From the day he met her, Parker has always been several steps off what everyone else calls "normal". It took Eliot a while to warm up to her, but the more he realized her oddities came from having absolutely no stability or family as a child, the less her behaviors bothered him. She studies them all, absorbing the behaviors she never learned as a child and discarding what she finds unsuitable for continuing her path in the world.
For someone who misses so many social cues, Parker clued in amazingly well that despite all his grumpiness and comparison to her being twenty pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag, Eliot is genuinely and irreversibly fond of the girl. If ever questioned on it, he'd chalk it up to older brother instincts honed by growing up with a sister who was a bit of a daredevil, too. It'd even be a half-truthful answer, even though his sister has long since outgrown her adventurous phase and settled down into small town life, marriage, and motherhood.
The full truth would be that Eliot loves Parker, far more than anyone else on the team that he's reluctantly allowed into his affections. He'd defend all of them, but he'd kill for Parker and never even blink. She's family in a way that no one else has managed, and when he begged her not to ask him what he'd done working with Moreau, he saw the look in her eyes that somehow she understood without needing the horrible, soul-wrenching details. Out of all of them, Parker is the most innocent and always will be, but at the same time, she's seen too much of the world's darkness not to understand.
So Parker appearing in his bedroom the night the job is done doesn't initially alarm him; he's grown used to her appearing at odd times in his personal space, usually because she's had a bad dream. He doesn't mind being the one who scares away the monsters under her bed—not one bit. She's restless tonight, though, snuggling close as she normally does but not able to settle.
She's never needed him to talk her through the aftermath of a nightmare before, but what they just pulled off was different from most of their jobs. Uneasily, he wonders if the understanding he saw in her about Moreau has spoiled things between them. What if she can't settle because she's afraid of him now? Does she know that she's the one person he'd burn the world to ashes for?
Pressing a kiss to her temple, he asks, "What's keeping you awake?"
"I'm confused about people."
"How so?" He's learned over time to get more information when Parker is puzzled.
She takes a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh that flutters air across his collarbones. "Why do people have sex?"
Eliot can't help it; he freezes, body language Parker attunes to instantly, and he has to tighten his grip on her to keep her from scampering away. She did that often in the early days, when she thought she'd somehow made him angry. Reaching over to tap the base of his lamp, he rolls to his side, rising on an elbow to look down at Parker.
"Someone bothering you about sex, Parker?"
He can't help the growl in his voice. If someone propositioned her enough for her to come hide in his bed in the middle of the night, he's going to end them painfully. It doesn't even matter if it's Hardison, although he can't imagine the scenario where Alec crosses that line despite his long-running crush on Parker.
The minx rolls her eyes at him. "No, Eliot. I'd tase them if they did. You know that."
Eliot plops back down to his back, letting the anger and worry drain away, made even more content when Parker tucks herself back against him. She hugs him tightly, and he ponders for a moment about who is comforting who right now.
"I'd figure this is a question you'd ask Sophie," Eliot says at last. Parker does tend to go to Sophie for most of her social behavior questions, and Eliot doesn't mind since he knows his method of doing things borders on barely housebroken.
"Yeah, but Sophie likes sex, so she'll tell me all about love and being together—all her theater stuff."
"Most people do like to equate love with sex, you know."
"You and I aren't most people." She sighs, pressing her face into his shoulder and breathing deeply. Something about his natural scent comforts her, and he does his best to shower before bed in case a night like this happens. "And you don't love the women you have sex with."
He's never hidden his liaisons, although he generally tries to only have them when they're in a city other than their home base. No matter how clear he is with women about one-night stands, not everyone listens. The last thing he wants is jealousy leading someone back to his family here. It's simply a physical interaction that takes place in hotel rooms and has nothing to do with his regular life.
Nate, Sophie, and Alec give him the side-eye about it. They're all romantics, even with Sophie knowing that flirting and pushing certain lines are part of the job. When they return to their safe haven, all three of them are looking for the traditional ideal, which holds no allure for Eliot except when he's using it as a cover to avoid the curious looks. Parker, on the other hand, has never seemed to care either way, and he figures if he's ever going to admit it to anyone, he'll admit it to her.
"No, I don't. When I was younger, I thought I was in love—the romantic sort that leads to marriage and sex and kids—but it was just a way to feel normal like everyone else."
"And you don't try that anymore?"
Not since he came to Leverage, and part of his realization that he didn't need that type of relationship came from the woman asking the question. "No, I don't. I don't need to anymore."
"Because of me?" She's smiling, because he can feel the curve of her lips against his skin. It makes him laugh, as well as feel a thrill of pride that she's so quietly happy about the place she holds in his life.
"Yes, because of you. Sometimes because of Nate and Sophie and Hardison, but always because of you."
This time it's Parker who pops up to an elbow, and he can see her smile, but it worries him when her expression turns serious. "But you don't want to have sex with me."
"No, Parker, I don't." An easy answer would be that he sees her solely as a sister, but he's not foolish enough to think that adult siblings share a bed as often as he and Parker do. Parker may be an innocent in many things, but not this one.
She isn't offended, but he's a little concerned about the pouty face she adopts before flopping back on the bed. "That kinda sucks. I was going to see if you could help me figure out why people like sex. I figured it would be nice with you."
Eliot damn near chokes on his own spit. After all this time, the last thing he's ever expected Parker to suggest is that they have sex. Their mutual disinterest has been the reason this relationship has worked so beautifully.
"If you're just wanting to have sex with a friend, I'm sure Hardison would be willing."
He probably deserves the smack on the shoulder.
"That would be mean to Alec, you know. He's in love with me, or so Sophie says. She tells me to be careful and never date him unless I'm sure I'm also in love with him." She sighs deeply. "I would never hurt Alec."
"And are you in love with him?"
"Maybe? I mean, I know I love you, but how I feel about Alec is different. It isn't like all the television stuff. I don't want to kiss him or have sex, but I think I'd like to go on dates and cuddle."
Eliot thinks it over, remembering a conversation with his last bedmate, who'd gone on at length about sexuality and relationships when they were still at the bar. Just when he figured she was going to tell him she wasn't interested in men, she dropped a few terms that just clicked. It's only been a couple of months, but the contentment of having a term that fits, however unaccepted it is in the mainstream, has made a huge difference in how he views himself. It isn't the aromantic one he needs right now, though, because he suspects Parker's dilemma is different than his own, yet similar enough.
"Maybe you're asexual, Parker," he suggests, wishing he'd paid a little more attention to the parts that didn't apply to him. "Not everyone needs to have sex to be happy, you know."
"What if Alec needs that?"
She sounds plaintive and lost, and it makes Eliot realize that Parker may not be entirely sure she's in love with Alec, but Eliot doesn't doubt that she is. He's heard that tone far too many times from people who followed the lure into relationships, many of them happy. If it were any other man, except perhaps himself, he'd warn Parker far away, because he wouldn't trust them to respect her. But Alec? He'll be honest with Parker either way. Alec is a good man in a way Eliot wasn't, even before all the tarnish on his soul.
"I think you should give him the option and let him decide. He deserves to think it over."
"He does." Parker sits up, reaching across him to tap the lamp and plunge the room back into darkness. She curls up against him, arranging his arm around her before resettling the covers. He allows himself to be manipulated, smiling slightly at how comfortable Parker is with him. "I'll talk to him in the morning. Maybe he still likes pretzels, too."
Eliot decides to let the odd reference to snack food slide because there are some code words he really doesn't want defined if they apply to Parker and Alec becoming romantic partners. So long as they're happy, he's good. As Parker slips into sleep, making those soft little snores she always does, he does feel a bit wistful. If things work out with Alec, if he can accept Parker as she is, Eliot figures nights like this will become a rarity.
It's worth it, though, if loving Alec like that makes Parker happy. Eliot will love and protect her so long as he draws breath, and that's what makes him happy. Both of them deserve that, and he presses a kiss to the top of Parker's head before drifting off to sleep himself, content as he always is with his favorite person in his arms.