Chapter 2 – A Lovers’ Quarrel

After a couple more hours of studying, Dave ventured into his bedroom, finding Maddie sitting cross-legged on the bed. To his surprise, she had found the TV remote and had already figured out how to use it. She seemed enraptured, almost hypnotized by the images on the screen, which did not surprise Dave one bit, considering it was her first time watching TV.

“Hey, Maddie.”

She blinked twice, startled by his presence. “Oh! Dave, I’m… I’m so sorry. I must have dozed off there…”

“Don’t worry, it’s pretty normal,” Dave chuckled. “TV can be pretty engrossing if you’ve never experienced it before.”

“Indeed. Is Cindy still here?”

“No, she left. I think she’s hanging out with her girlfriends tonight.” Moving to the bed, he asked, “What’d you land on?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’ve been watching this… what is it called? A news program?”

“Yep. Looks like CNN,” Dave observed with a slight grimace. “Yikes, not what I would recommend anyone watch on their first TV experience.”

“Well, I wanted to see how news is distributed in your time, and I had hoped such an experience might help fill in many of the gaps from the last millennium,” Maddie replied. “I do have your memories, of course, but this news program overwhelmed me right away, even with your mind to help. There’s just so much that has happened since I was born.”

“Very true,” Dave agreed, sitting next to her on the bed. “Probably the biggest change in the world is the fact that monarchies are a thing of the past, for the most part. Nowadays, the people elect their own governmental leaders. No such thing as divine right to rule anymore, at least not in most parts of the world.”

“So strange… I cannot imagine any nation being led by someone not chosen by God, yet the context of your memories does make sense. From everything I have understood, the world now seems to be more free and prosperous than it ever has been. Yet, in the two hours I have watched this news program, I have heard nothing but anger and outrage. I do not pretend to understand the context of it all, but it seems confusing nonetheless.”

Dave chuckled, answering, “You’re not wrong, Maddie. The world is freer and more prosperous than it’s ever been before. But the flip side of this is that it gives people more ability to complain than ever before. Not that the complaints you heard are meaningless, that’s not what I’m saying. But I think it speaks to the fact that we’re all still human. As much as we may try to create a perfect world, there’s no such thing as perfection.”

“That I believe. Oh, one other thing confuses me.”

“What’s that?”

“The one constant in my viewing of this news program is this individual known as Donald Trump. From start to finish, everyone speaking of him did so with great anger and contempt. I know from your memories that this Donald Trump is the leader of your nation, so how can these people say such horrible things about him? Are they not in fear of execution?”

Deciding to see how specific she could be in searching his memories, Dave replied, “Look into my memories for the First Amendment.”

After a moment of thought, Maddie said, “Ah, the law protecting the rights of free speech, religion, and press.”

“Exactly! When the United States was formed, its first leaders felt it was vital for all citizens to be able to speak, think, and believe as they wished without interference from the federal government. This was one of the biggest problems they had with King George, who was the King of England at the time. Their revolution against England was the most successful instance of rejecting a monarchy in the history of the world.”

“Yes, that makes sense, but it still doesn’t answer this: if this Donald Trump is as despised as the people on this news program say, how was he freely elected?”

“Remember that just because he was freely elected doesn’t mean that all the people of this nation supported for him. His chief competitor received massive support as well, just not enough to win the election. Many do support Donald Trump, but many others do not. Those that don’t have every right in this country to disagree with him and voice those disagreements, but everyone knows that he, or any President of the United States for that matter, is only temporary. That’s the beautiful thing about this system of government.”

“Hmm… Father did tell me a few times about the societies of Democracy, such as the Greeks. It seems those ideas did not die with them,” Maddie mused.

“True, our founders did take many ideas from the Greeks, but to be honest, the United States isn’t actually a Democracy.”

“How do you mean?”

Dave replied, “Well, in a true direct Democracy, the people elect their leaders and enact their laws themselves. But in a Republic, such as in the U.S., we elect our state officials and our representatives in Congress, and they then enact the laws. Hell, we don’t even directly elect the President! The President is elected by the Electoral College, which is chosen by the people.”

“Interesting… so, the people choose whom they wish to be represented by in the government, and those representatives enact laws on behalf of their people?”

“Exactly. That’s quite different from a direct Democracy, which is essentially nothing more than majority rule.”

“But how is that not what your nation uses?” Maddie asked. “The majority selects their representatives in the government, yes?”

“Yes, but our system provides protections for both the majority and the minority,” Dave explained. “Think about an extreme example: let’s say there have been many reports of a man roaming the countryside, raping and murdering in every town he comes across, only to disappear before any lawman can capture him. Eventually, a man fitting this description is captured and held in a prison cell. He is not executed immediately because, in this country, he is entitled to a fair trial and a chance to defend himself; for all we know, he may not be the right man. But while he is awaiting trial, an angry mob comes to the prison and demands that the lawman give the prisoner to the mob so that they can execute him for his crimes. Under a true Democracy, the lawman and the prisoner would each vote no, but the mob would vote yes, and majority rule dictates the mob gets its way, regardless of the law.”

“I suppose that makes sense; a majority opinion cannot bypass the law of the land.”

“Correct. By the same logic, the people of one state can’t come together and vote to make murder legal, because murder is illegal under federal law. Majority rule can’t do a thing about it.”

“But what if the law of the land is unjust?” Maddie wondered.

“Then there are ways that the laws can be changed. Most smaller laws simply require majority votes in Congress to be changed, but anything mentioned in the Constitution, the document protecting free speech and the like, has a much higher threshold in order to be changed. Two-thirds of both houses of Congress have to agree to the change, and then it requires three-fourths of the state governments to agree as well.”

“Oh my, that sounds impossible!”

“Yep, and I think that was the point when the Constitution was first written. The Founding Fathers, as we call them, felt that the rights set forth by the Constitution were so important that nobody, not even the President, had any authority to undo them. Only by a vast public opinion of well over half the nation’s governing bodies could the Constitution be amended.”

After a moment of thought, Maddie said, “This is all very fascinating, but… I could not help but notice you have yet to tell me what you believe in regards to the squabbles I’ve been hearing on the news.”

Chuckling, Dave replied, “Well, the two predominant schools of thought in this country are the Republicans and the Democrats, known as political parties. Republicans are generally more conservative in their thinking, favoring a smaller and less powerful federal government. They also endorse a strong military and want the government to be more proactive in dealing with other nations that might seek to do us harm. Democrats, on the other hand, are more liberal in their positions, desiring a more powerful and hands-on federal government, but they are much more leery of military intervention in world affairs except in the most dire of circumstances.”

“Again, you have yet to tell me which one you are,” Maddie said with a sly grin.

“Me? I’m what you call a Libertarian,” Dave said proudly. “I believe that the federal government’s duties are listed in the Constitution, and everything else needs to be handled by the state governments. I favor a less powerful federal government, much like the Republicans, but I’m also not in favor of too much intervention with the military in the rest of the world, like the Democrats. Above all, I believe that law-abiding citizens deserve the freedom to live their lives as they see fit without government interference. Some Libertarians go so far in this belief that they could be classified as anarchists, but those are pretty rare.”

“I should hope I haven’t fallen in love with an anarchist!” Maddie laughed.

Dave grimaced at this, knowing she might well change her mind once he told her about his thoughts on religion. A part of his mind was screaming at him not to tell her, that it would drive away the love of his life. Still, he knew deep down that Cindy was right. Maddie deserved to know the truth, as important as her faith was to her. Taking a deep breath, Dave decided to tell her.

“You might not have fallen in love with an anarchist… but you have fallen in love with an Atheist.”

“A what?” Maddie asked, switching off the TV.

“I’m an Atheist, Maddie. I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in any divine power or being, for that matter,” Dave replied.

Maddie simply stared at him, looking as if she was hearing a foreign language for the first time. She appeared to be searching her mind for clarification, but for once, it did her no good. After a minute of silent pondering, she managed to speak.

“How is this possible, Dave? How can anyone believe that there is no God? I know there are non-believers in the world who worship false gods of their own design, but to believe in no divine whatsoever?”

Before he could think to hold back, Dave said, “Maddie, all religion is based in a lack of understanding, and humans naturally fear what they don’t understand. The first humans feared the things such as the sun or the moon, and so created deities to explain them, but understanding still eluded them. Mom and Dad brought me to church all through my childhood, and not once did I gain an ounce of understanding from the experience. The only purpose religion serves is to explain things that are otherwise unexplainable. But I know the truth: nothing is unexplainable. It’s not through God or some divine intervention that we came into being, but through science. The universe is one gigantic petri dish, and we are the glorious accident by which intelligent life was formed.”

As Dave continued his lecture while pacing the room, Maddie was at first stunned by his passion and audacity. It was as if the man she knew had disappeared altogether. But the more he spoke, the more insight she gained into the context of his words through his memories. She closed her eyes and entered a trance-like state, hanging on every word Dave said while also shuffling through his past experiences. At last, she understood.

“Dave… you are a brilliant, ingenious… and all the same, a fool,” Maddie whispered, interrupting his monologue.

“What?” Dave asked, surprised that she would say something like that to him.

Standing on the opposite side of the bed from him, she continued, “You speak of science as if it is your god. You speak of things that you can prove only with science, that you can understand only through science. But for all the greatness your science has brought, it has still been unable to prove the one thing that you espouse as indisputable fact: that there is no God. No matter how you rant and rave, neither you nor any other man of science has ever been able to prove that we are not born of God!”

“Everyone knows it’s impossible to prove a negative except in theory,” Dave sighed.

“Then stop acting like a hypocrite and stating that negative as fact!” Maddie shot back.

“I may not be able to prove God’s nonexistence, but I can prove that he didn’t do the things that are attributed to him. There was no moment in time when some magical sky being said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. News flash! It’s called the Big Bang Theory.”

“And I suppose you have proof that those events are not one in the same?”

“Again, I can’t prove a negative, but all the counter evidence is there!” Dave insisted.

“Then answer me this: what came before this Big Bang?” Maddie asked calmly.

Dave smiled, thinking he had caught her. “The prevailing thought is that the single point of matter in the Big Bang originated from a previous universe that collapsed upon itself after its own Big Bang. In fact, there could have theoretically been an infinite number of universes to exist before our own universe, each collapsing upon itself to create the next. Once again, science for the win!”

Maddie replied, “But if something is infinite, is it not, by definition, something that cannot be fully understood? Did you not say that the point of science is to understand and explain what was previously unexplainable? If that is the case, how can you definitively say that anything is infinite? If the universe is as scientific as you describe, then it must have a beginning and an end.”

Dave’s frustration grew at this, and he said, “Maddie, you’re trying to answer the single biggest mystery of the universe. We’ve been trying for generations to answer this question, but it’s not that simple! We’re talking about forces and powers that are simply beyond our comprehension at this time!”

“I see… an admission that there are forces in control of the existence and state of the universe that are beyond a human’s ability to fully understand. If that does not describe God, what does?”

Dave’s jaw dropped at this. His mind raced, trying to come up with a retort or rebuttal, anything to refute Maddie’s question, but he drew a blank. Though he was tempted to fall back into angry attacks and insults as he had done in previous debates, one look into her eyes quashed this notion. He loved her above all else, and resorting to a petty tactic like that would only push her away from him. In that moment, he no longer cared about who was right and who was wrong. All he cared about was Maddie.

“I… I don’t know,” Dave finally admitted.

Maddie’s face softened as she made her way around to Dave’s side of the bed, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. “My love, there is no shame or weakness in admitting the possibility that you might be wrong. Any who would think less of you for such an admission is nothing short of a damned fool. I know we may never agree on these matters, and I respect your resolve in this. All I wish is to be respected in my resolve as well.”

“That’s fair,” Dave replied. “I’m sorry, Maddie. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“Neither do I. And… I’m sorry for calling you a fool. I should not have done that.”

“Don’t be sorry for that. It’s probably true. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“How so?” Maddie asked with a smile.

“Well, for all my ranting against religion as being supernatural nonsense, here I am with the ability to use sorcery. Even if it is based in the laws of nature, there’s still the matter of this,” Dave said, pointing at his ring. “I have no real idea what this Channel is or how it works. Is it science? Sorcery? Alien technology? Even with all my boasting of understanding, I may never know.”

“The moment you think you understand everything is the moment you realize how little you ever understood to begin with,” Maddie offered.

“Pretty much,” Dave laughed. “I just don’t want my obsession with understanding to push you away. For example, something I’ve never understood is how people could fall in love at first sight. It never made any sense, until-“

“You fell in love yourself,” Maddie giggled.

“Yeah. And even though I couldn’t understand it, I still went with it. Talk about a force beyond human comprehension…”

Maddie purred, “We don’t have to understand it to feel its… effects.”

Tilting Dave’s head down, Maddie planted a long and sensuous kiss on his lips. The first thing Dave felt was relief; in spite of their lovers’ quarrel, she still loved and desired him. The second thing he felt was the warmth of Maddie’s body pressed against him, which brought about the usual response in his pelvic region. This, in turn, only served to make Maddie hornier, grinding her hips against his hardening length. While her passions increased, Dave had the presence of mind to do a quick check with his aura, finding that Maddie had just finished ovulating. Soon, his mind became otherwise occupied as she began to kiss her way up his neck and to his ear.

“I need you,” Maddie whispered in a husky voice. “Make love to me.”

No way in hell was Dave going to deny her that request. Taking Maddie by her slim waist, he spun her around and pressed her ass against his crotch. As she shrieked and giggled in delight, Dave began pulling her gym shorts off of her, exposing her already glistening sex. After tossing aside his own shorts and boxer briefs, he rubbed the tip of his cock against her entrance and began to penetrate her folds.

“Oh, Dave…” Maddie moaned as he filled her up.

While many of their previous lovemaking sessions had been slow and sweet, this one was filled with a sense of urgency and need. After all, their last attempt had been interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Arthur, which kicked off the series of events that ultimately brought them back to Dave’s time. In short, they were horny. As Dave’s thrusts increased to a feverish pace, both could tell that they would not last very long, which was just fine by them.

Despite the unfamiliar surroundings, Maddie had never felt safer and more at home in her life than she did in Dave’s arms. With those feelings combining with the raw desire she felt for him after watching him combat Igraine, it wasn’t long before she began crying out in orgasm. Though the feeling of her pussy milking him would normally have sent Dave over the edge, he managed to hold out a bit longer by reaching around to fondle Maddie’s jiggling C-cup breasts. Even through his old t-shirt, they were nothing short of magnificent.

As Dave continued to pound away at her, Maddie leaned forward a bit to grip the bed sheets. She was quickly approaching another orgasm, what with the feeling of Dave’s hands caressing her nipples through the cotton shirt. Though she had little control in this position, Maddie did find that she could push her ass back towards Dave in rhythm with his thrusts. For Dave, the result was nothing short of mind-blowing for two reasons. First, the idea of Maddie trying hard to be an active participant even when he was in such a dominant position turned him on like crazy; it meant she wanted to send him over the edge. Second, and most noticeably, her perky little ass began to bounce and jiggle with every move she made, giving Dave quite the show.

“Someone likes that,” Maddie giggled, hearing his breathing deepen.

“Uh huh… I love the way you think,” Dave replied.

Throwing a mischievous grin over her shoulder, Maddie decided to try and egg him on. “Know what I love? I love the feeling of your throbbing… twitching… cock… when you’re about blow inside of me.”

“Holy shit…”

“Isn’t that what you want, Dave? Wouldn’t you love to fill me up with your hot seed? Make me a woman? Your woman? Oh, please… I need you, Dave. I need all of you, now!”

Hearing Maddie say those words in her sultry British accent was far too much for Dave to resist. She knew just how to deprive him of all logic and awaken a sort of primal instinct within him. All he could think about in that moment was using her tight little pussy to satiate his desires. Grasping her waist, Dave began to pound his last into her. He could hear her pussy juices squishing around him as her own arousal increased. As the sounds coming from his mouth became little more than animalistic grunts, they at last arrived at their long-awaited orgasms, screaming in ecstasy as Dave’s hot semen filled Maddie’s tunnel. After a few more glorious seconds of this high, the couple collapsed onto the bed. Dave was careful not to crush Maddie beneath him, though she wouldn’t have minded that one bit.

“You… are… amazing,” Dave panted.

“I aim to please,” she giggled in reply. “Oh! It seems someone made me quite dirty and sticky!”

Lightly slapping her bare ass cheek, Dave replied, “You loved every second of it.”

“I suppose I did.”

“Still, I think it’s time I introduce you to one of the greatest things about living in this time period: the couple’s shower.”

“Ooh, I love the sound of that!” Maddie gasped.

Dave led the way into the bathroom, showing her how the shower and running water worked. Even though Maddie understood the concept from his memories, seeing it all in action was still quite captivating for her. The shower itself was a bit too cramped for them to do much more than embrace under the flow of water, but that suited them just fine. After playing around for a few more minutes, they started the process of actually washing up.

Maddie watched Dave’s shower habits first, finding the soap remarkably similar to the soap she had used in her time. He didn’t scrub his body nearly as hard as she would have expected, but she supposed that soap had become strong enough in the last millennium that rigorous scrubbing was unnecessary. She was quite surprised by his casual attitude to washing his hair, as this was an exercise that few engaged in with any sort of regularity in her time. A quick check of his memories confirmed that daily hair washing was now the norm, and so she began to bathe her own body.

Dave quite enjoyed watching Maddie lather up her supple form. Her porcelain skin was absolutely radiant, and the look of enjoyment on her face was more than enough to make his cock twitch. Soon, she beckoned him to assist in washing her hair. As Dave began working her hair and scalp with his fingers, Maddie purred in contented bliss; she knew his fingers were talented, and this only proved it further. Between Dave’s hands, the rising steam, and the feeling of hot water rolling down her back, it was all she could do not to fall into a trance. All too soon, the water began to run cold, and Dave had to turn off the shower. After drying off, Maddie returned to the bedroom to relax under the covers. Dave, on the other hand, went immediately to his Incantus on his dresser.

“Is everything alright?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, I just got an idea,” Dave replied, flipping through the pages. “It occurs to me that if I can use sorcery to tell if you’re ovulating, I might also be able to use sorcery for some basic medical purposes. After all, there were common diseases from your time that are easily curable by today’s standards. Ah, here we are! ‘The Healing of Ailments’. That’s what we need.”

After reading several pages in the Incantus, Dave approached the bed and had Maddie lie flat on her back. He then used his aura to connect to her body as he had done several times before. Instead of merely using it to determine if she was ovulating, he now used it to systematically work his way through each of her body’s major functions to ensure she was perfectly healthy. He found no sexual diseases of any sort, which was unsurprising considering that he was the only man she had ever slept with. Her skeletal system was also in excellent shape, as she had never broken a bone in her life. Maddie also possessed a strong heart, though her muscles could do with a bit more exercise, as could his. Overall, Dave was surprised at how excellent her health was, until he remembered that she would have to be in such great health to survive in tenth century England. Even the slightest complications could result in an early death back in those days.

“All done. How do you feel?” Dave asked.

“Excellent,” Maddie beamed.

Dave joined her in bed and grabbed the TV remote, intending to introduce Maddie to something less serious. After scanning the channels, he settled on one playing CSI reruns. In addition to the engrossing drama, Maddie was also quite fascinated by the amount of science and technology used by the characters on the show. Every so often, Dave chimed in to point out something that was nothing but fantasy, but they both enjoyed the mental escape regardless.

“That was fun!” Maddie said as the credits rolled.

“Yeah, police dramas are one of the most popular types of TV shows. Some of them are good enough that they can run for decades, even as different actors come and go,” Dave agreed.

“Can we watch another police show? Maybe something a bit different?”

“Umm… sure,” Dave said, checking the channel lineup. “Here we go, Law and Order. This one focuses less on the science and more on the people involved, and it also follows up after the criminal is arrested and goes to trial.”

Maddie seemed to enjoy Law and Order more than CSI. While both had interesting characters, the former put greater effort into the differences between the main heroes, forcing them to overcome those differences to solve the crime. As they watched, one area that confused Maddie at first was the concept of statutory rape.

“I fail to understand how that is a crime,” she said. “Both of them were consenting, yes? Then why was the boyfriend arrested?”

“Because she was fifteen and he was twenty-two,” Dave replied. “The law says the age of consent is eighteen.”

“But clearly they loved each other and wished to enter into a relationship. Their actions could perhaps be argued as sinful, but why punish the man and not the girl?” Maddie asked.

“They may have both wanted it, but she wasn’t mature enough to make the decision,” Dave explained. “In the last century, a lot of advancements have been made in understanding how the human body grows. Even though a girl or boy may be sexually mature as early as age twelve, that doesn’t mean their brain is mature enough for them to fully understand the repercussions behind consenting to sex. In the eyes of the law, her older boyfriend used his advanced maturity to his advantage in engaging in sex with someone below the age of consent. But in some cases, the police and courts will go easy on the older party, particularly if they are close enough to the age of consent. See what’s happening on the show? The cops don’t want to prosecute the guy. They’re using the threat of statutory rape charges to get him to cooperate in telling what he knows about their real target.”

“But what if the girl is just below the age of consent and lies to him?”

Grimacing a bit, Dave replied, “The law says that the older person still had a responsibility to know she was underage.”

“That’s preposterous! He was lied to!”

“Never said the law was perfect,” Dave agreed. “But I still think it’s better than the alternative.”

“How so?”

“In some countries with a lower age of consent, twelve, for example, it’s very easy for the older person to manipulate and control the younger person into saying the sex was consensual, even if it wasn’t. Our laws may not be perfect, but they guard against that sort of thing from happening.”

“I suppose that does make sense…”

Hours later, the couple prepared to turn in for the evening. Before switching off the lights, Dave reached for his cell phone and began typing a text message.

“Hmm? Is everything all right, Dave?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, just checking to see if you can hang with Cindy tomorrow. She’s gonna take you shopping. Clothes, toiletries, all the essentials.”

“Dave, you are very kind, but I’ll not allow you to spend your money on me. I’ll find work and pay my own way.”

“You can’t find work until you’re legally a person in this time,” Dave replied with a smirk. “Besides, I have an idea on how to keep the cost down. Anyway, while you two are out, I’m gonna go see a guy about a way to get you legal status in this time.”

“By the tone in your voice, it sounds… dangerous.”

“Nah, not dangerous. Maybe a bit illegal, but my friend is a skilled enough hacker to keep us under the radar. No worries; he can be trusted.”

“David Brighton, you will not break the law on my account!” Maddie scolded him.

“There’s not really another choice,” Dave protested. “I’ve scoured the Incantus, and there isn’t a spell within its pages that would magically make you a legal person of my time period. That means I have to find a solution using modern methods. Trust me, Maddie. This is going to work.”

“Fine. If you’re certain,” Maddie huffed.

Rolling onto his side and taking Maddie in his arms, Dave said, “I’m going to take great care of my girl. She deserves it.”

As her frown turned into a grin, Maddie kissed Dave on the cheek. “Not if I take care of you first…”