A Place in Time

[nikki-indie-castle]

A Place In Time - William/Samantha

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

“Wouldn’t that be something? To be able to decide when to visit.” Maybe part of her hoped that he would visit her if he had the choice. She knew they had a connection like no other but that didn’t make it easy when he disappeared again. “I’m sure you will figure it out. You figured the first idea of time travel out, so why not a more precise form? You’re incredibly intelligent. I wish I had the brains that you possess.” She gave him a cheerful smile, wanting to keep hold of his hand as long as possible. She craved this contact when he wasn’t nearby and 2043 was a long time. Had a previous him or a future him told him where they were going next? She’d have to look at her diary.

Samantha looked at their joined hands before tilting her head back up to him. “I do have access. Would you like to go up there? It has a very nice view of the city up there.”

“It would. To hone in on a date and time will greater improve my travels. It is number one on my priority list as I want to visit certain points in times to study and possibly influence. I imagine isn’t advisable to meddle with time, however, there are things which need to not take place. I’m simply one man but if I learn which people to make connections with it may better the state of the future of the world. 

William smiled politely and nodded. “Yes. I will love to. We can try to look at the stars through the light pollution. It will become virtually impossible to see them years from now when more building and electricity cover every square foot of this city. He stood from his seat, still holding her hand, and waited for Samantha to join him before he guided her away from the kitchen. “Do you get many visitors?” They hadn’t a chance to talk about much and he knew very little of her day-to-day life.

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

“Yeah, it might be a miracle but we’ve got to hope, haven’t we? Optimism…” Heather Lee wasn’t sure that she would be able to fix any of this but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try. They might be able to at least salvage some things if they did. Heather Lee looked around the area she was in, moving over to the large crates to peer in. Oxygen canisters. All accounted for, thankfully. “We’ve got oxygen. Enough to last us for a few weeks at least.” She moved back to the one terminal that seemed to be working, albeit terribly. “No life signs…”

Jaelyn dropped her head and pressed a palm to the side of the helmet she wore. No matter how many times she yanked this thing on, it always felt awkward as hell on her. “Our mission was to take these people to colonize and you’re telling me their dead? As a fucking doornail?” She looked at Heather Lee as if she had something to do with this terrible bit of news. “Fuck,” she said quickly and turned away while pressing her hands to her waist. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” She should be more concerned about the fact people were dead and not because the entire mission was absolutely fucked. If she were to make it off this planet alive her reputation was down the shitter. “Tell me what optimistic thing you have to say about this because as far as I can tell we’re royally fucked in the ass with an unlubed strapon.”

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Steven pulled himself out of the bed, peering out of the window at the ocean rushing in against the sand. Where the hell was he this time? He looked around the room but there wasn’t much to give it away. He quickly pulled some clothes out of the wardrobe that seemed, surprisingly, to be all his side and made his way downstairs. He looked at his watch but the tracker for Trevor was nowhere near him. Shit. He took a couple of steps out onto the path when there was a massive crash of glass. “Please don’t…” he muttered, rushing down to see Trevor led on the floor. “Hey! Dude! What the hell happened?”

There wasn’t pain but there was a whole hell of a lot of pressure happening under his hand and when Trevor lifted it to see what was going on a large shard of glass from his trip through the storefront window poked right through. At first he was mesmerized by it. There was blood flowing from the gash and he wondered if it was at all possible to seriously injure himself in here or if it would only feel like someone poking him with the end of a pencil eraser. As he sat up, ignoring the crowd around him, he looked at saw Steven coming his way. “Look! There’s a fucking piece of glass. Right through my hand.” he stared at it as if he won the damn lottery. “Shit. This is incredible,” he stayed on his ass thinking about the possibilities here.

[stories-with-nikki]

Unexpected || WillSam

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Samantha watched him settle his stuff on the table, so much technology that she still didn’t understand even after all this time. She moved to her bedroom, opening the drawer in her wardrobe to pull out a set of William’s clothes. She had taken to storing clothes for him whenever she could so that they would never be in a situation where he wouldn’t have something warm or dry to wear. He had turned up on her doorstep in terrible, ripped or dirty clothing too many times. She came back into the room, placing the clothing on the side before she pulled out her medical kit from the kitchen cupboard. She sat beside him, opening up her own case. “What happened?” 

How could he put what took place into the type of words which wouldn't cause worry? Or worse yet, fear? William set the device to the side and gave himself to her so she could set about cleaning his visible wounds. The one underneath his shirt needed tending to and he knew he would have to ease that one as well. "There have been leaps where I would run into someone. At first, I took it as coincidence except where I was before he assaulted me and tried to destroy my device. He is another traveler and claims he was sent to stop me from time traveling anymore. That my trips are messing with the timeline and if I keep meddling with it, it will lead to destruction." He undid the buttons on his shirt and revealed a long gash across his chest. It was mostly superficial. It didn't detract from the pain he felt. "I don't believe him. I think there is more than what he told me and I intended to discover the truth."

[nikki-indie-castle]

A Place In Time - William/Samantha

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Samantha had always been taught to be mindful of how to eat and present herself. Despite growing up on a farm, she had gone to plenty of fancy dances where it was imperative that she knew how to present herself at the dinner table. She had spent many dinners being talked to by an object of affection, but never one such as William. William was so very special and though she did wish to be closer to him than was appropriate, she believed that something like that should only be shared by a married couple. She didn’t think having sexual relationships should be for fun. It was a level of intimacy after all.

Samantha watched him type something on his watch and her eyes widened. It was all so fantastic she couldn’t imagine how all this technology would fit into such a small space. She could see the date written on the digital screen and where he would go next. She would be determined to find him on that date herself. He had no idea that she wrote down every meeting they had and any other dates he mentioned that were in the future. She often wondered what she was like in the future but he had never told her what was set for her. Maybe it was better that she didn’t know. What if she wasn’t in his future anymore? It didn’t bear thinking about. 

Samantha leaned back after a while, smiling softly at him. “Well, maybe you should tell me exactly where you will end up next date, and I’ll find you like I always try to do. I’ll bring you a packed lunch,” Samantha joked softly, reaching across to squeeze the hand of the arm he had his watch on. 

William lowered his wrist and smiled. “I usually land in the same coordinates as when I left. It’s rare when I go to another city or country. Not to say I haven’t wound up in Russia or Alabama. Eventually, I will like to gain control of where I travel and what time, but to have that type of precision is beyond my capabilities at the moment.” He thought of the date he gave her and said, “If you want to meet me in 2043 I imagine I’ll be around this area. I will look as I do tonight and carry whatever is on my person. Which has been beneficial to figure out. My first six jumps left me as naked as the day I was born. It made for awkward scramblings for clothing. 

He turned and took her hand, laying a kiss across the knuckles and breathing softly into the skin with his nose. It took some time before he lowered it and said, “Do you have access to your roof?”

[nikki-indie-castle]

This Is Gospel

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Laurel tried to take in everything that they were saying but she just wanted them to go so she could process all of this information. She couldn’t even remember her stupid fake name right now. She had finished her own beer by the time tohe police left them to their own devices and she wasn’t sure how long they would even last without wanting to tear each other’s heads off. “A nickname? Cujo? Are you kidding me? Don’t be an ass.” She threw a pillow at him with a shake of her head and a wry smile. “Come up with something better. Pretend for one second that you might actually have a heart and be in love. What would you call me then?”

Aaron caught the pillow and twirled it in his hands as he walked towards her. The floor boards creaked underneath his boots and he tossed the pillow back at her. “What makes you think I don’t have a heart?” A hand went to his chest and he laid it over his left pec. “If I want to be convincing with this whole asinine charade I would probably call you snookums or sweet cheeks,” he wouldn’t actually because people would see right through it. “I see you already favored ass when it comes to me. Like a match made in paradise.” He chuckled and stopped in front of her, keeping out of punching distance. “Gonna be serious for a second and say I would probably go with sweetheart. With my accent and dimples, I think anyone would melt a little if they heard me call you that.”

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Heather Lee couldn’t have been more glad to hear her captain’s voice over the comms. At least she wasn’t completely alone, wherever it was that they had landed. She tapped at the screen but nothing was coming up. “I think our ship is dead, captain… It will take me some time to fix it all. Best idea I would suggest is having a look outside. Our suits internal computers seem to be working so we might be able to get some readings?

“Dead? I think it’ll be a fucking miracle if it can be resurrected. But you think you got what it takes to breathe life back into this disappointing pile of scrap metal. Then you have at it.” Jaelyn hurt everywhere and she wanted her bed. Which was countless light years away. The suit was well equipped, which was one good thing going for them. “There should be extra air tanks if they weren’t destroyed during the crash.” That should be a priority but Jaelyn needed to try to return power to this ship first. “What’s the status of the crew.” They are more than likely as dead as the ship.

[nikki-indie-castle]

A Place In Time - William/Samantha

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Samantha placed the cloth napkin over her lap neatly, pouring some water into the two glasses in front of them. She tilted her head down as she made her own quiet prayer of thanks before she moved to start eating. “That is very polite of you, William, and I must say that I feel the same. I find myself forever waiting and excited for the next meeting that we will have. You are someone extremely special and I am grateful I had the opportunity to meet you that first time.” Samantha watched him as he approached his coat and picked up the watch. The reminder that his time wasn’t unlimited and she would lose him once again. A constant reminder of something bad and something wonderful because without it, she may never had met him.

Samantha had her eyes on the watch most of the rest of the meal as she ate, seeing it light up with colours and things she didn’t understand. He had told her once that one day everything would be in a tiny screen but she couldn’t understand how everything would fit in something so small. She blinked in surprise as he asked her if she wanted to see it. When she had first met him, the first few times, he had never let her see it but had their timelines finally matched up? “I would love to see it. Would you explain it to me?”

Manners were instilled at such a young age for William and he liked Samantha was of a similar background. He cherished the easy manner in which they communicated and how they could give simple praise without it leading into something sexual. He wouldn’t dare disrespect her in such a way as he was a man who believed in the sanctity of marriage and he assumed she felt the same. With that said it didn’t mean he didn’t feel a yearning for the beauty who sat beside him.

The device, which looked like a watch from after 2016, illuminated dully as he adjusted the settings. When she looked closer he tapped a button on the side to bring it to full power. “Right now it reads as a regular watch. This is to ward off any person or persons who happen upon it. There is a security code that I must enter in order to get into the actual program.” He said as he pressed a spot on the glass and tapped in a seven-digit code. From there it showed the time in the corner along with other numbers. “Here in the corner is my current location along with the time and weather. On the side here is where I’m projected to go next. It says I’m set for October 4, 2043, and that it’ll be a warm day. The weather addition helps with preparation. It took me thirty years to get this one figured out. It does have the occasional hiccup and doesn’t work at times. It’s a start, to say the least.”

He went to the corner of the screen and tapped a hidden area which brought up another screen with running figures. “This keeps track of the last three places I visited. I’m trying to keep a log to know if I’ve been anywhere twice and if there were any changes since my last visit. This is still relatively new so I can’t say too much about it.” He looked at her after he spoke. “The watch is matched with my DNA, which it reads when it’s on my body. It’s another safeguard to make sure nobody uses this other than myself.”

[nikki-indie-castle]

This Is Gospel

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Nicely? Oh shit, that definitely meant dresses and the thought of that made her cringe. Was she going to have to play the pretty suburban housewife with a husband that worked the 9-5 and country club on the weekends? Christ, that was so far out of both of their comfort zones and they didn’t have a single chance of hell of getting out of this now. Witness protection could be a real bitch, it seemed. “I think he means you in the dress. You’re definitely more of a girl than I am.” Laurel rolled her eyes at his comment about laundry. She’d make him wash his stuff whether he wanted to or not.

There was some mumbo jumbo shit thrown their way in the form of a list of what to expect. Aaron just sat down at the table and kicked his feet up on a chair while he stared out the window nursing his beer. Eventually, after what felt like five days, they were left on their own. Aaron finished his second beer by this point and was poking around the living room to see what they had by means of entertainment. “Since we’ve gotta try to sell this marriage. What should I call you? Every husband has a nickname for their beloved.” He picked up a DVD and flipped it to the back. “How about Cujo?” he showed the front cover of the movie to her. “I think that has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” The dimples in his smile popped and he felt ready to jump out the window. Not to protect himself from her wrath but to just get the fuck out of this situation.

[stories-with-nikki]

Unexpected || WillSam

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Samantha held onto him as hard as she could, not wanting to let go anytime soon but knew she would have to before long. “It is extremely late but I really don’t mind. You can come and see me anytime you want. I encourage it,” Samantha told him, finally letting go when the real reason for his visit came through. She nodded her head, taking his hand and leading him inside. She locked the door behind her and cleared off the table of the flowers that she had in the middle of it. “You can use whatever you need. Can I get you anything? You are wet, I should get you your clothes so you don’t get sick.”

As much as William wanted to sit with her and go over what they’ve been up to since their last visit, he knew the limited time would make it impossible. “If it’s not a bother then yes please,” he said in regards to the clothes as he set the device on the table, which was a different model than the one he showed her in this very kitchen years ago her time. William’s bag went next to him on the floor. It was covered in dirt and he wouldn’t dream placing it on her table.  A smaller bag emerged from it, the one she gifted him when they first met, and he removed numerous tools to set on the table. William went to work unscrewing the back of the device to figure out what happened. There was a pain on his wrist from when the device malfunctioned before and William needed to treat the burn but this was important. If something happened to go seriously wrong with the next jump there was a likelihood it could kill him during the shift between times.

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Steven came to a very familiar place, the dot ready and waiting as it always was. “Alright, let’s do this and see if we can find Trevor on the other side. Don’t screw this up for me, machine,” Steven told it firmly, taking a deep breath before running over to the dot, watching as it got bigger and bigger before he was gone. His whole vision went black and then he was gasping for breath, jolting up in a bed and clutching at the bed sheets. His whole vision was swimming and dizzy, and he felt like he was going to throw up but managed to keep it together as he slowed his breathing down. “Shit…” He looked around once his vision had cleared, hearing the sounds of waves nearby. “This is… new.”

Trevor managed to reach a high altitude and he couldn’t find the motherfucking glowing dot anywhere. He felt like some version of Peter Pan but whatever was keeping him afloat didn’t have anything to do with happy thoughts or whatever it was that got that kid off the ground. He stopped and thought about something. Why was this dot trying to make it his bitch? Was this part of the program Steven wrote that he knew he’d struggle with? Was there a way to monitor right now? He looked here and there but the room was black and illuminate at the same time. Which was odd because there was no visible light source anywhere.

He picked a random place and tossed his middle finger up. “Steven, you fucker. The hell man. If this is your way to trap me in limbo for the rest of my life so you can do whatever you want to my lifeless body…” he didn’t finish the thought because he was smacked hard in the face by the dot and thrown back as far as he could go until he crashed through something hard.

Trevor laid on his back, shards of glass surrounded him as he looked up at the curious and concerned faces of people he didn’t recognize. “What the fuck?” he asked, a hand went to the side of his head as he slowly sat up. There was no pain or dizziness. Only a mountain of confusion as he tried to piece together what he landed in front of. The store window gave him no indication because he broke the shit out of it and by the looks of the people around him he was either in the early 1900s or in some alternate timeline where people decided to bring these lame-ass threads back in style.

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

The crash was certainly not smooth and she was pretty sure she might have dislocated something on the way down but… she wasn’t dead. There was stuff all over her and she was lying on her back, but they weren’t falling anymore, and she wasn’t dead. She pushed at the boxes of who knows what to sit up, her ears ringing and her head spinning. Don’t throw up, don’t throw up, don’t throw up in the helmet, she thought, dragging herself up to a slow standing to try and assess the damage. Well, this was a massive problem. She turned the internal comms of her suit on. “Hello? Anyone reading?”

Pain. So much pain and Jaelyn thought if she laid there long enough the ship might be able to send its own distress signal to Earth to let them know that shit wasn’t so hot right now. If she hadn’t scrimped on some of the added features that could’ve been upgraded when she bought this ship, then that would have been a choice. Instead, they had to do it themselves and she tried to sit but there was a lot of debris all over her body. How the fuck were they to get out of this mess? 

Jaelyn sat and looked from her spot against the wall, lying partially on it from the way the ship was angled. Her breathing was fine which meant oxygen was either still pumping through the vents or the planet they crashed on had breathable air. “Anyone reading?” she croaked. Her throat felt thick and full of phlegm due to the screaming and yelling they did before. She grimaced and groaned audibly as she moved to her knees. Objects clattered around her but clean up wasn’t at the top of her To-Do-List at the moment. “Is the computer up? We need to figure out what exactly we landed on.”

[stories-with-nikki]

Unexpected || WillSam

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

The knock on the door had Samantha shooting out of her bed like she had been electrocuted. She was not expecting visitors at all. She looked at her bedside table, the same analog clock she had had for years. 1am. Certainly very late for a house call. She wrapped a dressing gown around her, cautiously approaching the door and peering through the peephole. Her heart was immediately in her mouth as she quickly unbolted the door and threw herself at William. “William!” She hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He felt wet but that was of no concern to her right now. No, all she cared about was a William was here after so many years of nothing. “It’s really you!”

William’s arms encircled her, aware of the fact she wore a dressing gown, and he pulled her close. His nose buried into her neck and he breathed in her scent. “I’m here,” he said, holding on much too tight. “I didn’t want to wake you. I’m certain it’s late.” His words mumbled against her skin and William dragged his face away from her warmth. “I need to use your kitchen table. Something is wrong with my device and I have to work on it.” He worried he may be pulled away from her at any minute however his bigger concern was being placed in another world that didn’t feel like one of their own.

[stories-with-nikki]

Unexpected || WillSam

William dropped to his knees and felt cold water splash across his hand. His breath came out haphazardly and he didn't know where he was. The watch flashed repeatedly and he knew something was wrong with it. He tried to stand, using the lamppost next to him and looked around. If he were to guess, given the amount of times he'd gone through this process, he was sometime after 2000. People kept to themselves while their faces were glued to the screens, no one inquiring about his well being. He straightened and looked to the street sign. He was in New York. Maybe Samantha was home. She was here in the late eighties and he hoped she didn't change residence since then. Which is what he kept repeating as he went to the apartment building, which had been remodeled since his last visit. William went to the elevator and as soon as he reached the door he attempted to fix his appearance, sleeve and knees wet from his time on the ground. He raised his hand and gave her he door a knock. With his watch on the fritz he didn't know if it was too late for a house call.

[nikki-indie-castle]

This Is Gospel

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Laurel sipped at her own beer, wondering how the hell she was going to remember any of this stuff if she was quizzed on it. She took the file from Aaron, looking at all the documents there. This was her house, her life now, all in these documents that looked so real but were so fake. Sarah. Ugh, she already hated the name. Sarah Owen, soon to be Sarah Bateman. Christ, what a disaster. Maybe she could get used to it, change her name into some sort of nickname somehow. James and Sarah. Not very them at all.

“FYI, you will learn to clean so good luck trying to make me clean your shit,” Laurel told him firmly, opening up one of the passports to look at the photo there. Wow, when did they get this photo of her? “Are we going to have to dye our hair and that?”

The man set about answering their questions, stating that there was no need to color their hair or to change much in the way of their physical appearance. It was noted the neighborhood they were to move into was white collar and people tend to dress nicely as if they were on their way to the country club. Aaron’s eyebrow quirked at this, beer to his lips and he set it down. “You mean khakis and polos?” He looked to Laurel and glanced down at her outfit. “And her in a dress?” he snorted and shook his head while going for another sip of his beer. This whole thing was way out of his comfort zone and he was sure that within a month they’d be figured out. Hopefully, he got some head from ‘his wife’ before that time comes. “Ha! In your dreams, toots. Get ready to become very familiar with my dirty socks.”

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

Steven kept his eyes on the brainwaves and they seemed to be on a heightened level. He was probably freaking out about the stupid dot thing. He really should have told him about that but he’d figure it out eventually. He patted Trevor’s arm, maybe only slightly feeling the muscles underneath his touch. He spent way too much time at the gym, definitely. He slipped onto his bed, putting the band on around his head. He took a deep breath, laying down. See you on the other side…”

Trevor jumped as the dot zoomed overhead and when he didn’t come down immediately he noticed that ground beneath either vanished or was clear. Could he fly? Why the fuck not? This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill world and he stared at the dot with newfound gusto. “Aha. You’re mine, cocksucker,” He said and looking around at the space he tried to figure out how to fly. There was nothing to push from and he tried to doggy paddle in the air but that took away from the bad ass feeling he felt. Trevor thought of words or saying things but something triggered and he zipped from his spot, bypassing the dot altogether and unable to figure out how to stop. 

[nikki-indie-castle]

A Place In Time - William/Samantha

[stories-with-nikki]

nikki-indie-castle:

The words had just slipped out but she had meant every one of them. It was a bunch of words that were thrown away so often these days but she had never said them to another person, and she knew those words were only ever going to belong to one. William held her heart, had done since his pretty eyes had first appeared all those hundreds of years ago in a field near her farm. She knew then that no one would ever compare to this interesting, strange man, and now, here he was, both of them having grown up in different ways through the years and the words had finally been said. 

Her heart soared even more when he said that he loved her too. The words were out there between them, tying them together more than their past, present and future had. This was a new level that she didn’t want to lose. Had her past self met the man who had said he loved her so inexplicably? She expected so. She let herself be set back on her feet and took the seat that was offered to her. “You think so?”

William went to his chair and pulled a cloth napkin to his lap. “When it comes to you, I know I am in for the best. May it be a meal, conversation, or whatever else may arise.” The fork, one of real silver, went to a hand and he said a quiet prayer before he started to eat. William maintained his proper table manners and he did what he could to assimilate with the places he visited but this was not one and he felt at ease with this well-known structure. The mental note to wear his watch arose and he looked for his coat. It was near the entry way. William excused himself and went to gather it as it’d grown to be a part of him and, when he didn’t know the amount of time left before his next jump, it filled him with unease.

The straps went around his wrist and he tapped the screen. It took years to master this technology and William was proud of the work. He returned to the table and the watch displayed a colorful screen with a working digital watch face. When one taps into it it was directed to the information of the current location: date, time, weather, news. The next screen was the upcoming location and when to expect to leap. He was still in the works of another screen which would store past visits. Willaim returned to his food and brought the fork close to his mouth and paused, “Do you want to see this?” For him, the watch was an everyday accessory. He knew this was new to her.