A Tale of Two Fords

Requests(2): Carnivals!

For @froggypope:
'Backupsmore has a gathering thing for students and Fidds bothers Ford to go. Ford finally agrees though he just wants to relax and read a book and solve a few equations. But Fidds embarrasses himself badly and Ford has so much fun (no more dates *cough*Connie*cough*) other than seeing Fidds embarrassing himself and just tries to calm Fidds down when they get back to their dorm because he's raging or crying/about to cry. '
Hope you enjoy thanks for reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "...And we hope to see you all at Friday night's school carnival!"
    "Fiddleford no--"
    "Stanford pleeeeaassseee?"
    Students trickled out of classrooms and to their dorms as the last bell rang.
    "I really have to study..."
     "But I bet it'll be tons'o fun!"
    Ford sighed a bit as he maneuvered his way back to his and his boyfriend's shared room.
    "I'm sure it will be..." he said gently as Fiddleford walked in behind him and shut the door. "But you know I'm never good in social situations.."
    "But I'll be there with ya!" Fidds insisted. "And then we can be never good in social situations together!"
    He chuckled at that and set his bag down on the ground. "I don't think that's how it works."
    "But I reckon it can!"
There was a silence.
"...pleeeeeeaaaasssssseeeeeee-"
"Okay fine okay fine okay fine!" Ford broke. He then glanced at his partner. "Just... Please... Never make that face again. A piece of my heart just went missing..."
With a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek, the carnival date deal was sealed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    This was a.. Significantly bad idea.
    The place was crowded, people were loud at that, and the games there all seemed rigged.
    What was Stanford Pines thinking?!
    'If it makes Fidds happy, it makes me happy...' He reminded himself, biting his lip as he glanced at the excited shorter man who clung to his arm. 'As long as he's happy, everything's worth it....'
     "Since I dragged ya along, I thought maybe you'd like to pick what we do?" Fiddleford piped up after a few minutes of shuffling through crowds. Ford bit back the same sarcastic urge to say 'back to our room' and just looked around.
    "Well.." His eyes spotted a ball toss game, which had some kind of stuffed plush as a prize, and thought about the romantic gains he could get out of that night. After all, his man was quite the cuddler. "How about just playing some games first? Like, hey, check out that ball toss over there! Does uh... That sound fun?"
    "O'course, darlin'. Anythin' you want to do!"
    He smiled a bit and linked their arms, maneuvering through the sea of people to get to the (surprisingly unoccupied) carnie game. He payed the vender and rolled a single ball around in his hands.
"You only get one shot," the worker acknowledged and Ford just nodded. He aimed the ball carefully then pitched it.
The red plastic-made thing smacked against one of the bottles but jut bounced off and fell to the ground. Ford frowned.
"Boo, that was rigged!" He insisted. The vender just shrugged and the taller man turned to leave when he notice Fiddleford hand another dollar to the carnie and grip the ball in his hand. "Fidds c'mon, it's not worth it."
"I reckon I can try," the shorter man smiled and aimed it again as his boyfriend watched. Despite the look of the throw, Fidds pitched it hard and it knocked over the pyramid of bottles. "Woo!"
Ford couldn't help but smile as the carnie grumbled and handed the plush whatever-it-is to a beaming Fiddleford, who gladly accepted the prize, cuddling it in a tight grip. He was happy...
    Perhaps, Stanford decided, he'd get just as much enjoyment out of this as his partner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Perhaps.
    Perhaps, he had thought.
    Perhaps, he thought, it would be great.
    Well, perhaps wasn't good enough.
    Ford would admit, he was having fun that night. The games were rigged some times but it was fun. The rides were enough to get his head spinning and the engineers who worked on the roller coaster there must have been geniuses. Yes, it was great!
    Well...
    He had gotten separated from Fiddleford for ten minutes. Ten minutes the southern man was out on his own because Ford had lost him in the huge crowd. After a while he had to stop searching for him.
    'He's fine, Stanford,' he had told himself. 'Fiddleford is a perfectly capable man... He is fine. He always is.'
    And it was true to him. His partner was always fine one way or another. That's what he thought, and he would stick by it. He would stand by the belief that Fidds was okay. That he was fine no matter what.
    Even as a small crying teen pushed through him to get by.
    "Fidds?!"
    Even as his fists clenched as he ran to catch up to him.
     Stanford ran out of the carnival grounds and looked all over for his roommate. He came up short and tried driving around to find him.
    Even as he saw the scrawny man collapse just outside of safety's way.
    He circled around for about an hour before spotting a figure dashing into the mostly empty dorm rooms. Instinct took over. Without thinking, he parked and ran out after the silhouette.
     Even as he kneeled beside the man and whispered that everything would be just fine.
    "Fiddleford...?" he came across the sobbing mess of a man inside of their shared room. Fiddleford was curled up, trying not to cry any longer but ultimately failing. "Fidds..? Darling what's wrong?" Stanford quietly closed the door and knelt to the ground beside him.
    Because it would be, he believed.
    "I'm an idiot..." came the hissed, hoarse reply. "I-I'm a d-damn idiot...!"
    Ford glanced at him and bit his lip as he got an actual look at the man. He had a few cuts scattered here and there. A gash on his cheek. His clothes were slightly singed and he was dripping with water (where from, the Pines couldn't tell).
    It always was.
     "Fiddleford what... What happened..?"
     "I t-tried being normal.. S-Social even! I tried to m-make things okay and h-help out but... But the fire c-caught on to my coat... A-And..." He choked back a cry. "...i-I'm just a s-stupid hick... I don't get why I'm s-so intent on c-changin' that-"
     "Stop," the taller of the two interjected. "Don't say that about yourself. Don't." His voice was hard and had a strict sense behind it.
    "But...-"
     His voice trailed off as Ford pulled him into his arms.
     Because, after all...
     "It's been a long day..." Ford murmured and pulled Fidds on to the bed, despite the small whine of protest. "You need to rest."
     "F-Ford I-"
     "Shut up," he hissed but there was no anger or ferocity in it. His voice was once again soft, if a bit demanding, and the southern man could tell he had crossed some sort of emotional line for him. "Lay down... Close your eyes. Now.. Please.."
     He complied and couldn't help the small smile breaking out as a strong pair of arms wrapped around his waist and a gentle voice cooed to him.
     "Don't worry... You're more than what any of those idiots say... You're precious and mine... And I love you..."
     ...this was Fiddleford McGucket...
    "...I... I love ya too...."
    ...and Fiddleford McGucket was always fine...