Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

Still feeling fairly relaxed after much pampering at Theodoric's, Isabel stretched out on her bed and watched the wee pengiuns race around her room as Annie half-heartedly gave chase.

The door was open.

Comments

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker came by after she'd had time to rest for a bit, wee tiny penguin in tow. "Hey. Look at what River dropped off at my place."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"He can join his friends and torment the cat," Isabel said as she sat up. "I keep waiting for Annie go all Grrr on them but so far she's being good."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"A couple wandered into my room and are staring at Esme in her habitat. She's staring back." Parker shook her head and kicked off her shoes, taking a seat next to Isabel. "Maybe Annie's too confused to know what to do with them?" She grinned. "They are pretty cute." She pulled a bag of Dove chocolates out of her purse. "I also brought these."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She took a piece but didn't eat it. "Comfort food?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Since alcohol is out of the question." Parker studied her, then gently said, "And if you don't want to talk, you seriously don't have to. You've already told me one new thing today. If that's your limit for 24 hours, that's all right."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yes, and doesn't that suck, because sometimes I think life would be much simpler if I could just go on a bender and forget about it all. The thing is, I don'think I'll forget." Isabel turned the chocolate over in her hand looking for answers in the foil. "Jack knows most of it. I told him the other night. There's a couple things that combined to make it a pretty horrible trip."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"I've got nothing but time, Isabel."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She sighed, "I know. I guess it started when I got there and found out that they remembered what Vilandra had done. Add in the fact that they're a little backwards about the role of women and I was ready to go crazy."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Peachy." Parker folded her arms, then snuck a chocolate. "Not much fun for you. How did Michael and Max react?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"They did what they could. But they were busy. Eventually Max was able to get a team, babysitters mostly. But it meant I could at least do something." The chocolate was starting to melt in her hand, so she cooled it and finally took a bit.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Not great. But progress." Parker was quiet, watching Isabel a moment, then asked, "Where were you guys living? Camps, urban areas, bunkers...?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Camps outside the city, safe houses when we went in. There wasn't much in the way of luxury. God," Isabel sighed, staring into the distance. "I took a shower after I wound up in Cardiff, I wanted to stay in there forever. I hadn't had unlimited hot water in so long."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Gah." Parker took a bite of her chocolate, shaking her head. "So this went on for a while. Just moving around, back and forth-- you with a team, doing... what?"

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

Wanting to at least see Isabel before leaving for the weekend, he walked down the hall and slouched in her doorway.

"Good evening," he said. "No cleaning tonight?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Talking to Parker had brought back memories so Isabel wasn't quite as relaxed as she had been, but she still smiled at Cedric. "No. I'm pretending I'm still at the spa and relaxing."

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"You went to the spa?" He came inside and took a seat beside her. "Tell me about it."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I did. Parker arranged it," she nodded before raising an eyebrow. "You really want to hear about my girly adventures at the spa?"

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to hear about your day," he said, nodding.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Well in that case," Isabel held out her hands, "I got my nails done. Had a mudwrap, spent some quality time with Sven and soaked in the jacuzzi."

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"Sven?" He didn't recognize that name. "Is he a student I haven't met?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"He's the massage therapist at the spa," she explained. "He can do his own form of magic."

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"Oh." Well, that was enough to bring out a blush. "It sounds...nice."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It was wonderful," Isabel said, smiling at the blush. "He said my knots had knots. Which didn't really surprise me."

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"He was a shoe expert?" Cedric? Really not from around here.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Well only if you want to make a really weird metaphor." Isabel pointed at her shoulders, "I was a little tense after the last few months. Sven did the whole massage thing and finally got everything to loosen up."