Chapter Text
My eyes open slowly, and I let out a deep breath. What happened? Where am I? Who was moving my arm?
Wait, moving my arm?!
I sit upright quickly, yanking my arm away from whoever had a grip on me.
I raise my arm to strike, but freeze when I make eye contact with the man kneeling beside the couch I was on.
He had been wrapping bandages on my still stinging wound.
I see his lips move, but I hear nothing. absolutely nothing.
Oh, god.
I move my hands rapidly, attempting to sign all my questions at the same time.
"Who the hell are you?! Where am i!? What happened to me?!"
I felt tears pinprick my eyes as i lower my hands to hug myself, gripping my clothes, prepared to fight my way out.
I see a faint pink tint rise on his face, his own hands moving and signing back to me.
"Please try to remain calm. My great nephew found you unconscious in the woods and brought you to our home." He paused. "I'm Stanford Pines. You may call me Ford, if you wish."
My eyes lingered on his hands for a moment.
'That's so cool...' I thought, my eyes flicking back up to his as he moved his hands out of view.
I feel a twinge of guilt, quickly signing an apology. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to stare! I just-" you paused. "I mean, i just think that's so cool! Your hands, i mean. I mean, your fingers." I pause again, signing 'sorry' one more time. And then a “That sounded creepy. I’m so sorry.”
I saw him laugh a little.
"It's fine! What is your name?"
"I'm F/n L/n . You can call me Y/n."
I notice that my arm started bleeding again when I lowered my hand, blood dripping down to my wrist.
I sign another apology about the mess of blood, and he tells me it's alright.
"May I?" He asks, nodding to my arm. I extend it.
"Thank you, Ford."
He nods, signing back a quick "you're welcome."
I watch his hands as he works, still intrigued. I want to talk with him, but I should be careful. You never know, after all.
"Where am I?"
He pauses to answer.
"Gravity Falls, Oregon. I've never seen you in town before. Do you live here, or do you not remember?"
I hesitate. "I remember...i'm here researching the wildlife. You wouldn't believe half the things i've seen here. All i remember is something... bright. i just remember pain. It must have been the same thing that made me lose my hearing. I'm not deaf." I shake my head, screwing my eyes shut for a moment. "I mean, i am right now, but i am not normally."
I had suddenly become aware of the horrid pain in my back as it hit me like a truck.
I must make a noise as I become aware of it, because Ford sits me up, asking for permission to lift my shirt. I tell him yes, sitting up and turning around as he examines me. I feel his fingers lightly trail over my back. It’s been so long since I'd actually had human contact...It was odd. In a comforting way.
After a moment, he gently lowers my shirt and I turn around.
"How bad is it?" I sign, my eyes welling with tears from the dull pain. I blink them back.
"Well," he starts, pausing for a moment, his eyes flicking from mine to his hand and back. I'd swear he shook his head a little bit. He continues. "You have a very large bruise. I'm not sure if it's anything serious, but It does look painful. I'm not sure what could have caused that aside from a nasty fall."
I nod, understanding.
"None of my bones are broken, know that much."
Ford nods.
There's a moment of just staring.
"Thank you for not harming me." I sign, attempting to stand.
Ford helps me up.
"Of course, Y/n. Is there anyone you need to call?"
I smile sadly up at him. "No. I've been all alone for a while." He nods in understanding.
I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry you had to care for me. I can leave now and get out of your hair." I see Ford shaking his head before I can even finish signing.
"No, no, you're injured. I couldn't send you out there without anyone to depend on." There's a look of pain in his eyes for a split second, quickly gone. "If you need to, you are welcome to stay here. If not, at least allow me to escort you back to town."
I think on it for a moment. I have no idea Where I am, how I got here, and all I know about this man is his name. But on the other hand, He had been nothing but kind. And I really didn't have anywhere to go.
"...Are you sure I'm not a bother?"
"Not at all! My great niece, Mabel, and nephew, Dipper, would be happy to help with whatever you'd need. My brother Stanley also lives here, so you'll have quite a bit of help. And there's always myself, of course."
I stare for a moment. Why is he being so kind?
He moves out of the room, motioning for me to follow him before hiding his hands from sight.
He leads me up the stairs, guiding me down the hall and pushing open the door to a darkened room.
"You may stay in here, if you wish. There are clothes around here if you'd wish to get into something else. Stan stays in the room next to this one, and the kids are staying in the attic. The kitchen is down the stairs to left, and you are welcome to anything in the fridge you'd like. I'll be in my lab, should you need absolutely anything."
“A lab? You’re a scientist? A Doctor?”
I watch him give a small laugh.
“I will explain more in the morning, once you’re better rested.”
He turns from me to leave for his lab, but I stop him by attempting to make a small noise.
He turns towards me.
"Can you repair my hearing?" I look into his soft eyes.
He nods.
"Thank you. Let me know if you need me to do anything to repay you.” maybe, I think to myself, I should make it clear that I won’t do absolutely anything. “but nothing sexual." I sign the last part quickly with a light blush.
I watch as his eyes go wide and his face goes red. He shakes his head back and forth, looking sort of mortified. I laugh just a bit as his flustered signing begins and my unease begins to melt away a bit.
"No! No! I'm terribly sorry! Dipper and Mabel begged me to care for you! It's not like that at all! I don't-"
I take a step forwards, motioning for him to stop.
I sign with one hand.
"It's okay. Thank you, Ford."
I wished I could say more, If only what had happened to me hadn't taken my hearing.
***
After that, Ford and I bid one another an awkward goodnight, and I'm left in the room. around me are stacks of books, papers, A small lamp, and a decent sized bed. I see strange bottles and what looks like a couple of decanters. all empty. I walk over to a dresser and pull open a drawer, wanting to get out of my dirt covered, blood stained clothes.
I settle on a large red T-shirt and pair of blue drawstring sweatpants. I'm not quite sure who these belong to. they smell familiar, though.
After I change, I turn towards the bed, surprised at what's laying there.
A...book?
It's a maroon book, with a golden six-fingered hand on the cover with a large 3 in the middle.
That wasn't there before.
I make my way over to it. Six fingers, huh? This has to be Stanford's.
I decide that it's late, and that I'm sore. So i climb onto the bed, sitting up with the pillow against the headboard with my legs under the covers. I probably shouldn’t sleep quite yet. I decided to wait up for a while, just in case anyone in the house decided to enter my room in the night. Since i’ll be up, I might as well keep my mind occupied.
I open the book.
I begin to read.
***
After a long night of reading Ford's book, I wake up the next morning, The journal on my chest. I bookmark the page, setting it down and make my way downstairs to the kitchen.
It's about six AM, and I haven't seen anyone yet. I decide to prepare coffee for the other adults in the house that Ford mentioned last night.
I do so as best I can.