I Seem To Have Misplaced My Watch... [Open!]

Since the announcement had been tacked on every school notice board, signed and dated very officially in Hanston's photocopied scrawl, Nathan had eagerly anticipated the festivities leading up to Halloween. In particular, the ten hours of uninterrupted time to gallivant around a nearly empty amusement park. The thought of no queues to languish in for hours on end, destroying valuable ride time was almost overwhelming. Hailing from Tennessee, Dollywood was the only theme park near his hometown, and it always fell a short fix for the adrenaline junkie. He had already spent tedious hours, poring over a map of the park, as he divided his time to each section as a general laying out his troops. Of course, he had yet to go over his time table with Oliver and Cindy. He had yet to mention it to them at all, something sane restraining him. Amusement parks existed for the beauty of their spontaneity. But Nathan could not help himself if he wanted to get the most out of it.

Anticipation only mounted with the addition of a dare he had challenged Oliver too, entailing that he wear a ridiculous mustache the entire ten hours around the park; which evolved to Nathan also donning facial hair, and ultimately that they would step out as though from a time machine, dressed as they would have in days and lives gone by. It was quite a brilliant bypass of the “no costumes” rule that Hanston had put in place (though Nathan had not shared with his past brother that he would also be adding a bald cap). So by eight o'clock on the night of October 29th, Nathan was already prepared, his change of and garish fake mustache tucked carefully away in an old backpack. An hour of pacing and clock-watching later, Nathan boarded the bus with his fellow students from Riverdale High, brimming with excitement for the night to come, the only dent in his happiness that he had not managed to catch the bus there with Oliver and Cindy.

Though when squealing tires pulled into a parking lot, illuminated in the festive orange glow of the millions of twinkling lights outlining the Ferris Wheel and an old wooden roller coaster, Nathan's good mood had swelled again with the prospect of surprising his past brother with his completed “costume.” And he wasted no time. Ducking into the first restroom he saw, Nathan began frantically unloading the contents of his backpack, his night's itinerary slipping out unnoticed from beneath the folds of a shirt. Quickly Nathan changed into a slightly seedy pinstripe suit. Shuffling over to the cracked, stained bathroom mirror, he examined his reflection with a slight frown, before with the sharp snap of latex, donned the bald cap. He could not help but grin in spite of himself, tucking away the last few strands of visible hair away. This was not the Wilbur he knew staring back at him, but it was something. Something distant and memorable and welcome all the same. But his face had broke into an impish smirk once he had affixed the mustache, reminiscent of Yosemite Sam, to his face. He blew on the hair, causing it to fan out in front of his face. Snorting a laugh, he took up his backpack and disappeared back into the crisp, clear night. The schedule he so tenderly comprised rustling forgotten around the empty toilets.

He had reached the arcade when he realised it was missing. With a sigh of exasperation, he turned to backtrack, before reminding himself he did not remember the last place he had seen it. Hours of work for nothing. Shaking his head frustratedly, he made a sharp right and stalked off towards an array of booths, hosting an array of games from darts to Skeeball. Nathan made for one with the latter, his mouth hanging open stupidly as he stared up at the prizes. Perhaps he could win something for Cindy, reaching for his wallet, he froze dead when a familiar voice issued behind him. Nathan bit his lip, barely containing the grin threatening to break over his face. He knew that voice so very well. Stealing a few seconds to compose himself, Nathan set his face into a ridiculous, wide-eyed look of surprise before whipping around to face his past brother. “What do you mean it's not 1898, Bub?!”