"Dammit Eliot," Hardison said with a sigh, "Just gotta put it all out there up front. Can't let a man figure stuff out in his own time."

He turned around finally, looking at Eliot. Val also ran over to him, sniffing in excitement, cataloguing all the time he'd been in the Preserve. The bruises hadn't gone away when he'd gotten older, and the cut on his lip pulled when he smiled a bit at her antics--though it faded fast enough when he looked at Eliot again.

"Let's just get through a conversation and breakfast before we start making any big decisions, okay?"

It wasn't a yes?