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[mothmansplaining]

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credit

"Stanford Pines. Leave a message."

Comments

[mothmansplaining]

Right. So...you wanted to ask me if I wanted to be immortal with you, once your powers come back, is that right?

[tetractys]

YEAH.

[mothmansplaining]

I don't know, Bill. Are you sure it's a good idea? I wouldn't mind having a bit more time, of course! But immortality...

I know there are a few people here with that kind of lifespan, and they seem to be managing all right, but I can't even imagine what it would be like.

[tetractys]

IT'S NICE! YOU GET TO SEE A LOT OF STUFF. KEEP LEARNING, KEEP IMPROVING WHAT YOU KNOW...

SOMETIMES ONCE YOU HIT THE MILLION YEAR MARK IT GETS WEIRD. BUT EXISTING IS BETTER THAN NOT EXISTING!

[mothmansplaining]

[Man. This is big. It's a lot. He's not sure about the human brain and its capacity to hold that many memories. What if he runs out of space? What if he starts to forget? And there's his family to think about, and that's one big unknown.]

I still think it's too soon to make a decision. After all, it can't be done yet anyway! There are a lot of things I'd like to discuss beforehand, once I know more about what the future's really going to look like.

But I might be interested in exploring the possibility of existing a while longer.

[tetractys]

EVEN IF IT'S NOT WITH ME, I WANT TO LET YOU HAVE THE THIRTY YEARS WITH YOUR FAMILY YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD.

I GUESS JUST THINK ABOUT IT.

[mothmansplaining]

[....now that is a tempting offer. If nothing else...

He'll have to do a thorough check for strings, of course. But thirty more years with Stan, Dipper, and Mabel...]

I will.

[beejfu]

"Yeah! Yeah. Fine. Totally cool." BJ gently lets Ford go, grinning happily back.

[mothmansplaining]

Whew. Okay. Ford dusts himself off. It's going to take ages to get the smell out, but he can worry about that after Betelgeuse leaves. Which he will. After the flood.

He looks over at the Handbook.

"Mind if I take a look at that?"

[beejfu]

He glances at the Handbook too, shrugging.

"Yeah, if you can. It only opens for the recently deceased so you have to kill something in order for them to open the book for you."

[mothmansplaining]

Gray eyebrows go up.

"I wonder if having died on board the Barge counts," says Ford, reaching for it. He'll give it a try.

[beejfu]

He blinks, and tilts his head to watch, unsure.

It does count; it would have opened for BJ himself, having died by falling off the ship earlier.

"Holy crap."

[mothmansplaining]

"Well, that makes things easy," Ford says, smoothing the first page out. "And raises some troubling questions about the state of my own mortality. Probably best not to think about it."

[beejfu]

He peers over at the book too, making a face and sticking his tongue out at it.

"Yeah, that doesn't even have chapter indexing. They want you to read the whole damn thing. Hated updating that shit. Anyway, it basically covers everything you need to know about how shit works after you die; hauntings, exorcisms, how to deal with necrophiliacs, psychics, the ghostbusters..."

[mothmansplaining]

A comprehensive guide to one reality's afterlife with far too much detail and no index or table of contents?

"I can't wait to really dig into this," says Ford with genuine excitement.

[beejfu]

A snort-laugh.

"Yeah, figured you say that. Anyway, I'mma go crash in front of your tv, all right?"

[mothmansplaining]

"Yes, yes, go ahead," says Ford, already scanning the start of the text.

[beejfu]

He gives a toothy grin and a wave, before disappearing to sit in front of the tv for the next decade.

[smashandgrab]

"I'm almost always hungry," Taura admits, "even with drugs to keep my metabolism partway in check. Or I like exploring new places. We could use the Enclosure. It's nice, getting to see planets nothing like any I've visited before."

[mothmansplaining]

He perks up hopefully.

"I have seen a lot of unusual planets," Ford says, in the tone of someone who's just been asked to put a specialized skill to use. "...do you still like to go for runs?" he suggests.

[smashandgrab]

"I do," she confirms, the eager smile on her face a measure of trust in and of itself; Taura hates people flinching at her fangs. "It feels like such a luxury to take them somewhere more interesting than a treadmill, or laps around the ship."

[mothmansplaining]

No flinch here, just an answering, if a touch more shy, smile. Two years ago, or in the breach, it would have been broad and open, delighted to have the chance to show off all of the places he's seen. But Ford's been worn down to more hesitance, humbled again and again, and he's grateful to find acceptance here.

"Well, then," he says. "We can take turns choosing locations."

[smashandgrab]

"Okay," she agrees, still smiling warmly. "I haven't visited too many planets yet, but we can try some from my universe I haven't seen after I run out."

b4 jumanji

[tetractys]

[Bill goes to find Ford in person. Seems like the right thing to do, for this.]

[mothmansplaining]

[Ford's just come back and gotten cleaned up from a run with Taura through beautiful alien planetscapes, so he's not in the basement and actually hears the knock at his cabin door.

One day, he has to put in one of those fancy sanitizers from space worlds. Showers take so long. And generate more laundry!

He's not expecting anyone, so he calls through the door first--]

Who is it?