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telarynTitle: Evolutionary Truths
'Verse: Leverage
Characters: Parker/Eliot
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1163
Warnings: Discussion of a past mercy killing committed by Eliot.
Summary: As they move on from the collapse of society, Eliot and Parker grow closer.
Author's Note: I recently put up an offer for a fic a day for the first twenty days of December. Okay I'm tragically behind, but this is prompt #12, provided by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meghan_84, who wanted to see how Parker and Eliot might have moved from here into a genuine relationship with each other.
Evolution wasn’t something that happened with a lot of noise – it happened in the quiet moments, when nobody was watching. It was the moment he offered to help Parker rearrange her room and get rid of the bed frame he’d carved himself a lifetime ago because she was having nightmares of zombies under her mattress. It was the morning he overslept and came down to find her preparing breakfast for the two of them in exactly the way he preferred to work.
And it was the night she said the wrong thing that became the right thing, and he ended up spilling the secret that had been eating him alive since they’d fled civilization and everything that had gone before. He confessed that Nate had been caught too close to one of the plants that had been sabotaged. He’d received a high enough dose of the radiation that spilled out from the sites that it was an irreversible death sentence; not a question of ‘if’, but rather of ‘when’.
Facing weeks or months of a slow, painful decline, a burden to those he loved most, Nate had turned to Eliot and begged to be released. Not since the moment they’d met had Eliot been able to easily deny Nate anything, and this time was no exception. Charged with keeping the secret of what he was about to do and why, Eliot had looked into the eyes of the one he loved best and done his duty.
He’d never intended to admit what he’d done to anyone, least of all her. All the understanding and acceptance in the world couldn’t change the fact that he hated himself for being strong enough to pull the trigger, and in his darker moments he hated Nate for asking, and for leaving him alone with his guilt and his grief. But when it was over and he was free of the poison, he’d looked into her eyes and seen no judgment in their blue depths. “You should have told me,” was all she said as she held his hand.
“I promised,” he reminded her.
Her answering frown creased the skin between her brows. “Nate was wrong to make you promise.” It was the last they ever spoke of it, but it was the first moment since everything had gone so horribly wrong that Eliot was finally able to believe that they would heal from their losses – that they might have a chance at a life beyond the grief.
It was also when Eliot realized that things were changing, probably had been changing for a while and he’d been too caught up in old patterns and habits to see it. Routines that had been keeping them sane now began to give him comfort. The first week he caught himself actually looking forward to “Surprise Saturday” as Parker had christened it – the day when they assigned every bit of food they had a number and chose what they were going to eat by throwing darts at a dartboard – he’d nearly laughed himself sick.
Some things couldn’t change. They still needed to forage into the nearby towns for those things they couldn’t get for themselves, but Eliot was starting to care less and less what was going on in the outside world. In this place, with this woman, who he’d been and what he’d done didn’t matter for probably the first time in his adult life. Parker accepted him without question or reservation, and tension Eliot had carried with him so long he’d forgotten what it was like to be free of it was finally starting to ease.
Gradually he started to find little things scattered around the cabin that were obviously Parker’s attempts to make him smile, and while some of them were almost embarrassingly off the mark the fact that she was willing to keep trying touched him deeply. He began responding in kind; little off-hand gestures designed to make her day brighter and show her she wasn’t alone in the world, and in the process discovered that making Parker happy was also making him happier and less lonely.
Responsible only to each other and free of society’s expectations for them, Eliot and Parker began to blossom. She was smarter than he’d ever had the opportunity to understand, with an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge. Questions that had always seemed like the pestering of a kid sister in the time before took on new meaning for him now. He began to share what he knew with her freely, and when she started to outstrip him in some areas Eliot suspected he was actually happier with her success than she was.
Their life together was still a series of tiny moments, and the first time Eliot kissed her it was for no other reason than he wanted to. Parker didn’t seem upset or surprised by it, and in fact had continued on her way out the door to go hunting with almost no break in her stride.
But that night there were candles on the table Eliot knew he’d never owned. He retaliated with chocolate taken from the abandoned market they used for most of their shopping, and three days later with her favorite cereal and the freshest milk he’d been able to lay his hands on.
She was stunned. “You said…” It had been one of the earliest ongoing arguments they’d ever had. Parker had only wanted cereal for breakfast – her cereal, and Eliot had been afraid any milk they acquired would be too contaminated by the radiation spills to be safe to drink.
“I figured out how to have it tested,” he said. He almost admitted that he’d refused to pursue it earlier largely out of petty stubbornness. At the time he’d been feeling the loss of his world so keenly that he’d needed to know there was something she couldn’t have – something she would miss. It had been cheap and stupid, but it had made him feel like he wasn’t alone in his grief.
In the end he kept quiet because he finally understood that only now mattered; especially when she ran to him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him freely and enthusiastically. He responded by lifting her up and twirling her around, and when her legs wrapped around his waist it felt like the most natural thing in the world. “You’re the best,” she enthused, her blue eyes shining as she looked at him.
Eliot swallowed hard, suddenly overcome with how much he wanted her – in ways that had nothing to do with chocolate or lessons or all the hundreds of silly moments they’d shared. “No better than you,” he said quietly, his expression suddenly serious.
“No worse either,” Parker countered, leaning in and kissing him again. It was deeper and more passionate than she’d ever kissed him before, and Eliot knew that it was going to be at least a few more hours before either of them gave a damn about food.
'Verse: Leverage
Characters: Parker/Eliot
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1163
Warnings: Discussion of a past mercy killing committed by Eliot.
Summary: As they move on from the collapse of society, Eliot and Parker grow closer.
Author's Note: I recently put up an offer for a fic a day for the first twenty days of December. Okay I'm tragically behind, but this is prompt #12, provided by
meghan_84, who wanted to see how Parker and Eliot might have moved from here into a genuine relationship with each other.Evolution wasn’t something that happened with a lot of noise – it happened in the quiet moments, when nobody was watching. It was the moment he offered to help Parker rearrange her room and get rid of the bed frame he’d carved himself a lifetime ago because she was having nightmares of zombies under her mattress. It was the morning he overslept and came down to find her preparing breakfast for the two of them in exactly the way he preferred to work.
And it was the night she said the wrong thing that became the right thing, and he ended up spilling the secret that had been eating him alive since they’d fled civilization and everything that had gone before. He confessed that Nate had been caught too close to one of the plants that had been sabotaged. He’d received a high enough dose of the radiation that spilled out from the sites that it was an irreversible death sentence; not a question of ‘if’, but rather of ‘when’.
Facing weeks or months of a slow, painful decline, a burden to those he loved most, Nate had turned to Eliot and begged to be released. Not since the moment they’d met had Eliot been able to easily deny Nate anything, and this time was no exception. Charged with keeping the secret of what he was about to do and why, Eliot had looked into the eyes of the one he loved best and done his duty.
He’d never intended to admit what he’d done to anyone, least of all her. All the understanding and acceptance in the world couldn’t change the fact that he hated himself for being strong enough to pull the trigger, and in his darker moments he hated Nate for asking, and for leaving him alone with his guilt and his grief. But when it was over and he was free of the poison, he’d looked into her eyes and seen no judgment in their blue depths. “You should have told me,” was all she said as she held his hand.
“I promised,” he reminded her.
Her answering frown creased the skin between her brows. “Nate was wrong to make you promise.” It was the last they ever spoke of it, but it was the first moment since everything had gone so horribly wrong that Eliot was finally able to believe that they would heal from their losses – that they might have a chance at a life beyond the grief.
It was also when Eliot realized that things were changing, probably had been changing for a while and he’d been too caught up in old patterns and habits to see it. Routines that had been keeping them sane now began to give him comfort. The first week he caught himself actually looking forward to “Surprise Saturday” as Parker had christened it – the day when they assigned every bit of food they had a number and chose what they were going to eat by throwing darts at a dartboard – he’d nearly laughed himself sick.
Some things couldn’t change. They still needed to forage into the nearby towns for those things they couldn’t get for themselves, but Eliot was starting to care less and less what was going on in the outside world. In this place, with this woman, who he’d been and what he’d done didn’t matter for probably the first time in his adult life. Parker accepted him without question or reservation, and tension Eliot had carried with him so long he’d forgotten what it was like to be free of it was finally starting to ease.
Gradually he started to find little things scattered around the cabin that were obviously Parker’s attempts to make him smile, and while some of them were almost embarrassingly off the mark the fact that she was willing to keep trying touched him deeply. He began responding in kind; little off-hand gestures designed to make her day brighter and show her she wasn’t alone in the world, and in the process discovered that making Parker happy was also making him happier and less lonely.
Responsible only to each other and free of society’s expectations for them, Eliot and Parker began to blossom. She was smarter than he’d ever had the opportunity to understand, with an almost insatiable thirst for knowledge. Questions that had always seemed like the pestering of a kid sister in the time before took on new meaning for him now. He began to share what he knew with her freely, and when she started to outstrip him in some areas Eliot suspected he was actually happier with her success than she was.
Their life together was still a series of tiny moments, and the first time Eliot kissed her it was for no other reason than he wanted to. Parker didn’t seem upset or surprised by it, and in fact had continued on her way out the door to go hunting with almost no break in her stride.
But that night there were candles on the table Eliot knew he’d never owned. He retaliated with chocolate taken from the abandoned market they used for most of their shopping, and three days later with her favorite cereal and the freshest milk he’d been able to lay his hands on.
She was stunned. “You said…” It had been one of the earliest ongoing arguments they’d ever had. Parker had only wanted cereal for breakfast – her cereal, and Eliot had been afraid any milk they acquired would be too contaminated by the radiation spills to be safe to drink.
“I figured out how to have it tested,” he said. He almost admitted that he’d refused to pursue it earlier largely out of petty stubbornness. At the time he’d been feeling the loss of his world so keenly that he’d needed to know there was something she couldn’t have – something she would miss. It had been cheap and stupid, but it had made him feel like he wasn’t alone in his grief.
In the end he kept quiet because he finally understood that only now mattered; especially when she ran to him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him freely and enthusiastically. He responded by lifting her up and twirling her around, and when her legs wrapped around his waist it felt like the most natural thing in the world. “You’re the best,” she enthused, her blue eyes shining as she looked at him.
Eliot swallowed hard, suddenly overcome with how much he wanted her – in ways that had nothing to do with chocolate or lessons or all the hundreds of silly moments they’d shared. “No better than you,” he said quietly, his expression suddenly serious.
“No worse either,” Parker countered, leaning in and kissing him again. It was deeper and more passionate than she’d ever kissed him before, and Eliot knew that it was going to be at least a few more hours before either of them gave a damn about food.
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