The Clocker Family || Limited Life

Positive Timers

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"Etho I don't know what I can do anymore!" Cleo said on her side of the phone. She was laying in her bed, covered in every blanket and pillow in her house. Etho was in his room, pacing back and forth, the landline phone was about to fall off the dresser it was on from how far he was stretching the cord. "I know, I don't either." Etho said.

Cleo smiled on the other side of the line, "You aren't wearing your masks." Etho looked confused and scrambled to hold it up to his face, "You called me at 5 AM! It's too early!" he said in defense, anytime since they had broken up he had always been wearing a mask when talking to her, even over the phone. He could hear her laughing at his excuse, before she said, "Do the kids get to see your face?" Etho just looked annoyed, "Yes, they do." And then he mumbled, "Sometimes."

"People can see their faces and assume what yours looks like because that's how genetics works." Cleo mentioned, shuffling around in her bed. "Yeah, I know." He sounded annoyed, like he hadn't even ever thought of that. He admitted to himself, Bdubs looked more like him then Bdubs, who took after his mother.

"Scar recommended boosting my time back up, making me alive again." Cleo hesitantly said. Etho thought for a moment before saying, "Your the one who makes the time, I just sell it. You know that." She did know that, but she was scared what it would do to her, "I know that. I'm just scared of what it'll do to me." Etho nodded, it's worth a try. Etho moved his hand, dropping the mask. He never actually put it on, he just held it in front of his mouth.

The mask fell to the floor, and the next was the phone. "Shit!" He said. It fell off the bedside table, pulling the cord out of the wall. Etho looked at his stopwatch, it was 6:30 now, he had been trying to think of solutions with Cleo for the past hour and a half. He didn't love her anymore, he hadn't for years at this point, but he was still close friends with her.

He rushed out of his door to the phone in the kitchen, running into Tango who had just come out of the bathroom. Etho jumped and fell back onto the floor. Tango just laughed at him, he wasn't wearing a shirt, nor was his hair spiked up. He had grabbed his forearm where his timer was. His hair was down, it looked soft and fluffy and went past his shoulders, it was blonde, a harsh contrast to his bright red eyes.

All of the TIES could afford their own houses, they all had good jobs and a good income. But they all liked the company, and they could afford a big enough house for all of them.

"You okay?" He asked pulling Etho up. "Yeah, I just think I broke my phone." Tango looked surprised and smiled at him. "You sure?" Tango asked. Etho nodded. So Tango shrugged and continued down the hallway. Before he turned the corner, Etho was still standing there, "Mask." he said, laughing and practically ran back to his room. Etho put his hand up to his lips to check, not fully believing him, and sure enough he wasn't wearing one. "And you didn't tell me sooner!" He shouted at Tango, sighing.

Etho couldn't hear anybody in the kitchen, and he was wearing a hoodie so if he needed he could just pull it over his face. Etho made his way downstairs and to the phone, and noticed the TV was on. He saw Impulse on the couch with a coffee cup, and Skizz was asleep next to him with a cup of coffee in front of him on the coffee table. "Morning!" Etho said and Impulse turned around and almost immediately turned back around. "Mask" he simply said. Most of them had only seen Etho's once or twice, and honestly he couldn't care right now. He trusted them, maybe it was time to leave it off around them, he wasn't sure.

Etho had different experiences with not wearing his mask, and each of the team TIES members. For Skizz, it was late one night, probably 3 in the morning on a Saturday. Skizz had been drinking, and Etho walked downstairs. Skizz had the light on, carefully cutting the sleeves off each of his jackets at the dining table. Etho couldn't help but laugh, drawing attention to himself. Skizz stared at him, and squinted his eyes, "Who are you?" Etho looked confused before stating his name, "It's Etho. We used to share a dorm in college! You know my face!" Etho then flicked on the stairway light and Skizz said, "Oh" then, "Hey man!"