Chapter Text
All Eliot had ever dreamed of, was moving out of his hometown. It was a backwater, shit town, and he needed to get away from his dad. His dad wanted him to join the army, but Eliot wanted to become a cook. So the day he turned eighteen, he finally took all his things out of his father’s house and left for good. Eliot had worked odd jobs here and there, since he was twelve, saving up to attend chef school one day. Eliot had enough to pay for tuition and rent a room in a house, but it left him with little money, so he got a job at a restaurant, washing dishes. It wasn’t what he wanted, but it would make ends meet.
The student house was a bit sketchy but cheaper than the dorms; that’s why Eliot chose it. He lived on the bottom floor. The floor was totally separate from the students living upstairs, who created quite a racket. His roommate, John, wasn’t quite so horrible, but he did leave a mess and a smell of weed that filled the house. Eliot didn’t care that John smoked, but unfortunately, John’s nonlegal smoking habits reached the landlord, and he was kicked out. The landlord, the evil bastard he was (as most are) told Eliot he’d have to up his rent unless Eliot could find a new roommate. Eliot didn’t understand why it was on him to find a new roommate. He knew he couldn’t afford the room on his own, so he put up posters around the school, advertising the room. Thankfully, Eliot quickly received interested people calling him, asking about the room and the house. A few asked if they could come and see the room, and Eliot set a date.
Saturday was the showing, and Eliot cleaned everything, airing out the space as the weed smell still lingered. Eliot waited for his 2 o’clock appointment to show, for them only not to. He was disappointed and hoped the 3 o’clock appointment would come. He needed a roommate, and he needed one badly.
A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door. Eliot opened it, finding a black man standing on the other side of the door. Eliot froze for a second. He’d grown up in a very backwards environment and was still working to unlearn the ideas put into his head. The man gave a friendly smile, not looking intimidating at all, not that Eliot was ever intimidated by anyone.
“Hi, you must be Eliot. I’m Hardison.” He struck out his hand.
Eliot shook it with a firm handshake. “It’s nice to meet you. Come in. I’ll show you around.”
Eliot stood back to let him in.
“It’s just one floor.” Eliot had told him this much over the phone, but Hardison nodded as he led him inside. “Past tenants left all this furniture behind.” Eliot said as they walked through the small living room. “Feel free to bring whatever you like.”
He began to lead Hardison through to the kitchen. “This is the kitchen. Everything is in working order. We have plates and stuff.” Eliot had been very glad of how stalked the house was when he arrived, for he didn’t have much and could afford to buy things. “Right through here is the bathroom. It’s pretty small.” Hardison peeked his head in. “And your room would be this one.” Eliot pointed to the left. Together they walked in. John had cleared the room cleanout. “You’ll need furniture like a bed, desk, dresser.”
Hardison was nodding, walking about the room as if taking it in. Eliot watched him out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t help but think he was pretty attractive, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be thinking those thoughts of someone who could be his future roommate.
“How’s the Wi-Fi?” Hardison asked
Eliot shrugged. “I can do my homework. The landlord said if we want something better, we’d have to pay for it out of pocket.”
Hardison nodded. “Can I take pictures?”
“Go ahead.”
They worked their way back through the floor, Hardison taking pictures. “What about laundry?”
“You have to go outside to reach it, but it’s at the back of the house. We share it with the upstairs neighbours.”
Hardison glanced up.
“They can be loud.” Eliot felt like informing him.
Hardison just hummed, taking in the space once more. “Do you have a copy of the lease?”
“I can email the landlord to send you one.”
“Shouldn’t they be showing me around?”
“I don’t know, man.” Eliot felt annoyed by it all.
“It’s not bad. I like it. Better than the dorms.”
“I’ll email the landlord.” Eliot felt almost hopeful.
Hardison wandered through the living room and then came to the front door.
“Well, thanks for the tour. Hopefully, we’ll see each other again soon.” He flashed a stunning smile at Eliot, and they shook hands once more.
-
A few days later, Hardison moved in. Eliot had been working that day and arrived at the house, finding Hardison all moved in.
“Hey, man.” Hardison flashed that smile at Eliot as he walked into the living room. He was setting up a TV. It was big.
“Hey,” Eliot replied, eyeing the TV.
“Nice, huh? I found it on Kijiji. Perfect condition.”
Eliot nodded.
“I’m going to set up my gaming stuff. Do you game?”
Eliot shook his head. His family never had enough money to buy video games. Sometimes when he was younger, he’d play racing, fighting, or shooting games at friends’ houses, but that was it.
“Well, feel free to use the TV whenever you want. I got an HDMI cord you can hook your laptop up to.”
Eliot didn’t even know what that was.
“Okay.” He replied slowly.
“Hey, so should we talk ground rules? You know, since we’re roommates now.”
“I don’t really care what you do.” Eliot shrugged. “As long as you don’t leave too big of a mess.” He thought of John and the messes he left everywhere.
“I’ll contain my mess to my room.”
“I have to work most nights,” Eliot told him, and Hardison nodded.
“Where do you work?”
“A restaurant.” Eliot didn’t elaborate.
“What are you taking for school?” Hardison moved on to the next question.
“Cooking.”
“Oh, cool. I’m a terrible cook. But they didn’t really have a kitchen in the dorms. Oh, I never told you why I had to move out.” He chuckled to himself.
Eliot didn’t really care but let Hardison tell him.
“I used up the whole dorm’s power for my computer, causing a blackout.” Hardison looked at him as if expecting him to be impressed, but Eliot gave no response.
“I’m taking computer science.”
A nerd, Eliot’s brain screamed at him. But he held his tongue. Instead, he said, “Look, man, I’m sorry, but I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
“Oh yeah, it’s alright.”
Eliot was already walking off.
“Goodnight,” Hardison called to him.
-
Eliot didn’t see Hardison too much, for he had work most nights after school. He’d slip into the pub with his fake ID on nights he didn't have work. Eliot had gotten a fake ID years ago, which served him well. At the pub, he could watch the sports games or play darts or pool. Eliot also liked to flirt with other patrons. If he were lucky, he’d go home with them. Eliot always went back to their place, never his. He didn’t care who he went home with as long as they were hot. It was one of the reasons he had to leave his hometown, because they’d never be accepting of Eliot’s sexuality.
When Eliot did come home late, he would find the light still illuminating from Hardison’s room. He could hear Hardison making sounds from inside, most likely playing a video game. Hardison wasn’t loud, though, and barely disturbed Eliot, which he greatly appreciated. Hardison seemed to stay up late and sleep in late, for Eliot didn’t see him most mornings either.
It had been a few weeks since Hardison had moved in, and Eliot didn’t have work and didn’t feel like going to the bar. He returned to the house, finding Hardison sitting on the couch in the living room playing a video game. Eliot watched it for a bit, noticing that it seemed to be some sort of fantasy game, a nerdy game.
“Oh hey.” Hardison had noticed him finally and took off his headphones. “Didn’t hear you come in.”
Eliot just stood there, taking in the game on the TV. “I’m going to make supper. You want some?” He finally spoke.
“Oh, sure! I was just going to have popcorn for supper.”
Eliot walked away, leaving Hardison to his game, and got to work right away. The house’s kitchen wasn’t as nice as the kitchens at school, but it sufficed. Eliot had dreams of the kitchen he’d own one day, the restaurant he’d run. But that seemed so far away, too much money. For now, the shitty kitchen would have to do. He got to work on his meal, and soon, the smell filled the house.
Hardison walked over. “That smells delicious, man.”
“It’s almost ready.”
Hardison pulled out his phone, occupying himself as Eliot finished the meal.
Eliot placed the two prepared plates onto the table, putting one in front of Hardison.
“Oh, this looks delicious, man.” Hardison put down his phone, looking excited at the meal in front of him.
Eliot sat down next to him as Hardison took a bite. Hardison let out a satisfactory moan.
“This is so good.” He said before taking another bite.
The noises Hardison made were almost explicit in nature, but Eliot was glad to have someone enjoying his food.
“Man, you can cook. You need to cook for us more often. I don’t even eat this good at my Nana’s.”
Eliot felt proud of himself at Hardison’s praise as Hardison wolved down the food.
“So, where do you go on nights you don’t come home?” Hardison asked as he finished off his plate. “You got a girlfriend or something?”
“No,” Eliot replied tiredly.
“What then?” Hardison pried.
“I go to the pub.” He admitted.
“Oh.” A coy smile formed on Hardison’s lips. “Can I tell you something?”
Eliot assumed he would anyway.
“I make fake IDs for students for a price.”
This vaguely intrigued Eliot. “How much?”
“$50 each.”
Eliot nodded, impressed.
“I’ll be rolling in the bank.” Hardison grinned widely as he scrapped the last bits off his plate. “Maybe I can join you next time.”
And Eliot didn’t say no.
So one day, when Eliot came home earlier then normal, Hardison came out of his room and asked if they could go to the pub together. Eliot felt a little flustered as they took the bus to the pub, for Hardison was excited about going to the pub with Eliot. It made it feel almost like a date. That was right up until they were almost at the pub doors.
“Are there lots of girls?” Hardison asked, and Eliot’s heart sank a little, though he figured he shouldn’t have been too surprised.
“Yeah.” Eliot simply replied.
Hardison was grinning even wider as Eliot opened the door for them.
The bartenders greeted Eliot as he walked in. He’d been a frequent enough patron that they recognized him. He’d won many of their favours by acting almost as a free bouncer on nights he arrived. When other boys became too handsy with drunk girls, Eliot would step in, to ensure they backed off. For the most part, Eliot tried hard not to get into bar fights. He got into too many fights back home and didn’t want to deal with that trouble here.
Eliot walked up to the bar, sliding onto a stool.
“Does Eliot have a boyfriend?” The waiter smirked at him.
“He’s my roommate.” Eliot’s face turned serious, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea.
The waiter just nodded and began to pour two drinks. Eliot looked back, hoping Hardison hadn’t heard. Thankfully, his roommate was still a few steps away. He handed Hardison his drink after it was poured.
“Thanks.” Hardison took a sip, his eyes glancing around the room.
Eliot felt suddenly uncomfortable. “Do you play pool?” He asked.
“Oh yeah. It’s just math.” Hardison flashed his smile then. Eliot pretended it had no effect on him and made his way over to the pool table, setting it up.
They took their turns, Hardison calculating each move before he made it. Despite how long it took him before he made a move, he was really good. Hardison was still looking around the pub, scoping out the patrons.
“You can go talk to someone if you want.” Eliot offered as he readied his pool cue.
“Will you be my wingman? I’m not the best with the ladies.”
Eliot sighed. “Fine.” He took his shot, and Hardison clapped.
“Nice shot.”
“Let’s go.” Eliot grabbed his drink and began to walk over to the group Hardison had been staring at.
Eliot chose to sip his drink instead of talking, but Hardison, boy, could he talk. He was very blatantly flirting, using lots of compliments to flatter the girls. Eliot couldn’t help feeling like he was going about it all wrong. Then Hardison started talking about some nerd shit, and Eliot knew all was lost. He grabbed Hardison’s arm in a pause of the conversation and pulled him off.
“What are you doing?” He almost hissed out in a whisper.
Hardison seemed confused.
“You’re being too forward. And don’t bring up your nerd shit.”
“My nerd shit?” Hardison was offended, and Eliot felt a pang of regret. Back in his hometown, he’d bullied kids like Hardison, but he’d been trying to reform himself so very hard.
“Girls don’t like that kind of stuff.”
“But I want a girl who is into it. And I know they exist.”
Eliot sighed. “Alright.” He caved. When Hardison returned to the group, he went off to sit at the bar and watch the game.
Hardison returned shortly with a lightly defeated smile. “No luck.” He spoke. “Want to go home?”
“Sure,” Eliot told him, taking one last drink.
-
Hardison joined Eliot another night out to the pub. While they were playing pool, Eliot felt eyes on him. When he looked up, he realized it was a guy checking him out. He’d cast glances over at him every once and a while, trying to let the man know he was interested.
“Eliot, that guy’s staring at you.” Hardison finally noticed.
“I know.” He took his shot.
“Do you know him or something?
“No,” Eliot told him.
Hardison’s eyes flickered to the guy, then back to Eliot. “Oh, Oh! He’s checking you out.” A smile formed on Hardison’s lips. “Well, if you want, you can go talk to him. Don’t mind me.”
Eliot was almost thankful for Hardison’s cool reaction; he’d never receive this treatment back home.
“After we’re done,” Eliot replied, taking a quick drink of his glass.
“I think I’m going to go home,” Hardison told Eliot after their game. “But you go have fun, good luck.” He gave him a thumbs up, and Eliot rolled his eyes. He walked away, looking back to watch Hardison leave.