Eliot well and truly intended to wring Hardison's neck, redemption be damned! For this idiocy his conscience could handle a good strangling. "Hardison, where the hell are my clothes?" he furiously shouted through the bathroom door as he stood, dripping, on the mat. That juvenile idiot had taken his clothing and the towel he'd laid out, leaving him with nothing to wear or dry off with. From the laughter he heard through the door, Eliot could tell that his dignity wasn't going to be saved. He grumbled to himself about half-brained geeks who never grew out of middle school. The next few minutes of his life were going to be excruciating as he spied the only cover he could lay his hands on.
Ten minutes later saw him edge out of the bathroom, handfuls of Parker's balloons held protectively held to cover what he could, and then freeze. Not only was Hardison sitting out in the living room, but at some point the other three had joined him. Great, just great- his sense of modesty cringed as their eyes tracked to the multi-colored show he was putting on and their lips twitched with what suspiciously appeared to be stifled smiles. Hardison's snickers, though, were the last straw that saw his own sense of mischief bludgeon his modesty and snap to the challenge. He straightened, looked Hardison dead in the eye, and deliberately dropped the balloons. Nate and Hardison's eyes instinctively followed the balloons down before they realized just what they were seeing then snapped up to stare at the ceiling as Eliot smirked. He was modest, true, but that didn't mean that he was ashamed!
He strode across the room, carefully keeping his pace unhurried, and caught Nate trying to convince Sophie to stop eyeing him. Her reply that it was like watching fine art move, which deserved to be appreciated, enticed him add an extra swagger to his step, just to give her something to really appreciate. Parker, though, startled him as she brandished a handful of bills and whooped with glee. Her eyes never left him, and unlike Sophie's gaze, it made him feel a bit like a rabbit hunted by a particularly hungry fox.
"Parker, darling," Sophie spoke without sparing more than a quick glance over at their thief, "those are supposed to be dollar bills." She raised her glass of wine in his direction as a silent toast of appreciation, and Eliot nodded in acceptance.
Parker's response, though, had him desperately straining not to laugh and ruin his payback. "Psh, for regular strippers, maybe, but for this? He gets twenties!" Strangled choking from Nate and Hardison at her shouted comment made him devilishly add a shimmy for her as a reward. Childish practical jokes were a nuisance, but payback was truly delicious!
A/N: this was originally supposed to be a prompt that I was giving a friend (balloons), but the idea popped in to my head and someone poked my smutty wench of a muse into making me write this… you know who you are, meine freundin! Anyway, hope it made you laugh as much as I did when I originally pictured it :)