𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

10│LOOKING FOR A RUBY IN A MOUNTAIN OF ROCKS

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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴀ
ʀᴜʙʏ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴ ᴏғ ʀᴏᴄᴋs꒱


❝ THERE'S ONLY ONE GIRL
THAT I'LL EVER LOVE / [. . .] /
I KNOW I'LL NEVER GET HER
OUT OF MY HEART ❞

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[ timeline 032 ]

Mannequin.

✧ ✧ ✧

[ timeline 434 ]

Mannequin.

✧ ✧ ✧

[ timeline 201 ]

Mannequin.

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[ timeline 116 ]

While they couldn't search every timeline— some they left immediately in fear of being shot or stabbed— the ones where they were able to go to Gimbel's Brothers, the store was nearly the same in all of them. He always located the dark-skinned employee, Brittany, who had the same bad attitude every time. He tapped on her shoulder and announced: "I need to speak to Edward Gimbel. Immediately."

Brittany glanced over at him, scanned over him once, and arched a brow. "Aren't you a little young to be a Karen?"

He'd learned that this was now some kind of insult; Lila had laughed her ass off the first time she'd overheard, then explained its meaning. He ignored the jab, having more pressing matters at hand, and pinned her with one of his trademark glares. It would've made any normal person quail under the look, but the employee merely appeared nonplussed in return. He repeated sharply, "I need to talk to him. Is—he—here?"

The young woman sighed as if the task required far more effort than she was willing to put out. She roughly slammed the hanger down on the rack with a metal clang!, irritated by both the boy's tone and at her chore being interrupted. "Wait here."

It took some time in which Five paced the aisle irately. Lila scanned the shelves, occasionally pocketing a useful tool or item surreptitiously. He didn't have the energy to scold her for stealing from his wife's family's store. Finally, Brittany returned with a blond-haired man behind her. Five's heart gave a painful squeeze at the sight of Edward's very familiar blue eyes. While it had been different in every timeline so far— sometimes Edward was alive and his brother wasn't, sometimes Gimbel's was owned by a completely different family, very rarely were both of them alive— their appearance stayed constant.

The blond smiled genially at him— a customer service smile, one that spoke of no immediate recognition. "Hello. Brittany here told me you wanted to speak to one of the owners?"

Owners. Plural. He told himself that meant nothing. They'd been alive, together, but his wife hadn't been. It usually turned out that Edmund never had children. In those timelines, he'd never even gotten to asking; he could see Dolores' blue eyes worn by one of the mannequins that stood in the middle of the main isle. He hadn't seen that particular mannequin in this timeline, but he reminded himself not to jump to conclusions.

"Yes. I'm looking for someone. Her name is D-Dolores." His voice caught on her name as it always did.

The man's expression softened, tinged with sadness. "You knew Dolores?"