Nerdcam Pt. 08

The day was sunny and pleasant, with a cool breeze. Good May weather, which they were able to enjoy once they had exited the city proper and left behind the looming buildings and their shadows. Jack had volunteered to take the first shift driving.

Anna had arranged for a few extra days off and called ahead to check with her folks. If all went well, the couple would be arriving at Anna's parent's place by early evening. Tentative plans were to spend the night there, have a little birthday party for Anna the next day, then drive out to the camp the family owned for some relaxing private time, just her and Jack.

Everything did go well - for the first hour or so. Anna sat in the passenger seat, manning the mp3 player hooked up to her sound system. She hummed and bobbed her head, one hand thrust out her open window, fingers splayed in the rushing morning air. From time to time they glanced over at each other, Anna smiling an infectious smile or blowing a kiss.

And then something had gone wrong. Jack had either taken the wrong lane at a fork, or missed an exit or... Something. The road signs weren't right. He soon developed a suspicion that he was traveling in the wrong direction altogether. Shortly, he turned the music down.

"Hey, check the directions on that app again."

Anna dug out her phone and tapped away.

"Mmkay. This is... Um. Shouldn't we be on the interstate again?"

"Probably." Jack agreed. "Does this look like the interstate to you?"

"Looks like just some highway. And... Huh. A mom and pop joint. Don't see that much anymore. Definitely not on the interstate." Anna joked as they passed a convenience store with a little deli inside. The sign over the entrance read 'Fallon's Market.'

"Uh huh." Jack sighed. "I'm just gonna pull off next place I can turn around. Backtrack. Whatever I missed, it couldn't've been that far back. Thanks for the help, there, navigator."

"See? Told you we should have used that turn by turn voice directions thing."

"Yes, dear." Jack droned after a moment's pause.

Anna cuffed him lightly alongside the arm.

"Don't do that. You make me sound like a nagging wife."

"Well, that's only half-"

"Hush. Smartass." Anna turned the music back up.

Jack took a left onto the next offshoot road they came to. Anna commented in passing that there was no street sign.

Five minutes later, she turned the music back down again. It was a narrow two land road, and they hadn't passed a single intersection, residence, business, or even a turn around. The road was flanked on either side by forest.

"Um." Anna ventured.

Jack tipped his head back and rolled it side to side.

"I know."

"Have you seen Wrong Turn?" Anna asked, affecting a casual tone.

Jack snorted.

"If we get a flat out here, I'm gonna feel bad that we didn't live up to the stereotypes about Americans owning guns." Anna continued.

"If we get a flat out here, we'll probably end up causing a bigass accident -- assuming anybody ever uses this road. There's no shoulder to push the car onto. Just a bigass ditch and then trees."

"It is all the more tragic in that they were young. But, had they lived very, very long lives, they could not have expected, nor would they have wished,

to see as much of the mad and, um... macabre as they were to see that day. " Anna quoted ominously.

"Good thing we're not in Texas, huh?" Jack observed.

"Mm. I usually think of the South, or Appalachia, when I think about the inbred hillbilly cannibal type stuff."

"Yeah, but then you have The Hills Have Eyes. That was, what, out West in the desert somewhere, right?" Jack added.

"Right. Of course, up North you've got all the nightmare fuel that King and Lovecraft have come up with. Oh, like that scene from In the Mouth of Madness, where she's driving late at night, and there's that kid on the bike, and then the road disappears."

"Yeah. Christ, I'd turn around in the road, but there are so many curves. If somebody decides to come the other way..."

Finally they came across a gated gravel drive leading off into the woods. There was just enough room for Jack to pull the car around without putting them at risk of being hit in the process. Again, assuming anybody was actually using the road.

Which question was answered when he began to pull back out. A logging truck came barreling around the bend, taking his half out of the middle. Jack reflexively stomped on the brake -- harder than he really needed to. He and Anna lurched forward against their seatbelts.

"Fuck. Sorry. You okay?" he asked, angrily eyeing the truck as it disappeared around the next bend.

Anna shrugged, rubbing a spot where her seatbelt had caught painfully.

"Better than if we hadn't stopped." she granted.

After a prolonged pause to listen for any other traffic, Jack pulled out.

"Hey, you want me to-" Anna stopped upon examining his expression. "Probably not, huh?"

They were quiet for a few seconds before Jack glanced over.

"You're actually pretty good at this relationship stuff, you know?" his tone was earnest.

Anna raised her brow.

"Uh, okay. What brought that on?"

"You... forebore."

"Alright, Shakespeare." Anna replied.

"Uh huh. We mess with each other a lot. Kind of our thing. But you held back offering to drive -- which wasn't unreasonable in and of itself - because you thought I might take it badly, given my... slightly raw mood."

"Well, I could see the little muscles at the corner of your jaw going. And I thought, it's one thing to joke about it, but it's another thing to actually say the cliché thing that doesn't help the situation. So maybe... just don't say it."

Jack nodded.

"Most people don't think about it. Then when it doesn't go over well, they get defensive, and then they get snippy, or it turns into a stupid argument..."

"Yeah. Kinda silly, too. 'Cause I know if it were me driving, and I was annoyed, I'd be, like, super pissy if you offered to drive." Anna smiled.

"Durand." Jack smiled.

Anna rolled her eyes.

"While we're on the subject, did you happen to bring the actual dead tree road atlas?" Jack asked.

"Dead what?"

"Paper." Jack clarified.

"Oh, duh." Anna stuck her tongue out before unhooking her seatbelt to lean back between their seats and dig around.

"Hello, Beautiful." Jack said conversationally.

"Talking to my ass again?" Anna asked, not stopping what she was doing.

"Yes dear."

*

It was over four months since Jack had used their early Christmas gift-giving as an excuse to give Anna a ring. There had been a few minor bumps, but all in all, their relationship had only become more solid with time. They had talked once or twice about saving up and getting a place together.

Mostly, they were happy with the way things were. Having their own places, but being close enough to see each other any time they wanted. Hosting the occasional get-together. Spending time together at one apartment or the other. Keeping busy the rest of the time with work -- Jack with his art and Anna running the bookstore.

There were developments in that area. Anna had talked Mr. Lintz into letting her start a limited online shop for Shelf Indulgence. It was extra work, but Jerry turned out to be keen on helping with it, and the store was already making almost as much from the online site as it was from in-store sales. Jack had expressed the optimistic opinion that with a little time, networking, and plugging on social media, Mr. Lintz might soon be able to keep the shop running without paying anything out of pocket.

Jack, meanwhile, had begun dabbling in animation, on top of his webcomic. He posted short clips to his youtube channel and twitter. He wasn't sure it was something he wanted to pursue seriously, but Anna was enthusiastically supportive, either way. She specifically mentioned that it would be cool to see an animated version of the comic he had drawn depicting their first meeting.

In other news, during their last visit, Nikki and Crystal had revealed that they had decided to get married. Jack and Anna were invited, of course - although the official invites wouldn't be in the mail until a date was chosen. Later, just between the two of them, Anna told Jack not to worry too much about it. She figured it would take Nikki and Crys between a week and six months to settle on a date.

*

Eventually, with Anna's help, Jack got them back on the Interstate and headed in the right direction. When she was confident they wouldn't need it for a while, Anna tossed the atlas in the back and turned her attention to a few other items she had retrieved from the back.

"Hey, you took the time to dig through my bag while I was waiting for you to get the map?" Jack asked, noticing the sketchbook and padded envelope in her lap.

"Yep."

"I mean, it was nice getting to chat with your ass, but now I feel violated." he joked.

"Pfft. We're way too honest with each other for me to buy that." Anna observed, flipping carefully through the sketchbook. "Ever think about doing art for videogames?"

"Not really."

"Some of this lineart reminds me of concept art I saw for one of those survival games."

"Something to think about." Jack allowed.

When Anna had finished looking through the sketchbook, she slipped it under the padded envelope.

"What'd you order?" she asked while tipping the envelope to slide the cotents out onto her lap.

"Hm? Oh, that's the first few volumes of a webcomic. Kill Six Billion Demons."

"That's-" Anna read the same title on the topmost comic-sized trade paperback. "Wow. That is the title."

"I had started reading it online, then found out he was getting it published. I was enjoying it anyways, and I thought it would be nice to help support a fellow webcomic creator. Have a look. You might like it. It borrows a lot of ideas from various mythologies, but the art and story are tremendously imaginative."

"Tremendously, huh?" After looking over the cover art of the three volumes, Anna opened the first, intending to scan the first few pages. When Jack eventually suggested they find someplace to stop for lunch, she was engrossed -- having almost finished the first book.

Taking the first exit that promised a place to eat, they found a borderline greasy spoon modeled in the style of an old 1950s diner. Touched by the splurging spirit of vacation, they indulged in big, juicy burgers. Of course, Anna still performed her re-allotment of french fries, much to Jack's amusement.

"Mmp, I'm paying." Anna insisted, when the check came. While they had come to think of themselves as a couple, and generally shared their finances openly with each other, they still kept their separate bank accounts. "I told you, after you went and turned your bank account inside out for our Christmas thing... Not that I'm comlaining, but I'll feel better if you let me foot most of the bill on this trip."

"I'm not gonna argue with you," Jack agreed, "Just let me know when I can help with something."

After lunch, they stopped briefly at a nearby junk shop to stretch their legs a bit before getting back on the road. Anna picked up a couple old B-tier horror flicks on VHS for the sum of one US dollar.

"Do you have a VHS player hidden in the pile of consoles at your place?" Jack asked.

"Nope. There's one at camp, though. No running water, but there is electricity. Fridge, microwave, lights... old box TV and, yes, a VCR."

"Priorities, huh?" Jack joked, "You wanna stop somewhere and pick up some frozen pizza, too?"

"Maybe later."

They made one more stop, to gas up, before leaving the town. When Anna came out after paying, Jack was leaning on the car. He held the keys out and jiggled them.

"Take a turn driving?" he asked.

"Tired already?"

"Not bad," Jack shrugged, "Thought I could do a little reading. Maybe sketch up some ideas for Sonder."

So Anna accepted the keys and took up driving. It wasn't until a good twenty minutes later, when they had gotten back onto the interstate and didn't have to worry about traffic lights or sharp turns, that Jack's ulterior motive was revealed.

"You're a decent driver." Jack observed.

"Uh, thanks?"

"Can you handle distractions?"

"Like what?" Anna glanced over, eyebrow arched.

"Since you ask..." Jack leaned over to reach a hand into her lap.

Anna's head nodded up and down as she looked back and forth between the road ahead and Jack's hand popping the button on her jeans. Finally she glanced over at Jack again, lips parted in an uncertain smile.

"Are you-?"

"Watch the road." Jack smiled, gradually working her zipper down, careful not to bump her arm.

Steering one-handed, Anna moved her right arm back out of his way.

"What if I can't drive while distracted?" she asked as Jack worked his hand beneath her underwear.

"Well," Jack worked her soft, flaccid cock and balls out over her underwear, "If not, I guess you better find somewhere to pull over."

"Oh really. It's like that?"

Jack undid his seatbelt and bent, lowering his head into her lap.

"Uh, what about consent?" Anna demanded, almost laughing as she said it.

Jack paused, one hand holding her slowly swelling prick just inches from his face.

"I guess if you said 'no'... I would stop." he managed to sound more or less serious despite smiling.

Anna pouted, again glancing from the road to the situation in her lap and back again.

"Who's a little bit evil now?" she chided.

"Heh... That didn't sound like 'no.'" he observed before dragging his tongue over her balls.

"Mmph," Anna took a deep breath, then sighed as Jack's tongue slid up the underside of her cock. "Okay, just... Don't get carried away and do anything crazy. I am driving."

"Standard road head. Nothing crazy. Just slow and steady. Gotcha." Jack acknowledged.

Anna rolled her eyes, wondering if he was going to pull that slow, torturous edging approach he sometimes used. It was always pretty amazing, but she wasn't sure how well she'd handle driving with such a potent distraction.

Mostly it was other cars that moved around them, passing or being passed. If their drivers or passengers happened to look over, they wouldn't be able to see Jack -- just Anna trying to keep a straight face. She passed a slow moving bus at one point, though. There was a thrill at the idea of being seen with Jack's head bobbing in her lap. Some stranger's eyes on her while she moaned quietly at the pleasure and tried to maintain her composure.

She couldn't bring herself to look up, though -- in case somebody's kid or elderly grandmother were at a window peering down at her.

Her attempts to keep her attention on the road and not lose herself to the pleasure had the usual paradoxical effect of seeming to increase the pleasure. Between that and the brief exhibitionist thrill with the bus, even Jack's slow and steady treatment didn't hold her back for long.

"Huh, huh, mmp... Jack..." she gasped, tapping his shoulder urgently.

Jack gave a wordless, vibrating, 'mmhmm.' He continued to suck, but only just past her head, stroking the rest of her length ever more rapidly with one hand.

"Mmph! Fuck!" Anna's hand clamped down on his shoulder as she twitched in her seat, filling Jack's mouth with spurt after spurt of hot seed.

Jack swallowed, continuing to stroke until Anna finally tapped his shoulder again.

"Okay. Easy." she breathed.

Jack lingered, making sure she was done before withdrawing. He sat back up, wiping his mouth and chin.

"Um." he glanced around. "The speed limit's 70 here, right?"

"Wh- Oh, shit."

She had done an admirable job of driving while subjected to extreme distraction. Except that she had unwittingly slowed to about 50 miles per hour. Everybody else on the road was zipping by them. Stepping on the accelerator, she was just thankful nobody had laid on their horn. Probably would've put a damper on her enjoyment of Jack's attentions.

Jack chuckled and fished a pack of gum out of a pocket.

"Well, we're not winning any races, but we're still alive. Not bad, Sexy."

"Mm, well, it was my first time -- while driving." Anna replied. "Kind of exciting. And good. Only down side is now I gotta drive, so I can't lay around all dopey or doze off like I usually do."

"Life is full of pain and disappointment." Jack opined, still smiling.

Anna gave him a look, then shrugged a smiled.

"Well, as long as you're around..." she trailed off, then added, "To blow me."

Jack snorted.

"It's good to be appreciated." he joked, laying a hand on her thigh and giving it a squeeze.

Some minutes later, Anna flicked on the turn signal and took an exit.

"Bathroom break." she announced.

Jack glanced up from the second volume of Kill Six Billion Demons, nodded, and went back to reading.

"By the way," Anna continued, "Have you heard from your family lately?"

Jack looked up, but remained silent for a moment.

"Is that your latest way of brining up meeting my parents without bringing up meeting my parents? Or were you just curious?"

"Both?"

Jack thought for a second.

"Oh. Hmm. My mom called last week to ask about that storm that ended up not even hitting us. She has some kind of weird obsession with natural disasters. Every time bad weather hits, she calls -- like she thinks I'm gonna be floating on a wardrobe like Leo from Titanic, but also answer my phone."

"Aw. She worries about her little boy."

"I really think it's more that she's hoping for some vicarious excitement. Anyway, about the other reason you asked. If we can set it aside for this trip, I'll call them and ask them about visiting when we get back."

"Really?" Anna asked as she pulled into a gas station parking lot.

"I promise." Jack assured her with just a touch of exasperation.

*

Breckenhurst, where Anna's parents lived, was neither a particularly small, nor particularly large town. But it definitely wasn't a big city. And their property, some six and a half acres, was situated well away from the center of town. Forest skirted one side of the property. The nearest neighbor was a good eighty meters up the road.

The house, a two story of vaguely Victorian style, stood at the end of a thirty foot gravel drive. It didn't suggest wealth so much as a certain level of comfort -- which thought made Jack smile, remembering Anna's penchant for 'maximum comfort.' More than anything it reminded him of the homes you saw on some of the family friendly sitcoms of the 80s and 90s.

Jack had expected to be a little anxious, but while getting out of the car and pulling baggage out of the back seat, there was something else. A vague uneasy feeling, which it would take him some time to figure out. In the meantime, he and Anna trundled their suitcases up the front steps onto a partially enclosed front deck.

"Shit. I should've shaved." Jack blurted at the last moment.

"Relax. It's fine." Anna smiled at his uncharacteristic nerves.

Mr. and Mrs. Durand (Jack's mind suddenly refused to recall if he had ever heard their actual names.) opened the front door and showered the two in greetings.

"So, this is Jack." Anna gave a bare bones introduction once they had all moved into the house. "Jack, parents."

"An-na." Mrs. Durand used the tone universally understood to mean 'at least pretend to care about manners and etiquette while we're making a first impression.'

"Marco." (Jack stamped on a sudden idiot urge to say 'Polo.') "It's good to meet you, Jack." Anna's father extended a hand to shake.

"Thanks. You too." Jack returned the firm handshake.

Aside form the childhood party game, his mind normally associated the name Marco with the notion of suave Italian men or cologne ads. Mr. Durand was of similar build to Jack, with grey mustache, receeding hairline, and a set to his face that naturally made him look very serious. Thankfully, his mild tone, warm intelligent eyes, and propensity for quick but genuine smiles soon allayed any concerns Jack might have had about getting along with the man.