"Gears of Time" Drabbles

Mine and Mine Alone: Jett and Shine

Shine Augustine wasn't your typical grab-and-go girl. While she had an insatiable curiosity for all things related to time travel, she had yet to do much in that department aside from a bit of period hopping. Why, it hadn't been much longer than a year since she'd somehow found the 1970s and discovered a lifestyle she could get behind. Oh yes, she could definitely get behind the 70s lifestyle, much to the chagrin of her relatives.

With a tug, Shine pulled the wrench down on a screw, causing sparks to fly from the tiny machine she was playing with. It was a time traveling prototype that had been left unattended in the sitting room of the elaborate and unreasonably cold manor. Yet to be learned by the residents of the manor (which were few and far between, depending on which of her family was visiting at the moment), was the lesson that one should never leave a foreign item alone when Shine was in the same building. Nothing good ever came of it, as her newfound love for cigarettes and chewing gum had proved.

Shine fumbled around with some cogs and dials, knowing nothing of how the machine worked and caring little that she did. She could learn... Hopefully. 'After all, experience is the best teacher' Shine thought as the machine whirred to life, emitting a soft lavender glow that ebbed and flowed as if possessing a heartbeat all its own.

"Wow..." Icy blue eyes sparkled behind a mess of snowy white bangs, and pale fingers reached out to touch the light. A terrible decision to make for any reasonable human being, but since when had she ever chosen the reasonable path?

A vortex enveloped the girl and she felt as if her body was turned inside out as Shine was shot through time and space. The seconds she traveled in felt strangely like hours had passed, yet at the same time it felt like she'd been going at warp speed. Neither mattered however, as her rear hit the ground with a soft thump. She looked up in surprise, only to find herself staring into a pair of eyes that matched the coal she put into her fireplace every night. Those same eyes -- smoldering even as they widened in shock -- met hers with startling clarity and brilliance, and Shine couldn't help but find herself drawn in by them.

"What the devil." The man's voice was coated in a thick French accent, dark hair waving in a gentle breeze as the moonlight hit the strands and shone light on hints of silver that framed his face like an angel's halo.

Shine felt her cheeks grow warm, but stood and brushed off her plain, bell-bottom pants nonetheless. While she suddenly felt very, very plain in front of this naturally beautiful man, she most certainly wasn't going to pass up a chance like this. "Like, what the devil yourself," she responded, a smirk edging her lips as she let her gaze lazily travel from his eyes down to his toes. The man fidgeted and her icy orbs glinted mischievously in the moonlight as she brought them back up to his face.

Mystery man, on the other hand, showed sheer astonishment in his entire being -- from the way he stood like a deer caught in the headlights to the way that his mouth hung agape, it was painfully obvious that he'd never encountered a time traveler before. Especially a time traveler like Shine.

"Don't be a bunny," Shine said, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head a bit. "What do they call ya?"

"C-call ya?" Those same smokey gray eyes blinked momentarily before he shook his head and straightened his shoulders. He didn't have any clue what 'being a bunny' implied, but he had enough sense to guess that it probably wasn't something very nice. "I am known as Jett Underhide."

"Underhide, huh?" She looked him up and down again, a new appraising look in her eyes. "That's a wacked up name, don'tcha think?"

"I..." Jett seemed to be at a lost, but shook his head again. He seemed to think that if he shook his head enough, she'd disappear. "Wh-who are you?"