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‘Just a quick walk…that’s all I need…just step away from it all…’ You kept repeating to yourself as you shuffled through the woodlands of Gravity Falls. The sun was shining and the creatures that inhabited the forest were lively. It was an all-around beautiful day in the quaint little lumber jack town, but for you, things were a bit different…
It had been about 6 months since you took up the paid internship. You were assisting a renowned genius Stanford Pines with his studies on the supernatural. Along with him, Fiddleford McGucket, his engineering assistant, and his twin brother Stanley Pines were also residing in the cabin hidden in the woods. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t nervous going into this field with such talented people. Ford was a genius, and nothing short of that, 12 PHDs and 2 extra fingers to go along with it. His brother Stan was a brawly fellow, charismatic, gruff, but a softy at heart (which you later found out one night when he thought he was alone, watching dramatic soap operas with ice cream and a box of tissues). Then there was Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. A wonderful gentleman, charming, polite, soft spoken, but by no means a pushover.
The three of them together were an unstoppable team! Which, in all honesty, made you question the role you had in the group. They were all so skilled, so knowledgeable and capable, which did nothing more but push you into trying harder. You soon found yourself pushing further, trying harder, to get…something from them. Notice? Approval? Praise? You weren’t quite sure yourself, but you always felt just a bit light-hearted whenever you got a laugh or an agreement from them. And with each day you would try a little harder, feel a bit more down when nothing came of your efforts.
“What am I doing…?” you questioned yourself as you replayed all the past conversations you had with the three. ‘Clearly I could have said something else…Oh gosh that was annoying…Why did I say that?! I’m just bothering him with such a question…Why-oh why did I say that?!’ Your intrusive thoughts screamed at you. You bunched up handfuls of your hair in frustration. ‘Why can’t I do anything right?! Why do I just keep getting in the way?! They must think I’m just a burden…’ Your heartrate picked up and it became a bit difficult to breathe. A shady spot by a great tree caught your attention and you made your way to it. A sad sigh left you as you tried to clear your head. ‘What am I doing? I shouldn’t be here annoying them…’
“Hey, you alright?” A voice called out.
You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard it. “Ahh-uhh, oh! H-Hey Fidds…” you answered back stuttering a bit. ‘Oh nice one…’ You cleared your throat. “Hey Fiddleford.” You tried to mask any worry behind a big grin.
The engineer ruffled through some leaves, returning the action with a tiny smile and crooked eyebrow of his own. Seeing this seemed to calm you a bit. “Well, I’d reckon I’d find you somewhere ‘round here.”
You kept the attitude up, “Oh uhh, really, huh?”
“Yes, yes.” He chuckled. “I’ve seen you take a walk out and about ‘round here a few times before.” You crossed your arms and nodded a bit as he continued. His tone seem to shift a bit to one more serious. “You’ve been gone from the shack a few hours now. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worrying.”
Your grin flatten, “Oh, uhh…Really? S-Sorry…” you murmured evading his look and rubbing the side of your arm a bit.
“Oh, it’s nothing-“
“I-I didn’t mean to worry you!” You spat out, cutting him off. Fiddleford was taken aback by your sudden outburst. “Uhh, I mean, yeah, I sorry I-I’ve been gone for a few hours-“
“Hey, darling, are you alright?”
“And we were in the middle of a meeting right?! Oh gosh, sorry! My bad I-I didn’t mean to just walk out and never return!”
“Hey, it’s alright-“
“I mean, what kind of intern does that?! Heh, heh, am I right?!” you try to catch your breath, glancing a brief moment towards him. His expression is deeply concerned and you can’t bear to look him straight in the eyes. “So, uhh, yeah. Sorry H-Hadron! I-I didn’t mean to hold up the project or anything! You must think I’m pretty bad, but I-I promise I’ll make it up to you! I just-I’m sorry for this annoyance and-“
“Hey!” His voice breaks your mumbling and you look up at him. You don’t know when, but Fiddleford moved so he was right in front of you, arms hovering over your trembling body. “Hey…” he utters softly this time.
You gulp and let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding until now. You’re so tense, shaking a bit, palms sweating, and the air around you seeming to be thin and unbreathable. “I-uhh, s-sorry-“ you begin to mumble out but the engineer quickly shakes his head.
“It’s alright. You’re fine. I just want to know if you’re alright.”
“Y-Yeah I’m fine! Pff, of course I am!” he gives you an unconvinced look. You swallow hard again, throat going dry. ‘Why am I always digging myself in a grave?!’ You pull the collar of your shirt and fan yourself a bit. “I-I mean-Uhh, yeesh, is it getting hot in here?! I mean, I’m a bit hot and-“
“Hey, hey there. Buddy…” you stop and look at him. Fidds licks his lips, trying to mentally choose his words wisely. “I…I think you’re having an anxiety attack.” The sound that leaves you is a cross between a nervous laugh and a whimper. Your whole body tenses up at the mere notion. “Hey, hey, it’s alright…” he soothes, “I’m just gonna place my hands, like this…” he whispers, gently placing his hands on your shoulders, giving them a little rub. “We’re gonna do some breathing exercises together, okay? This’ll help calm you down, alright?” Fiddleford shoots you a tiny smile and you nod.
“Alright, now, let’s just take a seat.” He softly guides you into a sitting position on the ground as he follows suit. You don’t really say anything, nerves and tension grasping you tight. “Okay.” He clears his throat. “Put a hand on your stomach and another one on your chest, like this.” You mimic his actions. “Good. Now on my go, we’re going to take a deep breath through our nose for 4 seconds, then hold it for 7 seconds, and then gently breathe out through our mouths for 8 seconds. Okay?” you mentally take note of his instructions and give a quick nod. “Good. Now let’s start. Breathe in…Hold…And breathe out…Yeah, just like that. And repeat.” You follow his directions, mentally counting the seconds as he continues aloud. “The hand on your stomach should move with your breathing, while the hand on your chest should stay still.”
You nod, closing your eyes to concentrate on your breathing. As you repeat the action, you feel the bundle of stress and anxiety slowly release its hold and deflate a bit. Each repeated action seeming to unwind a tightly coiled nerve within you. You don’t see him, but you can feel the presence of Fiddleford also calm you down. After a while you open your eyes and look at him. He’s still there, patiently waiting for you. “Better, dear?”
“Yeah…thanks…” you give a small smile.
“Daww, it’s no big deal.” He blows a raspberry at you and the two of you chuckle a bit. “Now cmon’ over here.” Fiddleford leans forward, wrapping you in a tight hug. You weren’t 100% okay, so the initial action made you tense up, to which he noticed. “Oh, is this alright?” you nodded at his words, allowing yourself to return the action. You melted a bit in that soothing embrace, along with bits and pieces of your anxiety. Fiddleford was just so kind, and caring, and thoughtful, and sensitive. Something that you’d halfheartedly tried to wrap your head around on how a single person could be so, so, genuinely wonderful.
The both of you sat like that for a while in silence. Fiddleford would pat you on the back, rubbing comforting circles, but never pried or pushed you off, which you appreciated. It was nice, the warmth and kindness of the humble engineer was nearly tangible. You relaxed into his hold a bit, the steady beating of his heart calming your own. “Darling, I don’t want to pry,” he began, resting his chin on your head. “And please don’t feel obligated to answer, but, what’s been troubling you?”
You shuffled a little bit, freeing yourself just enough to talk, but still held onto the southern man. “I…it’s kinda stupid and embarrassing…” you admitted. Guilt and shame slowly crept into the pit of your stomach.
“Dahh, no! Shucks, you can be honest with me, I won’t bite, I won’t judge.” He playfully hummed out, but you could feel there was no pressure in answering him.
Another sigh left you as you laid in his arms. Some time passed, no words being exchanged. “I…” you began feeling yourself tense up again. “It’s just, you, Stan, and Ford are all so great…and I don’t know…I’m just an intern, and I don’t know much about all this stuff, and I can’t work all the heavy machinery like Stan…and I don’t know I just feel like I’m being annoying and not contributing much to the project…and I don’t know…” you ended with a sigh. Explaining things seemed to be much harder than you had thought it would be.
Fiddleford listen intently on what you had to say, not interrupting even at the parts he felt like he should have intervened. Finally he sighed, cradling you tighter against him. “Oh my dear friend. I’m sorry if we ever made you feel like that!”
You smiled at the warm action, “No, it’s fine. I mean, it’s not you all, it’s-“
“You’re not a bother, and you’re not annoying us, I assure you.” He began, the little spark in his blue eyes igniting, voice going a bit stern to push his point. “You are a valuable member and asset to this team, and we all care very deeply about you.” You blushed at his words. “Also, darling, your worth isn’t measured in what you can do for us or give us! You are a dear and valued friend and colleague for Pete’s sake!” you felt tears peaking at the corner of your eyes, you tried to laugh it off and hid the fact you were wiping them away. Fiddleford just hummed and soothed you more. “We care and love you very much, and don’t you ever forget that!” You felt him bury his chin on the top of your head once more. He nuzzled into it, giving you a small peck.
You stifled the sobs trying to escape you, reducing them to whimpering sighs. He shifted in place a bit more, rocking you back and forth a bit, humming what you assumed some lullaby he picked up back in his home state. You closed your eyes and let the melody soothe you, each gentle note rippling through the stress and nerves within. It was quite remarkable actually. How one man’s presence alone was already calming, but his innocently intimate touch was, magical? Whimsical? Breathtaking—Who knows?! Words can’t describe it. The man played his cards right, held everything close to his vest, but was still never cruel or unnecessarily rude.
Time passed, but he never once complained, or signaled for you to get up. Fiddleford merely sat there, taking in it all, occasionally asking if you needed something, to which you would shake your head. But still somehow he knew laying huddled up together was the right thing. The usual murmurs and creaks of the woodland forest filled the silence. Fidds would occasionally break the silence, listing a few facts of the wildlife that popped by. “Sparrows can fly up to 24 miles per hour… Did you know that robins can get drunk off of certain berries that they consume? Oh, so woodpeckers have special feathers that help them keep wood chips from flyin’ into their noses!” you would listen to his random trivia, chuckling a bit when he tried to imitate certain calls or actions.
It was all just a nice gesture to lift your spirits, and it actually worked! You finally unwrapped yourself from him and smiled. Fiddleford returned the action. “Better?” you nodded.
“Thanks Fidds.”
He gave you a warm and genuine smile, “Daaw shucks, anything for you darlin’!” He playfully punched your arm and you two laughed it off. Fiddleford sighed and got onto his feet, dusting himself off. “We should really head back now,” he looked towards the setting sun. The dusk sky seemed to melt together in sheets of oranges, reds, and yellows. “Getting’ late now.”
You followed his gaze, watching the wind brush against the leaves of the quaint little lumberjack town. The shallow pangs of guilt rang in your heart. You’d really been out here for quite some time now, and basically dragged Fidds- ‘No.’ You shook your head immediately away from the thought. Now was not the time to be thinking of something like that, especially after all he’s done. “Yeah…” you placed a hand on your knee and pushed up, struggling to lift yourself. This was a lot harder than you’d thought it would be, in fact the exhaustion finally settled into you.
“Here.” Fiddleford offered his hand in front of you. It was a bit embarrassing, but you accepted it. With a firm and swift grip, he hoisted you up on your feet, spun you around, and hooked an arm under your knees, and lifted you in one full sweep.
There was no time to react or protest, you simply went wide eyed and fumbled a bit before setting into his hold once again. “F-Fidds…” you knew he was always being modest about his dancing abilities, but this takes the cake. He literally swept you off your feet.
He gave you a smug little grin and shrugged, “Well, you’ve been out for hours, and running off of whatever Ford scrapped together for breakfast!” he turned on his heels and began his strut back to the shack. “It’s to be expected to be a little tired and weak. But don’t worry darling, I’ll- we’ll take care of you.” He made sure to clarify the point of care you’d most likely receive with open arms.
You opened your mouth to place an objection, but decided against it. Instead you rolled your eyes and rested your head on his shoulder. “What, gonna cook me dinner now? See a show? Geez Fidds, be careful or else you’re gonna make someone jealous.” You teased.
He laughed it off, “Oh no, not me! Stan’s cookin’ tonight, so it’s somethin’ actually edible!” Everyone in the shack liked to tease Ford’s horrendous domestic skills, now was no different. “If you want lights, movie and a show, you’d best be going to him for all that.”
You just smile in response. You were going home now. The home you established with your colleagues, the people whom you’ve learned to trust and care about, and vice versa. You heard the breeze rustle the leaves and tickle your skin. Fiddleford walked at a steady pace, the crunch of the dirt beneath the two of you. The weight of your exhaustion was prevalent more so than before. You felt your eyelids droop a bit. Fidds was a kind southern man, his presence was ever calming, even now, lulling you calmly to sleep.
The End