fandomtownies | The park, Friday afternoon

Entry tags:

The park, Friday afternoon

It was a beautiful day, and there was nothing in particular that needed doing, so Eliot brought Val out to the park to run around and play a bit of ball.

He felt good. Just -- light and happy. And yeah, he knew this wasn't normal, that a guy like him didn't just get up one morning and throw off the weight of almost 20 years of horror and death. He knew Parker and Hardison were worried about it -- hell, the whole island knew that, thanks to the radio. But he didn't care. It all just slid off him. Sure, he'd lashed out a couple of times, lost his grip on his usually iron-tight self-control, but it was important to just let loose sometimes, too. That's all it was: letting loose.

There was one other time in Eliot's adult life that he'd "let loose". The thought of it, what he'd done, who he'd become working for Moreau, usually made him want to be sick, but it barely twinged, now. He tested it, calling up names and faces, final words and last, desperate expressions, poking at what usually felt like raw wounds in his memory -- and hardly felt it at all.

Val barked when Eliot laughed, dropping her ball and gamboling around his feet, enjoying his mood as much as he did. Eliot scooped up the ball and waved it in front of her.

"You ready, girl? Your next retrieval mission?"

Val barked again, leaping up as though to grab it, though she was clever enough to know that chasing was the best part. "Alright," Eliot said, tossing the ball from hand to hand and giving it a nice spin before pitching it across the clearing. "Go get it!"

[ooc: is park. is open. is for occaaaaaaasional slow play while I creep desperately towards vacation.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kenzi had been enjoying the last two days of having a Ring of Invisibility and Inaudibility more than should have been humanly possible. Sneaking around, watching people wonder why something she moved was in a different place, giggling as she followed people into places, picking up small things as she wandered around: life was awesome.

And there was one of her bosses! With his puppy! Let's see what happens! Sneak sneak sneak sneak....

Eliot was the sort of person who could notice depressions in the grass or changes in air currents -- but he wasn't exactly on high alert, here. Nothing had happened yet that didn't fall into the "probably ducks or something" category, so he didn't notice a thing.

Val, on the other hand, had just caught wind of someone who smelled super awesome. She spun towards Kenzi, panting and excited -- then froze, ears cocked. Where was the person?! She barked, spinning in a circle. WHERE WAS THE PERSON!

Whoa shit. Apparently the ring didn't make her un-smellable. Kenzi froze, one eye on Eliot, the other on the puppy.

But see, she loved puppies!

"Who's a good girl?" she asked the puppy, who couldn't hear her, before she remembered that and smacked her forehead.

"Val," Eliot called, watching his dog scramble around, her nose on the ground. "The hell you doing? The ball's over there."

Val had zeroed in on that scent, now, and was starting to make a beeline for Kenzi's location. WHERE'S THE PERSON!

Awww, man. Kenzi was about to say "shoo." Really. Even though the dog couldn't hear her.

Instead she got on her knees and held out her hand to Val, grinning. "You know better, don't you Val? Yes you do!"

Val still didn't know why she couldn't see or hear the person, but she was perfectly willing to run headfirst into that hand and get petted by said person. She yipped again, closing her eyes and flopping over onto her back. HELLO INVISIBLE PERSON!

Eliot just kind of watched, vaguely baffled. "You're rolling in something dead, aren't you."

Kenzi cracked up, delighted that Eliot had no idea what was going on. Scritching behind Val's ears, she said, "He's a big silly, isn't he? A total silly." Belly rub!

Dognapping would not go over well, but man, was she tempted. She'd taken extra good care of Puppy Joe that one time!

Dognapping would likely get Kenzi hunted down. Eliot would find something distinctive to track her with, invisible ring or no.

For now, he just threw up his hands as Val continued to wriggle around gleefully on what appeared to him to be an otherwise normal patch of park.

Then Val decided her new invisible friend needed to throw her ball for her, which got Eliot staring again. Rolling around on the ground was one thing. Bringing a ball over to an empty spot was quite another.

"Wuh-oh." Okay, even invisible, Eliot would likely notice if the ball threw itself. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe if she just -- rolled it? He'd think Val knocked it away?

"Get the ball!" And roooooooooll!

Val gave a little huff, the puppy version of an eyeroll. She picked up the very unexciting ball and brought it back over.

Try again, invisible human!

Eliot started over, perplexed. "The hell're you doin', dog?"

Okay, this probably wasn't smart, but... Kenzi snickered, leaning low over the puppy, and watched for Eliot to look away, look away, c'mon, look over there...

She thought he was distracted, but it was probably just the usual bad judgment kicking in as she threw the ball as far as she could.

Yeah, that was not a strong choice you made there, Kenzi. Eliot's expression darkened and he stormed towards the spot where Kenzi had thrown the ball from, even as Val barked happily and dashed away. "Don't know what the hell you are," he growled. "But if you're solid enough to throw a ball, you're solid enough to hit."

OOPS. Kenzi crab-walked sideways, trying to get to her feet. "All I did was play with your puppy, dude!"

And if Eliot could hear you, he might understand that, Kenzi.

Eliot reached the spot where Val had been rolling and stopped, looking suspiciously around. When that yielded nothing, he closed his eyes, concentrating -- and didn't hear a damn thing, either. Dammit.

He turned in place, looking around, but the park was too well traveled, the grass too beaten down to track anything yet.

Val came dashing back with the ball, looking up at Eliot, then around.

Where'd her new friend go?

Her new friend had taken the moment to book it out of there, thanks, when Eliot's eyes had been shut, and any mistakes she made could be missed.

On the other side of the park, she took a deep breath and slipped the ring off, coming back into view. "Phew."

Note to self: avoid puppies while invisible. (Awww.)

"This is just damn unnatural," Hardison muttered, watching Eliot play with Val. Never, in the six years that they'd known each other, ever seen Eliot this relaxed, this happy. Sure, he'd seen Eliot in good moods, seen him take it easy, even seen him laugh, but never like this.

Even wise-cracking at Parker couldn't stop the weird lurch in his heart at seeing it. On the one hand, seeing Eliot illuminated by an inner joy was almost beautiful. On the other hand, it was like he'd just said--unnatural. Where had it come from and how did it fit in with the hurting and the trip to Geneva?

And why the hell couldn't people be more like computer programs so that when weird things started happening, he could just check the code to see what was wrong and how to fix it?

"Yo, Eliot!" he called, raising a hand and jogging over to where he and Val were playing. "You got a thing for wet shoes and mud or something?"

Also adding insult to injury: the outdoors.

Eliot shrugged with a smile. "I do when there's a puppy to play with," he said.

Or when he could go fishing or camping or when he just felt like a hike. Nothing wrong with a little mud.

Apart from its everything?

"Smells weird out here," he bitched, oddly hesitant to ruin Eliot's good mood. He was still ticked, yeah, but the spectacle of seeing Eliot in a great mood was throwing him off--and the sight of an unshadowed smile on Eliot's face looked really good there. It was something Hardison had never seen. "Someone's gonna need to hose the both of you down before you're allowed in anyplace civilized."

Eliot rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Let me guess, you've got a video game for playin' fetch with a dog." Val came trotting up to Hardison, tail wagging, and dropped a thoroughly drool soaked tennis ball on his foot. "Somehow I don't think she'll like that as much."

"Seriously, Megabyte? Seriously?" Hardison made a face as he bent over to pick up the squishy ball, then flung it off into the park. Nowhere near as far as Eliot could throw it (of course), but certainly hard enough to get spattered in the face by some of the water that flew off. "Augh, blech, man. That's nasty. And naw, I wouldn't have a video game. I'd build a robot or something. At least for the winter."

And spring. And late fall. And any rainy days during the summer...

"But it looks like you're having a great time, Bear Grylls."

Eliot snorted. Bear Grylls had nothing on him. He'd like to see Man v. Warzone, some time. "Exercise, Hardison. You should try it sometime. It's good for you."

"I work out!" Hardison protested. Had you not seen his arms or chest, Eliot? If you needed a demonstration, that could be arranged.

...In the comfort of a house, though. Not outside in the elements like some kind of barbarian.

"I work out plenty, man!"

Actually, Eliot made an effort not to notice those things. They were distracting. "Outside," he suggested. "Accomplishing actual things."

Lifting weights had its place, but there was nothing like a good brisk run. When the local preserve wasn't looking diseased, anyway.

"Man, what're you supposed to accomplish outside?" Hardison sniffed. "All of history has been the move inside, where you can be comfortable while gettin' shit done." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, I was just outside yesterday. Parker and I went cliff-jumping."

AND IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT, ELIOT. ALL OF IT.

That got Eliot's attention. The glee on his face switched over to a more usual frown of concern -- though it was missing the grumpiness that usually lurked under all of his expressions. "You went cliff-jumping."

"It's a thing I do with Parker sometimes," Hardison said, and his lips thinned a bit. "Especially when she's already worried and upset about something."

Gee, that wasn't a pointed comment or anything, really.

"Wait, what's wrong with Parker?" Eliot asked, then remembered the radio broadcast and sighed. "Right, sorry. Me bein' in a good mood is too spooky for you two."

"It's weird," Hardison conceded. "But not as weird as you hurting Parker. And leaving bruises on the busboy."

Could you feel how disappointed in you he is, Eliot? Can you?

Of course he could. It wasn't like Hardison was subtle about it.

"The hell're you talking about? I barely touched either of 'em."

Yeah, Hardison wasn't great at subtle. See: the Ice Man.

"Tell that to the black an' blue mark on the kid in the diner," he countered. "Or the red mark on Parker's wrist."

Eliot scowled. It was amazing how quickly Hardison could destroy his mood. The guy just kept shoving that weight back on Eliot's shoulders.

This was exactly why he used to work alone.

"They shouldn't've gotten up in my face."

Okay, even he hated himself a little for that.

'His jaw dropped' was a phrase used quite often to connote surprise. But it was rare that someone was so taken aback that such a thing actually occurred. And yet, right here, right now? This was Hardison and this was Hardison's gaping jaw.

"Seriously?" he yelped. "Did you just--I know I didn't--I cannot even believe--are you serious, man?!"

It was okay, Eliot. Hardison was gonna give you another chance to reply. Because that couldn't possibly have been what you meant to say. It was all this fresh air. Made a man hallucinate.

"Parker was pokin' me in the neck."

And Eliot just kept digging.

"What, man, so?" ELIOT. ELIOT, WHY WERE YOU NOT TAKING THE OUT HARDISON HAD GIVEN YOU? "That's her thing, it's what she does! She shows affection all weirdly, you know that! How does that give you the right to hurt her?!"

"I didn't!" He couldn't have. If he'd hurt Parker, he'd be feeling bad about it, he was pretty damn sure of that, weird new detachment not withstanding. It was Parker. No one hurt Parker and got away with it, not even him.

Except he wasn't sure, all of the sudden. He couldn't remember how hard he'd grabbed her. And that was freaking him right out. His hand came up automatically, tangling in the cord of his necklace. He took a breath, steadying himself.

"All I did was make her stop pokin' me. She needs to learn to keep outta my space."

"Have you forgotten who we're talking about?" Hardison demanded. "This is Parker. Getting in your space is what she does! You've been okay with it for six years. What the hell is this now that it's suddenly okay to hurt her to get her to stop?"

"If I'd hurt her that bad, she'd've said somethin'." Except she had said something. Eliot gave his claw a squeeze and let it go, pointing in Hardison's face instead. "And I apologized!" There. See? He'd handled that situation.

Hardison was starting to understand why Nate drank so damn much.

"And the busboy?" he asked. "You don't think it's weird that twice in a week you accidentally hurt someone? That's not what you do, Eliot! You're too dangerous to be this damn careless!"

"The busboy is an idiot." Who woke a guy like Eliot up by touching him? Come on, now. "If you think I'm so outta control, why're you standin' here talking to me, huh? I might go off the rails and punch you, too."

Actually, it was pretty tempting. Much more so than it had been in years, in fact. Eliot grabbed onto the claw again and spun, stomping off a couple feet, his free hand clenching at his side.

"Then I'd have an excuse to take a swing myself," Hardison said, no hint of his usual humor or sarcasm. "Idiot or not, the busboy is one of your employees. And he sure as hell doesn't deserve to get hit because you've suddenly lost your damn mind! And Parker--shit, man. Parker loves you. And you hurt her. You're not that kind of person, dammit!"

Eliot snorted. "Hurting people is literally what I do, Hardison. Has been my whole life."

"Not like this," Hardison said quietly. "Not since Moreau. You don't hurt innocent people and you don't hurt people you care about. And Parker is both of those, dammit."

That dig about Moreau should have hurt. It should have at least stung. Today, it barely tickled. Today he almost missed Moreau.

Moreau never gave him shit about his methods. Never questioned his choices on a job.

"I hurt people who get in my way," Eliot said. "I'm sorry about Parker's wrist. I really am." And he was, though not as much as he knew he should be. "But you two both need to understand that I need my space."

Speaking of things that stung...

"Need your space," Hardison repeated flatly. "I'm sorry, I ain't realized that we'd been all up in it. Is this enough space? Or should I maybe step back a few damn feet?"

"No need," Eliot growled. "Think Val and I got enough fresh air, today." He whistled for the puppy, who came prancing up, slowing a little when she sensed his change in mood. She looked from Eliot to Hardison, then back. "Let me know when you've found someone I'm 'allowed' to hit."

"Try not to start with your friends!" Hardison snapped back. "You know, if you have any by the time you get over whatever the hell this is."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The park, Friday afternoon

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject