Everything comes to an end. Love, hate, betrayal. The greed of wealth, the lust of power, the comfort in religion. In the final moment, everyone falls, even the kings of empires and the princes of darkness. In the silence of the tomb, we all get what we deserve.

Relieved by the thought that for him that day was far away, Avis Lancaster let out a sigh. Closing his novel as he rubbed away at his weary eyes. Glancing up he then took stock of the bus on which he travelled, his tired eyes passing over the other four passengers before lowering themselves back to his book. The last snowfall. Avis smirked as he studied the black book's cover, an idle hand running itself along it as it traced the gold and red flower petals sewn into it's felt. He then let his mind wonder, continuing his caress as he recalled the story of a spy, a guard and a president's daughter.

Raising a hand as to cover his mouth, he yawned, looking out the window to his right as his mind snapped back to reality. Again his hand reached up, this time making for his left ear. Closing his eyes he scratched it, suppressing a slight groan of pleasure before reopening them. Looking through the glass, the eighteen year old watched as two children, each not much younger than himself, chased one another in the night. Their mother yelling excitedly at them as she looked on. Amused, Avis looked back, straining his neck as a smile lined his face. He mouthed the word "cute".

Before long Lancaster once again found himself lost in a trance, his mind lost from reality as he re-immersed himself in his book. His face shifting from looks of content, intrigue and disgust as he scanned the aged pages of the novel. Absorbing not only the knowledge, but also the emotions each of the characters possessed as he did. Pausing, he took a moment to reflect on his life and how the book could connect. The absence of his parents, the constant feeling of neglect, it all granted him a greater feeling of appreciation. Not only for life, but also for the finer things, like his books.

A baritoned voice then shot through the bus, resounding across it's hull in echoes as it cried out the address of it's next stop. Taken aback by it's suddenness, Avis raised his head with superfluous haste. Partly frightened by the realization that it was his stop, he slammed his elbow against the horizontal yellow strip just under his window. The bus came to a stop.

Jumping up, he grabbed his bag and continued to shove his book into it. Tossing the black velvet knapsack over one shoulder as he made his way to the vehicles front. Apologetically, he nodded at the bus driver, assuming that the elderly woman would be annoyed by his late request to stop. She simply smiled. Stepping off of the bus, Avis reached into his pocket with his left hand. Gripping his bag's strap with the other, he revealed and unlocked a chrome iPhone 5 and quickly dialed in a number. Leaving the intersection he made his way down the drive, listening to the rings his phone made as it attempted the call.

The line connected. "Ello?"

[B]"Hey Elise, It's me. Whuzz'up?"[/b] Content with the fact that she had picked up, he smiled, looking at his all white high top sneakers as he listened to her voice.

"Shit. Avis? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" It was more of a statement than a question, as her voice seemed to hold a hint of annoyance. Gingerly Avis pulled up the collars of his white leather jacket, eyes still upon his feet as he crossed an adjacent side road.

[B]"Naw, switched to the early shift."[/b] His voice lowered, subconsciously, he switched to an injured tone.[b]"I can call back if I'm interrupting."[/b]

Her response was instant. "Sorry, so what did you want Lancaster?"

[B]"Nothing."[/b] He lied. [B]"Just wanted to say hi."[/b] At this point Avis had looked up and was peering down the street, his green eyes squinting periodically as oncoming headlights rushed by. Shivering as a sudden cold breeze kissed at the black waved, and lowly cut hair upon his head, he then lowered his gaze.

"Where are you?" Ignoring her, he made a left and a smug smile lined his face. "Ello? Avis, you still there?" He hung up, making second and sharp left as he leapt up some small steps prior to ringing the buzzer upon a door. Without hesitation he shoved his phone into his jeans pocket, wincing as he struggled to squeeze his hand into his black skinnies. Ignoring the stinging sensation as he recalled it, he then ran the hand over his hair and nervously adjusted the black tee shirt he wore beneath his jacket. The door cracked.

[B]"Je suis rentré."[/b] Unprepared for her lunging hug, he staggered, nearly falling off of the ledge before embracing her in return. He smiled as he noticed the scent of lavender upon her. However, the moment was ended when Elise muttered something incoherent.

[B]"What?"[/b] Looking down, Avis held them apart. His eyes finding her dark browm irises as he whispered with curiosity.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Though it seemed innocent enough, something about her inquiry worried him. While he had thought nothing of it at first, he then glanced at the bed robe over her naked frame, and suddenly feared she was not alone. Rather than ask, he simply shot her a look, one mixed of confusion and worry. Understanding she simply hugged him, kissing his cheek apologetically before she grabbed his hand. She then led him inside.

Once inside, Elise giggled playfully. Blowing a kiss at Avis as she pulled out two yellow scrunchies and put her long auburn hair into pigtails. Shaking his head with a smile, he shut the door, following her across her apartment's lobby as he checked his watch. A quarter to twelve midnight. The somnolent teen let out a sigh.

[Center]----[/center]

Laying across Elise's bed, Avis ran his hand along her cheek. Glancing down at her as she snuggled against his frame, his heavy leather jacket now replacing the red robe she had worn over her bare skin. Half leaning against her bedroom wall, he eyed her wall mounted flat screen with departed interest. Flicking from channel to channel as he listened to her oral physics report. After another minute Elise began running her hand up and down his stomach, tracing his abs through his shirt as she concluded her report.

"So, how was it?" Having only listened to the main points and notations, his answer was a type of half truth.

[B]"Good. I'd revise that bit about Gravity being the ultimate joker though."[/b] Again he shot her a glance, smirking as he waited for her response.

"Why? Gravity's unidirectional - attractive only. There is no equal and opposite antigravity." Playfully, she pounded on his chest. She then rolled over exaggeratedly, pressing her bare chest against his stomach as she looked up into his eyes.

He simply raised his left brow, causing the twenty year old girl to absent-mindedly giggle as he issued his response.

 [B]"Because. I mean, while you can’t shield yourself off from gravity, it does drop off in intensity via the inverse square law relationship. Even though it dominates the entire universe; Holding stars, solar systems, galaxies, and even clusters of galaxies together. All we have to do to escape it is go into orbit and experience Zero-G.

Same goes for Entropy. Technically, local pockets of entropy can be reversed. At the expense of increasing entropy outside of that local pocket. Like, our lives and activities are one constant battle to try and reverse local entropy, but all that is at the expense of increasing entropy in the the cosmos. Cause no matter what, we're always expending our store of energy.

I'd say time's the ultimate joker. It’s unidirectional everywhere for everyone. Sure, rate-of-change can slow down for someone in high and constant acceleration and/or experiencing, or in the presence of, a very high gravitational environment. But the slowing down of time, is only from the perspective of someone looking on. The person in question would still note their own personal time ticking away at the usual rate. So once you consider Steven Hawkings' Chronology Protection Conjecture, you can only conclude that time can't be stopped or reversed. The universe doesn't allow it."[/b]

Elise sighed, loosing an "whatever" as she crawled up as to kiss his lips. He met her half way. For a while, that was how they remained, locked in passionate embrace. Each pulling the other closer as they lost themselves in a moment of bliss. With a final tug Avis then moved away, sitting up before gently setting her aside as to hop off of the bed. A worried look lined her face.

[B]"T'inquiète. I'm going for a drink."[/b] Noting her expression, he turned back as to kiss her forehead reassuringly before looking to her face. With a smile she nodded her head. Satisfied, Avis exited the room and made his way downstairs to the kitchen. As he opened the fridge, he glanced at his watch. A bit annoyed as its illuminative LCD screen began to flash and the watch ringingly beeped.

Bending forward awkwardly, the teenager went on to scan the contents of the fridge, grunting in protest as his eyes moved from vegetable juices and sodas to water. Finally, after another glance, he smirked and grabbed up both a carton of milk and a lone vodka forty. He held the latter up as to look at it before glancing at the steps. The words "she would" leaving his lips as he shook his head idly. Opening the carton, he took a sip, shaking it in his hand as he realized it was less then half full. Placing it back on the counter, Avis then quickly poured a twelfth of the forty into the carton and returned the bottle to the fridge. 

He had only gotten half way towards the steps when it happened. Before he could react, there was a sudden flash of blinding white light. He felt his stomach drop, feeling as if he was falling, thus tensed. It was only after he had reopened his eyes, having shut them painfully at the emergence of the sudden flash of light, that Avis realized he was no longer within Elise's kitchen. Instead finding himself within what he could make out to be a room of unearthly decoration.