Work Text:
“Need some help with that?”
Mel hears Parker’s question, senses her arrival by her side right before she asks it, but it still takes a second for a response to come.
“... I actually don’t know.”
Parker breathes half a laugh in response, watching on as Mel types her code into the touchpad of the scrubs dispenser, only for her to be met with another flashing red ‘X’ pop-up and a rather grating error noise.
“You don’t know?” she repeats, both amused and a little intrigued.
Mel frowns at the machine. “I don’t know … I don’t know what’s wrong with this … This has never happened before,” she explains, mumbling softly as she dips her head in closer, trying to read something that isn’t there.
Truthfully, now that Parker has a better view of what’s going on, she doesn’t really know what the exact issue is, either. She had come to Mel’s assistance figuring it would be a usual fix - the machine has no shortage of recurring issues, after all - but the noises that are coming from the display are ones she has never heard in her four years of residency.
On the face of it, the thing just seems to be faulty. That’s the only explanation. As unreliable as it can be, there usually is more detail provided as to why it’s rejecting a request – please insert scrubs before a new pair can be issued, etc. – but no such message appears this time. No matter how slowly and carefully Mel types in the code, it just rejects her request and boots her back to the log-in screen.
Both of them stare with furrowed brows as the cycle repeats again and again.
“Let me take a look,” Parker offers quietly, curiosity piqued.
Mel steps back and Parker swipes her card – no luck. Then tries to input her details manually, but if anything, the error noise emits even louder when she does that.
“What the hell,” they both mutter simultaneously, taking a step back, accepting defeat.
Parker is just about to suggest calling maintenance when she turns to get a proper look at Mel and instantly sees why she was so desperately looking for new scrubs.
(She isn’t sure how she missed it at first, but blames the distracting noise of the machine for occupying too much of her attention.)
Mel’s scrub top and undershirt are completely saturated with some sort of liquid, soaked through the point that droplets have started to drip down to the floor. The material is clinging to her shoulders as if glued to her, no doubt making the situation even less comfortable.
Understandably, she looks miserable.
Before asking what the substance is, Parker exclaims with a genuine concern;
“You must be freezing, Mel.”
The ER is always cold, kept at a brisk temperature to prevent the spread of infection and ensure comfort for staff who wear significant amounts of PPE, but Mel is standing there without anything to keep her warm, shivering in two thin drenched layers.
“New intern accidentally popped a saline IV,” Mel elaborates through chattering teeth. “I was standing right underneath it. It’s … cold, but I’m coming up on hour fifteen so Robby said I could head home. I’m just looking for something to change into, since …” she gestures pitifully at the soaked undershirt.
“That could be a while,” Parker says regretfully, knowing the overworked maintenance team will likely be busy with machines that are deemed life-and-death. They won't have time to fix a scrubs dispenser for hours; the priority further bumped down since Mel is no longer clocked in. Feeling sympathy, she tries to come up with a solution, eventually landing on one that’s imperfect but a better option than raiding lost-and-found. “I think I’ve got something else, though.”
Mel’s eyes light up and it makes something flutter in Parker’s ribcage. With a thick swallow, mouth suddenly dry, she tries not to acknowledge it for fear it will make the feeling grow into something unmanagable. Proceeds, instead, to explain to Mel how she can help.
“I usually head to the gym after work, so I have some things in my locker – it’s just in the on-call room,” she announces, already starting to walk in that direction. Mel follows dutifully, after a brief pause to apologise to the facilities worker who is en route to clean up the spilled saline.
Parker is fortuntate to have one of the lockers tucked away from public view, a fact she is even more appreciative of now that it offers Mel some privacy without having to explain to everyone what happened. There's an easy explanation, but one Mel probably doesn't want to repeat to a dozen people as she's standing out waiting for new clothes.
Once they’re both scanned into the on-call room, Parker types her code into her locker – welcomes the absence of an error sound, even though she knew none was coming – and rifles through the contents of her gym bag before fishing out a towel and hoodie for Mel to wear.
As she turns to hand it to her, she notices Mel’s frown.
“Does this mean you can’t go to the gym now?”
Parker smiles. “Don’t worry about it, Mel. I live like five minutes away, I can head back later. But honestly, this shift has been … tough, so I might just take this as a sign of the universe to take the night off.”
“You’re sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
“This isn’t disrupting your plans?”
Parker shakes her head. “No, but you becoming hypothermic will definitely interfere with yours, so please, take it. You can give it back our next shift together.”
Mel’s relief is palpable, washing through her as she exhales. “Okay. Okay, thank you, Parker. I really appreciate it.”
She takes the items with a smile, hanging the hoodie on a hook over the back of the door and using the towel to wring out some of the saline in her hair. Parker diverts her attention to re-arranging the items in her locker before shutting it and turning around to head back out.
The sight she is met with does not help in her fight against the fluttering sensation.
Wide-eyed, Parker watches as Mel lifts the scrub top up over her head, rucking up her undershirt and exposing a few inches of skin above her waistband. As her eyes land on Mel’s navel, Parker is suddenly gripped by the urge to fall to her knees right now, to kiss around and below it, down, down, down until she –
Oh no.
That really doesn’t help things.
Mel seems completely oblivious to the effect this is having on Parker; she smiles pleasantly while setting the scrub top aside, using the towel to swipe off the few remaining droplets trickling down her neck and over her collarbones.
This is far from the first time Parker has seen her in this light. She’s had these feelings for a while, has stopped denying their existence outright and instead focused her efforts on suppressing them. Not because they wouldn’t be a good match – the opposite is true, she thinks with some dismay – but because their work arrangements would certainly complicate things.
But sometimes, when Mel covers nights and they’re sharing an all-too-brief coffee break together, and she laughs a little too hard at one of Parker’s jokes to the point she starts coughing on her cappuccino, she thinks the feelings might be reciprocated.
Oh no.
Parker needs to leave before the undershirt goes too. If she has any hope at all of fighting back this crush - reminds herself that she doesn’t date coworkers - then she absolutely, categorically cannot see any more of Mel’s clothes hit the floor.
She makes some incredibly half-hearted excuse about having to go log a maintenance ticket for the scrubs machine and takes a step toward the door –
It could just be her mind playing tricks on her, wishful thinking at its most cruel and indulgent, but for a moment, Parker swears she sees something that looks an awful lot like disappointment dance across Mel’s face.
Disappointed at the prospect of Parker walking out that door and leaving her alone. A wish that she’d stay here with her, help her out of these clothes …
It very nearly wears down her resolve, would probably have done so successfully were it not for Mel’s quick recovery. Back to smiling, she thanks Parker again, voice cheerful and sincere.
“No problem, Mel,” she replies too quickly, making a beeline to get back out to the floor. As she shuts the door behind her, she makes a mental note to stop by her apartment to pick up a new towel and hoodie before the gym – she was going to skip it, but can’t, now. Needs the catharsis more than ever before.
____
Mel: Hi Parker, it’s Mel!
Mel: Just texting because Abbot mentioned you’re out of town next week – I’m on days until then, is there anywhere that suits to meet so I can drop your hoodie back?
Mel: Thanks so much again, by the way!
Parker smiles at her phone, more than a little relieved to be reading these texts. Though she had been warning herself that her friendship with Mel was veering too close to something more for a while now, that’s all fine in theory – in practice, Parker missed her. Feels glad that she has the opportunity to meet up with her before she heads on her break.
She’s in the middle of typing her answer when another message pings through.
Mel: I remember you mentioning that you live near the hospital, so I can stop by your place if you’re not working?
Parker sucks in a breath as she reads the text three times over.
Is all of a sudden filled with the mix of emotions that usually come with giving in to temptation, satisfaction and shame in one – which makes no sense, because Mel is just offering to drop her hoodie back. Nobody is giving in to anything.
Except that she could, if she really wanted to, tell Mel that they should meet somewhere else. A café, or the hospital parking lot. Not here.
But she doesn’t want to do that.
Oh, she doesn’t date coworkers, she reminds herself. Doesn’t entertain crushes on colleagues, goes to extensive efforts to keep her work and personal life separate.
However, right now, she is not really sure why she ever made that promise to herself.
It would be one thing to have an ill-advised hookup on a night out, but this feels different. They’re not strangers. They know each other well; so well.
She can’t think of a single convincing reason to refuse Mel’s offer.
If nothing happens, so be it. They have a solid friendship outside of this, and Parker would be more than content with keeping things as they are.
And if something does happen, then –
Parker: Sure, if it’s not too much trouble
Parker: Here’s my address [location pin]
—
Parker has long thought that she and Mel have a good read on each other.
Since that first night they worked together, they move in tandem in how they approach cases, methodical yet efficient. Both of them more intentional, more careful in how they approach things than most others. Perceptive of what the other needs and wants. Sometimes, it’s as though they know what the other is thinking without even having to ask.
And so it’s really not too surprising that within ten minutes of arriving at the apartment, Mel ends up balanced carefully on Parker’s lap with a vibrator pressed to her clit and her head thrown back in a moan against Parker’s shoulder.
“Oh, oh, that feels good, that feels -- oh my god,” Mel gasps out, spine arching but kept steady by Parker’s other arm caging her in, a firm grip on her waist to keep her close.
Parker settles back into the pillows propped up against the headboard, trying to let her shoulders relax somewhat so she can better respond to Mel’s movements. Although she had mentally prepared for this possibility – or thought she had, at least – she is far more exhilerated than she had expected, full of adrenaline, having to remind herself that this is actually happening in real life and not just in a dream, and to keep the vibrator in place as she feels Mel rock back and forth against her bare thigh. Her heart is pounding at what feels like a thousand beats a minute, desire coursing through her to the point she’s starting to feel a little light-headed.
Feels somewhat reassured at the fact that Mel is too blissed-out to take any notice.
Parker’s fingers are slick from where she’s been circling the vibrator around Mel’s puffy clit, slow and precise movements that have her choking out desperate little noises, pleas for more, just like that, fuck, Parker, please, that feels so good –
A pause as Parker thinks through the next steps.
The toy is suddenly lifted away and Mel cries out, mourning the loss of sensation. It’s only temporary, though, and out of necessity; Parker has an idea for something that will elevate things. As always, she can read Mel, knows what she needs from her.
More to the point, this new position will give them both a better shot at maintaining some semblance of focus.
Carefully, she shifts Mel off of her lap – another soft cry of objection, but a kiss to the nape of her neck soon cuts it off – helping her down onto the mattress so she is seated comfortably between Parker’s thighs. Manoevers Mel’s legs so they’re resting on top of Parker’s, spreading her open, the cool air kissing her wet and aching cunt for just a moment before the vibrator is clicked on again.
This time, Parker’s other hand slips between Mel’s legs as well, her middle and ring finger slowly pushing into her folds, milimeter by milimeter until they can’t go any further. Mel’s breath hitches when they’re pulled out before sliding back in again, fucking her at the exact pace she needs.
“Higher?”
“Hm?” comes Mel’s dazed reply, blinking rapidly when she realises that Parker just asked her something.
“Want the speed up higher?” Parker clarifies with a grin, “Or is this good?”
“Oh - oh - ah, this is good,” a pause to gasp at a particularly satisfying curl of fingers inside her, “But I guess – I guess a little higher?”
Another click of the vibrator and Mel’s thighs start to shake, core clenching around Parker’s fingers.
Mel feels it start to build then, deep and low and pleasantly warm, and with another cry of Parker’s name, she’s coming undone, instinctively reaching out to grab hold of Parker as the waves wash over her.
“I know, I know,” Parker whispers in response to Mel’s muffled whispers about how good it feels, about how she wants this to last forever.
The vibrator is brought back to its original speed after a few moments, allowing Mel to breathe somewhat normally again.
But it doesn’t budge. Even as the aftershocks subsist, Mel’s skin warm and slick with sweat as she collapses against Parker’s chest, the toy stays right where it was.
Before any questions come, Parker whispers out a statement that sounds an awful lot like a plea:
“We can go again. You can do another, Mel, I know you can.”
Oversensitivity is starting to set in and Mel doesn’t know if she can meet these expectations, as much as she wants to exceed them. “I don’t know if – I don’t know if I can, I’ve never tried for one right after another – what if I can’t?”
“Then we stop. Just say the word, and we can take a break,” Parker says, achingly tender. Mel leans her head back and their eyes meet, and that action alone brings about immediate reassurance.
“I don’t want to take a break yet,” Mel whispers, eyes flicking between Parker’s eyes and her mouth.
Parker dips her head to kiss her then, ghosting the vibrator over her clit softly so as to ease into this.
Pacing. That’s all they need to work out. They already have a base of trust and attraction and affection and everything else needed to make something like this feel so effortless; they just need to make sure they stay on the same page.
The kiss is messy, teeth clashing at one point and then it’s mostly tongue, but it’s never uncoordinated. Messy is what they need, what they both want.
Soon, Mel’s hips are shifting in tandem with the toy again. The overload of stimulation from earlier is starting to be replaced by that delicious build, like gentle flames licking up against her.
They both feel more relaxed now; still turned on to the point it almost hurts, but more familiar with the movements of each other’s bodies, more at ease now that they’ve silently agreed that this is absolutely not a one-night thing.
Every time Mel starts to overthink, she is hit with another crescendo, elevating her to a plane she never thought achievable.
And for Parker, the sight of Mel looking up at her like that, tears in her waterline and mouth in a perfect o shape, proves too much to manage without any relief. Keeping the vibrator steady with her right hand, pressing with perfect pressure against Mel’s cunt, she slips her free hand down to touch herself, matching the pace of the other.
Mel is still sitting between Parker’s thighs so she feels the movement against her back, knows that Parker is joining her. Hears Mel stop breathing for a moment as she realising what's happening.
Though she is past the point of being able to have a detailed conversation, through moans and whispers of “holy shit, holy shit, I want you to come, I want to feel you coming with me, please”, it is more than clear that is what pushes Mel into her second orgasm of the night. She comes with a silent gasp, gripping Parker's hand as she does so.
Parker had been so turned on for so long that it didn’t take more than a few sweeps of her fingers to have her following Mel, pulsing and shivering and stringing together words of adoration that probably are not even leaving her lips. Comes so intensely that her mind blanks as the sensation spreads through every nerve ending in her body.
Eventually takes a breath, opens her eyes. Tries to return to some semblance of normalcy but still feels the effects rippling through.
It takes another ten or so seconds for Parker to remember to turn off the vibrator. Another ten before she's able to summon the strength to do so.
They lie there together for a few minutes, just breathing. Mel falls back against Parker’s chest, Parker pressing soft kisses into her hair. Tired and warm but perfectly content with staying here a while, all night, maybe longer.
And when Parker moves next, it’s not to put the vibrator away in her bedside locker – instead, she just plugs it back in to charge.