[OPEN] "These shallow waters never met what I needed. I'm letting go; a deeper dive."

[mviw]

Who: Ford (mviw) & YOU! | Closed prompts for Fiddleford, Wendy & the kids, tiny!Rick and Frisk, and Bill Cipher
Where: Around Neverland
When: Through the Neverland event + the Aftermath
Rating: PG-13/R for violence, swearing, limb amputation
Summary: Ford tries to protect his best friend, his nephew and niece, his friend's daughter, and his brother. It goes horribly awry. (You could say the casualties are about half his armies.)

(This log is corresponding to the events in THIS log.)

The Story:
[ooc: Prompts are written! Have at it.]

Comments

(OPEN) VISITATION HOURS

[mviw]

[If anyone wants to message Ford, or come visit him to see how he's doing, you're welcome to here! He will either be in his room, or sitting outside it at a chess table looking pale and exhausted--also with one less arm.

At least he's ambidextrous.]

[mettatonvevo]

[He'd heard about Ford's... "accident" when he passed Alphys in the hall and she had yelled something about Ford needing a new arm. It was hard to understand her overall, and she had been running so fast that there had been no time to stop her and ask for more details. He'd been able to put two and two together pretty quickly, however, having caught sight of some of the blueprints in her hands as she had scurried away.

So he gives them all a bit of time before going out to the gardens and plucking flowers for a bouquet. He arranges them carefully in a tasteful vase happily provided by Wonderland. The pink Azalea is the center piece, while the white Heather, Yarrow and Gladiolus make up the backing. The red Poppy, orange Peony and yellow Black Susan add splashes of color to liven it up, keeping it from becoming a sterile flat color palette. He ties it with a single white bow and heads over to Ford's room.

He's never actually visited him here before; their interactions have been mostly over their phones other than the blind date he set Ford and Alphys on, though that was a very short time of interaction. But all the same, he wants to see Ford and make sure he's alive, at the very least.

He knocks on the door and waits, holding the vase of flowers in one hand.]

Ford? Are you in there? It's me, Mettaton. I wanted to come see how you were doing.

THIS ISN'T LATE AT ALL

[mviw]

[... Mettaton? Huh.

Ford is resting, sitting upright in his bed in the bedroom just off his main living area. His injury has been seen to and he's already had pain killers--which frankly make trying to work calculations either very frustrating or not unlike one experience he had in the 70s. His eyelids, his... everything, really, is heavy, but he's awake for the moment.]

I think the door's open! Come on in.

[He's a little apprehensive about allowing the robot to enter. Ford's tolerance for shenanigans is through the floor and possibly out the other end of the planet--if they're on a planet. He might've refused, but the words just slipped out and he instantly regretted them. Those painkillers.

Can't take it back now, but he's not sure if he can be a gracious host like this.]

It's ok!!! I understand. ♥

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton opens the door without another word, stepping into the room. He is appropriately somber for the occasion as he walks over to Ford's bed. He does casually glance around the room a bit, taking it all in. If he wasn't here for a bedside visit he probably would have made some cheeky comment about Ford's decor.

All the same, he places the vase on the nearest surface to Ford and looks at him with a gentle smile.]

Hello, Ford. You're looking good.

[mviw]

[It certainly isn't a classy hotel, but his rooms looking like they're the inside of a log cabin in the woods aren't so bad.

Ford's eyebrows raise at the compliment, but he sees the flowers. During his extensive studies, he stumbled across the colloquial language of flowers. Being wished so well by flora from a robot is actually a very thoughtful thing, and despite himself, Ford smiles.]

I, uh, I know I look like hell, but thank you. And thank you for the flowers. I see good luck and temperance in there, consolation, and strength... That's very kind of you.

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton chuckles a bit warmly.]

I meant you look good for having lost your arm. You're on your way to health, I'd say.

[The robot looks surprised for a moment, then a bit embarrassed as Ford openly lists some of the meanings of the flowers he put into the bouquet.]

I didn't expect you to know that there were meanings to this flower arrangement. Not many humans know their own symbolism behind these sorts of things.

[He had found the idea of sending messages through flowers so romantic that he had endeavored to teach himself as much about it as possible. He wasn't "fluent" in it per se, but he could certainly put out a pretty rough meaning if he put his mind to it.

Though now that he knows that Ford knows it too, he's regretting putting the azalea as the center piece. Take care of yourself for me; what an embarrassing sentiment to be caught with! He tries to subtly turn it away so it's not as blatant to Ford's view.]

I'm sorry Neverland was so hard on you. Hopefully the next event will be kinder.

AYYYY

[canofwhoopass]

[Everybody's back, like nothing even happened. There's no dirt on her clothes, no blood under her nails, just the pristine white of the hall. It's just... over, like that, like it began. Everyone's just trying to move on.

But she can't. This is only her second Wonderland event, and the second time now that Wonderland tried to mess with people's minds. Got her once, though not so much this time. She thought she could coast through. Be okay, and she was, but...

There's someone she has to see. Rather, someone she has to talk to, before the guilt chokes her alive.

She spends about 10 minutes pacing quietly outside of his room before she finally knocks, quiet.]

[mviw]

[Ford isn't quite well enough to walk around too much, but he fetches the cane he built earlier that year and pries himself out of bed. He might look a little... unsettling, with his unruly beard and unwell complexion, but he's trying to smile.]

Door's open! I'm in my bedroom.

[canofwhoopass]

[She kind of slinks in, trying not to let the nervousness show in her behavior, but it's hard not to feel like this is crushing her. She closes it quietly, poking her head in where his voice was coming from.]

Hey, man. How're you, uh, feeling?

[mviw]

[He feels like he should try to cover the stump, so he pulls the shoulder of his pajamas up. Surely Wendy has seen unfortunate lumberjack-related injuries, but Ford's prerogative is to be polite.]

To be honest? I feel terrible. I've clearly never lost a limb before but I really wouldn't recommend it. [Making jokes to ease tension: The Pines Way.]

Mikan gave me some fantastic pain killers though.

['TIS A FLESH WOUND]

[...but he has to ease himself back to bed. He's getting too old for this.]

NOT HERE

[wriggedywrecked]

[Slid under Ford's door two days after the event when no one is looking:]

A DAY LATER

[mviw]

[This is slid under Rick's door.]

ANOTHER DAY LATER

[wriggedywrecked]

[Flown in through Ford's window on a stolen Amalzon Prima (patent pending) drone.]

[uncaging]

[When she hadn't found him in the lab, Elizabeth had become a little worried. Luckily she doesn't even have to knock on his door - when she approaches his room she sees him sat at the chess table, and she approaches to join him, waving excitedly. She doesn't even notice his arm at first as she seats herself and rearranges her skirts; it's only when she reaches forward to push a pawn into battle that just how bad off he looks hits her.]

Dr Pines, what-- what happened?

[mviw]

[He probably shouldn't be out here, but he wants to keep his wits sharp. He can't refuse seeing Elizabeth though, and when she approaches and waves, his expression breaks into a warm, if weary, smile.

He still keeps smiling when she realizes something's wrong.]

The event cost me an arm--thankfully, not a leg. [GET IT, BECAUSE THE SAYING IS-] Alphys and a friend of mine, Fiddleford--he just arrived--are going to build me a new one. I couldn't have a better chance. They're the best engineers I've ever known!

... Don't worry. With Mikan and Stanley watching me like hawks, I'll have no choice but to recover very quickly.

[After a cursory glance at the chessboard, he makes another move.]

[uncaging]

[His reassurances do little to assuage Elizabeth's worry.]

A mechanical arm? I hope it works. I've seen machines grafted onto people before and it didn't end well. But then, I've struggled with just a finger missing [She waves her hand for emphasis] so I'm not sure how I'd cope without a whole arm. Perhaps that's the best solution.

[mviw]

It will! It won't be grafted, fortunately. [He shudders, but he's still smiling.] And Alphys and Fiddleford are geniuses. I suppose you could say they turned the science of engineering into an art.

[Something occurs to him.] Are you alright? I hope the event wasn't hard on you.

[brainleak]

[River doesn't really know to look for him -- maybe she would if she could read him better than she does, which is to say at all, but maybe she does feel something more than nothing because the exhaustion in her bones and the pounding in her pulse is telling her she should just lie in her bed for a few days and ignore the rest of the world.

But here she is, wandering as she sometimes does, following the whispers of the walls and holding a hand to her head to ease the pain in her temple.

She glances at Ford and thinks nothing of it, but something registers belatedly in her mind and she looks again, eyes widening.

She creeps up to him, tiptoeing in her combat boots, like she's trying to sneak up on him, but really she's just worried about... scaring him?? It doesn't make sense when you explain it, so she won't.]

Ford, [she says at length,] why is a portion of you missing?

[mviw]

[Perhaps strangely (or perhaps not so), her behavior makes perfect sense to Ford. Easing oneself into a potentially sensitive social encounter can be a tricky business.

He smiles when he sees her, and glances sheepishly at the lack of right arm. Ah, yes, that.]

It was the event. Stanley was a Lost One. Things got a little out of hand with Rick and Frisk who were Lost Ones too. Rick crushed my arm so badly I had to sever it.

[He doesn't want to lie to her, but he doesn't want her to think about it, so he tries to think about something else; ocean waves, the comfort of the rest of his family being safe, the delight in the ceiling of constellations in his room... ocean waves, the comfort of the rest of his family being safe, the delight in.... ]

Alphys and another friend of mine are going to build me a new one.

sometime before canon update hell...

[powerofmabel]

[since she and Dipper were caught in a net for most of the last event, Mabel's only really hearing about what happened from secondhand sources, and she wouldn't dare rush to Grunkle Ford's bedside without first making him a gift, so when she finally arrives, it's with glitter glue stuck in her hair and a harried expression, a large handmade card clutched in her hand.]

Grunkle Ford! [she pants] I woulda got here sooner, but I had to make a card, and I don't think the glue's dried yet, so I've probably lost a few macaronis in the hallway, but I'm here now and... [and she thrusts the glittery macaroni and paste card which displays a drawing of Ford proudly displaying a new arm made of glittery macaroni noodles (though it seems to have lost one or two, as she predicted, in the shuffle). a tiny note by the macaroni arm says "mega macaroni arm for PUNCHING- only weakness?? BOILING WATER." Above that in larger glitter pen letters is written, "SORRY YOU LOST AN ARM TO A BUNCH OF WILDERNESS CHILDREN :("]

[krmvgivv]

That... really says it all.

[Dipper waited for Mabel to finish making her gift before coming down because Ford losing an arm is scary and he'd always rather face scary things with his sister than on his own.

Also because Mabel's card helps take some of the tension out of the situation.]

(OPEN) VISITATION HOURS

[ghflskhu_ph]

[After the last of his visitors has come and gone and Ford is winding down for the evening, he'll feel it: the familiar sensation of not quite being alone.

Perhaps it was due to the recent connection they shared, or maybe after all this time Ford has just come to expect it; whatever the reason, Bill's presence weighs heavily in the enclosed space, had been, in fact, for the better part of the day.

Silent and unseen, yet ever so much there, the dream demon watches Ford from the shadows; the ambient light crackle of static on the researcher's communicator the only indicator of something being amiss.]

[mviw]

[Ford is still exhausted, still under the influence of painkillers, and absolutely burned out from all the unexpected visits. His mind is in far better shape than it was on Neverland--there are no Shadows whispering ugly things in his ears or magnifying his impulses--but the fog of fatigue and the pills on his nightstand are weighing him down considerably.

Still...

He's a genius. His mind will always tick away relentlessly, and here in the silence of his bedroom after he's locked his door, washed up, become frustrated that he keeps trying to do things with the right hand he no longer has, calmed down, and settled into bed... he's noticing an uncomfortable presence. He tried to ignore it the entire day, but he knew it was there.

Ford's remaining limbs are so weary, he can't even lift a book to read it with the intention of relaxing before a hopefully restful sleep. He lies on his back, upper half propped up by a wall of pillows, pajamas unbuttoned to give Mikan, Alphys and Fiddleford easy access to the bandaged stump. With his last bit of energy, he removes his glasses, puts them on the nightstand, and draws the static communicator into his lap as his eyelids slide shut.

He is still conscious, but sliding slowly into the shallow waters of early sleep. Part of him tries to fight that descent, knowing full well what's waiting for him on the other side, however, his body is aching for more rest. The more he fights the need for it, the more it overtakes him. The heaviness of his body and his clouded mental state are almost worse than the presence lurking in his room.

... Almost.

He is still conscious, but barely. The veil between the waking world and the Mindscape flutters like a curtain caught in a breeze.]

I'm surprised you waited this long.

[His heartrate jumps and skips as he tries to keep his breathing level despite the stress Bill's presence puts him under. Ford is under the influence of medication, but he's certainly not being mentally and emotionally pulled apart like he'd been on the island. Next to the communicator, he balls his fist in the duvet.]

[ghflskhu_ph]

[The Mindscape appears as dark as Ford's shut eyes leave his perspective of the bedroom. When he comes to, fully integrated into sleep's grasp, he won't be seeing much of anything at all. Like something from their battles in the nightmare realm, the author will find himself drifting through the uneven gaps of dimensional space, glow and shadow scrambled throughout in small nonsensical bursts.

Only it isn't as bright or colorful as Bill typically preferred his living quarters.
For once, it seems, the party's over. Lights out.

Bill's form lies obscured, perfectly blended with the darkness apart from a gold gleam line of a familiar sclera. Judging on the size of the eye, Bill must be closer to a more planetary scale, the newly opened massive optic fixates on Ford.

In Ford's lap, the audio transfers over the communicator; both in dream and reality.]

"YOU SHOULD BE SURPRISED I CAME AT ALL."

[What use did he have for Ford now that he has gotten what he wanted? The mortal sure thought highly of himself if he thought Bill would bother sticking around with such little benefit waiting!

..And yet here he is.]

[mviw]

[Ford is still aware of lying in his bed, half sitting up and comfortably propped in the pillows. He moves in and out of consciousness fluidly because he has no energy to fight it. All he can do is try to stay awake; not fully immersed in unconsciousness.

In the dream, Ford gazes up at the titanic eye. He could easily be swallowed through the pupil and into deeper darkness--he tries not to think about that. He knows Bill wants him to feel insignificant and helpless.

The demon is doing a very good job of it.

Fortunately, exhaustion and those damn pills are taking the edge off Ford's fear. His senses have been woefully dulled, but in doing so they've offered unexpected help.]

But you're here. [he says, in both dream and reality.] What do you want?

[Begrudgingly, he adds:] I know you would've mined my head for everything you wanted back home. It's useless here and you won't be able to take it with you if you ever leave.

[But he is still disgusted with himself over this.]

What more could you want from me? Do you want to gloat? Is that it? Just get it over with.