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[mothmansplaining]

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credit

"Stanford Pines. Leave a message."

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[tetractys]

Bill doesn't turn red but he does flicker a darker orange.

"YOU - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he hisses.

That was genuinely the worst thing that's ever happened to him. He's not a very revenge-focused guy, he prefers to just move on and learn from defeats, but you know what, this doesn't make any sense! If Ford didn't want him dissolving why is he even DEAD, we could have skipped all of this!

[mothmansplaining]

"Of course I did! You were going to cause the end of the world!" Ford doesn't raise his voice, exactly, but the intensity of the hushed tone spikes. "But right now, what I have to do is keep you alive! You have the portal and the coordinates to the target dimension, so it's very important that you don't die yet! I need answers about the Barge. And I need you, to get them." Qr krpr.

[tetractys]

Ford could figure it out without Bill. It'd take him a little longer, but he could do it.

"BUT IF I FALL APART AND YOU GRADUATE, THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM ANY MORE, IS IT?"

Bill's eye is glowing a little in the dark which makes it more clear that it's narrowed suspiciously.

(The kind of paranoia Ford had in 82 was a sort of infection Bill passed to him; Bill's never thought to apologize for doing that to Ford because that's just generally what he feels interacting with people all the time. It's a side-effect of treating life like its a competitive sport.)

[mothmansplaining]

"That isn't the plan." Ford says this low and flat, very serious and very aware that it isn't likely Bill will believe him. "I know there's no way to make you believe this, but--"

He stops short. Then, he breaks into a chuckle. "Oh, right, of course! There is!" Silly of him to forget about it. Sure, this is a little bit of a risk, but Ford's confident enough in his own conviction that it's probably going to be worth it to get Bill off his back here. "Do you still have that ring?"

Ford has been quietly referring to it in his own head as the Ring of Truth. Shame he's not journaling anymore, or he could have immortalized that bit of wordplay. Ah, well.

[tetractys]

"EEH, YEAH, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT'LL GO ON YOU OUTSIDE OF THE DREAMSCAPE..."

He digs into his inventory and comes back with it and - yeah, it's for Bill's tiny little doll hands, it's gonna take some creativity.

"OH-" Bill's eye brightens as the idea flashes across it - right! Got it. "GROWTH CRYSTAL!"

He offers it out on his palm.

[mothmansplaining]

Oh, wow, that is smaller than Ford remembers. Thank goodness they have the crystals from the Enclosure: with some creativity, their potential applications are really limitless.

Ford takes it, pulls out the flashlight, and grows it to an appropriate size. He slips it on his radial pointer finger and opens and closes his hand a few times.

"All right, time for a test run. My name is Stanford Pines."

No flash.

"...and my favorite inventor is Thomas Edison."

The ring lights up like the Fourth of July.

"I'd say it's working perfectly. So, what do you want to know?"

[tetractys]

Huge eye-roll at the Thomas Edison thing, oh my God, we know you love Bill's boss, at the lounge, who won't let him turn it into a rockin' nightclub, and also invented alternating current one time, we know.

Here's a pop quiz, dude.

"SO WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE? NIKOLA TESLA, OR YOURSELF?"

think fast fucker

[mothmansplaining]

Sorry, Bill, Ford is getting over this when Tesla does, which is to say: never.

"What?!" Ford certainly wasn't expecting to be questioned along those lines. "What does that have to do with this?"

[tetractys]

"HAHAHAHAHA."

Nothing. He saw an opportunity to make you do the 'ice cube down my shirt' face and he took it.

Okay, okay, okay. Bill looks down like he's interviewing the ring instead of the human wearing it.

"ARE YOU HERE TO GATHER INFORMATION TO DESTROY ME WITH?"

[mothmansplaining]

"No, Bill, I'm not."

Truth.

Strange, that it hadn't been the very first thing to cross his mind when he saw Bill start to disappear. A while ago, it would have been. But that isn't why he volunteered himself for this.

[tetractys]

Bill looks at the ring.

Bill taps the ring. Is it broken? It keeps doing this.

???

He's so confused, dude, give him a minute.

[mothmansplaining]

That's okay. He'll wait.

"Was that it?"

[tetractys]

"NO. SO - YOU'RE HERE TO HELP ME?"

Huh.

"WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS."

[mothmansplaining]

Ford nods: yep, here to help.

"That's right. I told you already: you have what I need to get the answers I'm looking for." Ford doesn't realize he could do it on his own. This rings true. "Besides, if I had stayed on the Barge, I wouldn't be good for anything! Except for the insulation experiment, everything important is in your room, and I can't go in there unless you open the door and let me in. I'd rather be out here, working on the problem."

Fact.

[tetractys]

"YEAH, THAT MAKES SENSE..."

Bill considers, taps his little foot.

"YOU STILL GET A LOT BY LETTING ME DIE!"

[mothmansplaining]

"I'm not going to let you die just because it would be convenient!" Ford snaps, a little louder than he meant to. He glances in the direction of the tent. Got to keep his voice down.

"Although it would be very tempting."

All true.

[tetractys]

Bill let's people die all the time because it would be convenient. He squints at the ring.

"IS THIS A MORALITY THING?"

Bill pronounces 'morality' like it's a strange cultural quirk that Bill has never really understood.

[mothmansplaining]

"Yes, of course it--wait, what?"

The ring doesn't seem to think that counts as truth.

[tetractys]

Bill's legs go straight and he points.

"AHA!"

What are you up to?

[mothmansplaining]

Ford stares at his hand. He definitely thought this was a morals thing. Didn't he?

"Okay, let's try this again," he says, puzzled. "It would be ethically questionable to kill Bill Cipher through inaction."

True.

"Which is why I'm not doing it."

False!! False again?! Ford stares at the ring, taps it with another finger. Come on, he signed up for convincing Bill of the truth, not searching his own motivations!

[tetractys]

Bill balls his fists and puts them on his lower points.

"SIXER, DO YA NOT KNOW WHY YOU'RE HELPING ME?"

This is particularly annoying because if Ford doesn't know how the hell is Bill supposed to find out?

[mothmansplaining]

"I don't know! Do I?" Ford demands of the ring, which obnoxiously flashes at him.

"Apparently, I do know," he says, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Okay. I just have to figure out what it is." Ford clears his throat and addresses the ring.

"It's a step towards graduation."

Flash.

"The wardens wouldn't understand."

Flash.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time!"

Flash.

"Ugh! All right! I don't want you to die anymore."

No flash. But also, this isn't exactly news. Ford's expressed before that it doesn't matter if Bill is alive or dead as long as he's powerless to do large-scale harm.

[tetractys]

Bill watches this, increasingly unimpressed. He does lift his eyebrow at the last part, though.

Wow. That's going to make your life tough pretty soon, kid.

"IS IT BECAUSE I'M CHANGING?"

[mothmansplaining]

"Basically."

It's a bit more complicated than that: Ford's conviction that it's not too late for anyone, Bill showing more consideration than Ford thought was possible, this Bill's uniqueness and how destroying him feels a little like taking something infinitesimally rare out of the multiverse, Ford's guilt about the very real possibility that he'll be driven to do it anyway.

Also, they,..they make a better team than Ford is entirely comfortable with.

But the ring isn't built to call its wearer out for vagueness. The answer passes.

[tetractys]

Bill assumes most of this is projecting, for his part. Changing is something Ford is familiar with, it makes Bill more relatable.

Also, Ford has a big crush but they're not going to talk about that.

Bill settles down near him.

"I STILL DON'T KNOW WHY FREEZA IS HERE. PRETTY SURE HE'S JUST BORED. KINDA WISH HE'D GO HOME AND LEARN KNITTING!"