When All is Null and Void

Chapter Seventeen

Carter James died when Titus was six years old. When his dad had been alive, Titus had seen his uncle at least once a week. Now their relationship was stale and disconnected. Titus assumed his mom didn't want to see Alexander because he reminded her too much of Carter. Twins they were not, but Alexander and Carter Pendergast were similar in all the painful sort of ways. Titus could hardly remember his dad without help from photos, and so he was already nervous when he Hopped to Alexander's house only to find it empty and dark. 

The ring had given Titus a sweatshirt, jeans, and a pair of boot. He stood outside, pounding on the door. If they were asleep, they ought to have heard him by now. He was about to Hop backward an hour when Alexander's truck swung into the driveway, casting yellow spotlights onto Titus.

Titus ignored the rush in his blood at the sight of Caleb, who'd thinned out and gained muscle. Instead Titus pointed his attention toward Alexander and kept it there until they were all three siting in the living room, and he couldn't possibly ignore the kid any longer. Alexander had gone into the kitchen to make tea, and Caleb was watching him with curiosity. His glasses only seemed to accentuate the features on his face rather than detracting from them. "Good to see you again," Titus said to Caleb, though he didn't really feel that way at all.

"Yeah," Caleb said with a smile. "Are you guys related?" he jerked his thumb toward the kitchen.

Alexander reappeared. "I'm sorry, Caleb. Titus is my nephew." He set three steaming mugs onto the coffee table and retook his seat between the two teenagers.

"Oh cool," Caleb said. "You guys look alike."

"Thanks," Alexander said with a nod to Titus. "His dad was better looking than me."

Titus noticed the change in Caleb's eyes, at the mention of the past tense verb. Of course Titus knew about Caleb's parents. They'd disappeared one day, leaving him alone and parentless. It was a rather tragic tale, but he knew he wouldn't get along with Caleb simply because they had a minutely similar past.

"I'm here to check up on his learning," Titus said, looking back to Alexander. He opened up his wrist Holo, which was definitelynot allowed in this time period, unless you were a James. "Can you demonstrate a Spatial Hop for me?" he looked at Caleb.

"Sure," Caleb said, although his eyes darted to Alexander for a moment beforehand. He stood and walked across the room. "To there?" He pointed at a stack of books in the corner.

"Actually..." The control over this moment calmed Titus. "I would like for you to go outside and Hop through the door. You've invited Caleb in, right?"

Alexander nodded at Titus, then passed an encouraging smile to Caleb who stepped outside and shut the front door. Thirty seconds passed, then there was the sound of a small tube being pulled from another, larger tube, and Caleb entered the living room. He stumbled a little bit, as if he'd taken a big, bounding leap. "Shows the grace of a walrus," Titus dictated into his wrist Holo. Frustrating though it was, Titus hadn't expected Caleb to do the Hop. It had taken Titus himself even longer to even get his pinky finger to tingle. He would never tell Caleb that.

Glancing up at Caleb, he said, "Can you Time Hop?"

Caleb turned slightly pink around the base of his neck and ears. He didn't say anything for a second, and Alexander came to his rescue. "We're not quite there yet."

"That's unfortunate," Titus sighed. "My mom," the word was drenched in as much loftiness as Titus could muster, "sent me to make sure you are sticking to the agreement." He removed a single strand of hair from his forehead and placed it with the others. Somehow Titus had slipped into the most comfortable role, arrogant and rude. He jumped up and walked over to a stack of books near the empty fireplace. His shoes thumped across the floor.