Work Text:
She looked to the sleeping form next to her. His long dark hair spread across the pillows and she couldn’t help but notice how incredibly handsome he was. It had been a long day for Pritchard. With deadlines to hold and him now being a freelance, his workload was immeasurable. On days like these he was practically living on caffeine. Mostly coffee but also energy drinks, coke and occasionally black tea. He’d have worked through the night if it wasn’t for Cooper, the crazy, dorky girl who actually managed to make him of all people fall in love with her.
Now he was lightly snoring with her cuddled up to his side, burying her nose in his hair and letting her thoughts drift off, - off to how she ended up here with him. Reminiscing to the day they first met.
She was at work in her backroom at a small workshop producing custom tech and mechanics when she heard that costumer arguing with her boss again at the counter. Since she was practically incapable of proper social interaction with other people, she mostly stayed in her room, so she hadn’t even seen him once before. Even though he had first set foot in the store about four months ago, she only knew he was a perfectionist with a sarcastic voice who was working on a motorcycle.
Disturbed in her workflow but also intrigued by who was giving her boss proverbial hell, she pushed the magnifying glass goggles up on her forehead and went to investigate the matter. On the way she picked up a few mechanical parts so it wouldn’t look like she was prying. (because damn straight she was!)
“What? You actually dare to call this high quality??”
Pritchard snarled from the counter just as Cooper walked in. She looked up and—Her jaw dropped. For about half a second she just stood there, petrified.
Wooaaah, how could I be missing out on that eye-candy the whole time!? Well, usually I'd rather stay in my room but daaaamn! something inside her head said. Her thoughts were tumbling all over each other in her head until she managed to gather them back up and talk to her boss.
“Erm, Boss? I’m done with Mr. V’s carburetor, James can take over now.”
she said while shyly looking over to the breathtakingly handsome customer. The desire to free his long dark hair from their confinement was suddenly there.
Pritchard turned, only now noticing her presence and he shot her a skeptical look before talking to the owner of the shop again.
“Anyways, I gave you exact measurements and a digital 3D-model, so it shouldn’t be that hard to meet my expectations.”
he sounded like he was talking to a five year-old. But the owner ignored him, instead talking to Cooper again.
“Yeah, you go do that.”
he said, before turning his attention back to Pritchard.
“You know what!? I’m fucking sick of your special wishes! From now on Ditty here will take care of it. She’ll gladly help you out.”
he hissed in a passive-aggressive tone while jerking his thumb at Cooper over his shoulder. He then left the counter, knowing fully well, how she couldn’t handle being around other people let alone having to talk to them.
Shock.
She? Had to talk to… him? Now? Like, right now??
Fuck. What the hell am I supposed to do? Fuck fuck fuckedy fuck, get a grip! Will he even let me take care of his project?
Thoughts racing through her head, anxiety freezing her body.
Okay. Okay… take a deep breath… good. And now pull yourself together.
“Ermm, hello? I, uh, I’m Cooper Ditchfield-Mabley. Would you…” (*gulp*, why is this so hard?!?) “would you be okay with me taking care of your wishes?”
she managed to say, while being unable to look him in the eye.
“You are… who?”
he retorted sharply. Blushing she managed to tear her eyes away from his sneering lips and answered
“Cooper Ditchfield-Mabley. But you can call me Ditty. Everyone here does that.”
“Whatever. This poor excuse of a shop doesn’t offer any quality anymore anyway.”
he sounded pretty pissed. Damnit. Should I allow him into my territory? We could discuss his project there without the risk of being disturbed by the boss and James is busy anyway. Hm… yeah, that could maybe work.
“Please follow me, so I can have a look at these 3D-models and you can tell me any further specification you need.”
she explained, turning towards the hallway to her room and started walking. (She even managed to almost give a professional ring to her voice despite her feeling totally awkward with this whole situation.)
“Come again?”
Pritchard asked, irritated. Shit. He didn’t follow me… she realized, taking a deep breath before she turned back to face him.
“I have my own room where I work on special assignments. Those, no one else wants to have. I’m pretty good with machines but I suck when it comes to interacting with people, so I was stuffed in a back room where I won’t bother anyone but can still make money for the boss. Satisfied? So do you want to come along now and let me have a look at that project of yours or do you want to go looking for another mechanic?”
she said way harsher than intended and immediately clapped her hands over her mouth.
“The service here is getting worse every minute”
he only snorted in response.
“I – I’m so sorry! I don’t know what go into me! I’ll give my best to produce whatever parts you need for your project, I swear! Besides I could really use a harder assignment right now. All the others I got right now are, well, they aren’t exactly intellectually demanding. Let me prove you I can do better than my boss!”
It all blurted out of her in a single breath and she gave Pritchard an almost pleading look to which he only replied with an annoyed sigh, throwing her the USB with the 3D-models.
“Then stop babbling and get to it.”
She clumsily managed to catch it and hurried to her room, again asking him to follow her, - which again, he didn’t.
“No. Everything you should need is on that drive.”
He left without wasting another second, not even listening to her calling after him about how she would call him as soon as she was done. Cooper watched him leave, disappointed but also very intrigued about having a costumer who brought his own 3D-models.
-two weeks later-
“Francis Wendell Pritchard…”
She quietly read the name from the customer list to herself, thinking about the man with his attitude, his extremely accurate 3D-model and meticulous data on all the details. He has to be in IT or tech business judging from the skill it takes to create data like that, she thought nervously dialing the number from the list. It only rang once before he picked up.
“Yeah?”
his sharp voice almost made her accidentally cut the line.
“H-hello, Mr. Pritchard, I’ve finished your cylinders and started working on the fender. But I’d like to have your opinion on the second, before I continue working on it.”
“I don’t have time for unfinished products”
he snapped. She struggled pushing her anxiety aside before she answered.
“The part of the assignment the boss did, which you were unhappy with is now done. As for the fender I’m sorry for annoying you, - I just rather make sure my work meets the customer’s standards. I’m available every day from 9am to 1:30pm. Later appointments aren’t a problem when I’m informed beforehand.”
There was a short silence.
“Your ‘boss’ is incompetent.”
he simply stated, tone salty. She answered before thinking.
“I fear I can’t say much to the contrary… He’s quite good at painting cars and drinking coffee, but James and I do pretty much all the rest, except when it comes to ‘high priority’-customers. With those he won’t let anyone else have the credit for the work, even if the quality’s lacking… Uh, wait! Please don’t tell him I said that! He’ll fire me!”
As she was starting to panic, he just remained silent. Maybe in quiet acknowledgement. So she kept talking.
“Well, anyhow, your project was in wrong hands from the beginning. I’m surprised he even made it as far as he did. But I’ve got it now. How about you have a look at it tomorrow 1pm?”
Pritchard heaved a sigh.
“If you’re done with the unfinished parts till then…”
“The cylinders are done. So, see you tomorrow!”
She just hung up without waiting for an answer. Taking a deep breath, she hadn’t realized she was holding.
-the next day shortly before 1pm-
When Cooper heard the door open she grabbed the cylinders and hurried to the counter, putting the goggles up to keep her wild curls from falling in her face.
“Hello, Mr. Pritchard!”
she greeted while putting the finished parts on the counter with a wide smile, before looking up to his face expectantly. She could see his eyes widen in what she could have sworn looked like awe for a split second, then his face returned back to his usual neutral/annoyed expression before he said:
“Quite alright, I guess. I can probably work with these.”
Even if his words didn’t show it, she felt he was really appreciating the way the product turned out. So she decided to simply take his statement as a compliment.
“Thanks a lot. It was fun making it.
Pritchard’s facial expression quickly changed to one of disapproval.
“Don’t get me wrong. The quality is okay, nothing more and nothing less than that. So don’t feel flattered just yet.”
Despite his harsh choice of words, she couldn’t help the mirth in her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
“Well, it’s at least something, right? Would you like to come and have a look at the fender? You can also tell me what I could have done better with the cylinders on the way.”
she tried to offer, but he interrupted.
“I don’t have time for this.”
he sounded annoyed again. She looked at the floor, disappointed.
“No problem. I don’t have much to do right now anyway, so I’ll just make two slightly different versions and you decide which one you like when I’m done.”
she replied, voice getting more and more quiet with every word while her thoughts were swirling around in her head like he had pulled a plug somewhere. This is bad. I had hoped I could show him how I’m good with computers as well and we could have had tea or coffee and—
“How much?”
He interrupted her whirlpool of thoughts and she managed to raise her head and meet his (damn beautiful) blue eyes to ask
“Excuse me please, how much what?”
“Money. For the parts.”
he replied impatiently.
“Oh. Err… right. I’m sorry. That’s exactly why I don’t usually work here at the front desk. The cylinders would be 90 credits each, the fender will probably be somewhere around 60, but I can’t say for sure since I don’t know how many hours of work will go into that project, with me making two of them and everything.”
He handed her his credit chip, looking bored. Or was it tired? I’d love to kiss that expression off his face… wait what am I thinking!? She managed to hide her blush by just politely smiling at him while taking care of the transaction and watching him put the cylinders in the pockets of his stylish orange-black leather jacket. Still her accursed mind just wouldn’t shut up and in a spur of courage the question that had been circling in her head for several minutes now suddenly burst out of her.
“Uh, Mr. Pritchard? You obviously seem to be in the IT or programming business, considering the quality of the data you gave me… Would you mind having a coffee with me? To exchange knowledge, I mean. I don’t meet many people as competent as you.”
for a couple of seconds, he just stared at her, completely baffled.
“Uh, what?”
he retorted kind of slow.
“I… uh… coffee… the two of us.”
she only whispered with her eyes locked to the floor, anxiety coming back at her full force.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t intend to cross any boundaries, I shouldn’t have said anything and even if it was okay to ask, someone like you probably wouldn’t even think about putting up with someone like me… Who would want that, why can’t-“
she cut herself off suppressing tears suddenly threatening to fill her eyes.
“ ‘People don’t like motormouths and game freaks’ is what the boss always says, and so does everyone else. Why can’t I ever shut up??”
she finished barely audibly.
Pritchard looked blankly at the emotions washing over her. Then his (godforsaken way too pretty) face changed to utter confusion though he still didn’t say anything.
Why do I always have to screw it up with 9 out of 10 guys I try to talk to? It’s not like I haven’t talked to many in the first place… I have to pull myself together, I’m at work. Hopefully he won’t tell on me to the boss.
Thoughts were ravaging her head as she wiped away a tear with the sleeve around her shaking hand.
“I’m sorry, that was very unprofessional of me. It’ll probably be for the best if I just get back to working on your assignment.”
Still she was so intrigued by his whole persona to throw all caution aside thinking: Whatever, it can’t get any worse than getting fired anyway. So the quietly asked
“But, erm, out of curiosity, would you… would you have even considered it?”
“Considered what?”
he asked in return, still entirely clueless. Cooper shrunk even more under his gaze.
“Having a coffee with me…”
she answered quietly, while shyly looking up at him.
He seemed to be in thought for a brief moment before he met her eyes.
“Coffee doesn’t even sound that bad.”
he then retorted rubbing the huge bags under his eyes as if that would help, while Coopers eyes started glowing with joy. She put on a sweet smile.
“Really?? Thanks!!! Uh, I mean… how wonderful! When would be a good time for you, Mr. Pritchard?”
“Do I look like someone who has a lot of time?”
exhaustion was shadowing over the usual sharp tone of his voice and her smile vanished.
“No, Sir. That’s why I was asking for your possibilities on the matter. It seems though I have misunderstood your intentions. Sorry for that.”
she answered, forcing herself to look directly in his eyes. Giving a nod instead of a goodbye she turned to leave the counter as she heard him heaving a fairly heavy sigh.
“I’ve got a couple of minutes right now, if you make it short.”
she heard him saying dryly though she didn’t miss the faint vibes of sympathy underneath. Wait, what? Sympathy? Towards her?
Shock. (again.)
She spun back around, almost tying a knot in her legs.
“O-okay, the shop across the street is quite good. Let me just get my pc real quick.”
Giving him the brightest smile yet, she hurried off into her backroom to grab her gaming laptop. Although part of her thought he was pulling a prank on her she was back in less than 30 seconds. When he was still there, waiting, as she came back, her heart officially started working overdrive.
Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, what am I even doing!? She giggled internally before saying
“If I’m the one robbing your time with this the drinks are on me.”
“I can’t have someone I practically do not know pay for me-“
“Then look at it like this, Sir: You pay me for the mechanical parts I make and I’ll pay you now for your time, knowledge and input. Also I get to spend time with an interesting person so it’s more of a win for me.”
she interrupted.
“Whatever, as longs as there’s coffee.”
he relented as she ordered a small roiboos tea and a large black coffee for him as if she already known the way he liked it.
While waiting for their drinks, she took out her high-end gaming laptop to which he raised his eyebrows. Seeing his reaction she explained.
“Yes, I love gaming and this laptop is my holy grail,- I had to save up money for almost a whole year to afford it.”
“Thunderbird 3, huh?”
he asked fairly interested and she gave a nod, showing him several new functions and some programs she had written herself, including a patch for a Final Fantasy game.
“…and like this the graphics will be less laggy. What’s wrong?”
Looking up she noticed he had gone very quiet on the mention of Final Fantasy. But before she could inquire any further he pointed at the program file asking
“You play Final Fantasy? Which one?”
At first she was a bit startled, because he suddenly seemed so different from before: His facial features seemed more relaxed and almost… happy…?
“I’m replaying FF XXVI at the moment. I wasn’t able to buy XXVII yet.”
“You should. You’re really missing out on something.”
he smiled.
He. Smiled.
He. Smiled. At. Me. Squeeeeeeeeaaaal!!
Trying to answer honestly she stuttered
“I… I am, well, I’m a little, uh… broke right now.”
she admitted, staring proverbial holes into her cup before drinking the last drop of tea as slowly as possible.
“How’s that? You’re literally the only one in that shop capable of making products actually sellable.”
I… I must have misheard… she thought. She blushed a little before explaining.
“I don’t exactly get a high salary, but that’s okay. In return the boss mostly leaves me alone and also lets me work on my own projects as well. It’s enough for the rent and food and everything else needed to, well, live, but for everything else like games, movies, merch and stuff I have to save up. At the end of next month, I can probably afford FF XXVII!”
The smile on her face widened with the last declaration… and with the look on his face.
“Well it’s just a very good game. I’d be a shame to miss out on it.”
he explained, the tone of his voice warmer than she could’ve imagined possible.
“So I’ve heard from several friends online. Seven more weeks and it’s mine.”
As she was saying that she used the opportunity to make sure to remember the exact color of his eyes, completely zoning out for a couple of seconds in the process before she snapped back into reality.
“Uh, I shouldn’t waste any more of your precious time. Thank you for this relaxed little break.”
She signaled for the waiter to bring the bill and out of nowhere Pritchard just paid for everything before she could do anything about it.
“What? Wait, I was supposed to pay, I invited you!”
she protested. He only shook his head, stood up and grabbed his jacket saying
“Just buy Final Fantasy XXVII.”
Then he left. She stood, watching him leave, confused but also very grateful.
-another week later-
The phone was ringing on the other end and Cooper was eagerly waiting for Pritchard to pick up, which he did shortly after.
“Pritchard speaking.”
“Hello, this is Ditty from the mechanics’ service. I’ve made three different versions of your fender. If you have the time you can come over and pick up the one you like.”
“Two hours.”
was all he said,- he hung up immediately after. He had sounded pretty stressed and on edge, now that she was thinking about it. To clear her head and because she had nothing else to do, she started an online match with some friends.
Said two hours later a very, very tired Pritchard rang the bell at the counter. She noticed immediately.
Damn he looks like he hasn’t slept in like, what? Three days? I should be careful not to upset him…
“Hello, Mr. Pritchard! Would you like me to bring the parts here for you to look at and decide or should we take care of that in my workshop in the back? That’d be more relaxed for the both of us, because the boss won’t interrupt. Between the two of us, I’m actually not allowed to make multiple pieces for one assignment like that because of the material costs.”
She was making sure to keep her voice low, for obviously strained Pritchard’s sake and so the boss wouldn’t hear.
“Mh, alright.”
he simply said, which brought a wide smile to her face.
“Please follow me, Sir.”
She vanished into her room, tired, groggy hacker at her heels. Seeing that she asked:
“Can I offer you a fresh cup of coffee?”
cleaning up her room a little to find a small wooden stool for her to sit on so he could have her chair while she was talking.
“Coffee would be a blessing, right now.”
he sighed dropping himself on the stool without noticing the chair she was offering him. Confused she nodded explaining
“Okay, I’ll be right back, Sir. While I’m gone you can have a look at the different versions I made if you like.”
Shortly after she returned with a steaming cup of black coffee.
“Here you go, Sir, black without any sugar just like last time. Have you decided on your favorite yet?”
she said gently and when he was pointing at the variation he chose, she added
“Good choice,- elegantly arched but with distinct markings. Is the quality to your liking?”
He nodded.
“Pretty good.”
Wait. Did he… did he really just make a Metal Gear reference?? Ah, never mind…
“Thank you, Sir. Excuse me, but could you have a look at this?”
she pointed at a relatively new blueprint she made from the data on his USB. There were several small improvements she had drawn on with a colored marker.
“I think, by changing these little details I could raise the engines efficiency by quite a bit. We’re not talking about much here, but it would also effect the engine’s sound, making it less harsh.”
she explained and looked at him, hoping he wouldn’t get angry about her tampering with his design. But he seemed genuinely intrigued.
“Interesting… are you sure about this?”
“You can have my calculations and computer models to check over them once again if you like. But, yeah, I’m pretty much very sure.”
She grinned over her own weird choice of words. Pritchard shook his head.
“If you’re that sure, do it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll hold you responsible.”
He actually allows me to…?
“Thank you very much for your trust, Sir. I—“
She was suddenly interrupted by a voice coming from her still plugged in gaming headset.
“Dittynator, You still in?”
“Oh, shoot! I’m sorry, I totally forgot… just a second please!”
she gave Pritchard an awkward apologetic look, put the headset on and answered the other player.
“Sherloner, I’m still there, just have to take care of a costumer for a second. Later!”
Putting the headset back on the table, she turned back to him.
“I’m sorry. I started an online session with a couple of players I know shortly after I called you.”
She smiled sweetly at his confused expression before asking
“What do you do making you so tired, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Working.”
he answered curtly. She nodded and seeing his coffee was empty she said
“I understand this is none of my business… would you like another cup of coffee?”
“That’s not necessary, thank you.”
He was rising to his feet now.
“Okay, may I relieve you of 65 credits for the fender?”
Smiling, she was back to business, accepting his payment and wrapping the product up for transport.
“Thank you. Hopefully you’ll get some sleep soon, I can barely see your beautiful blue eyes underneath all that drowsiness.”
It just slipped from her lips before she could stop it. Shocked she clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief at what she’d just said out loud.
“What was that…?”
He was even more confused, looking at her like he didn’t believe his ears. She took a deep breath before answering slowly
“I hope you’ll get some sleep soon, sleep is important and… and sleep deprivation doesn’t suit your very, uh… pleasant lineaments. Somehow I just cannot shut up whenever you are around.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
His answer came in a dry matter of fact-tone.
Cooper looked back down to the ground at that remark. Selfconsciousness taking over again, lowering her voice to a barely audible whisper.
“Excuse me, Sir. You… you just have such an interesting personality, even though I don’t really know you. And you being super attractive doesn’t make this any easier for me.
“Attractive…?”
he repeated, obvious disbelief in his voice. That did it. She blushed like the tomato queen while stuttering
“Y-yeah… you’re hella attractive. Really quite a lot I mean.”
Instead of answering he only raised an eyebrow at her. (Now he looked like hot Spock with long hair. Shit.)
She timidly looked up at him with the face of a child that just broke an expensive piece of pottery.
“Oh, come on. Stop screwing with me.”
He waved his hand like she’d made an especially tasteless joke.
“Why should I lie to you? I think you’re very attractive and interesting. I’d love to get to know you better, but that is highly improbable since you are way outta my league. - But now you know it.”
Pritchard stared at her, saying nothing. His baffled gaze told enough though.
“Do you work on Saturdays as well?”
she asked taking his empty cup from him.
“I’m always working.”
He sounded bitter at that declaration.
“Oh, okay… Still would you like to take a little break? Just an hour or a half?”
It was still hard to overcome her shyness and talk to him, but right now she worried more than she was shy because he looked really done for.
“No time.”
he shot back without even considering. Said shot hit like a pump gun to the head. She looked at him, disheartened like a hurt puppy.
“Oh, okay… Well then, I shouldn’t keep you from working any longer then.”
she said quietly as he rose to his feet. She put the wrapped up fender in a bag for him since it obviously wouldn’t fit in the pockets of his jacket. Opening the door of her room for him she tried suppressing the sadness in her voice as she bade him goodbye. Her Thoughts toppling over themselves in her head again.
Why was I even hoping…? He would never sacrifice his time for a boring geek like me. Not like I ever stood any chance in comparison to his looks. I should have stayed in my room instead of barging in, always getting into stuff like that. And why do I always crush on like 11 out of 10s instead of people closer to me…
Lost in thought she didn’t even notice how he suddenly started swaying a little as he said
“And thanks for the…” he was swaying harder “…coffee…”
He collapsed. She snapped out of it, immediately trying to catch him but only awkwardly managing to stop his head from hitting the ground.
“Sir? Sir! SIR!!”
she yelled lightly slapping his face in the process hoping to wake him up.
“Mr. Pritchard!!!”
He didn’t even twitch; not having slept in over three days and only living from caffeine since then had caused his body to shut down completely. He was unconscious. Starting to panic she dragged him back into her room and onto her office chair. He’s even lighter than he looks! Is he only living on coffee!?
Uselessly checking his pulse since he was still breathing (she’s panicking like shit right now) she took his face with both hands shaking him lightly.
“Sir! Sir! Mr. Pritchard!! Can you hear me? Please wake up! SIR! Francis! Come on, don’t you stay out cold! I’m NOT trained for this!!! What the heck am I supposed to do?! Maybe Sherloner or Missywho know some… NoNO NOOO! Get back up! PLEASE!!!”
she screeched desperately, her voice getting higher pitched and more panicked with every word.
To no avail. He still remained limb and passed out.
Taking a shaky breath, she finally realized she wouldn’t get anywhere like this and tried (emphasis on tried) to calm down. She couldn’t help but worry like hell though.
If I wait here he’ll probably wake up soon…
She thought taking a blanket and tucking it over him for no apparent reason, then she sat on the stool simply staring at him. (As if that’d make him wake up faster)
Time passed and too soon it was closing time - and Pritchard was still out cold.
She had just explained to her online friends she wouldn’t have time for another game today, when someone knocked at her door.
Oh, no, I know that passive aggressive knock. Shit! She thought and suddenly panic was back at full force, making her heart hammer the blood through her veins like it intended to make them burst.
She opened the door just wide enough to put her head through and asking timidly
“Uh, yeah, Boss…?”
“It’s closing time. I gotta lock this place down, so make sure to get outta here, now.”
he barked gently as usual.
“I’m sorry, Boss, I’m afraid that’s impossible at the moment. I’m working on an extremely sensible part and cannot afford to stop working on it now. Could… couldn’t you give me the spare key and I’ll take care of locking up the shop once I’m done?”
It sounded more like a plea than a question. But he ignored her and only said
“Then put your project in my car, I’ll drive it to your place.”
The panic in her was still rising and she was frantically trying to think of an excuse why he couldn’t simply drop her ‘project’ off at her doorstep.
“That’s the, uh, problem, Boss… in its current condition it’s very susceptible to fluctuations in air pressure and harsh movements. That’s why I can’t really open my door.”
She tried her best to make it sound credible, but her boss was having none of it.
“Then put it in a fucking plastic bag, damnit.”
Okay, what to do now… he won’t leave me here so the bosses car is probably the best way to get him to my place without the boss noticing, but how…? Wait, I know! The box from the new welding machine the boss bought last week!
She made up her mind.
“Okay, give me five minutes so I can wrap it all up and put it in a box. I trust in your cars shock absorbers, Sir!”
She gave him a flattering smile, hoping he’d agree:
“Five minutes.”
he retorted firmly, before turning around abruptly and walking away. She didn’t even get to say ‘thank you’.
Closing the door, she hastily pulled away the blanket to check whether he was still breathing.
Okay, good. Blanket in box. Customer in blanket. Stuffing him in, no bruises, no, that’d be a problem…
She carefully prepared everything so she could carefully drag the still unconscious hacker inside the 7 x 2 x 2 foot box. Putting the lid on and securing it she finally drilled a hole through the sidewall next to his head so he wouldn’t suffocate.
After checking over everything one more time, she carefully pushed the box out of her room and informed her boss she was ready.
With her bosses help she managed to load the hacker in the box onto his van and made sure every single one of the security straps was in place and pulled on tight.
I just hope he doesn’t wake up or he’ll think he’s being kidnapped…
When they arrived at her apartment complex, they carried the box into her room where she opened it as soon as her boss had left.
He looks a little like snowwhite in her coffin, mechanics-style. Well ok, kind of a lot.
She giggled at the thought and gently pulled him out of the box, not even breaking a sweat, placing him on her couch. She tucked him up with the blanket and wrote a little note explaining what happened and how he got here, leaving out the entire part about stuffing him in a box on purpose. After that she made some food for herself and ate while watching him like a total stalker.
The rest of the evening she spent watching a couple of episodes of her current favorite series on Netflix not without looking over to the sleeping beauty every two minutes. (Okay, maybe every 30 seconds)
Instead of going to bed she got her pillows and blankets from her room and spread them out on the floor next to the sofa Pritchard was resting on, so she could sleep by his side. (Only for his wellbeing of course… That’s totally not creepy, okay!?)
Later that night she was woken by a kick in the side, a surprised outcry and a loud thud. Apparently, Pritchard was awake and had tried to get up, resulting in him toppling over her in the darkness.
“Are you okay, Mister? Have you hit your head somewhere?”
She got up and turned on a dim red fairy light hanging on the walls for a gentle lighting. Rubbing his aching knee and looking around in a confused manner Pritchard only asked
“Where am I?”
“You just wanted to leave the store, when you suddenly collapsed out of tiredness. I tried to wake you, but I couldn’t. Then the shop was closing and I had to leave, so I brought you to my place for you to rest and get back on your feet. Please don’t be mad, I was just worried about you.”
He listened to everything she explained and seemed to be thinking about something afterwards. When asked what was on his mind he answered
“I dreamt I was locked up in a box or coffin of some sort…”
She blushed and looked to the ground uncomfortably.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it locked up… that’s…that was, erm… Well, it was the only way for me to get you here without the boss noticing and therefore firing me, because I hid an unconscious customer in my workshop. I’ve put a load of blankets in the box and I’ve also made a hole in it for you to breathe comfortably…”
Despite trying really hard it still sounded like a lousy way to justify her actions to her. As she looked to the ground, realizing what she’d done, she felt the guilt hit her like a soccer-punch in the guts.
“Are you okay? You look a little sick.”
Pritchard noted.
“That’s what I should ask you! I’ve stuffed you in a box, kidnapped you in a van, brought you to an unfamiliar apartment, and then made you hit your knee by lying in your way.”
she confessed. But he wasn’t even really listening, as he checked the time on his phone, his jaw dropped.
“I’ve overslept my deadline.”
he said as if he needed to say it out loud to be able to comprehend.
“I’ve tried everything in my power to wake you up, I swear! I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you fix it?”
She inquired, genuinely sorry despite his blackout not being her fault.
“I need a computer.”
“You can use mine.”
she offered, to which he only retorted
“Where.”
She got up and collected her gaming laptop from her bag, giving it to Pritchard without unlocking it though. She simply forgot. (Well it’s not like that would slow a professional hacker like Pritchard down of course)
He hacked into her profile with ease, taking a flash drive from his pocket to continue working on his already overdue project.
Goddamnit! How hot is that!? My security should be pretty good actually…
More than just slightly turned on by his skill a little “mmh” noise accidentally slipped from her lips. Pritchard though, taking this for a question just sneered
“Your security’s crap, y’know?”
“Well, maybe. Either that or you’re just too good”
She tried hard not to make it sound as flirty as part of her would have wanted it to sound. He considered for a second, his eyes not leaving the screen.
“Mh. Probably.”
As she watched his hands dancing over the keyboard with abnormal speed, she noticed what he was actually doing.
“Looking good; Very complex. That will be damn effective. Did you write this all by yourself?”
His hands stopped. His eyes still fixed on the screen he sharply asked
“What?”
“Your hack. It's bloody brilliant. Your skills are even more impressive than I thought.”
Although she made him a compliment his stern expression didn’t change.
“Not a single word. To anyone. Ever.”
he hissed, suddenly somehow looking like some venomous kind of killer-snake.
“Of course not. Who do you think I am?”
“Who am I supposed to think you are after you stuffed me in a wooden box and brought me to your home without my consent while I was unconscious?”
he countered. His answer cut like a razor. I didn’t want to do this to him, but what other choice did I have…?
She tried to put an amused face over her guilty one.
“Someone who just wanted to help you? Anyways, I’ll better let you work.”
You work and I get to watch, win-win.
She smiled.
Pritchard continued typing - fast enough it got hard to read along and quite frankly, it fascinated her. Everything about him.
His work, his skill, his hands, his face (gosh, just his looks in general!). She inched closer towards him without even noticing herself,- until their thighs touched.
He didn’t react. Didn’t look up. Seems like he didn’t notice. She decided to test her luck.
She bent forwards resting her chin in her hands continuing to watch his work fully concentrated. Her face dangerously close to his. Finally, he reacted.
“May I ask what you are doing?”
His voice was an irritated snarl. But his eyes still rested on the code racing up the screen simultaneously with his insane typing speed. She wanted to push her luck a little further.
“What do you mean what am I doing?”
“The physical contact.”
he pronounced it, like it was an atrocity.
“Does it bother you?”
she started wiggling away. He continued working.
“Why are you looking like that anyways? You don’t even get half of what I’m doing at max.”
She raised her eyebrows at his scornful tone before explaining calmly
“You’ve just evaded the second security layer and are currently writing on an anti-backtracking subroutine.”
He froze.
Slowly taking his hands off the keyboard he turned, his eyes finally leaving the screen to meet hers. She smiled innocently.
“I’d say I do get half of it, at least.”
He only gave her the hot Spock-eyebrow-face again before turning back towards her laptop, continuing to type in silence. She only smirked and leaned closer towards him while making sure not to make contact, although that’s exactly what she wanted. They remained like this for a while until suddenly, Pritchard’s eyes widened.
“What the hell…!?”
he hissed, face suddenly tense. He removed his USB drive and looked at her confused face.
“Your laptop is infected with something. I’ll see what I can do about it.”
He said, ignored her grateful face and turned back towards her computer, trying to fix the problem. It wasn’t long before he snarled
“Ugh… fucking great.”
“What is it? Did I do something wrong?”
she asked innocently and genuinely interested in improving her skills in computer stuff. He shook his head.
“Nothing, except for relying on a shabby anti-virus program. That way you didn’t even notice you were being spied on the whole time.”
“What!? By whom!?”
she exclaimed in pure shock. Pritchard shrugged.
“Hell if I know. But whoever it is, he or she has seen my hacking program, which is mildly speaking problematic.”
“But we, uh, I mean you, sorry, you can probably trace them back or something and set things straight, right? I have nothing to hide except for a couple of untested and unlicensed projects. But you could get into real trouble now, I imagine.”
But he was shaking his head again, explaining
“No. It’s your computer, they’ll trace it back to you. You’ll be the one they blame.”
“That’s okay, as long as you don’t get into any trouble because of me.”
she answered truly glad, he wouldn’t be the one to be blamed for her negligence.
“No. You don’t get it. For a hack like that you’d get twelve years of prison minimum!”
Wow. That’s quite a sentence she thought before asking
“So what do you propose we do?”
“Get the hell outta here.”
he simply said.
“Or we destroy the computer and get another one that is safe at least…?”
It was hard to even bring these words over her lips, considering the amount of time she spent saving up money until she finally could afford it. Seriously why should anyone spy on me of all people in the first place??
When she looked up, she noticed Pritchard was looking at her somewhat… disappointed?
“And I thought you knew your way around tech.” he sighed. “I’ve already disconnected your laptop from the proxy,- it’s safe now. You however are not.”
Looking down selfconsciously she replied
“There are areas like the designing of mechanic or electronic compounds and building them, where my knowledge excels most other people. Then there are areas where I get around relatively okay, like basic programming and stuff. And then there are areas I completely suck at, as you can plainly see. But I compensate those with all of my fandom knowledge, I guess.”
she explained, grinning at the last statement.
“I see… Back on topic, though: We need to leave before the police arrives or we’re both in a shit load of trouble.”
“So it’s apartment hunting all over again... I can barely afford these 431 square-feet anyway.”
she sighed in resignment. After a short silence she could hear Pritchard grumble
“It’s kinda my fault you’re in this mess, so I guess you can stay at my place for a while until you’ve arranged yourself a replacement.”
“Really?! Thank you so much!!”
she exclaimed gratefully while making huge puppy eyes.
“Can I bring over some of my stuff tomorrow? The rest I’ll just put in a box and keep it somewhere at work or something.
Does 6pm sound good? I can bring food,- do you like Lebanese? I know that really nice place at—“
“Do you have any idea how serious this is? We don’t have that much time. The police are probably enroute already,- we should make sure to get out of here while we still can.”
he interrupted. After looking at his gorgeous face for another second she nodded and said
“Okay. Give me 30 minutes.”
As fast as possible she dug out 3 big cardboard boxes, filling the first with all of her clothes, important documents and the rest of her cash. The second one was quickly overloaded with fan merch, cosplay parts, games, books, consoles and even more fan merch. Finally, she loaded some canned food, a ladle, some pots and frying pans, her pillow and blanket and some left over fan merch (again) into the third box, before stuffing her laptops and a bunch of blueprints into her backpack, tying her Bat’leh sword and the Legolas bow to its lid.
“I’m done… no wait!”
she quickly ran and untangled the red fairy light from the living room’s ceiling, stuffing it into one of the boxes.
“Now I’m done.”
“Let’s go then. We should really hurry up now.”
“So… how do we get to your place? Where do you live anyway?? Is it far? Because I know I don’t have the cash to pay a taxi without knowing how much my new apartment will be.”
“We can’t walk, obviously. Not with the amount of time we’ve already wasted. But a taxi driver would be a potential witness and we don’t need that either…”
Pritchard said, thinking hard.
“Isn’t there one of those automatic taxi stations nearby?”
Cooper asked, pointing in the direction accordingly.
“We’ll have to take one of those then. Lead the way.”
She didn’t move.
“I told you, can’t pay it. We could use the subway though.”
“Didn’t I just finish explaining how we can’t afford a taxi driver as a witness? Do you think a whole subway station full of people is any better??”
he snapped back.
“Just go already. I’ll take care of the payment.”
Apparently ‘taking care of it’ to Pritchard meant hacking the automatic taxi into believing he’d already payed and also completely removing the existence of any data proving it drove this route today.
While carrying the boxes up to his apartment she asked
“By the way, what name am I supposed to call you by? I can’t always call you ‘You’, you know?”
Pritchard shrugged.
“I don’t really care. You won’t be living at my place for that long I take it?”
He put the box he had been holding down in front of his sofa.
“Uh… I’ll just call you Francis then, okay?”
she smiled, completely ignoring his question and stepped into his apartment.
“Whoa… hacking and stuff must be quite lucrative, huh?”
He shook his head
“No. this is from my previous job.”
“Okay, in which corner can I crash?”
“You can have the sofa… Huh? what’s wrong?”
he asked as he saw her eyes wide.
“Oooooh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re always so kind! I have to pay you back somehow. What’s your favorite food?”
he shrugged, secretly not wanting to admit how he usually lived on and loved plain cheap instant noodles.
“In that case, can I use toast, cheese, eggs, milk, olive oil and some of your spices?”
“I don’t have all those.”
he answered dryly.
“Uh… do you have eggs?”
“Fridge. Upper right corner.”
“Okay. I’ll just come up with something from what you have here.”
she said, baring a broad smile before vanishing into the kitchen.
When she came back, two plates with food in hand, he was sitting at his desk, doing something on his computer, as per usual.
“Mmmh, smells good.”
he said in an acknowledging tone.
“Thanks. It’s just an omelet, though. May I use your bathroom afterwards?”
“Mh. Sure. It’s over there.”
After they finished eating Cooper went into the bathroom only to notice he was still working on his computer when she came back out. She stood behind him, looking over his shoulder and watching him work for a while as she placed a hand on his right shoulder, drawing circles with her thumb on the back of his neck without even noticing herself.
“What are you doing?”
to her luck he seemed more confused than irritated.
“I just want to be gentle, and you looked like you needed a massage.”
“You should be asleep, you know.”
he sounded way more gentle than she had expected. So she answered
“So should you.”
“Maybe. But I’ve still got work to do.”
he sounded tired.
“You’ll be way more productive after you’ve had some proper sleep, so don’t be too hard on yourself. I think both of us don’t want me to abduct you in a box again, hm?”
she said in a warm voice.
The next morning, she found him sleeping with his head on the keyboard.
Seriously, how can he sleep like that. It would definitely kill my back if I did that. She thought, shaking her head while quietly making her way into the kitchen to make some coffee for him.
“Francis, wake up…”
she whispered softly while carefully placing both her hands on his shoulders after she’d put the mug on his desk.
He jerked, sitting up immediately.
“What!? Who!?”
he exclaimed.
“Calm down, it’s just me.”
Her voice was soothing with a tiny note of amusement.
“And I’ve made some coffee for you. Should we sit down on the couch? You’re probably pretty sore from sleeping in the chair.”
“Not as much as you might think, it happens from time to time.”
he stated. She raised her eyebrows at that.
“This can’t be good for your health… How about this, you sit down on the couch and enjoy your coffee while I’ll take care of relaxing the back of your neck with a massage?”
He looked at her in a skeptic manner.
“I barely even know you.”
“We could simply change that.”
She held the mug out towards him. He accepted, taking a cautious sip, only to instantly start cursing.
“Ouch…! This stuff is still fucking boiling!”
he hissed.
“Careful sweetheart…”
she said, only to gasp in shock about what had just slipped her lips. Pritchard reacted accordingly; by spectacularly spluttering his coffee all over his screen.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t seem to shut up whenever I’m around you. You’re probably used the effect you have on women.”
“Uh, none…?”
His voice was a mixture of confusion and irritation. She looked him in the eye.
“Oh you have no idea, because it’s major… at least on me.”
she admitted, lowering her head to hide her massive full-face blush. Which she successfully did, because he wasn’t looking at her, instead mumbling
“Oh come on, stop bullshitting me…”
Cooper rose to her feet and stood before him, giving him a serious face.
“I wouldn’t dare. You’re unbelievably intelligent and skilled and I can already say this without even being able to imagine the full extent of it. Your voice is practically oozing with sarcasm and dominance, it’s spine-chilling. But beneath all this you’re a really good person,- you just choose not to show it. The fact, that you’re incredibly handsome and good looking is just another welcome bonus. I-“
she stopped for a second. No, Cooper. Now You’ve got to finish this. No matter what he’ll say.
“I… I like you, okay? Maybe more than I actually should for my own good, because you’re probably into a whole other caliber of women than I can deliver.”
Throughout this whole speech he’d just sat there, not saying a single word and even now, that she was done he was still completely speechless.
Why is he looking at me all shocked and in disbelieve like that? Maybe I should have stopped while I still could…
Her mind was that turbulent mess from before all over again, before he finally rose his voice again.
“I’m not the kind of guy people like.”
“But I’m not ‘the people’, you know?”
she softly said, taking one step closer, now standing between his knees, eyes full of longing. He just kept looking at her, unsure whether or not he should believe her. She leaned forward just ever so slightly.
“I-… May I…?”
she timidly asked a suddenly very red-faced, Pritchard.
“H-huh…? What?”
“Uhm… y-you know, k-kiss you…?”
came her respone even more shyly towards the now glowing pink Pritchard. She leaned in closer putting gentle hands on his sharp cheekbones, again asking for permission with a silent look to which Pritchard didn’t know how to respond. She took all of her courage together.
Come one, Coop you’re the almost there! She thought, then leaned further forward, closed her eyes and gave him a tiny little kiss on his lips, which made him blush furiously and slightly panic.
“What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong??”
“I… I didn’t know what to do…”
he awkwardly admitted.
“Okay, please tell me, if I’m doing something you don’t like.”
She took another small step towards him, so she was now standing between his legs and bent forwards again.
As their lips met again she tried for more intense and at some point, his barriers suddenly broke down, and he started timidly kissing back.
-back to present-
Yeah, that was kind of an interesting start… but God am I grateful I stuffed him into that box back then…
She turned towards him, cuddling up to his torso, quietly whispering:
“I love you so much.”
“Mhmm…”
he lazily growled in agreement.