The grandfather clock in the corner of their flat didn’t just tick; it groaned—a sound of grinding tectonic plates and splintering oak that signalled a catastrophic temporal misalignment. It was the sound of history fraying at the edges, the chime vibrating through the floorboards like a warning tremor.
In the living room, Leo and Sam were curled on the sofa, a tangle of limbs and soft warmth. Leo had a book resting on his chest, and Sam’s hand was lazily tracing the pattern of the fabric o