Chapter Text
Thomas had had way too much practice in hiding the wave of disappointment that washed through him when his current Warp refused to meet his eyes.
Every time.
He pasted an understanding smile on his face, easily keeping the gleaming rainbow that danced under his opal skin in check as she stood there, shoulders hunched. “Becca, what choice have you made?” He gently prodded.
Her breath hitched as she reluctantly looked up, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Sniffing, she held out the golden pocket watch to him, the circular device swinging on its chain between them.
He already knew what she was going to say from that simple action alone and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“I choose my old life.” She whispered.
Of course she did. That’s what everyone did.
“Is this your final decision?” He asked, taking the watch back, running his thumb over its etched surface. “There’s no changing your mind after this point.”
A small smile appeared on her lips as she brushed at her eyes, her tense body relaxing now that she no longer held the device that could have given her so much more if she hadn’t squandered her three choices chasing after her old lover. “Yes. I want my life back, I was…” She lifted her head, squaring her shoulders. “I was happier there. Despite…” She bit her lip. “Despite Billy not being in it.”
Too bad she hadn’t realized that when she made her first choice. Thomas twisted his hand, the watch vanishing from the woman’s sight as he sent it back into the time stream to find him his next Warp.
“Alright.” He said, keeping his smile sympathetic as he stepped forward, reality already shifting around Becca as he lightly placed his glimmering hand against her cheek. “What once was, shall now return. I give you back the life for which you yearn.” He brushed a single tear from her cheeks as the world reset around her in a swirl of colors, returning her to the tree swing he’d found her sitting in when he’d pulled her into the Warp.
She breathed deep, the last of the tension leaving her as she sank into the swing, her hands clinging to the rope as she looked up to Thomas. “Thank you.”
Thomas dropped his hand, giving her a gracious nod despite the fact he was screaming on the inside, barely keeping the fiery reds and oranges from overtaking the more mellow greens and blues as they danced on his skin.
Why did people do that? Thank him for returning them to their original life? He’d done nothing to help them get to that point. It was like thanking a heart surgeon for not actually needing to operate on them.
He took a step back away from her, his ‘job’ now done. He nodded to her. “I wish you well, Becca.” He said quietly, the wind kicking up around them as he pulled at a ripple of time, allowing the familiar current to surround him and whisk him away, leaving his voice echoing in her ears. “May you continue to find happiness in your future decisions.”
Thomas stepped out of the timestream, his hands balling up into fists as he appeared in the Commons of his Divison’s portion of the Ethereal Plane. With a quick glance around to make sure no one else was present, Thomas let out a string of curses, his skin exploding in vibrant colors like a firework finale as he let his temper surface. He turned to the nearest wall composed of clouds and punched it, a blazing rainbow ball of time energy shooting from his fist to ricochet around the room.
“Dude! You gotta stop throwing those around willy nilly!” Came the welcome but also unwelcome voice of his fellow Time Genie, and best friend, Joan from across the room as they ducked their head, narrowly avoiding getting smacked by the time ball. “Nobody ever wants to get hit with Deja Vu you know.” They stated, waving a hand to disperse the time energy.
Thomas groaned, throwing himself face down onto the nearest couch, the fire opal sheen to his skin shimmering a faint blue. “Sorry.” He mumbled into the cushions. In his defense the room had been empty when he’d released his pent up frustration. It was Joan’s bad luck that they’d chosen to return from their own Time Warp just then.
“Uh oh. Don’t tell me….another failed Warp?”
“You tell me.” Thomas sighed, pushing himself up off the couch, running a hand through his hair to fix it as he joined Joan at the far wall where a large electronic-esque leaderboard gave off an ambient white glow. “How far did I drop this time?”
Joan lifted a hand, running their finger down the list of names as the order shifted and fluctuated on the screen, pausing at a point near their waist. “Uhmm…”
“That’s what I thought.” Thomas turned to lean against the wall, scuffing his foot against the rainbow flooring.
It wasn’t like it was a bad thing, per se, that Becca had chosen to return to her original timeline. After all, part of Thomas’s and any other Time Genie’s job was to show the humans the consequences of their decisions; the possibilities of other lives they could have led had they made a different choice. It was pretty common to have those involved in a Time Warp see just how good their life had been in the first place and choose to return to it.
That was why they were referred to as Greens by his Division. No permanent world altering had taken place with them.
Thomas bowed his head, closing his eyes. He was so tired of getting Greens. At this point he’d be over the moon to have a Warp end in Blue. At least with Blues something permanently changed, even if it was so minor that hardly a ripple was felt in the timelines. At least it would be a different outcome from the original and at this point Thomas would take it gladly, even if it wasn’t the Golden Warp he desperately craved.
“Well...maybe your next Warp will be Golden, Thomas.” Joan said, squeezing his shoulder. “This Green streak has to be coming to an end.”
Thomas shrugged off their hand, pushing away from the wall with a bitter laugh. “You say that every single time you know and it’s been like...a millennia since I’ve had a Golden. Admit it.” He turned to them, throwing up his hands. “I’m cursed. I’m never going to see another one.”
And it sucked. Knowing he was Stuck. Never again being able to contribute to another major shift in the world since his last perfect Golden Warp. A Warp where an idealistic explorer had used his last decision to continue sailing across the Atlantic ocean... and ended up discovering America.
The choice had changed the entire world...and apparently Thomas’s luck with it. He went from flying high at the top of the leaderboard to the middle of the pack within fifty years as he went longer and longer without another Golden Warp. And with the others continuously accruing more and more Goldens...he only continued to drop further down in the running.
Joan exhaled, shaking their head, the sparkling color of their opal skin swirling to highlight the greens and oranges. “Five hundred years isn’t a millennia, Thomas.”
“Five hundred and twenty-six years, Joan.” He said flatly, flopping back onto the couch, covering his eyes with an arm. “No one else has ever gone this long without a Golden. No. One.”
Calypso had been the last Time Genie who’d suffered from a ‘long’ Green streak and she’d broken it after a single decade. TEN. Freaking. Years. The longest Green streak ever recorded before Thomas had knocked it out of the park had been a measly hundred and forty-nine years and Kenny had celebrated for two months straight when that Golden mark had appeared next to his name.
“Alright...maybe you’re a little bit cursed.” Joan allowed, pushing Thomas’s feet so that they could sit down.
“Just only a lot.” Thomas ran a hand down his face, exhaling. “What about yours?” He asked in a low voice, closing his eyes. “You any closer to beating out Talyn as Numero Uno?”
Joan snorted, resting an arm on Thomas’s knees. “Hardly. Mine was a Blue today.” Thomas could hear the smile in their voice. “They’re on quite the roll aren’t they?”
“Oh no, not at all.” He responded sarcastically, lightly prodding Joan with his foot. “Only nearing their two thousandth Golden in a row and managing to win my best friend’s heart in the process.” He yelped as Joan shoved him off the couch, hitting the rainbow floor with a thud. “Hey!”
“Whoops.”
“Don’t whoops me, you did that on purpose.”
“Had to get you off your Golden soap box somehow.” Joan replied, sliding off the couch and onto him.
“It was the couch, and I was trying wasn’t I?!” Thomas groaned, struggling under Joan’s weight. “Get off already! You’re crushing my lungs!”
Joan only made themself more comfortable. “Oh yes, bringing up the top of the leaderboard totally--”
Thomas gave up pushing at Joan, instead resting his head back on the red stripe of the rainbow floor, staring up at the opalescent ceiling. “I brought up Talyn and was going to segway into convincing you to tell me about your date, but you hardly gave me the chance there did you?”
“Next time try starting with ‘How did your date go, Joan?’ It will probably work a lot better.”
Thomas rolled his eyes. “Duly noted.” He shoved halfheartedly at them, already knowing that unless his best friend decided to move, he would be stuck acting as a cushion. “So? You going to tel--” He cut off as a wave of rainbow colors raced up and down his body. Seriously?!
Joan’s eyebrows shot up, their own opalescent skin shimmering yellow and blue. “Already?” They asked, lifting themself back onto the couch. “Didn’t you just get back from a Warp?”
Thomas let out a moan, running a hand through his hair. Great. More bad luck. His watch had managed to find a candidate before he could properly unwind from the latest disappointment. “Yes.” He pushed to his feet, brushing off his uniform. He hated working doubles.
“Call out sick.”
“Oh yes, that totally will work because we Time Genies get sick sooo often.” Like never. Thomas offered Joan a tight smile. “I’ll be fine.” Probably. Maybe this human wouldn’t be so obsessed over lost love like Becca had been. No...with his luck this human would be obsessed with getting rich, or maybe finding fame. Probably both.
“You sure?” They asked, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t have to answer right away you know.”
Thomas shrugged. He could wait. Listen to Joan talk about their date with Talyn and watch them turn all fiery pink and gold over it, but why let the Warp hang over his head like this? The sooner he got this next Green Warp out of the way the quicker he could retake possession of his watch, lock it up for a week, and be able to listen to his best friend with his full focus.
“You know what they say, Joan.” He reached for the ripple of time that would take him to his new Warping buddy. “There’s no rest for the wicked.” He winked, giving a two finger salute to them as he vanished from the Commons.