fandomhighdorms | Somewhere outside the dorms: Wee hours of Friday morning

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Somewhere outside the dorms: Wee hours of Friday morning

Jack had crashed out early Thursday night, with the predictable result that he woke up in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Since staying in the dorms held absolutely no appeal, he got up, got dressed, (deciding a shirt was unfortunately necessary given the weather), threw on his swoopy coat, and headed out into the night.

A sudden break in the clouds left him staring up into the sky, and he lay down on top of a picnic table, hands folded behind his head, and tried to figure out which star was Parker's.

[ooc: open! But thread with Jack and Parker locked to them, please.]

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Parker had crashed out for a while after the big rescue, but woke up from a nightmare. Happy it was just a nightmare, but unable to go back to sleep. She wandered up to the roof; then spotted someone on the lawn from there, and went down the stairs to see who it was.

She grinned, and wandered over to the picnic table. She leaned into his field of vision. "Boo."

Jack

might

just have slipped into a light doze, which would explain why he jerked his head up, eyes wide, narrowly avoiding whacking Parker in the head. "Okay, don't do that!"

Parker ducked back out of the way, chuckling, then came around to climb onto the picnic table next to him. "Shove over, a little. What are you doing out here at this godawful hour?" She shivered, wrapping her coat around her neck closer as she carefully perched on the table.

Jack obligingly moved over, sitting up so he could see her better, and shrugged. "Slept early, woke up early, since I didn't have company," he grinned, "staying in my room was pointless, so I went wandering. And I could ask you the same question."

"Rescue stuff. Too much adrenaline. Gave me nightmares," she said, hugging herself against the chill. "Went wandering, saw you from the roof." Parker gave him an amused smile, then tilted her head back to look at the stars. "Pick out a solar system, tell me a story about when you were there."

Jack blinked in surprise. "Rescue stuff? Nightmares? Oh you are telling me about that before you get a story." He held out one arm and smiled as he added, "And if you're cold, get over here. I have all this body heat going to waste, you may as well use it."

Parker got closer, and let him put his arm around her, relaxing into the shared warmth. "Bridge and Z went missing yesterday; Anders organized a search-and-rescue party that went out tonight. I got tagged for lock-picking and shooting skills." She shivered again as she started to warm up. "They're fine now. Not hurt. I didn't get to pick any locks, but hey. Got to shoot at horned aliens. And threaten little girls." She cocked her head. "I've had worse nights."

"Actually sounds like a fun night, given that they're not hurt," he said, puzzling over the odd thing in Parker's story, and it wasn't the horned alien. "Where did the little girl fit in?"

"She was evil. Way more evil than me." Parker nodded, completely serious, though there might have been a glint of mischief around the eyes. "She kicked Z and tied up both her and Bridge. And gagged them. I stole her doll. She left the planet. We're calling it a tie."

Jack started to snicker and it turned into a full throated laugh. "You stole her doll?" he finally managed to ask. "That's truly evil, Parker. Nice job."

"Thanks. I try." She polished her nails on her coat, looking pleased. "So, anyway. We got them back, a few people got hurt, but not seriously, and all's well that ends in wormholes and large horned aliens stealing one of my guns." She frowned. "Anders said he'd get me a new one, though." She put her elbows on her knees, avoiding the question of the nightmare. "What did you get up to, aside from not being with one of your Thingies tonight?"

"Uh uh, Parker. Rescue stuff and nightmares. That was the deal." Jack glanced over at her, grinned, then poked her in the side. "No reneging, or no stories, tales, or news of any kind."

Parker rolled her eyes. "Nothing all that interesting. Old nightmare." She sighed, but didn't look away. "I had a friend who died when I was-- twelve? Thirteen?" She frowned. "Younger. From cancer. Sometimes I remember it. Or dream that I wasn't there, at the end, and she was alone..." She folded her hands together. "Like I said. It's been a while."

"Okay," he said, kind of regretting he'd insisted on hearing it, and decided to change the subject. "But it's old news, and nowhere near as interesting as teaching the High Princess Irulan to shoot."

Parker stuck out her tongue at him, then grinned. "Irulan? Her Royal Highness Princess Irulan Corinno of the House Corinno? Oooooo." Parker fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Did you show her where to put her hands, Jack?"

"That'd be her." And he grinned a grin of pure smugness. "Hands, arms, and the rest of her. You have to love someone who responds to instructions with 'I hear and obey'."

"Oh, God." Parker was laughing already, and leaning her head forward on her knees. "Does she have any idea...? No, of course not." She grinned at him, and said, "I got to hear about your many virtues when I met her. And dear sweet God, I am burning those hats the first chance I get."

Jack grinned and gave Parker a light shove. "My virtues are many and varied. It's about time someone recognised them. And based on the blushing, I'd say some part of her has some idea. But she's so earnest, it's adorable. Like a puppy with really odd taste in head gear."

"Or one with an ear infection who has to wear a lampshade to keep from hurting herself," Parker said dryly. She snickered a little more. "And yes, earnest and solemn and serious. Another thing to burn, when we get the chance." She grinned and shook her head. "So, how did she do at the actual shooting?"

"She did okay, better than okay - after a few tries she was hitting the target consistently. I had to take a much more hands-on approach to teaching her than you did for me, but," he smiled and looked away, "weird thing was? I was proud of her. It was all so new, especially having someone that physically close to her, and she just kept on going until she got it right."

Parker grinned, then teased, "So, something else you like to teach. And apparently are good at teaching. And one more way in which Irulan resembles Flitzy the Conehead, if she's okay with being taught through touch." She tilted her head, smile gentling. "I'm glad you can pass it along now, though. You didn't need much instruction, you were a natural."

The comparison of Irulan to Flitzy set off another round of laughter. "Parker, that's just disturbing, and I don't know which one of them would be more offended." He shook his head, still amused, then said slyly," Most things I teach I'm a natural at, and teaching through touch is the only way to go."

Parker snickered a little, drawing her knees up under her chin. "And a nice way to teach it is." She grinned, thinking of Weiss and lockpicking. "Much more fun than books or lectures."

"Especially when the hats get left at home." He smirked and leaned on Parker, just a little bit. "But she did good, I think she's got a lot of potential."

"Yay. She struck me as bright. A little rigid, a little inflexible, but... if this place doesn't get her over that, nothing will." She smirked a little, leaning back into him, and looked upward. "Kaitain, where the hats are huge and the people dignified beyond reason. Tell me a better planet, Jack." She elbowed him suddenly. "And hey. Xander's back. Happy thing in the middle of a worsening week."

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