Fic: Losing Ground [12]
Fic: Losing Ground [12]
Author: LMX
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: None
AN: See parts [2] and [3]. Clearing the decks of fic that's been sat around a while. Would very much appreciate feedback.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
[12]
Alec frowned as Eliot waved him over, but went. Eliot was sat in front of his computer after all, and while Eliot was still shocking when faced with technology, at least that meant there couldn't be anything threatening waiting for him if he went to investigate. Other than Eliot himself, of course.
Eliot shifted out of his chair as Alec crossed the room, offering it up to him as he stepped away. The screen was a mess of open windows, all trying to get his attention. There was a video feed from the camera staring back them at the top and an audio input monitor like the ones attached to the earbud feeds, along with a window that looked like it was set up with Alec's own piece of voice recognition software.
To one side of all of that, another program was running and Eliot went from casually looking over his shoulder to holding both Alec's hands behind his back and keeping him in his chair as he registered the title as 'clear enunciation for the hearing-impaired'. He struggled, but really - he'd walked right into this ambush.
"Hardison." he read on Eliot's lips in the video window, and wondered if it was the first time Eliot had said his name. He stilled, wondering how likely it was that Eliot would loosen his grip if he stopped struggling. Some part of him was curious - he hadn't seen Eliot so much as try to shape words since his... well... yeah.
He shook his head sharply to make it clear how unhappy with this situation he was, but kept his eyes on the video. His hands behind his back squirmed with the restraint. He hated to be gagged. He had so many words, all the time, he couldn't be him without a constant means to express himself. He settled for raising an eyebrow at Eliot meaningfully.
Eliot didn't move an inch, "Parker ... you're making Sophie ..." he said, and Hardison had to think hard to fill in the gaps he hadn't read. "I don't care. I really don't, but Sophie..." Eliot ended with an expressive shrug. The words were distorted in Eliot's mouth, and Alec wondered how it felt to try and shape words without a tongue behind them. The curiosity and the need to comment was all but bursting out of him, and in the end it came all at once.
"Dude, that looks funky." he said, feeling the rumble of the words in his throat and the shape of the sounds in his mouth in a way he never had before. "And I don't mean funky cool-funky. I mean funky like weird and wrong."
"... ... was ... of a lot easier ... I'd expected." Eliot mouthed, and this time Hardison noticed the audio frequency monitor not picking up any sound.
Hardison thought there might of been 'hell' in there somewhere, but he'd been distracted by the camera looking straight into Eliot's dark empty mouth. "Damnit, man. I'm serious. Stop."
Eliot grinned and nodded his head towards the screen. Across the open window below the video stream, the transcription program was scrolling words. It had him down word-perfect. Hardison swallowed hard, trying not to put any name to how that made him feel. He'd made a decision, damnit. Eliot didn't have the right to push this.
Hardison shut his eyes and turned his head away from the computer screen and Eliot. They were still close enough that he could feel the rumble in Eliot's chest when he made a noise, and his curiosity overwhelmed him, forcing him to look back at the screen.
In the transcription window a new line said "Eliot: growls". He grinned at the declaration.
"I'd forgotten we taught it that." he said, relaxing as far as he could with Eliot still holding him down, and trying to look over his shoulder at the hitter.
"... only ... it ... understand ... what I say." Alec read on Eliot's lips, grimacing as he finished with a rough cough that Alec felt all the way into his own chest. He let go of Alec's hands and moved away so he didn't cough all over him, pulling out ever-present tissues to cover his mouth. Alec was beginning to realise that he wasn't ever going to recognise a 'th' or 'll' mouth shapes from Eliot.
Realising what Eliot was getting at, he looked back at the transcription window and grimaced at the line of vowel-heavy junk that the computer had returned. It hadn't even recognised the voice as Eliot's.
He waited until Eliot had finished coughing and had his eyes back on the screen before signing, [You're the one that needs to use this,] gesturing at the program still open in the other window.
Eliot stood up straight. [I can hear, Hardison.] he signed into the camera. [That won't help me.]
[You spoken to anyone else?] Hardison asked tentatively, turning around so he could actually talk to Eliot, not through his webcam.
[Why?] Eliot asked, gesturing back at the screen, at the non-sense there. [Why would I speak?]
Hardison grimaced an apology.
[Talk to Sophie.] Eliot said sharply, and then turned and walked away, his patience done with.
"Eliot." Hardison called after him, and part of him revelled when Eliot stopped and looked back. He had missed that immediate connection. He stared at his hands for a moment before meeting Eliot's eyes. Making the conscious decision to talk. "Back when we made the speech synth, you made yours not sound like you, and y' didn't tell me. Why'd you do that? Not cool, man." His throat was tight and dry and he wondered if he sounded hoarse. He didn't have a way of finding out from the display up on the computer at the moment.
Eliot visibly fought with himself for a minute before answering. [I don't want to hear my voice.]
[I don't understand.] Alec shook his head, confused.
[I don't trust the computer.] Eliot answered stiffly. [Not with you.]
Hardison put his hand on his chest, offended. [One punch was enough. I said I wouldn't do that again.]
[Not that.] Eliot replied. [My voice is gone. The computer isn't...]
Hardison waited until it looked like Eliot might bolt rather than finishing his explanation. [OK. I understand.] he lied, turning back to look at the screen. Eliot stepped up behind him again.
[Program looks cool.] he shrugged.
Hardison was still watching the audio wave tick with the general sounds of the two of them. He glanced back down at the transcription below, read over what he had said a moment ago and pondered the age-old voice-recognition problem of contractions in speech. A good transcription program still only knew the words you taught it in the voice and accents you had to hand. He glanced up a few lines at the mush of Eliot's speech. "You know," he said out loud, watching the audio frequency monitor move through green and yellow and trying to judge his volume. "The transcription looks like that now, but that's 'cause it's based on your old audio file. You could make a new one. It wouldn't be perfect, but you could..."
Eliot was replying in sign and he'd been paying too much attention to the transcription to catch most of it. He held up a hand to stop him and asked him to repeat himself. Eliot rolled his eyes.
[It sounds wrong.] he repeated, exaggeratedly slow. [Retarded.]
"I wasn't saying you take up public speaking, man. Just... if you weren't in sight of cameras. If you couldn't text... You could let us know there was something going on." Hardison shrugged. "Think of it as pay-back. You make me do this..." He gestured at the program open on the screen.
[You aren't doing that for me.] Eliot stated sharply, his face angry. He hid his face with his hand for a minute, and it started to dawn on Hardison - a bit late, really - that this might have been hard for Eliot. [OK. I'll do it.] he signed abruptly, and this time did turn and leave the room.
Hardison still felt like he was missing something important, but he'd gotten Eliot to agree to something that would make his life less stressful sat behind a computer trying to make sure the rest of the team were all still alive, and that was an achievement in itself.
He stared at the mix of software all cobbled together on the screen in front of him and wondered if he could do this. "For Sophie." he said out loud, watching the software react, reading his own words back to himself. Perhaps this was what he needed.
This wasn't someone telling him he sounded fine, sounded normal. The computer couldn't lie to him, or pretend everything was alright. If he could have that reassurance, right there in black and white on his computer screen, maybe he could speak for himself instead of hiding behind the synth. Maybe he could make Parker proud of him.
Damnit, and he thought was over this decision.
-
Masterpost
Author: LMX
Fandom: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: None
AN: See parts [2] and [3]. Clearing the decks of fic that's been sat around a while. Would very much appreciate feedback.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
[12]
Alec frowned as Eliot waved him over, but went. Eliot was sat in front of his computer after all, and while Eliot was still shocking when faced with technology, at least that meant there couldn't be anything threatening waiting for him if he went to investigate. Other than Eliot himself, of course.
Eliot shifted out of his chair as Alec crossed the room, offering it up to him as he stepped away. The screen was a mess of open windows, all trying to get his attention. There was a video feed from the camera staring back them at the top and an audio input monitor like the ones attached to the earbud feeds, along with a window that looked like it was set up with Alec's own piece of voice recognition software.
To one side of all of that, another program was running and Eliot went from casually looking over his shoulder to holding both Alec's hands behind his back and keeping him in his chair as he registered the title as 'clear enunciation for the hearing-impaired'. He struggled, but really - he'd walked right into this ambush.
"Hardison." he read on Eliot's lips in the video window, and wondered if it was the first time Eliot had said his name. He stilled, wondering how likely it was that Eliot would loosen his grip if he stopped struggling. Some part of him was curious - he hadn't seen Eliot so much as try to shape words since his... well... yeah.
He shook his head sharply to make it clear how unhappy with this situation he was, but kept his eyes on the video. His hands behind his back squirmed with the restraint. He hated to be gagged. He had so many words, all the time, he couldn't be him without a constant means to express himself. He settled for raising an eyebrow at Eliot meaningfully.
Eliot didn't move an inch, "Parker ... you're making Sophie ..." he said, and Hardison had to think hard to fill in the gaps he hadn't read. "I don't care. I really don't, but Sophie..." Eliot ended with an expressive shrug. The words were distorted in Eliot's mouth, and Alec wondered how it felt to try and shape words without a tongue behind them. The curiosity and the need to comment was all but bursting out of him, and in the end it came all at once.
"Dude, that looks funky." he said, feeling the rumble of the words in his throat and the shape of the sounds in his mouth in a way he never had before. "And I don't mean funky cool-funky. I mean funky like weird and wrong."
"... ... was ... of a lot easier ... I'd expected." Eliot mouthed, and this time Hardison noticed the audio frequency monitor not picking up any sound.
Hardison thought there might of been 'hell' in there somewhere, but he'd been distracted by the camera looking straight into Eliot's dark empty mouth. "Damnit, man. I'm serious. Stop."
Eliot grinned and nodded his head towards the screen. Across the open window below the video stream, the transcription program was scrolling words. It had him down word-perfect. Hardison swallowed hard, trying not to put any name to how that made him feel. He'd made a decision, damnit. Eliot didn't have the right to push this.
Hardison shut his eyes and turned his head away from the computer screen and Eliot. They were still close enough that he could feel the rumble in Eliot's chest when he made a noise, and his curiosity overwhelmed him, forcing him to look back at the screen.
In the transcription window a new line said "Eliot: growls". He grinned at the declaration.
"I'd forgotten we taught it that." he said, relaxing as far as he could with Eliot still holding him down, and trying to look over his shoulder at the hitter.
"... only ... it ... understand ... what I say." Alec read on Eliot's lips, grimacing as he finished with a rough cough that Alec felt all the way into his own chest. He let go of Alec's hands and moved away so he didn't cough all over him, pulling out ever-present tissues to cover his mouth. Alec was beginning to realise that he wasn't ever going to recognise a 'th' or 'll' mouth shapes from Eliot.
Realising what Eliot was getting at, he looked back at the transcription window and grimaced at the line of vowel-heavy junk that the computer had returned. It hadn't even recognised the voice as Eliot's.
He waited until Eliot had finished coughing and had his eyes back on the screen before signing, [You're the one that needs to use this,] gesturing at the program still open in the other window.
Eliot stood up straight. [I can hear, Hardison.] he signed into the camera. [That won't help me.]
[You spoken to anyone else?] Hardison asked tentatively, turning around so he could actually talk to Eliot, not through his webcam.
[Why?] Eliot asked, gesturing back at the screen, at the non-sense there. [Why would I speak?]
Hardison grimaced an apology.
[Talk to Sophie.] Eliot said sharply, and then turned and walked away, his patience done with.
"Eliot." Hardison called after him, and part of him revelled when Eliot stopped and looked back. He had missed that immediate connection. He stared at his hands for a moment before meeting Eliot's eyes. Making the conscious decision to talk. "Back when we made the speech synth, you made yours not sound like you, and y' didn't tell me. Why'd you do that? Not cool, man." His throat was tight and dry and he wondered if he sounded hoarse. He didn't have a way of finding out from the display up on the computer at the moment.
Eliot visibly fought with himself for a minute before answering. [I don't want to hear my voice.]
[I don't understand.] Alec shook his head, confused.
[I don't trust the computer.] Eliot answered stiffly. [Not with you.]
Hardison put his hand on his chest, offended. [One punch was enough. I said I wouldn't do that again.]
[Not that.] Eliot replied. [My voice is gone. The computer isn't...]
Hardison waited until it looked like Eliot might bolt rather than finishing his explanation. [OK. I understand.] he lied, turning back to look at the screen. Eliot stepped up behind him again.
[Program looks cool.] he shrugged.
Hardison was still watching the audio wave tick with the general sounds of the two of them. He glanced back down at the transcription below, read over what he had said a moment ago and pondered the age-old voice-recognition problem of contractions in speech. A good transcription program still only knew the words you taught it in the voice and accents you had to hand. He glanced up a few lines at the mush of Eliot's speech. "You know," he said out loud, watching the audio frequency monitor move through green and yellow and trying to judge his volume. "The transcription looks like that now, but that's 'cause it's based on your old audio file. You could make a new one. It wouldn't be perfect, but you could..."
Eliot was replying in sign and he'd been paying too much attention to the transcription to catch most of it. He held up a hand to stop him and asked him to repeat himself. Eliot rolled his eyes.
[It sounds wrong.] he repeated, exaggeratedly slow. [Retarded.]
"I wasn't saying you take up public speaking, man. Just... if you weren't in sight of cameras. If you couldn't text... You could let us know there was something going on." Hardison shrugged. "Think of it as pay-back. You make me do this..." He gestured at the program open on the screen.
[You aren't doing that for me.] Eliot stated sharply, his face angry. He hid his face with his hand for a minute, and it started to dawn on Hardison - a bit late, really - that this might have been hard for Eliot. [OK. I'll do it.] he signed abruptly, and this time did turn and leave the room.
Hardison still felt like he was missing something important, but he'd gotten Eliot to agree to something that would make his life less stressful sat behind a computer trying to make sure the rest of the team were all still alive, and that was an achievement in itself.
He stared at the mix of software all cobbled together on the screen in front of him and wondered if he could do this. "For Sophie." he said out loud, watching the software react, reading his own words back to himself. Perhaps this was what he needed.
This wasn't someone telling him he sounded fine, sounded normal. The computer couldn't lie to him, or pretend everything was alright. If he could have that reassurance, right there in black and white on his computer screen, maybe he could speak for himself instead of hiding behind the synth. Maybe he could make Parker proud of him.
Damnit, and he thought was over this decision.
-
Masterpost