#eliot goes home later and just buries his face in his hands to blush in privacy

[vickyvicarious]

in the 12 step job when Hardison says he and Eliot are together. I assume they were aiming for 'straight man having to play it gay' panic on Eliot's face, but it looks pretty similar to 'queer man suddenly worrying his team had picked up on that about him' panic

Gifset of the scene for reference.

Eliot's face journey in that scene is so funny. He starts out fully in his "I'm Rico Sauve, I got this" flirty mode, and when Hardison says he's with him, Eliot just glances over at him still all smug and a lil fond. They're already shoulder-to-shoulder, super comfortable body language. And then Hardison pulls back, Eliot's not really paying attention to him, until he wraps his arm into Eliot's and Eliot looks down immediately. As Hardison keeps talking, Eliot's entire body stiffens up and his face becomes drawn and he stares straight ahead at the receptionist so very clearly trying to keep himself calm.

His vacant panicked eyes, his tiny pathetic attempt at a smile... his awkward blinks and the way he bites his tongue not to react. His little snarl at the end when he's interrupted before he can put forth his own explanation.

I love the "oh shit he's onto me" panic interpretation. Also, Hardison is being awfully touchy and proprietary, he's holding Eliot's bicep, it's definitely more intimate touching than they do. I really like the interpretation where Eliot's brain is running a thousand miles a minute thinking back over every time he let his attraction to Hardison show a little, did he ever cross the line from banter to flirting, shit he definitely did, shit Hardison knows, shit shit shit he's a professional it's not like he would've done anything about it anyway, oh god--

But also, in my eyes, a big part of the reason for Eliot's whole reaction further into the scene is that Hardison is embarrassing him. He was being all charming, he was flirting, and now he's got to just stand there and go with it while Hardison implies this is all some little game to make him jealous. By doing this he's not only taking over the situation (like Eliot didn't have it handled!) but literally scolding him and yanking him around and look, if they had to play boyfriends he wouldn't've been playing the type to flirt with other people! It wasn't even needed anyway, he's charming enough to have gotten everything they needed! And maybe he could've gotten her number as well, Hardison is depriving him of a hookup later too and won't even let him try to salvage it, it's not fair.

(The third interpretation, if you headcanon that Eliot's kind of in denial about liking men too at the start of the series, is that it starts out 'straight man having to play gay' panic and then internally shifts to 'wait. hold on. wait wait wait is this awakening something in me' panic a little bit.)

[madness-of-alice]

#leverage#thiefsome#eliot spencer#alec hardison#all-eyes-on-the-hindenburg#replies#eliot goes home later and just buries his face in his hands to blush in privacy#between hardison holding his arm and parker leaping on him in a giant hug#he's had far too many moment of attraction/possible Feelings with some of his teammates#they are TEAMMATES not hookups he's not gonna go for it. but. but what if he gave something away#(parker was so cute. hardison's arm in his would've felt nice in any other situation)#so embarrassing

@vickyvicarious​

in the 12 step job when Hardison says he and Eliot are together. I assume they were aiming for 'straight man having to play it gay' panic on Eliot's face, but it looks pretty similar to 'queer man suddenly worrying his team had picked up on that about him' panic

Gifset of the scene for reference.

Eliot's face journey in that scene is so funny. He starts out fully in his "I'm Rico Sauve, I got this" flirty mode, and when Hardison says he's with him, Eliot just glances over at him still all smug and a lil fond. They're already shoulder-to-shoulder, super comfortable body language. And then Hardison pulls back, Eliot's not really paying attention to him, until he wraps his arm into Eliot's and Eliot looks down immediately. As Hardison keeps talking, Eliot's entire body stiffens up and his face becomes drawn and he stares straight ahead at the receptionist so very clearly trying to keep himself calm.

His vacant panicked eyes, his tiny pathetic attempt at a smile... his awkward blinks and the way he bites his tongue not to react. His little snarl at the end when he's interrupted before he can put forth his own explanation.

I love the "oh shit he's onto me" panic interpretation. Also, Hardison is being awfully touchy and proprietary, he's holding Eliot's bicep, it's definitely more intimate touching than they do. I really like the interpretation where Eliot's brain is running a thousand miles a minute thinking back over every time he let his attraction to Hardison show a little, did he ever cross the line from banter to flirting, shit he definitely did, shit Hardison knows, shit shit shit he's a professional it's not like he would've done anything about it anyway, oh god--

But also, in my eyes, a big part of the reason for Eliot's whole reaction further into the scene is that Hardison is embarrassing him. He was being all charming, he was flirting, and now he's got to just stand there and go with it while Hardison implies this is all some little game to make him jealous. By doing this he's not only taking over the situation (like Eliot didn't have it handled!) but literally scolding him and yanking him around and look, if they had to play boyfriends he wouldn't've been playing the type to flirt with other people! It wasn't even needed anyway, he's charming enough to have gotten everything they needed! And maybe he could've gotten her number as well, Hardison is depriving him of a hookup later too and won't even let him try to salvage it, it's not fair.

(The third interpretation, if you headcanon that Eliot's kind of in denial about liking men too at the start of the series, is that it starts out 'straight man having to play gay' panic and then internally shifts to 'wait. hold on. wait wait wait is this awakening something in me' panic a little bit.)