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Greg was in the eye of the storm. It was calm and peaceful. Time was seemingly frozen as Tom brought his lips to Greg’s forehead. Greg’s eyes widened, then softened immediately. When Tom pulled away, his hands were still cradling Greg’s face.
Tom and Greg did not hear it, but Paradox caught a hitch in someone’s breath (That wasn’t his own, nor Tom’s or Greg’s). He turned around in the small mailroom, squinting at the empty spaces to find any slight aberration in the air. Someone else was there. He paused time with his tempad, and removed his invisibility.
He looked back at Tom and Greg, who were still cradling the other’s face. Then looked at the empty space again before asking, “Who are you? Reveal yourself.” But Paradox knew. He knew who they were.
There was awkward shuffling and the clicking of a few switches and buttons before, just a couple feet ahead of him, appeared Aeternus. His tall lanky arms, just like Greg’s, were crossed over themselves, and his shoulders were slightly hunched in a protective stance. Aeternus took tentative steps towards Paradox. They had a wordless conversation. Aeternus was angled down enough to appear the same height as Paradox. He was making himself smaller. He looked at Paradox through his eyelashes and clutched the invisibility contraption tighter. Fuck. Paradox could only stay frozen in place, as the implications of this came to him. Aeternus has been looking through his life. Aeternus was interested enough to look at Greg’s life with Tom. He looked at everything, he must have been there alongside Paradox.
“Um— Paradox, I—”
“Save it, A-Aeternus.” He cursed at himself, his voice was still shaky from shock. “I’ll just say what we’re both thinking, hm?” Aeternus nodded, a bit too eagerly than he wanted, probably. “You’ve been here. I’ve been here. The both of us have been looking at our lives on the timeline for quite a while now haven’t we?” He chuckled a little, without mirth. “And we both find ourselves here. And probably, in every moment between the two of them.” He motioned to the two dopplegangers to the left of them, “Tom and Greg.” Paradox breathed, a bit too deeply.
Aeternus’ previously fearful expression morphed into one which was slightly joyous. Aeternus was almost smiling, with a careful manner, as if still uncertain about Paradox’s intention. Like an animal slowly coming out of its shelter when the danger has passed.
“—What do you think?” Aeternus said. It was so abrupt that Paradox almost staggered backwards.
He narrowed his eyes, “What do I think?” he echoed.
“Yeah, man, about this, about — um — them, about… us?” Aeternus was standing at his full height, towering over him, but he had his hands placed in front of him as if calming a distressed horse. Paradox’s mouth was dry.
“I…” Well, he didn’t know, did he? For the past week he had been obsessively watching scenes from his life — a life he could have had, if not for the TVA — and he found that he liked it. He craved it. What he has felt was missing for centuries (Or longer, he didn’t even know.) at the TVA, was here. Tom had it with Greg. He felt as if it was destined. Him and Aeternus. It felt, and Paradox cringed, meant to be. It had to happen, this was meant to happen. His chest was pulling him towards it, his heart fluttering like a teenager in love. His unwelcome desire to tease Aeternus, which he ignored, stemmed from this. His life before ending up here.
And suddenly, Paradox thought, with a pang, if the Greg from his timeline missed him. If he noticed, as his timeline was destroyed to nothing, after he, his Tom, was taken to the TVA. His gaze had drifted to the floor in the meantime. He brought a finger to his eyes, and wiped at the bulbs of tears that were catching at the rim of his eyelids. How would he navigate this conversation? How would they navigate this?
But he attempted, “You know,”—he sniffled—“I’ve always felt like I’ve known you, Aeternus.”
“Me too.” Aeternus took a breath, as if he was gearing up to speak. “I’ve seen you, Paradox. I don’t know, there was just— something familiar. And when everything happened, with Loki, the tree, and uh, the truth. I wanted to see. I kind of needed, like, to see.” Aeternus dropped it there. He pushed his hair that came over his eyes behind his ears.
“I did too.” Was all Paradox could say.
“So, like, do you want to do this?” Aeternus glanced at Tom and Greg in the background. “We can, if you want. I don’t really know what you want, though. And, while I do feel like I know you? At the same time I don’t, really, I think.” Aeternus rambled. A familiar ramble, Paradox noted.
“I would take the time to get to know you, Aeternus. If you’ll let me.” Paradox backtracked, “and this ‘you’, not Greg, or whoever. Just you.” He wrung his hands out in front of him. He still didn’t dare to move closer. At last Aeternus smiled, a goofy, genuine smile.
“I’d like that, Paradox.”
He couldn’t help but smile back at him, warming as Aeternus tucked his hair behind his ear. A click, and time resumed. A rising panic bubbled in Paradox’s stomach. They were exposed, they were out in the open. At any second Tom and Greg would turn and see them— But the two were still entranced in each other’s gaze, and before Tom could turn around to walk out of the room Paradox heard another ‘click’, and Tom walked past him without giving a single glance. Aeternus was again, nowhere to be found.
Greg was pulling the desk up as he felt a hand reach for his, and suddenly he was back at the TVA. He looked to his side. Aeternus stood there holding his tempad in his free hand, and Paradox’s own in his other.
Aeternus held his hand as they walked through the halls. He wasn’t looking at him, in fact, he was looking anywhere but him as he led Paradox through the halls and towards the chambers area. However, clearly, there was a soft smile on his face. Paradox gleefully squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back.