hey, guys! I bet you all have been in your toes since last week, hehe. Well, you're lucky- today, I will drop a better (probs more obvious than last chapter's) hint at the original of this watch. So grab a bowl of popcorn, and enjoy!
"LOOK OUT, MATES!" Ezekiel slid down the banister, whooping all the way.
Cassandra squeaked in surprise and lept back as the thief slid by. "What are you-"
"HAVIN' FUN!" He cheered.
Cassandra giggled as she watched him slide down the stairs. "You're going to hurt someone."
"DOES IT MATTER?"
"YES!" She leaned over the railing and called down to him as he landed successfully on the ground.
He looked up with a tilted grin. "WHY DON'T YOU TRY IT, CASSIE?"
She paused and looked back down at the railing in hesitation. "Um..."
He began walking back up the stairs and stood next to her. "It's not that high," he said as he glanced down at the floor.
Cassandra peered back down at the ground and gulped. "You sure? Jake says everything's higher than it looks."
"Cassie," Ezekiel tisked and shook his head. "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. I know better 'n Jake about how high something is, and you know the whole physics thing-y about sliding." He leaned against the banister with a small grin. "It'll be okay." He offered a hand.
Cassandra stared down at the ground and began musing. As she did, she could smell pancakes and see color and hear windchimes all around her. "The physics state gravity-"
"Will catch you if we fall." Ezekiel grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug as they slid down, as he whooped cheerfully.
Cassandra felt her heart to a little tap- dance in her throat as she looked up at him and hugged her arms around his waist.
He was so... daring and bold... and kinda cute...
Her cheeks reddened as they landed on the ground.
He set her steadily on the ground, letting go of her shoulders with a grin. "Wasn't so bad, was it?" He patted her back, then walked towards the main center of the room, surrounded by bookshelves everywhere.
Cassandra swayed lightly on her toes, humming a little.
Eve walked down the stairs, slowing down on the last four steps when she saw Cassandra. "Um, Cassie?"
"Mm?" The mathematician blinked with a grin, still in her own little happy world.
Eve drew in a deep breath, then shook her head with a chuckle and walked by Cassandra.
...
Jake was staring down at the page, studying it with a furrowed brow.
This girl... He could have sworn...
"Oh!" Jake nearly tripped on the sidewalk, almost spilling his coffee everywhere.
A young woman gasped and stepped back, barely avoiding getting her blue sweater soaked in the delicious, hot beverage.
He winced as he stood. "S- sorry, ma'am, I-" he looked at her and stopped.
The young woman looked from the mess back to him and pulled deep brown hair from her eyes- her beautiful, soft, big brown eyes. She pursed her pink lips into a slight smile of amusement as he stared. He wasn't even aware she said anything, aside from her lips moving.
"Mm?" His eyebrows raised a hint.
She put a hand on her hip, lips pursing. "It's alright. Really."
All he could do was swallow hard.
She turned from him when her phone started to ring. "Oh, 'scuse me." She answered as she walked away. "Hullo? No, Danny..."
Jake only stared after her, empty coffee cup in hand.
She turned and looked back at him and gave a tiny smile.
Jake sat up, eyes wide.
The girl he almost spilled coffee on in London...
He stared at the portrait, aghast.
It was her. He swore it.
He had seen her eyes, her lips, even the shade of hair all in real life.
What he didn't notice was Jenkins hovering behind him, studying the portrait over the art historian's arm.
Jenkins finally spoke. "Gibson girls making you daydream, Mister Stone?"
Jake lept in his chair, nearly standing. "Gyaa- oh." He relaxed and sat back down. "I- it's just you, Jenkins."
The old man raised a brow. "Who were you thinking it was? Johnny Depp?"
"Cassandra would be giggling like mad," Jake mumbled.
"Good point." Jenkins attempted to catch a glimpse of the portrait, despite Jake trying to move in front of him. "Mister Stone, ple-"
"What're ya doing?" Jake acted innocent.
"Stop moving."
"I'm not moving, you're moving."
"This is like looking into a mirror, and you're my reflection."
"What if this is a mirror?"
"Mister Stone, I've already discovered how to beat my own image."
"How?"
Jenkins moved to his left a little, then spun to the right and scooped up the book quicker than Jake would have expected to. "Trick it like you would people. After all, your reflection can sometimes be Bloody Mary taking your image." Jenkins sat down and looked at the page. After a while, he pulled back and rubbed his eyes and mumbled something that Jake couldn't make out.
"Huh?"
"Oh." Jenkins shrugged. "I was just saying that she was a very beautiful woman."
"Yeah, she is." Jake nodded a little.
Jenkins drew in a deep breath and took off his glasses. "Well," he said after a pause, "now, let's get everyone else and I will tell you the origins of-" he held up the watch.
Ezekiel dove for it silently from a shelf.
Jenkins moved the watch and himself aside, and Ezekiel tumbled into the chair. He sat up with, "Ow- mate!"
Jenkins gave a shrug. "I'd give you a lecture on not stealing things, but actions are more helpful than words."
"I thought it was 'actions speak louder than words'."
"Same deal."
Ezekiel stood and straightened his hoodie as Eve walked over with Cassandra. "M'kay, Jenkins. Show us."
Jenkins looked at each of them (especially Ezekiel). "No. Touching."
"I won't," Ezekiel mumbled and stuck his hands back in his hoodie pockets.
The old man set the watch in the middle of the table as everyone else leaned over the table to look at it.
Ezekiel scoffed. "So? It's a shiny pocketwatch with... fancy- schmancy swirly doos."
Jenkins held up a hand, stopping the thief. "Do not judge the size of any given object, Mister Jones." He reached out and pressed the button on the side and opened the watch, which left Cassandra gaping, Eve awestruck with wide eyes, Jake stuttering with an explanation but all that came out was a small "Wow...", and Ezekiel standing face- to- face two centimeters at the inside.
Jenkins was right. The inside of the watch wasn't a face with numbers or Roman numerals- it was all gears... ticking gears, arranged in a strange pattern that seemed to make the four dizzy when they stared into its center.
Cassandra, mesmerized, mumbled, "It seems to go on and on."
Jenkins nodded and took the watch back and closed it, freeing the four from their little trance. "It takes a while to get used to," he said. "Maybe it'll grow on you."
Eve, Jake, and Cassandra all turned to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel frowned. "What?"
"..."
"...okay, so, maybe it wasn't a strangely- decorated watch."
Jenkins waved a hand, and the chairs moved back. "Take a seat. You'll need that, too."
As soon as they sat down, their eyes- Jake's light blue eyes; Cassandra's big, teal ones; the soft grey eyes if Eve; the almond- color and shaped- of Ezekiel's- trailed from the watch and to Jenkins, clearly open for an explanation.
The older man cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table. "Miss Baird, Miss Cillian, Mister Stone, and Mister Jones," he looked at and studied each of them as he said their names and saw that they all were leaning forward with anticipation and eagerness and wonder and curiosity before he continued. "This was a gift from a friend of mine, who mended the lives of many- not just from this world and time. He even helped me find some of these artifacts over many years as they passed, along with the aid of his most trusted friends. Without him, the Annex would not be able to house all of the magic this world has. He is known as a hero."
Ezekiel drummed his fingers on the table. "So... like a doctor?"
Jenkins frowned at him. "Let me finish."
Ezekiel and Jacob exchanged shrugs and glances before returning their attention back to Jenkins.
"He was the doctor," Jenkins finished.
Ezekiel motioned a hand towards the old man. "Told ya."
"No," Jenkins shock his head and leaned forward again and said without a pause, "The Doctor.
There was a pause. Finally, Cassandra spoke:
"Doctor... Who?"
