Nerdcam Pt. 03

Setting the phone on the kitchen table, he went to the fridge, then the cupboards. He sighed. So much for the shut in life. After a moment's thought, he decided to stock up a bit on groceries. At least, more than he normally would. That way if Anna stopped by during the coming week, he could offer her something. Or maybe he'd ask her over for supper, assuming things were still going well. While thinking about what he should actually pick up, he prepared to venture out. As he opened the door to go, he nudged Anna's box aside with a foot, as if it were a small dog that might scamper out.

"Don't piss on the carpet, alright?" he muttered before closing the door behind him.

Later, after returning and putting away groceries, and cooking, Jack ate standing up in the kitchen. He was halfway done with his bell peppers and beef (nothing special), when his phone dinged. Setting his bowl on the counter, he dug the phone out of a pocket and opened the new message.

'Lmao. So you've been outside. Do anything exciting? Also; you're jk about the hospital, right?'

Jack sent a reply before pocketing the phone and finishing his meal.

'Yeah -- jk about the hospital. Went grocery shopping. Made stirfry -- sort of. Only a little burnt :)'

He had only just finished eating and set his bowl in the sink when his phone dinged again.

'Stirfry sounds good. I nuked a ravioli 'healthy meal' when I got home. Don't judge. lol. Gonna play some Realm of Battlecraft. What you up to?'

Jack walked over to plop down on the couch.

'Not a lot.' he tapped in, 'Might play some Halo or COD.'

He had to wait less than a minute for her reply this time.

'Cool. btw, sometimes I play til I'm sleepy and basically sleep walk to bed. So if I don't message again, that's why. Looking forward to tomorrow tho.'

Jack smiled, imagining a half-asleep Anna tottering off to bed.

'Gotcha. Good luck and goodnight then. I'll see ya tomorrow.'

Jack arrived at Ellison's at about a quarter to one. He was dressed casual, but he had gone to some effort to make himself presentable. He had shaved, run a comb through his hair, and dabbed on an unobtrusive amount of cologne.

Upon entering, Jack approached the counter and spoke to the old woman standing behind it, whom he knew as 'Miss Grace.'

"Uh, hi. I'm supposed to meet someone for lunch. You mind if I wait and order when they get here?"

"That's fine, sweetie. You want somethin' to drink?"

"Large Mountain Dew?" Jack wasn't sure why he made it sound like a question when he knew they served it.

"Alright. You go have a seat and I'll bring it out to ya." The woman dismissed him and turned to the drinks station behind the counter.

Jack sat in a booth near the door. Shortly, Miss Grace brought his drink.

"Turkey club meal is on special today. I'll be back to check on you in a little bit."

"Thanks."

As it turned out, he didn't have long to wait. The door opened just as Miss Grace made her way back behind the counter. Jack was sampling his soft drink when Anna stepped in to look around. Catching sight of her as she moved toward the middle of the room, Jack almost forgot to swallow.

"Damn." he mumbled to himself, setting his drink down on the table.

Gawking as he was, Anna noticed him before he could move or speak up to get her attention. Her smile, when she saw him, wasn't the over-the-top, star-crossed lover sort of expression seen in some romance movies or television shows. It was a more subtle, but unmistakably genuine thing that touched her bright eyes and spoke of both familiarity and the thrill of something new. Mischief and a lingering hint of shy modesty.

The smile was a cherry on top of the sundae that continued to render Jack speechless. The ice cream, bananas, and so forth, came in the form of a black and white suit. That is, a smart black jacket left open over a button-up white dress shirt, a long black skirt, dark nylons, and stiletto heels. And she had pulled her long raven hair back into a single tail.

She took one painfully sexy step before stopping, curious, as Jack raised a hand in a restraining gesture. Then rolled her eyes and tried not to blush as he raised his phone and she realized why he had stopped her.

After snapping a couple of pics, Jack lowered his phone.

"Uh, sorry," he smiled lamely, "You look amazing."

"Thank you." Anna shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it into the corner of the bench seat facing Jack.

At which point Jack raised his phone again and cleared his throat obtrusively. Anna glanced over and arched an eyebrow.

"Seriously? I just took my coat off."

"Yeah, but these pics may be the first steps to world peace. On the other hand... you and that outfit compliment each other so well, it could be creating, like, a dangerous, self feeding system of sexiness. They could be sending The Avengers or somebody right now. You know, to impound your clothes."

Anna listened, incredulous, but nonetheless stood, hands on hips, for another picture.

"Prrr-retty sure that's the nerdiest compliment I've ever gotten."

"Yeah, I'm glad you recognize the assets I bring to the table." Jack replied sarcastically, which made Anna smile.

When he had finished snapping a couple more pictures and put away his phone, Anna slide into the booth across from him.

"Anyway," she commented, "There are other suits in the world."

Jack paused in raising his drink, mouth half open, eyes distant.

"There are." he murmured.

"Oh, stop," Anna said, trying not to smile again. She unbuttoned the cuffs of her shirt sleeves and rolled them up.

Jack smiled and sipped his Mountain Dew. Setting the drink aside again, he regarded Anna. Who, after a few moments, raised her eyebrows.

"Hello Anna."

"Hello Jack." Anna replied, bemused and touched to hear that uncommon seriousness in his tone.

The universe noticed that they seemed to be having A Moment. It decided to intervene, as it so commonly and inconveniently does. In this case, It's intervention came in the form of Miss Grace.

"Welcome to Ellison's. And what would you like to drink, young lady?"

"Um. Do you have lemonade?"

"We sure do. I'll get that for ya and then I can take your order if you're ready. Turkey club meal is on special." Miss Grace reiterated for Anna's benefit.

When she had left them, Jack reached for the menus sitting in a metal rack at the corner of the table.

"Menu, or did you have something in mind?" he asked.

"Turkey club actually sounds pretty good."

Jack left the menu in the rack, being fairly familiar with it's contents himself.

"That'll come with either fries or chips and a choice of green beans or cole slaw." he rattled off from memory.

"Did you work here once?" Anna teased.

"Nah, it's convenient, distance-wise, from where we both live now," Jack pointed out, "and the food's not bad, especially for the price. You know, if you like sandwiches."

The two discussed their preferences in sandwiches, sides, and condiments. Jack learned that Anna couldn't stand horseradish, but liked pickles. She requested jalapeno slices on her sandwich. And they both preferred fries over potato chips -- at least with their sandwiches.

Jack decided on the pulled pork on pretzel roll with extra hot sauce -- hold the vinegar. He had considered the Reuben, but assuming he and Anna spend some quality time together after the meal, he didn't want to have sauer kraut on his breath. With that in mind, he made a mental note to bring a little bottle of mouth wash or mints or something next time.

As soon as the food arrived, Anna unceremoniously transferred half of her french fries onto Jack's plate.

"Don't argue," she ordered preemptively, "Just take them. You're skinny and you live on caffiene. I have enough trouble keeping weight off."

"Huh." Jack gave her a look.

"What?"

"Whatever you're doing, it's working."

"What I'm doing is assigning you the job of eating half of any potato-based food served to me. From now on." she declared.

"Okay." Jack chuckled.

"But thank you." Anna added.

"You're very welcome. Y'know, if I had known, Id've dressed up. I think I still own a polo shirt or something."

Anna took a bite of turkey club, chewed and swallowed before replying.

"That's okay. I didn't expect you to wear anything special. I just remembered that I had this and wanted to see how you'd react."

"Heh," Jack nodded while drizzling ketchup over his augmented pile of french fries, "a little bit evil."

Pleased with the observation, Anna flashed him a brief grin.

"It was a pretty good reaction." she reflected.

Reaction, huh? Jack put his feet heel to toe and worked his right foot out of his shoe. Straightening his right leg he slowly extended his foot. Up above the table, Anna straightened abruptly. Feeling something rub along the insides of her thighs, she fixed Jack with a wide-eyed glare.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Enjoying your reaction." Jack smirked.

He was harshly reminded that the delicious contours of those thighs hid some muscle when they clamped together, pinning his foot.

"So, a few things," Anna spoke quietly lest anyone else in the shop overhear, "One; how clean are your socks? Two; I'm tucked, so it's not gonna be so easy to find what you're looking for. And Three; if you do... cause a reaction... how well is that gonna work out when I'm wearing a skirt?"

"Ah," Jack slowly withdrew his foot, but then began sliding down in his seat, "You have a point. I should just make sure you get off."

"Stop," Anna laughed, "Get back up here, you idiot. What was our catchphrase?"

Jack sat back up in his seat and rubbed at his unusually smooth jawline. He was lost for a moment before understanding dawned.

"After sandwiches." the two recited in unison.

"Right, right." Jack acknowledged good-naturedly.

The two ate for a minute in silence.

"So, random question," Jack began after scrubbing his face with a napkin, "Do you have a last name?"

"Mm. I do." Anna affirmed.

"I thought knowing your full name would fit nicely with the getting to know each other thing. Unless it's something weird, like Hitler or Bieber."

"Nice. No, it's not a secret or anything. My full name is Anna Jean Durand."

"Durand," Jack repeated, "What kind of accent was that?"

"French. Grandfather on dad's side was French."

"Ah." Jack nodded.

"And with a first name like Jack," Anna continued, "your last name must be something like... Dudebro or McFistbump or... uh... Skellington?"

"Ran out of steam at the end there, but 'E' for effort," Jack smiled, "Actually, McFistbump was my mother's maiden name."

"Uh huh. Wait, I've got it. Superwhite."

"Nope," Jack smiled, "That's my porn name. Speaking of which, Joystick95-"

"Ha! Okay, you win. We can talk about porn names later." Anna relented.

"Nah. My name is actually Jackson. Jackson Aaron Wells. But I've always gone by Jack."

"Mmp." Anna acknowledged, munching on another mouthful of sandwich. "Ahem. You were right. The food isn't bad."

"Right?"

"Mmhmm. So, Jackson 'Jack' Wells, what else should we know about each other?"

And while they ate, they talked. About their families and where they were from. Their interests, some of which overlapped. Anna told Jack about her job at the book store, and the fantastical stories she wove around her eccentric employer's literary architecture. Jack gave her a little more insight into his art, webcomic, commissions, and the themes thereof.

Anna again complimented him on the comic he had made depicting their meeting, while also making it clear that if he ever decided to draw anything of an 'NSFW' nature involving them, he had better not upload that anywhere. Although, if he did draw anything like that, she'd be curious to see it.

An hour later, with meals finished and dishes taken away, the two sat in companionable silence.

"I probably should have given you all of the fries, but they were good." Anna commented, patting her tummy.

Looking up, she noticed Jack watching her, wearing an odd expression.

"What?"

Jack gave a little shrug.

"It's kinda surreal. Meeting you and then... meeting you. The sex. And now sandwiches."

Anna listened, beginning to smile.

"You're definitely out of my league," Jack continued, "And that's not even being self deprecating. But I'm trying not to over think it or whatever. Just... enjoying your company."

"Aw, well..." Anna tipped her head to one side and sort of hugged herself, "You say that."

She was quiet a few seconds before meeting Jack's eyes again.

"You know the kinda guys that usually hit on me? Even putting aside the whole trans thing. I mean, it's cliche... And I'm not fishing for sympathy, but... When people think you're attractive -- physically -- that's all alot of them are interested in. It's not all bad, but it gets old."

Jack listened attentively, nodded.

"You were the guy who was happy to delay sexy fun time to play a silly, nerdy game," she looked down at the counter with a self conscious smile, "So I could get over being nervous. The whole thing was kind of like finding a friend when I thought I was just trying to get off."

Jack had begun to smile, but his expression faltered.

"I really enjoyed the game. Um, when you say-"

But Anna caught on immediately, interrupting.

"No, no," she shook her head, laughing as she spoke, "Sorry. I didn't mean like 'let's just be friends.' I just mean, you know how they say the perfect partner should be your best friend? Like..."

She trailed off.

"Partner?" Jack asked.

"Wh-" Anna blinked.

"Sending some mixed signals now, aren't you?"

"I didn't mean... It was an example. You know what I mean." She floundered briefly before narrowing her eyes, "You're just fuckin' with me, right?"

"Little bit." Jack admitted, "But yeah, I get what you mean. And I'm glad you feel that way."

He leaned forward and slowly reached halfway across the table to open his hand palm up. Anna looked at his hand, then up at Jack, an amused twinkle in her eye. Reaching across, she tickled the palm of his hand with her nails before folding her fingers around his.

"So we've progressed to, what, third grade? Hand holding?" she teased.

"Well, last time we were together, we skipped straight to amateur porn actors. Not that I'm complaining. But I thought you might like to sample the Supernerd 'boyfriend experience.'"

Jack used a corny 1970s TV game show host voice for the last bit, and wore a silly smile that said he knew how corny he was being and it was entirely intentional. Anna seemed to consider it before agreeing.

"Alright Nerd-"

"Supernerd." Jack corrected.

"But," Anna went on, ignoring him, "you're gonna have to get us from third grade to graduation by the time we get back to the building, 'cause I've got some things in mind."

"Really? Things?" Jack tried out Anna's patented arched eyebrow.

Anna bobbed her own eyebrows.

"Things third graders definitely shouldn't know anything about." she confirmed.

"Ah. I was going to ask if you had plans for the rest of your day."

"And yours." Anna lifted his hand in hers and leaned forward to gently bite, then suck on the tip of his index finger.

"That was a good meal, but we should probably get going." Jack said, deadpan, after staring for a beat.

"Right," Anna agreed, finally releasing his hand, "If you get the bill, I'll cover our ride."

"Oh, I walked." Jack reached for the slip Miss Grace had left when she was clearing away their dishes.

"Uh huh. But we're gonna ride back because did you see the shoes I'm wearing?" Anna replied.

"Oh, right. Fair point."

"Unless you wanna carry me, Prince Charming." Anna joked.

"Love to, Beautiful, but these muscles are decorative. Neglect, not exercise, remember?"

"You know I was just kidding, Nerd. I wouldn't want you to try to carry me." she tapped away on her phone.

Minutes later, Jack opened the door for Anna before going around to join her in the back of the taxi. They gave the cabby directions and told him that yes, they knew how close that was. After which Anna scooted over against Jack and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Don't get the wrong idea," she said quietly, "We're not fucking in this cab."

"Good," Jack replied readily, "Even if we had time -- which we don't. If we're gonna risk contracting multiple STDs, I want it to be because we met a team of olympic gymnasts, or a famous band or something."

"Sure. Those are the standards." Anna laughed.

Ten minutes and an elevator ride later and the two were walking down the hall on their floor. Just as they were drawing near Jack's apartment, the door on the other side of the hall opened. A short bald fellow with a ginger beard emerged wearing a white undershirt and vastly oversized jeans. A cloud of cannabis smoke wafted out with him.

The fellow regarded Anna and Jack with bleary, red-rimmed eyes. He nodded several times. After giving Anna a slow up and down, he squinted at Jack.

"Respect, bruh." he declared, gesturing at Jack before pulling his door closed and swaggering past them.

Jack stood there, trying not to laugh and feeling Anna looking at him with an expectant smile. Just waiting for him to look at her.

"I know, I know, just," he chuckled, "just consider it a compliment."

Jack started moving toward his door, but Anna caught his hand and pulled him away.

"Nope. Keep walking." she instructed cheerily.

Towing Jack along by the hand, she proceeded down the hall.

"Your street cred probably just went up, eh?" she joked while they walked.

Jack snorted.

"It would have to go up. Pretty sure I didn't have any before now."

When they came to her door, Anna fished her keys out of a coat pocket.

"You wanna get this door for me?" Anna asked.

"Mm, no, you go ahead." Jack demurred.

"Huh. Used up your chivalry for th- Jesus!"

As she had pushed the door open, Jack had pulled her back, then bent to quite literally sweep her off her feet. Off her feet and up into his arms.

"What are you doing?" she clung to him, "I probably weight more than you do, you idiot." she complained, though she was grinning again.

"Don't be silly," he puffed, stepping inside, "Light as a feather."

"Pfft. Smart, except you sound like you're giving birth." she replied. "No, wait. Turn."

Anna reached out and hit a light switch. Cuddling back against Jack again, she kissed him on the cheek.

"You can put me down now, big boy."

"You sure? I was gonna-"

"You already carried me across the threshold. Somehow. Save something for our wedding night." she teased.

"Yeah, okay." Jack quickly but carefully set her down on her feet, mindful of the fact that she was wearing heels.

After straightening her skirt, Anna turned to face him and curled her fingers in the front of his shirt to pull him close. Jack brought his hands up to her sides.

"That was nice." Anna observed.

"Yeah. Told you they have good sandwiches."

Anna arched an eyebrow.

"Maybe," she spoke slowly while lifting a foot to press her spiked heel lightly down on one of Jack's feet, "Maybe we should find out if you have any massochistic tendancies."

Jack widened his eyes and a smile played across his lips.

"Of course, the company was infinitely more appealing than the food." he added.

"Uh huh. Nice save, Nerd."

"So," Jack ventured, "You have some plumbing that needs looking at?"

"Back to amateur porn, huh?" Anna asked in return.

"I dunno. You're the one that had things in mind."

"Well, I didn't bring you over here to show you all the boxes I still haven't unpacked." She stepped back and slid one leg forward to show off her footwear. "And I didn't wear these just to make a fashion statement."