75 Godiva, Wednesday

[vdistinctive]

The house was gutted down to studs, many of which had been rearranged to make the new configuration of rooms the team had agreed on. Eliot was working on framing the new upper story now, which meant a hard hat, tool belt, gloves, the works.

Seriously, he had this whole men-at-work carpenter look down up here. He hoped his partners appreciated it. Lord knew he did on the few occasions Hardison got down and dirty with a maker get up. He wondered how much Hardison would fuss about the sawdust if they tried to fool around in (a carefully cleared area of) the construction site. . . .

Work was happening, if a little slow. Since the carpenter kept distracting himself with idle fantasies.

[yeah I dunno. Open! Eliot should be visible from the street while he works. . . .]

Comments

[vdistinctive]

"Trust me, man. I am appreciating this." Eliot grinned. "Just lookin' forward to all the appreciatin' I could do if I got you holdin' up a full piece of sheetrock."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Mmmhmm," Hardison said, taking his end of the crossbeam with very little effort. "Sheetrock, huh? Kinky."

[vdistinctive]

Well, it was just a two-by-four. Still, Eliot appreciated the view.

He laughed, pulling out the hammer and nail to secure the beam into place. "Nah, the exposed beams are kinkier." Mostly in that you could get tied to them. "I just like seein' those muscles of yours put to use now'n then."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Don't think Hardison's brain hadn't traveled there, too. "I will have you know, liftin' two liters can be very taxin'," he drawled.

[vdistinctive]

"Uh huh. You'll have to show me those two-liter-lifting muscles sometime. Pretty sure they ain't got nothin' on what I'm lookin' at right now."

And again, Hardison was only holding up one end of a two-by-four.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"But they're hella more fun to get," Hardison snarked back, before adding, "Though, gotta admit, I like the idea of helpin' out with buildin' our new home."

Building, renovating, whatever. The point was, it was theirs.

[vdistinctive]

Eliot nodded. "This one's really gonna be all of ours. Was thinkin' maybe you could even do a mural or somethin' in here when it's all done. . . ."

Old Nate was a travesty, but it was extremely well painted, as far as Eliot could tell.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Old Nate had served its purpose! All of them! And there had been several!

...Most specifically, annoying regular Nate. And it had, to Hardison's constant glee.

"Yeah?" he asked, pleased. "Anythin' specific you were thinkin' about?"

[vdistinctive]

Eliot shrugged. "Hell if I know. I ain't much of an artist. Just . . . somethin' nice."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You ain't gotta be an artist to know what you like," Hardison said. "Whatever it is, there's gotta be somethin' like cash or gold in it to make Parker happy."

She still didn't really get art for art's sake, but she knew what she liked.

[vdistinctive]

"Could do something with gold leaf," Eliot suggested. ". . . 'Course, now all I can think of are Russian icons or Islamic geometry or somethin'."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Islamic geometry is pretty," Hardison said, looking thoughtful. "Yo, Eliot, what's your favorite museum? Or bank, maybe, but I think Parker's the only one of us who has one of those."

[vdistinctive]

Eliot frowned, hammering in the last nail on his end of the support beam. "Can't say I ever put much thought into it. Do you have one?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I kinda like the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna," Hardison admitted. "It's just really pretty. But you mentioned Islamic geometry which kinda sparked some thoughts about a mural for all of us an' I kinda got thinkin' about what Parker would like an' how she draws security blueprints sometimes, an..."

How would Eliot feel about an abstract design based on the security blueprints of their favorite places to rob?

[vdistinctive]

"And you're thinkin' of using blueprints as a design element?" Eliot guessed. "When I go to museums, it ain't the security or the art I'm lookin' for." He smiled, stepping back from his end of the beam, then moving to nudge Hardison away from his so he could secure it. "I like the Hagia Sophia," he offered, "but -- you're gonna laugh -- the first place I thought of when you asked that was a place back in OKC. The National Cowboy Museum."

Sometimes, Eliot was extremely predictable.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison's grin said pretty much the same thing. "Why ain't I at all surprised?" he asked the air. "You know you're gon' haveta bring me to that sometime, right? Cause, otherwise, I'mma get Tru to do it an' you ain't gonna appreciate what happens if we go together."

How much did he love being friends with Eliot's sister? SO MUCH.

[vdistinctive]

"Oh, so you'd willingly go back to Oklahoma for that, huh?" Eliot said. "Sure. You can learn all about how most cowboys looked a lot more like you than like me."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Nat Turner an' all that, yeah?" Hardison suggested. "But yeah, I'd go back to Oklahoma for that. But you know I'mma tease you about it with every step, right?"

Possibly by being over the top excited about it.

[vdistinctive]

"Like the original Lone Ranger," Eliot said, nodding. "Herdin' cattle was dangerous, backbreakin' work involving long hours and no luxuries, you think the rich white folk were doin' that shit? Museum covers indians, too, the real ones, none of that 'noble savage' bullshit from the movies. I mean, place ain't perfect or nothin', and a whole lot of it is full of old saddles and hats, but . . . hell, when I was growin' up, it was like a slice of heaven."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Wait, the Lone Ranger was real?" Hardison asked. "An' black?!"

[vdistinctive]

Eliot grinned. "He was based on Bass Reeves, far as I know. First black marshall west of the Mississippi."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You don't say." Hardison looked delighted. "That was one of the shows we watched growin' up on Nick At Nite. Nana loved it. We all thought it was cheesy as hell, but fun anyway."

Yeah. They were definitely gonna have to go to the museum now.

[vdistinctive]

"Never much watched that one," Eliot admitted. "I couldn't deal with that 'Tonto' bullshit."

He'd never had much patience with the way Native Americans were portrayed in a lot of media.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Either the noble savage, the dirty villain, or the cheerful servant?

...Yeah, Hardison could get that.

"Better or worse than the remake from a coupla years ago?" Hardison teased.

[vdistinctive]

"I didn't watch that travesty, either," Eliot pointed out. "But -- I mean, the original didn't have him wearin' a dead bird on his head, at least."