Outside Oklahoma City, Wednesday evening

[vdistinctive]

Trudy had said Eliot and his family were going to be her guests, so he wasn't allowed to cook dinner. He'd said she shouldn't have to cook it either, and they'd both refused to make everyone eat leftover funeral casserole.

So Eliot pulled the rental car — rental van, because four adults was a lot to fit into a sedan and renting a van was almost tradition — into the lot of a little mom&pop Italian restaurant.

"There's Tru's car," he said as he set the parking break and turned the car off. He looked back towards Kathy and Parker. "Y'all ready for this?"

[ooc: FAMILY DINNER TIME! For those who know, and epic slow play.]

Comments

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison was thankfully free of any self-doubt when it came to spending time with Trudy and the family this time around. He'd gotten it out of his system last visit. Sure, he still had some lingering guilt about yelling at their dying dad, but Eliot wasn't holding it against him, so he wasn't giving it much weight.

Which meant he could take the lead a bit and keep the spotlight off of Parker and Kathy. "Hey, hey folks," he said, walking into the restaurant. "Y'all brought the baby pictures, right?"

When in doubt, throw Eliot under the bus.

[vdistinctive]

"Now now, over exposure makes them stop being special," Trudy said. "C'mere and give your sister-in-law a hug."

Eliot rolled his eyes so hard he might actually strain something.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"But I didn't actually get to see the bowl cut!" Hardison said, wrapping Trudy in a fierce hug. He was very, very good at those. "How you holdin' up?" he asked softly, for her ears only.

[vdistinctive]

"Bowl cuts are in middle school pics," Trudy said. "Not baby pics." She squeezed him back just a touch too hard at the question. She had a grip to rival Eliot's any day. "Just thankful for the family I still got, hon. Thanks for askin'."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Really?" Hardison teased. "Cause the stories Eliot told me 'bout that aunt of yours makes me wonder."

He rubbed her arms gently for comfort before taking a step back. "An' anytime. Gotta take care of my sister-in-law right, right?"

[vdistinctive]

"Nah. Every family's gotta have a few idiots. Keeps the rest of us humble."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"...See, that's where I'mma have to disagree," Hardison said, taking a chair. "Bein' around stupid people makes me the opposite of humble. Just ask Eliot how annoyin' he thought I was when we first met."

[vdistinctive]

"I'm guessing those stupid people weren't your blood relations, though," Trudy said. "That makes all the difference."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Ain't got any of those," Hardison said easily. "So I'll take your word for it."

[vdistinctive]

"You should always take my word for things," Trudy said. "I'm the smarter Spencer after all."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Ain't nobody arguin' that," Hardison said, loudly enough for Eliot to overhear. Because why wouldn't he? Harassing Eliot was the best. "But he's so cute, I'm just stuck, y'know? Besides, I like bein' the one who wins the arguments."

Which he did! Roughly 33% of the time!

[vdistinctive]

"Okay, I do not need to be thinking about whether or not my brother is cute," Trudy said. "I mean, I'm glad you think so, because I don't know what else he'd bring to the table, but still. Ew."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"This is me not sendin' you a text message," Hardison said primly. "Cause this is a family dinner an' I'm bein' polite."

Eggplant emojis for daaaaaaays.