Parker's gone out to do whatever it is that she does without me. I'm not really sure. I know most of the time she's just staying in practice, but I think that sometimes she just goes somewhere quiet to try to figure things out. Usually she's gone for an hour or two which means I have time for at least 1 raid, which I'm happy about because I haven't been able to play since the latest update happened. I know I'll at least hear from her within 2 hours because that's the deal we've worked out. I don't want to keep tabs on Parker, but I also don't want to be worried that something happened to her so she carries a tracker with her that I've promised not to activate unless she misses a check-in.

That was a long discussion, convincing her that I wasn't being overprotective, that it was good for me to worry about her. I wanted her to feel free to do whatever she normally would do while travelling, so she would be comfortable and want to stay with me while the team was apart. That means that I know she is off doing random dangerous things without telling me, and that it wouldn't even occur to her to tell me what she was planning to do both because she is so private and because she thinks I would worry about it or try to stop her. So, we finally settled on 2 hours for a check-in or just coming back so that if something did happen to her at least its not hours before we start looking for her.

I put my headphones on and click into the game still thinking about Parker. We've had a good time together the last few weeks. Once we arrived at the hotel and checked in, Parker did her security check thing while I unpacked. She found a few escape routes for us, but some are last resorts she told me because she doesn't think I can fit through all of the ducts here. I told her to stop acting crazy of course because there is no way I'm getting in the air duct here and there won't be any reason for us to need those routes since we're not working. Parker just rolled her eyes at me and grabbed the remote from me to pick out the movie we were going to watch. We had talked about staying in on the plane and just trying to get adjusted to the new time zone so we could start doing fun things in the morning. Neither of us lasted very long before we went to our beds.

Since then, we settled into kind of a rhythm. Most days we figure out what to do together, but once a week we each pick out something that we want to do with the other person. I called those our 'date' days. We've done a lot of cool stuff here in Tokyo and eaten a lot of really delicious food, mostly recommended by Eliot. Parker is really getting into the whole touristy thing, though I will admit that the things she looks at and finds interesting are not the things most people are looking at. I don't care as long as she's having fun and relaxing. She seems pretty happy with what we've been doing.

Last week, she even got me to jump off a building with her when it was her turn to decide what to do. She thought I might enjoy it more if it wasn't a con and we weren't in a hurry. She even took the time to explain all her equipment, what everything was for, and how she decided what to use where. It was interesting and she was actually very good at explaining everything, but it didn't make the jump any less terrifying to me. It was slightly better being right side up and knowing how to control the jump a little more, but I don't think any amount of jumping will make it an exciting thing for me. Hopefully, we can do something else this week. That was the first time she asked me to go with her and I did get a kiss at the bottom which made it totally worth it, but it's not something I want to be doing every week.

I'm startled out of my thoughts when I hear the window slam shut which is Parker's way of announcing she's back. She's being trying not to startle me quite so often even though it amuses her. I'm nearly done with what I was doing in game so it's perfect timing if she wants to watch tv together like we normally do. I hear her ghost into the room with and I'm not sure if I'm getting better at noticing her or if she's better at making some slight noise to let know she's there. I like to think I'm getting better plus she did let me know she was in the hotel suite which goes a long way toward heightening my awareness. I'm always so happy to see her. I still can't believe that she agreed to travel with me. Before I can turn to her, I hear her say,

"I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed now."

I'm surprised because we normally stay up another hour or 2, but it's no big deal, just means I can play a little more. "Ok," I say. "I'll see you for breakfast in the morning." I feel her beside me all of the sudden, turning my chair around and pushing my headphones off. She steps between my legs and looks at me. I can see the nervous, hesitant expression on her face.

"No, I want you to come to bed too. With me." Parker says hesitantly. "I'm tired and I think I sleep better with you there."

Parker and I have never slept together on purpose before. The first week we were here, we fell asleep together on the couch and were both sore the next morning so we started watching late night tv together laying on my bed so we wouldn't have a repeat of that happen, plus it was just more comfortable than the hotel couch.. We slept there together one night last week and I will admit that it was definitely comfortable, but I didn't know she enjoyed it as much as I did. I was pretty surprised when I woke up in the morning to find us spooned together and Parker still in the bed, but she was pretty quick to escape to her own room when she woke up.. She generally doesn't sleep much, more than Eliot, but not like most people. I was pretty sure she had nightmares that woke her, but she had never had them around me. I did hear her get up in the middle of the night sometimes.

I'm looking at Parker when she asks me this. It's the first time she's ever asked me to do anything for her. I'm sure she's spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to do this which makes me a little sad because obviously I am happy to sleep with her. I realize I haven't actually said anything to her and she is starting to look like she might take off so I reach around her, holding her in place and click out of my game. "Of course I'll come to bed with you. Why don't you get changed and into my bed while I get ready for bed?" I say to her.

"Ok," she turns and heads into her room.

I do my nightly security checks on all of us and check for any unusual chatter. Then, I stand and go into my bedroom grab some clothes and step into the bathroom. I picked my room even though she asked me to come to bed with her because we usually hangout in here and I wanted her to have a place to go still if she changes her mind. When I get changed and step into the room, I see that she is curled up into a cute little ball on the bed already snuggled up with her pillow.

I turn off the lights and slide into the other side of the bed. I roll onto my side and very slowly slide my arm around her waist tugging her back against me. I feel her relax and uncurl, stretching out against me. "Thanks" I hear her say. "I just haven't been able to sleep the last couple of nights."

I slide my arm all the way around her, my hand just brushing the warm flat of her stomach where her shirt had ridden up a little. I move my head ups little so my chin rests on her shoulder. "I'm certainly not going to object to having you in my bed," I whisper smiling into her ear. "I'm always happy to have you around." I kiss her bare shoulder. "Go to sleep, we can talk in the morning."

I wake up earlier than normal since we went to bed early, but also because Parker is shifting restlessly in my arms. I can't tell if she's awake, but trying to stay in the bed with me or having a dream. I shift over some, propping my head up to try and see her face, but as soon as I move over, she rolls over to face me which answers the questions of whether she was awake or not. "Morning" I say, "how did you sleep?"

"Good" Parker says cheerily "I didn't think you were ever going to wake up. I'm bored."

"Mama, you could have just woken me up. I wouldn't have minded." I tell her. "Plus, you could have just gotten out of the bed."

"Oh, I thought I should be here when you woke up since you let me sleep here" she says, looking a little puzzled.

"I'm glad you're still here" I say giving her a quick kiss "but if you're going to sleep here, you should do whatever you normally would."

"So, I can sleep here again?" Parker asks looking pleased.

"You can sleep here every night if that's what you want to do. I certainly won't object. It's a normal thing to do, to sleep together when you're a couple, but you don't have to."

"No, I slept good. I can sleep here as long as I don't have to be here when you wake up. You sleep too much." Parker states like sleeping 6-8hrs a night is completely wrong.

"I sleep the same amount as most people, but yeah, if you're going to sleep here on a regular basis you should do whatever it is you would normally do. You don't have to stay in the bed as long as me - though you should feel free to come back and wake me up when its a normal time for breakfast or whatever."

"Ok," Parker says pushing me onto my back and kissing me as she rolls on top of me. She stretches out the full length of her body and then proceeds to roll out of the bed. "Get up, I'm hungry and it's my day to do whatever I want plus, we're leaving tomorrow and I don't want to miss anything." she calls over her shoulder as she exits the room.

I lay in the bed, sort of dazed for a second before I snap out it. Guess I'll be taking a cold shower this morning. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to tell Parker she could sleep here all the time.