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Society just had too many rules. Half of them were making life boring and the other half of them seemed to change by the minute, anyway. How often she heard things like “You can't do that, Parker.” or “People don't do this” and of course: “Parker. Don't. Just don't.”
They all did it. Only Sophie normally tried to explain to her, why “one shouldn't do this and that”. This time, however, even Sophie seemed to be at a loss. Explanation wise. And Parker just didn't get it.
“What?” She raised her Arms and looked at the others expectantly.
“Parker, what did you ...” Nate let the sentence trail off and came closer, slowly as if he expected her to pull a gun at him or something crazy like that. She would never ... Okay, that one time after their first job together when she didn't get paid and was really angry about it and all that - but that was a long time ago. NOW she would never pull a gun ...
“Parker. Is that hair dye?”
“Sure.” Parker picked up the boxing and threw it towards Sophie, little splats of dye splashing on the ground with her sudden movement.
Hardison ducked to the side to avoid a little splash of dye and then slowly came towards her.
“Is he ...” Again the sentence never came to an end.
That was a very annoying habit they all seemed to have particularly often around her. Parker had no idea how she was supposed to answer anything or even get what they were talking about when no one ever finished their sentence. However, right now, she had more important things to take care off.
“What?” Hardison jumped a little, when she nearly shouted out the question. Something she probably shouldn't have done, judging from the fact that her toy started to move.
“Well, he isn't dead ...” Hardison sounded extremely cheery about that fact. Why would he even consider otherwise? Parker made a mental note that she would think about this later or maybe even ask him. Right now? More pressing matters to attend to. She wasn't quite finished yet.
“No ... no. I .. “ Nate shook his head and walked around the sofa towards her. “You know how it was a stressful couple of days and how he got more and more agitated and aggressive? Ah ... Turns out he had been going for a couple of days without any sleep. So I thought it might be a good idea ... You know ...”
“What? You drugged him?”
“No, man. That is so wrong!”
“No, not drugged him. I just ... Yeah, I did. Just ... A little, you know? Just enough to make him relax. He fell asleep immediately. That wasn't the pills I gave him. He was just overtired. He needed the sleep, so ...”
Again, Nate stopped midsentence.
“Did he agree to that?”
Parker wasn't good in reading people, but she could read that Sophie was very concerned.
“Yeah, well ... we talked about him sleeping and ... Uhm ... no.”
“Oh, he's gonna kill you, man. Kill you! Why did you ... That is so wrong!”
“Hardison, it was for the best. For all of us.”
“All done!” Parker looked down at her work and nodded contentedly. She hadn't paid too much attention to the conversation of the rest of the team and now that she was finished and had time to actually take part in the conversation, no one said anything. Again. She didn't quite get, what everyone's problem was.
Her little project moved again and groaned a little, so Parker decided it probably was time to get up and away. At least out of arms reach. It had seemed a good idea at the time but now she wasn't quite as sure anymore.
“What the ...” Eliot murmured sleepily and pushed himself in a sitting position. The plastic cover, Parker used to keep the sofa from getting stained made quiet little noises that seemed loud since everyone else was very quiet. Somehow, it was as if they all stopped breathing. “Nate!” Eliot barked immediately jumping to his feet - although it took him a moment to find his balance.
“Eliot. Calm down. Don't do anything rush ...”
“Calm down? You drugged me! You don't con your own team; you don't drug your teammates. Haven't we learned that lesson, yet?”
“Ah ... Eliot. You might want to ... Go wash your hair.” Sophie smiled a little and gestured towards the stairs. “Quickly. Go. Now.”
“What? Why would I ...”
Again one of those unfinished sentences. Annoying habit. She would have to teach them to speak more clearly around her.
“Is that ... What is that smell?” Eliot suddenly asked.
“You can't tell? Oh, but it's a very distinctive smell...” Hardison explained in an overly dark voice.
Sophie lifted her hand a little and showed him the box that she was still holding on to.
“Hair dye? Purple? Seriously? Dammit, Hardison!”
“Me? Oh, hold on! Why do you always blame me, Eliot? I didn't dye your hair. I had nothing to do with it. Ask Parker ...”
“Parker? You probably put her up to that. Dammit. All of you.” Eliot stormed off without another word.
“Well, at least it's not a permanent color!” Sophie shouted after him in an apologetic voice. “Parker. What were you thinking?"
“What's wrong?” Parker shrugged a little “I thought the color might suit him. I just wanted to try it.”
“No, see ... You can't just go around and dye someone's hair without them even knowing about it.” Nate shook his head, but a smile tugged on his lips. Hardison showed a wide grin on his face - he clearly had fun. And Sophie ... She seemed rather uncertain what to say and changed between a shocked expression and a smile before she finally shook her head and turned away to get rid of the packaging.
“Eliot has dark hair and it wasn't really on long enough for the hair to take the color in. If we're lucky, he won't come back down and kill us all. Seriously, Parker. Don't do stuff like that.”
There it was again. And again, she wasn't too sure, why they all made such a great deal out of it.
“Why not?”