Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

Isabel hit the common room kitchen after Hunting to make a quick batch of brownies, then made a quick trip down the hall to wave them in front of someone's door, and then returned to her room to write an email to Maria.



Hey Maria!

Another semester's begun. It's hard to believe it's been a year already. Officially the semester started on Monday. But the only thing I did was to stop by Greg's to see if he'd recovered from his hangover. He had and I got to meet his new roommate. And his new pet mold spore. Greg's, not the new roomie's. If he wakes up one morning and the thing is trying to eat him? I'm so saying I told you so.

Yesterday I had library detail. I got shanghaied by a teacher and got to torment my Little Brother. It was entertaining. My only class was Revolutions, which was fun because my friends were in it, and actually interesting. Of course it makes me wonder if we're doing the right thing with this whole save the planet deal but don't tell Max I said that.

Today was interesting. You know how I said I got shanghied by the teacher? She wanted me to play dead body for her Forensics class. It was actually interesting but I felt bad because seeing me like that sort of freaked Greg and Parker out. After that, it was Hunting and the now usual Gee, I'm an alien speech.

In non-class news, I had lunch with Neil today. He's the guy I told you about? The one Greg threatened to feed to the gremlins. He's from the 1950s, so he's very sweet and polite. We're going to be friends, all innocent like, because I think to even consider anything else would probably make him die of embarassment.

Jack's doing better. I took a chance and forced him to talk last night. Sometimes he can be as stubborn as your Space-boy. But it all worked out. So all in all? Life is good.

Talk to you soon!

Isabel



She hit send, then opened up her browser and started browsing some of the Mr. What message boards looking for spoilers on the new season.

Comments

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Had to. She deserves them." Annie squirmed, and batted at Parker's earring with soft paws. "Hmm, ya think? Well, Weiss does owe me one..." Parker's smile grew more wicked. "And yeah. I kissed Xander twice, when he was having panic attacks. He claimed it made him remember how his previous high school play and how to play the fluglehorn." She tilted her head, then let Annie escape onto the coverlet of the bed. "We had a pact, at one point."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Amused, Isabel leaned back against her pillow. "Why do I think watching you stalk Weiss is going to be highly amusing?" She laughed softly, remembering Xander flailing about after the singing incident. "I can picture that. What was the pact about?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Stalk? That makes it sound like he's afraid of me." There might have been a little doubt in Parker's voice. "It wasn't formal at all. Just a joke Xander and I shared, that we might have followed up on. We didn't know each other well enough for anything to happen around Valentine's Day when we were both single and not happy about it, so I said we should hook up over Easter, with more chocolate." She reached out to scratch behind Annie's ears. "By Easter, I was with Jarod. And he'd kissed Bridge. But I'll always kind of... wonder."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Maybe negoitiate would be a better word?" she pondered. "Either way, I wish you luck." Isabel was not at all thinking about test drives. Really. "Yeah, I could see where you'd wonder. You guys always did get along well. Maybe you could have made something work."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Negotiate." Parker thought about that, her smile turning mysterious. "I like that." She wandered around again, and finally went back over to the bed, sitting down. "Maybe? It would have been nice to find out. But...." She paused. "I can't be sorry how it worked out, after all. I was already crushing on Jarod, last Valentine's Day."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Just last Valentine's? Honestly? Sometimes I think you've had some sort of crush on him for a lot longer," Isabel said. "Who knows. Maybe someday you and Xander will meet up in Paris or something. Stranger things have happened."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker frowned, remembering the crush she'd had on him at thirteen, then said, "Something. I don't know. Jarod and I-- there are no good definitions. No one-word ones, anyway." She smiled then, breaking off another piece of brownie. "I like that idea. Paris. Or Prague. Bokhara. I'll turn a corner, and there Xander will be. Or you'll do that, and call me to tell me, 'guess who I ran into?' and hand over the phone to him."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No, I get that. Complicated with layers." Isabel snatched a piece of brownie crumb because those had no calories. "I would to. Xander. Or Jack. Popping back from the future just to say hello."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker chortled, and took a crumb too, on the same principle. "Exactly. Something to look forward to. Maybe he'll show up while I'm at Oxford, sometime. It *could* happen."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I'm kind of hoping for that myself. Maybe he can visit me if or when I ever make it back to Antar. I bet it would be nice to see a friendly face there." Breaking a brownie in half totally made all the calories spill out of it. "Speaking of Jack. We talked last night."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Did you?" Parker's eyebrows went up. "About what? I saw him this morning. We had an interesting conversation too."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's been a little weird since he got back," Isabel said, trying to explain without getting into the details. "He just seemed off to me. And then at your party, I said something and he got really freaked by it. I didn't know if it was me, or the situation or what but I knew it had to be related to whatever happened while he was at the Time Agency. So last night I had him meet me at the beach and made him talk."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Off didn't quite cover what Parker had thought of Jack's reactions, but she wasn't about to expand on that with Isabel. "Did it help? Are you guys okay now?" She reached out to pet Annie again, watching her flirt her tail back and forth as she purred.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It did. And we are. It got tense for a while though," she said, fluffing a pillow with a little more oomph then really necessary. "Those sadistic bastards."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker grimaced. "I have an idea what happened, although no specifics. I very much resent being used against Jack in their testing." She frowned, looking grim. "I'd love to show my appreciation at some point. Do you think graffiti that could be seen from space would cover it? 'The Time Agency Sucks Rocks'?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"You and me both. Especially like that." Isabel sighed, reminding herself that they'd dealt with it and that things would be okay. "That's an option. "Although personally I'm thinking radio transmitter. Given the distances a message would have to travel, I'm thinking it would just make it to the 51st century in time. Personally I'm leaning towards 'We're keeping him you bastards.' Cause seriously? Stashing him in my closet sounds like a really good idea."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"I know. And he still wants to work for them." And with Captain Jack saying Jack *had* to go back, Parker had a feeling they might come looking if someone kidnapped him. "I think the radio transmitter has to happen, though. Maybe the day he graduates. Give them a good scare." She sighed, and reached for another brownie befoe pulling her hand back. "I talked to him after my first class this morning. Somehow they had him wondering if anyone missed him, the last time he went missing. I could bitchslap them just for that."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's a plan," Isabel nodded. "Although I'm still not convinced Cedric and I shouldn't just run off to Mexico and bring Jack as our cabana boy. We've been talking about it for a while." Unfortunately she knew that idea fell into the wishful fantasy category and it made her sigh once more. "Parker, that was actually the least of what they made him wonder. Trust me. Just make sure you hug him the next time you see him."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Lips thinning, Parker said, "Will do. He's our Jack before he's theirs, damnit."

She sighed and cushioned her head on one hand. "Hey, how is Cedric doing? I had a chance to talk to him in L.A., so I know kind of what happened, and I now he's not great, but... is he getting better? I don't know him well enough to tell."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Do you ever think we'll have a time when we're not worried about someone?" Isabel mused. "Or a time when our biggest worry will be that Johnny is dating Linda Sue but someone caught him making out with Betsy under the bleachers?"

"Cedric is...doing okay. At least according to Jack. I think he's hiding again, cause I haven't seen him since we got back," she admitted. After a moment her face settled into something very similar to Willow's Resolve Face(TM). "I think I need to go looking for him."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker considered that for a second. "Since I've been Linda Sue and Betsy in this scenario? No. Unfortunately. There was always something bigger." She grinned. "You go looking for Cedric. If you hve half the luck you had with Jack, it'll be a good thing. I? Have a birthday present to buy." Parker hummed, got to her feet, and gave Annie one last pat. "I'll see you tomorrow or Friday, Isabel. Thanks for the chocolate. And the talk."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel watched her get ready to leave and grinned. "Have fun shopping. And negotiating. I'll see you, definitely."