Chapter Text
Sapnap finds himself sinking to the floor, back against the peeling paint of the wall next to his door. His heels hurt and his knees buckled as Sapnap winced, feeling the burn in his thighs from the fourteen hour shift he had just worked. Sapnap curses himself for a day so full of mistakes, but he knows that he has something in his pocket that’s valuable. Something that’s timeless. It almost makes the ravenette smirk at the thought of it, past the shitty day that soured his mood. And to think he only found it in between two shelves at a job he hated.
He finally musters the strength to get up after a while, groaning as his joints pop and grind in protest as Sapnap moves from his stagnant position. His feet are singing in pain and Sapnap’s legs feel glued together as he trudged to his fridge, eager to have the taste of liquor wash away the bitter day. All while thinking of the photo still in his own pocket.
Settling himself on the couch, which wasn’t more than at least five long strides from the kitchen, Sapnap proceeds to pull the photo from his work pant’s pocket and look at it closer in his dimming living room light. It looks so much darker and yellowed, the face of the (pretty damn cute) boy with a fluff of brown (dirty blonde?) curls and eyes that reminded Sapnap of the foamy waves of the ocean in Corpus Christi nearly three and a half hours away from him. So blue (at least he thinks it is.)
Curse the fucking lights, jesus.
Sapnap groans as he notices the defective devices above him start to flicker and then suddenly fizzle out with a gloomy
pop!
A few moments after. Silence slips into the room like an unwanted visitor, with a slight chill to follow. The ravenette holds his head in his hands as he leans back on the couch, realizing the power went out. Suddenly, Sapnap was the tiniest bit relieved he had left his half-drunk
Bud Light
on the counter back in the kitchen, because he would have most likely thrown it at his wall in exhausted rage. One thing was certain though. Truly.
The power was out. And it was early winter in Texas. There was a terrible cold front coming steadily this week and Sapnap now has no electricity to power his heater. It takes all of the ravenette’s power not to scream and wake up the entire complex.
“Getting yourself evicted from your apartment in the beginnings of the worst cold front of the winter season is
not
what we need tonight.” Sapnap mumbles as he tries to find his phone in the darkness enveloping the room. After stubbing his toe (In which Sapnap whisper-yelled a
motherfucker!
or three) and blindly patting the couch and other nearby surfaces, his hands finally feel the cool glass of his iPhone. Quickly, Sapnap turns on the little screen and opens his flashlight up, instantly illuminating the room. The ravenette sighs in relief as he gets his throw blanket (that was conveniently next to him on the back of the couch), tosses the blanket across his shoulders and gets comfortable on the couch again.
Sapnap took another look at the photo again, phone flashlight in hand, and indeed noticed that the mysterious boy’s eyes
were
blue. He smiled looking at them, for they made Sapnap think of good things. Soft things that the ravenette would have never felt before obtaining this photo. He’s only had this photo for a few hours, yet Sapnap feels as if he’s had it forever.
As if
, Sapnap chuckled slightly, the corners of his lips turning up in disbelief. He looks at the faded part of the photo next; the part where the blue eyed
angel
stranger’s arm was cut off and another person
seems
to begin, but
doesn’t
. The figure is less of a person (at least, Sapnap assumes it was supposed to be a person) and more of a blobby silhouette cookie-cuttered out of the picture. He turns over the photo and, to his surprise, finds a note scrawled hastily in eerily familiar handwriting Sapnap is too tired to remember at the moment:
Dear Karl, Count Me In.
Normally, he would be more ecstatic or more determined to solve the mystery behind the handwriting and when this photo was taken (and who exactly is the really pretty mysterious, blue-eyed boy), but a yawn overtakes any curiosity Sapnap had within him and replaces it with exhaustion. Looking at his phone lazily, Sapnap barely makes out the time to be 2:19 A.M. and immediately decides to call it a night. He slips the photograph into his khakis pocket. He shivers a little, hugging his blanket tighter to his form more so than before and dragging his weary body down the tiny space of a “hallway”, the ravenette barely manages to keep his eyes open long enough to not run into his door on accident. After fumbling with his door for a little longer than the ravenette would like to admit (and also struggling to keep his phone, his throw blanket, and himself from collapsing into a heap on the floor), Sapnap finally makes it inside his room and collapses on his unmade bed. Ready to fall into a deep slumber.
Unfortunately, Sapnap awakens abruptly when he remembers that the picture is still in his pant’s pocket and he quickly slips his hand into the pocket he placed it in, slowly fishing it out. Placing it gently on his nightstand as if it was made of glass instead of paper and plastic film. Satisfied that it was safe from his own tossing and turning, the ravenette turned away from the night stand and opted to stare at the wall until his eyelids feel heavy and the exhaustion settled deep inside his bones, only seeing blue eyes and a soft dimpled smile before Sapnap finally closes his eyes. Pulling the duvet tightly around his form to prevent practically freezing to death.
⚞🎕⚟
Sapnap awakes in the dark, shivering harshly at the temperature decrease that must have occurred in the hours he was asleep. Trying desperately to go back to snoozing, the ravenette shuts his eyes tightly. Putting covers over his head and praying to fall deep into slumber again, Sapnap grumbles (and shivers) trying to avoid the steady rhythm of gentle tapping on his back.
Wait a minute. I live alone, Sapnap’s eyes shot open and his body froze in fear. The tapping continued despite the ravenette’s shoulders tensing. Sapnap wonders if he could reach his phone in time to call 911. Would he have time for that, though?
The tapping stops and Sapnap hears footsteps step away from him. He decides that this is the moment he needs to do something. Tossing his covers aside and quickly trying to feel for his phone, he hears a surprised hrmph! utter from under the heavy blanket as he hears the comforter land on something. Momentarily, Sapnap stills himself, but proceeds to grab his phone and almost gets the chance to dial emergency services when the little device is snatched from his hand abruptly. Turning around, Sapnap begins to glare at the figure, only to instantly soften his gaze in confusion as he (tries to) see the details of the stranger who broke into his apartment.
The darkness the room is enveloped in is certainly not helping his vision (and neither is the fact said stranger has his comforter covering his body), but maybe he didn’t need to see much after the honey sweet voice that rings in his ears sears itself into the ravenette’s brain like a white hot brand.
“Uh, hi. I didn’t mean to wake you,” The voice, that Sapnap now knows belongs to a male speaker, continues. Letting out a set of bubbly giggles that almost makes the ravenette forgive the boy for nearly scaring him half to death. “Almost” is the key word here because as soon as the thought crosses his mind, Sapnap’s brow furls in lowly burning anger.
The stranger seems to notice his silent fury, because his laughter starts to slowly turn from lightly giggling to nervous chuckling. As Sapnap slowly walks toward his unwarranted guest, he’s blinded by a bright light Sapnap can only assume is his phone’s flashlight and he stumbles back. Luckily stepping back onto his bed rather than the cold hardwood flooring of his bedroom.
“Oh, honk! I didn’t mean to do that, man!” The stranger keeps mumbling and rambling apologies as Sapnap is rubbing his eyes profusely to get the green floaters out of his vision. Barely letting out an “‘S fine. Just be careful next time.” as the ravenette is feeling his anger die like a fire pit in the night.
When Sapnap finally regains his sight (without the green spots) he finds that he’s staring into two blue eyes and a soft dimpled smile, laced ever so lightly with concern. His breath catches in his throat and he drinks in this sight like water in the desert. Speaking of deserts, his hair looks like sand dunes Sapnap has seen in photos in National Geographic magazines. But it also looks like the dark wood he sees in fire pits at the lake in the winters where it doesn’t feel like you'll freeze before you enter your car. A part of him is burning; in flames, even. But Sapnap isn’t too sure whether it’s the kindling rage from earlier or another feeling entirely.
Holy fuck, it’s him. It’s the stranger from the photo! The ravenette’s mind is racing and he truly feels more frozen here than in the wake of the cold front seeping through the apartment.
Sapnap lets out a small sigh (both in relief and disappointment) when the boy pulls away from him, still eyeing him with a worried expression as he settles himself across from Sapnap, leaning against the ravenette’s wall. Sapnap doesn’t like how sad those eyes look, so he attempts to smile and show he’s alright, which seems to make the boy leaning against his wall illuminate in the glow of newly minted happiness and the emergency street lights below shining their light through Sapnap’s window.
Sapnap can’t help but notice the boy’s eyes shift from a sea blue to a striking grey that shone brighter than the phone flashlight. He would have called it gorgeous.
“Riddle me this?” The stranger leaning on Sapnap’s wall jumps a little and turns his attention to the ravenette, eyes trained only on him it seems. Sapnap really needs to stop freezing every time he looks at them.
“How the everloving fuck did you even get into my apartment?” Sapnap could have sworn he had locked the door. He always locks the door (due to his “more crippling than he would like to admit outloud” anxiety), even in his exhaustion that usually follows his days at work.
Sapnap is quickly pulled from his thoughts by the desert blonde boy giggling that stupid bubbly tune of his and pulls out a little metal keyring from his pants pocket. Shaking it ever so slightly that small clink clink! of tiny metal keys and thingamajigs bumping into each other.
“I picked your lock and let myself in. Duh.” Sapnap stares in disbelief at the stranger, but isn’t as angry as he should have been and, despite the circumstances, finds himself laughing along with the boy in front of him. Having his breathy, high-pitched howls contrast greatly with, and almost overtake entirely, the stranger’s bubbly laughter.
“Oh wait,” The stranger immediately starts to try and recover from their laughing session as Sapnap continues.
“I don’t even know your name, strange dude who broke into my house at,” The ravenette quickly checks his phone for the time. “Four-eighteen A.M.” The other boy’s eyes widened so cartoonishly , Sapnap could have sworn they popped out of his sockets. It was equal parts cute and funny to the ravenette, and Sapnap had to bite his inner cheek to prevent his manic grinning.
“Ah, honk, that’s right! Where are my manners? The name’s Karl. Karl Jacobs of the 144th Time and Space Transportation Division.” The stranger immediately slaps a hand to his mouth as Sapnap eyes the boy-- Karl --quizzically. His mind immediately turns to the photo as he hears Karl nervously mumble something to himself. Not really paying attention to Sapnap at the moment.
The ravenette looks at his desk side table and takes a gander at the picture again, reaching for it, and gingerly taking the flimsy film into his own grasp. As if it would disintegrate into dust if he held on the photograph any less delicately.
Sapnap looks at it again and turns his head, making subtle comparisons from the photo to Karl. Noticing more so with his phone’s flashlight illuminating the room (and the features of Karl), the ravenette fills in the missing pieces of the photo with how the ocean-eyed boy is acting in front of him. Letting preconceived notions he had before wash away in the tide of Karl’s eyes and let the experience of meeting Karl (though through rather terrifying circumstances) settle deep into his core like Karl’s dimples dip on the sides of his face.
“Time and Space Transportation Division, huh?” Sapnap ends up asking Karl, who merely ignores him. Making Sapnap a little ticked off because, hey, Karl brought it up first. So he keeps annoying Karl. Pressing on and on, hoping to crack the mysterious stranger’s iron gate of secrets. And Sapnap should feel guilty for pushing, sure. But, it wasn’t Sapnap’s fault he was just really, really curious. Plus, that string of words Karl uttered almost sounded a lot like-
“Time Travel,” Karl finally says, looking at the floor. Not willing to meet the ravenette’s gaze. Now, it was Sapnap’s turn to be cartoonishly shocked. He can’t do anything but stare at the boy, cautiously eyeing the ridiculous neon technicolor hoodie with a logo that faintly looks like a green G like shape looping endlessly around itself. Karl looked too..modern to be a time traveller. Too young to have gone through the old wrinkles of time.
“You don’t even look like that dude from Doctor Who ,” Sapnap watches as Karl puts his head into his hands, once again fighting off the urge to smirk his frustration, “That means you can’t be a time traveller.”
Now it is Karl’s turn to laugh, letting a chorus of teeheeheehee! rush out of his mouth. Sapnap feels his cheeks flush, the heat warming him when the room did not. Having a tighter grip on the photograph as Sapnap brings his hand up to his mouth, hiding a smile.
What he didn’t expect from that small gesture was for Karl to gasp and step back, his soft ocean eyes turning quickly into a sea of terror. Sapnap tries to come close to him, but Karl only utters eight words that send shivers down the ravenette’s form.
“It’s you. It sent me to find you.”
Sapnap is about to ask more, but Karl takes hold of both of his wrists, setting his small hands around them in a snug, yet comfortable grip. Eyes shining with a light that could rival the waters of South Padre Island’s beaches. Sapnap finds that he cannot look away. Not that he would want to anyway.
“The photo,” Karl starts, whisper-talking as if it was a secret between the two boys (which, in a way, it was), “Can I see it?” Sapnap finds, against his better judgement, that he gives the piece of film to the sandy blonde with no hesitation. Karl lets go of his wrists to pluck the photo from the ravenette’s fingers. As Sapnap is watching in earnest curiosity as Karl flips it over and over, analyzing every corner and inch of it. Gasping at tiny intervals that sync with the way Sapnap’s heart skips its beats.
“Here. Might be safer in your hands than in mine.” The time traveller hands the photo back to the ravenette, who takes it graciously. Letting his fingers brush over the top knuckles of Karl’s hand as Sapnap does so. Somehow this feels like a form of goodbye, and the ravenette purses his lips bitterly at the thought.
Sapnap looks at the back of the photo, glancing at the text scrawled on the back of it, while seeing Karl in the corner of his vision. Looking around at the mess of decorations on his walls. Excitement visible in his eyes and in the way he shakes his hands around when he sees something he’s potentially interested in.
“Aren’t you tired here?” Karl had been fairly mute for such a long stretch of time, that Sapnap was startled when he was asked a question. Meeting those bright blue eyes and faltering yet again.
“Truthfully? Yeah. Yeah I am,” Karl nods a little, prompting Sapnap to continue on, “I work a job that pays me so little for the amount of hours I go in and have to smile. Even as customers are being assholes, or they throw items at me, I just have to grit my teeth and bear it. It sucks. I just want a break, but I can’t do that because I’ll lose my only living arrangement. Which, by the way, doesn’t have electricity at the moment. And it’s freezing here tonight. Supposed to be like this for the rest of the week.” He sighs as he proceeds to place his head in his palms. The rant having exhausted his already tired body.
“I guess I just want something different than this.” He lets out that subconscious worry that has been eating him alive for some time now. Not feeling the least bit relieved, but he knew Dream, his best friend, would have been proud of him for admitting he’s unwell.
“Then come with me.” Karl utters out of the blue. The ravenette looks up, confusion written on Karl’s face as well, momentarily. Which is replaced quickly with a confident gleam as the time traveller solidifies the idea in his mind.
“Come with me.” Karl repeats, his voice feathery soft as his ocean eyes look at the other boy with anxious hope. Something Sapnap has seen within his own reflection so many times before.
Sapnap continues to look from the scrawl to Karl to back to the scrawl again. Thinking about how Karl had said It’s you with a fondness in his eyes. Those ocean eyes that have probably been through the waves of time. How many times has Karl floated above it all, knowing what would happen? How many times has he succumbed to the weight of the world in a single time, crying into the vastness of his failure to change the past. Knowing what would come from the future.
The ravenette finds, somewhere deep inside, he wants to find that too
“Okay,” Sapnap chuckles, taking in his room and raising his arms up, letting his shoulders shrug in uneasy surrender, “Okay! Yeah, let’s do it. Timeboy.” The nickname earns him a Time. Traveller. I am a time traveller! Not a time boy! Those are a different branch of my organization! from the sandy blonde boy, who chastises Sapnap and starts to tell him about the different branches of “the Space and Travel Safety Alliance”. In which Sapnap has to politely decline to Karl’s chagrin.
“Are you ready to go?” Karl asks him gently. Sapnap takes a last look at the words on the back of the photograph. Slipping it into his pocket as the ravenette looks at the time traveller. Knowing this would be the last he would see of this place; this time in a while.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think I am,” Sapnap responds, then turns his head to meet Karl’s gaze, his heart stopping again due to those blue eyes. Quizzically, the ravenette has to ponder, “Where are we going first?” To which Karl only smiles and chews his lip in concentration. Only stopping when the sandy blonde turns to look at Sapnap, smiling with joy.
“I’m thinking Paris. World Fair 1889. The unveiling of the Eiffel Tower is something to behold and it’s been highly talked about. We’ll be able to see it in real time. Doesn’t that sound nice?” And Sapnap thinks it does sound nice. It sounds enchanting. It sounds so like Karl : enchanting and timeless.
Taking his hand gently into his own, Karl proceeds to beatbox harshly. Causing Sapnap to laugh as his room turns into fragments, and then disappearing into a flurry of vaporwave colors. All the while, neither boy let’s the other’s hand go. Simply opting instead to let the colors envelop them both, taking them somewhere only Karl knows, but Sapnap is happy to follow. No matter where in time the boy with ocean eyes goes.