figure suspended in the air via several layers of toilet paper with a plunger stuck to his head.

Wendy was laughing as she rolled out toilet paper around what he presumed was their principal and up around the rafters. “Hold him steady, guys!”

“Now, that’s a prank.” Stan’s voice came from beside him.

Ford cleared his throat. “Wendy.... Wendy!” He had to speak up to be heard over the loud chatter.

When he did though, Wendy looked over at him. “Oh, hey- Mr. Pines?” Her gaze caught to his side. “Why’re you here in that outfit? Is that actually you or like... what?”

“Hey, suits aren’t good on the sea.” He said with a grin to her. “Might not be as classy, but trust me, kid - It’s a good look.”

“Just ignore it.” Ford said. “I understand the appeal of- well, this,” he said gesturing to the entrapped principle. “However, there are important things at stake, and we need to talk to Mabel in order to-”

“Oh, no. I’m on board with you.” Wendy said flipping down from the rafters with a ‘hup.’

“What?” Ford looked at her taken aback.

“Totally. I already was, just,” she made a face, tapping fingers together, “I figured hey-” She shrugged. “Ten minutes, right?” She lowered her hands into her pockets. “I’m satisfied though. I mean, look at that.” Wendy proudly gestured back to the principal. “This is going to be on my mental highlight reel for like the entire year.”

“Hey!” She yelled to the teens not even ten feet away from her. “Keep wrapping him for me okay!”

Several thumbs up went up and a chorus of agreements went up in reply.

Wendy gave a double thumbs up back to the crowd. “See?” She said, smiling back to him. “It’s covered anyways.”

“So what’s the plan, Stan-Two?” That nickname again...

“Well-” A snort from his side made him stop, and he barely held back from sending a look in the direction. “Well,” he started again, “we’ll find Soos and Dipper then redouble our efforts.”

“So... there’s really not a plan?” Wendy asked, eyeing him.

“It’s a plan- we’re just going to preferably not disband this time around.” Ford stated. “Even if this place is fun for her, Mabel will do the right thing.”

Stan shrugged. “She’s a good kid, the little ball of sunshine.”

“Something tells me there’s going to be a lot more steps to this, but alright,” Wendy said, walking back into the hall and leading the charge, “let’s grab Soos and Dipper!”

“That’s the spirit!” Stan encouraged.

Wendy paused briefly. “So uh, wait is that somehow Stan or...?”

“Starting to feel like chopped liver here, kid.”

“No, it’s not.” He told her, ignoring the thing beside him. “Again, just ignore it.”

“Well, I can avoid eye contact.” Wendy said. “It’s kind of awkward to straight up ignore my boss though. Like completely, you know. Everyone ignores their boss here and there.”

Ford waved a hand. “That’s fine.” He’d admit, completely ignoring it was rather hard. “Now, we just have to get Soos away from his ah... situation. Thankfully, Dipper should already be looking for him. I suspect as well that by the time we find Soos he’ll be fine leaving.”

“What did Soos get?” She asked.

“His father playing catch with him.”

Wendy made a half-pained face. “Ouch... I mean don’t get me wrong, but you know...”

He actually wasn’t entirely sure what she was alluding to, but nodded anyways.

“Yeah,” the voice beside him said, “at least he had the chance for it though.”

“Anyways,” Ford started, brushing past the comment, “we need to find Soos. Do you know where he might go to play catch?” He asked Wendy.

“I told ya, Sixer, I can tell you right where-“

“I didn’t ask you.” He finally turned his head to glare at him.

Stan put his hands up, seemingly not thrown off by the hostility. “Sorry, my bad. Just tryin’ to help here.”

“Woah,” Wendy started. “Mr uh- Mr. Pines.” She said looking to Ford.

“You can call me Ford, it’s fine, really. Doctor if you insist on an honorific.” Ford said speaking to her calmly. “Apologies, I shouldn’t have snipped like that in front of you. It’s just been... frustrating.”

“Uh, Okay. Listen, this is kinda off,” she said gesturing to Stan. “No offense, but you’re a lot less glittery and bright than Mabel would probably come up with.”

“Small victories.” Stan said with a smile, and a short hand wave.

“But you know where Soos is, right?” She asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded his head.

“He could be lying.” Ford said pettily as he crossed his arms, though he really didn’t quite believe that himself.

Wendy looked back to Ford. “No offense, Doc, but I really don’t think he is. Think about it, everyone in Mabel Land is helpful and nice.” She shrugged. “He’s really fine. More than my Stan. Like, there’s zero grump coming off of him.”

“Fair point.” Ford conceded.

“So,” she started, “if he knows where Soos is then let’s just let him lead the way.”

“A good conclusion. It would definitely save time.” Ford begrudgingly continued. “And a lack of foreseeable harm.” He withheld a sigh in favor of a deep breath before nodding. “Alright.”

Stan beamed beside him. “Alright!” He said, clapping a hand on Ford’s shoulder. “Kid’s right on a grassy hill by the park. We can talk to him, all you probably gotta do is just ask him. This’ll be smooth sailing, I promise.”

“A promise from you.” He said simply.

“Hey, say what you want, but it’s better than a promise from Ma, isn’t it?”

“That’s not a very hard competition to beat.” Ford said, the reply coming out easily.

Stan shrugged, putting his hands up in the air. “Hey, not everything is gonna be a fair fight. What can I say?”

Ford let out a huff that was nearly a short laugh, and he saw Wendy glance over at him from the corner of his eye.

“Come on,” Stan said, turning around and beginning to lead the way.