Timestopper

"Huh. What's the point in stopping a clock?"

"D--"

"Like, it's not a stopwatch. All you're doing is making it lose track of the time."

"D--"

"Maybe it's supposed to--"

"Dion!"

"Wha--" The word died on his lips as Sean turned Dion's face toward the door. Zach was there, naked and immobile.

"Zach?" Dion immediately got out of the bed, his hangover forgotten as he walked worried to his boyfriend.

Sean came right behind, "Whatcha doing bud?"

Zach didn't respond. Not only that, but the way he was standing seemed impossible--like he'd been frozen mid stride. Dion patted Zach's back, and Sean snapped in front of his eyes, but nothing.

"What the fuck's going on, Sean?" Dion asked, panic on the edge of his voice.

"I don't fucking know man," Sean said, echoing Dion's anxiety, "I heard the door open, but when I looked he was already like this."

"What even is this? What did we--" Dion looked at Sean, and then the watch in his hand.

Sean had the same idea. He looked at the watch face, the second hand as frozen as Zach, and then he pressed the button.

Suddenly Zach was moving, but as he realized Sean and Dion were on either side of him he looked like he'd been slapped in the face. His eyes darted between them, and when he saw the watch in Sean's hand Zach jumped at him.

Reflexively Sean clicked the button again, and Zach was floating in the air. Sean walked around him, observing, and swept his leg in the space between Zach's foot and the floor. He was about to say something to Dion, but then he realized Dion was frozen too.

Sean went to the window, and looked out on a sparrow stuck in the sky, and people standing on the sidewalks like mannequins. His eyes returned to the stopped watch, and he couldn't help but grin as he began to realize.

Sean walked back to his frozen friends, his smile fading as he considered the situation. Dion was obviously in a state of shock, his eyes wide and uncomprehending, but Zach, for all the intensity in his lunge, looked absolutely terrified. Sean felt terrible seeing him that way, but a part of him was starting to feel a little scared as well--Zach could do this? What else could he do? What would he do to keep it secret?

And Sean felt these questions because he was already asking these questions of himself. No small part of him wanted to hold the watch tight and walk out the door, make some new life with this new power.

But the sight of Zach and Dion, naked and beautiful like a Grecian frieze, kept Sean in the room. These were his two closest friends. He'd just spent the most incredible night of his life with them. He couldn't walk away, not for anything.

Yet he didn't know what to do. It was all too crazy, and he had no idea where to even start. Sean looked at Dion's baffled face again, and stood behind him as he started time.

Zach fell to his feet, his arms grabbing empty air. Sean put his hand on Dion's shoulder and clicked the watch as Zach turned around.

"Bah!" Dion yelled as he felt somebody touch him, then jumped away as he realized it was Sean, "How the fuck--you just--you just disappeared and--" Dion backed into Zach, and jumped again seeing him frozen.

"D, just relax."

"Relax? Are you nuts? What the fuck's going on, Sean?"

Sean held up the watch, "This thing, it--I'm pretty sure it stops time."

"What?" Dion heard the words but he couldn't actually comprehend them. Sean walked to the window and gestured for Dion to join him.

"Look."

As Dion took in the frozen world his jaw dropped.

Sean spoke, "I just did it again when Zach came at me. You were frozen too. I figured we both could do it last time cause we were touching, so, yeah...here we are."

Sean saw the wheels turn in Dion's mind as he calmed down and considered their predicament. Without a word he abruptly left the window and returned to Zach.

Dion hugged his chest and stared at his frozen boyfriend, almost like he was contemplating a sculpture in a museum. Sean broke the long silence, "It kinda makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, it's crazy and unreal, but so is Zach. Like, no wonder he knows so much. And I've never seen him reading or writing essays or anything even though he's top of the class. Mike even used to give him shit for never sleeping."

"He slept with me," Dion said quietly, never looking away from Zach. Sean realized his eyes were filling with tears, "That very first night...he disappeared. I'd figured I'd dreamt it, just slept through him leaving the bed. But one second he was there, and the next he wasn't."

Dion turned to Sean, extending his hand, "Can I see it?"

For a moment Sean hesitated, but seeing the pain on Dion's face he couldn't bring himself to refuse. So he handed Dion the watch.

"You know...for awhile I thought his secret was you," Dion said as his fingers explored the watch, "Either that you guys were already messing around, or just that he wanted to be with you, not me."

"D--"

"I knew it wasn't the first one after you and me talked," Dion barreled on, "And I knew it wasn't the second one after him and I talked. But he couldn't tell me what it was. I figured--I don't know what I figured. Maybe he was sick or something bad had happened to him. Maybe he'd done something really terrible. Honestly I didn't care what it was, all I cared about was him. But this..."

Dion was drawn into the infinite engravings as he contemplated the watch. Sean said nervously, "What're we gonna do, D?"

For a moment Sean thought he saw Dion's thumb brush against the watch button, but then Dion finally tore his eyes off it to look at Sean and then back at Zach. "What're we gonna do? I mean just look at him, Sean. He's scared to death. We gotta talk to him."

Sean sighed, relieved, "Agreed. But I don't think we can just restart time. He's obviously trying to get the watch back, and you've seen what he can do with it. I mean all those tricks might actually be magic right?"

"Yeah, good point," Dion said, scratching his chin as he considered, "Alright. I got some ideas."

Zach could seemingly make the watch appear in his hand, so they taped his hands tight together leaving no room for it. He had tried to tackle Sean so they wanted a place where they could talk to him at a distance, but still have privacy. Dion knew of a clearing in the woods nearby, so they would bring Zach there. They had no idea what Zach may be capable of, but they figured these precautions were better than nothing.

They dressed themselves and Zach, able to move his limbs about like he was some life size and weightless doll. They planned to take turns carrying him to the field, but to their surprise they seemed to spend no energy moving through the timeless world, so Dion held Zach until he set him down on his knees in the grass.

As Dion stared grimly down at Zach Sean said lightly, "You know, putting aside all the magic shit, he does look pretty sexy tied up."

The levity cracked Dion's frown and he and Sean laughed.

"You're not wrong," Dion said, taking the watch from his pocket and swinging its chain, "Ready when you are."

They backed away from Zach, and when Sean nodded Dion started time.

----

"I think we're ready for that chat, Zach."

Zach knelt speechless, his shock swiftly giving way to panic. His eyes darted between Sean and Dion, his hands straining against the bonds that held them. He started hyperventilating, feeling as if he were about to faint.

Throwing aside caution as he saw his friend's distress, Sean knelt next to Zach, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Just calm down bud. Slow, deep breaths. Relax. We just want to talk."

Haltingly, Zach got his breath under control, although he kept shaking. Tears came to Zach's eyes as he looked at Dion, still holding the watch a dozen yards away. Finally, his voice cracking, Zach sputtered, "Dion...please. If I could just-just hold it for a second, I can--we could--please, just let me have it back."

When Dion didn't immediately respond Zach became even more afraid as he looked at Sean's hand on his shoulder, "Or--or at least--we won't say anything. I swear. Just don't--it'll be like you never knew us, we won't do anything, but please, please just, or for Sean at least, don't-don't hurt him."

Dion looked like Zach had slapped him, "You think I would hurt you? Or Sean? What's the matter with you? Who do you think I am, Zach?"

Tears were rolling down Zach's cheeks, "I don't know. Not with the watch. It's...we're out here and you could...when Dave...Dion, please, I love you." And with that Zach's head fell as his whole body was wracked by sobs.

Dion dropped the watch in the grass and ran to Zach. Falling on his knees and gripping Zach's arms tightly Dion shook him, "Zach, look at me. Right now."

But Zach couldn't, so Dion grabbed him by the chin and pushed Zach's face up to his, "I would never, ever hurt you. I'd smash that watch to fucking pieces before I'd do that, I'd fucking die first. I love you down to my bones, Zach." Dion's voice was shaking now, and tears filled his eyes too. "But I'm so fucking confused. Please, help me understand."

Zach's lip trembled as he met Dion's gaze, "D--I-I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." And Zach pressed his face into Dion's shoulder and cried as Dion hugged and held him, occasionally whispering, "it's ok" and "it'll be alright."

Eventually, all his panic and fear and guilt wrung out of him with his tears, Zach finally returned to some semblance of normalcy. Zach raised his head from Dion's shoulder and saw Sean pick up the watch where Dion had left it.

"Wait...you let it go?" Zach asked Dion, and then he remembered that Sean had actually been the one with the watch in Dion's room, "And how did...Sean didn't you have it?"

"I gave it to D when we were trying to figure out what to do," Sean said as he slipped the watch into his pocket and returned to them.

"And I just dropped it. No offense, Zach, but we were a little worried you may try to fight us for it," Dion said, smiling slightly and rubbing Zach's arm, "Why we came out here and taped you up. Didn't seem like you wanted to talk back in the room."

Zach wouldn't have believed anyone would just hand the watch over to anyone else, but seeing that they just had he tried to reconsider his preconceptions. "I--I'll tell you guys everything. But it's a long story. Could I have my hands back please? It's really uncomfortable being tied up like this."

"That depends," Dion said, "Do you promise not to try to grab the watch?"

Zach nodded, "Promise."

Sean clicked the watch, and Zach's hands were on fire and free as all the duct tape suddenly disappeared. Sean came around crushing the tape into a ball as Zach rubbed his hands.

"Sorry we used so much," Sean said, "We kinda thought, with all those tricks you do, maybe you had some magic to like make it appear in your hand."

"Well, that was smart," Zach said, "Cause I did. At least until you guys got it. I tried to grab it while I was in the bathroom, but I guess it doesn't work while somebody else is holding it."

Dion and Sean were quietly stunned at the casual way Zach revealed more magic.

"Start at the beginning, Zach," Dion said, "How'd you get it?"

Zach ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face as he took a deep breath. Then he began, "It was the first weekend of the semester. I hadn't made any friends yet, and I was bored so I went to the mall by myself. I found this store. Zano's or--no, Vano's. Vano's Wonderful Trinkets, or something like that..."

----

"Hold on a sec, rewind," Sean said, he and Dion leaning towards Zach as they sat together in the grass, like little kids engrossed in a story time, "You seriously had a micro penis?"

"And now you have fucking genie cum?" Dion added.

Zach laughed, feeling immensely relieved as he finally shared the unbelievable details of his first days with the watch, "Like smaller than my thumb. And I don't know if Vano's a genie, but I'm sure he's not a normal person."

"So, I wasn't actually your first then," Dion said, a little crestfallen. Zach reached for Dion's hand, squeezing it and then kissing it.

"Trippy hash sex with a magic shopkeeper doesn't count. I've always thought you were my real first. Vano's was...it was like a dream."

Dion smiled at him, then gently asked, "Before, when you were really scared, you said something about Dave. Does he know about the watch? Did something happen between you two?"

Zach took a deep breath, some of the fear creeping back. He'd hoped he may be able to keep the time travel secret, but in his panic he'd let it out of the bag. So he told them about how he'd shown the watch to Dave, how Dave seemed to become a different person and tried to steal the watch, he told them about their battle and how Zach had discovered the watch's power to turn back time.

"Jesus," Sean whispered, then he looked angry at himself, "And all cause I was being a closeted fucking asshole."

"That's not fair, Sean," Zach said, "You were just surprised. And we made up for it quick."

"But Zach, I mean, no wonder you were so scared when we found out. If that's how the only other person you've told reacted," Dion said, rubbing Zach's knee. Then he looked a little ashamed, "Honestly, though...when Sean gave me the watch, for a second I did think about taking it. Like, it was almost a compulsion. But then Sean talked to me and I looked at you and I just knew I couldn't do it."

"It was the same for me," Sean said, "But...time travel? Seriously?"

"Well, reversing time anyway," Zach said, "And it's pretty limited. Like if I reversed time a half hour I can't go back any further than that again. And the farthest back it can go at all is 12 hours."

"Still, that's fucking incredible."

"But I feel like we're barely scratching the surface here," Dion interrupted, "Like, you have an infinite amount of time, you can basically teleport, and you've got a Groundhog Day on demand. What've you been doing with all that? "

Zach bit his lip, knowing what he had to do but worried again, "It'd be easier to show you." He stood up and extended one hand to Dion and the other to Sean. When they were all holding hands Zach said, "Put us in watch world, Sean."

Sean laughed, "Catchy name," then he took the watch from his pocket and stopped time. Dion and Sean were still stunned by the sudden quiet that fell all around them, but Zach took it in as if it were nothing.

Zach let go of their hands, "Follow me." And then Zach was sprinting away. Surprised, Dion and Sean quickly raced to catch up with him, thrilled at the realization of how effortless it was to run through watch world.

"Is it always this easy?" Sean asked, speaking in a totally normal voice even as they ran as fast as they could.

"Yep," Zach answered, "Technically you don't even have to breathe, but I try not to do that after one time I forgot and nearly passed out when I restarted time."

Zach brought them back to town, then to the main highway, and out past the farms and hills and forests to his small, secluded ranch house. Zach opened the door and beckoned them inside.

For a moment Dion and Sean were worried as Zach shut and locked the door behind them, putting them in total darkness.

"Start us back up, Sean," Zach said, and but for the soft click of the watch they wouldn't have known they were back in time.

"This is my HQ," Zach flipped a switch, lights and music turning on all across the house. Dion and Sean were speechless as they immediately began exploring Zach's bachelor pad, quickly turning to boys in a toy store as they discovered all his cool shit.

"Dude, you must be loaded," Sean said as he admired Zach's Lego collection.

"Just broke 9 figures a couple days ago," Zach said, then he laughed. "Ya know, I was actually planning to tell you guys about that today."

Sean plopped into Zach's gaming chair when Dion, setting down a large bong, realized the walls were covered in photos. A lot of them Dion recognized from insta or their group chats, pictures of the theater kids, pledges and frat brothers, Zach's family, and tons of Zach's closest friends, Sara and Jake and Chris and Sean, and even more of Dion himself. Some of the pics Dion had taken, like a selfie of him and Zach Dion had as his phone wallpaper. But others he couldn't imagine when Zach took them. Candid photos of Dion in bed, or on the theater set, there was even a shot of him and Chris singing that night at the cabin, and Dion knew Zach hadn't been taking any pictures. Well, at least in real time apparently.

They didn't notice Zach was gone before he came back with 3 bottles of Gatorade. Sean took his and immediately started chugging, but Dion caught Zach's eye and gestured to the pictures, "I bet there's no better way to get a good shot than pausing time, huh?"

Zach blushed, "It's like...another way of freezing a moment, you know? Just this way I can keep a piece of it."

"I guess that makes sense," Dion smiled, excited at the new dimensions Zach kept revealing about himself.

But Zach was growing more nervous. He had some things to confess. Zach led the guys to his office. Zach gripped the back of his desk chair and chose his words as carefully as he could.

"You know...it's hard to keep track of time when you stop it. Early on I tried to come up with, like, markers, right? How many words I can read an hour, how many songs I listened to, things like that. But at a certain point I gave up. It's just too easy to get lost in it. I once read a Spanish dictionary front to back by accident. I may've spent a month doing nothing but practice drawing a hand. And sometimes...sometimes I'll just jerk off for basically a whole day, or at least till I fall asleep, wake up and do it again. Over and over and over."

"Putting that magic dick to good use, I guess. I'm a little surprised you haven't just spent an eternity jerking off," Sean grinned, but Zach was being very serious.

"That's kinda what I'm trying to say, Sean. I literally might have. Like, I have no idea how long I've spent in watch world. I'm almost sure it's been years. Honestly, it could be decades."

That shocked them both, but Dion quickly spoke up, "How sure can you be? Like I'm not trying to doubt how long you feel it's been, Zach, but...I know you. And no offense, but you're not thinking or acting like a guy with that much more experience than me, or Sean and guys our age. Sure, you know lots of shit and can do lots of things, but there's no way you've got some middle aged brain in you."

"That's not--" Zach stopped himself, massaging his forehead as he tried to put the thoughts to words, "Like, no matter how long I pause time, when I start it back up I'm back in that moment like no time's passed. You don't age in watch world, you just...can do more. And I think--I know I've done some good things, but I've also done some things...I'm really not proud of."

Zach turned the desk chair around and gestured to his computer, "I call this my command center. It's where I keep track of things, and plan out my days. You guys wanted to know what I do with the watch: basically all the answers are here. I figured you could each take however long you need to look through it in watch world, then I'll answer your questions."

"I call first," Dion grinned, holding out his hand for Sean to hand him the watch. He took it and clicked the button, then he was in the desk chair his eyes wide and hand on his forehead. He pulled himself slowly out of the chair, as if he hadn't moved for days.

"You've been busy," Dion said, the playfulness that had just been in his voice gone, but Zach couldn't tell if Dion was upset with him or just overwhelmed. Zach blushed fiercely and felt ready to cry again.

"How do you mean?" Sean asked, surprised at the abrupt change in Dion's demeanor.

"See for yourself," Dion said, handing Sean the watch. Sean clicked the button, then disappeared.