Hi!

I'm back with more What If!

Today's fic is a bit lighter than Never Would Be Again, it's a little piece about the Grunkles and their adventures on the sea. It does have panic attacks, I don't know if that's a trigger warning, but I'll say it anyway.

Without further ado, enjoy the story!

Stan was on the deck of the Stan O' War when he heard shaky breaths and crying.

He ran across the deck to find Ford curled up under the helm.

"Ford? Ford, are you ok?" Stan knew what this was. It was one of Ford's panic attacks, which had started shortly after defeating Bill. A little piece of Bill had lodged in his mind from being possessed by the demon for so long, and while it couldn't control him or regenerate, it occasionally gave Ford visions of what could have been and everything that had happened in the other dimension. These visions often sent Ford into a deep, long panic attack that would include shaky hands, heart palpitations and paranoia, even if he knew he was safe.

"Stan, we need to leave. He-he's coming, he killed Mabel, he's after Dipper and we need to run! We need-we need…" He stopped talking as a fresh wave of tears hit him. Stan picked him up, still sobbing, and helped him to his cabin.

"Hey, Sixer. It's ok! I'm here. He's gone, ok, I promise you, he's gone." Stan tried his best at what he thought was a soothing tone, and Ford began to relax.

"Yeah...yeah. Ma-Mabel's ok, Dipper's safe, it-it's all ok."

Stan smiled. He was getting better at this.

"You want some cocoa?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Stan busied himself with prepping the cocoa while Ford sat down and re-read the most recent letter from Dipper and Mabel.

Dear Grunkles Ford and Stan

Hi!

Today was our first day of high school and it went amazingly!

Dipper is in a lot of AP classes and is already busy with homework. I've made lots of friends and Dipper's talking to a guy in our homeroom, Dylan, and I think that they are gonna be good friends.

I miss you both heaps!

Love Mabel.

Also enclosed was a picture of Dipper and Mabel wearing high school uniforms, smiling while Mabel pulled a face. Ford smiled and looked out the window onto the sea.

Stan came and sat down, cocoa in hand.

"Cocoa fixes everything, right Sixer?"

Ford smiled.

"Yeah, it does."

I have a counterpart to this on the way about Stan and memory lapses, and a cool BillDip piece as well.

I am open to prompts, I take literally anything, or any ship, except Pinecest and smut. Those are the 2 I will never write about.

Stay safe, healthy and keep your mask on!

alloystar.