Nerdcam Pt. 04

"Ah, that explains Junkrat."

Anna rose and took the empty water bottles to drop them in a bin in the kitchen.

"Let me know if you get hungry." she called while getting a pair of glasses from a cupboard and filling them at the water dispenser in the freezer door.

"I'm good right now, but it probably wouldn't hurt to start the oven pre-heating." Jack replied.

"The oven?" Anna asked, setting one of the glasses on the table in front of Jack.

"Yeah. I had a peek in the fridge while you were out." Jack explained in a tone that made it sound almost like an accusation.

"Oh," a guilty smile crossed Anna's face. "Right. I might have gotten a little behind on food."

"And have just a little frozen pizza addiction?" Jack suggested.

"It's totally not an addiction," she turned and padded back into the kitchen and twisted the dial to start the oven, "I can quite anytime I want."

"Uh huh."

"You like meat?" Anna asked, opening the freezer.

"I think we've been over that." Jack quipped.

"I mean on the pizza, obviously, smartass. And no, I'm not gonna serve it on my lap, so..."

"Look who's getting clever and thinking ahead," Jack laughed, "And yeah, meat's good. I'll eat just about anything on pizza, really."

"Even-" Anna began.

"Yup." Jack interrupted.

"Shut up. I was gonna say pineapple." Anna worked a box free of the jumble in the freezer and closed the door.

"That too." Jack confirmed.

"Really?"

"Even anchovies, although I wouldn't specifically ask for 'em."

"Ew."

"What's really good is shredded chicken and Barbecue sauce." Jack declared.

"On pizza?"

"Yeah. You should try it some time."

"Mm. Maybe." Anna allowed.

Not bothering to wait for the oven to pre heat, she popped the pizza in. After setting the timer on the stove, she moved back into the living room. While Jack admired the way her skirt slipped up and down her thighs as she moved, Anna fiddled around changing games and controllers before hopping onto the couch.

"Ready for a blast from the past?"

Jack glanced over, raised his brows.

Anna just smiled, waiting for Jack to recognize the game opening.

Halo.

"Wait. The original?" Jack laughed.

"Yeah. We can play one on one. I like it better than actual fighting games."

"Huh. Okay. If it had been one of the recent releases I'd say I had an unfair advantage. But I haven't looked at the original in... shit, I dunno. Were you even alive when this came out?"

"What? I'm not- Okay, if you're trying to flatter me, I'll take it." Anna laughed. "But I- Wait, how old are you?"

Jack seemed to hesitate a moment, then cleared his throat.

"I was born in ninety-six." he supplied. "December fourth."

Anna's eyes slowly widened balefully, her smile becoming fixed.

"You were not."

"Uh, yeah. I was."

"I can't believe you're younger than me." Anna grumbled. "And you were asking if I was alive..."

"Well... I kinda guessed what with your screenname from the cam site. Joystick95. But if that was it, I didn't want to make a point of..." he trailed off.

"More than a year." Anna thought out loud.

"Hmm... so that means your birthday is before..."

"It's May seventeenth." Anna provided. "So you knew, and you didn't say anything?"

Jack regarded her, mouth slightly ajar.

"You thought I was older." he concluded.

"Just assumed." she admitted.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. You look younger. And, y'know," he gestured at her idea of pajamas, "hot."

Anna seemed mostly mollified.

"By the way," Jack added casually, "Can you say 'ara ara'?"

"Shithead," Anna laughed, straightening a leg to the side to jostle him with her heel, "I'm not your anime mommy."

"It's all part of my plan." Jack assured her.

"Your plan? To what -- sleep on the couch tonight?"

"Nope. For in-game. It's that classic thing where you goad the enemy and then they get all reckless."

"Oh, is that-" Anna broke off with a marginally dignified squeal when Jack snaked a hand out to tickle the bottom of her foot.

She drew her foot back under herself and looked up, ready to admonish him. Then she noticed the way he was looking at her. And realized how much she was enjoying his company. How comfortable it was.

Subsiding, she settled for, "Goading is one thing. No going for the feet while we're playing, mister."

Jack cleared his throat, put on a serious face and nodded. While Anna began clicking through options to start the game, he quietly added, "Yes, ma'am."

Anna shot him a look, but refrained from commenting. By the time the room began to fill with the aroma of cooking pizza, Anna had moved over to lean on Jack and the two were happily shit-talking while trying to frag each other in-game. As they maneuvered around in the same little outpost, trying to outwit each other and get an edge, Anna shamelessly craned her neck and licked Jack's neck. It was enough to pull his attention away from the screen, allowing Anna a moment to outflank him. When Jack got his eyes back on the screen, he found himself wearing a plasma grenade.

"Boo. Bad form." Jack laughed as his in-game self rag-dolled in the ensuing explosion.

"I only said no feet." Anna smiled, rising to go and check on the pizza.

"Uh huh. That still puts me up by, what, four?"

"Yeah, something like that." she admitted, while grabbing oven mitts and pulling the pizza to set it on the stovetop. "You hungry enough to eat?"

"I could go for a slice or two."

Shortly, Anna joined him, carrying two plates.

"Alright, fair is fair. You're pretty good." Anna allowed, handing off one of the plates. "Careful, it's really hot."

"Yes, dear." Jack quipped.

Anna's retort was muddled as she nibbled gingerly at her first slice.

"So... meat lovers." Jack observed.

Anna cut her eyes at him, chewing, and raised her eyebrows.

"Nah," Jack shook his head, "Too easy."

Anna snorted and carried on eating.

"Not bad for frozen." Jack remarked when they had eaten their fill.

"Yeah. For the record, I usually keep a little more food in the place." Anna replied.

"Eh. Living alone is like that. On the bright side, now I know you're easy to cook for."

Anna took their plates and deposited them in the sink.

"You gonna cook for me?" she asked, returning to sit, then turning and laying back to rest her head in his lap.

"Sure. I would offer to do breakfast in the morning, but I think our options are basically yogurt or pizza."

"Aw. Yeah, sorry. We could make that our next date, maybe. At your place. If you don't mind."

Jack moved his hand to her neck, gently rubbing the pad of his thumb back and forth on her cheek. He had that faint, wistful smile again. Anna supposed it was probably partly the usual hormones and endorphins your brain drugs you with when you become infatuated with someone new, but she was definitely developing some feelings. She wondered if they would last, and quickly decided Jack had the right idea. Better to enjoy their time. She could worry about it later.

"Sounds good," Jack agreed, "If your schedule stays the same at work, we could aim for the weekend again."

"Mm." Anna gave him a little smile, then closed her eyes.

They remained that way for a few quiet moments.

"No horseradish." Jack recalled, earning a surprised laugh from Anna. "Anything else I should avoid?"

"Um... I don't think so. I mean, except pizza. Obviously I like it, but I already eat it so often..."

"Heh. Right, right."

"Other than that, surprise me."

Bringing a hand up, she gave Jack a little poke, then, as he tensed, turned her head to kiss his tummy.

"I would complain about being objectified," Jack commented, "But after all the jokes about your ass..."

"Mmhmm." Anna slowly sat up. "So... are you up for more games? Or maybe a movie?"

"What's in the boxes?" he asked, gesturing over the back of the couch.

"Ohhh no. We're not at the 'you helping me unpack my shit' stage yet."

"Fair enough. Show me your room."

Anna arched an eyebrow.

"Hoping to get laid again already?" she asked.

"Nah. I mean, if you decided to jump me, I probably wouldn't complain. But I was actually just curious."

"Oh." she regarded him for a moment. "Okay. Come on."

She took his hand and towed him around the couch and back to her room.

"So, it's nothing special, and I've still got some boxes in the corner over there." She pointed out while flicking on the overhead light.

While Anna stepped in and to one side, Jack looked around from just inside the doorway. More or less straight ahead there was the trunk, and the bed beyond it. Against the left wall was Anna's computer desk and the gaming chair Jack remembered. To the left of the bed was a night stand, and further left a bookshelf against the far wall. In the near right corner was a stack of boxes. A nice hardwood dresser further along the right wall.

And then the wall cut a rectangular chunk out of the room. With doors.

"Uh. What's that?" Jack pointed.

"My closet?" Anna gave him a funny look.

Jack just stared for a second.

"I don't have a closet." he stated blandly.

Anna thought back to her recent visit of his apartment.

"No, you're right. But you do have more space in your room. Like, open floor space."

Jack considered the room around him again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Also, do not go in there."

Jack gave her the 'oh, so you're a serial killer' look.

"There are some clothes hanging up," she explained, "But mostly it's more boxes I've been too lazy to unpack."

Jack mouthed a silent 'Ohhh.' His eyes settled on the chair. And the plastic mat beneath it.

"So you have that nice gaming chair, but it's on plastic because of the shag carpet."

"I know," Anna agreed in a childlike sing-song, wiggling her toes, "But I like how it feels on my feet. And sometimes I like to sit on the floor."

Jack nodded indulgently.

"It is nice and soft."

While Anna plopped down on the bed, Jack moved past to have a look at what the bookshelf held. In passing he noticed a framed picture of a middle-aged couple set on a back corner of the computer desk, which he assumed must be Anna's parents. His eye was also caught by the blue glow emanating from a high end gaming mouse on an oversized mousepad.

Turning his attention to the bookshelf, he saw that whatever Anna might have left boxed up, she clearly prioritized her reading. The top shelf was right at head height, and held several large, hard cover game guides, a few hard cover graphic novels, and what appeared to be several weighty text books. Peering at the spines, Jack saw English Lit., Conversations in French, French Grammar, Pre-Joycian Fairy Tales and Folklore, Abnormal Psychology, Grey's Anatomy, and a Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.

On the next shelf down was a neat row of novels which was about half fantasy and half sci-fi. A similar row on the next shelf down was entirely horror, along with a couple of Junji Ito manga collections. Jack copped a squat to scan the lower shelves. One was a couple dozen volumes of manga alongside a few seasons of TV shows on DVD. Below this, on the next-to last shelf, were a few photo albums, a stack of magazines, and, to Jack's amusement, a replica of the puzzle box from the movie Hellraiser. The bottom shelf, also to Jack's amusement, was entirely taken up with several pairs of shoes.

"You have good taste in reading material." he commented, standing up.

"Thanks? Now I'm kinda curious, Supernerd. What do you read, besides manga?"

Jack shrugged.

"The obvious, I guess," he smiled, "Fantasy, Sci-Fi... some horror. Not much for Westerns or Romance. Oh, and there's a few people who post their stuff online that I follow."

Anna stretched out on the bed. "That sounz right." she yawned.

"Are you tired?"

"Sorry. Maybe a little." she admitted.

"'Salright. You actually have to get up in the morning during the week, so..."

"Mm." she shifted on the bed to watch him.

"Have you read all of these?" he asked.

"Most. There's a few I haven't gotten to yet."

"What's your favorite? Like, if you had to pick one."

Anna's eyes wandered while she thought about it.

"Maybe The Last Unicorn." she decided. "It's like... somehow all of the most meaningful tropes and stuff -- from fantasy -- but also self aware. Like satire -- but still beautiful."

"Huh. Don't think I could've put it that well." Jack commented while scanning the shelves. Finding the volume in question, he slid it from the shelf. "I saw the movie a few times when I was little, but never read the book."

He gazed down at the cover for a few moments before looking over at Anna.

"Read me a little?"

Anna was lost for a beat.

"Uh, read it to you? I mean... I'm not really used to reading out loud."

"I can help you with the hard words." Jack smiled.

Anna glowered.

"I don't know if that's supposed to be reverse psychology or if you're just being a smartass."

"Probably both."

"Uh huh. Alright. Get over here. Behind me. That's your side, 'cause I'm used to being over here so I can reach the alarm clock."

Jack handed her the little paperback. Going around to crawl onto the bed from the right side, he found his pillow waiting for him. As he moved up next to her, Anna shifted onto her side and inched back, making herself the little spoon to his big spoon. Jack folded his right arm under his head and curled his left around her. His chin came to rest lightly against the back of her shoulder.

Before opening the book, Anna closed her eyes and wiggled back against him until they were nice and snug. Okay, she thought with the hint of a smile, I could maybe get used to this.

Finally she opened her eyes and then the book. She carefully turned past the copyright and dedication and title pages. She paused at the first page of text.

"I'll read some, then you take over, okay?"

His reply was a quiet "Yeah."

So she fidgeted a bit, reading the first couple of lines once in her head before beginning out loud.

"The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea."

"She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation, and goats in dancing mockery. Her neck was long and slender, making her head seem smaller than it was, and the mane that fell almost to the middle of her back was as soft as dandelion fluff and as fine as cirrus. She had pointed ears and thin legs, with feathers of white hair at the ankles; and the long horn above her eyes shone and shivered with it's own seashell light even in the deepest midnight."

Clearing her throat from time to time, Anna gradually became more comfortable reading aloud. More than that, she decided she was glad Jack had made his unexpected request. She was beginning to feel really comfortable with him, and it was nice to be able to just relax and unwind with someone. She ended up reading longer than she had first intended.

She decided to stop around the time Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival happened upon the unicorn while it was sleeping on the roadside.

"'What about you, wizard, seer, thaumaturge? What do you see with your sorcerer's sight?' She joined with the man Rukh in a ratchety roar of laughter, but it ended when she saw that the tall man was still staring at the unicorn."

"'Answer me, you juggler!' she snarled, but the tall man did not turn his head. The old woman turned it for him, reaching out a crablike hand to yank his chin around. His eyes fell before her yellow stare, 'A horse,' he muttered. 'A white mare.'"

Anna stifled a yawn, keeping her thumb tucked in the book to hold her place.

"Mm. Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Thought maybe you were asleep. You've been so quiet." She turned her head a bit as if to look back at him.

"Just listening."

"I think I'm ready to trade now. Your turn to read."

"Oh, hold on one sec." he shifted to kiss her neck before slipping off the bed and out of the room. After having a drink himself, he brought back a glass for Anna.

"Thought you might be thirsty after all that."

Anna thanked him, drank, and set the glass on the night stand. After some shifting and cuddling back up, Jack reached around her again, but this time he took the book in hand. Scootching up enough to see over Anna's shoulder, he scanned the page to find where she had left off. Mindful of how close he was to her ear, and guessing that she might soon fall asleep, Jack read in a clear, but soft voice.

"Let's see... Umm... Okay. Mommy Fortuna looked at him for a long time. 'You're a fool too, magician,' she snickered at last, 'but a worse fool than Rukh, and a more dangerous one. He lies only out of greed, but you lie out of fear. Or could it be kindness?' The man said nothing, and Mommy Fortuna laughed by herself."

Jack read another twelve pages or so, by which point he was certain from the settling of her head and faint snoring that Anna had drifted off. Easing himself off the bed, he padded over to Anna's desk to set the book down. He had just turned toward the door when she stirred.

"Hmm?" she started to sit up.

"Shh, hey, I was just gonna turn out the lights. You want me to leave one on?"

"Oh, mm, yeah," she squinted, "There's a light in the hood thing over the stove. I usually leave that on."

"Cool. I got it. You go ahead and get under the covers..." he turned and let the room, mumbling, "Before you freeze those sexy thighs off."

He returned after hitting the lights and finally cut the overhead in the bedroom. Careful to avoid the trunk at the foot of the bed, he drew up the covers and slipped under. With a little fumbling in the dark, Anna found him and gave him a lingering kiss before settling against him.

"Hey." she murmured.

"Hey y- What the..."

Taking just a moment to understand his reaction, Anna spoke up, a smile in her voice.

"It's just glow in the dark paint. Sorry. Shoulda warned you."

And suddenly the multitude of glowing dots made sense.

"Ah, I see. That's kinda cool. So... this used to be a ten year old's room and you didn't want to pay to repaint?"

"Har har. No. I did this. I know it's weird, but," she shrugged, "It's comforting. Reminds me of when I was little."

"Oh?"

There was quiet for several seconds.

"Tell me about it." Jack whispered.

"Mm, okay. Hold still."

She shifted her head to a position on his chest where she was comfortable speaking. Jack casually curled his right arm around her shoulders. She cleared her throat theatrically.

"So, once upon a time, when I was little -- like six or seven maybe?" she began.

"Ooh, story time." Jack murmured.

"Shh!" Anna smiled, not bothering to shift or look up, "Just listen. My dad was away for work. Then my mom got really sick. So while she was in the hospital I had to stay with my grandparents."

"I liked my grandparents and all. I just wasn't used to staying anywhere without my mom. Felt bad about it when I got older, but... I did not take it well at the time. They tried to explain. Offered to make my favorite food or get a movie or something, but I ended up running back to the guest room where we stayed whenever we visited."

"Pretty much just cried until I was tired, and then sulked."

Anna paused. Something had occurred to her. When she poke again, her tone was tentative.

"Um. My name wasn't Anna then."

"Mm, I suppose not." Jack observed after a moment.

Anna glanced upward, but didn't move her head, not sure if she wanted to see his face or not.