#considering the way western-centric goyim always just assumed it was a mans name anyway

[party-gilmore]

Thinking about all the lesbians from the bar adopting Eliot and like.

On a more sentimental note.

Can we just.

He would Family them so fucking good???

Especially those who's families had rejected them like.

Every generation on down the line, from the elder dykes to the baby gays, he'd be such a sweet son/baby brother/annoying middle sibling/older brother/dad figure to them all, and like.

Of COURSE he soaks that up just as much as they do and if he thinks about it for too long there's a threat of waterworks so it goes in the box next to HardisonAndParker labeled "Well Don't THINK About It Then."

And he's always there to support them like as much as it's risky for him to interact too much with cops he's a bunch of the younger one's (and some around his age too, though the elders are a little more Handle It Themselves Like We've Always Done - Trust Me Sonny What Ever You've Got To Throw At Me Can't Hold A CANDLE To The Eighties) first call when they need a cishet-passing just-a-good-ol-boy sounding man to deal with an authority figure for them. He's the BEST at diffusing situations where police have been called or there's some Heartlander causing trouble. Sure he'd also LOVE to hit some of these fucks, but there'd always be some threat of retaliation later when Eliot's not available, you know?

And vice versa, they TRY and help him out, but it's always [Nate voice:] "you never admitted to needing need anything." So they bully him into accepting some comforts at least, even if they can't get the whole story out of him. And maybe there's one grizzled ex-vet, pushing 90 but still buff and ornery as hell. Tattooed every where. maybe she even runs the joint, used to be special forces herself till they found out she was lesbian (it might been fine if it were just her sexuality, but apparently her gender was a bigger issue) and started on a PMC tour of her own. She was good at what she did, and private companies were always a little more willing to look the other way in exchange for skill.

Anyways she not only knows The Look but also still keeps her ear to the ground, stays in touch with some old squad mates from the military days as well as some of her private security contacts. Spencer was WELL after her generation so the name doesn't spark anything until the boy comes in looking haunted as hell the night after The Warehouse, and she knows that look, so she starts digging.

The name gets her a heavily redacted service history, some spotty PMC employment records, and a frantic voicemail from a friend in Brussels telling her to stay the fuck away from Moreau's Dog.

She follows that name around a bit - it's like pulling teeth at first but when suddenly the news breaks that Moreau has conveniently just been imprisoned in San Lorenzo? it gets a hell of a lot easier. the only people who like to gossip more than freshly dumped pillow princesses are mercenaries whose NDA's have just been suddenly terminated - and gets a few more pieces of the story. Enough pieces to put together a decent picture.

Eliot heads right for the bar when he gets back to Boston, only to find it closed for a Private Event.

Damn.

He really coulda used just bein' around the girls for a bit tonight. After everything. Might as well head back to McRor-

"Bout time you got your ass back stateside, boy," comes Toby's gravelly smoker's drawl just as he turns to leave. "S'just you an' me an' a couple my ol' army buddies tonight, kid. We're gonna talk a bit then we're gonna drink a lot then we're gonna take all your money in a poker game. Get on in here."

And just like that Eliot's got himself a queer ex-vet ptsd support group too.

#toby as in tobias #it worked out well for her whenever she needed to codeswitch #because after she changed it at least when she had to deal with being male-passing she didnt have to get deadnamed #considering the way western-centric goyim always just assumed it was a mans name anyway #eliot spencer #and yeah i know hes already got a toby but whatever im projecting #maybe thats why he was so drawn to her in the first place #mayBE THATS WHAT WAS THE FIRST INSENSITIVE COMMENT HE MADE THAT STARTED THE FIRST FIGHT #like not even thinking about it as a microaggression just open mouth insert foot 'i knew a guy called toby once-' #then later after the Return and Apology he explained what he meant to say was she shares the name of someone who mentored him and changed #his life and he just. didnt think before he spoke about it. #lesbian bar au