He picks the name Eliot Waugh when he’s seventeen and at college, though all the official papers- and half his professors- still call him the other thing. Four years later he regrets it, it was pretty juvenile and embarrassing, to be honest, and so painfully on the nose, but by then it would be just too awkward to change it again, he’d look so flighty. He could have changed it, when he went to Brakebills, but- he didn’t. And the card he was given said Eliot Waugh on it. The Dean called him that, during his interview, even after Eliot shoved him into a wall with his mind. Not very sophisticated, not very aesthetic. But he’d gotten- upset.
Nothing upsetting about the rest of Brakebills, though. Magic is real, which he knew, but it’s one thing to know you have supernatural powers, possibly because you have the devil in you, and another to be chosen for fucking Hogwarts- and all the kids here are crazy, and he gets inspired, and completes Eliot Waugh, and it’s a more perfect creation than he could ever have hoped for.
The free access to sex, drugs and alcohol helps with that. They’re not very serious about temperance on this campus.
And the best part is he’s good at magic. It comes so easy. Easier when he’s high.
So- Eliot. Eliot who smiles easily and meaninglessly, who doesn’t give a shit about anything because he knows he’s the best, who drinks and fucks and does magic and doesn’t get in fights. Isn’t violent. Doesn’t need to be. Nobody hates him here, or if they do, they know he’s untouchable.
He’s not actually the best though. At magic, at partying, or at getting men in his bed. At every point there’s one person just a step ahead of him. Margo Hanson. She’s not going to be at the top for long, though. She’s going to learn that when he gets serious he can play to win.
“Queen Margo,” he says when they cross paths, and bows as deep and elegant as he can, half in respect for a worthy opponent, half in mockery.
The Trials are a joke, honestly, he has to stifle his amusement all through them, which is harder when you’re drunk, but the best part is the look on Margo Hanson’s face when he solves the puzzles before her. Bow before the real ruler, bitch.
Except then they get to the truth part and of course, of course, he’s partnered with Queen Margo the Destroyer, and this is it he’s going to fail and get kicked out of the only place he can imagine living any more because he cannot, cannot bare himself to her, of all people.
From the look on her face, she’s not any happier about it than he is.
They avoid looking at each other for a while, and then they both bitch about it, which actually startles a smile out of Eliot, and then Margo, because the situation is fairly hilarious, he has to admit. Then Margo tries, bless her, says, “I cheated on the last chemistry exam. I spelled my paper to copy your answers,” and Eliot just laughs. So then he has to offer up something, or she’ll win, so he says, “The story about the chickens isn’t true. I made it up and turned it into a rumour.”
But these are pathetic efforts and the paint stays on their faces, their hands stay tied.
“I grew up in Indiana and my parents are corn farmers and my name isn’t Eliot,” Eliot says in a rush, tone blank like it always is when he’s saying anything important, “wasn’t Eliot, anyway,” and she sighs and says, “I ruined my best friend’s life when we were in fifth grade and I should feel sorry about it but I don’t.”
Eliot really shouldn't pry, since he's not planning on revealing his own past misdeeds, but- "Ruined?"
"It was bad," she says, "it was really bad," and then her face screws up and she laughs even though they both know it isn't funny.
But even that’s not good enough.
They’re not freed until Margo says, “I honestly dislike everyone and I’m so fucking lonely.” And Eliot says, “I don’t think I’m ever going to be happy.”
And that's it.
That's it.
Two weeks later she says “I love you, Eliot,” for the first time, and he says, “I love you too, Bambi,” and kisses the top of her head and is. Happy. Happier than he’s ever been before, anyway.
FILL Re: Margo/Eliot friendship
Nothing upsetting about the rest of Brakebills, though. Magic is real, which he knew, but it’s one thing to know you have supernatural powers, possibly because you have the devil in you, and another to be chosen for fucking Hogwarts- and all the kids here are crazy, and he gets inspired, and completes Eliot Waugh, and it’s a more perfect creation than he could ever have hoped for.
The free access to sex, drugs and alcohol helps with that. They’re not very serious about temperance on this campus.
And the best part is he’s good at magic. It comes so easy. Easier when he’s high.
So- Eliot. Eliot who smiles easily and meaninglessly, who doesn’t give a shit about anything because he knows he’s the best, who drinks and fucks and does magic and doesn’t get in fights. Isn’t violent. Doesn’t need to be. Nobody hates him here, or if they do, they know he’s untouchable.
He’s not actually the best though. At magic, at partying, or at getting men in his bed. At every point there’s one person just a step ahead of him. Margo Hanson. She’s not going to be at the top for long, though. She’s going to learn that when he gets serious he can play to win.
“Queen Margo,” he says when they cross paths, and bows as deep and elegant as he can, half in respect for a worthy opponent, half in mockery.
The Trials are a joke, honestly, he has to stifle his amusement all through them, which is harder when you’re drunk, but the best part is the look on Margo Hanson’s face when he solves the puzzles before her. Bow before the real ruler, bitch.
Except then they get to the truth part and of course, of course, he’s partnered with Queen Margo the Destroyer, and this is it he’s going to fail and get kicked out of the only place he can imagine living any more because he cannot, cannot bare himself to her, of all people.
From the look on her face, she’s not any happier about it than he is.
They avoid looking at each other for a while, and then they both bitch about it, which actually startles a smile out of Eliot, and then Margo, because the situation is fairly hilarious, he has to admit. Then Margo tries, bless her, says, “I cheated on the last chemistry exam. I spelled my paper to copy your answers,” and Eliot just laughs. So then he has to offer up something, or she’ll win, so he says, “The story about the chickens isn’t true. I made it up and turned it into a rumour.”
But these are pathetic efforts and the paint stays on their faces, their hands stay tied.
“I grew up in Indiana and my parents are corn farmers and my name isn’t Eliot,” Eliot says in a rush, tone blank like it always is when he’s saying anything important, “wasn’t Eliot, anyway,” and she sighs and says, “I ruined my best friend’s life when we were in fifth grade and I should feel sorry about it but I don’t.”
Eliot really shouldn't pry, since he's not planning on revealing his own past misdeeds, but- "Ruined?"
"It was bad," she says, "it was really bad," and then her face screws up and she laughs even though they both know it isn't funny.
But even that’s not good enough.
They’re not freed until Margo says, “I honestly dislike everyone and I’m so fucking lonely.” And Eliot says, “I don’t think I’m ever going to be happy.”
And that's it.
That's it.
Two weeks later she says “I love you, Eliot,” for the first time, and he says, “I love you too, Bambi,” and kisses the top of her head and is. Happy. Happier than he’s ever been before, anyway.