Timekeepers

Abrupt Variation

    "William damn Washington!" Ryan vociferated as he practically threw himself onto the tall blond man. A majestic, tumbling laugh escaped from William as he held onto Ryan's shoulder with one hand, dropping a heavy leather and canvas suitcase from the other. One would have quickly accused them of "doing the bear" if they had seen the affection they both seemed to have for each other. Ryan immediately had let go, rushing to the desk which still had the tea tray rested on top.
    "Come! I'll bring the tea upstairs, and I'll make snacks," he insisted, already to the steps of the stairs. However, he froze when he heard a soft sigh from William.
    "Ryan, I really would enjoy it, but I must be leaving. I am to find a hostelry to spend the night," he spoke regretfully, seeming to wish to stay genuinely.
    However, this did not bother Ryan, who responded with a simple, "And so?" He then began again with a shrug. "You can spend the night, just like old times, and we can behave like whooperups once again!" A little grin spread over William's face as he thought about it, before bending over to pick up his suitcase with a light-hearted sigh.
    "Alright! So be it! You got me," he declared as he travelled up the stairs with the excited boy that was Ryan. Within only four strides, he had reached the second storey to the living quarters. The next few weeks had passed by smoothly, the two gigglemugs visiting the store and getting closer as friends once again. William had brought a new lightness to the shop, one that filled Ryan with pure joy. That night, when Ryan had gotten to his little journal, he wrote of nothing but William. His ink pen swirled and looped as the name scribbled endlessly onto the paper.
    "Oliver, my dear chuckaboo," Ryan recalled in his diary that night. That's what William called me. It was an old nickname he had had for me when we were little. We'd go out to the fields where my father used to work and would sit for hours staring at birds. One day he called one a chuckaboo. I knew he got it wrong but, it stuck. He had turned to me then and laughed, 'You'll be my chuckaboo as well.'" His head tilted back as he took in the happy memories once again. He has always been so caring, hasn't he? Caring, clear-headed and damn bricky.  He didn't finish that entry, falling asleep over his writing. That morning, the duo awoke early. They took their time, visiting and telling the tales of their life during tea.
    During one particularly adventurous tale from William, Ryan remarked, "Goodness, nothing could ever go wrong with you, William!" He must have jinxed it because at once there came a rough couple of knocks on the central door. William and Ryan made eye contact only for a moment, before immediately chasing down the stairs and tanking open the door. In front of them stood a dishevelled man, covered in a maroon stain that looked like blood. Ryan cried out horrified, William quick to jump to the man's side and look for the source of the blood.
    "Sir, oh god! Oh heavens, what's wrong? Whose blood is this? Are you bleeding?" William questioned. The man only pushed him off, crying out to Ryan.
    "The end is nigh!" He cried, exasperatedly. "The time gem was stolen!" He seemed to had been running, perhaps only for Ryan, who had been stuck in his shocked state.
    "Oh, no... It all went wrong," gasped the younger of the pair, Ryan. He and William had shared a worried look and turned to an empty doorway. The man that once stood there seemed to have disappeared, leaving behind only the imprint of a shoe in the cobblestone.