Author's Note: This 'ficlet' was written in response to a meme on Livejournal. The rule was to take the first line of a story written by a specific author and then write your own ficlet using it. Extra points were given to those who crossed fandoms, did crazy crossovers, etc. This particular author is a "Back to the Future" author. Hence, Emmett Brown's appearance in this very short one-shot.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with "Back to the Future" or "Treasure Planet." I'm merely using them for my own and other readers' amusement. Please don't come after me, because I'm not giving up my PS3 and will die trying to defend it.
Marital Advice When Worlds Collide
Dr. Emmett Brown gave the door to his lab a sharp nudge, sending the half-latched object flying back, where it collided with stacks of well-packed boxes of books, making little more sound than a slightly muffled thud. He grimaced as the stack of boxes lurched forward and then toppled over, spilling countless titles across the already-littered floor.
"Damn," he muttered softly and turned to give his colleague, Dr. Delbert Doppler, an apologetic grin. "My wife has been after me for some time to get this straightened up." He shrugged. "I'm afraid I've had more pressing matters to deal with."
"Think nothing of it," the lanky Canid assured him. "Amelia has been quite vocal in her admonitions for me to – in her own eloquent words – 'tidy up that infernal mess of a study.' I've even been threatened with a few evenings spent sleeping on the couch."
Emmett laughed softly as he walked over to a table situated in the corner. Dropping the stack of papers on it, he brushed aside a few stray schematics before turning back to Doppler. "It hasn't quite come to that with Clara … yet," he assured the younger scientist and then eyed him thoughtfully. "How long did you say you've been married?"
Delbert cocked his head for a moment and a wistful smile came across features. "2 years, 9 months, 14 days and … ah … 6 hours." Then, realizing that Brown was staring at him with mild disbelief, he quickly added, "Give or take a few hours, of course."
"Of course," Emmett nodded, doing his best to contain the smile that threatened to surface.
"And you?" Delbert inquired politely, curious to know how a man, so much like himself, had learned how to balance marriage, science and even manage to build a time machine in the process.
"That depends on how you look at it," Emmett quipped.
"Of course!" Delbert nodded. A moment later, he was verbally off and running, hands waving emphatically as he reasoned out the answer to his own question.
"With what must have been a substantial amount of the passage of time, coupled with the fact that you constantly travel between the past and the future, I can only imagine that quantifying such a union would be … well … almost impossible." He stopped to take a breath and then blushed, realizing he had once again explained more than necessary.
Raising a sheepish palm to rub the back of his neck, Delbert offered him an embarrassed smile. "I apologize, Dr. Brown. Amelia often teases me for my uncanny ability to ramble on incessantly or even worse, my knack for twisting the most common of words into the most embarrassing situations. As you can see, the rambling happens quite frequently."
END