âȘ here are some of the things that she can learn about him, elliot alderson, if she looks closely at his things:
  look at the way heâs crammed drawers and cupboards and bookshelves together. itâs a game of tetris that heâs not particularly skilled at, born from mismatched furniture bought off craigslist. thereâs a brightly-coloured drawing of him bluetacked to one of his books, facing outwards. elliot, or youâre so paranoid you probably think this drawing is about you. kennedy (it is you). so he has people who care about him. he actually has a lot of books. the drawing is bluetacked to a section that isnât touched very often, so he can see it without having to move it.
  in the bookshelf by his mattress-on-the-floor excuse for a bed thereâs crime novels (no trace: a brock and kolla mystery, a book about an abducted child), paranoia literature (the extreme covert catalogue: worldâs most complete guide to electronic surveillance), historical fiction books (the report: a novel), nerd shit heâs had for an extremely long time (weaving the web: the original design and ultimate destiny of the world wide web). thereâs a surprising amount of books set in london; he avoids himself right down to his country.
  dvds in the shape of pulp fiction and back to the future 2. back to the future movies 1 and 3 are conspicuously missing. usb sticks of varying size (literal and gigabytes) and color and shape are strewn on bookshelf edges and tops. on his messy little coffee table thereâs a permanent fixture made of an allsafe security mug filled with pencils and wires. thereâs a sense of unwelcome tidiness in certain places; a clean kitchen that doesnât match the general mess everywhere else and bed sheets that are not only freshly washed, but new. tyrellâs touch. he seems determined that if heâs going to spend any time in eliotâs apartment, it should be up to his standards. itâs a slow, creeping process, and i spend a lot of time avoiding thinking about why i donât fight him harder on this stuff.
  he keeps the room dim. wires drape and dangle off his desk. trinkets sit next to cans of bug spray and sealant and drills and personal photos on his shelving. organised chaos is what elliot would call it; everything the way i like it, everything where i remember it. a pigsty is probably what tyrell would call it. a glance over at lisbeth. thereâs a comforting sense that mess is going to be one of the last things she cares about. he wonders if her place is even really that different from his or if itâs the same organised disaster, same do-what-i-want-in-my-own-space approach. he wonders if she has anyone who comes in and leaves their mark, like he does.
  he shakes his head. â«
     âI was just ⊠â
  âȘ what was i doing before she came here? do you know? does it matter? i get the feeling it doesnât. it doesnât. a myriad of distracting thoughts poke at the inside of his brain - not least of which is an ugly desire to get high, but whatâs new about that - but with some effort he pulls them in, pulls them to focus. â«
     âDâyou want something to eat? I was gonna get pizza.â















