metronome
for my friend alyssa and i suddenly feel that this story is inadequate and not how i wanted it to turn out.
wip.
—
There had to be a single moment, a single fucking second where he could have seen this coming.
You know, so that he could stop it from coming.
Hell, he might as well just stop everything.
He knew he wasn’t mature. He wasn’t ready for this game. He wasn’t ready to be the Knight of Time, or whatever the hell that meant. Rose even told him that’s what the game was for—to weed out the kids who just aren’t ready to jump into adulthood. At least, that’s what she thought.
“John,” he blurted out. His mind drew a blank. The bark on the tree he was perched upon was suddenly digging into his shoulder and he needed to tend to it.
The boy standing below him frowned. “You can’t just interrupt me like that, dude. You’re never going to understand the emotional roller coaster that is—”
“Can you shut up for a bit?”
He didn’t mean to sound as harsh as he did.
“I need to remember what I was going to say.”
“Oh. Okay, good luck, Dave.”
No. No good luck, Dave. He didn’t have any good luck. Any luck he had was certainly bad, and it will always lead to bad news.
Dave pinched the bridge of his nose. That’s something a cool kid does when he’s having some trouble thinking, but he’s being cool about it. Right? Yeah, that is right.
He was glad he always had his shades on. He could see John staring up at him, but John would never see him stare back. His emotions didn’t betray him like that.
“You remember when my birthday is?”
John blinked back. He opened his mouth to say something, probably along the lines of ‘what are you saying dave is everything okay up in that cool noggin of yours’, but in the end, decided against it. His head bowed down, and the bright blue hood concealed his face. For once, the kid was actually thinking about it. “December… fifth?”
“Wrong. Third.”
“I was close enough.”
Dave bites back a growl. He was really good at biting back reactions. He knew that for sure.
There’s no such thing as ‘close enough,’ he wanted to say. It’s either enough, or it’s not.
“Yeah, okay, fine. Close enough, Egbert.”
They fell into another moment of silence, and to be honest, he was getting really fucking tired of it. Dave plucked out the splinter and threw it off into the horizon.
He didn’t really care when it lands or who it hits—he just wants it to be gone.
“Aw, c’mon, man, uncool,” John remarked. “Don’t litter my planet like that!”
Dave groaned. He didn’t really care for hiding it this time.
“Calm down. I was just throwing a splinter.”
“Why’d you ask when your birthday was, anyways?”
He shook his head. He was zoning out again. “Just wonderin’ if you knew.”
Alright, okay, that might have been a lie. Dave was forgetting things. Not objects though; he was forgetting dates. Weird, right? A Knight of Time like him shouldn’t be forgetting dates of all things. He was far too cool for that.
John started laughing. “It’s okay, Dave. I know you want a party, but you were too shy to ask for it. You’re just trying to be indirect and mysterious like always!”
If Dave was from one of those animes that Bro always watched, he swore he would have slapped himself in the face. Plus those dark little lines over his forehead (which, he has to admit, were kinda cool).
“I swear, I thought you were onto something serious there for a second,” he admitted.
But, like all those other times, John was just not able to read Dave’s face.
Back to the point.
“Would you trust me if you were dying, and I was holding you in my arms?”
This was where the boys were different—Dave hides his feelings, while John does anything but. John almost fell back as he looked up to Dave’s branch. His eyes were wider than usual, and his mouth was in a frown rather than its usual derpy smile.
“ … Dave, are you okay?”
Good. This is good. John finally asked him.
“Answer the question.” He just needed a confirmation. “Answer the question, and I’ll answer one of yours, alright?”
John’s voice was shaky as he nodded. “I-I do. Why are you asking me this? You’re my best bro, Dave, I trust you with everything.”
No. No no no. This wasn’t good enough these words were just words there was no meaning behind them he can’t accept them.
Dave jumped off the tree, making sure his cape was making a spectacle behind him. His landing, as always, was graceful, something nice to watch. In John’s eyes, however, Dave was sure he could have seemed a little menacing.
“I don’t think you should,” he finally replies.
He wasn’t ready to grow up, John. He wasn’t ready to take the big step that apparently only the Knight of Time can take. He wanted to stop playing this game. He’s just a kid, John. You’re just a kid, John.
“But don’t worry about it,” Dave added. It might have sounded a bit rushed. John certainly picked up on it. “That’s my job.”
