Chapter 18: Getting closer 101: Prolong contact

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JB's pov.
JB and Jackson are still handcuffed together, and they need to get through their day.

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“So, JB and I got tricked by our colleagues and now we’re stuck with these handcuffs for the next–“

“22.”

“– 22 hours until they’ll unlock us. We’ve tried asking if anyone can pick a lock in the office, but no one has that useful skill…”

JB listens as Jackson speaks to the vlogging camera he’s holding outstretched in his right hand, recounting what has happened in the last 2 hours. He hopes he’s not making a scary face in the background, but given how he currently feels, it’s definitely not going to be a smiling face, that much JB knows. He had been rudely surprised by how he got handcuffed to Jackson just before lunch, but now that he’s had food in his stomach (paid for by Mark, as a token of apology) and some time to think, he supposes the situation isn’t all bad.

For one, after the initial hour, Jackson had slowly gotten back his energy, and is becoming a closer semblance to his usual energetic self, which is actually kind of nice to have around. For another, everyone seems relatively sympathetic to their situation, so JB had gotten excused of his work for the day, and Jackson too, got extended deadlines for most of his work, except for an article he has to finish by today. They’re currently sitting at Jackson’s desk, so Jackson can do this work once they finish vlogging. The chains rattles slightly when Jackson attempts to nudge him with their handcuffed hands, and JB turns to the camera with what he hopes is a pleasant enough face (and not a sneer or something worse), and says, “Anyway, we’re reluctant participants to this video, but since we got stuck together, we’re still going to record how our day spent handcuffed together goes, for your amusement.”

There’s a glare thrown his way from Jackson, and JB rolls his eyes, before he adds, “Fine, maybe not for your amusement, but we hope you’ll still find this video amusing –”

“What JB means is, he hopes that you will enjoy our video, and remember, it’s a bad idea to handcuff your friends without their full, informed permission,” Jackson interrupts JB with a smile to the camera, quickly finishing his sentence and stopping the recording when he’s done. When the camera is switched off, Jackson faces JB, frowning slightly even though his tone is light, “Come on, weren’t you the one who said that we might as well get through the day since we can’t change this situation?”

JB shrugs, “Yeah, well, I did say that, but it’s going to take me longer to actually stop being annoyed.”

It’s true, he’s trying to be as rational as he can about this ridiculous predicament, but there’s a limit to JB’s learnt patience. Even if he’s sorry that Jackson’s getting the most of his frustrated behavior, JB recognizes that he has a tendency to end up showing some body language or saying something that demonstrate his inner feelings, which right now is a mixed bag of complicated emotions, most of them not positive ones. Figuring the best he can do for now is to be quiet and cooperative so Jackson can do this work, JB gently lifts his right arm, leading Jackson’s hand to the keyboard on the table, before he says softly, “Just write the article you need to submit by today. I’ll try my best not to disturb you.”

There’s a short moment when Jackson looks at him with his big round eyes, before the guy nods, pushing his chair closer to the desk with a bright smile and a huff of “Okay, let’s start!” as his fingers begin moving on the keyboard. Letting Jackson lead their connected arms while he types, JB feels the corner of his lip curl up in what might be the first smile of the day.

After a while of sitting with his right arm stretched out, JB rolls his chair nearer to Jackson’s, trying to relieve some of the strain of having his arm out by sitting closer together. He’s hoping that it won’t disrupt Jackson’s typing, but Jackson still pauses and turns to see what he’s doing, so JB quickly pushes his chair into place using his feet on the floor.

“Are you uncomfortable?” Jackson asks, concerned.

“A bit,” JB admits, thinking it might be a bad idea to lie when they have to remain handcuffed for another 21 hours. It’s probably a good thing he didn’t, because Jackson curls his left hand over JB’s right, guiding both their arms to rest on the armrest of JB’s chair.

“I can type with one hand for a while,” is all Jackson says, before his attention is returned to the computer, and JB leans a bit further into his seat, feeling the aches in his arm ease a bit.

Jackson’s typing at this article, seeming to be done, because he’s scrolling back to the front and rereading (probably editing), and JB idly scrolls his phone. It’s lucky that they’re both handcuffed on their non-dominant hands, because at least JB doesn’t have to fumble with the pen when he’s asked to fill in some employee satisfaction survey (what a bad day to be giving him this survey, he thinks, remembering Amber and Amy’s ploy), or when he’s refreshing his Instagram feed for something interesting (he’ll much rather play some phone game, but being only able to use 1 hand severely limits his choice of games, so he had given up quickly). He’s refreshing for the fifth time in a roll, when Jackson squirms beside him, fidgeting in his seat. It’s not the first time Jackson has been fidgety, but when JB glances over, he sees a tense expression, and decides to ask what’s wrong.

“Uh,” Jackson opens his mouth, hesitating, “I… need to go to the toilet.”

JB’s about to say he can just go, until he remembers, right, they’re still stuck together. Even if a guy might use a urinal next to an occupied one when the toilet’s crowded, it’s generally polite to avoid standing too close to another guy in the toilet, so having to tag along with Jackson to go pee might be something of an inconvenience. Instead of replying Jackson first, JB picks up the vlogging camera, switching it on to record their conversation, because hey, that’s the whole reason why they’re even being handcuffed, isn’t it?

After the “fun” recording of their discussion over what they should do now that the dreaded call of nature has appeared (or more like how they should do it), JB follows Jackson to the toilet, carefully averting his gaze away from the urinal as he stands as far as he comfortably can away from Jackson (which is not very far, but he’ll take what he can get). He’s holding the vlogging camera, which is trained on his face so he doesn’t accidentally expose Jackson to the Internet (especially if the editing team is mean, which is likely), talking about how Jackson is now using the toilet behind him, and how this is a very weird experience, all while the sound of pee flowing is going on in the background (at least Jackson isn’t embarrassed and doing the pee-stop-pee-pause-pee thing that some guys do).

He feels a bit silly talking to the camera, and having the monologue in his head, so JB doesn’t immediately notice when Jackson is done, until he pulls lightly on their cuffed hands to go to the basin.

“Right, so Jackson here is done using the urinal, and we’re going to go wash our hands, so see you again later when more happens,” is all JB says before he presses the button to end recording, although he thinks he might have a smile on (a sarcastic one, but still).