In My Corner

Part of the Boxing AU

Chapter 5

Stanley's win launched his boxing career.

At first he was thought of as the underdog, a boxer who had won his first match against a talented opponent with sheer dumb luck. But after several matches where he kept winning, people were quick to realize that maybe, Stanley had the makings of a champion boxer.

Their father replaced Ford as Stan's second, but Ford didn't miss any of Stan's matches. And after every fight, he made sure to patch Stan up, personally.

Months passed and then it was finally time for Stanford to go live out his dream.

It was strange, after being able to talk to his brother about almost everything, Ford could barely utter a goodbye. Ford had shook his father's hand, given his mother a hug, given Shermy a hug, but he didn't share any words with his twin brother.

Instead, they shared a smile.

Ford had boarded the train with no regrets. His head was filled with dreams of what he could achieve and the memories of the people that were supporting him.

And West Coast Tech was even better than he could have imagined. Ford was surrounded by his peers that had the same drive that he had, that had similar experiences to his own, and the same thirst for knowledge. It was startling and heedy and it made Ford want to do better and be better.

That desire drove Ford to work twice as hard, but he enjoyed every second of it. He had gone from undergrad to PHD three years ahead of schedule, wrote a thesis that was nationally ranked, and eventually was thought to be one of the most promising scientists in the school.

But also the craziest.

For Ford's whole life, he had been teased for his six fingers. That wasn't an issue at West Tech, the students knew their genetics and biology and understood that what Ford had been born with was completely in the norm. No, the problem was Ford's interest in anomalies, things that were odd, unusual, and statistically improbable.

People wondered why someone as brilliant as Ford would want to devote his mind to such phenomenons, when he could study something much more important and worthwhile. Why he didn't go for a more common field of study.

'Space and computers were the next big thing,' people said. Computers and miniaturizing technology was a very 'in' field of study. Not to mention the US had just managed to get a man on the moon. Space was the next frontier and people were clamouring to join NASA and build spacecrafts and rockets. If people were interested in the unusual and improbable, they were usually into aliens, lifeforms that hadn't been discovered yet.

Ford was having none of that. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in some of the new rising technology and space theories, Ford was just more interested in the anomalies that occur in the here and now, on Earth. There was much that was unexplained right in front of people, but instead they chose to look at the stars.

He didn't quite understand why people criticized his choice of study. Maybe they were jealous, or maybe they truly thought the field of study was beneath him, but this was what Ford had a passion for. It was what he had wanted to study his whole life and finally had the chance to.

While Ford had a lot of peers, his busy schedule and field of interest didn't make him any friends, except for one, Fiddleford McGucket.

They had met at a Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons event and after several campaigns, they had managed to become close. Their game sessions led to them talking about everything and Ford realized that he found a brilliant mind, as well as a friend. And even though Fiddleford went to BackupsMore, he was one of the most intelligent people he had ever met and would have been one of the best students had he gone to West Coast Tech.

Eventually they talked about the ostracization they faced due to their respective interests. Fiddleford for his spectacular inventions and Stanford for his study in anomalies.

Some days, it felt like the only thing that kept Ford from running away from society and living in the woods was Fiddle's and his family's support. Fiddleford reminded Ford that not everyone was closed minded, while his family stopped him from quitting altogether.

(At times, he bitterly wondered if it was his family holding him back. If he had inherited his father's stubbornness, and that was the cause of him pursuing a field that others shunned or deemed unworthy. Maybe it was his mother's fierce and loving nature that made him desire his own path above any other. Perhaps it was Shermy, his baby brother that made him unable to let go of his family, not wanting to lose someone he didn't even get to know.

And sometimes, Ford wondered if it was Stan who was the real obstacle. Stan, who was his cornerstone, his pillar, his everything, and quite possibly the one that could ruin everything.

Ford didn't like to consider this theory often and tucked it deep into the recesses of his mind.)

Instead of visiting, his family sent letters and packages his way, filled with Shermy's drawings and clippings from the newspaper that featured Stan. Occasionally, they would call.

-000-

"Yes, I'm doing quite well Shermy," Ford said. The receiver of the telephone was carefully balanced between his head and his shoulder, while his hands were full of pushpins.

"Okaaaay. You better be taking care of yourself. Oh! And did you get the package?"

"And yes, I did get the package! Your drawings are phenomenal! Your picture is even better than the one in the newspaper," Ford remarked. He glanced at the most recent drawing he had hung up. It was an amazingly lifelike sketch of Stanley with his fists thrown into the air after a boxing victory.

Shermy lowered his voice. "Don't tell Dad, but Stan got me good pencils even though I told him not to," Shermy huffed, but his warm tone betrayed him.

Ford chuckled. Stan did enjoy spending his fight money on his family, on Sherm especially. "I promise I won't tell Dad," he said to Sherman.

"Sherman Pines! It's time for bed!" Their mother yelled from someplace further away.

"One sec, Ma!" Shermy yelled a little too loudly. "Goodnight Ford!"

Ford winced, but smiled at his brother's enthusiasm. "Goodnight Shermy."

He waited for the click of a receiver to signal the end of the call, but was instead greeted by a rough voice, "Hey, Sixer."

Ford felt a grin spread across his face. "Hey, Champ."

"Ugh, still calling me that?" Stanley groaned into the phone.

"Still calling me, Sixer?" Stanford countered.

They both chuckled. There was some rustling over the phone and Ford patiently pushed a few more pins into the map he was working on.

"Sorry 'bout that, was adjusting the cord," Stan said.

"It's fine. Are you okay? I thought you couldn't talk because you were resting," Ford asked, worried.

"It's nothing I can't handle. Besides, Ma and Shermy woke me up with their yelling. But enough about me, how about you?" Stan said.

Ford's brows furrowed, slightly. Sometimes he wished that his brother wasn't such a tough guy and would just rest when he needed too. "Well, first of all, Shermy loves the pencils you got him," he said.

"Did he?" Stan asked, his voice warm. "I should hope so, he was staring at them the whole day when we went to the art store. Didn't even ask anyone to buy them, just stared."

Ford laughed ."So you bought them for him."

"Of course I did! You should have seen him, Ford. Saddest eyes I've ever seen, I couldn't not buy them for him." Stan declared.

"Only seven years old and he's an art prodigy. Not to mention he has his big brother wrapped around his finger." Ford teased.

"Hey! I'll have you know, I would have bought those for him even if he was horrible. And I'm not the only one he has wrapped around his finger. I bet you've put up every single drawing he's given to you and you haven't taken down a single one," Stan teased back.

Ford looked around his room. The wallpaper was barely visible through all the pictures he had posted.

"You said first of all. What's the other news?" Stan asked.

"I was awarded a grant for my own scientific research," Ford said carefully.

"That's great!" His brother yelled.

"Yes, well, I'm having.. trouble picking a field of research," Ford mumbled, which wasn't exactly a lie. The judgement that he got from his peers often had him questioning his intended field of study.

"What? Why don't you go into the sci-fi mystery weirdness you love?" Stan said, not knowing he hit the nail on the head.

Ford stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He stared at the map in front of him, the red pushpins bright against the washed out colors of the paper.

"Ford," his brother said, soft and completely serious. "Do it. Whatever it is, do it."

Ford put down the remaining pins in his hand and picked up a worn out textbook titled, Anomalous Phenomena. He flipped through the pages. Should he really pursue this field of study above all others? Was this really something he could dedicate his life to?

"I'm behind you the whole way, Ford." Stan said.

Ford smiled. Mind made-up, he put the book down and grabbed a red marker to circle the area which had a concentrated amount of pins.

"Then I guess you'll have to come visit me in Gravity Falls, Oregon," Ford said brightly.

"...Where?"

Author's Ramblings - I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

By the way, the timeline that I have made, the boys were born in 1952. Shermy was born in 1968. Currently, its 1975, the Stans are 23 and Shermy is maybe 7. This is about the time that computers were starting to become big and when space was still a pretty big deal. So I kinda imagined that maybe in a very prestigious school, people would wonder why someone as brilliant as Ford would study anomalies instead of the big things in technology. However, he still gets the grant because he's brilliant and he stands out for his unique field of study.