Room 302 [Saturday morning]

[pasunereveuse]

Celia, who was a late riser by nature, was even less inclined than usual to get out of bed this morning. And that seemed entirely excusable -- she'd stayed up quite late the night prior, after all, and it was Saturday, and Saturdays were meant for sleeping in a bit. Particularly when one had someone to sleep in with, as she was discovering

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[not_called_icky]

Ichabod wasn't keen on waking up either, and as that knocking persisted, he just slipped an arm tighter around Celia.

"Who can that be?" he mumbled. "At this ungodly hour?"

[pasunereveuse]

"Shhh," was Celia's very helpful answer, snuggling against him. "S'just a noise."

Maybe if she was just in denial about it, it would go away. Or she could at least just sleep through it.

[not_called_icky]

Ichabod shut his eyes. "Someone is knocking." Which wasn't exactly 'just a noise' but still not enough to get him out of bed to open the door.

[demureisdull]

"I'll just undo the lock if one of you doesn't open the door," called a young, female voice, though quite cheerfully.

[pasunereveuse]

Celia cracked an eyelid at that -- there was an actual voice now to go with the knocking, and that was harder to ignore.

Especially if whoever it was was so insistent on getting in. It didn't sound like Alana in the slightest, which wouldn't make sense anyway since Alana had her own key. (And hadn't expressed an interest in lockpicking, as far as Celia knew.)

"Someone's knocking," she reluctantly agreed, flicking her fingers towards her dressing gown to call it over. "It doesn't sound like an emergency, at least."

Which was too bad for whoever it was, really, because she might have had mercy otherwise.

[not_called_icky]

Ichabod sighed, and slowly pulled away from Celia. At the threat of having a stranger enter the room, he would rather be prepared.

"There is no need for that," he called back while slipping some clothes on.

When he opened the door there was a young girl outside, looking like she would be from his time. He blinked.

"Yes?"

[demureisdull]

"Good morning, father," Elizabeth said cheerfully. It was most definitely him, although he did look a lot younger than she was used to. "I hope you have slept well."

[pasunereveuse]

"Oh, no."

Celia, safely clad in her dressing gown, looked past Ichabod to the girl in the doorway. She remembered that weekend last year, and -- well. The resemblance was striking, though a vain part of her hoped she was responsible for the curls.

"Did anyone warn you this might happen?" she asked Ichabod, darting curious, nervous glances at the girl.

[not_called_icky]

"What?" Ichabod looked from the girl to Celia and back, and recalled that at some point someone had mentioned children appearing.

It was too early in the morning for this.

[demureisdull]

"That what would happen?" Elizabeth asked, then added: "Good morning, mother."

Her parents were behaving strangely, and hoping to get an explanation, she continued: "I hadn't expected to find myself in Fandom, or that it would be so strange. You clearly left a lot out of your stories."

[pasunereveuse]

"Parents reserve the right to be selective storytellers, darling," Celia replied, forcing her voice to stay calm. "And you'll have to forgive us, because we don't quite know you, yet. What's your name?"

To Ichabod, she added in a soft undertone, "She's -- a possibility. From our future. Not a guarantee, but a glimpse." She squeezed his arm lightly, trying to reassure him.

[demureisdull]

"Elizabeth," she said, studying her parents. They were younger, yes. "Have I traveled both in time and space, then?"

[pasunereveuse]

"Would it completely boggle your mind if I said yes?" This was much preferable to last year, when a completely different daughter of hers hadn't been quite old enough for theoretical explanations.

[not_called_icky]

By now Ichabod had made his brain function enough to attempt words. Perhaps it did help that in some version of the future, he and Celia had a daughter who seemed, well, like someone he might be equally proud of and worried about.

"So, um, where do you come from? I'm afraid we didn't know of your existence before."

[demureisdull]

This was a little stranger than she had expected, but even if she hadn't experienced herself before she knew about time travel. It was one of those things she wasn't supposed to talk about in front of others, or even her younger siblings.

"Then perhaps I shouldn't tell you," Elizabeth said. "What if we change something and I will cease to exist? And my little brother and sister?"

[pasunereveuse]

"Nothing is set in stone," Celia assured her, even as her heart gave a thump at the idea that she had siblings -- there was a world where she and Ichabod had presumably married and had at least three children. It wasn't an idea she minded -- not at all -- but it was also one that she'd long considered fairly impossible, so it would take a bit of getting used to.

"You won't erase your own existence by telling us about it, even if I admire your respect towards the laws of space and time," she added, smiling a little even as she searched her daughter's face for traces of her own. "Where do we live? I'm assuming somewhere on this side of the pond, judging by your accent."