By the time noon had rolled around, Jess had decided she would wear her hair in ringlets every day from then on. Becker had brought his daily report to Jess and she'd noticed that it was only one page long instead of the ordinary five.
"Uh, Becker, are you missing part of this?"
Becker glanced at it, "Oh, yeah, sorry Jess. I must have just grabbed the top sheet by mistake. I'll get the rest to you in a bit, okay?"
Jess nodded and Becker grabbed one of her ringlets and gave it a tug. "Boing!" he whispered in her ear as it sprang back into place. Jess giggled and blushed.
Becker returned about ten minutes later with page two of the report. "Must be having an off day," he commented, "still haven't managed to bring you the entire thing." Jess stared at him suspiciously and Becker tugged at another ringlet. "Boing!"
It was only seven minutes later that page three arrived. Becker didn't even try to explain away the missing pages this time. He simply placed it on her desk and pulled a curl. "Boing!" Jess raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She wasn't the least bit surprised when page four came on its own too. "Boing!"
When page five finally arrived, Jess added it to the pile. "About time," she grinned at him, "Now what excuse are you going to make to come play with my hair?"
"Who said that's what this was about?" Becker asked, tugging at one of her ringlets.
Jess rolled her eyes and turned back to the ADD. "I'm brilliant Becker; don't forget it."
"Boing!"
By the end of the hour, Becker had returned to the ADD several more times. The first time he wanted to know if she had a grocery list ready for him yet. Jess shook her head, "No, sorry. I forgot about it because of the unexpected party last night. Not that I forgot about the dinner, because I didn't, I just forgot the list. I'll bring it tomorrow."
"Okay, sure. Boing!"
The second time he wanted to know if there was an anomaly, even though there obviously wasn't. Jess humoured him by checking and he thanked her and gently pulled her hair. "Boing!"
The third time he came by it was because he suddenly needed to know what brand of food Princess (Abby's dracorex) ate and the fourth time he just wanted to know what time it was.
"Are there no clocks in the armoury?"
"There was one, but I shot it."
"It's 10:45."
"Boing!"
At eleven 'o' clock Becker suddenly wanted to know if Jess preffered strawberry or vanilla ice cream and by half eleven he had completely stopped making excuses and was just walking over to the ADD every few minutes to tug at a ringlet and cry, "Boing!" Jess knew she should be annoyed, in fact she tried to act as though she was, but in reality she was thrilled by all the attention.
By the time mid-afternoon had rolled around, Jess had decided that she was never wearing ringlets to work again. Ringlets made for a very, very unproductive day.
Connor had stopped by and Jess offered him a piece of chocolate. He opened the box and saw Becker's note and grinned at her.
"Yep," Jess confirmed quietly, returning the grin. "He bought them for me this morning."
"And I hope you don't still doubt that he likes you."
Jess shrugged, "Could just be a friendly gesture. He knows I love my chocolate, but…"
"But what?"
Jess hesitated and then lowered her voice a bit, "He's stopped by here at least two dozen times today to play with my hair."
Connor burst out laughing, "Ah, young love. Speaking of which, I need to talk to you later, in private."
"About love?"
"After dinner when Abby goes for her daily jog, can we talk then?"
Jess nodded, "Sure."
"By the way, this morning Becker asked me what your pyjamas looked like."
Jess' eyes widened, "He asked…What!?" she spluttered in mortified surprise.
"You heard me. He said that knowing stuff about you could help him save your life one day and he needed to know about your sleepwear."
Jess' face turned a dark shade of red, "What did you tell him?"
"I told him about Christmas Wednesdays."
"Connor! That's embarrassing!"
"Nah, it's cute Jess, and totally you. Anyway, would you have preferred I mention Easter Thursdays, Silky Sundays, Shorts and a Tee-Shirt Mondays, or Sexy Nightgown Fridays?"
"How about you and Becker just don't discuss what I wear to bed at all?" Jess asked. Then suddenly she seemed to think about it and change her mind, "Or at least, don't tell him I've given you permission to bring up those other days too."
"Gotcha," Connor winked, "And Jess?"
"What?"
"The ringlets really are calling… just one?"
Jess laughed, "Fine."
Connor reached out and gave one a little tug.
"Temple! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Becker's voice rang across the room as he strode over quickly.
Connor spun around and stared, wondering what he'd done this time. Jess met his eye and shrugged.
"Nobody but me gets to touch the ringlets," Becker announced as he approached them.
"Wow, possessive much?" Connor replied. Becker didn't seem to have an EMD on him, so he reached out to tug one more, just to prove his point.
Becker frowned, "You aren't even doing it right."
"I… what?"
"That barely bounced and you didn't even say boing. You have to pick your curls and pull them just the right amount. This one, for example," Becker grabbed one by Jess' ear, "Will be a great bounce if you pull it like so… Boing!"
Connor and Jess stared at Becker in silence for a moment until Connor broke it, "Wait. First I'm not allowed to touch her hair, and now I'm getting lessons?"
Becker ignored the question and pointed to the back of Jess' head, "Try that one."
Jess protested, "Guys! Seriously, enough. No one needs lessons on how to pull my hair! Besides, I'm supposed to be working here."
Becker grabbed Jess' chair and spun it around to face the ADD, "So work." Then he turned back to Connor, "Wait, here's an even better one, let me do it. Boing!"
"Ahem!" Matt entered the room just as Becker and Connor each grabbed a ringlet at the same time. "I'm, not interrupting anything, uh, weird, am I?"
"Nope!" Connor and Becker spoke in unison, wanting Matt to leave so they could continue. "We're just seeing who can bounce Jess' hair the highest."
"Leave her alone."
"Thank-you," Jess said pointedly to Matt.
Becker hesitated and then offered, "If you let us continue, we'll let you play too."
"Seriously, guys," Matt warned.
"Aren't you just a wee bit tempted?" Connor asked.
Matt burst out laughing, "Nope. Don't forget, Emily has curly hair too. Now scat before I call Lester." He winked at Jess and walked away.
Jess put her hands over her head, "You heard him. Seriously guys, enough."
"Sorry Jess," they said in unison. Becker kissed her cheek and Jess' face turned red again. She glanced at Connor and he grinned at her and left the pair alone.
Becker grabbed a chair and moved it to sit beside Jess, "Do you want some company?"
"You really have no work to do?"
"None."
"Now you do," Lester appeared behind them, "since you seem rather bored at the moment. The minister has just decided that we'd remember events better than dates and has ordered a mass reorganization of the ARC's Field Report Archives. He wants everything rearranged into alphabetical order based on creature name instead of by date. You can use dates as a secondary system when the same creature has appeared more than once and file anything that we closed before an incursion under A for anomaly. Get on it."
Becker stared at Lester in disbelief, "You're kidding, right?"
"Does it sound like I'm joking? I was planning on assigning the task to Jess, but you just saved her the trouble."
Becker's face fell but he glanced at Jess, "Can I just…?
Jess had to agree. She knew he hated paperwork and felt a bit sorry for him. She gave a slight nod.
"Boing!"
Becker sat alone in the ARC Archives surrounded by papers. He stared at them blankly, wondering what the fastest, most efficient way of starting out would be. He was actually relieved when the anomaly alert interrupted his thoughts.
"What have we got, Jess?" he asked, switching on his comms.
"Small anomaly about thirty minutes from here. It's in a deserted factory. No sign of incursion."
Becker left with Abby, Matt and Connor and they dealt with the situation. It was a quick and easy mission and there work day was done when they returned.
"Don't think this gets you off Archive Duty!" Lester yelled after Becker as he hurried from the ARC. "I want it done tomorrow!"
Becker ignored him as he headed for home.