Unrequited (Prequel to IMPOSSIBLE and INFAMOUS)

Part Four: When She Fed Him Spiced Bread

Four knocks echoed through Time's office, and he couldn't keep a smile from tugging at his lips. He quickly smothered it, though, as a door opened and Alice came barging in with several loaves of bread piled in her arms along with a folded blanket.

"Honey, I'm home," she sang out, giving him a teasing grin.

Despite her mocking tone, Time's heart leapt in his chest, and he averted his eyes as he cleared his throat. "What's all this?" he asked, casually waving a hand at the bread.

"Dinner!"

Alice took several more steps towards him and dropped the loaves on the floor. Time raised an eyebrow as he nudged one with his foot. "Dinner?"

"Dinner, supper, lupper, whatever you want to call it. I think it was close to dinner time when I left, but I'm not sure how that works here."

"It doesn't."

Alice made a face. "What do you mean it doesn't?"

Bending down to pick up one of the loaves, Time sniffed at it and was overwhelmed by the mixture of spices that assaulted his senses. "Just that. There is no dinner here. Or lunch or breakfast. Not even tea time."

"You have got to be kidding," Alice said as she shook the blanket out and laid it on the floor.

"Do I seem like the kidding type?"

"Is it just that there's no appointed time for meals?"

Time shook his head. "No, it's just that I don't eat."

Alice's mouth fell open at this, and she plopped down on the blanket and stared up at him. "The rules don't let you eat?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, they—"

"What's with these rules?"

"I told you before, they—"

"I know, I know, they were ingrained in your head since you can remember. But who makes them?"

"The powers that be."

"And who are they?"

"I have no idea."

"You have no idea? So they could be anyone? They could be feeble old men or wicked queens or lazy fat mice?"

His mouth twitched. "Lazy fat mice?"

"All I'm saying is, these rules from unknown 'powers that be,'" she wiggled her fingers mysteriously as she said the phrase, "seem a little ridiculous. Seriously, a rule that you can't eat?"

Sighing, Time awkwardly sat across from her on the blanket, trying to do so in a dignified manner but failing miserably. "There's no rule that says I can't eat. I just don't need to."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am not like you. I don't age, I don't sleep, and I don't need to eat in order to stay alive."

She scrunched up her face in disgust. "That sounds terrible."

He shrugged. "I have no memory of a life before this, so I really don't feel like I'm missing out on anything."

"Well, trust me, you are."

"Thank you, that's very comforting."

Grinning devilishly, Alice picked up a loaf. "How bout you break the rules? Just this once?" she said, waving the bread under his nose.

His eyes followed the movement of the loaf. "Like I tried to tell you, there's no rule saying I can't eat. I just don't need to."

"There are plenty of times I don't need to eat, either. But when someone shows up with five loaves of spiced bread, trust me, I'll eat." She broke off a piece and held it out to him. "Come on. You know you want to."