Annie LVII: Boredom.

(Chronological index: High School (1st time for Raymond, 2nd time for Annie))

Raymond sat at his desk, staring out the window. He tapped his finger on his desk. Thrud the Fluffinator slept through it, but the inconstant, rhythm-less beats were driving Annie insane.

He was starting to get that look on his face, the one Annie associated with speeches from The Dad and punishments.

"What'cha' thinking about, Raymond?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm bored," Raymond muttered. "If I had anything to think about, I wouldn't be bored." He sat forward. "There's no rose bush under this window any more, is there?"

"Not since the Chemistry Set," Annie replied. She swung her legs down from the bird swing and slid to the floor. Two steps and she had a hand on the birdcage door. She shook it, rattling the hasp and the keychain snap holding it shut.

Without looking, Raymond reacted to the sound and opened the door. She slid out, sat on his waiting palm and he lifted her to his face.

"What?" he asked.

"Just because we're grounded doesn't mean we have to be bored, master," she said, forcing cheerfulness.

"I'm not going to take you out the window with me," he said. "You're not in danger." Her eyebrows rose. His rose in surprise at her surprise. "What now, Annie?"

"Raymond, I... I wasn't trying to distract you in self defense." She stroked his hand under her. "I... I really don't want you getting hurt. For your sake. As...a friend."

They stared at each other for a few moments. "Okay," he finally said. "So what do you want to do with what is available to us in this prison cell of ours?"

She had half-expected him to add a mocking 'friend' at the end of the response. It took her a second to note that he hadn't, then jump past the implications.

"A, uh, well, a friendly game of... What do we have in the room?"

"Monopoly, Battleship, a chess set..."

"Oh! Battleship!" she said, clapping her hands. He stared for a second, then shrugged and put her on the desk.

The birdcage went to the floor so there was room on the desk for her case. He set his chair back far enough to give her privacy and started setting up.

She carefully positioned her ships single-file in two rows, one in the A and one in the J. Ray tended to assume a balanced distribution. "How are we doing shots?" she asked.

"Usual," he said. "Salvo, hits or misses, no near misses."

"Usual stakes?"

"Of course."

She set seven pegs in a handy row, then looked at her screen. Raymond tended to strategize based on convenience. The old game set had been so big that Annie couldn't reach the top rows. So he tended to group his task force there.

The rat bastard.

This set was smaller. Milton and Bradley had produced a sylph-friendly version just in time for Christmas. And just in time to replace a slightly smashed to tiny bits set in the Foster household.

So where would he think his little pet to be least likely to shoot at?

He magnanimously allowed her to take the first shot. "Thank you, Master!" she said. She picked up a peg. Salvos were based on units. Each ship supplied at least one shot, the carrier and the battleship supplied two. As they sank, the shots were lost.

"I'm going to go with B9, C10, D9, E10, G9, H10 and J9." The shots stitched a line across the bottom of the screen. She'd figured he'd probably avoid the rows that were eye-height to her.

So bending down to kneel and shoot was the least convenient for her...and the most attractive to Raymond.

"Um... Can you see my board?" Raymond asked. "Honest, now."

"Honestly, master, I never even looked." She leaned out to look at him. "So? Any hits?"

"Well," he said miserably, "J9 is NOT a hit..."

"Ha!" she crowed. Six hits, six minutes he owed her.

He returned fire, a diagonal line across the screen. He found the patrol boat with the last one.

She dropped to her knees again and spread the shots around all the red pegs. Most were successful.

He concentrated fire around his one hit. The patrol boat sank and he JUST missed finding the submarine.

She finished off his submarine and his carrier. His salvo went from seven to four in one turn.

He tried a spiraling-out pattern from the center. Nothing came close.

The next row up had his patrol boat, cruiser and battleship. He found and nearly sank her cruiser before his fleet was destroyed, but only nearly.

"Okay," she said, stepping off the case. "That's seventeen minutes of backrub you owe me. And I owe you-"

"Never mind," he said. "I was properly spanked." He started pulling out pegs. "Five minutes of rubbing my forehead would be a pity-debt."

She chewed her lower lip for a second. "True," she said, trying not to sound TOO gracious in her victory. "But I'd still be willing to do it."

"I know you will," he said. "And that's why I... Like you. A lot."

"Aw, master," she said, yanking her virgin cruiser out of the screen. "You wuv me."

He gave a non-committal grunt. She smiled and went on cleaning up. She put a foot on the carrier to hold it in place as she pulled a peg free.

Just as it came loose, Raymond's hand came out of nowhere and scooped her up. "EEP!"

"That can wait," he said. He carried her to the bed and lay on it. He placed her face-down on the sheet and bent his reading lamp down.

The head from the bulb warmed her as two giant fingers started to rub her butt cheeks. Gentle pressure circled around her pelvis, moving the big muscles like putty.

"Oh, Raymond," she purred.

The Dad knocked on the door, then opened it to step inside. "Dinner's ready," he said.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Annie protested. She stopped melting into the fabric but Raymond never paused.

"Uh, Annie just won seventeen minutes of backrub off of me, sir," he explained. "And I just started."

Dad glanced at the game boards, then the two on Raymond's bed. "It's chili," Dad said. "It'll keep for that long." He shut the door on his way out.

"Huh," Annie said. She relaxed again.

"Well," Raymond said, "he wuvs you, too."

"Are you jealous that I'm the favorite, Raymond?" she asked.

He started wiping down her arms. "How could I be?"



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