Chapter Text
Ford opens his eyes feeling dizzy; he is lying on his side and doesn’t know if the pain in his head is from it being hit or something else. His hands and feet are still tied, which just makes him more confused.
All he knows is that one moment he was watching his brother's horrified expression while he felt a gun touch the back of his head to being…..well knocked out or….something akin to it.
Now looking to see that his brother is not where he thinks Stan once was…
In fact…
He didn’t see any of the men who had captured them…
He thinks he sees body laying on the floor but it’s hard to make out.
He doesn’t hear anyone ether….
It’s was….quite….except for….some strange sounds..
Squishy sounds of something slimy and wet being thrown around and dug into. There were quick snaps as well like something being pull that wasn’t supposed to be. It just made Ford very uncomfortable.
He tries to get up but ends up rolling over to the other side of him….
He almost throws up at what he sees…
The man who he thinks had the gun to his head was now dead on the floor his head no longer there and laying in a pool of blood.
Now that Ford noticed the blood, he realized the place stank of it. He remembers what it smells like as it brings back…. bad memories… but now, he has more concerning matters.
What the hell had happened?!
And more importantly
WHERE is Stan!
Ford shimmy’s away from the corpse and using his legs and knees he managed to get into a kneeling position. He shakes his head and looks up…
He….he can’t quite comprehend what he seeing…he feels his heart drop to the pit of his stomach…
A couple feet in front of him is a creature, humanoid looking, with its back to Ford. It’s crouching down, digging into one of the men’s guts, pulling them out and either throwing them to the side or taking a bites out of it. It’s covered in dark green scales and a spiky dorsal like fin right in the middle of its shoulders that leads to a long tail with some wavy light gray fins running along the back of it. Ford tried to look away from the horror but only found more.
The two corpses next him each have something taken from them. The one directly next to him with his head off, but another next to the headless one had their arms removed and seem to have bite marks on each of the arms that were left by the corpse's feet. Turning to the other side laid one man a bit far away but Ford could still see that he seemed to have his throat slit and bite taken out of his left shoulder and again his arms removed.
One thing they all seem to have in common he noticed was that they each had a hole in their chest right where their hearts would be. The hole wasn’t really even a hole but like something had punched into their chest and ripped something out. Ford slowly pulled his head down, looking at his knees.
It was too much……Ford found himself getting dizzy….he felt his breathing get quicker…
What was he going to do!! He’s trapped with this monster, and…..
….he didn’t see Stanley amongst the carnage…
….oh god….
What if that’s….what if…is that who it’s ea-
NO!
No
It’s not Stan…
It can’t be…
He promised to keep him safe, maybe not directly, but after finding him captured by these same men and trying to be sold off as oddity (like there is anything odd about Stan) in the crawlspace he could tell his brother had been having a rough life.
Sure, there were things they needed to talk about, but his brother needed a place to stay, clearly having gone through hell at the hands of these men. Ford would provide a place to heal, and even Fiddleford agreed to help!
So…
…So, it can’t be him…
Ford needs to confirm this, so he looks back up into center and Fords heart wraps around his throat because….
It’s looking at him…
The thing is looking at him…And it has yellow eyes but
….there not his…
But that doesn’t make it any less unsettling to look at.
The iris and pupil are yellow, while the sclera is black instead of white. Blood is dripping from its chin and covering its mouth. It has long hair and its bangs almost cover its eyes. There are no scales on its face which makes Ford realize that it looks…human…
Looking more closely at it… it…looks...
…looks like..
Him..
More specifically it looks like….
“Sta-“ He immediately snaps his jaw shut, the thing tilts its head and seem to face him completely.
Shit! Ford closes his eyes and waits… but nothing happens…..until he hears footsteps coming closer..
Ford’s heart raises with every step until he finally hears the footsteps stop and a thud sound in front of him and then a very strange sound..
it’s like…an animal that’s curious about something but can only express it in weird warbling…
Ford forces his eyes open to see the creature sitting right in front of him on its knees, and it’s looking at him with wide, curious eyes. Its head is at a slight tilt. With the creature so close Ford notices that it’s wearing shorts and …..a shirt…
One he recognizes….even if it’s covered in blood.
It’s the same one he gave Stan…yesterday when he found him..
But that could only mean that….
“Stan?” Ford asks, voice still shaking
The creature/maybe Stan blinks at him with its head tilted then points at itself and says in voice that sounds familiar but somehow smaller:
“Stan.” With a small nod and gives him a small, closed mouth smile.
Ford whole world comes crashing down and flipped around because….
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIS BROTHER!?!?
Did these men know about this!?
Oh god! Did they do this to him!?!
How does this even happen!?!?
Has he always been like this or is this something that happened during their time apart or was th-
Ford thoughts are interrupted by a low deep growl. One that makes every hair on Ford’s body stand on edge.
He looks to see his brother on his side in a crawling position and looking at Fords back. He realized Stan must be growling at the rope. Stan actually gets up from his crawling position and looks at the corpse that has no arms and a slit throat. The growling only getting louder.
Ford would rather not see another body get well….more dismembered so he says:
“Stan…Could you…help me?” voice still a bit rough and shaky
The growling stops, and Stan turns to Ford and looks back and forth between him and the corpse. He luckily turns his back to the corpse and gets behind Ford.
Ford doesn’t feel anything touching him, just hears a quick snap and rope loosing around his wrist. The same thing happens with his feet.
Ford immediately moves and gets into a more comfortable position with his legs crossed, but he is not quite ready to stand up. He looks at his wrist and grimaces slightly at the redness left by the rope.
A small whine makes him look up to see Stan in-front of him, and on his hands leaning closer and looking at Fords wrist with sad expression. Stan then reaches out a clawed hand that is covered in blood, but Ford pulls his hands to his chest before Stan can get too close.
When Ford looks back at his brother, Stan looks so hurt and then he looks down at his blood-covered hands ashamed. It makes Ford feel a bit bad for the action but before he can say anything, Stan gets up and seems to look around for something.
Ford watches him as once Stan seems to find what he’s looking for he runs over and grabs on to the shirt of one the men and rips it off with ease. Then to Ford surprise, Stan uses it to wipe off the blood from his hands.
He runs back over to Ford and sits down in front of him with a big grin and shows Ford his now clean claws but what captured Ford attention was that Stan teeth seem….normal.
They look like a normal set of human teeth…huh…strange…he could have sworn he saw….
Stan then looks at Ford face then his hands with a bit of unease and slowly brings his hands out as if asking for Ford to let him see them. And then to Ford surprised Stan says:
“…Help?” In a small uncertain voice
Ford is definitely skeptical but….well…Fords a bit too curious for his own good, plus this was his brother, he won’t hurt him.
If he wanted to, he clearly would have done it already.
Ford slowly put his hands out closer to Stan till there right on top Stan hands. Stan moves his hands so carefully around Ford wrist he barely even feels them and then Stan leans his head closer to Ford wrist.
Stan looks up at him and says “still.” As if it’s a command and Ford decide again to trust his brother and nods.
Stan nods back and looks at Ford wrist and to Ford shock and disgust Stan licks his right and left wrist with a tough that is definitely longer than a normal human. It takes everything for Ford not to wrench his hands back but luckily it doesn’t take long, and Stan nods looking satisfied and moves his hands away from Ford and onto his lap.
Ford takes his hand back and wipes off the spit and looks at his wrist and….they don’t hurt anymore and the…redness is gone…
Ford looks back at Stan, shocked. Stan just smiles at him with his tail wagging slowly from side to side. Clearly proud that he’d done a good job.
So many questions are running through Ford’s head. He really wishes he hadn’t wiped the spit off now. He so deep in his head he doesn’t even notice Stan getting closer to him until he feels a poke at stomach.
Ford looks down at Stan who looks at him…annoyed? Stan huffs shaking his head and then he gets up and heads towards the corpse in the middle. Now that Ford can see the corpse a bit more clearly it seems to have been the leader of the group.
The corpse has its entire torso open and his guts in pieces around him. It looked like lion had just ripped him apart or a bomb had gone off in his stomach. It was truly a horrific sight. Stan only makes this worse by ripping one of the arms off with a quick snap. Then he walks back over to Ford.
Stan sits down in front of Ford and presents the arm to Ford like a cat would be with a dead mouse. Luckily for Ford, Stan didn’t have the arm in his mouth he just put it on the ground in-front of him.
Ford had to swallow his throw up when he realized what Stan wanted and says:
“I…I’m not really hungry….right now…”
Stan looks at Ford confused so he adds
“But….huh…Thank you?…”
Stan blinks at Ford then just shrugs and grabs the arm. Ford then watches in horrific fascination as Stan opens his mouth, and all his teeth change from normal to razor sharp in a second, biting down on the bicep and ripping the flesh and muscle off with ease. Little happy noises escape Stan’s mouth as he eats along with his tail wagging slowly.
A normal person would have probably thrown up, screamed or ran but…
Fords never been normal has he…
Now that he’s had a bit of time to think now that he knows they aren’t in any danger. Ford comes to the conclusion that these people who Stanley killed tried to kill them, in Ford eyes they got what they deserved. While it is still jarring to see Stan well….eating them, hopefully Stan doesn’t need human flesh to survive now.
He had eaten Fiddlefords soup yesterday so he could probably eat other things.
Ford then watches Stan throw the haft eaten arm across the room and using his already stained shirt, tries to wipe the blood off his mouth.
Huh…Stan used to do the same thing when they were younger…some things never change…
But speaking of change
Ford looks at his brother and just really takes in his new appearance. The eyes, hair, claws, scales, teeth, and tail. Everything, he even notices long fins poking out from where Stan’s ears should be as well. All in all, his brother looks like a cross between a person and a deep-sea fish or reptile, but Ford was leaning more towards fish. Not to mention how Stan is acting; he knows who Ford is and understands him but appears to only be driven by instinct or more animalistic needs. But…what would cause this drastic of a transformation?
“Stanley?”
Stan turns to him with his head titled slightly.
“Why….um....what happened to you?”
Stan just blinks at Ford and then looks down at his hands. He gives them a frustrated look then puts a hand to head gripping his hair and says:
“….Can’t …..remember…”
Stan turns to look at the corpse in the middle and glares at it.
“Gonna….hurt….” Stan point to Ford “so I…..hurt…” he then points back to corpse
Ford blinks “You're saying that since they were going to hurt me….you hurt them” Ford looks to his brother for confrontation. His brother nods.
Huh….that’s….interesting…
Hearing his brother voice, it reminds him of something. Something he thinks heard right before he thinks he blacked out….
Hung
high
and
drrrryyyy.
Where
no one
can
see.
If
there’s
nothing
but
paaaainnnn.
Blame
it
on
me.
Ford shakes his head and tries to get up but when he puts pressure on his left foot he feels a sharp pain. He sits back down and moves his pant leg and sock. There’s no discoloration, so that most likely means it’s a sprain.
Ford turns to left side to see Stan looking down at his ankle, and then he actually pokes it with his claw which just makes Ford wince and then glares at Stan in annoyance.
“Please, don’t touch it…..unless you think your spit can cure this”
Stan blinks at Ford. Then suddenly Stan grabs right above his ankle then uses his other hand to balance himself as he leans closer to Ford ankle. Ford steeled himself for the cold and slimy sensation yet….it doesn’t come. Instead, Ford opens his eye to see Stan gritting his teeth with his eyes close, then to Ford shock, tears start to fall down Stan face.
Stan opens his eyes and he takes his hand and rubs the tears on it. Then looks at Ford and says:
“Gonna….hurt…” he pauses “quick”
Ford very confused just watches as Stan uses the palm of his hand to rub his tears into Ford ankle. Then suddenly a sharp pain erupts from Fords ankle and he winces in pain. But just as soon as he feels it….. it’s gone.
Ford twist his ankle every way and….its gone…no pain at all.
Once again, Ford is left speechless. Stan once again just smiles at him like he is just happy to be near Ford. It’s a strangely familiar feeling.
Ford looks to Stan and puts slowly puts a hand on his shoulder “Thank you, Stanley” and smiles at his brother
Stan looks at him with big wide eyes, and suddenly Ford is knocked down by Stan wrapping his arms around his waist. Ford can tell he is trying not to squeeze to hard plus Stan hand are balled up most likely as to not accidentally scratch him. Stan nuzzles his head into Ford’s neck making some kind strange happy noises and Ford couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Stan tail wagging.
Then Stan lifts his head up and presses his forehead against Fords, closes his eyes and says:
“..Sixer.…”
Rubbing his forehead against Fords. Then going back to resting his head on Fords shoulder.
Ford…..well…Ford is once again frozen in time but…. for different reasons.
Stanley. Even in a state of mind where he’s barely aware of what he’s doing. Seemly running off instinct and basic needs. Remembers something they haven’t done in decades.
It’s….definitely jarring for Ford.
It also makes him feel things that he doesn’t want to feel acknowledged at the moment!
Ford coughs making Stan look up at him.
“We should head back Stan, I’m sure Fiddleford is worried about us”
Stan blinks
“…Go…where?”
Ford sighs and he almost says home but…Stan might think he means Jersey, so he says:
“We are going to…my home”
Ford hopes in his head that one day he can say “our home”
Stan perks up and nods with smile, he gets off Ford and stands up. Ford looking down notices that Stan feet are just like his hands, clawed but also a bit longer and his legs covered in scales. Ford stand up and Stan suddenly gets close to him and seems to check him over; he looks at Ford:
“No…hurt?”
Ford chuckles
“I’m fine, Stanley. I’ll let you know if I feel any pain”
Stan nods. He seems to wait for Ford to take the lead, so he does, as they head out of this horror filled warehouse.
Once Ford opens the door and he hears small whine come from Stan. Ford turn to around to see Stan cringe at the light and puts both his hands above his eyes along with using his arms to try and cover his ears. Ford peaks outside to see where the sun is and it appears to be mid afternoon so the sun is still out but should be down in a couple hours.
That still doesn’t explain why Stan seem to be in some kind of pain. Ford closes the door and Stan instantly relaxes.
“Stanley? What’s wrong?” Ford asks
Stan looks at sheepishly at the ground “…bright…..loud..” he says pointing at the door.
Ford is a bit confused but then remembers his early observations that Stan looked like a deep-sea fish. Of course, he would be sensitive to sounds and bright lights!
The sound from outside is mostly muffled in here along with only light source being a couple over head lights. Though he could just be sensitive to natural lighting….he would have to test that..or just ask, once Stan got back to normal, this was brother after all not one of his weekly anomalies.
Ford takes off trench coat and puts it on top of Stan head.
“This should help with the light; I sadly don’t have anything for the sound so put your hands over your ears for now hopefully we aren’t too far away”
Stan nods and does as he told. Ford opens the door and they both walk back. Luckily nothing bad happens on the way there, just Stan being distracted a couple times but it’s not to long till there back at the cabin.
Ford doesn’t see Fiddleford car and once inside he looks at the clock. Oh, good they weren’t gone for too long, only a few hours; F hadn’t even gotten back yet from shopping.
Ford goes into the living room to find Stan hiding under a blanket on the couch. Well, trying to hide, it’s hard to with his tail. Then Ford remembers why he is hiding, right.
Ford looks around for a bit and finally finds what he was looking for in the closest. He goes downstairs and walks toward Stan. He crouches down and pokes the blanket.
“Stanley?… I have something for you” Stan peaks out squinting his eyes.
“Here, these should help your eyes” he puts a pair of sunglasses on Stan. Stan blink in surprise not squinting anymore. The yellow in his eyes glowing softly behind the lenses.
“These should help the noise” Stan removes his hand and once the earmuffs are on Stan relaxes then smiles at Ford.
Ford smiles back. Then remembers the shirt Stan is wearing…..that’s currently covered in blood…right
Stan would probably need a bath. He might actually want one now in his current form. That would be quite a change from the Stanley he remembers. At least the younger one from they’re childhood years….
Ford shakes off the memories and looks at Stan, who is sitting up on the couch, looking around at the things in the cabin.
“Stanley?”
Stan looks at him.
“How about we go upstairs, for a…bath? get you cleaned up.” Ford asks
Ford didn’t think Stan’s eye could get any bigger as the yellow irises now covered Stan’s entire eyes leaving barely any black. It reminds him of a cat with how quickly Stan eyes can contract and expand.
Stan nods quickly, his tail wagging quickly behind him. “..Swim?!…”
Ford chuckles a little “I don’t think the tub is big enough for a swim….more of a…soak.”
Stan seems a little disappointed but still nods and stands up waiting for Ford to take the lead. It’s strange, Stan was always the one who took the lead as children. Then as teens he seemed to drift from that, just fallowing Ford around wherever….
He can’t remember when he started to hate that…or....when he started to miss it….
Ford shakes his head and walks toward the stairs. He turns around and gestures for Stan to follow him, and while Stan seems a bit nervous, both of them get up the stairs.
While walking in the hallway, Ford comes to a stop when he hears Stan growl. It really is a threatening sound.
Ford turns and sees Stan growling at the wall. He walks over to stand gets next to Stan and looks at the wall and….now sees why Stan is growling at it. Though he also a bit surprised Stan can recognize it as something bad.
Carved into the bottom of the wall was an eye. Him and F thought they had gotten rid of all of them, but he had carved so many they were bound to miss some. It made Ford’s skin crawl looking at it.
He then watched as Stan crouched down near it and used his claws to scrape the wood over and over again until it was unrecognizable. Once Stan was done, he looked up at Ford.
Ford felt relieved knowing it was gone and put a hand on Stan head ruffling his hair a little “Thank you Stanley” Stan just smiled leaning into the touch.
Stan then follows him into the bathroom. Which lucky Fiddleford had been cleaning consistently since staying here. Ford then looks at Stan.
“We will need to take this shirt off” Stan tilts his head confused, Ford sighs then get closer to Stan and the slowly puts his hands on Stan shoulder and turns him slightly to get a better look at his back.
The back of the shirt was shredded because of the new spiky fins on his brothers’ back, so it’s best to rip the thing off and get Stan a new one. So that’s what he does; Stan didn’t seem to mind. With the shirt off Ford notices the only thing not covered in scales is Stan’s chest and stomach. Ford quickly took mental note of this and contunied on. He decided that Stan would keep the shorts on for decency's sake. He takes off the earmuff much to Stan annoyance and then shuts the blinds and takes the sunglasses off. He then tells Stan to get in the tub, and Stan does so happily. He sits in middle of the tub facing Ford with his legs in a criss-crossed position and tail curled around his side, the end of it laying on his lap.
Ford looks at himself and realizes he should probably do something about his own clothes given that he’s going to get wet during this plus there was most likely blood on them just hard to see due to the red fabric. So, he reluctantly takes off his sweater and then is about to bunch up his pants but decides to just take them off. He takes off his socks as well.
With that all done, he finally turns the faucet on. Stan watches the water like he used to watch TV as a child. Like nothing could distract him from what he is looking at. It makes Ford chuckle a bit as Stan puts hands under it.
Ford gets up and grabs the shampoo and body wash. Then stops when he sees a bottle he forgot he had. He turns to Stan who is still entranced by the running water and asks:
“Stanley…would you like some bubbles?”
Stan actually looks away from the water and up to Ford.
“…Bubbles?” Stan asks tilting his head
“Yes Stanley, Bubbles. Would you like a bubble bath?”
Stan seems to think about it, then nods. Ford nods back and grabs the bottle of bubble soap that he thinks F had gifted him. Ford feels the water and once it gets to a good temperature. He puts the drain plug in and pours some of the bubble soap into the bath.
Stan just watches in fascination as the water rises with the bubbles. Ford finally stops the water once it hits the middle of the tub to make sure the bubbles don’t overflow. Ford then moves to the end of the tub.
“I need you to put your head here” patting in front of him
Stan looks over at him and leans his back toward the end of the tub. Ford watches as the big fin on Stan back seems fold into his back, just like he’s seen some fish do with their dorsal fins. Ford grabs a cup, scoops up some of the water, and pours it on Stan’s head. Stan seems to enjoy this, sinking into the water and just looking at the bubbles and blowing them out of his hands. Even popping some of the bigger ones with his claws which actually makes Stan chuckle a bit.
Then Stan seems to sniff the air and sighs contently “…Smells…….nice…”
Ford sniff and felt he agreed. The bubble soap smelt a familiar floral sent that Ford can’t seem to recall where he recognizes it from.
Stan seems to, as he says “….Smells……home…” as sinks into the bubbles more.
Then it hits him, it smells like there mother's perfume. A strong floral fragrance. It made him realize he should call his mother soon.
Once Stan hair seemed wet enough, Ford grabs a bottle of shampoo.
“Okay now, Stanley, I’m going to scrub this into your hair, okay?”
Stan looks back and nods then goes back to playing with the bubbles. Ford puts some liquid in the hands and gently carts his hands through Stan hair. It makes him realize that Stans hair had grown quite a bit with this new change. Sure, Stan had a mullet before, but it had stopped at his shoulders. His hair now was past his shoulders and was…well quite knotted. It seemed like he hadn’t washed or cared for his hair for some time.
“Your hair is quite the mess, when was the last time you washed it properly?” Ford finds himself mumbling out loud, not expecting a response.
But he does get one.
One that makes him stop in his tracks
“…..2…years?…” he hears Stan say with uncertainty.
2 years…
Stan hasn’t been able to wash his hair properly….for 2 years.
That settles it; he and Stan really need to talk once Stan can say more than two words at a time. He was already deeply concerned when Stan seemed so clam about be kidnapped but this just confirmed it. The Stan he knows would NEVER go that long without a shower. Sure, he hated baths as kids, but he liked showers once they got to their teens and he was obsessed with his hair!
Ford just takes a deep breath in and out and tries to just focus on scrubbing Stan’s hair with the soap and then washing it out. While he’s scrubbing the soap into Stan hair the strangest thing happens…and well that saying a lot giving what’s happened today.
Ford is rubbing the soap into his brother scalp when he hears something. It’s a low deep rumbling sound. It almost reminds him of Stan’s growls, but it sounds softer more rhythmic. He looks down at Stan and notices his eyes are closed and he’s wearing a relaxed smile while also leaning into Fords touch….and now that Fords paying more attention, he realizes that Stan is….slightly vibrating?
It suddenly hits Ford what’s happening and as to bite his tough as to not either gasp or laugh because...
Stan was purrring
Like a cat..
A large cat….but still!!
How could he even do this?! Why could he?! Well, he knew why cats did it but why? Why, Stan! He’s clearly a fish of some kind!? FISH DON’T PURR!!…. Maybe the animalistic nature or..
Ford stop his thoughts when he hears a curious sound directed at him.
Ford looks down to his brother looking at him confused. Ford sighed and smiled fondly at his twin who seems to be filled with surprises. As he goes back to message the shampoo into his hair making his brothers purring start up again. Well, it was good to know that at least Stan felt relaxed and safe here.
Then as Ford is washing out the conditioner he hears:
“STANFERD! IM HOME!”
He feels Stan freeze beneath his figures and a small growl start up. Ford quickly gets into Stan’s field of vision and holds his shoulders:
“it’s okay! We’re safe. That’s just my partner. We’re safe, Stanley.”
Stan looks skeptical at him but nods. Ford sighs with a breath of relief. Then yells:
“IM UP STAIRS FIDDLEFORD, I’ll BE DOWN IN A MINUTE!”
Stan duck his head haft way under the water with a small whine. Right. Noise, he needs to be more careful with that.
“Sorry…….but Stan, I need you to stay here, I’ll be back soon okay.”
Stan looked at him worried
“....You…..leaving?…” sounding small and confused
“Only for a little bit. I’ll be back, I promise okay”
Stanley still didn’t seem convinced, so he asks:
“Stanley, may I see your hand?”
Stan puts one of his hands out, and Ford takes it. He gets a bit distracted looking at it as the fingers just end in a sharp point, not very clear on where the claws start. He also notices the webbing between Stan fingers but that’s not the important right now. Ford takes his pinky and wraps it around Stan clawed one.
“I promise. I will be back”
Stan looks at him then at their hands and nods with more certainty. He watches Stan dip his head back into the water most likely to hide from the sounds.
Ford sighs, gets up, and heads downstairs. He arrives at the kitchen to Fiddleford putting up the groceries.
“Fiddleford?”
Fiddleford turns around, and his look goes from a normal smile to surprise. He then looks Ford up and down, then his expression shifts to something….he can’t quite identify but recognizes somehow.
“Well, Stanferd. If I knew you were gonna give me such a treat I woulda gotten ya more jellybeans” F says with amusement
Ford is now very confused and the fallows F line sight and looks down at himself and….
Right…
He forgot he was in his underwear…
Ford feels his face heat in embarrassment.
“Ya forgot you were in your underwear, didn’t ya” F asks now continuing to put food up.
Ford rubs the back of his neck “it….it would appear that way…..” Ford coughs “sorry..”
F just chuckles “no need for apologies…., an’t the first time I’d see ya in ya underwear” F turns to him with smirk and looks Ford up and down one more time before going back to restocking.
Ford feels his face heat up more and clears his throat “Yes, well, umm…..I have some….news.....you could say”
F looks back at him “oh? Did you and Stan get some info from those guys?”
“Well……not exactly…you could say things took an..... unexpected turn” Ford says nervously
F looks at him concerned “What kinda turn, are we talking about?”
Ford looking anywhere but F “A….possible kidnapping turn…” he mumbles then quickly adds “BUT! We escaped! And uninjured!”
F just looks at him and drags a hand across his face. Then turns and grabs Pitt from the fridge and another one for him. F sits down with the sodas.
“Something tells me this gonna be long one” F says sounding exhausted
Ford sits down next to him grabbing the can “Yes but I can’t be too long. Stan is waiting for me upstairs. So…it all started-“
Ford then tell him how him and Stan had gone back to the Crawlspace when they were captured by the men who they had rescued Stan from two days ago. They had threaded to hurt them very badly (he didn’t go into detail as to not worry F). Ford then blacked out at some point and then woken up to find all the men well...dead and that Stan had transformed into something…not quite human.
“That’s about it” Ford says
F just stares at him for a minute then takes a deep breath in and then out.
“So, ya telling me you and your twin got kidnapped, they threatened to hurt ya or worst then you woke up and Stan turned into some fish human hybrid thing and killed those men and is now....upstairs...in a bath.”
Ford nods “That's about it”
F looks at him with narrow eyes “there’s nothing else?… Anything important ya need to tell me”
Ford starts to feel sweat “No....I...I don’t think so” not looking at F
“Stanford” F says sternly
Ford sighs “FINE! There might be one thing but..ummm”
F looks at him to continue.
“Before I tell you, you must know Stan hasn’t tried to hurt me at all like he is right now and listens to me quite well, so he isn’t a danger to us, but….you should probably know that...well..umm” Ford looks anywhere but F.
“Remember how I said that Stan had.....killed those men”
F nods, as his morals are as grey and ever changing as Ford’s
“Well....he may have.....eaten pieces of them” he says the last part very quickly
F again stares at him. Then he puts his hands on his face and groans.
“Nothing ever simple with you, is it?”
“I understand your concern! but, he ate your soup last night, so he probably doesn't need it to survive and just does it for self-defense!”
F looks at Ford with an exhausted but sympathetic look and sighs “You better be right about this”
“I know I am. He’s, my brother. I know him even.....even if…. it’s been a long time..”
Ford hears F get up and feels a hand on his shoulder.
“Well, ya gonna show me ya new fish twin or ya gonna hide him upstairs all night. OH! wait I can grab some of the fish I caught last week! I bet he don’t mind it raw” he says with smile
Ford smiles at his partner; he was truly grateful for him. Most would have left him so long ago, yet here he was next to Ford through hell and back. So, in a rare show of affection, he gets up and brings F into a hug and kisses him on the cheek.
“Thank you Fiddleford, truly”
F just looks at him with wide eyes an “aw shucks” escaping him with his cheeks red. He then looks down and he tries to push away from Ford.
“FORD! don’t go kissing me when you're in ya damn underwear!”
Ford looks down with an ‘oh’ expression and releases him then looks down a bit embarrassed “ah right…sorry”
F huffs, brushing himself off then looks at Ford he says “ya can do that at another time” giving Ford a wink. Which just makes Ford’s face heat up.
“Right now! we gotta fish man to take care off!” As he watches his partner quickly go up the stairs and Ford follows him rolling his eyes fondly.
Once they get to bathroom Ford opens the door to see Stan haft way out of the tub with one foot on outside of the tub on the ground. He looks at Ford and beams at him.
“FORD!” He says with excitement
Stan runs and wraps him in a soaking wet and cold hug with his tail wagging. Ford while surprised, just pats his brother on the back. Stan is a bit clingy it would seem, when he like this anyway.
“Yes, I’m back, I told you I would be”
Stan just nods into Ford shoulder and holds Ford tighter. It’s getting a bit hard for Ford to breathe now but luckily F seems to realize this and says:
“Well, he sure seems to like ya now huh?”
Stan let’s go of him and Ford take few breaths before Stan grabs him by the shoulder turning him to face F. Putting Ford between Stan and F.
Ford looks behind him where Stan is basically hiding from F, behind Ford. It’s quite a change to go from well… literally eating people only an hour ago. To now hiding and trying to make himself smaller behind Ford because someone new is here. Well at least that means he know F is not a threat.
“Aww, is he shy now?” F coos a bit which just makes Stan hunch further behind Ford.
Ford chuckles “it would appear so, I had told him you wouldn’t hurt us, so I suppose he just gets this way with new people”
Ford turns slightly and Stan looks up at him “Stanley…..this is my…partner Fiddleford, remember?… you met him yesterday” Stan looks at F with a confused yet curious expression.
“Ya can just call me Fidds if that’s easier!” F says with enthusiasm
Stan looks at Ford then F “…Fords……mate?…”he asks looking at Ford and point to F
Ford is now very confused “Mate?”
F chuckles “Ya know, like how animals' mate for life”
Ford blinks “oh…..um…well yes I suppose you could call him that…” he feels his face heat up a bit “but please call him by his name Stan”
Stan nods to Ford and looks at F. He raises a hand and waves still hidden a bit behind Ford. Which F returns with a wave of his own.
Stan then points to himself “Stan” then points to Ford “brother”
F just smiles “Well, is good to meet ya Stan”
Stan just blinks in surprised at F but then he seems to relax, as he smiles and nods.
Ford breaths a breath of relief and turns to face his brother. “Now let’s get you dried off. And some new clothes as well”
“I can go get’’em while ya help’m dry off” F says already “gonna get ya some clothes too Ford!” He yells
“Thank you F!” Ford replied back but once again is reminded that Stan wasn’t a fan of the loudness.
“Sorry Stan, let dry your hair and then we can put the earmuff back on” he then gestured for Stan to sit on the toilet which he does.
Ford then rubs the towel around Stan head making his hair a bit frizzy. Ford will admit he snickered a bit at Stan expression after he was done drying his hair. Then he placed the earmuff back on Stan which seem to visibly relax him with his shoulder losing some tension. Then Ford started to dry the rest of his brother with relative ease. Though when he tried to dry the tail with the towel his brother had moved it away from him shaking his head, so he decided to just let it air dry.
F had come back in and dropped the clothes off by the time Ford as done drying himself off from Stan earlier wet hug. Ford puts on a pare of sweatpants and a loose-fitting short sleeve. Then turns to Stan.
“Okay let’s put the shirt on first” Ford grabs one of the shirts they had found would fit Stanely when they found him two days ago. It was like the shirt Ford was wearing only for Stan it would not be loose fitting. Now Ford was about to put the shirt over Stan’s head when he remembered something important.
He walks around Stan to his back and touches the large dorsal fin. Which only get a small surprise noise from his brother.
“Do…do you think you could keep this down while you have the shirt on?” He asks
Stan looks over his shoulder and nods, and the fin retracts inside Stan back. Honestly if this wasn’t Ford brother, he would be taking note but…it is his brother, so he takes a mental note and goes back around to put the shirt on his brother.
The shirt seems to fit and Ford hands him a pare of pants and turns around hope Stan remembers how to put them on. Turns around when he hears a strange warbling sound and sees that the sweat pants are……loose?
Ford looks and sees that the strings will need to be tightened if there going to stay on. Which confuses him because, well his clothes have always been tight for Stan. So why didn’t the pants fit?
Once he’s done tying the pant stings together he back up and watches Stan turn around looking at his clothes. His tail coming out above his pants but….thats when realizes something…
Stan’s stomach is gone..
Well not literally but, the fat in his stomach is gone! That’s how he was able to fit in the pants! But….why? Ford thinks and then remembers…
The tail
All the fat went to the tail! Just like lizard do! God this was fascinating but…he was hopefully after some rest Stan would be back to normal and hopefully have some insight on this.
“Alrighty Stan let’s head downstairs, I think F has some fish for you”
Stan eyes got wide and quickly fallows Ford downstairs. To the kitchen. Ford sees F had already made some grilled cheese then a large thawed-out Bass set on plate which had Stan running up to it and sitting on the chair in front of it. Though not eating it just staring at it, while he licked his lips.
F chuckled at his twin “well ya sure are an excitable one huh?”
Stan just nodded his head not really playing attention.
Ford sat down with his food “Thank you for the food, F, it looks delicious as always.”
“Well, thank ya kindly, now eat it up!” F announces
As Ford is about to take a bit he notices that Stan is now watching him: “Stanley?…..you can eat now”
Stan looks at his food and shakes his head then looks back at Ford “you…..first….”
He needed to make sure that Ford ate before he did, so Ford started to eat and once he was done with the first haft Stan nodded and grab the fish. Ford once again watched his brothers' teeth change from flat to razor sharp and easily tear through the fish. Happy noises accompanying him as he ate.
Ford looks over to F who is also watching Stan surprised “did….did his teeth retract?”
Ford nodded “yes it would seem that way though I’m not sure why he would need that. His teeth can fit inside his mouth so why would he need to hide them?” Ford asks while he takes another bite
“Well….. maybe it’s for deception” F says
Ford blinks “Deception?”
“Ya know, he don’t look like a predator when his teeth aren’t sharp. Maybe it’s to make him look safe.”
Ford think of this, and then back to all of Stan other traits. He clearly is predator but…..when Ford really thinks about it someone unknowingly could see his twin as something not very threatening. Sure, he had claws but so did a lot of animals and well he looked more like a fish then anything and not even a scary one like a shark or eel but something from the deep sea…..something ancient.
Something that is trying to be look like something it’s not. As if it’s luring you into grasp. Like an ambush predator.
Ford looks to his brother as he scraps the meat of the bones. His brother notices and looks at him with a small smile.
This is truly quite the mystery.
After they ate Ford thought of an idea that he’s sure Stan will enjoy along with Fiddleford.
“Stanley how do you feel about building Fort Stan?” He ask
Stan eyes go wide once again and nod vigorously. Making Ford chuckle a bit. It was really more like talking to a 10 year old Stan rather then….well…a fish man that also is his brother.
“What’s Fort Stan?” F asks as he fishes the dishes
“ it’s a pillow fort, I figured Stan would rather not sleep alone given his….behavior. And our bed can’t fit all three of us so we could bring down the inflatable one and make a fort of sorts in the TV room” Ford says
F blinks at him a bit surprised and then smiles “I think that sounds wonderfully”
So that’s what they do. Stan watches on the couch as Ford and F grab all the thing they need to make a fort even grabbing sheet to make roof. At the end they basically coved the room in blanket and pillows. Ford was quite proud of their little hut.
“Stanley you can come in now”
Stanley ducked his head in and then crawled onto the mattress. That was something else Ford had noticed while Stan walked flat on his feet, he seemed to be comfortable being on all fours as well. Stan took in his surroundings and nodded. Then sat criss cross on one side of the bed.
Ford then got in the middle and then F turned on the TV at a low volume and then sat on the other side of him bringing the blanket up closer. Stan seems to be very entranced by the TV. And Ford just chuckled at him as F got closer to him and Ford puts his arm around him.
After a few hours Stan had seem to get tried and yawn laying down and grabbing Ford from F and nuzzling his face in Ford side.
“Stanley..do-“
Ford was silenced by F shushing him “oh hush. I don’t mind, plus it’s been what ten years sense ya seen him?”
Ford looks down at his brother that in reality, he barely knew “yes…just about”
F nodded “then that’s all the more reason, plus I think I’ll sleep upstairs tonight. Might enjoy sleeping without your snoring” F teases to which Ford rolls his eyes
“Alright..goodnight F” Ford says with a smile
F leans over and kisses his forehead “Goodnight Darling” then looks at Stan “Goodnight Stanley”
Stan mumbles “night…..fiz…”
F chuckles “I’ll turn the lights off on my way out” and he leaves.
Ford lays down and then hears the light switch go off and the darkness blanket over them, but it doesn’t stay for long as Ford looks down at his brother and see a soft light coming from his arm. Ford then lifts up the blanket to see that Stan tail as circles of light along it and long fins the end of his tail seems to have a bulb at the end admitting a much brighter yet still soft light. Almost like an angler fish.
Ford smiles fondly at his brother, he really was just full of surprises. He knows tomorrow will be hard and so will next few days, maybe even weeks but right now he can sleep peacefully knowing his brother is safe with him.
And for the first time in a while Ford has a dreamless sleep