Even though Milo Thatch was a brilliant man - not only he held doctorates in the fields of Linguistic Theory and Dead Languages, he also had minor degrees in Chemistry, Literature, Art History, Sociology and Anthropology - he was stuck working as a janitor at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. To be even more precise, Milo's main task at such place was to act like a plumber and frequently fix the boiler that more often than not stopped working; although the fixing was usually quite simple - just a tap or two on it and twisting a couple of valves for the steam to start once again - it was for sure a huge waste of his talents and knowledge.
Although, Milo’s luck was about to change, for what seemed like eras he had been preparing a presentation and now was his chance to show to all the stuck up directors that his cause was worth giving a try. His cause was quite simple, he wanted the museum to give him sponsorship on his research so that he could make a trip to Iceland in order to search for a book. What was this book for and why would he need the approval of a bunch of directors? That was also quite simple, Milo needed the directors approval of sponsorship so he could gain funds to make the expedition to Iceland and the book was actually a journal that may help him in finding Atlantis; a fixation in Milo’s head that had been inherited from Thaddeus Thatch, Milo's grandfather. The light-brown haired man was excited, anxious to finally show his presentation, his brown eyes were sparkling behind his round framed glasses. This event was of a huge importance to him because the only living creature that had ever seen his presentation was Fluffy, a white angora cat that Milo had as his pet and companion. Milo was in the basement - which was assigned as his office by the directors - of the Institute presenting it one more time to ensure that he remembered to point out all the details that were crucial about the travel and excavation, having as an audience the forgotten pieces of exposition that weren't being used at the Institute anymore. He rambled on and on about the importance of such travel and how the only possible place to start the search for the lost journal was in Iceland, memorizing all important information to be passed on before the scheduled presentation; which was at four-thirty. Once he had finished making his speech to the old statues and tribal totems, the brunet took a look at the cuckoo's clock on the wall behind him, it was a couple of minutes passed four. He had plenty of time to gather all his papers and get ready for the presentation, or so he thought, because almost instantly he received a letter.
Mr. Milo James Thatch,
We report through this that your scheduled presentation was re-scheduled for today at three-thirty.
Kind regards from the directors of the Smithsonian Institute.
“What?” Milo didn't even have enough time to think about the letter he just received and comprehend properly what was going on because almost immediately another letter arrived.
Mr. Milo James Thatch,
Due to your no-show at the presentation, the matter is closed.
Kind regards from the directors of the Smithsonian Institute.
“What?!" the tone of indignation dripping from his voice was overwhelming, his eyes could see nothing but rage as the scheme the directors pulled on him sunk in his thoughts "They can’t do this to me!”
Milo was furious, his eyes were wide open behind the glasses and some veins were pulsating in his throat. Even though he was usually a calm looking man that was tall and thin and generally seemed unable to cause any damage, he looked quite scary at the moment with those empty eyes that burned in a darker shade of red, anger always had the ability to change people and give them an inner strength they didn't knew they had. With such new found strength culminating in his body, Milo left the basement like a hurricane, ready to destruct everything in his path. With a lot of papers in his hands that were the preparations of his presentation, he went in a frenetic pace to the meeting room, his light-brown hair that always stayed in a well combed way was becoming a mess due to his fast pace. All the directors were leaving the room, chuckling and being very content about themselves with what they managed to pull off and adding more fire to the combusting calamity that Milo was, they were mocking of him, snickering and making witty mean remarks about him.
“You all need to listen to me!” Milo yelled frustrated and infuriated as some of the papers fell from his grasp and scattered around on the corridor of the Institute.
All the pompous directors started to run for their lives, hiding from Milo like he was a veracious bear ready to rip their guts open. One after another started to hide inside their offices and slamming the doors after them shut just to make absolutely sure they wouldn't be bothered by Milo's speech. All but one, a quite chubby man called Fenton Harcourt, he couldn't find anywhere to hide and momenterally had tried to find refugee behind a potted plant but with no avail since Milo promptly approached the vase and started to unroll maps and point out the facts that he had been studying for years. The man tried to run away from Milo but instead of giving up, the brunet just followed the director as he continued to spurt out his speech. Harcourt then stopped at the front door of the Smithsonian Institute and spoke with a calm and matter-of-factly manner, cutting Milo's rumbling short: “The museum only funds expeditions based on fact and not folklore!"
That stopped Milo for a split second and made him stump his feet harshly on the ground like an infuriated child would "You don't know if that's folklore! If only you would let me go on that expedition to try to find the journal my grandfather had been looking for since..."
Harcourt shook his head and let out a long sigh before cleaning his monocle on his vest and settling it once again close to his left eye "And you can't prove if it's fact! Anyhow, we need you here at the Institute, Milo.” the tone of the male's voice was more calm and pleading at the end of his speech.
“You do?” Milo asked with curiosity in his mind and furrowed eyebrows, confused about how they need him there.
“Of course we do, otherwise who would tend the boiler during winter?” Harcourt said in a mocking tone, a small smirk adorning his lips.
Such sentence made Milo's whole body shake and a groan leave his lips as he pointed one of his index fingers at the man's face “I’m not a plumber! Look, here’s my letter of resignation, take it. I can't work here anymore.” he handed a letter he had been keeping in his wallet for a while now since he was tired of the antics of his superiors and had been thinking of leaving the Institute for about a couple of months.
“If I take it, what are you going to do then? You know no other place will accept you, not with such a fixation stuck in your head.” The man gestured to his own head and shook his head.
Milo didn't answered him because in part he knew he hasn't done anything other than continue his grandfather's research but it was a life-time research, Thaddeus Thatch had unfortunately passed away without acquiring any proof of his life work but Milo grew up listening to the wonderful stories his grandfather told him. He had lived with Thaddeus since he was 4 years old because Milo's parents had died in an unfortunate car accident.
“You’re a brilliant man; don’t ruin that just for a dream. Don’t follow your grandfather’s path. It’s a path with no return called insanity.”
Harcourt said that and swung the door of the museum open, heading down the white staircase and stepping into his car. Milo was about to explode of pure anger, he just had offended Milo’s abilities and called his grandfather insane. He could understand that he hasn't been having much utility to the Institute but he was infuriated that Harcourt had mocked about the man that Milo had always admired and looked up to. Harcourt's car engine started and he was about to leave the Institute, so Milo in a desperate and instinctive move decided to chase the car, to run after what his grandfather believed and clear his family name even if he had to make Harcourt spit out word by word of an apology. He was running after the car, blinded by his anger he couldn't quite see the other cars on the street that were zooming next to him. His eyes were fixated on the black vehicle that the insufferable chubby director had got in. He couldn't see nothing but his rage that was augmented by the tiredness of feeling like he was in a job with no future. The cars were honking and people were screaming at him, complaining that he was in the middle of the cobblestone street but he was simply deaf for any sound; all he could hear was the sound of his own thoughts that were preparing a harsh speech to Harcourt. Suddenly Milo felt a hard bump in his back and his body moved some feet ahead. A car had bumped on him and threw him ahead, making him fall to the floor. Milo now was laying on the middle of the street unconscious.
Milo had been hit by a car. His numb and passed out body was laying in a weird position on the pavement, his arms and legs formed strange angles that someone awake wouldn't do. His forehead had a small cut that doesn't seemed too dangerous but was deep enough to let an alarming amount of blood to drip out of it and make a small puddle nearby his cheek.The accident made a lot of people stop by, ones just out of pure curiosity and others with real intention to help, a lot of people but not Fenton Harcourt. The owner of the car immediately got off of it and got on his knees near Milo; the man was young and obviously from a wealthy background which must be the reason why he seemed in panic, the reason behind his antics would remain unknown since it could be of worry about a stain in his family name or real concern about someone else's life but nonetheless, he started to check for Milo's pulse desperately. But soon it became apparent that he wasn't a professional and due to his sensations overwhelming he couldn't find it, which just added fuel to his panic.
"Oh my! I... I can't find it! There's... there's a doctor in the crowd? Please a doctor!" The man practically screamed in fear.
A short, fatty and old man with a calm and confident expression in his face made his way through the crowd. He had a white moustache and beard decorating his face, a thing that matched with his messy white hair and on the tip of his thin nose a square pair of glasses balanced, he announced in a gentle British voice:
"I can help. I'm a doctor."
The owner of the car got back on his feet and gestured for the doctor to get near Milo. The doctor promptly checked for Milo's pulse with a serious expression in his round and plump face.
"Don't be dead! Don't be dead." The man kept repeating. He obviously had no intention to be responsible for the death of someone.
"He's not dead but he needs to get to a hospital." The fatty British doctor calmly and casually said.
As soon as possible Milo was sent to the nearest hospital, the fatty doctor never leaving his side and eagerly took part of all the procedures that needed to be made on the unconscious Thatch. As serious as it looked, Milo's situation wasn't a hazardous one. His pulse, for the doctors' glee, was normal and he had almost no serious damages to his body, no broken bones or internal hemorrhage just some abrasions here and there that could be easily treated. Everything was quite stable, the only thing that needed a bit more of attention was the deep cut in Milo's forehead. They cleaned and sutured the cut, after all his head was in its normal proportions so the doctors assumed that wasn't anything to be too much concerned about.
After all the cuts and bruises were clean and some samples of blood were taken from him, Milo was sent to a room in the hospital and everyone was waiting for him to wake up after a couple of hours. But he didn't. One, two, three days have passed and Milo didn't wake up. Something was wrong. The fatty doctor reunited with others and they started trying to figure things out, brainstorming the possible causes of why he wasn't awake even though all his vital signs and blood tests were in perfect condition. They discussed through several hours and speculated a lot of different things before they finally got to a verdict. Milo was in a coma, in a deep and irreversible coma. They couldn't estimate how much time Milo would stay this way or even if he would wake up someday. The only possible thing to do was... waiting.
In his deep sleep that put the whole hospital staff in an anxious await, Milo was actually wide awake in his subconscious. Dreaming. Living a reality he had created on his mind, a successful and amazing reality where his and his grandfather's dreams came true. In his dream, after he tried and failed to chase Harcourt car, he returned to his house and found a woman, a very gorgeous and sensual woman that sent him through an amazing adventure. Not the lustful kind you may think of but actually a journey kind of adventure, the woman introduced Milo to a man, an old friend of Thaddeus and this man that was purely a figment of his imagination had the book Milo was searching for, the man generously set everything for an expedition. An expedition to find Atlantis. The adventure of Milo's life was happening and it was amazing, it was fantastic for him to show that everyone at the Institute were wrong. Milo was feeling fulfilled. He had his own crew and a huge U-boat, he was made captain and got to figure the way to Atlantis by using his linguistic knowledge to decipher the journal. He eventually did find it but it was not even the half of his adventure. He helped the people from Atlantis, he fought, he discovered a new side of himself, he figured out that his crew wasn't trustful, he discovered he was fooled and that he was in reality just a piece of a big scheme, he then set things right and fell in love. For Milo it all felt pretty real but the truth was that Milo remained laying in a hospital bed for almost a month now and sooner or later the dream needed to come to an end, Milo would eventually wake up and reality would become Milo's reality.
Near the end of the third week through his coma Milo finally woke up. His eyes felt heavy as he slowly opened them to find everything was in a bit of a blur, such condition might have scared most but for the myopic male it was a regular routine every time he woke up. Instinctively, he reached to the side of the bed in search for his pair of glasses and easily found them resting on what felt like a side table; he mechanically moved his arms to adjust it and as soon as the round lenses were placed on his face everything became clear for his eyes but very much unclear in every other sense. He could easily see he was in a hospital by the looks of the white-walled room that was filled with equipments, the smell of chlorine and the prickly bed sheets that covered his figure. He slowly passed a hand through his hair as he continued to take in his surroundings, it was indeed weird for him to wake up in a hospital but the weirdest part for Milo is that he was at an American hospital not an Atlantis one. He was confused, a bit afraid; worried about the woman he left in Atlantis, about the life that soon he will come to realize that only existed in his mind. He got up from the bed and noticed he was wearing just his underpants and he instantly felt cold and self conscious, he took the sheets from the bed and got wrapped on them, letting them hang around his shoulders as some sort of cloak. His light-brown hair was a mess and he was unshaven, the cut on the forehead now was barely a scar as it had healed almost completely through the past three weeks.
"How long have I been asleep?" He asked for himself as he felt his unshaven cheeks and that only made himself feel even more confused about the situation that he found himself in.
He walked to the nearest window and felt the apparatus with a bag of saline-solution attached to his arm following him, soon his eyes met a city that he was very familiar with. He could tell he was in Washington, D.C. That's the city he was born and raised, he knew it well and always called as home but at the moment, such homely view only made him feel home-sick as he felt like he was so far away from the place he called home which was Atlantis.
"How did I got here? I... can't remember."
He tried to figure things out. Tried to remember when he had left Atlantis and why he had left but he couldn't. The more he tried to remember why he's in Washington, the more he felt a sting of pain grow on the place his scar was on his forehead. It just gave him a slight headache that made him groan and give up for the time being to try to figure thing out. All his memories were mixed up; all seemed out of place, his brain couldn't distinguish between reality and dream. Milo never felt so confused. Never felt so lost and lonely.
Milo continued staring out through the window, his gaze was looking to no specific point; as his eyes searched the city, his mind kept trying to find an answer. Milo wasn't in a coma anymore, he left his dream-like reality where he was the main character of a plot full of adventure, highs and lows and even love. Love, something he lived fully in his dream reality. Milo wasn't sure what was going on, his memories were all mixed up but he knew deep down that only one of those timelines he has in his mind were the real one. He had fully remember the events after chasing Harcourt, he remember to feel a harsh bump to his back and a stinging and sharp pain to his forehead which matched perfectly with the scar he had on him; but he also remembered his whole life with his wife in Atlantis, the adventures that lead to finding the place of his dreams. He was confused, not in doubt about which reality is the true one, just confused because Atlantis seemed so real. So insanely real that he wanted it to be true but unfortunately deep inside his mind kept flashing, warning him that it was all a dream. A wonderful and damned dream.
"Kida." He whispered to himself, remembering his wonderful wife as one hand wandered to touch the glass of the window. He then desperately and vigorously shook his head trying to forget everything he lived in his dream but it was in vain because somehow he kind of lived that, even if it was just in his mind he lived that. And not only that but Milo liked such memories, he enjoyed the feeling of remembering Kida, the passionate moments they shared; he could still feel the adrenaline rush of the adventure, the feeling of being a hero. It was all so vividly inside of him. Milo's thoughts were cut short as the fatty and shorty British doctor entered the room to find his patient fully awake standing near the window.
"Oh! That's wonderful, you're awake."
Milo turned around to find the old man looking at him through square lenses with curious eyes, the brunet sent a confused look back at the doctor since he hadn't met him yet.
"Oh! Apologies, let me introduce myself. I'm Doctor Garibaldi Courty Porter. I've been taking care of you in the last three weeks. You were in a coma-state after being hit by a car. Fortunately the only damaged we found on you was a deep cut on your forehead that now is almost completely healed. Now, do you remember you were hit by a car? Or at least the sensation of it?"
Milo looked at the man standing in front of him; he slowly took in all the words Dr. Porter just had said to him. Slowly assimilating that he was indeed dreaming for what was almost a whole month. He sighed softly as the realisation of that was simply painful but after a while, Milo blinked his brown eyes a couple of times and nodded his head as a way of responding to Garibaldi's question.
"Great!" Dr. Porter said slightly excited and with a smile plastered on his lips but soon he cleaned his throat and tried to continue speaking in a more serious tone. "Now, I know it must sound like a lot of information but please pay attention because I need to verify if you haven't had any sort of brain damage. I'll instruct you now through a series of tests and ask some questions and I'll need you to respond using actual words, did you understand?"
"Understood." Milo simply replied.
"Can you please say your full name and mine as well?"
"Milo James Thatch and you're... Doctor Garibaldi Courty Porter, right?"
"That's right. Now do you remember how you got in here?"
"I think it's because I was hit by a car, but to be honest there's all these memories that show me another path and keep confusing me."
"Another path?" Dr. Porter asked curious while he adjusted his glasses in his nose.
Milo explained everything about the other reality, he explained that he remember to feel the car hitting his back but he also remember to go back to his house and end up going to Atlantis and all the life he lived there. The doctor heard about Milo's speech with attention, never interrupting him as he was trying to understand his patient.
"My question is: are you aware of which reality is real?" Garibaldi asked.
Milo knew the answer, it was simple as two plus two make four. Since Milo woke up and all the memories invaded his head he knew which memories were real, the only problem is that he misses the ones that aren't real. He misses everything that happened in his head. When Dr. Porter asked him about the realities Milo doesn't hesitated to respond:
"The car bumping at my back is the real reality, the other one is just a dream I had during coma." he let out a loud sigh as his shoulders slouched in defeat and sadness.
"You're perfectly right. Well, you seem to do not have any brain damage. I'll schedule some exams such as blood tests and x-rays but I think after one more week here in the hospital you'll be good to go." Dr. Porter said and gave Milo a huge smile.
"That's nice!" Milo said and rapidly looked at the window's direction once again, he was trying to figure how he would be able to go back to his boring life at the Smithsonian Institute after having all those amazing memories about Atlantis in his mind.
"For sure! I'll sign a paper saying that you need to have one week away from work once you're dismissed from the hospital just as a precaution so you don't to any fast movements that might make you dizzy. Just standard procedure for head injuries, but soon you'll be able to do your regular activities." The doctor continued to say and pointed to the small cut that had been sutured in the right side of Milo's forehead.
"Doctor, when will I be able to forget the dream? It was so vivid that I miss it." Milo asked with a sad expression and exasperation in his eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry Milo but I'm afraid that I can't answer it properly. You see, it was a dream and sometimes we remember our dreams but other times we have the feeling we haven't had a dream at all. You remember what you dreamed during your coma but you could have woken up not remembering that you have had a dream at all. Now, about the feeling of missing it, I suggest you to think of that as past. It will help on surpassing such memories and eventually you may forget it."
Milo nodded with the sad expression still glued in his face, Dr. Porter looked at him with a bit of a pity look. A silence was made; Milo was still looking through the window, looking to nowhere. The doctor calmly made his way to the door and left the room.
During the week, as Dr. Porter had said, Milo passed through a lot of exams to check his vital signs and look for any kind of brain damage. Every test was made and came back with very nice results, Milo's health was perfect. No damage was found. Dr. Porter was intending to discharge Milo from the hospital soon if it wasn't for the increasing gloom. The brunet indeed seemed perfectly fine when the subject was health but day by day he seemed more and more sad, he was missing his dream and it made him fall deep into an emotional depression. The doctor was worried about Milo's unstable emotions and decided to procrastinate his discharge, so Milo was now a patient with no forethought of any discharge and Dr. Porter decided to dedicate almost all his hours at the hospital with Milo, trying to make him lose his fixation about the Atlantis reality. Trying to make Milo move on. But even for a Neurologist it was hard to understand someone else's mind, he tried every concept he knew that could help diverge Milo's attention and make him move on. Dr. Porter even tried to deal with the subject as if it was a post traumatic experience but nothing helped Milo and the brunet refused to take any sort of medicines to help with his depression and he even got thinner, not eating much from the trays of food that the hospital always brought to his room; he simply remained healthy and hydrated due to the bag of saline-solution that they kept attached to the needle on his arm. The situation wasn't good and Dr. Porter quickly had to come up with a solution before Milo's depression ended leading him to health complications.
After the whole week of exams, Milo stayed in the hospital for more two weeks and it seemed like it didn't matter how hard Dr. Porter tried to cheer up Milo, the brunet always seemed to dig in his mind a memory of his days in Atlantis. By the end of the second week, Milo seemed slightly less depressed with all the reunions with other post traumatic depressives, all the sessions with the psychologist and even the cheerful chats with Dr. Porter. At this point, Garibaldi had figured that the solution for Milo's case was actually pretty simple and straightforward. His theory was that if Milo remained focused on the dreams he had during the coma, he will never be able to move on with his real life; so the solution was for Milo to occupy his mind and live a real adventure, he had to reset his life and move away from Washington since such place seemed to keep triggering the memories in Milo's head.
"Milo, all the other doctors and I tried to make you forget the dreams but you seem to keep trying to be attached to those dreams." Garibaldi said adjusting his square glasses in his face as he stood nearby the hospital bed that Milo sat on.
"I'm sorry doctor, I really am." the brunet said as he tightly grasped on the sheets of the bed, his face seemed tired. "I'm trying really hard but every time I look at the city I remember that I departed from here to search Atlantis and then... all the memories just flow back into my head." Milo explained with an apologetic face to the doctor, one of his hands moved to touch his forehead in an attempt of demonstrating what he meant.
"I've noticed that." The doctor sighed and shook his head before letting a calmer expression invade his chubby features "That's why I think I have a solution for your problem." Dr. Porter said with a glimpse of happiness in his lips, which made his white moustache get all weird and frizzled.
"Look... Dr. Porter, I know you want me to be 100% cured but memories can't be erased." he sighed because Milo wished he could forget those dreams he had while in the coma, it would be so much easier to get back with his life if he couldn't remember all the extraordinary things he lived, or actually dreamed. "I-I think I will need to learn how to live with all those memories and the feeling that something is missing." he spoke with a heaviness in his voice, his eyebrows furrowed and his hand gestured to his chest. The emptiness in Milo was in his heart, he missed Atlantis, he missed Kida, he missed that life.
"You're right!" he chuckled softly, like a giddy boy would and that made his round belly slightly shake as his eyes sparkled in satisfaction as he started to speak again "I can't erase the memories and perhaps you will never forget them but I think I have the solution, look, as you said-" Garibaldi made a dramatic pause and gestured to the window before continuing his explanation "You remember the memories because of the city so my theory is that if you leave the city the memories will start to fade away." Dr. Porter finished his speech with his usual strong English accent.
"Leave the city?" Milo's expression seemed to ease as the idea slowly sunk in.
Garibaldi nodded. "My theory is that you need to live a real adventure to forget the ones you lived in your dream." he said with a satisfied and witty smile but soon it slowly faded as he decided to add "Although, I'm not sure if it will work but... that's the last option I have to offer to you, Milo."
Milo looked at the fatty doctor that was standing in front of him, the plan that Garibaldi proposed slowly making sense and little by little a smile reached Milo's face. "That's an incredible idea! If I keep my mind busy with a real thing I'll eventually forget the unreal ones." and with such excitement, the brunet got up from the hospital bed and had his arms flowing around in exaggerated motions as the words rolled out of his lips. He then suddenly stopped and furrowed his eyebrows, a sigh leaving his lips "Oh! There's just one problem... I have a job here."
Dr. Porter chuckled and shook his head in amusement "Well then, quit your job and look for a new one."
Garibaldi knew the entire story that had occurred in the Institute before Milo's coma, actually Dr. Porter knew a lot about Milo's life. Due to the long conversations to make Milo get out of his gloom they started to talk about each other's personal life and one could easily say that Milo and Garibaldi are now friends.
Milo scrunched his face, part of him enjoying the idea - after all he had a resignation letter folded in his pocket for a long while now - but the other part wasn't completely comfortable of giving up a stable life for an insecure future. "It's not that easy, you see, what Harcourt had said is true. No museum or institute in the United States will accept me. My family and I have a reputation and unfortunately... it's not a good one."
"I wasn't expecting for you to stay here in the United States, if I recall well I've said you shall live an adventure." Garibaldi was now showing a huge smile.
"Leave my country? But I've never left it! I haven't even ever left Washington!" Milo said a bit concerned, he sat down on the edge of the bed and moved one hand to his forehead as if he was feeling dizzy but in reality all he was feeling was overwhelmed.
"That's why it's called an adventure. It was made to take you from your comfort zone and put you into the eye of the hurricane."
Milo pondered the idea for a while. Leave the city and the country he always lived just to try to forget a memory. Isn't that exaggerated? Probably not, probably Garibaldi was right, after all Milo lived an adventure once. Sure, it was a false adventure, a thing that happened inside his head and somehow he had control over the situations. His life never was in danger while he lived in Atlantis because it wasn't real but live a real adventure with real dangers is a totally different thing. But Milo thought the risk was worth, he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't take all the unreal things he lived, he was aching for something real. He was aching for life.
"Ok, I'll leave the United States but for which place should I go?" Milo started to mentally check the possibilities, and there were tons, he could travel far away to exotic places with foreign languages and cultures.
"You don't need to worry to much. I wouldn't suggest you something if I hadn't had something in my mind!" he chuckled and patted on Milo's shoulder. "I think I have just the place for you, not completely out of your comfort zone but an adventure nonetheless. I just need to talk to my cousin... Professor Archimedes Quincy Porter. He's holding a research about gorillas at the Natural History Museum in London and... I think he could use the help of someone who understands about Linguist Theory and Sociology." he patted with his index finger on his chin and then glanced at Milo with an all knowing look.
"That's fantastic! But do you really think that your cousin will accept someone with a reputation like mine?" It was clear to Milo that Dr. Porter was only checking if Milo was interested in such travel because it seemed that the doctor had already planned everything.
Garibaldi chuckled loudly as if Milo had just told him a joke "I'm sure he will! You see, my cousin is quite... queer himself and he doesn't really care about reputations."
Milo nodded in agreement even though he didn't fully understand the queer part but he decided to do not over think it for now.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to contact my cousin and set everything for you... which means I'm going to finally sign your papers and have you out of this hospital."
And with that said Garibaldi left Milo's room. The brunet was once again all alone with his memories but hopefully not for too long if Garibaldi's cousin really accepted him to work in London. Milo adjusted his round glasses and took a glance out of the window, regardless of the fact that nothing's confirmed it indeed seemed that just the idea of having an adventure already started to help Milo to forget Atlantis. His mind was now occupied by daydreams of London, imagining how the city looked like and how his life was going to be like when he moved to there. So much was going to change but that's what made his mind work and was going to keep his comatosis dreams at bay. And for the first time in weeks, Washington didn't looked so melancholic to Milo, it actually seemed promising. A new beginning.
After thousands of telegrams exchanged between the two cousins, Garibaldi finally settled everything with his cousin and now Milo had a job title in the most renowned museum of London. The doctor’s recommended adventure was about to begin, Milo never felt so enthusiastic and he certainly was thinking less about Atlantis and more about real life. The weeks after leaving the hospital for sure felt good since he got to start arranging things for his trip. The prospect of his life in London made his head boil with a lot of ideas and dreams, and it made his heart lose the aching pain that missing made him feel. He seemed lighter, like some sort of weight was lifting from his body.
Once he returned to his house, Milo started little by little setting everything for his departure to London. Garibaldi, who never left Milo's side, turned into a great friend and Milo was always welcome at his house during the couple of weeks that it took for Milo to arrange all the details. And the list was quite long: he had to resign from his actual job, pack everything, sell his house, sell any pieces of furniture that he won't be taking with him and grab tickets for the next ship to London. Garibaldi and Isabel - Garibaldi’s wife - always were very kind to Milo, asking if everything was fine, if he needed help with anything and always, always offering more food. They acted like Milo was part of the family, a son or even a nephew. Milo liked the attention because he didn't have a group of people to call as family since his grandfather’s death, which happened when he was yet young, so the Porter’s were the father and mother he never had - Milo’s parents died in a car accident and since he was a toddler his grandfather was the only family Milo knew. In the last couple weeks Milo frequently visited the Porter’s, normally to have a meal with them. It became a habit of Milo to show up at their house at least once a day and it was one of these days. It was getting closer to the date of his travel so Milo was trying to spend as much time with the Porter's as he could before departing to meet more Porter's. They all had just had a wonderful brunch and as usual after the meals, Garibaldi invited Milo to follow him to the living area of their nice sized house; there Isabel always served Lady Grey in fancy porcelain tea cups that she treated like small hallows - it seems they came with her from England and were in her family for generations. Milo wondered if every British cared this much about tea and porcelain cups. He sipped the brownish liquid from the light blue cup and after he rested it back on the saucer he said for the millionth time.
“I don’t know how much I can thank you, Dr. Porter. Asking your cousin to receive me, that’s just really kind of you. Of both of you, actually.” Milo said with a smile adorning his pale face, he couldn't believe how much this man that helped him after his car accident and he could believe even less that a man that never met him just offered him a job.
“Stop with that, son." he said sternly but his cheeks were flushed slightly "I just did what needed to be done. You’re a great man and all great men need an opportunity. And I told you time and time again, you can call me Garibaldi.” He patted Milo’s shoulder. “Now, did you already sent your letter of resignation to the Smithsonian Institute?”
“Sure I did. They didn’t enjoy it even a small bit but I’m positive they will find someone else to take good care of the boiler.”
Milo couldn’t help but chuckle a bit about his statement. Garibaldi just nodded his head and proceeded to ask:
“Great! And what about your house? Will you sell it?”
“Yes I did, since it's a small apartment downtown I had no trouble in selling it. The person will move in the day after I leave to London. I sold some of my furniture but I would like to ask you to keep some of the family pieces with you, they mean a lot to me and I can't take them with me." he actually could take them on the ship but he would need to pay a tax for it to be carried inside the transatlantic and he was trying to save every dime for when he got to London. He was aware that he will need to convert all his money and he still hasn't completely figure out how all that money conversion worked.
“Of course. You can set anything you would like to keep in our spare room.” Garibaldi said and brought the tea cup to his lips to take another sip of the liquid.
“Thank you. It really means a lot to me.”
“The most important question. Did you buy a ticket to the next ship to London?”
“Yes. In fact it will departure in two days from now. I just need to pack my clothes and some other smaller items. I hope Fluffy do well on the trip” Milo's cat had never went on a boat and everyone knows how cats tend to dislike water so Milo was a bit concerned about the nerves of Fluffy during the tip.
After the two days passed, Milo went to the docks with all his suitcases and baggages and a small cage with Fluffy inside, ready to enter in his adventure, aching to see what London was guarding for him. The ship wasn't too big, being of of the smaller transatlantic cruisers but still looked impressive for someone that never traveled in such way. It was made to support around three hundred people in it, and its immaculate white and black colour was eroding near the stem region probably due to the contact with the salty water. One individual funnel emerged right from the middle of the ship and its smoke faded in the morning sky. Milo never left his city, not even to go to a nearby place in the United States - of course his thrilling trip to Atlantis doesn't count - so his belly was twisting with the enthusiasm, his hands were sweaty by the anxiety and the adrenaline that empowered his whole creature giving him slightly uncomfortable goosebumps in his arms and legs.
He entered the ship and became fascinated by its beauty, all the chandeliers, the bright colored tapestry and the singular paintings hanging on the walls made it seem he wasn't inside a ship at all but actually in a hotel. He felt like he was in some sort of classic hotel from Europe that refused to change its decoration over the years. He headed to his accommodation, a small compartment with only a bed, a wardrobe and a small writing-desk. The room will shelter Milo for the next fifteen days, so Milo decided to make himself at home. He opened the small cage where Fluffy was locked in and started to settle his baggage under his bed not really in a rush to unpack everything. The cat soon started to explore the new place and Milo sat in his bed looking at every detail of the room but as soon as the ship entered in the open sea, Milo’s face acquired a weird color, he seemed nauseated and ready to throw up his breakfast into the toilet of the small bathroom linked to his room.
“This will be a long trip”. Milo stated to himself while he tried to hold a pucke, his hands moved to his mouth as his cheeks got puffed up. It was obvious that the city-boy wasn't used to the uninterrupted roll of the ship, the way the waves made it move side to side like the pendulum of a clock. Milo was obligated to stay the whole first day in his room, laying in his bed and trying to get used to the ship movements, hoping the next fourteen days would be better. He eventually fell asleep due to the tiredness and the lullying motion that resembled now a crib being rocked; and for the first time in what seemed forever Milo didn't dreamed with Kira, or Atlantis or anything related to it. Instead, his dreams were filled by the sound of a distant clock and the relaxing clicking of rain droplets hitting the cobblestone streets, the smell and the taste of the tea combined with all the delicate pastries in a wonderful symphony of flavors, and a delicious accent that seemed so kind and gentle to his ears. He dreamed about London. He dreamed about his destination and all the small things he already knew about the city that is the heart of England.
The fifteen day trip was indeed long for Milo. During the whole trip he didn't get used to the sea, the feeling of a knot in his throat never left his being and the upsetting stomach never seemed to find its way back into feeling normal since the tides kept rolling the ship side to side. Through more than a week Milo only left his accommodations to visit the restaurant of the transatlantic since he couldn't have his way around eating meals in his bed, not that he hasn't asked the staff but they said that they only provide such services to the elite bedrooms. He didn't really enjoy his walks on the tipsy hallways back and forth from the restaurant and it seemed that the upset stomach always got worse after a meal but he couldn't spend two weeks without eating anything. It was an understatement to say that Milo wasn't enjoy the trip; actually, it’s safe to say that Fluffy enjoyed the trip better than Milo. It’s not that he hated it, the views were pretty and the transatlantic was sure glamorous but he wished that he wouldn't feel nauseous because of the motion of the ocean.
It was very near the end of the trip; just four more days and Milo will be free to go, able to step in land once again. Land, a thing Milo had been wishing so hard in the last few days since the area one can walk around in a ship is quite scarce. Today it was during one of those rare moments when Milo felt well enough to take a walk around the ship. He visited every single room he was able to go to since he hasn't quite experienced the luxuries while locked in his room and he wanted to at least see every detail before he needed to step out of the transatlantic. His first stop was the library, it wasn't big but the huge shelves that went from floor to ceiling were filled with a huge variety of books to entertain the guests during the trip. He scanned through the shelves and aimed for British writers, wanting to try to know more about the people from the land he was going to live. He picked a selection of four or five books and found a red velvet armchair that looked comfortable enough for his reading. He spent the whole morning reading through books and only stopped when his stomach alerted he was getting hungry.
After exiting the library, Milo strolled through the main deck on his way to the restaurant and couldn't help but notice that it was a very beautiful and sunny day with a sky filled with fluffy white clouds and a calming breeze gushing on his hair. The brunet thought that it might as well be his lucky day, no sickness and a bright sun surely were luck on his book. He leaned on the parapet of the deck and took in a deep breath as he tried to relax and enjoy the breeze and sun, he was looking at the distance when a figure stopped right next to him. It was a middle aged man that had the skin tanned from working outside and a long beard and messy hair that had strokes of white between the grayish. The man was dressed in old clothes and had tattoos on his arms, a classic sea-rat. Milo raised an eyebrow to the man that gave him a slightly toothless smile and looked at the horizon, he seemed kind even though his rough looks. Milo smiled back, finding such simple gesture infectious and just what he needed after so many nauseous days.
“Enjoyin' da last few days in the sea, ay?” The man inquired with a voice that was loud and strong like a lightning bolt.
Milo chuckled and passed a hand through his hair to try to stop it from moving everywhere due to the wind “Actually, enjoying the first. I've been locked in my room all the other days.”
The man nodded knowingly “Sea sickness." he shrugged his shoulders and continued "Ah, I understand. It take a bit o' time to get use da the sea." he then pressed his lips together in what resembled a pout in the mess of hair around his mouth and looked at the horizon ”Shame it picke' da wrong day to getta use'." The eyes of the man were focused on the sea, as if he could listen to some sort of message that Milo couldn't understand. As if the sea spoke to him in a silent language.
Milo furrowed his eyebrows and tried to follow the man's gaze at the sea, after not being able to understand what he was looking at, he inquired “What do you mean?” a mix of curiosity and worry on his voice.
“A storm's just around da bend, mate.” The old man's eyes still focused on the horizon but now he also moved one of his hands to point to the sky with his thick and wrinkled index finger.
“Sea storm?" the tone on Milo's voice was amused as if he had heard a funny story or saw a child doing something fun. He huffed and shook his head before continuing "That’s nonsense! Today is the sunniest I've seen.” Milo stated trying to hold back a snort from how amused he felt from such statement.
The man looked at Milo, his dark eyes staring into Milo's like he could see though his soul. He seemed angry, or was that simply offense in his eyes? Milo wasn't sure but such stare scared him nonetheless. The man then stretched his forefinger and pointed directly to Milo’s face, the finger almost touched Milo’s glasses and the stare showed warning, wisdom and a deep assurance of what he was about to say.
“Hear me boy, when I say a storm's coming then it's coming. I lived ma whole life in da sea, I can tell what it's telling me. It's gonna be a sea storm.”
Milo could simply nod, not able to say anything to that man other than agree with him. He was scared and he thought that maybe the man was perhaps lacking on his mental faculties so he simply remained quiet until the man left. He shook his head and rolled his eyes before walking away himself, he left the deck and got back on the carpeted corridors and found his way to the restaurant, the only area of the ship that Milo had visited since day one. The area was big and decorated with crystal chandeliers and round mahogany tables that could fit from 1 to 6 people on each. He made his way to one of the empty tables and settled the cotton napkin that was beautifully folded on his lap. It didn't took long for a waiter to show up and hand Milo the menu. It was very simple, with only two options of every course. He picked his meal and told the waiter, it didn't took long for his meal to be brought to him.
Once he finished his lunch, he decided to find something to entertain himself, he then saw a pamphlet announcing one of the ship's plays that was being exhibited in the Theatre, a classic play that everyone knows the story pretty well. The ship crew was presenting Romeo and Juliet, he knew the story so he was just trying to relax because he was now starting to feel very apprehensive with the idea of a sea storm approaching. He barely managed to pay attention to the play, his eyes were looking at the stage but weren't capturing the scenes. While he stared to no point in specific in the stage, Milo's mind was having a journey between turbulent waters, huge waves and lightning striking the ship. He started to plan ways of escaping the storm and got concerned with the idea of turning int a castaway of a shipwreck, his mind only came back to reality when the sound of applauses broke Milo's daydreams. People got up and he could see everyone heading to the restaurant to have dinner, but he wasn't hungry. He was anxious, nervous, scared and on the edge of a panic attack.
He decided to head back to his accomodations on an empty stomach and as soon as he closed the door behind him, he jumped on the bed, smashing his torso against the mattress as his arms wrapped around a pillow in an attempt of getting ready for the storm. The way Milo's body hit the bed was so sudden that Fluffy, who was hiding under the bed, jumped out and let out a scared sound. But Milo didn't cared, his eyes were shut close and his ears were trying to pay attention to any sound that resembled the rumbling of thunder. One, two, almost three hours had passed and no sign of a sea storm, no difference on the motion of the ship and no loud thunder cracks. He slowly sat up on the bed and looked around his room, noticing everything was in the same place.
“Well, maybe he was just a madman after all.” Milo spoke to himself as a way of calming himself down and try to keep his mind away from the idea of a storm, but just to be sure, he got up from his bed and confidently went to look through the small round window of his cabin. And how he regretted taking a glimpse of outside, the view was terrifying and made him be shocked. but how he regretted it. Outside, an enormous number of black and intimidating storm clouds were gathering on the horizon and the deep sound of a rumbling could be heard as small sparks came from the black clouds. Such view brought a shiver to run down Milo's spine.
“Oh my!” Was all that he could let out as his eyes were scaredly focused on the clouds that were now slowly approaching the ship. He took a deep breath as panic built in his body and soon enough the sea storm started. The ship started to shake more than the usual, moving quickly from side to side like a ragdoll being shook by a child. All the furniture in his bedroom started to move, slipping from its original position and even slightly crashing against one another. Milo desperately moved his hands to his head, his fingers urgently tangling around his hair as the panic took over his body and the nausea started to build once again on the pit of his stomach.
"H-oh no... no... no...." he mumbled the words in a small cracked voice that sounded like he was about to cry and simply allowed his body to once again crash on the bed. As he remained laying in there, his mind started to work in awful scenarios. What if a lightning strike the ship? What if the captain lost the control and they hit a rock? What if the waves get so big that water start to invade the ship? All the what if’s made Milo dizzy and he ended passing out from his overwhelming nerves; it was too much to the city-boy, too much to handle, too much too soon.
Milo didn't know how much time he spent laying in his bed unconscious. The last thing he remembered was a huge wave coming at the ship’s direction and then he felt dizzy, his vision got blurry and he finally passed out. For Milo’s joy, when he opened his eyes after waking up from his unconcious shock, even with the quite blurred vision he had; he was able to easily see that he was still inside the ship. A relief for Milo since the last few thoughts before he fainted was the ones of becoming a castaway on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean without appropriate resources and getting consumed by hunger, fear and cold.
As Milo’s head stopped to spin and he got back on his feet, his eyes slowly started to focus and blurry vision slowly faded and he managed to properly see his accommodations. The place was pretty messed up, chairs were resting upside down in the floor, his bed has moved some inches from its original position and all sorts of decorations were placed in their wrong spot; the storm must had been ferocious to leave such aftermath but Milo didn't witnessed any of it. The brunet slowly and carefully, because he was still slightly dizzy, got on his feet and calmly walked closer to the small and circular window of the bedroom. He wasn't able to see much but what he saw made him feel content as the sea was standing still, almost no sign of waves; the day wasn't the sunniest he have ever seen, with some gray clouds scattered in the baby blue sky and a shy sun creeping out a pretty huge dark gray cloud. The sea storm was over and the ship was still in one piece; and most importantly, Milo was still alive and wasn't lost in the middle of the sea.
After a relieved sigh that gently left Milo’s throat he checked the watch that was attached to his left wrist, the leather of the watch was for some reason too tightly hugged against his pale skin. More than likely an effect of getting a bit intumescent during the faint. He then let such ideas about being slightly bloated aside and checked the time the small black pointers were indicating.
“Nine before noon.” Milo sighed feeling a bit sad.
That means he was obligated to spend six more hours in the damn ship before it finally arrives in London, before he would finally put his feet in actual ground, the anxiety of arriving to land made Milo start an excruciating countdown. The first thirty minutes of his countdown he wasted taking a long shower, changing clothes, combing his hair and brushing his teeth; when all his hygiene issues were solved he decided to take a walk around the ship. Milo wasn't surprised when he noticed a lot of crooked frames on the walls and disarranged furniture along the corridors; he also found a lot of still dizzy passengers wandering around the ship and unfortunately some vomit stains here and there over the velvet red carpet that decorated the charming halls of the sailing hotel. He was once again standing in the beautiful, crystal decorated restaurant that now had its enormous crystal chandelier messed up. Milo took another look at his watch and for his displeasure only one hour has passed by, he still needed to wait five hours to finally leave the damned ship. He walked inside the restaurant that was very crowded, probably most of the passengers woke up feeling hungry after a night of unpleasant waves. He made his way to a vacant table in the center of the place and settled himself down in the mahogany and red clothed chair, he looked around and could see the staff was rushing around trying to attend the full restaurant. No one came to hand him a menu so he started to strum his long and thin fingers on the table as a way to amuse himself while he waited. He checked his watch and saw that a considerable amount of time had passed:
“Half an hour waiting to be served? They haven’t even brought me the menu yet, this is just absurd.” Milo mumbles to himself while he still drummed his fingers repeatedly on the table with now a discontent face adorning his features. After a couple of minutes more a man dressed in black pants with a white shirt and black vest showed up with a quite fake smile plastered on his lips, one of those smiles employees just put on to look nice.
“May I help you, sir?”
“Yes, just bring me the chef’s special and a glass of water.” Milo said in a not intended harsh voice, he just doesn't want to wait more half an hour for him to bring back the menu.
The waiting for the dish took less time than the waiting to be attended by the staff and soon enough the waiter settled the dish in front of Milo. He didn't knew what he ordered as he just said he wanted the chef's special so it was a surprise to see pork meat that was obviously cooked for hours in a gravy-like sauce and some baby potatoes that were baked with the skin and all. The potatoes were covered with some sauce that looked like some sort of fresh cream and parsley, the plate looked appetizing and soon Milo started eating his meal. He ate it with tranquil as he wanted to enjoy the meal, the meat was tender and the sauce made him order a side of bread to be able to clean his plate from any remains of it. After he finished his meal, Milo decided to take a walk on the main deck but the place was far different from his visit there on the previous day; the wooden floor was covered by a thin layer of water that kept rumbling side to side with the motion of the ship, he decided that the best to be done was go back to his bedroom and start packing his things for when they arrive in London. As soon as he entered his cabin, Milo couldn't help but check his watch once again, he was eagerly waiting for the hours to pass.
“Just three more hours.” He said to himself as he felt pleased that the countdown was now in half.
He then promptly moved to the small dresser and opened the first drawer to start packing his clothes. Anything he did before arriving at the port would make him be able to get off of the ship earlier and also help kill the time remaining of the trip. He did the packing slowly, folding the clothes with extra care just to make the time pass on his watch, he put all his clothes back to his luggage and settled it all near the door to make it ready to his departure, this way he just needed to grab his things and go. But as much as he tried to stall, he at some point had to finish the packing and there was still a lot of time remaining on the clock, as he quickly realized when he checked it.
“Just two more hours to go.”
Milo stated aloud and took a look at his companion cat, Fluffy, that still needed to be put inside the cage. But Milo decided to wait a bit more on doing such a task since the cat seemed all so happy being outstretched in one of the chairs. With nothing much left to do and still a considerable amount of time in his hands, Milo decided to take a nap; naps are usually a good way of killing time and would take his mind from the unsettling countdown that he started. He laid in his bed and shuffled a bit until sleep he found a comfortable position, it didn't take him long to fall asleep. And it felt like even less time had passed by when he was awake by a voice ringing on the speakers of the ship.
“Here’s the Captain speaking, half an hour to our destination. I advise all passengers to take care of their luggages and be ready for arrival.”
Milo sat in the bed and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get better woken up. Half an hour seemed so little after the fifteen days he spent at the sea. He then got on his feet and headed to the small bathroom to wash his face and do some finishing touches on his packing. He checked to see if he hasn't left anything behind and then put Fluffy inside the carrier cage. He couldn't help but smile, he was glad to finally be in ground again after a trip full of sea sickness and even a huge storm. Garibaldi was right, all Milo needed to stop thinking about the dreams he had during his coma was an adventure and he was having for sure an adventure. So much so he hadn't thought about anything related to Atlantis in the last two weeks.
Milo finally arrived in London, just as usual the Land of the Queen was showing its best gray and cloudy day. The brunet gathered all his luggage and his cat-cage into his hands and arms. He stepped out of his cabin to head out of the ship, but soon Milo figured that it wasn't such a simple of a task since there was already a line formed of people ready and eager to leave the ship. It seems that Milo wasn't the only one making a countdown to arrive on land. After a wait of about twenty to thirty minutes in such a line, Milo finally managed to step on land and a loud sigh left his lips as he took his surroundings. The cobblestone streets of the dock were slightly wet and many cars were parked nearby, he walked closer to the parking area to try to find Garibaldi's cousin and that's when Milo realized something. He didn't know what Garibaldi's cousin, Archimedes, looked like. He then felt a lump in his throat as he started to search around for a face that had traits similar to the doctor Milo had left behind in Washington. He was giving up on searching and was hoping that maybe the cousin would manage to find him because Milo had no idea how to find Archimedes. It was almost instantly that Milo then felt a tug on his scarf and instinctively looked down to find out the source of such tug, his eyes then met a man shorter than him - and even shorter than Garibaldi - but that had the same nose and moustache as the doctor Milo got to call as friend. This man was different, having thin and wobbly arms and legs and a round belly, bald and didn't wear glasses but the similarity with Dr. Porter was striking.
“Excuse me young man but you look a lot like the description my cousin gave to me of an American man I was supposed to meet here. Are you by any chance Milo Thatch?”
Milo couldn't help but open a big smile of relief as he found the Porter family, he for a split second had been concerned about being lost and homeless in London but now it was all washed away as the lively blue eyes that resembled Garibaldi's stared at him. “Yes sir, I'm him, I mean... I'm Milo.”
The man laughed a little and gestured to his own chest “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I'm Professor Archimedes Quincy Porter but you can call me Archimedes.”
“Nice to meet you Professor Archimedes.” Milo said and tried to get a better grasp on his luggage.
"Here, let me help you." With that Prof. Porter grabbed a couple of the luggages Milo was holding and promptly started to walk to the direction of one of the cars parked. “Now, let’s be on our way. I believe you must be tired and tomorrow we will have a lot of work to do at the Museum.”
The short man said and stopped near the rear of an elegant black car parked in the street near the docks. The car was a Crossley 20/25 HP Tourer and the painting was shining, it was obvious that Archimedes took good care of his car. The short male then opened the door of the back seats and settled down the luggage he was holding. Milo then added the luggage he was holding and settled the cage with Fluffy on the seat before closing the door and walking to open the front door on the right side of the car.
“Where are you going?” Archimedes asked him with a puzzled expression in his face as he followed Milo to the same side of the car.
Milo's hand was holding the knob on the door and was ready to swing it open when he stopped and looked down at the professor “Uh… I'm going to sit at the passenger seat.” Milo answered with a quite confused tone and blinked his eyes a couple of times.
Archimedes left out a chuckle and then said with an amused expression “Very well! Then go take the seat on the other side of the car, we’re in London for Queen's sake!”
Milo had completely forgotten that in the United Kingdom they drive on the opposite side people drive in America. He blushed slightly, ashamed of his silly mistake and headed to the seat on the other side of the car. He entered the car and watched as Archimedes climbed up into the driver’s seat, the car seemed to be huge in comparison to the small British man but Archimedes must be used to it because he skilfully drove of the park spot. Milo found it quite funny to see the short man driving a car; he was amused about how Archimedes managed to see his path ahead. The man was so short that Milo thought that he couldn't be able to see properly, or in the least that people would imagine that the car was driving by itself around the streets.
“So, do you usually drive around London?”
Milo asked out of curiosity and in hopes it wasn't a usual situation because it was very amusing to see the tiny professor driving a big car, also, he would dislike to spend the whole trip to Prof. Porter's house in silence. He believed that the better thing to do was to get to know the person that was being so kind on letting him live with them. Archimedes shook his head in reply and added as a response:
“Oh no, I prefer to use the tubes, it’s faster. I just took the car because of your luggage. It would had been a hassle to carry a lot of luggage around the tubes.”
Milo was quite relieved by the answer of the old man and nodded in agreement, but then decided to check if his knowledge of British slangs were to the point: “The tubes are subways, right?”
“That’s right, but we prefer to call it tubes.”
The rest of the way they didn't talk much. Archimedes sometimes pointed out some touristic points they were passing by so Milo could see and would explain small things about the city or suggest certain restaurants or stores. Just comforting chat that was allowing Milo to get familiar with his surroundings. Archimedes house was a bit far from the docks and Milo enjoyed the ride, looking at the architecture of the buildings of London, the city was for sure very charming. After a while they were driving through a residential area and more and more green could be seen instead of bricks and cobblestones. Milo noticed the fanciness of the houses, they were big houses with green front yards that resembled small versions of huge mansions and looked nothing like a suburban area of America.
“We’re almost there, I live in that street.”
Archimedes said casually, kind of just to break the silence that was living in the car since they left central London. Milo simply nodded in reply as he admired the area he was going to live. Archimedes parked the car at the garage of a brickwork house, it was simple yet elegant. Milo went to take his luggage and Fluffy from the back seats and then followed the short man to the front door, allowing him to lead the way to be respectful and also because he was having just a smidge of trouble carrying his luggage.
“It’s a lovely house.” Milo complimented and admired the residence he was going to be living from now on.
“Thank you, it’s in my family for four generations now. Jane loves that house, even though it's quite of a hassle to get to the museum in the mornings.”
“Jane?” Milo asked, the doctor didn't say anything about his cousin's family. Actually, Milo had never stopped to think if Prof. Porter would live alone or have a big family with him. That made Milo a bit tense, as he wondered if all the residents of the house agreed with the idea of him moving in with the Porter's. He wondered who Jane could be, and from the top of his head the first few options that came to mind were: a wife, a sister, a daughter or even a maid.
“Oh, didn't I tell you about Jane?” He chuckled a little. “How silly of me, guess that Garibaldi hasn't mention it either. Well, Jane is my daughter; I think you’ll get along well with her. A brilliant woman.”
Milo nodded and was now slightly curious to meet this Jane; he assumed that she must look a bit like Garibaldi and Archimedes, chubby and short. He also was assuming she’s a grown up woman and not a child because Archimedes called her a brilliant woman. He got slightly nervous, that could be one of those awkward situations where the daughter dislikes the person and makes the father throw the man on the street. For all he knew she could be a spoiled girl, the daddy’s little princess and Milo didn't like the idea of becoming homeless in London. He then decided to ask more about the Professor's family.
“It's just you and your daughter that lives in this house?” He inquired with curiosity as Archimedes was now standing in the porch, right in front of the door and fumbling with the keys, obviously trying to find the right one to open it.
"Oh, yes. It's just the two of us. Has been like that for years now." he quickly explained and made a small aha when he seemed to have found the right key.
"Divorced?" Milo inquired, hoping that he wasn't being to nosy about Archimedes' life.
"No. I'm a widower. She passed away from illness when Jane was just five."
"I'm very sorry for bringing up the subject." Milo said wishing he could hit his head against the wooden columns of the porch from how stupid he was feeling right now.
Archimedes shook his head and looked at him for a moment "That's fine. Subject would come up sooner or later." he then finished unlocking the door and swang it open "Well, shall we get in?"
Milo followed the man inside and once they were both in, the professor closed the door once again. "Leave your luggage in here, we can help you to bring it up to your room after dinner. And please let your cat free, the poor thing must be stressed due to the travel."
Milo then left his luggage on the foyer and allowed Fluffy to get free from its cage.
"Come, let me show you around the main floor." he then started to walk to a conjoined room that was probably a living area. Milo followed him, taking in the details of the home that sure looked like had been passed through four generations of Porter's, the structure of the house was old timey and the furnitures and pieces of decoration obviously were family heirlooms. When he walked into the living room, the place wasn't too big but sure looked nice with the tapestry on the floor, the fireplace lit and the inviting set of couch and armchairs nearby it.
"Take a seat, you must be tired and have a lot of questions on your mind."
Milo then sat down on one of the armchairs and Archimedes sat on the couch. "Would you like something to drink? Perhaps a gin? Aperitif?"
"Oh, no, thank you. I'm not much of a drinker. I get drunk easily so I tend to leave that for very special social occasions." Milo chuckled and passed a hand through his hair "You have a lovely house, Prof. Porter."
"Thank you but Jane's the one that keeps the place in good shape. I'm not the best at leaving things in the same place I took them from. The house would look a mess if it was me living alone. A creative mess." he chuckled softly and leaned back on his seat.
"Mess is never creative father!" a voice came from the door of the living area, it was soft and very feminine, it was indeed of a grown up woman and not a child or teenager. The voice was so tranquil that it calmed Milo about how the owner of the voice would be like but even though he was curious to see the face of such enchanting voice, he didn't turned around as he thought it would be rude to crook his neck almost 360º just to see the lady that arrived in the room.
Archimedes chuckled and then got on his feet "Jane darling, come meet our guest, Milo Thatch."
Following the movement of Prof. Archimedes, Milo got on his feet as well and turned around to see the daughter of the professor. He raised his eyebrows in awe when he saw Jane, she looked nothing like any other Porter he had met so far. Well, there was one thing, the lively blue eyes that all the Porter's he met have. He swallowed thickly and took a step closer when she stopped near her father. Her brown hair was loose and reached the middle of her back, she was dressed in a simple light blue skirt and a lacy long sleeved white shirt that was delicate, around her waist a brown leather belt that matched with the boots she was wearing. She was tall and thin with an hourglass-like body, her facial features were petite and her cheeks seemed naturally flushed. She was beautiful.
After the sudden surprise at seeing Jane, Milo quickly composed himself once again to not look like a complete moron in front of the lady. She was nothing what he was expecting her to be in looks, in personality he still needed to discover. "Pleasure to meet you." he introduced himself and outstretched a hand to greet her.
Jane smile back at him and took his hand, he placed a small kiss and she giggled softly as her cheeks got slightly more rosy; she seemed to have a bubbly personality. "It's nice to put a face to a name. Garibaldi talked a lot about you." she let go of his hand and then rested her hand on her father's shoulder before continuing "Hope daddy drove well. He's not very much used to driving, I had suggested to catch a cab to meet with you at the docks but he insisted that the proper thing to do was pick you up with the car."
Milo felt his cheeks flush at the mention of them hearing a lot of things about him and chuckled softly, his expression then softened a bit and he replied in a more serious tone "If I knew that, I wouldn't have caused such trouble. I could have came by with a taxi or even through the subways. I don't want to be any sort of inconvenience for the both of you."
Archimedes shook his hands in the air and furrowed his eyebrows as if he was trying to swat a fly "Nonsense! I couldn't simply allow a guest to find his way around town. Also, it's been a while since the Crossley had been taken for a spin."
"Talking about guest. I believe you must be hungry, Mr. Thatch." she declared and then took a steps towards the exit of the living area "Shall we?" she prompted the two male to follow her.
"I indeed am. And please, call me Milo." he said before following the Porter's to the dining area. Just like the rest of the house, it wasn't enormous but it was well decorated and obviously very classic. The long rectangular table had four seats on the longer sides and one seat on each of the shorter sides. The professor sat down at the head of the table, with his back to the window that lead to the yard, Jane sat nearby him and Milo decided to sit right in front of Jane so he could remain looking at her beauty but also be able to have a conversation with them. A lady dressed in maid's outfits came out of the kitchen carrying the dishes and set them down before each of them. He quickly thanked the old lady that looked to be even older than the white haired professor and soon started to eat his food which consisted of a whole quail with roasted potatoes and carrots.
"That's a delicious meal. Not that the food during the travel was bad but this is homey." he said as he cut another piece of the quail to eat.
"Berta comes daily to prepare the meals for father and I." Jane explained "She's been with us for a good twenty years. She always cooked anything I asked as a child, even if it was just a ton of cookies." she chuckled softly, obviously remembering a good memory. "I don't know how I didn't turned out to look like a whale after mother's death. All I ate all day long were cakes and pies." she rolled her eyes softly and let out a giggle once his father commented on her statement.
"Well, everyone was just trying to see you smile." Archimedes said before taking a sip from his crystal glass of water.
Milo scanned Jane's features and he thought that even if she was chubby she would still be a very beautiful woman because her facial features were very delicate and pretty. But the brunet decided against commenting on it.
After a lot of chit-chat that revolved around the Porter's and Milos' memories, likes and dislikes, dessert was served together with tea. It was a slice of rhubarb pie together with a cup of black tea. The filling of the pie was a jam and the crust was crispy and simply melted in his mouth.
"Berta is an excellent cook." he mentioned as he leaned a bit back on his chair and rested a hand on his stomach.
Jane patted the napkin across her lips once she finished her meal and got on her feet "I believe that after such a meal all you want is to get a nice rest. Let me show you your bedroom."
Milo then followed Jane to the foyer and picked a couple of his luggages, she picked the remaining bags and started to climb the stairs. Milo saw Fluffy was laying nearby the fireplace that was still lit in the living area before following Jane, as soon as they arrived the top of the stairs they took a turn to the left and she informed "This first door is my bedroom, father's room is the second door on the other side of the hallway. The first door on the right is his office." she then stopped in front of a door and said "And that's your room." she opened the door and walked inside a good sized bedroom that had a bed pressed to a wall in the left with window on each side of it. The nightstands stood right in front of said windows. To the right there was a huge dresser with a mirror attached to the wall on top of it. Next was a door that he assumed lead to a private bathroom and on the far wall in the back there was a round coffee table with a couple of armchairs that had a lively floral pattern.
"That's almost the size of my whole apartment back in Washington!" he said in awe as he settled both his luggages on top of the dresser.
"Glad you find it to your liking. I'll allow you to get yourself settled. If you need anything, father and I usually go to sleep late as we keep reviewing notes in his office." she informed him as she put a lock of her hair behind her ear.
Milo turned to look at her and gave her a smile before speaking up "I guess I'd like to take a look at such notes before I start my work at the museum tomorrow."
"I could give you a briefing about the most important points in our research so you can easily catch up with us. I was very impressed about your majors, I believe you'll be a great addition to our research!" she said excitedly.
Milo smiled, enjoying to see her beaming in happiness. He knew all of his admiring the beauty of Jane was going to probably lead him into dangerous territory but he couldn't help but awe in her beauty. "I'd enjoy to be caught by you!" he said without giving much of a thought and then blushed as he stuttered on his next words while he tried to fix what he just said "I mean... I would enjoy you breathing me... No! Briefing the notes... I mean... some pointers about the subject would be great." he crossed his arms over his chest in complete embarrassment and looked away from her.
To his surprise, Jane simply chuckled and blushed softly before speaking up "I would like that too. So... see you soon at the office." she took a step back and hit her back against the door, she chuckled a bit more and pointed to the door as she moved away and put a lock of her hair behind of her ear "Oh, ops." she then stepped out of the room and started to walk away but then came back and held the doorknob "I'll... I'll close that to give you privacy." she chuckled a bit more and then closed the door, leaving Milo alone. He let out a loud sigh and moved both his hands to his head, he closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down and then started to put all his objects and clothes away and finished settling the empty luggages underneath the bed. He took a couple of deep breaths and looked at himself on the mirror "Don't say any more idiot stuff." before walking out of his room and easily finding his way to the said office.
The place seemed to be the only place Prof. Porter was allowed to keep his creative mess intact, there were papers scattered in all surfaces. The desk was at the back of the room and was a sea of books and papers, Archimedes was sitting in a big chair behind the desk, looking at pictures using a huge magnifier. Jane was sitting in a loveseat by a fireplace on the right side of the room. He walked closer to Jane that was attentively reading a book with furrowed eyebrows, he sat down on the spot near her and took a deep breath "So, what's the research exactly. All Garibaldi told me was that it's something to do with gorillas."
Jane rested the open book on her lap and looked up at Milo, a blush then adorned her features as they were very close to one another in the small loveseat "Well, to put it in the most simple way possible. We're trying to prove to the scientific society that gorillas are capable of communicating between their groups. We have noticed patterns on their behavior that imply they might have a specific dialect of their own."
Milo nodded, already enjoying the looks of such research "So you are tying to find evidence of a pattern of vocals and gestures that could be linked with communication and prove that they actually always use the same patterns to show they they indeed have a dialect. Seems that what needs to be proven is a linguistic theory in gorilla behavior."
She had a huge smile spread across her face "Precisely. You're simply amazing! You're the first to understand the principles of our theory, everyone that we try to explain it to simply discards it and laughs at our faces saying that gorillas are animals and they don't have a language of their own."
Milo felt himself blush with the compliments and averted his gaze from Jane "Well, not everyone understand what are the basic configurations of a language. We just need to look for the right patterns and then perhaps try to communicate with them using the same patterns to prove that it brings out specific reactions from them. Not an easy task to be done but sure enough achievable and I'm very eager to help with such research. People think that linguistics are only used to understand dead languages but there's more to that. A conversation isn't limited to words, there's gestures and also the tone of the voice."
She bit down on her lower lip, she looked like she was going to explode from how happy she seemed. She shook slightly as if she was hesitating and then threw her arms around Milo giving him a hug. She quickly moved away from the gesture with a dark blush on her whole face and a soft chuckle "Sorry, it's just that I have been helping my father with such theory since I was fourteen and we finally find someone that has the methods to prove such theory. I... we have so much pictures showing the same sort of gestures that we know we're so close of proving it, we just didn't had the right knowledge to explain such data. But you can do it, you can scientifically explain what we see." she was obviously giddy "Daddy! Milo knows how to help us." she spoke up and turned around to look at her father, Archimedes settled down his magnifier and looked at the pair sitting on the loveseat "Then we need to show him the footage of the groups of gorillas all around the world. The majority of those groups are living in zoos or sanctuaries with a few images of them in the wild but we noticed the same sounds and gestures. But everyone say that's all coincidence, they say that's like a dog that scratches their ear and howls to the moon. No one believes that's a communication, everyone thinks it's just animal instincts."
That then made Milo realize why the Institute never funded his trip to Iceland, he never had concrete evidence of anything, nothing like the Porter's have. He finally realized that he had been blinded all those years by the amazing stories his grandfather told him, Thadeus research was just a bunch of daydreams that didn't quite fit in. A lot was actually based in legends and not actual findings. But the Porter's, they have evidence, they have all the facts screaming and begging to be revealed. All they needed was a push from an expert and Milo knew that he could help them formulate a theory to prove that gorillas were able to communicate between each other. He felt a new fire inside his soul, he finally felt useful and was eager to start his research. A change was all that Milo needed for his life to turn out to be better. "I'm going to help you give linguistics theories supports to prove that gorillas are able to communicate." Milo had, after all, always thought that animals seemed to be able of communication. As a cat lover he could swear tons of times that it seemed like Fluffy could understand good part of what he said to the animal. He completely believed that animals were capable of understanding a language and perhaps even had their own methods of sending messages to each other.
After a long night hearing the Porter's - but mostly Jane - enthusiastically talk about the whole research they were doing about the gorillas; Milo went to bed late but he ended waking up early as the sun creeped into the room between the soft cotton curtains that covered the windows nearby the bed. It was a quarter past six when he sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes to try to remove the sleep from his face, he reached to his glasses on the nightstand and quickly glanced at the clock to see the time before getting on his feet and walking into the bathroom to deal with his morning routine. Once Milo was properly dressed, he walked out of his room and went downstairs, soon enough he found the Porter's sitting on the dining room ready to have breakfast. The vision of Jane made a smile get plastered on his face, he passed a hand through his hair and pulled a chair to sit down after greeting them. Jane was holding a toast with a lively red jam on top, she smiled at Milo and spoke up
“Morning! So good that you woke up on your own, we were starting to think that we would need to get you up to go to work.”
Milo chuckled softly and a small blush adorning his cheeks with the idea of Jane waking him up, such image in his head was a very nice one. He cleaned his throat, "I woke up with the sunlight." he replied and then thanked Berta once she settled a plate in front of him so he could serve himself with the assortment of toasts and breads, fruits and condiments to have his breakfast. He picked a couple of toasts and spread some butter on them and sipped from the tea that was poured for him, this one was different than the one they had on the night before. It was softer but still very energetic. He was guessing he was going to be trying at lot of teas from now on since the British had a liking for such drink. Once in a while, he glanced up at Jane and they exchanged small smiles and he even could hear her giggling a few times. He enjoyed her company on the night before and it seemed she did too.
After breakfast, the three of them left the house and entered Archimedes’ car since they thought it would be better to explain to Milo how the public transportation worked in a more tranquil day where they didn't had to arrive at a place in a specific time. The travel was pretty much the same route he had passed through on the way from the docks but it seemed more enjoyable because he had Jane excitedly pointing out all the places she would like to show to Milo. He was aware that something was building up inside of him regarding Jane but he decided to do not give it much thought and tried to focus on work. As soon as they arrived at the museum, Milo’s eyes sparkled with excitement, the place was monumental; all made in stone and still had a soft and relaxing atmosphere to it. He wished he could have enough time to take in all the fine details of the main hall of the museum but the Porter's were marching with a destination and Milo simply followed them while stealing glances from the exhibits of the museum. He couldn't see much since they headed to the employees only area but what he saw he thought was fabulous, the place had a lot of exhibits focused on animal skeletal structure. Once they walked through the corridors of the restricted area, he saw tons of rooms that were focused on restoration of museum pieces and also some areas that seemed to simply be storage until they finally walked into a room, the place was rather large and also made of stone but the mess was very similar to the one he had found at Archimedes' office back at the Porter's home. Right in the center of the room there stood a gorilla skeletal structure, there were two big blackboard pressed against a wall and filled with informations. In between the blackboards a desk that had towers of papers on it. Archimedes promptly walked to said desk "I'll continue from where I stopped last time, Jane."
Jane nodded and looked at Milo to find him with his mouth open as he tried to absorb all the information around him; she chuckled softly, gently pressing her fingers against her lips and then cleaned her throat to catch his attention. Once he was looking at her, she started to walk "Follow me. I'll give you a short tour through what we have so far." she then explained the blackboards and walked with him to show some slides of photos they had. "As you can see, we have gathered a lot of information but unfortunately we can't put it all together to formulate a proper scientific article to present to the zoology community. That's the part we need your help, how can we show that what we see isn't mere coincidence."
Milo nodded as he watched her change the slides on the projector to show the different pictures of gorillas "Put the last one back again!" he instructed as he noticed something. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly from curiosity but did as he instructed.
"Here." he pointed at the picture "That motion hand, it's a still but... it almost looks like this gorilla is greeting the other. Like when we say hello."
Jane put a lock of her hair behind her ear, some stray strands missing the bun she had made. She moved closer and watched the hand before speaking up: "I believe we might have some footage that might have similar motions. I'll look through it and while I try to find it-" she walked to a nearby bookcase and picked about three books before handing them to Milo and continue "-you can read those to have a basics about gorilla physiology and habits. From there you can start narrowing down which actions are not basic from their habits but actually might suggest a communication."
Milo let out a small umhp when she handed him the books, they were slightly thick and some people might need days to read it but not Milo, he was used to skimming books and fast reading. He walked to a couch and set down the books on it before plopping himself down and opening the first one to read, the title was Primates and their differences in physiology.
He divided his attention in reading the book while he stole glances that weren't so sutil at Jane, he watched as she moved around and rummaged through boxes to find the footage of gorillas. It seemed that they didn't really have a method to the chaos and it's probably a factor that is not helping them advance. He found himself gazing at her figure as she got on the tip of her toes to reach a higher place, Milo bit down on his lower lip and let out a small groan of frustration before focusing once again on his book. But the truth is that reading about chimpanzees and gorillas wasn't as fun as watching Jane. She was a fascinating mixture of graceful and clumsy that made her look adorable. He was once again getting lost on his thoughts about Jane and he let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, he could already tell that it was going to be hard for him to focus when Jane's around.
A couple of months had passed since Milo arrived in London and started working with the Porter's, he had managed to help them figure some things out and now they had managed to find some specific patterns in gestures and sounds but they still didn't knew what they meant. It was very obvious that they had a very simplified sort of communication but they had to prove that it wasn't just grunts and groans, they had to show for the community of zoologists that such sounds had meanings and therefore they had a language and communication of their own. It was easier said than done since there's just so much you can prove with pictures and footage. It was already getting late but Milo was too focused together with Jane in the records of gorilla sounds, trying to see if they found any pattern.
"That groan was definitely the same we heard a while back." Milo pointed out.
Jane shook her head "It sounds the same but this one is way more aggressive, the other seemed more tranquil. What if they way they say it make it have different meanings?"
Milo tapped his fingers over the desk and had his other hands resting under his chin, holding the weight of his face. He frowned and hummed as he pondered "You mean like when a person screams no and it sounds like an alert, a warning but when it's in a more tranquil way it is simply an answer? That does make sense... unfortunately that makes our job harder."
Jane nodded and sighed, her finger undoing the braid she was portraying through the whole day. "Oh God! Daddy, what do you think?" she inquired and when there were no reply, they started to look around the room to find no sign of the professor. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked at Milo "He left?"
The brunet then thought for a bit, trying to scan through his memories to figure out an answer. The two were so focused that they barely noticed Archimedes had already left but Milo seemed to have found something on his mind "I remember him bidding good night. I guess he got tired or sleepy."
Jane leaned back on her chair and blew a raspberry, she looked at Milo and then sat up before grabbing his left arm to check the time "What time is it anyway?" she looked at the watch on the brunet's arm and her lively blue eyes went wide open. "Oh my! It's past eight!" she let go of his arm and a blush adorned her cheeks, she had been blushing a lot lately whenever the two of them found themselves together alone. A thing that it seemed Archimedes was trying to allow to happen very often. Milo passed a hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses "Uh... would you like to have dinner in a restaurant nearby? I'm pretty sure Berta is gone by now so... unless we would like us to cook when we get home..." his voice trailed off as he made notice of how it sounded. It sounded a lot like Milo was asking her out for dinner.
Jane got on her feet and smiled, she rolled back down the sleeves of her yellow shirt and then ran her hands through the front of the brown skirt she was wearing "Dinner sounds perfect. There's a wonderful pub nearby and also a very nice Italian restaurant."
Milo then swallowed down thickly and got on his feet, he buttoned up the vest he was wearing and then patted on his pants to remove any wrinkles. He stared at Jane for a while, unsure of what to do next.
She giggled and walked to the door "Shall we? I believe that most of the restaurants will close soon so we better rush." he nodded and followed her out of the room.
As she had mentioned, the restaurants were nearby but unfortunately the Italian place was already closed so they had to head to the pub. Milo wasn't so happy about the idea of going to a place where people mainly drink alcoholic beverages but he didn't saw much of an option. They were sat on a booth and soon brought menus, Jane then handed the menus back and spoke up "We'll have one pint for each of the house beer and we'll have a sea platter to share." she smiled brightly and then added "Oh! Bring us a side of chips too."
Milo started at her "You know I don't drink."
She giggled "Oh shoosh, you're always so focused and helpful, I haven't seen you loosen up and relax since you got here. Even on weekends, the places you made daddy and I take you were all historical buildings." she smiled and then closed her eyes "Follow me. Breath in." and with that she took a breath just to let it out after a while "And breath out." she added and then opened her eyes. "You're doing an excellent work with the research but believe me" she chuckled and continued "If you drown yourself in gorillas you'll go a bit insane. I know we're going to figure things out. I'm sure of that but we should have some fun on the way so we don't go bonkers."
The waiter settled the two beer mugs on the table and walked away. Milo looked at the beer, at Jane and then smiled while he grabbed the handle of the beer. "You're right. To relaxing times." she smiled and clinked her own mug with his before both took a long sip of the sparkling yellow liquid. Milo coughed a bit, not used to the taste of alcoholic drinks. The rest of the meal consisted of a lot of laughs and conversations while they shared the platter of seafood. Jane ordered a second mug of beer for her, Milo barely managed to finish the first one. After a relaxing meal, they stepped out of the pub and started walking to the subway so they could head back home. Jane seemed to be a bit tipsy - not drunk, mind you - but just slightly bubbly and giggly and giddy. She wrapped an arm around Milo's arm, locking their arms together as they walked down the stairs to the subway. Milo chuckled with her every time he heard the beaming sound leaving her lips. Once they got inside the train, they sat down side-by-side and Jane then rested her head on his shoulder. Such thing made Milo tense up a bit, in the last month they seemed to get closer and his feelings for Jane only grew stronger but he wasn't sure on what to do, he had a feeling she might like him too but he's not sure if it's in the same way he does. He thought that she only liked him in a friend or companion level, as perhaps if he was someone of the family.
Milo's train of thoughts were broke once they arrived at the station they had to, he gently shook her body because she seemed to be drifting into sleep and once again locked arms with her as they walked from the station to the house. Jane now seemed to be hyper, she couldn't stop talking about anything and everything, as they approached the house she was singing a song from a presentation she had to do in school when she was a child. Milo chuckled and watched as she did pirouettes in the front yard of the house they live in. Her cheeks were flushed when she stopped spinning and she walked to the front door in a tipsy way, she struggled to open the door and Milo stood behind her as he was supervising her motions while looking over her shoulders. Once the door swung open, Jane suddenly was jerked forward together with the door and Milo threw himself forward to grab her before she could fall on the floor. He held her by her waist and now it looked like he was tipping her down to give her a kiss. She was facing him and had her arms resting on his shoulders, he swallowed thickly while they stared at each other and was trying to set his senses to normal so he could have them back to a standing position. Jane then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her face closer to his, before he could rationalize what was happening, their lips were pressed together in a passionate kiss. Milo broke the kiss after a while and set them straight, his hands were still holding her waist as she smiled at him after the kiss, he furrowed his eyebrows because he was now suspecting she was more than just tipsy. She giggled and raised an eyebrow.
"What's the problem Milo? You also think deeply about kisses too?" she leaned closer to him, wrapping her arms tighter around his shoulders as she inched closer and closer to his face, she then continued in a whisper "That's not something you think, you just feel." and then she pressed her lips against his again. This time he reciprocated the kiss with passion, he felt her hand resting on his neck and their bodies pressed together. The front door forgotten open for the time being as they allowed their feelings to flood their bodies. He felt her hands slid from his shoulders to his chest and he could sense her undoing the buttons of his vest, he then broke the kiss and held her tiny hands in his larger ones, he chuckled nervously and could feel his glasses were slightly crooked on his face "I-I... I think that we should go to bed now. I mean... sleep!" he took a deep breath and let go of her hands, he passed a hand through his hair and then closed the door behind them. When he turned around, Jane was staring at him. He furrowed his eyebrows and inquired.
"What?"
She sighed and said in a low tone, not sounding so giggly or giddy anymore "Nothing Milo." she then turned around and started to climb the stairs. He furrowed his brows for a while as he tried to figure why her change of heart, he then took a long breath and rushed after her, he grabbed one of her arms and spinned her around before clashing his lips against hers in a lovingly way. "Sleep well, Jane." he said after breaking the kiss and climbed up the stairs hand in hand with her.
A month had passed since Milo and Jane kissed for the first time, since then they had been stealing kisses and caresses whenever they were alone or when professor Porter seemed to be too focused on the gorilla research to pay attention to it. The afterhours in the museum became a common thing for Milo and Jane for two reasons: the first being of course because they wanted to conclude their research; but the second was because when they were alone at the museum they could act like a couple since they had decided to do not tell Archimedes about their relationship. Jane wasn't sure how her father was going to react about such thing and Milo, even thought he had the slight suspicion that the fatty professor already knew, he was concerned if because of such relationship Archimedes would kick him out of the house for finding it improper for him to be living under the same roof as Jane before marriage. The brunet wasn't sure how conservative the professor was, even though he seemed to be fairly open minded about a lot of things.
With every night they spend after hours at the museum Milo could feel that they were nearing the breaking point of the research, he knew that the final puzzle piece was nearby now. And with every night he spent more time with Jane he only felt more and more sure about his feelings for her.
"Let's go through that rationally!" Milo said with a slight furrow of his eyebrows, eyes scanning the papers spread on the desk before them while Jane was gently caressing his arm with one hand holding her head and her eyes seemed to be looking at the papers in a lost way.
"Hmm." she simply let out the sound to encourage Milo to continue his speech. It was almost nine PM and Archimedes must have left about three hours ago.
"We already have cracked some of the meanings of signals, we know they are usually small greetings. We have a very complete list of groans and sounds and pointed out when they are made in different vibratos." Milo's expression was serious while Jane seemed to be leaning towards boredom.
"Yes. We have an enormous list of sounds and gestures that we know that they use to communicate but we simply can't find a way to show a concrete proof that they're not random." she pointed out as she rested her head on his shoulder, her finger still drawing delicate patterns on the flesh of his arm since his sleeves were rolled up.
He picked a paper up and started at it, his eyes scanning through the letters as he let out a groan and passed the hand of his free arm through his hair "I'm missing something... I know I am. I feel that it's right in front of me!" he rubbed the bridge of his nose while he closed his eyes momentarily. Jane place a lovingly kiss to his cheek and gave a small squeeze to his arm. "Perhaps we should take a rest."
He opened his eyes and took a deep breath "Give me just a bit more. One hour tops. If I can't figure something till then we head back home." he leaned closer to the desk and grabbed papers with both his hand.
Jane nodded, knowing well that she wouldn't be able to change his mind "One more hour. Then we're leaving." she said with a strong voice, letting him know that she's feeling mentally exhausted of reading all those papers.
"Yes..." he said absentmindedly and brought the papers close to his face as if that would help him find the tiny little piece that would form the whole pretty picture of that puzzle. He started to mumble under his breath as he read through the notes and scanned through the pictures but little by little the volume of his voice increased. "They communicate. It's obvious like day and night. But how to prove-" his train of thoughts would get cut by some groans and sighs but soon he would continue his mumbling speech "-how? Communication... according to the linguistics' theories communication is any sort of pattern involving two beings and a message." he suddenly let go of the papers and leaned back on his seat, Jane sat up straight and looked up at him with a confused expression on her face.
"Milo?" she inquired since he suddenly went too silent.
He then let out a chuckle and facepalmed his forehead "That's it!" he then turned on the chair and faced Jane "That's it! Message, it's all about the message. There's only communication when you have two beings and a message, for communication to be successful and not accidental both parts need to understand the message. We have the patterns, we know they have messages, all we have to do is try to communicate with a gorilla. If they reply to the message we show them properly that means they understood." he got on his feet, completely flabbergasted by excitement.
Jane got on her feet as well, eyes wide as she realizes what he meant "So, all we have to do. Is show one of those motions or sounds to a live gorilla and if they reply with something from the list we compiled that means..."
"They understood it!" Milo finished her sentence and wrapped his arms around her, spinning her in the process before settling her back on her feet again. He looked down at her eyes and smiled back at him, she pecked his lips but then proceeded to ask.
"Well, but how will we do that?"
Milo's grip on her waist loosened and sighed softly as he tried to think. "Don't they have a couple of gorillas at the London Zoo?"
Jane smile spread and she gently squeezed his shoulders "Yes! Oh yes they do... daddy always took me there when I was a kid. Do you think that we could..." she trailed off as her eyebrows got furrowed.
"I guess we could try to see if we could check with them if they would permit us to do some research. If we explain that we'll not harm the gorillas I bet they wouldn't disapprove our visit."
She nodded "Yes, we should definitely check with them. But tomorrow, of course, it's rather late now."
It didn't took them long to arrive at home, they walked in as silently as possible since it was already past ten PM and the whole house was in darkness. Jane stretched her neck to try to check upstairs but there were no light coming from her father's office. She looked at Milo and held one of his hands in hers.
"Seems daddy is asleep, guess we'll need to explain that to him tomorrow." she then groaned softly.
Milo chuckled slightly, amused by her reaction and placed a loving kiss on her forehead "It's not that long we'll need to wait. When we wake up tomorrow we can tell him." he assured her and with that they parted ways, each to their own bedroom. It didn't took long for Milo to get dressed into his pajamas and nest himself comfly in his bed, he leaned against the headboard of the bed and turned the light on the nightstand on so he could have a light reading before going to sleep. He had barely opened his book when a knock on his door was heard and soon after the door swung open, Jane's figure popping inside his room. Her body was dressed in a loose nightgown but the fabric was quite translucent so he could see the shapes of her figure underneath the piece of cloth. He dropped the book on his lap and adjusted his glasses as if to see if he was seeing right "Jane?" the words came out of his mouth without much thinking.
She bit her lower lip and walked further into the room after closing the door behind her, she walked closer to his bed and settled herself on it, her arms sustaining the weight of her body as she leaned closer to him. "I'm sleepless! And rather too enthusiastic about that breakthrough on our research so... I thought I could come by so you could tire me."
He raised an eyebrow, half teasing and half offended by her statement "Are you insinuating that I'm so boring I make people sleep."
She rolled her eyes and leaned closer to him "No, you silly! It's just..." she trailed off as she bit her lower lip and a dark blush covered her cheeks "Your kisses."
"Oh! So my kisses are boring." he rested his hand on his chest and sighed in disappointment on himself. "I'm no expert on that but... shouldn't you have mentioned something earlier? I mean... we've been kissing frequently throughout the last month."
She giggled and rolled her eyes as she moved closer to him, now nestling herself on his lap and chest "No! Oh my God, Milo, you really want me to say it, don't you?"
"Well, I like to have things very clear so... yeah, words would help." he now had a tiny smirk on his lips.
Jane grabbed the collar of his pajama shirt and leaned closer to him as she whispered, her lips inches from his "Your kisses makes me breathless, they make my mind go blank, that's why they tire me."
"That's clarifies things." he allowed his arms to snake around her figure "Well, when you put like that. I believe I can help you with your sleepless night."
He then pressed his lips against hers in a heated kiss, it was the first time she walked into his room in such a way. It was the first time they were both together in the same bed and even thought Archimedes was a couple of doors away, all Milo could think about was Jane. She intoxicated him, making him blind to anything else but at the same time gave him energy to go through his day. Milo's hand mindlessly wandered through her figure, feeling the curves beneath the soft sating on her sleepwear. His large hands moved up her figure and, just passing through her breasts for a brief moment. Such gesture made Jane break the kiss and let out a small sound of joy. He looked at her, her brown locks cascading down her shoulders and back, he moved the hair away and planted a kiss on her neck. Jane closed her eyes and bit her lower lip in pure bliss, her fingers tightly gasping on the cotton of his shirt. While he continued with his sweet butterfly kisses down her neck and collarbone, Jane's hand found their ways to the front of his shirt and started working on undoing the buttons. Milo parted from her neck and helped her on removing his shirt. He then took the pants of his pajamas in a swift motion and spinned them around, pressing her against the pillows and sheets of the bed, as if reconsidering his acts, Milo looked at her blushing and excited face as if simply to assure himself of the route they were taking was the right one. Jane cupped his cheek gently and tilted her head a bit, her bring blue eyes locking with his dark brown ones.
"Milo. You're very sweet and awfully considerate but... I walked into your room, if I didn't want to be here, I simply wouldn't have come."
He chuckled and shook his head a bit and then kissed the tip of her nose before nodding in acknowledgement. He then slid his hands down her figure and slowly pulled the gown off of her figure while caressing her body; once the dress passed past her head he threw it on the floor by the side of the bed. As he moved his eyes down to admire her figure, Jane held his face in place with both hands and made their gazes meet once again before she passionately crashed her lips against his in a heated kiss as their almost completely bare bodies pressed against each other.
As the morning sun rise, Milo woke up and instantly felt a weight against his chest. The night before invading his half asleep mind and making a dark blush taint his cheeks. He looked down to his chest to find Jane asleep there, her face tranquil as her hair was a sprawled mess over his figure and the pillows; her whole body well nestled in the comfort of his warmth. He mechanically reached to the bedside table to catch his glasses since he wished to properly see her in her full naked glory. He placed the pair of glasses on his face and then shifted his gaze upon her frame, following the curves of her body. Jane was a very attractive woman, so much so that it always had Milo puzzled how she ended reciprocating his feelings. As he remained lost in his thoughts about her beauty, Jane softly shifted in his embrace and soon her lively blue eyes were wide open and staring at him. She gave him a whole heartedly smile and pecked his lips lovingly, he smiled down at her and gently caressed her back as he took her in a sweet embrace. It felt like this moment could last forever but soon the fairy tale like scenery was broke by a loud voice echoing through the house.
”Jane? Where in heavens are you?” Archimedes voice could be heard coming from the hallway and was followed by footsteps approaching.
Jane sat up straight in the bed, the sheets rolling down her figure as her blue eyes went wide open due to the sound of her father's voice. Milo looked at her with a confused expression on his face, with no answer to the silent question she was asking him. What to do next? That was the conundrum that Milo and Jane had less than a minute to find a solution for. Jane then quickly grabbed her nightgown off of the floor and quickly slid into that while she instructed Milo.
"Quick, put some clothes on and whatever we don't have time to dress just hide under the blankets."
She quickly slid their underwears beneath the blankets to hide it from her father's eyes while Milo not-so-efficiently tried to get quickly dressed in the pants and shirt of his pajamas. He flopped himself back on his bed and passed a hand through his hair once he had finished getting changed, he whispered to Jane so the professor couldn't hear them.
"And what now?"
Jane looked at the door, then back at Milo and let out a sigh of frustration.
"I... perhaps we could tell him..." she put a lock of her hair behind her ear and then took a deep breath. "I'm going to hide in your bathroom. I don't think it's going to be good for daddy's heart to see me in your room in the early morning." and with that she rushed to the bathroom that was conjoined to the room.
Almost immediately, knocks showered Milo's door. The brunet stood in there, still a bit confused by the whole situation that was unfolding through this morning.
"Milo, are you there?" the voice said loudly and then whispered in a concerned voice "Oh my, I hope they made it back home safely." Archimedes was obviously worried about the well being of the two.
Milo then adjusted his glasses on his face and walked to the door, he unlocked it and greeted Archimedes.
"Good morning Prof. Porter. How can I help you?"
Archimedes looked at him, his expression instantly relaxed a bit. "Oh thank goodness, you're here! Do you know where Jane is? I knocked on her room but she didn't answer me..."
"I haven't seen Jane yet, just woke up." Milo quickly spat out his lie.
"Oh! My apologies, hope I didn't woke you up. Anyway, have you came back home last night with Jane."
Milo nodded, glad that he could tell the man the truth.
"Yes, we had dinner in town and then came back home."
Archimedes sighed. "Well, at least I know she arrived home safe. Thank you Milo, I'll check if she's downstairs, perhaps Berta had seen her. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Milo watched the old man turn around and head to the stairs, he then closed the door and took a long breath while he passed a hand through his hair.
"He went downstairs. He's looking for you. He was concerned if you arrived home safely." He let out in a string, feeling guilty that he had to lie to the old man that has been only nice to him.
Jane stepped out of the bathroom cautiously and soon walked closer to Milo who was still standing nearby the door.
"I'll sneak back into my room then, will get dressed and tell him that I was using the bathroom that's why I didn't answer the door."
"Shouldn't we just tell him the truth?" Milo inquired.
Jane let out an amused chuckle "And how exactly you want to break the news? I suppose you wouldn't like to explain to him the events of last night."
"N-No... we don't need to describe every little thing. He doesn't need to know about that part. At least not yet anyways..." Milo had a light blush on his cheeks as he continued to try to speak up his mind "I mean, shouldn't he know we're a couple?"
Jane stared at him for a while and then allowed a big smile to adorn her feature.
"I agree, father should know about us. But not by seeing us naked in the same bed." Jane said and then pecked his lips before continuing "We'll find the right time to do so. Right now we have to tell him about the discoveries from last night and arrange things for visiting the zoo." And with that she left his room to head into her own.
The morning remained quite chaotic but nothing as embarrassing as Professor Porter knocking on Milo's door during an inappropriate time. During breakfast, Milo and Jane explained to Archimedes the final puzzle piece to their theory to work and all the three were beaming with happiness. Once they arrived at the museum, Prof. Archimedes wrote down a letter to present to the board of the museum to ask for permission to visit the zoo. It took a couple of weeks for the museum to reply Archimedes' letter, which made all of them feel the tension and made particularly Milo feel very unsettled. But Jane kept reassuring him that if the museum was going to simply reject, they would have done it sooner. When the letter finally arrived, it said that they were allowed to continue with the research and that the zoo was already aware of the situation and that all that was left to be done was settle things right with the London Zoo. It took only a couple of days to settle a date and time for them to be able to visit the zoo and do the experiment with the gorillas.
On the morning of the big day, Jane woke up once again next to Milo in his bed, it became a quite regular view for Milo to see her when he wakes up. They got ready and met with Archimedes downstairs, the old man was so eager to conclude his research and prove his theory right that it almost looked childlike. Once they arrived at the zoo, they were met by a member of the staff who guided them to the gorillas' cage, they saw the group of gorillas walking and lounging on the hole on the ground that was their area.
Jane slid one hand into Milo's and intertwined their fingers as they watched the gorillas while Archimedes talked to the member of the staff to settle the last details of the day. But the excitement was really washed away from their bodies once they heard the sound of annoyance on the professor's voice.
"Daddy, is everything alright?" Jane asked him while she gently rested her hands on his shoulders.
"It's certainly not!" Archimedes let out as his moustache moved around with each word due to his indignancy. "That gentleman just informed me that we can't get any closer to the gorillas."
"But we need to be inside the cage to do the tests." Milo said annoyed and looked at the cage.
"I know that! It's a nonsense, I'll tell you. How do you expect us to acquire good results from such an absurd distance from the gorillas!" Archimedes continued to argue with the man from the staff and Jane was trying to calm her father down.
Milo watched that scene and felt a twist in the bottom of his stomach, it was simply not fair. They had all the evidence needed to prove the professor's theory, they simply needed to try such theories on a real gorilla to prove their research was right and that man wasn't allowing them. He watched the gorillas down there, how tranquil they seemed and how the distance wasn't so big.
"I'm sorry sir but that's Zoo's rules. I can't let people in the cages." the man said to Archimedes in a monotone, obviously bored by his work.
Milo took a deep breath, the adventure of his life right ahead, all he had to do was jump. He climbed up on the rail and looked down at the cage "It's not that tall. It's like jumping from a climbing structure in a child's playground." he reassured himself and then jumped.
"Daddy! Milo!" Jane said and rushed closer to the rail, leaning on it to see inside the cage.
Jane's yell made the two men stop arguing and run to the rail as well. The staff member promptly rushed to go get more people to take Milo out of there.
"Milo, what are you doing in there? It's dangerous and now they're sure going to kick us out of here." Archimedes said.
"I'm gonna prove the theory. And I'm pretty sure that'll take at least 15 to 20 minutes for the staff to get here and take me out. Enough time for me to talk to those gorillas." Milo explained and walked closer to a big female gorilla that was sitting on top of a decorative rock and eating.
"Oh my, Milo! You can end killing yourself!" Jane let out in pure fear.
"They're not prone to attack, as we know." he then took a deep breath and fished a notebook from the messenger bag he had brought with him, they had compiled and picked a lot of materials to prove their theory. "Just... get that recorded." he instructed the Porter's and flipped the pages of his notebook with shaky fingers. He swallowed thickly and looked at the gorilla a few feet away from him that was staring right at him.
"Ok." he then traced the fingers over the lines of written info on the paper and started to make sounds just like a gorilla would.
Archimedes had followed Milo's instruction and was making sure to record it all. The gorilla listened to Milo's speech and then got on her feet, obviously understanding what he said, what made Jane tightly grasp on her father's arm. But then the female gorilla started to hit on her chest and make loud groans that showed she wasn't happy. Milo furrowed his eyebrows and took a step back from the gorilla as she got on all fours and started to head into Milo's direction.
"That's... not the reaction I was looking for..." he continued to flip through his notebook and adjusted his glasses in his face.
"Milo!" Jane called out in pure agony.
"Let's see..." he stopped in one page and let out a loud "Aha!" he chuckled and then said to the Porter's "They're very similar sounds but mean completely different things." he shook his head and then cleaned his throat before speaking up again, this time, the gorilla stopped and clapped her hands together, making sounds that resemble laughter. Milo then continued to speak to the gorilla as he tried to get closer and closer. Once he was right in front of the female gorilla, he made some sounds and then outstretched his hand. The gorilla took his hand in hers and shook it just like a human would. Jane jumped in excitement.
"She understood him!" Archimedes let out in a whisper, flabbergasted with awe and happiness.
"Yes daddy, she understood everything." she hugged her father happily.
Soon enough a group of the staff came in to take Milo out but were surprised to see that the she-gorilla was happily petting his hair like she would do with a member of her own species. Once Milo was took out of the cage and brought back to the Porter's, the head of the staff came to speak with them.
"We understand that you were doing a research for the museum and since no one got hurt, including the gorilla, we'll not press any charges but we'll warn you to never again jump in a cage of the zoo." The man was dressed in a fancy suit and doesn't look happy.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll never do such thing again." Milo assured the man and added "And we got what we needed for the research so you don't need to worry about us coming back."
With that, the man left and Jane wrapped her arms around Milo, hugging him tightly and burying her face in the crook of his neck. "You scared me! You could have been killed." she moved her face and looked deeply into his eyes before crashing her lips against his in a passionate kiss. Milo was surprised but reciprocated the kiss for a bit, before remembering that Archimedes was watching it all. The brunet then broke the kiss and looked down at the tiny professor.
"I... I'm sorry." was all that Milo could manage to say to the professor.
The man chuckled and shook his head "Don't be sorry, for anything you did today. I'm glad you jumped inside that cage to prove my life-work and I'm glad Jane's with such a good man."
The next couple of months were very busy to the three of them, they had to compile the article about the theory to be published so the zoologists could accept or deny their paper. After more than a month of waiting for a reply, they finally received a letter from the scientific community telling them that the article was going to be published and that it was very well received.
A whole year had passed since the article had been accepted. It was the end of September and the air was starting to get chilly by the day, the three were very formally dressed to go to a gala of the scientific community where Archimedes was going to receive an award for his life-work. Milo and Archimedes were sitting in front of the fireplace at the living area, waiting for Jane to come downstairs. She was dressed in a lively green dress that sparkled in the lights of the night. Both men got on their feet and headed to the main hall.
"Well, we better leave now. The cab must arrive soon." Archimedes said while he gestured to the door.
"Just a moment, please." Milo said and made both Porter's stop, he turned to Jane and grabbed one of her light-green gloved hands in his and then picked a small velvet-blue box from his suit pocket. Jane's eyes went wide open and she looked at Milo as if to confirm her suspicions. The brunet simply nodded and opened the small box to revel a beautiful golden ring with a gem that was the same color as her eyes.
"Jane... would you like to..." the loud sound of a car horn rang from outside. The cab has arrived.
Jane rolled her eyes and Milo chuckled.
"I guess the moment didn't went as perfect as I intended it to be." Milo pointed out.
"Son, believe me, there'll never be a perfect moment. The moment becomes perfect once you make the propose." Archimedes assured him and moved his hands in a gesture to incenticate Milo to continue with the proposal.
Milo cleaned his throat and started to speak once again.
"Jane, will you..." the horn honked once again.
"Oh hell!" Jane let out and then took a deep breath "You know what, let's cut it to what's important since we're getting late to the ball." she pecked Milo's lips and continued with a smile "Yes, I would love to be your wife."
Archimedes clapped his hands happily and Milo slid the ring into Jane's finger. "We better go now before he honks a third time." the brunet added.
With that Archimedes opened the door and all of them left to the gala ball to celebrate their achievement with the gorilla research, an article that was pointed as ground-breaking by the scientific community and that opened space for more studies about animals. Their lives were fulfilled and happy and Milo is still living the best adventure of his life with Jane by his side.