Title: Purple Rain
Fandom/Pairing: Leverage: Alec/Eliot
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, don't take this too seriously.
Summary: for
belladhanna 's prompt, "Leverage, Eliot/Hardison, Purple Rain" over on
comment_fic .
There were plenty of times that Hardison's skills for looking up useless trivia came in handy, hell, it had saved their asses more than once. Of that, Nate was certain.
This, apparently, wasn't going to be one of those times.
"No, Hardison. Just. No." Eliot made a grab for the keyboard, his scowl deepening when he realized it was too late.
"What are we looking at?" Stepping around Parker's outstretched legs, Sophie quirked her brow at the flats-screen as the sounds of a wild concert filled the room.
"Is that…Prince?" Nate asked, squinting at the screen and trying to figure out what, exactly, this all had to do with the Minneapolis city council. He cast his eyes back towards Eliot, who was stalking towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Hardison? What is this?"
"Turns out, we might already have an in," Hardison was grinning madly, watching the screen. "Wait for it….there." He struck a key to freeze the frame.
"I don't get it," Parker said, leaning forward.
"See that, right there?"
"Hardison," Eliot's growl was a warning, but apparently, Nate was the only one who heard it. The others were too entranced by the crowd on the screen as Hardison zoomed in.
"No," Sophie said. "Is that-"
"Yes. Yes it is," Hardison was smug. "In the flesh."
"It can't be, it's just a kid-" Parker was saying, and then Nate finally caught on, nearly choking on his coffee.
"Ah, Eliot?"
There was an angry pause, and then, "What?"
"That's not. Ah…"
Parker interjected, spinning on the couch to look at Eliot. "How'd you get your hair to stay like that? Glue?"
Eliot was pinching the bridge of his nose, and he sighed, glaring at Hardison. "My sister won tickets to be in the audience for the filming. So she brought me with her. Snuck me in. Wasn't like I had a choice in the matter."
Nate smirked. The thought that at some point in his life, Eliot hadn't actually been in control of his own whereabouts? His own wardrobe? Hilarious, but it didn't need pointing out. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, and glanced at the badly dancing kid on the edge of the shot sat frozen, arms in the air. "Looks like you're enjoying yourself, there, Eliot."
"I was ten."
"That's good," Hardison nodded. "Means at some point, you were a total dork. You've given me hope for all nerds everywhere, man."
Nate couldn't hear what Eliot grumbled under his breath, but apparently he was the only one. Whatever it was, Hardison looked as affronted as he could manage while trying not to laugh his ass off.
"Okay. So, your sister," Sophie started, after a moment, eyes darting back to the screen. "She was babysitting you, and-"
Parker was the one who laughed first, loudly enough that even Nate could chuckle without drawing attention to himself, but apparently, that was the last straw. Eliot grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and headed for the door.
"I'm going downstairs. You call me when you're ready to, you know, talk about the job," he sneered, slamming the door behind him on his way out.
To be honest, it took a few minutes for everyone to stop giggling enough for it to feel properly awkward, but finally, Parker's snorting laugh was the only noise in the room. Hardison, for his part, already had turned off the footage, set his computer on the table.
"You want me to-" he nodded towards the door.
"Yeah, that might be a good idea," Nate agreed, and glanced at his watch. Their flight left in two hours, they had to leave soon. "We'll catch up on the flight over."
---
Nate, Sophie and Parker discussed the details of the plan, but no real progress was made, given the amount of time spent glancing at the door, but finally, it was time to head to the airport. They could grab Hardison and Eliot on the way out.
"Parker, could you…" Nate waved his hand at the laptop, vaguely, and Parker slid it into Alec's carry-on. Remembering that all the other gear was already waiting in the van, Nate grabbed his jacket and opened the door.
And then he froze in his tracks, because what he was hearing?
No. Can't be.
Wait.
He held up his hand, signaling Parker and Sophie to silence, but they were already listening.
Downstairs, by the front door, Hardison was singing. A little loudly, sure, but mostly in tune.
"… don't care where we go, I don't care what we do…"
Peering around the doorway, he could see Hardison's back, his arms reaching over to the wall, bracketing Eliot, who was hiding his blush behind his hair and trying really hard not to laugh.
"…I don't care pretty baby, just take me with you…"
Nate blinked, noticing, finally, Eliot's hand on Hardison's hip. He blinked again when he saw the fingers flexing there, and that was pretty much his signal to get the hell out of there.
He stepped back into the room, closing the door slowly and silently before turning to the women, who were both watching him, clearly puzzled.
"What is it?"
"Just remembered," he nodded once, decisively, before heading for the kitchen. "My watch is fast. We've got a few minutes yet."