MHA #15, then #MHA 14, Saturday Morning

[pocketpretzels]

Last night had been pleasant, if excessively glittery. Following the dance, Watts and Steven had checked in to the hotel and-

... Promptly fallen asleep. What?

Now it was morning, though, and the first hints of consciousness were beginning to filter through Watts's mind.

"Mrrph," he rolled over, instinctively reaching for where Steven ought to be. Except there was nobody there. Still mostly asleep, Watts started to dismiss that as oh, well, clearly Steven woke up first and is over by the desk making terrible hotel coffee-

"Steven woke up first"? Yeah, no. Steven was even less of a morning person than Watts himself was. Something was definitely wrong. Starting with the fact that this wasn't a hotel room at all, but his old apartment. Now fully awake- and concerned- Watts got dressed and started to look around in an effort to figure out just what the hell had gone on here.

His first stop was his mobile phone on the nightstand, which looked... older? He squinted at it, and then sighed and grabbed his glasses (which unlike his actual current phone had survived the transition) and squinted at it again: 2022-07-30, read the date.

"Twenty years," he muttered. "Criminy." That would place them at- what, a few months after they'd both arrived in Fandom? Maybe a month after they'd started dating? The lack of decoration in his apartment more or less confirmed the timing. Though he still wanted to know where the hell Steven had ended up, if not with him.

First stop? Across the hall, to Steven and Marc's apartment. Muscle memory had him fishing out his keyring even though they'd not lived in Fandom for years, but of course the key wasn't on the ring: they wouldn't be exchanging those for some time yet. So, knocking it was.

[ooc: for thems that live there! that watts headed over to visit is fine for broadcast, details of conversation NFB please.]

Comments

[pocketpretzels]

“Good morning, Marc,” Watts said, not missing a beat. “As always, your assessment is both succinct and accurate.”

[hasaknightjob]

Marc stood up and took stock of things. No sign of Steven in any reflections, which wasn't surprising. Steven felt as gone as he could be. Still Marc had to check. Next was everything around them. No changes. Even the fish were alive, with Marc's post-it to Steven still on the tank. On top of everything else, he didn't have Konshu in his ear bitching at him about things he needed to take care of.

Right. So all signs pointed to no changes on his end. Which left the person standing in front of him.

"What happened?" Marc asked. Meaning to Watts, in general, whatever. Look, Marc had dealt with five years of half the universe vanishing and then the day when they all came back. It took a lot more than an older looking Watts to throw him.

[pocketpretzels]

“We arrived on the island last night for what was supposed to be a reunion- Steven and I attended the dance last night, retired to the hotel, and then… I woke up in my former apartment. Alone. Twenty years in the past,” Watts explained. “I don’t know why or how beyond, as you say, ‘some island bullshit’.”

[hasaknightjob]

There were a few things to unpack there but Marc had priorities. "Wait, so where's current you? The guy who was here with Steven last night?"

Because if that Watts was in danger or missing, that was the next priority now that Steven was - well not taken care of, but safe for now.

[pocketpretzels]

“I’m- not sure,” Watts admitted. And really, this ought to bother him, but after years of Fandom’s weirdness, one couldn’t help but acclimate. “This is the first time this has happened, but there have been- similar- incidents. Generally after the weekend everyone affected is returned safe and sound.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Right. Wait here," Marc told him. He went into the bedroom and grabbed his phone from where Steven had left it. He quickly sent off a couple of texts, then dialed Watts's number as he walked back into the living room.

[pocketpretzels]

Watts’s mobile phone- his past self’s device, anyway- obligingly rang, and he fished it out of his suit pocket and hit the ‘answer call’ button, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Marc as he did so.

[hasaknightjob]

"That answers that," Marc said. He hung up, which was when he saw that Nell had texted him back. He quickly sent off a reply and then put his phone aside. "Looks like you're not the only one. No offense but this better wear off."

Marc didn't even want to think about what it was going to do to Steven if it didn't.

[pocketpretzels]

“No offense taken,” Watts said. “As much as I enjoyed my time here, I want to be able to return to my current life.” Not to mention his own version of Steven. And yes, even you, Marc.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc was going to reply when Liz called him back. He quickly checked in with her then returned his attention to the matter at hand.

"It's too damn early for a drink," he said, being generally annoyed at the universe about that one. There was still a lot to unpack here but he wasn't going to do it without something in his system, so he headed towards the kitchen. "Coffee?"

[pocketpretzels]

“Please,” Watts said, following Marc into the kitchen and pulling two mugs from the cupboard with the practiced ease of someone who’d spent a lot of time in this apartment over the mumblemumble number of years.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc definitely made note of that as he got a pot of coffee going. It led nicely into the other things that had been put on hold while he triaged. "Twenty years?"

Could Marc have added more words to that? Yes. Did he ever learn to do so? No.

[pocketpretzels]

That just meant it was familiar! Which was honestly kind of reassuring in a weird way.

"Twenty years," Watts echoed. "In which we've managed to build rather a nice life."

Yes, that 'we' meant himself and Steven. But also Marc- and someone else, actually- was included in that as well. Though that wasn't a bomb he wanted to drop right away. Maybe in a few minutes.

[hasaknightjob]

Coffee brewing, Marc started pulling out what was needed for bagels (Fandom based, so really "bagels" but what could you do?) and lox for breakfast. If Watts wanted something else - well he was familiar with the kitchen. He could go nuts.

And on the topic of why he was familiar with the kitchen, "Twenty years with Steven?" Because yes, Marc had clocked that detail but put it on the back burner until he could breathe.

[pocketpretzels]

... Yeah, Watts was just going to go straight for the (cold, sigh, thanks ever so for that, John Harvey Kellogg) cereal, rummaging around the fridge for the carton of non-dairy milk to accompany it.

"Yes," he replied. "Does that surprise you?"

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm wondering when I took you off probation," Marc replied, his comment more idle curiosity than accusation. Not that he'd ever told present day version of Watts he'd been on probation regarding Marc allowing him around Steven. But after their first (and to date only) meeting Marc felt it'd been heavily implied.

[pocketpretzels]

Yeah, he'd picked up what Marc had been putting down there, to use one of the many phrases he'd, ah, picked up, over the years.

"It took a while," Watts said, with a wry smile as he recalled those early days. "But you did warm up to me."

[hasaknightjob]

"I warm up to people?" Marc replied, dry as the bagel he took out of the toaster. In truth he wondered if it was this very weekend which did it. Proof that Watts really would stick around in spite of it all - and Marc himself was only one item on that list - wasn't nothing. Marc was Marc, though, so he had to ask, "Is he okay?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Yes," Watts said, his expression turning fond. "He's more than okay. He's happy. A significant part of that is owed to the fact that you are too," he said pointedly.

[hasaknightjob]

The coffee was ready so Marc got to pouring. He snorted at Watts's comment. "Well now I know you're full of shit. But good try."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts rolled his eyes. "I most assuredly am not. Me and Steven, you and Layla. As I said, we've built a nice life."

[hasaknightjob]

Okay now Marc was shooting him a look. "That's not even funny."

[pocketpretzels]

"It's not meant to be," he sighed, not at all cowed by that look. "I suppose I ought to have known you'd react like this."

[hasaknightjob]

Okay, this was clearly some multiverse type bullshit. Some version of Watts from some other planet or timeline, same as all the other people from similar worlds but not exactly. Nothing that applied to Marc.

"And you know me so well," Marc replied, the sarcasm almost thick enough to be tangible. Because come on.

[pocketpretzels]

"I've picked up a thing or two about you in the intervening years beyond 'Cubs fan', yes," Watts said, around a mouthful of cereal. "Such as the real reason you first struck a deal with Konshu. Not to save yourself, but to save Steven."