Nerdcam Pt. 05

Anna scrunched her nose up disdainfully, then tugged on the front of Jack's shirt, pulling him in for a kiss.

"Mm, matcha." Jack commented when they parted.

Anna snorted.

"You're so lucky I have a freakish affinity for sarcasm."

"Yep."

"How do you feel about crashing early? I'm kinda hoping to go to work tomorrow like you said."

"Decided I'm staying the night, then?"

"Mm. You can read me to sleep again."

She flicked off the lights, then grabbed Jack's duffel before leading the way back to the bedroom.

"C'mon."

Jack came awake -- or at least partially -- to the sound of an unfamiliar alarm.

"Hm? Whassit?" he started to sit up.

"Shh. Relax. It's my alarm. I'm gonna go to work." she reached out and clicked off the alarm. "I'll leave you a note on the table. You can go back to sleep."

Jack grunted acknowledgment, rubbing his eyes.

"Be careful in the shower." he yawned.

Anna was just standing up, rubbing her own eyes. She half turned.

"Really? You just woke up and already-"

Despite still being half asleep, Jack caught up enough to smile.

"No, no, 'm serious. Yer gonna take off th'boot, right? So... gotta be careful 'bout movin' yer ankle th' wrong way."

"Oh. Yeah. I'll be careful." she noticed that he hadn't actually opened his eyes yet. "Go back to sleep, Nerd." she added softly.

"Mm. Have nice day." He said muzzily, letting himself slump back against the pillow.

Anna smiled, shook her head, and went in search of clothes.

Jack woke again, later, to the smell of recently brewed coffee.

It was a little weird, walking around Anna's place without her around. He vaguely remembered her speaking to him when she got up, reminded by the note on the kitchen table. He opted to take a quick shower before looking at it, trading his clothes out for the set in his bag.

Coming back out afterward, he poured himself a mug of coffee and nibbled a bit of dark chocolate while reading Anna's note -- which he belatedly realized was written on the back of a junk mail envelope. He had to set aside a small keyring to do so.

'Nerd,

Went to work. (obviously) Didn't want to leave

the apt unlocked, so I'm leaving spare keys. I'll

just get them back from you some time Friday.

No big hurry, but I'm still not sure about having

someone hanging around when I'm not home.

Btw -- did we decide on Friday night, or is that

something I only thought? Txt me.

-Anna

PS: Glad you came over.'

Jack thought a bit, then folded the envelope and stuck it in a hip pocket. Finding his sketchpad and a pencil, he tore a page out and sat down. He first scribbled out a very cartoony depiction of himself holding the mug of coffee and looking very scruffy. Beneath it he jotted;

'Joystick,

(Obviously) No worries, I get it.

Friday should be fine. I'll text later to confirm

details. I thought you could use some more

Halloween decorations, so... you're welcome.

Hope work went okay for you.

'Pyramid swings, Pyramid wins,

Pyramidhead.'

-Jack

PS: me too.'

With that done, he finished his coffee and set the mug in the sink. He spent a couple minutes in the bedroom doing a passable job of making the bed. Finally, he hunted around and found that yes, there were a few empty cardboard boxes lying about. He slung his duffel over a shoulder, collapsed the boxes and carried them in one hand, and locked the door on his way out.

After the better part of an hour back in his apartment - making use of a plastic drop cloth, a box cutter, some black acrylic paint, and a brush - he made a brief visit back to Anna's apartment. When he had finished and locked up again, he went back to his place and got to work on the next pages for his comic.

The weather was better than the day before. Jack knocked back an extra large energy drink while losing track of time working. It was around seven in the evening when he got a text.

Anna, meanwhile, had gone off to work. Aside from making driving a trifle awkward, the boot of doom caused no real problems. While refusing to shirk any of her usual tasks, she did keep the boot on throughout the day.

In early evening she stop-started her way through traffic back to the apartment building, and clomped her way up from the parking garage to her own door. Upon opening it, she reached, without thinking, for the light switch. She flinched back, bumping against the door frame, when her hand encountered something unexpected.

Stopping and staring, she saw in the light cast from the hallway that there was something dark bulking a few inches out from the wall -- and it was directly over the spot where the light switch was located. It didn't cross her mind that whatever it was might have been Jack's doing. Not until she dug out her phone and used the flashlight app to get a better look.

She scowled in confusion for a moment before realizing what she was looking at. A crudely cut black spider shape with eight squarish legs -- which she realized upon closer inspection was cut from cardboard. Yes, that seemed like the sort of surprise Jack would leave for her.

Working her fingers between the hand-sized spider and the wall behind it, she pulled. The decoration came away with just a bit of resistance. Turning it over, she saw that he had used painter's tape to stick it to the wall. Rolling her eyes and tossing it aside, she flicked on the lights.

She locked the door behind her and turned about, then stopped and shook her head, smiling. There were more spiders. From where she stood she could see one on the coffee table, one perched on the back of the couch, and yet another in the middle of the kitchen table.

Leaving the other spiders where they were, she poured a mug from the coffee left in the morning's pot and popped it in the microwave. Meanwhile she rummaged in the freezer.

"Hmm."

With a shrug, she pulled a pizza.

After starting the oven heating, she went to the table, checking that Jack had taken the keys. Finding his note, she read it, her expression shifting continuously as she did so.

"Pyramidhead? The hell...?" she muttered with a perplexed half smile.

She decided to text, since she hadn't heard from Jack, but first she took a look around the rest of the apartment. Eight cardboard spiders she found in all, and she wasn't discounting the possibility that she had missed one somewhere.

Retrieving her coffee and sipping, she texted one-handed.

'Hey Jack(ass). Thanks for the Halloween decorations.

Work wasn't bad. Questions. Wtf is this about

Pyramidhead? Also, for Halloween -- Friday @8pm,

your place? You: food, drink. Me: movie, tricks and treats.'

Shortly, she received Jack's reply, and they texted back and forth a bit.

Jack: It just popped into my head -- a friend of mine who

does art for another webcomic did a weird Halloween thing

last year with Pyramidhead from Silent Hill. Just randomness.

Anna: Ah. More perks of dating weird nerd.

Jack: Yes indeed. And 8 on Fri sounds good.

Anna: Cool. I might have agreed to go out

with a friend from college Sat night.

There was a longer pause before he replied.

Jack: It's not like you need my permission or

anything, but thanks for heads up. Don't do

anything I wouldn't do.

Anna: Like what?

Jack: Um. Don't mix drugs or take mystery stuff.

If you meet you, definitely hit that.

Anna: Thanks.

Jack: Definitely wear the boot of doom

even tho I know you're giving this text a

mean look as you read it lol

Anna: oh, fuck off

Jack: Or you could just stay sober

Anna: Are you playing the bf card again?

Gonna have to put a limit on that thing.

Jack: Yeah, but after I mentioned it, if you

get drunk and mess up your ankle again,

you'll feel really bad.

Anna: *angry face emoji

Jack: *innocent whistling emoji

Anna: It's not til Sat. We can revisit

the matter Fri.

Jack: oic... gonna bring it up when you

can use your feminine wiles on me, eh?

Anna: I dunno. Think that'll work?

Jack: Hmm... worth a try. They're pretty

good wiles.

Anna: lol. Thanks. I'm gonna eat now.

Then vidja game time.

Jack: Ok Beautiful. Have fun.

Anna: txt me something random

tomorrow.

Jack: Will do. I'll say goodnight now,

in case you zonk out later, yeah?

Anna: Yeah. Goodnight Jack.

Thursday was largely more of the usual. Anna went to work at Shelf Indulgence. Jack worked at home on the webcomic. (Sonder -- a working title he had failed to change for so long that it had become official by default.)

When he took a break for a late lunch, Jack thought of texting Anna. Remembering her request for something random, he pondered a bit while he ate, then sent:

'Hey sexy. Randomness I thought you might

get a kick out of...

The band A Perfect Circle did a song titled

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish -

referencing Douglas Adams' work.

It's sort of a satirical/sarcastic send up

of modern American 'culture.'

After sending the message, he had the strange feeling he was forgetting something. Then it came to him. He had made preparations for food and drinks for their Friday night Halloween get together, but he had totally forgotten about dressing up.

After brainstorming, he left the apartment to hunt down the various elements of his chosen costume, bouncing from shop to shop like a fraternity pledge on a scavenger hunt. Anna messaged him back while he was in the midst of his costume quest, thanking him for his text of randomness and inquiring about his day. He gave her a brief rundown, adding that he was, at the moment, putting the finishing touches on his costume -- which was, in a vague sense, true.

They traded texts for a while, chatting about nothing much, before saying their goodnights.

The next day, the two decided, independently, not to bother texting. There was something about leaving contact and looking forward to it until they could be together which was fun, if slightly juvenile. Eventually they each assumed the other had come to the same conclusion.

That evening Jack had just finished preparations and plunked down on the couch to wait when there came a knocking at the door.

"Timing." he muttered to himself before rising.

He stopped at the kitchen table and filled his arms with various items before going and opening the door a crack. He peered out through the crack for a couple of seconds, partly because he was getting into character and partly bc he was somewhat distracted by the smile Anna turned on him.

"What are you doing now? Open the door." she finally complained.

Jack executed a precarious maneuver, levering the door open and working himself around it to swing his head back and forth, as if expecting Federal agents or zombies to converge on the spot at any moment.

"We can't stop here," he barked, clamping his teeth on the empty cigarette holder in his mouth and turning wide eyes on her from behind the large yellow lenses of the glasses he wore, "This is bat country!"

Anna leaned back a bit in the face of his rather loud proclamation, then grinned and nodded.

"Okay, yeah. You actually do a pretty good Hunter Thompson. And you've got the shirt and glasses and the goofy hat. What's all this other shit?"

"Well, that's -- obviously -- that's a typewriter. I'm a doctor of journalism, y'know. And a tape recorder -- for special notes. Uh. Bottle of gin. And, uhh... Some ether."

"Ether?"

"Nevermind. Get in here. Quick. Quick, like a bunny. Close the door."

Anna followed him into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She found the interior lit by candles -- both on the kitchen table and the coffee table in the little den. She waited while Jack rattled off a few more choice movie quotes while dumping his excess paraphernalia back in the bedroom. Leaving the lights on back there, he closed the door and returned holding only the bottle of gin.

"I'm very curious about the trench coat," he commented in his normal voice, "but uh, what is all that shit?" He gestured at a dark bundle in Anna's hands.

"My purse," Anna set this on the floor next to the couch, "and an extra large Victoria's Secret bag."

"Is this gonna be a Halloween try-on haul situation, or... I know I said I'd try almost anything once, but I'm pretty sure I'm not into cross-dressing."

"It was just a convenient bag, smart guy. Although..." Anna gave him an evil smile.

"Yikes." Jack laughed.

Anna set the bag on the arm of the couch and began enumerating the contents.

"Movies." she began, handing off a couple of DVD cases to Jack. "And some regular clothes. Aaand some tricks and treats we'll save for later. And the boot of doom." she briefly lifted the brace out, replaced it, then placed the bag on it's side on the coffee table.

Jack had a look at the movies, which turned out to be Fright Night (the original) and a collection of several of the Friday the 13th flicks.

"I thought something nostalgic and fun, and something we wouldn't mind missing. Just hypothetically. If we got distracted or something." Anna explained.

"Nice. Why the boot?"

"Oh, I probably should've asked, but I just thought of it today. I told my friend that I'd be staying over here. Asked her to stop by here tomorrow before we go over to her place. Is that okay?"

Jack thought for a moment, shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so. Should I..."

Anna smiled.

"I thought if I introduced you as my boyfriend, she might not try to set me up with anyone."

"Oooh. Then yeah, good thinking."

"And I thought the boot might help with that. Worst case, I could do some real damage kicking with it on." Anna added.

"And it'll stop you turning your ankle again." Jack suggested, finding remotes and turning on the TV.

"And that." Anna rolled her eyes.

When Jack had the first DVD in and the main menu on screen, he turned back. Anna wore lipstick in a deep, muted red shade. She had put something in her hair, giving it a bit of volume, and maintaining the part in the front. A sheaf of hair curled down to partially obscure her left eye. She wore some sort of black gloves, but mostly she was covered up by the trenchcoat. It was buttoned all the way up to her throat.

"So... you look nice." he observed.

"Very subtle." Anna smirked. "Ready for the reveal then?"

"Very."

Anna turned about, back to, and unbuttoned the coat. Shrugging out of it, she let it drop to the floor at her feet. Jack took long, slow stock of the strapless, figure hugging dress, high heel boots, and gloves which were practically sleeves - climbing to just shy of her shoulders. All of it black.

Lifting her arms out to her sides a little, Anna turned slowly to face him. There was a line of red piping running up the outside of each glove. The chest of the dress was formed to her bust, with a deep, narrow V cut that showed off her cleavage. And above, standing out sharply on the pale skin of her chest, was a symbol consisting of a winged oroboros - a serpent eating its own tail -- encircling a pentagram. A temporary tattoo, Jack assumed.

Seeing the scarlet symbol, Jack was a little surprised he hadn't recognized the outfit more quickly. It was the standard garb for a character from a popular manga and anime. A character named Lust. Anna filled out the costume quite nicely.

She crossed her arms under her chest, her smile holding that mere hint of shyness she sometimes experienced.

"Wow. After the weeb jokes..." Jack spoke slowly, "I wouldn't have guessed you were into cosplay."

"It kinda seemed like it would be fun." Anna shrugged. "And Halloween seemed like a good excuse to try it out. I wouldn't want to do anything too weird or revealing, but..."

"Yeah, no, it's... it's impressive. You look amazing." He caught her eye. "Again."

Anna's own smile widened a bit.

"Mm. Good. Now hurry up and take some pictures."

"Uh, wh- Yeah, right." Jack felt in his pockets for his phone.

"That's the other thing about cosplay. I dunno if I can be bothered to stand around in some of these getups for hours. These boots are killing me already."

Jack mumbled sympathies while moving around and snapping some pictures from different angles.

"It's probably a shame," she continued theatrically, "I guess I'm just not wired for it, Jack."

"Mm. Shame." he agreed distantly.

"I actually like working out. Not like, hardcore, but you know. And swimming. Yoga. But I hate wearing anything uncomfortable. Just no tolerance for it." she rambled on while shifting her stance or raising her arms while he took the pictures.

"Compulsively comfy, huh?" Jack suggested.

"Something like that. Is that good, or are you gonna try to use up all the space on that phone?"

Jack stuck out his tongue. When Anna pursed her lips and flipped him off in response, he snapped one last pic, then put the phone away again.

"Now you won't mind if I take these off." Anna plopped unceremoniously down on the couch and began unlacing one of her knee-high boots.

"They are kinda sexy, but probably just as well." Jack gathered her coat, shook it out, and draped it on the back of the couch. He moved closer and bent to offer a hand. "If you turned an ankle in these things you'd probably never walk again."

Anna cuffed him alongside the shoulder.

"Nope. Respect my weird foot issues, Nerd. You could tell me about what smells good, though. I haven't eaten since brunch."

Jack waved his hands in surrender. Taking up a remote, he started the first movie playing, then headed into the kitchen. He left his cigarette holder and bucket hat on the kitchen table and returned with a large tray, which he set on the coffee table, scooting Anna's bag of goodies and some candles out of the way.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to eat at the table or just chow down in here while we watch."

"In here is good. Doing things all fancy is nice sometimes, but staying in and watching horror movies is a great excuse for maximum comfort." Anna stated authoritatively.

"Maximum comfort." Jack chuckled. "That might become your new catchphrase -- like Deadpool with maximum effort."

Anna shrugged, then, with a grunt, extricated her other foot and slid the boots out of the way under the coffee table.

"Better." She rubbed her gloved hands together and eyed the tray. "Okay, what's on the menu, Gonzo?"

"For your consideration; sliders," Jack began, indicating half a dozen tiny burgers on miniature buns, "with the extras on the side." He indicated a plate spread with lettuce, and slices of tomato, pickle, and red onion. And, around the perimeter of the plate, several condiments.

"And instead of fries, for the holiday theme, we have red and black tortilla chips with cheese dip, salsa, and spiced guacamole."

"Mmm. Looks good. Um, why is the beer green?" Anna asked.

Jack slid one of the tall glasses of bubbly yellow-green liquid closer.

"It's not beer -- it's Monster. Staying on theme, remember? But there is beer and water in the fridge."

"Nah. A little Chernobyl Jolt seems fitting." Anna allowed. "It's not like I drink it all the time, like some people."

"Guilty as charged." Jack sat down next to her and helped himself to a slider. "There's some napkins under there. Lemme know if you need anything else."

"Mm-hmm." Anna acknowledged, already taking a bite out of a burger of her own.

"Mmp, shit." she paused, swallowed, and set the food down. "Okay, you can help me with these. I'll get grease or cheese or somethin' on 'em."

Jack obliged, helping her off with her gloves. That done, the two ate and drank and watched the movie. Now and then they commented, debated, or laughed about some detail -- a line or scene or character.

About halfway through the movie, when they had both eaten their fill, Jack took the tray back into the kitchen. He blew out a few candles while he was in there, and filled their empty glasses with ice water.