Eliot

[im_torchwood]

Jack was on hiatus and enjoying his vacation. He'd hit Broadway and the West End, and now he had tickets to Hamilton in LA Friday night so he'd come home. Itching for a show, Jack couldn't find a musical on stage except a few local school productions. Now that Urban Legend was in the second season, high school was probably a bad look. He'd been scolded enough to know when to dial it down.

He'd found a diner, though. A diner he'd never heard of and immediately got in the car to enjoy his night.

He walked in wearing a blazer over a tshirt and shiny black trousers.

"One?" the hostess asked, then led him to a seat without waiting for an answer.

"Thanks," he smiled, taking the menu...but surveying the place.

Comments

[eliot_thespectacular]

"It was great," Eliot said quietly. "And the music was... gorgeous. It was just - people, mostly. People including me."

[im_torchwood]

"You fuck it up with ego or dick?" Jack asked directly.

[eliot_thespectacular]

An image of Mike leaning in for a kiss flashed into Eliot’s mind, and he winced.

“Both,” he said. “Also drugs. And trusting the wrong people.”

[im_torchwood]

"I'm really sorry, man," he commisserated.

The canyon flew by, few cars on the road to slow them down.

"So...now you're a waiter to pay the bills?"

[eliot_thespectacular]

"And to perform," Eliot said, wistfully. "I came here to start over, it hasn't been going well so far, but at least... I mean at least I can sing for someone this way."

[im_torchwood]

"I'm not kissing your ass- you are really talented. Come tomorrow and I'll introduce you around after the show," he said.

He slowed and turned, waited for the gate, then pulled into a mission style hacienda. He stopped the rig in the circular driveway and killed the engine.

"Mi casa," he grinned.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Oh... wow, yeah I was definitely right that your place is better than mine," Eliot said, getting out of the car.

He wondered if he was serious about introducing him around. Just like with Nyx, he worried about being seen as trying to use someone.

[im_torchwood]

"My job is better than yours," he pointed out, walking around the rig to let them in.

"There was a time I lived in a sub-basement apartment under a divided Victorian zoning violation in Portland," he told him. "There's hope."

[eliot_thespectacular]

"My first apartment in New York was a bigger shithole than where I live now," Eliot assured him. "Honestly I'm doing okay, all considered. Better tips than a gay bar."

[im_torchwood]

"Not as good as a guaranteed year run," he replied. "Drink?"

Jack led the way to the kitchen to grab glasses. His bottles were on display.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Yes please," said Eliot, and looked around his surroundings. "Whatever you're having."

[im_torchwood]

Jack nodded and went to the fridge for some tonic water and grabbed the gin.

"Have you fixed your issues?" he asked bluntly. "I know people in town, you know. I could get you a shot, but not if it'll come back on me. You know how it works here."

[eliot_thespectacular]

Eliot looked over at him. "Drugs aren't a problem," he said. "Trusting the wrong people... maybe." He paused, and then added, "A lot of what the papers wrote about me was... not true. Not that it mattered."

[im_torchwood]

"Have you gotten any better at picking your friends?' he asked, passing him the drink.

[eliot_thespectacular]

“I’ve gotten better at not trusting people,” Eliot said, and took the drink.

[im_torchwood]

"Sorry," he winced.

"But good," he continued. "Recognizing bullshit in this town is a survival skill."

[eliot_thespectacular]

Eliot wasn't sure that he'd necessarily gotten better at that part, but instead just gotten... way, in general.

"So what's your level of bullshit on a scale of one to ten?" he asked.

[im_torchwood]

"My bullshit?" he grinned. "My bullshit is out in the open. I hate secrets. I make mistakes out loud."

He took a swallow, winced, and went to find a lime.

"Things that should set off the alarms are anyone who forces an NDA on you and anyone who tells you something is an absolute done deal. Until the money is in you hand, believe no one." Jack offered as he picked through his fruit.

[eliot_thespectacular]

That sounded like good advice to Eliot. "Want to be my manager?" he joked.

[im_torchwood]

"Abso-fucking-lutely not.. I'll get you with my manager, though," he offered. "Gwen takes no shit. You'll love her."

He came back with a lime and a knife and met Eliot's eye.

"She's Welsh he said, scrinching his nose as he said it.

[eliot_thespectacular]

"Oh, I mean... sure, if you think she might be willing to meet with me," Eliot said, and almost suggested that Jack ask her not to google him first. "Thanks."

He didn't think he knew anyone Welsh.

[im_torchwood]

"She's willing," Jack assured him.

He knew without asking Gwen lived for a turnaround. She'd see what Jack saw. He knew.

[eliot_thespectacular]

Eliot couldn't help but still be a little wary. This all seemed a bit too good to be true.

"You must really like musical theater," he quipped, and took a drink.

[im_torchwood]

"I do. Worse than that? I believe in the theater," he confessed heavily.

[eliot_thespectacular]

Eliot looked at him for a second and then, almost as if he was afraid that saying it out loud might jinx it, confessed, "I uh, I have an audition for a production of Angels in America next week."