Saturday morning,outside Dolphin Quad
The ringing phone woke Parker up.
"...what?"
"I'm outside. With crumpets and muffins and jam," said the voice in her ear. "Bring coffee."
And then he hung up, the brat.
Ten minutes later, she was shivering outside and handing over a coffee to him, saying, "I might have spit in it, you know."
Jarod grinned at her and held out a chocolate-chip muffin. "I might have licked this."
Parker considered, then shrugged. "Enh."
She wasn't awake enough to make much conversation until after she'd already drunk most of the cup, perched on top of Jarod's Ferrari as he plowed through three crumpets, two muffins, and a bagel. She wondered again where the hell he put it all. "So. Where to next?"
Jarod took a moment before he looked over at her, very deliberately, the forerunner to an evasion or a lie. "I'm not quite sure." He squinted toward the rising sun. "West, this time, I think."
Parker nodded, accepting this and hating it. But when had objecting, or pushing, ever made a difference? "Keep in better touch this time. Seriously. With me, with Isabel, with..." Jaye. "Anyone else."
"No guarantees." Even saying he'd try might be a lie, if his life became too busy, or threatened. "You'll hear from me eventually."
Parker looked away, rolling her eyes, and Jarod restrained the urge to make excuses, or try to make her feel better. She knew enough to understand what he was doing, and why; any pretense that it was simple was just wishful thinking on her part.
To make up for what he couldn't say, he fished her present out of one of the white grocery bags. "Here. Merry early Christmas."
Parker's eyes lit up as they always did-- painfully so, he sometimes thought-- whenever anyone gave her something unexpected. "Oooo. I've got yours here too," she admitted, surprising him. He didn't think she'd had time to get him anything, but trust Parker to be prepared. The package she handed him was almost certainly a book, but still.
"On three?" Parker offered, holding hers up. "One, two--"
They both tore into their gifts, and Jarod was momentarily stumped, looking at A Calvin & Hobbes Treasury. "I've never heard of this." He flipped open a few pages. "A cartoon...?" He read a few panels, and started to grin. Then grin wider. Then laughed out loud at the Transmogrifier and the little boy with a tiger for a friend. "That's very funny!"
"Something about him reminded me of you," Parker said, and he looked up to see her quirking a smile at him. She was holding the carved box from India, and stroking the lid. "It's lovely." Flipping up the lid, she blinked. "Oooooo."
"I kept finding earrings I thought you'd like," Jarod said, watching the delight and avaricious glee on her face. Things made her so happy, sometimes. Possessing them. Maybe because it made losing people easier on her? Given the way her father gave her things when he left, it could have been a Pavlovian response. He almost hated to play into it, but he really had been thinking of her while he'd traveled, and found a few things that had shouted Parker when he came across them.
"They're goooorgeous," Parker purred, putting a pair he'd found in Tokyo in her ears, blue pendants swinging like when she was a little kid, showing off her mother's earrings to him. "Thank you!"
"And thank you." Jarod leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, straightening before she had time to respond. Better that way. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and took the coffee off the car, crumbling up the grocery bag in his other hand while she blinked at him, momentarily non-plussed. "For showing me around London, and Oxford. And spending so much of your Finals week with me."
"I... sure." She slid off the hood of his car, grabbing her coffee, and hugging the box full of mementos to her chest, expression caught between worry and attempted nonchalance. "Be careful."
"Always." He clutched the keys tighter in his fingers, and added, "You too. I don't want to get any calls about you in jail or the hospital either."
That had Parker smiling, and shrugging one shoulder. "I'll try." More mischief. "Just like you will." She backed up, and blew him a kiss, composure back in place. "Merry early Christmas, Jarod."
"Happy New Year, Parker."
It wasn't until he was reading the book on the plane that he found the dedication on the flyleaf:
To Calvin
Better invite me next time you build a spaceship out of a cardboard box, or I'm kidnapping the tiger.
Love,
Susie
After a few more pages, he started chuckling, and couldn't stop, no matter how much his seat-mate stared at him.
"...what?"
"I'm outside. With crumpets and muffins and jam," said the voice in her ear. "Bring coffee."
And then he hung up, the brat.
Ten minutes later, she was shivering outside and handing over a coffee to him, saying, "I might have spit in it, you know."
Jarod grinned at her and held out a chocolate-chip muffin. "I might have licked this."
Parker considered, then shrugged. "Enh."
She wasn't awake enough to make much conversation until after she'd already drunk most of the cup, perched on top of Jarod's Ferrari as he plowed through three crumpets, two muffins, and a bagel. She wondered again where the hell he put it all. "So. Where to next?"
Jarod took a moment before he looked over at her, very deliberately, the forerunner to an evasion or a lie. "I'm not quite sure." He squinted toward the rising sun. "West, this time, I think."
Parker nodded, accepting this and hating it. But when had objecting, or pushing, ever made a difference? "Keep in better touch this time. Seriously. With me, with Isabel, with..." Jaye. "Anyone else."
"No guarantees." Even saying he'd try might be a lie, if his life became too busy, or threatened. "You'll hear from me eventually."
Parker looked away, rolling her eyes, and Jarod restrained the urge to make excuses, or try to make her feel better. She knew enough to understand what he was doing, and why; any pretense that it was simple was just wishful thinking on her part.
To make up for what he couldn't say, he fished her present out of one of the white grocery bags. "Here. Merry early Christmas."
Parker's eyes lit up as they always did-- painfully so, he sometimes thought-- whenever anyone gave her something unexpected. "Oooo. I've got yours here too," she admitted, surprising him. He didn't think she'd had time to get him anything, but trust Parker to be prepared. The package she handed him was almost certainly a book, but still.
"On three?" Parker offered, holding hers up. "One, two--"
They both tore into their gifts, and Jarod was momentarily stumped, looking at A Calvin & Hobbes Treasury. "I've never heard of this." He flipped open a few pages. "A cartoon...?" He read a few panels, and started to grin. Then grin wider. Then laughed out loud at the Transmogrifier and the little boy with a tiger for a friend. "That's very funny!"
"Something about him reminded me of you," Parker said, and he looked up to see her quirking a smile at him. She was holding the carved box from India, and stroking the lid. "It's lovely." Flipping up the lid, she blinked. "Oooooo."
"I kept finding earrings I thought you'd like," Jarod said, watching the delight and avaricious glee on her face. Things made her so happy, sometimes. Possessing them. Maybe because it made losing people easier on her? Given the way her father gave her things when he left, it could have been a Pavlovian response. He almost hated to play into it, but he really had been thinking of her while he'd traveled, and found a few things that had shouted Parker when he came across them.
"They're goooorgeous," Parker purred, putting a pair he'd found in Tokyo in her ears, blue pendants swinging like when she was a little kid, showing off her mother's earrings to him. "Thank you!"
"And thank you." Jarod leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, straightening before she had time to respond. Better that way. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and took the coffee off the car, crumbling up the grocery bag in his other hand while she blinked at him, momentarily non-plussed. "For showing me around London, and Oxford. And spending so much of your Finals week with me."
"I... sure." She slid off the hood of his car, grabbing her coffee, and hugging the box full of mementos to her chest, expression caught between worry and attempted nonchalance. "Be careful."
"Always." He clutched the keys tighter in his fingers, and added, "You too. I don't want to get any calls about you in jail or the hospital either."
That had Parker smiling, and shrugging one shoulder. "I'll try." More mischief. "Just like you will." She backed up, and blew him a kiss, composure back in place. "Merry early Christmas, Jarod."
"Happy New Year, Parker."
It wasn't until he was reading the book on the plane that he found the dedication on the flyleaf:
To Calvin
Better invite me next time you build a spaceship out of a cardboard box, or I'm kidnapping the tiger.
Love,
Susie
After a few more pages, he started chuckling, and couldn't stop, no matter how much his seat-mate stared at him.