InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's raining men.."

20lbs_of_crazy (20lbs_of_crazy) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2010-08-10 20:53:00

Entry tags:

eliot spencer, open, parker

Anybody home?
Who: Parker and Open
What: Seeking shelter
When: today
Where: the apartment complex
Status: Open and Incomplete

Though Parker found Bela to be agreeable and like-minded, she distanced herself a bit from the brunette as she made her way into the apartment complex. She had expected a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie, quite honestly. Barricades here and there, maybe a kind of fence made of fire, a desperate and armed legion of average joes... This all seemed quite normal on the surface.

“Hello?” She raised her voice a little, peering all around. Parker usually found staying calm to be easy, even during the most stressing of jobs, but she soon found herself nervously nipping at the inside of her mouth. She decided that she would calm down as soon as she could speak to one of the people in charge and that she would feel much better once she was able to send an e-mail or something to the rest of the crew in Boston.

Parker stuffed a hand in her back pocket, thumbing through the many bills she had stuck there. She liked to count money when she was bored or standing idle. It was one of her quirks.

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-19 04:03 am UTC (link)

“Time tavel??” Suddenly Parker had a million more questions, but she decided not to ask them. She figured that Eliot probably didn’t have the answers or he wouldn’t have been there. For once in a very long time, worrying that she might bug her friend trumped her inquisitive nature.

“I almost strangled Tara and threw her off of a roof.” She confessed with a little smirk on her face that probably shouldn’t have been there due to the subject matter of the statement.

“Um,” She began, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. “I don’t mean to be clingy. I’m not clingy, you know. It’s just...” She cleared her throat.

“If I need help for... whatever reason...” She stared into space for a second, then looking back to Eliot. “What’s your room number? Just, y’know, for emergencies.”

Parker missed Sophie. Of all of her friends in the Leverage crew back home, Sophie was the most willing to listen to Parker unload emotionally.

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-19 04:38 pm UTC (link)

"That's one theory." Or more likely, the only theory. Somehow people were showing up ahead or behind others from the same place and in the case of those that appeared a few years ahead, the person there longer was somehow still there. He'd never given it much thought, with the little understanding he had of the concept in the first place, until Parker had shown up and told him he'd nearly been killed off. Eliot closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. The longer he was in this place, the less sense it made.

He opened his eyes and glanced at Parker in surprise. "So she betrayed us?" He'd had his doubts about the grifter, even with the recommendation from Sophie. She'd conned them first, introduced herself second. For someone like Eliot, who had a hard time trusting people in the first place, that didn't make him want to put much confidence in her. If Parker was almost throwing people off of roofs, she had to have done something to him.

At least, he hoped.

"You're not being clingy, Parker." Suddenly in a different world - dimension, whatever they were calling it - his first instinct would have been to stick with someone he knew, someone he trusted too. Only he'd shown up alone. Still, there were a few people in the complex that had earned his trust and respect. "I'm up in 206."

While he knew she was capable of taking care of herself, just because they were in another place completely didn't mean he was going to stop doing what he always did for them - make sure they stayed safe. Place like this, he felt like it was going to be a hell of a challenge.

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-22 02:46 am UTC (link)

“I thought she did.” Parker nodded, recalling the look of absolute fear in Tara’s eyes at that moment when Parker had her by the throat. She would have killed her, too, if it wasn’t for finding out that she was truly on the side of the crew. “She turned out to be okay.”

“Are we going to stop the world from ending?” She asked in a way that might have been considered naive. How on Earth was a small band of people going to stop something as big as the world ending? Granted, some of them had gifts, but it just didn’t seem likely. For as honest and up-front as Parker was, she just wanted to hear something that might comfort her a bit.

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-22 03:10 am UTC (link)

"Great." It was a better scenario than Tara having turned on them and gotten them into deeper shit than they already were. Nate did that well enough on his own, without the betrayal. Maybe she proved herself to them later on, but until he saw that for himself, he was going to remain skeptical.

Her question was met with silence. Eliot took a few steps back and leaned against the wall. "People here are going to try," he said after a moment. He wasn't going to sugarcoat it for her, not when he had his own doubts. "There's people that aren't exactly normal, which should help. People who should know what they're doing." Or should have known what they were doing.

"It's going to be a hell of a fight," he said finally, "but this is a pretty scrappy crew."

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-22 03:31 am UTC (link)

It was an honest enough response and Parker appreciated that. She nodded a little, looking uncharacteristically meek at the moment. Though she seemed still on the surface her mind was still buzzing.

“I need to get food.” She stated matter-of-factly, completely jumping from the topic of the impending apocalypse to snacks. “There’s probably a store around here somewhere.”

Parker just looked at Eliot, not really showing any emotion but inwardly feeling incredibly grateful to have an ally in the strange place she was in. She had an urge to hug him and kind of moved as if she was going to, but ultimately she held her ground and resisted the impulse.

“Thank you.”

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-22 03:47 am UTC (link)

For once, the sudden change of topic didn't bother him. There were constant reminders around the complex, it was always being brought up in conversation. He preferred the short, to the point, honest conversation.

"You're welcome," he replied quietly. Eliot pushed away from the wall, starting for the stairs again. As he walked, he turned to face Parker, moving backwards. "Find a room and give me a few minutes. I'll show you where the store is."

It would have been just as easy to give her directions, but it got him out of the complex for a while and he could find that amulet he'd been given to ward off possession. Hopefully Parker would have more luck with it than he had.

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-23 03:27 am UTC (link)

Parker nodded. She turned on heel and then made her way down the hall eyeing each door to the apartments like the whole thing was like a shell game, like she had to pick the right unlocked door on blind faith. Her eyes narrowed like they had a habit of doing when she was determined about something. She stopped at room 108 and jiggled the knob, smiling just slightly when she found it unlocked and vacant.

At first glance it looked safe enough. It was certainly more than she had in Boston, though it didn’t make her miss Boston any less. She stepped further into the apartment, quietly shutting the door behind her, and looked about for anything slightly suspicious. Ducking down, she took a look under the bed, looking for anything that might have stood out. She ran a hand under the tables for bugs or recording devices. Her being slightly paranoid had saved her on more than one occasion before she’d found herself in Kansas. She couldn’t think of any reason why she should abandon her cautious ways in this place.

She ducked into the bathroom and turned on the lights to get a good look at herself in the mirror. There was a little bit of dust on her shirt from crawling in the air duct, but that was easily fixed. Parker splashed a little bit of water on her face. This was her new home. This was where she’d live until she was either sent back or until the world ended. It was grim just thinking about it.

Parker grabbed her keys and shoved them into her pocket along with the cash she’d lifted right before arriving. She briefly considered tucking it somewhere in her new apartment, but she didn’t know what she would be buying on her outing and decided it would be best to be financially prepared. She locked her door behind her and made her way back to the staircase. Eliot was in room 206. She’d committed that to memory. Instead of just walking into the room like she might have done under normal circumstances, Parker knocked lightly on the door.

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-24 03:28 am UTC (link)

While Parker scouted out the rooms on the first floor, Eliot jogged up the stairs to the second floor. With no idea how long it was going to take her to pick something and get acquainted, he dropped his keys on the nearest surface, grabbed some clean clothes and headed back to the bathroom. After a quick shower, he got dressed and ran his fingers through his damp hair as he headed back to the bedroom area.

He pulled out the drawer in the bedside table, searching through the odds and ends he'd picked up in the time he'd been in Lawrence. Finally, he located the anti-possession amulet he'd been given the first time he'd shown up. Since he'd gotten the tattoo, he was passing it on to Parker. The last thing he wanted was for her to end up as one of the possessed.

Eliot had just pulled on his second boot when he heard the knock at the door. Tying the laces, he grabbed his keys and pulled open the door. "Find one?" he asked as he shut the door and locked it behind him. He held out the amulet on its cord to her. "Here. Wear that when you leave the complex. It'll keep the demons out."

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-24 04:12 am UTC (link)

“108,” Parker nodded, taking the amulet from Eliot. She dangled the thing in front of her, giving it a good once-over. With a tiny smile, she slipped it over her head so that it was showing over her shirt. She looked back up to Eliot, smile gone.

“What’ll you wear to keep demons out?” She looked a little worried. “And by ‘keep the demons out’ you mean that otherwise they could get in?” Her eyebrows raised a little. “Like The Exorcist?”

Parker frowned as she pictured herself with matted hair, throwing up pea soup at some elderly priest. It did not make for a very pleasant image.

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-24 04:40 am UTC (link)

"The demons here possess people. Slip in, push you to the back, and take over," he explained. "Like being stuck in a small room with no way out, only worse because you can see and hear everything going on and can't do a damn thing to stop it." No matter how hard he'd fought, the only thing that had put him back in control was exorcising the demon.

"The amulet is one way of keeping 'em out. There's a tattoo that works the same way. The last time I was in a fight, I lost it so I got the tattoo." If he was going to have to keep fighting, he wasn't taking that risk again.

He started for the stairwell. "There's a grocery store a few blocks over."

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-24 04:58 am UTC (link)

Somehow Eliot’s description of demonic possession sounded even more horrifying than the images Parker had stuck in her mind from watching late night movies. She was suddenly even more grateful for the amulet he had given her as a gift. Hopefully it would work marvelously and she would never have to know what it felt like to have some weird kind of hellspawn take over her body.

She followed Eliot close behind down the staircase, eventually catching up to the point where she could walk beside him.

“Do you still cook?” She looked at him curiously, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “Here, I mean? You were a pretty good cook back home.”

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-24 09:15 pm UTC (link)

After the serious turn the conversation had taken, Eliot appreciated the change in topic. "Of course I do. Gotta have something to do around here that isn't all doom and gloom." And he'd earned a small reputation around the complex for it.

"There's a couple of people around here that are pretty decent at it." Back on the ground floor, he headed for the door. Once he'd pushed open the door and stepped out, he held it open for Parker.

"That a subtle inquiry?"

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-25 04:59 am UTC (link)

Parker stepped out of the building, looking back at Eliot.

“I was just hoping you did. It’s nice having something be the same as things were in Boston. And I like your food.” She smiled a little. Parker liked being friends with Eliot for lots of reasons and his cooking was a kind of plus. Though she enjoyed a diet of Rocket O’s and fortune cookies, variety was a nice thing to have in one’s life.

“Do you have friends here?” It was easy to get back in the habit of asking questions. Parker was inquisitive by nature and, though she suspected that asking too much wasn’t something that gets a person well-liked, the inquiries just kept rolling off of her tongue.

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_thatswhatido
2010-08-26 03:17 am UTC (link)

He did miss those little meals where they all ate together. It had been a long time since Eliot had let someone, not to mention a group of people, close enough to enjoy something like that. While he did it for fun anyway, it was nice to know the effort was appreciated. "What are you feeling in the mood for tonight?" Since they were headed to the store, he might as well.

"A couple." He glanced over at her, grinning. "Made friends with an FBI agent." Who didn't know he was hanging out with a thief, but Eliot wasn't about to announce that. It didn't matter if his slate had been wiped clear here.

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20lbs_of_crazy
2010-08-26 03:46 am UTC (link)

“FBI?” A second or two passed. Parker, momentarily, looked a little bit confused. “I thought that FBI weren’t too cozy with the idea of people breaking the law.” She laughed a little bit, finding the friendship kind of funny. After she considered Nate’s relationship with Maggie, though, she decided that moral people mingling with thieves wasn’t totally insane.

All thoughts of befriending morally strong people were soon pushed out of her mind by thoughts of a good meal. Parker’s face lit up a bit as she mulled over what she’d be having for dinner.

“Something with noodles!” She burst out with crazy eyes and a finger pointing at Eliot. “Something good,” She nodded definitively.

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