WHAT.Ty visits FROM THE FUTURE. WHERE. Kit’s apartment at Morningside! WHEN. Early this afternoon, Oct 25th WARNINGS. Uh a little future angst but it’s mostly sweet. STATUS. Complete!
Kit was staring. He knew he was staring. In fact, he had been staring since an older version of Ty had arrived at his door. He had stumbled over every word, every gesture, every thought every time he looked at Ty and he felt himself immolate under his skin. Sometimes Kit even thought he might have actually been on fire, and had to check his hands, his face, his chest that there were no flames. That he didn't was just randomly walking into sudden danger because he couldn't keep his eyes off Ty.
And now, now they were eating lunch. Because that's what they always did—eat lunch, look for clues, do research, make a plan to investigate their findings further, dinner, and then possibly more investigation if it needed to be at night. And then there would be the whole conversation about needing to sleep, and Kit would feel like the world around him was imploding because he couldn't not think about a sleeping Ty, and then he would promptly leave because reasons.
Kit couldn't leave now.
All Kit could do was eat his sandwich and watch Ty eat his sandwich and feel, again, the need to spontaneously combust. Because whatever he did to keep his feelings for Ty in check at his age was completely out of the question with this older version. He wanted to swear, he wanted to scream, he wanted to want. And yes, Kit was staring again.
"So," Kit said. Managed to find a single syllable that wasn't a hnnng sound. "Do you have plans for today?" His voice went too high too fast, and he cleared his throat.
Ty hadn’t necessarily wanted to throw Kit for a loop, on his arrival. But he couldn’t say that he disliked the idea of making his husband’s (he probably wasn’t allowed to call him that at this age) head explode. Aside from showing up this age, he was being good, he’d tugged the sleeves of his shirt down over his wedding rune and hadn’t shown it off or tried to say things about the future that would send Kit into a spiral.
But he’d noticed the staring, and he’d been quietly, privately pleased about it - he’d be telling his older Kit about this when he was back in the future. Kit had never drained on Ty’s energy reserves, even at this age, and so it was easy to be here and not under the even more keen eyes of Jules. He put his sandwich down and unfolded his napkin to use. “I thought I’d go to the library for a little while?” There was no point in trying to fix any of this weirdness, and the library was a comforting place to be.
Ty looked at Kit now. Refolded his napkin, unfolded it again. It was nervous energy at this point, something to do with his hands when he wasn’t actively eating. “Did you have anything planned today with younger me? Or is this too weird?”
How did folding a napkin become so, so—Kit swallowed hard, let his eyes wander appreciatively to Ty's hands, then immediately back to his face. Like somehow Kit wasn't allowed to look at Ty this way. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to look at any version of Ty this way. He had been attempting to train himself out of the habit. Kit was glad they were friends again—even if they weren't really not friends to begin with, just time and miscommunication seemed to make things hard—but he didn't want to ruin it. His feelings for Ty, currently, wouldn't be a detriment to this version of Ty now.
Maybe. Hopefully. Oh, he was so screwed.
Kit didn't even remember the fact that he had asked the question first, just watched older Ty move his mouth to answer. Library stuck out. That was a word Kit knew. And he nodded, yup. Library. Wait. Ty was asking him a question. Breathe. Blink. Be normal. He took a bite of his sandwich and promptly choked on it. Kit guzzled water because this was a disaster.
"No, nope, no. Not weird," Kit said, took another breath, held up a hand to signal that he was fine and not dying. "We were going to go to the library too. He—you wanted to look into something. And we, us, you and me, were going to research. Like we do. You just kind of point and give me things to read, and clues to look for and you know this. You know all of this. Sorry, maybe it's—it's a little weird."
Half of Ty was ready to launch himself off of his seat and into Kit’s space to make sure he was alright.
But the other half knew that this was because of him. Older now, he knew that. The younger version of himself - the one that Kit knew so well - would have been clueless to that idea, not quite ready for anything as he’d moved past his grief and settled into denial, before the days of grief would set in again. But it would be easier the second time, and he had Kit for that one, too. So this was nice, it was cute, and it felt good knowing what was going on instead of being oblivious.
Which had him smiling to himself as he let Kit calm himself down. “It’s been a while, I don’t mind being reminded. And I don’t want to ruin your fun?” His favorite times had always been looking into mysteries and investigating crime with Kit. He was half tempted to come up with more for them to do but then they might run out of things to look into when he was older.
It was a slippery slope to be on, so Ty would have to think about it and weigh out his options. Maybe make a pros and cons list. Ty at least waited until Kit wasn’t drinking or eating anything - or choking, before asking oh-so-innocently, “You’ve met Olivia by now, right?”
Kit needed to stop staring. It was rude, and if he knew Ty—but did he know this Ty? How much of him had changed in the years that Kit was obviously noticing now that they were across from one another?—he would catch on. If he hadn't already. Kit had kept so much of his attention directed at Ty now, he wondered how annoying it was getting. But Kit was also quick to say, "You're not ruining anything. I mean, you might already know the information so it might be—" Boring, he almost said boring, but nothing was boring to Ty.
He tried the sandwich again, slowly, making sure not to choke because he was being an absolute disaster. And he was thankful that Ty waited until he was done chewing, before mentioning Olivia. Kit had definitely met her by now. In fact, his brain couldn't seem to comprehend both this adult Ty and apparently their daughter in the same time frame. Kit was lucky his brain hadn't exploded from the complete mental fuckery.
"I've met her." And he had, and did that same ridiculous shocked staring with his Ty. They had been in this together and now Kit was feeling a little bit alone in his gawking. But then before he could stop himself, his mouth was moving, "Is she really ours?"
Fold, unfold. He liked knowing he wasn’t ruining anything, even if it felt like he was ruining something for himself. Taking that time away from Kit, that he’d spent a while carving out and making a place for on purpose. He still went out of his way to make time for just Kit, but back then he was still sorting through feelings he knew but hadn’t put a marker to. There hadn’t been any question of his love in a long time.
Ty beamed now, clearly proud. “She’s really ours. Much older now than when I made her scrambled eggs this morning.” He stopped, faltered, now unsure of just how much Ty should say. He should leave it to Olivia to say what she felt comfortable with, but--
There was a selfish part of him that wanted Kit to know it was going to be good between them. He knew how long Kit had wanted, the same as he knew how long he was an idiot. The napkin was starting to lose it’s sharp edge with each fold. “For me she’s really into collecting rocks and um- these round stuffed animals that look like cryptids. Bigfoot is her favorite right now.”
He made a mental note to ask her what she liked now so maybe he could prepare at home, but it was clear Ty was very proud. “She’s also a big reader. I’m hoping that hasn’t changed at all.”
HIs heart felt too big for his chest. An unprecedented swell of pride and curiosity and a little bit of fear had claimed a space inside of Kit. But it was different than when they faced down monsters or when Ty was putting himself into harm's way. Sometimes Kit thought he was in way over his head when he met a situation he hadn't been prepared for. And while, yes, meeting an older version of Ty who seemed to have carved out a life with Kit in some handful of years was terrifying, the fear was dissipating. The hope was replacing it the more Ty talked.
It also seemed as though Kit was getting over his immediate shock of a very attractive older Ty. Now it was turning into the same longing and burning he felt for a younger version—his version. Oh, how terribly messy his feelings were.
"Squishmallows," Kit supplied, realizing he knew the answer. Sometimes being raised not as a Shadowhunter helped. Having Mina had also helped. "The big round stuffed animals are Squishmallows. We could get her one. Here, I mean. I bet they have some store or something on the way to the library that we could look. I just, I don't know if they can take them with them. She can't stay right? You can't stay here either. You have other me?"
Kit's whole face scrunched up, trying to rectify the image of an older version of himself and coming up short. "I assume I'm older too."
“That’s it,” Ty smiled, pleased that Kit had helped him with that stumble and also glad to see a little part of the future he knew and loved. He couldn’t look at this Kit the same way as he looked at his own - the Ty of the past hadn’t earned that. And it was a little weird.
But he could look at him with fondness, and Ty wasn’t about to shy away from that. “I think she’d probably like that, but I might be wrong. She might be too uh- cool? For stuffed animals now.” For Ty, she was still young enough that she enjoyed the novelty of toys and going to the office with him. As a teenager, he was at a loss. It was completely out of the schedule he’d plotted out in his brain and left him struggling to catch up.
It was temporary, that reminder helped. “We can’t stay,” Ty looked a little sorry for that. “We have an older you, and he’ll like hearing about this but I don’t want to rob you of the good things to come.” And there were many, many good things to come.
"Oh, right. Yeah. She's our age now. My age," Kit said, feeling a little unmoored. He wasn't sure what to do with this information—that there was a version of Olivia that Ty didn't know, and there was a version of him that Ty did know. And mostly Kit didn't know anything. Which was frustrating when his Ty would pop up and explain how things worked, and for Kit to follow like he always did. He didn't think he could now.
Not that this Ty wasn't his Ty, but it was making his brain hurt all the same. His sandwich was almost gone, and Kit was devastated that he didn't have the distraction of eating to avoid asking questions he really wanted answers to, but would probably break the timeline.
Screw it, though. He asked anyway. "What kind of good things? I know you can't really tell me. But if you can hint, maybe like blink twice or leave a series of clues for me and my you to follow, that would be okay too." Kit was nervous now. Not because he doubted the good things in the future for him and Ty—Olivia being one of them—but it was kind of obvious how to connect the dots. But he didn't want to assume. The nerves came from hope and he had so much of it that it terrified him.
Ty blinked twice, just for fun. Then again, to throw Kit off. He wasn’t sure exactly what the blinking would do, or what kind of clues he would leave - but he was determined to help a little, if he could. Jules had been the main push for him when he’d been Kit’s age, going through this together, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to give himself a little extra edge. Or hurt to give Kit a tiny preview of their future together.
Or it could crash and ruin everything and all go horribly, but Ty took calculated risks.
“It might sound sad to start, but-- You’ll notice Livvy isn’t here with me, while I’m visiting. There’s a reason for that, and while I miss her every single day, having your support has always meant everything to me.” He’d had Kit through everything, when it had all went down. “But don’t tell the other me about that, it’s something he has to discover himself. Just--” Ty gave a little helpless smile. “Be there for me and things will come together? Better than I can even describe but I could probably write a really good list about it.”
Kit had noticed that Livvy wasn't here. He chalked that up to some weird timey-wimey stuff where present day Livvy couldn't exist while a future Ty existed. It hadn't occurred to him that there was a reason for it. That maybe Livvy wasn't here because she wasn't here. Kit couldn't seem to hide the surprise that crossed his features before he schooled them into something more serious, and nodded resolutely. That was, of course, after he noticed the blinking.
"I'll always be there for you, Ty," Kit said, not even caught up in the fact that this Ty already knew this, and that this Ty wasn't necessarily the one who needed to hear it. "I know things got weird, which is probably a really long time ago for you, but I'm always going to be there. I'm older now, I know how stupid I was." And by older, still being in teens wasn't enough to claim adequate adulthood, but Kit thought so. They had both been through more stuff than any adults he ever knew.
"I know how stupid I am now," Kit corrected. "But I'm okay with waiting for the good stuff. Or even the bad stuff. But if I'm waiting with you, it's going to be okay. We're better together than when we were apart." And the last bite of the sandwich was stuffed into his mouth because he did way more emotional talking than he expected.
If his husband hadn’t been this young, Ty would have kissed him in that moment. It took every muscle in his arm to not reach out and grab him and pull him in for a hug.
He’d probably give into the hugging urge before things turned back to normal, anyway. Maybe when it wouldn’t make Kit’s head explode on contact. Ty finished off his sandwich with a little smile and went back to folding the napkin when his hands were free again. “You’ve always been really good at that. Young, older. Of um- taking care of me, not being stupid. I don’t think you’re stupid at any age.”
Now it was Ty’s turn to awkwardly ramble a little bit, apparently. “I’m glad you’re willing to be patient, though. I think it's worth it, given--” He angled a head towards the apartment door, as if gesturing to Olivia. Or the world around them. Both. But he perked up at a thought. “We should take her to laser tag. I can kick your butt at it now.”
Kit nodded again, trying to agree with Ty who was telling him he wasn't stupid. Kit had made a ton of mistakes, but not all of them were awful. It wasn't that he was wholly pessimistic, but he was feeling a little negative about himself and the way things had gone with Ty. And how they had missed out on a few years because he was being stubborn and dumb and nursing a hurt that wasn't necessarily Ty's fault, only exacerbated by his best friend's rejection. But they weren't only best friends in the future, were they?
Olivia had been a surprise—a cool, wonderful, confusing and amazing surprise—and Kit was still trying not to get ahead of himself. He'd figure it out eventually, or Ty would tell him.
Instead he focused on the challenge that was presented with laser tag. Kit immediately scoffed. "Uh, no way. I think if anyone is kicking butts it's me. Still. Always. I'm a pro at this." Or mostly a pro, he had played enough first person shooter games to get the hang of laser tag. He could be strategic—until he fell off a building fighting a kraken, but that was different.
"But I'm down for laser tag, with you and Olivia," Kit said, and then a little quieter, "you know, as a family."
Family. Ty was grinning now, in a way that he only did with Kit. When they were competing, when they were teasing. It didn’t matter. Only Kit had ever gotten him to that comfortable level of happiness - it was different than it was with the Blackthorns, Jules had told him that years before and it was still true to this day. Ty had always had a big family, one he took for granted, and adding to it with Kit and Olivia had been simultaneously the hardest and easiest decisions of his life.
“You can try,” Giving them a challenge was a surefire way to bring out the competitive spirit, and if it could make Kit a little more comfortable, Ty was on board. It made him less nervous at the same time. “We can make a family-friendly bet.”
He slipped off the chair and headed to the door. “Let’s go get her, and surprise the shit out of Jules. You can come with me and then tell little me about the expression on his face later, I’ll appreciate it.”
Oh, lunch was done. Ty was getting up. And even if there was still food on his plate, or even if he was starving, Kit would have moved too. He would have followed Ty anywhere, at any age. It felt impossible to ignore, if somehow more intense than his current feelings that were not... so unrequited as he thought. Kit still hadn't figured out how he was going to broach that topic when all of this ended.
"Yeah, okay I can do that, I can tell little you. Or regular you to me. But—" And he was holding up a hand to grab Ty's attention before he single-mindedly enacted this plan. "If it goes poorly, you have to tell your brother it was your idea. He might be used to me in the future, but he still gives me a hard side-eye now."