Ficlet: Battered Men [1/1] Will Bailey/Eliot Stabler [West Wing/Law & Order: SVU]
Title: Battered Men
Author: Perpetual Motion
Fandom: West Wing/L&O: SVU
Pairing: Will Bailey/Eliot Stabler
Rating: PG
Summary: Will, Eliot, and exhaustion.
Dis: Not mine. Belongs to NBC. I just made it up.
Author’s Notes: For writerpuppy, because she likes to make me work hard.
Battered Men
By Perpetual Motion
He doesn’t know what he’s doing sitting in a half-dark bar when he should be out trying to rally up the vote. All he knows is that it’s two hours until the polls close, and the Republican is kicking serious ass. Will orders another beer and peels his ‘I voted’ sticker off of his T-shirt. He wants to be completely anonymous, suddenly. When a guy slides onto the bar stool next to him, Will smiles and hopes he’s not a talker.
“Fuckin’ election.” The guy speaks to no one in particular and orders a beer. He glances at Will and holds out his hand. “Eliot Stabler.”
“Will Bailey.” Will shakes his hand on reflex. Too many years schmoozing to do anything else, really. He bites down on his tongue to make sure he doesn’t ask Eliot Stabler if he voted.
“Did you vote?”
“Yeah. He’s going to lose.” Will shakes his head and sips his beer.
“I voted. Can’t say it made me feel like part of the process.”
Will catches a gleam at Eliot Stabler’s belt and looks down. A badge is clipped there. “Looks like you’re already part of the process.” He sees a flicker fly across Eliot Stabler’s face that he recognizes from a lot of very bad days in his own life. “Or maybe you don’t want to talk about it.”
“My work sucks.” Eliot Stabler takes a gulp of his beer and scratches the back of his neck. “My work always sucks. What do you do?”
At the moment, he does nothing. He’s inbetween jobs, and he’s in New York for an interview that’s going to take place tomorrow at ten o’clock. The people he’s interviewing with are also voting for the guy who’s going to lose. Will wonders if hangovers are imminent for all of them. “I used to write speeches. Before that, I was an idealist.”
“What happened?”
“You lose idealism when you’re writing speeches for other people.” Will eyes the peanuts and wonders how many people have touched them. For some reason, he remembers the olives that were slipped into his pockets. And then he remembers bicycles, and suddenly, he wants to be anywhere but a bar in New York, getting drunk because a perfectly fine man with great ideas isn’t going to get a job he could do good things with. “You lose idealism when an over-blown asshole gets to win because he has more money.”
“I know what you mean.” Eliot Stabler has a look on his face that says he really *does* know. “Legal system. Political system. He with the most money wins.”
“Yeah.” Will decides to try the peanuts and pops a few into his mouth. He chews and stares at the television above the bar. There’s a Presidential election going, and the bar is running Cartoon Network. Will knows it’s because every other station has the election. “I worked for Bartlet.” He has nothing to say after that. He looks at Eliot Stabler, and Eliot Stabler just watches him.
“You want to get out of here?” Eliot Stabler opens his wallet and throws a twenty on the bar. It’s more than enough to cover his one beer and the three that Will has drained.
Will stands up and pauses to let the room steady. He’s been drinking without eating. Elsie will have a fit if she finds out. “Yeah, let’s go.”
They walk in silence out of the bar and down the street, and when they’re on a darker block in a slightly seedier neighborhood, Eliot puts his hand on Will’s arm and leads him into an alley. Will has a moment to wonder if he’s been duped into getting mugged when he’s shoved up against the wall and kissed hard. He kisses back just as hard, and he doesn’t know if the blood on his tongue is his or Eliot Stabler’s. They break off after a few seconds, and they stare at each other.
“Sex?” Will knows it won’t solve anything, but the sheer idea of getting away from the world through an orgasm sounds really damned good. He watches Eliot Stabler shake his head.
“I’m married.” That flicker flies across his face again. “We’re on our way to a divorce, but I’m married.”
“Okay.” Will brings a hand up and wipes the edge of his mouth. “Why kiss me?”
“You get it.” Eliot Stabler looks at Will again. “You’re worn-out, too.”
Will can’t do anything but nod and agree. “Yeah.”
When they leave the alley, they split at the corner.
Author: Perpetual Motion
Fandom: West Wing/L&O: SVU
Pairing: Will Bailey/Eliot Stabler
Rating: PG
Summary: Will, Eliot, and exhaustion.
Dis: Not mine. Belongs to NBC. I just made it up.
Author’s Notes: For writerpuppy, because she likes to make me work hard.
Battered Men
By Perpetual Motion
He doesn’t know what he’s doing sitting in a half-dark bar when he should be out trying to rally up the vote. All he knows is that it’s two hours until the polls close, and the Republican is kicking serious ass. Will orders another beer and peels his ‘I voted’ sticker off of his T-shirt. He wants to be completely anonymous, suddenly. When a guy slides onto the bar stool next to him, Will smiles and hopes he’s not a talker.
“Fuckin’ election.” The guy speaks to no one in particular and orders a beer. He glances at Will and holds out his hand. “Eliot Stabler.”
“Will Bailey.” Will shakes his hand on reflex. Too many years schmoozing to do anything else, really. He bites down on his tongue to make sure he doesn’t ask Eliot Stabler if he voted.
“Did you vote?”
“Yeah. He’s going to lose.” Will shakes his head and sips his beer.
“I voted. Can’t say it made me feel like part of the process.”
Will catches a gleam at Eliot Stabler’s belt and looks down. A badge is clipped there. “Looks like you’re already part of the process.” He sees a flicker fly across Eliot Stabler’s face that he recognizes from a lot of very bad days in his own life. “Or maybe you don’t want to talk about it.”
“My work sucks.” Eliot Stabler takes a gulp of his beer and scratches the back of his neck. “My work always sucks. What do you do?”
At the moment, he does nothing. He’s inbetween jobs, and he’s in New York for an interview that’s going to take place tomorrow at ten o’clock. The people he’s interviewing with are also voting for the guy who’s going to lose. Will wonders if hangovers are imminent for all of them. “I used to write speeches. Before that, I was an idealist.”
“What happened?”
“You lose idealism when you’re writing speeches for other people.” Will eyes the peanuts and wonders how many people have touched them. For some reason, he remembers the olives that were slipped into his pockets. And then he remembers bicycles, and suddenly, he wants to be anywhere but a bar in New York, getting drunk because a perfectly fine man with great ideas isn’t going to get a job he could do good things with. “You lose idealism when an over-blown asshole gets to win because he has more money.”
“I know what you mean.” Eliot Stabler has a look on his face that says he really *does* know. “Legal system. Political system. He with the most money wins.”
“Yeah.” Will decides to try the peanuts and pops a few into his mouth. He chews and stares at the television above the bar. There’s a Presidential election going, and the bar is running Cartoon Network. Will knows it’s because every other station has the election. “I worked for Bartlet.” He has nothing to say after that. He looks at Eliot Stabler, and Eliot Stabler just watches him.
“You want to get out of here?” Eliot Stabler opens his wallet and throws a twenty on the bar. It’s more than enough to cover his one beer and the three that Will has drained.
Will stands up and pauses to let the room steady. He’s been drinking without eating. Elsie will have a fit if she finds out. “Yeah, let’s go.”
They walk in silence out of the bar and down the street, and when they’re on a darker block in a slightly seedier neighborhood, Eliot puts his hand on Will’s arm and leads him into an alley. Will has a moment to wonder if he’s been duped into getting mugged when he’s shoved up against the wall and kissed hard. He kisses back just as hard, and he doesn’t know if the blood on his tongue is his or Eliot Stabler’s. They break off after a few seconds, and they stare at each other.
“Sex?” Will knows it won’t solve anything, but the sheer idea of getting away from the world through an orgasm sounds really damned good. He watches Eliot Stabler shake his head.
“I’m married.” That flicker flies across his face again. “We’re on our way to a divorce, but I’m married.”
“Okay.” Will brings a hand up and wipes the edge of his mouth. “Why kiss me?”
“You get it.” Eliot Stabler looks at Will again. “You’re worn-out, too.”
Will can’t do anything but nod and agree. “Yeah.”
When they leave the alley, they split at the corner.