(no subject)

[parkerlee]

Parker had brought paper and pen to Milliways with her tonight, with the intent of writing a letter to Grandma Lee.

Instead, the sheet of paper in front of her is covered in doodles. Flowers. Trees. Moons. Birds. A heart here and there Curls of ribbon. Musical notes. A truck. A cow. A guitar.

Right now she has her chin in one hand, an idle smile on her face, and is sketching out a sunflower.

Botherable

Comments

[a1enzo]

"You look like you're in a good mood."

[parkerlee]

Parker angles her head to look up.

"Oh, hey, Enzo."

The smile hasn't gone anywhere.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"How are you?"

[a1enzo]

"I'm good." He glances at her paper. "That's a lot of doodles."

[parkerlee]

Parker looks back down at her piece of paper.

"Yeah. I think I've been at it for a while."

She picks up the paper and holds it at arm's length, eying it critically.

"My cow looks like something out of Jurassic Park."

Her questionable artistic talent seems to do nothing to lessen her good mood.

[a1enzo]

This entitles Enzo to tease her about it. "Looks more like a dogcow to me."

[parkerlee]

"With some hippopotamous genes thrown in for good measure," Parker agrees.

"Are there such things as dogcows?"

You never know with Milliways.

[a1enzo]

"Yeah, in Macintosh systems, but they're real elusive. They lurk in hypercard stacks. They go moof."

[parkerlee]

"But do they give milk or do they fetch sticks?"

Maybe the best of both?

[a1enzo]

"Both, but only if you can catch one." Beat. "And if it's female."

[cutting_edgex23]

"Parker," X says, approaching the other girl from the left.

Then she hesitates, studying the paper in front of her.

"You are drawing. Flowers."

It is not quite blank incomprehension, but --

It's kind of close.

[parkerlee]

Parker looks up, and her smile widens.

"Laura, hey!"

She looks down at her sheet of paper and looks the tiniest bit embarrassed. If you really squint.

"Yeah. I guess my brain is elsewhere this evening."

In a flowery place.

"How are you?"

[cutting_edgex23]

"I am okay," X offers.

And after a few moments of careful consideration, she takes a seat next to Parker.

"Flowers are problematic? For you."

Beat.

"Or you like them?"

[parkerlee]

Parker grins.

"I like the flowers. I like the flowers very much."

Someone may or may not be experiencing some early onset Spring Fever.

"And I can actually draw the flowers. Which is good. Because my cow looks like something that escaped from Jurrasic Park."

[cutting_edgex23]

X's blank look returns.

"I do not know what that is."

Beat.

"Jurassic Park."

She did not have a dinosaur phase as a child.

Shockingly.

[parkerlee]

"It's a movie. About dinosaurs created in a lab. And Jeff Goldblum is in it."

Jeff Goldblum is always a plus. Even if those velociraptors had scared the crap out of Parker.

Parker holds up her paper and points to the doodle in question.

"I mean, what does it look like to you?"

[cutting_edgex23]

X's dubious expression suggests that she does not find Parker's description helpful.

But she looks at the drawing anyway, head tilting as she studies the drawing.

"I do not think it looks alive."

Maybe it's a very textured rock?

Er.

[parkerlee]

"Yeah. I suck at drawing animals. And don't even make me try people."

Laura would be immortalized as a stick figure with claws.

"The guitar turned out well, though."

Parker has had guitars (really, a certain guitar player) on the brain.

[noteful]

"Hearts, flowers, and a guitar?

"Do I need to ask what's brought on this attack of the doodles?

"Or should I say 'who'?"

[parkerlee]

Parker looks up with a completely unashamed smile.

"We're going to go up to Amarillo on Saturday."

No need to specify who the other party in that 'we' is.

Meg knows.

[noteful]

"Oh, are you?"

"And what's in Amarillo?"

[parkerlee]

"Movie theaters. Restaurants. Lots of vaguely date-like settings."

The kind you don't really get in smaller towns.

"We don't really have an itinerary. Just to go up and spend the day."

"We probably need one, though. At least a vague one."

[noteful]

"I like itineraries," Meg says.

This is likely not a surprise.

"It sounds nice, though.

"So things are going well with Luke?"

[parkerlee]

Not so much, no.

"Yeah. It'll be fun to not feel like the whole town is watching."

Not that that really bothers Parker too much.

"It is. I mean, it's only been a few weeks, but we're having fun."

[noteful]

"Fun is good.

"The whole town is really watching?"

[parkerlee]

"Probably not. It just feels that way sometimes."

Parker pauses a beat.

"At least, telling myself that I'm imagining it is comforting. So I go with it."