There and Back Again Ch. 051-052

Chapter Fifty-Two: Modern Technology

We had another two weeks of walking ahead of us before we would arrive at the base of Soldier's Peak. I wished for a car, or an airplane, for perhaps the millionth time since arriving in Thedas. Even a horse, although I understood from Tomas that you didn't actually get much further per day on a horse than walking, you just did it with fewer blisters on your feet, and more on your butt, and you could carry more stuff. Horses can sprint well, but when needing endurance, their walking speed apparently isn't that fast. And in Thedas, only the wealthiest of nobles could even afford them.

When I mentioned vehicles, everyone was fascinated, and I ended up spending most of the first day trying to explain engines and fuel sources, trucks and trains and helicopters. Sadly engineering wasn't my area of expertise, and my explanations were weak at best. The skeptical look on the faces of Gorim and Dariel were hilarious; everyone else just looked like they had a headache from trying to imagine it.

I'd handed the gifts I'd bought for Sten, Shale, and Morrigan to Aedan to give out. Everyone seemed touched when he gave them away, and I smiled.

I spent some time over the next few days catching up with Morrigan. It didn't take her long to figure out that Alistair and I had finally 'done the deed', and she quietly teased me about it for a bit, which was amusing. I'd never spent much time walking with her -- usually she was flying overhead -- and I guessed she must have been lonelier than she'd admitted over the last week. In addition, apparently walking with me was a bonus for her because it kept Dariel away; he still wanted nothing to do with me.

I noticed Wynne walking with Dariel much of the time, and at some point she must have offered to teach him, because they were deep in discussion on the nature of magic. I didn't understand much, but it seemed that their healing methods were very different, and Wynne was most eager to learn from Dariel as well. I smiled; it was the most animated I'd seen Wynne since she'd joined us. It appeared she was a good teacher. I could see why Irving had wanted her to stay in the Tower after we rescued it from Uldred. And Dariel's condescending pity towards the older Circle mage was starting to thaw a little, too.

I walked with Sten and even Shale, for a bit; neither had much interesting to say about the past week, but both seemed happy enough to see me, even if they weren't big talkers. Gorim had gotten cornered by Bodahn, and was riding the cart, discussing something or other with the merchant. His expression was distant, but tolerant; he hadn't really opened up to anyone yet, and I wondered if he would. I couldn't imagine what he was going through.

When I walked with Leli, she started pestering me about songs from Earth, and I wracked my brain to think of ones I could teach her that would not only make sense in Thedas but also weren't embarrassing if she sang them. Almost everything appropriate I could think of was a love song -- or perhaps that's just where my mind was at. I sang her "The Rose", by Bette Midler, and "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel before Alistair finally joined us, silencing me. I loved Alistair, but I wasn't about to subject him to my singing this early in the relationship.

But most of all I walked with Alistair, hand-in-hand, talking about nothing and everything. Sometimes one or another of our companions would join us, other times they left us alone. I felt drunk half the time from giggling until I was breathless; Alistair's running commentary about what the rest of the group were doing or thinking kept me in hysterics for hours.

The first night, Alistair and I resolved to be courteous, and not have sex after we went to bed. Lying in the dark with him right there, wanting him, knowing he wanted me, was the hardest thing I think I'd ever done. I slept poorly, and even he wasn't as cheery in the morning as usual. The next night we decided to just try not to make any noise after we retired to our tent. When we woke to find visible bite marks in his shoulder where I'd tried to silence myself, we decided we needed a better option. Alistair decided to ask Wynne about silencing spells on the third day, so I was skipping along between Aedan and Duncan, walking a few yards ahead of my templar and the mage, when I heard sputtering from behind.

I turned just in time to see Alistair's mottled face as he shouted, "Andraste's Flaming Sword! I know where babies come from!" and then stomp away looking mortified as the entire group cracked up laughing. Wynne was trying to stifle a smug grin, and failed when she caught my eye and I raised one eyebrow in amusement. When I managed to catch my breath, I turned and headed back to where Alistair was now walking, alone, face beet red, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

When he saw me, he blushed more, and refused to meet my gaze. I took a surreptitious look around -- no one was watching us -- and then pushed him off the path we followed into a small copse of trees where I proceeded to kiss him senseless. His acute embarrassment forgotten, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back, and we lost track of time for a few endless moments.

"So did Wynne know any helpful spells?"

"Apparently not. And the rest of her advice was even less useful." He scowled.

I struggled not to laugh again. "Would you like me to try? I have an idea."

He agreed, and then, holding hands, we proceeded to run out onto the path and hurtle towards the group, who'd left us a ways behind. Red-faced from exertion by the time we caught up, I left him with Aedan and Duncan and approached Bodahn's cart.

"Sandal?"

"Enchantment!"

I grinned. "Yes! I have a request. Do you know any way to enchant something to block sound?"

The young dwarf simply stared at me, head cocked slightly, eyes unblinking. Bodahn leaned over to look at me.

"What are you looking for, my Lady?"

"I was hoping Sandal knew an enchantment we could put on a tent to block sound. Because, you know, Alistair snores so loudly."

The older dwarf grinned at me and winked, making me blush, but he handed the reins to Sandal before reaching behind into the cart, fishing through a small sack. He came out with a tiny stone in his hand, a rune I supposed, and then grabbed one of the rolled up bundles that made up our tents. Turning back to the boy, he took back the reins, handed over the stone, and pointed at the tent material. "Enchantment?" he asked.

Sandal took the rune, rubbing it between his fingers possessively, then eyed the canvas speculatively. "Enchantment." He nodded. "Yes."

Bodahn stuffed the bundle back behind him on the cart and smiled at me. "I'll have him work on it when we set up camp tonight, my Lady."

I'd given up on trying to talk Bodahn into using my name, and just sighed at the honourific. "Thanks Bodahn. What do I owe you for it?"

His smile turned smug. "On the house, my lady. In thanks for thinking about the rest of us and silencing the...snoring."

I blushed and thanked him, and then slowed down until Alistair caught up with me. As I linked hands with him, I nodded at him quietly and he smiled. That night, Bodahn presented us with a different canvas than we were used to using, winked at me again, and then headed over to climb under the cart with Sandal like he did every night. Deciding to test it out, we set it up a short distance away from everyone, and then I went inside and closed the flap. I shouted, once, at medium volume, and then when no one seemed to react, tried again louder. Crawling back to the flap, I leaned out and looked up at my handsome boyfriend, firelight making his skin glow softly.

"Anything?"

"Nope."

"Good. Get in here."

"Yes ser! Right away ser." He grinned at me. "Want to see how well it works for other sounds?"

Giggling, I rolled away from the flap as he ducked in and tried to tackle me; he caught me on the far side when I fetched up against the wall, pulling at straps and ties with desperate haste. It turned out that making love on the ground, in a tent, was quite acceptable after all. And based on the lack of teasing the next morning, the enchantment worked perfectly.

I hugged the little, simple, dwarven enchanter the next morning, and he blushed and laughed. "Enchantment!"

On the seventh day out of Denerim, I was walking along, holding Alistair's hand as Wynne showed me various plants she'd grabbed from around the campsite to demonstrate after I'd almost used something very bad for my health as toilet paper. She showed me how to tell which were safe and which weren't, and I was trying very hard to memorise the shapes when I became dizzy. I stopped walking, interrupting Wynne mid-sentence, and turned to Alistair.

"I'll find you. Keep going, and I promise, whatever it takes, I'll find you."

His face was ashen and I could see his lips moving, I presumed asking me to stay, but I couldn't hear him over the buzzing in my ears, and finally everything went dark.

********

I woke back in a little hospital room, in a bed that shared space with three others. One of the others contained an elderly woman who appeared to be sleeping, while the other two were unoccupied, though unmade so I assumed my room-mates were out walking somewhere. The sun was shining in through the large window, and it was more than a little warm. Then I looked down and realised part of the reason why -- my request had finally been granted. I was wearing clothes -- jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket, though no boots -- instead of a hospital gown. I smiled happily and sat up, swinging my feet down where I encountered my boots. After a few moments to get them tied on properly, I stood up and stretched, before hearing a shriek.

I turned to see the woman I'd assumed was sleeping staring at me like she was seeing a ghost. I said hello and smiled reassuringly, which seemed to scare her more -- now the ghost is talking to her, I assume -- and she shrieked again. A nurse came rushing in, saw me standing, and chuckled before hurrying over to reassure the patient that everything was okay. When she was settled, the nurse came back over to where I stood.

"They told me you do this. I didn't really believe them."

I laughed. "I get that a lot."

"So...how long are you likely to be awake for?"

"I have no idea. It's never the same. While I am, though, can I wander around a bit? I want to see if they have something in the hospital gift shop."

She nodded, and I rummaged through a nearby locker to find my purse, which had about fifty dollars in the wallet. I grabbed the cash, snagged my iPhone and a cable, and headed out to the elevator. I made it to the gift store and looked around a bit before I found what I was looking for -- a portable device charger. They only had two in stock, they were only ten dollars each, and the box said they came fully charged, so I grabbed both, paid for them, and stuck them in a pocket.

I also picked up a little Ironman figurine for Alistair and bought it as well. I was looking forward to his skeptical look and about a solid day of explanation. The lady in the gift store gave me a strange look when I shoved all that into my pants pockets, but I just shrugged and headed back upstairs.

I ran into the doctor in the elevator, and he followed me back to my room. We spent a few minutes discussing the usual -- no new tubes, nothing medically had changed -- and then he paused, looking uncomfortable.

"I have a question for you. We got all your records from your family doctor, and I noticed the other day that you have an IUD in." I nodded, and he took a deep breath. "I realised that it's been four-and-a-half years since you had it inserted. They're only good for five. I was wondering...what you want us to do about it."

I was impressed; given that I was sure he still half-thought I was dreaming while unconscious, he was asking me what I wanted to do for birth control with someone he didn't believe existed. It was a leap of faith I appreciated greatly.

I thought about what to do about it for a couple of minutes, mind racing. On the one hand, not having a period in Thedas was really, really nice, but on the other...maybe one day I'd want to have a child there, and it was possible the IUD would prevent that. And given the increasing intervals of time spent there, I couldn't guarantee that I'd be back on Earth at a convenient time to have it removed. At the same time, no one could predict what would happen if I did get pregnant there, with the whole body-hopping thing I had going on...

I took a breath and let it out. "Take it out."

"In six months, you mean?"

"No, now. You can apologise to the nurses for me, but I think out is the best idea. We'll just have to put up with bodily functions."

"Well, I can't do it this instant, but if you're sure I'll make arrangements over the next few days."

I agreed, and after a few more minutes of small talk, the doctor took his leave.

Once he left, I still didn't feel dizzy, so I pulled my laptop out of the locker and plugged in my phone to charge. Then I had an idea; now alone in the room, I booted up Dragon Age: Origins, picked a save where I was in camp with all our companions, and then proceeded to take a video, on my phone, of talking to each of my companions briefly. I avoided the sex scenes and seriously personal discussions, getting just a few seconds of each companion. I even loaded a save from Highever when I'd first met Duncan with my character, and spoke with him as well. Thinking about it again, I also grabbed the discussion between Duncan and Cailan when first arriving at Ostagar.

Still not dizzy, I spent a few minutes going through the songs on my phone and removing ones I thought really wouldn't go over well in Thedas. I couldn't wait to play some music for Leli -- the expression on her face would be well worth the money to ensure the battery lasted long enough. And everyone was going to be amazed by the phone itself. I grinned to myself as I tucked the now fully-charged phone into my pocket alongside the battery chargers and figurine. I shut down the laptop, put it away, and picked at my questionable hospital-food lunch, before laying back, fully dressed, to have a nap.

********

I woke to darkness, broken only by the soft light of a nearly burnt-out firepit. The first thing I did was check my pockets, and I confirmed that my phone and the chargers had made it to Thedas. I rolled over to see Tomas sitting on a nearby stump, watching me with a smile. I grinned and sat up, and he handed me a water skin. I realised I actually disliked the water from Earth now -- I was so used to fresh stream water that the chemical taste of chlorine made water almost undrinkable. I'd run out of water purification tablets months before, and hadn't been sick from the water yet.

"I'm glad you decided to give Alistair a chance. I was worried, after I spoke to you in Redcliffe about what happened."

I smiled. "I'm glad too. He's...amazing. Much more than even I expected. And I can forgive jealousy. It's actually sort of sweet, when you look past the whole prostitution inference."

He laughed. "Just look past it, you say? Seems like no mean feat. But I think you'll be good for him. Actually, you'll be good for each other."

I warned him about a surprise from my world for the next morning, and then decided to crawl in to the tent I shared with Alistair and demonstrate my level of appreciation for him. He was thrilled to see me, once the initial panic of being woken wore off, and he held me tightly in his lap for a few minutes, just relieved I was back. When he made love to me, he was tender and reverent, and we spent the rest of the night in each other's arms.

I was practically bouncing with excitement in the morning, waiting to show everyone my surprise. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. I waited impatiently until everyone was at the fire for breakfast before pulling out the phone. Alistair watched curiously over my shoulder as I turned it on, and gasped when the lock screen popped up. I had a photo of a tropical beach on it, and he took the phone, staring at it in amazement. He jumped when it timed out and turned itself off, and dropped it like it was on fire.

I giggled and picked it up, thankful for the impact-proof case I always kept it in. I entered my lock code and promptly picked a song from my library, turning up the volume as far as it would go. The look on Leliana's face when one of the Vonda Shepard songs I'd taught her came on was priceless, and I lifted the phone and snapped a picture before it changed. She blinked and squawked as the flash went off, and I laughed even harder. Switching over to the photo app, I showed her the lifelike image of herself looking astonished. That led to everyone demanding to have their picture taken, and then wanting to be taught how to take pictures. I was amused at the mental image of getting my phone back to Earth and showing off my photos of Alistair, Leliana, and the rest, but knew I'd never do it -- even if I could -- in case it harmed my chances of coming back somehow. Or ended me in the psych ward.

If I'd thought that photos amazed them, the videos were an even bigger show-stopper. They all danced and wiggled and goofed around as one or another took video after video. I finally had to put a stop to it fearing my memory would fill up or my battery wear out prematurely. I could see a hungry look on Leli's face when I told them we had limited power; I knew she'd be begging to listen to music and commit as much as possible to memory before long.