"Yeah."
"Where are you?"
"Uh," Eliot didn't get a change to phrase his answer before Nate continued.
"I went by your place, you aren't there."
"No…"
"It's St. Patrick's Day."
He looked around at the tacky decorations of shamrocks and pots o' gold that lined the walls. "Yeah. kinda hard to not notice."
"They turn the beer green."
Eliot nearly laughed at the forlorn sound of Nathan's voice. "I know."
"The whole condo smells of corned beef and cabbage. Have I ever told you how much I hate corned beef and cabbage?"
"You have mentioned it once or twice."
"Can't go anywhere in the whole state of Massachusetts today without it smelling of corned beef and cabbage. I thought maybe your place… a good steak, some not-green beer."
"Sorry, man, I'm not there."
"I noticed." Nate hung up without saying goodbye.
Eliot put his phone back in his pocket and paid the cashier.
/
Nate's condo was dark when Eliot got there. He spread his bags out across the counter. Rifling through the cupboards he found the pots and pans he was looking for and soon he had the cutting board out and with a flip of his boning knife he got to work.
/
Nate pulled into the parking spots behind his apartment. He heaved a sigh and girded his loins for the running of the gauntlet that was the bar. He could have gone around, up the stairs at the side of the building, but he hated to let the revelry ruin his day.
He pulled open the door only to be assaulted by the smell of corned beef and cabbage. A trio of barely legal girls wearing plastic green bowlers and "Kiss me I'm Irish" t-shirts pushed past him as he entered. The entire bar was decorated in typical gaudy holiday fare.
Mike was working the bar and they shared a dismayed look over the yuppies and tourists that crowded the rail.
Nate had planned to stop and get just one shot of whiskey on his way through, but he decided there was a perfectly good bottle of Glenlivit in the shelf by the refrigerator. It wasn't Irish and it wasn't green and he was perfectly fine with that.
The smell of cooked cabbage was only stronger in the elevator. He pulled out the keys to his apartment, only to find the door already unlocked.
Eliot was on his couch, his arms spread out across the back, the remote in one hand and a beer in the other. The TV was set to have football on two of the screens and there was women's volleyball on the third and what appeared to be …"Is that caber tossing?"
Eliot laughed. "I can't figure out how to change the channels without losing what's on. I swear just when I figure it out, Hardison changes something and I can't do it again." Eliot tossed the remote and it landed on the coffee table.
Nate stared at the screens for a moment before shaking his head. He headed into the kitchen and paused at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink that hadn't been there when he'd left this morning.
"Hey, don't touch that!" Eliot shouted over his shoulder as Nate reached for the oven.
"What are you making?"
"You sounded kind of down on the phone. I thought you needed a traditional Irish meal."
"Oh God, tell me it's not corned beef!" Nate pulled down the scotch and came back to the couch. He picked up the remote before sitting down. "Are we watching amateur everything?" Now it was college basketball on one screen, and spring training football on the other, and the caber toss had been replaced with sprint car races. He guessed the only reason Eliot wasn't messing with the remote was the women's volleyball was still on. "Wait, is that last year's volleyball championship?"
"I told you man, I can't work the remote."
Nate hit a button on the remote and suddenly the screens all went black, then static, then a full version of the screen saver. He pressed a few more buttons and Eliot got up to check his food, took something out of the 'fridge and dug out a whisk and a bowl. He kept whisking while Nate kept pushing buttons until the TV came to life again. This time it was just one channel covering all the screens. Nate found the channel button and flipped through until he stopped on William Powell and Myrna Loy. "You seen this?"
Eliot shook his head.
"It's fun."
Eliot watched from the kitchen while Nate watched and read a book on Joan of Arc at the same time.
Just as the meat came out of the oven, Hardison came in the front door. "Mmm, man, does that smell good. I ain't had corned beef and cabbage since I was a kid."
"Well you still aren't getting it." Eliot shut the door on the oven and adjusted the temperature.
"Man!" Hardison groused only half-heartedly. "What are you watching?" With the flick of his thumb the Thin Man movie stayed up on one screen at the same time a Golf game came up on the other half.
"Seriously? Golf?" Eliot snorted from the kitchen. "Put the movie back on."
Sophie and Parker came in together. "Oh, Myrna Loy. Classic and classy." Sophie pulled off her coat and dropped it over the back of the couch.
"Do I smell apples?" Parker leaned over the kitchen counter to watch Eliot work.
"I made apple oat cake for dessert."
"How can you smell anything over the smell of cabbage?" Hardison queried, "Which we aren't having by the way."
"No?" Sophie asked and looked toward the kitchen, but didn't get up. "I thought it was an American Tradition."
Eliot passed Irish coffees to Parker who dutifully gave one to each of the team. "Dinner is in 10 minutes. Everyone wash your hands."
Nathan snorted a laugh as Hardison obediently got up and headed for the downstairs bathroom.
Eliot cooked often enough that they had a rhythm of setting the table, getting out the drinks, napkins and condiments. Eliot served up the leg of lamb and vegetables while Parker put out the soda bread.
Nathan stood behind his chair and looked at the table. "I would just like to say a few words of thanks." There were a few puzzled looks tossed Nate's way, but no one said anything. "Thank you, Eliot, for this truly traditional Irish meal which is not corned beef."
Eliot nodded. "But seriously, man, I make a great corned beef."
Nate glared but dug into his meal. "Let's eat."