Narcolepsy (A Love Story)

15: Blake

There's more? FUUUCk. I'm doomed.

The sleeve on her arm is gorgeous. Seriously some of the best work I've ever seen, and I need to find out who her artist is. From elbow to wrist, it's a field of poppies with what appears to be a gold necklace or chain winding through it and wrapping around her forearm and wrist in a loose spiral with the tail disappearing right beneath her palm but getting wider (and the poppies bigger) the higher it goes on her arm. When I peeled up her t-shirt sleeve to see if it kept going, I realized it wasn't a necklace or chain, it was a yellow brick road, and her upper arm has a beautifully stylized version of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, and even Toto, but they are all oddly proportioned and almost creepy looking, darker versions of the technicolor fairy tale. The scarecrow, especially, is kind of terrifying. They are walking down the road just above her elbow, pretty small — each figure is just three or so inches tall — but incredibly detailed, and the back side of her arm right there has a nightmarish Emerald City as the source of the road. The sky in the background is a beautiful light blue that transitions into indigo almost seamlessly, and the entire top of her arm is a representation of the Wicked Witch on her broom with her flying monkeys but where Dorothy and crew were bordering on scary, the witch looks normal and beautiful (though still green) but angry. The monkeys are almost cute in their way, playful and mischievous. It's a masterpiece. I studied it for a good ten minutes, turning her arm this way and that to find all the subtle little details — the monkeys, especially, have some really amazing easter egg-type decorations to them, including Jayne Cobb's hat next to a monkey with shitkicker boots and an axe, a monkey with a lightning bolt scar and round glasses, one with the Fourth Doctor's scarf, a Daryl Dixon monkey (with crossbow) cavorting with a gray monkey with big blue eyes and a knuckleduster knife... it's incredible. I could have studied it for hours but I want her to tell me about it so after I finally peeled myself away, I tucked that arm against me and held her tight so I wouldn't be distracted and keep staring at it.

I did take that same opportunity to look down her shirt. Two thumbs (and my dick) up.

She comes back into the room with the pizza, a couple plates, and two glass mugs that are rimed with frost, setting everything down on the coffee table and taking a seat next to me. Watching the screen the whole time, she pulls two cans of coke out of her pants' pockets (see? Way too big!) and sets them down with the mugs, then cracks them open one by one and fills the mugs up putting one in front of each of us. She dishes out a couple of pieces of pizza on each plate, and finally turns to look at me when she hands me the plate and a napkin.

"You have chilled steins but no beer." I say, shaking my head in mock disgust. She crinkles her face at me and continues to hold the plate, waiting for me to take it, but my eyes are locked on hers and I really don't have any interest in food anymore. Her eyes get really big, her lips part slightly, and when I hear a tiny hitch in her breath, that's when I sit forward and take the plate, picking up a slice and biting into it. She watches my mouth the whole time, so I make sure to chew thoroughly and then lick my lips. I think she's hypnotized. I lift the slice up and take another bite, using my tongue to wind up then break off a thread of cheese, and I'm not sure but I think I hear a tiny moan. I gave her my most wolfish grin, the one that says "the better to eat you with, my dear," and say softly "You should eat your pizza, it's getting cold."

She actually jumps in her seat like she received an electrical shock, and turns away to get her own plate and napkin but her hands are shaking a bit. When she picks up her full mug, a tiny bit of coke sloshes over the rim and she has to wipe up the table with her napkin.

"You never answered me before," I said, muting the television. "How are you still awake?"

"Well, I wasn't though, was I?"