There was some sort of chaos the next day in the shack. Alma hadn't been there at the time. All she knew was there was a massive hole in the living room when she came back. Everyone else was no where to be found including Ford. But around the early evening hours, there was a commotion upstairs as most of the others watched the second airing of Duck-tective. Ford came down once they turned it on.
"Rough day?" Alma asked once he appeared in the doorway.
"Guess you could say that." He replied, pulling out the infinite die box. "Stanley rolled it like the buffoon he is." He opened it and revealed the die itself. It was pulsating with life it seemed like.
"What are you going to do with it?" She asked, watching its images change at a rapid pace.
"Lock it away." He walked over to one of his machines, grabbing an experiment tube off the shelve. With a set of tweezers, he carefully dropped the die in and tightened the lid. He then made a label for it that said #106.
There was some commotion coming from the others upstairs. It sounded like the plot twist was dumb from what they could tell. Alma and Ford just looked at each other and chuckled in hearing the disappointment.
"Obviously the show wasn't so good." Alma commented.
Ford smirked. "Seems that way."
There was suddenly the small tab of shoes coming down the stairs. Ford looked over towards them. Alma knew exactly what to do. She slid her way into the back room as quiet as a mouse. Ford's face went stoic as Dipper appeared before him.
"How was - whatever it is called?" Ford asked him.
"Duck-tective. And it sucked." Dipper replied instantly, sounding bored.
"That's too bad." His uncle commented. He picked up the die and turned back to Dipper. "Was working on putting this away. Want to help?" Dipper nodded excitedly.
Ford then turned towards the small display case he had built into one of the machines. He proceeded to put it in one of the compartments, closing its little door and locking it with his key. It had a glowing spaceship as a key chain which caught Dipper's eye. He glanced over at his nephew.
"This will be here if you ever need it." Ford said.
"Really? Even though, I got us all into the gameplay mess?" Dipper replied a bit confused.
"Ha, we both got carried away. I guess we've both gone awhile without a friend." Alma heartache hearing that. Mean isn't she his friend? She is just hidden from the others. When he wasn't interacting with his family, he was talking to her. She felt like she wanted to cry.
"Dipper. Can I tell you something?" She heard Ford start to say. She suddenly was scared stiff. Was he about to tell him about her? "You asked me earlier what I was working on. Well-" He removed the curtain, revealing the sad remains of the portal. "I've dismantled the portal."
Relief flowed over Alma as she let out the breath she was holding in so tightly. He still wanted to keep her a secret. But the rift they had pulled from the machine, that he didn't. But that just proved that Ford was opening up to Dipper. He called him a friend now.
"Now get yourself to bed. I have much research to do." Ford rubbed Dipper's hat playfully.
"Goodnight, Great Uncle Ford." Dipper waved on his way up.
"Goodnight, Dipper." He replied back. Once Dipper was out of sight, his face went stoic. He would gently place the rift back in its spot before shutting it in.
Alma reappeared just as he was putting it away. He glanced over at her with a frown. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of said that." He was disappointed of himself.
