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'As far as I'm concerned, they're the only family I have left...'
Stanford had sighed to himself as his brother's words echoed in his mind. Despite his lingering anger at his twin's reckless actions in using the portal to bring him back, as well as his insistence that Ford should have thanked him for it, he would be lying if he said that after the blur of time he spent lost in the multiverse hadn't made him long to see his twin. Or it didn't pain him to have to push Stanley away now that he was back.
But for as much as he was glad to be home, he hated knowing that Stan had put the rest of the world in danger just for him.
Regardless of the circumstances of his return to his home dimension, though, he was back. And seeing the familiar blue sky and his old home, despite his brother's... decor choices to the former, had felt dream-like. Unreal.
And on top of it all were seeing Shermie's grandkids. *His* grandniece and grandnephew... Axolotl, how much had he missed out on during his time chasing Bill...?
Although thinking on it more, Ford supposes Shermie always seem to be the most family oriented of them. After all, he often was the one to try and keep himself and Stan out of trouble in their youth...
From his brief meeting with the duo, it was easy enough to see the family resemblance. The girl in the sweater ('Mabel' his mind quickly supplied.) seemed to have taken on a lot of Stan's trademark charisma. She had been the one to get his attention in the first place from his and Stan's spat, and had been the first to introduce herself to him. Ford smiles at the memory despite himself.
Along with Mabel was her twin brother. (Because of course they were twins.) The boy, ('Dipper'. That's his name.) was wearing a pine tree hat and vest and Ford, even with his astounding lack of people-skills, could practically feel the anxiety that he radiated. He and Mabel shared the briefest of glances, the latter then taking the duty of introducing the former to him.
Thinking about it, Stanford came to the realization that the boy hadn't spoken a word to him once. Between the meeting in the basement to afterwards, when the agents had been dealt with and the twins were quickly sent to bed by Stan, Dipper had been quietly at Mabel's side, often letting her speak and only communicating in actions, such as when he brought out the memory gun and returned his journal to him. And Ford's curiosity couldn't help but ponder this.
Based on the small amount of additions he'd read from the journal, it was clear that Dipper seemed to look up to him. Or rather, look up to this sort of Author persona that happened to be him. So perhaps his silence was a manifestation of that? Was Dipper... afraid of him?
This thought gave Ford a pause. As flattering as the boy's high praise of him was, he certainly didn't want Dipper to view him as a cold, unapproachable figure. ('And you certainly don't deserve to be put on the pedestal that Dipper gave you. Not after everything you've done...' his mind bitterly added.) Perhaps if he approached him tomorrow, maybe over breakfast, the two could have a more casual talk. He could show his great nephew that he was just a normal person, someone he didn't need to be afraid of.
Ford shook himself. No, he couldn't. Not only because of Stan's clear message about staying away from them, but he knew that his mission was still to focus on defeating Cipher. And he refused to drag anyone else into his mess.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────
There's a saying to be made about the most carefully laid plans, but Ford couldn't be damned to remember it.
No bonding with the children. It should've been easy enough, and it was at first. He would simply keep to himself, be the lone great uncle hanging around in the basement and avoid just about everyone else in the Myst- in his house.
So naturally, the rest of the universe had other ideas.
But it's not like he invited Dipper into the lab on his own accord. The boy fell in through the ceiling! (Something that frankly should be looked at, it was a nasty injury waiting to happen.)
And maybe Stanford happened to see his great nephew had the latest edition of Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons in his possession and offered to play a round or two with him. Knowing that nobody else in the house was interested, he'd have to be heartless not to.
(And, well, maybe after decades spent trying to survive in the multiverse, Stanford found himself missing little things like games of DD&MD...)
Regardless, the two of them end up having some time to talk like Ford wanted, and in doing so the scientist learns something very important about his great nephew. He uses sign language.
'Sorry about the mess.' The boy signs to him when Ford initially catches him having crashed onto one of his tables and the researcher is thankful that he had learnt the language back during his early teens, even if his mastery of it was a bit rusty. As the two finally are able to properly able to converse, Stanford notes that Dipper's grasp on the language himself seems shaky. As if the boy had only learned it fairly recently.
'Accident. Had to learn.' Was all Ford got in explanation. He doesn't press for info but his mind, naturally curious, continues to ponder this. And while he would then be distracted from this, his notice of the DD&MD game in his nephew's possession and the two's subsequent bonding over the aforementioned game, a part of his mind never left the topic.
(Accident. He couldn't explain why, but something about this vague explanation gave the scientist chills.)
He would later be given a painful reminder on the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'.
It was weeks later when Dipper would join him in another part of the basement, getting to introduce him to Project Mentem. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been better to give him some forewarning about exactly what the device did, but despite some typical preteen thoughts of embarrassment, his nephew seemed to be quickly at ease.
There was the occassional thought that filled Ford with the long forgotten feeling of concern for another, ('THIS ROOM IS TOO COLD, IT'S JUST LIKE THAT NIGHT AT THE WAR- NO NOT NOW WE'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT NOW') but in the interest of letting Dipper have privacy, he chose not to comment.
As the machine did its work, Dipper soon seemed to slip into a light slumber. On one hand, Ford feels he should wake the lad...
(But on the other hand, it was abundantly clear to anyone how much Dipper seemed to lack sleep. Ford recalls one night - when he was definitely not scavenging through his own fridge like a teenager thank you very much - hearing the soft sound of crying and whimpering which was followed soon by a similar, albeit more feminine, voice giving comfort.)
So he turns from the sight of Dipper's peaceful rest to work on his writings of his adventures in the grand multiverse. He barely takes note when the sea of green thoughts on the screen begin to be intercut with static accompanied by a soft white noise: the signs of a dream beginning. Instead he's more focused on memories of distant worlds. Endless galaxies, alien landscapes and the eldritch geometry that they contained. Memories of the being he encountered, from the dangerous and threatening ones like Bill's henchmen, bounty hunters and the like to the friendly. The rebels, and a certain multi-eyed woman who saved him...
Fond memories were cut off by a familiar sound. A soft whimper. When he turns to look he sees Dipper who's expression of ease from before now was replaced by a look of fear, and the screen of Project Mentem seem to be the interior of a building. It looked to be some sort of warehouse. If he looked close enough he could see what looked to be... plush dolls of some white haired baby...?
The scientist couldn't ponder this for long though, as Dipper's whimpers continue, now accompanied by the boy weakly flailing his arms, as if fighting some unseen assailant.
"Dipper... Dipper, my boy, it's just a nightmare..." Ford was never the most comforting person in the world, but seeing his ward in distress was enough for him to try, his voice taking on a soft tone. Unfortunately, this only seems to work for a moment before Dipper's nightmare takes a turn for the worse.
Various images fly past on Project Mentem, and Ford can just barely make out some words: 'That's a lie! And I'm going to make sure you never lie to me again...' Dipper's whimpering turns into cries of "...No nononono please..." and Stanford decides to put an end to this now.
"Dipper, you're having a nightmare, I need you to wake up!" His six fingered hand reaches to Dipper's shoulder to shake him awake, but instead as soon as his hand touches the boy's shoulder he shoots up from the chair with a strangled cry. The movement knocks the mind reading helmet off his head but not before Ford caught one final haunting image displayed on the screen.
A pair of shears, dripping with fresh, crimson blood.
Trying to shake that particular image out of his mind, Ford focuses his attention on his great nephew, who's currently visibly shaking and looking around the room in pure fear. The sight made the researcher's heart ache.
"Dipper, it's okay, I'm here." The brunet turns to his grunkle's gentle voice, and slowly a flicker of recognition replaces the blind terror that was once in his eyes. Soon after Dipper looks down, his expression one that even Ford could read as being one of embarrassment.
"Oh Dipper, you don't have to be ashamed. Axolotl knows I've had my fair share of bad dreams in the past." the elder quickly assures, with a gentle pat on the shoulder.
A few moments pass as his nephew calms down and Stanford considers his words until he finally says, "...If you want to talk about it, I'd be willing to listen. So to speak."
A brief silence passes and Stanford wonders if he might've overstepped his boundaries when Dipper begins to sign, with a slight tremble in his hands;
'A boy. He had a crush on Mabel. I try to tell him she didn't feel the same. He...' His ward pauses with a shaky breath. 'didn't take it well.' He finishes signing.
Ford's mind flashes back to those bloody scissors and he finds himself filled with a rush of different emotions. Anger. A burning fire that wanted to go and find whoever had done this. Then sorrow that Dipper had gone through such a traumatic and terrifying ordeal. And most of all he felt a desperate need to protect his dear great nephew, and his great niece as well, from all the monsters he knew could hurt them. ('Well, worse than they already had.' he bitterly thinks.)
Huh. Is this how Stan feels with the children?
This protective, almost parental, instinct is something unfamiliar to the multiverse traveler, but he chooses not to ponder on it for too long. Not when he needs to be focusing on his still shaken grand nephew. It's been so long since he's been the one comforting someone, he wasn't even sure how to go about it. 'It'll be alright' felt like a hollow platitude, and something tells him that swearing vengeance wasn't the way to go about it either.
Despite his efforts, he thinks to Stan. Someone who knew that sometimes actions were necessary over words.
Deciding to channel this, Ford opens his arms. A silent offer for a hug.
Before he had a chance to second guess his decision he's practically tackled by the full weight of his grand nephew. It's then that he realizes just how small the boy is, and without thinking about it he lays a hand on the brunet's head, comfortingly patting his head and wrapping his other arm around him protectively.
Everything else, from Bill Cipher to the monsters in the woods to memories of gleaming shears are all forgotten in that moment. There was just a tired anxious boy and his long lost great uncle who was going to do whatever it takes to keep him safe.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────