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”You’ve caused us quite a bit of trouble, you know.” String Gummy said as he hoisted his blaster over his shoulder. He was staring down Timekeeper with all of the fury he could muster, as though the chronokinetic weren’t capable of returning him to the dough whence he came right then and there.
String Gummy felt not an ounce of fear towards the god, no, they’d learned not to see them as a threat, as strange as it was. Such a dangerous cookie should be feared, yes? But String Gummy couldn’t muster up any of that. Whether it was brave or stupid of her remained to be seen.
Timekeeper stared up at String Gummy, keeping their expression as neutral as they could manage, though unable to withhold the bemused grin that played at the corners of their mouth. “It seems everywhen that I go, everyone shares the same sentiment. Would a bit of positive recognition for once be too much to ask? Ah, but I’m only joking.”
At their side, their hand idly fidgeted with the Sonic Embroider’s polished brass handle, hardly attentive to the armed threat glaring at them. Hardly intimidated. “So, what are your plans? Are you going to attempt to apprehend me? Or perhaps do your best to simply kill me? That’s a rhetorical question,” they chuckled, “I already know what the answer is.”
“Perhaps, would you consider a bargain?” They did love their wagers. “If you can best me fairly, I’ll do as you like, if you wish to arrest or execute me.” Wow, what confidence. “Know that denying this offer of mine means I will simply just revert you back to your individual ingredients then go about my day,” they added as nonchalantly as a death threat could be.
String clenched his teeth, grip tightening on the handle of his gun as he lifted it to his side, trying not to let frayed nerves show. It only seemed to occur to him now just how much danger he was in. Despite this, he kept up the brave face.
“You don’t scare me.” he snapped. “You know doing that to me would be taking the easy way out, don’t you? If you wanted to, you could solve all of your problems that way. But you don’t.” String smirked to themself despite the situation, lowering their gun. “You still fear boredom, don’t you? Maybe I will take you up on that offer. You probably need it.”
”My, you’re observant! A cut above the usual brutes sent my way. You’re employed by the TBD, aren’t you? I ask because truly, I am not sure. I simply never found your life important enough to observe, hehe. But if so, I’ll have to leave a positive letter on the director’s desk,” Timekeeper barked a laugh at that little joke, brushing away a curly strand of blonde hair that fell into their eye.
“Boredom is the bane of my existence. Such is the fate of one who has already done and witnessed every possibility and still has so much life left to live.” A sly smile crept upon their face as they took the smallest step forward. “I appreciate your consideration in helping me to absolve myself of that boredom. Just do not press my patience, I am not one to waste time waiting. Draw your weapon, String Gummy Cookie!” Timekeeper brandished the Sonic Embroider like a glaive, the bladed tip capable of slicing the very fabric of reality whistling through the air. “I don’t have time to delay.”
”Very well then. I’m not one to be taken lightly either, I’ll have you know!” String roared back, lifting her gun. The barrel glinted slightly in a sickly yellow light that gleamed from an unknown source. Every trace of fear was gone from their face, replaced with hardened determination. Or was it merely a mask? “Come at me with your time tricks. Do what you must. I’ll bring at you everything I have! I’m far past fearing you, Timekeeper Cookie!”
”I hope you’re as quick of a shot as your wits, friend,” they plainly stated before seemingly disappearing in a flash of yellow as the Sonic Embroider’s blade opened.
Only briefly did they appear at String Gummy’s side, waving to get their attention (“To your left, no, right!”) before disappearing into another rift to disorient him. Appearing again behind them, they went to sweep the handle harmlessly under her feet, trying to knock them down before they could even get a shot out, knowing that only one hit from them would be devastatingly bad. Speed would have to do for Timekeeper now.
String staggered back, leaning on his rifle to try and regain balance, sending out a stray shot that ricocheted across the room as they did so. They were quick to recover, however, rolling to jump back on their feet. Specialized training came in handy for situations like this. She looked around, remaining alert to find out where Timekeeper would appear next, gun raised in caution.
Timekeeper jumped ever so slightly at the sound of String Gummy’s rifle going off, backing right back into the safety of a rift. Coward. Not that they let that little scare disturb their screwing around long.
Reappearing once more right in front of the other, Timekeeper thrust the Sonic Embroider forward like a spear at him. Not aiming for anywhere fatal, at least, but rather just to disarm her. Murder wasn’t on their agenda today, and if possible, they simply wanted to end this altercation with as little damage as possible. At least… damage to anything alive. That ricochet absolutely had to have taken out a window.
String Gummy of course didn’t know this. The first signs of fear entered their face, eyes going wide as they attempted to side step the Embroiderer. He leapt out of the way and rolled to a stop, using his gun as a sort of shield in case of any stray hits.
This is bad… String thought, gaze darting around the room in caution. What she had in power she lacked in speed, especially due to the blaster. Speed. Something that Timekeeper easily overtook her in. She had to be careful.
”Skilled dodge, I’m impressed!” Timekeeper twirled the massive tool once with surprising grace, planting the brass handle on the ground with their other hand on their hip. Smug bastard. “If you’d reacted a nanosecond later, I’d have missed your little peashooter and sent your severed hand to the old kingdoms…hyperbole, of course, but oh well!”
They disappeared again just as String Gummy might have recovered enough to take the shot, flickering back into reality again right before her to try once more at disarming, aiming to hook the barrel of the rifle in the handle of the Sonic Embroiderer, all the while using the surprisingly light weight of their body to try and shove her off balance. “Careful! Lest you injure yourself !“
”That’s what the training is for!” String Gummy grunted, backing up tensely. They shivered at the mention of that potential timeline. Grave injury wasn’t on their agenda today. No, they were after something much more.
String let out a startled yelp as Timekeeper rematerialized, grip loosening just enough for the blaster to come loose. His breathing sped up considerably. He was at a serious disadvantage here, for the first time having second thoughts about a mission. Going up against someone like them…what was I thinking…?! they narrowed their eyes, giving themself a mental shake to get rid of the creeping doubts.
Wrenching the rifle from his hands, Timekeeper sent the firearm skidding across the ground too far away to easily be retrieved with the chronokinetic standing between. “Oh no, how unfortunate,” they lilted in a singsongy tone. “There, you’ve been disarmed. Outclassed, even. Shall we end this and pretend nothing happened? I certainly wouldn’t mind.” They took their eye off of String Gummy, inspecting their immaculate nails, suddenly totally uninterested in the battle despite the little panting breaths of exertion they tried to mask for the sake of their unaffected façade.
No…It isn’t over…! String kept quiet and set their jaw, slowly rising from the floor and balling their fists. They suddenly charged Timekeeper, throwing a punch without any warning further than a sharp yell of effort.
Timekeeper absolutely could have reacted in time if they weren’t so busy pretending to be cool. String Gummy’s fist connected cleanly with the side of their face with an audible crack. Nothing broken, thankfully, just some sore fingers for him and a soon-to-be massive bruise for them.
Timekeeper stumbled back with a yowl, dropping the Sonic Embroider in their shock and leaving them both unarmed, but only one properly trained in hand-to-hand combat. Their hand flew to their face, caressing the rapidly reddening point of impact. Their tongue traced their pointed teeth and smeared them with thin jam to inspect the bleeding mark where they’d bitten it.
“…Wow, I actually hadn’t seen that coming, hehe… You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” They hissed a breath through their teeth. Damn, that hurt. Their gaze fell to the Embroider at their feet, weighing their options. In the time it would take to pick it up String Gummy could easily be on them… They remained still for the time being. “Your employer trained you well, your supervisor must be quite an impressive cookie…hehe…”
”More impressive than you could ever hope for.” String sneered, a smirk rolling its way across her face. She felt almost proud for having landed a hit. “I’ve trained for years to take on threats such as yourself. I don’t always need my blaster for a clean shot.”
They were on the move now, walking a circle around the injured deity like a shark circling its prey. They kept their gaze trained on Timekeeper the entire time in case they tried something. They knew better than to let their guard down in a situation like this, as the pride from their blow began to simmer.
What to do, what to do… They didn’t quite expect themselves to wind up in a situation like this. Or perhaps they did? Time is a fickle thing, who knows what they knew. Perhaps this was all going to plan, and they were just biding their time? That, or they had just genuinely fucked up this time. It was probably the latter.
They didn’t turn their body fully to follow String Gummy, not allowing the sudden nervous tension in their muscles to show. They wouldn’t risk letting themselves look cornered… “Don’t allow one cheap hit to go to your head, gloating is for victors only, you know.” Ideas were coming up short. Going in bare-handed against someone like *that* was essentially suicide.
String had sensed the nervousness Timekeeper held and wanted to use it to their advantage, maintaining eye contact to try to further trip them off. But this was a hard feat to accomplish when their single, strangely hypnotic eye left him reeling and dizzy, though he didn’t show it.
Well, there was only one option left! Timekeeper lunged for the Sonic Embroider, kneeling to be able to grasp it in their hand again, hopefully in time to defend themselves.
String immediately lunged with them, trying to get the Embroiderer away from them before they could grab it. The blaster was too far away for her to reach and she wasn’t sure of what else she could do. He didn’t even know how to use a Sonic Embroiderer. But it was either that or let Timekeeper get the upper hand back.
Timekeeper stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the Embroider in his hands, putting their own up defensively. Kneeling on the ground, dripping blood from their split lip, and their only weapon in another’s hands, Timekeeper had no choice but to accept defeat.
“ Don’t open that! One misstep and you could… shred the whole timeline to tatters!” While possible, Timekeeper knew it was nigh undoable to pull off something so catastrophic on accident. It was nothing but a bluff, but a convincing one at that.
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything with it.” String said with a shake of their head. “Consider this a confiscation.” Their voice had become curt again, losing its previously battle hardened edge.
Timekeeper recovered from being absolutely juked with surprising swiftness, trying to play it off by smoothing back their curls and adjusting their hat that had gone askew in all the action. “…You seem to have bested me. I wasn’t aware this could even…happen. Your name, String Gummy Cookie, is it? Just an…educated guess, hehe…” Their sudden nonchalantness was…suspicious at best. But what else could they have to help their situation?
“I…Bested you?” String let out a wry laugh. “I’d hardly call it that. I just managed to get your toy away from you for a while.” He gestured with the Embroiderer while still keeping it close to him. “As for my name…”
He seemed taken aback by their sudden change in attitude, tightening her grip on the Embroiderer in case it was a strange way to get her to lower her guard. Her gaze traced their injuries, lowering to the blood splattered on the floor before allowing herself to feel another small twinge of pride.
”Yes!” Timekeeper clapped their gloved hands together and grinned wide, wincing as the smile agitated the blooming mark on their face. They slowly rose back to their feet, hands visible all the while. Admittedly, they were making this up as they went. Timekeeper did plenty of wild and stupid things all the time, they weren’t allowing themselves to be caught this easy, even if they had to throttle the agent…not that they wanted to still. At this rate it’d be a shame, someone so skilled going to waste. “And… your plan now? Do you even carry restraints for your prisoners? Or do you just think me the type to come quietly?”
”I—“ String seemed only further shaken by this. It was too easy. He felt his neck prickle with apprehension. Their gaze flicked over to their blaster, laying a little ways away as they realized they were all but completely defenseless. They kept moving though, unwilling to become a still target for the tricky god.
“I’ll admit, I didn’t think I would get this far. You’re tough, I’ll give you that. I didn’t…actually plan for this.” He finally said, in an attempt to soften them up a little. Perhaps they would underestimate him then.
Timekeeper cocked a brow at that. "... Really? “ Their expression displayed actual genuine surprise. It certainly had been some time since something like this actually shocked them. "You didn't expect to succeed? What was this, then? A suicide mission? You could simply resign if you are unhappy with your work. I don't understand your train of thought." They took a step closer, forcing a smile as kindly as you would to an enemy.
"Is this your first mission? I doubt it, considering, but...you lack sense. As well-trained as you are, I feel simply snatching a potentially reality-shattering artefact is against something in the employee handbook... Not that I would know, I haven't read it in years!" They barked a grating, sinister laugh at that. "You don't need anymore training, String Gummy , you need something that cannot be taught; common sense. Now, I'd drop the Sonic Embroider, unless you want to accidentally rip a hole in space itself."
String’s glare hardened as he backed away. “I’m not giving it back to you. Who knows what else you’ll do with it.” He tried not to show how rattled he was as Timekeeper drew closer. “I was assigned a mission, and I carried it out. It was that simple. I was trusted to do this. Regardless if I were to fail or not, I still did my duty as an agent of the Time Balance Department.” Keeping her gaze trained on Timekeeper, she suddenly rolled off to the side, grabbing her blaster, which she had been discreetly creeping towards the entire time.
Holding two large and dangerous weapons at the same time was a pain in the ass.
Timekeeper stared at String Gummy wielding both weapons with a... very odd expression. That same smile, if not a bit crooked with... concern? Excitement? God only knows. They didn't cease gradually encroaching upon him with single steps that click ed against the ground. Their hands were slightly raised, like one would approach a wolf or lion. "I hardly think there's much you can do with either of those implements with only one hand. What do you plan to do now? Whack me over the head with them? Haha!"
"I would choose my next move wisely, agent. Doing your duty to the TBD only matters if you return in one piece," they threatened, grin never faltering.
String Gummy continued to back up until they could no further, inches away from the wall. They kept the Embroiderer tucked safely behind them, raising the gun with their free arm. “Don’t come any closer,” they warned. “I’m not going to hesitate next time. Your threats mean nothing to me, Timekeeper.”
They hmph ed. "So, if I were to take another step, you'd shoot and kill me where I stand? And if I don't...what, do you just let me go? I'm hardly trying to get under your skin! It's just that it seems everything you try seems to fall flat. At this rate, I'm trying to help, heh…”
Timekeeper braved inching the point of their flat shoe the tiniest bit closer, testing String Gummy's patience. When they were thankfully not killed where they stood at that little bout of playful annoyance, Timekeeper huffed. “So? Your plan? I’m waiting.”
”I don’t want to have to kill you.” He hissed, cocking his gun despite his words. “It would go against my orders. But I will if I absolutely have to. And I will feel no remorse. You’ve caused enough trouble for me.” Her brow twitched in annoyance as Timekeeper tested her, but nevertheless she kept her finger on the trigger without pulling it.
”Then lower your gun. We could strike another deal.” One step forward, backing String Gummy that last little bit into the wall. “I don’t intend to talk down the barrel of your little shooter.”
With a flourished snap of their fingers, they disappeared once again in a bright flash even without the Sonic Embroider’s help, just as they had earlier before flickering back into reality right in his face. Her rifle went over Timekeeper’s shoulder, making them too close to use it effectively. Hands clasped behind their back nonthreateningly in spite of the situation. “I don’t like having to do that unassisted. Exhausting, very exhausting. Shall we discuss this, now?”
String let out a startled yelp, having been too focused to notice what they were doing until it was too late. They fumbled the gun, barely noticing as they bumped into the wall. The first thing she did was bristle at the implication of her incompetence. The second thing she did was harden her wide-eyed expression back into a glare. “And why should I trust you, let alone listen to whatever you might have to say?”
”Do you think it’s on my agenda to hurt you at this rate? I’m impressed with you, Agent String Gummy.” Timekeeper hovered a hand above her shoulder for a second, respectfully giving them a moment to expect the contact at least. “I’m not asking for trust, agent. What is it you want? I am simply a master of deals as well as time, there is always a middle ground to be discovered!”
String Gummy flinched but didn’t resist the contact. The ice cold realization hit him that the entire mission was a suicide, completely futile if they didn’t comply. They continued to stare at Timekeeper, unwilling to allow the fear that flooded them to show.
It would appear they didn’t have a choice now. String Gummy slowly lowered his gaze in a show of submission, loosening his grip on the blaster and allowing it to clatter on the floor.
They frowned at their expression. “Don’t look so defeated…” Their voice was mocking. Sweetly, but mocking. Like how one spoke to an upset toddler. “I applaud your successes. You were able to disarm me after all! Not to mention…” Timekeeper’s other hand rose to their face, cold fingers touching the purpled mark that covered the entire left side of their jaw and the little rivulet of congealed jam leading from their lip to their chin. A nice face wash and an ice pack would be in order after this.
“Listen to me, hm? How about…we go back to as we were before our altercation.” Not the best of deals already. “We go on our ways and perhaps you prepare better for next time? I certainly wouldn’t mind butting heads again with someone who can actually put up a real fight like you have.” They snickered wryly.
“I can’t guarantee where I’ll be at any given point in time, but… Well, neither can I guarantee what point in time I’ll be in, haha!” They patted her shoulder much too jovially for a pair who’d just been locked in intense battle. “You can remember to bring more than your wits, and then you could try again. Does that sound good?” So patronizing. Their voice was suddenly like a song, talking down so sardonically to String Gummy. But the mirth evident in their tone was genuine, truly intrigued by the idea of a do over.
“Now, hand me the Sonic Embroider. Please? I have whens and wheres to be now.” They put their free hand out expectantly, backing off a step to give him space to breathe.
String stared at the ground for a moment, suddenly feeling much smaller and more insignificant than the chronokinetic.
Of course you are, idiot! said the biting voice in the back of his mind. What did you expect, going up against someone like them?
They tried not to let shame burn their face at this. How stupid of them to rush into something like this head-on. It should’ve been obvious. Normally, they were easily over prepared for any situation. But not this.
Agonizingly slow, String drew her gaze back up to Timekeeper’s face. “Fine,” her voice was hollow. “I’ll entertain your offer. Just this once. But don’t expect your deals to become a regular thing. I’ll still apprehend you someday, and that’ll be the end of it.”
”And I will await the day you capture me with bated breath!” Timekeeper stepped off finally, clapping their gloved hands together happily. “My life has lacked challenge as of late. I do appreciate you, agent!” Again with the smile masking such a sneering timbre.
“Stagnation is a dangerous thing for me. Boredom oft presses me to find… extreme methods of entertainment. But I’m sure you know that, being as you were… well, sent to arrest me!”
Retrieving String Gummy’s blaster from the ground, they handed it right back to them. But not before struggling to find the safety and putting it in place to ensure a chance to react in the event a very dumb decision was made. Just as a precaution, of course, they sorely doubted such a smart cookie would do something so stupid as try to shoot them now . “I do apologize if your blaster has been damaged at all. I’d offer to pay for repairs, but I seem to have left my money in last year! Ha!”
String Gummy hesitated before she took the blaster back, wondering about Timekeeper’s ulterior motive. There was no way they weren’t planning something . She clutched the gun a little too tightly as if it were a lifeline.
The sickening praise the god was giving him made him shiver and he tried not to let it worm its way into his brain and imbed itself in a way that would make him easy to bend to their will. Praise for license wasn’t something she could afford to mistake, as much as she so desperately wanted to.
“It…isn’t damaged, no.” String answered hesitantly after inspecting it. “If it were, I’d have to punch you again.” Was that a joke? It was hard to tell.
”You’re welcome to take as many swings at me as you desire the next time we meet. It’s simply a matter if you can land them, hehe...” Timekeeper turned their back to String Gummy, taking a clean, simply monogrammed handkerchief from one of their many pockets to finally take a second and at least somewhat clean their face of jam and sweat. As well as some minor smudged makeup, so much for bothering to spruce up a bit today of all days. They still needed a proper wash to to clean up rest, not to mention the split in their lip. “Do you need to borrow this?” A genuine offer, Timekeeper held the clean side of the handkerchief out to her. “You may keep it if you’d like, I have plenty in my office. You can just wash it.”
Noticing any apprehensiveness he may have had about that idea, Timekeeper added on, “it’s already been cleared by the department to not interfere with the timeline so long as you get it properly decontaminated and don’t give it to anyone else. I can tell you’re one of those sticklers for things like that.”
“...I haven’t properly worked up a sweat like that in quite some time, mostly for that little trick. I actually have not tested that in some time, there was a non-zero chance that I could have simply split up all my molecules and not come back in one piece… Wouldn’t that have been something!”
They fixed their hair again as they had earlier in the fight, properly righting their hat. Thank the heavens for hair pins that kept it from completely falling off, that’d just be so embarrassing. “That’s the power and importance of the Sonic Embroider,” they began. While their body language was obviously growing agitated at being ignored on this, their smile remained.
“Not just in its ability to safely carve its way through the fabric of time and space, but also in its ability to mend the tears behind me. Maintaining that alone is too exhausting. Without it, I likely wouldn’t stop what I do, I just wouldn’t clean up the mess I left behind… Now, agent, one final time am I going to ask. Will you give it back? At this rate, it would be irresponsible to keep holding out on me,” they chuckled good-naturedly.
String sighed, reluctantly grabbing the Embroiderer and holding it out to them. He wasn’t keen on simply handing such a thing back to them, but it wasn’t like they had a choice in the position they were in. She exchanged it with the handkerchief, deciding to pocket it for now.
He was utterly defenseless now, and well aware that Timekeeper could kill him without even breaking a sweat about it. His grip on the gun became that much tighter at the notion, though unable to do anything about the safety mechanism he was stuck for the most part. What else was she going to do, hit them over the head with it? The idea would have brought out a chuckle were it not for the dire situation. He was sure Timekeeper wouldn’t take him laughing at them very lightly.
String remained edged against the wall, the sensation of her back against the hard surface bringing her no comfort. She felt like a scared animal, cornered and vulnerable. She kept her eyes trained on Timekeeper in case they tried anything, in which case she would probably do something even more stupid than before, if it were possible.
Timekeeper just kind of.. stood there and stared at her calculatingly, as if they were trying to discern just what on earthbread he could be thinking right then. As appreciative as they were of finally getting their little artifact back, with everything in order there was little reason to keep String Gummy around.
"...You're welcome to be on your way now. Unless you have something to say?" They cocked their head to the side like an inquisitive dog, keeping up that same smirk as always. "I've never had a fan before, I'll gladly autograph something of yours if you have a marker, hehe... Though I think that little souvenir alone is enough to keep me at the back of your mind... I truly am expecting you back soon, I'll be very disappointed if someone else is sent in your stead!"
”Here? In the same place?” String blurted out without thinking much about it. He was far too dazed and in his thoughts to think much anyways. He blinked hard and looked away, unsteadily standing up from the wall.
"Perhaps here, perhaps there, tomorrow or yesterday!... But if you don't want to have to hunt me down, I suppose here is fine. Though...it's a bit open here. I'm surprised no one wandered in to check on the ruckus." They glanced over their shoulder at the window the two shattered earlier with that ricocheted shot. "I don't want anyone innocent getting caught in any crossfire, of course... I find it to be best we schedule for the night for our next little duel , to minimize risk of course...or we could just not schedule at all! I prefer surprise, it will be hard trying to keep myself unaware of the exact time and date of your arrival."
”Would you…prefer we find somewhere else?”
String had already made a mental note to return tomorrow, at least to see if Timekeeper would be there after all. It was then he decided that he would stop at nothing to apprehend them, even if such a thing was futile to attempt. She slowly followed Timekeeper’s gaze to the shattered window, letting out a grunt of acknowledgement.
"What, do you have a better location? I'm all ears for suggestions." Idly, they twirled the Embroider in one hand, handling the unwieldy weight with mastery. "I'm fine any which way, adaptability is crucial in a life lived as I have mine. All I ask is it be somewhere not humid, my hair gets much too wild when wet! I doubt you're implying we duke it out in a swamp, however."
String Gummy thought about it for a moment. Truthfully, he’d been hoping that Timekeeper would come up with the place, since they seemed to have a much better idea of things than she did.
“Not quite…” She finally admitted. “Initially, I was expecting you to flee, assuming you didn’t kill me on the spot. In which case I would’ve stopped at nothing in your pursuit.” her gaze flicked over to her shotgun. “Instead, we ended up here. I haven’t a clue for anywhere specific that we could go.”
”You thought I’d flee ? I’m offended! I’m more than aware of what that thing,” they pointed at her blaster, “could do to me. I’m not invincible, and I wouldn’t disillusion myself to the extent I’d have to to even begin to believe I’m unkillable. But… neither are you ,” they purred, as if that wasn’t just another straight up threat.
“While I am no coward, you realize I could just…” They took hold of the Sonic Embroider’s handle with both hands, opening them with a crackle of power as a tiny rift opened between the blades. Timekeeper ducked around the rift and smiled before shutting the Embroider again, sealing the tear as fast as it was made.
“If I were to believe that I might perish in a battle, I could simply… disappear for a bit. I don’t want to, though. I can tell you admire my abilities, there’s no shame in it. Any employee of the TBD would want for my power once witnessing it themselves…” Oh, they absolutely took pride in that. The smug bastard. “…Ah, but I may have an idea for where we could meet next. Where no bystander could get injured…Have you ever stayed within spacetime itself for an extended period before? Between whens, whys, and wheres? I know that most agents aren’t given the proper equipment to do it alone…” They gave String Gummy a different kind of grin than they’ve been, something more sly than plain mischievous.
String’s eyes widened at the threat and he once again backed up against the wall, feeling his skin crawl. Of course he knew that Timekeeper could easily slip away when necessary, but in most cases…
Another precaution he’d forgotten to take.
“You aren’t suggesting that we…” he eyed the pair of scissors as though it were a bomb that could go off at any second, as though it were made of nuclear radiation. Their abilities were something he refused to envy or even admire. They were dangerous in the wrong hands. Far too dangerous.
”Oh, but I am! Do you object?” Their tone had changed, something about it said that objection wasn’t going to work out. “Because now my heart is set, agent.”
“I’ll be awaiting your return, perhaps I might even clear my schedule for the week! I doubt you’ll be any longer than that, hm? You’re just itching to make up for losing this time, I can see it clear as day in your eyes.”
”It isn’t like I had any other ideas…” String Gummy huffed, pointedly turning their gaze away. “Alright then. I’ll agree to your terms. You should expect to see me back here soon. Maybe even within the next week, if you’re lucky.” he laughed wryly at the last bit. String was never one to bargain, least of all with her opponents.
Timekeeper nodded, honestly surprised the whole proposal went so smoothly. That tiny laugh got a grin in return. “It’s a date, my friend. You should be heading back now either way, you have a failure to report to your director after all, don’t you? Ha!”
Failure… at the mention of the word, String’s arms shook. She kept quiet, biting her lip so she wouldn’t say something stupid. It was hard to move when you were still paralyzed with just now ebbing fear and shame.
Timekeeper pursed their lips at the sudden change in her demeanor at that word. Is that the whole problem? Huh. They almost felt a bit bad.
At least now they understood what all the apprehension was. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit nicer next time. Didn’t want to make the poor thing’s heart stop. They could recall a time they feared the concept themselves, but such trivial matters had long since been buried in the back of their mind since. Fear of that which was ultimately intangible was for plain mortals. They took a step closer offering String Gummy a helpful hand to take. “Are you stuck to the floor? You’re getting nowhere standing frozen to the wall,” they snickered, with a touch less malice than before. Might as well play nice at this point.
String stared at their hand as though it were a deadly snake about to strike, unsure about taking it. Every Cookie they’d met so far had been like an open book for them, their body language and the way they spoke telling String everything he needed to know.
Timekeeper on the other hand was completely unreadable and that was what scared them the most. It felt like at any moment they would change their mind about her and String would become nothing more than another pile of atoms. Nevertheless they swallowed their fear, reaching out and tentatively grabbing Timekeeper’s hand.