SorceressofShadows

"A what?" Nolan blushed. "A Christmas tree." "What's that?" Nolan felt very silly. He pointedly ignored Arte's gaze, somehow intense and inquisitive even though her eyes were one undisturbed shade of green, and studied some of the plants in her - their - apartment, as though he was seeking out a suitable example. He kind of was, it could actually help. Searching for the right words didn't sound like a good enough reason to start a conversation and then abort it after one exchange. He heard Arte go back to the kitchen and tend to the pot roast. She was really good at picking up when he needed time and space. Almost as good as Focus. Christmas trees. "They're... evergreens. Pine needle trees," he added for clarification. He felt silly describing them that way. "Well I have a bunch of those!" Arte said cheerily. "I know you can grow them, but they need to be decorated." "How?" And time for another pause. The calendar system worked different here on Adelphi, or

"Westcott, you're late." If Archie had been lightly dozing before, you would never have known it from the way he shot up out of bed. Late?! Shit! He needed to freshen up and get dressed and grab coffee and he was in so much trouble, he- Rationality reasserted itself. He'd gotten off shift, had dinner, showered, gone to bed. And it was... 11:59pm, according to the clock near his bed. He wasn't late for anything, not even the New Year, which he wasn't staying up to celebrate... Well now he was, apparently. The question was, who had such a bad sense of humor? And how had anyone gotten into his room? Archie finally looked over at the voice, and almost had his second heart attack of the minute. He was staring at himself. But this version of himself looked different. He was taller, though not by much, and it wasn't entirely due to a couple of inches he'd seemingly gained. He stood taller. And, he seemed more at ease, in general. Archie studied this foreign version of him