Parker was used to sleeping in a cold bed. That was no different as she rolled over onto her stomach, inhaling Eliot's scent from his abandoned pillow, clutching it underneath her. The other alternative was to be roughly poked in the ribs or kicked unconsciously by Hardison for inching too close once he was out for the night, something he repeatedly denied ever doing. Not wanting to get up, she had to pee and she was starving, despite whatever ungodly hour it was.

Wrapping herself in one of Eliot's flannel shirts to fend off the late night chill, she saw the living room lamp on and he was on the couch reading a book, already dressed for the next day in a tshirt and jeans. No one needed to be dressed at this hour, whenever it was since she hadn't looked at a clock yet and didn't care, but this was Eliot. Parker decided not to rummage through the kitchen and instead perched on the opposite arm of the couch, watching him silently.

"What do you need, darlin'?"

Damn, she was losing at her game. Bare feet on icy hardwood should have only helped with her stealth. But she never forgot he was once a sniper in a former life, so of course he would notice her movements, regardless of how engrossing his book was, not looking up at her.

"French toast. Red Velvet."

He was staring now with a raised brow. "Seriously?" He didn't know what was worse: the fact that she wanted chocolate in the middle of the night, though she would be supervised, not that it made any difference in the long run, or a request for chocolate French toast. Where did she come up with these things anyway?

"There was a recipe in the paper last week that I cut out before Nate started on his puzzles. I don't think he noticed." As though that was perfectly normal for anyone besides her.

Eliot's raised brow gave way to his "there's something wrong with you" glare. Parker had been starting to miss that as of late. Tossing the book onto the end table, he leaned down to grab his boots to pull them on, growling something unintelligible under his breath. Seeing that she was still sitting on the arm, he quietly barked at her, "Get dressed!"

With a big grin, she retreated to the bedroom, emerging a few short minutes later in her favorite black leggings and a black flowy top that looked more like something Sophie would wear, but it was cute on her.

Bouncing into the kitchen, Parker snatched the recipe out from under the magnet on the fridge. How he had missed that, he didn't know. She was still full of surprises every day, no matter how long he had known her by now.

#####

Eliot rolled his eyes as Parker proudly flashed him the mint and raspberry M&Ms she had lifted from the candy aisle at the Thriftway. Fred Meyer was his preference, given the choices in town, but he had to make due since they weren't a 24 hour store. He didn't recall her being gone from his side for any period of time, nor did he have any clue where she managed to hide them in her clothes, but he knew better than to ask.

What was up with the whole red velvet trend anyway? Hailing from the South, he understood and appreciated the cake as a staple, as well as being the final project in his home ec class that last year of high school when he was 16 before he ran away and lied about his age to join the army. But the other concoctions, between Parker's addicted ramblings and snippets of the Cooking Channel, he could not comprehend in the least. There's a reason you don't go out of your way to fuck up a good thing.

Sliding into the passenger seat of his Challenger, Parker asked with a puckered pout, "Can we stop at Burgerville on the way home?"

She was impossible. And clearly turned on by that glare he flashed her way, "No. You said you wanted French toast which is why we came here."

"Oh, well I want that too."

He found himself pulling out of the drive thru of Portland's burger chain as daylight was starting to break and Parker made fast work of her snack, while dancing in her seat to the country station on the radio, which was more like squirming with the seatbelt and bag of food attempting to immobilize her too much. The onion rings smelled good, which he knew they were as he snatched one from the bag for himself before they all disappeared. But out of the corner of his eye, he threw up a little in his mouth as she started dipping them in her chocolate shake, munching happily with a soft moan.

"Really?!"

######

Eliot had to admit that the breakfast wasn't half bad, though not his first choice, washing down the last bites of pure sugar with his black coffee.

Even Hardison allowed himself to break away from his early morning World of Warcraft raid, setting the laptop on the kitchen island, to eat whatever it was that smelled so good. Though he wasn't sure Eliot was in his right mind by permitting the chocolate in the house.

Turning to refill his coffee, Eliot mentioned, "Oh, don't forget she has a doctor's appointment in three hours. Your turn to go."

The hacker froze, eyes widening as he started to sputter. That was going to be a nightmare: a doctor's office full of hormonal women off their rockers, and adding Parker to the mix when she hated health care facilities in general.

"Rock Paper Scissors?"

"Nah, man, I…I'll go." Hardison still hadn't figured out what his alleged tell was. "But you'll pay for this. I'll figure out something."

The hitter smiled broadly. He was looking forward to it. Let the other man deal with the sugar crash and burn.