[in progress] Come down to lake Ponchatrain, rest your soul and feed your brain.
Who: Quinn, Edie, a cameo by Mennie, and soon to be joined by Wade What: Swimming in the lake Where: The town green, Lake Ponchatrain, and the B&B When: June 24th
Quinn needed a break. He'd been working on the timer nonstop, for several days, cooped up in the high school labs. It was a nice day today, so he decided to take a little while to relax. He laid on the grass in the town green, arms behind his head, staring up at the sky.
Edie Williams, likewise, had been working nonstop. Cooped up in the town library, hunched over books, she gathered anything she could find on the effects of radiation and treatments. Everyday she would take what she found to Nurse Schmidt at the hospital and they would spend another couple hours discussing the information and helping the patients that were trickling in one by one.
Today Nurse Schmidt saw the dark circles under Edie's eyes and sent her home. The girl told her she was fine, that she could stay as long as the nurse needed her - they were the only ones with any type of medical experience in the town - but Nurse Schmidt shook her head firmly and pointed to the door. The truth was Edie didn't want to go "home" because it wasn't her home. The only part of her family that was in that dingy motel room was her cat and the pictures in her photo album she brought along, the one she had refused to open. That was why she was headed to the town common.
She had spotted the man laid out on the grass and was thankful for the company. Edie hoped he was more talkative than Izzy.
"Hey," Edie said in her southern drawl as she approached the man.
Quinn glanced up, blinking at the woman standing above him. She was someone he hadn't met yet, with an accent that was surprising for this area of the country. "Hi," he said, sitting up with a smile.
"I'm Edie Williams," the girl introduced as she took a seat next to the man in the grass. She extended a hand thinking it was nice to see someone smile so genuinely. She spent her time with books and sick people, neither one very promising when it came to smiling.
"Quinn Mallory," he replied, taking her hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you," Edie nodded her head. She dropped her hand and readjusted her position, pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms underneath and intwining her hands in place. "It's such a beautiful day," she sighed, wondering just how everything looked beyond the border of the town.
"Yeah," Quinn replied, leaning back so his weight was on his palms and he could look up at the sky. "It's nice to just sit outside a while."
"Yeah," Edie agreed. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air, the clean air, the safe air. She blinked tears away and exhaled in a huff. A shaky laugh stumbled out her mouth to cover up the momentary lapse. "A good day for a swim too. Back home we have an enormous lake real near to the house that would be perfect right now. High rocks to jump off of and a rope tied to a tree for swinging." The blonde smiled thinking about it.
Quinn looked at her, detecting her sudden change in demeanor. "Hey... are you all right?" There was nothing worse than when a woman started crying. He never knew what to do.
"Of course," Edie lied, forcing her smile wider and pushing the memories from her mind. "It's just a really good day for a swim. Don't you think?" The girl did want to cry but it wouldn't help anything so she pushed the conversation onward.
"Yeah..." Quinn said awkwardly. He could tell she was upset. "Yeah it is." Something Mennie had mentioned to him suddenly came to mind. "You know, the woman who owns the bed and breakfast told me there's a lake not far from here."
Another reason why Edie did not cry in front of people she did not know - the tangible awkwardness. The blonde knew that her mouth could overload her tail, her momma always told her so, and if there was one way to stop a conversation in its tracks it was crying. But once Quinn mentioned the lake, Edie perked up. "Really?" she nearly hollered, slapping a hand excitedly on the man's knee. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." She started to stand.
"Uh... right now?" Quinn asked.
"You have somewhere to be?" Edie asked, half serious and half sarcastic. He had been just lying in the middle of the town common. Plus, it was the end of the world, where exactly did he have to be that couldn't be put off for a few hours. Before he could answer, she extended her hand to his seated body. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait."
"Uh, no, not really," he said. He knew he should probably be working on the timer, but it wasn't like he was going to finish it today anyway. He took her hand and stood. "All right, why not?"
"That's the spirit!" Edie said, releasing her hand from his and slamming it against his back. "There's nothing more refreshing than a cool lake on a warm day." She paused, a thought seizing her. "Do you think there's fish in the lake? Fishing would be mighty fun too... but even besides that it would be a good source of food once the stuff in the grocery store goes bad, you know? I've been living off twinkies for three days straight now, eating them like their going out of style. Have you been eating healthier than I have?"
Her enthusiasm was infectious. He grinned. "Yeah, probably a bit more healthy. The woman who runs the bed and breakfast loves making us meals." He went thoughtful though at her fish question. "It's possible, depending on the ecosystem and size of the lake."
Edie's stomach to a small sumersault at the thought of a home cooked meal. "Bed and Breakfast, really? I'm staying at the motel down on highway. It's hardly very homey," the girl confessed. As for the issue of fish, she added, "We'll look out for the fish while we're out there." She motioned him to start leading the way.
"The B&B is over there," he said as they walked, pointing out the quaint, homey looking building across the town green. They made it to the road, and headed in the direction Mennie had told him the lake was in. "The owner's a real sweet lady."
"You're making me jealous," Edie grinned, admiring the building and thinking about similar places is Louisville. "You think she might need help, cooking meals and such, or maybe cleaning? In exchange for stay?" The girl could not help imagining that the place could start to become something resembling a home for her.
"She hasn't been charging since the bombs went off," Quinn told her. "And we try to help her out but she usually shoos us away."
"Nah, really? I'm still paying over at the motel. I know it's a bit funny but the girl who runs the place insists. She seems... cautious." Edie was still trying to break through Izzy's barriers without so much luck. "Is there still room available where you're staying?" she asked.
"I think so," Quinn replied. "At least one or two rooms."
"Well then it's settled," the blonde nodded. "After our swim, if you could introduce me to the woman who runs the place, I'll see if she might let me stay. What do you think?"
"Sounds like a great idea," Quinn said with a smile. "I think you'll like it - my friend Wade is staying there too."
Edie's mouth followed the movement of Quinn's. Already Edie was feeling better; she was thinking of that cute house filled with people who were friendly and home-cooked meals. Her dreaming was abruptly stopped by another thought. "Oh no. Do you think my cat will be allowed? Are you allergic? Is anybody allergic? He's a really great cat, I swear. He gives hugs and kisses and everything. I mean I'll understand if the woman wouldn't want him in her place... and he's a black cat which I guess freaks some people out. Though I think that's just silly, really. Do they freak you out?" Edie could sometimes be a verbal plow truck.
Quinn blinked at her, trying to follow the sudden outburst and wondering if this was what he sounded like when he went off on a nerd tangent.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," he assured her. "I'm not allergic, and I know Wade loves animals. You could ask Mennie, but she doesn't seem like the type to turn anyone away."
"Phew," Edie smiled. "I couldn't abandon Fog, he's my baby. Really, he's a great cat," the anxious girl assured Quinn yet again. "Do you know that petting an animal is proven to relieve stress and help you study better? I think that's just amazing when you think about it."
"I've heard they've done some studies on that," Quinn said with a nod. "I even heard that having a pet can reduce high blood pressure. It's fascinating really, to think about how something biological like that doesn't always require medicine. I hear they've done studies about music having a positive theraputic effect on people too--" He cut himself off with a sheepish grin, realizing he was babbling.
If he was indeed babbling, Edie did not notice. The blonde had been caught up in what he was saying, following along eagerly until it had come to a halt. "Go on," she nudged him on the arm gently. "All music? Because I can tell you that my momma would not agree with that. She says I listen to junk."
Quinn was surprised - she was one of the few people who actually seemed interested in his nerd babblings. "Well, I guess different music has different effects. And there's a difference between people listening to music and people being involved in playing it, it can relieve stress - some people even think it reduces pain, which is just so cool."
"Yeah? That is cool," Edie agreed, fascinated by all the new information. The girl loved learning new things, even if they seemed 'trivial' like her brother Charlie told her all the time. "I always wanted to play the drums. But like how would.. okay say I have a headache and I go play the drums, would that relieve the pain? Why, biologically, does that happen? Or do you think its more of a psychologically thing? Like mind over matter?"
Quinn laughed. "I somehow doubt the drums in particular would relieve a headache," he said. "I think it might be more psychological - like, maybe you're concentrating on the music, and it's something that you're enjoying, so the pain becomes secondary?" He shrugged, turning onto the road with the sign "Lake Ponchatrain." "I'm not really well versed with biology or pyschology, so I couldn't tell you for sure."
"What are you well versed in?" Edie asked, curious what the young man was doing before the bombs came.
"Get out of town!" Edie hollered, pushing Quinn on the shoulder. The blonde was not expecting an answer like that from the young man. "What are you? Twenty? Isn't string theory - " Edie paused trying to recall something she saw on the Discovery Channel. "Isn't about spacetime continuum and, ah, whatis... quantum physics? Wow," Edie smiled at Quinn, "you must be smart, sugar."
Quinn was slightly startled by her reaction (not to many people found string theory to be a cause for that much excitement, but he was beginning to think that she was an excitable person by nature). He grinned at her. "No, I'm twenty two. And hey, you're pretty intellegent yourself if you knew what it is. Most people just kind of stare blankly when I mention it. Yeah, it's a lot of mathmatics dealing with the continuum and quantum theory. Lately I've been... dealing... more with the dimensions aspect of it."
"Pshh," Edie flicked her hand at Quinn. "I'm not intelligent, I just listen really good. It was on the Discovery Channel awhile ago." And she was listening know. "What are the dimension aspects of it?"
"Ah..." Quinn hesitated. "Well, some scientists have the theory that there may be alternate dimesions, maybe even an infinite amount of them based on the amount of potential energy."
"Wait, you mean like parallel universes? Like ours but not really?"
"Exactly!" Quinn said, his enthusiasm for the subject obvious. "The same Earth, but a different dimension. Not only parallel worlds, but parallel people. You could run into your double."
"Nooo," the blonde gushed. "No way! Really?" Edie was easily excitable, just like Quinn guessed, and she was also very gullable. Used to the easiness in which people could hoodwink her, Edie stopped and gave a skeptical look at the young man. "But it's all theoretical. It's the string theory. It's amazing to think all you say is true - I mean really really amazing - but that's why you're working on it, it's still just a theory."
"Well..." Quinn said, simply pleased to be talking to someone who seemed to get as excited as he could about all of this. "I said I was dealing with it." He gave a mischevious little grin. "In a hands on sort of way."
The blonde stopped walking and grabbed the sleeve of Quinn's shirt. "Wait. What? You're twenty-two years old and have proven the string theory? Proven it. Well shut my mouth!" Edie should have taken her own address - her jaw was dangling open. "I like you," she said proudly.
Quinn grinned at her. "Well, I haven't proven the whole theory - there's a lot to it. But... I found the gateway to parallel dimensions."
A thought popped into the girl's head and spilled out her lips. "If you have found a gateway, why not use it to get out of here?" Edie's mind raced with the possibilities... she could go to another earth where her parents and siblings were still alive, where the bombs never dropped.
Quinn's expression faded into something a little grimmer. "It's kind of how I got here in the first place. This isn't my world - I haven't been able to get home in a long time. Plus the timer - that's what we use to slide - isn't here. Wade and I got separated from our friends. I'm trying to build another one, but it takes time. I want to make it better, to fix the mistakes I made the first time, but I have to recalibrate everything I had made originally, and that had taken over a year."
Edie frowned but tried to hold back the level of disappointment she felt at Quinn's words. It was her pesky optimism, the one that had been experiencing troubles recently, that switched on to eliminate the frown. "If you did it before you can do it again. And you will make it better." She said it as fact.
The girl, as excitable and gullable as she was, still found Quinn's story hard to truly believe. But then again she never thought that the human race would face extinction and look where they were now, stuck in some small town surrounded by death and destruction. "When you get it fixed you better show me," she said, returning to a walk. "Too be honest it's a bit hard to believe, but -" she looked sideways at the man, "your eyes don't look like they're lying."
Quinn gave a brief laugh. "Hey, you're one of the few people that hasn't thought I was totally crazy when I told them, so that's something. The one constant on most of the worlds I've been to is skepticism." The lake came into view, sunlight glinting off the calm surface as they approached.
Seeing the lake, Edie's face beamed. The dark circles under her eyes paled, her smile widened, everything in her body lightening. For that moment, Edie Williams was back in Kentucky without the worry of bombs and radiation. "Come on," she coaxed Quinn as she started to lift her t-shirt over her head uncovering a light blue lacy bra. The act of unclothing was innocent to Edie, back home she had gone swimming in the lake in her underwear with her brothers, sister, and even the neighborhood kids. You could never be picky on a hot Kentucky day.
Quinn blinked at her then glanced away quickly, not wanting to be rude. He supposed he should have realized that was coming, though he did hope she kept her bra on or he'd be all kinds of red and stuttering. He tugged off his own shirt, revealing a surprisingly fit torso for someone who was obviously such a nerd. He debated leaving his pants on, but decided that boxers were basically like a bathing suit.
Edie finished shedding the unnecessary clothes, shimming out of her boots and leaving her jeans in a denim puddle. She did a quick look at Quinn's bare chest; it was surprisingly well-toned. She pushed the rapidly resulting thoughts from her mind. The girl wanted a friend right now, needed a friend, that was all. Other things... well they just weren't important right now. That was what Edie was telling herself. "Race ya," she grinned when they both standing there in their underwear.
"Okay," Quinn replied with a grin, taking off for the lake before she could respond. They weren't too far away from the shore, so it wasn't long before he was in the water.
The blonde was a few paces behind Quinn when he entered the water. She gave a delighted scream before jumping into the cool water of the lake. The temperature was a bit of a shock at first, instantly giving Edie gooseflesh up and down her body. She dove under letting her body adjust to the water. After popping back up, she looked around for Quinn to see if he was enjoying himself as much as she was.
Quinn couldn't remember the last time he'd gone swimming just for the hell of it. The one nice thing about being stuck was the lack of a time frame. He didn't have to be constantly worried about the next slide. He ducked under the water and reemerged, pushing his wet hair out of his face.
"It's cold!" he exclaimed to Edie.
"You bet it is!" Edie laughed.
The blonde dug her feet into the bottom of the lake, relishing the feeling of the cool slushy mixture of sand, dirt, and kelp as it slid between her toes. Pushing off the bottom, Edie launched herself backwards, floating farther into the deeper parts of the lake and away from Quinn. She let her body go limp; the bottom of her body rose to level itself with the top, pushing Edie horizontally. She floated atop the surface, eyes closed against the sun that beat against her body causing the odd sensation of dueling temperatures. Ears below the surface, the only thing Edie could hear was the muffled sound of slight underwater movements. She felt all her trouble sink to the bottom of the lake as she floated there.
Quinn smiled and watched her swim out. He took the opportunity to dive under the water and get a good look at the sea life. It was a freshwater lake, and there was a good amount of fish swimming around in it. That was good to know.
After swimming underwater for a little while, he took a cue from Edie and went back up to the surface and began floating on his back.
The girl let herself drift with the movement of the water. After she lost track of some time, she adjusted herself back to a vertical position and let her kicking legs keep her afloat. She spied Quinn floating along and with a soft grin, the Edie slammed one hand down at the surface and sending a splash of water towards the man.
Quinn's eyes were closed, so the splash of water caught him totally off gaurd. "Ack!" he spluttered, sinking under the water as he jerked out of the floating position. He surfaced again a few seconds later. "Not nice. Not nice at all." He retailiated, using both his hands to splash a wave at her.
Edie let out a squeal that was directly followed by a loud laugh. She swung another slice of water at him. "Ah ha, take that!"
Quinn sheilded his eyes with his arms with a laugh before aiming another splash at her. "I thought this was supposed to be a peaceful swim!"
"Think of it like playing an instrument," Edie replied along with another splash. "We're taking our minds off all the other stuff." The pain.
They stayed out in the lake for a while longer, before eventually getting tired and making their way back onto shore. Quinn pulled his pants back on, but left the shirt off, figuring he'd give himself the walk to dry off. "So do you want to come back to the B & B and see if there's any rooms available?"
"Oh definitely," Edie nodded, zipping up her jeans. She threw her t-shirt back over her head, slipped on her boots, and tossed her wet hair into a ponytail with a rubberband she found in her back pocket. Dripping dry as they walked, the two headed back towards the Bed and Breakfast carrying on with their conversation. Edie wanted to know more about the string theory, the real specifics of it, even if she didn't understand every other word that rushed out of Quinn's mouth. She appreciated not only his enthusiasm for the subject, but more importantly, that he didn't treat her like an idiot.
Soon they were headed up the steps of the Queen Ann style house, Edie running her fingers over the railing as she was reminded of homes like it back in Kentucky. Once they got to the door, she slipped her shoes back off and placed them next to the door on the porch. She let Quinn lead the rest of the way.
"Hello?" Quinn called as they entered the house. "Mennie?"
The older woman appeared from the kitchen smiling pleasantly. "Home before dark?" she said, teasing him lightly, considering he usually was at the high school until all hours. She caught sight of Edie. "Well, hello there, dear. I'm Mennie. Are you two hungry? Can I make you something to eat?"
The corners of Edie's mouth curved upward as soon as the older woman spoke to her. "Hello ma'am, my name is Edie Williams. A meal would be wonderful, as long as you let me help you with it. I have to admit I miss cooking something horrible."
"Nice to meet you, Edie," Mennie said with a warm smile. "You can call me, Mennie." Usually she didn't allow anyone help her, insisting that they just sit and relax. However, Edie seemed like she really wanted to cook, so she consented. "I'd be happy for the help," she said, ushering them both into the kitchen, but insisting Quinn take a seat, asking him if he wanted anything to drink.
"No, thanks, Mennie. I'm fine."
Edie followed Mennie into the kitchen, her socks slipping against the wood floors. "You have a beautiful place here," she told the older woman.
"Thank you," Mennie said. "Joe and I spent a lot of years working on this place. What are you kids hungry for?"