75 Godiva Street, Monday Afternoon

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Another weird weekend and Hardison wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. Being a teen seemed a lot more fraught than being a little kid and that wasn't even taking getting beaten up by a tiny version of his boyfriend into account.

But that wasn't the main issue on his mind right now. Hardison was looking at the howling wasteland that was their kitchen and shaking his head. Tiny!Parker had kindly left some of his sodas behind during her burglary spree, but not much else.

"How'm I supposed to get breakfast?" Hardison asked Val, who was sitting by his feet. "No bowls, no fridge--I'm pretty sure she even stripped the countertops!"

Hopefully she hadn't gotten very far with their belongings, or Eliot was going to have to remodel their kitchen. Again.

[Open! Will pickup pings when I'm conscious again.]

Comments

[whoisalicewhite]

Clinging to Hardison wasn't something she usually did; but letting him cling, then burrowing in, was. And it was good to have tall-confident-known Hardison back. "I had plans for how to make money off the house, too. Eventually." She sighed into his neck, and whispered, "Are you okay?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison paused, wanting to be tall-confident-known Hardison for a little while longer, and then shook his head. "Not really," he admitted in a low voice. "Kinda a jumble here. Ain't the first time I landed in the clinic cause of this damn fool island messin' with Eliot's head. Problem is, probably ain't gonna be the last, either."

And that was a problem.

[whoisalicewhite]

Parker squeezed him a little too tightly. "Would you feel better if you punched him?" She was way out of her depth here. How did you fix something like this? "Or you can borrow my taser."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Nah, but thanks, mama." He knew how special the taser was to her. "Punchin' don't fix things between people you love," he said. "An' it ain't like it's really his fault. Not our Eliot's. Just the kid he used to be."

Hardison would admit to having some non-charitable thoughts about punching teen!Eliot, though.

[whoisalicewhite]

"That kid needed to be shoved into a lot more snow," Parker said, frowning. "How did he even decide to beat you up?" It was baffling. "Did he just want to beat up a geek?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Not quite that cut-and-dried," Hardison came in. "He came in an' was an asshole to me, so I was a dick back. Kept goadin' him about the gay thing. Wouldn't stop, even after he took the first swing."

Because there was pride in going down talking shit, even though you were still going down.

[whoisalicewhite]

Parker made a face. Sophie would have sighed and said "Boys", but Parker just rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you just run away? I don't get it."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Runnin' away meant that he'd win," Hardison said with a shrug. "Beatin' me up was one thing. Just meant he was some redneck meathead I could look down on for needin' to solve all his problems with violence. But runnin' away woulda meant that I was a coward an' all the stupid things he was thinkin' I was."

So yeah. Boys.

[whoisalicewhite]

"But he was a redneck meathead!" Parker rubbed her head. "And you were a skinny little guy with no punchiness! How does running away when you couldn't win make him right?!"

Sorry, Parker. This was never going to make sense.