ruffians | #vampireproblems

[There's a couple of choicw comments knocking around Eames' head at that-- about how he never would've left if he knows him like he rhinks he does, but Eames pushes them aside. Arthur's apologised about 100 times and he's here now. Here and being almost offensively charming.]

[Eames takes a sip of beer and when he puts it down he reaches to take Arthur's wrist and pull him closer.]

Come here so I can kiss you.

[Arthur goes willingly, bringing his free hand up to Eames' jaw as he gets closer. He smiles and leans in for a soft kiss, lingering there for as long as Eames is willing to look away from the food.]

[Eames moves his hand to rest it lightly on Arthur's hip with a soft hum as he turns a little toward him and into the kiss. It's not a long one, there's food to consider, and he pulls away after a minute or so and presses another quick kiss to the side of Arthur's face with a smile.]

[Arthur smiles so wide and goes back to the counter where he leans on it, watching Eames silently between sips of beer. It's so nice to be here, just existing together again. A week ago Arthur was trying to convince himself he could keep going without this.]

[Eames glances at Arthur now and then, part of him wishing he wasn't cooking so he could just spend some time kissing Arthur, but he is so he'll settle for a look or two as if he could possibly have forgotten how handsome he is and how good it feels to have him here and staying here in the intervening moments.]

[When it's done though, Eames turns everything off and moves to grab a couple of plates for them and dishes everything up with little ceremony.]

Here you go.

Thanks.

[Arthur grabs all the cutlery and takes his plate to the table. He waits for Eames to sit down as well before he digs in, humming happily once he does.]

Tastes even better than it smells.

[Eames smiles and nudges Arthur's foot with his as he gets started. Arthur's right, it's pretty fucking good.]

High praise from a nose like yours.

[... Or is it just blood he's sensitive to? Oh well, he's said it now.]

[It's everything but especially blood. Either way, Arthur accepts the compliment with a smile and nudges Eames' foot back.]

You have any plans for tonight?

I have to look over the books from last week.

[He gestures with his fork, very much the air of a man who hates... Everything about this.]

Just making sure everything ran smoothly while I was... Unavailable.

[Turns out a blood transfusion followed by being abruptly broken up with makes it kinda difficult to focus on work.]

Right.

[He looks down at his food.]

I should go do the rounds too. I haven't checked in for a while.

[Eames makes a gently disappointed noise and watches Arthur for a moment before he speaks, trying to make sure he doesn't sound at all desperate and needy.]

You could always get back in the habit tomorrow instead.

[Arthur glances up at him from his food, battling with himself about whether to just say it baldly. He decides to go for it, because all of this will be better.]

I can stay in if you want me to. You're always welcome to come with me too.

[Yeah, okay, no way is he going out on the rounds with Arthur when he still has stitches in his neck. It'd be fucking awful for both of them, and the last thing Eames needs is to be dragged home for trying to fight one of Arthur's clients. Or a repeat of what started this fucking mess to begin with.]

[He sighs.] I might get through things faster if a number-loving immortal fancied giving me a hand.

[Also if that same immortal felt like making out a lot afterwards.]

You can always go while I'm asleep.

[Arthur smiles a little bashfully at being called a "number-loving immortal" and shakes his head once Eames is done.]

It can wait. I haven't been reading the news but I'm pretty sure I would have heard about it if someone had been causing trouble, and cleaning up after them is all I really do anyway.

Mm, a night in of hot number crunching it is then.

[wink]

[Arthur makes an amused noise as he takes another bite of his dinner.]

You know what gets me going.

[Eames huffs a small laugh and nudges Arthur's foot with his, just a little gesture of affection while they eat.]

Well. I know you.

[Arthur smiles bashfully again, going back to his dinner. It's the same flirty ridiculousness all through dinner, and Arthur offers to clean up when they're done, making short work of everything so they can get to that number crunching.]

[Eames presses a kiss to Arthur's cheek while he handles the cleaning before heading off to get his ledger and anything supplementary they might need, thankful for the help. It's not like Eames couldn't do it on his own, but he'd need several coffees, a bottle of aspirin, and at least two calculators (one to replace the first after he inevitably gets frustrated and breaks it,) whereas Arthur seems to love this stuff.]

[He sets the stuff out on the table and goes to grab them a couple of beers, mostly so there's something to keep him occupied when Arthur inevitably takes over doing everything, and makes himself comfortable on the couch while he waits.]

[Once Arthur's done he comes out to the couch to join Eames, setting himself down beside Eames well within reach in case Eames is down to cuddle (Arthur is very down) and picking up his beer and the ledger. He does like this stuff - it's clear and straightforward to him - things are supposed to even out a specific way and he likes finding out of they do or don't. It's not like his job, which sometimes requires some hard questions. These problems all have yes or no answers.]

[Eames is extremely down to cuddle, but he's All Business right now because he wants to get this done. He leans over, pointing out a few transactions and deposits and whatnot from the last fortnight ]

These ones have been bugging me. I can't tell if they're mistakes, paranoia, or if someone's been trying to steal from me while I was off work.

[There's a part of him that kind of hopes it's the last one. He has a lot of pent up frustration he hasn't been able to vent.]

Hm.

[Arthur certainly can't tell at first glance, but it does look suspicious to him, if only because Eames is pointing it out.]

You do work with criminals, so it's entirely possible.

[He squints as he skims through it again, trying to see if there's any real reason for these to jump out specifically. He's read over Eames' books before, so he knows the patterns.]

There's supposed to be honour among thieves, Arthur.

[He says it like it really means anything, but Eames knows in the long run it's a meaningless idiom. He does try to pick the more trustworthy criminals to work with him though, but even he gets it wrong sometimes.]

[Still, he's got a good team going. It's be a shame to get rid of any of them.]

[Arthur gives Eames a look as if he doesn't believe in a very similar system with himself and the vampires. That, of course, is a matter of survival, but career criminals have almost as much on the line.]

It does look a little off.

[He takes a sip of his beer.]

You don't have anyone new, do you? Whenever your numbers are off it's usually that Thompson guy being bad at math.

[He shakes his head at the question and frowns.]

Can you tell from the numbers? [He leans over a little to take a look at it again, but at a glance it's all nonsense to him.] As I said, I could just be paranoid. You know I don't like leaving them to run things longer than a day or two,

[Letting them handle nights is bad enough, but Eames has long since accepted that particular sacrifice.]

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