Time Series: Complete Bundle

by Claire Davon

  Sonder was much more of a doer than a flowers guy and this display rendered her silent for a long moment. She took a deep breath, gulping past the sudden lump in her throat and the tears in her eyes. The cost and style of the dinnerware didn’t matter in the slightest to her. Sonder had gone out of his way to set up a romantic dinner for two in a safe location. He had snatched a moment out of time to have dinner with her.

  The spicy aroma of hot food wafted toward her and she smelled Greek food. Pita bread lay in a plastic holder in the middle of the table. There was the tang of tsatsiki. It didn’t smell like the familiar scents of Santorini. Did they still have Greek food in his time? Fiona chastised herself. It was decades, not centuries, in the future. Mankind hadn’t changed that much.

  She blinked at the emotions swelling within her. Nobody had ever done anything like this for her before. The fact that it was this man, the only one she had ever loved, caught her.

  She looked at him, tears brimming. Sonder’s face transformed, going from pleased to alarmed when he saw the look on her face.

  “Fiona, what is it?” he gestured to the table. “I know it’s not fancy plates or anything, but I didn’t want to take the risk of adding to his, my, dishes. It’s just the stuff I use, and I got it from yard sales and hand-me-downs. Kale mou, what is it? Talk to me.”

  “Oh Sonder,” she said, and threw herself into his arms. His strong hands closed around her body and she felt him breathe out. “It’s perfect. Where did you get the Greek food?”

  He tilted her head up and grinned at her, relief written on his face. “That wasn’t easy. There aren’t a lot of Greek restaurants around here. I had to risk driving his, my, car to a restaurant thirty miles away, and bring it back an hour ago. I hope it’s not too cold. You didn’t notice I left for a minute last night.”

  The sheer talent it took him to shift with such precision made her blink. He had so much to teach her.

  “I love it,” she said, moving from the living room to the dining room, clutching at his hand. He felt warm and solid, his presence filling the room.

  She looked around. The house was as she remembered it, with a computer resting on the space between the dining area and the kitchen. There wasn’t much décor in the house and she thought, as she had the first time, that this Sonder hadn’t yet developed who he was.

  As she hadn’t, before she had become the Traveler. She was growing every day, learning how to harness and control her powers. Their countdown to the Event was coming, but it wasn’t going to be this moment.

  “Dinner and a movie?” she asked, opening the take out containers. She noted they looked different from the Styrofoam of her childhood. The containers looked more like cardboard and she had no doubt they were biodegradable.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what was good in this era. I forget. I’ve got the stream, of course,” and he gestured to the computer. Looking into the living room, she realized he had no TV. He had no electronics. Belatedly she remembered he had had an implant in his wrist, something he used to access data, before joining the Guardians. They had removed it, leaving a small scar. In her day people were going toward the computer and their mobile devices for entertainment and information and that trend seemed to have continued and strengthened.

  She didn’t care about movies. She didn’t need music. The point was that this man, the man she loved, had gone through a great deal of trouble to set up a special dinner for her.

  “Are we taking a risk? Do you find out someone else was here while you were gone?”

  He shrugged again. “I timed it to be after you and I left the first time, before. I had only been gone a few hours at that point, so the neighbors have no reason to be suspicious. This is designed to be efficient, and anonymous. I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary, so it must not have. This is for us. I wanted to spend a little time with you away from those two.”

  “I love you,” she blurted out, kissing him on the mouth. “You are everything to me.”

  He smiled, but there was a reserve in his eyes. “I love you, my dearest kale mou. I always will. Come on. It’s already a little cold. Let’s eat.”

  She watched him as he served her. There was wine, of course, something that wasn’t Greek, but she didn’t recognize the label. It appeared to be from Chile. She wondered how much had changed from the sea level rising and if that had had any impact on that country. If they managed to change things, and fix things so the Event never happened, maybe they could come back here and he could show her his present in more detail. She didn’t have a clear understanding of what it would mean if they fixed the Event. There were no Guardians or Liberators visiting from beyond that time, but would that change if she stopped the apocalypse?

  So many questions, and none had any place at a romantic dinner with the man she loved.

  Once her dish was piled with savory items, Sonder raised his glass to her. His hair was spiky and his face glowed with love.

  “To my Traveler, my lovely kale mou. To the woman I love. I cherish the day I met you in Brookline.”

  She blushed. “And to you, my incredible man. I love you with all that I have, and all that I am.”

  He smiled. “That’s all I can ask for.”

  They ate slowly, sitting together and feeding each other small bites. Sonder had assembled all of their favorite dishes. If the hummus tasted a little grainy and the souvlaki seemed a little bland, it didn’t matter. What mattered was he had done this for her. He showed his love in his day to day care and concern, but rarely was romantic. This extravagant gesture reminded her how deep his feelings ran. She couldn’t have loved him any more in that moment. Fiona wished she could bottle it, preserve the moment in time. That, even for the Traveler, eluded her. Once this moment was gone she could never get it back. She would bounce back if she attempted it. Too bad. It would have been nice to relive this moment.

  “I tried to bring some back from Santorini,” he said around a forkful of food, almost in apology. “It didn’t taste good after the transition from the black. So I made do with a local place. It’s not Santorini…”

  “It’s perfect,” she assured him. “Better than perfect, because you set it up.”

  He paused, as if trying to decide how to say something.

  “Fiona, I…” he stuttered to a halt and she stopped her hand in the act of moving her fork to her mouth. He looked nervous, almost sweating.

  “What is it, my love?” she asked, setting the utensil down.

  “It’s just…” he stumbled to a halt again. Taking a deep breath, he continued. “You are my heart, my life, my everything,” he said. Fiona blinked. “I didn’t know what love was before I met you, but I know what it is now. I love waking up next to you and seeing the sun in your blonde hair. I love watching your eyes go cloudy when we make love. I love your touch, and the feel of your skin.”

  His words were said in a low tone, as if they were torn from him. He was a stoic man, she knew, and romantic gestures didn’t come naturally. That he’d done all this…

  “I love you too, Sonder. You’re better than the dreams. You’re my dreams made flesh, but even more than that. You’re part of me.”

  He smiled. As with everything he did since they had returned the Tunguska meteor to its original spot it seemed touched with sadness, as if he operated from a permanent place of melancholy.

  “Thank you. That means the world to me. Fiona…you know what we are facing. You know what I think. But if we survive what is coming, will you marry me? We can live whenever and wherever we want, and I don’t care where that is, as long as we are together. If I survive.”

  “You will survive,” she said, gripping his hand so hard she was sure she was leaving white marks.

  He nodded. “I will do what is necessary.”

  She flushed. “Sonder, you can’t put your life at risk. You asked me to marry you. You have to come through this, for me.”

  He looked at her for a long time. Turning her hand over, he traced her
fate and heart lines and pressed a kiss into the middle of her hand.

  “You haven’t said yes,” he said. His dark eyes were deep and serious. He ran his free hand through his hair, still looking at her.

  “Oh Sonder,” she said, placing her other hand over their joined ones. “Of course I will marry you. Did you doubt it?”

  “A man can never be sure.”

  She was a little surprised he had asked her with everything so uncertain. Usually he liked things compartmentalized, everything in its place. This was out of order for him, but a welcome out of order.

  “Let’s take a picture,” she said, gesturing to the tablet that had made the transition with her.

  “Let’s,” he agreed. He took the tablet and turned the front facing camera on. Then they took a selfie, with the dining table in the background.

  Sonder moved to hand it to her and froze.

  “Fiona, there are other pictures on here.”

  She studied him, hearing a sharp intake in his voice.

  “Of course. We take pictures with it all the time,” she said.

  “No, I mean, there are OTHER pictures on here.”

  She didn’t understand what he meant, until he took the tablet and handed it to her. A new folder had appeared, one that hadn’t been there before. She blanched.

  The Event, it said.

  She looked from Sonder to the tablet.

  “That’s not possible,” she said, turning the tablet over. It was her tablet, she recognized the ding from where she had dropped it on the top left corner. All her personal things were on there. But she had never taken pictures of the Event. Other than her mad dash there with Rogald, she had never been there. She stared at Sonder.

  “How did this happen?” she asked. He was scrolling through the pictures, his face set. She looked over his shoulder. Each was as bleak as the one picture they did have, a desolate landscape. All were from the area around Golden Gate Park, but from different angles.

  “Does this mean I took the picture the Guardians had? Was it me?” She felt something rising in her throat, hysteria, or terror.

  “Did you put the tablet down at any time?” Sonder asked.

  Fiona thought. “Not since…I gave it to Illiria so she could see what we’d done, but it was only for a minute.” Fiona focused. Sonder swore.

  “She left the room with it, if I remember correctly. She must have given you your future version, slipped it back to you when we were distracted.”

  That made no sense. “Why?”

  He looked at her, and handed the tablet back to her. “All these pictures are of the Event. You went there. You wanted to get pictures back to us but you couldn’t travel into the same time frame as now, or where we were, because you were there already. So you gave the tablet to Illiria, or someone gave the tablet to Illiria, to get to us. To show us. You were there. You have gone to the Event. You took pictures. This means you can fix it.”

  Her mind was spinning. “You’re saying future me jumped to the Event, took pictures, sent them back with someone to give to Illiria to give to me so we would see them while we were here? So I in effect created my own knowledge. Now I know I’m going to do this so I will do it so we will have it now and AUGH!” She grabbed her head, clutching it between sweaty palms. Sonder wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Fiona felt like crying, tears threatening near the surface. The romantic moment, like glass, had been shattered by the images. She wondered if future Fiona had had her time here, and sent the tablet back knowing she would lose it forever once present Fiona saw the pictures. It would have been a nice memory.

  “It’s okay, kale mou, shh shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. I’m here. They are pictures, nothing more. They can help us.” He rocked her back and forth, crooning against her ear. Fiona felt his warm bulk, the solid reality that was Sonder. His warmth sank into her, thawing her frozen mind from what had happened.

  She lifted her head and looked at him. “Paradoxes will drive you crazy,” she said, with a shaky laugh.

  He didn’t smile. Tracing her cheek with his thumb, he trailed it over her jawline and back up to her mouth and over her lips.

  “Paradoxes can kill you,” he said.

  She sighed. The moment was so perfect she wanted to capture it in marble and never let it go. “I suppose we need to get back. Illiria will be wanting to talk about the tablet.”

  Extracting the tablet, which was dangling from one hand, he placed it on his small dining table.

  “Knowing Illiria, she downloaded everything on the tablet future you gave her before she gave it to present you. There’s no hurry, kale mou. When we go back it will be a minute after we left. There’s no rush. We have time.” He kissed her on the nose. “I would say ‘she can wait’ but she won’t need to. Let’s talk about something more pleasant.”

  He pushed his hips into hers, leaving no doubt as to his intentions. She could feel him against her, and as they pressed together, she felt his manhood start to rise.

  “My love, my Fiona,” he said, with a waggle of his eyebrows. “Want to see the rest of the house?”

  She flushed, desire stirring within her. He pulled her up, and swung her into his arms. She felt the strong muscles of his back, and the heat of his chest. She felt his heart pound, a rapid beat that matched her accelerated pulse.

  His bedroom was like the rest of his place, sparse and barely furnished. A single mattress platform bed stood in the middle of the room. Modular forms were around, making up what she assumed was storage. Sonder waved his hand and swore.

  “It’s all on the data chip, but I don’t have that.” Sonder deposited her on the bed and reached over to turn on a lamp. “We have overrides.”

  His hands curved around her body. She put her hands on his chest and smiled up at him.

  “I’m sure the data chip is efficient,” she said, and kissed him. “But I’m glad you’re not tracked remotely.”

  Sonder unclasped his belt, which still lay buckled across his waist, and let it fall to the bed. Without breaking eye contact, he turned it off. Then he stripped off his shirt and it also dropped to the bed.

  “Just you and me now,” he said.

  Any articulate answer she could have made was washed away by the feel of his lips on hers. His tongue plunged past her lips and into her mouth. All she could do was respond as he pulled her to his half-naked form. Her hand stole up his naked chest and over his muscled shoulders until they were linked at his neck the way his were at her back.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said, laying her down on the bed and straddling her. She saw him continue to grow, until his cock stood out against his well-fitting jeans.

  “I wanted to go to dinner and make love to you,” he said, bending over her as he splayed her out. “Nothing is going to spoil that.” He pushed her cotton shirt up over her breasts and bent to taste one through her lacy bra. She gasped at his tongue and clutched her hands to his head. Reaching down, she felt him under the cloth of his jeans. He pulled his mouth away from her and shuddered, thrusting into her hand.

  She was laid out across the bed, breasts bared and body aching. She was still caressing him when she felt him shudder and grip her arm.

  “I want to taste you.”

  “Me too.”

  Gesturing to her body, he motioned for her to remove the rest of my clothing while he did his. When they were naked he flipped them, each head to groin.

  “Taste me,” he said, and bent to do the same to her.

  She took him in her mouth while he touched his lips to the part of her that wanted him most. He found the center of her and tongued it. It all seemed surreal, like a moment ripped in time. The weight of events fled from her the moment he touched her.

  He was moaning at her mouth on him. She wanted to concentrate on giving him pleasure, but his tongue worked on her, biting lightly. Fiona gasped and soared. Digging her nails into his shoulder, she cried out, waves of pleasure filling her. She heard his shout of triumph. Before she coul
d move he had slid free of her mouth, his hardness pressing against her as he rose up.

  “I need to be inside you right now.”

  He moved until they were once again straddling each other. She was open under him and he was on top of her, hard and waiting.

  “Now.”

  She lifted her body and felt him slide in. All she cared was the man in front of her. They thrust against each other. Fiona reached down to cup his sacs and caress him and his breathing tightened further.

  “Oh my god, Fiona, I love you. So much.” He thrust again and his mouth pulled back. “I…I’m losing it. Oh god.”

  He shuddered, his body spasming. She felt him rear back and he was emptying inside her, his hips moving. She clutched at him, feeling moisture and warmth throughout her body, fluids and sensations mingling together in a wild explosion of passion and love.

  Chapter 3

  Illiria and Rogald looked up when they arrived back, as Sonder promised a minute after they had left. From the looks on their faces Fiona suspected Illiria had filled Rogald in on the tablet in the short time they had been gone.

  Time travel was strange and wonderful, she thought. They had been gone for an hour or more and even though it looked like a minute to Illiria and Rogald, Sonder and Fiona had lost that hour. They were one hour older. Over time that would accumulate. Fiona realized you could live your life in time travel, and always age even when time appears not to be moving to the other people. It would be disconcerting for the uninitiated.

  “That was a dirty trick,” Fiona said, slinging the tablet off her body and onto the coffee table. “You could have told me.”

  Illiria shook her head, an undefined gesture.

  “You may have listened, and you may not have. You are capricious. This way you saw for yourself. Besides,” she said, looking at Rogald, “That was the way it happened.”

  It happened that way therefore that was the way it happened therefore it happened that way. She felt like she was in a Mobius strip.