Eliot's kitchen, Wednesday morning

[vdistinctive]

Eliot had slept in.

He was having a quiet morning, a sort of quiet he hadn't had much of since he'd started spending most nights in bed with Parker and Hardison. He closed his eyes before stepping into the kitchen, feeling the morning sun on his face and just breathing in the peace of the moment.

Now. What to make for breakfast?

He grumbled faintly under his breath when he opened the fridge and found the entire thing filled only with orange soda. He could have sworn he had eggs and bacon. Or at least a six pack of beer. "Dammit, Hardison."

He tried the cabinets, figuring he could at least make himself some oatmeal, and had to dodge an avalanche of fortune cookies, only to find that all his dry goods had been replaced with sugary breakfast cereals. "Dammit, Parker."

He had not anticipated this side of cohabitation. He probably should have.

Val ran up to him, barking excitedly. She bounced up on her hind legs and did a little doggy pirouette like a circus dog, then ran over to the back door, beaming at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah yeah." Eliot followed after her. "Keep your damn pants on."

[ooc: for one. NFB, please, for reasons which will become clear]

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[vdistinctive]

Eliot nodded, his back slowly relaxing under Hardison's ministrations. "I called Sophie. You know, right after when I really wasn't sleepin'. I know she's not really a professional but -- she helped."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"'Course she did," Hardison said. "She's Sophie." And Sophie wasn't Nate, who probably would have tried to hypnotize Eliot into getting better or something ridiculous.

"But it's still eatin' at you."

[vdistinctive]

"Of course it is." Eliot finally looked back at Hardison. "How could it not?"

He didn't get into how the scene he'd come back to himself to had completely undermined most of his coping mechanisms. He hadn't mentioned that part to Sophie, either. That was the trouble with Fandom. It was all too surreal to properly logic yourself out of.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Maybe you need to do more than just talk to Sophie," Hardison suggested gently. "Cause if you don't, it's gonna eat you up till there's nothin' left. An' then we really will be down a hitter."

[vdistinctive]

"I know." Eliot finally shifted to lie back down. The secret was out. And Hardison wasn't kicking him off the team or even benching him, necessarily. Eliot was almost lightheaded with the relief of that. "I just don't know who. Ain't like any of the doctors I've seen back home would have any idea what to do with Fandom."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I mean, there's Dr. Lecter," Hardison suggested, but he sounded dubious. There was just something a little...too...slick about him. Like Sophie when she was running a grift, but without her warmth.

[vdistinctive]

The look Eliot gave him spoke volumes about that option. "I'll let that guy stitch me up if I can't do it myself," he said. "But I ain't lettin' him near my mind."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison nodded, more in agreement than to let Eliot knew he'd heard. "There's some stuff you can talk about," he said. "Vague things up, use generalities, that kind of stuff," he said. "I talk to a lady online. She thinks I'm a shut-in who refuses to leave the house an' this is the only way I'll see someone. Can't tell her everythin', obviously, but enough to get me through."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot rolled over to face Hardison. "You been talking to someone? I had no idea."

Not that Hardison had sought help. And not that he'd needed to.

Some boyfriend he was.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Since the whole...coffin thing," Hardison confessed, ducking his head. "Well, not right after that. Coupla months, maybe? When the nightmares weren't gettin' any better. Didn't talk about it to no one. Seemed kinda..." He shrugged. "It ain't, like, a regular thing. Sometimes months go by without us chattin'. But then, somethin' big happens or I nearly lose one of y'all an' so I sent her an email an' we talk for a bit. Helps me figure stuff out. Find the root cause and the best ways to deal." He snorted. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she thinks my real issue is that I'm obsessed with video games an' can't tell fantasy from reality, but she's willin' to take my scenarios as a jumpin' off point."

Wow, the pattern on this blanket sure was fascinating.

[vdistinctive]

"I'm sorry," Eliot said. "I shoulda noticed you were strugglin'. Shoulda made sure you could talk to us about all this, too."

Because, you know, he was so great at talking about things with anyone.

He leaned over to press his lips softly against Hardison's temple. "I'm glad you got someone for it."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I'm the one that's supposed to do the talkin'," he said, though he leaned a little more heavily on Eliot. "An' you know Parker still feels bad when there are things she can't find the words for an' this is the kinda thing that even professionals have trouble with."

He paused, then added, "An' I didn't want y'all to think that I couldn't handle it. That you shouldn't come to me or somethin' cause you were scared of burdenin' me or whatever. I'm the emotions guy. What does it say when I can't handle my own emotions?"

Yes, he realized he was parroting Eliot's earlier worries about being a hitter.

[vdistinctive]

"Nah, man. That's just conditionin'. Keepin' yourself in top shape. Ain't like you've been lettin' us down in the thick of it." Not, you know, like Eliot had.