Chapter Text
Hill Valley, CA, 1932—
James Kinchloe had to admit that the quaint, Californian town he had ended up in was nothing at all like his native Detroit. For one thing, the town’s residents—even the white ones—didn’t stop to stare at him. Though they didn’t engage with him, either—he was just… there, quickly forgotten once the brief encounter was done.
…But Kinch knew that being forgotten was, sometimes, the best he could hope for, considering the state of things.
Pushing that unpleasant reminder aside, Kinch paused to observe a yellow butterfly—a western tiger swallowtail—resting on a nearby hedge; it was as he stood there that someone turned the corner and slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground. Startled, the butterfly took flight as Kinch disentangled himself from the other individual.
Instinctively, Kinch froze as he realized that the other person was white—a brown-haired young man, younger than he was, but more than capable of overreacting to the situation…
“Ohmigosh, are you alright!?” he gasped, looking mortified as he pulled himself off of Kinch. “I’m so sorry, I…! I’m really such a klutz; I shoulda been watching where I was going…!”
“It’s… it’s fine,” Kinch said, surprised by the young man’s reaction—it was an overreaction, but not the kind that Kinch had been worried about. He was even more surprised as the young man got to his feet while extending his hand to help Kinch up, as well.
“Really, I’m sorry!” the young man insisted. “Are you sure you’re okay!? We should--!”
“Is everything alright?” another young man—also white, but redheaded—turned the corner. “I heard you panicking, Marty; I thought—”
“Yeah, I’m fine, Doc; I’m just a walking disaster area, as usual,” the brown-haired boy sighed. He turned back to Kinch. “Are you alright!?”
“I… I think so,” Kinch said, surprised to see both of these young men looking genuinely concerned.
The boy called Marty breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well, I’m still sorry, anyway,” he said, and he turned to the redhead. “You know I gotta go back, Doc—can you make sure he’s okay?”
“Sure, Marty; I’ll look after him,” the redhead smiled. “I’ll… see you around, I guess?”
“I guarantee it,” Marty smiled back. He sobered, offered one more apology to Kinch, and headed off down the street.
Kinch looked back at the redhead, who was waving to Marty until he was out of sight, and then looked back at Kinch with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry about my friend; he’s a good person, I promise—my best friend, in fact. He’s just… got a very complicated life,” he sighed. “…Me, too, for that matter—but nevermind that; are you alright? Nothing sprained?”
“I really am fine—just had the wind knocked out of me,” Kinch insisted. “But don’t think I don’t appreciate you and your friend’s concern—his name was Marty, you said?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“…He called you ‘Doc,’ a moment ago—you aren’t really a doctor, are you?” Kinch asked, an eyebrow arched.
“Oh, no—not yet,” the redhead said, with an embarrassed chuckle. “But I will be—a doctor of quantum physics, that is. I head to Caltech tomorrow; that’s why Marty was here—to wish me luck and see me off.” He held out a hand to Kinch. “Emmett L. Brown.”
“James Kinchloe.” He paused before adding, “My friends call me Kinch.”
“Glad to know you, Kinch,” Emmett replied. “So, what field are you in?”
“Communications and engineering, one year to go—I’m here in Hill Valley on a little vacation before classes start again,” Kinch answered, finally allowing a smile. “It’s not as interesting as what you’re doing, though.”
“Are you kidding!?” Emmett asked, stunned. “You’re able to work on things hands-on, right now! My field is only theoretical!” He was getting visibly excited by the conversation. “Are you feeling up to talking shop, or would you rather get back to vacationing?”
“How about both?” Kinch asked. “We’ll talk shop, and you can show me around town.”
“Perfect!” Emmett grinned. “I wanted to take a walk around town before I have to leave tomorrow, anyway!”
He began to lead the way, talking a mile a minute.
“I’m glad you think my field is worth talking about—I’ve been asked why I want to go into a theoretical field,” he said. “It really is what I’m interested in, and…” He trailed off.
“And…?” Kinch prompted.
“…Promise you won’t laugh…?”
“Of course.”
“…I want to be a pioneer in the field, like Einstein and his Theory of Relativity,” Emmett vowed. “I want to discover something new, just like him.”
Kinch looked at him for a moment, and then nodded.
“Something tells me you’d be the one to pull it off,” he said.
“…Thank you,” Emmett replied, after a moment. “You know, you’re the only person other than Marty to say that—and he’s got more than one reason to believe that.” He exhaled. “I’ve just got to put my mind to it.”
“That’s the spirit,” Kinch encouraged.
Emmett smiled again.
“Well, we can talk about that later—tell me about your field!”
Kinch smiled again, happy to do so.
And by the time the day was done and Kinch was ready to leave Hill Valley, a friendship had formed—as well as a promise to stay in touch.