Luke's, Monday

[vdistinctive]

So his diner was in one piece. It pretty much always was after these things, but he didn't usually end up killing a giant winged cat version of one of his longest running employees on the street outside his diner during these things. He honestly hadn't been sure what to expect when he came over to check on things this morning.

The kitchen staff was bickering as usual, today over which of them figured out that things were going bad and to get out of dodge first. Only the busboy wasn't joining in. Eliot double checked to make sure the kid -- who was probably about the same age as his boyfriend but still a kid dammit -- was okay to work, but otherwise didn't bug him about it. Wasn't like Eliot had any interest in talking about the weekend, either.

He was more interested in throwing himself into making the best goddamn chili of his life. And the perfect, crispy french fries. And every pie he knew.

Somewhere around when he got the fourth pie in the oven, the busboy came over and threw his arms around Eliot in an enormous hug from behind. Eliot blinked, sighed, and patted the kid's arm, then went back to rolling out the next crust.

Today's specials
Cherry chipotle chili
Beef and dark beer chili
Turkish Urfa chili
All orders come with free fries and your choice of pie!

Luke's was open and OCD free.

Comments

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"Pie. Pie. Pie." Hello, Parker. "And fries."

[vdistinctive]

"And chili," Eliot told her calmly, while literally everyone else in the diner jumped. "Protein's good for you."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker looked skeptical, but moved closer, ignoring the jumpiness of the staff. Well, except for the busboy, who got a look of concern. "It is? Are you sure?" Which didn't meant she wouldn't eat it. Just, she wanted to know what she was getting into.

[vdistinctive]

"Yup." Eliot scooped a spoonful of the cherry chili and offered it to her. "Here, try this."

The busboy finally glomping onto Eliot while he cooked and stuck his tongue out at her.

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker gave him the snake-eyes I'm-watching-you sign, because trauma was no excuse to glomp Eliot. Except for her and Hardison. So ha.

Parker ate the chili, and closed her eyes, remembering the time he taught her about how food made you feel things. This food made her feel safe, feel warm, feel special. She smiled with her eyes still closed. "How do you do that?"

[vdistinctive]

"Good?" Eliot asked, though he was smiling back at the look on her face. "The cherries make a good balance for the spicy kick."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker nodded happily, and opened her eyes, reaching out one foot to knock against his leg. "Really good." She frowned a little, then said, "I want to do something nice for you. And something nice for Hardison. Something... Christmasy." Yes. To block out the last week as much as possible. "Maybe put reindeer lights on the roof?"

[vdistinctive]

"Darlin', all I want for Christmas is for you not to be a ferret this time."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

"If we go somewhere else for Christmas, that's more likely," Parker couldn't help but point out. Even as she grinned at being called darlin'. "On the other hand, we might miss Santa. Because he wouldn't know where to find us."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

And Hardison was also there. Shocker. His desire to not come back to the restaurant had warred with his desire to cling to Eliot and Parker and the clinging won. So he was hiding his unease (and attempting to hide the clinging) by puttering on his laptop. And sitting as far away from the vents as possible.

He'd be fine again in a few days. Really. For now though, he had an important project to lose himself in and all the chili he could want.

[Sleeping, but had to ping for SP]

[vdistinctive]

Eliot set him up with a chili variety sampler and a giant pile of fries.

And made sure the waitstaff knew to keep the orange soda coming.

"What kinda pie you want?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You got any chocolate silk?" he asked, after swallowing a mouthful of orange soda. "You could call it the Hardison."

See, he was fine, he was bantering. And according to all of his favorite TV shows, banter meant you were just fine.

...Ignore the thousand yard stare he got when he wasn't looking directly at his code.

[vdistinctive]

Yeah, Eliot was definitely fooled. That's why he wasn't rubbing Hardison's back and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Not yet," he said as he straightened up. "Gimme a minute to find a good recipe."

He'd already made six pies. This was not going to stop him from making one just for Hardison.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

A hand shot up and grabbed Eliot's wrist, clinging to it like a lifeline. Just for a moment and then Hardison let go, going back to typing with both hands. He'd just needed that moment of contact, of reassurance, for a few seconds more. And, hey, if Eliot wanted to read into that an invitation not to run off into the kitchen just yet, who was Hardison to stop him? "My Nana has a good recipe," he suggested. "I could email her for it. But then you really would have to call it the Hardison."

[vdistinctive]

"I ain't complained about doin' that, have I?" Eliot pointed out. He was perfectly happy to take that as an invitation, yeah. "What's that you're workin' on?"

He wasn't going to understand a damn word of it. But he'd listen anyway.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

It was going to be easier than he thought, actually.

"Workin' on an algorithm to hack Portalocity," Hardison said quietly. "See if I can't figure out how to hack a portal."

It was the how's that were complicated; he wasn't just trying to crack Portalocity's security measures but also how to control the portals to open where and when he wanted, so he wasn't just, say, ripping holes in the multiverse or whatever. There was a lot of complicated math there and his program was learning how to control the portals even as it learned how to hijack them.

But, at its core, the explanation itself was very simple.

"After seein' Kathy this week...I mean, I'd started this back in April, but I kinda let it lapse a bit..." He hung his head, not wanting to admit he'd let it slide as he'd lost hope. "I thought this might be a good time to pick it back up again."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot sat down next to him, arm sliding around his waist. "I love you, man." Hardison knew that, of course, but Eliot was learning how little it hurt to say. "Makin' any headway?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

And how very much Hardison needed to hear it? Preferably as often as possible?

"Well, some, but ain't as much as I'd hoped," Hardison said, and then he launched into the highly technical description of what he was doing and how it worked. Which basically boiled down to 'I'm trying to crack a Sterenko and first I need to find out what tools will actually work.'

But, you know, a lot more technological than that.

"It sucks, though," he said after his explanation wound down. "Even after alla that, I might be too late."

Too late for Raven, he meant. It was already too late for Kathy.

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker draped herself on him like a blanket. A wiggly blanket wearing reindeer-antler-sporting blanket.

"What's a wakizashi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakizashi)? Eliot wants one."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison loved Parker in reindeer antlers. And Parker-blankets. And Parker.

"A kinda Japanese short sword paired with katanas," Hardison answered, not taking his eyes off his code, even though he leaned his face towards her for a kiss. "I think they're called daishō when they're together?"

Aww yeah, mid-90s anime to the rescue.

"Eliot plannin' on becomin' a samurai after all this?"

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

The feeling was 100% mutual.

"Cool. And maybe? We can get him armor that matches, right? Because he needs some. But maybe he won't become a cranky old man with a limp if we get him armor too."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"If we get him armor, he ain't gonna wear it," Hardison said with the weary expression of someone who had heard that particular lecture several times already. "Slowin' him down's gonna cost more than the armor's s'posed to protect. Or somethin'."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker grumbled back at him inarticulately, burying her face in his neck. After a couple minutes, she said, "We have to figure out a way to keep him safer. Somehow. I told him we could train with him more. So he doesn't have to work as hard."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Wouldn't hurt for me, either, I guess," Hardison said. He still sounded reluctant, but not opposed. "I feel like all I did this past week was get beat up or hide," he admitted softly. "Like I was just holdin' you an' Eliot back. You two can hold your own in a fight, but me? If I don't got either of you with me, I'm done."

[whoisalicewhite.livejournal.com]

Parker flicked his ear, not hard. "And without you, I'd still be crying in the park, and Eliot would be... I don't know what Eliot would be doing. He might have walked into the bay by now." One arm went around him and she sighed. "We can't all be the best at everything. You are the best, the best ever, at keeping us together. And sane."