Work Text:
"I got it, Cal! I got it!"
Edith's cry of excitement filled the air. Eyes flashing fiery, hair tousled. Skin smeared black with engine oil and soot. Only her upper body was visible on the ground. The rest was buried under the gears, wires, pipes and hoses of the massive metal colossus. Wrenches, pliers, hammers, luster clamps, nuts and screws lay spread across her. And The frilly dress she had once worn over a hoop skirt was thick with dirt and torn in several places.
But Edith didn't care... and neither did Calvin!
Smiling, he put aside the copy of the Daily Telegraph - he'd forgotten whether the copy was from 1862, 1938, or 2001 anyway - and looked over with pride at his wife, who was passionately screwing on the machine.
"It works! If you connect the light wave filter directly to the magnetic flux inverter, the space-time compensator works at twice the speed, increasing the duration of the constant time by seven times. That should be the end of the jetleg effect! Now I just hope the coal boiler can withstand the extra pressure. We should reinforce the metal walls. I'll fire up the kiln in a minute, but first I need a break!"
"I knew you could do it. I recalculated all your calculations and found no error," Calvin replied, not without pride, and stepped over to Edith, who was just crawling out from under the machine, to give her a kiss on the cheeks, "Only I would use a platinum rather than a gold alloy for the strengthening."
Wordlessly, his wife leaned into his arms and gave him an affectionate nudge. Edith. His Edith. How razor sharp was her mind, how fiery her spirit. Calvin loved her. He loved her above all things. In every year, in every century. Whether it was in 1870, when they had built their machine together and sent it on its maiden voyage, or a thousand years earlier or later, it did not matter. Time became insignificant when one was no longer bound to it. The main thing was that they were together.
"Come on, I need a coffee, plus toast and at least three eggs," Edith remarked, gently pulling him toward the breakfast table. Willingly, Calvin allowed himself to be led.
Maybe... yes, maybe later they would already set off in the time machine to a whole new century.
Together.