undergrounds | [catch-all] For when then and there, there will be enough.

"Sleep with you?" Eames helpfully finishes, and he sighs, "it wasn't exactly my plan, but I would have."

Still would, honestly, but he's not so blind as to be totally unaware of why Arthur mught prefer not to hear that right now.

Arthur narrows his eyes at him and tilts his head like he's barely containing some pretty impressive anger. He can't believe that Eames is so flippant about this like he doesn't get how fucked up it is. Maybe after a few centuries it doesn't seem fucked up. But it still is.

"What was the plan?"

This better be good.

Eames shakes his head, feeling a little like he's trying to explain a complex subject to someone who fundamentally doesn't have the tools to understand.

"So you can't see the allure of speaking to someone in an entirely different context to what you're used to?" He asks, eyebrows raised expectantly. Why wouldn't he take an opportunity like that after it so helpfully presented itself?

Arthur has to take a deep breath and he shakes his head. That clearly was not a good enough answer, but he's still trying not to lose his mind completely. "Yes, I do," he says, hissing in frustration, "but I wouldn't actually do it because I don't take joy in fucking with people."

He shakes his head again and leans back, crossing his arms as he digresses, realizing who he's talking to. It's hard to remember and almost harder to stay mad when he's looking at Kathryn, but in his mind's eye he's picturing Eames' smug face, and that keeps the anger rolling along just fine. After a moment and with a much calmer voice (though still clearly unhappy), he says, "so why tell me at all?"

Wow, okay. No. If Eames looks offended, it's because he absolutely is, and he exhales heavily through his nose before he speaks. It's not untrue that he enjoys messing with people, but he's affronted by the idea that that's all there is to it. As if he leads such a dismal life that this is the only way to get his jollies.

"You might not approve, Arthur, but it's my job to know people. I didn't expect you to be there, but it's hardly as if I was about to ignore the opportunity."

Kathryn's voice doesn't quite carry the same bite that Eames' own does, but he's not thinking about that so much right now. He reclines against the back of his chair with a frustrated sigh and shakes his head. Half contemplating just leaving, but he might as well address the actual question he was asked, which he does with a dismissive gesture and a significantly less impassioned edge to his voice. "I told you because you're smart enough to figure it out on your own, and I'd rather do this now than three months down the road when you have all the necessary information."

Arthur works his jaw for a moment before he responds. This could turn into an even bigger fight than it already is and he doesn't want to do that in public, so he's trying to collect himself and make sure what he says doesn't set Eames off.

"Okay, first of all," he starts, holding out his hand like he's trying to brace Eames for what he's about to say, "I don't think it's really fair for you to be upset with me right now. Second..." he swallows because his pride is about to take a significant blow, "I am glad you told me rather than stringing me along."

God, that was difficult. Now that that trial is over, he sighs and looks away from Eames. "Although I am now questioning the strength of the enchantment on this watch you gave me." He gestures with the arm he's wearing the watch on. "I really thought I was getting lucky tonight."

Eames really had some choice words about whether or not he gets to be angry, (the answer is that he does when somebody makes him sound like a sociopath who gets off on embarrassing people, if anyone's curious,) but then Arthur makes the joke about the watch and it completely stops him dead in his tracks. He pauses, and then laughs a little incredulously because it's the only way for him to process the change in tone.

"Well, the opportunity was there," Eames says with a shrug, "you're the one who took it off the table."

Arthur rolls his eyes and gives Eames the longest-suffering look he can manage. "At what point between you flirting with me, agreeing to come here, and then telling me who you actually are was I the one who took sex off the table?"

"It was after I told you and you decided to get upset about it, actually."

Not that he doesn't understand why Arthur got upset, but the point stands that it was him who called it off.

Yet another sigh. Arthur's slumped kind of like being mad made him tired. "Did you really think I'd just be immediately back on board once you told me?" he asks. He holds up his hand after a beat to indicate that he has a follow-up question: "Also, are you saying it's still on the table for you?"

Eames just gives Arthur a Look as if to say 'have you met me?' It's not like he's going to have any stronger feelings about not getting any than mild disappointment, but it's also still almost always on the table for him.

Arthur sighs and looks down at his drink. On one hand, Kathryn is beautiful and he already knows Eames is good in the sack, plus Arthur's interested to see just how Eames handles having what he assumes is at least mostly a different setup. On the other hand, this is fucking weird. But it's not like he's never done anything weird, just never this particular weird thing. Probably. Guess he doesn't know that for sure.

God, that's a rabbit hole he really doesn't want to go down. Instead of thinking about that any more he takes a long swig of his drink and then puts the beer down on the table in front of him. "Well," he says, "let's get out of here, at least."

Eames raises an eyebrow at that, but he doesn't object, he just finishes his wine before putting the glass down and gives Arthur a curious look. Obviously on board, but there are still some questions worth asking.

"You want to get out of here with Kathryn, or...?"

It probably says a lot about him that 'do you want me to get back into character?' doesn't strike him as the least bit strange to ask.

It takes Arthur a second to figure out what Eames means, as his first thought is that Eames is going to shift back to himself if Arthur says no. But once he thinks about it for a moment he shrugs. Forgive him if he's not 100% committed to the role playing thing just yet.

"I'm leaving here with you," he says, "but you can act like whoever you want."

"Fair enough," it's not like this is his thing, but if Arthur's thinking about it, he doesn't want the cognitive dissonance to be too much for him to get into it. Nobody's gonna enjoy that.

They can cross that bridge when they come to it. For now, Eames stands and smooths down his shirt with a sigh, "well then. Shall we?"

He takes another long drink, as much as he can get to make this beer somewhat worth the money. Once he finishes that, he puts the beer back down on the table and stands up as well. He gives Eames a bit of a wry smile and gestures to the door.

"After you."

After him indeed, and the corner of Eames' mouth twitches in a small smile of his own before he heads out ahead of Arthur. He lets out a bit of a pleased sigh at the cool breeze outside and sticks his hands in his pockets while he waits for Arthur to join him.

Arthur comes out after Eames and straightens up before he turns down the street toward his apartment. They're fairly close by, because he had been considering the possibility of Kathryn coming back with him. He doesn't try to make conversation, although he does want to ask how the election day went for him, because that would probably be too weird. He doesn't want to talk politics with Eames when he looks like this. At this point he feels like there's only one reason Eames hasn't shifted back, even though he doesn't want to presume, and he'd really like to just get home and get to that.

Well Eames is fine with the quiet, walking alongside Arthur and enjoying the cool air. When they get back to Arthur's, he waits for him to open the door and steps inside, turning to face him with an expectant look on his face. Because Arthur almost certainly has more on his mind he didn't want to discuss in public.

Arthur gets inside and heads straight to the kitchen. He's trying not to act as awkward as he feels, knowing that this person is Eames even if they don't look like Eames, and that he doesn't want to ruin the mood by asking what the parameters are here but seriously what are the parameters here. So he does his best to be casual for right now.

"You want a beer?"

"Love one," Eames says and he heads into the living room to make himself comfortable before Arthur comes back and awkwards this whole thing up.

Arthur grabs two bottles of beer and then comes out to the living room. He puts one in front of Eames and then sits down in one of his armchairs with a sigh. He's silent for a moment, and then he raises an eyebrow at Eames with a gentle frown.

"Do you do this often?"

Eames makes a thoughtful noise, wondering which part of 'this' Arthur's referring to, but it's probably the whole 'picking someone up with a fake face' thing.

"Not often?" Eames reaches for the beer and takes a drink, "I try to avoid ending up in situations like this."

Arthur lets out a soft laugh, shaking his head and looking away. "It's weird," he says. "It feels like I should treat you differently, even though I know who you are and I know we've done this before. I mean, that's assuming you'd rather stay like this instead of changing back..."

"Would you rather I stay like this?" Eames raises an eyebrow at him, and there's no mistaking the question for an innocent one-- not with the way his voice lingers on the word 'this' or the way his gaze flits down to Arthur's lips just long enough to be noticeable before he takes another swig of his beer.

[catch-all] For when then and there, there will be enough.

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