Ch. 48

Walter woke up to find Laurie missing from his side. He got out of bed concerned, and looked for her. He found her in the kitchen preparing food. How had she gotten out of his bed without him noticing? Walter scratched his head. He must have been fast asleep.

"Oh," said Laurie, turning and smiling as he entered. "Hi."

"Hello," said Walter, hovering around her to peer over her shoulder. She was frying eggs in a pan. He didn't remember keeping eggs in the refrigerator.

"I thought for once I would send you off to work with actual breakfast," Laurie explained, as she kissed him. "I've been such a bad hostess letting you run out the door in the morning at my place."

"I don't mind that so much," Walter told her, though what she was doing now was filling him with an elation beyond belief.

"Mm," said Laurie. "Here, why don't you sit down?"

Walter complied and sat at the table with his hands clasped in front of him. He stared at Laurie as she continued to cook. She was wearing one of his shirts. She had insisted on going without pants, though they argued about it for a good fifteen minutes. His shirt was not long enough to cover any decent amount of her legs. It made him blush to look at, but he felt compelled to watch her regardless. Laurie put the food she made onto two plates and turned and smiled at him as she served them.

"See, when we stay here instead of at my place, you don't have to make the trip back here to change and we can spend more time together in the morning," Laurie told him, cheerfully.

"Are you saying that it's better to stay here than at Blake's residence?" he asked her, in disbelief. Why on earth would she want to spend time in this little hole?

"Yes," she nodded. "I like it here."

Walter gave her a baffled look and started to eat without comment.

"Thank you," he told Laurie, after he was done. She stood up and kissed him as she cleared the plates, and he felt dizzy for a moment.

"You know, I had an idea," Laurie said, as she started washing dishes at the sink. "For Agent Orange."

"You did?" Walter stood up and walked to her side. He watched her for a moment before he started to help her clean up.

"You know how Nelly was talking about those crime fighters in California? The ones that formed a group of their own?"

"Of course."

"Well, why don't I convince Nelly that it's a good idea to go visit them? You know, compare notes and tactics, all the sorts of things Nelly likes."

Walter paused.

"I don't know," he told her, honestly. "You know him better than I do."

"I suppose so," Laurie shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to ask. Knowing Nelly, he might be excited enough to take us all there, even Dan."

Walter paused again.

"Can you imagine," he said, "Being stuck in a car with him on a trip from here to California?"

"It can't be that bad," Laurie said, laughing. "He'd be talking a lot, but it's not like he's going to make us sing or something."

Walter folded his arms and said nothing. This made Laurie laugh harder.

"Does that sound good to you, Walter?" Laurie asked.

"No, I just told you, being in a car with Dan for all that long would be torture."

Laurie laughed.

"Not that," She said, batting lightly at his arm. "Asking Nelly. I mean, I won't do it if it would bother you."

"No, that's perfectly fine; thank you," Walter said, feeling quite endeared towards her.

After the kitchen had been cleaned, Walter and Laurie spent a good deal of time in each other's arms kissing. Walter looked up after a while and realized he should be going out the door right about now or be late.

"Sorry, work," he told her, then he quickly ran into his room. When he came out, she was back in her costume, sans mask and armor.

"Could I leave the armor here?" she asked him. "I can put the mask in my pocket without any problems, but the armor might look a bit strange to carry around down the street."

Walter nodded and ushered her out the door and locked it behind them. Laurie grabbed him suddenly and kissed him.

"So I won't embarrass you by kissing you outside," she explained, afterwards.

"What are you talking about?" Walter asked, as they went down the stairs. "You can certainly kiss me outside."

"Really?" Laurie looked surprised.

"Yes -- but only when there isn't anybody present."

Walter blew her a kiss and left. He heard Laurie laughing behind him and felt quite pleased with himself. He arrived at work to find the shop still closed. Frowning, he used the key Mr. Petersen had given him for when he closed down the shop. He looked inside, but nobody was there. Feeling worried, Walter opened up the shop as Mr. Petersen would, and kept a look out for the old man as he dealt with the customers.

Mr. Petersen finally showed up when it was almost lunch hour.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, looking confused. "I'm afraid I lost track of the time."

Walter nodded and said nothing, though his worry had only grown. He wondered if there was anybody to help Mr. Petersen out but felt it was rude to pry too much. He watched his employer as he puttered around the shop, and for once he seemed better again. Walter shrugged to himself and tried to push out the doubt from his mind. He looked up half an hour later, surprised to find Dan standing in the shop entrance.

"Hey," said Dan, waving at him. "Is it close to lunch for you?"

"Yes," said Walter, glancing at the clock, then at Dan. "Almost on the dot, actually."

"Oh," Dan stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Thought maybe I'd accompany you."

"All right."

They walked in silence for a moment, when Walter realized that Dan was leading them somewhere.

"Where are we eating?" he asked him.

"Oh, this diner I like to go to," Dan said. "You'll like it, don't worry."

Walter nodded a little and continued to walk.

"Did you happen to be in the area?" Walter asked, after another moment.

"No actually," Dan laughed. "I just thought I should get out of the house. I knew Hollis was out of town, so I thought I'd visit you instead."

Walter nodded again. It was sad to think that he was Dan's replacement Hollis -- considering how close Dan and Hollis seemed to be, and how little Walter and Dan knew about each other.

They went to the diner and ordered their lunch. Dan was correct in his assumption that Walter would enjoy the meal there. They emerged from the diner in good spirits. Walter spotted a woman looking at them from a block ahead, and it wasn't until she was nearly upon them that he realized who it was.

"Well," said Sally Jupiter. "Walter -- long time no see."

"Good afternoon," Walter said, politely.

"And Dan," she nodded.

"Hi Sally," Dan was smiling.

"Good to see you two getting along," she told them.

Dan shrugged and smiled at Walter, who would rather not remember the incident Sally was referring to and made no comment.

"I've been trying to get in touch with Laurie," Sally told Walter. "Could you tell my daughter to give me a call?"

"Yes ma'am."

"That's very good," Sally nodded again. "You and Laurie should meet with me so we can spend some time together."

"A reasonable proposal," said Walter, "Though I must make one request and that is to not make it a dinner."

"Oh?" Sally looked a little surprised. "Why is that?"

"Frankly, ma'am, your dinners so far have ended up being quite horrendous, if you don't find offense in my saying."

Sally laughed.

"You are so polite, you know that?" she told him. "Are you like this with Laurie, too?"

Walter said nothing, and that made Sally laugh harder.

"Oh, you are adorable," she told him, and pinched his cheek before Walter could react. He stared at her, horrified. He looked at Dan and found him gawking with an annoying smile on his face.

"Thank you," Walter said, testily.

"So, Dan," said Sally, "You spend more time with him than me. Tell me -- is he really a hobo like he says he is?"

"Not at all," said Dan. "He works at quite a nice place, actually."

Walter's eyes nearly fell out of his head as he silently tried to get Dan to be quiet. Dan luckily caught on and divulged no more information after that.

"Hmm." Sally eyed both Dan and Walter in turn. Then she smiled again. "Well, I better let you carry on then. I'll see you boys later."

"Bye Sally," said Dan, as Walter nodded at her.

"What's up with you and Sally?" Dan asked, as soon as she was out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Walter asked him.

"She acts so strange when she talks to you," Dan told him.

"A remarkable observation," said Walter, a little surprised.

"No, seriously, she is being strange."

"I wasn't being sarcastic -- if my tone implied it, I apologize."

"Ah. Well, I dunno."

"How is she strange?" Walter asked.

"I don't know -- sort of like she's looking for something. It's hard to explain. I just know she doesn't act like that when it's just me and Hollis or something, you know?"

Walter nodded. He was going to have to be on guard if Sally's get together was going to take place sometime soon.

Dan walked with Walter back to the shop. Walter was surprised to find Laurie in front of it. She brightened and waved when she saw him.

"Hi Walter," she said. She started to lean in, saw Dan, and just hovered near Walter a little.

"Laurie," Walter said. He was quite surprised and pleased to see her.

"Dan."

"Laurie."

"Have you been here long?" Walter asked her.

"No -- maybe five minutes," she told him. "Your boss told me that you were out to lunch. I felt kind of nervous about being in there though, so I decided to wait outside."

"Nervous?" Walter frowned.

"I don't know, he was muttering to himself and it didn't make sense," Laurie shrugged. "Anyway, I just wanted to... to tell you about what Nelly said."

Laurie was eyeing Dan, who appeared as though he was trying not to listen to their conversation but doing a poor job of it.

"Oops, I'm sorry," said Dan. "Should I not be listening?"

"No, it's fine," Walter shrugged. "What did he say?"

"We're going to California," Laurie said, laughing.

"What?" Dan asked. "You and Walter?"

"Me and Walter, you, Nelly -- anybody who's a crime fighter who wants to go." Laurie looked excited.

"Wow," said Dan, adjusting his glasses. "What's happening?"

"Nelly contacted the crime fighting group in Los Angeles," she told him. "He suggested that we meet up for some kind of nation-wide masked hero conference."

"And they said yes?" Dan exclaimed. Now he looked excited as well.

"Yes -- they are even willing to give us accommodations once we get there," she said. "And Nelly is driving us."

"When are we going?" Walter asked. Suddenly he was a little nervous, especially standing outside the shop he worked at. He didn't like the idea of leaving Mr. Petersen alone for too long.

"It's not until two weeks from now," Laurie said. "Knowing Nelly though, he probably wants to go in the next few days, as soon as he's prepared everything."

"I will have a talk with my employer," Walter told her. "Thank you, Laurie."

Laurie's eyes were bright and dancing as she smiled at him.

"You're welcome, Walter."

"Hey Laurie, you going back home?" Dan asked. "Let me walk you."

"All right," Laurie nodded. "I'll see you later, Walter."

Walter nodded in return and tried not to be too jealous. He watched them leave and felt a little sad to see them go.

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To be continued...