Swansea Doves

So this is the third, chronologically the second short story about Nigel Willoby. Taking place right after the phone call with Audrye on Too Sweet to be True. I'm sorry for all the DeathGrip related posting lately, and more will be coming. I've got this huge urge to write/draw them now... But for doll-people, the background story for Nikki (=Nigel) & Manna (=Audrye) is actually the same, except they didn't join the Knights, but turned into dolls...

***

He woke up. Feeling quite rejuvenated he stretched away the last traces of sleep from his body and swung his feet off the bed. He felt like having coffee, but sadly a coffee maker wasn't one of his few kitchen appliances. Maybe he could buy those ice coffees from the store, for future.

"Nuu?" asked the little robot girl.

"Bring me a coke." The girl went to fill his order.

Rejuvenated. It was a word he rarely attached to himself but this time it was true. Seemed like getting laid was the thing to do after all. He actually grinned to himself before he regained control of his facial muscles. Maybe getting outdoors, chatting up girls at coffee shops and partying at clubs wouldn't be too bad after all if this was the result. Of course, he had to admit, he sucked at chatting up anyone in general and he probably wouldn't even be allowed into clubs. Partying, he knew nothing about except it usually involved lots of alcohol for which he wasn't too fond of. He liked his head clear. Alas, he had actually forgotten one crucial reason for why he wouldn't chat up girls or go partying anyways. He had a girlfriend. He had to stop himself from grinning again.

Nigel Willoby wasn't the type of man to have a girlfriend. He wasn't gay even if his mother seemed to think that he was, he had been with girls. Most likely she told herself that so she wouldn't miss the grandchildren he'd never give her. He wasn't bad-looking. Despite his all-take-away diet his face had never had pimples and he didn't seem to gain weight at all. He didn't have much muscles either though. That was part of the reason he didn't have girlfriends.

He wasn't a jock, he didn't like outdoors much at all in fact. And he was awkward around people. He tried to cover it up by irony and sarcasm, being snarky and all around unlikeable. So far it had worked. But she somehow got through all that and now Audrye White was his girlfriend.

This actually needed some contemplation.

He had first met Audrye on their first day of Sixth Form. She had cheerily said hello, he had grunted something in return. She had gone off with her friends, he had slouched towards the classroom for the first lessons. She had been in the pep-squad, joined the drama club briefly and performed with a band at the ceremonies at the end of the school year. He had spent most of his time in the computer lab. Not using the school's computers, of course, he always carried his own laptop with him.

Before the summer break Audrye's mother had become seriously concerned at her grades. Fearing she might not pass any of her A-levels she looked up a tutor for her. Nigel's mother had decided that her son could do something else during the summer than just sit by his computer's all day long. And so the quiet intelligent boy was paid for sitting with the girl until she could wrap her head around derivations. He had needed the money. His mother didn't make much and his technological hobby was a costly one. He had been prepared to tutor this little pretty spoiled princess of a girl for some cash, but instead he had been greeted by a gentle smile from the most beautiful girl he had even seen. And she offered him cookies, self-made, in thanks for helping her.

In retrospect the summer had flown past. She had improved in her calculus and he had managed to speak whole sentences to her without stammering or blushing. Audrye had had no trouble talking. She liked to talk about everything. He listened as she told him that she had wanted to become a pop-star, but given up since no agency had discovered her yet. She wanted to move away from Swansea and Wales, to a bigger city, preferably London. Now she wanted to study to become a nurse. She wanted to help people for living. She really liked kittens and bunnies. He listened to who was dating who and who had broken up and what kind of shoes were in style this season.

He told her to concentrate on the nursing, since that had seemed like the least airheaded thing she was interested in. He didn't want to concentrate on her as a nurse though, since he had watched too many hentai shows to not think of her in a white PVC nurse getup. That wasn't the only fantasy he had of her. He had many. He was so in love with this girl that he had been crushed the day he found out she had a boyfriend. A rugby player, who else. He had feigned to be sick for a week so that he didn't have to go to her house to tutor. It hadn't helped though as she came to him. Worried as he had been so ill she came to cheer him up with home-made chicken soup and cookies shape like hearts. He had sneered at the irony when he bit into one, breaking it in half.

He couldn't get rid of her during the next semester either. Her mother insisted that she continued with his tutoring, although only on weekends now. Audrye had insisted on improving his social life, dragging him to different parties, trying to hook him up with some of her girlfriends, with little success. Although the girls seemed interested when they first saw him, dressed in clothes Audrye had chosen for him and groomed a bit by her as well, they always drifted away in the end, since he was so cold, quiet and sometimes downright mean. He didn't really want to hurt those girls, but he couldn't concentrate on them either, not while watching Audrye making out with that guy.

When she found out that the guy had been cheating on her, she had come to him. It was a rainy day, fitting her tears. He had let her in, not knowing for the life of him why she had come here, instead of any one of her girlfriends. They had eaten pizza, and watched anime. He had tried to cheer her up, talking to her, about trivial things and about things he had never spoken to her about. She had laughed when he had told her he was a hacker named Vainary. She hadn't believed those actually existed. He assured her they did.

Getting her to smile was like breaking into Pentagon had been, utterly rewarding, but with dangerous consequences. He had felt victorious about that smile, relaxing for the first time since she had come to his door. He was smiling himself, a rare thing to do.

"You should smile more often", she had said, "You look very cute when you smile."

He had been baffled to say the least.

"You're always so nice to me, Nikki", she continued, beaming so that she seemed to generate heat and glow. And he was drawn to that flame like a moth.

But you know what happens to moths? They get burned.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, tearing herself away from the awkward kiss. Her eyes, like orbs of amber, were large from the surprise.

"Nothing", he had managed to stammer in response. Quickly backing away from her and out of the situation, trying to find a new can of coke from the small fridge he had in his room.

"It was just something stupid, nevermind."

"I think I should go."

And she left. Their tutoring lessons were more quiet after that. She didn't invite him to their parties anymore but he was glad she didn't. She did nod to him at school in recognition but they didn't talk. He spent his time in the computer lab. He made his first major software which made him enough money for him to build the first version of his triple power-PCs, named Haruhi, Yuki and Mikuru.

She had a new guy by the end of spring. He had a new laptop.

His mother made him go to her graduation party, since she had invited him and all. She thanked him for helping her with her studies and made him promise that they'd keep in touch. He promised, since emailing her every once in a while until she'd get bored of it was something he could manage.

She moved to London. He got into trouble.

He was rescued by a weird and old organisation, calling themselves the White Knights. In return he would be doing menial hacking tasks for them. Then he found out who they really were and his world was changed forever. It wasn't all bad though. Knights were big in the bodyguarding industry, but it was work on the good side. And he had learned all new ways of computer technology, which put him even more in advantage against rest of the h4X0r world. Magic could be considered cheating, but so was basically all hacking so he didn't care that much.

But Audrye had a surprise for him. Sure they had been writing irregularly, she sent him pink letters that smelled like sugared flowers, he emailed her back in short blunt messages. He had known she was now studying nursing and doing well, living with a couple of roommates. So he was quite shocked to find her to be one the best up-and-coming healers the Knights had enlisted. When she sent him a postcard from France, he knew she was training at the Knights' Normandy HQ. When she wrote that she had had a hard time since she had lost a patient, he knew that she was upset because their mission to save the Boussards had failed. She couldn't tell him what she was and he wasn't ready to tell her he was on the leash of the Normandy supreme commander, also known as the archangel Michael.

Eventually it did come up though. Not all of it, of course. She knew that he had connections to the Knights and sometimes worked for them, but nothing more. It was better for her safety as well. With their connecting secret, they became closer again, friends even. She came to visit him in his new house, and was the one to name the robot girl Nuu. It was all low-profile and good. Apparently not low-profile enough.

There had been one wannabe-hacker-girl who had taken a bit too much interest in his internet persona. He had gathered a bit, no, quite a lot of fame as Vainary. And for that spoiled brat, he was the superstar to meet backstage. She had first recruited the London Knights to be her matchmaker but since they weren't working fast enough for her liking, she had pulled some other strings. And those people weren't playing games. They had found out Vainary's only contact, the only lead to him. That was Audrye White. The only person he really cared about.

When she was run over, he had no one else to blame but himself. He should have been more cautious. He should have seen it coming.

But he hadn't even anticipated what came after. When she woke up, she wasn't mad at him. She never blamed him. She had said she loved him. She'd arrived behind his door, with Chinese take-away. They had talked, well her mostly. She was the one who had leaned to him for the kiss.

Like the last one, this one started awkwardly. For a while Nigel couldn't process anything else but the soft, strawberry tasting lips that were pressed against his. So it took a while until he got to return it. He fumbled for her lips, his hands grabbing her, pressing her soft small body against him. And she wrapped her arms around him, not pushing him away.

They were locked in that kiss for what seemed like a year for Nigel. But once it was over, it seemed that it had been a mere blink of an eye. Her face was still so close, her nose touched his cheek. A pair of golden eyes was watching him from under her thick black lashes that batted like butterfly wings. The exhilaration of this feeling made him poetic.

"Nikki?" she whispered. He had nothing to say. So he pulled her close again, this time savouring the kiss.

Her fingers tickled on his sides as she pulled the t-shirt off him. It took him a while to figure out how the bloody hell her top worked. He didn't even bother to start a war with the bra. The skirt was an easier obstacle. His belt buckle clanged as it hit the floor and slender hands grabbed his arse. She burst out a little laugh at his startled face, before pursing her lips for another, wetter kiss. The socks needed some acrobatics to take off with out letting go of her body. Her sweet, sweet body.

Nigel was still trying to take control of his grinning face when Nuu brought him the coke he had asked for. It made a little soothing hiss when opened. After a refreshing gulp he leaned back on the bed's headboard. The other hand smoothed the covers over the curvy silhouette lying next to him. His fingers caressed the soft golden blond hair spread on the pillow. She turned over, resting her head on his arm.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

Her smile could have melted ice bergs.

"Good morning, Nikki. Would this be the day we got out of bed?"

"No."