Quaranteam: Remote Work Ch. 05

The Quaranteam Universe is the creation of CorruptingPower, used with permission. Also a big welcome to The Licentious Laureate, who joined the QT Extended Universe with Team Tim.

And thank you to Monty Python for one of my wisecracks. You'll know it when you see it.

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Chapter 5: Pre-Law

6 August 2020

The sun rose, like it always did, and Adam awoke with it. The last week had been a special kind of hell to him, constant death and misery haunted the television and his emails. Half of his emails had been returned by parents or guardians with news of the passing of another student. Another of his unruly kids, who he loved like the ones he never had himself. One had responded with good news of survival, another had turned up to his tutoring appointment apparently unaware that anything was wrong. The rest were ominously still hanging, more than a week later. Those messages haunted the dark corners of his mind and whispered to him in the quiet moments of the night.

The one real light, out of everything, was presently curled up in his arms, spooning comfortably with him. Shannon had mostly broken out of her own funk, facing the days with a determination that the future would solve itself. Whenever she sensed that he was starting to get haunted by his own doubts, she'd do or say something to get him to smile again. Whether that would be to show him an art piece, laugh about antics in her chat streams, shove a VR set on his face to get him to blow off steam, or just jump him for a quick bout of intense sex wherever in the apartment they happened to be. He was pretty sure she did that last bit for herself, too.

Which, of course, brought him to his present complication in the waking up process. The placement of three particular bits of himself. One arm was trapped under her head. Though difficult to dislodge, that was the easy part. His other hand was holding her breast like it was attached by a magnet. And what a breast it was! Shannon's growth hadn't slowed down at all, blowing past double-D a couple of days prior on the way towards bras that were harder to find online. They rode high and proud, with barely enough sag to prove their reality along with more than enough jiggle and bounce to make Adam forget what he was doing when he saw them free. Their paradoxical softness seemed to almost be sucking his hand in, and he freely acknowledged them to be the most comfortable thing those hands had ever experienced. The problem with this was twofold. The first was that they were still ridiculously sensitive, meaning that any little motion was likely to wake her unless she was deeply asleep. The other was the position of his third trapped body part, his rapidly-rising morning wood directly between her rather nice butt cheeks.

The above wouldn't be an issue, really, except that she still found thinking about them to be painful, and attention on them to be unpleasant. Given just exactly how magnetic they were to his eyes and hands, this made life difficult.

Adam managed to gently disentangle himself from her to get coffee and breakfast started, even if he was painfully erect for the first part of the process until his body remembered Shannon wasn't riding him. It may have been a Monday, but he took it slowly. His morning was open. None of the students he was scheduled to tutor for the next four hours were among the ones who responded to him.

Coffee brewing, eggs cracked, bacon sizzling. Brain... far away. Yet another looming threat was if he'd even have a job. The school year was due to start on the 24th, a mere eighteen days away. His lesson plans were prepared, he knew the subjects that the students would be tested on... he just didn't know if there would be anyone left to come to class. The smells drew Shannon out of her slumber, though, and she walked in wearing exactly what she had on in bed. Nothing.

And wearing it well, it must be added.

She was comfortable around him, and had long since decided that any time she didn't have a reason to be wearing clothing, it was better for him to be able to look and see if anything was wrong. This in turn meant that he could see, day by day, as her scars finished peeling off and the spare fat from around her body burned off (or, rather, migrated towards her boobs). The muscle under it was just fine, too. It seemed like being around him was making her as happy as it was making him, the smile Shannon wore when she wasn't stuck in her own head was a soft and bright thing. She was even standing straighter now.

And, of course, the added bounce and jiggle of her chest couldn't be ignored. Adam almost burned the bacon in his distraction, but rescued it barely in time. He decided to make those particular strips his and put Shannon's on afterwards.

Shannon, unfortunately, noticed. She didn't say anything out loud, but her expression said it all. As she got to her breakfast, her shoulders hunched slightly, the smile fading. Her boobs, oblivious to her mood, still jiggled with the motion. Breakfast was good, though, which did improve the mood even if there wasn't quite as much conversation this morning. With a yawn, she refilled her coffee mug (the one she'd brought, with the purple paw print on it) and shuffled over to the living room to set up her laptop and tablet for art. Still nude, it should be noted, her camera off for this one.

After she left the room, Adam could take a few breaths. No matter if she had noticed him noticing her or not, he really had been trying to be polite. This had required him to not refill his coffee earlier, since his own boxers did absolutely nothing to conceal the rock-hard erection Shannon's presence inspired, which would have been approximately at her eye level and two feet from her face had he stood earlier. While he couldn't really conceal certain reactions to her body, he could at least try not to literally shove it in her face. He didn't have anyone to tutor this morning, so he could do dishes instead.

They didn't take long. His spare time had been piling up a bit, so it wasn't like he was behind on them. Even (or especially) with the selection of dedicated gadgets that had come out of Shannon's boxes a few days prior. He'd been doubtful, but the first time she'd emptied four seemingly-random cans into her slow cooker and they'd enjoyed frankly incredible chili eight hours later had made him a believer. A quiet breath, a second, and he heard her from the living room. It sounded like she'd gotten started.

He stepped out, dark thoughts banished by her voice picking up on chatter. Shannon seemed to be having fun, which he personally valued highly. She deserved to be happy. "Hey, everyone! Your Purple Paw Princess is back for a surprise stream! Been a bit under the weather this last week, so I got a lot of catching up to do... oh, hey, DoodleFox! Caught me quick, huh? Oh, yeah, that's right, I was gonna do one of our OCs together, I'll start with the sketch on that today..."

Adam strolled over to look at her... and, truth be told, at her screen. His artistic skill never got far beyond kindergarten cut and paste. Enough to make dividers for folders and visual aids for students, not too terribly much more. The idea of taking a pen (or something like it) and conjuring a character from nothing was akin to black magic from where he sat. Shannon herself had put on one of the few things left that fit her, in this case a tank top that had been loose last week but which currently was struggling to contain her new assets. It was probably a Just In Case measure for if her camera started showing her instead of tying her to that avatar on screen. He found he didn't mind much.

She looked over her shoulder at him, turned to click something onscreen, then looked back. "Hey there. I'm muted, you can talk."

"Just wanted to watch you. Haven't gotten to do that very much."

Shannon's smile slowly came back, then, rising warmly like the sun outside. "That's... okay, I like that idea. Need to come up with something to call you. Do you have a handle?"

"A handle on what?"

"So no, got it. Mind being an owl?"

"You know what... why not?"

"Yay! Give me ten minutes to doodle this!" Shannon turned back to the screen and clicked a few things. "Hey, everyone! Sorry if the avatar jumps around a bit, my partner is here watching and the camera might pick him up. Can you say hi to the audience?"

"Uh... hi?"

"Going to take ten minutes at the start to give him an OC of his very own, I need all your help to decide a name for him!" As she sketched out what looked like a snowy owl in a tweed vest with glasses, the chat room to the side alternated between random puns for names and saying hello to him. The room eventually settled on "OwlSoftie," at which point the feather floof factor increased by an order of magnitude. In Adam's opinion, he looked like a tweed feather pillow, but if it gave her a smile it was worth it.

As she saved that and began to sketch her next piece, he noticed one name that sent up question marks in his head. Gesturing at her to mute the stream, he asked "who the heck calls themselves Marshall Law? Seems a bit scary."

"Oh, him? He's cool, that's the Aussie I told you about who recommended the VR set. He commissions me enough that he's the reason I could afford it, too."

"Still, what's up with the name? And doesn't he mean 'Martial'?"

"Nah, I think he just likes fighting games. There's one with a really stereotypical martial artist comedy relief character who has that name exactly. Okay, turning the mic back on." She was looking back at the screen again. "Hey, time for yours, DoodleFox! Let me get it started..." Her hands drew practiced lines, laying down the sketched structure of a very different piece of art. Adam easily recognized the vivacious humanoid cat in purple. In red-orange, though, was a more normal-looking fox. One who seemed to be rather enjoying herself, given the blush Shannon put on her, the pencil behind its ear, and the fact that it was being hugged directly into the valley of her cleavage.

Adam was rather jealous, which was saying something given he'd had sex with the real Shannon some eighteen hours prior.

Then again, he noticed something else about the drawing. The Princess character model was one that was familiar to him, it was on her screen already and he saw her used for all kinds of examples, but this one was a bit different. Specifically in the chest. Shannon was drawing her personal avatar with SIGNIFICANTLY larger... tracts of land, so to speak. The fox being hugged between those veritable mountains of pillowy flesh must be the luckiest and most comfortable entity in the world, though he did not envy the amount of effort the fox must need to breathe down in there nor the Princess's back muscles. Adam wasn't the only one to notice, with Shannon's chat room going nuts with laughter and memes. Eventually, someone did something that created a sound effect, which led Shannon to look up at the commotion in chat.

Adam got to see her blush visibly, even with her darker skin, and rapidly fix it. The chat room was, understandably, split on this matter. DoodleFox herself ended up (in small font, shyly) asking Shannon to keep the first version. Much to the riotous laughter of the chat room, including some kind of "bonk" sound effect that played repeatedly. As Shannon blushed and got her group under control, Adam got up to stretch. The morning had been a nice diversion, but one of his students would be on for tutoring shortly and he would need to be there for her. With a sandwich in hand, given how late he'd let himself be distracted.

Athena made it to the session, but they did not get much done. Her tear-streaked face clearly showed her own grief, one that easily matched Adam's own. He might have lost his students. She had lost every friend she had. Along with her father, who had realized he was infected and committed suicide rather than risk bringing it home to his family or letting himself rot away.

They cried together, miles apart. The intricacies of the history behind the Fifth Amendment could wait. She was still here to learn them. That was what was most important. He could be there for her, at least. Unlike Leo, who did not show up for his own lesson an hour later. Shannon came in and found him there, crying, some time later. Not knowing another way, she gave herself to him, comforting him with her body as he let the feelings flow. The serum might have compelled her orgasm, but the fact that she could see him calm after letting himself cum into her was more than enough. He deserved to be happy.

The next two days were repetitions of this exhausting emotional rollercoaster. Wake up, eat, awkwardly try and fail to avoid the ever-increasing breasts. Work a bit, take care of the apartment, watch as the boobs on her art slowly expanded with Shannon's chest. More pain and grief every time he exposed himself to the outside world, but a solemn resolution to keep doing it. Make love, fall asleep in each other's arms. Sleep like the dead, awaken to repeat the process.

It was the morning of the 8th when Adam noticed something. Specifically, the smell of the rather abused bedsheets. Only so much an open window can do to air THAT out. This was paired with a laundry basket that was getting heavier than was advisable. That meant it was time to do the washing. Which... was complicated by the fact that he didn't have a washing machine in the tiny apartment. Much less one that could handle bedsheets and a quilt. That meant going to the building's laundry room downstairs. That, in turn, meant leaving the apartment.

"Um. Adam, do we... do we have to do this? We could just not, right?" Shannon's breathing was coming much faster than could be easily accounted for. Even counting hauling the laundry bags the dozen or so feet to the door.

"We kind of do. It's kind of a prerequisite for bedroom sex and I just put the last clean sheet we have on the bed." Adam was not comfortable in the August heat, in as much body covering as he could manage. Glasses swapped for prescription swim goggles to better protect his eyes, the best cloth mask he could manage over his mouth and nose. Long sleeve shirt, tucked into long pants that tucked into boots, hands gloved. "No sense hiding from DuoHalo only to let mold spores kill us."

"I know, I just... don't like being out there, okay? Even when my clothes fit." Her tank tops were looking much less comfy and much more pornographic these days, so she was borrowing some of Adam's clothing to cover up. Her own shirts now fit like a coat of paint at best, and the ones that used to be form fitting now couldn't be pulled over her still-swelling breasts. Her skin was almost entirely covered, though, and she had a mask on as well.

"I get it, Shannon, but it's just going downstairs. If you don't want to, I can do this by myself, but I'd really rather you be there."

She shook her head. "No. You still aren't healed, AJ. I don't think you should do all this by yourself."

"Then the only thing left is to go." Each took up a laundry bag, Shannon also slinging the folded quilt over her shoulder. Out the door, into the noticeably less stale air. Up the hallway and to the right were the stairs. Two flights down and across the lobby was the laundry room. That room was blessedly empty, and the two rapidly got the machines tumbling with what they'd brought down. Almost half of the washing machines in the room still worked, but that was more than enough for two laundry bags plus a quilt.

The rumbling machines almost managed to mask the approach of a larger woman. Nearly six feet tall and built broad, with long brown hair streaked liberally in gray. Unlike the two people in front of her, she was neither masked nor dressed to protect her skin. Her voice when she spoke was rough and gravelly, a smoker or throat injury survivor. "Adam! Haven't seen you in a while. Got your rent deposit." Even over the machines, Shannon's surprised yelp could be heard from outside the room. The lady grinned. "And you've got a lady friend for once? Is that why I ain't seen you?"

"Mrs. Jäger, I have to say it's good to see you, too." He pronounced the name yay-ger, which was probably close enough to correct. "This is Shannon, and you could say that. Shannon, Mrs. Jäger is the landlord here. She owns the building and makes sure stuff keeps working."

"Looks like quite a catch, too. Good, you needed that." Shannon blushed harder than when she had been fixing her drawing.

Adam smiled. "Ma'am, quick question. Do you keep the security camera footage around? You know I got burglarized about a month back. Went to the hospital not long after that, almost didn't make it through a DuoHalo infection." The lady snorted but let him continue. "So now here we are. Mind if I check it out while the clothes are in the wash?"

"You know what? Sure. Been too quiet around here lately anyway, the kids aren't playing in the halls anymore. Heck, even Gus has been quiet, and Chad moved out two days ago." She turned to walk towards the nearby office, Adam followed with Shannon close behind.

"Chad? Didn't think he would do anything like that."

"Yeah, said he got recruited by some big-shot place up in Seattle. Didn't know he had it in him, paid his current lease up and just left! I couldn't believe it." Mrs. Jäger unlocked her office and went to a filing cabinet to one side. "You got lucky, Adam. I usually only keep these for a couple of weeks, but since it's part of a police report I have to preserve this bunch until they tell me they're done." Reaching in, she pulled out a stack of DVDs and walked one over to her computer. It took a while to boot up and get the player running, long enough that Adam and Shannon went to switch the laundry out to the dryers.

The video was grainy, there was no sound. Pretty much as expected for a "good enough" security system. The upstairs hallway was empty, the date showing the evening of the 20th of June. A rather fateful Saturday, as it would turn out. There was a man suddenly there, walking from the opposite end of the hallway from the stairway they took. Probably came up the emergency escape. He was covered up and in a ski mask, pausing to listen at each door. There were a couple that he immediately moved on from, doors Adam recognized as having fairly active families inside. At one, he paused, taking out lockpicks and gaining entry. The man emerged a couple of minutes later, continuing up the hallway. The next door he stopped at was Adam's.

He paused there again to listen. In his memories, Adam remembered that moment. He was not a naturally noisy man, and as the burglar began to pick his lock the memory of a familiar book in his lap at his desk floated across Adam's brain. The burglar got past the lock on the doorknob, finding that Adam both deadbolted and chain locked his front door. The man looked up and down the hall, looked at the wall next to the doorknob, and decided something. Backing up two paces, he delivered a strong kick to the door, right by the knob. A second, and the cheap materials gave way to let him in. There was a delay, and the man came back out, running for the fire escape he came in by. Apparently not aware there was one at Adam's window.

"Nothing after that until the police arrived to ask you stuff. When the repair crew arrived to fix the door a week and a half later, they found you unconscious and called an ambulance."

Adam had his eyes closed as he heard that. More people exposed, more lives that were likely lost. "Ma'am, mind giving me the name of the company? I'd... like to follow up. Say thank you. They probably need it."

The landlord shrugged. "Suit yourself, their card's the one on top of that stack if you want to take a picture or something."

That was the work of a few seconds. What ended up taking longer was loading the now-dry clothing up into the now-clean laundry bags, then slowly and painfully making their way back up the stairs. A bag of laundry might not exactly weigh a ton, but Adam was not exactly feeling like an Olympic power lifter at the moment. It took less time than when he climbed these same stairs after being dropped off from his hospital stay, even with the added weight, but that wasn't exactly encouraging. In all, both were relieved when they got back to Adam's apartment and slammed the door behind them.