The Trouble with Time, Part 2.2 - Flexible

Alice is anxious, Kevin knows this. She paces the showroom floor, back and forth and back and forth. She stops occasionally, checks her watch, then continues her walking. His eyes follow her, bemused, as he plays with the rim of his coffee cup. Her cup sits abandoned on the table where she left it ten seconds after coming in.

Perhaps for the better, Kevin thinks, she really doesn't seem like she needs caffeine right now.

"You want me to help you with that?" he asks as she turns around for the 50th time. She stops and looks up, eyes wide.

"With what?" she asks. He gestures at her and she squints her eyes.

"Y'know, all that restless energy," he says. He pulls open a drawer and produces a small vial from it. "Pacing isn't gonna make Sam get here faster, and I'm worried you'll erode a hole into my floor."

She chuckles lightly and then rubs at her eyes, before walking over to the table and leaning on it.

"Sorry, sorry," she says. Her eyes are so very tired. "I'm just... anxious, I guess." 

"I know," he says. "And I wasn't kidding."

"Oh," she says, looks at the vial. He waves it around a bit. "I... Well, if you think it'll help."

"It won't get rid of your anxiety," he starts as he stands up and comes to stand in front of her, "but it'll help you feel a bit more relaxed in this moment. Now, take a deep breath through your nose," she inhales, "hold it in," he pops the vial open, "and blow it all out."

She exhales and from her lips flows a wispy, muddy orange mist that flows down and into the vial. He seals the vial back up and they both watch for a moment as the color swirls inside.

"Better?" he asks as he turns away.

"A little," she says and gives him a soft smile. He nods, and tucks the vial in box full of others similar to it. He doesn't bother labeling it.

"Good," he says and checks his first watch. "Sam should be here in about 7 minutes. We can double check we have everything, if that makes you feel better?"

~x~

A bell dings and a door opens and Sam steps inside, accompanied by a gust of wind blowing snow everywhere. They push the door closed behind them as quickly as possible. A long sigh and a slight shiver, before they start brushing snow off their coat.

"Real blizzard out there," they laugh, but Kevin can tell it's forced.

Alice stood up as soon as the bell rung and is now standing nervously next to his desk. She's playing with the hem of her shirt. His eyes flick between her and Sam.

"Sorry it took me so long," they continue, trying to break the tension settling in the room. "Had to wait for my mother to wake up before I could drop my cat off with her. Couldn't leave him alone, since, well..." they pause, rub their neck, "we don't know how long we'll be gone."

There is a silence that seems to stretch forever. Kevin considers bottling it up, but decides that would be a bit too tacky even for him.

"Your mother gets up rather early," Alice says finally. Sam looks away from the coat rack they were about to hang their coat on, their brow furrowed.

"Not... really?" they say. "Rather late, if you ask me."

"What?" It's Alice's turn to frown. "It's like 5:30 and you're already here?"

Sam snorts and then bursts out laughing. "Sorry, sorry," they say. "I wasn't expecting that." They take a few calming breaths and then clear their throat. "I live in London, haven't I told you before?"

"I... but..." she says, glancing between Sam and Kevin.

"Oh, gosh, have I not told you about the door?" Kevin says, suddenly perking up. "I thought for sure, you've worked here for so long..."

"Kevin..." Sam chastises. He sighs then shakes his head.

"Well here's the thing," he says as he stands up. "This shop exists in something like a pocket dimension. And that door," he points at the shop's front door, "leads out into the 'regular' dimension."

"Yeah, I know that," Alice says, nodding along.

"But actually the door leads to like a dozen different places in that dimension."

"Like London," interjects Sam.

"Or Paris. Or Québec. Or Tokyo," continues Kevin. "Or a bunch of other places."

"Oh," says Alice, staring at the door. "I guess... that makes sense, actually. I've kinda wondered sometimes how there seems to be such varied clientele here."

"That's exactly how," he says with a smile. "There's not a lot of shops like mine, but magical ingredients are still needed all around the world."

She hums, considers this a little longer, then turns to him. "How's it work?"

"You just have to be flexible," he answers.

She looks at him. He smiles back.

"Well, I think it's about time to go," he says cheerily, waving a hand at the door, which locks with a happy click.

"No, Kevin!" she shouts. "You gotta tell me!"

"No time, no time, we must go!" he sing-songs, grabbing his bag from under the desk.

"Kevin you prick," Sam laughs. "Why can't you just tell her?"

"I need to have some secrets, don't I?"

"Secrets are the only thing you do have," she grumbles, but she's smiling now too.

For a moment his smile falters, but just as quickly as it happens the mask is back on and he's leading the trio through the back.

~x~

They walk down the hallway. They walk for a long while.

On either side of them identical-looking white doors pass them by. Dozens upon dozens of doors, way too close to each other to have rooms, none of them with any kind of identification. Doors after doors, each leading into a brand new world, a brand new place.

They walk past all the doors.

The other two are quiet, but Kevin's mind is racing. Slowly, so slowly, they are approaching the end.

It seems like it would never come, until all at once they're at the other end of the hall. Alice almost walks right into it, that's how sudden the end is. She manages to stop herself before the collision and blinks in surprise.

"I... didn't know there was an end," she says. "I thought it went on forever."

"Nothing can go on forever," says Kevin.

They're standing in front of a door. A door not to the side but on the end of the hallway. A door opposite of the one to the shop. A door, which looks just the same as all the other doors, but still... not quite.

Kevin starts to unbutton the top of his shirt as the other two stare at the door in wonder.

"Kev... Does this door lead to the Fey Wilds?" Sam asks, glancing back at him. "It doesn't even have a handle."

"It does," he says. He hooks his finger around the thin silver chain around his neck and pulls.

"This isn't the way we went last time," Alice mutters, barely audible. "Why... Kevin, this feels weird."

"It should," he says and fishes out a pendant from his shirt. It's small and circular, a silver line woven in an intricate knot with a light blue gem in the middle. "This door hasn't been opened in over 70 years. It'll lead us undetected into a small house on the outskirts of Tirduchrainn."

He holds up the pendant and it starts to glow. On the door a similar looking rune starts to appear.

"Why wouldn't we use this door last time?" Alice asks, taking half a step back. "If it's undetectable? Using a spell to create a temporary portal is such a big process."

"Two reasons," starts Kevin. The door flies open on its own. Unlike all the other doors, which lead straight to their destination, behind his one is a swirling, glowing portal. A wind whips up around them.

"One, under any other circumstance, you wouldn't want to get this close to the capital city," he continues. There's a hum in his ears and the wind is mussing up his hair.

"Two," he says and takes a deep breath. The other two are slowly moving backwards, the pressure from the portal too intense. He places a hand on each of their backs. "It's not exactly safe for humans to go through alone."

"Wait, what??" Alice screeches, spinning around, but he pushes them forward and they all tumble together into the portal.

_____________________________________________________

Whooooooooo boy! I'm back on my bullshit it seems lmao this'll be fun!

I'm a bit busy atm but I'll do my best to get some writing done whenever I have time. Next topic is "Fair".

Cheers!

Pie out.