Title: a different kind of brave
Fandom: Leverage
Characters/Pairing: Parker/Eliot Spencer (background OT3)
Length: 700 words
Rating: G
Warnings: no warnings apply
Notes: Takes place after season 5 of Leverage but before Leverage: Redemption.
Summary: Hardison is away for a week and Parker doesn’t want to get out of bed. Eliot cooks...



A ray of bright sunlight pierced through the narrow space between the curtains. Parker grabbed her phone off the bedside table and checked for new messages. Nothing since Alec had texted her before bed the night before. She frowned. Eliot was already out of bed. The coolness of the sheets on the side he’d been sleeping on told her that he’d been up for a while. Parker closed her eyes. She didn't want to get up. She wanted to sleep until Alec got back from his trip. It was only supposed to be six days. Six days in bed was perfectly reasonable.

"Parker, it's three o'clock in the afternoon," Eliot said in one of his many different grumpy voices. She was pretty sure this particular grumpy voice meant that he missed Alec too.

Parker pulled the pillow from behind her head and covered her face with it. "I don't care," she mumbled. She felt the bed dip as Eliot sat down beside her. He was probably going to try to convince her that she should get up and do something with what was left of the day. Parker was filled with too many sharp and spiky feelings to do anything remotely useful. It just wasn't going to happen.

"I made doughnuts,” Eliot said.

Parker sat up quickly and almost crashed into Eliot. "The fried kind or the baked kind?"

"Fried." Eliot brushed the hair out of her face, kissed her neck, and whispered in her ear. "With icing."

She gasped. "And sprinkles?"

"What do you take me for, an amateur? Of course with sprinkles."

She pushed the big fluffy blanket aside. "Okay, I guess I can get out of bed for doughnuts."

"Hey, who said anything about getting up?" Eliot pulled the blanket back up over her.

Parker hugged the blanket to her chest. You're not going to make me get out of bed?"

"I just want you to eat something." Eliot gave her a kiss. "You don't have to get out of bed to eat." He stood up. "I'll be back in a minute," Eliot said.

Less than a minute later he returned with a big tray. He placed it down on the bed, went around to the other side, and got in next to her. "There's hot cocoa for you, coffee for me, and I brought the tablet so we can watch some of those videos you like."

Parker clapped excitedly. "The cute animal videos?"

"Yeah, I know how you like those." Eliot handed her the tablet, put her mug of cocoa on the table next to her, and took a sip of his coffee.

"I thought you were going to make me be brave and get out of bed." Parker chose a doughnut with the pink icing and took a bite. "Mmm..." It was strawberry.

“There are different ways of being brave." Eliot picked a maple frosted doughnut.

"Like staying in bed, eating homemade treats, and watching cute videos with someone you love?"

"Exactly like that."

"So, I don't have to pretend that I'm not worried about Alec?"

"Nope." Eliot put down his coffee. "Parker, Hardison is gonna be fine. You know that, right?"

"I do know that - objectively and stuff, but I can't help worrying anyway." With the hand not currently holding the strawberry frosted doughnut, Parker picked up one with chocolate frosting and took a bite. "Like, what if something happens? I hate not being there to save him."

"Yeah, I feel you on that one, but he's a grown man and we've got to let him do stuff on his own sometimes. Just like we do our own stuff from time to time."

"Like eat doughnuts in bed?"

"Not what I was thinking, but sure, like eating doughnuts in bed." Eliot licked a spot of frosting off her cheek. Parker picked out a video of a cat playing on a piano for them to start with. It was adorable.

The two of them stayed in bed together until the sun went down and they got hungry again. Then they moved to the living room, spread out on the sofa, and ordered pizza. They ate while watching bad movies until the sun came up once again.