by Amber Kell
AJ opened his mouth to apologise, but Ryder cut him off before he could speak. “You’re looking for staff?” he asked.
The man nodded. “We’ve been advertising for a gardener for a few weeks. Not had any applicants though.”
“We’ll take it,” Ryder said as he jumped to his feet.
“There’s only one post.”
“Then hire either of us.”
The man didn’t look particularly enthusiastic at the prospect of hiring either one of them. “Do you have any experience?”
“Yes,” Ryder lied. “And we can start right away.”
The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Jamie Reynolds.”
Ryder shook the man’s hand. “I’m Ryder and this is AJ.”
“Don’t you have last names?” Jamie asked with a teasing smile.
AJ looked at Ryder and shrugged. No one in the future had any other name.
Jamie’s smile disappeared and he frowned at each of them in turn. “Where are you guys from?”
Again AJ and Ryder exchanged worried glances. They hadn’t discussed what they would tell people in the past about who they were and where they had come from. It was unlikely they would be believed if they told the truth.
Ryder sighed and shook his head at AJ. Honesty wasn’t an option right now. “We’re travellers,” Ryder explained. “We’ve got nothing except the clothes on our backs and we’re looking to settle down somewhere. We’re hard workers and we won’t give you any trouble. Can you at least give us a trial?”
Jamie tapped his lower lip with his index finger as he considered. “I’m guessing you don’t have any ID or references from your last employers?”
“Sorry.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Um.”
Jamie looked them up and down. “Sleeping rough?”
AJ nodded.
“Come on,” Jamie said with a nod through the trees towards a house far larger than any they had passed earlier in the day. “I’ll give you a four-week trial and you can stay in one of the guest rooms. We’re opening to the public as a guest house next summer, but right now we’re still getting things sorted out, so there’s plenty of room.”
“We don’t want to be any trouble,” AJ said.
Jamie laughed. “No identification, no last names, and no place to stay. It’s a bit late for that.”
AJ and Ryder followed Jamie across the grass at a leisurely pace.
”Ryder,” AJ whispered, so Jamie wouldn’t overhear him.
“What is it?”
“What are we going to do about stuff?”
“Stuff?”
“You know, like clothes and things.”
“Perhaps Jamie will give us an advance so we can buy a few items.”
“I didn’t see anyone selling goods when we passed the buildings earlier.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.”
”But what about—?”
“There are a couple of shops in the village,” Jamie interrupted. AJ apparently hadn’t been as quiet as he thought. “There's a market every Tuesday as well. If there’s anything else you need the nearest town is about twenty miles away. It doesn’t take too long to get there by car.”
“What's a car?” AJ blurted without thinking.
Jamie stopped and turned to face them once more. “You don't know what a car is?” he asked.
“I—”
Ryder stepped forward and placed himself protectively in front of AJ. “We’re not from around here, okay. The place we come from is kind of isolated.”
“You just told me you were travellers. How can you be moving around the country and not know what a car is? Hell, how can you even be living in England and not know?”
AJ grasped Ryder’s hand and squeezed it. “Sorry,” he murmured.
“We know what a car is,” Ryder said. “AJ’s just joking with you.”
“He didn't sound like he was joking.”
AJ couldn’t stand the look of suspicion on Jamie’s face. “Okay, I wasn’t joking!” he snapped. “I’m stupid, all right? I don’t know what a car is, or even what you use to buy things here. I’m tired, wet and dirty and all I want to do right now is get cleaned up and crawl into a sleeping capsule with my lover and I can’t even do that because we don’t have one. We’ve got nothing except the clothes we’re wearing. We don’t have any credits or food or any idea how to get any if you don’t give one of us this job.”
”Where are you from?” Jamie asked quietly. “And tell me the truth or turn round and leave right now.”
Ryder shrugged. “You wouldn’t believe the truth, even if we told you.”
“Try me.”
“It’ll sound ridiculous.”
“More ridiculous than two men travelling round England with no idea what a car is?”
“Yes.”
“We’re from another time,” AJ said quietly. “Blake—the man who sent us back here—didn’t exactly give us time to prepare.”
“You can’t be serious.” Jamie said. “You don’t really expect me to believe you’re from the future?”
“We are from the future,” Ryder insisted. ”You can believe it or not. I don’t care either way. If you aren’t going to help us by giving one of us the gardener’s job then just say so and we’ll be on our way. Despite what AJ thinks about himself, he’s not stupid—neither of us is—and we’ll figure out this time with or without your help.”
Jamie raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. Have it your own way. I don’t care if you're from Mars, as long as you can do the job. Though I warn you, if I find out either of you are wanted by the police or something, you’re fired. Got it?”
AJ and Ryder quickly assured him he wouldn’t regret his decision. Jamie still looked sceptical, but didn’t seem inclined to send them on their way.
“Come on,” Jamie said. "Let’s get you settled in. I’ve got some old jeans and shirts you can have until you get the chance to go into town. I won’t let you starve either.”
“Thanks,” Ryder said. “We’ll pay you back, I promise.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
AJ nudged Ryder who looked at him with confusion.
“What about other stuff?” AJ whispered.
“Like what?” Ryder murmured back.
“What is it?” Jamie interrupted as he observed the exchange.
“Ask him,” AJ whispered.
“Ask him what?”
“Where to get some—you know—for when we…”
Ryder blushed and shook his head. “I’m not asking him that.”
“But we’ll need some.”
“We’ll figure it out for ourselves.”
“What is it you need?” Jamie asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ryder replied. “It’s not that urgent.”
“Speak for yourself,” AJ muttered.
“It can wait.”
“Obviously it can’t,” Jamie said. “What is it AJ?”
AJ looked at Ryder pleadingly. Ryder shook his head in response. “You’re on your own for this one. I asked about the facilities, now it’s your turn to embarrass yourself.”
AJ stuck out his lower lip and Ryder chuckled. “Looking at me like that won't work. Ask him yourself.”
Jamie smiled at the two of them and shook his head. “Let me take a wild guess here. You’ve been together less than a month?”
“Less than a week,” AJ replied. “How did you know?”
“Been there myself,” Jamie admitted. ”When the relationship is so new you think you can’t go a day without fucking. What is it you wanted to ask me?”
“Can you tell us where we can get—you know—stuff?” AJ asked.
Jamie’s lips twitched. “Stuff?”
AJ groaned and his face heated.
Jamie laughed. “Okay, I’ll take pity on you. If the stuff you're after is lube and condoms, then I think I can help you out there.”
AJ breathed a s
igh of relief, even though he had no idea what condoms were.
“Are you gay?” Ryder asked.
“Yes,” Jamie confirmed. ”And believe me when I say I’m delighted to no longer be the only homosexual man in the village. Though it’s just my luck that when another gay bloke finally moves here, he brings a boyfriend with him.”
AJ covered his mouth to hide his smile. Ryder didn’t even try to conceal his amusement. Thankfully, Jamie didn’t seem to be offended and he carried on walking towards the house, pointing out various parts of the grounds on the way.
AJ suspected Jamie was only humouring them, and that he didn’t truly believe they were from the future. He guessed it didn’t matter. Jamie was giving the two of them a chance anyway, and for that AJ was grateful.
* * * *
The room Jamie had allocated to them was small, but private. The bed was soft and cosy and the view from the window overlooked the garden AJ was now in charge of maintaining. They had decided between the two of them for AJ to take this job. Since Ryder was able to read and write they suspected he would find work fairly soon anyway.
“What if I ruin it?” AJ asked nervously as he looked out of the window.
“What? The garden?”
“Yes. I don’t know anything about plants.”
“You won’t ruin it. I’ll help you until I find work of my own.”
“You don’t know I won’t screw this up. Jamie talked about pruning and weeding and I didn’t even understand what I’m supposed to be doing to what plant. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t understand a lot of what he was saying. He talked about spring and summer and I’ve no idea what they are. And where’s this Mars he mentioned?”
“Spring and summer are two of the four seasons.”
AJ threw his hands up in frustration. “And what’s a season?”
Ryder quickly hid his amusement. “The seasons are the times of year. I’m not sure which one it is at the moment, though I think it might be late summer, or maybe autumn. As the seasons change, so do the plants and also the weather. If I’m right about what time of year it is, then we can expect some more rain over the coming weeks."
“Oh great,” AJ muttered.
“I don’t think it’ll be so bad as long as we’re not sleeping outside in it.”
“And what else have we got to look forward to besides getting wet?”
“Well, after the autumn it’ll be winter, and that’s when we’ll probably see some snow.”
AJ gave Ryder a wry look. “Do I even want to know what that is?”
Ryder laughed. “Let’s try not to worry about it, okay. The weather is something mankind has to put up with and we’ll get used to it.”
“I just feel so—”
“Don’t say it!” Ryder interrupted. “You are not stupid. The only reason I know this stuff is because I grew up hanging round in the archives. If you’d had the same opportunity, you’d know as much as I do, maybe even more.”
“Maybe we should just go live at this Mars place,” AJ suggested.
Ryder shook his head and AJ could tell he’d said something inadvertently amusing again. “People don’t live on Mars,” he explained. “It’s another planet. Although a small number of humans did manage to travel there, it isn’t habitable. I’m afraid we’re stuck here on Earth.”
AJ sighed. “It sounds like Blake was right about being careful what you wish for. The past sounded so much better than being stuck in the Labyrinth.”
“It is better,” Ryder replied. “How many years would you have had left if you’d stayed down there? Three or four at the most, right?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Here we could live another sixty years or more. Yes, it’s going to be tough figuring things out, but don’t you think it’s worth a bit of confusion and occasionally looking like a idiot—and I’m sure it’ll happen to me too—to have all those years together?”
AJ smiled at his lover. When Ryder put it like that, there was no question about it.
Ryder crooked his finger and beckoned AJ to join him on the bed. “Now, come here and stop worrying. Your first day is tomorrow, which means we have the rest of the day to ourselves.”
AJ climbed onto the bed and into Ryder’s arms.
“And what do you suggest we do with the day?” AJ teased.
“Oh, I have a few ideas,” Ryder replied as he eased AJ down onto the mattress.
AJ gazed up at Ryder. “I have an idea too,” he whispered as he eased his legs apart.
Ryder brushed AJ’s hair out of his face and kissed him softly. “Do you mean what I think you do?”
AJ nodded. “I trust you not to hurt me.”
Ryder’s smile lit up his face as surely as the sun brightened the perfect twenty-first century sky. “Thank you.”
AJ knew he’d made the right decision.
Ryder grabbed the bottle of lube Jamie had given him after showing them to their room. He ignored the little foil packets Jamie handed over at the same time. He guessed they were the condoms Jamie had mentioned, but neither AJ nor Ryder had any idea what to do with them. “You promise to tell me if it hurts?”
“You won’t hurt me,” AJ replied.
“Promise me or we don’t do this. Blake’s put you through so much this last week. You might not be recovered enough for this yet.”
AJ stood up and stripped out of the clean clothes Jamie had loaned him. “I promise,” he said as he returned to the bed and stretched out on his back. “Now please make love to me.”
Ryder undressed in a flash and settled himself between AJ’s legs, spreading his thighs wide and stroking them slowly. AJ sighed softly as Ryder’s fingers began to explore a little further. When the first digit circled his hole he couldn’t seem to stop himself from tensing up. Ryder, unlike Blake, used the lube generously and when he finally eased a finger into AJ’s tight hole the digit slid in with relative ease.
“Are you doing okay?” Ryder asked.
AJ nodded. “It feels nice.”
Ryder chuckled. “Just nice?” he questioned as he crooked his finger.
AJ bucked beneath him and cried out at the intimate touch that caused his erection to pulse where it rested against his belly. “Do that again,” he gasped.
Ryder’s finger, buried in his arse, rubbed against the same spot again and AJ writhed with pleasure.
“You think it feels good now, just wait until my cock rubs against it,” Ryder warned as he inserted a second finger to join the first. “One day I’ll make you come without even touching your dick. You’re so responsive.”
With Ryder continuing to massage his prostate AJ couldn’t summon a single word in response.
“Are you going to come for me so soon?” Ryder asked.
AJ tried to control his orgasm, but the moment Ryder’s free hand stroked his length a wave of pleasure crashed over him and he spilled everything he had over both their chests.
He was still seeing stars when Ryder replaced his fingers with his thick member. The feeling of fullness was the same as he had experienced before, but everything else was different. Where Blake had been rough, Ryder was gentle. While Blake had fucked him hard and fast, Ryder made love to him slowly and tenderly. And when Ryder spilled his seed, deep inside him, AJ didn’t feel dirty and used. Instead he felt closer than ever to his lover and reluctant to break the intimate connection.
Ryder recovered his breath enough to speak before AJ managed to. “Did you enjoy it?” he asked quietly.
AJ could hear the nervousness in Ryder’s voice and he turned his head to look him in the eye. His teasing response of ‘couldn’t you tell?’ died on his lips at the fear he saw in the wide brown eyes. “With you, I’ll always enjoy it,” he replied instead.
The relief was visible on Ryder’s face and AJ rolled onto his side and into Ryder’s open arms. Their future might be uncertain, but AJ no longer feared what it held. He had a roof over his head and a new job working outside in air fresher than an
y he had breathed before. Best of all he had a long life ahead of him with the man he loved at his side.
Epilogue
Jessiah wandered through the archives looking for something to read. Ryder had taught him how to read and write when he’d first come to work for Blake and he had never lost the habit, even after Ryder had vanished into the depths of the labyrinth with his lover AJ more than two years ago.
He strolled down the aisles, casually browsing, when a battered book caught his eye in the science fiction section. It wasn’t the somewhat boring cover that caught his attention, rather the name of the author—AJ Ryder. He pulled the book from the shelf and read the back cover with idle curiosity. The book appeared to be a tale of corruption in a futuristic world that sounded very much like the one Jessiah lived in. He looked at the publication date to see when the book had been written. There were no publishers of fiction in the underground community. Only books that served to further the survival of mankind were published and they were few and far between, supplies being far too low to waste. Logically, Jessiah knew the book he held had to have been printed before the war, but how could a writer back then have known about this world? To his surprise he read the year of publication of 2020. He flicked through the book and saw his own name on the pages, along with the names of Blake, Ashleigh and the rest of the household.
Jessiah didn’t want to wait until he got back to the tower to start reading the story and so he found a quiet spot in the archives and settled down to read.
In the early hours of the next morning he finally finished the story. He checked the book out and went back to the tower to talk to the rest of the staff.
If AJ and Ryder’s story was true, Blake and the other scientists had been lying to them all for years. They might not have been able to stop the corruption personally, but Jessiah had got their message loud and clear. In his heart he knew it was true and all he had to do was check the journals in the study to prove it. Of course there was a chance Blake had destroyed the records, but he was arrogant enough to have kept them anyway, secure in the knowledge that the only two people who knew of the portals had been permanently exiled to another time.
