Jack chugged down half the bottle before lowering it again. Instead of capping it he tipped it in unspoken offer to Anna, who eyed it for a moment before shrugging and taking it.

“Good thinking on the prep work.” Jack commented, referencing the items Anna had gathered and set out on the coffee table before they started getting busy.

“Mm,” she acknowledged when she had finished draining the bottle, “preparation is key.”

“So... gaming, or did you wanna, like, bask in the afterglow?” Jack asked.

“Mmm, gaming, but before that I'm gonna go clean up a little. And you,” she gave him a meaningful once over, “Probably should too. But give me about ten minutes before you come back.”

“Sure thing B-” his breath caught as Anna rose on her knees, relinquishing his now softening but still quite sensitive cock. “Heh, sure thing Beautiful.”

Anna stood to go, then paused, giving him the sort of look he would normally translate to mean 'silly boy, what would you do without me.' Water bottle in one hand, she bent and dabbed at the side of his face with the damp cloth in her other hand.

“I missed a little me on you there.” she observed, then with a saucy smile gestured at his lap, “I'll let you deal with the rest of that.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” he watched her go.

While he gave her some time, he studied the mess in his lap.

“The shape these are in, I'll have to borrow your skirt to go get the shit from my place.” He quietly joked to the empty room.

Thinking of the skirt reminded him of the moment he had first seen her enter the sandwich shop wearing it. Which reminded him of the pictures he took. He leaned forward to grab a towel from the coffee table and make sure his hands weren't too sticky before reaching in a pocket to retrieve his phone.

In the first pic she was smiling, her eyes cutting to one side. For several seconds he sat, admiring her with a faint smile of his own before swiping. The next pic caught her eyes rolled upward, her cheeks beginning to color. She stood under the lights of the sandwich shop, in almost-sharp focus, against the blurred interior of the shop. Like a candid outtake shot from a staged fashion photo shoot.

Which reminded him about what she'd said about dating. About her looks and how they're a mixed blessing. He supposed, had he seen her on the street instead of learning about her tattoos and joking, he probably would've assumed she was just another beautiful, sexy, and vapid woman. Not exactly fair, but experience and stereotypes do leave an impression.

Jack smirked, partly at himself and partly at another thought. During their time out for sandwiches, probably at least one guy had wondered what a chick like Anna was doing with a guy like Jack. So... They were subverting all kinds of stereotypes, he half-jokingly thought.

Coming back from his musings, he swiped again. She had taken her jacket off in the next shot and stood with hands on hips, patented arched eyebrow in full effect. Heh. That might be a good one to print. He could put it on the corner of the table where he kept his art tablet.

He glanced up at the sound of the toilet being flushed back in the bathroom. He went ahead and swiped to the last pic before going back. It was almost the same picture, except for the tip of Anna's tongue protruding from the hint of a smile. Cute. Jack wondered in passing if she would stand still for more pics if he said he wanted to draw her. Filing that away in the same storage as his vague ideas for future practical jokes, he put the phone to sleep and slid it onto the coffee table.

Standing, he glanced down at the damp spots all over his lap.

“Hmp.”

Deciding to worry about dealing with that later, he stripped off his pants and boxers. Wadding them up in such a way that they wouldn't get fluids on anything, he left them and took a towel from the table. He started to wrap the towel around himself, then stopped. Better to keep it clean, then use it to dry off after.

As he moved back to the rear of the room and found a bedroom door ahead, closet on his left, and the bathroom door, ajar, to his right, he realized that her apartment was essentially a flipped version of his own. In layout, at least. He paused long enough to glance in through her open bedroom door. Light from the living room cast a strip of visibility into the room, revealing pale blue carpet leading back to a wooden trunk which sat at the foot of a bed.

Naturally he was curious, but decided he would rather she invite him before he went snooping. Easing the bathroom door open and sticking his head in, he found that, like the apartment as a whole, it was essentially a flipped version of his own. Sink straight ahead – the margins of counter around it populated with bottles of lotion and liquid soap, a cup holding toothpaste and toothbrush, and a zippered bag which Jack assumed held makeup. Toilet to the left of the sink. And past the toilet, the shower – which took up a healthy portion of the room.

There was a thick gray shag rug on the floor alongside the shower, towel rings on the wall, and a set of shelves in the other corner, but Jack's attention was drawn to the feminine figure behind the semi-translucent shower curtain. Stepping inside, he set his towel on the back of the toilet and eased the door closed behind him.

“Hello?” he spoke up, then stealthily stepped over next to where the curtain met the wall near the faucet and shower head. The movement behind the curtain ceased. Anna twitched the curtain aside enough to lean out, only to find Jack standing there. She first blinked water from her eyes, then blinked in surprise at Jack's unexpected closeness.

“Uh? Hey... I was starting to think you fell asleep.” she looked him up and down before adding; “Naked Nerd.”

“Pants were kinda drippy, if you remember.”

“Uh huh.” She dragged the curtain open. “Well, get in while the water's still hot, dummy.”

Jack obliged. Since she stood at the front, just below the shower head, he stepped in further back. Not that it had bothered him, but what with being naked, he had begun to notice how cool it was. The hot water felt nice. Getting his hands wet, he saw to washing off any lingering residues harbored there, while enjoying the sight of Anna's glistening body. There were anti-slip decals of some sort under his feet, but he was much too preoccupied to have a look.

While he watched the way the water ran from Anna's hair over her breasts and down her midsection to ripple and course down her thighs or sluice between to dribble from her foreskin, she took a bottle from a little alcove and squirted a glob of emerald colored pearlescence into her palm. She replaced the bottle and moved closer to Jack, squishing the gel between her hands.

“You're not allergic to bath stuff, right?” she asked, pausing and looking up at him.

“Nope. Lucky about that too, so far. No allergies that I know of.”

“Good.”

She pressed her slippery palms to his midriff, causing a little splap sound.

“You don't mind if I clean you up?” she asked, glancing up again to give him a smile.

Having just shifted his arms out to his sides uncertainly, he smiled back and shrugged.

“As long as you're enjoying yourself,” he chuckled, “No, I don't mind.”

“Mm.”

She slid lather up over his chest to his shoulders, then trailed her hands back down to his abs. Then down, between his legs, she was slow, gentle, and thorough. Jack watched her, largely her soaked raven hair and shoulders from his vantage, while she grabbed another squirt of body wash.

Under other circumstances this would be a perfect lead-in to sex, but they had just done that, and anyway, there was something about her manner just now. It wasn't lust he was feeling. Mostly he kind of wanted to put his arms around her and hold her.

“You like it?” she asked, surprising him.

“Huh?”

“The body wash,” she explained, giving him a look, “You were just sniffing.”

He hadn't really realized he was doing it, but the scent of the stuff she was using had made him curious on some barely conscious level.

“Uh, yeah, it's okay. I was more curious – I don't think I've ever smelled... whatever that is. Before.”

“Oh. Yeah, I order it special. It's got bergamot in it. That's what you're smelling.” Anna enthused while rubbing her hands together to form more lather.

“Berga- what now?”

“Bergamot.” Anna reiterated. “They used to use it in perfumes and stuff a lot. It actually comes from the rind of some certain type of orange or something.”

Looking her in the face, intently, he slowly developed a big smile.

“What?” she asked, squinting as if he were behaving suspiciously.

“I'm just beginning to wonder why I'm the one being called Nerd all the time.”

“Aw.” Anna pressed herself to him, reaching around to lather his back, “That's a term of endearment now.”

“Oh, is it?” he enjoyed the playful small talk, while also enjoying the closeness.

“Mmhmm. Obviously I'm a nerd too. You've seen my tattoos. And about the scent – I looked all that stuff up.”

While she spoke, she withdrew her arms and reached up to gently knead his collar area, shoulders, and the back of his neck.

“Like, I liked the smell of this stuff, and like you said – it's not quite like anything else,” she carried on, “so I checked the ingredients and looked them up. Then it was like, a rabbit hole, you know? I do that. Get curious about stuff, then spend hours looking it up online and reading all about it – even if it's mostly pointless information.”

“Mmm.”

Still listening, Jack slid his arms around her, gradually turning it into a gentle hug. Anna became still.

“Oh.” she said lamely, leaning back in his embrace to see his face.

“Um, it's not-” he began.

“Shh. Here, your arms are longer.” Anna interrupted.

She withdrew her arms to thread them under his and around his back again. Returning his embrace, she settled her face against his neck. As they both became still and slowly relaxed against each other, Anna was reminded of the moment they had briefly shared at the sandwich shop.

“This is okay.” she said quietly.

They stood, silent and mostly motionless, for a time. With the hot water only hitting his front, and largely blocked by Anna's body at that, the water beaded on Jack's back began to cool. He hardly noticed.

Eventually, he gave Anna a gentle squeeze.

“Hmm.” she murmured indistinctly and nuzzled against him before shifting to look up at him.

“Sorry about interrupting, Beautiful.” He had that serious tone he only occasionally got.

Anna swallowed, her expression momentarily hard to read.

“'S okay,” she said, “That was kinda nice.”

She rose on her toes for a quick kiss.

“Now let's rinse off before the water gets cold.”

She half turned as Jack released her from his arms, smiling when he copped a feel of her ass. She turned her face up under the spray for a moment, then stepped under the showerhead and out of the way. She wrung her hair out a bit before leaning out of the shower and taking a towel from where it hung on the opposite wall. Jack watched, mildly impressed, while she bent over and deftly worked the seeming magic of coiling her ebon locks in the towel so that it held itself together when she stood and let go.

While she stepped out and took up a second towel with which to dry herself, Jack checked that he had rinsed away the interestingly scented body wash before joining her. Anna began to retrieve a towel for him, but stopped when he grabbed the one he had left on the back of the toilet. When Anna had wrapped the second towel around herself, she moved to the sink. After dribbling mouthwash into her mouth, she held the bottle out to Jack and grunted.

Before leaving the bathroom Anna turned in the doorway and regarded Jack.

“Hmm. Okay. I'm gonna get dressed. Gimme your keys and I'll got get you some clean clothes. Aaand toothbrush. Anything else you need?”

Jack blinked.

“Um...” he considered arguing, but realized he had neither a good argument, nor a particular reason to argue.

“No, I guess that's about it. My keys are in my pants.”

“Cool. I'll only be a minute. If you're hungry or thirsty help yourself to whatever's in the fridge. Although... I can't promise much.” Anna spoke from her room while she found some clothes and dressed herself.

Jack had retrieved his keys when she emerged into the living room wearing jeans and a Nine Inch Nails tee that would have been big even on Jack.

“Nice shirt.” he commented, handing off the keys.

“Thanks. It's my pajamas. These pants are coming off when I get back.”

“Ah,” Jack plopped down on the couch, “I approve of that decision.”

“Uh huh. Be right back.”

Down the hall, in Jack's apartment, Anna felt around for a light switch. When she could see, she was mildly surprised to find a cardboard box at her feet. Until she recognized the note taped to the top. With a snort of amusement, she lifted the box and carried it back to Jack's bedroom with her.

Finding the light switch in there, she paused to have a look at the room before going to Jack's desk. She took the top square from a handy sticky note pad and a rather nice mechanical pencil. After replacing the old note on the box with a new one, she pulled back the blanket, set the box down, and cast the blanket over it.

Satisfied with that bit of work, she went over to a utilitarian dresser that looked like it could have come from IKEA. Checking all the drawers on principle, she pulled a big white tee with the Patriots logo on the front, a pair of plaid boxers and a pair of grey sweatpants – just to cover the bases.

Setting the clothes on the corner of Jack's bed, she scoped out the bathroom next. To her surprise, it wasn't so much uncluttered as it was barren. There was a hand sanitizer dispenser on the sink, but that was it. Peeking behind the shower curtain she noted two bottles – Head and Shoulders and a generic body wash.

“Okay.” she muttered.

Checking the medicine cabinet helped little. He had a sparse array of pain killers, a mini bottle of Pepto, tweezers and nail clippers. And one old, yellowed band aid. Yeah, he was a single guy all right.

Finally she checked the two narrow drawers under the sink. The first contained a zippered leather shaving kit, which she pulled out and unzipped. Ah ha. Toothbrush, paste, deodorant, razor, a little plastic box of Q-tips... She momentarily wondered if this was a normal thing amongst men. She had previously just sort of assumed that everyone left their shit cluttered on the sink and/or around the tub or whatever.

Re-zipping the bag she went back to retrieve the clothes from his bed. Having a thought, she set the bag on the stack of clothes, then set both on top of one of his pillows. Not that he had asked for it, but Anna always felt better having a familiar pillow to sleep on, so maybe he would too.

Meanwhile, back in Anna's apartment, Jack rose and padded over into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, more out of curiosity than hunger or thirst. His eyebrows rose. Well, what was there seemed fresh and healthy. Unfortunately what was there included a nearly empty half gallon of milk, a pouch of coffee, two yogurt cups, an apple, a tomato, and a few condiments. And a box of baking soda. He wondered how many meals she ate out.

Upon opening the freezer section, he reconsidered. Either she had a definite taste for it, or everyone she knew had given her frozen pizza as a housewarming gift. Maybe both. Although, to be fair, there were frozen vegetables as well. And some microwavable meals. He guessed she must eat out, but make relatively good choices when she did. She was way too healthy to have much of a fast food habit.

Closing the freezer, he glanced over the spice racks on the counter over by the stove. From there he meandered back to the living room and over to the media center. He perused the variety of controllers – some corded and some wireless. One that was colored in a woodland camo pattern. One that was all different shades of blue.

And the consoles. An original Nintendo. Super Nintendo and Sega. The latest iterations of Xbox and Playstation. Given the number of consoles, she was almost certainly a bigger gamer than he was. He wondered if she only played on console, or if she also had some games on her computer.

Eventually he moved back around the glass coffee table and plopped back down on the couch. He was surprised a couple of minutes later when there came a knock at the door. Hopping up and stepping over to the door, he stopped short of opening it.

“Hello? Are you my stripper-gram?” he asked loudly.

“Open the door.” Jack was gratified to find that she sounded amused.

“Do you have change for a twenty?”

“Jack.”

Jack swept the door open and stood aside. Anna pressed her burden into his arms and closed the door behind herself.

“I'll give you change for a twenty, smartass.” she griped, still smiling, while working the button and zipper on her jeans right where she stood.

Jack noted that he had his shaving kit, clothes and even a pillow. How thoughtful. He looked up in time to watch Anna stepping out of her jeans.

“Really serious about pajama time, huh?”

“Damn right. I like being comfy. But this is as much stripping as I'm doing right now. Where's that twenty?”

Jack chuckled.

“Oh, I couldn't do that, Beautiful. I respect you way too much to-” he trailed off as Anna sauntered over to stand quite close.

“Aww. Well, fair's fair. We can just take your bottoms off, too.”

With that she gripped his towel where it was folded over at his waist and tugged it loose. Letting it drop, she stepped back to admire the effect. Jack opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Hm.” He arched an eyebrow. “I'll take that smile as a compliment.”

“Good.” She stepped close again, “Here, I'll take this. And this. You go ahead and get dressed.”

“Thanks.”

While she deposited his shaving kit in the bathroom and tossed his pillow in onto her bed, Jack pulled on the boxers and sweat pants.

“You can leave the shirt off if you want.” Anna commented, stopping to lean against the back of the couch. “I won't complain.”

Eyeing the soft pale curves of her thighs below where her shirt fell – about halfway down them – Jack left his shirt folded. Bending he snagged Anna's jeans, folded them, and set the clothes on the edge of the coffee table.

“Nice.” Anna moved to turn on the television and pick out controllers. “Game time.”

With a game loading and controllers in hand, she joined Jack on the couch.

“Okay, so first we'll see how you feel about Overwatch. I can tell you about the characters and how the matches work and stuff. After that we can see if your Halo and Call of Duty are paying off.”

“Alrighty.”

Over the course of the following hour and a half, Jack tried out about half of the available characters. The matches all involved being part of a team competing against another team, so his skill or lack thereof was only one factor in winning or losing. That said, by the time he opted to take a break, he was generally an asset to whatever team he was on. He had quickly caught on to the game mechanics and the nuanced tactics used in the different scenarios.

“Not bad, Nerd. You pick up on stuff pretty quick. Little surprised – you seem to favor Junkrat and Roadhog. I thought most guys either played the big manly ones or the sexy chicks. For the eye candy.”

“Heh.” Jack shrugged. “I definitely don't mind eye candy, but in games like this – with unique characters – I usually like playing the kinda weird, oddball ones. Especially if they have explosives.”

“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.

“I dunno why, but... I kinda felt like saying... Sorry if it's weird. Not really used to sharing, y'know?”

“No, it's fine.” Jack gave her a little squeeze, “If it was a secret, it came out somewhere between our cam chat and that time you booped me on the nose.”

Anna rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“Yeah, it's just – some people are weird about it. And honestly, I don't usually like talking about it too much anyway, but... I guess it's just nice to feel like there's someone I could talk to about it – if I wanted to. Y'know?”

“Yeah. Don't worry. I'm not gonna freak out or start looking at you different. Any time you wanna talk, I'll listen.”

Anna pouted pensively for a bit.

“It was Alphonse.” she said very quietly.

“It- Oh. Alphonse.” Jack repeated. “Sounds kinda fancy.”

“It's French.” Anna supplied.

“Ah. Like Durand.”

“Yeah. So anyway... Thanks. Now, back to story time.”

“Back to story time.” Jack murmured.

Anna languidly trailed the nails of her right hand up and down Jack's tummy while she spoke.

“So I was on the bed, all cried out, and when it started getting dark, grandpa came and sat on the edge of the bed. And I remember, I didn't really want to listen to what he was saying, but he was a natural story teller.”

“The stories he told that time were about the stars. The different constellations. But he made up goofy stuff. One of them was John Wayne, and one was Willy Wonka and some Oompa Loompas. Like that. After a while, when he was sure I was listening I guess, he said, 'You can see them now, you know. You don't even have to go outside.'”

“So of course I rolled over and looked. Partly so I could say 'nuh-uh', but... partly 'cause I thought somehow it might be true. And it was, too – sort of. Turns out, he had found a bunch of these glow in the dark stickers. Little dots and star shapes. He had put them all over the ceiling before I had gotten there.”

“Hmp.” Jack smiled.

“He got me into it, then. I forgot all about sulking. And he sat there with me while we made up more stories about the fake constellations on the ceiling... Until I fell asleep at some point. It's a nice memory. And now, looking up at something like that helps me, you know, relax and get to sleep.”

“So that's the story of why there's glow shit on my ceiling.” she concluded.

“Guess I can't make fun of it now.” Jack whispered slowly. “That's a pretty wholesome, adorable story. Your grandpa sounds like a nice guy.”

“Yeah,” Anna nuzzled her face against him a bit, “He is.”

Jack added a couple new notes alongside Practical Joke Ideas and Buy a Semi-formal Outfit in his mental file cabinet.

“Thanks for having me over, Beautiful.”

“Mm. Was fun.”

“Yeah. Goodnight Anna.”

“Goodnight, John-boy.”

Impressed that she had surprised him with that while clearly half asleep, Jack grinned in the fading glow from the ceiling.

Jack woke into a state of vague alarm. His brain didn't know what to focus on. He opened his eyes and tipped his head up. It took him a moment to process what he was seeing. There was a tray of some sort... Breakfast in bed?

But there was something else. Someone had pulled the blankets down and-

Tugging, a gentle grip, a snug warmth.

Oh.

Jack drew a shaky breath, then gave a low moan. Everything came together in his mind. The tray of food was up closer to his chest to make room for Anna – who was giving him the world's best wake up call.

There were the smells of breakfast foods wafting up from the tray, but Jack was accustomed to not eating much when he first woke up. He was not accustomed to awakening to his gorgeous, sort-of-maybe-official girlfriend taking her time – and apparently enjoying herself – sucking him off.

“Mmf... wow...” Jack managed.

After about a minute of so, Anna paused, licking her lips and raising her head to look at him over the tray.

“You were really out, and I remembered that you usually sleep in, so I went out and got some food.” she explained.

“I'm not really hungry yet, but... I'm definitely not complaining. You didn't have to-”

“Shh. I know that... Nerd. I wanted to.” She dipped her head to him a quick suck. “If you're gonna hang out at my place, surprise blowjobs are just something you're gonna have to deal with.”

His usual clever tongue at a loss, Jack managed; “Wow.”

With a pleased smile, Anna turned her attention back to the task at hand. It wasn't long, as her movements became more enthusiastic, before Jack was twitching and at the edge.

“Huh, fuck... Anna...” he gasped out, just before peaking.

Aroused and encouraged at hearing him gasping her name, Anna carried on, not slowing until his hot cum began to fill her mouth. She slowed just enough to keep up swallowing, but continued until he was well and truly done and beginning to come down.

While Anna finished swallowing and playfully planted kisses up his shaft and then his tummy, Jack lifted the tray and set it on the bed alongside himself.

“C'mere, Sexy.”

Anna crawled up his body. She stopped eye to eye with Jack, but pointed vaguely back the way she had come.

“I just-”

“Pfft,” Jack rolled his eyes, “And I haven't brushed my teeth. C'mere.”

He pulled her close for a deep, slow kiss.

“You're right,” Anna remarked when they finally parted, patting his chest, “Next time I'll bring you your toothbrush or mouthwash.”

“Oh ho, really?” Jack chuckled, “Who's the smartass now?”

“Mm. You must be rubbing off on me.”

“Uh huh. By the way, I thought you went out and got groceries. But these are the same pajamas you were wearing before.” Jack observed, slipping a hand around to give her panty-clad ass a squeeze.

“Yeah, I just changed back into them when I got back. I like being comfy, remember? Plus, you seemed to like the look.”

“Absolutely.” He stole another quick kiss. “So, can I return the favor?” he bobbed his eyebrows to make sure she knew what he meant.

“Maybe a little later, but it's nice that you offer. I wanna unpack some of those boxes today. You can come help with that if you want. Or, I don't know if you usually shower in the morning. I've already been in the bathroom, so help yourself.”

“Okay...”

“Oh, first, here.” She sat up and reached across to cut and spear something from the tray with a fork. “Try this.”

 

Author's Note: Thanks to all the readers, and a big thanks for all the encouraging comments.  I really appreciate it.