Age of Inconvenience

[Merlin]

It was a dark morning. Due to heavy fog, the sun was rather obscured.

Inside Merlin's cottage, some of his experiments were bubbling with activity. However, the wizard was not in said cottage; he was outside, with a bucket in hand. He was at the well, which was always a source of frustration.

"Confound it!" the wizard shouted with his scratchy, elderly voice. His shouting was quickly replaced with a shriek, as he lost his grip of the bucket, and his attempt to grab the bucket before plunging into the well resulted in the wizard losing his balance. He nearly fell into the well, but manged to hold himself in place with his feet, and with effort he pulled himself back to the ground.

"You... you...!" Acting brashly, he kicked the well with his right foot. He immediately regretted this action, and he hopped about while carrying the bucket, scowling with minor pain. He had to leave the well, fast, before something else happened.

"An inconvenience," he grumbled as he returned to his cottage with the bucket. He slammed the door behind him, loud enough for his partner Archimedes to hear.

[Archimedes]

Loud enough, it was. The little owl, who was most always awake at this hour yet asleep most of the day, inched out of his ceiling-suspended birdhouse onto the perch that was connected to it, to see what his absent-minded companion was up to, now.

"Hoo, uh, what now?" he hooted in confusion, mostly to himself, until he spotted Merlin below with the water-filled bucket, and quickly read the agitated expression on the old man's face.

Archimedes made a little chuckle to himself. "Trouble with that well again, eh, Merlin?" he questioned.

[Merlin]

"Yes, indeed," Merlin replied, almost sarcastically. "Impudent well. Pah!"

His anger quickly subsided as he filled an invention with the liquid. When finished, he set the bucket to the floor, removed his long hat from his head, and ran his fingers through his full head of hair. He then sighed as he placed his hat back on his head.

"I should consider indoor plumbing as an option, you know." Anachronisms were Merlin's specialty, and such comments often confused others whenever the wizard traveled through time.

[Archimedes]

"Plumbling?" Archimedes questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion. This was followed by an exasperated sigh, as the owl rolled his eyes. "Some complicated device from the future, I'm assuming..." he complained, then waiting as he expected Merlin to make an annoyed comeback, before speaking again.

Archimedes never did appreciate Merlin's time-traveling, especially whenever the wizard made vague and confusing mentions of things and events from times to come. Perhaps it was just because Archimedes hated it when he didn't know about the things others were talking about...

[Merlin]

"Right, you are, Archimedes," Merlin said.

By this time, the wizard seated himself on his favourite armchair and struck a match to light his tobacco pipe, a smoking tool that was modestly decorated. After a puff he exhaled; a cloud of smoke emitted from his mouth. His eyes trailed upward in thought.

"Man's inventions and conveniences have always evolved, and will continue to do so until the end of time." He knew the owl was not interested, but Merlin nevertheless looked to Archimedes with an amused smile.

[Archimedes]

"Hmph," Archimedes huffed indignantly, an exasperated frown on his beak; Merlin's little lectures about the accomplishments of man always bored him. "Well, whatever this... plumbing is, it should stay where it belongs: in the future," he stubbornly replied, as a strong believer of not meddling with the strings of time. "Man can evolve on his own time."

While waiting for Merlin's reply, the bored bird floated his gaze around the room at all of his companion's bizarre gizmos and experiments, which he still had trouble getting used to. He wondered if the wizard would spend the day fiddling with his gadgets, per usual, or if they were in for something more interesting, today... of course, Archimedes was always comfortable with staying in his birdhouse and snoozing all day.

[Merlin]

"Oh," Merlin said without dropping his attitude, "but man will be forced to evolve, not only to survive but also for convenience's sake."

He looked away from the owl and down to his cup of tea, which was inconveniently covered by sugar, thanks to the sentient cup responsible for sugar.

The wizard had forgotten of this, and scowled when he was reminded. "Blast it all!" he exclaimed. He grabbed his tea cup and in frustration flung it, so all the sugar would pour out behind him. He then placed the cup back onto the table and he slumped in his chair, a grimace tugging his face.

[Archimedes]

Archimedes had to stifle a chuckle, but nonetheless smirked in amusement at Merlin's blunder with the tea.

"And for convenience's sake," he snidely remarked, "you should start handling the sugar yourself."

[Merlin]

Merlin cast a sour look to the owl. "Archimedes," he said, "that was a poor demonstration!"

The wizard calmed himself and poured more tea in the now empty cup. "Man--"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Merlin looked to the door for a brief second. "Oh?" He stood and approached the door, which he opened and greeted the visitor. "Well, hello, Alice!"

[Alice]

When the door opened, the little English girl, in her usual dress, curtsied politely to the wizard and then to Archimedes.

"Good morning, Merlin, and to you, Archimedes," she said through a very delicate smile. She seemed to have been in a good mood, which was somewhat unusual when she was about to learn about history.

[Archimedes]

A little startled by the knock, Archimedes made a small jump on his perch, quickly looking over to the door.

He would have normally been annoyed by any other visitor, but was pleased to see it was only one of Merlin's students; his demeanor of disturbed surprise quickly faded. "Oh, uh... good morning," he greeted Alice, briefly nodding towards her. He would have masked his emotions with false crankiness, as usual, but that was difficult to do so to polite and sweet young Alice.

[Alice]

Alice's smile visible grew more sincere when the owl responded. She was happy that she and the owl managed to be mutually agreeable. It took some effort, but it was well worth it, she thought.

The girl then looked around the home and then up to the taller wizard. "I don't suppose Arthur has arrived yet?" She asked with a faint hint of disappointment.

[Merlin]

"No, not yet," the wizard answered. "You arrived earlier."

He looked to Archimedes as he complimented Alice. "She is punctual, hmm?"

[Archimedes]

"Hoo, uh, wha?" Archimedes stammered, before he, almost immediately, put his grumpy face back on. He crossed his wings and frowned, looking away.

"Hmph... more so than the boy, anyway."

[Alice]

Alice expected such a forced display of moodiness, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle lightly. She stepped closer to Archimedes and reached into a pocket in her apron.

"Oh, Mr. Archimedes?" she said as she reached into the pocket. "I brought a present for you! Would you like it?" She smiled hopefully, but a part of her doubted that anyone would deny free things.