The Universe's Mixer

Leto sat on the high stool pulled up against the countertop separating the kitchen from the living area. He was very still, hands resting on the countertop in front of him. The eddies of time were sometimes so divergent as to be too blurry to fully see - but not this day. This day, he knew exactly what was coming. Or rather, who. He waited, dressed in a sand-colored collared shirt and a pair of casual jeans, boots on his feet. He waited, equal parts anticipation and dread welling inside him.

When the time was right, he dropped down to the floor, circled around to the kitchen, and set water to boil. Scrubbing the back of his hand against his forehead, he stared at the floor in front of his feet. Clara was not Oswin. He knew this. But there was so much about Clara that was very much also Oswin. Was it right to tell her? Was it right to leave it?

He knew that the questions were his and his alone to answer. She could go the entirety of her life here in the City without knowing that Leto had once met a girl name Oswin who lived in a shell - a girl who tricked herself that she was still living, still human... until, one day, he wished her human again. Clara never need know about Oswin, or about the time he spent with Oswin in the dinosaur-infested island. It was wholly up to him to tell her or not.

And he still hadn't made up his mind when the knock came.

Unhurriedly, he walked back out into the living area, through it, and to the door to his apartment. When he turned the handle and swung the door open, he still couldn't help the smile, despite everything.

"Hello Clara."