Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.
Summary: Ever since she joined the Leverage crew, Parker has made many wondrous discoveries that shock, baffle, and amaze her. This is one of them.
The slam of the apartment door announced the final member's arrival. The blonde closed the short distance to the counter where the mission briefings were conducted and took a place beside Eliot. Everyone else was ready to begin as well—Nate stood at one end with Sophie between him and Eliot, while Hardison took his position at the front.
With all the members of the group gathered, Hardison turned to the large screens that lined the center of one wall. With a click of his controller, he brought up a photo of their next mark.
"What are you doing?" Eliot's low voice came from behind.
"What do you think I'm do—" Hardison's retort was cut short when he saw what was going on behind the counter, and he realized that Eliot's question had not been directed at him.
Eliot tossed his bottle in the air and deftly caught it before it hit the tabletop. Leaning against the smooth granite surface, he was about to take a drink when he felt a tingle on his scalp. Looking to his left, he saw Parker lifting sizeable chunks of his hair and seemingly studying them intently.
"What are you doing?" he hissed, drawing the attentions of the others.
"I'm feeling your hair," she replied with the air that this should be obvious.
"And why are you doing that?" he ground out impatiently while simultaneously swatting at the offending hand, but it did not deter her.
"Your hair is so soft," she marveled. "Like silk. Or cats." This last thought caused Parker to stop. After a moment of contemplation, she unwound her fingers from the long strands. Just when Eliot thought the girl had returned to her senses, she began petting him on the head. "Good kitty," she said.
As he watched Eliot lean backward, keeping Parker at arm's length while fending her off, Hardison wasn't quite sure how he should feel about the entire situation. Weirded out that she was so fixated on Eliot's hair—which, he had to admit, he had always found a bit girly; or entertained that she had petted the intimidating man like one would a cat—a truly hilarious sight.
Nate, who was doing his best to ignore the distraction, told Hardison to continue with the presentation. Hardison pulled up electronic copies of charges that had been filed against their target, a businessman who enjoyed extortion and blackmail with his morning coffee. However, despite his best efforts to focus on delivering the information, there was one question that Hardison simply needed to get out of his system.
"So, do you go to the salon with the girls for mani-pedis too?" he asked with a wide grin.
"Excuse me, I take offense at that," Sophie spoke up, indignant.
"Hey, just because I take good care of my hair doesn't mean I'm any less capable of throwing you out that window," Eliot threatened.
"Are you sure you want to do that? The wind might mess up your perfect do." Hardison only barely managed to dodge the hand that had made a grab for him across the countertop. Eliot looked like he was about to launch into action.
"What are you two, five?" Nate interrupted, putting a stop to any chase around the apartment that might have otherwise ensued. When all attention was on him, he continued, "If we're all done trading tips on shampooing, can we please continue with the briefing? We're on a schedule here."
"Shampooing? You think I get these results just from shampoo?" Eliot pointed out the dark roots that transitioned into lighter ends; the thick locks shone in the sunlight permeating the room.
"Really? You're going to get into this now?" Nate asked.
"Hold on, I want to know this," Sophie said, shushing the irate leader of their team.
"Oh! I want to know the secret technique too!" Parker exclaimed.
"Well, you see," Eliot began, caught up in their enthusiasm, "after I wash the shampoo out of my hair, I put in the conditioner right away. There has to be just the right amount. After two minutes, I rinse it out—but only halfway. That's how I get this extra smooth and silky texture…" He trailed off at the looks he received from Nate and Hardison, but their wide-eyed stares of disbelief soon morphed into feigned indifference. Both men quickly returned their attention to the unchanged screens and appeared to study them intently. Out of their line of sight, Eliot gave a satisfied smile at what a little glaring and knuckle-cracking could accomplish.
AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it.
So, I wrote a short story and entered it in a contest. If anyone would read it and vote for it by "hearting" it, it would be very much appreciated! Instructions are on my profile page. Thank you!