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Gleaming blue eyes behind dyed bangs glanced away, the question followed by familiar unease punctuated by the soft shifting of water against metal: ‘Do you ever feel yourself… slipping from the present?’
Alix gave an empty laugh as she sat next to Luka on the bow of the Couffaine boat, glad those eyes of his weren’t focused on her as she stared at the water. Those eyes of his had a power over her that she couldn’t explain.
'The present is the only constant I can rely on,’ Alix answered wryly. 'The present is wherever I am right now, the past is where I was, and the future is where I will be. The past could be three thousand years from now, and the future could be two hundred years ago. If I try to think of time as chronological, I’d have gone insane ages ago. As a famous British character once said, think of it more as “a big ball of wibbley-wobbly timey-wimey stuff”.’
She chuckled to herself. Turns out Doctor Who made discussing time-travel and the experience thereof a lot easier.
'Why d'you ask?’ she said, turning to the young man next to her. 'Are you “slipping from the present”?’
All humour dissipated into the air and floated away as she regarded him. Ever since she left her normal life behind for one hopping across time and space, she had made occasional visits to her friends when it was safe to do so - she was strict about her visits, making sure it was completely safe before venturing homeward, and if she only had, say, twenty-eight minutes to enjoy her friends’ company, she’d be popping back into the Burrow by the twenty-seventh minute. Sometimes she’d see one friend or family member, other times a group of them, and while she enjoyed every second with them, it made parting all the more gut-wrenching. Most visits had either Adrien, Luka, or Marinette checking in with her about how she was coping, and that’s how she built up a strong friendship with the guitarist. He was the one who understood the best what she was feeling, what she was going through, and his support was a godsend. But now, it seemed, it was time to return the favour.
'Luka, what’s wrong?’
'Something’s… wrong,’ he answered, looking rather peaky. 'Ever since Monarch was defeated, there’s been this… sense of wrongness. Like… the world’s axis has shifted. Like the sky is a little too close to the ground. Like the sun is now rising in the south and setting in the north. Something about our world post-Monarch isn’t right.’ Luka sighed wearily. 'I’ve barely been able to get a good night’s sleep since. I’ve been constantly on edge. There’s this crawling under my skin that’s never-ending. I just… I can’t- I…’
As Luka’s fingers dragged through his hair in frustration, Alix frowned. Luka was well-known for being super in-tune with people and the world, and it is what made him such an unique and awesome person, and for her, a fabulous companion. She found his insight invaluable, and trusted him when he said something was off.
Suddenly, she felt exposed. She thought she’d be safe, visiting home, but now, she could have put herself, her friends, her family, the world in terrible danger. She felt like she could be sick.
'I- I’ll look into it,’ she promised.
'Please,’ he begged, his voice trembling. 'I… please.’
She hugged him, sitting there in the uneasy silence for a few minutes more, until her alarm to leave went off. Quietly, she untangled from him and stood.
'I promise, Luka, I’ll get to the bottom of this,’ she told him, before walking down the stairs into the boat, transforming, and darting into her Burrow. She had work to do.