The Time Hopper

Reluctant Trust

Obsivian looked up from a red covered book in one slender hand and regarded me. A slight smile was spread on his lips, but his eyes were bemused and a little sceptical. He placed a leather bookmark in between the pages and set it aside, gesturing for me to enter the room. 

God, I didn't think I would be able to pull this off now I was actually here. But I was here now, and I wasn't one to back down from a challenge. 

"Well, I am very glad to hear that. Though I am curious as to what brought this on. Come, sit down, drink some wine." He bade me. Hesitantly, I did so, wondering where the glass of crimson wine had come from. 

"You do know that I'm fifteen, right?" I asked him, sniffing at the wine. I had drunk alcohol before, of course, because when you were a time traveller you were often in places that didn't have anything else to drink, but I had never done it around someone I was actively trying to lie to. Or without Riley. No, don't think about him. He was fine, and he was helping out my friends, and I wouldn't want him to be here anyway. 

"You're sixteen, actually. Your birthday was a week ago, on the Tuesday." Obsivian informed me. I paused, counting months and days on my fingers, and realised that he was right. It was easy to get distracted when I was time travelling, and my birthday and aging acted quite strangely as a result. Either, way, I shrugged. 

"Still doesn't mean I can drink." I said sternly. I wondered why no one in the valley had said anything. Eh, the others children probably forgot, and the grownups clearly didn't care. Besides, I didn't want to get tipsy around him, and my tolerance was terrible. 

"I can have it exchanged for juice, if you want." He said, though it seemed a little reluctant. I bet he did want me drunk, just so I would be more honest with him. 

"I'm not that thirsty." I said, just to be on the safe side. He sighed with a friendly smile and waved his hand. I didn't even blink before there was a teapot and two cups in front of us, and he was pouring us both a teacup full. 

"If we're discussing business, then it is proper to do so over a drink, my child. Do you take sugar?" He asked me. I nodded once, resigning myself. A hot drink of tea wouldn't kill me, and I was on his side now. Needed to act like it. He put three lumps of sugar in it, the exact amount I usually took, and none in his own. I accepted it silently when he slid the saucer over to me, but I waited for him to take a sip of his own before I drank mine. Just to be on the safe side. 

"I don't know how much there is to discuss. I'll work with you." I restated. He smiled at me indulgently and nodded once, though his eyes were a little playful. 

"Sadie, this has come out of nowhere. I need to know why you've suddenly flipped sides." He explained patiently to me. I frowned, but didn't let myself panic. I had expected this. Prepared for it, even. 

"Because there's no point fighting you on this. But, I do have a few conditions. Ones you'll find reasonable, I reckon." I said. I needed to buy Kat more time, and hopefully get my parents out of jail. Plus, if I folded too easily, he'd see right through me. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and waited, though I sensed that he wasn't too happy about it. 

"Right. Yeah, I'll tell you. I'll be honest, I was fully expecting you to argue back then. Anyway, what I want is for my parents to be set free and for you to not break Cat's mind. I just need some time and I can bring her round to your point of view, okay? Also, it's worth noting that I don't know where the other's could be. We had planned to meet up in Canada, but they will have left by now and we didn't have a long term plan." I explained, wanting to cut him off at the pass. I wasn't about to dob my friends in, no matter how much it would help my friends. He hesitated, and for a second something strange flickered across his face before he answered.