A Midsummer Night's Nightmare [Benjamin]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

How bad could it be?

Oliver rarely ventured to this side of the school. The theater was something that he avoided with a wide berth. He had no problem watching plays, of course, though he hadn't even stopped by to do that just yet. He doubted he'd ever enter this area of the school to take a class, though. He'd just as soon die (again) before taking a theater class. In fact, he probably would die if he had to get up on stage and act something out.

Okay, so that was probably an exaggeration, but it didn't exactly help to improve Oliver's mood. In fact, if anything, that made it worse.

Fortunately, he wasn't going to the theater to try out for a school play. He was there to ask a certain teacher for help. His freshman English teacher seemed to be obsessed with William Shakespeare, judging by the fact that this was the second of the bard's plays that his class was studying this year. Romeo and Juliet had been covered earlier in the year, and while Oliver considered doing what he was doing for that particular play, he was actually going to go through it with for this one. Hey, he'd interviewed Walt Disney for a speech on Mickey Mouse, why the hell not?

And so Oliver Winchester entered the theater to seek help from one William Shakespeare.

The first thing Oliver noticed was that the theater was not entirely empty. Near the stage was a group of kids, some around Oliver's age, some older. He could only assume they were there to work on the school play. He lingered by the door as he watched a girl and a boy dance on the stage, clearly practicing for a musical. Oliver stepped out from the doorway and hastily made his way up the stairs, to where he could see Plunkett watching from afar. The reincarnated inventor carried a tattered copy of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in his hand as he climbed the stairs, not daring to look back down. He didn't even know if his appearance was drawing any attention or not, but he didn't want to look. The couple on stage had not stopped performing, so hopefully Oliver was safe.

He finally reached Plunkett and stood a few feet away at first, seemingly trying to build up the courage to talk to the man. Finally he spoke up, though he glanced around first and made sure to speak in a whisper. This wasn't something he wanted normals to overhear, after all. "Mr. Plunkett? Um, hey. I'm Orville...Oliver Winchester. Know this is going to sound strange, but I really couldn't resist...my teacher wants to know what Shakespeare thought when he wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. I figured if anyone would know that, it would be you."[/color] Despite how completely and utterly nervous Oliver looked, there was a hint of a smile on his face. Good thing he had a sense of humor, else this task might be a lot harder. Plus, in a school full of reincarnates, he couldn't be the only one who thought of this, could he?

Word count: 529
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Up to you, but I figured maybe the kids practicing on stage below could be practicing for auditions, and Plunkett could try to get/trick Oliver to participate. Cause that would be hilarious. >]

[benjamintplunkett]

Benjamin was getting ready to hold auditions for the school musical… Which the musical itself had yet to be decided upon. He’d asked the kids to prepare a song; he thought a few bars didn’t showcase their voice as well. Currently, a few students were messing around onstage a couple was dancing, the rest were jetting back and forth behind the grand drape. He was tempted to tell them to watch it, that thing cost as much as your college education. But before he could do so, he noticed a presence at his side. Being a parent and a teacher made Ben very aware of his surroundings. Glancing down to his right, the director saw the young Winchester, Oliver.

He knew the boy was a reincarnate of Orville Wright and had a distinct knack for tinkering with things. Ben noticed the copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and rolled his eyes. If he was being honest with himself, that was the least favorite of his plays. A man turning into a donkey, really?! Some day, he’d wondered why he even bothered. But that was in the past, there wasn’t much he could do about it now. Oh, so the youngster wanted to know what he was thinking. Uh, well… ”Well,” The wheels began to turn; he could just tell Oliver, or he could make him sweat a little. And Ben did have half an hour before auditions began. Oh, the possabilites! He smiled, ”What exactly is it you’d like to know?" The question itself was rather broad, he could’ve been pondering a myriad of things at the time.

Ben sat in a seat and offered Oliver to do also. He did a quick run through of possible tradeoffs; he would never make the boy audition for something that would be plain cruel and he would probably die of embarrassment. Or, Ben could simply tell Oliver – but that was no fun. Maybe he could convince Oliver to help or possibly run the technical side of the show; now that would be something. ”Let’s see, I wrote Midsummer around the year 1595…and who was it? I believe King Henry the VI was just crowned King in the year prior.” That’s right, the wordsmith would give the lad just a little, to see if he would bite. ”And of course, I’d just finished Romeo and Juliet,” he smirked, ”I suppose I wanted to create its exact opposite."

Ben waited for the boy’s reply and watched his students onstage. They were an active group for certain, and there were a lot of familiar faces. What musical could he possibly throw at them? Nothing dated for certain, but also nothing too inappropriate. Damn, so HAIR was out. Pity, Ben rather enjoyed that production. Well, the thought would come to him eventually.

Word Count: 466
To: Mandee/Oliver
Notes: I doubt he'll be evil about it, but he does need a techie!

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver had no qualms about watching the school musical when the time came, but he had no intent to participate in it, or even audition. He didn't feel that it was right to say this to Plunkett unless he were asked, though - After all, this was Plunkett's job (and considering he was William Shakespeare reincarnated, probably his passion).

The freshman spotted Plunkett rolling his eyes and wasn't sure what to think of that. He wasn't sure if Plunkett was rolling his eyes at him, what he was being asked to do, or at A Midsummer Night's Dream itself. Oliver kept his mouth shut for the time being - After all, Plunkett had yet to verbally answer him, and therefore interjecting with a comment might be considered an interruption.

The first thing Plunkett did was ask for clarification. Great. When the teacher invited him to take a seat, Oliver suddenly felt more at ease. It was a kind gesture, and likely meant that Plunkett wasn't annoyed with him. "Now you see my dilemma. No idea why teachers give us questions like this...no offense or anything. I taught too. Granted, teaching people how to fly is a lot different than teaching in a classroom setting, but..."[/color] Oliver was rambling. Oliver was rambling out of nervousness. Plunkett had asked him for an answer and Oliver knew that he had to provide one, yet he wasn't entirely sure what his freshman English teacher wanted either. He did know one thing - The teacher likely wasn't referring to what Shakespeare was really thinking when he wrote it.

In spite of Oliver's rambling, and, truthfully, lack of clarification, Plunkett started to answer his question. Oliver listened to what the teacher had to say about the world during the time that A Midsummer Night's Dream was written. It was odd to think about the fact that King Henry the VI could be out there somewhere as well. He could be an old man, or Plunkett's age, or Oliver's age, or younger. Or he might not even be reincarnated at all. Now there would be an interesting play to read - One about the mysteries of reincarnation. It would be easy for 40% of Riverdale High to relate to as well. Oliver would pay to see it.

"Exact opposite of Romeo and Juliet? Why?"[/color] Yes, he was going to prod a little. This was something that he could put down as an answer, but he doubted that his teacher would accept a one line answer. Not for English class, anyway, and not for an essay-type question. Oliver had to put down at least a paragraph, more likely a few to get the question truly answered.

His gaze followed the theater teacher's toward the stage, where he watched the other students performing. He was perfectly content where he was - Far away from the happenings of the stage. Even the thought of stepping foot on stage in front of all of those other students made Oliver's heart speed a little.

Word count: 514
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Oliver can totally do the techie thing!

[benjamintplunkett]

The kids on stage were beginning to settle down, going off to their own little corners to brush up on their music. Auditions were nerve-wracking for these kids; the act of singing or acting in front of your peers was mortifying, especially if you messed up. Overall, Ben was pleased with the turn out; there were a few familiar faces, so he knew what to expect from them and quite a lot of new people. That thrilled the teacher, he loved new meat, he just hoped that they weren’t too nervous for their auditions. Ben glanced to Oliver, ”You can stay through auditions if you’d like. We can talk between their selections, and I wouldn’t mind hearing an outsider’s perspective.” Ben furrowed his brow, ”That is unless you have somewhere else to be, I assume you’re a very bust young man.”

Ben excused himself and walked to the front of the stage, the pianist was in place to accompany the students and a few were murmuring their key of choice to him. The wordsmith hoped that Oliver would stay, but if the lad had other obligations, he understood perfectly. ”All right you ruffians and rogues!” he shouted to get their attention. ”As you all have probably guessed, the musical had not been decided upon at this juncture, because I am an indecisive brute.” The group chuckled and worried their sheet music between their hands. ”I’m quite pleased with the turn out, so let us begin!” He addressed the students one last time, “If you would please audition in the order you signed up, it would be greatly appreciated. State your name, first and last, and the title of you piece, then you can proceed to sing.”

He then hopped off the stage and began walking back to his seat, where Oliver still was. ”Break a leg gang!” Settling back in his chair Benjamin sighed; he was kind of giving the kid an unfair advantage over the other students. The normals would have to guess as to what he was thinking in writing Midsummer, and they’d probably say he was on drugs. Which was not only wrong, but rude as well; kids these days. Ben looked to Oliver while he asked another question, “Here’s the thing Oliver, you’re a great kid and really smart; but this discussion of ours, I’m conflicted.” He shifted in his chair to face the boy, ”Technically I’m giving you an unfair advantage over the other students, and as an educator, I can’t really stand by that. So, I have a preposition for you: I’ll give you this information which you seek on one condition, you agree to do tech for this show out of the kindness of your heart and endless need to tinker with things.”

Ben flips to a new sheet in his notebook, bites down on his pen and offers his hand, “Do we have a deal?”

Word Count: 484
To: Mandee/Oliver
Notes: Nope!

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

While auditions may have been mortifying for almost everyone, the fact remained that Oliver was one of those people who would completely clam up on stage in fright. He'd outright refused to give speeches in his past life. Of course, like now, exceptions came when he was still in school, but that was a necessary evil. That didn't mean that Oliver didn't feel physically ill when he was about to give his Mickey Mouse speech, however.

He could stand being on stage, just being there. The second he had to open his mouth, though, he was out of there.

Oliver was surprised at the invitation, but how could he decline? Here was William Shakespeare asking him to sit through auditions with him. Oliver wasn't sure how well he could critique others, however. It seemed a bit silly, but Oliver was afraid that if he critiqued someone else screwing up on stage, he'd end up screwing up in that same way during a speech in class, or worse, that he'd be forced to give a speech outside of class in the first place. It wasn't entirely rational, but then, phobias usually weren't.

The teen contented himself with sitting back in his seat as Plunkett went to the stage to address the students gathered around there. To occupy himself, Oliver opened up a notebook and jotted down a few notes based on what the drama teacher had already given him to work with. Then he started to doodle a little. By the time Plunkett was back, Oliver had sketched out what appeared to be a rudimentary airplane. Oliver turned away from this sketch when Plunkett returned, and to a blank sheet of paper. Apparently, though, Plunkett wasn't going to make it so easy.

"Why do people say break a leg anyhow? I never understood that. Having broken a leg before, I can vouch that that's the last thing I'd want to do before putting on a play."[/color] Not that Oliver would ever...EVER...be putting on a play, but rhetorical statements existed for a reason.

Oliver was a tad surprised to hear that Plunkett was conflicted. Conflicted about what, exactly? Then the teacher explained, and Oliver simply nodded. He could understand where the man was coming from. It did make him realize that he and other RSOR members held a distinct advantage when it came to their peers in that they could ask other reincarnates for help.

He was even more surprised when Plunkett offered him a deal for the information. Why did it always seem like everything had to be made in a deal around here? Nevertheless, Oliver listened to hear what the conditions would be, and if he could actually honor them. If Plunkett intended for him to audition, no freaking way. Not in a million years. The true suggestion - playing techie for the musical...well, that one was a much sweeter deal. Oliver grinned and started to offer his hand...then pulled it back a few inches, his face going a few shades whiter. "I won't have to go on stage, right?"[/color] He glanced toward the stage with a look that could only be described as trepidation. He wasn't agreeing to this until he had Plunkett's word that no stage performances were a condition.

Word count: 560
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Wewt!

[benjamintplunkett]

Ben chuckled at his question, ”Well, I don’t know how familiar with my works you are, but here’s a little known fact: when… the Scottish play, do you know what I'm referring to? Well when it had its premiere performance, I myself was forced to play Lady Mac when the actor became mysteriously ill.” He shifted in his chair, tapping the pen onto his notebook, ”King James was so displeased with the performance that the play was banned for years. Since then, most productions of the Scottish play have had mysterious and sometimes disastrous accidents occur.” He chuckled. ”The theatre is an oddity, and instead of wishing someone luck, you wish them the opposite, well, it sounds ludicrous explaining it now. But to say, ‘Break a leg!’ guarantees that an actor won’t break their leg on stage.”

He hoped that sorry excuse for an explanation would satisfy the boy. He himself did not know why the theater was the way it was. It was an oddity in a world of logic. Ben attempted to get comfortable in his seat before the kids began. Nothing was more annoying than making useless noise during someone’s audition or performance. The director was surprised by Oliver’s agreement and smiled, ”You won’t be on stage at all, He turned and pointed up to a window in the back of the theater, ”You’ll be up there, I’ll show the ropes later if you’d like.” He took the boys hand and shook, ”Now that we’re on the same page, I’ll quickly explain your earlier question: Midsummer is a comedy, whereas Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. The only humor in that play was the Nurse, while in Midsummer everything is sort of warped; a man turning into an ass for example, not the best of my metaphors, but I’m sure you get the gist. It is a love story, Midsummer, but everything ends as it should, happily.”

The first student was onstage now; he nodded and jotted down the name along with the song title. She began her performance and she had a nice voice, untrained but nice none the less. He thought a different key would’ve suited her better and made a note of that and to ask Dax about it later. Ben conceded that he should’ve asked him to help, but it slipped his mind. He would invite him to tomorrow’s auditions for sure. He thanked the girl as she walked off, and spared a glance to Oliver, ”Any thoughts?

Word Count: 405
To: Mandee/Oliver
Notes: Bah.

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

The Scottish play. Oliver did indeed know what Plunkett was referring to, although he had to think on it for a few seconds. Literature was not his strong point. Oh, he read, but that wasn't what he was known for, nor was it one of his great passions. In fact, he only considered reading to be a passion when it happened to be about a subject that he was passionate about - For example, a book about flight. And that was only when they got all of the mechanisms...er, right. If they weren't, Oliver spent more time marking up the books with red marker than reading, as Joan of Arc discovered for herself earlier in the school year.

"So it all has to do with the play supposedly being cursed? And that's why everyone says it now?"[/color] If the origin of the phrase did indeed start with Shakespearean works, Oliver figured that he was indeed asking the right person. The explanation made sense in an odd sort of way, and oddly went along with Oliver's own hesitancy to criticize the other students on stage in case it came back to bite him in the butt.

Oliver agreed because he found it extraordinarily hard to turn down any mechanical challenge. In addition, this would be one that would be recognized as experience when he applied for jobs later on. Plunkett was an adult, and could be used for a reference unlike the others he'd done jobs for. He might have fixed Napoleon Bonaparte's toaster, but Napolean Bonaparte was sixteen years old in this life. The same went for playing Mr. Fix-It for Marie Antoinette's band, when taking into consideration that Marie Antoinette was only seventeen as Evie Lefevre. Hayden Callaghan was completely out of the question as a reference, and while he did now have a part time job at a local grocery store, he was working as a stock boy. A job that really did nothing to harness his true talents - but also one of the few jobs that a fifteen year old in North Carolina could take.

Oliver's gaze followed to where Plunkett was pointing. "Ropes? You mean we have to climb up there on a rope? I think I may have just found my first job..."[/color] The fifteen year old snorted, clearly in an attempt to be facetious. Oliver jotted down the bits of information that Plunkett shared with him next. Comedy vs. tragedy. That made sense, to what Oliver could make of it. Didn't get too much further apart than that. However, didn't most stories blend elements of both? Oliver wasn't sure that the public would much get into a story that was entirely tragic, or entirely comedic to the point where it was silly. There had to be a mixture of both, didn't there?

Oliver's question was lost as the first student stepped on stage to perform. She sounded fair enough, though Oliver was no expert to be able to judge her singing prowess. Plunkett had other plans for him, clearly, as he asked the freshman's opinion. Oliver looked nothing short of bewildered at this. He knew that Plunkett had mentioned bouncing ideas off of him earlier, but was he really asking if Oliver had any thoughts on the whole thing? "I thought she sounded good. She, um, may need a little practice, but I don't think that should keep her out of the play."[/color] Oliver stated in a quiet voice. Though really, if it were up to him, he probably wouldn't have the nerve to turn anyone down. Flying, yes. He knew what he was talking about where that was concerned, and where pilots needed to undergo a lot more ground training before taking the air again. Musicals? What did he know about musicals, other than the fact that there was a lot of singing and dancing involved?

Word count: 654
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Longer than I thought it would be. Pleasant surprise. ^^

[benjamintplunkett]

Ben chuckled, “I thought so too, but a student’s ability to sing well really has very little to do with being cast. It rides on dedication and commitment, both to the play and their grades. We can teach people to sing, dance, and act; they need to pass their classes to participate.” He jotted down a few notes and motioned for the next student to audition. He was having a hard time finding a show to do; numbers were a big part of it, but so were the vocal ranges of the cast. Holding auditions before deciding the show was probably for the best, he had a small list going already; now he just had to wait for people to audition. Ben was glad he secured Oliver to run the technical side of things, he thought the lad would enjoy it immensely and hopefully help out with other productions later on.

The next few students weren’t as vocally strong as he’d like, but he’d have a talk with Dax later about them. The auditions were steadily coming to a close, Ben knew that his “favorites” (not actually true, but coined by one of his cockier students) would be auditioning tomorrow most likely. “I’d like to thank everyone for auditioning today; you all did a great job. The cast list will be posted next week, so be on the lookout for that. Now, get out of here you lot! I have a babysitter to go pay.”

Standing up he stretched, “Sorry to cut this short Oliver, but if you’d follow me I’ll show you the tech booth.” Waiting for the boy, Ben proceeded to the back of the theatre and unlocked a door. “I’ll give you a set of keys so you can get up here on your own.” Propping the door open, he bounded up the stairs to the booth and turned on the sound system and lights. “So this is the booth,” he pointed to each of the instruments and named them off, “Here is the sound system, you can plug in an iPod or just use a CD. And this is the light board.” Ben moved a few switches up and down, “These sliders here fade the lights up or down, each slider corresponds to a light on stage: 1 moves the down stage right light, 2 the upstage right, etcetera, etcetera.” He glanced to the young inventor and sighed, “I know this is a lot to take in, but if I give you a quick rundown now you can play around with them later and figure it out. Or now, actually.”

Ben glanced at his watch, he had about an hour and a half left before he needed to go home to Elizabeth. “You can mess around with whatever and ask me questions, either Shakespeare or technical. Tomorrow I can show you how to change the light filters and work the pulley system.”

Word Count: 486
To: Mandee/Oliver
Notes: Can you tell I was a theatre kid?

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver smiled a little at Plunkett's explanation. It made sense to him, and it seemed fair. Not to mention Oliver did not feel so guilty now for giving his honest opinion of the girl. He knew that was what Plunkett was looking for, yet he was afraid of his feedback leading to a decision from Plunkett, and he didn't want that at all. Not when he was far from an expert when it came to the subject of stage productions.

Nevertheless, Oliver was glad that as others performed, Plunkett didn't ask for his feedback. Plunkett knew what he was looking for, Oliver didn't. He knew that some students could sing better than others, yes, but Plunkett's explanation had already proven that that didn't necessarily mean anything. It was a delicate balancing act that Plunkett was looking for. Attitude had a lot to do with it as well. Oliver could recall sitting across from one of his then to be future flight school students on the trolley out to the flying field. The man eventually recognized Orville and stated, rather crassly, that he would be teaching him how to fly. Orville had responded that his excitement was good, but hinted that his excitement would not carry him through everything. He imagined it was the same with the stage.

When Plunkett addressed his students and informed them that he had a babysitter to pay, Oliver took this as a cue to himself as well. Oliver rose to his seat after Plunkett, starting to gather up his things. He was, however, surprised when Plunkett mentioned going to the sound booth. "But I thought you had a babysitter to pay?"[/color] Oliver blurted out before he could stop himself. Nevertheless, he followed the teacher to the back of the theater, curiosity winning overall (as it usually did). When Plunkett opened the door, Oliver's eyes widened at all of the machines that were encased within. As most of RSOR knew, throwing Oliver into a room with unfamiliar machines was like letting a child into a candy store and saying that he could have all the candy that he wanted.

As long as Plunkett was okay with Oliver potentially taking apart the machines...

He nodded when the drama teacher mentioned the sound system, realizing that there wasn't much fiddling he could do with that one at the moment. The lights, however, he watched Plunkett playing with. He waited as patiently as he could until Plunkett was done, and began playing around with the switches himself.

"If anything in here breaks...can I fix it myself? Can I, um, play around with these machine or am I limited to what they can do now?"[/color] Shortly after speaking Oliver looked sheepish. "I'm terribly sorry, that was a bit..."[/color] Well, he reminded himself of that man on the trolley a hundred years before, and he could feel a tinge of red creep up into his cheeks as a result. At least there was one advantage to the whole thing - Nervous Oliver seemed to fade where machinery was involved.

In his excitement, Oliver had almost forgotten why he came to the theater in the first place. Oliver pulled himself away from the light board long enough to think of what other questions he might be able to ask of William Shakespeare himself. "Was there any point you were trying to make with the play? Any lessons you were trying to teach society? Or was it just written for the fun of it?"[/color] It seemed like a decent enough question to him, and one that the teacher would likely ask. Though Oliver did wonder if it was perhaps a bit too personal. Oh well, he'd see soon enough.

Word count: 637
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Juuuuuuust a little. =P I was only in it for a semester myself, though I also took a drama class.

[benjamintplunkett]

“I would prefer if the instruments continued to perform their given functions. They are rather expensive and I’d rather not have to replace them.” Ben decided, “But if something happens to break, feel free to fix it.” He sat himself down on the stool and pointed to the stage, “The stage is divided into left, center, and right on the horizontal. And then down and up on the vertical.” He pointed to each area while he explained, “The lights will correspond to the given area, but we can always add more lights if we need to.“ Passing a hand through his hair, the director sighed, “We can’t really do much until we’ve decided on a script, which will hopefully be soon. Once that’s all said and done, I’ll give you a copy to jot in notes, like sound cues and light changes. Sound good?”

Ben pondered the young man’s question, “I suppose I was trying to show that not everything in life had to be so dramatic or serious,” he chuckled, “That point would fit rather well now as well; what with teenagers living and dying by facebook updates or text messages. It’s all rather amusing actually. Do you think that’s a fair assessment Oliver?” Truthfully, so many people had misconstrued the simple point of his plays into some grander and more complex meaning that Ben sort of lost himself in the shuffle. Yes, there were grand themes in his works, but more often than not the readers overlooked the simple points. The elements that were supposed to resonate.

“I thought that I wrote because I enjoyed it, but now I’m not so sure. I had Anne and the girls to support back home, and yes, I did love what I did. But that doesn’t make the job any less draining; especially when competing with numerous other playhouses.” Passing a hand through his hair, he continued, “Going through college I lost a lot of respect for what I had produced as Shakespeare, everything is elevated to such a high level. It’s more than a little odd, seeing a comedy that you’re not supposed to put much thought into, becoming subjects for dissertations and being taught to high school students.” Ben realized he was getting off track, “But to answer your question, I wrote Midsummer for the fun of it; it was enjoyable to create and put into production. Sometimes you need some levity, especially when the plague is running rampant.” He smirks and stands up to go home.

Word Count: 420
To: Madee/Oliver
Notes: None

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver's face dropped a little at Plunkett's verdict, although he also felt a bit sheepish. Of course Plunkett would respond in that way. How would Oliver respond if someone just hopped into the Wright Flyer and started fiddling around with controls willy-nilly? It wasn't quite the same, but Oliver could see the parallels well enough. He'd be fiddling around with things that weren't his, and while he was usually good with machines, it was probably better to avoid any liabilities that may ensue if Oliver were unable to get everything back to working order after fiddling around with the machines a bit too much.

As Plunkett explained the situation in a little more detail, Oliver nodded. "That sounds good. As for the sounds, what are we going to do about those? I know you mentioned a CD or iPod, but for certain sound effects...like, say a paper rustling...would it be possible to just hold a piece of paper up to the sound system and rustle it? You can't get much more realistic than that..."[/color] It was clear that Oliver wanted to see just how much freedom he had in this booth. Yes, he intended to follow directions as well, but he also wanted to utilize a bit of creativity. Surely William Shakespeare of all people could understand that?

Oliver let out a laugh at Plunkett's observation of 'teenagers today'. "I think it's perfectly fair. It's struck most of us reincarnates too. I mean, when I was born before, we didn't have telephones or electricity or computers. Now? It's hard to imagine what life would be like in the 21st century without them."[/color] He couldn't say that he couldn't imagine life without these technologies at all, because he had lived without it in his past life for at least part of the time. He'd survived, and he'd survived rather easily. The 21st century, though, was a different animal. Technology in this era was an infrastructure of its own. If it collapsed...it seemed almost as though society would collapse along with it.

Which was a daunting thought for someone originally born in the 19th century. Who knew what a man originally from the 16th century had to think about the whole thing?

"Well, you had to have enjoyed it to some extent at the time, or you wouldn't have done it, would you?"[/color] The reincarnated inventor supplied to the teacher. He supposed that Anne and the girls was a reference to his wife and children as William, though Oliver was not 100% sure and thought it would probably be construed as rude to ask. He'd come here to ask about Shakespeare's works, after all, not his personal life. And though Justice had discussed his life as Walt rather candidly with Oliver...that was different. Justice and Oliver were already pretty close friends. Oliver hardly knew Plunkett.

Oliver nodded as Plunkett summed it up as entertainment for the sake of entertainment. That made sense, and a small part of Oliver was satisfied that this was an almost in-your-face response to teachers who wanted their students to overanalyze everything for school assignments. If a student wanted to do so, that was fine, but why did teachers have to force their students to do such a thing? When Plunkett rose to his feet, Oliver took that as a cue - A real one this time, unlike the false clue he'd sensed before. "I'm keeping you from paying that babysitter?"[/color] Oliver commented with a small smile. "I shouldn't keep you much longer, then."[/color] Oliver rose to his feet as well, starting to gather up his things.

Word count: 627
To: Benjamin/Ccals
Notes: Nada