Two years have passed since then. It had been years of exploration and research. Ford has been here for six years and has just begun his third journal. He and Y/n have scoured almost the entire expanse of Gravity Falls' woods, from the geographical anomalies they discovered to the numerous monsters and creatures whose weaknesses they quickly discovered.

Y/n and Ford were sitting in a random clearing near the cabin on the grass. They were surrounded by trees, but there were gaps between them. The young lady had just finished reading the most recent entry from the third journal. It was about cursed doors, and it took her back to a time when they assumed that whoever went through the door vanished forever. Y/n and Ford never had the guts to see if it was instant death or if it would just take them somewhere.

Ford sat in front of a mountain of books he had borrowed from the library. It was all about anomalies, myths, and legends, but Ford dismissed it as irrelevant to his research because they were all fictional.

She shook her head. Ford appeared to be more agitated than usual. He stays up all night every night, racking his brain for answers to his big question, and then goes about his daily routine with no sleep. He's such an oddball.

Speaking of odd things. "Hey," she called to him.

"Hm." Ford hummed nonchalantly, not bothering to look at her. His eyes remained on the pages.

"You've been cataloging the oddities of this town, but you've never written something about the most interesting oddity yet! Yourself!"

He stopped reading momentarily, his eyes finally averting to hers. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course," she replied. "If you do get your book about the "Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness" published, the world deserves to know who wrote it!" You'd be a well-known public figure."

Ford chuckled amusedly. "Fine, Y/n. You persuaded me. Now, please hand me the journal."

"No, I get to draw you this time," she interrupted, taking the pen from his coat pocket and starting to sketch. Ford crossed his arms in disapproval. She had learned the fundamentals by watching Ford draw for years, so she practiced on her own time. Y/n had her tongue out unconsciously as she focused on his features: glasses, a big nose, long and unkempt hair, and a massive chin.

Y/n took a peek at Ford from behind the journal, its fingers slightly shaking because she was not used to the heavy pen. "Are you finished?" Ford asked after a moment.

"Just a second..." she trailed off. "And... done!" She had just made diagonal lines for the background and showed it to him very quickly before closing the journal. "Nope, show's ever. My drawing sucks."

"No, you did good! That was amazing work, Y/n!"

"Thank you," she mumbled sheepishly. "Now, pretend this is your first interview following your breakthrough. 'Good day, Mr. Ford. I am extremely intelligent, and we recognized your world-famous theory book. It has reached millions of people, and they are undoubtedly curious about the author!' Did I do it correctly? " She said the last part in hushed tones.

Ford let out a few laughs. "Well," he spoke as he cleared his throat. "To put it simply, I am strange. I was born strange, I am attracted to the strange, and the strange has always been attracted to me."

"...attracted... to... me." She lifted the pen and glanced at the man who was speaking calculatingly.

She continued writing what Ford had dictated for the rest of the "interview." Her hands managed to mimic Ford's cursive font, albeit in a slightly different way. Of course, she had let Ford draw what the shrunken head had looked like, as well as the report cards, as she's never seen them before.

In awe, the two of them looked at the double page dedicated to Ford. Ford's smile in the drawing made her happy. He flipped to the next page and moved away from her to face her. He started doodling something, and she knew he was drawing her because he kept looking back at her every second.

"What are you doing?" She asked anyway.

"Well, if people were to take interest in my book, the world also deserves to know that I wasn't alone in this, and that I had such a reliable assistant."

Y/n felt something trying to escape her eyes. "What... what is this..." Instinctively, she brought a hand to her cheeks and felt wetness. They were warm to her eyes and then cold to her cheeks. She helplessly choked back a sob. "Why is this happening?"

Ford became a little concerned. "Those are tears," he said slowly as he looked at the girl, whose tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You're- you're crying."

"Crying? Is that a good thing?"

He realized that he never saw her cry before, much less a tear coming out of her eyes. "It depends. What are you feeling right now?"

"What was the last thing you said?"

Ford blankly stared. "That you were my... reliable assistant?"

She sniffed. "You really think so?"

"Of course," he happily replied. "You have been such a great help, Y/n. I have never been more grateful for your help."

An outright full sob wracked through her as she could only rub her eyes with both the back of her hands. She sniffed uncontrollably, trying to stop the cries that escaped her.

"Crying is definitely normal, Y/n. It is alright to let your emotions out."Ford, as usual, assured her with facts. "However, I'm surprised you haven't cried before..."

"This feels like an inconvenience. I'm crying just because I really liked what you said. So my eyes just produce these salty liquids at random?"

"They are not at random. They are triggered by strong emotions. They may be hurt, but given your inability to feel pain, it must be from joy."

"Must be. But I'm not feeling anything. It's only... tears."

"That is because crying usually relieves pain, or other overwhelming emotions."

Y/n had stopped crying and was only sniffling. "Have you ever cried, Ford?"

The man hesitated, looking distant. "I have. After all, I am only human."

Ford felt a pat on his shoulder. He looked up and saw her, smiling comfortingly. "It's alright, now."

He reciprocated the smile before he had to turn back to his book. "Alright, now wipe your tears or I am going to have to draw you babbling like a baby."

***

∆ PLAY THEME SONG ∆

https://youtu.be/X2DUpDxFJyg

***

More weeks have passed since that afternoon. Y/n and Ford went on to discover more creatures residing in Gravity Falls such as the Leprecorn, a stomach-faced duck, and a hawktopus - to which looking at it just made them infuriated.

One day, Ford had wanted to take some rest and relaxation because the reason for why he came to Gravity Falls remained unanswered. Y/n continued to worry about Ford as she became increasingly aware of his growing restlessness. His "Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness" remained elusive, and she wondered how long it would take him to realize that he could already be world-famous through these journals.

However, after spending the night in the cabin lent by local lumberjack Dan Corduroy, they discovered that it was extremely haunted. It wasn't even a full weekend of vacation. It resulted in more eerie discoveries and categories, which Ford geekily classified. The category 10 ghost eventually pushed them to abandon their packed belongings - because, honestly, they were already showered with ectoplasm - and flee the cabin in their pajamas in the cold night.

When they returned to their original home, Y/n wanted to comment on their encounters, but Ford was complacent, not responding to any of her amusing observations. She merely raised an eyebrow in concern. He would occasionally contribute his own witty quips or even a simple playful roll of his eyes, but he just looked frustrated, combing his rough hair with his six-fingered calloused hand. He had never appeared more hopeless.

Y/n was holding a mug of warm milk this time, and she tried offering something to Ford but he didn't respond, so she decided to make him a cup of tea, but it was quickly left untouched. Ford kept his hard gaze fixed on his large blackboard, which was covered in pictures and scribbles on the side, as well as arrows pointing to the large question mark in the center of it all.

"What does it all mean? What does it all mean?" " He muttered to himself as he paced back and forth. Y/n stood there helpless. Nonetheless, she felt bad about it. She had no idea how to help the guy. After everything they've been through, after three journals, he's still stumped. How many daring explorers would go to such lengths just to unravel the mysteries of this town? He is the only one to have this insane idea and go with it.

A loud bang had cut Y/n's thoughts short. When she looked, Ford had just punched his fist on the board. "Ford, maybe you should go to sleep."

"Right," Ford replied for the first time that night. "I am exhausted. I must sleep on it. Perhaps rest will do me some good."

Y/n watched as he went back to his room, just as she drank the last of the warm milk and felt sleepy. She placed the mug in the sink before settling into the couch and wrapping herself in blankets. The atmosphere had changed, and the cold wind had picked up. She turned her back and tried to close her eyes, Ford's well-being still on her mind.

The next day was a wonderful new day for Ford. He woke up with a pep in his step and it felt like a newly made fire again, burning for progress as he felt immensely inspired and energetic for the rest of the month!

"You're... smiling," Y/n pointed out with a confused smile.

"Y/n! " He exclaimed, enthusiastically grabbing her shoulders. "All this time I've been looking for some common behavior to connect these anomalies, but what if the only thing they have in common is their history - a history that exists beyond our world, in another realm, a "dimension" of weirdness?!"

She stared at him, "You're saying that there is a way to find out how these creatures exist here in Gravity Falls?"

"If I could locate and puncture this weak dimensional fiber and record proof of the dimension beyond, I would have my Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness!"

"Wait a minute, Ford. You got it all from your long sleep? Did this come to you in a dream or something?"

She must have said something wrong because Ford's face suddenly went blank and his lips were devoid of a smile. He was silent, as if contemplating about something and it was actually making Y/n panic a bit. "Ford?" she spoke after a moment of silence. "Did I do something wrong?" He still didn't say anything. "I was only kidding... I..."

"It's- it's alright, Y/n, I-" Ford shook his head before opening his journal. "I have to go."

Her first blunder was making light of the idea coming to him in a dream. Her second blunder was letting him go while insisting he was fine.

Because they didn't go outside for a week, and what's more awkward is that it's just the two of them inside, but they never spoke to each other. Y/n would occasionally open and discuss the weather. Ford would hum as he made his way to his bedroom, which he always kept locked. Y/n never saw his blueprint because he always kept it hidden, but she thought that that's what he had been working on these past few days.

He's been cooped up inside his bedroom and every time he went out, he'd always look worse for wear but it didn't matter to him. He worked and worked until multiple versions of his blueprints had reached the living room and he doesn't go back and forth now when he needs a refill for his coffee.

Upon closer inspection, Y/n noticed the large triangular superstructure. She quickly realized that the materials listed by Ford where the arrows pointed were from the "Crash Site Omega," as he dubbed it. Were they going to have to go back and look for cutting-edge technology that was specifically made for this complex design? Y/n also observed that Ford had taken the three journals and combined them to form the large plan for the portal. She's not even going to question Ford's choice of shape which was the triangle. It was still cool.

Suddenly, Ford groaned out in defeat.

"What's the problem?" Y/n asked from the couch. She was enjoying the morning paper, but now her attention was solely on Ford.

"The design of this... machine, it's... I have limited knowledge of mechanical engineering." She could have sworn she saw him blush. "Agh, I guess I don't have that much of a choice. I need to call an old classmate and beg him to join me," Ford said as he stood up, going over to the phone.

Ooh, his friend. "He's a genius, I bet."

"One of the smartest people I've ever met, and one of the two people I trust enough to collaborate on this project," he winked at Y/n, but she had no idea what he meant. "Y/n, you're in," Ford said, as if he had read her mind. I need your assistance now more than ever."

"Three is better than two," she replied, nodding at him.

Ford returned the nod before dialing the number of his former colleague. She didn't want to disturb their private conversation, so she went to the other room, specifically the kitchen, to brew herself some tea. She and Ford had gotten some coffee and tea supplies the other day, and she wanted to try the green tea, so she decided to buy it.

As the water started to boil, she looked out the window and saw a group of gnomes holding a pie. Y/n shook her head, amused by their devious thievery. She returned to the living room with her brewed green tea, carefully blowing the air. Ford burst out laughing as soon as he hung up the phone. "Success! He said yes!"

"Congratulations on your engagement," Y/n playfully teased, yet Ford didn't regard her statement and started to pace around the room, his chin on his fingers. He was mumbling about plans and future strategies, and the girl only realized something. "Um, Ford, I may be invulnerable but you're really killing me with your stink. I'm scared it'll chase your friend out before he could even step foot inside."

Ford came to a halt and stared at her, as if he was thinking about something. "I suppose you're correct."

But he was still not moving. "What are you waiting for, a kiss on the cheek? Go take a shower, you lunatic!"

The following week, Y/n was watching the eye-bat's behavior as it was helplessly trapped in a cage. She was still unsure whether it would react like a normal eye or eat. She was about to give it an apple when the front door was suddenly knocked on. Y/n took off her safety glasses, wondering who was supposed to arrive today. Ford was already approaching the door before she could process it. "Coming! " He called out.

Y/n smiled in amusement as she watched Ford's excitement. When he opened the door, she saw a lanky man standing there with his briefcase and a smile on his face. He adjusted his glasses before giving Ford a little, "howdy!"

"F! Wonderful to see you," he replied, taking his hand and shaking it. "Glad to have you join us."

"Us? " Fiddleford inquired before finally noticing Y/n standing behind Ford, waving.

"Hello," she mumbled before going about her business. The eye-bat gave her an unimpressed look, but she returned one before continuing to write on her clipboard.

"I didn't know you had a daughter."

F's statement made them both tense. "She's not my daughter, F," Ford quickly corrected his friend. "I- She-"

"I'm his apprentice. You can call me Y/n."

"Nice to meet you, Y/n." Fiddleford was surprised to see someone so young involved in Ford's research.

F and Ford started talking about his upcoming project, which Y/n only had a brief glance at. She only knew it looked like a triangle with a round opening for the portal to appear. F was led to his room, which was just across the hall. Y/n considered the project as she stood there. She could tell from Ford's bright expression that they're going to have a grand time.

***

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 5!

kimmiepines
originally published: july 6, 2022
2754 words

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