#i still haven't made a drabble tag gdi

[doctorbrown]

DOCTOBER '23 ⸺ 「 5 / 31 * ALARM CLOCK 」

November 7, 1955

01:23

Emmett didn't have the heart to wake the boy when he finally passed out, face-down on his living room couch and still fully clothed, shoes and all. He was only gone about twenty minutes—twenty-two, to be precise, according to the small collection of clocks hanging on the wall—to make up one of the unused and neglected guest rooms. He had more space than he knew what to do with, and the kid very well couldn't be sleeping on the couch for an entire week while he was temporarily displaced in this time due to the actions of his future self.

How could I have been so reckless as to send a kid through time alone?

So he left him there, hovering awkwardly over the boy for a moment before finally fetching a spare blanket from the closet and draping it over the exhausted time-traveller.

Marty's small collection of future gadgets were still on the chair where he left them, and it took all of Emmett's willpower not to start examining the strange items in greater detail, from the portable television studio to the device that looked like an odd transistor radio. You'll find out in time, he mentally chides himself, but the kid is still asleep and his curiosity is a powerful thing, so the next thing he knows, the radio is in his hands, much lighter than he imagined it would be.

He takes it with him into the kitchen, where he's set up multiple papers to begin his plans to modify the time machine. Normally, he would retreat to the garage to work on his project, as the environment there was far more conducive to the creative process, but he had reservations about leaving Marty alone in the house; what if the kid woke up, panicked, thinking this was all some horrible nightmare?

With so little time and the kid's very existence on the line, he sets to work, leaving the miniature radio on the table, which was now popped open, where a strange thin film canister labelled Van Halen, whatever that was, rested inside.

08:37

When he goes to check up on Marty again, a few hours later, the only difference between then and now was the position Marty was in on the couch and how tangled up in the blanket he had gotten himself. He looked just as sound asleep as he did when he first knocked out, and Emmett chuckles to himself—when was the last time he slept? He had serious doubts the kid would be awake any time before noon. Copernicus trots over, tail wagging, eager to check on their new houseguest.

❝Copernicus!❞ Emmett whispers as he puts his front paws on the couch, ❝Leave Marty be! He's had a hell of a day; let him sleep in unbothered. You can say hello when he wakes up.❞

Copernicus looks back between his master and his new friend, as if weighing out the amount of trouble he would get in for disobeying. Marty is new, exciting, and friendly, but—

❝Come on, boy! Let's get a start on breakfast.❞

Emmett sets the coffeepot on the stove with enough for two—does Marty drink coffee?—and fetches Copernicus' food bowl from the floor, yawning into the sleeve of his robe. This was not his first all-nighter and, if the existence of the time vehicle is anything to go off of, it will not be his last, either. He still has no real understanding of how the machine works beyond knowing that it does, and even if it will save him what will likely be years of struggle—thirty years, if he is to believe Marty's departure date is the very first test of the machine—he can't allow himself to break established history by obtaining future knowledge.

He sighs as the smell of coffee permeates the kitchen and promptly fills Copernicus' bowl with his favourite dry food.

Before he can set the bowl back down, a shout and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor causes Emmett to jump, sending dry kibble flying across the kitchen. He drops the bowl on the ground and hurries over to find Marty no longer on the couch, but on the floor, hair askew and wide-eyed and still hopelessly tangled in the blanket.

Copernicus is sitting on Marty's chest, tail wagging, and Emmett's eyes go wide.

❝H-Hey Doc. Copernicus kinda—❞

❝Copernicus!❞ Emmett chides, crossing the length of the room to pick up the dog and set him down on the floor. ❝What did I say about letting Marty sleep?❞

❝It's fine, Doc, really, I just wasn't expecting him to start licking my face, that's all.❞

Emmett kneels down as Marty starts to struggle against the blanket, brows furrowed as if to ask, may I? Marty nods, and he works on extricating the boy from his fabric prison. ❝Nonsense; you were exhausted, you need to sleep. I might have tried to wake you up when breakfast was finished, but that wasn't going to be for some time.❞