Twists Of Time

Casey woke up nice and early and did something that not that long ago he never would have thought he would enjoy so much.  He took a long hot shower, because when your house is created by magic, there is no limit to the hot water.  Oddly, he found himself wondering while he was enjoying the steamy shower what Kim's brother would be like.  He was supposed to be rescuing his true love, but he had only yesterday finally admitted to himself and to Kim in the process that his true love would be a guy.  He had known for some time that he didn't feel about girls the way his classmates did, and that he thought more about those classmates than he probably should.  He tried to picture Kim's brother in his mind, but somehow he just kept seeing Kim's face on a boy's body which was not something he wanted to see.  Giving up on trying to imagine the person he was going to rescue, he simply enjoyed his hot shower for a few more minutes, before realizing that they needed to get going again if they were going to make it  very far today.

"It's about time you got up," Kim greeted him as he joined her in the kitchen of the house.  "I made some coffee if you want some.  "It was nice of you to think of that when you created the place.  Would have been nicer if you had created some food too, so I wouldn't have had to go hunting, but I guess we can't have it too easy."

"I didn't think of coffee, I just thought of things we would each like to have in a house, the magic filled in the details that I didn't know," Casey explained.  "Just like I didn't know to include the bubble bath in your bathroom, but you got the bottle of stuff anyway."

"Don't tell me little gay boy was peeking," Kim admonished.

"EEWWW! No!" Casey exclaimed.  "It's my magic that is controlling the place though, so I knew what was going on.  I did not need visuals then and I definitely don't need them now when I am trying to enjoy my orange juice. Thank you very much."  He took another sip of his orange juice and then said, "If you notice, I did come up with all the vegetables and drinks we wanted.  I just couldn't do meat.  I have no problem eating it once it has been killed, but if I had to do that myself, I would turn vegetarian really quickly."

"Wait, you can cook it and eat it, but you can't kill it?  How does that even work?"

"I don't ask you to explain any of your weirdness, so let me have mine," Casey told her with a frown.

"Ok, no picking on the little princess for being delicate," she laughed.  "How far do you think we made it yesterday?"

"We got further than we thought we would thanks to the bikes, which I will have to recreate today.  I couldn't maintain them while I was sleeping and keep the house here too."

"Well thanks for the priorities, then," Kim acknowledged.  "I would much prefer a nice bed over a bike when I am sleeping."

"You know I just realized the best part of this house," Casey announced with a smile.

"What would that be?" Kim asked.

"I don't have to clean it," he continued to smile as he waved his staff and the house and everything in it disappeared around them.  Kim was less than impressed since she had been sitting on a bar stool that was no longer under her causing her to hit the forest floor in a heap.

"You are cruising for a bruising, magic man," she snarled as she got up and rubbed her butt.

"I think you'll find you're the one with the bruise," he giggled.

"This is the thanks I get for bringing home meat to eat last night," she grumbled.

"I did thank you for that," he corrected.  "I thanked you and I cooked it for you."

"Yeah, you did, and I do have to admit it was edible," she confessed.  "There, now you've gotten your compliment for the day.  Let's hit the trail."  As she got on her bike once it appeared beside her, she added, "And next time let me finish my coffee before you snatch the house out from under me."

"Ok, I am sorry about that," Casey apologized.  "I don't drink the stuff myself, but I wouldn't have made the cup disappear if I had known you weren't finished with it."

"It's ok, it was my second cup anyway," she told him.  "How can you not drink coffee?  It's the nectar of the gods, the only way to start the day."

"I've never tried the stuff before," Casey admitted.  "My parents think I am too young for it.  I've always liked the smell though."

They got to the edge of the valley they had seen from the tower just a couple of hours after they started that morning, so they were clearly making much better time than if they had been just walking.

"Do you want to stop for lunch or keep going?" Kim asked.

"I don't mind skipping lunch if it gets us where we have to go sooner," Casey shrugged.

"Fair enough," Kim agreed.  "I hope you can pull off another fabulous house for tonight though.  I will be dead tired."

"Well, technically, I had a little help with the house last night," Casey confessed.  "Remember when I was planning to leave and I found myself in Mitch's room in his time?  Well that was the house.  You spent the night in our son's bedroom.  I just kept all of his stuff out of it and had the magic create a room for you instead."

"Wow," Kim murmured.  "I guess you do know what you're doing with the magic stuff."  She was quiet for a few moments and then blurted out, "You really didn't need me to come along with you, did you?"

"Of course, I did," Casey told her quickly.  "I would never have been able to provide meat for dinner last night."

"You know that's not what I meant," Kim retorted.

"Yes, but it's the only answer I want to give you," Casey admitted.  "If you really want to know more, I will tell you, but I would rather not."

"Never mind, you just answered the rest anyway," Kim said with a little sadness.

"Hey!" Casey practically yelled.  "If you weren't useful, you wouldn't be here.  The original idea for why you are here shouldn't matter as long as you are helping with the problems we have to face.  Besides, I think for your own reasons you need to come with me."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you don't want to think that your uncle is doing what Mitch told us," Casey explained.  "If he's not, you need to have the chance to prove his innocence.  If he really is, you need to face that.  I think you have to face something else as well."

"He's not doing it," Kim snapped.  "Uncle Clyde wouldn't do that.  He just wouldn't.  Why won't you and Mitch believe me?" she yelled angrily.

"Because we know you are lying," Casey yelled back.  "You are lying to us, but most of all you are lying to yourself.  I don't know why, but I know you are.  I can feel it through the magic."

"If I punch you in the face, will you feel that through your magic too?" Kim snarled.

"You won't do that," Casey dismissed her.

"Oh, you don't think so?" Kim sneered.  She pulled her arm back, ready to swing but found herself frozen in place.  "What did you do?  Let me go!"

"I didn't have to think it, I knew you wouldn't because I would stop you before you could," Casey told her as he stared her directly in the eye.  "I'm not letting you go until you calm down.  Now while you're stuck here, why don't you tell me why you are so convinced that your uncle would never mess with your brother?"

"He wouldn’t do it," she started angrily, but then suddenly calmed.  "He wouldn’t do it because he's not gay.  I know he's not."

"Just because a man marries and has children with a woman," Casey began.

"I know he's not gay because he did stuff with me, ok?  Is that what you wanted to know?" Kim shouted.  "He messed with me when I was nine years old until last year, when I told him I didn't want to do it anymore and didn't like it.  I told him it was wrong, and it didn't feel right, and if he didn't stop I would tell the cops."

"How did he take that?" Casey asked softly.

"He was fine," Kim answered.  "He told me if I didn't want to play anymore that I didn't have to do it.  He even kept bringing me candy and treats like he had always done before when he would come over to babysit us.  He makes the best brownies in the world.  They always made me tingle all over when I ate them."

"Brownies that make you tingle," Casey repeated.  "I like chocolate as much as any kid in the world, but I've never had brownies that made me tingle."  He got a serious look on his face.  "Kim, you said they did make you tingle.  Do they not do that anymore?"

"He hasn't brought brownies in a long time," she replied.  "He brings over cookies now and makes milkshakes.  He's great at making all kinds of flavors of milkshakes.  They weren't so good at first, but he has gotten a lot better."

"Kim, I don’t know what is going on, but my magic is telling me that something is really wrong," Casey told her.  "Are you calmed down enough to keep going now?"

"Yes, we can get moving again," Kim agreed.  "I promise I won't try to hit you again, unless you really deserve it."

"If I really deserve it, I won't be able to stop you," Casey informed her.  "Just the way the magic works apparently."

"Good to know," Kim grinned.  "Ok, Merlin, we're burning daylight here.  Let's get moving."