A Friend (Stanford Pines x Reader)

The Beginning Of The End

"Listen, Dipper, in order to seal the rift for good, it's going to take something stronger than anything on Earth. Something... extraterrestrial in origin." Ford stopped walking and turned his head over his shoulder to look down at the boy. Dipper stopped fiddling with the walkie talkie in his hand and looked up, blinking in confusion at what his relative could have possibly been alluding to. 

The wind danced through your hair, but it felt nice. Compared to the countless hours you had spent crouched over the same book in a dank basement, you had a newfound appreciation for being in nature, and your appreciation was especially profound when you got to be in nature with Ford. 

"Wh-what do you mean?" Dipper asked. You weren't sure what was about to come either, but seeing the pure curiosity and excitement he possessed for science was a welcome sight. Ford backed up and dropped down to his nephew's height. "Dipper, look at the peculiar shape made by those cliffs." Ford pointed over at them, and Dipper followed his gaze. "Does it remind you of anything?" Ford asked. 

Dipper placed his thumb and index finger along his chin, humming in deep contemplation. Ford allowed him to think for a moment longer, then pulled out his car keys. Initially, it surprised you that Ford even remembered how to drive at all, but he had a pristine memory and was able to grasp foreign concepts with ease, so it made sense. He jangled the key ring, smiling for a second, then released his hold on the UFO keychain that you had given him for his birthday several years ago. 

The keychain fell right in its place in-between the gaping hole of the cliffs. Dipper's eyes doubled in size when what Ford had been trying to convey clicked. "Shut. Up."

"According to our research, the entire valley of Gravity Falls was formed when an extraterrestrial object crash-landed here millions of years ago. Did this craft cause the town's strange properties, or did the town's strange properties attract the craft? The answer is still unknown," Ford stared out at the cliffs with a determined expression, planting his foot firmly on a rock in front of him. He always had a way with words that enthralled the audience, and you and Dipper were both spellbound. 

"But that's crazy!" Dipper stammered. "Where did the saucer go?!"

Ford smiled down at Dipper. "Sometimes the strangest things are right under our noses!" He knelt down and pushed away the stone he had placed his foot on. "And our feet, in this particular instance."

Under the stone, a sheet of metal was concealed beneath. You and Dipper gawked at it, but Ford seemed indifferent to the discovery. He had already seen this, and the initial wonder of a first time experience had long since faded. "Now, you two might want to step back!" he announced as he pulled out his magnet gun. "This magnet gun can pull the fillings out of a man's mouth from a  hundred feet." He aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, lifting the plate and revealing a narrow, dark hole in the earth. "I used to raid this thing for parts for years," Ford explained, enjoying the bafflement plastered on your faces. "Where do you think I got the materials to build my portal?"

"You... I... words not working for mouth..." Dipper stammered. Nonsequitur was something that the preteen never often expressed. He gaped down at the hole, trembling slightly. You were also stunned, but giddiness mixed in with the shock. You wanted to see what was down there. 

"Now come," Ford said, unperturbed by the look on his face. "And take this!" He tossed the magnet gun to Dipper, who clumsily caught it and clutched it tightly to his chest. 

"Don't worry, I've been down here countless times. All the aliens have been dead for millions of years." Ford began to climb down the ladder in the hole. "Probably."

Dipper met your eyes, but all you could offer him was a shrug and what you hoped was a reassuring smile. You were as new to this as he was. 

"McGucket and I used to come down here all the time to raid their tech and study their language," Ford said as he hopped from the ladder when he reached the bottom. The name of your former research partner left a pang of an undiscernible emotion in your chest, and Ford didn't stop to elaborate. You tried to avoid thinking of McGucket as much as possible, whether it be out of guilt, shame, or something else entirely, you never dwelled upon to find out. Your footfalls made echoes reverberate off the walls of the dark space. Time was of the essence, but you wished that you could slow down just a little so that you could take in the space for what it was. After all, it wasn't everyday that a lifechanging discovery was in your grasp.