A clock and a rat

Lily groans from the floor before propping herself up on an elbow. "Lets not do that again. Who are you anyway?"

I look up, affronted.
"I am Mathias! I am the foremost expert on space-time in the 23rd century!
And who are you, I might ask. Ever since that cursed building collapsed during my last test
everything has been... different."

I paused briefly to collect myself.
"Well, now that you know who I am, I might ask you the same! How did you stop my
travel in space-time? What kind of trickery is this?"

"Ya almost bloody killed us, you git," Lily bristles, "I 'aven't a clue what stopped it, but if I ever feel like I've been run through a blender again, I'll lock ya in yer mind fer a week." She lifts her right hand in a threatening manner and advances on the hapless Mathias as if to perform the threat now. She stops and glowers a moment before crouching to help Liv to her feet, letting her lean heavily on her for support. Shooting a final venomous glare over her shoulder, she guides Liv back to the couch and retreats to the kitchen to make her a cup of tea.

"Twenty-third century?" I say, looking up at him tiredly, "If you are from the twenty-third century, then your experiment went quite wrong indeed. It's 2012 as men reckon it. Twenty-first century." I watch as the colors in his head explode into yellows and oranges of shock. I lay my head back. "You're in the Nightside. Timeslips are a dime a dozen. Perhaps your experiment opened one. As for your technology, if I'm right the Barrow thought it was a threat." I glance at him. "Yes, the Barrow thinks. In a fashion." I draw a breath. "As for who we are, you know the name I go by. The girl you've annoyed is Lily."

i stroke the walls gently and lean conspiratorally close to it "dont be mad at me be mad at them! their the ones who did it!" as i point to the rest of the group in the room.

"And the creepy black haired lad is Ignacy. Don't worry, he's harmless." I say, my eyes still closed. I hear a loud snort from Ignacy's direction, and smile a little.

i curl my lip and nod "i may be creepy but at least i got a sword oh and killed a giant crabmonster with a knife and a molotov".

"Mostly harmless." I amend, opening my eyes. I sit up, feeling a little better, and realize that Mathias is staring about , looking unsteady and shocked.

i look at the newcomer "dont worry im not gonna burn you down" i smile maliciously "unless you turn into a giant crabmonster".

I look up at Ignacy in shocked silence for a second.

"Well, I think thats pretty safe. If anyone is killing crab, it had better be to cook it, and I would want to eat some.
Self cannibalism isn't exactly in my menu!"

I pause, look around, and then look back at Liv.

"My most sincere apologies, I'm afraid I'm still in a little shock."
I look at the barrow once more.

"If I was dragged to the Nightside, I probably can find my way back. Although I would be a poor scientist
indeed if I didn't learn some about this world first. May I trust that you won't..."
I look at Ignacy momentarily, then back "Eat me or anything?"

I laugh. "Never fear. You're safe enough here, which in the Nightside isn't all that common of a state." I sit up, shaking my head to clear it. "Grab a seat at the table, Mathias. I'll make tea."
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him sit, staring into the distance. "You've probably got questions. Any that I can answer?"

i chime in "if its about how i killed a giant crabmonster or who we hate most i can answer those" i add thoughtfully "the answer to the last one is the judeans peoples front".

I roll my eyes as Mathias's eyes widen. "Ignore him, it's better for your sanity."

i stand up and start mimicking the silly walk sketch by monty python around the living room and say "actually this is just a giant monty python sketch youve walked in on".

"Ignacy, don't bother the man, he's unnerved enough as it is." I call out of the kitchen. Stepping out, I set a glass of tea in front of Mathias. "Drink this. It will help steady your nerves."

"Well, having eaten many crabs, and seen many monsters, a crabmonster seems rather straightforward." I quip to Ignacy.

"Thank you for the tea. And I would like to know, what do you do here? It seems...strange that
so many people with talents such as yours would gather for no reason."

I take a sip. "Very good tea! Thank you again."

i stop in the middle of my silly walk with a foot hanging in the air and answer in a matter of fact tone "im on the run from my employers and these guys let me kill and burn stuff".

I shrug. "We all have our own reasons for coming here, if you're asking why we're in the Nightside. As for why we live in this apartment, we're friends, and it saves on rent and means that nobody has to spend all their time watching their backs. It works well enough for us. And really, we're nothing special for the Nightside. None of us are major players or powers."

"Why is there so little technology here?"
I look around the barrow again.
"This may not be the 23rd century, but I don't recall the histories saying the 21st century was this..."
I pause, trying to think of the best word.

i look at him and say "were amish".

"Ignacy, shut it." I say mildly. "And it's mostly because of me. I don't keep much technology; no point really."

i walk back into the kitchen and ask "can we go on a barcrawl".

I look at Liv in astonishment.
"Why ever not! How can you learn more about that which you can't see!"
I glance down at my wrist offhand, then back up.
"I don't know what I would do without it!"

"Well..." I shrug. "Technology tends to fail in my hands. Short out. Overload. Not sure why, never been able to sort it out." Then I glance at Ignacy. "If Djhuety isn't back in an hour, then we'll go out. But for now, we wait. And considering what happened last time, I'm not doing that any time soon anyhow." I glance back at Mathias. "I grew up without technology anyhow; I never learned to need it."

i put a hand on my mouth to livs side and whisper a little too high "shes crazy!".