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longislandcharm · 2 months

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PARTIES: @longislandcharm and @wonder-in-wings TIMING: Late November LOCATION: Outside the Elysium/Around town SUMMARY: Determined to get Winter out of her gooey situation, Parker goes to the hotel with a pizza and an offer to help get her to where she needs or wants to go. The day is interrupted by a surprise visitor. CONTENT WARNINGS: Implied parental/familial abuse (mostly talking about the scars it left behind), Under skin tw (a parasite)

Most of the reports hadn’t been kidding when they said that there truly was vile black slime everywhere. Parker’s route was carefully planned and he had to take more than one detour as he circumvented the shiny trails of ooze. He was on his way to the Elysium Hotel and Casino, a place of luxury and affluence, a place that’d been (perhaps begrudgingly) turned into a temporary shelter for the displaced. The Warden never held any remote interest in either hotels or gambling but he wasn’t going there out of his own interest. He told Winter that he would go retrieve her. That and he owed her a pizza, which was sitting in the passenger side seat, covered by his black leather jacket that he finally had to pull out of his closet as the weather had gotten too biting to ignore. Parker wasn’t a fan of cold weather, with the low temperatures and large amounts of snow easily working their way onto his list of least favorite things about the town. It didn’t seem like snow was there quite yet, however, as he carefully made his way around the more covered areas of the road and, indeed, it seemed like the goo was dissipating as well the closer he drew to the hotel. Eventually, as he pulled into one of the nearby parking spaces that had a rather clean path from it to the door, he found himself wondering why she couldn’t just leave. Sure, it was oppressive in a lot of other places but she didn’t seem to be as trapped as she thought. Or maybe there was just something Parker was missing; was this a metaphor? He was always poor with those, or so Walker told him. However, he started to relax in his seat when a sharp pain on his upper back made him suck air in through his nose and he immediately opted out of leaning back. No, he leaned forward instead, not sure what that was on his back but he could neither see nor reach it so there was little point in worrying too much about it. Pulling out his phone, he texted Winter. “I’m out in front. [...] Where are you? I have a pizza.”

“Holing yourself up in the room isn’t healthy, you know that, right?” Winter threw Henry a glare as she tossed her wallet into her bag. “I’m going to start calling you dad if you don’t stop. I wasn’t holing myself up, I just didn’t want to risk being stuck in that crap. Do you see how many things are caught in it right now?” Henry rolled his eyes at her, not believing that someone like her wouldn’t take a risk to go get a pizza. “Seems like you’re hiding away in here.” She was about to say something back to him when her phone beeped at her, the medium smirking as she held it up to show him the message. “See? I’m leaving right now, smart ass.” He threw her a look while she threw her purse over her shoulder and hummed with satisfaction before turning to head out.

She didn’t bother to text Parker back as she made her way past the extra people in the halls, one woman squeaking as the ghost trailing Winter walked through her. Why did she love when he did that? It was always entertaining to watch people look around them with alarm when she knew it wasn’t anything other than a cold chill.

His car was pretty easy to spot. The only running vehicle in the area while most of the guests now staying at the Elysium had been walk-ins. Was Parker squirming a little as she walked up to the passenger side door? That didn’t seem right. She knocked on the window, wanting to alert him of her presence before trying to open the door in case he got spooked and ninja'd a dagger at her or something. She knew what he was capable of with his fists, no telling what he could do with a weapon. “Oh my god, you actually brought a pizza. Parker, you care.” She placed a hand over her heart as Henry scoffed. “Should have made you go get it yourself.”

A look was thrown over her shoulder before Winter grabbed the box and took her place in the car. “Henry says hi, by the way. Do you let people eat in your car? Do you want some?” Her good mood must have been attributed to finally getting out of that room. Henry couldn’t even bring it down while he glowered in the back seat, probably upset that he couldn’t have any pizza himself. “You know you didn’t have to come out here, right? I know you hate it here. But it has given me something to look forward to.”

Smartly, she had knocked on the window to indicate to him that she had arrived. He supposed it made sense given how… on edge their first in-person interaction was. Parker turned his head to regard her, one of his eyebrows twitching faintly as she seemed surprised that he followed through on his bringing her a pizza; he wasn’t sure what about him indicated that he held empty words, that he wasn’t one to actually do as he said he was going to do. Did people just think that he said things to placate them? She looked over her shoulder before getting in - either she had heard something he didn’t, she was regarding the ghost known as Henry or both. When she said that the specter said hello, Parker’s own glance drifted to the backseat. Assuming the ghost had decided to sit in the back seat. It was a little surreal, to take someone’s word that there was an undead spirit lingering right in front of him though he couldn’t remotely and would never see it. “You may eat in the car. Just try to… keep the mess in the box.” He remarked mildly, blue eyes resting on her once more. He wasn’t about to tell her that the inside of his unassuming silver car had seen decidedly gorier things than flakes from a pizza crust. “I don’t…” It would’ve been a lie to say that he didn’t actually hate it there, so the sentence faltered in his mouth. “It’s… more tolerable in the vehicle.” The Warden faced forward once more, moving rather carefully as he rolled one of his shoulders. “Also I… told you that I would. I don’t like lying. Or… saying things I don’t intend on keeping my word on.” A pause accompanied with an inhale through his arrow-straight nose. “Where would you like to go?”

It was a little amusing to watch him glance towards Henry knowing that he couldn’t see what she saw. She knew better than to think that he would be jarred by the sight of Henry and his detached arm but it was still funny to imagine the scene unfolding. In fact, she’d gotten so used to it that somebody else being frightened by the missing limb might have even surprised her a little. Henry waved at Parker, even while knowing the hunter couldn’t see him, and Winter rolled her eyes good naturedly as she turned back to the food; the wonderful food that Parker had now given her permission to eat inside of his car. She wasted no time, her mouth full by the time he had said to keep the mess contained inside the box so she nodded to acknowledge that she’d heard.

Swallowing the bite before speaking, she shook her head at his words. “Is it though? I mean, I get why you don’t like it out here. Some of the places have character but for the most part this place is not ideal. I’ve been looking for something else but I…am too hard to please.” She had rejected a high rise in Los Angeles just because she didn’t like the height of the cabinets in the kitchen but Winter had a feeling she was going to have to settle for some place around here.

She looked over, another bite of the pizza being chewed on thoughtfully while she tried to explain her doubts. How did she come right out and say that most people in her life ended up disappointing her so she’d come to expect it without it sounding mean? “I wasn’t trying to imply that you wouldn’t but most people don’t really keep their word, especially over small things like this. But I guess you’re not most people, are you?” It’s not like she would have been angry if he hadn’t brought the food, she’d suffered worse blows before, but it was refreshing to be around someone who wouldn’t say one thing to your face and turn around and do the opposite. “That’s pretty cool.”

Winter closed the pizza box after scarfing down the first piece, her mind now going to the potential stores they could hit. “There’s a boutique in Harborside I wanted to check out. I’ve never shopped at a small town store but anything with the word boutique has to have something quality in it. But I’ll also give you one last chance to back out because this is going to test your limits, I know it.” Henry snorted from the back seat, not able to resist adding his own comment. “I’ve seen her online shop, she’s not wrong.”

Well, if nothing else in this trip mattered, at least he had gotten her the right type of pizza. Either that or she was just so desperate not to eat hotel food anymore that anything would’ve sufficed. Then as she responded to his comments about Worm Row, Parker decided to get them going - the sooner they were out of that general vicinity, the sooner he felt as though maybe whatever few nerves had worked themselves up inside him would calm down. So he started driving, slow, rather leisurely, still carefully weaving around the spots on the ground on the off-chance that hitting it would spontaneously freeze his car and envelop it. “I’ve… been informed that I’m not like most people, no.” Parker replied, keeping his eyes on the road though he made it evident that he was still listening to her as well as he possibly could’ve. “I understand that there’s a general casualty to words.” He said. “I’m very careful with my words. I said I would bring you a pizza. I said I would take you shopping. I don’t make false offers.” As he spoke, his mind planned a map for him to take that would avoid the problems with the roads and still head over to Harborside. And yet, as Winter assured him that this shopping trip would test his limits, the Warden scoffed through his nose; the closest he’d ever come to laughing in over two decades, perhaps even more. “You know it?” He asked, his expression softening ever-so-slightly as what seemed to be the ghost of a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth. “You know what my limits are?” It was playful. An attempt to… loosen up. This was a new interaction between them.

“That’s not a bad thing, everyone being the same is boring.” Some of the other residents of Wicked’s Rest floated through her mind after saying that which prompted her to add under her breath, “Well, some people could stand to add a little boring to their life.” She was starting to think she was included in that comment. Ever since Henry had become a part of her life things had spiraled and normal was a different world away. Winter had learned so much about herself and the world and yet she still had so many unanswered questions. Especially when it concerned her past and how her family factored into all of this. Had her parents known all this time that she was able to see these things or were they just as clueless?

“I will keep that in mind then.” Winter looked over at him again, regarding him silently. It wasn’t often a person came across someone who stuck to their word, even the little things, and she felt a little lucky that she’d found someone who would do that. The question was: Was she able to do the same for him? If friendship was a transaction in her mind, an exchange of good deeds and care, then she owed it to him, right? It was probably time to start being more careful with her words, and not just around Parker either, around everyone. “But I also want you to know that if you promise something as small as a pizza and you don’t follow through for whatever reason it’s not that big of a deal.”

An eyebrow quirked at his reaction, the girl glad that he was able to relax enough around her to be humorous in his own way. It also felt a little like a challenge which she loved. There was nothing more amusing than a competition for her and Winter was always confident that her win was imminent. “Maybe I don’t, but I’m sure I’m going to find them today.” Henry leaned forward between the two of them, his expression grim. “Dude, just stop now. I’ve never seen anyone so willing to push a person’s buttons before.” Winter smirked at the words, deciding not to relay the message. This was going to be a fun day.

The Warden felt the ghost of a smirk of his own tug on the corner of his ever-downturned mouth in response to the medium’s playful challenge. “We’ll see.” He said, realizing immediately after he said it that he had sounded more like his own father than he had in a while. That was a rare thing, as Parker recalled it now; they were on a trip, one specifically for the younger Wright as the four of them were in the car, passing by unfamiliar landmarks and environments. When asking where they were going, taking a break from his curious staring out of the window, his father, with a half smile on his face, raised his brow with a knowing look and said ‘we’ll see’. While the situation wasn’t exactly the same, it did carry a reminiscent feeling with it and it was those moments, the rare memories where things seemed… almost normal, in their own way, that made Parker insist that he didn’t have a bad childhood. He was the exception to the general rule that hunters all had troubled upbringings. He was the outlier. His father was strict, but Parker only ever got in trouble because of things he did wrong, or ways that he was wrong; deficiencies, shortcomings, weaknesses. He appreciated his father’s patience with him.

Patience that he could extend to Winter as the two (though Henry was presumably there and tagging along whether he wanted to go or not) went to the first store on her mental list. And thus began what turned out to be a morning, though how eventful it was was purely going by Winter’s personal approval rating - they’d go to a store, where she’d try on different articles of clothing while he waited. He’d provide commentary or constructive criticism if she asked, and she would suggest things for him to wear in turn though Parker always politely declined; he was doing what he considered to be a suitable job hiding it but he was having trouble blatantly ignoring whatever was on or in his back, aching his muscles, feeling weighty as it would twinge uncomfortably and sharply whenever he would move a certain way. The most annoying part was realizing that he couldn’t reach it. Despite this, he reacted to her quips with his own dry sense of “humor”, rolling with her punches and though he didn’t wonder himself, it could’ve been curious how malleable he was, all things considered. His brother had noted it before, when they had gone to do things together, how Parker was a follower and a receiver of instructions without asking questions. ‘It don’t matter what you’re thinkin’. You’ll do what I say, won’t you boy?’ After all, he wasn’t here for himself. He was here for Winter, and now they sat in the car after the fourth store. The Warden checked his watch absently, though the dashboard clock was right there. “It’s about 2pm.” He said. “Would you like to break for lunch?” He asked. “Or do you want to keep eating your pizza.”

Winter had to give Parker props. Usually by the third store whoever she was shopping with would bow out or at least start looking like walking into traffic sounded more enjoyable than whatever hell she was putting them through but the hunter was keeping up quite nicely as they went along. In fact, she might have been the one getting annoyed with him. It was time to get Parker out of the henleys but everything she suggested fell on deaf ears. She just wanted him to broaden his fashion horizons, was that so much to ask?

Apparently, it was and Henry was living for it. Every ‘no’ that the medium got, no matter how polite, would send Henry into a fit of laughter as her face fell. She was starting to think she needed to find a way to get rid of the ghost again before she remembered her salt necklace she had gotten for Christmas. Threatening him with it sure shut him up every single time too.

She had noticed something off with her friend though. As enjoyable as the day had turned out to be she could see that something was bothering Parker even if he was trying to hide it. It sort of felt like he was trying to make sure he didn’t ruin their simple time together with whatever was going through his mind and for the longest time Winter had chosen to ignore the occasional slight squirm or the twitch of annoyance on his face. Only because she appreciated his own desire to ignore whatever was going on. She, more than most, could understand not wanting to talk about an underlying issue. Most people assumed that she didn’t care much about what others were going through, and didn't notice when something was off. The truth was, she wasn’t someone who would force someone to talk when they didn’t want to but after the fourth store she couldn’t pretend anymore.

“I’d rather talk about what’s bothering you.” Food was the last thing on her mind, shopping was even taking a backseat right now which was a rare occasion. She loved those damn fitting rooms. “Are you really not getting bothered by how many stores I’ve dragged you to or are you hiding it? I can tell something’s up and I don’t want you to pretend you’re okay with all of this if it’s torture to you.” And Winter would love it if he admitted defeat. The satisfaction it would bring was too much for her to ignore. Even Henry was sick of shopping and he got to mess around and spook the other patrons while they were out.

At Winter’s response, Parker was admittedly a little taken aback which was displayed to her via a slight tilt of his head. He knew that she was intuitive, but he supposed that his ability to suppress whatever irritation was on his mind, especially now that he had control over his emotions again, was stronger than her intuition. That being said, though she was able to discern that there was indeed something on his mind (or rather, on his back), she came to the wrong conclusion and after the initial surprise, he shook his head. “No, it doesn’t bother me. Really.” He added, giving her a rather earnest look as though to nonverbally convey that nothing she was doing, suggesting, or wanting was annoying him. But… The expression shifted in subtle ways that he wouldn’t have been able to explain and Parker broke eye contact with her, turning his head and looking out of the front windshield. Then he shifted in his seat slightly, a twitch of his eye escaping as he did so. And yet, the sharp, precise pricks of pain were preferable to the pressure of feeling his father’s eyes on his back as he tended to when he was at risk of exposing anything about himself. They bored into him now, simultaneously making him want to shy away from their unwavering glare and also straighten his spine, which he always did so instead. Eventually, after a longer moment of silence between them than was necessary, Parker blinked and shook his head as though pulling himself back into the present. Or out of his head, he wasn’t sure which. “Sorry.” He apologized first. “I have… It’s… I’m not sure what it is but…” Every few words were punctuated with a pause or a falter, something on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t spit out. ‘So just… say it. Quit wasting her time.’ “I think… there’s something on my back. A… splinter or… I’m not sure.” As though she could see it, he leaned forward slightly and gestured to it. “And I can’t reach it.”

Damn. He really didn’t care that she had dragged him all over each store that they had been in. It was no big deal though, at least the day hadn’t been wasted in any way. Winter now had quite a few pieces to add to her wardrobe and a few gifts she had bought for others…including a shirt that wasn’t a Henley for the man next to her even if he wasn’t going to wear it. Still, something was up with Parker and the implied ‘but’ after his sentence lingering in the air between them like some uncomfortable secret trying to break free.

She almost rolled her eyes but decided a little grace was needed. Parker had never been one to shy away from what he was thinking but sometimes he needed a little time to get to his point. She could see his mind spinning slightly as she watched him, the little signs recognizable thanks to her years of studying the body language of others to help with her show, but she stayed quiet. The medium even looked down into one of the bags from their latest store to hopefully make whatever this was more comfortable for him, glad that for once Henry was silent as well.

Her eyebrows rose as he started to stumble over his words, Winter never having seen Parker this unsure of what he wanted to say. It almost scared her and she was surprised when the worry started to make her heart pound a little.

That worry was crushed as he revealed what it was. An itch? That’s what this was about? “Parker, why were you so tight lipped about that? It’s not a big deal. Let me look, I’ll see what it is.” Winter set the bag down on the floorboard and turned to face him. It was a back, there was nothing to be shy about but she didn’t think that maybe that’s why it was awkward for him in the first place.

Her question wasn’t answered immediately; no, it stewed in Parker’s head, with the voices of his family deciding to chime in for their own reasons or explanations. ‘You turn little things into a big deal for no reason.’

‘Who the hell knows what information you choose to share and withhold? Your brain’s always been busted.’

‘It’s just something else you’ll need to repay.’ The Warden’s brow furrowed as blue eyes darted back and forth, looking at the ground and moving as though he were reading something fervently. It wasn’t a big deal. Nothing was a big deal, they were just things that Parker twisted and corrupted and turned into monumental things for reasons he couldn’t explain. He couldn’t have told her it was embarrassing that he couldn’t take care of it himself. He couldn’t have told her that his misplaced sense of pride that had been instilled in him told him that he was supposed to do everything on his own. ‘You don’t have friends, after all.’ Inhaling through an arrow-straight nose, tension evident in something so simple, the hunter wordlessly rotated in his seat. His arms crossing over themselves in front of his chest, Parker grasped either side of his familiar gray henley and started to hitch the shirt up, revealing a disorganized web of scars on his skin; small, razor-fine lines, deep, discolored claw marks and even a few that were curiously raised, that both overlaid and underlaid the segmented abdomen of a dragonfly tattoo that aligned with his vertebrae. The rest of the tattoo still hid under his shirt, which he was very careful not to lift excessively, already feeling far more exposed than he’d have liked to. What wasn’t hidden under the shirt, eventually, was a large, pulsing insect about the size of a tennis ball and garnet in color as it twitched absently, its head buried in the Warden’s flesh just to the side of his spine.

The shock of all of the marks on this man’s back took her aback, Winter feeling as if her brain was currently rebuffering and struggling to do as such. She couldn’t process everything at once and she was suddenly very aware as to why he might have been hesitant to do this. Was this his life? Just constantly being slashed and broken by the things he was sworn to protect everyone against? Wide eyes scanned over the raised flesh, onto the deep divets, and finally over the unexpected sight of a tattoo that disappeared under the rest of his shirt. What else was he hiding under there? Did she even want to know?

She decided that she didn’t. This was enough of a glimpse into what he’d been through in his lifetime.

Feelings of discomfort upon seeing the damage his body had taken quickly turned into feelings of disgust when she saw the cause of his irritation. “Oh, fuck no!” Her body jerked back slightly, startled by the sight of the large tick that had burrowed into his skin. Henry was torn between laughter and his own discomfort, wanting to immediately make fun of Winter’s reaction but also noting the damaged skin on the Warden’s back. She was glad he stayed quiet, already distressed by the bug in front of her.

“What the hell have you been rolling around in? There’s a freaking tick latched onto you!” Throw Winter in the middle of a spriggan attack, a goo filled hotel, but put a bug in front of her and she was going to lose it. Her composure was broken, a rare sight indeed, and didn’t care one bit. “Oh, god, I have to take that out, don’t I?” She would. Only for certain people would she even consider doing this for, but she would for Parker. She just had to freak out first and she hoped he would let her without feeling too put out by it all. A whine filled the car, the girl closing her eyes to take in a few breaths, and she started to shake her hands in an attempt to pump herself up for this. “Okay, okay, I think I can do this. I just need a minute.”

Shame wasn’t an emotion that Parker wore often, nor did he wear it well; he had been made acutely and harshly aware of it when he was very young, and as such was quickly trained not to respond or acknowledge it. As such, few things gave him the feeling and one of those few things was the perception that the scars he’d accumulated over the years were abhorrent. Ugly things that caused one to recoil in fear, disgust, anger, or whatever else. He knew this, just as he knew that the same scars that tensed him up as she retaliated in such a spirited way didn’t seem to cross his mind at all when he went swimming in the indoor pool that he frequented during the colder months. Maybe it had something to do with how he couldn’t have cared less about what strangers thought of him, but he knew Winter better now and with the introduction of… friends (if he could call himself and Winter that), there was an unspoken set of rules that Parker had to follow. Certain facets of himself that he either couldn’t or wouldn’t display for the benefit of others. This wasn’t a stranger at the pool. Instinctively, the hunter started to lower his shirt again as though to nonverbally apologize for affronting her with the markings– Then all the shame flew out of the window when she mentioned the singular word: tick. Instantly, Parker felt himself relaxing and if he had been less robotic with how he reacted to everything, a little closer to a normal human, he might’ve even laughed at how foolishly he was overreacting to a misunderstanding. It wasn’t the scars she was viscerally reacting to; it was an insect. Rather casually, he turned his head slowly though instead of looking at the young woman, he acted as though he could see the thing on his back and he hummed absently. “Mm. I wonder where I acquired it.” He replied in his usual flat affect. “You don’t have to–” He started to follow-up his musing with the insistence that he wasn’t about to ask her to do such a thing; she was obviously not a fan of bugs and if this one was as impressive as it seemed to persistently cause him pain (something else unusual for Parker) but in his peripheral vision he caught her movements. Quietly, he turned his head back around instead of staring at her expectantly, though the grip on his shirt tightened subconsciously. “You don’t have to. I can have it surgically removed.” He said, now feeling more childishly embarrassed that there was an insect on him that he could neither reach nor was aware was even an insect, feeling quite inadequate at his job, skills and interests but not enough for him to react particularly strongly to it.

For a moment she was more than ready to take him up on the offer to get this thing surgically removed but the thought of diseases that spread through these things hit and she just couldn’t let him go with it in his back for longer than he had to. “No, no, what if you got lyme disease or something because it was in there for too long?” Shit, was it already too late for that? Winter didn’t know how these things worked, whether the contracted diseases through them were instant or if it needed some time, but she still wasn’t letting him go with this thing embedded in him for any longer. He was clearly annoyed by it, if not in pain. “Besides, it’s causing a lot of discomfort and there’s no need for that.”

“Brave girl you are.” The ghost was being sarcastic with her? In these conditions? She shot a glare Henry’s way but he was still smirking under the fierce gaze. What a dick.

Winter was still pressed against the other side of the car as she moved to grab her purse from the floor board. Tweezers were an essential tool on the daily for everyone. One could never know when a stray hair needed to be plucked from their eyebrows, after all. “Alright, uh…I’m throwing these out of the window when I’m done but you’re lucky I keep these on me.”

The medium paused in her movements after she came back with the tweezers, Henry laughing at the disgust filling her features while she looked at the pulsating bug on his back. She took a deep breath in to calm her nerves before she reached out with the tweezers, removing the large tick as quickly as she could. Winter probably should have been more careful with it but she didn’t care as her hand came back with the entirely too large insect, not noticing there was something missing. It was out the window as soon as she could roll the glass down, tweezers and all. “Ugh!”

Surprise crept onto his features when she turned down his offer to remove her from the undesirable job; she was obviously less than enthused. Parker didn’t blame her, either; he liked insects, even the parasites and given how he could feel this one, it must’ve been particularly… unpleasant-looking. “The likelihood of a disease affecting me is incredibly low.” Despite her reluctant willingness to help, he still wanted to make sure she was privy to his strengthened immune system, just in case. ‘Just in case what, she changes her mind and decides not to just remove the thing?’ His brother asked. ‘Like you’re gonna go to a doctor. You hate those, remember?’ The Warden shook his brother’s voice out of his thoughts and he looked back over his shoulder as he managed to hear her rummaging through her purse before mentioning that she was going to be ‘throwing these out the window’. Throwing what– oh. For a moment, Parker had half a mind to tell the young woman to just use one of the blades from his belt but it wasn’t in his mind for very long; she didn’t seem like the type to be particularly proficient with a knife. No offense to her, of course. Maybe that was something he could teach her if she wanted. For now, though, his gaze flickered to the tweezers before resting on Winter’s face for a moment longer and eventually turning his head back to face the opposite window, feeling just a little more heat from what was probably embarrassment on his cheeks. “I’ll buy you more.” He offered, ignoring the stinging sensation from the tick in favor of breathing deeply and calmly, in a rhythmic fashion as he attempted to help settle her nerves. How successful it was, Parker wasn’t sure but it was all he could do in the moment, partially for her and partially to keep his own emotional reaction under tight control. He was in control. But man could he feel when she was pulling that insect off of him. A sharp inhale was the only reaction she got, however, and it felt as though a physical weight had been released from Parker as she presumably threw the insect as well as her beloved tweezers from the car with her spirited verbal effort. If nothing else, her disgust for it helped get the task done quickly. Fluidly, he pulled his shirt back down, ignoring whatever blood would’ve gathered around the bite mark and he flexed and extended his shoulders, rotating back in his seat as he rolled his neck. There was still a residual thump, a small heartbeat in his skin but he knew that would be gone within the hour. It felt so foolish, he realized. To be affected by something so completely insignificant. However, unlike the last two times they’d interacted, both of them had control over their emotions and Parker turned to regard Winter again, finding her eyes with his own and his expression… softened. Still rather robotic and any emotions worn on it subtle but there. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “I… wouldn’t have been upset if you couldn’t do it. But… I knew you could.”

“You don’t have to buy me anything. Besides, I have a few at home.” Despite how soft Winter was speaking she couldn’t get the disgust out of her tone. Why did it have to be a freaking tick? Those were the worst of the parasitic creatures and that was including the ones who used to be human. A little shiver ran through her but it wasn’t due to the cold at all.

“That makes one of us, then.” When she opened her eyes at his words, hazel meeting blue, she raised a questioning eyebrow at the look he was giving her. It wasn’t just the softened gaze but the red cheeks to go along with it and for a split second she couldn’t understand why Parker was staring like that. Was he embarrassed? Shit, she had embarrassed him, hadn’t she? Winter didn’t think Parker could get embarrassed but she seemed to have found the trick to doing so. Now whether that was because of the grossest bug known to man on his back or the scars etched into his skin was anyone’s guess but his.

Another thing hit her after that thought….Parker had said ‘thank you.’ It might have been the first time she’d heard him utter those words and she wasn’t really sure what to do with them. A feeling of discomfort filled her chest as she realized how much that had meant to him, the medium always faltering when it came to the whole feelings part of things, especially when those mostly confirmed that their budding friendship was now a full blown thing.

“Right…no, yeah, you’re not supposed to thank me, remember?” That seemed right. Reminding him of his small error was the way to go here. Winter sat back against the door of the car as Henry scoffed, the girl just imagining the ghost rolling his eyes at the two of them. “It was no problem, not even worth the thank you.” She wouldn’t look Parker in the eye as she added one last thing. “But….you know, anytime you need something you know you can come to me.” She fought a gigantic bug for the guy, that was enough to prove she would stand by his side during most anything. It wasn’t everyday the Winter Cahya would go into the throes of battle with such a thing.

She would only do so when it mattered.

#Threads #Thread: Parker #The Ever Uneven Scale #under skin tw #parental abuse tw #abuse tw

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