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#Sophie isn't just not backing Nate up but happily sampling the truffles and complimenting Eliot on how delicious they are.
onyxbird · 2 years
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I was thinking about @original-missif's "Nate Ford's Home for Criminal Children" (NFHCC) AU, and, while stressful and ethically challenging, I think this AU probably also forces Nate to make some healthier choices, e.g., Nate actually (begrudgingly) acknowledging being an alcoholic and that it's a problem.
He's unprepared, hasn't even thought about this wrinkle of dealing with teenagers the first time Eliot decides to help himself to a beer, but no, no, no, he cannot just let that stand. (It's not even that Sterling would happily pounce on it as ammunition--he doesn't want his kids hooked on alcohol.) But how do you explain to the three teens you've been running criminal heists with all over LA that underage drinking of all things is the law where you're going to draw the line?
Sophie is no help. Being both 1) British and 2) an inveterate rule-breaker, she has zero concerns about a 17-year-old having one beer. Especially when it's Eliot, who has demonstrably excellent self-control. (She might be a little more concerned about their orange-soda and chocolate fiends, but neither of them has shown any real interest in alcohol.)
So Nate, scrambling on the spot to justify this sudden new rule to three skeptical teens whose relationship with arbitrary rules is antagonistic at best, flat-out admits that his drinking getting out of hand did a ton of damage to his life, that he knows how hard it is to break that habit once you get hooked, and that he doesn't want them to go down that path. And fortunately for him, Eliot takes it with good grace, which (in hindsight) probably should have been something that made Nate pay a little more attention, since the crime children do not capitulate that easily on anything they actually want.
But I think 17-year-old Eliot would be a lot less overt about pushing back on Nate about stuff than canon Eliot, even if he's already had some (compressed) experience with the likes of Moreau and is done with blindly following orders. If Parker and Hardison's safety is at stake, sure, he'll go toe-to-toe with Nate, but not over a beverage. So when Nate gives his heartfelt little spiel and announces "...which is why there will be no underage drinking in this house," Eliot puts on his best Good Southern Boy manners with a "Yes, sir. I understand, sir" while quietly making note of the ill-advised "in this house" clause. From then on he makes sure not to give Nate any reasons to wonder what he's consuming outside the house.
All that to say, Nate is completely blind-sided the day he goes to pour himself a drink and realizes the kids have raided his liquor cabinet to make a staggering quantity and variety of chocolate truffles. (Parker wanted interesting chocolate. Hardison went on a research binge. Eliot got carried away playing with different combinations in the kitchen.) They're all baffled as to why he's upset, because 1) his rule was against underage drinking and no one drinks truffles and 2) as Eliot puts it, "You said you didn't want us getting hooked on alcohol, and even Parker isn't going to manage to eat enough of these to get tipsy."
(And now I kind of want a fic riffing off the French Connection Job where it's the Leverage kids dealing alcoholic truffles out of the Home Ec room.)
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