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The night before, she finds it near impossible to fall asleep in her old bed back with her mom, Bobby, and Harry. Each minute ticks by for what feels like a lifetime as she stares at the timer on her wrist. Less than twenty-four hours now and she'll run into her soulmate. The thought has her stomach flipping — whether it is from nervous excitement or anxiety, she has yet to figure out. There was a time in her life when she didn't think she could live to get a timer, let alone to see it run out, but now that she's here? Twenty-four years old and hours away from running into the person she's meant to spend the rest of her life with?
May takes a deep, steadying breath as the clock on her dresser swaps over to midnight. A soft chime emits from her timer to let her know, as if she didn't already, that today is the day. She falls back in her bed until her head hits against the plush pillow waiting behind her. Ten hours. It's all she has left. Closing her eyes, she wills herself to go to sleep to at least be somewhat rested before the morning comes.
And she must get some sleep. Before she knows it, the sun is rising in the windows of her room, beaming into her face and dragging her out of her sleep. Noises drift down the hall from the direction of the kitchen and dining area as well, letting her know the rest of her family is already awake and getting ready for their day. She hurries to get ready herself and join them at the table.
"Morning," She says as she slips into her designated seat.
Harry's too busy shoveling food into his mouth to say anything back, but he offers a small wave of his hand in greeting. Athena and Bobby, though, both stop what they're doing to put all their attention on her. If she weren't already feeling the butterflies in her stomach, she's sure that would bring them back.
"Today's the big day, huh?" Bobby's got a twinkle in his eyes and a soft smile on his face that would normally help to put her at ease before a big day during her school days, but is doing absolutely nothing to help calm her down now.
"It is," Even to her own ears, she sounds less than thrilled at the prospect.
"Now, May," Athena reaches a hand out to place over hers, "It's normal to be nervous, but all of that's going to disappear the moment you see them for the first time. Don't worry."
May turns her hand over to give her Mom's a soft squeeze. "I know, I'm just worried. What if we don't actually like each other? Or have anything at all in common?"
All the worries from her childhood start coming back to her. There's a bigger one she doesn't dare voice now, though. What if they die young? Both Bobby and Athena had to deal with that. And sure, they found each other later on, but the timer didn't have anything to do with that. She's not sure she could live through that kind of heartbreak. Even if she did, there's no guarantee she'd meet someone else.
"If you weren't perfect for each other, the timer would have synced with someone else," Harry shrugs off her worry as if it's nothing.
Bobby grabs his plate from the table and gets up to go take it into the kitchen. On his way back, he stops to press a soft kiss to the top of May's head. "It'll be fine." He tries again to reassure her and this time it does settle something within her, for at least a moment. He turns his attention to Harry then, "Hurry up, we've got to get to the station."
Harry scrambles to down the rest of his water on the table and then puts his dishes away as well. They're both out the door shortly after, leaving May alone with her mother.
"He's right, you know," Athena adds after a while, "These timers might be fairly new still, but they do work and it wouldn't have picked this person if they weren't right for you."
"I know," May begins to pick at the food on her plate, unsure if she can even eat any of it without risking getting nauseous.
She's still pushing the food around when Athena gets up and starts to finish up her morning activities before she too heads off to work. May plans to head out after, go back to her apartment or out somewhere for some quick errands. She's not really sure where she's meant to be when she meets this person, but the time quickly coming to an end.
"May," Athena comes back into the dining room, holding Bobby's wallet in her hand, "Can you swing by the station and drop this off for Bobby? Looks like he left it here by mistake."
May blinks a couple of times at the wallet before she drags her eyes up to meet her mom's. "Can't you on the way to work?" The words are out of her mouth before she can really stop to think about it.
"I'll be late if I drop it off," Athena tries to be patient, "Besides, you don't really think you'll meet your soulmate while sitting around here all day, do you?" There's a knowing smile on her face as she walks over and places the wallet down on the table in front of May.
"Fine, ok, I'll take it over to him." She grabs it at the same time as she takes up her plate and heads into the kitchen to dispose of it's contents because there's no way she's going to be able to eat any of it now. Her mother tosses her a thanks on her way out the door. Now alone, she takes her time getting ready the rest of the way and then heads out herself.
He knows before he sets foot inside the firehouse that today is going to be a long one. The night before, he awoke at midnight to the chime of his timer reminding him that in less than twenty-four hours he'd be standing in front of the person he's meant to spend the rest of his life with. Which, happens to be the one thing he's looking forward to — after all, there was a time in his life when Ravi heard all the stories about the timers and didn't think he'd make it to his eighteenth birthday to get one of his own. The teasing from his coworkers, though? He can already sense it coming before he even runs into any of them.
Ravi turns the corner and finds the others waiting on him in the locker room. He could stall, shuffle his feet a little on the way over there, maybe stop to tie his shoes. But, it's going to happen sooner or later, so he doesn't bother. Even walking at a normal pace to the room seems to be too long for Chimney, though.
Chim leaves the locker room and starts heading in his direction, obvious mischief in his eyes. He opens his mouth to start speaking to him, but Bobby's booming voice cuts through the air first, beating him to it.
"Ravi, my office, now." Bobby calls out.
He doesn't think he's ever wanted to give the man a hug as much as he does in that moment. Ravi scrunches up his face and gives Chimney a mocking wave before he beelines for the captain's office. He would be safe, if only for a couple of minutes. Or, so he assumes.
Ravi takes a seat across from Bobby at his desk. It takes all of a couple of seconds for him to realize that, no, he is not anymore safe in Bobby's office as he is with the others. The stare Bobby sends his way has him shifting uncomfortably in the chair, shrinking in on himself ever so slightly.
"You needed me, Cap?" he asks.
"How much time is left on your timer?"
Ravi glances down at the object on his wrists for the first time since he got up this morning. "Ugh, like ten minutes?"
"Good, that gives me plenty of time." Bobby leans back in his seat, a look of pure glee on his face.
"For?"
"Athena and I would like you to come over for dinner after our shift."
Ravi feels like his brain short circuits at the sudden invitation getting tossed his way. "Excuse me?" He asks instead of the litany of other questions that his brain keeps supplying him with. It's the least colorful version. The most respectful. The one that'll keep him from having to clean the latrines for the rest of the week.
"You can bring your soulmate as well, if that's what you're worried about."
Ravi's mouth opens and closes a few times as he tries to come up with a proper response to that. "Don't you think I should run that by them first?" He settles on. Because surely, he should. And shouldn't they introduce each other to their own family before they meet each other's bosses? Right?
"I don't think they'll mind."
"You don't?" He drags out the words, as if that'll help his mind come to terms with everything that is going on in this conversation.
"So, I'll see you tonight then." Bobby leaves no room for argument. After the words are out of his mouth, he shoos Ravi out of the office so that he can go get dressed for the day.
Ravi stalls out in the hallway, still unsure how he should process what just happened.
"Excuse me, I need to get in there to see Bobby."
A soft voice snaps him back to the presence. He hurries to step aside and glances up to say an apology, but as soon as his gaze meets warm brown eyes, the timer starts to chime once more. The apology dies on his lips. And she seems just as effected by it all as she stands still, unable to step into the office or say anything else in that moment either.
"Ah, May, I had just been looking for that. Thanks, honey," Bobby's voice causes them both to break their gaze to look towards him. He steps between them, takes the wallet she's holding in her hand, and continues on down the hall.
"One second," May holds her hands in a placating manner at him before she spins around on her heel. "You both knew, didn't you?"
Bobby turns back to them, the look in his eyes giving everything away. "We had an inkling." He supplies, "But we couldn't ever be sure. It's not like we knew the exact time left on either of your timers. Now, don't be long. Ravi still has work to do." With that, he leaves them both in the hall.
May turns back around to face him, a curious look in her eyes as she takes him in.
Ravi nods his head, shifts closer to her until all it would take is a slight swing of his arm to allow his hand to brush up against hers. "Bobby invited me over to dinner after our shift."
"And, are you coming?" May stares up at him expectantly.
"Yeah, I'll be there."
The smile he gets in return for his answer makes him realize a couple of things. The first being, he'll do whatever it takes to keep that smile on May's face. And the other, he's not sure how he's going to make it through the next twentyfour hours until he can see her again.