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Paradise Lounge was pleasant that evening.
And by pleasant, Bloodhound meant quiet. Enough people flitting about to keep their love busy behind the counter, but people of a quiet nature, talking at a volume that meant Elliott’s amusingly eclectic music taste could still be heard over the bar speakers, which they listened to with interest whilst nursing a drink he’d made especially for them.
When they’d first arrived that evening he’d given them the option to go right upstairs, where he could guarantee it would be quieter and they could unwind a little before he joined them after his shift, but they had declined his offer. He’d not questioned it (although they suspected that might have had more to do with someone trying to order a drink than him simply shrugging off his curiosity) and so they had found themself a booth to settle into for a few hours, tucked away near the back of the bar but still in full view of the counter. There were several potted plants nearby that, if they sat at the right angles, could hide them completely. They seemed to be new additions to the scenery, and they wondered whether Elliott had displayed them in such a way on purpose.
Regardless, tucked away on their own, they were able to watch him whilst he worked. Gone were the days of hiding the extent of their feelings for him, but old habits die hard and it was nice to be able to simply observe him, especially in this particular setting. Behind the counter he was truly in his element, showing off with a smile and a wink as he threw a shaker up in the air and caught it behind his back. He took such great pride in his trickery, in the act of entertainment, and to his credit he was very skilled in it.
Though admittedly, they were not just enjoying watching him make drinks. On a much more shallow level they liked watching him at the Lounge because-- well.
He looked good.
Very good, in fact. In his black waistcoat with his white shirt sleeves rolled up, his forearms on display… They ought to be a little ashamed, they knew, to look at him with such lecherous intent, but was it so reprehensible? To admire one’s lover? They thought not. And really, if Elliott was going to be so obvious when he stared at their ass, then it was only fair they were able to return the gesture one way or another.
They were looking forward to when his shift finished. Not just for being able to get their hands on him, but because they’d not spent time together in Elliott’s home for a while. The nature of their relationship wasn’t known to the others, neither of them willing to divulge that information just yet, both of them too busy being so terribly involved with the other to worry about anyone else's opinions. Which was fine, Hound preferred things the way they were, but the downside was not being able to come over without raising suspicions.
But Elliott had approached them on the dropship earlier that morning, walked past them as he went to join his team and whispered in their ear: “Ramya’s not home tonight.”
It had set off an excitement in them, one that had burned hot under their skin all day. It had stayed with them for hours, until even now, it still thrummed just below the surface. Acknowledging it felt so juvenile, to admit that such a simple thing was enough to put them in such a mood for so long. But, if they permitted themself an ounce of kindness, sneaking away to be with a lover wasn’t an experience they’d ever had before. Sure, there had been an element of it with Boone, but it was hardly the same. The gamlar konur had been gossiping about the man in the woods for days, they’d even encouraged Hound to go and investigate, keep an eye out and be a guide for him. So their whereabouts had never been in question, even if it was exhilarating to be alone with him. The guiding that had taken place had mainly come from him, in the end.
Oh if he could see them now… No doubt he would tease them for their excitement, the vondur maður that he was. Though if he’d laid eyes on Elliott, Hound was sure he would have understood. Boone had told them once he found them charming, and if charm was something he admired, he’d be besotted with Elliott.
In another life, perhaps.
They sipped slowly from the drink Elliott had given them, from the straw carefully slotted into their mask, amusing themself with thoughts of the two men meeting. They were so distracted by it that they almost missed someone walking in their direction. They shook the last of their thoughts away as the véfrétt came to a halt in front of their booth with a hesitant look on her face.
“Do you mind if I take a seat?” Renee asked, one hand awkwardly flexing by her side whilst the other held a drink. Truthfully, they were so surprised to have been approached that it took them a second to reply.
“Nei, please, be my guest.”
She slotted herself across from them, setting her own drink down in front of her, eyes immediately drawn towards their own.
“I didn’t expect you to be drinking anything.”
“Ah, well, Elliott found a work around, as you can see.” They responded, the brightly coloured umbrella in the glass leaning casually against the side of it as they picked it up.
“Cool.”
Renee was a curious person. She was often twitchy, but Hound liked her. She was quiet, a good fighter and too focused on her own problems to pry into anyone else's. They paired well together in a match, easily understanding the others cues when it came to their battles, and outside of those she was more than comfortable with silence, which Hound was always grateful for.
“Nice work you did earlier today.” She said, “I saw the way you took out Nox. Impressive.”
“Ah, then I am to presume it was you on the ledge sniping at us?”
Renee grinned.
“Yeah, that was me. Saw the whole thing go down. You were very efficient.”
“Thank you. I was surprised you didn’t give chase after it had ended, I was expecting you.”
“Valk jumped me before I could. I was already down a teammate, didn’t manage to pull through.”
“Of course. Perhaps the next match will see us on the same team. It has been a while, after all.”
She nodded with a smile and took a surprisingly long sip from her drink, her own little colourful umbrella swaying to one side in the glass. Elliott had a habit of slipping those into glasses of the people he liked the most, it was very endearing. Little tokens of his affection. Renee must have had a similar train of thought as she glanced back over to where Elliott was working, doing another one of his tricks with a cocktail shaker. Hound spared a glance too, though it was hidden by their goggles, and they felt their heart pulse with fondness when he handed over the finished drink to the awaiting patron. Always a show off.
When they looked back towards their guest, they noticed that twitchiness of hers was ever present, her eyes glancing to them and quickly away, in a constant loop flicking between them, her drink, and Elliott. The more they watched, the more they realised this was not the behaviour she displayed when receiving a spádómur. No, this was another type of twitchiness, one they knew well and one they were surprised to see from her of all people.
“Whatever it is you want to ask me,” They said slowly, “you may ask it.”
Renee looked startled for a second, evidently not expecting to be called out, before she let out a sigh. There were several moments where she said nothing, swirling her drink around inside of her glass, clearly trying to choose her words carefully and be tactical with what she was about to ask. Hound had seen this look in plenty of others before, usually followed by a suitably invasive question. Their usual response for such things was to side-step around what was asked, or simply made themself menacing enough that the offending party stuttered out an apology and never came near them again. Though admittedly they weren’t expecting anything so rude or prying to come from her, a woman who seemed to value privacy as much as them. In all the time they’d known her, they’d never presumed her to be disrespectful.
“So.” She finally said. “You’re dating Elliott.”
Hound froze.
They did not want to lie to her. They didn’t think they could, and such a thing felt unwise. But still they bristled, not ready to have their personal matters laid quite so bluntly in front of them. Their concern must have made itself known in the silence as she softed and shook her head.
“He didn’t tell me, if that’s what you’re wondering. And I’ve no intention of telling anyone else, I promise, don’t worry about that. I’m not here to… I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
As far as blackmail material went, it was fairly unimpressive they supposed, even if it was a matter they wanted to keep private for the time being. And as they thought on it, it occurred to them that it wouldn’t make sense for her to wield such information as a weapon, considering it also involved her best friend.
Hound took a slow, careful sip from the straw that slotted into their mask before quietly replying “...How did you know?”
She shrugged and gave them a helpless look.
“Please, you’ve met Elliott. He doesn’t need to say anything out loud, he’s one of the least subtle people in the whole of the Outlands. He was pining for you for absolutely ages and then suddenly he stopped talking about you. I figured something must have happened, either you told him you weren’t interested or you told him you were. After a while I noticed that whenever he thinks no one’s watching he smiles to himself, the way only people in love do. I realised what had happened.”
They supposed that was a valid point, in regards to his subtlety, although they were more focused on the latter of what she said, their heart fluttering in the cage of their chest at the thought that Elliott was so smitten with them. They often worried that the depth of their affection was perhaps too much for him, that if he were to look into that well and discover just how deep it went he might turn and run in fear. But it seemed their worries were for nought.
“Also…” Renee then gestured to the two drinks between them, with an amused smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “…He gives you an umbrella too.”
Ah. Right. There was also that.
Warmth bloomed in their cheeks and it was a relief that she could not see it. They took another long sip from their straw, needing a moment to process everything she’d said so far.
“Does he know?” They asked when they were finished.
“That I know? No. He just thinks I give him weird looks for no reason.”
“You give him weird looks?”
“Like I said. He smiles to himself when no one’s watching. Aside from him looking like an idiot, he does it when he’s supposed to be covering our backs mid match.”
Her tone was annoyed but fond, so Hound did not feel guilty when they chuckled in response. Bless that man, that sweet, wonderful man.
“Seriously,” She continued, “he’s completely in love with you.”
He--
Oh.
Surely they must have misheard her. Though by the sudden look of horror that passed over her face, they knew they hadn’t.
“He is?” They asked quietly, their voice coming out so much more vulnerable than they wanted.
“Shit, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean to- It’s not a bad thing. I’m sorry, it wasn’t my place to say.”
Those were not words they had shared with one another yet. But they had known, for a long time, what their feelings were for him. At first they had stored them away, the grief of their discovery shaking them to their core. It had taken a long time, a long long time before they began to tentatively approach those feelings again. It had felt so shameful and disloyal, to acknowledge their existence but they had come to terms with them. Their love for Boone would remain in their heart, always. But they could not be alone forever. He would not want them to be alone forever.
To know that Elliott might adore them just as strongly as they did him? That was dizzying. Of course they knew of his fondness, but still…
By the Gods, they loved that man so deeply.
Renee looked like she was about to either down the rest of her drink at top speed, or simply get up and make a run for it and Hound knew they had to say something before she bolted.
“It is alright,” They reassured her, and they wondered if she could hear the smile in their voice, “I appreciate you telling me.”
That seemed to settle her a little, the panic started to slide off her. Quietly she returned to her drink and Hound did the same, both of them sat in silence for a while, listening to the music playing overhead. They kept a close eye on her, drawn to the way she swirled the little paper umbrella around her glass. Their conversation was not quite over, so it seemed, going by the way her nerves presented themselves.
“There is something else you wish to say to me, is there not?” Hound prodded gently, and she gave them a half guilty look, sighing and sitting back against the booth seat.
“I don’t really know what I’m doing here. I thought I could… Look, Elliott’s my best friend. And I know that being best friends involves certain duties. And so… With you dating him…”
Realisation dawned on them as she spoke.
“Ah. You are here to… I do not know the word for it, but you are here to threaten me, yes?”
The awkward look that passed over her face was very amusing.
“Not like that. I mean, I know that’s what shovel talk is supposed to be, that’s what all the results said when I looked it up but… I‘m really out of my depth here Hound. I thought I might be able to work it all out after I sat down but I’m lost. This is ridiculous, why do people do this normally?”
“I’m afraid the behaviours of people are often confusing and strange. I find it easier to stick to one's self.”
She gave them a wry smile.
“You and me both.”
It seemed to ease the tension a little, and Hound could see her shoulders relax a little. Bless her, they thought, trying to do this for Elliott, when she had no idea what she was doing. It was clear he meant very much to her.
“Alright. I’ll guess I’ll just lay it all out. I know I’m supposed to give you the ‘don’t hurt him’ speech, but I’m not going to. Sure, the sentiment still stands, but to be completely honest I don’t think you will. Hurt him, that is.”
Hound shifted uncomfortably in their seat. That was a lot of faith she had in them. It was not that they had any intention of hurting him, the thought made them nauseous, but they could not deny that terrible things happened to those they loved. To have even admitted to him that they cared for him felt like playing with fire. The Gods had been kind to them so far but they were wary. But she could not have known that and they were not keen on telling her.
“So instead I’m… I’m asking you to take care of him. I can see you already are, not that I expected anything less but I know he can be difficult sometimes. He’s loveable, sure, but he’s got his issues.”
“As we all do.” They replied in his defense.
“You’re not wrong. But what I mean is he hurts easily and doesn’t like to show it, or talk about it. He’s got a lot going on, probably more than I even know because he never likes people to see that side of him. And I understand that he doesn’t like to ask for help, I get it. But Elliott will have problems that he won’t even acknowledge are problems and it’s difficult to watch him when he’s like that, when all he does is smile and pretend that he can manage the way he’s doing.”
Her gaze briefly flickered over to the bar, and a sad smile passed over her face for a brief moment before it was gone again.
“And I love him, I really do… Don’t tell him I said that though, he’ll be an ass about it for weeks. But sometimes I can’t help him. I can’t. I’ve got my own stuff to deal with, and he’s too busy with his own issues and we can’t help each other out. And I wish I could be there for him more, but he won’t even try to help himself sometimes and it’s difficult. It’s frustrating. And I say this as just his friend, I don’t even know what it’s like as his partner.”
There was truth to her words. They knew exactly the behaviour of his that she referred to, and no, it was not easy to see him suffering and know that he would do nothing to acknowledge it. But they had learnt early on that it did no good to push Elliott, it only served to draw him further into himself when things were bad. But he responded well to comfort. Give him his space when he needed it and offer him sweet words and more often than not he would come back and crawl into their arms, and sometimes, if they were lucky, he would talk about it. Renee was right, it could be frustrating. Seeing someone you love close in on themself was never easy. But they could not judge him too harshly for that, not without examining their own behaviour.
“But this is why I’m glad he has you now.” She continued, unaware of their thoughts. “You’re good for him. He’s been different recently, there’s a happiness in him I’ve never seen before. And his head in the clouds aside, I’m happy for him. For you both. I think with you there in his life, he might learn to be a bit more honest with his emotions, I think you’re a good example for him.”
“Many would argue otherwise.” They responded, referring to their mask. Renee simply shrugged.
“Those people are wrong. There’s no bullshit with you, there never has been. You’re blunt without being cruel, you’re kind without being condescending. Sure you wear a mask, but there’s honesty with you in a way most people aren’t.”
How strange, to know this was the image she had of them. It was flattering, though they could not stop the pangs of guilt that reared up at her kindness. There was plenty they had to hide.
“Have you met his mom yet?” She asked, changing topics, a distraction they were glad for.
“No, not yet. Elliott wanted to wait…”
Evelyn hadn’t been well lately, and Elliott had really wanted her to be lucid when she first met Hound. They’d tried to tell him it wasn’t necessary, but he was insistent, explaining that on good days, sometimes, she remembered their mother. He was very determined that when the two of them met, it would be during a day where she might be able to give them some answers if there was anything they wanted to ask. to their past.
It was sweet of him really, to try and be so accommodating. And it was so terribly selfish of them to want it so badly but… It would be so wonderful to hear someone talk of Brigida. They wanted someone else to share in her memory.
“She’ll love you.” Renee said earnestly. “Anyone who can both put Elliott in his place and make him smile is the kind of person she likes.”
“She must be rather fond of you then.” Hound mused, a smile in their voice.
“She’s always been very nice to me. I go round to visit during the holidays, when I can. Though I think I put Elliott in his place more than I make him smile.”
“Perhaps, though do not be so quick to undermine your friendship, he cares for you a great deal, much like you care for him.”
“Me and El? We put up with each other.”
Hound shook their head.
“It is more than that. As you have said… He often struggles to express himself, his feelings. But that doesn’t mean that he does not have them, that his emotions are not vast and complex. And I know that you are very important to him, even if he struggles to tell you. You are a voice of reason for him, and whilst you may be harsh in your truths at times, you do have his best interests at heart, as you have demonstrated by coming to talk to me this evening. He talks of you often when recounting his many stories, or when the pair of you have been on a team together he will tell me about the antics you experienced. You mean a great deal to him Renee, do not doubt that. However… You should tell him, sometime, that he is someone you care greatly for. I think he would like to hear that.”
Hound watched her eyes soften and flicker over to Elliott once more, a gentle smile curling at the corners of her mouth as her posture softened, her fondness almost visible in the space between them.
“Thank you Hound.” She said quietly, and they sensed that she had finally said everything she wanted to say.
They nodded at her, and the pair of them quietly sipped at their drinks, lost to their own thoughts. Though they were not left to muse alone for long, as not long after there was a lull at the bar that allowed Elliott to step away and meander over to their booth, looking a little tired but otherwise in good spirits.
“Well, if it isn’t my two favourite people! Didn’t expect you guys to be hanging out.”
Renee very briefly shot Hound a look and they smirked under the mask. Yes, they supposed he really wasn’t subtle, was he?
“We were just talking about today’s game.” Renee slipped in as a cover. “I was asking for sniping tips.”
“Oh, you need more help being a menace?”
Renee rolled her eyes. “Please, you have full authority on that, no one else can compare.”
“Hey! Okay first of all, rude, we both know Tavi is the biggest menace, you insult not only me but him by saying that. Second of all, I gave you that drink on the house so therefore you have to be nice to me.”
“It’s only on the house because you’ve not put it into the system yet so you can’t ring it up properly.”
“That is not- You- Hound she’s being mean to me.”
They chuckled at Elliott’s pouting, a look made much sweeter when he had his arms folded over his chest. Ah, those arms…
“I need to be heading home anyway.” Renee remarked, sliding out from her seat and looking in Hound’s direction.
“Nice talking with you.”
“And you. May you have safe travels home.”
“Wait wait wait! Before you go!” Elliott tugged at her sleeve, much like an over excited child, and she raised an eyebrow at him impatiently.
“What?”
“What did you think of it?”
“Of what?”
“The drink! I told you you’re the first to try it, what was it like?”
“Oh, right, it was nice.”
“Have it again kind of nice or just nice?”
“Have it again. I’m going now, don’t harass your customers too much El.”
As she walked away Elliott sat where she’d previously been, immediately wiping down the table surface and moving her empty glass to one side.
“She acts all grumpy but she loves me really.” He grinned at them, and Hound felt their love for him pulse in their chest.
“You doing okay?” He continued when they didn’t reply. “Listen I know I already said so, but you don’t have to stay down here you know, I promise it’s much quieter in the apartment if you wanted to have some alone time, I don’t mind.”
“It is alright, I am happy to watch you work.”
Elliott smiled, a faint blush staining his cheeks, and were the two of them truly alone they would have reached over to take his hands in theirs.
“I shouldn’t be too long now, I’m gonna close up in about an hour. Did you still wanna eat something when I’m done?”
“So long as it’s not too much trouble.”
“Nah, not at all, I’ve got some stuff that needs eating anyway so, I can wh-whi- I can make something pretty quick once we’re upstairs.”
One of the velafolk behind the bar waved to him and Elliott sighed, sliding out of the booth seat and giving them an apologetic smile.
“Well, duty calls. I’ll be back later- Oh! Before I forget, Ramya texted me, she’s not back until tomorrow evening so we can sleep in tomorrow.”
“Elliott?”
“Yeah babe?”
Ég elska þig svo mikið. Ég vona að segja þér það fljótlega.
“I look forward to spending time with you.”
Elliott beamed. “Me too. Not long now Houndie, I promise.”
They watched him as he wandered off back to work, a sigh slipping out of them that spoke only of yearning.
When they eventually found the strength to look away from him, they turned back to their drink, and the sight of it started a laugh out of them.
The first umbrella had been joined by a second.