fandomtownies | Luke's, Friday

Some of your servers may seem more harried than usual.

Who's making little notes in a notebook. That's not ominous.

You know, some nights, Sparkle just didn't want to make his own dinner? And... okay, look, it had been a while since he'd stopped in to visit a certain excellent terrible role model, and he kind of just wanted to check in. So, in Sparkle came, backpack on his shoulder, plush cat peering out of the bag, and a grin on his face.

"Making notes, huh? New recipe, or is somebody gonna get it?"

Parker looked up in surprise, then grinned. "I'm tracking their quirks, so if I need them to be more motivated, I know what to offer them," she explained, reaching out to poke at the plush kitty. "Do you want the cheesy dip? It's really good."

Long time no see! It was so nice that you were eating! Also, nice backpack. (All of that was subtext, though, since Parker didn't think to say these things out loud.)

"I will never turn down cheesy dip. What's in it?"

Cheese, Sparkle.

"How've you been? Are you digging up anything good on them yet?"

"Cheese. Avocados? And spices. I don't know, the details are Eliot's thing, but it's really good. Also possibly good for you, if we're serving it." Parker grinned. "Just that Cookie needs a vacation, stat, and the busboy needs to not hug Eliot." Because of tasers, yup. "What've you been up to? Hear anything from Toronto lately?"

And then, yelling back to the kitchen, "CHEESY STUFF AND SOME PANCETTA FOR SPARKLE. NOW."

Woo, cheese! Sparkle grinned and gave a little bounce on his toes when Parker called back the order, and then leaned against the nearest table.

"I've been running the clothing shop, mostly. I have staff. That's weird. But, like, one of them is practically a little kid, so I come in on her shift too, to watch the till while she pokes through the stock. Girl's got crazy fashion sense, though. Stuck me in a dress that did fantastic things for my ass."

This was important information to share, okay?

"And things in Toronto... are probably good. Raine checks in sometimes, from, like, payphones? The kids seem to be settling into the place you guys hooked them up with. They're all well aware that they lucked out big time, getting to at least stay together, you know? And they have this place they can call theirs, without having to worry about it being taken away. That's something new for all of them."

"How young is she?" Parker had only the barest awareness of age differences, having been on the streets at twelve herself. "Maybe I should stop by there. Get more hair ties for Eliot. Maybe sparkly ones."

And then have fun trying to get him to wear them.

"I'm glad," she added, listening to him talk about Toronto. "They haven't had any more legal problems? Lewis hasn't made any more humongous mistakes?" Since that whole mess was his fault in the first place.

"So are you living on the island somewhere?" she asked, curious.

"She's... I don't know. In her teens, I think, and going to the school?" Sparkle frowned a little at that. "But she's not quite... I mean, it's like something held her back. She's a great kid, but she's still very, very much a kid."

He worried about Alluka, truth be told. He kind of wanted to find whoever it was that had held back this bright kid and punch them in the mouth.

"And Raine hasn't mentioned anything about legal issues. Or about Lewis. I think we've all just kind of agreed that so long as he's out of our lives, he can stay that way, fuck him. He ran, let him stay gone. Me, I'm on the island, yeah. Atton offered me a room in his place, I just have to cook. And clean, but that's not a requirement so much as I go fucking crazy when there's stuff lying around that doesn't need to be."

Parker shared his frown at that; kids who were young for their age were vulnerable in all kinds of ways. But she had Sparkle looking after her, at least. "What's her name? She sounds kind of familiar, maybe she was in on of our classes.... And good. You let us know if Lewis shows up again."

Because he would disappear again just as fast, once they heard about it.

"Alluka," Sparkle said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know her at all? Cute kid, big smile, lots of hair. Likes pink, and stuffed toys."

They'd kind of bonded over her Mister Bubbles and his Velcro Two.

"And... thanks. If I hear from Lew again, I'll find you. I really don't... like... want to deal with him. Ever. I've already pretty much given up on going back there, but if he screws things up for them again I'll fucking kill him."

"There's way worse things than killing someone," Parker said cheerfully. "And we've done a lot of those... and yeah, I remember her! She brought her bunny to class. Like mine. Kathy and a couple of the others were looking out for her during the class. She's working for you now?... I would not have picked her as a fashionista."

The creamy avocado-cheesy dip came out, with various dipping things, and Parker stole a carrot stick to nibble on. "Go on, it's yummy. (http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/avocado-feta-dip/)"

Oooh, that looked good. Sparkle snagged a pita chip and gave it a dip before thoughtfully munching on it.

"Oh, yeah. She's got a great sense for fashion. Like, she likes the cute ruffly things for herself, but she can put together a decent outfit for somebody else if you give her free reign over the shop. Like, coordinating shoes and everything. You should stop in sometime, let her pick out something for you. She works Mondays."

"Maybe I will, especially for the next time we have a job," Parker speculated. That kind of thing wasn't her favorite, and never would be, even though she'd gotten better at it. "I can't call Sophie all the time for that... I'm just ordering the Diner staff around this term. And looking for more work for us. Eliot and Hardison are teaching separate classes this time, after we did team-building in the fall. And then I was a white ferret for Christmas."

"Oh man, you missed Christmas?" Sparkle pouted a little bit. He didn't place much stock in the holiday himself, but it was something that most people tended to look forward to, after all. "Tough deal. Did Hardison and Eliot at least make it up to you when you turned back?"

"Both." Parker's expression wasn't all that hard to read. "And they didn't find all the presents I hid for them, so we had a fun time with searching them out afterward. Plus, it was kind of fun to be a ferret, but I just wish it hadn't lasted so long... did you and Atton do anything fun for the holidays?"

Oh, Sparkle knew that expression, and he gave Parker a smile that was appropriate to the implication of it, in turn.

"Sounds like you had fun, then," he decided. "And Atton and I kind of had fun. I mean, like, the island was weird the weekend before, you know? So we decided to get the hell outta here for the week and we hit up this ski hill in the middle of nowhere, Europe. Not to ski. Just to watch other people suck at it."

"Cool. They have avalanches, you know. That makes it way more dangerous." Parker was still sad you couldn't get the threat of an avalanche while climbing a skyscraper. "Is Atton your boyfriend?" Might as well be direct about it.

There was a beat, there, while Sparkle nearly choked on his cheese dip. He made a stunning recovery, at least.

"What? No, no, I don't have one of those. I think he'd be way too weirded out by it if I were to put the moves on him, anyway," he said, still a little wheezy. "He's more like... I dunno. A brother, I guess. A big brother, like, the protective one who gives you shit when you do something stupid but who'll still stick his neck out for you if something's gonna swoop in and throw you off, you know? I mean, that's what I'm guessing big brothers are like, anyway."

He had a big sister once, who had been a bit like that. But that was a long, long time ago.

"I mean there are, like, guys? But nothing serious. I don't think I want serious right now."

Parker nodded understandingly, putting another pita chip in the dip to swirl it around. "Hardison was my first serious boyfriend. And Eliot's my second. We're doing really well because they're awesome. And Hardison is good at the talking parts." She wrinkled her nose. "You're really young, so. Lots of time. And I kinda sound like Sophie. Hunh. So that's what that feels like."

So weird! TO know things about relationships!

"Serious and I don't really get along," Sparkle sighed. "The last time I tried serious, his sister would come around to where I work and remind me that she could pop my head between her thighs like a grape if she felt like it, and when I mentioned that bothered me to him, he told me I just couldn't understand what having family was like."

Funny how that hadn't gone over well.

Parker frowned, trying to imagine this. Eliot would definitely tell people that they could pop their heads like grapes. On the other hand, she and Hardison would definitely tell him to stop it, so.... "Sounds like he didn't want to fight with his sister. More than make you feel better, I mean. His loss, yeesh. Have some more cheesy dip... We could get you a taser if she ever comes back? I love mine."

"She's, like, not even human," Sparkle muttered. "I don't think I could hit her with a taser if I tried. Doesn't matter much now, though. I mean, they both left, and I'm not dating her brother anymore, so the worst I have to worry about is, like, the island showing me Lewis again."

Or whatever those Christmas ghosts were. Either way, not fun.

"... I guess a taser couldn't hurt, though. In case all those fancy fighting moves that Leto and Atton are teaching me aren't enough."

"Oooo, they're teaching you fighting? Good. What kind? And I'll tell Hardison we need a good taser for you." She wrinkled her nose and added, "That's one thing I'm glad I missed, is those nightmares for me. It was bad enough seeing Hardison wake up in a coffin 'cause that's one of my nightmares too. And I was a ferret and couldn't even talk him down like last time."

"Ow," Sparkle replied, frowning sympathetically. "Yeah, you're lucky you missed that one. The nightmares, the memories, the whole... island-wide emotion-sharing mess... sucked."

Understatement yay!

"But Leto's teaching me how to use a knife he gave me, and Atton's been doing a lot of, like, basic training, and thumping people with sticks, and he showed me how to use a blaster, so... plenty to draw from, there."

Parker gave him a much more cheerful look. "Good! You can be the one popping heads like grapes!" Om nom nom. Something occurred to her then. "It's almost a year since I got here to teach," she realized. "We should have a party or something. To celebrate. And it was March or so when Hardison got here."

"A Happy Fandomversary party?" Sparkle grinned a little at that. "Oh man, that would be pretty great. I mean, if anything deserves celebration, it's surviving here for a full year, you know?"

"Seriously. And turning little, and having future kids show up, and turning into animals, and having Eliot get hurt a lot, and turning old, and..."

Yeah, there'd been a lot.

"Fandomversary Party! I gotta tell Hardison about this. Eliot will be cranky, then make food. Hardison will figure out the rest. You'd come, right?"

"Um, duh, of course I'd come," Sparkle laughed. "Sounds like a good time. And there isn't anyone here who doesn't get how big a deal that is, so you could probably get a good turnout for something like that."

Up late due to headache, but also up for any interaction now, wheee.

Luke's, Friday

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