InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I am profoundly annoying!"

bo hess has a dream (alreadyscared) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2011-02-10 03:16:00

Entry tags:

bo hess, parker, peter fleming

WHO: Bo Hess, Peter Fleming, and Parker
WHAT: Breakfast with the quite possibly the oddest family unit ever.
WHEN: Right after this.
WHERE: Their apartment.
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

Although Bo had dreamt about this very thing happening, she still was understandably upset when she woke to find herself in a bedroom that looked like her room but wasn't. After tiptoeing to the other bedroom, already knowing what she would find when she looked and sure enough being right, she promptly tried to leave the apartment. When the pain hit her however she returned quickly and then proceeded to hide in her closet, clinging to her PDA as though it were her only lifeline. Which, in a way, it was.

Fortunately, after speaking with Peter and meeting the man she was now staying with - who was also named Peter - Bo had calmed down enough to realize that she couldn't actually hide in the closet forever. There wasn't a bathroom, or food, and it wasn't very comfortable besides. So she decided to do what her daddy had told her months earlier and eat her cereal in the kitchen like she was supposed to. The fact that the Peter she was staying with had offered to bring it to the closet helped encourage her decision. After all, if a grown-up was willing to do that for a kid they didn't even know, Bo didn't think they could be that bad.

Of course, agreeing to eat in the kitchen and being somewhat at ease was a far cry from actually going into the kitchen with someone she still didn't know very well. However she forced herself first to leave the confines of her closet, then her bedroom, and bit by bit cautiously made her way to the kitchen. Pausing in the doorway, the little girl clutched her PDA to her chest and took a deep breath. She could be brave, she told herself. Peter - her Peter - wanted her to be brave so she could do it.

With that thought in mind, Bo finally entered the kitchen and silently made her way to the table.

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inafivepoundbag
2011-02-13 06:43 am UTC (link)

Parker shrugged at his question, clearly not all that concerned. "I only work three nights a week," she pointed out. "I can manage." She went longer than that without sleep during really long-running cons. How much tougher could it be to watch a kid? She could handle it. She was sure of it.

Setting her knapsack on the floor, Parker stood and made her way to the coffee pot. She poured herself a cup and hopped up on the counter, feet swaying idly as they dangled in mid air. "And if I have to, I'll take off work until this is over. It won't last very long," she stated with absolute certainty. "A couple of weeks. Maybe a month. Then things will go back to normal."

With a pause, Parker snorted. "As normal as they get around here anyway," she admitted with a grin, raising her coffee cup to her lips and taking a sip.

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themiddlegame
2011-02-13 07:13 am UTC (link)

She could take off work for a month without any serious repercussions? Peter was sure that he couldn't have heard that right. Sure, back home, he could have as well with very little overall effect to ARK or any of his other developing projects. But to do so here with so little resources at hand... Then again, she'd been here a great deal longer than he had. Maybe he was missing something that she wasn't so freely revealing. Maybe it really didn't matter that she missed a month's worth of paychecks. Maybe she didn't need them.

She did say she was a thief, after all, and the one thing that all thieves (good thieves) had in common was that they were capable of making large sums of money in very short spans of time.

"You could," Peter said, looking over at her, the curiosity rather clear on his features. "But I do think your cash flow would suffer rather greatly from it."

Now, to gauge the reaction.

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inafivepoundbag
2011-02-13 07:28 am UTC (link)

Parker knew her cash flow would suffer. It was why she had suggested they try taking turns, first. But she didn't like the idea of Bo with strangers. So if they couldn't manage to switch, if she had to take off work... well, that's just what she'd do. She wasn't hurting for cash, even if she always wanted more of it.

Meeting his gaze, she slid her hand into the pocket of the jacket she wore and pulled out a roll of bills. The total was somewhere near four thousand. She tossed it to Peter then raised her coffee cup to her lips. "That's what I made last night. A little slow but it'll pick up by Saturday," she said casually as she took a sip of coffee then smiled.

Bo's eyes were wide as she stared at the wad of bills. She forgot all about her cereal, the spoon dangling over the bowl from suddenly lifeless fingers as all of her attention went to the money. She was from a modest home, with a family who didn't have a lot but made do with what they had. Suddenly realizing she was staring, the girl blinked and dropped her attention to her food. Diligently, she went back to eating, gaze cutting to the money in between bites.

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themiddlegame
2011-02-13 08:24 am UTC (link)

Peter had held this much money before, often, and while he was vaguely impressed that she'd managed to find an outlet that allowed her to make this much cash in one night (and legally, he could only presume), he idly turned it in his hands before offering it back to Parker, "Decent take away, then. I would hate for you to lose a good 50,000 dollars," Peter said, figuring that if that was a small pay day, a month's worth of wages with her working three days a week would add up to almost that much. A year's salary for the average individual, and with the way that Bo had gawked at the money, more than a year for what she was used to.

"I'm sure we can manage without anyone having to make too great an adjustment to their routine."

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inafivepoundbag
2011-02-13 08:30 pm UTC (link)

Clearly, he was missing the point. Yes, Parker knew she'd lose a good chunk of change if she took off work for a month. But if there was one thing she would always put before money, it was kids. And if the city wanted her responsible for this kid for a month, she'd do what she had to do to make sure Bo was taken care of. Even if it meant giving up what most people wouldn't even make in a year.

"Closer to ten grand," she said casually as she took the bills and stuck them back into her pocket. "Once you add in bonuses. And me taking off work is just a worst case. Crowley would let me but he wouldn't like it." Honestly though, Parker doubted it'd come to that. If nothing else, she'd just take Bo to the clinic to visit with Peter Petrelli during the day while she grabbed a nap in one of the empty exam rooms. Provided the city didn't decide to make her suffer in agony for trying to be nice.

Stupid city.

"Can I have another glass of water?"

Bo's soft-spoken voice made Parker's gaze snap back to the girl. Peter - Petrelli, that is - had warned her the girl had some sort of water thing that was best not to question. However most of what Parker was told tended to be ignored until after she'd done exactly what they said not to do. So while she wasn't going to immediately tell the kid no, she definitely wasn't doing it without a good reason either.

"What's wrong with the one you've already got?" she asked. Already she was sliding off the counter and going in search of a glass, knowing she'd hand the water over regardless of the reason she was given. However she did stop, briefly, to stare at the girl in mild shock at that reason.

"It has dust in it. And the one before that is stale." The little girl grew quiet for a second before adding in a tone that was laced with a touch of amusement born from a lifetime of being used to people finding her reasons odd. "And the one by my bed was contaminated too. It has germs from the air that dropped in it."

Parker didn't comment. She just nodded, held out the new glass of water, then met Peter's gaze with a look that clearly asked if this was normal behavior for a small child or if their 'kid' was apparently as unique as they both seemed to be.

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