fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

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!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

The last picnic for new arrivals had involved a bonfire, but there was no need for artificial warmth today. The weather outside was sunny, and just breezy enough that no one would roast, hopefully. There were tables and chairs arranged around the lawn, along with a long table of food, drinks, and desserts for anyone who stopped by.

There were stacks of nametags for people to label themselves with, and lists to help folks find their siblings and roommates. With everything in order, it was time to welcome some new people!

[OCD is up! This is part one of the picnic, specifically for meeting siblings, roommates, and teachers. The rest of the picnic is happening here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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"That's totally different. You were obviously chasin' after Parker. I didn't want to complicate things."

"That doesn't answer the question," Hardison said.

Because now he wanted to know!

"What're you, fishin' for compliments?" Eliot rolled his eyes. ". . . The car bomb."

That'd been it went from "obnoxious young punk knows he's hot" to "oh god I have a thing for a baby". It'd taken a bit longer for it to become anything Eliot could take seriously, by which point -- well. Like he'd said: Hardison had obviously been over the moon for Parker.

"All the way back then, huh?" Grin? Going nowhere. "I guess I was pretty hot right then."

You know, when he'd defused the bomb. Instead of kicking it.

And, you know, there was Eliot's now well-documented thing for adrenaline rushes.

"You were, like, twelve. I felt like a dirty old man."

"I was twenty-one," Hardison snorted. "Totally legal for whateeeeeeeever dirty things was going through your mind when you thought 'bout my sweet ass."

Helping!

Eliot groaned. "Yeah, and I was thirty-three." Oh god, he was old. "You could barely drink and I was almost old enough to run for president."

"Legal's legal," Hardison pointed out, smirking. "I'd've been down, you know."

He tilted his head a little, touched his chin. "You curious? About me?"

Desperately.

Eliot smirked. "What, you mean it wasn't love at first sight?"

No, that'd been with Parker.

"Hell naw, man, you were annoyin' as all hell," Hardison said, laughing. "Though, it was totally hot when you took down all them guys at once. Woulda done ya right there if we'd had more time."

Because, hey, honesty!

"An' then again, when you picked me up an' saved my ass on the way outta that warehouse." He was a little more serious now, his smile fading away. "I really thought I was gonna die. I tripped an' fell an' you'd already gone all 'every man for himself' before an' I just knew I wasn't gonna get up in time. An' I didn't--but it didn't matter. You grabbed me an' you hauled me up an' you didn't let go till we were free. So, that's when I was interested."

But there was still more. If, you know, Eliot wanted to hear it.

"I wasn't gonna just leave you to die," Eliot said.

Not that Hardison had had any reason to know that. Not with Eliot's reputation. Hell, he'd been barely off the wagon, then.

"Alright. So when'd it get past 'interested'?"

"While we were runnin' through the woods, handcuffed together, gettin' chased by some crazy, racist rednecks." Like there were other kinds, really. "Man, you were--that was your element. You knew everything we had to do to keep us three steps ahead of 'em. You were gonna get through an' you were gonna get me through--an' then, I stopped up from gettin' on that train an' you listened. You knew it was important an' you listened. An' agreed. You respected me. That's when I realized that, damn, what I felt for Parker, I was feelin' for you, too."

Eliot just thought that over for a long moment. That explained why it took this long for him to notice; by the time Hardison had it worked out, Eliot had already decided how it was going to go. He'd already been in deep for Hardison by then, madly shoving it all down and away because Hardison was into Parker and Eliot loved her, too, and he wanted them so much for each other, more than he wanted them for him. He'd protect them and make sure they got each other and he'd be fine with it.

And he had been. He really had -- right up until the moment he realized he could have more.

Absolutely none of that made it out of his mouth, though. When he finally looked over at Hardison again, what he said was ". . . took you long enough."

"Man, don't even play," Hardison said, rolling his eyes and trying not to grin. "You're secretly doin', like, cartwheels an' jumpin' jacks. Sides, what really matters is that we got there in the end, ain't we?"

And now just let anyone try to take them apart. Just try.

"Yeah. . . . Because I finally made a move." He was going to lord that over Hardison for a while, yet. Like, they'd be old and gray and secretly running the damn nursing home and Eliot would be lording that over Hardison.

You know, if he lived that long.

Making plans for the future, Eliot? Maybe you weren't as committed to dying as you thought.

"We were making moves!" Hardison protested. "We had a plan! We'd already decided to invite you back to the apartment an' just, like, lay it all out for you. You just spoke faster!"

Idle fantasies weren't plans. This was precisely Hardison's problem.

"You decided that because I finally started flirting," Eliot said. "You were probably working out how we'd have to pretend to be married on our next job or something for the next stage of 'plan E'."

"Pfft--no, I mean, whaaat? No, that's just--why would you even? Seriously? You think that we'd have such an obvious--"

He was going to be married to Parker. Duh.

This was precisely why you didn't con your own crew. It was just embarrassing for everyone.

"You're damn lucky I don't slowplay these things. That's all I'm sayin'."

"Yeah," Hardison said simply. "Yeah, I really am."

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Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

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