Hardison didn't only play video games and clean up after his team, he also loved documentaries. Better than sitting through boring classes where the person at the front of the room droned on and on, documentaries gave information along with visual entertainment packed into manageable hour long segments. He learned more about history and nature by watching documentaries as he worked on projects than he'd ever learned in school.
The last one he watched, about grey wolves in Yellowstone, truly hit a chord with him. The way that the alpha pair interacted was the way that Eliot and Parker interacted in the office. The Kerrigan girl had called the team wolves, but those two personified a mated pair. They weren't the mushy kind of love, with flowers and chocolates, but were the rock-solid kind where a single glance could stand in for an entire conversation and a simple touch was more intimate than any vulgar display of groping.
Hardison could see how people would miss their relationship given how quiet they were. Parker still did her best to wind Eliot up with her odd behavior, yet had a glint in her eye that belied her teasing. Eliot still got frustrated with Parker and yelled, stomping around, yet his jaw never clenched in true anger. They also trusted each other implicitly. Where Hardison had to ask Parker where she was at on the job, Eliot simply trusted that she would have her part of the job done without interference. Where Sophie looked around for Eliot when a con went bad, Parker just darted to the nearest exit and trusted that he would be there ahead of her.
Those two stood shoulder to shoulder against whatever they faced and actually balanced each other out. Parker brought levity to Eliot's heavily-ordered world, and Eliot brought steadiness to Parker's flighty nature. Hardison could see them surviving, as a couple, far better than he could see them surviving as lone wolves. He'd actually tried to begin a relationship with Parker himself, but they just didn't match up. His world was one part fantasy and one part virtual, and her logical mind couldn't understand his metaphors most of the time. Not to mention that he lived for casual touch in a relationship and Parker went out of her way to avoid it. No, theirs would have been a relationship straight out of a Hallmark movie- syrupy sweet, awkward, and entirely impossible in real life. They would have torn each other apart, one tiny piece at a time.
No, Hardison was thankful that he had realized just how unsuited they were and moved on. His Jessica matched him perfectly, except that she loved the new Star Trek better than the original, but he could work with that. Those two wolves were made for each other, and Hardison enjoyed watching their particular documentary. From a safe distance, of course!