recklessthings | ♦ sophie devereaux

( automechanically, hardison begins to peel. he has accepted his fate even as he argues: )

C'mon. ( whining is the first stage. ) You get your leaf broth...

( that little spritz of orange aroma does seem to bring some clarity back to his eyes, though. )

Yes, well, I've also had a good meal and a good night's sleep. If you want your vice, you have to earn it.

[She tips her head to the side with a small smile.]

How're things coming?

Good, great. Everything's on track and on schedule and, you know.

( hardison lies through his chompers while carefully peeling every last bit of pith off of the first slice of orange in his hands. )

You know me, I got it handled.

( pristine slice acquired, he holds it out to share with sophie, because that's what you do with orange slices. )

Mmm-hmmm.

[She knows that a lot of this falls on him, and often times things are running down to the wire. She reaches to take the piece of fruit from him, and leans back.]

Is there anything I can take off your plate?

( as much as he whines and bitches and moans about "having to" take care of all of this stuff, hardison takes a lot of pride in doing it. he likes keeping busy. having this outlet changed things for him, gave him challenges when before he had to try to find challenges for himself.

he smiles, warm and a little bashful. )

Do I really look that bad? ( he prods at his undereyes. ) Don't tell me I have bags...

No, no.

[She waves her hand because yes he looks terrible, but that's not why she's asking. She also is aware that sometimes he takes on a lot, and she wants to be more conscious of that. Because she knows that Nate won't always, and just expect him to do his job.]

Just - this is a bit more than our usual workload. And I do have a friend in the area who could help, if you need it.

( talking to sophie can be intense, especially when she wants it to be. but sophie rarely makes hardison feel like an asset or a resource. that's the intensity, the reason she's more intimidating than nate. hardison's usefulness to the team and to nate is important to him. but sophie reciprocates, easily, and mirrors warmth back to hardison naturally.

and. the kicker: sophie doesn't really ever need anything from hardison. and sometimes that makes it difficult, for a man who likes to provide what people need. he's still trying to figure her out on that level. )

Need? ( he squeaks a little, mock offense bringing a hand dramatically to his chest. ) Help? Me?

( now, unconcerned with the amount of pith still attached to it, hardison stuffs half an orange into his mouth while he tries to think of how to respond to this. because he is, in fact, in need of help. but he is also a very prideful man. )

[An amused look glimmers across her face as she finishes the piece of the orange he shared. While she knows why Nate runs the con the way she does, she's careful not to do the same. She doesn't want this crew to feel like working for Ramsey, where if you failed to hold up your end, you were done for.]

I said "if."

[She didn't mean to insinuate that he couldn't handle it himself. She was simply offering him a hand if he needs it.]

( though her offer is entirely without ulterior motive or insinuation, hardison is...a bit fragile. he swallows his hunk of orange with less dignity and more bravado than he'd like (reader, he definitely chokes a little) and then stands up, leaving the other chunk where it is. )

Well, if you don't mind, I've got work to do. And it's all good and I've got it covered.

( and with that, he vertiably flounces off.

and then, approximately three hours later, he finds sophie wherever she is, and holds up his extremely comically bandaged and useless right hand. this is what happens when you work exhausted. )

Hey, Soph, uhh. Yeah. ( how's that crow taste, hardison? ) That offer still on the table?

Of course.

[She won't even gloat.]

In fact, I'm about to go meet him for a drink. Want to come?

[Is this conveniently because she suspected that Hardison might cave, or is she just catching up with an old friend when she happens to be within his two mile radius, because they're planning on tipping this job into his pet FBI agent's lap regardless? She'll never tell.]

Neal loves to talk shop over wine.

( ooh tag along to meet sophie's friend??? she has successfully turned this frown upside down. )

Yes pleeease. ( then he registers the details and the grin turned a smidge brittle, because ew: ) I don't have to drink wine, do I?

No. But we might want to pick up something on the way as I can't guarantee he'll have anything else.

[And drinking is much easier in the privacy of his loft versus going out to a bar. Neal won't take it as an offense if Hardison brings his own booze but he might take offense if Hardison makes faces over the wine.]

Sounds like a plan.

( it's a plan that it sounds like eliot should be going along on, but hardison is curious and bored and he likes meeting new people whereas eliot is....eliot.

and that's how they wind up at neal's door, hardison holding a four-pack of stewart's in hand, chattering away about... )

And then what you wanna do is take advantage of the triple modifier but make sure you've played the cool down first but not if it hasn't been two rounds since the other player called for Quadruple Silver on a Biscuit...

[Neal opens her door to Sophie with her chin in her hand, trying to track all of these little details that make absolutely no sense to her - it probably would if she understood the game, but it's going to take her a bit of research before that all makes sense. But she is always happy to hear about Hardison's interests, even if she doesn't always "get" it.

Still the door opens and she glances over to Neal with a wide smile.]

We'll come back to this later. Neal, darling.

["Always good to see you, Sophie," Neal smiles in return. "And you brought a friend?"]

Yes. Neal Caffrey, Alec Hardison.

( oh right they were Doing Something. hardison offers a hand in greeting, and his best smile. )

Hey, what's up? I've heard— ( oh whoops, wait. ) —nothing about you except you got Sophie's stamp of approval, so. It's nice to meet you, Neal.

["You as well. Though if what I've heard through the grapevine is true, you lean more towards hacking?"

Look, you hang out with the FBI long enough you get bored and poke around at Sophie's new friends. Sophie smirks as she makes her way in, resting her hands on Neal's shoulders.]

Hardison is more than just a hacker. He's a budding forger in his own right. He was good enough to fool Claridge's auction house, and a rather discerning buyer.

[Neal takes that in and nods. "Color me impressed."]

Neal, on the other hand, tends to be a bit flashier which is why he got himself caught.

["Harsh. But fair."]

But I think his most notable alleged score involves a Raphael - St. George and the Dragon.

[Because since they're all thieves here, they might as well have a little context for each other.]

( hardison being hardison, puffs up a little at sophie's praise. praising him to an old friend, no less, and not part of a con where she's just padding a mark to trust him. he could get used to that.

and though he has been learning from her, he's a little distracted by the fact that "caught" has been thrown in the mix. but he gets there after a moment, impressed despite being a little conflicted: )

That one's, uh, that's one of the ones Catherine the Great had? Also, back up, caught?

( his neck's getting a little itchy, at that. he watches neal with a little more interest, now. )

[Neal winces, before lifting up his pant leg to show the ankle monitor he's currently wearing.]

Four years for bond forgery. But bond forgery was all they could prove.

["And then ..." Sophie prompts.]

And then I tried to run right before the end of my sentence, so I got another four years, but I worked something out with the fed who caught me. I "consult."

["We're probably going to throw Agent Burke the legal end of the case we're currently working on."]

( hardison's eyebrows go uuup as he takes in the view, and the information, and that little hamster in his head runs on its little wheel for a moment. the worry is still plain on his face for that moment as his eyes move up from neal's anklet to his classically (annoyingly) handsome boy face.

then to sophie, who he trusts. that trust is what keeps him from turning and booking it. two things are clear, though: his uncertainty, and open curiosity. hardison loves a puzzle, and he loves to poke and prod. not aggressive, just...interested to see what happens when he accuses: )

You snitch?

[Neal makes a face because he hates the word snitch, mostly in relation to him, but at the same time he can't blame Hardison for asking the question. It's not inaccurate, as much as Neal doesn't like it.]

Not on my friends, and usually only on those that deserve it.

[The kind of thief that's taking advantage of people and doing actual harm.]

But I thought that consulting for Peter allowed for more flexibility and options than being in jail. And Peter is the rare fed that's actually a good person.

All right, yeah.

( hardison's thought drift to detective bonanno, leaving him nodding in thought for a moment before looking more assuaged than before. not that he doesn't trust sophie. but they all have their quirks and flaws, and it's hard to shake the instinct to mistrust.

and speaking of flaws: when it comes to getting caught because of flash, hardison can't exactly be up on any horses of any height. plenty of hackers he came up with hopped from black to white hat—in another world, neal and hardison might be kindred spirits. )

Respect. I can get behind that.

Great. So - shall we eat?

[Because there is a freshly cooked meal sitting on the table behind them that's probably getting cold.]

And while we do, you can fill me in on what we're pulling Peter into, exactly?

( he'd forgotten about food, momentarily diverted by more pressing things like suspicion and flattery, and ultimately his own survival instinct. but as they enter and settle in and get to the breaking bread part of this meeting, hardison's thief instincts take a backseat.

his nana raised him but good, which means despite all imagery to the contrary on such a nerd of a boy, he gives quite good dinner guest. unfortunately he does still know nothing about wine, but that's okay. he can portion out family style food like any of them, so he takes sophie's plate and gets to serving while they talk. )

...and sourcing the wax for the seals these days has gotten practically impossible. There's a vendor on this site called Etsy that can make it but the woman is a dragon to deal with.

Etsy vendors are no joke.

[While Neal usually prides himself on making all of his own components for his forgeries, sometimes you need to outsource.]

Is it one material you're having a hard time finding, or is it just the whole thing?

( it seems like neal is on the exact same wavelength, and hardison's head wobbles in the indecision of yes or no. )

Six of one, man. There's also a glue compound I've been trial and erroring with a subbed component but it needs a week to cure, and we don't have the time if I'm also gonna get six paintings rushed to passable.

( he settles but doesn't start eating just yet. his eyes go to sophie, who always keeps her eyes on the broad picture for him on this stuff. it's only because it's sophie that he can so much as glance at the idea that he can't know everything. that he can't always figure things out on his own. )

Paintings aside, we decided the correspondence is the real selling point, but the more I learn the less I know, you know?

♦ sophie devereaux | leverage

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