F
Fox of Spades
Guest
A 1x1 between @Miyakka and @Fox of Spades
Two college students; disheveled genius boy meets curiously clumsy girl at a film club meeting on campus when the building suddenly catches fire. It ends in tragedy; with the entrance blocked, everyone is trapped inside for over fifteen minutes before emergency responders can find a way in. Twenty-three students perish that day.
The girl watches the skin of her arms and legs melting off. The searing pain of it is the last thing she remembers when she wakes the next morning—no burns, no scars—safely in bed.
The keeper of time witnesses millions of tragedies throughout the ages, from fire to pestilence to murder. Hundreds of years of this turns him stone cold. Day after day following the same routine; passing time and watching time pass, not involving himself in anything except time adjustment which is only allowed in the case of glitches. Sometimes he follows her, just to entertain himself, and she's started to take notice.
-by Miyakka
Once, Faye read about death by burning on Wikipedia. The details were hazy, but she remembered something about how it usually took 10 to 15 minutes for a person to suffocate on the fumes. About how the majority of people died from carbon monoxide poisoning instead of from the flames. She'd looked it up, not because she was a pyromaniac or anything, but because she had to watch a documentary on the Salem Witch Trials for her history class. Mind you, Faye didn't enjoy that documentary, but it pulled her in nonetheless.
Faye thought death by burning was an awful way to go. And now, stranded inside a burning building with thirty or so other students, she still thought it was awful. She tried not to think of the Wikipedia article as she backed up against a wall and clamped a hand over her mouth, of the witches burning at the stake when several panicked screams rendered her scared out of her wits, and of the searing pain that shot throughout her body as the flames licked at her skin. Instead, she tried to think of winters with mom and dad, of grandma's apple pies, and then of home.
"Faye..."
"—wake up."
"—wake up."
"Hnnggg—1692!"
"Uh, 1692?" Mary blinked once then twice, before her confused gaze settled on her half-asleep roommate. Faye was tangled up in her sheets, eyes wide open, and expression somewhere between confused as hell and terrified. "Are you—"
"The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692!" Faye yelled again before practically leaping out of bed and sending blankets and pillows alike to the floor.
Mary gave her a long, hard stare. "You're acting really, really, weird. You know that, right?"
Faye stared back at her, and before Mary could understand what was going on, her friend tackled her into a tight embrace, mumbling something about how she was so glad Mary was alive, and about how she was so glad she was alive. The hug lasted a couple more seconds before a frantic Faye bolted out the door in pajamas and a t-shirt.
Faye heard Mary yell something about pancakes, but by then she was already on her bike, pedaling as fast as her legs would allow. The school had burned down, she was sure of it. Plenty of people including herself had perished in that blaze, she was sure of it. It had felt too real to be a dream, and yet, she was alive. The bike ride to school was full of questions, but her bike skidded to a stop when the University finally came into view.
She'd expected to find a charred mess of ash and soot, but instead the building looked just as it had the day before.
Still, it felt too real to be just a dream.
"Uh, 1692?" Mary blinked once then twice, before her confused gaze settled on her half-asleep roommate. Faye was tangled up in her sheets, eyes wide open, and expression somewhere between confused as hell and terrified. "Are you—"
"The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692!" Faye yelled again before practically leaping out of bed and sending blankets and pillows alike to the floor.
Mary gave her a long, hard stare. "You're acting really, really, weird. You know that, right?"
Faye stared back at her, and before Mary could understand what was going on, her friend tackled her into a tight embrace, mumbling something about how she was so glad Mary was alive, and about how she was so glad she was alive. The hug lasted a couple more seconds before a frantic Faye bolted out the door in pajamas and a t-shirt.
Faye heard Mary yell something about pancakes, but by then she was already on her bike, pedaling as fast as her legs would allow. The school had burned down, she was sure of it. Plenty of people including herself had perished in that blaze, she was sure of it. It had felt too real to be a dream, and yet, she was alive. The bike ride to school was full of questions, but her bike skidded to a stop when the University finally came into view.
She'd expected to find a charred mess of ash and soot, but instead the building looked just as it had the day before.
Still, it felt too real to be just a dream.
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