plot twist: teenagers are bad at feelings

[prethief]

[So. He said a lot of things he'd never planned to say at all ever. That's fine. Eames can live with that. He's said a lot of dumb shit in his life so far and he hasn't died yet.]

[Of course, previous instances of 'dumb shit' weren't an incomplete baring of his surprisingly complicated feelings surrounding anal sex. Which, well. He's never thought about it at any great length, so it leaves him feeling deeply embarrassed and angry about being embarrassed in the first place. Eames elects to spend the weekend with some other friends to blow off steam, any texts from Arthur getting a quick "sorry, busy" in response so he doesn't have to think about what a fucking moron he is.]

[It's harder to ignore him come Monday, but Eames thinks the fact that he's turned up hungover as fuck and mainlining energy drinks to get through the day does a lot to stop anyone from talking to him. And the one class he has with Arthur that day, he spends the time sleeping in his car instead. And the one after that. And basically the rest of the school day. Still there once people start filtering out for the end of the day.]

Comments

[prethief]

[Ugh. DEEP BREATH. There's more he could say but he's not going to, because this is too much. It's too many feelings. Eames purses his lips thoughtfully for a moment and bumps his fist against Arthur's thigh.]

I'm sorry about going dark on you all weekend.

[interpunct]

[Arthur smirks a little.]

Sorry for freaking out a bit when you talked about putting your dick in my ass.

[prethief]

[Eames snorts.] Well. Now that we're friends again...

[Guess who's getting wrestled to the mattress in about three seconds.]

[Spoiler: it's Arthur]

[interpunct]

[Arthur makes an embarrassing surprised sound when Eames wrestles him, but he starts laughing right away. He doesn't know if this is a sex thing or a not-sex thing but he's here for any excuse to be slightly affectionate after that heavy talk.]

[prethief]

[It's (mostly) not-sex, Eames is just pumped to not be having that conversation anymore and also glad he hasn't tanked their friendship, so this is how he's choosing to express it. He laughs a little too, jostling Arthur about a bit until he can swing a leg over and sit on his stomach.]

But seriously, are you still mad?

[interpunct]

[Arthur looks up at him with a genuine smile, so relieved that they can do this again.]

I wasn't mad, just confused.

[prethief]

You know I wouldn't leave you freaking out alone like that on purpose, right?

[He feels really bad about that.]

[interpunct]

[Arthur's smile fades a bit, but he nods.]

I know.

[prethief]

Good.

[He purses his lips in thought for a moment or two, and then raises an eyebrow as he looks down at Arthur with a smirk.]

Otherwise I'd have to pin you here until you listened to reason.

[interpunct]

[Arthur feels his stomach tighten at that, and he raises his eyebrows at Eames, matching his smirk.]

Oh yeah? You think you could?

[IT'S A SEXY CHALLENGE.]

[prethief]

[Eames scoffs, shaking his head at Arthur. He will fight this gentleman anytime.]

Please, Arthur. You're not exactly, you know... [gesture] Fighty. Are you?

[interpunct]

[Arthur shrugs, nonchalant.]

I've never had to be.

[prethief]

Well, there you go.

[He winks.] Plus I have the weight advantage.

[interpunct]

Well, maybe I'm... scrappy.

[He knows it's stupid okay but this is a stupid conversation no one holds someone down until they agree to be friends.]

[prethief]

[Eames laughs and rolls off Arthur, slotting himself in the space between Arthur and the wall to lay down next to him.]

Yeah, maybe.

[He clearly does not think so.]

[interpunct]

[Arthur gazes at Eames for a little bit, happy that they've moved on from this. He knows they still both have stuff to work out but at least right now he has his friend back.]

[prethief]

[He catches Arthur's gaze and frowns, not that he's upset by it, just a little confused, and he lifts a hand to his face under the assumption that there's something there.]

What is it?

[interpunct]

[Oh, caught in the act. Arthur shrugs and shakes his head, looking up at the ceiling.]

Nothing, sorry.

[prethief]

[Eames squints at him for a moment, but whatever. Arthur's weird sometimes, he's used to it. He just ignores it and turns on his side, shimmying a little to get comfortable, because if neither of them have anything else to say he's going to get some more sleep. Being awake is exhausting.]

[interpunct]

[Arthur can do naps. He's been just short of pulling his hair out all weekend, so he is a bit tired. He sighs one more time and turns on his side facing away from Eames, closing his eyes and finding he's actually more tired than he realized.]

[prethief]

[It doesn't take long at all before Eames is sound asleep. Between the hangover, the heavy conversation, and the fact that he barely slept all weekend, there's only a few minutes between him closing his eyes and that blissful dark.]

[In his sleep, he eventually ends up closer to Arthur — there's not a lot of space, it's not exactly hard — and he curls up behind him with a soft sigh, draping an arm over Arthur's side and pressing his face lightly against the back of his neck. This is significantly more comfortable.]

[interpunct]

[Arthur has long since accepted that Eames is naturally cuddly. Ever since they started sharing beds or anything like that, he's been dealing with Eames getting up close and personal. He's had to teach himself not to freak out about it because it doesn't really mean anything. Cuddling is nice whether it's with a significant other or a hookup buddy or a close friend and they qualify as two out of three of those things.]

[He wakes up a little when Eames cuddles up this time, but thanks to being neurotic about this in the past he is now pretty comfortable with it, and he hums contentedly before he commits to sleep again. He just hopes Eames' mother doesn't decide to come in because then he'll have a meltdown about the fact that they're spooning and someone knows about it.]

[prethief]

[Thankfully his mother doesn't walk in, or if she did she didn't wake anyone up, though Arthur will get the fun sensation of Eames sneezing on the back of his neck when Arthur's hair tickles his nose, so. That's nice.]

[interpunct]

[Arthur's so startled by this that he actually just rolls off the bed with a strangled shout.]

[prethief]

[WELL. That sure wakes him up.] [

Eames sits up, alarmed because Arthur just fucking shouted and vanished from next to him, but then he spots Arthur on the floor and just. Laughs. A lot. There might even be tears.]