Hello people! I still don't own The Patriot, I don't make money off of this. I just take pleasure in knowing you've stuck around the story long enough to read this! And yes, to all the people who guessed Back to the Future, you are correct! Enjoy your Tavingtons! (I'm also thanking you for the reviews, they are really nice!)
After breakfast, Elizabeth showed William most of the technology and appliances in her house. All morning, they went over the stove, microwave, dishwasher, oven, radio, telephone, shower, toilet and the computer. The session with the computer alone took almost an hour, and induced enough rage from William that he could take on the Incredible Hulk. Elizabeth calmed him down enough to stop throwing things at the 'belligerent metal beast' and led him back to the living room. She wandered into the kitchen to get things to cook, as it was almost lunchtime.
"And what is this?" William called. Elizabeth peeked her head in the doorway to find the man staring at the TV curiously.
"Oh, that's the television. It's for entertainment." She pressed the on button, and the screen lit up as she heard a familiar cartoon. Dora the Explorer. She turned towards Will to see his reaction. His face was lit up with childlike wonder, at first. Then the wonder became annoyance, and his face contorted in a grimace.
"Yeah, she is a little annoying, isn't she?" Elizabeth handed him the remote, then quickly explained how to use it. He didn't bother changing the channel, though. He just sat down with a sigh, and that same annoyed grimace. Elizabeth went back into the kitchen, shaking her head. She could hear the Colonel getting more and more frustrated.
"The Fox is directly behind you! Are you blind or stupid, girl? You are letting it get closer!"
William continued to rant at Dora for a while, even though she explained that nothing on the screen can hear him. Elizabeth tried so hard to keep her laughter in. Still, she was afraid that he'd break something. He's already tried to destroy her laptop, after all. She went back to the living room for a second and snatched the remote from the coffee table.
"To be honest, I really hate this show too. Just listening to her gets on my nerves, so I'm changing the channel." He watched press the channel button and the device made the two dimensional world disappear. The images were replaced every time she pressed the button. At one point it showed a scene of a couple in the throes of passion. She heard him gasp.
"Ugh, no!" Elizabeth jabbed the remote towards the screen with a florish. She finally stopped at a channel called PBS. Willaim had no idea what that meant, but it appeared to be for educational purposes. Elizabeth put down the remote and went back to the kitchen. While Elizabeth was cooking lunch, Tavington silently watched a documentary about a fellow by the name of Jimi Hendrix.
'What bizzare music. I suppose it matches the bizzare time that is descibed in the picture box. How has the world first come to this sort of chaos?'
At about 7:00 that evening, Elizabeth came back to the apartment with clothes and other stuff for William.
"I'm home!" She called. There was no answer.
'Crap.'
She put all the bags down and began to frantically search the space, hoping he didn't run off. She wasn't really thinking when she opened the bathroom door however--
"What are you doing!"
"Sorry--sorry!" Mortified, she closed it as quickly as she had opened it and stepped away. She stared ahead at one of the nebula paintings she had collected and hung on the wall and tried to calm down. He was done showering, but he was shaving using one of her unused razors. And he was wearing a towel. Only a towel.
"Did you at least like what you saw, Madame?" He teased her in his sarcastic, wry manner.
'You asshole. You asshole with the perfect body.'
"Yes. I mean no! I mean, uh--" She became even more flustered, if that was even possible. "I...I brought you some clothes." He opened the door just a crack and reached one arm out. She gathered up a set and handed it to him. He retracted the arm and shut the door again.
"You have selected my undergarments?" Distain and embarassment was present in that question.
"Yeah. It's really not a big deal now."
"Very well." Elizabeth could hear fabric rustling and William grumbling through the door. Then, he stepped out, dressed in a dark blue button down and black jeans. He held both arms up and gave her an expectant look. Probably expecting approval. The clothes flattered his muscular frame, especially now as it clung to his wet skin. Elizabeth shyly looked back down with a bashful grin.
"You look great. Did you enjoy yourself in there?"
"Actually yes. I've heard of ancient indoor plumbing, but I've never seen anything quite like this. It's much more efficient than filling an entire tub with water!"
"I'm glad you like it! It's my turn now. Feel free to read or watch tv or whatever." William checked out the bookshelf while her host was in the bathroom.
"The Time Machine?" He picked that book from the shelf. H.G. Wells. He read the description in the back and pursed his lips. A fictional novel about time travel. Most unhelpful. With a sigh he put the book back, then he brooded on the couch. His good mood was gone now. How could he and Elizabeth find a way to take him back to the past if all information about it only existed in fiction? He turned on the tv, just because the remote was there.
"We all have questions. Big questions." A tinny, monotonic voice started as a thin man sprawled out in a strange wheelchair appeared on the screen. Tavingon raised a brow.
"What the bloody hell--?"
The voice continued, although it appeared to belong to the crippled man, he didn't move his lips.
"My name is Stephen Hawking. And I believe that anyone can answer big questions for themselves. So with the help of ordinary people and a team of experts, we are going on the ultimate voyage. A quest to answer the greatest questions of the universe using the power of the human mind. Because anyone can think like a genius."
Tavington watched as the image turned into a plain background that read: 'Genius by Stephen Hawking: Can we Time Travel?' Although he had doupts that a disabled man could be considered a 'genius,' he might as well listen to the show since it is relevant. He sat down. Pretty soon he was drawn in to the point where he paid attention to nothing else.
For the rest of the evening, William tirelessly did more research for himself. He still hated the computer and the internet, but he was pleased to find that Elizabeth kept a rather large collection of Professor Hawking's books. Occasionally he would ask his companion questions.
"And how could I have experienced enough gravitational force for time to speed up all around me? According to the mechanical man, the effects of 'relative time' are most clear around those black stars!"
"There could be a lot of possibilities for how you got here applying Hawking's theories." Tavington heard her voice from the other side of her bedoom door. "He did explain that people on earth can experience time travel based on their location relative to other people's. They get closer to Earth's mass, gravity is stronger and stretches time out. Normally the effects are miniscule, so there must be some other factor..."
Elizabeth opened the door, wearing bedclothes. "I'll look into it more later. Right now though, I'm going to get some sleep." William nodded, a little disappointed.
"Yes of course. Good night." She smiled at him.
"I do have just one more question, then I will leave you be." Elizabeth nodded than looked at him expectantly.
"The man that wrote those books... He couldn't move or talk. What's wrong with him?"
"Oh. It's a condition he has. Over his life he gradually loses control of his body. He uses a machine hooked up to his wheelchair to talk and write."
"I see." William chuckled. "I've quite misjudged him at first. Clearly appearances don't mean as much now as they used to."
"Sometimes appearance has nothing to do with how well someone does in life, William." Elizabeth stated in a serious, even voice. "Although people here can still only care about the surface, the way you look, who your family was anything that cannot be helped doesn't matter as long as you have the motivation to change what people expect from you." She closed the door, leaving William alone in a pensive state of mind.
'Perhaps I could...but how?'
He looked down at the floor regretfully, and he made his way to his own room.
