#ford pine

When Ford first moved to Gravity Falls, he loved listening to music while he worked on his research. One of the first things he bought for pleasure rather than necessity was a record player, and he always kept it where he could always hear it playing as he wrote. Whenever he found himself in a pawn shop, or a second hand store, he would always be on the lookout for the records his Ma always played when he still lived at home, as they always filled him with a sense of comfort and nostalgia.

When Fiddleford moved in to help further his research, his record player was a great aid in drowning out all of that godforsaken banjo playing. They would get into spats about it, but they were always in good nature, and if anything, helped to quell the intense loneliness Ford had been feeling since he left for college. Fidds eventually came to a “compromise” and started recommending records for Ford to play instead, but even those were often bluegrass or country singers yodeling for almost an hour straight. 

Ford would play them once or twice to be nice to his friend, but truth be told the moment Fiddleford had to fly home for a week when his son caught the flu Ford snapped the thing in half and buried the pieces in the backyard. 

After Bill’s betrayal, music became a safe haven for Ford. Every night when he attempted to work on dismantling the portal, he would pick out the loudest, most aggressive-sounding records he could find and move the player right next to his desk to stop himself from falling asleep. It didn’t help much with the exhaustion, but more important than anything else, it worked to drown out all the voices screaming in his head. 

One night, when he got just a little bit too careless and just a little bit too comfortable, he fell asleep at his desk. When he came to hours later, his record player was knocked to the ground, his box of records was nowhere to be found, and there was blood dripping from his right eye. 

That’s right, brainiac! I smashed all of your precious music to pieces! Bill’s voice shrieked in his head. That’s what you get for trying to drown me out and undo millennia of tedious work! He cackled, and no matter how many times Ford’s heard that same laugh it still managed to send chills down his spine. 

And for decades, he had no choice but to believe that was the truth. He didn’t have the time to turn his house upside down looking for the hidden records while he waited for Stan to arrive to help hide his journals, and he’d all about forgotten them in the thirty years he spent fending for himself in the multiverse. 

…As a matter of fact, Ford’s not sure he would’ve remembered them at all if he hadn’t just been startled by the sound of someone loudly playing music from upstairs. 

That’s…strange. He was sure he’d heard the Stanleymobile driving away about ten minutes ago, and it’s rare that Stan would leave in his car without taking the kids with him.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Ford closes the journal he’d been editing and makes his way up the stairs. A quick glance out the gift shop window tells him that Stan’s car is still missing, but there’s definitely still loud music coming from one of the other rooms. Frowning, Ford shoves his hands in his trench coat pockets just in case, and slowly creeps his way towards the other rooms to investigate where the music could possibly be coming from. He has no luck in the kitchen or in the hallway, but as soon as he peeks his head into the living room the nervous frown on his face is replaced with a soft smile. 

Mabel’s there in the middle of the room, eyes squeezed shut and grinning from ear to ear as she dances like nobody’s watching. Her arms are flailing around as her legs bounce from side to side, looking like she’s having the most fun she’s ever had in her entire life. Bouncing around in time to the music, she spins on her feet until she’s facing Ford, and when she finally opens her eyes and sees him watching her she yelps, freezing in place. 

“Grunkle Ford!” she squeaks, and dives towards the record player by Stan’s recliner to turn the music off. There’s a pink blush on her face when she looks at him again. “I thought I was home alone!” 

Ford chuckles as he steps into the room to join her. “I could say the same thing, dear. Where are Stan and your brother?” 

“At the grocery store,” she shrugs. “I told them I needed to stay behind and work on an art project, but I really just wanted to have a single-person-super-secret-dance-party-for-no-reason.” she nods firmly, but the blush returns to her face when she makes eye contact with Ford again. “Oh, my loud music wasn’t…bothering you, was it? I can always listen to my own music upstairs, but there’s something really charming about all these old-timey records that Stan keeps around the house.”

“Not at all” Ford smiles as he approaches the box of records on the floor beside the record player. “I actually came upstairs because I thought I recognized the song you were listening to,” he says, and kneels down to flip through the selection. It’s a significantly larger collection than the last time he looked through it, but he supposes that could be because Stan found the time to go out and buy more as the years went on. 

More importantly, though, there isn’t a single record missing, from what he can recall. Ford’s not sure how, but Stan managed to find every single record that Bill had supposedly “destroyed” and tucked them neatly back into their case.

Bill never destroyed them at all. If Ford had to guess, he had simply taunted him with a threat, and Ford was too paranoid and sleep deprived to see through it. 

“As a matter of fact…” he picks one of them up and inspects it with his hands. “Most of these are actually my records”

Mabel gasps, stars forming in her eyes at the revelation. “Grunkle Ford, I didn’t know you liked music!” 

Ford laughs. “Come on, now, I’m not nearly as stiff as Stanley likes to make me out to be” he ruffles her hair as he stands to his feet. “I love music. It was a vital part of my life when I was working on the journals”

“Ahh! I knew I wasn’t the only artistic one in the family!” Mabel squeals, excitedly bouncing on her feet. She bounds towards him to give him a hug, but she pulls away with a gasp after only a single beat. “Grunkle Ford, you should dance with me!”

“W-What?” Ford blushes, caught off-guard by the request. 

“Dance with me!” Mabel beams, and gestures around the living room. “When else are we going to get another opportunity like this? Dipper and Stan are out of the house and we have the entire living room to ourselves? We’d be crazy not to take advantage of it!” She bends over to pick up the box of records and places it on the recliner. “I’ll even let you pick out the song!” 

Ford hesitates for a few moments, but it’s near impossible to resist when Mabel smiles like that. Not to mention that she’s right; he hasn’t had an opportunity to allow himself to just enjoy music for what it is for decades, and especially not a quiet afternoon alone like this. 

“Alright,” he nods, and begins flipping through the collection of records. He knows just the song he’s looking for, and finds himself smiling when he finds it. “Let’s dance.”  As gently as he can, Ford removes the record from its case and places it down on the player. He backs away as the music begins to play, and offers a hand to Mabel as it increases in volume. Mabel, seemingly recognizing the song, takes his hand with a big grin on her face.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day

When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May

She gently sways back and forth in time to the music, looking carefully to the ground to avoid stepping on his feet. If Ford looks close enough, he swears he can see her mouthing the words of the song.

I’d guess you’d say

What can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl

Talkin’ bout my girl

As the chorus picks up, Ford lifts Mabel’s hand into the air and gently twirls her in a circle, causing her to giggle. Her hair flies out in front of her face as she spins, but she makes little effort to fix it. Ford can’t help but smile, and when she attempts to lift his arm into the air to return the favor, he meets her halfway and spins himself in a circle. 

I don’t need no money, fortune or fame

I’ve got all the riches baby one man can claim

Well I’d guess you’d say

What can make me feel this way?

Ford’s not entirely sure when, but at some point during the song, Mabel had switched to standing on his feet while they danced. He merely pretends he doesn’t notice, and continues to dance around the room in slow circles.

My girl, my girl

Talkin’ bout my girl, talkin’ bout my girl

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl

I’ve even got the month of May with my girl

As the song reaches its conclusion and begins to fade, Ford and Mabel remain dancing, and neither of them stop until the next song begins to play. Mabel steps off of Ford’s feet to allow him to turn the music off, but stands close behind him with a huge grin on her face. 

“Grunkle Ford, you never told me you were such a great dancer!” she beams. “How could you keep such an important secret from me?”

Ford finds himself blushing at the compliment. “Ah, well, I guess it’s been so long since the last time I went dancing that I guess I forgot” he rubs at the back of his neck, smiling shyly. 

“Aww, then I’m super glad I got to be the one to remind you!” she squeals, beaming from ear to ear.  “Thank you for that, Grunkle Ford, it was so much more fun than just dancing around the room by myself”

Ford smiles, and formally bows to her in return. “And thank you, my dear”

She giggles. “What are you thanking me for?”

Ford returns to a standing position, smile growing softer. “For reminding me what it’s like to take things slowly.”

Even before he’d been forced to live between dimensions for thirty years, Ford always found himself living in the fast lane. He was convinced he had to be the first to discover everything, the first to publish research papers, the first to deliver speeches about his findings. He would get such an intense rush from being the first that he’d almost entirely forgotten about the comfort in taking things at a leisurely pace. 

“Oh!” Mabel grins. “Of course! Don’t think you’re the only anxious mess in the family. I’ve gotta help poor Dipdop slow down all the time” she shakes her head in disapproval. “I swear, one of these days he’s going to vibrate so hard he’ll pop” 

Ford laughs. “Well, it helps to know that we have someone in the family with experience in knocking us down a few pegs”

“Yep, Miss Gentle and Down To Earth, that’s me!” Mabel puffs out her chest with pride, which only makes Ford laugh even more. A soft smile forms on her face as well, and she gently reaches to take one of Ford’s hands in her own. “In all seriousness, Grunkle Ford, I’m really happy for you. You deserve nice things like music and sugary snacks and all that kinda stuff just as much as the rest of us do” 

A tiny, choked up sound escapes Ford at the sentiment, but before he can say anything in return, Mabel rushes forward and winds her tiny arms around him in a hug. Ford returns the gesture instead of replying, and Mabel squeezes him extra hard for a moment before she pulls away. 

“Y’know…” she begins, a grin returning to her face. “Dipper and Grunkle Stan still aren’t back yet.” She offers out her hand the same way he’d done for her a few minutes prior. “Would you care for another dance?”