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Cavendish sighed as he placed his work overalls on the sofa and sat down beside it. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had just over an hour until Dakota returned home. Nowadays, Cavendish rarely found himself away from his partner; they lived and worked together, shared meals and pass-times. The silence in his apartment really showed how unused to the solitude he was.
He decided that the best course of action to distract himself was to make a meal and watch whatever movie was currently playing live. He left the television to boot up while he walked into his, admittedly cramped, kitchen. The cupboards were mostly empty, he hadn't been shopping in a couple of weeks, but he found a box of breadsticks and managed to scrape together the ingredients to make a nice dip.
Just as he was walking back to the sofa, his TV finally started up. Most of the movies currently playing were outdated, low-budget rom-coms which he quickly skipped past. Whilst he was flicking through the channels, a movie caught his eye - a movie as equally cliché and low-budget as the rom-coms, but this one was about time travel. When they were still time travellers, Cavendish and Dakota loved to watch older time travel movies together; pointing out the inconsistencies and marvelling at what some directors actually got correct. This was a hobby that had been forgotten in recent weeks due to… obvious scenarios.
Despite the intense emotions around losing his job, Cavendish decided that there would be no harm in rekindling his love for criticising movies, besides, it was already half complete, so even if Dakota didn't want to see it (which Cavendish honestly doubted), it would be over before he even returned. After picking up his meal and turning his full attention to the screen, Cavendish settled down for what he hooped would be an evening of relaxation.
He was wrong. He was so wrong.
"This isn't my time at all!" cried out the actor from the movie, "All I want to do is to return to my present, where my family, friends and everything I care about are!" The acting was awful, anyone could tell that, but what Cavendish couldn't understand was just why the movie was upsetting him so much. To him, it felt like the writers had taken every emotion he felt and poured it into an awful movie. It was generic, following the classic structure of "guy uses a time machine to find a different time period before realising the one he was originally in was the best all along", there was nothing remarkable about it, but the monologue given by the protagonist really stuck with him. It documented the characters emotions around losing his lover and how returning to the correct time was the only way to truly feel his love again. Cavendish wondered about this, sure he'd had relationships with others in 2175, but he was here with Dakota now and they both knew they'd never find anyone as perfect as the other every again.
Maybe Cavendish was just thinking about Dakota's actions during this scene. He tried not to think about how often he'd died in the past (or in the future on some occasions, he assumed) and Dakota never brought it up, but it must have been hard. Maybe he was thinking about his family, but Cavendish never truly felt close with them, so he highly doubted this possibility. Maybe it was… Maybe it could… Maybe…
No. It didn't matter what the causes of his emotions were, all he knew was that he could tell he was beginning to spiral negatively. Choosing to act responsibly, Cavendish turned of the television and placed the leftovers of his meal on the table before curling up under the blanket and beginning to cry.
He didn't know how long he'd been there, but he was awoken by a light poking sensation near his shoulder.
"Hey Cavendish, you alright under there?" came an easily recognisable voice, "you left your food out here." Dakota playfully stabbed Cavendish with a breadstick before eating it and sitting down beside him.
"Look, you don't have to tell me anything, but please know that I'm always here for you, Cav. Just push me away if you really don't want me here," Dakota added, just to make sure he wasn't overstepping any boundaries. To his surprise, Cavendish reached out and pulled Dakota in for a hug. He must be feeling terrible, Dakota thought. Despite them having a very physical relationship, moments like this were more often that not initiated by Dakota.
"Do you want to talk?" Dakota prompted, resting his head on Cavendish's chest, "I'm really concerned about you, y'know." Hearing this was like a switch in Cavendish's mind. He knew deep down that Dakota would never judge him for his problems, but this really solidified his confirmation. He sighed before beginning to tell Dakota about his evening, the movie and how it made him feel, his deep sense of longing and why he thought this might be. He kept talking for what he assumed must have been too long, as Dakota placed a hand on his chest, urging him to remain calm. This prompted Cavendish to apologise profusely, which was again met with a comforting gesture.
"Listen, Cav, I totally understand how you're feeling tonight, and I need to you understand… are you listening?" Dakota asked softly, looking down to see Cavendish nodding back at him, with the blanket wiping his eyes. "You aren't alone on these feeling. I feel it too. Look, it doesn't matter how much we've adjusted to this time, or how nice the Murphy's have been to us, were 22nd century men. We always will be. I don't know how many people before us, or after us, were banished like this but do you think they just gave up? No! .. well some might have, but we don't know that and… I'm losing the point here but do you get it? This is our life now, we have each other and the privilege of a time period where we can be ourselves. Sure our living situation sucks, but it's not permanent, the only way we can go from here is forwards! No time machine, no do-overs, just us, this timeline, together."
Upon hearing this, Cavendish smiled and began to stand up.
"Thank you, Dakota, that truly did help."
"I'm glad," he responded, "now let's come here and watch a proper movie."
"No time travel this time?"
"No time travel this time."