Time Maze

Tea Parties are Good for You?

It took Marcus only a second to realize that Paul was one of the guys he saw when they first entered the tavern, one of the cool-looking dudes he thought would be fun to hang out with. Especially having in mind that he was starting to find Tyson and Sybil as boring as his parents.

When he first met Sybil, he was deceived by her hotness into thinking that she might be a fun company, but the more he got to know her, the less appealing she was. All her rational thinking and practicality rubbed Marcus the wrong way.

"Why don't you sit down? Keep me company until my friend comes back with some food?" Marcus asked hesitantly, unsure of how people made friends in the past. "The least I can do is offer you some food to make up for almost killing you."

Marcus was quite proud of himself for how he handled the situation. It felt like he was channeling his inner Tyson. So, he wasn't much surprised when after a short hesitation, the guy decided to join the strange man who nevertheless had the type of personality that was difficult to resist.

"I could eat," Paul said hesitantly, his hunger overruling his other impulses.

"So, you are like, into tea?" Marcus asked, looking at the papers Paul clenched to his chest.

He couldn't see the writing very well, but he did recognize the words 'tea' and 'tax' as they seemed to repeat many times on the small part of the text that Marcus could see. It felt like a good ice breaker, but he did wish there was something more exciting to talk about. The obsession with tea that everyone seemed to have was going over his head.

"Don't you think that the new Tea Act is preposterous? How dare they bypass colonial merchants?" Paul exclaimed passionately but soon lowered his voice to a shouted whisper. "I will make sure no tea is unloaded. They will realize the error of their ways."

Marcus could tell that the guy felt passionate about the topic, making him regret bringing it up because he had no idea what the guy was going on about. Thus, he did what he always did in situations where he couldn't understand what was going on. He went along with what was being said.

"Yeah, preposterous indeed," Marcus said, trying to imitate posh British lords he saw in TV shows hoping that it was the right idea. "You know if you want to get back at them, I have a fun idea."

Paul looked at the stranger in wonder but was too curious not to ask.

"What's your idea?" Paul asked, failing to notice the note of mischief in Marcus's voice.

"Why don't you like, throw the tea into the ocean and just have a huge Tea Party?" Marcus asked, barely suppressing his giggles at the strange idea. "Let's have a tea party!"

Paul's eyes lit up with an idea. However, before he could say anything, positive or negative, Tyson arrived, catching the last part of their conversation. And though he was furious with himself for repeating the same mistake once again, he knew he couldn't allow himself to mess things up even more than Marcus did.

"Marcus here is the food," Tyson said, putting it in front of him. "And who is your friend?"

Having forgotten the guy's name, Marcus hesitated for a moment, trying to remember. Luckily, as chill as the dude was, he chose to help him out.

"I am Paul Revere," he said, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Of course you are. Who else could you be?" Tyson mumbled quietly and then continued loud enough for Paul to hear. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Paul said hesitantly, sensing that Tyson might not actually be too happy to meet him.

"I almost caused him to break his neck. So, I promised him some food to make it up to him," Marcus said, chuckling under his breath. As if almost killing an essential historical person was the most fun thing ever. "Can we give them these?"

It didn't surprise Tyson to note that Marcus only gave away things he didn't like, the same food that Tyson hoped to get for himself. Still, he thought it better to agree immediately and limit Paul's exposure to Marcus. Although it was probably already too late.

"Sure, you can give him whatever you want," Tyson said.

"That's very generous of you," Paul said, gathering the food Marcus gave him. "I wish I could eat this with you, but I am afraid I have a prior engagement that I completely forgot about."

Tyson knew that his cold attitude towards the guy made him gather up his things so quickly and leave, but he couldn't find it in himself to feel sorry. After all, it couldn't be good for any of them to spend time with each other.

"Tea Party, that has a nice ring to it," Paul mumbled while leaving. "Maybe that's not such a bad idea."

"See you around, dude!" Marcus eagerly yelled after him.

However, the only acknowledgment he got was a distracted wave of Paul's hand.

"See what you did?" Marcus asked, spinning towards Tyson angrily. "You chased away another one of my potential friends. At this rate, I'll never have any new friends."

"Marcus, that was Paul Revere," Tyson said, emphasizing his name, hoping to make it clear to Marcus how much he messed up.

"Yes, I know the guy introduced himself like two times," Marcus responded bitterly.

"Marcus, he is an important historical figure," Tyson said, tired of Marcus's lack of basic knowledge about history.

"Oh, cool. What did Paul do?" Marcus asked cluelessly.

"He was one of the ringleaders in the Boston Tea Party of December 16," Tyson said.

"What?" Marcus asked, shocked.

Tyson was happy that Marcus finally understood the graveness of the situation, the size of the alteration to the history that he caused. He hoped that he would realize that the present might have been a much better place if it wasn't for the two of them causing problems in the past.

"Dude totally stole my idea," Marcus said indignantly. "Still, I don't see what the big deal is. You always tell me that drinking tea is good for you."

"Marcus, you told him to throw the tea in the ocean. "Let's have a tea party!" you said," Tyson said, annoyed.

"Well, I didn't think he would be crazy enough to listen to me!" Marcus said, astounded that his joke took such a turn.

"That's why I keep telling you to limit interactions with the people from the past. It can only lead to trouble," Tyson said, exhausted that he had to explain the same thing so many times. It felt like having a small child who always needed a reminder of what's good and what's not. "You were getting better at it before you were hit with that Time Eraser, but I honestly don't think I can teach you everything again."

"Sorry, dude," Marcus said, not sounding too apologetic. "Why don't you just chillax. I am sure everything will turn out for the best."

Tyson once again felt like banging his head against the table but refrained from drawing even more attention to them. Still, he couldn't help but wish a Time Eraser would hit him, making him forget his annoyances.

"There you are," Sybil said, joining them. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought we might discuss what we learned, but you weren't in your room. Did Marcus already cause some big change to history?"

Tyson lowered his head in shame, feeling like he had failed yet again. Still, he knew they had to be honest with each other if they wanted to find a way out.

"Yes, I left him for a second, and he gave birth to the idea of the Boston Tea Party," Tyson said quietly. "He did so in front of Paul Revere."

"Oh, well, he already mucked up the past. We might as well focus on our own issues. Let's discuss the potential ways to leave the Time Maze now that we have all the info that those before us didn't have."

Tyson was stunned by her logic but realizing that there was nothing else they could do, he understood that she had the most practical approach to it all.

"Maybe we should just finish eating and talk in our room. It might be safer that way," Tyson said, looking around the increasing crowd.

As both Sybil and Marcus bobbed their heads in agreement, Marcus started stuffing his mouth with all the food, although he wasn't that hungry when he asked for the food in the first place.