It started out like any other day in January. Cold, fluffy snow decorated the ground in piles while children ran about the street and parents made them hot chocolate. There could be no denying it: winter had summoned Portland's first snow day of the season.
Parker had glued her face to the window of the brewpub, where a sign dangled: "Half-off Chef's Special Chili!". It had taken Hardison hours of pleading for Eliot to lock himself in the kitchen all day, but Parker thought, only to herself, that he liked it.
Eliot was never quite as happy as when he was able to cook meals for his partners. "'Till my dying day", he had said. Parker wondered sometimes if he took that oath more seriously than he met on. She would catch him staving away on a new battle technique, or pounding his fists into the training mat until they bled, and she wondered how he did it.
How could one man put so much weight on his actions? Didn't he know that she and Alex were his pretzels? She thought about that now, as the sun began to set below the horizon. Eliot had been in there all day, and it was time to start cleaning up.
Hardison appeared in the dining room, nodding in telepathic understanding. Of course Parker knew that Hardison wasn't really a telepath, just like how Tara couldn't actually talk to ghosts and Nate couldn't actually mind-control anyone. They were just the easiest ways to explain what she saw or felt.
Right then, Hardison muttered something she couldn't quite make out.
"I said, that man needs a break! I appreciate his cooking, don't get me wrong, but we close in 20 minutes and he's still in there, toiling away! At this rate, he's going to become his chili!"
Parker thought long and hard on that. Hardison went down geek spirals all the time, and Sophie had explained to her the concept of hyperfixations. What was a hyperfixation if not a geek spiral over something less geeky? Eliot was a geek in the kitchen -- he would fixate until he found just the right flavor, just like how Alec would play his game until he passed his level in just the right way. By that logic, Parker thought, if Eliot is still in the kitchen, he must be geek spiraling.
Parker let out a determined, "hmph", got up off the floor, and dutifully marched her way into the kitchen. There Eliot was, sweat darkening both his grey tank top and the red bandana that held his long, slick hair away from his face and, more importantly, his food. Eliot's muscles rippled as he lifted a ladle and turned toward Parker. He silently held the chili out.
She was the only one allowed to taste-test his food. He liked to try and stump her with flavors, but she would just rotate her knowledge around in her head until she found an answer, just like she did with a new lock. Normally, this was one of her favorite times, but tonight, Parker had a mission.
Just like Eliot always did for Hardison, she stepped into the older man's space and firmly cupped her hands around his face. After swallowing the chili (because how could she not?! Besides, it was a perfect distraction) she lightly bonked her forehead against his.
"Geek spiral, E. Turn off the heat and let's go." Parker didn't stop to notice whether or not Eliot had followed, because she knew he always would. She trusted her hitter, just as he trusted her as his mastermind (that part still took some getting used to, but Nate called every now and then to help) and they both trusted Hardison as their hacker.
Parker effectively marched back into the dining room, where Hardison was staring at the little green robot zooming around underfoot.
"Hardy," she heard the tall man mutter. "stupid name. the name is Parker 2.0. y'know, cuz I modled it 'fter you, but nooooooo. Has to be Hardy. stupid Hardy". He said the name with suuch blatant disdain that Parker had to stifle a laugh. If Alec never understood that she named the robot after him, that was ok; they didn't have many secrets between them anymore, but this was one she wasn't keen on giving up.
A horde of stampeeding elephants grumbled down the hallway and folded away into a very confused and slightly flustered Eliot. Hardison's eyes lit up like the hope diamond on top of the christmas tree and he turned toward Parker with his mouth agape.
"H-How did you do that, baby? I thought for sure we were gonna have to sleep next to the stove tonight!"
"It was easy. He was geek spiraling, so I just stopped the spiral the way he stops your spirals." Parker shrugged and put on her jacket.
"What're you doing, Parker?" Eliot's gruff voice sent an imperceptable shiver down her spine, but she kept at her task. She had joy and whimsy to bestow upon her boys.
"Getting ready. Hardison said earlier that we could steal an ice rink!"
"No, Parker. We're just going to skate. No stealing tonight."
"What about after? Can we steal something after?"
Hardison sighed. "Ok, fine, we can steal something after we skate! Now let's go. E! Put your coat on!"
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