When All is Null and Void

Chapter Eleven

"So," he said. Alexander interlaced his fingers and looked at Caleb through the tips of his fingers.

"Yes?" Caleb said, copying the move with almost sarcastic imitation.

Alexander quirked his eyebrows and smirked. "We're going to get along just fine."

Caleb didn't have a reply to this, but Alexander didn't seem to need one. "We've got to lay a few ground rules," Alexander said. "Kind of boring, and stupid, I know."

Caleb didn't think this was stupid at all. He was actually glad that Alexander was going to give him rules. He was good at following rules. And if he was going to be living here, he needed to be respectful of that. He nodded for Alexander to continue.

"The first rule is just a Timewalker rule—more of a law, really. We can't tell people about us." He used his thumb to point at himself and pinky to point at Caleb. "We can interact with everyone. The Void consumes whatever energy tries to destroy the universe or whatever. So that's fine. But talking about what we do is a no no."

"Don't talk about Timewalkers," Caleb said, "got it."

"Second rule..." Alexander screwed up his face. "Please don't pee on the toilet seat. I really hate that."

"Ugh, people do that all the time at the Museum," Caleb said. "I hate it."

Alexander nodded. "Just aim, right?" he said.

"What other ground rules?" Caleb asked.

"I hadn't really thought about that," Alexander replied. "I'll figure out a list." He crossed his ankle over his knee and rubbed his ear absently until it was slightly red.

Caleb sat back in the chair and nodded. "Okay," was all he could think to say. His stomach growled in that moment and Alexander jumped to his feet with a clap.

"We need to get you food!" he said. "You're going to waste away to nothing."

Caleb frowned. "Wait, because we Hopped back in time, it's like I've never eaten at all?"

"What?" Alexander said with a frown. "What are you talking about? It was an expression."

Cheeks reddening, Caleb muttered, "Sorry."

Alexander clapped him on the back and walked to a door next to the kitchen. "Come on," he said.

Caleb was eager to experience more Time Hopping, but was slightly disappointed when he saw a battered old truck parked in the garage. "This is Sheba," Alexander said, smacking the hood of the truck. Caleb swore he saw flecks of rust fall off the back end of the truck. "The guy I bought it from called her that, and I thought the legacy should live on."

When they'd clambered in, and as Alexander put the truck in reverse, Caleb said, "Are you lonely?" It was only after the question was out of his mouth that it seemed a little rude. That's not a question you ask someone you barely know, Caleb chided himself.

Alexander faked a heart attack, clutching at his heart with a sarcastic guffaw. "I'm offended that you associate me naming a tree and a truck with loneliness." He started driving down the gravel road while Caleb apologized. "I'm just joking with you, Caleb. I like to have fun, and I'm also trying really hard for you to like me. There's a survey at the end of all this, and I reallyneed the gold star."

Caleb snorted.

+++

Alexander's house was on the outskirts of a town called Silverton, and apparently they were in Oregon, a state that didn't exist in Caleb's time anymore because of some merging between states. Caleb had never quite understood the reasoning behind the change, but it had happened, and geography--or was it government?--had never been his strong suit.

For fifteen minutes they drove west toward Salem while Alexander chattered the whole way about all sorts of topics. Caleb was convinced the man had the attention span of a small child, because Caleb almost had whiplash from the amount of times the conversation had changed already

"I didn't want to deprive you of a ride in this truck," Alexander said after a while. "There's nothing quite like it." And there wasn't. Perhaps Alexander wasn't the worst driver in the world, but he definitely wouldn't be hired to drive Rhea James around. They didn't get into an accident, but the word nearlycould be thrown in somewhere. Caleb gripped the door handle at least six times.

The sky still drizzled lightly, even though the sun streamed through the clouds in the distance. If Caleb looked behind them, the sky was pitch black with storm. "Is it always like this?" Caleb asked, leaning forward to see the sky better. It was rather spectacular.

"In the spring it is. It's not so normal right now in fall," Alexander replied, tapping a disjunct rhythm on the steering wheel to some music in his head. The radio was on, playing a talk show with a bunch of people talking about being debt free. "Winter it's pretty gray," he continued as a saxophone began playing a theme song. "Winter is actually the worst, because people get all depressed and angry. Most serial killers come from Oregon, I guess." Alexander turned left into a parking lot with dozens of cars--all nicer than Alexander's truck, but definitely retro.

"Really?" Caleb asked. He held onto the door again as Alexander swooped into a parking spot.

"I don't know, but it sounds like a real statistic, doesn't it?" Unbuckling from the seat, Alexander slid out of the truck.

"I didn't know the Northwest could be so nice," his mentor said by way of continuing the conversation, sans serial killers. "Summers are perfect. Always breezy, barely a cloud in the sky. I love it, and I probably wouldn't choose to live anywhere else."

"Did you choose to come here, then?" Caleb asked. They walked into a store with a huge red bullseye outside. Everything was a mixture of red and white. Red signs and doors and carts, white, shiny tile floors. It wasn't even that busy. The amount of cars outside would have led him to believe they would have been elbow to elbow with people. People back home were always riding together.

"Oh, heavens no," Alexander said. He stopped at a cart, shrugged and took one by the handle in the back. "I was assigned to Munich, Germany in 1943 for a while there. But then Rhea reassigned me here. Less dangerous I guess." Caleb couldn't tell if he detected a slight tinge of bitterness. Alexander used the cart as a scooter, kicking the ground for speed and stepping on the bottom rack.

"That's so cool," Caleb said wistfully. "I'd love to go to Germany someday."

"We totally can!" Alexander said lightly.

They walked around the store for a while, stopping at a section with books, before moving onto clothes. Alexander told him he could pick anything out, that this was part of the budget. "If you're supposed to fit in here, then you have to dress the part."

"But you don't have to buy this stuff for me..." Caleb said softly. It was going to be so expensive.

"Money's notan issue. Accept it, move on, be thankful." Alexander winked at him before looking at a repulsive shirt. "This is nice."