Sleepover

[Set between 'Pisces' and 'Pyramid Song']

Ever since I met Judy, and somehow started coming over to her place for different reasons, mostly about Ev or Clouds, I couldn't help but pay more attention to the building on Charter Street I'd pass while doing some gig or the other. I admit, I've even missed a turn a few times, only because I kept wondering whether Judy was feeling okay.

For me, all these things were pretty normal. Weapons, violence, death, or at least seeing people rolling on the floor in agony after suffering from a stealthily applied combat hack. But for her... She could have known these things from BDs or virtus for sure, and maybe I was wrong, but it was always different in reality. You couldn't edit out smells, emotions, certain details that stay with you until your last day... Or what you thought was your last anyway.

That night, I found myself outside the building she lived in, staring at the steering wheel of my Quadra Cthulhu as I considered options. I killed both the engine and the lights, as if that would make me any less visible in the street lights. Calling her would be bold, it was getting late, though it wasn't completely dark yet. So maybe a text. She could reply, but she didn't have to. Yes, a text would be just fine. I was about to type out the message when my guardian angel decided to... chip in.

"I know you've just made that joke in your head, and if I could, I'd punch you right now. Only staying my hand because your head needs to keep the Relic safe," he groaned, shielding his eyes from the world, as if the aviator sunglasses weren't enough.

"I couldn't help it. Thought you'd appreciate the influence your music has on me," I shrugged.

"Not why I'm here. You're being a fucking gonk again. Just go up there, have a drink with her, and settle this once and for all. All it takes is one look at you two, any anyone with a pair of eyes will know you're both denying the attraction," he looked at me, raising his brows.

"I really... come on, Johnny, wouldn't you have helped her in a time of need?" I asked, frowning at him before I let my forehead rest against the wheel. I remembered the moment Judy kissed me on the cheek. I wouldn't mind if that happened again, for sure but... that didn't exactly mean that we had to become outputs or anything...

"Right, help in a time of need. Like that's the only thing motivating you. That's exactly why you're in this spot, no coincidence," sometimes I wondered if sarcasm and irony were Johnny's only modes of communication. Asshole.

"Listen, V. It's obvious. Ev was trouble. Clouds chick was trouble. You fit the bill when it comes to her type, face it. And a poor type it is," he shrugged. Did he just compare me to Maiko? It would be so easy to just remind him about Alt. Strike where it hurt with cruelty and precision. But should I really stoop down to his level in a moment like that?

"Get it over with, V. It'll clear your mind. A good lay always does, so here's hoping," he glanced in the direction of Judy's building, then disappeared from view.

I took a moment to calm down. I didn't want the anger directed at him to show in the message. Wasn't exactly like me to walk on eggshells around anyone... but Judy. Something about her made me want to give her my jacket, hold her close, and just make sure no harm or trouble would come her way. Ever again.

I sighed and sat back in my seat, then decided to get out of the car and lean against the rail, looking out to the glorious, always clean and colourful corpo hell of the Night City downtown. Large company logos floated, projected in front of skyscrapers, as if anyone here needed reminding who was actually calling the shots in this town... or any other, for that matter.

I combed through my hair and rubbed my temple while trying to compose a message in my head. Hell, even negotiating with the psychos from Maelstrom seemed easier than this. Sure, it made me nervous too, but not in this way. Not making me afraid I might do something I'll never recover from.

V: [Hey Jude. You still up?]

Fuck. I made that sound drier than the Badlands. Fuck, now she's going to think I hate her.

Judy: [Sure,whats up? Something happen?]

V: [Nah, just. Got some time between gigs. Wanted to say hi.]

Judy: [hi!]

Judy: [omg you're such a gonk]

She wasn't wrong... I was being a complete and utter gonk. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Judy: [Now what is really up?]

V: [Was wondering if you got a minute]

Judy: [For you, always. Wanna call?]

V: [I'm actually near your place. Maybe we could... go on a walk or something.]

Judy: [Lmao and get shot? Nah thanks. Where you at exactly?]

Welp, she had me there.

V: [Look outside your window]

I turned around so she could see my face. Her window opened and she scanned the area before noticing me, beaming a wide smile before shaking her head. I waved and smiled back at her, and when my optics zoomed in, I could see she was briefly nibbling on her lip when sending a message to me.

Judy: [Came all this way for little ol me and I didn't even have to bait you with pizza? Fine, be right there.]

I let out a heavy sigh and rested my forehead against the cold metal pipe of the rail, closing my eyes as I shielded my face from the world. Smooth, V. Now she's going to think you're stalking her or something. Or worse, that you're desperate to see her. It was a good thing she didn't know how many times I wanted to call her but actually decided that perhaps it wouldn't be a good idea. I wasn't alone with my thoughts for very long, thankfully.

"V, are you okay?" I could hear concern in her voice, "Something wrong with the Relic?" I must have looked pained from her perspective, so I quickly straightened up and smiled at her. Probably looked goofy instead.

"I'm okay," I said, nodding a few times. And now that she was here and we were talking, it was pretty much how I felt, for some odd and mysterious reason.

She leaned against the rail with her back, crossing her arms on her chest as she looked at me carefully, her hair covering her face partially, "Alright. If you're sure. Didn't look like that for a moment there," she said with a shrug.

"I was just wondering how you were. Lotta things happened recently. Big things, too."

"I know. It's fine. All we gotta do now is wait and see how it goes with Clouds. Like you said, we did what we could, right?" she smiled meekly, almost as if she had trouble believing that herself.

"Yeah. And if anything comes up, I'm here," I assured her.

"Kinda surprised to see you around. Did you run out of gigs or something? Or are you such hot stuff now that Night City can't afford to hire you any more?" she was joking, obviously, and even though she didn't mean it that way, being called hot stuff made my eyebrows hike up when she said it, "Come on, V, I've seen you work, even if it wasn't strictly work-work. You're damn good at that stuff," she added, seeing my confused expression.

"Nothing work related, no," I shook my head and looked at the ground, "I just really wanted to check up on you."

"I'm a big girl, V. I'm fine, really. Though it's kinda sweet of you. Didja miss me or something?" she raised her brows, smiling as she asked that question. I could sense a bit of disbelief in there, she could just easily turn it into a joke.

I raised my hand and measured out a small space between my thumb and index finger, "Yeah, maybe a little. I'm a big girl too, y'know," I quipped, deciding that it would be awfully stupid to just open up like that. Pretty much the same as walking out of cover with a pistol and a counterfeit armadillo in your t-shirt, when you've got a dozen Tyger Claws priming their smarts on your head.

"Just a little? You came all the way out here just to tell me you missed me a little? Don't bullshit me, V," she frowned briefly and turned around to face the center of the city, then groaned and looked down. This place was getting to her.

"Fine. I was wondering if you wanted to maybe... come over. Crash at my place. So much has happened at yours recently... At least the view's a bit different," I shrugged. Here it was, like playing a round of emotional Russian roulette.

She looked at me without saying a word first, then tilted her head to the side, squinting in suspicion, as if to check whether I was being serious. I could see the goosebumps on her skin. She was cold. I didn't want to be too bold, but keeping her out while the temp was dropping was not a good idea.

"We could grab some noodles from the stand downstairs, watch a movie, I dunno," my offer was genuine, and I wanted her to be aware of that. I smiled, not knowing what else I could offer.

"Okay," she said, "Yeah, fine. Should I go grab my van?" she glanced towards her building. I smiled and shook my head, "No need to. Got my ride right here," I walked up to the Quadra and patted the hood. Judy raised her brows.

"You're not trying to impress me with chrome on wheels, are you?" she smirked, shaking her head, "Because that's not gonna work."

"No, it's just how I roll," I quipped, making her chuckle. And it was lovely to hear her laugh. I couldn't help but smile and I gestured for her to take the passenger's seat, "It's how the fixers know whether they can afford me or not," I grinned.

"Smart, saves them the sweat of negotiating too hard. Am I the only one with a friends and family discount, then?" she got into the car and buckled up, shooting me one of those half-smiles of hers. I was glad we weren't in a Delamain, because I was pretty sure he'd recite some warning about how my blood pressure level was above the norm.

"My pad's in H10, hope you don't mind," I started the engine and began driving back to my place. Despite the temptation to show off the Quadra's capabilities, I kept to the limits and watched the lights. Mostly. Even with the evening rush only starting to die down, it wasn't going to take long to get from Northside to Little China.

"Mentioned something about noodles?" Judy said, breaking the silence between us. Considering that whenever we met we mostly talked about what had to be done for a gig, or about generally unpleasant things, just having a conversation seemed like a challenge.

"Yeah, there's a stall near the stairs, on one side of the building. They got a few sauces to choose from, decent synth-sirloin, nothing too spicy. We could get a take out, it you want?" I offered, trying not to let the image of Jackie enjoying his box of noodles haunt me. We sat there before I went to talk to Dex... Jackie was so full of hopes and dreams about the big leagues and what not.

"Sounds good, I'm in," Judy replied, pulling my out of the spiral of painful memories before I could crash into something or someone, "Besides, less risk of burning my mouth," she chuckled, "Unlike with that locust pepperoni and double cheese."

"You gotta say, the crunch is nice though," I smiled, welcoming the distraction.

"I'm not that great with chopsticks. And I'm gonna slurp, be warned," Judy warned, "And many people tried teaching me. For some reason my coordination is just all gonked."

"Fine by me, I can try eating my noodles with a spoon if that makes you feel any better," I quipped.

"You can try, but I don't think I want to hear you whine when you go to sleep all hungry after doing that."

"Good point, good point. I might stick to chopsticks or a fork, then," I settled. We were almost at the garage, but I decided we should get out of the car at the stand and get food. I sent the vehicle to the garage and gestured for Judy to pick her food and drink, "Go ham. My treat," I grinned. As if noodles were anything to splash eddies on.

"Wow, V. Look at you, going all bougie," Judy nudged me playfully with her elbow. The cook took our orders and we waited for the food to get prepared and packaged. I took the noodles, she took the drinks, and we headed into the elevator. It was filthy as usual, and the stale scents clinging to it were anything but appealing, hopefully, Judy was enough of a Night City girl to ignore it and not let that ruin her appetite. I realised that all this worrying and trying to figure out the best way to talk to her had made me hungry as well. I felt oddly relieved when we arrived at my apartment. Judy's never been here before, but her presence made it... much more homely, for some reason.

I barely had the time to set the food down on the table when Nibbles made his way to us, shamelessly rubbing against Judy's ankle and meowing, like the little attention doll he was.

"V... Why didn't you tell me?" she gave me an almost accusatory glare, freezing in her spot. She held out the cans of Nicola Blue and Naranjita. I looked at the can for a moment, and realized that the ad said 'Feel the chemistry'. Was she trying to tell me something? Or was it just the drink of her choice? I glanced at Judy and wanted to reply but I saw her sitting on the floor, petting Nibbles and giving him scratchies that he obviously did not deserve while he settled himself in Judy's lap, as if he belonged there from the get go.

"Judy, this is Nibbles. Nibbles, Judy," I introduced them formally, then put the drinks on the living room table, "Found a shard in a dumpster some time ago, something about feeding the cat. So I found some kibble, put it in a bowl... and, long story short, here we are," I gestured, sitting on the edge of my sofa. There was something awfully cute about watching Judy interact with the animal. My plan for distracting her from another night alone in her apartment must have worked, even if it was mostly thanks to Nibbles, or so it seemed.

"Awww, the big bad merc V went dumpster divin' and she found a call for help from a poor, poor kitty... and now kitty has the best kibble, doesn't he? Yeah, Nibbles, you're a good kitty!" Her rehashing of my story was the only sign that she was still somewhat listening and not completely distracted. Nibbles decided that it was enough affection and unceremoniously leapt away from Judy's lap and made his way to the table, looking between the two boxes of noodles, still steaming.

"Well, I think that means feed me in cat," I smirked and stood up, offering Judy a hand up. She took it, and for a moment we were mere inches from each other, the fingers in one hand laced. Her fruity scent hit my nose again and I had to swallow a lump in my throat because I remembered the moment when she kissed me on the cheek.

I could hear a slight trembling in her breath, she briefly brushed her thumb against mine and I could see her begin to slowly look up. We still stood close, neither of us said a thing, but it didn't seem like we were keen on really moving away from each other. We were alone, not hurried by anything for a change. I could see Judy furtively wet her lips, as if she was about to say something. She looked up and I knew our gazes were going to lock any moment, but then she squinted and frowned, looking past me as she moved towards the table, letting go of my hand, "Nibbles, no!" she warned the cat, as he began to claw against the noodle box, almost toppling it over.

I stood there for a moment, slowly moving back to reality. I could feel my own heart pounding in my chest, the beat thundering in my ears, I was sure I looked like an utter loser, "Sorry about him," I said quietly and picked up Nibbles from the table to set him in his makeshift basket-turned-cat-bed. I put a blanket on him for good measure and frowned. Bad cat. Had to ruin a moment, didn't you?

"Please, make yourself at home, grab a drink. Pick something we could watch, okay?" I turned around and smiled at Judy, she sat on the sofa with her legs curled up and nodded at me, "I'll find you a fork," I said, seeing as only chopsticks were included with our food.

I took a quick detour to the bathroom to pop one of the blockers I got from Vik and Misty. I didn't need more Silverhand preaching that night, and especially if he was going to join forces with Nibbles. I found a fork and gave it a thorough wash. Wouldn't want Judy thinking I was some sort of a pig, I just rarely had the time to eat at home, so the occasion truly was a treat.

"Here you go," I handed Judy the fork and sat down next to her. Well, not entirely next to her, around half an arm's length. We both needed space to eat comfortably, after all.

"Didn't open your box, in case Nibbles wanted a bite," Judy said, chewing on a piece of synth-sirloin she already picked out with her fingers.

I smiled and took my box. Unsurprisingly, Judy found one of the later Bushidō movies and put it on, "Not as good as the original trilogy, I know, but still decent" I shrugged. I really shouldn't have snooped through her things that one time, but I couldn't help myself, I wanted to learn more about her. Besides, she left me some breakfast that day and it was nova levels of sweet...

"Don't sweat it, V, this is really nice. I appreciate it," she looked at me and smiled. I was busy trying to handle a mouthful of noodles, so I just gave her a thumbs up in response and turned my attention to the screen again. Not that I really had to, I've seen that part plenty of times, and in various stages of being drunk or high. Or both, but never like this. Watching it with Judy was a completely different experience.

She was so excited, telling me about the angles, the cinematography, how certain scenes were made or edited... or even made possible, without hurting the ganic actors on set. All in one breath, while she went through her noodles rather quickly. Made me wonder just how rough the last couple of weeks had been on her. I was glad that she was enjoying herself, and that I was a part of her evening. I could see her mouth the dialogue, she must have known it all by heart, however cheesy it was. Honestly, it was nothing but adorable. She caught me smiling at her a few times, and I could see this kind of cute sheepishness when she smiled back, "Am I being a gonk? Tell me if I'm overdoing it," she said.

"Oh no, keep going. Never looked at this movie this way, so you do your thing, I'm all ears," I reassured and nodded. Besides, it was the truth. And yet, the movie ended way too quickly. I didn't want it to stop, I just wanted to listen to Judy being all excited and geeky, and see her light up, throwing camera terms left and right. Again, the closing credits reminded me that all things eventually came to an end. What a morbid thought. I put on some other channel, there was a documentary about some forest reservation, kept in special conditions from dying and withering, somewhere in Eurasia. Sponsored by Biotechnica, of course.

It wasn't nearly half as interesting as the movie, and I could feel that we were both running out of energy for the night. Judy was determined to stay up, though.

"Want another drink?" I offered.

She nodded, zoning off as she sat with her legs curled up and her chin resting on her knee, staring at the distant forest from the documentary, "Sure, just no caffeine, otherwise I'm gonna stay up all night," she replied, absent-mindedly.

The NCVM in my apartment decided to give out for the night, "Ah, shit, mine's not working, let me quickly grab something from downstairs," I said and left the apartment, making my way to the nearest working vending machine as quickly as I could. Felt stupid enough leaving Judy alone when I was the one who invited her over.

I didn't see her at first when I came back, "Jude?" I called out, walking up to the sofa. There she was, ms 'No Caffeine', asleep on my sofa, curled up, with Nibbles watching over her from his perch on the backrest. He squinted at me and mewled, as if to tell me to do something. What was I supposed to do? I set the drinks down quietly and, as carefully as possible, picked up Judy to carry her to bed. My sofa wasn't as comfortable as hers, for sure, and she needed some quality sleep on a bed that didn't remind her of Evelyn for a change.

I didn't want to stare at her, but I couldn't help but admire how calm she was. How unburdened. Once I placed her on the bed, she turned to the side, mumbling what sounded like, "G'night, V."

I smiled and put a blanket over her, making her a little bit more comfortable. "Good night, Judy. Sweet dreams," I whispered and went to sit down on the sofa, letting out a heavy sigh. I didn't want to open a drink and wake her up. Nibbles was already exploring the inside of a noodle box, licking whatever leftover sauce he could find. The filthy bastard would probably sleep in it later, for all I knew.

I decided to lie down, try to find sleep as well. I didn't even know when it took me. The next thing I remembered was the scent of fruit and a soft touch to my cheek. Perhaps I was dreaming. For some reason, I thought of Judy, but the aches from my previous gig decided that I had to be pulled back into deep sleep.

When I finally woke up, it was too damn late, and I was way too disoriented. Judy had left, I didn't even get to make her breakfast. I had some messages from her.

Judy: [Hey, V. I had a really good time last nite.]

Judy: [It just felt so normal, u know? I wanna do something nice for you in return. Gotta think of a thing that tops Bushidō and noodles, tho.]

Judy: [Hope to see you soon! Don't be a stranger.]

Judy: [U look cute when you sleep. Swear I'm not a creep]

I kept rereading the messages, smiling to myself. That woman was a treasure. A priceless heart and a good soul. Maybe the last of her kind in this fucked up city. I groaned and stood up, stretching. Bones cracked, rotors whirred, in the otherwise silent room, only I could hear how much of a human being I still was before the din of the city masked it for me. It was too early for such musings, I realized, and headed into the shower. I almost didn't notice, but Judy drew a small heart on the mirror with a lipstick. One more proof of how adorable she was.

I later discovered, that it was an attempt to cover her obvious guilt. One of my t-shirts went missing that morning. The one with a Bushidō print.

Author's note: This was inspired by a song. Sub-radio – Clark Kent