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 Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:08 pm
Elliot laughed a bit, maybe to humor Riker. It was a good point, and it wasn’t like he didn’t expect that Riker should doubt Devyn or try to poke holes in his story. Who could refute his version of the truth? So far as he knew, it wasn’t like Michael had even had a ton of past life memories.
…To be fair, it wasn’t like Elliot had any past life memories. But then, being a Knight of the Moon was a little strange. He knew he must have had a past life; so far as he knew, everyone did. He just hadn’t been a Knight or anything with a substantial enough imprint on the universe to leave a mark.
“Maybe,” he agreed, because Riker wasn’t wrong. He just couldn’t imagine Devyn lying.
“You know he does competitive fighting here on Earth? I know he’s been in at least a few tournaments. And he’s in a few underground fighting rings, too. Michael’s never let me tag along but he’s no good at lying, I can see right through him. I’m sure Devyn would be more mopey if he lost any of those but he’s always in a good mood.”
Did Devyn always tell the truth? No, he was pretty good at skirting around some topics. He wasn’t always very good at knowing what story was appropriate to tell, but he was basing his perception on Alastorian standards, not Earth. Devyn had learned since he’d been here! Which was a shame, Elliot missed his mostly unfiltered stories. Although, now that he was getting older, Devyn was getting more lax. At least, sometimes. He was still careful around Atticus, he didn’t want to give him any bad ideas while he was still so impressionable.
…but did Devyn lie? About those things?
No, Elliot couldn’t imagine it. In fact, the thought that someone wouldn’t trust Devyn made him feel a little huffy. He didn’t blame Riker but he couldn’t help but also feel defensive. He did his best not to get riled up and decided on a diplomatic, “Well, you don’t have to take him at face value if you don’t want to. It’ll just mean he works harder to prove himself.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:08 pm
Riker could tell that Elliot thought highly of Devyn. It seemed as though a lot of people thought highly of Devyn. Which meant that Devyn would be perfectly fine if one dumb teenager didn’t think he farted rainbows or whatever.
He wasn’t trying to antagonize Elliot though. Which was why he didn’t mention how Mr. Gallo had suggested he go to one of Devyn’s fights. And how Devyn said he should, and cheer for the opponent.
Whether it was arrogance or confidence through experience, it didn’t really matter to Riker.
“He doesn’t have to prove anything to me,” he shrugged. “What does it matter to him if I believe him or not? I asked him to teach me to fight and he agreed. I just need someone to fight with me that isn’t, you know… Julian. Or Énna. Not that I don’t think they could fight me, but -- no offense, but I would feel better accidentally hurting you than I would hurting them.”
Wait, that didn’t sound right.
Luckily it looked like they were getting closer to meeting up with the others. It was still a little early, but they didn’t have to stay up all night if they were done shopping.
At least, he thought they were getting closer. He was pretty sure he could spot Atticus and Julian near the little cafe that they were also approaching. They were sitting on a bench and talking it seemed. Maybe they shouldn’t bother them, then?
Just then, the bells of a church started chiming. Normally, Riker wouldn’t have paid attention to the number of bells. Except that he could tell it was more than what the time should have been. He frowned after the second or third extra bell, and glanced over at Elliot to see if he thought it was weird, too. Or maybe he was too distracted by his boyfriend.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:10 pm
Elliot let himself laugh when Riker said he’d feel better about hurting Elliot than the others, and maybe that was fair since Elliot had broken his ribs. Doing CPR or otherwise.
Devyn could fight his own battles; if he wanted to prove anything to Riker, he could. Elliot had absolute faith in him. And maybe Devyn didn’t care! …But Atticus would have hurt feelings if Riker was saying things like that about him.
Elliot had no time to dwell on such things because Atticus was right there. He’d raised his hand to wave just as the bell chimed, but after the eighth bell he frowned, already reaching for his phone. The bell kept ringing. They hadn’t been in the stationery store for hours–and even if they had been in for a while, Julian or Atticus would have just called.
His phone said eight.
The bell rang twelve times.
Atticus and Julian hadn’t moved since the first chime. Not to greet Riker and Elliot, and not in response to each other. It was as if they were just frozen in time.
Elliot frowned only slightly; neither Julian nor Atticus were the sort to play a prank like that. He was! But not them.
“Hey,” he greeted as they approached, but there was still no response. His frown deepened once more, and though he was tempted to keep his eyes on their two companions to see if their facade slipped, he glanced around to see if anything else seemed amiss.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:11 pm
Something was wrong. Or at least off about whatever was happening around them. At first, Riker only noticed how strangely still Atticus and Julian were on the bench. It looked like they were in the middle of a conversation -- happy. There was nothing to indicate that something bad was happening.
Everything was just… frozen.
Riker approached the bench as well, but was hesitant to reach out and touch. He didn’t want to disrupt whatever magic was happening and make things worse.
“Are we the only ones not affected?” he asked Elliot as calmly as he could. He carefully sat on the bench next to Julian as he looked around them. He didn’t touch him, but he was there to protect him in case something did happen.
“Should we power up?”
There was nothing to indicate that this involved the Negaverse or any other Chaotic entity, but… seeing everything around them just… completely frozen? Even the light snow that had been falling was suspended in the air. Other people were around, but no one was moving.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:12 pm
A frown had settled on Elliot’s face now, and his brows had furrowed and continued to deepen. He waved a hand questioningly, but once more there was no response. As the seconds passed, he took note of a few things–no blinking, no puff of air when they should have been breathing, no flinch or twitch.
And it wasn’t just them.
There were no sounds, either. No cars in the distance, no planes overhead, no holiday music.
Elliot turned slowly, trying to pick out if anything seemed specifically out of place. He hadn’t noticed before, but when he looked closely he could see people across the street, frozen in a half-step. They didn’t move either, and they were trapped in a position that would have been impossible to fake.
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. He reached out to pluck a snowflake from the sky. It didn’t melt as he held it between his fingers. “...No, I don’t think we should power up. Let’s just give it a minute. If there’s something out there causing this, I don’t want to draw its attention. If it’s magic, it can’t last forever.”
But it must have already been half a minute, maybe a minute.
“I don’t remember when things stopped moving, do you?” He glanced behind them; he remembered the door closing and the bell chiming. Things had been fine back then. A car had passed them on the way over but he didn’t see it now. The bell had rung—
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:12 pm
The magic might not last forever, but how long were they supposed to watch their friends frozen in time like this? Or anyone and everything else, for that matter?
Riker frowned, looking at Julian, searching his expression for anything that might indicate something was wrong. Absently, Riker reached out so he could tuck some loose hair behind Julian’s ear.
“No… I thought it was weird that the bells didn’t match up with the time,” he said, glancing back up at Elliot. He didn’t know if that was when everything stopped moving, though.
He sighed and leaned back against the bench, placing his arm on the back behind Julian’s shoulders. He might as well get comfortable if they were going to try and wait this thing out. It wasn’t as though they could just leave their friends. And he knew Elliot wouldn’t abandon his boyfriend. Just as Riker wouldn’t abandon Julian.
“Have you seen anything like this before? You don’t seem too freaked out by it.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:13 pm
Even on his own terms, Julian was always so careful with his emotions. He put a great deal of effort into making sure he was making the right expression at the right moment. It was guaranteed he would almost always have either a shadow of worry or the traces of fatigue that came with always being so alert.
He wore a soft smile now, but he’d been laughing at something Atticus said. His eyes were mostly closed, in that split second between when he had time to worry about if he was allowed to laugh and if he was laughing too loudly. He was leaning forward to hear Atticus, and his eyes were on him as he gave him his full attention.
Julian looked like he was trapped in a candid moment; there was no trace of fear or worry.
“No, I’m freaked out,” Elliot answered honestly, even if his tone didn’t match his words. “I’ve never seen anything like this. But it won’t do anyone any good if I panic.” He still felt cold but he didn't know if that was because the chill was actually getting to him or because he was worried. Atticus might be getting cold and he might not even know. He set his bag down on the bench next to Atticus so both hands were free, and then he busied himself with fixing the scarf draped around Atticus’ neck.
“The bells are the only thing I can think of, either. I was worried we were out late, that’s past my curfew. But I don’t even–is there a church near here? I don’t even know where the bells came from.”
He stroked Atticus’ cheek with his hand, glad to find that it wasn’t icy to the touch, but he was still considering their options. If they had to, they could probably just carry Julian and Atticus back to Michael and he could help figure out a solution–if he wasn’t frozen, too.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:13 pm
Oh, well, great. It wasn’t good that Elliot was freaked out. Riker was, but he was doing his best to be completely nonchalant about it. Like oh yeah, his friends got frozen in time all the time. It was fine. They would figure it out.
His eyebrows furrowed a bit as he watched Elliot fuss with Atticus’s scarf. Naturally, Riker had to do the same with Julian. Just in case.
“Were they even church bells? I don’t know. They could have been from anywhere,” he tried to shrug, but he was too distracted by their friends.
Atticus, with no knowledge that anything was amiss, wore a gentle smile as he gave all of his attention to Julian. Riker wasn’t sure what they’d been talking about, but he appreciated that Atticus knew Julian well enough to at least keep him distracted from being constantly worried. It was always nice to see him with a completely peaceful smile.
Riker sighed. He was worried about touching them, not wanting to end up hurting them, nor did he want to freak them out if everything unfroze and they didn’t know what was going on.
To pass the time while they contemplated their options, Riker reached out into the air and collected all the snowflakes he could reach, scooping them into a floating pile.
“How long do you want to try and wait it out? Does your phone even work?” He didn’t offer his because while he could try to contact Evan, he would likely just freak him out.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:13 pm
Elliot had shifted his weight back and forth half a dozen times as he extracted his phone. He pressed a few buttons but the phone didn’t respond. The light didn’t shut off when he turned it upside down, and it wouldn’t go into lock mode.
Well, that made it easy to pinpoint exactly when there had been a problem, at least.
“It had to be those bells,” he decided. “My phone’s stuck on the home screen. At eight, on the dot.”
He knew they’d been fussing for at least a few minutes, and there was no reason for his phone to be broken–not when he had regular Mauvian check ups on all his electronics.
“Does anywhere but a church ring bells? I mean, I guess they could play over a speaker, but…”
But why? He was so sure he’d heard the echo. They sounded normal, not like some artificial broadcast.
“I don’t want to wait too long but I don’t want to leave them. Maybe–isn’t there a church a few streets over? The one they shut down because the wood was rotting. But there’s no way that’s open.” And if it was, so what? Was he going to run over there and try ringing the bell again to see if that fixed things?
Well, yeah, he’d try just about anything if it meant snapping out of whatever this was.
“I want to know how far out this thing goes.”
But not as much as he wanted Atticus to go back to normal. Elliot loved looking at Atticus’ smile but this was a little unnerving. If he knew when it was going to end, maybe it would have been fine. But this? This just felt wrong.
“...What do you think, should we stay here and wait for a while longer or would you watch out for them while I went to see if anything’s going on over there?”
Elliot didn’t want to leave Atticus but practically speaking, even if Riker was mostly healed, he was still in better shape to be running.
…And anyway, he trusted Atticus. If Elliot couldn’t be there for him, he knew Riker would keep him safe.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:15 pm
Elliot was thinking about trying to find the source of all this magic? By himself?
Riker frowned. He didn’t like any of this. He didn’t want to leave Atticus or Julian, but he also didn’t want to just let Elliot wander off on his own. He was pretty sure there were horror movies that started that way.
“I can carry Julian and come with you,” he suggested, well aware that he probably shouldn’t be lifting a lot of weight, but it wasn’t like Julian was very heavy. And Elliot would obviously carry Atticus.
“I’ll be fine,” he insisted, gathering up the floating snowball and moving it out of the way so he could stand up. “I don’t want you going off on your own, especially if this is some kind of… multi spacial rift or trap or something. I don’t know, take your pick of whatever sci fi movie you want.”
With the snow out of the way, he stood from the bench and adjusted the bags he was carrying so he could figure out the best way to lift Julian without freaking him out if things started moving again.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:16 pm
Elliot pondered the option but still gave Riker a slightly exasperated look when he suggested carrying Julian. Of course, Elliot had no doubt that he could, but Riker was going to grow up to be as bad as Devyn when it came to not respecting his body when it needed to heal.
“I don’t want to split up either,” he admitted, “but if it’s dangerous, I don’t want to take them where they might just be at a bigger risk of getting hurt. Ah, Atticus,” he sighed, and planted his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot.
“Well, you wouldn’t want me to leave you behind, so I guess that’s the best option.”
It looked like it probably would have been easy to scoop both of them up, he was only worried about how stiff and awkwardly shaped they might be. He’d carried Atticus dozens–no, hundreds–of times! And he’d always fit so perfectly in his arms.
He’d find a way to make this work.
Elliot started by picking up all of his bags, and then when he went to lift Atticus, he couldn’t help himself. He scooped him into his arms and kissed him softly on the lips, like he always did.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:17 pm
Riker wasn’t sure how leaving him behind with Atticus and Julian would make things any less dangerous than just taking them both with them, but he was glad that Elliot was agreeing to try to take them along.
He knew he needed to be careful, but it wasn’t as though he could just leave Julian. So once his bags were settled over his shoulder, he delicately scooped Julian up into his arms and held him as close as he could without potentially hurting him.
Thankfully, whatever was happening around them to make time freeze, it seemed as though the kiss from Elliot was all that was needed to push things forward again.
For just a moment, Atticus gasped in surprise, but was quick to secure his arms around Elliot’s neck, immediately leaning close to give him another kiss to make up for the one he’d been too surprised to actually enjoy.
“Hi,” he greeted a bit shyly, his attention immediately on his boyfriend who’d appeared out of nowhere. Not that Atticus was complaining! His heart was just racing now from being startled. His cheeks were already red from the cold, but flushed a little darker as he tried to contain his smile--
Except there was something in Elliot’s eyes that looked like relief covering up genuine concern.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his own brows furrowed as he searched Elliot’s face for answers. A quick glance made sure Julian was still there, along with Riker now too.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:32 pm
“Hi,” Elliot said, equally startled and pleased. He hid it well enough on his face, not so much that it wasn’t visible at all but enough that he hoped Atticus wouldn’t immediately worry, too. He looked him over for a few seconds but Atticus didn’t seem hurt, or off.
Julian had been far less graceful at the sudden realization; he clutched Riker like he thought he was going to fall, and the smile had washed from his face. “Did I black out?” he whispered to Riker, eyes darting quickly between Elliot and Atticus and then back to Riker.
He hadn’t felt dizzy before but he did now, and he couldn’t remember when Riker and Elliot had joined them. It would have made sense if Elliot was scooping Atticus up so they could move in a hurry, he’d done it before, but–
Elliot was aware of whispering behind him but Julian wasn’t flailing and Riker wasn’t doubling over in pain so he focused on Atticus. He kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m not sure. Maybe nothing. How are you feeling?”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:33 pm
Riker gave Elliot a look of disgust.
“That’s really gross that that fixed things,” he scoffed, carefully adjusting his hold on a now conscious and frazzled Julian. He shook his head in bewilderment at Elliot and Atticus before turning his full attention to Julian.
“You didn’t black out,” he promised, but paused to squint slightly at Julian now. “How often does that happen?”
Did Julian black out a lot for him to assume it was something like that happening? It would have to be something Riker kept an eye on, especially since Julian liked to pretend like he was okay even if he wasn’t.
“Just Destiny City doing Destiny City things,” he explained, not bothering to keep his voice lowered since Elliot would have to tell Atticus eventually anyway. Or maybe he wouldn’t and that wasn’t his problem.
Once again, Atticus searched Elliot’s face for unvoiced answers, not sure what to think about what he was saying. Or not saying.
“A little dizzy, but it could be the cold,” he said, hoping it would be enough of an excuse to satisfy his boyfriend, especially when Elliot was trying to placate him with nose kisses. Atticus placed his hand on Elliot’s face to smooth away some of his worry lines -- only visible to him, of course. And only because he knew Elliot so well.
He could hear Riker talking, and he assumed it was to all of them. He wasn’t sure what he was giving Elliot that look for, but Atticus was grateful that they were both looking out for them, regardless.
“I’m okay,” he clarified. “A little disoriented but I think it’s because you showed up so suddenly. I didn’t see you come up.” And usually Atticus was more aware of his surroundings.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 5:33 pm
Julian immediately looked embarrassed; his face was already red for the cold but there was something just slightly guilty. “Um, not a lot. But that’s why it was so surprising!” He spoke quietly, like he didn’t want to speak over anyone else, but he didn’t want to ignore Riker’s question, either.
He was just as interested in finding out what was going on as Atticus was, and maybe a little more eager to change the subject. He smiled at Riker, in that way that said he knew he’d said too much but didn’t want to be awkward about it. There was a promise in his eyes, and an apology. He wasn’t trying to wriggle away, though; he seemed pretty comfortable in Riker’s arms–although, judging by the new expression on his face, he was already wondering if Riker was pushing himself too much.
“It wasn’t ‘suddenly’ for us,” Elliot explained. “We came out of the store and saw you two sitting here. But you weren’t moving. I thought you were playing a prank on us, but,” he looked around now and it was like nothing had stopped at all. The person frozen in midstep was nearly around the corner now, and the holiday music was playing softly on the speakers. He could hear the city moving all around them.
“Everything was frozen, even my phone. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, maybe. Did you hear those bells chiming? Twelve times. It sounded like a church bell, or a clocktower, I guess.”
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