Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am proud to present … Part V!!
Ahem, well, pardon the theatrics. It's no better than any of the other chaps, so … just ignore my randomness. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own TDTESS or anything related to it. I do not own anything related to The Matrix ... all names and characters are the property of their original owners. I'm just playing with them and they will be returned in pristine condition. ;)
I don't own The One who is Keanu Reeves either. Darn.
Reviews are highly appreciated! :)
Do enjoy!
The next morning, the sun rose just as it always did. Sunlight streamed through the half-closed blinds of both Helen and Klaatu's rooms, falling rudely across the faces of the occupants, and slowly bringing them to consciousness.
Helen reacted to the nuisance by cursing groggily and pulling her pillow over her head to shield her eyes from the light.
Klaatu felt inclined to blink several times in rapid succession to try and adjust to the sudden brightness, but found the attempt to be less than successful. So, he rose from his comfortable bed, crossed to the window and proceeded to figure out how to work the blinds.
His first attempt yielded no change whatsoever. On his second try, he managed to accidentally roll the blinds all the way to the top of the window.
How in Zarthain* is one supposed to work this contraption?!?
Klaatu glared at the object of his frustration, then grabbed hold of it and yanked the blinds all the way to the bottom of the sill. They remained stationary, but the slats were not completely closed. He carefully reached forward and ran his palm over the blinds, finally managing to close the slats.
He heaved a vindicated sigh, and turned to exit his room for the bathroom. Then, he heard an almighty "thwap!" and turned to find the blinds neatly rolled up at the top of the window.
Klaatu groaned inwardly but couldn't think of any course of action to combat his apparently immovable opponent.
Then, before he could take a step towards the window, Helen appeared in the doorway with an extremely confused look on her face.
"Klaatu … what on Earth have you been doing in here?" she asked, raising one hand to rub the sleep from her eyes.
"I have been attempting to keep this shield of sorts over the window in order to keep out the sunlight. Thus far, I have been unsuccessful." He admitted, a slight trace of bitterness in his normally inscrutable tone.
"Good grief, that's all?"
Helen couldn't help but chuckle as she crossed to the window, lowered the blinds and twisted the cord hanging along the side of the sill to shutter them completely.
"See? It's not that hard." She smiled at the alien, and nearly burst out laughing as a look of absolute indignation crossed his regal visage.
Helen gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder as she exited his room and headed for the bathroom. He watched her go, and heaved a frustrated sigh.
It seems I'll never get accustomed to the odd inventions scattered across this planet.
"Jacob! Klaatu! Do the two of you want breakfast or not?!"
Helen called out for the third time, knowing full well her stepson and his newfound guardian were buried in a video game.
Oh well … I guess I'll just start by myself.
She selected three pancakes out of the batch she had made, and headed to the table, butter and syrup in tow.
Just as she had sat down and was about to take a bite, both Jacob and Klaatu entered the room, expectant looks on both of their faces.
"Your food is in the kitchen. Serve yourselves, I'm already settled." She gave her stepson a sly grin as the boy rolled his eyes and stalked off to the kitchen, followed closely by Klaatu.
Several moments later, the two males had found their way back to the table with plates heaped with pancakes. Jacob looked perfectly content with the stack of 6 on his plate, but Klaatu looked slightly intimidated. Helen could immediately tell his pancakes were courtesy of Jacob.
"Jacob …"
"What, Mom?"
"Did you help Klaatu with his pancakes?" she gave her stepson a raised eyebrow.
"Well, duh! He doesn't know what a man's meal is so I had to show 'im!" Jacob rolled his eyes playfully at his stepmother and proceeded to begin shoveling syrup-drenched pancakes into his mouth.
Helen grinned, and turned her gaze to Klaatu, her eyes glinting with suppressed laughter.
"Well … I can say that I have never heard of the term 'a man's meal' before, but they do look quite appetizing. What did you call them?" he held up a small piece of one of his pancakes on his fork.
"They're called pancakes … and thank you for the compliment on my cooking."
Klaatu nodded, then took a bite. Then, he nodded again vigorously.
"The compliment is certainly well-deserved! These pancakes are delicious!" he exclaimed, his expression an interesting mix of amazement and enjoyment.
Helen smiled at his reaction, and nodded graciously, accepting the compliment. Then, she thought of something. Granted, Klaatu was extremely intelligent and already knew a great deal about the human race and its history. However, he was very inexperienced when it came to daily activities. What about a trip to the museum? He'd love all the bits and pieces of history that most people took for granted. Yes, the museum would be a perfect excuse to get them all out of the house for a while.
"Hey you two, what do you say to heading over to the museum today?" she asked, watching as Jacob gave her a confused look.
"Um … why?"
"We haven't been out of this house in at least four days. I think we all need some outdoor time. Are you up to it, Klaatu?" she met his gaze and waited for his response.
"I will certainly accompany you to the museum. Where is it?" he replied, keeping his gaze locked with Helen's.
"Oh, about half an hour away. We'll take the car. And we're going to need to bundle up a bit. You need more clothes than those pajama bottoms and that t-shirt. Hold on, I'll be right back."
She quickly left the table and padded down the hall to her room and disappeared for several minutes.
"What is she doing?" Klaatu questioned, giving Jacob an inquiring look.
"I dunno. Probably trying to find some clothes that'll actually fit you." Jacob shrugged, then went back to devouring his pancakes.
Finally, a number of minutes later, Helen re-appeared with a pair of jeans, black long-sleeve cotton shirt, and a black winter jacket folded over her arm.
"Here. Take these, go change, and we'll get going as soon as the two of you are ready." Helen handed the clothes to Klaatu and ushered him off to the bathroom before turning to Jacob.
"You too, buster."
"Alright, alright … I'm goin'." Jacob replied playfully, bounding down the hall to his room.
Once the two boys were off, Helen returned to her previous train of thought. A name for Klaatu.
He certainly can't assimilate into our world with a name like Klaatu. But how am I supposed to know what name suits him?
She sat down again at the table as she began to think of various names.
"Dylan … no. Alex … no. Ted … no. Wait, why am I trying to do this? Shouldn't he be able to come up with a suitable name for himself?" Helen mused aloud, realizing a moment later that Klaatu was standing in the doorway.
"Would Thomas Anderson be a suitable name for this planet?"
She glanced up, shocked at his ability to piece together a name so quickly.
"Um … sure. As long as you like it. I mean … I like it too … it's a nice name." She replied, mentally berating herself for stumbling over her words as she realized how attractive he looked in the clothes she had selected for him.
The shirt hugged his torso nicely, the jeans fit him to a "t", and the jacket only added to his elegant and slightly intimidating aura.
You just had to do that to yourself, didn't you, Helen? She mentally slapped herself.
"Well, you're ready to go. Why don't you go get Jacob and we'll head out."
She smiled as he went to collect his "adoptive son" and returned moments later.
"Ready?" Helen asked, looking at both Jacob and Klaatu.
"Yep!" Jacob replied, smiling happily.
Klaatu, or Thomas, smiled as well and gave a brief nod.
"Great! Let's go." Helen said, leading her "family" out to the garage and into the car.
*This is Klaatu's home planet. It is entirely fictitious, and of my own invention. Please do not use this name in any other works.
A/N I will admit this was written completely on the fly. No prior planning was involved. Lots of little things helped inspire the various parts of it (listening to the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, and a viewing of The Lake House being two of many). Coming up in Part VI: the visit to the museum. :)