[https://i.postimg.cc/cCxYHKmN/The-Girl-who-could-taste-time.gif]

[https://i.postimg.cc/T2cwsM0J/1.png]

A whisper in his ear, a melody in tune with the clock's ticking on the wall. With the mumbles of a low chorus, Eske didn't want to open his eyes. Not yet. He was comfortable, her skin was warm, and her hair smelled like coconut and honey oil. 'Five more minutes.'; he mumbled.

Her fingers were twirling a lock of his hair, and she yawned, spooning closer to him: 'Coffee?'

'Are you going to make some?'; he whispered back.

'No, I was suggesting that you make it.'

'Depends.'

'Of what?'

'Marry me.'

'I go make coffee.'; she kissed his lips and left the bed.

He heard her footsteps as they crossed the floorboards, the coffee machine starting to drip drop by drop and the sound of the fridge opening and closing. He left the bed, joined her, and leaned against the kitchen doorframe: 'Why?'

'We spoke about it, baby.'

'I have been asking you for the past year, and I'm not going anywhere without you. You love me, and I love you. Nona, please, let's get married.'

'And then what? You want toast, baby?'; she plugged the toaster on and prepared the bread.

'And then we get a house, with a pool, a yard so the kids can play. And be happy.'

'When?'

'When you want. I'm more than ready!'

'I mean when.'; she looked at him thoughtfully. 'Because you and I know this timeline is bland. It tastes like nothing. As we both know is a matter of time before our next jump. Robert and Penny are already planning. In a couple of years, if we don't jump, we need to change city because you and I, we don't age, and people will notice.'; she stuck to bread on the toaster and continued: 'You think I don't want a family, kids and cats?'

'Cats?'

'Yes.'

'But cats?'

'One cat.'

'If I say yes, will you marry me?'

She laughed: 'Are you kidding?'; she leaned against the kitchen counter: 'I'm serious. I don't want to have kids who get lost. Travelling to when we don't know.'

'I'm working on it.'

'I know you are. '

'What if we don't have kids?'

'What if we don't marry?'

'That would suck.'

'Exactly'; she smiled and put butter on the toast. 'So let's do this properly. First, we find a place where it doesn't taste like fucking paper. And then we talk about us.'

'I love you, you stubborn woman.'

Nona chuckled: 'And I love you.'; she gave him a plate with the two pieces of toast and a fresh mug of coffee. ‘Mister-will-not-take-no-for-an-answer.’

'You don't eat?'; he asked, expecting one of the buttered slices was for her.

'I'm not hungry. Coffee is enough. I’m good.'

It was getting worse. Nona was not having time incidents, but the taste of time was getting so bad that she couldn't eat anything without vomiting. He had noticed she was losing weight and felt worthless, not knowing what to do. Or how to help.

He went to the living room, where they displaced all furniture to give him four walls as empty canvas, and he would wait. Wait for the numbers to talk to him. But numbers have been mumbling, whispering, like voices of children playing hide and seek. She sat on the floor next to him. Just drinking coffee.

He looked at her, gazing distracted at the blank wall. She wanted to help him, and he loved her for that. He still loved her numbers, floating, flashing tunes and harmonious chorus. And the more he looked at her, the more he could hear them. His eyes drifted to her wrist tattoo they made together four years ago: E.S. N.P., which made him smile. Daydreaming for the day she would simply say yes.

[https://i.postimg.cc/QxxtG4nG/2.png]

'Say hi to daddy.'

Eske slowly stood up from the kitchen chair, he kept looking at Nona, but he knew that voice. 'Nona, did you say something?'

'No, why?'

Her voice, the voice, was louder than any other number, silencing them softly. '1944.'; a smooth voice, with a slight tone of sleepiness just like Nona’s. Eske liked it. But it didn't make any sense. 'The first nine decimal digits of PI. 'The voice continue, saying random things.

'Because I can hear you.'; he said, walking backwards as if trying to catch that the better.

'I'm not saying anything.'; she looked at him pacing around the room.

'The first nine decimal digits of PI. The first nine decimal digits of PI. The first nine decimal digits of PI.'; it repeated itself over and over and over again.

'Baby, are you all right?'

'Pi.'; he whispered incredulously. 'No, that can’t be. It can’t be that simple.'

'Eske, my love, you are scaring me.'

'We had the answer all the time.'; he tried to keep calm. 'It's pi.'

'What does pi mean?'; she asked, confused.

'No.'; he took her hand. 'Look at your tattoo.'

'E.S. N.P.'; she turned to look at her arm.

'No. The other one.'

'159265359?'

'Yes! You told me once it was an address or a phone number. Remember?'

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

'Is that pi?'

'Not exactly.'; he took one of the markers left on the floor and wrote 3.14. 'So this won't mean anything, but let me explain.' He continued to write the decimal 3.14159265359 and so on and stopped to a point: 'I don't know the rest by heart. So one thing I learned is everything is a number, a dot. You gather dotes you can build a line, a line, a shape and so on. Now, to every single atom, there is a number. We perceive space and time as numbers. This is the logical way of thinking. You go to one until infinite. But pi is different.'

'But what is it?'

'Is not much what it is, but how it is. So pi is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the circle's size, this ratio will always equal pi. In decimal form, the value of pi is approximately 3.14. But pi is an irrational number, meaning its decimal form neither ends nor becomes repetitive. You see?'; Eske showed his scribbling on the wall.

'What does it has to do with how timelines are set into space?'; Nona asked, not following at all.

'There is always something left, like when you create a fractal, it will spread into the continuity of the centre as mini-replicas but always something different with no real pattern. The numbers don't repeat themselves. In that case, we just need to understand the direction. Once we have it, we can jump back and forward.'

'Is a map with no names yet?'

'Yes!'; he grabbed her hands excitedly. 'This is what we've been looking for! We found the key. The equation allows us to travel through time, from one timeline to another, without getting lost!'

'When do we start?'; she asked, hopeful.

'I will call Robert, and we can alternate jumps and keep on the records.'; Eske started counting off the days in his mind.

'No.'; Nona shook her head. 'I'll do it.'

'No, no, Nona is too dangerous for you.'

'No, I'm fine. I am more used to jumping than you both, and besides, I'm a Space-Time Vortex. I don't need doors to jump.'

'Nona, what if you forget?'; he asked, afraid of the possibility. 'Or you get lost? What if you end up in something and you can't return?'

'I have my arm. I'll know how to find you. I always do.'; Nona answered confidently. 'Besides, I'm not alone.'

'What?'

'I always have part of you.'; she touched her right wrist. 'I carry your memories, thoughts, love, everything.'

'And your imagination,' he corrected her sarcastically. 'I don't like this.'

'Trust me. It is going to be fine. I'll be away for five minutes.'

Eske agreed that day to explore the unknown with the love of his life, but he couldn't shake off the feeling. As if she was about to walk across a bridge ready to collapse. He should have said no.

[https://i.postimg.cc/D07zzBvG/3.png]

Eske and Nona agreed on a daily schedule to perform the jumps. Forward and back, each jump had to last less than five minutes, and there must be at least a 30 minutes rest. Those were the rules. Short and only one timeline at a time. It would be a slow process, but Eske wasn't willing to put Nona in danger just to win over a couple of days, months or years.

'How long?'; she said, panting.

'311, this is not okay.'; Eske answered, locking the time: 'Nona, we said 5 minutes. 300 seconds!'

'I'm sorry I tried.'; she replied.

The two stood still, in the middle of the living room, for another minute or so until Eske decided that he could go no farther today without losing his mind completely. 'You're lying. Please don't lie to me.'

'I'm not!'

'How many?'; he insisted.

'Only one. I swear.'; Nona's voice cracked at the end of her lie. 'Three.'

'Baby, this is not what we agreed! This is not what we agreed!'

She looked up into his face with watery eyes as if pleading with him silently. 'But I jumped fast and back. We never got this far.'

Eske hid his face with both hands: 'Nona, you are going to be the end of me.' He was losing it now. She reached out to touch his shoulder and drew away again when it seemed like an invitation. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. 'I'll try harder next time.'

'Please don't do this again. Don't overjump. Don't lie. What the fuck am I going to do without you. Don't do this to me!'

Her voice came from behind him, soft and soothing. 'It is safe. Baby, I can even show you. Eske, look at me.'

He turned around slowly and saw that her hair had fallen down her shoulders. There was a little smudge of dirt on her cheek where the sweat trickling between her breasts ran off her skin. His heart stopped beating for a second as he gazed upon the vision before him.

'It's a spiral. When I jump in pairs, I jump several curves. We are at the extremity of a fractal and need to go up. And at this point, we are jumping down. I can't go up if I don't jump the curves.'; Nona explained with her most soothing voice. 'I can draw it for you if you want to.'

'Are you trying to seduce me with math?'

'Is it working?'; she smiled sweetly.

'You might have unlocked a new kink. I didn't know I had.'; Eske laughed through his angry tears, kissing her softly.

'I need to take a shower.'; she whispered.

'Is that an invite?'; he asked but remembered: 'I'm still mad.'

'I know a way to fix that.'; she grinned wickedly.

'Oh, do you?'

'Come here.'; she beckoned him while her clothes dissipated into black particles, vanishing in the air.

'Fuck.'

[https://i.postimg.cc/pXGd2fg9/4.png]

'How long?'; she sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath: 'How long?'

'298 seconds.'

'Okay.'; Nona had a hard time catching her breath.

'How many?'; he asked, massaging her shoulders.

'You are going to be mad.'

'I won't. Just tell me the truth.'; Eske said, kissing her sweated hair.

'Four. I almost reached the fifth but didn't want to go up the 300. But I was so close. So close.'; Nona sulked. 'Eske, I was so close.'

'We agreed on a maximum of two. You jumped double and in time. I'm so proud of you. So, so proud.'; said Eske holding her face. What he wasn't saying was that he was relieved that she had returned. It was a sour feeling he couldn’t shake off.

She smiled at him through tear-filled eyes as they kissed again and then fell asleep with his arms around her. When the following day dawned, however, Nona couldn't move. Her knees were swollen, her feet hurt and she was simply exausted. 'No jumping today. We take the day off.'; Eske demanded.

'Will you spend the day in bed with me?'; she asked, grinning.

He laughed gently. 'Nona, are you...'; he wasn't sure how to put the question.

'Yes,' she replied firmly with sly gaze. 'Why? You don't want me?'

'I want you all the time, is just..., you have been especially willingly a couple of times a day if not more. And I'm not complaining, but it has been increasing.' He stopped when she lifted herself from his embrace.

'Is something wrong?'; she looked worried.

'Nothing's wrong, only I thought perhaps...', he paused, looking for the right words. 'Love of my life, your knees are swollen from the jumps. I think you just need to rest.'; he added carefully.

'Okay, but can we still spend the day in bed?'; she asked with doe eyes.

'Of course!'; he said, less tense. Nona giggled while he got inside the bed and pulled back the covers. She curled herself against him, one hand on his chest, her head resting upon his shoulder as she kissed and nibbled his neck, then his jawline to his earlobe. She whispered in his ear: 'What about now?'; her legs closed around his waist, and he thrust forward, gasping in surprise at its suddenness.

'This was a trap, wasn’t it?'; he chuckled. 'One day, you'll be the end of me, Nona!'

[https://i.postimg.cc/T1Q35g14/5.png]

Eske looked at the wall and the patterns Nona tried to draw. He still was missing to see a proper navigation map. So far, the lines and curves seemed chaotic. It was almost as if something was missing between those jumps. Nona insisted that they were spirals, and she was jumping the curves trying to get up. However, he couldn't see it.

'I'm ready!'; she said, adjusting the lace of her sneaker.

'What about your knees?'

'Good as new!'

'Nona?' Eske asked hesitantly. 'Are you sure you're not going too fast? You don't want to overdo this.' He had noticed how tired she looked.

'I'm good and ready. Let's do this!' She was pumped almost electric. There was something off, but he couldn't point out what, and Nona looked happy. What was he worried about? The girl would never hurt herself.

'300 seconds, you hear me?'

'Yes, Sir!'

'Don't overdo it!'

'Yes, Sir!'; she answered, kissing his lips.

'Come back to me.'; the words escaped his mouth.

She didn't react to them. She just said: 'See you in five minutes!'

Eske saw her shape dissolve into black particles floating in the air and disappearing as if she were never there.

[https://i.postimg.cc/Pxsxgd02/6.png]

Five years had passed, and Nona still didn’t return...

[https://i.postimg.cc/6q9LFb4w/The-Girl-who-could-taste-time-2.gif]