A Timely Knight

A Kiss Before Dawn

Eldon hit the ground, narrowly avoiding crashing his head against a mountain of scrap metal. His back stung with the sharp pain caused by Tim's punches, but he'd be damned before letting Tim see him sweat.

He quickly stood up and jumped to the side, grabbing a chain and swinging around the space, landing behind the silver-haired attacker. He ducked and hit Tim on the legs, making him stumble. A window opened and he took it, launching himself at once, but Tim was ready for him. They kicked each other at the same time, legs crashing as a tidal of pain covered Eldon's shin.

They were both fighting considerably harder tonight. It was understandable, Eldon thought as he dived away from Tim's fist. After everything they had learnt from Don Osgood, the two of them had a lot on their minds. They had hardly spoken in the two days since their trip; they hadn't had the chance, actually. He went straight to the library to try to understand more about the concept of time, while Tim hid himself inside the already finished blimp.

Eldon had been quite surprised when, a couple of hours ago, Tim approached him and asked him to go train in the factory near the Marquise's manor. The ride there had been quiet, and as soon as they entered the place, they began their fight. They threw themselves at it, no words said, no questions asked. They both needed to let off some steam. What better way to do it?

Eldon's kick landed on Tim's stomach, making him crash against the rusty bannister. For a moment, it seemed that would be the end of it. Then, the feeble metal cracked under the weight and the bannister collapsed, sending Tim to the ground below. Eldon felt his heart shrinking as he climbed down the stairs, two at a time. He ran to the place where Tim laid, buried under a pile of corroded iron, and knelt beside him, checking for wounds.

"I'm fine," Tim said as he stood up. "More annoyed than anything. How did you sneak up on me like that?

Eldon smiled coyly. "Your mind wasn't on the fight, probably."

"No, it wasn't." Tim walked towards the large window wall in front of them and sat in front of it. The moonlight was starting to dim, as the sun began to make its way on the horizon. Under that pale light, the grey and dull city of Ravenport looked more beautiful than ever. "I'm not handling this whole thing very well, Emmu. How are you doing?"

"To be honest, I don't know," he said as he sat next to Tim. "I have never felt out of place here. In Makina, I mean. I've never felt like I don't belong or anything. As a matter of fact, I've always been grateful to live in the age of machines. Time was something that never even crossed my mind, even though I was crossing it myself. Then all of this happened and my tolerance for weird went from nonexistent to absurdly high. Being an orphan also helped. No attachments."

"Are you, though?" The question had crossed Eldon's mind but hearing Tim asking it out loud made it extremely real. "I mean, our lives in..." he stopped talking, as if the words that were coming still felt strange in his mouth, "...this time were clearly fabricated. Your parents, your real parents stayed behind and so did mine."

Eldon meditated for a moment before answering. "Well, I guess there is no point in torturing myself with the thought. Whoever they were, they chose to send me here. They must've had their reasons. And of course I'd like to know them, but I'm not going to drive myself to bitterness trying to guess them, not when there's so much shit going on." He turned to face the moon, juggling all the questions and ideas in his head, attempting to put them down. "How about you?"

"Well," Tim said as he laid on the ground, "I don't really know how to feel. You know I never had the best relationship with my father, but I did love him. Yet I always had the feeling that he didn't love me and I never really knew why. Now, I have a reason. But if he wasn't going to love me, why did he accept me? Why didn't he deny the offer? Did Don Osgood force him? Or did he genuinely want a child and I just didn't meet his expectations?" He sighed deeply and closed his eyes as Eldon laid next to him. "I guess I'm having trouble accepting that I'll never get the chance to answer those questions. He's gone. Maybe it's for the best."