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Being a team of three was nice, Henry decided, maybe as nice as his things.
They shared an apartment, for no other reason than to keep an eye on them, Ellie claimed, even if they knew she was bluffing. Henry always woke up first, he liked watching the sunrise everyday; Time would slow into a crawl as he watched. Ellie would be up next, starting breakfast before Henry broke out of his spell and Charles woke up. Charles would be up just as Henry felt time go back to normal. The two verbal ones would talk as Ellie cooked, Henry might help if he felt up to it, but he more often than not let Time speed past until it was done. They would eat and head to base most days, or hang around town or the apartment if they had the day off. Today was a day they would head to base.
But just as Henry let Time slow from its racing pace, he caught the tail end of his roommates conversation.
“-ow it's normal for him but what if it's a sign of something bad? I'm just worried Charles.”
“He just zones out, how can that be bad?”
“What if he's not just zoning out?”
At that he cut them off by tapping on the counter looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
“I'm worried about your ‘zoning out’ spells and I wanted to know if you've ever been to a therapist.”
Ellie was as blunt as ever, causing Henry to snort.
“And I was telling her it isn't anything that bad,” Charles finished. “Sorry if it sounded like we were talking about you behind your back to your face.”
Henry hummed tapping the counter as he thought; Time as reactive as ever slowed to give him what he needed. When he came to his choice he sighed, Time flowing smoothly again.
‘When I was little, yeah I saw a therapist, haven't in a while though, and me zoning out is kind of more complicated than just me spacing.’
Ellie nodded at that. “Are you going to explain, or will it just be another Henry thing?”
Her voice wasn’t unkind, it never was, it was a genuine question considering they had a lot of ‘Henry things’, little things that set him off, things that made friends blur into foes, things he kept close to his chest and couldn't bring himself to explain.
‘The problem is figuring out how to explain it.’
Both stayed quite other than Charles tapping his headset in a steady beat letting him sign.
‘Best way I can explain is that Time likes me.’
The spike of panic he felt caused Time to freeze; it took a few moments to convince himself that they weren't looking at him like he was crazy, they were just startled. Slowly, like syrup turning to water, Time started to return to its normal pace his companions blinking a few times before Charles asked in a startled tone:
“Time... likes you?”
He nodded, slightly tense as he watched the two for any signs of distrust.
Ellie paused. “Elaborate,” she decided, “How does it like you?”
There was confusion and disbelief, but no distrust- they still trusted him, he wasn't crazy in their eyes yet.
‘It does what I want; it stops, slows, speeds up, and rewinds when I want it to, the only reason I’m so good is because I've failed more than I've succeeded, it's just that no one remembers when I fail’
Time was slowing down again, everything just slightly delayed, like his connection to life was lagging. His heart rate was increasing as he signed, hands shaking. He was scared, and time slowed, a familiar reaction to his fear. Even if they thought him crazy, he at least had his third fact to fall back on…
“Ok.”
Charles hummed- no questions, no skepticism- just ok.
“I mean it explains some things, and you're not one to lie to us,” Ellie followed as she shrugged. “I don't really believe it, but I believe you I guess.”
Charles grinned, “I believe it!”
Henry sighed at that, relaxing as he eyed them both. Charles likely actually believed him, Ellie probably thought it was just a mental thing, but either way now both of them knew all three facts and at the very least accepted them as a part of Henry's reality, even if they didn't understand. He liked them as much as he liked his things, he concluded. No maybes about it.