A/N: If I could put a link here, I would, but this stemmed from a very emotional outburst I had after watching Les Mis right after I watched a few episodes of Leverage. You should be able to piece it together alright. :)
"Seriously?" Hardison said, looking at the front of the Blu-Ray rental. Watching the almost three-hour musical that was Les Misérables was not his idea of a guys' night in, but Eliot wouldn't hear his complaints, having seen it already and deeming it worthy of Hardison's time.
"Yes seriously. It's an important piece of culture and let's face it man, you need more culture in your life." Eliot said from the kitchen, putting together their snacks and drinks.
"Culture? Man, we're not even French." Hardison said, not willing to admit that he was kind of interested in the movie, given how much praise it had gotten. Not to mention Wolverine and Cat Woman singing together? Yeah he was a geek to the core. He'd give it a shot.
"Don't have to be French to appreciate a piece of literary and musical genius." Eliot grunted as he sat down next to the other man, passing him an orange soda before opening his beer and pressing play on the remote.
The movie started and while Hardison found the constant singing to be a little jarring at first, eventually he grew used to it and even started to enjoy it. He had a soft spot for musicals it seemed. The songs were very different from normal music and he liked it.
Hugh Jackman could sing extremely well and Russell Crowe wasn't half bad either. He couldn't believe that this guy Jean Valjean was getting into all this trouble because of some damn bread. He said so to Eliot who shushed him and told him to 'just watch the damn movie'. Shutting his mouth as instructed, Hardison found himself being swept up in the story, and in each individual character's story. He broke out into goose bumps as Anne Hathaway sang her heart out, tears streaming down her dirty face, her entire soul on display. He cracked a smile when the innkeepers got introduced. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter certainly made an interesting pair.
Out of curiosity, he started to sneak glances at Eliot out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see his reaction despite the fact that he had already seen it more than once. Overall, Eliot was keeping a good poker face, but every now and again Hardison would catch the tiniest movement on his face, a twitch of his eyebrow or his mouth. Satisfied that Eliot wasn't just torturing him and that he was in fact enjoying the movie as well, Hardison settled back into the couch cushions.
Hardison became very interested in the entire Marius-Éponine-Cosette story, something about it hitting him funny, like it was familiar. He thought Marius was kind of a moron for falling in love with Cosette so fast, especially with this whole revolution thing that they were all planning (his buddy Enjolras didn't seem too impressed with him to say the least), but he kept his comments to himself for the moment, not wanting to get shushed again.
He noticed that Eliot hung on to every word that Éponine said and Hardison had to hold back a smile. Eliot seemed more than interested in her and for a second, Hardison almost teased him for having a crush on her, except when she started to sing in the rain, Eliot's whole expression changed, going soft around the edges and Hardison found himself watching Eliot instead of the movie.
On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him till morning
Eliot leaned forward just a bit, his eyes locked on the screen, not seeing Hardison's own eyes on him.
Without him
I feel his arms around me
Hardison watched as Eliot's crossed arms actually tightened, the way that they were crossed making it seem like he was hugging himself.
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
The tiny smile that crept onto Eliot's face was so unfamiliar to Hardison that he couldn't help but stare even more. The smile stayed as Éponine continued to sing.
In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever
Eliot's smile broadened for a second before fading again as Éponine kept on, her voice getting strained with emotion.
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us
Hardison was more than sure that he could say Eliot's full name and the other man wouldn't hear him. He was completely focused on the music coming from the speakers.
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Hardison watched as Eliot's expression shifted again, sadness touching his eyes.
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers
I love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life I've only been pretending
Without me
His world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never known
Hardison had never in his life seen such a sad expression on Eliot's face as he watched the woman on the screen begin to cry, hugging her knees in the rain.
I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own…
The song moved right into the next piece of the story, and Eliot seemed to come back to himself, not even throwing a glance Hardison's way, regardless of the fact that he was aware of the younger man watching him. He had reminded himself before the start of the movie to keep himself in check, but based on the way Hardison's eyes hadn't left his face during the song, he had failed. He didn't dwell on it, instead letting the music continue to wash over him.
There was no stopping the tear that welled up in his eye, and eventually spilled over when he blinked, when Éponine and Marius sang together. No matter how many times he heard the song and watched the scene, it pierced a hole in his heart, because even as she was dying, Éponine didn't tell Marius her real feelings, and it hurt him deeper than he would ever let on.
As more and more people died, and the movie continued, Hardison found that he was more into the movie than he had originally thought. When the credits rolled, he didn't really know what to do with himself. Eliot didn't turn it off right away, letting the credit music play while he cleaned up their food and brought it to the kitchen.
"So what'd you think? Still think you have be French to like it?" Eliot said, throwing things away and trying to keep himself busy.
Hardison sat quietly on the couch, Eliot's reaction to Éponine's song still on a loop in his head. He worded his entire answer carefully.
"Yeah I liked it. Good music, good story. Historically involved which I also like." He turned around to look at Eliot for the last piece of his answer. "You seem to really like that Éponine woman." He held his breath when Eliot stopped moving, his back going rigid before he turned around, his face carefully blank but his eyes an open book.
"…Yeah well. I kind of identify with her I guess. I get how she feels."
Eliot's answer hung heavy in the air. When it finally sunk in after looking back at Eliot, Hardison felt like the air had gotten knocked out of him. He knew the love triangle seemed familiar to him for a reason. Oh damn.
Eliot didn't wait for him to say anything else. He walked around the couch and pulled the Blu-Ray out of the player, walking to the front door and putting his shoes on.
"I'm gonna go return this. I'll be right back."
The Redbox kiosk was right across the street so Eliot was back in less than 5 minutes. Hardison was right where he left him on the couch.
"I'm guessing you don't relate to Éponine because you're both brunette and sing really good." Hardison said quietly, watching as Eliot slowly sunk back down on the opposite end of the couch. The older man didn't answer but the fact that he wouldn't look at Hardison spoke volumes.
"Why didn't you say something?" Hardison dared to ask. Again, Eliot said nothing, but he did shrug so Hardison nodded.
"Well, if you ever… you know, wanted to say something…" He trailed off when Eliot finally looked at him, expression guarded. Hardison smiled.
"I'd be open to talking about it." He finished his thought. That tiny unfamiliar smile came back as Eliot looked down at his clasped hands, and Hardison decided that he liked it, and wanted that smile to become a familiar one in the future.