InsaneJournal

parker succeeds by stealing the success of others (inafivepoundbag) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2010-11-20 12:29:00

Entry tags:

eliot spencer, parker

WHO: AU!Eliot and AU!Parker [possible npc appearances by their au!ickles]
WHAT: Discussing their situation.
WHEN: Late night; around 11PM.
WHERE: Parker's apartment.
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

Parker sat on the balcony of the apartment she'd been given for her stay in the city, a blanket draped across her shoulders and her sock-clad feet tucked up underneath her. She held a cup of coffee in her hands, knowing it would be responsible for her being up late and dreading the morning but also enjoying the taste too much to stop drinking it. She inhaled the bittersweet aroma and gazed out at the cityscape spread out before her.

The boys were finally asleep, each taking up a side apiece of the full size bed in one of the bedrooms. They were used to their own beds, their own everything. Parker really didn't like the idea of not having much of anything for them. Sure their basic needs were met, but if they were going to be staying in Colligo long-term, she needed a plan. Glancing sideways at the man who was also responsible for the well being of her boys, her lips drew back into a slight frown and her forehead creased a bit.

"We need to decide how we're going to handle this," she pointed out, tone a bit flat. She still wasn't very good with inflection at times, simply blurting out what she needed to say and moving on. She took a sip of her coffee and looked back to the city beyond. "You know how I do with feeling trapped, Eliot, and there's just this one city here. And the boys..." She shivered a bit and drew the blanket more firmly around her shoulders.

"We need money," she said decisively with a nod, looking back at him. It wasn't her former love of cash talking but rather the love she felt for her children. She'd given up stealing, for them. She'd happily pick it back up again if she had to, but of course wanted to handle things responsibly and discuss options, first. Either way though, she knew that both she and Eliot would do whatever they had to do to take care of their kids. They just needed to figure out what it was they needed to do.

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thatswhatido
2010-11-20 06:07 pm UTC (link)

Eliot had his hair down, and it hung around his face creating a curtain between him and the world beyond. He sighed and shifted his feet. He stood on the balcony, back to the wall. Being stuck in a single city didn't exactly lend itself to a career in music, at least not as far as concerts went, and concerts were his primary source of income.

He sighed and reached up to comb his hair back from his face. He kept an elastic band on his wrist, but he wasn't ready to pull his hair back. He used it as a sort of shield, something to hide behind. "I'll get a job, Parker. Seems like we don't have to pay for the apartment, so that's a plus. I'll get a job, and you'll stay home with the boys." Eliot couldn't always be there, the boys were used to Eliot being away a lot, but they were used to Parker being close.

"We should tell them what's going on."

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inafivepoundbag
2010-11-20 06:34 pm UTC (link)

Parker's frown deepened a little at his suggested plan, the lines in her forehead increasing when he said it with such finality. There had been times, over the years, when she'd wondered what kept pushing her away from him. Then he'd do something like this and she'd instantly remember.

"Wait, hold on," she said as she sat up a bit straighter. The blanket fell from around her shoulders but she didn't pay it any attention. "Ethan will be back at school after the New Year at the latest, and Matthew was really starting to enjoy two days a week at the daycare. There's no reason I can't get a part time job or something too."

It might have seemed like an unusual request, but the fact was that Parker had been thinking about it for a while back home. Mostly she hadn't been willing to risk it because that also meant risking someone recognizing her. It didn't happen often but Parker didn't spend enough time, day to day, in the public eye either. She didn't want some whackjob following her home and trying to mess with her kids. If she didn't kill the guy, Eliot would, and it would just be bad all around.

But here she didn't have that. Here, she didn't have to worry because so far, no one had realized who Eliot even was. She shook her head a bit to get refocused on the conversation and hiked the blanket back up around her shoulders. "I do agree we should tell the boys, though," she said with a nod as she drew one of her legs out from underneath her, tucking it against her chest. "They're smart and they're going to know something's up."

She didn't even comment on the thought of her and Eliot trying to live together to do this. It hadn't worked so well, before, and she really wasn't eager to try it again. But she also knew that their kids needed them both right now, so she was willing to do her best.

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thatswhatido
2010-11-20 07:22 pm UTC (link)

"And who's going to watch the boys while we're here?" Eliot shook his head. He appreciated Parker's strong will, that was one of the things that had attracted him to her in the first place. "If I'm working and you're working..." Eliot sighed. "Let me do this, Parker. Let me take care of you." As soon as he said it, he knew that was the wrong thing to say.

He'd seen to her financial care, certainly. But he'd failed pretty spectacularly on so many other levels. He was never around, and when he was, he was either passed out drunk or high. He'd been uninterested in fatherhood when Ethan came along, though he'd put out a little more effort with Matthew. It was only in recent months, since he'd been sober, that he'd really tried to do right by Parker and the boys. He was still trying to figure things out, but he'd thought he was doing all right, until now.

Colligo. Some mysterious city that wasn't on any map Eliot had ever seen. He'd traveled the world, first in the service then as a performer. He'd never heard of Colligo, and the world at large didn't seem to exist beyond the city limits. It made no sense, and Eliot didn't know what to think, so he focused on the things he knew, and at the moment that meant he was focused on Parker and the boys.

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inafivepoundbag
2010-11-20 09:51 pm UTC (link)

Parker opened her mouth, the same objections she'd always had ready to be spit out. She paused at the last second though, instead scowling past Eliot, beyond the balcony. Rising to her feet, she padded over to the railing and placed her palms on it, rising up on her toes to peer over the edge. Old habits died hard and, instantly, her mind came up with about twelve ways she could feasibly get off that balcony if she absolutely had to.

She wouldn't. Not unless she really had to, would she do it. But she needed something. She wasn't built to be a housewife, or stay-at-home mom with kids who were getting big enough to be gone most of the day. It was one thing when they were little. Matthew would be in Pre-K in a year's time. She needed something to do. With a heavy sigh, she glanced back over at Eliot.

"I can't just sit still." She gripped the banister and turned her gaze up toward the night sky. She thought of some stranger spending more time with her babies than she did. She frowned and shook the thought away. "But fine," she relented finally. "If you can find something that will support all of us, fine."

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thatswhatido
2010-11-20 11:48 pm UTC (link)

Eliot nodded. "Okay. If we're stuck here, if we can't get back home or whatever," Eliot closed his eyes. That thought was just not acceptable. But he recognised the possibility. This whole thing was some kind of whacked out dream, and Eliot wasn't sure what to make of it. It felt too real to be a dream, but there was something just on the edge, something Parker had said to him the other day...He shook his head and sighed.

"If we have to be here, we'll work something out. We can always put the boys in day care. But let's give it a couple days. We'll figure it out, okay?" He reached out to touch her shoulder, and that led to touching her hair. "Whatever happens, Parker, at least we're together." Because he knew how it felt to be alone, and he didn't like it.

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inafivepoundbag
2010-11-21 12:27 am UTC (link)

Before her kids, Parker had been the most spontaneous person on the face of the planet. She would take a dive out a window, head first, just because she could. However once Ethan, and then later Matthew, came along, she began to make plans. And she began to stick to them. That isn't to say everything she did was worked out right down to the letter. Of course not, that would be boring. But she didn't like to just see how things went, nowadays. She liked to know that her kids would be taken care of. She liked to be in control of her world because that was the one way she could do her best to keep her boys safe.

She turned her head slightly when he touched her. She didn't pull away and wasn't really sure why she didn't. If they were back home, she would have in a heartbeat. But being in this place, so out of her element and wholly uncertain what was going to happen next, she found it didn't bother her as much. Maybe she just wanted to draw comfort from a familiar source. She didn't know. However she didn't pull away and she didn't snap at him to keep his hands to himself.

Instead she simply offered him a small smile and decisive nod. "You're right," she agreed, even if part of her still didn't really agree. She was tired and didn't want to start a fight. Maybe another time but not tonight. Turning so her hip was resting against the banister and she was facing Eliot directly, she reached out and brushed some of his hair back, tucking it behind his ear.

"Can you even remember the last time you had gainful employment that wasn't singing?" she asked with a slight chuckle in her voice, a bemused smile upon her face as she peered up at him. They really were going to make quite the sight, trying to blend in with 'normal' society. Thieves to super-stardom (and chosen incognito for her) didn't lend much in the way of preparation for the real world.

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thatswhatido
2010-11-21 12:45 am UTC (link)

"Have I ever had gainful employment that wasn't singing?" Eliot laughed, and it was something of a nervous laugh. "And that time I worked at the pizza parlor doesn't count." Eliot rolled his eyes. The memory of that was one he'd just as soon forget. Truth was, he didnt' know how to do much else, except work out.

"Maybe I could get a job as a personal trainer?" He didn't have the credentials for it, but he had the know how. He'd worked with a personal trainer for years. He knew the ins and outs of the business, or at least he thought he did.

Who was he trying to fool? Music was his life. He wrote songs and he sang those songs. He was damn good at it too. He didn't know how to do anything else and he didn't want to do anything else anyway. He'd made a name for himself, he'd built a solid career. It couldn't just be gone.

His hand moved to her neck. He met her gaze and tilted his head. His tongue slid across his lips, and he bent to kiss her. She was stability. She was the one constant in his life, along with the boys.

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inafivepoundbag
2010-11-21 05:25 pm UTC (link)

Parker's nose scrunched up a bit as she smiled faintly at the memories. "The pizza parlor is a classic," she said teasingly, elbowing him lightly in the ribs before pausing to consider his suggestion. A personal trainer could work. He had the ability and know-how. She wasn't sure if he had the temperament though. Not after doing what he clearly loved to do. She wasn't sure if he could handle switching careers now. She wasn't sure she felt right asking it of him.

The feel of his lips upon hers drew her out of her thoughts and dropped her right into the moment. Parker knew she should pull away, knew she should stop him before they did something that would only complicate the tentative friendship they'd managed to create after their last breakup. However he was something familiar, something she knew inside and out. She hated the fact that she needed that, now, but she did. She couldn't rely on her boys the way they relied on her. She had to rely on someone, though.

Eyes closing, she returned the kiss. Parker slid the fingers of one hand through his hair, her other hand gripping lightly at his shoulder. She rose up on her tiptoes, her chest pressing against his as she slid her tongue past his lips. She sighed softly while deepening the kiss, a need that she hadn't seen to since the last time she was with Eliot beginning to build in the pit of her stomach.

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thatswhatido
2010-11-21 06:01 pm UTC (link)

"It might be classic, but it wasn't exactly gainful employment." Eliot shook his head. What should have been an easy, no brainer sort of job had turned out to be a complete disaster. But at least he could laugh about it now.

He might have said something more, but then he was kissing her and she was kissing him, and the heady feeling she inspired in him came rushing back. He loved her, in his own way. He knew their relationship wasn't perfect, and certainly wasn't traditional. They were off as much as they were on, and if Ethan had never been born, Eliot had no doubt they wouldn't have kept going back. But Ethan, then Matthew, had been born, and because of the boys Eliot and Parker could never quite walk away from each other.

He had hurt her so many times, usually because of his drug use. But he'd given that up. He'd been sober seven months, now. Not even a drop to drink in that time. He swore off it all, hoping that in time he could make things right with Parker. Maybe this was his chance, as screwed up as the situation was. He wasn't going to let it pass him by.

He shifted, drew his leg against hers, and held her to his chest. One hand held steady at the base of her head, the other moved down her back, caressing her shoulders and all the way down her spine.

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inafivepoundbag
2010-11-22 10:19 pm UTC (link)

Parker knew this was a mistake. She knew she'd eventually come to kick herself for doing this. The one thing that remained constant in her life, above all else, was that Eliot would try his best but it still would fall apart in the end. She had no reason to believe this time was any different. She did, however, have some faint hope that maybe she was wrong. And that faint hope, coupled with the need to feel safe if only for that moment, was more than enough to make her ignore how bad of an idea it likely was. The hand she had in his hair slid down, across his back, tugging him a bit closer even as she stepped forward.

She broke the kiss of, sucking in a lungful of air and pressing her forehead against his. Their noses touched and Parker said a bit breathlessly, "This is probably a bad idea." Then she kissed him again, that need that had been pooling in her stomach surging out through her body; her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

"Momma? Daddy?"

The voice was enough to stop her cold, her rapidly beating heart seeming to skip a beat before plunging a bit, along with her stomach, toward her toes. She froze in place, slowly pulling away from Eliot and turning toward their youngest son. He stood at the door to the balcony, clutching a teddy bear tightly in the crook of one arm and staring up at them with a bleary, sleep-filled look.

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thatswhatido
2010-11-24 01:38 am UTC (link)

"Hey there, short stack." Eliot pulled away from Parker, and knelt down to Matthew's level. As much as he liked kissing Parker, and as much as it seemed like they might be headed to something more, Matthew was there and Matthew demanded their attention.

He smiled and put a hand out of the boy's shoulder. He hadn't been the world's greatest father, but he loved his boys, and he tried to do right by them. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Matthew nodded. "I had bad dream."

"Well, it's all better now, right?" Eliot stood up and reached down to pick Matthew up. "Good grief, son, what have you been eating? You must weigh as much as a horse." The statement got a laugh out of Matthew, and Eliot looked to Parker with a little smile.

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