I've been inspired to write some Mabel/Ford fluff, because let's face it. There's a serious lack of it. I've been dying for some ever since TLM and I've read a couple of amazing and adorable fics on here.

I haven't written fanfic for a really long time, so I'm kinda nervous about posting, but without further ado, here we go!

The day started out completely normal. Or as normal as it would get for the Pines family.

Ford hadn't slept well that night. Every night since he returned to his home dimension was spent like this. Every time he was finally able to doze off, the nightmares came. Memories of his interdimensional travels and its horrors would resurface, jerking him awake, alert and ready to attack in case anything from the other side had somehow found its way here.

Breakfast was the same as always. The younger twins were happily chattering over a plate of pancakes, and Stan and Ford were still not speaking to each other. Ford found himself coughing a couple of times. He had a strange feeling. Something was off today, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

Soon, everyone had finished up their meal. Stan quickly got up and excused himself, muttering something about restocking the gift shop. Ford knew he was looking for an excuse to leave the kitchen, as both of them didn't feel comfortable sitting in the same room together for too long. Dipper and Mabel also left the kitchen to do whatever they had planned for the day. That was fine. He had a busy schedule ahead of him as well.

Ford quickly finished his cup of coffee and got up. He felt unusually sore today. Given his age, it was normal for him to feel a little sore, but this. This was more than normal.

As he gave it more thought, he realized his throat had been feeling scratchier lately. And he also had been getting horrendous headaches and stomach aches. Not to mention, he had been feeling weak for a couple of days, and unusually cold for the summer time.

He let out a soft groan. He could not afford to get sick. Not with Bill still out to terror the world. I'll just have to ignore all my symptoms and work through it. Like I've done all these years.

But as he crossed the hall, a bout of coughing took over him. He hunched over and placed a hand on the wall for support. God, he felt awful, like his lungs were going to burst out with every cough. After about a minute or so, he managed to regain his composure.

"Grunkle Ford?" His head shot up and he saw his niece poking her head from the living room entry, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, another coughed escaped his mouth. "I'm…I'm fine. Just have a little sore throat."

Mabel frowned and walked towards him. He most certainly did not look fine. "Are you sure? You look kinda sick." The girl stood on her toes and touched her uncle's forehead. Her eyes widened. "Grunkle Ford, you're really hot! And not in the good way!"

"Mabel, please, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He waved her off. "Just go back and continue with whatever you were doing."

The preteen shook her head and grabbed his hand. "Nuh-uh! You're sick and need to rest. But don't worry." She flashed him a toothy grin. "Nurse Mabel is on the case!" Mabel dragged a reluctant Ford back to the spare room. They stopped in front of the couch he used as his bed. "Lie down."

Ford felt nervous. Mabel was a sweet girl, and he liked her a lot, but she could be a bit unpredictable at times. And besides, he was a 60 year old grown man and could take care of himself. "Mabel, I don't think–"

"Lie down." He sat down immediately, and kicked his boots off. Mabel arranged his blanket around him. "Okay, what did Grunkle Stan do when me and Dipper got sick?" She thought for a minute before exclaiming, "Juice! I'll get you some juice. That'll help."

Too tired to protest, Ford just closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in the various parts of his body. He had a horrible headache, and his stomach was churning.

A few minutes later, Mabel returned with a glass of orange juice and a thermometer. He noticed that she had made a quick sweater change. Instead of wearing the light blue sweater with a navy anchor design on the front, she was now wearing a white sweater with a red cross. She was taking her role as a "nurse" very seriously. That amused him.

Mabel set the juice on the desk. She then turned to Ford with the thermometer in hand. "Say ah!"

"It's alright, I can do–"

"SAY AH!"

Ford opened his mouth, and just to be safe, made an 'ah' sound. Mabel stuck the thermometer in his mouth, and waited, watching the red line slowly move up. After about a minute, she took it out. "It says 101 degrees." She showed it Ford just to be sure, who nodded his head.

"Okay, you can have your juice now." She placed the thermometer on the desk, and offered the glass to her great-uncle, who was glad to accept it. He sat up and took a sip, the juice a cool relief to his scratchy throat.

"You should probably take some medicine! I'll go get it." She rushed out the door. Ford smiled and took another sip. She really was trying her best to take care of him. It had been a long time since someone had done that for him.

A little while later, Mabel returned, her arm full of various bottles. "Um, I didn't know which one you should take." She placed them on his lap, looking sheepish. "I didn't want to kill you or anything."

Ford quickly shook his head. "No, it's alright." He picked up the correct bottle and shook two pills out. "In fact, that was very responsible of you." He swallowed the pills with a sip of the juice.

Mabel looked up at him. "Really?"

He smiled at her. "Yes, really." He then let out a soft chuckle. "You make a good nurse."

Mabel beamed. "Thanks Grunkle Ford!" She looked at the small pile of medicines that she had dumped on her uncle. "I should probably put these away..."

Ford let out a yawn and laid back down as Mabel gathered the items. She turned around and was about to leave the room. "Oh, and Mabel?"

She turned around to face him again. "Yes?"

Ford reached his hand out and patted her head affectionately, smiling at her. "Thank you for taking care of me. I appreciate it."

Mabel couldn't contain her grin. "You're welcome!" She then walked to the door, and looked at her uncle one last time. His eyes were closed. "Get well soon." She whispered, softly closing the door.

Mabel didn't know, but Ford had heard her. The three simple words had left a warm feeling in his chest, and a growing smile on his face.

I'm still kinda iffy about writing Gravity Falls characters, but I think they were fairly in-character. Anyways, hope you enjoy and have a nice day/night! :D