fandomhighdorms | Roof: Friday evening

And imagine that, Anders was already up here with a cigarette.

Which he quickly tossed over the edge of the roof as soon as he caught sight of Parker, but still.

"Hey," he said, clearing his throat.

"Hey." Parker's eyes narrowed, not sure if she'd seen what she'd thought she'd seen. "How goes it, Daisy?" She took a bite of her cranberry taquito and watched him carefully.

Anders knew she'd smell the smoke on him if he got too close, so he kept a careful distance. Yeah, because that would be subtle.

"It goes," he said with a shrug. "Got my part in the pageant over with fast enough, thank the Lords, and got the hell out of there. Been out riding pretty much all day since, and then I got up here."

Parker finished the taquito, and wandered closer, eyes fixed on Anders. "I liked the jazz hands. I got photos of you and Walter and Dawn." Her eyes narrowed, and she picked up an empanada, holding it threateningly. "Daaaaaisy. What have you done?"

Anders laughed. "I like to think I have practice at jazz hands now, but the troll had me beat."

He blinked and feigned innocence, eyeing the empanada. "Why do you assume I've" -- gulp -- "done something?"

"Because you look very guilty, you're gulping, and ohmigod you've been smoking again!" Parker whapped him in the chest with the empanada. "Idiota!"

"And that's not enough reason to look guilty around you?" protested Anders, looking mournfully at the crumbs of empanada on his shirt. "You hit me with food! I knew you would, too!"

"See, I knew you were smart." Parker gave him a slitty-eyed look and growled, "You *want* cancer? Come on! You said you were quitting!"

"Yeah, but I never said when," Anders countered, electing not to mention how much he'd smoked the other night. After. Um.

Wow, he hoped he wasn't obviously turning red here. "Frak, Parker, what's got you all wound up tonight?"

"I can't smoke and I really want to and I'm taking it out on you!" Parker sat down on the balustrade again, moodily dipping the sushi in some sauce. "And you're my friend so I like to yell at you! And damnit, I'm just-- high strung, that's all!"

Right.

"Glad to be of service," Anders told her, leaning against the balustrade beside her and eyeing the sushi with some trepidation.

"High strung, my ass. What's up?"

Parker sighed, took a small bite, chewed, then rolled her eyes. "Nothing. Nothing new, I mean." She glowered at him. "That's the problem. Literally and figuratively and grrrrrr."

"So not a no-news-is-good-news situation?" Anders's fingers were twitching toward his pack of cigarettes, but he wrenched his hand away and started drumming fitfully on the balustrade instead, his gaze occasionally darting toward the door to the stairwell.

Parker nodded, looked up, and caught the glance at the door, but didn't comment on it. Yet. "Did I tell you I was dating Seely?"

"You might have mentioned it." Anders was relieved by the subject change, and happily went along with it. "So that should be good, right?"

"It should have been. Notice the use of past tense." She grimaced, and kicked her legs against the balustrade. "We broke up. My idea. Too many issues." She glanced at the door, then back to Anders speculatively.

Anders frowned. "I was hoping it'd work out for you. You deserved a little happiness, you know?"

"Thanks." Parker made a face. "I just-- kissing was fine, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else, and he deserved to know that, right? Wouldn't you want to know if the person you were dating didn't feel any chemistry?" She frowned at him. "Wait. I forgot who I was talking to. Mr. I-have-chemistry-with-plants."

"Not all plants," Anders told her, shaking his head. "Those orchids you were growing make me kinda uneasy. 'sides, it's not like I have chemistry with everybody. If I did, I would've . . ."

He broke off there. "Yeah."

"Would've?" Parker leaned forward, looking interested. "Telllll, Daisy. I need my vicarious thrills."

"No vicarious thrills to give you," Anders said quickly, his gaze darting toward the door again. "I've been miserably going without for way too long now."

"Expecting someone who might change that?" Parker asked, pointing over her shoulder without looking. "And God, do I know what you mean. And again I say: grrrrrr. Christ." She bit into a sashimi with a shark-like bite and chewed sullenly.

Anders snorted. "Yeah, I wish," he muttered, glancing at the door again. He was in no way thinking of the aftermath of a couple of nights ago when he continued, "You just . . . you get tired of your hand after a while. Lords."

Parker boggled for half a second, then grinned. "Hell yes. Or other options that aren't another person. Do you know how long its been for me? Do you?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Anders told her. He wasn't sure of the exact number of days or weeks, but he had a general sense of the time. "What're the odds it's been longer for me?"

"Bet me," Parker demanded. "Ex and me fighting, break-up, Ex gone and me depressed, Ex back and me furious, Seely dating, and having learned from mistakes, nada happened. You *can't* top that, I'm thinking." She growled. "I'm about ready to call a cop for a booty call, that's how long it's been."

Anders grinned tightly. "I've woken up in the same bed as Bel twice in the past month. There's been showering, getting sweaty in the gym, everything but doing the deed. Talk about an exercise in frustration? And you wonder why I've been smoking so much."

"Twice?!" Parker facepalmed. "Aw, Daisy. When did this happen other than Vegas? And you see why I would love it if you were away from him? He's not any good for your sexual health! We should both be getting laid a lot more!"

"Hell, Parker, if I didn't think you'd kill me for it, I'd offer," Anders blurted out. "And it was . . . over the weekend. He got knocked out by a troll, my room was closer than the clinic . . ."

"Gimme another couple weeks, and I could be taking you up on that," Parker warned him, the dimples coming out. "Seriously. I've gone through dry spells before, but this is the longest I've gone without sex since I've started having it!" She reached out and bumped an arm against him. "And those circumstances-- yeah. Understandable. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, throw in the part where I'd been dreaming about getting married to Thrace right before I woke up, and it was seriously surreal." Anders ran his fingers through his hair and whistled. "Trust me, it's worse when you come . . . really, really close to having it and just don't."

"Bizarre." Parker's again grateful but furious at Jarod for staying so far away. "And I'll take your word on that. But for now, who the hell am I supposed to be tripping? Hunh?" She grimaced. "Proof that the power of my personality can overcome most guys' hormones: they're not exactly lining up, Anders." She looked back at him, and said, "Is there anything I can do? Aside from the thing we're not gonna do?"

"Because it would be a really bad idea," Anders assured her. There was always the possibility of yelling out someone else's name, which was not only unclassy, but would probably get him and certain other people killed posthaste, for one. And there he went again, thinking about what exactly had happened, and . . .

Wow. Time for a subject change. "Not that I can think of. But if you want me to whack a couple of guys over the head for you, I've got pretty good aim with a yo-yo these days."

Parker laughed, mostly ruefully, a little wistfully. "Oh yes. Totally bad idea. I just wish I had a good idea alternative ready." She sighed, and picked up the sushi, then put it down again. "Amusing as that would be, no. But can I keep it as a back-up plan? Especially if I run out of batteries."

"There to back you up any time, Parker." Anders nudged her lightly and smiled. "Hell -- if you don't want 'em, I'll take 'em. I might really be about that desperate."

She laughed again, not quite so brittle this time, and then groaned. "God. We are hot people. We shouldn't be mourning our sex lives like this." Parker abandoned her food, finally giving up on it, and said, "If I bring down a guy for you, and you get one for me, that'll be a good trade, right?"

"Seriously." Anders shook his head mournfully, if exaggeratedly. "This is sad. Sounds like a deal, Parker," he told her, and if it sounded like he was hesitating over the words at all it was just because he was laughing, really.

"Right, shake on it," Parker held out her hand, grinning.

Anders took her hand and shook it firmly. "A deal it is. You and I had better get lucky soon, Parker, and I don't mean with each other. Otherwise it's going to get ugly on this island."

Roof: Friday evening

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