Working Man
Title:Working Man
Rating:PG
Characters/Pairing:Parker/Hardison, Eliot/Other.
Summary: Written for the leverage500 prompt, "jealousy."
Eliot got his ass kicked somethin' awful today.
Alec's not going to tell anyone he'd had to tape up his hand in the amusement park men's room, or that for the most part Eliot had been too punch drunk to manage it himself. Eliot hadn't been so far gone that he'd made it easy, though.
But the fact that Eliot hadn't even bothered to warn him off telling anyone about it is also troubling.
He'd bring it up, but it's not like anyone's looking to hear it, anyhow. Parker's still mad over Parker 2000, and Nate and Sophie are deliberately installing normality by behaving as if nothing's wrong, ignoring Eliot entirely.
And like he's told Parker, normal is just whatever works for them, and that much, he figures, should count for Eliot, too. Sitting here, though, watching him look like he's about to fall over ain't normal by anyone's standards.
"Hey man, you should really should've let us get you to a hospital." It's not much, but he's got to make some sort of effort here. Ain't like anyone else is jumping at the chance.
"I hired a nurse."
Damned if Eliot's not doing it too, staring off over Alec's shoulder like if he doesn't see anyone looking, there's nothing wrong. It's the same damned thing Nate and Sophie are doing, but it's not working. Not with those bruises and scrapes, that dead-tone voice. Not with that defeat he's too beat to hide.
"Atta boy, a little chicken noodle soup, a little grandmotherly love," Parker punctuates the conversation with punches to Eliot's flinching arm. She's reached normality, at least. Without even trying.
"Stop." Eliot's standing, walking towards the woman who's just come in. She's tall, blonde, and attractive in that front-desk secretary kind of way. All Alec knows about her is that she goes by Nurse Gail, and that Eliot's leaving with her.
Sure, Eliot's never hurting for a date, but right now, he's too hurt for one.
"I don't think she's registered," he comments, wondering why it is that Eliot will go to this stranger, instead of one of the doctors in the area who provide all the benefits of a full-service hospital with none of the paper trail. That shit took him time to set up. Phone calls and bribes and the kind of quiet, sidelong conversations that Sophie should have been the one holding, dead ends and waiting, and Eliot's wandering off with a concussion and another leggy supermodel, thinking he knows what's best for himself right now.
He knows he should be cutting Eliot some slack, not getting surly and territorial. He's got Parker, and she's got the Parker 2000, regardless of what she seems to think she's gonna call it. More importantly, she likes it. Hundreds of hours of design, wiring, sensor modifications and pneumatic adjustments, all boiling down to a ridiculous name and her prancing it around the table like it's a stuffed bear.
It's nice to know that someone appreciates the work, though.
Rating:PG
Characters/Pairing:Parker/Hardison, Eliot/Other.
Summary: Written for the leverage500 prompt, "jealousy."
Eliot got his ass kicked somethin' awful today.
Alec's not going to tell anyone he'd had to tape up his hand in the amusement park men's room, or that for the most part Eliot had been too punch drunk to manage it himself. Eliot hadn't been so far gone that he'd made it easy, though.
But the fact that Eliot hadn't even bothered to warn him off telling anyone about it is also troubling.
He'd bring it up, but it's not like anyone's looking to hear it, anyhow. Parker's still mad over Parker 2000, and Nate and Sophie are deliberately installing normality by behaving as if nothing's wrong, ignoring Eliot entirely.
And like he's told Parker, normal is just whatever works for them, and that much, he figures, should count for Eliot, too. Sitting here, though, watching him look like he's about to fall over ain't normal by anyone's standards.
"Hey man, you should really should've let us get you to a hospital." It's not much, but he's got to make some sort of effort here. Ain't like anyone else is jumping at the chance.
"I hired a nurse."
Damned if Eliot's not doing it too, staring off over Alec's shoulder like if he doesn't see anyone looking, there's nothing wrong. It's the same damned thing Nate and Sophie are doing, but it's not working. Not with those bruises and scrapes, that dead-tone voice. Not with that defeat he's too beat to hide.
"Atta boy, a little chicken noodle soup, a little grandmotherly love," Parker punctuates the conversation with punches to Eliot's flinching arm. She's reached normality, at least. Without even trying.
"Stop." Eliot's standing, walking towards the woman who's just come in. She's tall, blonde, and attractive in that front-desk secretary kind of way. All Alec knows about her is that she goes by Nurse Gail, and that Eliot's leaving with her.
Sure, Eliot's never hurting for a date, but right now, he's too hurt for one.
"I don't think she's registered," he comments, wondering why it is that Eliot will go to this stranger, instead of one of the doctors in the area who provide all the benefits of a full-service hospital with none of the paper trail. That shit took him time to set up. Phone calls and bribes and the kind of quiet, sidelong conversations that Sophie should have been the one holding, dead ends and waiting, and Eliot's wandering off with a concussion and another leggy supermodel, thinking he knows what's best for himself right now.
He knows he should be cutting Eliot some slack, not getting surly and territorial. He's got Parker, and she's got the Parker 2000, regardless of what she seems to think she's gonna call it. More importantly, she likes it. Hundreds of hours of design, wiring, sensor modifications and pneumatic adjustments, all boiling down to a ridiculous name and her prancing it around the table like it's a stuffed bear.
It's nice to know that someone appreciates the work, though.