AUTHORS NOTE: So this is a silly bit of nothing inspired by my night with my friend. She's pretty much the role of Eames because she's working on her assignment and I'm here to keep her on track but this was broken when I cracked out the trusty old hot cross buns. It's a look at the two boys back at university.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters
Sitting cross legged in the living room floor with papers spread around him, Eames found himself threading his hands through his short brown hair as he released a growl of frustration at the amount of work in front of him. Every year he left his work to last minute despite promising himself at the start of each new academic year that he wouldn't. This would result in him overdosing on coffee, endless amounts of junk food and pretty much becoming a hermit at this time of year so that he could meet the deadline ahead of him. His best friend, Dominic Cobb, would always tease him for being so reckless as well as whining about how much he missed his friends over the entire week. Eames would chuckle but he'd agree because usually the two boys were adjoined at the hips despite not being on the same course.
"I need a damned break," Eames mumbled to himself seeing as there was no one else in the small apartment that he shared with Cobb, "because I really can't think straight anymore."
"Well if you'd have done it earlier rather than leaving it to the last minute," a voice from behind him said causing him to jump slightly landing on his ass as he'd been hovering intending to get up before turning to glare at his roommate. "I do love it when you turn our living room into a paper factory, Daniel." The man commented sarcastically and that was obvious through the use of his first name because the two men, despite sharing a flat, had always referred to each other by their surnames.
"You do know how it's how I can decipher my notes, love." Eames pointed out before grinning at the man. "Hey. You arrived back at a perfect time. You can entertain me for five minutes."
"And I think I have the perfect method," Cobb said reaching into the shopping bag in his hand and revealing a packet of Hot Cross Buns causing Eames to grin. Cobb hadn't even gone out to buy them. He'd nipped out to the shop to buy some necessities that they needed for the flat like bread and milk because he knew that Eames would be on his standard coffee and junk food diet which happens every time he ends up leaving his work to last minute. Eames, however, many years ago had let it slip to Cobb that his favourite thing about Easter was Hot Cross Buns because of their taste and due to them only being out for that short period of time. So obviously when Cobb had seen the last packet lying on the shelf, he'd picked them up and decided that he'd bring them back for his friend as something slightly healthier than all the chocolate wrappers he could see lying about the floor.
"Oh Cobb," the guy cried out as he jumped up from his position from the floor and took hold of the packet. "I didn't even realise… Oh my God…." He turned to glare at his coursework. "Damned thing making me forget!"
"Have you got much done?" Cobb asked as he leant over the work lying everywhere, his head shaking as he noticed the odd spelling error here and there meaning he'd end up offering to proof read it once finished but couldn't see anything substantial to prove that the other man had made a dent in the assigned work.
"Um…" Eames said already moving through to the kitchen to turn the toaster on, "by a lot of work does reading over my notes to select key notes that I shall need for my assignment then yes, I have much down. However, if you mean have I started my assignment or any of the other pieces of work then no, I haven't." Cobb just rolled his eyes as he followed the man through to the kitchen, confiscating the hot cross buns and sighing.
"Eames, you need to get some work done."
"I will. I promise." Eames started to plead as his eyes stayed trained on the Hot Cross Buns, his lips starting to form a pout as if sensing that Cobb was being serious about refusing the man his favourite treat. "I swear that the minute I've finished my Hot Cross Bun, I will go back to the floor and at least get half the word count written. I need a break, Cobb. I'm going insane doing nothing."
"You're not doing nothing, Eames. You're just doing something you don't enjoy doing." Cobb pointed out in exasperation because this was the same argument they had about this time every year but relented all the same and handed the man the buns which he eagerly accepted, a victorious smile on his face as he moved over to the knife block to grab the small bread knife so that he could slice them in half while whistling some weird happy tune under his breath.
"Excuse me, Mr Perfect. I bet there's a lot of university students out there who are in the exact same position as I am." He pointed out knowing that Cobb would have probably started his assignments the minute they'd been handed out and finished months before the deadline which would always make Eames wonder when he found the time seeing as he spent nearly every waking minute with Eames when they weren't in class. "It'll get done," he promised with a grin as he slotted the halves into their toaster and turned to look at his friend, "It always does and it'll even be on time." The added "and with perfect grades" went unsaid but it was a constant rift between the two of them because Cobb, sometimes, felt as if Eames never put any effort into his course but yet always came out on the sunny side.
"I know a lot of students are in the same position, Eames, but I'll never understand why you let yourself get this stressed out over nothing. It would have been easier if you'd have done it at the beginning." He pointed out as he leant against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the man move about the kitchen with precision reminding Cobb how domesticated Eames really was when he wasn't being lazy.
"Ah yes but I wouldn't have had the information then," Eames pointed out with a smug cock of his head as he pointed the butter knife he'd just grabbed out of the cutlery drawer at Cobb before turning to the fridge so he could get the butter out of the fridge, "and besides, I like the adrenaline rush that sets in when you're so damned afraid that you're not going to make your deadline."
"Of course," Cobb said with the shake of his head. Adrenaline, fear and danger were all a part of Eames' repertoire whereas Cobb, as best as he could, would attempt to avoid all these kinds of situations, especially when his coursework was concerned. Cobb, however, didn't like these three things being in Eames' repertoire because they were usually accompanied by stress, cussing and usually trembles from staying up all night and overdosing on caffeine and junk but through the years Cobb had stopped complaining and had just got used to it. Smiling, he watched as Eames fished the halves back out of the toaster and placed them on the two plates that he'd found. "Eames, I bought those for you. I don't need to have…"
"Sunshine, it's about sharing. I want to share. Now, shut up and eat." He demanded handing the man a now buttered Hot Cross Bun and pushing him through to the living room where he was quickly joined by Eames, a half of the Hot Cross Bun already dangling from his lips as he tried to manipulate his legs so he could fall back down into his cross legged position. "Have you ever tasted anything so good? I mean who would have thought to make a sweet but yet spicy bun mixed with currants or raisins."
Aware of Eames' fascination and knowledge for things that wouldn't usually interest other people, Cobb decided to push the conversation which he knew Eames would appreciate as it gave him a couple more minutes to procrastinate. "You do realise there's more to the Hot Cross Bun than just the taste and ingredients, right?"
"Of course," Eames rolled his eyes. "The cross is to symbolise the crucifixion. Cobb, I might not be religious but England does focus a lot on the Easter festivities no matter how main stream your school is." The man pointed out with a smile before looking back down at the last morsel of his Hot Cross Bun. "I mean, did you know in English folklore they believed that if you baked and served them on Good Friday then they wouldn't spoil or go mouldy for the whole year to follow as well as the belief that that one small piece had medical properties."
Cobb looked over at the man, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips. Cobb, obviously, did know all this information because he felt it was his job to know this kind of information about everything but he enjoyed watching Eames talk so passionately about something always made Cobb smile. Eames, in Cobb's opinion, was sometimes very quiet about his own knowledge because he didn't like people knowing that there was a brain inside. He tended to let people think that he was the brawn of their relationship when actually they were both equally intelligent but in their own areas. He enjoyed watching Eames talk. The guy's hands would wave about, a wide grin would be on his face and his eyes would twinkle with excitement no matter what it was they were talking about.
"You English don't half believe some shit," he teased with a smile causing Eames to laugh as he nodded in his head in agreement before pointing at the blonde haired man.
"You're one to talk, America. I think America have their own superstitions that are just as shit." Eames pointed out but was stopped as Cobb raised his hand in a clear gesture to stop whatever it was he was about to say.
"And as much as I'd love for you to tell me them all," Cobb teased reaching over and taking Eames' plate out of his lap and pointing at the paperwork between all of them, "you promised me that when you'd finished your Hot Cross Bun, you'd be able to achieve at least half of your word count." He said with a smile and that couldn't help but turn into chuckle when his friend's lips pursed into a disappointed pout.
Eames, always good at procrastinating, had hoped that Cobb would forget his silly little promise and would have happily continued talking to the other man endlessly about nothing just so that he wouldn't have to do it. "Can't we do something else, love? I promise I'll work later." The man had now moved over and was knelt in the man's legs, his hands resting on the man's knees as he tried his best to give Cobb the puppy dog eyes that would usually work but doing your university work was more than trying to get out of doing the dishes.
"No." Cobb stated calmly trying not to chuckle at how amusing his friend was. "You've had your Hot Cross Buns so now work on your assignment and you can take a break in two hours so that I can make you something to eat that's actually in the food groups, okay?"
Grumbling, Eames returned to his position of having his legs crossed in the centre of his paperwork causing Cobb to chuckle as he rose, his hand threading through the light brown hair as he walked past causing the man to grumble more but Cobb didn't have to look back to know that the boy was wearing a silly grin on his face at the intimate touch – something Cobb rarely initiated – and would also be hard at work so that he could meet their set goal before tea so that Cobb wouldn't be pissed at him. He, however, decided that he could piss Cobb off himself.
"Love, seeing as I can't leave this spot," he smiled as Cobb appeared in the door. "Pop the kettle on." He said with a wide grin before returning to work, missing the roll of Cobb's eyes and the birdy that was thrown his way but he moved to do it anyway. Anything to keep Eames concentrating on that damned assignment…