Monday started around 10 a.m. for Jack. It promised to be more or less like any other Monday, except that he found himself unusually awake, energetic, and upbeat. He paused once while brushing his teeth to stare off, mouth quirking in a half smile. Happy, he realized. He was happy even on an unconscious level. Before meeting Anna it had been quite a while since he'd felt that way.

He puttered around the apartment for an hour or so, doing some basic chores. Eventually he stopped at the fridge to grab an energy drink. Seeing the carton of eggs on the middle shelf, he was reminded of the day before. Specifically the breakfast in bed Anna had made him. Something called bullseye toast.

Which Anna had explained meant cutting a circle out of the center of a piece of toast and then breaking an egg into the hole. Frying that in a pan. In her case, with salt and pepper, fried in just a dribble of olive oil seasoned with a pinch each of cayenne and oregano. She had cooked egg just to the point that the yolk was thick golden gooiness. Jack had been surprised by how well he liked it.

So, why not give it a shot himself? Quickly realizing he didn't own anything much like a cookie cutter, he folded the bread and bit out a portion of the center. When he had everything started cooking, he scratched his head, sipped his gamer juice and let his eyes wander aimlessly. Half turning to set the can down on the table, he caught sight of something else that reminded him of the day before. Well, the night before – when he had come back from Anna's place.

Anna's big empty box sat on the couch where he had moved it after discovering it under the blanket on his bed. Seeing it, he smiled and shook his head. The minx had gotten him with the same gag twice. And the new note she had left on it was something of a backhanded compliment – of which he naturally approved.

'Nerd,

Your room is cleaner than I expected. Bathroom too. Really like the posters. Gonna go school you in games now. Invite me over some time.

-Anna'

Well, they had already discussed meeting at his place for supper on the weekend. Anna's schedule permitting. He just needed to decide what he was gonna cook. And he wanted to pick up something particular at the nearest arts and crafts store. Oh, and think up some kind of practical joke reprisal. And...

Running down his mental to-do list, he walked back to the bedroom and grabbed a pad and pen so he could just write it all down. A few moments later he came jogging back out just in time to save the bullseye toast from burning. Plating the food and cutting the heat on the burner, he grabbed his drink and headed back to his room.

While he waited for the food to cool a bit, he got some music going on his computer and opened a couple files in preparation for when he decided to start working. That done, he scribbled out his to-do list. Finally, he took up his plate and tried the toast and egg Frankenstein's monster. Slightly overcooked, but good. He'd get it right next time.

He sat and ate for a couple minutes before setting the plate back down on his bed and stepping around to retrieve his phone – which he had left charging on the nightstand. Taking the little USB cable as well, he plugged the phone into his computer, then slide over to the left hand extension of his desk to turn on the fairly pricey printer-scanner he sometimes used for artwork.

Opening the phone's contents on his computer, he navigated to the cache of images taken with the camera. With a few clicks he copied the lot into a folder which he succinctly labeled 'phone pics.' Unplugging the phone, he set it aside.

He scrolled down through old pics. Mostly stuff he had taken as art references. Then the handful of Anna from the sandwich shop. And finally down to the pics he had taken the next day – yesterday – after his breakfast in bed.

He had helped Anna unpack some boxes. It hadn't been lost on him, of course, that the night before she had quashed the idea of him helping with that. Well, if she wanted to reconsider the boundaries of their relationship as they spent time together, he wasn't going to complain.

The first pics were of Anna in her pajamas. One of her bending over to open a box. Then a few of contents of various boxes. A few Nendroids she had been given as gifts a few years back. A little plushy Cthulhu. A visibly time-worn hedgehog, which had been found at her grandparents' when she was little, having belonged to her father when he was young.

Then there were a couple shots Anna had taken, telling him to send them to her. One of him with a box over his head. Another, a candid shot, of him unboxing what had turned out to be a resin statuette of a character from the MMORPG Anna played. A blue-skinned female elf with a bow and skimpy armor.

Jack rolled his eyes when he came to a shot where she had zeroed in on just his bare torso.

Then there were a couple 'selfies' they had taken together while making an early supper. Pork tenderloin with asparagus and a pot of mac and cheese with pepper jack grated on for an extra cheesy kick. And the last few Anna had taken of the two of them standing together. In the last she had risen on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

The printer took forever to warm up, so Jack picked out a few pics and put them in a queue to print. With that done, he grabbed his phone again and took a minute to send several of the pics to Anna long with a brief text.

From there it was, all in all, a pretty typical day. He worked on pages for his webcomic, checked email and social media, re-read scripting and brainstormed future story arcs. Just after finishing up a homemade burrito, he received a text.

'Hey Nerd. Thanks for the pics. Feeling a little crap. Prolly gonna crash early tonight. Should be good for the wkend tho. You gonna dress up?'

Jack re-read the last line. Well, he had planned on picking up at least one set of formal wear, but how fancy did she expect it to be? They were just eating in at his place. He thought for a moment, then shrugged and gave her a call.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Jack?”

“Yeah, I know, it's not normal to actually call people these days, but...”

“No, it's fine. What's up?” her voice had an unusual nasal quality.

“Just got your text and wondered. You don't sound too good.”

“Yeah, I was sleeping. I uh... I took some pain meds...”

“Like, for a headache?” Jack asked doubtfully.

“Mm, not exactly.”

“Well, are you okay? Did something happen?”

He heard her groan faintly.

“I um...” she sighed and lowered her voice, “I twisted my ankle.”

Jack was quiet for a few moments.

“Diiiid you go out jogging today?” he asked eventually.

“Noooope.”

“Did you take the stairs too fast?”

“No.”

“Were you practicing that thing we tried on the couch that almost went very badly the first time?”

“No, smartass,” Anna grumbled, “I was in the shower and one of those friggin' sticky things - you know those things that are supposed to keep you from slipping – it came up.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. An' I twisted my ankle. So I hobbled out and got a lift to the E.R. They gave me a padded brace thing and a prescription for the pain killers.”

“You went by yourself? You should've called. I could've at least helped you hobble around.” He said.

“I know, but...”

“Hm. But you were in pain, and annoyed, and, mm, this boyfriend-girlfriend thing is still kinda new and you weren't sure you were ready to feel like I was taking care of you. Something like that?” he suggested.

“Probably something like that.” Anna agreed.

“Mm. What about work? Have you-”

“Yeah, I called out. Told Mr. Lintz about it. He said not to worry, and to take a few days if I need it, but hopefully I'll be okay to go back tomorrow.”

“Gotcha. Well, I wasn't calling about anything real important, so I won't keep you on the phone. I was just wondering... In your text you asked if I was gonna dress up this weekend.”

“Yeah?” she replied after a pause.

“Well, I just wondered if you wanted to go out somewhere, or... like, did you wanna dress up just to eat over here?”

“What?” Anna gave a little laugh, “Jack, Sunday is Halloween.”

Unfortunately Anna didn't get to see the blank look on his face.

“Uhh... oh.”

“You really didn't know. Goofy-ass.”

“I lose track of... stuff. But yeah... I'm sure I can come up with something.”

The sounds of Anna sitting up to have a drink of water came across.

“They tol' me to keep this stupid brace on except to check the swelling. Even in bed.” she complained, setting the water aside.

“Poor thing.” Jack chuckled sympathetically, “I'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with. For Halloween, I mean. But I'll let you go so you can rest and get better.”

“Mmm. Thanks, Jack. Talk t'you later. G'night.”

“Night, Anna.”

Jack woke the next morning and lay in bed for a bit, dozing. He was brought fully and definitively awake when a flash of light was followed by a peal of thunder that rattled the windows. With an annoyed grumble at being goosed by the weather, he rose and got on with the usual morning routine.

He liked stormy weather, provided it wasn't waking him up in a jarring fashion, or killing the power or internet while he was working. After visiting the restroom and getting dressed, he spent a few minutes at his bedroom window watching the rain blur the world outside. Eventually he turned away and moved to his desk to think about getting some work done.

While he first took the normal look at social media and mail, he remembered the phone call from the night before and wondered if Anna had made it to work.

Probably.

The wind outside shifted, and the rain drummed on his window. A really good storm where the power went out might make a good backdrop for a story arc in his comic. He jotted a few notes. Thought about it. Added a couple more half formed ideas.

He leaned back in his seat and stared at his computer monitor.

Well, he could at least drop her a text and remind her to get hold of him if she needed anything. Which he did.

He was a little surprised when he got a call in return only a couple minutes later.

“Yeah, lemme get two medium pizzas. One meat lover's,” he began, in lieu of a more traditional 'hello', “and one Hawaiian.”

There was silence for a beat.

“That's one way to let me know I got the right number.” Anna replied, and Jack could just about hear her eyes rolling.

“Hey. Didn't expect you to call back. Especially so fast. Did you make it to-”

“No,” she interrupted, “The meds did a number on me. After I got up I still felt all dopey and half asleep. So I called and left a message for Mr. Lintz and went back to bed.”

“How's the ankle doing?”

“Swelling's already down some. Think I'm gonna try switching to regular meds and see how bad it is. What about you?”

“My ankles are fine. I don't think my pizzas are coming, though.”

“There's the funny guy I know and tolerate.”

Jack broke into a grin.

“Uh huh. So, big plans for this fine, rainy day?”

“Nah. Kinda seems like I'm meant to veg out today. Maybe do some reading. Window shop on Amazon. Who knows, maybe even unpack a few boxes.”

“Feel like some company, or have you had about enough of me for a while?”

Anna snorted.

“'Had enough of you for a while'? What, are you frozen pizza now?”

“Well, I could've said do you need some space, but people only ever use that when they mean 'I'm not interested in being around you.'”

“Yeah,” Anna agreed, “It's weird that people pretend they don't know that some phrases are total red flags, and like, pretty much always mean breakup time is on the way.”

“Anyway, I was just thinking, realistically, even if you're perfect for somebody, you probably won't want to be around them literally all the time. Better to accept that and not be weird about it, right? So, yeah.” he trailed off.

“Hmm.”

There was a long silence.

“Still there?” Jack asked.

“Yeah. Just thinking. I wouldn't mind someone cooking for me. And hanging out.”

“Ah, you're in luck-”

“So long as they understand, this isn't a booty-call type of situation.”

There was another long silence.

“Hello?”

“Just thinking.” Jack smirked.

“Shut up. Smartass. Think you can keep it in your pants?”

“Me?” Jack laughed, “As I recall-”

“Even if we cuddle?” Anna continued to tease.

“I'm sure it will be har- difficult, but I can always just pretend we're already married.”

“Uh huh. Alright, Nerd. I dunno if you'll be spending the night, but bring your purse, just in case.”

“Or you could make that comment,” Jack laughed. “But yeah, I'll grab my shaving kit and be over in a minute. Try not to hurt yourself any further before I get there.”

“Uh huh. See ya. Joystick out.” she finished, as if signing off a radio transmission.

Jack ended the call and dropped his phone in his pocket. He sat and thought for a second, then grabbed a duffel bag and gathered a few things – shaving kit included. He double-checked that there were no hiccups in the backlog of pages queued for his webcomic before exiting various programs and powering down the computer. Stopping in the kitchen, he added a few things to the bag and then he was out, locking the door behind him.

“It's open.” Anna called from within when Jack knocked. He entered, glanced around, and set his bag next to the coffee table. He put the chain on the door before taking a good look around.

“Hello? Are we playing hide and seek?” he called.

“No, I was just changing.” she called from her bedroom.

“Oh, you didn't have to do that for me.”

Anna appeared, taking a couple gimping steps to stand in the doorway. She was wearing pajamas – and one big fluffy slipper styled to look like a bear's paw.

“Ah,” he nodded, smiling, “Getting comfy, eh? Nice slipper.”

“It helps balance things out.” she explained, briefly lifting her other foot, which was cased in the brace.

“Right.”

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and tipped her head a bit, but smiled, as he lingered, looking her up and down.

“Oh, right.” he said.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up. Anna rolled her eyes and flipped him the bird while he snapped a couple pictures.

“So... have you had anything for lunch yet?” he asked, tucking the phone away again.

“Not yet.”

“Cool,” Jack rubbed his hands together, “I'll be commandeering your kitchen, then. I uh, brought over a couple things I thought you might get a kick out of, but for now... you know, whatever. Veg out. Pretend I'm not here.”

Anna enjoyed watching him putter around the kitchen for a minute before moving back into her room. Feeling she had been doing well unpacking boxes lately, she supposed she might as well work on the stack in the closet. She was sitting amidst a spread of framed pictures, considering where to put them, when Jack called her out to eat.

“Poached eggs on savory herb crustini with a tangy pickle and tomato relish and a few little wedges of mozzarella. Uh, and lemonade.” Jack announced when Anna joined him at the table.

“Wow. I know you said you could cook, but you didn't say you could cook fancy.”

“Well, I try. Although, crustini is just a fancy way of saying I baked slices of that Italian bread you've got with some herbs and olive oil. Also, probably should have asked if you like pouched eggs.”

“Wouldn't have helped,” Anna smirked, “I mean, I'm sure I do, but this will be my first time trying them. Thanks for cooking, by the way.”

“My pleasure. Give me the official review when you're done.”

A companionable silence followed while they dug in.

When they had finished, Anna caught Jack's eye and nodded approval.

“I like.” she smiled. “Perfect for lunch. So... turns out you do bring more to the table than just nerdy references and good sex.”

“Modesty prevents me from pointing out that I also kicked your amazing ass in Halo vs.” Jack joked while collecting their dirty dishes and depositing them in the sink.

“Might have to work on the modesty.” Anna followed him to the sink.

“Ah well...” Jack started the hot water running. “I can take care of-”

“I have a bad ankle,” Anna interrupted, holding her hands up and wiggling her fingers, “My hands are fine.”

“They're lovely,” Jack agreed, regarding the extremities in question, “But if I do the dishes, you can go put up the rest of those pictures you've been unpacking. Just let me know if you need help hanging any of them up high.”

Anna squinted for a moment, then shrugged.

“I'm not that short.” she commented.

Jack chuckled.

“I wasn't joking about that. Just offering to help. I mean, now probably isn't the best time for you to be trying to balance on a chair or anything.” he explained.

“Oh. Right. See what happens when you crack jokes all the time?”

“Worth it.”

“Smartass.” Anna smiled, heading back into her room.

A few minutes later the lights went out, leaving them in darkness. A particularly loud crack of thunder followed. After flinching, Anna felt around to place a last unhung picture back in it's box and the box back in the closet. Remembering her special footwear, she moved slowly and carefully to the bedroom door.

“Ah, shit.” she hissed, bringing an arm up in front of her face, when the beam of a flashlight momentarily blinded her.

“Sorry.” Jack lowered the beam, “I remembered somebody saying preparation was key.”

He moved to the kitchen table and set the stubby flashlight on it, pointed up so that the beam spread and reflected from the pale ceiling and rendered the apartment dim, rather than completely dark.

“Good job, boy scout. Just don't blast me in the face with it.”

Jack looked up from where he was opening his duffel bag on the table.

“Yeah, that's what she said.” Anna added with a smile, moving closer to see what he was doing.

“So you remember I said I brought a couple things I thought you might get a kick out of.” Jack said.

“Mm. Hope they don't need power.”

“Luckily,” Jack lifted a dark rectangle from within the shadowed interior of the bag, “my tablet should be all charged up.”

“Well, that's better than trying to watch something on one of our phones.” Anna commented. “Bring it over to the couch so we can get comfortable.”

“One sec. There's something else.” Jack replied, pulling something else from the bag.

He handed it over and Anna leaned closer to the light and examined the object. It turned out to be a piece of heavy drawing paper, folded twice to form a makeshift card. On the front, in Jack's handwriting, was scrawled; 'Get well soon,'.

“Aw.” Anna said before opening the card.

Inside was written; 'Beautiful.' Beneath this was a drawing. Anna recognized a stylized version of herself, wearing the outfit she had worn to their date at the sandwich shop. In the drawing, she pouted, sporting a hugely oversized, medieval looking brace of black iron on one foot.

Eventually she looked up, flashing him a grin.

“Thank you. Very cute. Very... me.” Glancing back down at the drawing, she mused; “You're really good at... flattering my figure.”

“Nah. Just trying to do it justice.” Jack demurred. “Glad you like it. We can leave the light here. If it starts to die, there are more batteries for it in the bag.”

“Mmkay.” Anna carefully set the card upright on the table before following Jack to the couch.

He held the tablet in his lap and tapped and scrolled to a particular file. Anna scooted close and rested her head against his shoulder. The screen lit. A title in white text appeared.

Hot Redhead Confesses.

Anna arched an eyebrow.

The next moment, Rick Astley appeared, song in progress.

“Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna...”

“Really?” Anna laughed, “Hot Redhead-”

“Wait for it.” Jack smiled, nodding at the screen.

“Wait for wh-”

The Rick Roll was interrupted when the video hard cut to a different scene. A young Matthew Lillard, in a long coat, round-rimmed shades, and a New York ball cap, standing amidst a crowd which was, in turn, being corralled by police officers, began shouting and pumping a fist in the air.

“Hack the planet! Hack the planet!”

Jack paused the video while Anna was busy laughing.

“Okay, you got me. That was like... Rick-roll-ception. Can't believe you went to the trouble of editing that just to mess with me.” she observed eventually.

“When I thought of it, I couldn't resist. Probably have to give that particular joke a rest for a while now, though.” Jack allowed.

“Mm, probably.” Anna agreed. “Got anything else to show me, or was that it?”

“Well,” Jack tapped away at the screen, “I seemed to remember you like horror.”

“I do.”

“So, with guilty pleasure movies like Hackers in mind, I put a few less than mainstream horror flicks on here. Stuff that's a little more obscure, weird, or silly.”

“Okay. Whatcha got?”

“Let's see... Graveyard Shift and Night Flier are both based on King short stories. Killer Klowns from Outer Space fits both weird and silly. Ever seen Motel Hell?”

“Is that the one with...”

The two chatted for a time about various horror movies and television shows, and which ones qualified as obscure or cult. They eventually decided on watching a few episodes of the old Tales from the Crypt television show that Jack had downloaded from some streaming site. They took a bathroom break intermission after the first episode, and about the time the second was wrapping up, the power came back on.

“Oh, now I can show you the other thing.”

“That's what he said.” Anna commented, deadpan.

“Maybe later.” Jack replied gamely. “Are you familiar with Shudder?”

“Is that a movie?”

“Nope. Here, I've logged into my account. Have a look.” He handed her the tablet. “It's a streaming site kinda like Netflix or something, but it's specifically for horror.”

“Oooh.”

Anna took the tablet, turned her back to Jack, and lifted her legs onto the couch. With a little hop-scoot she deposited herself in his lap. Leaning back against the arm of the couch, she began perusing the website.

“Getting comfy?” Jack asked, settling his right hand on her thigh and lifting his left to trace his fingertips back through her hair.

“Mm. Pretty cool. They've got some old stuff I haven't seen.”

Jack tipped his head to admire her face as the colored light from the tablet played over it. Continuing to thread the fingers of his left hand through her hair, he slowly slid his right hand up along the inside of her thigh. When his fingers brushed her cotton panties, he dragged his fingertips lightly back down her thigh, then started again.

It took him a moment to notice that Anna had closed her eyes.

“Mmm. Keep doing that.” she murmured, letting her head tip back.

“With your hair or-”

“Both.”

“Sure.” Jack obliged.

Cracking the lid of one eye, Anna set the tablet aside on the coffee table before stretching and settling. She was soon a picture of sublime relaxation, gone completely limp save for the occasional appreciative purr.

Not wanting to ruin anything, but being only human, Jack eventually tested the waters. As his hand came up between Anna's legs, instead of bringing it back down, he turned it to cup the cotton covered curves there. He began to drag his fingertips forward and back, this time over the soft fabric stretched snugly over Anna's balls.

Anna drew in a long deep breath, arching her back, before settling again. She issued another purr – one of a slightly different pitch and timbre this time.

“I know this wasn't supposed to be a, uh-” he began, tracing a shape that was gradually growing beneath the fabric while he spoke.

“Yeah, well, mmph... You'd stop... If I said I wasn't in the mood.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then. Mm, don't stop.”

“Okay then.” Jack smiled.

Anna shifted, not quite squirming, as Jack stroked her through her underwear.

“Did you wanna go back to the, uh... Mm, to the bed?” she asked.

“Actually, I thought maybe I would treat you this time.”

“Oh. Not complaining, but...”

“Well, after that breakfast in bed the other day,” Jack explained, “I know this isn't like trading favors, where it's expected, but... What was it you said? Something like 'if I'm going to be hanging around here, surprise blowjobs are just something you're gonna have to deal with.'”

“Mmm, yeah, I 'member something like that.” her breathing had changed noticeably with her arousal. “Meant me blowing, mmp, you... But this is...”

She trailed off with a needful moan, rolling her hips to grind against his hand.

“Since we're on the subject,” Jack observed, “Have you thought up any other adventurous positions you want to try out?”

Anna expressed her feelings about how unfair it was to ask her to think at a time like this with a pout and a plaintive note in her next little moan. She managed a verbal reply when Jack paused his movements to pull the front of her panties down and apply himself more directly.

“Not really. This... Sometimes just this is good.”

Jack nodded faintly. He began stroking her again, drawing her foreskin down and then back up over her swollen head. Slow and steady.

Shortly Anna clutched at her shirt and sat up just enough to pull it off. She dropped it carelessly over the side of the couch and lay back. Looking to Jack, she was pleased to find he needed no invitation. As she lay back, he bent to press his mouth her breast. She ruffled his hair, then kept her hand at the back of his head, moaning anew as he sucked and nibbled.

Somehow his refusal to speed up or change pace, while not getting her off, was building an almost painful anticipation. Pushing her closer to the edge, but by such small increments. The buildup was amazing. Appreciating the sweet torture, she tried to restrain herself, but her hips and various muscles twitched and trembled of their own accord, as if intent on moving against Jack's rhythm to hurry things along.

Finally, when she was sure she would be overwhelmed any moment, she spoke up.

“Oh fuck, mm, Jack,” she firmly pulled his head up to face her, “Please, faster.” With that, she pulled him into a rough, breathless kiss.

With his free arm around her back to help support her, Jack changed the pattern of his movements completely. Three or four rapid strokes, then a pause. And again. Pulling her cock out at a slight angle from her body, and still with the odd, rapid stroking.

Anna shook, her moans like heavy vibrations forced into their kiss before she broke the kiss to cry out. Her cries grew louder as she jerked in his hand, hot cum rocketing forth and spattering between her breasts and down her tummy. He continued working her shaft for a time, while she pressed her face in and bit down to one side of his neck, muffling her slowly subsiding cries.

When it seemed she was more or less through, Jack slowed trailed his hand down to give her thigh a gentle squeeze.

Anna shifted to press her face against his neck, catching her breath.

Jack idly moved his fingertips up along her length, earning a strong throb, before finding the stray droplets and runnels of still hot cum. He gently flattened his hand to her seed-sticky tummy, wiped up much of the mess in his palm, and moved his hand back down.

“Huh.” Anna flinched and arched her body unintentionally when he peeled her foreskin back and gave her breath-takingly sensitive knob a polish with his jizz-lubed palm.

“Mmph. Don't, don't. Oh God. Too sensitive.” She spoke in short bursts, still catching her breath and coming down. “Good, but... Well... You know how it feels.”

“Yeah. Sorry love. Hard to resist.” he whispered.

“Mm. Don't think I've ever... Cum that hard – you know, just from jerking off.” she observed.

“Wise men say, 'new hand make handjob like new again.'”

“Thanks, Confucius.” Anna replied. “Does that mean you'll use your other hand next time?”

“Actually,” Jack lifted, grunted, and scooted out from under her, “I was thinking, if that's how you react to my hand, what kind of reaction would I get with a good cocksleeve?”

“Ooh, I probably wouldn't mind testing that. You know, for science.” Anna agreed. “If we got one of the bigger ones, we could both- Hey, were you not listening? I'm still really-”

Jack had scooted down the couch, then leaned down between her legs.

“Relax, I'm just working on my timing.” He remarked.

Ever so gently lifting her softening length, he brought his face down and touched her tip to his nose.

“Boop?” he ventured.

Anna lifted her head to look down past her breasts to where his face was framed by her thighs. There was a long moment before she reacted, snorting and shaking her head.

“You are a weird guy, Jack,” she laughed, “But... In a good way, I think.”

When, after a few moments, he still hadn't moved, she looked down again to find him still holding her, his face quite close, his eyes cast downward and crossed. It took just a second for her to read his mind.

“Don't you do it.” she commanded, managing a stern tone despite her smile.

Jack looked up, eyebrows raised innocently.

“Yes ma'am.” He settled for turning his head to plant a sucking kiss on the inside of her thigh before sitting up.

He patted her knee and rose from the couch.

“I'll go wet a cloth for cleanup.” He said, though he made no move to do so.

“Mm.” Anna acknowledged. Shortly she looked up. “Today?”

Jack smiled.

“I was just thinking...” he brought his hands up with thumbs and forefingers extended to mimic the framing of a camera, “You'd make a hell of a center-fold, cummy tummy notwithstanding.”

“Pfft, cummy tummy? Weirdo. I mean, thanks, but also, some of it's running off and becoming cushion cum, so... About that cleanup?”

“Oh, right.”

A few minutes later, when Anna had finished cleaning up, Jack retrieved her t-shirt-cum-pajama top. He shook it out and handed it over.

“Well,” Anna commented while pulling the shirt on, “I know what I'll be looking for now, and I might not just be window shopping.”

Jack scratched his jaw, staring off into space. He smiled faintly.

“Hypothetically, if I happened to order some lube in the near future...” he made it sound like he were thinking out loud.

“Couldn't hurt, hypothetically.” Anna said, sounding thoughtful. “I have a feeling we'll finish off the rest of mine before long.”

“Oh?”

“I'd be really disappointed if I dressed up for Halloween and didn't get laid.” Anna explained, scooting over closer and nudging him. “I'll bring the special party favors if you take care of the food and drink.”

“Sounds good.”

“So...”

They passed a little time chatting about nothing much before Anna decided that as long as the power was on, and they had nothing much better to do, she could give Jack a little intro to her favorite MMORPG.

Realm of Battlecraft was a cross between the more combat oriented games and those that focused on building and crafting systems. Jack, for his part, ended up liking the two facets equally well. For someone with his creativity and penchant for in-game explosives, the crafting system offered a lot of potential for fun. Anna favored the crafting and building, but appreciated the added excitement of combat, happily proclaiming it 'Like minecraft, but more violent.'

A couple of hours later the rain had stopped and the clouds begun to clear, but the sun had gone down. Jack had managed to blow himself up for the second time while playing with an idea for a booby trap, much to Anna's amusement.

“Oof.” Jack winced. “Maybe I should stick to pit traps and just throwing explosives.”

“Well, to be fair, that is a fighter-y type character. A higher Dex score might help.” replied Anna.

“Ah.” Jack nodded, then pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. “Food, or are you fasting tonight?”

Anna gave him a look.

“Definitely food. I wanna transfer a few things over to another character while we're on here, then I'll come help.”

She joined him in the kitchen a few minutes later. The Italian bread was out on the counter, along with a couple of cans of something. He had put the flashlight away in his bag.

“What's this?” she asked.

Jack leaned back from where he had been looking through the contents of the refrigerator.

“I thought soup and-”

“Soup? I'm injured, not sick. Oooh, no. You're a victim of your own competence now, Jack.”

“Oh.”

Anna sidled over, put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him from under her brow. She put on a droning office supervisor voice.

“This is about standards, Jack. I need you to do better. Can you do better for me, Jack?”

Jack appeared to be caught between a grin and a grimace.

“Uh, yeah. If you promise never to use that voice in bed.”

Sharing a laugh, they set about deciding on and preparing something else. Which turned out to be a slightly modified chicken caprese with a tossed green salad and more homemade crustini. While they worked on the meal, Jack explained that caprese was pretty much a salad itself, but since it didn't really have greens in it, and they were putting chicken breasts in, it wasn't weird to have the other salad with it.

“I think your random, weird knowledge might be more useful than mine.” Anna observed.

They talked little while they ate. Anna did compliment him on the chicken caprese, noting that it was yet another 'first' for her. When they had finished eating, Anna sipped her beer – having assured Jack she'd just have the one when he raised the subject of her recent meds – and watched Jack watching her.

“Always thinking, hm?” she said eventually.

Jack shrugged.

“What's going on in there right now?”

“I was thinking you'll probably go back to work tomorrow.”

She nodded.

“Was that all?”

“No. I was thinking... Probably you'll live up to your name if I say you should wear the brace.”

“My name?” Anna asked, confused.

“Your last name – Durand. I looked it up. From the old French Durant. Means 'enduring,' but the French used it as a nickname for stubborn people.”

“Uh huh.” Anna arched an eyebrow. “And you said...”

“Well... Maybe I'm wrong, but... I'm guessing you'll want to try to go without wearing the brace for your ankle. But if something happens so soon after, when it's not healed up, you could re-injure it and maybe even end up worse off than the first time.”

Anna tapped a nail against her bottle and narrowed her eyes.

“And I'm stubborn?”

Jack opened his mouth, then closed it. Then smiled.

“Are you?”

“Maybe.” she said slowly.

Jack had the presence of mind to remain silent.

“I'm not usually this... accident prone.” Anna insisted. “In fact, I've had more accidents since I met you...” she trailed off with a half smile.

Jack rolled his eyes, then stopped and slowly nodded.

“Okay. Say I'm a jinx. I'll take the blame,” he tactfully refrained from mentioning that he had had nothing to do with her slip in the shower, “if you'll wear the boot of doom for... At least a couple more days.”

“So... You're worried about me, huh?”

“I'd hate to see you hurt. You know, more. Dunno if I should be testing the limits of my arguing powers as boyfriend pro tem, but...”

“Well, if it's actually for my own good or whatever, I guess I can't get too mad.” Anna allowed, only slightly begrudgingly.

“Huh. I kind of expected you to be a little more stubborn than this.”

“Shut up Nerd.” Anna said, beginning to smile.

Jack rose and collected their dishes, turning to place them in the sink.

“Yes dear.”

“Shut up Jack.” Anna said more quietly.

While he washed the dishes, she sank in her seat. Lifting her feet to prop them on the seat of the chair opposite, she grumbled in annoyance when she accidentally bumped the table with the boot of doom. Slouching even lower, she sipped her beer, mind wandering. Her eyes wandered as well, eventually lighting on Jack's duffel bag.

While he was still wiping silverware and returning it to the drawer, Anna scooted back from the table and padded over to snoop. She couldn't imagine finding anything of great interest, but it was something to do. Should be fine, as long as she didn't find duct tape or zip ties or anything. And he had already let her visit his apartment unattended.

Nonetheless, she was vaguely disappointed when the contents were exactly as mundane as she might have expected. His shaving kit, a change of clothes, a paperback novel, the flashlight and the batteries he had mentioned, a small sketch pad and a couple of pencils, and...

“Hmm.” she murmured to herself, removing a last pair of items from the bag.

“Glad I didn't put my little black book in there.” Jack commented from where he leaned back against the edge of the sink, having finished with the dishes.

Anna turned to regard him, items still in hand.

“You have a little black book?”

“Of course not.”

Anna gave him a bland look.

“Okay, what about these?” she asked.

Jack peered at the items when she held them up.

“Oh. I picked them up last time I got groceries. That is a bar of my favorite brand of dark chocolate. Thought I'd offer to share, if you're interested.”

“Ooh,” Anna examined the wrapper with fresh interest, “score.”

Then she turned her attention to the other item and gave it a little shake.

“And this?”

“That... is a disguised recording device. Be careful – it's set to self destruct if you try to open it.”

Anna glowered.

“Alright, smartass.”

“I'm pretty confident you know what Pocky is.” Jack suggested.

“Yeah, I just meant... Is this a weeb thing, or are you just weirdly into tiny bread sticks dipped in chocolate?” she asked.

“Those one's are matcha flavored, which is actually pretty good,” Jack pointed out, “but no, actually I had this idea... I don't know if you've read enough manga or watched enough anime to know about the whole trope where one character has the Pocky in their mouth and then another character comes over and they do the Lady and the Tramp thing.”

Anna stared for a few long moments.

“I have been on the internet, so yeah... I am aware of it...”

“When I saw them at the store, I thought 'might be a fun, cute thing to stick in my comic somewhere.' And then I thought, 'I wonder if I could talk Anna into modeling for a few pics – for reference purposes.'”

“I'm flattered, and yet...” Anna began, her tone flat.

“And yet?”

“Mm... Well, I'm definitely not wearing any less than this, so you can get those ideas out of your head. But maybe...”

In the end, she agreed to pose, with and without Pocky, while Jack took pictures on his phone. In exchange, he broke out his sketchbook and pencils and sketched one of the pics. While he erased here, and added detail there, Anna found her own phone and took several candid pictures of the artist at work. When he was finished, he signed the work with a little heart and the word 'Nerd.' He carefully tore the sheet from the pad and offered it up.

Like the drawing in the get well card, it was a bit more realistic than his usual comic art. He had chosen a picture where she was looking at the camera and cracking a smile, the Pocky stick jutting out from between her lips at an angle, like a cigarette. There was a pale outline, almost like a warm glow, between her and the graphite he had smudged around with a finger in place of any background.

“Thanks, Nerd. Two in one day. Should I feel special?”

“You are special.” Jack asserted with a faint smile.

“Aw.” she looked up, then narrowed her eyes. “Wait, the way you said that... what kind of special? That was intentional, wasn't it?”

Jack stepped over close and rested his hands on her hips.

“Maybe. The nice thing is, apparently even if I forget to be clever, you'll do it for me.”

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 13^th 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.

“Have you been wearing this all day?” Anna asked when he returned, pinching the sleeve of his shirt.

“Uh, no? I changed into it when I was almost done cooking. So I wouldn't get it dirty. Why?”

Anna took up the remote and paused the movie.

“Go get the shirt you were wearing.”

Jack blinked.

“Why, do you have a weird thing about Hawaiian shirts, too?”

“No, its for me. As nice as this dress is, I kinda wanna get out of it. And I did bring clothes, but I've decided to invoke the privileges of girlfriend-hood, as established in ancient times.”

“Um...” Jack looked uncertain.

“At any given time I get to take temporary possession of one shirt or jersey, and one sweatshirt. Tradition favors something bigger than I'd normally wear, so I can wear it to bed with just underwear – like my Nine Inch Nails shirt. Possibly because guys find that really cute.”

Jack nodded slowly.

“Uh... huh. I'm not sure you're actually supposed to mention that last part, but yeah. What if I wasn't wearing a shirt earlier?”

“I guess I'd have to put the trenchcoat back on.” she replied in mock disappointment.

“Well played.” Jack granted, rising and pacing back to his bedroom.

He returned carrying a big black tee.

“Here, help me out again.” Anna asked as he sat down. She turned and lay across his lap, face down. “There's a zipper in the back. It's a pain for me to reach. Oh, and it likes to stick, so be careful.”

When Jack had managed to get her unzipped, Anna took the shirt and pulled it on before shimmying out of the dress. She half turned and lay the dress atop her trenchcoat before checking the front of the shirt.

“Pink Floyd. Nice.”

“You know Pink Floyd?” Jack asked.

“Doesn't everyone?”

“You'd think so, but I dunno. Kids these days...”

Anna rolled her eyes.

“You were right earlier.” Jack observed, admiring the new outfit of tee shirt and dark nylons.

“Of course I was. What was I right about this time?”

“Guys do find it really cute.”

She looked lost for just a moment, then smiled. She reached a hand over to drag her nails along his stubbled jaw.

“Good.”

She drew her legs up under her and leaned closer. “As long as we're getting comfy...” she commented, unbuttoning Jack's shirt.

When she had finished, and twitched his shirt open with a smile, she made a little shooing gesture.

“There. Now lay back so we can cuddle.” she instructed.

Jack lay back, resting his head on the armrest. Anna shifted to let him bring his legs up, then lay down atop him with her head on his chest. She rose enough to grab the remote and un-pause the movie, then settled again. Jack slid one arm up to rest his hand on her back, while Anna worked both hers under him in a loose hug.

They lay that way, comfortable and mostly quiet, through the rest of the movie. When the credits began rolling, Anna murmured something unintelligible and gave Jack a squeeze. She then lifted her head to look at him.

“This would be a nice way to fall asleep, but I think I'm a little wired from the Monster.” She gave him a look that some would describe as 'bedroom eyes.' “Trick or treat?”

“When you say 'trick'...”

Anna pulled her arms free and pushed herself up with her hands on his shoulders. She slowly lowered herself until their noses were almost touching.

“Actually,” she purred, “It was kind of a trick question.”

“Then... yes.”

They both smiled just before Anna closed her eyes and dipped to initiate a slow, smoldering kiss. Several seconds later they parted, breathing heavily.

“Ready for a treat?” Anna asked.

“Absolutely.”

Anna began shifting, scooting, and repositioning herself. Jack tried to help, but didn't know what she was trying to accomplish, so mostly just coughed when she shifted her weight, planting a heel or knee unexpectedly. Finally she paused, having moved around and, essentially, sat on his chest.

“Ever had edible underwear?” Anna inquired.

Moving backward, she inched her backside up his body.

“First time for everything.” Jack mused.

He first brought his hands up onto her thighs, then raised his head. Not wanting to accidentally bite her, he opened his mouth over an edge of the panties, where they formed a patterned border against her skin. He wondered, briefly, what flavor they would have made black panties. Weren't they usually red or pink? So thinking, he brought his teeth together, lightly grazing Anna and closing on the dark material.

He shifted his jaw and pulled back just a little.

He emitted an uncertain “Rrr?”

He pulled harder.

It was at that point that he noticed Anna's faint rocking, and the sound of subdued laughter. He opened his mouth, parting his teeth to allow the very real panties to pop back against her posterior. He cleared his throat loudly.

“So that was the trick part, right?”

Anna turned enough to look over a shoulder and tap her nose with a fingertip.

“At least you figured it out pretty quick.” she allowed.

Jack sighed through his nose, but smiled.

“Little bit evil.” he muttered.

“'Tis the season.” Anna beamed, wiggling her rump in his face.

With a more growling 'Rrr,' Jack lifted his head again, this time playfully nipping here and there.

“Ow, ow, wait, easy-” Anna laughed even as she complained.

When, shortly, with a kiss and a squeeze of her thighs, Jack left off, Anna slipped off to stand next to the couch.

“Okay, ready for an actual treat this time?” she asked, bending to dig about in the Victoria's Secret bag.

“Slightly less enthusiastically than last time you asked.”

“This one's better.” Anna promised, pulling the borrowed shirt off over her head, then working her panties down and off.

“Okay, enthusiasm returning.” Jack quipped.

“Uh huh. Mmm. Okay, I feel a little silly now, doing this, but...”

Anna turned to face Jack, rubbing something between the forefinger and thumb of her right hand. Jack continued feasting his eyes on the sight of her in the warm candlelight and shadow. She moved closer, her cock coming to sway over Jack's face, and reached her hand down.

“So I was thinking about trick-or-treating and junk food the other day, and I picked up some of that chocolate you like. And I remembered that it melts easily.” she reached down and with the tip of her finger, smeared a broad dark line up the underside of her shaft. Drawing her foreskin fully from the head, she wiped a daub of chocolate from her thumb onto her glans.

“Maximum enthusiasm.” Jack said quietly, reaching up to tickle her balls.

“Mm,” Anna pivoted and lowered herself back over him to kneel straddling his chest. “Prove it.”

Hitching himself up a bit against the arm of the couch, Jack took her ass in his hands and leaned in to lick up along her rigid shaft, tracing and tasting the stripe of chocolate there. Now Anna watched, sucking the remaining melted chocolate from her finger and thumb. She rolled her eyes when Jack stopped and smacked his lips as if sampling a wine for taste. Then caught her breath when he took her deep into his mouth and sucked.

He bobbed, then stopped to swirl his tongue around her head, sucking and licking away the chocolate there. Rich and bitter, it made him salivate. Anna soon found herself enjoying a more slippy-er, drippy-er blowjob. Jack's lips slid halfway down her length, then back up to catch and rub at the rim of her head, gliding over the contours of her spit-slick shaft. Little runners of saliva trickled down to bead at her base.

“Mmmm.” she let her brain disengage for a bit, enjoying the pleasure, the feeling of his hands gripping her, and the occasional very enthusiastic sounds Jack himself made.

True to form, it wasn't long before she felt herself nearing the edge. Fighting the natural urge to keep going, she tapped Jack lightly on the head with one hand. He slowed, stopped, and withdrew with a wet slurp. Licking his lips, he tipped his head back to regard her.

“Hm? That was 'stop,' not 'go faster,' right?”

“Yeah,” Anna nodded, brushing that sheaf of hair back from her eye, “But don't get the wrong idea. It was good, just, I had another treat in mind...”

“There's more? Well, that one was good,” he brought one hand around between them to give her glistening rod a slow stroke, “What's else ya got?”

“We-ell...” Anna hopped up again, this time to set about removing Jack's pants and boxers.

“I like where this is going so far.” Jack commented, lending a helping hand. “I think.”

When he was left laying there in just his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, erection hovering over his tummy, pointing at his naval, Anna smiled approvingly.

“Ah, good.” she leaned down long enough to trail her nose, followed by her flattened tongue, up his length. “Guess it's about time then.”

She turned and drew a familiar bottle from the mysterious depths of the Victoria's Secret bag. This she set on Jack's chest.

“You already know Mr. Lube.” Anna commented, turning to delve back into the bag.

“We meet again.” Jack muttered, momentarily slipping back into his Raul Duke character.

Meanwhile Anna came up with another object. And with the object – apparently a plain white cardstock box – in hand, she again sank to straddle Jack, but this time she knelt straddling his thighs. Settling into the very pelvis-to-pelvis position, she tapped her nails on the sides of the box. It was fairly large. Maybe twelve inches by six by six.

“I know it's Halloween, but... This isn't a 'what's in the box?' situation, right?” Jack joked, eyeing the discreet package.

“You know,” Anna slowly pried loose a flap on the box, “You can get just about anything shipped really fast if you're willing to pay.”

“Uh, yeah...?”

Anna took her time opening the box. She slid free the bulk of something sealed in a clear bubblewrap envelope. A little business card tumbled free to land next to the bottle of lube on Jack's chest. While Anna tore open the bubblewrap (after popping a few bubbles), Jack lifted the card and peered at it.

It read:

'Our Little Secret

For discreet help with all

your fetish and fun needs.'

Below were a phone number, web address, and email address.

“Huh.” He set the card aside on the coffee table.

Turning his attention back to Anna, he found her smiling at him over the object she was holding up in both hands.

“Oh.”

With the box and bubblewrap set aside, she held a sleeve. A cocksleeve, to be more precise. A very large cocksleeve of the clear jelly style, to be more precise still.

Jack raised his eyebrows.

“As we've established, I appreciate enthusiasm, but are you sure you didn't accidentally order from the equine section?” he asked.

“Equine?”

“Having to do with horses.” Jack smiled.

“Oh, right.” Anna regarded the hefty toy in her hands. She shook her head, grinning, “No. It's supposed to be big. It's actually made for two. Like, for two people to use. At once.”

“Oh. Figures. I shouldn't be surprised,” Jack said, “They really do make something for everyone these days.”

“It looks like it'll still be pretty tight inside,” Anna observed, wiggling a fingertip into the openings at either end. “But it's supposed to be all flexible and stretchy.”

Jack took the bottle from his chest and popped the top open. Turning it upside down, he reached down to squeeze a blob of pearly goo out onto the head of Anna's cock. Shifting the bottle, he dribbled a thick ribbon onto his own shaft before holding the bottle up.

“You wanna prep that unit for our units?”

“Unit.” Anna smirked, taking the bottle from him. “Hmp. The Unit. Now any time I hear 'unit,' instead of dicks or bodybuilders, I'll think of this big boy.”

“I'll see what I can do about using it more often in conversation.” Jack sounded a little distracted as he began stroking their units, one at a time, to spread the lube over them.

“Mm, you do that.” she thrust her hips a couple times, playfully fucking the tunnel of his hand. Meanwhile she played around spreading lube on the openings of The Unit and poking fingers in both ends to see if she could create a seal and affect suction.

“Okay,” she said finally, finding a spot on the coffee table for the bottle, then brandishing The Unit in both hands, “Can you, um, hold us together there.”

Jack gathered their slick pricks in one of his long fingered hands, undersides pressed together, and angled them up between his and Anna's bodies.

“Okay, hold,” she lowered the monster masturbator until making contact, then slowly, carefully added pressure, “This might be-”

After a few slips and failed attempts to fit them both in at once, Jack shifted his hand, changing the angles, so that her length shifted down his own. When she made her next attempt, the soft, clear orifice accepted Jack's swollen head readily, then resisted for a moment upon meeting Anna's tip. Holding on tight, she rolled her hips forward, stretching the opening and spearing up inside.

The two groaned, almost in the same moment, as their cocks slid against each other in the stretching, squeezing confines of the sleeve. The lube made squelching, smacking sounds as Anna worked the sleeve up and down, cautiously testing to see if it would try to slide up and shoot off of their trapped erections if she let it.

It was iffy, but she opted to keep at least one hand on it, so that she could move. Jack kept one hand down near where they were joined, just in case. It took him a moment to catch on when Anna reached her free hand out and spread her fingers. She gave him a little smile, raised her eyebrows, and wiggled her outstretched fingers.

Jack smiled when realization dawned. It was endearing, seeing hints of the lovey-dovey side which she kept largely in reserve. He lifted his own free hand to interlace his fingers with hers.

Holding his gaze, Anna gave his fingers a little squeeze between her own. Then, holding the sleeve as still as she could manage, she began rocking forward and back, rolling her hips. While The Unit, and Jack's unit within it, remained stationary, her cock rubbed slowly up and down his length. And just her movement within changed the inward pressure that the walls of the toy exerted all around.

With their last sexual encounter in mind, Anna maintained a slow, steady pace. When her eyes weren't closed to better enjoy a twinge or throb of pleasure, they drifted back down to find Jack watching her. She felt hints of certain feelings, meaningful emotions, nudging at her consciousness, emboldened by hormones and pheromones and closeness to the object of said feelings. She wasn't ready to explore them yet – especially just at the moment. So she let herself enjoy the extra warmth and satisfaction the feelings imparted, while ignoring the potential questions and complications. They could wait.

They were soon both breathing heavily and Anna thought she might be breaking a sweat. Between appreciative groans and murmured encouragement, Jack spoke up.

“Should I-?”

“Shh,” Anna hushed him, “Relax. I have – mmf – a plan.”

“Oh,” he gave a faint nod, “Right.”

“Mm, um,” she dropped her eyes and nodded at the general area where the action was happening, “maybe... more lube...”

Jack followed her gaze.

“Oh.”

He twisted just a bit, and, glad of his long limbs, snagged the lube from the coffee table. Anna slowed her movements while he opened the bottle and squirted a long stream of lube into the opening of the sleeve. When he had finished and set the bottle aside again, Anna thrust in and out a few times. She gave Jack's hand another squeeze before disengaging from it to apply both hands to The Unit. She moved it slowly around on the axis of their cocks, then pumped it up and down a few times, spreading the lube around inside.

Then she stopped and stared thoughtfully at the sleeve for a long moment. Jack arched an eyebrow when she pointed at the bottle he had just set aside, and then curled a finger. Curious, he retrieved the lube again and handed it over. Anna pressed the sleeve down around their shafts as far as she could, then unceremoniously forced one end of the bottle into the other end of the sleeve, plugging the opening.

“Put your hand on that. Let's see if this works.”

“Oh, wow,” Jack complied, Okay...”

When his hand had settled on the protruding end of the bottle, holding it in place, Anna took the sleeve in both her hands and began pumping up and down. She didn't go far enough to break the seal, and the suction was impressive. The intensity of sensations jumped from moderate to breathtaking all at once.

Taking a deep breath, Anna flashed an evil smile.

“Ready?”

Taking in the smile, Jack raised his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to say something, only to gasp and tense as Anna proceeded with her plan.

Pressing in against Jack's hips with her knees to keep herself steady, she worked the sucking mass of the sleeve up and down faster. And faster. It was about all Jack could do to keep the one hand in place, holding the bottle-cum-plug in place.

Gasping, lips parted, Anna gave Jack a questioning look.

He nodded, gasping out, “Yeah... Keep going. Fuck...”

“Mmph, God...” Anna managed to keep pumping away, though her rhythm began to break up as she shuddered and curled forward.

Watching Anna, hearing her gasps and moans, feeling her pulsing against him as she came, Jack followed her closely into orgasm.

The two shuddered and twitched with each sucking stroke of the sleeve, and by the time Anna began to slow and stop, their mingled cum seeped and bubbled from around where the lower opening of the sleeve stretched around their throbbing shafts.

As they began to come down again, Anna opened her eyes and met Jack's gaze. They stayed that way, not speaking, but just catching their breaths for a time. Eventually Jack intentionally tensed himself, causing his cock to throb against Anna's, earning a smile.

“Mmm.” Anna purred.

Still saying nothing, she released the sleeve with one hand to reach up and take Jack's hand from the lube bottle still serving as a plug. The bottle was well wedged in, and remained as Anna placed Jack's hand on her knee. She then angled The Unit down until it was almost horizontal and pressed to Jack's tummy. Waiting to catch his eyes with her own again, she bobbed her brows suggestively.

Leaving the makeshift plug, she slowly slid The Unit until it finally parted company with their jizz-slick cocks, first with a sucking pop and then a gurgling gloink sound as the liquid contents shifted and the sleeve itself rebounded with the change of pressure.

Angling it so that the plug was lower than the still open hole, Anna lifted the over-sized toy and tipped her chin up. She parted her lips, opened her mouth, and stretched her tongue out. Jack watched, his own mouth slightly ajar, as she tipped the sleeve back into it's previous vertical orientation – directly over her open mouth. She even rather cheekily said 'ahh,' as if getting an exam at the doctor, as the first thick stream of hot, salty fluids gushed out to wash over her tongue and into her mouth.

“Woah.” Jack managed, in a passable and completely unintentional Keanu Reeves impression.

The corners of Anna's mouth quirked up slightly. Gripping the sleeve tightly with one hand, she moved the other up long enough to pluck out the bottle-plug. As last rivulets of jizz continued to gather and drip from The Unit's orifice, she wiped a layer of clinging goo from the bottom of the former plug onto her tongue.

Finally, as the drippings slowed and dwindled, Anna carefully turned The Unit and lay it atop the bubblewrap envelope in which she had found it. Her cheeks weren't ballooned out, but the appearance of her lips, held tight together, suggested her mouth was full.

Keeping Jack guessing, she inched back and lowered herself to all fours. He watched, with an expression of wonder, curiosity, and faint arousal, as she parted her lips slightly. Creeping slowly up his body, moving side to side in the process, she dribbled her mouthful of mixed cum here and there on his torso. She paused long enough to nip one of Jack's nipples before shifting back, then sliding her beautiful bare body against his, trapping and smearing the spread puddles of seed between them.

Anna slid up to lay full length atop him, face to face. As she laced her arms round behind his neck, Jack slid one arm around her and moved his other hand down to cup her ass. They came together in a fervent kiss. Anna was especially aggressive at first, her body shifting and pressing against his as she ran one hand up the back of his neck. Her other hand clutched at his back, pressing her nails in, temporarily leaving red crescents.

A couple minutes later, calming, urgency gone, Anna finally came up for air. When she moved her face back and regarded Jack, he gave her a smile, then raised his brow and tipped his face in a way that said 'did you want to explain that now?'

Anna's eyes slid away.

“Don't look at me like that.” she laughed.

“Felt like getting a little messy?” Jack asked.

“Yeah,” she gave a little shrug, “I was just kinda... Super horny? Like... Do you ever get the urge to just do something...”

“Gratuitous?”

“Yeah. Um, sorry-”

“Shh,” Jack brought a hand up to gently lift her chin, kissing her lightly, “Don't. It'll be fun to clean up, but it was really hot. I'm not complaining.”

“Mmm, good.” she nuzzled her face against his, feeling his stubble prickle the soft skin of her cheek and jaw.

They settled, facing each other, their heads resting on the arm of the couch.

“So,” Jack ventured after a time, “The Unit works.”

Anna gave a lazy smile.

“Yeah. I thought about changing halfway through. Like, having us go in from the opposite ends.”

“Ah. Yeah.”

“But then I thought we could wait. Try that next time.”

“Ah, something to look forward to.” Jack agreed. “Clever girl.”

“Thanks 'guy who gets outsmarted by reptiles in the dinosaur movie.'”

Jack chuckled.

After cuddling for a while, they decided on a quick shower. Anna had managed to get a good deal of various fluids on her nylons, so she stuffed them in a plastic grocery bag provided by Jack. This bag when into the Victoria's Secret bag with it's other contents. When they had dried off, Anna dressed in her underwear and Jack's Pink Floyd shirt again. Jack settled for pulling on his boxers, earning an approving nod.

When it was cleaned and replaced in it's box, Anna asked Jack to find a place to stash it for the time being. A minute with a cloth and a can of upholstery cleaner saw the couch clean.

“So... Friday the 13^th, or...?” Jack asked.

“Not for me. I know it's not that late, but... You can watch if you want, but I'll probably fall asleep on you.”

Jack shrugged.

“I've seen them. And I was more interested in spending time with you anyway.”

“Aww,” she moved close and took one of his hands in hers, “Me too. We could fool around a little in your bed before we go to sleep?”

Jack bent and blew out the last sill burning candle. He nodded toward the slivers of light escaping around his bedroom door at the end of the short hall.

“Lead the way, Beautiful.”

Opening the door, they both blinked and shielded their eyes from the overhead light. Jack gave Anna's ass a pat.

“Go ahead and get comfy. I'll get the lights.” he said.

Assuming he had some reason for not just cutting the lights right away, Anna crawled across the bed and pulled the covers back to slide in under them.

“Jack?” she held a flap of blanket and sheet back for his benefit.

“Coming.” he cut the lights off and padded over to slide in next to her.

“Hey.” she said quietly, sliding up close and putting a hand on his chest.

She closed her eyes as they kissed. When they parted and she opened them again, something caught her attention.

“Wh-” she turned her head, pulling away a little in surprise, “Jack...”

Glowing dots and star shapes covered the ceiling in swirls and clusters.

“Surprise.” Jack whispered.

“You did this...” she trailed off.

“Is it weird?” he asked, “Like, too much?”

“Jack... It's a surprise.” she agreed, turning back to face him. “A good one.”

She kissed him, then wrapped her arms around him for a long hug.

Before they eventually drifted off to sleep, Anna had a definite premonition that those serious questions and feelings weren't going to be put off forever.  Curled up with Jack, warm and sated and safe under the stars, that all seemed a lot less worrisome than it once had.