After they had cleaned up the kitchen from their waffle feast, Eliot and Parker each got washed and dressed in fresh clothes. Eliot decided not to think too hard on the fact that Parker was keeping spare clothes somewhere in his house. He had no idea where (and he looked), but they were there somewhere. The others occasionally left articles of clothing, like Sophie's mud boots in the entry way or a truly strange cardigan that only Hardison would wear, but never full outfits.

But Parker appeared in the laundry room, fully dressed in black jean and a black t-shirt over a white long sleeved shirt. She only wore socks on her feet, as mucky shoes were kept in the entry way. Without saying a word, she dumped the little bundle of clothes in her arms into a laundry basket.

Heaving a sigh of the put upon, Eliot stopped sorting his own clothes and retrieved what she dropped. Shaking out the ball of clothes, he tossed the green t-shirt she had used a nightgown and her own grey shirt into the darks basket. The little pair of white cotton panties were dropped into the whites basket with a minimal amount of silent freaking out.

"Why are you doing that?" Parker's voice startled him out of his oh-god-what-did-I-do-to-deserve-this (other than the professional violence thing) reverie.

Eliot gave her a puzzled look, then asked, "What?"

"Putting different colors in different baskets."

"Ya don't wash whites and darks together, Parker."

"I do."

"You white's'll get dingy," he told her, reminding himself that he liked Parker despite her ability to make him say and do things that made his brain hurt. 'Cause dingy, really? He didn't say things like dingy.

She just blinked at him like he was the strange one and said, "Okay."

Great, she was using the same tone she used when she thought Nate was acting creepy. "Okay, let's get going," he said, turning to face her and finding she'd already disappeared.

With another sigh, he made his way down stairs and found her standing by the door, boots, jacket and cute little bobble top hat on. She was holding his sling, which he took off as soon as he got in the door, playing with the Velcro fasteners, an amused expression on her face. "I'm ready. Put on your arm thing,"

After a brief struggle he got the sling on and slung his coat on the top. With a smile, Parker jammed a knit fisherman cap on his head and then grabbed his keys off of the key hook by the door. Eliot scowled and said, "Oh no…."

"Yes!" she insisted, skillfully avoiding his grab for the keys. "You're not supposed to drive till you can open your eye more."

As they made their way to Eliot's truck, Parker looked over into the adjoining yard. The young police officer from earlier was out in the front yard, no longer in uniform, leashing a little dog.

"Morning, Katie!" Eliot shouted, startling Parker and drawing the young woman's attention.

"Oh, Hi Eliot," the police officer- Katie- called in return, jogging over in their direction. "How's the shiner doing today?"

"Getting' better," he replied, then motioned to Parker. "This here's Parker, one of my co-workers. Parker, my neighbor Katie Brennan."

"Hi," Katie said, sticking out a hand toward Parker, "Nice to meet you."

Plastering on a big smile, Parker grabbed her hand and shook it aggressively. "Hello," she said perkily, then glanced down at the dog, who was hopping around it's owners feet. "What's it's name?"

"Her name's Molly," Katie said, crouching to scoop up the squirming animal, who then began trying to lick her owner's face. "She's a little excited to be out after being in the house all night."

"Still on third watch?" Eliot asked, leaning against the side of his Chevy Silverado.

The officer shrugged. "Yup. I'm a rookie, so I'll be there a while…Well, have a good day. I need to get her walked before I crash for the day."

Eliot smiled farewell at his neighbor, trying not to laugh. Parker had been giving the dog a look and tilted her head to the side to get a different angle. In response, the dog had gone still and then copied the motion. It was cute.

As was seeing Parker hop up into the cab of his truck, at least until he considered that this meant she was going to be driving. While Eliot himself had not actually had the opportunity to experience the joy of being Parker's passenger, he remembered Hardison's reaction. The hacker had returned to the office looking nauseous and shaky and muttering, "Never again. Never. Again."

It had taken nearly a half hour of coaxing, assisted by copious amounts of alcohol, to get Hardison to recount his trauma. Still, the most coherent explanation they had received from the young man was something about speed limits being just a suggestion and Parker not believing in blinkers.

Eliot barely had time to buckle his seatbelt before Parker revved the engine and peeled out of the driveway. Startled, he grabbed for the dashboard and said, "Try not to run over any of my neighbors, okay."

She just grinned and stomped down hard on the gas.

TBC

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Okay, I'm pondering what thing to have them do next…an everyday thing…maybe go grocery shopping, to the mall, on a hike, etc. If anyone has a suggestion or request, feel free to send them J Reviews!!