sticksandbones | Time weirdos anonymous

Is, uh...is "Cookie" a family name, then?

[How unfair. He'd do some pretty horrible things to have his family here right now.

But that's not important right now. He frowns and shakes his head, refocusing.]

Wait, how can you tell?

Not at all! Cookies are simply cookies. Although, I am human now, as you can see.

[She walks around Siffrin, inspecting him intensely and giving a few thoughtful nods. Continuum Cog floats closer as well, a few measured ticking noises drifting from it. It hovers uncomfortably close, seeming to take measure with its blank gaze.]

Did I not tell you I can control time? Sensing a disrupted timeline is as easy as looking at you! Hmm... tell me, how did you lose that eye? As a fellow eyepatch wearer, of course I am curious!

[Timekeeper grins, adjusting her own eyepatch. The polished brass gleams as it catches the light. This is twice now she's brought up eyepatches and time mishaps in the same breath...]

[Does "cookie" mean something else where she comes from?? Stars, this is the stupidist distraction from the more immediate concerns here. He sets that aside, getting to his feet. It's weird, sitting on the ground while she circles and peers at him. It's still weird standing, but at least they're at eye level now. He leans back uncomfortably as the cog thing floats closer, eye flicking between it and her.]

I lost it protecting someone from a Sadness.

[And she's clearly aware of his time fuckery, so it seems relevant to add, after a beat:]

...But that happened before the timeloop.

[Small blessings. How much would it have sucked if it was just another event he had to live through again and again and again?]

[The fun part is that the answer to that is no! But clearly, Timekeeper is not going to explain further if no further questions are asked. She stops circling, standing in front of Siffrin now, still smiling impenetrably.]

I see! A "Sadness" being some form of monster, if I had to guess? Oho, and so it was a time loop, my hunch was correct! Ah, if only time was not so difficult to stitch here, I should like to see that timeline indeed! It's been quite a while since I've seen a true loop, and they are certainly entertaining!

[Maybe the TBD does its job a bit too well sometimes. Maybe she should fix that when she gets back!]

Hm, in any case, should you find yourself in broken time again, perhaps you should invest in eye protection. It wouldn't do to lose the other too, after all!

[Does this lady realize how disconcerting she is??? Siffrin can't help but take a step back as she stops in front of him, suddenly craving a larger personal bubble.]

"Entertaining" isn't really the word I'd go with.

[The flippancy draws a scowl out of him. M'am???? That shit SUCKED.]

[Yes. But she had to give up caring a long time ago.

Timekeeper chuckles, and there's a darkness in it that might be momentarily startling.]

It is when you've grown bored of watching everything unfold the normal way, trust me on that. Playing with the tiniest of variables, and exploring every possible consequence until the loop breaks - a delightful puzzle! So long as you do not allow it to become too repetitive, anyway.

[But then she seems to remember something, switching gears on a dime and shifting those scissors to the other hand, straightening slightly.]

Ah, but I'm getting distracted! I came here to show you a time machine, did I not?

[...Yeah, he's taking an extra step back now. Is this how he came across at his lowest point in the timeloop? No wonder his friends were so disconcerted by dealing with him. It's unsettling, but at the same time her flippant attitude about it kinda pisses him off. It's almost like she's putting the blame on him for his own extended stay in the loops.

That probably stings even more because she'd be right.]

Right. Yeah, uh... How does it work?

[It almost feels like a slap in the face that it's scissors, like the Universe itself is laughing at him. Unlike with the Change God, the thought doesn't inspire irritation and frustration, but rather just a quiet sort of sadness.]

A simple question, with a complicated answer! I hope you forgive me if I leave out some minor details...

[Timekeeper flips those scissors around, holding them by one of the handles now with the closed blades pointed upwards, as if she's about to use them. Despite their size, she handles them as if they weigh nothing at all.

But she stops, smiling widely at Siffrin before going any further.]

Before I begin, however, would your friend with the curiously similar temporal signature like to stop lurking in the trees and join us? They are welcome too, after all!

Huh?

[The wary look on Siffrin's face falls away for a moment, replaced by surprised as they look around for a telltale glow. That'd have to mean Loop, right? Is Loop fucking spying on him in person now too??]

[Obviously?? Why wouldn't they be spying on him, that's like their whole job?

They aren't planning to make themselves known, though, because 1) they're still mad at Siffrin, and 2) the Time Travelling One is disturbing. Also, it's really, really hard to get the shade just right so their stupid glowing head isn't obvious, this is a very delicate position to hold!

Anyway the shock from getting called out like that out of nowhere makes their hand slip. Ah.

There's a soft crash somewhere a few trees back. Do not concern yourselves with the light in the woods. Totally normal stuff.]

[There's only so much hiding from Timekeeper you can do once you're steeped enough in time shenanigans - that, and just because she flew past Loop's hiding spot earlier doesn't mean she didn't notice them!

Timekeeper laughs - not a mocking laugh, simply an amused one - and glances briefly towards the sound, but she's going to leave actually investigating it up to Siffrin.]

Yes, there we go! Wouldn't you like to see this closer than through a bunch of messy leaves?

[They will in fact investigate, even if they know what they're gonna find. Siffrin hurries over to that totally subtle glow, digging through the bushes until they find their star.]

...Are you okay?

[They are sprawled out and seething, why do you have to drag them into your stupid ideas!!!!!!

Ignore the part where TK knew they were around anyway... they still blame Siffrin for drawing attention to himself, or something. In a "blame Siffrin" kind of mood.

Anyway, they smile angrily.]

Oh, just fantastic. Soooooo sorry I was late to your little impromptu time traveller party, your new friend sounds like a real treat.

She's not my friend.

[Sorry, TK :(

But Siffrin ignores the attitude and their own slight irritation at the spying, just rolling their eye as they lean in to offer Loop a hand.]

Of course not.

[They take his hand with a sigh, because what else are they supposed to do? Lay in a bush while Siffrin talks to a dangerous(?) individual just a few feet away? They might as well be standing for this.

So. Loop is here, now. They don't look especially thrilled, putting only the minimal effort into their usual peppy act. They can't think of any reason to trust a Time Crafter who thinks time loops are funny, who can peg them both as the same.]

[With both of them standing before her, Timekeeper looks carefully from Siffrin to Loop, then back again. Her smile widens. Ah yes, she's seen exactly this sort of temporal discrepancy before.

In herself, and another cookie. But that's not a story for today.]

No need to be shy, you know! I'm quite happy to see more time travelers about, after all. It seems the expertise is quite needed around here!

[Which isn't to say she's going to help unless it suits her, but it still makes things interesting in a way she's familiar with. The best kind of interesting!]

Now, I believe I was about to show you my lovely Sonic Embroider. Hm, where to begin? Perhaps I should ask what method of time travel you are familiar with first?

[Yyyeah, Siffrin does not like that smile at all.

He exchanges a glance with Loop briefly, as if to ask whether they should be keeping shit secret, but...well, it's probably fine as long as they're careful about certain details. It doesn't seem wise to just tell people about Wishcraft willy-nilly, lest someone else get ideas and break reality again.]

It's called Timecraft where we come from. And it was just the timelooping thing. Well, and a guy that could freeze people in time.

I see! So, you do not know the precise mechanism, then.

[If Timekeeper had to hazard a guess, "Timecraft" sounds either akin to her own chronokinesis, or perhaps like some kind of temporal magic. But! Not important right now! So she'll just plow on ahead.]

Hmmm, how to explain this simply... have you heard the phrase "the fabric of reality?" What is reality but spacetime itself, and it is a fabric indeed! And what better to cut that fabric than a good pair of scissors?

[She lets the Embroider's blades drop open, gaping wide - but nothing happens. She laughs.]

Unfortunately, doing that here would be quite dangerous. The fabric's gotten all twisted up, you see. A pity, it would be nice to show you a time rift! They're rather cozy.

[Yeah, Siffrin, seems a little too late to be keeping that part a secret! Since he went and asked for a meeting with a Timecrafter and all!! But they're not mad (that much), so they just shut up.

They hate how they flinch when the Embroider snaps open. Unfortunately, they have... some sense for what it is, niggling in the corner of their mind. Not a construct made by Wishcraft, but something adjacent to the Timecraft that threads through their existence. Feels gross to look at. They stare anyway because not knowing what she's doing with it is worse, worse.]

Oh well, I guess you can't show it to him after all. Too bad!

[For what it's worth, Siffrin does not look to comfortable with any of this either. He frowns at the scissors, brows knitting together uncertainly.]

Maybe no one should be cutting reality anyway? That sounds...bad.

[Putting it mildly. He gives the scissors a wary look and quietly considers perhaps a theft in the middle of the night or something. Maybe that'd be safer than destroying a device that can fuck with time.]

Edited 2024-08-13 12:44 (UTC)

[Oh really? Oh REALLY, Loop???? Timekeeper's expression sharpens suddenly, though her smile only grows wider and more unsettling.]

Well! I suppose that depends on your definition of "bad," does it not? There is so much you can do with time, after all! But, if you want to see bad, this is what a time rift looks like here!

[She snaps the Embroider closed, pulls it upwards, spins it briefly and deftly over her head, then jabs it through the space to her side. A glowing golden tear opens in the air, crackling for a second before stretching wide. It's flickering and wavy, clearly unstable...]

A young girl with her curly hair in a ponytail can be seen sitting on a fence, clearly taking a break from working on something. Two teens are there too, though the face of only one is visible- Sifrin- and though everything flickers, it's easy to see others from the Grove as well. A man with red hair talking to an old woman with a lily in her hair. A boy with white hair and purple eyes talking to what they'll definitely recognize as Nene.

...

The girl with curly hair seems to look right into the rift.

And then it destabilizes and closes once more.

Edited 2024-08-14 01:23 (UTC)

[It's like nails on a chalkboard to a sense they can't even name. Their skin fizzles violently in response, light crackling, instinctively reaching to grasp the person next to them like they might get sucked in without an anchor—

and then it's basically over. Loop looks puffed out like an upset cat.

They shift their wide-eyed glare to Timekeeper, their anxiety exchanged for something more primal.]

What is your problem?! Are you insane?!

[they're still clinging to Siffrin's hand like a lifeline, sorry if that hurts they're not being gentle about it in the slightest.]

[At her sudden movement, Siffrin does nearly leap to jump her in a panic. But he's too late, and the action is aborted as the image flickers across the rift. It's only for a few moments, but Siffrin is frozen watching it, wide-eyed as the rift closes again.]

Wh...what was that?

[In truth, he's forgotten more than he can remember. Whether or not that brief moment would have been from an age before everything was voided is a toss-up. But he knows instinctively that the familiar faces are wrong. It's the people from here, not the life he's missing, it's something else and it feels like salt in the gaping wound of his missing memories, a half-step from what he wants to remember. That's from this place, and that's not where he's from, because he's from–

The thought is as slippery as ever, but he clings to it desperately. Home, home, home is to the north, it's–

The pain of their hand being crushed feels distant, but they try to focus in on it. It's grounding, at least. They squeeze Loop's hand back just as tight and breathe, in and out.]

[They're not the only ones rattled by the sudden window into another eerily familiar time. Timekeeper simply isn't showing it so much, though the air does crackle around her briefly. She recognizes the faces in the rift, but... instinctively, not by logic or by memory. It's like the dust has been shaken off a clocktower bell as it tolls somewhere in a piece of her heart she'd forgotten about.

When the girl with the curly brown hair and deep brown eyes turns towards the rift, seeming for a fraction of a second to recognize what she's seeing in turn, she almost lets the name slip.]

Croi-

...hmm.

[But no, she clicks her mouth shut after breathing that syllable, her smile waning but refusing to entirely fade. That's not Croissant Cookie, and she knows it down to her bones. But it's not herself, either. Not anymore.

Words from a dream echo in her head as she regards the space where the rift was.]

Well. That certainly didn't happen when I tried that before. How interesting!

[Loop's shouting is getting studiously ignored. It's not anything she hasn't had yelled at her before, after all.]

[How interesting. How interesting!

They want to throttle her. Anger boils under their skin, but it's the fear that keeps them rooted in place. They want to throttle her, but they don't know what she's capable of—know exactly enough to understand how dangerous she could be to them. They have little fear of death, but a power of this scope? The power to unravel, to stitch, to twist their already mangled threads?

Loop inhales a breath into their empty chest. They hold firm, gaze level with Timekeeper as they nudge one foot forward—to stand in front of their stardust, the only thing they have left worth protecting.]

You showed him what you wanted to. We're done here now. Study it on your own time.

[Ha. Hahaha. She doesn't even know what she's doing? Amazing. Awesome! That's not worrying at all!

Throat tight, Siffrin is still trying to formulate a proper response when Loop edges their way in front of him. It should be frustrating, the way they speak for him, but those scissors fill him with dread and Loop's protectiveness is a little nice in this moment. He squeezes their hand and forces himself to breathe.]

Just...stop trying at all, okay? Don't mess around with that stuff.

[When her gaze slides back to Loop and Siffrin, it's gleaming, some kind of mania barely contained.]

Futile. You could no more stop me from trying than you could stop yourself from breathing.

[Then it's gone, that smiling mask back firmly in place.]

After all, if none of us had ever tried, where would we be now? It would surely be a boring timeline. But I'm not changing your minds, am I?

[Her head tilts innocently, and she sweeps the scissors underneath her, sitting on them with legs crossed as they float.]

One last question before I leave, then. What shape is time?

[They know it's pointless to ask, they know, they know... she's no different from the King in that sense. Stuck in her ways, whatever her true goal might be.

Hah. As if they're any better, right? When that kind of power was theirs...

but they push that thought aside for now. They don't want to goad her into doing something even more insane. Better to just play along, give only enough to make her satisfied.]

I don't know. Triangles? [two triangles, duh. you need to ▶▶ to speed up and ◀◀ to go back.]

[Siffrin's eye narrows at her. The temptation to just rush her and knock her off those stupid giant scissors and run off with them is strong, but she doesn't exactly seem super stable. He's wary of setting her off while she's in possession of the giant sharp foreboding time fuckery device.]

Sure, triangles, whatever.

[It's as good a guess as any, and their brains understandably work the same way on matters like this. Not like Siffrin is invested enough to think on it further anyway.]

What a unique response! As expected. Certainly, triangles could be the two sides of an hourglass, or the arrow on a clock's hand, or a sundial's gnomon. Or perhaps you are thinking of something else, even! There are as many ways to associate such a shape with time as there may be a line, or a circle, or a spiral, or a branching tree.

[She nods, then looks up from under the brim of her hat, letting it cast a shadow on her face through which her eye glows gold.]

But that is conjecture, a substitute, the mortal mind trying to grasp a concept bigger than it. The closest to the truth?

Time is an abyss, and we all fall through it. Well, excepting me and some few others, of course. You cannot stop falling unless something catches you, wouldn't you agree?

[Stars, this is getting excessive. Does she have to talk down to them about the shape of reality beyond mortal comprehension or whatever??? Colors make their eyes hurt enough already, they're fine with comprehending a normal amount!

They give Siffrin's hand another squeeze, simply because they're trying really hard not to roll their eyes at this and make everything worse again. They're trying so hard. They really don't want to fight today, but damn, the sass is in their blood.]

A temporal safety net, sure.

[Siffrin just falls silent. Half of it is that he just doesn't truly know much about all this. His struggle to escape the timeloop was a mess of misunderstandings and false assumptions and he's learned by now that he doesn't know shit. He would have kept falling through that abyss forever if not for Loop.

And the other half is that TK is, frankly, fucking insane, and Siffrin is regretting this whole interaction.

So he ducks his face into the collar of his cloak like it might hide him from her, happy to let Loop take the reins here.]

Time weirdos anonymous

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thanks they hate it

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