A/N: Hello! Quick word out! This fanfic was inspired greatly by skittlestew's post on tumblr about Ford in the portal.
Ford laid there on the roof as he watched the night sky. None of the constellations looked like the ones he was so familiar with.
He smiled, invented his own. After all, who were they who created the ones he knew so well in his dimension's history? Anyone could've made a picture out of dots if they so chose.
A short laugh escaped him and he laid back on the tin roof as he continued his star gazing. Ford Pines actually felt at peace for once and allowed his mind to wonder over these strange lands he had for so long roamed.
He remembered back to his earlier rough starts, being so blinded and unaware of the world around him. Terrified by the creatures he saw. The voices, once whispering in his head, now screaming and blocking out his better judgement until he was alone, away from all the chaos and confusion. He felt sick to his stomach and weak from the rush of adrenaline. It was nonstop since his fight with Stanley. Ford had curled up under what seemed like a very twisted, hunched over, old blue tree, and rested. He remembered wondering if the pink and purple fruit on the tree was anything to eat. He wasn't aware he fell asleep.
When Stanford woke up, he felt very dizzy. He was malnourished and the events of yesterday felt like some horrible bad dream that left him drained and exhausted. His body ached as he stretched on the bed and buried his face into the soft cushion. That's when he noticed he was smelling something being cooked. He also became aware of the fact that last night, he didn't sleep on a bed.
Ford suddenly jolted up, hitting his head hard on the low-ceiling above him.
"GAH! OW!", Ford howled and held his forehead in pain. "Damn! What-?" He rubbed it sorely and looked around.
Everything was a massive blur of something colored tan or golden. He felt his face, his glasses were missing. Ford looked up carefully and felt the curved low ceiling that hung over him. He looked at the bed. It was large and fitted into the wall with a continuing curved ceiling to the back, and almost boxed in like a nest on the side that would let him out. Ford could sink into the bed, though the pillows were worn and flat. It was all very soft. Ford noticed tucked away around the lining were a few black feathers, though the sheets were a very light blue. He felt the walls again. The seemed like sand stone.
'Where am I?', he couldn't help but wonder.
Carefully, he crawled out of the bed, to find that the floor was a small drop away from him. Whoever owned the bed, or house, was a lot bigger than him and with feathers. Finally he heard a shuffle behind him and turned to see some large black blurry creature come into the room. He gasped and backed up to the wall against the bed, eyes darting but failing him in finding anything he could use to defend himself with at a glance. He kept his eyes on the the creature as it stopped in its movements.
"Uhn?", it said. …It almost chirped from the sound of it. Curious and perplexed. "Era ohnu ite sirt?"
Ford tried to calm down. He had to think this through carefully. Just yesterday, he was fighting with his brother, trying to shut down that damn portal. He was pushed in, it was activated? So he was in another dimension. Which meant this creature could either be incredibly hostile or hospitable.
He remembered seeing tall skinny…or…large glowing..? Eyes watching. Teeth gnashing. Weird creatures of every variety only the night before he fell asleep. He was outside, and was brought inside. That didn't tell him much in this creature's judgement.
"Era ohnu ite sirt?", the creature repeated, stepping a little closer.
Ford flinched at the movement, the creature took huge steps and moved swiftly. Almost silently. It stepped closer again.
"Ah!", he yelped and coward back to the wall with his hands raised. "Don't-!"
The creature paused.
"Uhn?", it chirped again.
Ford carefully looked back. The creature wasn't moving towards him. Perhaps it wasn't hostile. Ford looked back and forth again. He caught a glint of something on something else. He looked at it carefully and glanced back at the creature as he slowly made his way towards it, hoping it was his glasses.
As he stepped close to the object, he felt himself run into something hard right in his middle. He groaned and doubled over, holding his stomach.
"Sirt!", the creature chirped. "De-airnul! Era ohnu ite?"
Ford felt out the object, and carefully shuffled around it. He felt a stone table and saw the glinting object being taken from him by the creature. They were his glasses.
"No!", Ford gasped as he reached for them. "I-I need those!"
He came back from around the object he ran into to find the creature had moved as well and was coming towards him. Ford paused but was surprised when a large feathery hand extended out to him in giving him his glasses. Ford looked at the hand curiously. It had only four large fingers that were covered with smooth black feathers. The glasses looked tiny in comparison. Ford held his breath and looked back up. The creature seemed to loom over him with large deep blue eyes. But it waited patiently.
Carefully, Ford took the glasses. He noted their condition, rubbed them out with a piece of his coat to clean, and then put them on.
"Fo! Dichatz anee onhu ahne-air turoiny!", the creature exclaimed and then seemed to laugh in short chirps. "Ahk ohnu vereez ohtolonay turoiny?"
"I-I-I'm sorry?", Ford looked up, unsure if the creature was trying to have a conversation with him.
The creature was rather like a large anthropomorphic crow of sorts with a green sheen to their black feathers. But their beak was also black and they wore a light blue dress of sorts. Ford took a step back, gaping in awe of this larger creature. The bird seemed to smile along the corners of its short black beak.
"Dichatz etoob?", the bird asked.
It didn't seem hostile at all. Ford looked at it in confusion.
"I…", he shook his head, unsure what to do now that he could see it and seemed to find it hospitable. "I'm sorry? I don't understand?"
He tried to show with his hands he didn't understand. He shrugged and placed a hand to his ear.
"Dichatz etoob?", the bird repeated louder.
Ford shook his head again. He knew several languages around his home world, but he had no idea if any of it would make sense to this creature.
"I don't understand what you're saying.", Ford repeated, rubbing his throat and trying to demonstrate that the bird's words weren't coming through.
The bird cocked its head to the side, a little upset by the idea.
"…Ohnu tolo valaybun?", it asked.
Ford looked at it, trying really hard to decipher the strange language.
"Um….", Ford started slowly and he pointed at himself. "..O-Ohnu?"
The bird nodded.
"Me? I'm Ohnu?", Ford asked, giving a small nod.
"Uhn?", The bird cocked its head again. "Ohnu."
It pointed at Ford. Ford tried to grasp what it was trying to say.
"Ohnu tolo valaybun?", the bird asked.
Ford groaned a little in trouble. He wasn't sure how to make this creature understand him. He pointed to himself again.
"FORD.", he said clearly, firmly. "Ford Pines."
The creature backed its head from him in surprise response. It cocked its head a little, looking like it was trying to figure him out. Ford repeated himself, pressing his hands to his chest to demonstrate he meant himself.
"Ford Pines.", he said again.
"Fo… Ford?", The bird repeated slowly.
Ford gave a nod and a smile in response.
"Ford.", he said, repeating his gesture again. "I-I'm Ford Pines."
"Ford.", the bird nodded. It leaned its head one way, trying to piece it out. Then it hesitantly repeated his gesture, looking at its hands and then back at him. "Uhn.. Talvu?"
Ford placed a hand on his chest.
"Ford.", he said, and then put his hand on the bird. It was surprisingly smooth and soft. "Talvu?"
The bird nodded and repeated him.
"Talvu.", it said, placing a hand on itself and then putting their hand on him. "Ford."
Ford smiled and nodded encouragingly.
"Yes. I'm Ford Pines.", he said. "Did you.."
He stopped short, remembering the creature couldn't understand him. He racked his brain, trying to figure it out.
"Ah..", he brushed back his hair. "Hmm.. Uh.."
He waved a hand.
"Talvu…", he started slowly, using his hands to emphasize. "Uh.. Me? In bed?"
He came to the bed and gestured between him and the bed. Talvu pondered this and then gave a small nod. Ford nodded in return.
"Uh..", he remembered back to American Sign Language and wasn't sure if the bird would understand. But it was a starting foundation to hopefully future understanding and since the bird was crow-like, it should catch on soon. He gave a small smile and did the sign as he spoke. "Thank you."
The bird seemed curious but then gave a nod.
"Era ohnu ite?", the bird asked.
Ford sighed a little, looking back at Talvu. It was going to be hard understanding each other. The bird came over and took a hold of his hand and lifted his arm. He flinched, but was unable to pull his hand away as Talvu looked over him. She searched his arm and body.
"What are you doing?", Ford asked.
Talvu looked at his head, came around his body and lifted his other arm.
"Are you inspecting me?", he asked in vain.
The creature looked at his arm and then pushed back the sleeves he wore to reveal half of his forearm was covered in bandages. Ford gasped and turned his arm this way and that, inspecting the care for it himself. He vaguely remembered scraping against bushes before he hunkered down for the night. Everything was such a turmoil the day before, it was blurry.
Carefully the bird leaned down and picked the bandages with its beak and pulled them off. There was a scratch along the length of Ford's arm, but it was thin and scabbed over. Ford gently ran a hand over it to feel the dried skin, a healthy shade of dark red and brown.
"…You've been taking care of me.", he murmured, more to himself.
"Ohnu emees ite.", the bird said.
Talvu hurried out of the room and out the door, leaving Ford with his thoughts. He wasn't sure what all to think of it. Talvu, this giant crow-like creature, was taking care of him. Or at least took him in and made sure his scratch was clean. It seemed friendly. Almost motherly.
He looked around. The room was taller than the crow, but curved, making it feel smaller. The top of the ceiling was open, save for some wide planks of green wood that criss-cross over head. The bed was off the floor, an indent in the wall, and carved out like a nesting box. The thing Ford had ran into was a perch, much like a bird's perch, and sitting in front of a round table that had a trench wrapping near the edge of it all around. There was another perch on the other side. Aside from that, there wasn't much to the room.
Ford looked down at himself. All 12 fingers were still intact and his clothes were a ruffled mess. He straightened himself out some. That's when he noticed something. He didn't hear another voice, except his own. Something that had been plaguing him for more than a year. Ford looked around. The room was absolutely silent. He smiled a little, appreciative of it.
'..I suppose.. Coming through the portal, Bill didn't follow after to haunt me here as well.', he pondered. 'Maybe I've finally found solitude from him.'
He rubbed his head in fuzzy, morning grogginess and looked about the room once more. Should he have followed after his new-found host? Or..hostess?
'Sounded female. But I wouldn't know. Could be something else entirely for all I could tell.', he shrugged and decided that as far as he could tell, Talvu would be a female. A motherly crow. 'I need a better way of communicating with her..'
Talvu came in after a short while and brought a large white bowl with light blue decorative trimming with something steamy in it. Ford had been politely waiting by the bed when she came in and carefully sat the bowl down on the table near him. Ford looked in and saw a soft pink colored broth settled at the bottom. He looked back at Talvu who looked at him as if waiting.
"Uh..", he pointed at the soup and to him. "For me?"
The bird looked at him and then shook her head. Ford couldn't help but find himself mimicking her head-cock. He didn't understand what this was about.
"Ahk ohnu til?", the bird asked.
Ford shrugged, they couldn't communicate again. He looked back at the bowl on the table. Was the perch a place to sit? He couldn't imagine himself to squat on it like a bird. He stepped up close to the perch and found it almost came up to his stomach.
"Hmm..", he sighed, trying to figure out how he was supposed to sit and eat, that is if that was what the bird intended.
Talvu seemed to understand and before Ford could say a word, he was picked up by the back of his coat in her beak.
"Ah! Wh-what are you-?!", Ford gasped, but was soon placed over top the perch.
Talvu had no trouble picking him up and carefully setting his feet down on the furniture, but the smooth wood was slippery for his shoes. It was difficult, but Ford managed to sit on the top of the metal T-shape and wrapped his legs around the pole of it. He wobbled, trying to get his balance, and it was an uncomfortable seat, but he managed.
"L-L-like this?", he asked, adjusting his glasses as he wobbled.
The bird smiled and gently pushed the bowl towards him. It was a bit out of his easy reach. Ford sighed. This wasn't going to be an easy lifestyle, but understanding he had no where else to go, he might as well try his best.
Carefully he reached forward, leaned on the table with one arm to support him, grabbed the bowl with his free hand, but had difficulty pulling himself up to sit. He knew he was still weak from lack of proper health over the last couple of years. Fortunately Talvu pulled him up again and he sat with the warm bowl in his hands. He wobbled again, until balanced, and accidentally spilled some of the soup on his shirt, making him groan from the heat. Talvu chirped several times, as if laughing.
Ford frowned, unamused by the pink splotch on his white shirt. He sighed again and sipped the soup, finding it warm and sweet and reminding him of deer meat. He smiled a little, it was certainly comforting, and drank the rest of it.
'This won't be easy..', he thought to himself. 'But it's a start.. and I won't be going home any time soon.'
When Ford had finished the soup, he had figured a way where they could learn to communicate. He sat down the bowl.
"Ti-sen odu?", Talvu asked.
Ford gave her a smile. But then pointed to the bowl in his hand.
"Bowl.", he said, clearly.
Talvu looked at him curiously. He nodded and repeated himself.
"Bowl.", he said and then pointed back at himself, and then the creature and then the bowl, calling each by name. "Ford. Talvu. Bowl."
Talvu seemed to catch on.
"Gohla?", the bird asked, pointing to the bowl.
"Oh..", Ford nodded. He pointed to it again. "Gohla?"
"Gohla.", the bird nodded.
"Bowl.", he said again. "Bowl. Gohla. Bowl is a gohla."
"Uhnn…", the bird said slowly. "Gohla zeely bowl?"
"Gohla is a bowl.", Ford nodded.
"Fo!", the bird called, its feathers fluffed with enthusiasm.
Ford smiled some. They were making some progress. Then he was reminded of the cold wet mess on his shirt and sighed a little looking at it. He pulled on the shirt and looked back at Talvu.
"Ah.. Shirt?", he asked, giving his a tug.
"Uhn.. Folab?", Talvu asked.
"Folab. Shirt.", Ford nodded.
Talvu thought it over a moment and then nodded. She hurried out of the room.
'Have to give her credit. She's smart.', Ford thought to himself.
Ford leaned back over to the table, sat down the bowl carefully, and then pulled himself back up onto the perch. He wobbled, but had to think of a way down. Carefully he unwound his legs and slid off the seat. Getting down proved to be much easier as he easily landed down on the floor.
He took off his tie and walked over to sit it on the bed. He folded it up as well to be neat. Stanford stopped and noticed his six-fingered hand, like he often had before. He remembered Bill's unusual wheel and the six-fingered hand symbol on it. He had no clue what it meant. Why him? Did Bill intend for him to be lost in these dimensions? Were other symbols other people? Where did they go? Are they already lost in this universe? Fell victim to the same lie Bill told him? Ford's head throbbed with a painful headache and he sighed and rubbed the scalp.
Bill Cipher was such a confusing and hurtful mess of his own. Ford wasn't sure what, if anything, he said was true or lies. Where was he playing him for a sucker and when was he telling the truth to be simply just giving him answers?
Ford slowly curled in the last finger of his hand as his thoughts turned to his brother. What would Stanley do now that he was lost in another dimension? Would he be stupid enough to try to get him back? Ford shuddered to think of what would happen if the portal was fully active.
"Ford?", Talvu called.
Ford looked and saw she had brought him clothes and smiled in appreciation.
"Thank you.", he said, doing the sign language as well.
Talvu smiled and handed him the clothes. Ford unfolded it to find it was a large olive green t-shirt with a dark green pocket on the side. Talvu left for him to change and he did so. The sleeves draped down to his elbows and were very wide for arms much larger than his. It fitted him poorly, but he couldn't complain. He didn't have much other choice other than a cold, wet, stained, white shirt.
Ford sighed, wrapped up his trench coat and sat it next to his tie on the bed, took his shirt, and came out to Talvu. Outside of the room was a high-ceiling hallway with a dark green carpet over the wooden floor. Ford walked down it, noting some of the pictures that hung there. Talvu and several other large black birds were displayed. Family, he assumed. Some were tall, some were stout, some were ruffled and appeared more like a raven.
One was very old with gray streaks in their shorter feathers. Yet despite age, the crow seemed to hold a means of a respectful or proud look in the way it sat for the picture. Deep golden eyes slightly narrowed, head held tall, neck feathers slightly puffed around his neck to give a sort of mane like appearance. Ford couldn't help but be reminded of his father for a moment, and then turned and continued to walk down the hall.
He came into what Ford assumed to be a living room. Much larger than the guest room he first woke up in and several perches circled around a pit fire placed in the center that had a low, bright green fire burning in it and a high brick wall that surrounded it.
Beside one perch, that dangled from the ceiling like in a bird's cage, was a plastic basket with lots of long flat pieces of something inside it. Pieces that stood up were tightly woven together. An equivalent to a granny's basket of knitting yarn. Here, Talvu sat, gently swinging back and forth. She smiled at him as he came in and then chirped her laugh again.
"What?", Ford asked, tilting his head in a puzzled look of confusion.
He looked down at his borrowed shirt, unsure if there was something he was missing.
"Fo.", she said began. "Enes hu ora akeen, sila osnoa itite ohnu operlay?"
Ford was till confused. He shrugged, clueless and simply repeated his sign-language.
"Thank you for the shirt.", he said politely, giving a tug at his shirt when he mentioned it.
She leaned her head to the side, and then mimicked his signing.
"Thank you?", she asked and repeated the movement. "Vara ohnu?"
"Thank you.", Ford did it too with a smile and then gave a nod as he repeated. "Vara ohnu."
She gave a short chirp of a chuckle and stopped her rocker. She hopped off the perch, came over and pointed to the shirt in Ford's hand.
"Folab.", she said. She paused, as if unsure, and then made two fists and grinded the knuckles together. "Uhn.. Qualon?"
Ford wasn't sure what she was doing. Two fists she grinded together. He shrugged.
"Ah..", he sadly shook his head cluelessly.
"Qualon.", she repeated.
She turned the shirt over in his hand and pointed at the mess.
"Ohnu olay enem qualon?"
Ford looked at it and then it clicked in his mind.
"Oh! Clean?", Ford asked. "Qualon, clean?"
"Qualon. Clean.", Talvu said with a nod, holding out her hands.
Ford smiled in appreciation and handed it over to her. She smiled and shuffled away with the shirt to another part of the house. Ford smiled after her. She was very nice and caring. He followed after her, eager to see more of the house.
There was a dining room, which consisted of a table like that in the guest room and two perches. The walls were decorated with pretty china plates and there was a potted plant hanging from the ceiling in one corner with dipping vines that held vivid purple flowers.
It had an open doorway and part of the wall jutted out with a small island and window into what looked like the kitchen from Ford's observations. There were cabinets and counters and drawers and a sink with an old pump on it and a large walk-in fireplace with all sorts of hooks dangling about it where she would cook over. It had a steady bright green fire that crackled merrily in its place and one small closed pot hanging over it closer to the ceiling.
Then he was lead out a back door and into a long, grayish room, different from the warming, sandy-colored house he was in. This room was made of wood and had a large metal tub in it, some buckets with lids, one tin bucket with no lid but a spout on one end. There were also a large assortment of drying herbs that were strung up from the ceiling, which gave the room a spicy, earthy, pleasing smell that made him smile. Unfortunately, a lot of the drying plants weren't ones he recognized. Some were black, others were bright red with yellow stripes. Or green with pink spots or a deep rich purple. There was also two hooks near a large door to the outside that held a piece of cloth and a large straw hat.
The metal tub was already full of warm water. She knelt down and drowned the shirt in it, making sure it was good and wet. Talvu looked over at the nearby buckets. She reached into one behind her and coated her hand in a thick white substance Ford assumed to be soap while he knelt down and sat on the floor to watch. He was correct as she wet the hand in the water and began to scrub, knuckle to knuckle, the shirt between her hands, working the soap through it. Now he understood her sign for clean, watching her as she scrubbed it thoroughly and then dunk it and wrung it and rinsed it clean into the tub until all the suds were floating on the surface.
Talvu then dried her hands on her apron and looked at the other buckets beside her, as if searching one. Her pointed finger wavered, found the one, flipped the lid off with no problem, and grabbed a handful of some sort of sand. She weighed it, poured a lot of it out of her hand back into the bucket, thought it over and looked back at the shirt.
Finally Talvu poured out what she thought was a satisfying amount of sand from her hand into the bucket and sprinkled some of it into the water. She clapped the remaining dust off and leaned back. Ford watched, his eyes growing wide as the water began to ripple, as if being stormed on and then it pulled itself up, the shirt in its current, and twisted and turned. It turned a bright soft pink color all over, hiding the shirt, settled back into the tub, and then Talvu reached in and picked up the shirt. The stain was gone and Ford smiled and laughed in amazement. The motherly crow looked back in small surprise of his laugh, smiled herself, and then wrung the shirt out as dry as possible.
There was a counter that lined the wall against the kitchen on the other side and Talvu laid the shirt out on there. She took the hat, put it on, took the cloth, wore it like a shawl, reached into a fold in her apron and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
She looked back at Ford who watched her curiously and gently pat his shoulder.
"Vont.", she said firmly.
Ford thought it over and then pointed to where he sat.
"Stay?", he asked. "Ford stay?"
"Ford vont.", she nodded.
She took his shirt and then headed out the back door. Ford had to quickly cover his eyes as the bright sunlight glistening on the sand nearly blinded him and then with a thump, Talvu was gone. Ford rubbed his eyes and looked around. He waited for her and in a few minutes, she came back in and this time he was sure to cover his eyes first.
He stood back up while she hung up her hat and shawl.
"It must be very bright out there..", he said softly. "Is it drying?"
The bird looked back curiously. She didn't catch what he said. Ford made his hand wet in the tub to demonstrate.
"Wet.", he said, pointing at his hand. He dried it on his coat and then held it up. "Dry. Shirt drying?"
"Dry..", she said carefully. "Fo! Yalorn. Folab yalornaw."
"Shirt drying. Folab yalornaw.", Ford smiled with a nod.
Ford and Talvu spent the next half hour playing their little game in the living room. Ford would point out something and call it by name. Talvu would call it in her tongue and they'd trade names. They picked up on each other's languages very fast. Ford was soon showing her how to count on his fingers when there was a piercing whistle through the house.
Ford cringed while the bird seemed unaffected. She looked up to the sound, and hurried to the kitchen. In a short time, the whistling stop and Ford looked back. After a short time she came out with a woven tray that had a tea pot and two cups. She sat it on the brick wall around the pit fire and poured a cup of what looked like very light yellow tea and then looked back at Ford expectantly.
"Uh..", he gave a nod and a smile. He was gonna have to find a way to share "Yes please" with her.
She smiled and poured him tea as well and handed him a cup. Ford carefully held it, feeling the heat radiate through the ceramic. It was a pretty cup, not too different from average tea cups though the handle was larger for her to put a large feathery finger in. They were painted white with red swirls and designs of foreign flowers. He smiled at it in appreciation and then pointed at the tea in his cup and looked up a Talvu.
"Tea.", he said.
"Galorn.", she smiled. "Tea. Garlon."
"Galorn. Tea.", Ford nodded and held his cup, happy to anticipate the nice sweet earthy flavor of tea.
He blew on it, took a drink, only to find a very bitter familiar taste hit his tongue and he cringed and forced to swallow and cough. Talvu's head snapped up as she watched, wide-eyed and alert.
Ford coughed a little.
"Coffee.", he said, pointing back at the fluid in his cup between coughs. "No tea. COFFEE."
Talvu leaned her head to the side and laughed. Ford did like coffee, but the sudden unexpected taste in his mouth was not very well welcomed. He cleared his throat and tried again. It was very strong and smooth compared to normal black coffee. Like something imported, or however Fiddleford would say. Ford was typically content with his standard branded coffee in a standard coffee pot. Nothing super fancy or blended like how Fiddleford sometimes enjoyed. But he was able to drink it well enough. It was a huge relief, as it came to his attention, with a quick throb of a headache, soon swallowed by its relief in caffeine. He smiled back.
"Ohnu ite?", Talvu asked, trying to stop giggling.
"Hm?", Ford asked. "You…?"
"Ite?", Talvu repeated. "Ohnu ite?"
She paused. Gave an example smile, though her eyes asked him the same question. Ford thought it over.
"…Alright?", he asked. "You alright?"
Talvu and Ford were slightly stumped on this one. There was no physical object to mean feeling alright. Or pain. Or bad or good for that matter. Ford gave a small smile.
"Alright. Good.", he tried with small nods to his words. "Ford is alright. Coffee is good."
"Ite. Oolop.", Talvu smiled a little in mimicry. "Ford zeeley ite? Galorn zeeley oolop?"
Ford nodded.
"Ford is good.", he said, with the sign language.
"Ford zeeley oolop.", Talvu mimicked his hands.
They both smiled, happy to find this working.
"I'm alright.", he said.
"Ohnu ite.", the bird nodded.
"Oolop."