What's all this?

[minitreiver]

Eliot walked into the house and dropped his backpack by the door. He glanced back, making sure Parker was still with him. "We're back," he called up the stairs, kicking off his shoes.

He turned back and yelled out the door. "Come on, Parker! I'll make ramen. With extra stuff in it."

Comments

[minitreiver]

He finally came out of the bathroom, still wiping his mouth. The first thing he noticed was some guy at the door. The next, once he got to the kitchen, was that Parker had disappeared somewhere. The third was Nate seemed to be cooking.

"There's some guy at the door, sir. Looks kinda like a courier but he don't got a bike."

[one_honest_man]

Nate had heard the door and glanced at Eliot. "Think you can finish this? I'll wrangle Parker in here in a moment. If not just turn it off, it should be okay simmering a little longer." Nate had a feeling it wasn't a messenger, but figured it would be best if he went to check the door instead of the kids.

[tinythief]

Wrangle Parker? Wrangling Parker is more difficult than herding cats.

It might also be more difficult because she's now on the roof spying on the unknown adult at the door. She doesn't speak, or throw anything at him, which does cross her mind.

Instantly, she doesn't trust him, but the way he holds onto his stuff makes Parker want to know what's so special.

[thetechsupport]

Hardison is about to turn around and just walk out, but as he steps back he catches sight of movement on the roof. And jumps. Sweet mother. Well, he's already been spotted, might as well stay now. He steps back closer to the door and starts ringing the doorbell again, in possibly the most obnoxious pattern possible.

At least he didn't rig it to ring out to "Take on Me".

"Hello? Hey! Nate Ford!"

[one_honest_man]

Nate sighed a moment. "Eliot here." He handed over the spoon.

"Come on in Hardison." He headed for the door forgetting the apron.

[minitreiver]

Eliot nodded, taking over the simple cooking project. He watched Nate head toward the door warily. He wasn't sure what to think of his guardian knowing this fake courier. Sure, anyone could have a messenger bag but people didn't usually go knocking on random doors and he'd never seen this guy around before.

[tinythief]

When spotted, she moves back inside. At least it was only once, as Nate's had to spot her a few times, and Parker's pretty sure she doesn't have space in her head to trust another adult. To be honest, she doesn't trust Nate, but she doesn't distrust him either, which is rare.

Maggie, now Maggie's something different. She's not like Parker, or Eliot, or even Nate. She's almost normal. Parker's not sure if that's appalling, or adorable.

Parker's going to wait until the adults sit down, at which point, she's going to pop up from behind some piece of furniture, assessing the best way to get her hands on the bag the new man is holding.

Nana's rules are irrelevant here.

what if i reintroduced moreau to the happy(?) fam? (it doesn't have to be)

[thetechsupport]

Bag is not leaving his hands not now not ever. His baby is in there, especially since Hardison needs that to stay with him, because he is in trouble. Well, more than usual, anyways. Fake-courier wasn't quite what he was going for, but what the hell. He's heading into Nate Ford's house. This is already a bad idea.

When he steps in, he's immediately looking around for exits, but otherwise he heads straight towards Nate. His face widens into a grin for half a moment at the apron, before it goes back to a much more sober expression

"So, uh, Nate. I know I'm not exactly your favorite person, but..." He sort of collapses in a chair, and one hand loosen from where he is gripping onto his laptop for dear life. "I think I really screwed up, Nate."

He doesn't know how he'd managed to piggy-back on this signal, but in his general recordings, he'd managed to pick up something... horrible. And incriminating. If the videoclip itself hadn't made him sick, the amount of trouble about to fall in his head will.

Still, he's good at spoofing signals, and passports, and unless you were a certified genius, you would be confident that Alec Hardison had definitely left the country for Sao Paolo three days ago, under an alias.

*grabby hands*

[minitreiver]

Eliot stared at the newcomer, somehow still managing to take the ramen off the stove without making a huge mess. Once the soup wasn't at risk of boiling over, he crossed his arms and glared.

"If he don't like ya, why're ya here? Why not go somewhere else?"

[one_honest_man]

"You're not the top of the least favorite list." He noted how Hardison was acting. "Eliot, go find Parker, make sure she hasn't gotten into trouble already."

He had a feeling the kids shouldn't see whatever Hardison had found. "What kind of trouble this time Hardison?" He didn't really wait for the kid to head out of the kitchen.

[tinythief]

Parker feels like she suddenly has something to add to the conversation, so instead of Eliot being sent to find (which would be the equivalent of finding the fountain of youth, if she didn't want to be found) Parker shows herself and says. "Sterling!"

Not realizing she's doing it, she crosses her arms like Maggie sometimes does during discussions of said not silver, but annoyingly slippery colleague.

Please note, wherever the bag is, she is suspiciously close to it.

[minitreiver]

Eliot jumped slightly when Parker surfaces. "Sterling ain't here, Parker. And I don't think he's got silver in there."

He had no intention of going anywhere until the black guy left. Or at least 'til he knew for sure what the guy wanted.