CMA Music Festival, Nashville, TN, Saturday night

[vdistinctive]

It was hot and muggy and extremely crowded. The final act of the night -- Carrie Underwood -- was taking the stage and the crowd, exhausted but buzzing from a full day in the sun, still managed to let out one hell of a roar.

Eliot, Hardison, and Parker were up high in the back of the stadium, kicking back, in part to get away from the crowds, and in part to give Hardison room to get his eye rolling and and terrible country accents out of his system before he managed to get someone to throw a swing at him.

Again. Throw a swing at him again. Eliot had already finished two fights for Hardison since they got to town, and as much as he enjoyed it, they were trying to keep at least a little bit of a low profile. Country music could have a long memory, and there were still a few hardcore "Craniacs" out there who might recognize his one-hit-wonder persona.

[ooc: for the blonde one, the other one being permissibly modded.]

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[vdistinctive]

Eliot stood up to welcome Kaye Lynn with a big hug -- and was pulled into a very enthusiastic kiss.

Mmm. She always was good at that.

"Parker," Kaye Lynn said over his shoulder when she was done. "Hardison. I had no idea you folks were gonna be in town!"

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker reached for Hardison's hand to find him reaching back. That helped.

SHE WAS HAVING FEELINGS. SHE HATED THOSE.

"We're here with Eliot. Kind of a mini-vacation." Hardison got him those tickets. And.

Right. And what?

"...you look good?" Kissing Eliot.

[vdistinctive]

Right, so. This was awkward. "Yeah, uh. We're. Um." Eliot frowned.

He'd never had to deal with this sort of situation before.

"So you're not here to save another up and comin' country star, huh?" Kaye Lynn said, either oblivious to or outright ignoring the awkward. "Well, I guess that's a relief."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"You don't need saving, do you?" Parker leaned into Hardison, aware of his fingers lacing with hers. "Or, wait. Are you - performing?" She shot Eliot a look, wondering if he had been missing the music. Or Kaye Lynn herself.

[vdistinctive]

"Me? Here?" Kaye Lynn shook her head. "Naw, my brother'n I haven't made it that far just yet. We're on our way, though, all thanks to you." She looked at Eliot, smiled, then looked over at Parker and Hardison again to include them in the thanks.

Eliot shrugged, full on 'aw shucks' mode. "I keep tellin' you, Kaye Lynn, that's all you."

"If you say so." Kaye Lynn smiled up at him again, clearly anticipating another fling. Eliot tried not to grimace. "I should get you a copy of our latest single. It's called 'Promises'."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Was that Hardison's teeth grinding, or hers?

"So," Parker said, sure her voice might be too loud, but just then Carrie Underwear started singing. Maybe it wasn't noticeable? "You're still living in Memphis? How's your brother?"

[vdistinctive]

"Good!" Kaye Lynn pulled a half-step back again, turning to look at Parker properly. "Real good. He still can't play, but he's writin' music usin' his computer these days. We actually sold a backing track to Carrie's people, one we didn't have lyrics for. I hear she's going to use it on her next album!"

"That's great!" Eliot said, taking the opportunity to move back to his seat next to Parker. Kaye Lynn sat down on the back of the row in front of them, body still angled towards Eliot though she did a better job of addressing all three of them, now. "How's the lawsuit against Kirkwood goin'?"

"Slow as all hell," Kaye Lynn sighed. "Our lawyer said the murder trial is what's makin' it take so long. We got enough to cover expenses, though, even includin' my brother's hospital bills, and record sales are goin' up, so I can't complain too much."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Cool. I'm glad he's doing better." Hearing all that put Parker in a slightly better mood, reminding her that she did like Kaye Lynn when they first met her, and she was *really* glad Kirkwood was probably suffering through that trial. "We should check on that," she mused aloud. "Just to make sure it's going okay..." She bumped her shoulder into Hardison's, so he'd know what to research when they got back to the hotel. "We're based out of Baltimore now. If you really need us."

Internally, she was having a What Would Sophie Or Tara Do? moment.

[vdistinctive]

"Baltimore, huh?" Kaye Lynn winked at Eliot. "That's even almost the south."

Eliot sighed. "No," he said. "It's a whole other universe."

"Poor southern boy," Kaye Lynn teased. "So where are Nate and Sophie? I can't quite picture them rocking out down in the crowd."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Was Eliot still southern if he left the south U.S.? Was that a thing?

"They got engaged, and decided to leave the firm," Parker said, tucking her feet under her. Carrie Whoever was singing really well, to be honest. About wrecking some guy's 4x4 with a bat and some knives. Sing it, Carrie! "They're in Portland, Sophie's directing community theater and stuff."

[vdistinctive]

That was like asking if Sophie was still British when she left the UK.

"When they're not tooling around on Nate's boat," Eliot said. "Parker's our mastermind, now."

Kaye Lynn shook her head. "Wow. You folks really do get all over, don't ya."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Was she? Parker wasn't really clear on that, either.

"Yup. We do. All over." There was no innuendo to put into that. Although she kind of wanted to try. "We were in Florida for a job a while ago, and we're looking into some others." All of them. All three of them. Yup.

[vdistinctive]

"Florida!" Kaye Lynn marveled. "You know, I hadn't even made it outta Tennessee before you folks helped me out."

Eliot smiled. "You'd've found a way to, anyway," he said. "But hell, look at you now. I fully expect to see you on that stage, next year."

Kaye Lynn grinned back. "It ain't too unlikely."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

...maybe they should leave Eliot to catch up with Kaye Lynn? Maybe they should invite her to join them for the rest of the evening? Ack. Parker was feeling very superfluous to this conversation.

Carrie was singing about a Cowboy Casanova and Parker wondered if the singer was psychic.

"We've been enjoying the festival. A lot. Nobody's recognized Eliot for sure, yet. And Hardison only almost got beat up once."

[vdistinctive]

"Twice," Eliot said. "I caught the second guy before you guys noticed."

". . . Is this something that happens a lot?" Kaye Lynn asked.

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker wrapped an arm around Hardison, who was starting to make his stuttering-in-protest sounds.

"More often than it should. People just don't understand him." She had to smile at Eliot. "Thank you."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot smiled back. "No trouble, darlin'. It's my job."

Kaye Lynn looked from Eliot to Parker, her eyes widening just a little. "Ohhhhh."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Ohhhh what?" Parker was now looking from Kaye Lynn to Eliot. Hardison was preserving a dignified silence (kind of).

[vdistinctive]

"You two --" Kaye Lynn pointed between Eliot and Parker. "I mean, I always thought you two --" She pointed towards Hardison, then looked back at Eliot and tilted her head.

"Yeeeah." Eliot ran a hand through his hair. "'Bout that. . . ."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"We were," Parker blurted, gesturing between herself and Hardison. "And, uh. We are?" Annnnd... "Eliot is..."

Really, they should have thought of how to explain this to people who knew them before this.

[vdistinctive]

"Nope." Kaye Lynn raised her hands. "You don't need to explain anything to me. Just -- mighta been nice to know before I kissed you."

Eliot smirked faintly. "In the two seconds we said each other's names?"

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker relaxed, and she thought she could feel Hardison taking a deep breath. Good. Yay. That was -- simpler. Than trying to hide it. Yes.

"It's okay. He kisses a lot of people."

[vdistinctive]

"Not, like, a lot," Eliot protested.

Kaye Lynn laughed. "Let me get you that single. We can keep catching up while this place empties out."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"An' lemme know what program your brother uses for his music," Hardison said, fingers relaxing around Parker's. "I'll let you know if there are any better ones out there."

There were a lot of high-end, professional ones available, after all. Sure, most of them were expensive as all get out, but that was why it was always good to have a hacker in your back pocket.

[vdistinctive]

Kaye Lynn shrugged. "It's nothin' special. We're tryin' to save most of our money."

Eliot laughed. "Yeah, Hardison can work around that. Don't worry."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Payin' for software," Hardison said at the same time. "That's just adorable."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker snickered, then smothered it. "Your stuff will be the best," she said, grinning up at Hardison, feeling lighter. "And you're-- a friend. We wouldn't charge you."

Steal for you, though!