Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

After work Isabel had returned to her room, made a few handwavey phone calls, then turned on Christmas carols and settled in for an evening of gift giving.

It was a nice distraction from thinking about anything else.

The Christmas tree lights were twinkling and the door was most definitely open.

[ooc: If you think you might have gotten a phone call to come get a present, you did, so stop on by.]

Comments

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Cool," Parker said in satisfaction. She started to frown at Isabel's question, and she said, "When was the last time I freaked out? Seriously. It's been ages. What's the news?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, ages." Probably since the last time Angelus was around. "Fandom Invasions brought a vampire in for the final. But not just any vampire."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"...oh, crap." Somehow, with that opening, she didn't think this was going to be a gossipy, wow-that-weird, gosh-vampires-suck talk. "Do I know this vampire?" She closed her eyes. "You can lie to me now, if you want."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"What would your ulcer prefer?" Isabel asked, figuring that was a pretty good non-answer.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"My ulcer is fine," Parker said, getting up to throw her cup of coffee in the trash. She didn't need caffiene for this conversation now, did she? Nicotine would've been nice, though. "And if that means it was either Drusilla or Angelus, rip off the band-aid and let me scream now, Isabel."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She shouldn't have said anything. "Angelus."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Ahhhhh." And it's a tribute to how long it's been, and the other stuff she's done since then, that she doesn't throw a tantrum in the middle of the Park. Just sits down with her fingers pressed to her head, hard. It does take several minutes for her to ask, "How bad?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No one's dead." First and most important things first. "A couple people have been bit, but they're up and about already. Willow's in the clinic, and there've been a whole lot of head games."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Which elicits a quick breath of relief. With no one dead, there wouldn't be pitchforks and vigilante raids. Willow being in the clinic was bad, for a lot of reasons, but it could be so much worse. "Okay. What's being done to find him?"

And she's already calculating the cost of a Portal-O-City ticket, and how the hell she could explain this to her father. Or maybe not explain it. Or....

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Mel took him down last night," Isabel told her. "He's in the jail right. I'm not sure what they're planning but since he's not dust, I'd say they're going to try and put the soul back in."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Whew." Most of the blood pounding in her ears receded at that, and Parker took another breath, unburdened by panic and the need to control it. "Okay. Okay. This is good. This is what should happen. God, I want a cigarette." She pushed her hair out of her eyes and asked, "How are you doing? How are people handling this?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine," she said, very glad Parker wasn't there to see her face as she lied. "Upset of course. He's got Bel all wound up and he said some stuff to Wyatt in class. But they'll get the soul back in him and we'll have our friend back."

"Just...extra broody."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"And won't that be fun," Parker muttered, then shook her head. "Wait, class? You said that before. What exactly happened?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Sighing, Isabel stretched out on her bed. "I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that he was part of the Mr. Winchester's class's final. And I guess something went wrong."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Oy." There are a lot of curses she could be throwing now, but whoever's responsible has to know it, and since the worst of the damage is contained, she'll save them for later, when she's not talking to Isabel. "Right. I am going to try to get there, but -- damnit, I don't know if I can pull this off. It's Christmas, and my dad is actually around on this trip. He's making me practice my Chinese at the cocktail parties, and I can't disappear without him noticing." She sighed. "But I want to be there. Damnit, damnit, damnit."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's under control," she promised. "Don't put yourself through that stress. I'll call you if anything changes."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"It's not the stress, it's trying to get away with crap that would have undefined consequences." Parker sighed though, and looked around the Park, finding it easier to believe in vampires than its should have been, half a world away from Virginia. "Right. Have you seen him since this mess started? You said he messed with Bel's head. Not that that's new or difficult."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No, I've been busy with finals and stuff. I only finished yesterday." Yes, she was lying. But she didn't need Parker going off the deep end and getting in trouble for coming back just to yell at her.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Good. If you're smart, you'll keep it that way." Far too many confrontations in the Library before the souling came to mind, and the long, rocky time until she and Angel became friends. "You'll let me know as soon as he's got that thing reattached, right?" She took a breath. "Anything else going on? And I'll understand if you've forgotten that you got carjacked or dumped lately, this tends to overshadow that kind of thing."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I will. I promise." Isabel thought back over the rest of the week. Which had been pretty much dominated by Angelus.

"I talked to the boy wonder. They're still alive and not residing in jail anywhere."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Heh." That got a tiny twitch of a smile out of Parker. "Unlike Zero. She got busted for stalking Tom Cruise last week. I sent her bail money."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You're a good friend," she said. "I'm surprised you weren't there with her."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Someone had to record the arrest broadcasts on MTV and VH-1. And E! The guys from Spooky Things came out in support of her and basically called Tom Cruise a whiner, it was great." Parker managed a larger smile, but still felt a headache coiling at the base of her skull. "And you and Shiny Boy are still fine? Is he going to visit you for Christmas, or vice versa?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Send me a copy. I'd love to see it."

Isabel smiled the way she always smiled when Wyatt was mentioned. Parker could probably hear it through the phone. "He's wonderful. We're good. I'm happy. He's going to spend Christmas with his family. But he'll be out to spend some time with me in Roswell. I hope he's ready for it."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"That should be entertaining," Parker said, desert-dry. "The Emo King and Hair Boy can compare destinies if they can't find anything else to talk about." She sighed, then picked up her packages and started walking out of the park. "Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do from the other side of the freaking planet?"