Wow, this was supposed to be angsty...oops.

Ford stood stoically on the porch, staring down the oncoming storm. It was something from a movie scene, like when the warrior stood on the tallest hill right before diving into battle, cape whipping heroically in the wind. Ford turned away swiftly, ending the moment, and headed back inside.

The storm had him worried. Every sense in his body screaming danger! The last time Ford had seen a storm this large...well. It hadn't been in this dimension anyway.

Ford made sure the door was bolted as he reentered the house. The wind was trying to force the door open, and he had a brief struggle with it before it shut properly. Pushing away from the door he walked swiftly to the other room, beginning to search for his fellow family members.

He and Stan were still fighting, but that didn't mean Ford didn't care. Especially when it came to the kids.

He checked all the ground level rooms, and when they were nowhere to be found, made a point to search upstairs as well. His brow furrowed, the only outward sign of distress he allowed himself as his heart beat faster with anxiety. The only place left is the...basement. Ford felt his heart stop and his lungs freeze, breathless from fear. What if they...but then...no. No, but maybe...

Ford broke himself out of his shock and made a beeline for the vending machine, fingers trembling as he punched in the code. Any number of things could go wrong with inexperienced children and even Stanley down there, with or without him. He would almost prefer them to be out in the storm than down there. The storm was probably safer.

The machine unlocked from the wall with a hiss and he quickly pulled it open, not waiting for it to open fully before squeezing through the gap. He took the steps three at a time as he bounded down the steps into his laboratory.

He ran into the room before coming to a dead stop. All three of them were circled around a lantern in the middle of the room with the least equipment, well away from the walls and machinery. The kids looked up at him in shock, but not unkindly. Stan looked like he was in the middle of a story, hands in mid-air where they had frozen in surprise at Ford running in. He was the first to break the ringing silence.

"Good of ya ta join us! Decided to die in the weather was a bad idea after all?" Stan smirked and gestured to an empty piece of floor beside Mabel, who was now smiling up at him. "Care to sit? Were waiting out the storm. Sorry about invading your nerd lab, but it was the safest place for the kids." Stan explained when Ford didn't respond. That shook Ford out of it.

"You thought that the basement full of potentially world-ending equipment was the best place for two preteens? Stanley!" Ford berated, hands clenched at his sides. He knew that Stanley didn't deserve that, the basement really had been the most logical choice and Ford could see that, but his anger stemmed from fear. What if one of them had gotten there hands on the rift? No, it was just too risky. The bunker was safer than this place.

Stan just looked at him for a moment, before letting his gaze wander the walls {which were covered in junk.} "Huh. Well, someone should have said something about 'potentially world-ending equipment' before eh? Ford, it's fine. I worked down here for thirty years and didn't break anything that didn't need breaking. Plus, I trust these kids more than I trust myself. Which is saying something." Stan waved away the looks of joy on the twin's faces and growled at them, but it didn't hold any menace.

"Ah, can it. You two already knew that."

Ford watched the interaction with a dull interest, his anger not lasting for very long. Stanley was right, and he knew it.

Didn't mean he was going to just lay down and say it. Instead, Ford nodded after a brief moment of silence and sat in between his niece and nephew, not smiling, but not telling them to scram either. Stan knew that, even though Ford refused to say it, he had won. He didn't celebrate his victory, but rather, gave Ford a small smile and continue where the story had left off. Ford closed his eyes, as though he were ignoring them, but was really paying attention to the most minute details.

He had missed Stan's stories. No one he had met could come close to his talent and silver tongue.

The story was of a child who had been bullied into climbing into an abandoned house.

The house creaked underneath his feet, and the wind wailed through the large, cracked windows. The boy shivered, goosebumps rising on his arms and he hugged tightly to himself. The floorboards were fractured and chipped with age, every step a screech that made the boy flinch. As he crept forward, his eyes glanced about the room towards the shadowed corners, mind conjuring images and monsters that snarled and snapped from the darkness. His flashlight found each one empty, yet his skin crawled with fear.

The boy continued forwards, however- the need to one-up his 'friends' unbearable. His gaze found the staircase. It was large and winding. He stepped onto it, his hand finding the rail. His fingers brushed the centuries-old wood and it moaned loudly before falling off with a snap! The boy stared at it with wide eyes but was not deterred. Despite his heart pumping wildly, he found himself moving forward again, watching every step as not to fall, for if he were to fall, he would die, swallowed by the old mansions haunted, hollowed floors.

Standing at the top, he looked over the edge once more and found himself getting dizzy, he was so far up, the floor below was almost unseeable in the dark. His sweaty fingers lost their grip for the briefest of moments and the flashlight fell, falling through the darkness silently, the light flickering out halfway down. It landed with an echo that nearly distracted him from the strange feeling of fingers crawling up his back. The boy turned suddenly with a cry of shock and found himself face to face with a spirit.

It was a girl, wearing white. She seemed pretty at first sight, but her eyes, black as night, held no light and her stare gave no respite. The boy, entranced with her appearance, stared back, doing nothing as her mouth opened up to speak. She let out an unearthly shriek and the boy echoed her wail as he fell backward, without a rail, and fell, fell into the looming darkness which swallowed him whole, though without a sound, which can only be put down to politeness.

Stan finished his story with a chuckle and the kids laughed right along with him. It had been captivating until Stan just couldn't help but add his joke in there. Ford didn't realize he had been laughing right along with them until the room silenced once more, and only his quiet chuckle remained. He opened his eyes and immediately found all three staring at him- again. He felt his face warm.

"What? It was funny." Ford swallowed when Stan grinned. "That doesn't mean anythin-oof!" Ford grunted when Stan lunged at him. His first reaction was to get away and pull out his gun, but he controlled the urge. This wasn't some creep or a monster on the other side of the portal, it was his brother. A brother I'm still mad at! ...

Oh, give it up already, Ford. How did you ever stay mad at him?

Stan was crushing him in a hug, and so far he hadn't responded with anything other than a shocked expression. His arms slowly closed around Stan's back and Stan laughed.

"It's good to have you back, Poindexter." Stan laughed again. Ford smirked, although Stan couldn't see it.

"I know, I'm just so amazing, aren't I?"

Stan fell away from the hug and looked him in the eyes for a moment, Ford still smirking. That's when Stan fell backward, laughing the booming laugh Ford remembered so fondly.

"You-You better be jo-joking Sixer, or I swear..." Stan stuttered between his breathy chuckles. Ford rolled his eyes but didn't stop {or couldn't stop} the smile overcoming his features.

"I missed you, you knucklehead." Ford bit his lip. He hesitantly held out his hand. "High six?"

"High six."

"EEEEEEEEE! DIPPER THEY HUGGED IT OUT!"

I just...this is not what this was meant to be...I meant to make it really angsty, with like, lots of guilt and anger and stuff, but then this happened...oops. I mean, me and my bro, when we're mad at one another, we might be mad for awhile, but then, just out of the blue, were like. 'Yeah okay, I'm done being mad,' So that's sorta what happened here. I know, stupid, but it was good, right? Maybe? *sigh* So I imagine that weirdmaggedon still happened because Bill is a buttface, but they defeated him way easier. Ya know? Anyway...I'm done. This was so dumb. Also, my first attempt at a scary story, I am so sorry for the cringe that is that story.

Stan: ...What is this? I can't even...why?

Ford: ...I concur, I don't understand.

Me: YEAH ME?! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?!

Also Me: I have no idea.