4-Barbaric

The rain was pounding hard enough that Tom almost didn’t hear the knock on the door.

“Andrew,” Tom called out, “Joe and Dan have already left, and Clara just got here. I am heading out. Enjoy your vacation watching your shows!”

Andrew grunted his acknowledgement, already fixated on the TV and whatever sci-fi show he was currently into.

Earlier that day Joe and Dan had taken off for winter break with their girlfriends, Sierra and Rachel.

Clara had just arrived and they were heading out, where he was going to introduce her to his family. Knowing how uptight they could get, he knew that this could either be one of his best or worst breaks in his 4 years of college.

As he opened the door, he spotted Clara standing there, wet from the rain, and beside her was Lauren, finger to her lip, almost begging him to keep quiet.

Clara had filled him in on what happened at the football game a couple of months ago between Lauren and Andrew. How Lauren had tried to entice Andrew and got blown off.

To everyone’s surprise, that didn’t seem to deter her, and in fact had her even more interested.

Tom had mentioned Lauren a couple of times to Andrew, but he seemed to ignore the idea at every turn.

Everyone else agreed that he needed to give her a chance, so this little charade was concocted. Andrew had already planned on spending winter break alone in the apartment, with all the other guys planning on spending time with their girlfriends, it was a perfect time to ‘ambush’ Andrew with a potential girlfriend of his own.

Tom quietly let Lauren in, while he grabbed his bag and slipped out the door.

He silently hoped he hadn’t just made a huge mistake by allowing what was sure to an explosive confrontation happen in his apartment.

~*~

Lauren quietly stepped into the kitchen of the small apartment. She was ever so grateful for the rain that was coming down and how loud the TV was. She didn’t want Andrew to know that she was there.

Lauren wasn’t even sure why she was there. Andrew didn’t seem interested at the game, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had to give it another shot.

So, here she was, standing in this apartment, seemingly stalking this geek that didn’t seem to notice her.

She stood there for a long moment, not being able to help herself. He was so focused on his show that he had no idea that she was there.

For a long moment, Lauren considered slipping back out the door. If he didn’t seem interested, then maybe she shouldn’t push. But, again, she needed to try.

As the show continued to blare, she slowly walked up behind the couch and crouched down so that she was at the same level as Andrew.

Gently she rested her arm on the back of the couch, still being careful not to let on that she was there.

Now came the moment of truth. She knew that the next move could be disastrous, and she was ready for it to blow up in her face.

Or was she?

‘Just leave him be! He isn’t interested in you, so don’t try to force yourself on him,’ her mind was screaming.

Inhaling slowly to steady her nerves, she slowly reached around him to the bowl of chips he had in his hands and snagged a chip.

At that moment, his head whipped around and he glared at her. Though not in surprise as she would have expected, but more in a ‘How dare you touch my food’ sort of way.

She decided it was time to lay on the charm and gave him one of her classic smirks that tended to drive men wild when she was trying to tease them.

Andrew sighed, “Why are you here?”

“Because,” Lauren said, as she bit down on the chip and started chewing, “You were going to give me a better explanation of that game that you play.”

She glanced at his shirt, “I think that is the one you mentioned.”

Andrew continued to glare.

“I told you that you wouldn’t be interested.”

“And you talked about it with such reverence that it got me interested,” she countered, snatching another chip.

“You’re a barbarian, you know that!” as he pulled the bowl further away.

She smirked again, “I think I will take that as a compliment.”

“How about this?” she continued, “You point me in the direction of those chips, we sit and watch the rest of your show, then you show me this game of yours.”

“Fine,” Andrew finally gave in, pointing to one corner of the kitchen, “Chips are in there, bowls are over there.”

Lauren quickly found her way around the kitchen.

‘Did that go better or worse than I was expecting?’ she couldn’t help but ask herself. He didn’t seem as surprised that she was there as she expected.

Finishing grabbing her snacks, she plopped down next to him on the couch.

For the next 30 minutes they sat in silence. She was completely lost by the show, though it seemed interesting and the characters were really well written.

Finally, it ended.

As Andrew turned off the TV, he turned and looked at Lauren, annoyed contemplation plastered on his face.

She loosed a breath and with more self-doubt than she would normally show, turned to face him.

“Maybe we should start over,” she tentatively stretched out a hand between them, “I’m Lauren.”

Andrew crossed his arms, “Oh, I remember you. Kind of hard to forget when you were shoving your boobs in my face.”

Lauren’s hand dropped, “Wait… You actually noticed?”

“I’m a guy!” it was his turn to smirk, “Of course I noticed.”

“But… Even though I got you talking about your game, you seemed to not notice me.”

“That was more so I wouldn’t stare,” he said dryly, “Girls as pretty as you aren’t interested in guys like me, unless it is a dare or something.”

Lauren choked back a laugh, “Well, maybe I was looking for some action,” she blushed, “but in the end, the way you seemingly didn’t care about my looks got my attention.”

Andrew sat there in silence for a moment, “Are you actually interested in learning D&D, or are you messing with me? If this is some way for you to get ‘some action’, I am going to be very annoyed.”

Lauren glared at Andrew, “While I won’t promise to like whatever D&D is, don’t insult my honor and think I came here for nefarious reasons.”

“You really are a barbarian,” he snorted.

~*~

Andew went into his room and grabbed his D&D material. He really couldn’t believe that he was doing this, that she was here.

‘It had to be a joke, right?’

Sure, there was the movie, ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ and other media depicting the geek getting the hot girl. And what self-respecting nerd wouldn’t admit to the idea of daydreaming about getting the ‘babe’. But for someone like her to be in his apartment, wanting to learn about the things that he is interested in?

But, if she was willing to try to learn, he would humor her for now.

Andrew returned to Lauren waiting patiently at the table, an expectant look on her face.

“I need to ask you something?” she waited until he motioned for her to continue, “You didn’t seem that surprised to see me earlier.”

Andrew snorted, “The guys aren’t as subtle as they think they are.”

“I knew they were planning something, though I wasn’t sure what. It had gotten to the point where I was expecting you to show up somewhere,” he trailed off for a second,

“Even if I may have been hoping you wouldn’t,” he muttered as he sat down.

Lauren couldn’t help the wounded look on her face, “Andrew, if you don’t want me here, I can leave.”

Andrew let out a long breath and looked into her eyes. They seemed to be pleading to give her a chance.

“No. While I might not have promised to teach you, I won’t deny you the opportunity to learn.”

“Thank you… Though knowing I would show up doesn’t explain why you didn’t jump when I showed up. You were expecting the apartment to be empty.”

Andrew started chuckling, ending with a huge snort, “You weren’t as subtle as you thought. During one of the dark moments in the show, I saw your reflection on the TV.”

Lauren burst out laughing, a high, almost melodic sound. Andrew found himself starting to admire the woman before him.

Once she had calmed herself, “Well then, I guess I will have to work on my subtlety.”

“Barbarians are not known for their subtlety, or their stealth,” he said with a wry grin.

“And what are they known for,” she shot back, a look of incredulity crossing her face.

“They are known for barging in and taking what they want,” he countered, “Like my chips!”

She smacked him on the shoulder, laughing.

~*~

The next week was spent with them hanging out. Andrew attempted to teach her the basics of D&D, though it was slow going.

Lauren spent a lot of the time with a headache. There was so much to learn.

Andrew continued to be patient with her.

Whenever it was obvious that her brain couldn’t take any more of the game, he would stop and suggest something else.

They would take snack runs, watch a show, or even just talk.

He was surprised how much she seemed to understand his world, even if she was new to it.

Andrew even took pity on her and started the show he had been watching that first night over. That way she could get to know the story and characters.

~*~

By the end of the week, she had created her D&D character. A barbarian of all things. And they had run some simple scenarios so she could grasp how the game was played.

As the week wound to a close, they were very comfortable in each other’s company.

She turned to him as she was getting ready to head back to her campus, “Thank you for this week.”

“Thank you for letting me show you my world and not balking at it.”

She smiled sweetly at him, recognizing that this was a good thing.

“It was a lot, but I can see the appeal. I will be back so that you can teach me more.”

Andrew rolled his eyes, “Of course you will, barbarian.”

“You better believe it, wizard,” she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek and headed out the door.

Andrew realized that he might have to create a new character for his campaigns.

~*~

Over the next several months the two of them got together. Lauren was really starting to pick up D&D and they started into the campaign that he was creating.

He wanted to publish it but needed to work out the kinks first. What better way than with a willing test subject.

That summer saw them taking a bit of a break. They graduated, and he had secured a job as a junior programmer at a local software development company.

Lauren even got a job there, though as a customer support representative.

It wasn’t glamourous, but since they knew each other so well, it helped when problems arose. She could bring bug issues directly to him, and he could explain the inner workings of the program to her, which in turn helped the customers.

It made for a winning pair, and they both started rising through the ranks.

~*~

With the new job, Andrew had found his own place. Just a small one-bedroom apartment.

It regularly found the two of them hunched over the dining room table playing D&D, or binging their latest show.

Lauren kept up with her barbarian, even though Andrew offered a few times to help her create a new character. She would just wave him off and tell him that the character fit her.

He even created a fire wizard that sometimes was a companion to her barbarian, sometimes the foe. It depended on how much she was annoying him at the time.

~*~

As the following spring rolled around, Andrew brought up the idea of conventions to Lauren.

“Wait…” she looked at him like he had been hiding something from her, “Your saying there are entire nerd fests?”

She had heard whispers of Renaissance Faires, and they sounded fun, but never one for nerds.

Andrew laughed, “Hey, I was just a poor college boy. I didn’t have the money for these things.”

“And you are right about it being a nerd fest,” he rolled his eyes, “People also dress up as their favorite characters. It is a big deal.”

“Really?” Lauren was starting to get intrigued. The thought of living out the character she had created was an interesting prospect.

“Yeah. I was planning on doing that myself. Why do you think I got that red hat? It is just one part of an entire look.”

“Is that why you got me the axe?” Lauren looked at him dubiously, though with a hint of amusement in her eyes, “because you wanted me to dress up too?”

Andrew blushed, “No. I got that because I didn’t want you to feel left out when I got the hat.”

“Wait, are you wanting to go?”

“Maybe?” she shrugged, trying to act like it wasn’t that big of a deal, “It sounds fun. Though I will admit, the idea of dressing up as a character is almost more appealing.”

Andrew got wide eyed at the thought.

“Yep, that’s my barbarian,” he said dryly, “thinking about fashion over the experience.”

Lauren sat there for a moment, thinking.

“What would I look like as a barbarian?”

“Let’s see what we can find,” Andrew said, curiosity now getting the better of him. Lauren was good looking, and he could only imagine what she might look like if she went full barbarian on him.

~*~

Over the next hour they spent in front of his computer looking up potential outfits for both of them.

Andrew found his outfit first. A nice set of red robes that went with his hat perfectly, along with a staff.

Lauren picked out an outfit that had Andrew drooling just looking at it. Bare torso, upper arms, and legs. His fellow nerds were going to melt when they saw her.

~*~

The next week was torture for Lauren. They were waiting for their costumes to come in. There was one thing that was nagging at her though. It was her hair.

Andrew would be wearing a hat and a fake beard. No one would care about his hair.

Her, on the other hand, it was a different story.

Long flowing blonde locks weren’t going to work for the barbarian aesthetic. She looked up all sorts of inspiration pictures, and had several braid ideas that could work, but they didn’t quite feel right.

Finally, she found something. It was perfect. She just wasn’t sure if she could make herself wear it.

~*~

The outfits finally arrived and they worked beautifully for what they were going for.

Andew’s robes made him look like a wizard of legend.

Lauren’s fit her like a glove and accentuated all her curves just right.

There was still the problem of her hair though.

As she put away her outfit for the convention, she made up her mind. She may have unwittingly walked into this world when she suggested that Andrew teach her D&D, but it was time she fully embraced it.

“Hey,” she called out as she headed towards the door, “I have to run to the store and grab something.”

She didn’t hear a reply as the door closed.

~*~

15 minutes later, she strode back into the apartment and dropped the package on the kitchen counter.

Andrew looked at it, confused.

“What’s in the bag?”

Lauren sighed in resignation, “The final piece for my outfit. I had a very hard time figuring out a hairstyle to go with my outfit, but to make it happen, I need your help.”

With that, she pulled out her phone and found the image. It was of a Viking woman with shaved sides and a big French Braid running through the strip that remained.

Andrew couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then he looked at the bag and realized what was in there, a haircutting kit.

Finally, his eyes shifted to her glorious hair. It was always the element to her that brought out her beauty. Though this edgy look he could enjoy too…

“Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked with concern, “What about work? That is a little extreme for the office.”

“No one see customer service. They only hear us,” she responded, “We have several people with interesting hairstyles, and nobody bats an eye.”

“True, but no one is this extreme,” he motioned towards the image, “I just don’t want you to have problems.”

“It will be fine. Like I said, no one sees us, so no one cares what we look like.”

Andrew frowned, but he couldn’t fault her logic.

Slowly a smile started playing on his lips, “Well then barbarian, are you ready to look the part?”

“No,” Lauren responded hesitantly, “Let’s do it before I loose my nerve.”

She grabbed a stool and sat down.

Andrew quickly opened the kit, starting to lay out everything and prep the clippers.

“Do you want to part your hair or should I?” Andrew asked as he finished his preparations.

“You do it,” she fished out her phone, “Here is the reference picture again. Do your best.”

Lauren was starting to shake as Andrew threw the cape around her. He parted her hair so that he could do one side.

Walking back around her, he looked into her eyes, “Are you sure?”

A look of determination flashed across her face, “Do it!”

Andrew flipped the switch on the clippers, and they both jumped at the sound.

“Have you handled those before?” Lauren asked.

Andrew chuckled, “Once. I shaved Dan for that bet.”

“You? Really?”

“I am glad you didn’t see that… I almost tried to use them backwards until Joe corrected me.”

“You aren’t inspiring confidence that you can do this for me!”

“I watched several videos afterwards, so I know how to handle them. I just haven’t since then.”

“Well then, get it over with before I change my mind,” Lauren said dryly.

Andrew walked behind Lauren and decided to use the same method as he had done with Dan, front to back.

As the clippers touched Lauren’s skin, she shivered. She wasn’t used to this sensation, but she knew her friends had. Both Clara and Rachel had clippers used to create their undercut and pixie. Lauren just never expected them to be used on her.

After the first few passes Lauren started to relax. That is until Andrew realized he needed to run the clippers up her nape.

Lauren gasped. The vibrations at the base of her neck shot through her like a lightning bolt.

That felt GOOD!

The way that Clara and Rachel had described their haircuts, she doubted they had this sort of reaction to the clippers. Lauren could get used to the idea.

Andrew was too engrossed in his work to notice Lauren’s reaction. He was too concerned with making sure it looked right to pay attention to her.

When he finished with the one side, Lauren was breathing hard.

“Are you alright?” he looked at her worriedly.

“Those are just a lot more intense than I expected,” she said, trying to gather herself.

“Hang in there a little longer. Need to do the other side.”

Andrew started brushing the little hairs from the first side of Lauren’s head. The touch caused her to shudder. This time Andrew did notice.

“I didn’t expect such a reaction to a haircut out of my big, strong barbarian,” he teased.

“Watch it wizard,” she shot back, though she couldn’t deny how the sensation made her feel.

Andrew wasted no time parting the other side and starting up the clippers. This time though, he started in the back.

Again, Lauren shivered. She could get used to this sensation.

A couple of minutes later, and a few intentional touches from Andrew to mess with her, she was finished.

As he removed the cape, she stood up and noticed all the hair on the floor. That was a big pile.

Slowly she reached up and couldn’t believe it when she felt rough stubble on the sides of her head.

She gave Andrew a quick kiss and told him that she was taking a shower so that she could style her hair and see how the entire look came together.

~*~

The shower was almost foreign to Lauren. She couldn’t get over the feeling of the stubble that now coated the sides of her head, and the feeling of water hitting her skin there.

It was an amazing feeling, and one that she could get used to.

After she dried off, she got to work building up the big French Braid that took up the rest of her hair.

As she stood there, looking at the final result, she almost couldn’t recognize herself. She had always had sharper features, but this made them stand out 10x more than before.

She made her way to the bedroom where she had her barbarian outfit. While the pieces fit beautifully before, they seemed to glide on this time, like they were made for her.

As she finished, she looked in the mirror. She truly was the barbarian that Andrew had made her out to be, and she was going to wear it with pride.

Lauren stepped into the hallway, making sure that she posed to show off the entire effect.

“Hey wizard! Get over here!”

Andrew came skidding around the corner and froze. How could this strong, beautiful woman be his girlfriend?

That outfit accentuated all of her best features, and that hair was the cherry on top.

He couldn’t help but stare.

“You… look amazing!” he stammered out.

It was at that moment that Lauren realized that she was going to enjoy going to the convention.

~*~

The next Saturday morning found both Andrew and Lauren scurrying to get their outfits ready.

The night before Andrew had re-shaved the sides of Lauren’s head.

The preparations were finally done, and they stood in the kitchen staring at each other.

“What a pair we make,” Lauren said, surveying the robes that Andrew had donned.

“That we do,” came his low reply as he looked her up and down.

Lauren took a step closer to Andrew and wrapped her hands around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

As they parted Andrew whispered, “There’s my barbarian, always taking what she wants.”

Lauren chuckled and kissed him again.

~*~

They arrived at the convention center right as the doors were opening.

Lauren had no real clue what she was supposed to do, so they agreed to both do their own thing for a while and meet up later.

To say that Lauren was overwhelmed was an understatement. She wandered the various rooms looking at all the booths that were set up and admiring some of the other costumes that were being worn.

From her time with Andrew, she knew that the nerd world was vast but had no idea just how vast it was. She could get lost here for a long time.

While she was wondering, she noted all the eyes that fell on her. She got more than a few cat calls from guys that were clearly more pathetic nerds than Andrew was. Those men got a look that was very indicative of why Andrew had called her a barbarian. She even had some women coming up to her in admiration and wanting to get pictures with her.

‘This is fun,’ she thought as she kept wandering.

~*~

That afternoon Lauren was starting to get tired. She hadn’t realized that she would have to pace herself to make it through the day.

She spotted the tell-tale top of Andrew’s red hat. He was on the other end of the aisle that she found herself in.

Putting on her best barbarian look, and throwing her axe over her shoulder, she started marching towards him.

When she was about 20 feet away from him, she called loud enough to be heard by Andrew, “Hey wizard!”

Everyone nearby turned at the shout. Many to see what the commotion was about, but those that were even vaguely dressed as wizards started glancing around thinking she was talking to them.

Andrew turned and froze, watching his girlfriend coming at him with a look that could kill.

She got in his face and pointed a finger straight at his nose.

“You brought me here! This is a warren of all things nerdy! You need to pay for that!”

Andrew could only gape at her.

She stepped in close once again, “And here is how you are going to pay,” she said in a softer, menacing voice, as she leaned in and kissed him hard.

The shouts and cheers that arose from around them was almost deafening, though several of the guys nearby looked disappointed that she was taken.

“Let’s keep moving wizard,” she purred as the finally separated.

~*~

As they got back to the apartment, they found a card that was addressed to both of them.

Puzzled, they plopped down on the loveseat and opened the card. It was a wedding invitation to Tom and Clara’s wedding.

They stared at it for a moment, enjoying the fact that their friends had found happiness and wanted to share it with each other for a long time.

Lauren’s phone buzzed. Checking the screen, she realized that it was a message from Clara, ‘Hey, can we meet? Tom and I are getting married, and I want you apart of it.’

Lauren laughed at the timing, ‘Sure, we just got the invitation.’

Setting her phone down, Andrew leaned in to rest his head on Lauren’s shoulder.

Lauren leaned in as well.

“You do realize that this hairstyle isn’t conducive to a wedding, right?” she asked into his forehead.

“No, I guess it isn’t,” he breathed.

“And to get any sort of respectable style I am going to have to cut off the rest of my hair.”

“That would be barbaric,” he chuckled, “but I wouldn’t expect anything else out of you.”

~*~

Stories in chronological order:

The Game – The whole gang

The Unexpected Date – Clara and Tom

Shave and a Haircut – Sierra and Joe, with a nice helping of Rachel and Dan

Barbaric – Andrew and Lauren