A/N: written for the DAFFWG Feb Challenge. Decided to take a modern twist on it. Sorry for the length!
Chapter One
Ely sat at her computer desk, brow furrowed in frustration as it shut down. Again. "Blasted piece of technological junk," she muttered under her breath, causing her housemate to laugh.
"What's the matter, Ely? Did you break it, again?" he quipped with a smirk.
She glared and threw her swimming goggles at him. "Shut up, Carver," she grumbled. She turned back towards her computer and stared blankly at it for a few moments before slamming her hand on the keyboard. "I hate computers," she mumbled.
Carver chuckled and tossed the goggles on the desk. "Looks like you'll need to call a tech."
"I don't want to."
He snorted and began walking towards their kitchen. "Good luck fixing it on your own, then," he replied dryly.
Ely sighed and grabbed her cell phone, hesitating. She was on a college student's budget. She could barely afford ramen, even with her swimming scholarship paying half her tuition. She sighed and leaned her head on the desk, her long black hair spreading out and covering her face.
"Don't you have a paper due soon?" Carver called from the kitchen.
She groaned, remembering the three page report on medieval history. Well, it was supposed to be three pages. So far, hers was more like three words. "Don't you have something better to do?" she replied.
She could almost hear him roll his eyes. "Yes, I could fight with my sister, instead, but I'd rather annoy you," was his snarky reply. He paused for a moment. "Aren't you going to say 'shut up, Carver'?" he asked.
She shook her head, realized he couldn't see her, and grunted. "Didn't you say you knew a computer guy?" she asked instead, staring at her phone again.
Carver popped his head back in the main living area. "Yeah, his number's on the board."
She nodded and stood up, walking quickly over to the dry erase board they kept on the wall. Her eyes roamed across the various notes, lists, and phone numbers cluttered along the sides. When she found the number she was looking for she frowned and typed it in.
It rang a few times, some obscure metal band playing as the ringtone before a deep male voice answered. "Nathaniel Howe's Computer Tech," he said.
Ely cleared her throat. "I think my computer is on fire. There's a burning smell," she said with a shrug.
The man snorted into the phone. "It's probably not on fire..." She heard him cough, like he was suppressing a laugh. "Has it been making a loud noise recently?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Silence from the other end caused her to check to see if her signal was lost. "Hello?"
She heard a shuffling sound, like he had put the phone down and picked it back up. "Alright, I have a free spot open in about an hour," he replied.
She grunted, annoyed. "Fine," she replied and gave him her address, name, and phone number.
After she hung up she tossed the phone onto the couch and went to the kitchen, stomach grumbling loudly. She opened the fridge and glared at the meager contents. Her stomach grumbled again and she frowned. A case of beer, a half-eaten apple, and some strange leftover something of Carver's were the lone items on the shelf. She reached in and grabbed the fish sauce and wasabi and set to making some cheap ramen.
As the water boiled, her thoughts wandered back to her computer and the rude technician she had spoken to on the phone. She shook her head and dumped the noodles in the water, stirring idly with a wooden spoon. Her swimming competition at Thedas University was coming up in a month. Ely closed her eyes and imagined herself back in the water, the feel of her muscles working as she glided through it. If she could do nothing but swim for the rest of her life, she'd die happy.
When the noodles were almost done she drained out most of the water and added the soy sauce and a tiny dab of wasabi. Carver came up behind her and sniffed.
"Smells good," he said, and used his fork to grab a noodle.
Ely glared up at him. "Jerk," she grumbled. "Make your own."
He shrugged and grabbed the half-eaten apple out of the fridge. "Not hungry," he replied, taking a bite.
She snorted in reply and took her bowl to the sitting area. She put on some jazz music and picked at her food, toe tapping impatiently as she waited for the tech guy.
She soon drifted off to sleep, the bowl of food tipped precariously in her lap. She didn't even wake when a loud knock pounded on the door.
~...~...~
Nathaniel stood outside the tiny house, hand raised and ready to knock a second time when the door flew open. "Carver?" he questioned, looking at the man in surprise.
Carver grinned and waved him inside. "Hey, so she did call, good," he replied as a way of greeting.
Nathaniel raised a brow and stepped inside and noticed a girl asleep on the couch. Her mouth was slightly askew and a bowl of food was still in her lap. He chuckled. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend," he said.
Carver snorted rudely. "Girlfriend? Ely? Don't be ridiculous, she's like family."
Nathaniel grinned. "Oh, then she's available?" he asked, eyeing the girl. She was short but well-muscled with a strong jaw and high cheekbones.
Carver frowned. "Like a sister," he emphasized.
"You hate your sister," Nathaniel pointed out.
Before Carver had a chance to respond, Ely awoke with a start, part of her hair plastered against her face.
"Whatsit?" she mumbled, voice heavy with sleep.
Nathaniel crossed his arms and stared down at her. "I'm here for your computer," he said.
Ely rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked up at the man. He had long, chocolate brown hair and dark gray eyes. He wore a black t-shirt that said, "I'm here because you broke something" and she frowned back up at him, still bleary-eyed from sleep.
She pointed to the desk in the corner. "There," she said.
Nathaniel glanced over at the computer and his mouth fell open in shock. "That.. that is a Commodore 64," he said.
She raised a brow at him. "I bought it at a garage sale," she replied with a shrug. "I can't get its other parts to work."
Nathaniel turned back and stared at her. "Other... parts?"
She pointed to the pile of assorted cords and junk. Nathaniel walked over and shuffled through it, shaking his head and muttering the whole time. "This is all useless," he explained. "Cords that don't go to anything, obsolete hard drives and disk drives, a broken printer…" he trailed off and ran his fingers through his hair.
Ely swore softly under her breath. "Well, shit. You can't fix it then?"
He looked at her, mouth agape, before answering. "Fix it? There's nothing to fix. Even if you just used it for word processing, you have no printer, and it will never be internet capable."
She frowned. "I can't just put it on one of those portable things and print it at my campus?" she asked, scratching her head, an annoyed tone to her voice.
He let out a short laugh and she glared at him. "It would crash your campus library," he said with a snort. "And you mean a flash drive."
Carver grunted and headed upstairs. "Have fun with that, Ely. I'm taking a shower."
She groaned loudly. "Shit."
Nathaniel shrugged. "With computers, new tech is cheaper than old. That'll be 50 dollars, now."
She furrowed her brow. "For what?"
"I don't work for free…" he drawled.
She blushed. "But you couldn't even fix... I thought, shit. Can you bill me or something?"
He scowled. "No," he replied before smiling. "But I guess I can take another form of payment," he added with a wink.
She narrowed her light blue eyes. "And what does that mean?" she ground out.
He chuckled low. "How about a cup of coffee and something to eat?"
Her face relaxed a bit. "Oh. Yeah. I can do that. If you don't mind ramen and instant coffee."
He scrunched his face at the word 'instant' but nodded. "Sounds fair enough."
He followed her into the kitchen, noticing her bare feet as she walked briskly in front of him. Her hips moved slightly as she walked and he grinned in appreciation of the view.
She shuffled around the tiny kitchen, searching for the coffee. Frowning hard she noticed it up on the second shelf on the top cabinets. She stood on her tip-toes, stretching to reach, and her t-shirt slid up, revealing the small of her back.
Suddenly, she felt someone warm and solid pressed against her and glanced over and up, her eyes meeting Nathaniel's. His arm was outstretched, brushing against her own and she felt her cheeks and neck heat up. He grinned at her, eyes locked, and they both forgot how to speak momentarily.
A shrill ringing sound startled them both and Ely took the chance to duck under his arm and head for the living room to answer her phone. Her heart was beating fast, and she had to admit the sarcastic technician was very attractive. She grabbed the phone a minute too late and the call went to voicemail. She shrugged and threw it back on the couch before walking back into the kitchen.
Nathaniel had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and was stirring two cups of hot water into a pair of mugs with dolphins on them. She gulped, another blush rising to her cheeks. Damn, but she didn't usually react this way.
He flashed a grin at her. "I couldn't find your sugar."
She shrugged. "Probably isn't any. I take mine black, anyway."
He smirked. "Good," he replied. "Too much sugar ruins the flavor."
She nodded and took the mug and took a sip of the bitter, odd tasting drink. It tasted slightly metallic, like all cheap instant coffee, and she wrinkled her nose. She missed good coffee.
Nathaniel took a long drink and grimaced. "If you need a computer that bad, I can loan you one of my spares. Going to cost you, though," he warned and his voice caused shivers to race down her spine.
"I don't really have a lot of money to rent anything," she said, biting her lip.
Nathaniel stared a moment, fixated. "Well, we might be able to work something out," he agreed.
Ely looked over at him, face bright with a smile and he noticed her nose was crooked. "Really?"
He chuckled and nodded. "How about a date?"
Her mouth fell open and her whole face turned bright red. "Uh, I-I that is, I mean," she stuttered, stumbling over words as embarrassment flooded through her.
He grinned and set the coffee mug on the table. Moving to stand in front of her he leaned in close. "You don't want to go on a date with me?" he murmured, voice low and eyes gleaming with mischief.
"No! I mean, yes, I mean, I just met you!" she stammered, very aware of just how close he was. She stared into his dark gray eyes and noticed little bits of silver speckled throughout them.
He chuckled and the sound made her knees weak. "Ah, I see. Well, if we go out to lunch, you'll have the perfect chance to get to know me better," he replied with a grin.
She gulped and pushed at his chest, and felt relieved when he stepped back. She didn't want to admit it, but with him standing so close she couldn't think straight. "Maybe. I don't know," she said and bit her lip again.
He nodded. "Well, you have my number, if you change your mind," he replied and gave her a half-grin. "Now, I have to get back to work. Good luck, Ely," he said, and the way he said her name made her legs turn to jelly.