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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"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."

"Xander's back? You're kidding! Any explanation for where he disappeared too, or why he dropped off the face of the planet?" Jack grinned, because a lot of people were going to be very happy about that. Or possibly want to kill Xander. "What else went wrong besides Z and Bridge? And I really have to start listening to the radio more often."

"Cally's better-- someone attacked her here on the Island, put her in the Clinic, but she's awake, amnesiac, and has her jaw wired shut now." Parker shook her head. "And Angela's not missing any more, though I have no idea what was up with that. And Xander-- I'm not really sure how that worked, but it's been about seven years for him. He's twenty-six now Jack." She was silent a second. "He lost an eye, somewhere. We didn't have time to get into how, or when. But... he's all grown up." Her voice might have sounded a little woebegone at that.

It took more than a few minutes to process all of that. Cally attacked, Angela missing and returned, and Xander apparently having fallen through a hole in time. Without his eye. "But he remembers you, right?" he asked, the arm around her shoulders tightening slightly in response to her tone.

"Yes. He knows me." Parker suddenly grimaced. "A little too well. I may have, uh. Left him a few messages, over the last four months." She leaned into him, one hand scrubbing her face. "When things got bad, and I just wanted to yell about things."

It startled a laugh out of him, but he caught it and cleared his throat. "So he got four months worth of Parker tirades at one time." His voice was brimming with barely contained mirth. "And he's still standing. The boy - err, man- is very resilient."

Parker whapped him on the arm, then snickered a little. "Hey. They weren't *all* tirades. Some of them were just... observations. Mention of Trolls. Stuff like that." She shook her head, then muttered, "But oh, I have some explaining to do. I gloated after that first break-in at the Centre. Gah." She sighed. "Blow up that bridge when I get to it."

"Uh huh, of course they weren't." Jack rolled his eyes, and nudged her with his elbow. "You gloated over the break in? Parker, you know better than that." He tsked her, then abruptly stopped. "Does Bridge know he's back? Cause they were way past casual when Xander left."

"Bridge said he wouldn't get it for years! I thought it was safe!" Parker protested, then shook her head, looking tired. "No. He was exhausted and knocked around, the last thing he needed to hear was 'by the way, the ex you still have feelings for is now seven years older, has that much more mileage on him, and may not be sticking around very long.' Time to deal with that tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's going to suck for both of them," Jack muttered.

"Probably," Parker agreed. "But... better a reunion like this, with both alive, than the alternative." She yawned a little. "I'm just glad Bridge and Z are both okay. And the Emperor of Everything doesn't feel like conquering Fandom." She sighed. "I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. And possibly all of this weekend."

"Very true. Any reunion's better than no reunion at all." And he wasn't thinking about May as he said it. "Sleeping sounds like the best thing you could do. I feel like I didn't do anything this week but go to class, so I'll be in search of fun this weekend," he smirked, "and I promise not to call you if I need bail."

"Oh, you can call. So I can laugh." Parker grinned, bumping her arm against his. "And pass the hat." She rested her chin in her hands, studying him. "Isabel said you guys talked about the Time Agency tests."

Jack didn't answer right away, distracted by wondering how much Isabel had told Parker. "We did," he finally answered, voice carefully neutral.

"She said you worked out whatever it was." Parker studied him. "They really did a number on you, didn't they?" She sighed. "I get why, after talking to Captain Jack. I just don't get why you're okay with it."

"We did, and it really wasn't that big of a deal." Jack didn't pull away, but he did shift slightly, muscles tensing almost imperceptibly, enough to put a bit of distance between them. "And what is there to not be okay with? It's done, it's over."

Parker thought over recent talks they had, and some of what Captain Jack had said to her, and tried to phrase it so Jack wouldn't immediately reject what she was saying. "They want you because of what we talked about before. How you can stay separate from what you do. Take sides without worrying about the legalities." She closed her eyes, putting it into words. "I'm worried they'll use that up. Use *you* up, and leave you hanging. Are you sure this is what you want? Something that alienates you from Isabel, makes you... tense." She patted his arm without looking at him. "Withdrawn?"

"You don't get it, do you, Parker?" he asked gently. "This me here, this isn't who I'll be when I leave, and it's my ability to stay separate that lets me have this. Because no matter how much I love it here, I know it's temporary." He deliberately relaxed, relaxed against her, made himself sound cheerful. Didn't tell her that the temporary nature was why he could enjoy it. "That's why they want me, that's what they wanted to make sure of, that all this hadn't changed me. It hasn't." He lifted his head to meet her eyes squarely, almost challengingly. "You know that."

Parker looked at him, and nodded, unable to deny it. And unable to avoid knowing that one side fed the other; that he was too deeply distrustful of any peace or normality to believe it would last for very long. He could want it, but not trust it. And so he kept that colder side in reserve at all times. "I'll quit asking," she whispered. "I do wonder how they used me against you though," she said lightly. "I can't figure out the angle they would have used."

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