Work Text:
Angelo did not experience ‘time’ like most people. Everything he touched, every object or person imprinted on his mind, had its own timer, its own concept of life and death. Except Angelo. He could recognize it in others, but he’d long since lost track of the part of his mind that was truly his.
For a long time, he ignored the concept.
But then he helped Jarod escape, re-encountered Ms. Parker, met Sydney and Broots…he gained friends. And his friends cared about their ticking clocks.
Sydney bore his gracefully, with the full weight of his maturity and the knowledge that all things grow and die. Considering the secrets and lies his life was built upon, he might not even mind too much when the time came. His greatest joy had been watching Jarod, the son he’d never had, grow from a boy into a man and he anticipated watching that man become a better person and hopefully bring down the Centre.
Jarod constantly ran from his clock, or perhaps he ran towards it? He wanted everything to happen now and despaired that another minute, month, or year was lost in his search for answers and justice. In some ways, he was much younger than he appeared.
Ms. Parker was surprisingly similar to Jarod. She felt the clock like the weight of eyes on the back of her head, or a monkey on her back, ticking down the time she was forced to remain in the Centre. However, unlike Jarod who rarely paid any thought to what would happen once he accomplished his goals, she only thought about what she would do when she was free and every tick of her clock was pulling her from the life she wanted to lead.
Broots was, surprisingly, closest to Sydney. The ticking of his clock had long since ceased to bother him; he did not care that he was aging or what the future might bring (in the long-term. In the short term, the Centre was probably going to give him a heart attack if something darker didn’t happen first), what he cared about was his daughter. He watched her learn and grow and he loved her more than life itself. The only thing he wished was that he could be there for her more often.
Angelo didn’t care about his clock, but his friends did and he did everything in his power to keep them happy.