neededforger | Making up for lost time, one more time.

Making up for lost time, one more time.

They had lazed about for most of the day, mostly just because they could, and even when one or the other of them got up to use the bathroom or retrieve a book, they always came right back, as if somehow that bed held all the secrets of the universe. Come afternoon, Eames went to get his laptop, doing some research to find a restaurant for dinner, coming up with a few nearby and just deciding by what was closest, since he figured the walk would do them both good.
He even made a reservation, just to make sure they'd have a seat, even though as far as he could tell they were wide open as far as space.

"Are you ready, Arthur?" He called back towards the bedroom from where he was perched on the couch, having settled there after he'd gotten dressed, waiting for the other man to finish his shower, though the water had been off for a while.

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His brow arched at the annoyed look, head tilting, "What was that for?"

Arthur just shook his head, looking away. He wasn't even about to explain his moods - even he didn't know why he felt the way he did half the time.

His brow furrowed then, but he nodded once, just falling silent for the time being, gaze skimming over the crowd once more, far more subtly than he'd done when they'd first arrived.

Arthur ended up looking out the nearest window, watching the sun disappear completely and the various lights of the city illuminated the streets and buildings instead. While Arthur thought those were relatively nice to look at, it was also a bit of a problem. A person wouldn't be able to see the stars.

It wasn't a particularly big thing with Arthur, but sometimes it was very nice to see them (especially when in a different part of the world).

Eames, for his part, ended up getting distracted by the line of Arthur's jaw and throat when he turned his head, likely not even realizing that he was staring, really.

Arthur did notice the stare after a while, his brow creasing slightly and then arching a brow at the other man.

There was a faint smile when he realized he'd been caught, shaking his head and taking another healthy swallow of his pint, smiling again when their waitress came back with bread and butter, "lovely."

Arthur looked at Eames a bit suspiciously but went back to looking out the window, wanting to save the bread for when his food got there.

Eames buttered one of the thick slices of bread liberally, humming contentedly to himself as he did so, taking small, careful bites.

Arthur, still looking out the window, ended up starting at Eames' reflection in the window. Especially his lips... Very distracting when he licked butter from them.

And if Eames had realized he was being distracting, he would have done it on purpose, because sometimes he was a bastard like that. He beamed outright when the main course arrived, sitting back in his seat and unfolding his napkin.

Arthur finally drew his eyes away from the window, blinking when his plate was set in front of him. He thanked the waitress and took a look at his meal. Smelled good enough. Looked pretty good. He took up his fork and got some of the meat and a potato and tasted it.

His eyebrows went up and he nodded slightly as he took another bite and chewed. Swallowing that mouthful he grabbed a few slices of bread and ended up putting some on one piece, eating some more of it like that, licking his lips even.

Either this was really good or he was more hungry than he realized.

He had to smile at that s well, shaking his head, "Breathe between bites, Arthur. It's hardly going to get away if you don't eat it all right now." he was glad, however, that Arthur was eating, since it meant that he probably wasn't going to get the head cold of doom.

He was taking almost cautious bites of his own dinner, mostly because it was still hot, but it was also delicious, so he couldn't stop eating to give it time to cool.

Smirking, "Only if you make sure not to burn your tongue and mouth on that steaming pile of meat there." Using his fork to point and then scooping more onto his second piece of bread.

And, after another mouthful, "And don't you say the same thing to me when I have my coffee? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe no one ever gets to it because I don't let them?" His tone was light even though his face was completely serious.

"Suppose I do." He said with another crooked smile, shaking his head a moment later, "Can't blame me for wanting to look out for you, you know."

Arthur remained silent, eating more of his food as he tried to ignore how that simple statement made his chest feel a slight flutter. He was almost tempted to ask 'why?'. Why did Eames want to look out for him?

His curiosity eventually got the better of him, "Why?"

His brow furrowed, just slightly, pausing in chewing for a moment. That wasn't a question he'd been expecting, really, and leave it to Arthur to catch him off guard. Finally he shook his head, "Is it really that difficult to believe that I might care?"

If Arthur was honest with himself, he liked catching Eames off guard quite a bit.

Arthur shrugged, "It's... it's difficult for me to believe anyone would, actually." And that was the truth of it. It wasn't just Eames. It was anyone and everyone. It had taken him years to even believe Cobb and Mal when they told him that.

That ... actually kind of hurt, and not so much on his own behalf as much as Arthur's, which was his first clue that this wasn't as simple as just caring for Arthur, but now was not the time to work that out, so what he said was: "Well then I'll have to tell you more often."

Arthur remained silent, getting a slightly perplexed look on his face (as if to say 'if you want to ?') and went back to eating. He didn't really know what else to say or how to respond. This was unfamiliar territory for him. At least it sure felt that way.

He shrugged, that was an expression he knew well, "Clearly you don't believe it, I mean, you did just say as much, and since I can't magically cure you of that, I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way, positive reinforcement."

Arthur gave him another flat look for that but kept eating. If Eames wanted to do that, he could (and with how stubborn he could be, Arthur knew he wouldn't really be able to convince him not to) he just shouldn't expect Arthur to be comfortable with it. Because he wasn't. It felt so... foreign to him.

"I could write you up a list. If you like. I know you're fond of those." His tone was mild, though there was amusement behind it, somewhere, as there usually was when he was suggesting something ridiculous like that, "Might get my point across."

Arthur nearly glared at him but took another sip of his drink, clearly not believing Eames at all on that part.

The other man could say whatever he wanted but he didn't need to mock his affinity for lists (which were very useful in his line of work and Eames should do well to remember that).

"And that's definitely part of it." He said, finally smiling a little, he wasn't sure why he was as enamored of that glower as he was, aside from the fact that it was quintessential Arthur.

That was all he had to say on the matter at the moment, however, tucking in contentedly into his dinner, since it had cooled to a not-scorching temperature.

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