Apprentice {Gravity Falls}

Thunder

A/n - Greetings! To those of you have requested something I will get to it!! However, I really wanted to write this story and the following story. Again, I promise I will get to your requests! On with the fic!

It was a childish fear. There was nothing inherently bad about thunderstorms. The rain refreshed the soil and allowed plants to grow. The thunder was loud, but not dangerous. The lightning was only dangerous if struck, and that in itself was a rarity.

Yet, Ford was terrified. The booms caused him to flinch and the crackles of light shook him to the very core. He never liked storms. When he was younger, Stan teased him about the silly fear and Ford assured him it would go away as he got older.

It never did.

If anything, the phobia had become worse after Weirdmageddon. The lightning reminded him of Bill's electrical shocks when he was at the demon's mercy. If Ford disliked thunder storms before, he despised them ever since.

It was the reason the elder kept his eyes glued to the television as storm warnings displayed across it. If he was more prepared, then he wouldn't be petrified. His pounding heart begged to differ.

At least Dipper was unaware of the immature fear. The boy was drawing, oblivious to the environment outside of his sketchbook. The boy looked up for a moment, and reached to grab the remote.

Ford couldn't have it off! If it was off, then he wouldn't know the weather forecast. If he didn't know the weather forecast, then he wouldn't be prepared to deal was the strom. If he wasn't prepared to deal with the storm then- Ford's thoughts jumbled together. He quickly grabbed the remote out of Dipper's grasp, "Don't turn it off!!"

"Uh...?" Dipper was silent as he looked at Ford. It took him a moment to calm down and realize Dipper was waiting for an explanation. But Ford couldn't explain himself without admitting to the fear.

"I-I mean..." Ford cleared his throat, "Just... the weather report has been fascinating! I was intrigued,"

"Really?" Dipper glanced up at the tv, "It's been the same report for the past 30 minutes. Severe thunder storm this, tornado watch that-"

"There's a tornado watch??" As scary as storms were, a tornado was even worse! Ford scanned the screen frantically.

"No, no, there's not Grunkle Ford!" Dipper exclaimed, "I was just saying, it's been a monotone repeat. I didn't mean to scare you-"

"I'm not scared! It's just a thunderstorm. Nothing to be afriad of," a bang of thunder caused Ford to flinch and Dipper to frown. Instead of commenting on it however, the boy shrugged it off.

"Alright then." Dipper went back to sketching. Ford's shoulders dropped as he turned his gaze back to the television to see what the weather said. He could hear the thunder already, and it was supposed to storm all day. He'd just have to wait it out.

*   *   *

"Roll to bluff." Ford had agreed to play Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons when Dipper asked. Not only would he get to play the game, maybe it would distract him from the inclement weather. It wasn't working as well as he hoped. His eyes were glued to the window as he waited for the storm to diminish.

"Nat 38,"

..."Uh... Grunkle Ford?"

'"Huh?" Ford stared at Dipper before remembering what he was doing, "Sorry, my boy. Um... where were we... let's see?"

"Grunkle Ford, are you okay? This is the third time you've done this,"

Ford nodded, "Yes, I'm fine-"

Dipper looked out the window - which Ford's eyes were locked on. He looked back at Ford, "I'm scared of dogs,"

"Wh-what?"

"I'm scared of dogs," Dipper repeated, "Especially the big ones. I've never gotten hurt because of a dog, but that doesn't make me any less scared. I don't like how they jump on you, and get all up in your face. And then when you say anything to their owner, they'll be like, "Oh sorry, the dog isn't trained," and uses it as an excuse for their behavior."

Dipper thought for a moment, "You don't think that's dumb, do you?"

"N-no!" Ford exclaimed, "Of course not!"

"It's okay to be scared of something," Dipper stated, "I don't think you're any less heroic, or brave, or smart! It makes you human,"

Ford thought over Dipper's words before smiling back at him, "Thank you, Mason."

"What if we continue this in the lab?" Dipper suggested, grabbing some of the dice, "We won't be able to hear the storm there!"