Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters get in.

Familiar Circumstances

As the rising sun signaled dawn outside the hotel Arthur was caught in the state between being awake and sleeping, the point man sensing on some level the hand that was moving under his clothing and over his body. The feeling was welcome; he knew the fingers moving across his flesh as well as he knew his own. The hand was Eames, its touch intimate and knowing as it caressed and stroked, arousing him slowly but surely as small fire were kindled. And then the hand was sliding down his chest and under the sweatpants he wore, the small flames flaring with new life as Arthur felt the forger's clever fingers wrap around his growing erection, the point man knowing what was to come.

The aches that made themselves known throughout his slightly battered body as he moved were pushed to the side with the single minded focus he was so known for, Arthur's brain refusing to acknowledge the pain when it could be basking in the pleasure starting to course through his body like potent liquor.

Moaning low in his throat as his lover moved his hand up and down his shaft with sure and steady pressure Arthur gladly gave himself over to the pleasure, whispering encouragement and pleas for more. On some level he was aware of the fact that this wasn't a dream, that it was real, and rather than have him struggling to wake the rest of the way Arthur clung to his dreamlike state fiercely so that it would continue. It had been far too long since he'd gotten himself off, and even longer since the hands touching him so intimately were not his own. God how he'd craved the man's touch, and now that he had it he could feel the premature orgasm building, the knowledge of who was pleasuring him going straight to his head.

The power of his orgasm jolted him to a new level of awareness, more and more of Arthur's brain acknowledging the fact that this wasn't taking place in his head and that this really was Eames's body pressed up against his back, that it was the forger's hand now sliding between their bodies, the wet fingers massaging the tight ring of muscle between his ass cheeks that would allow them to join their bodies together.

Stifling his reactions to the fingers working inside of him Arthur concentrated solely of relaxing as much as possible, knowing his lover was being as gentle as possible because Eames would never be otherwise with him now.

And Eames was always welcome inside of him. A part of him.

Shuddering when the fingers left him Arthur made no move to protest when the sweatpants he wore were jerked down his body to bare only his ass, ears tuned to the sound of rustling clothing as the other man did away with the shorts he'd been sleeping in.

Biting down on his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood Arthur's muffled moan seemed to echo in his ears as he felt Eames work his considerable erection inside of him, the point man unable to stop the way his body flexed around his lover even as it made its discomfort known as it was stretched further. But he refused to deny them this and slowly the pain became nonexistent as the rightness of what they were doing signaled in both their brains. And then Eames was finally all the way inside of Arthur, the former whispering how good he felt against the point man's ear, the words not mattering as much as the tone, the voice.

The fact that it was Eames saying them.

Reaching back around him Arthur stroked a hand over the stubble covered jaw and up until he grasped the other man's head, holding it tenderly as he absorbed the sensations that once again flooded his body as Eames began to move inside of him, the thrusts gentle and drawn out.

"Look at me, Luv."

The husky, need filled words washed over Arthur like a warm spring shower, jolting him the rest of the way awake so that he couldn't help but be aware on every level, in every fiber of his being what he was doing. What they were doing.

Twisting a little so that he could look in the other man's general direction Arthur could make out enough of Eames's face to see that the forger's eyes were open and on him, the room too shadowed for him to see what was in them. But he knew that his lover was in this too, and pulled Eames's head down so that he could join their lips too as he rocked back against the muscular body pressed against him, in him.

Silent connection made Arthur settled his head back on his pillow, his body moving to meet every slow, drawn out thrust while Eames's hand stroked up and down his thigh, pushing the sweats further and further down. Stroking his fingers through the man's short hair when Eames's head lowered to kiss along his neck Arthur petted and stroked to his heart's content, wallowing in this sweet foreplay that was leading up to a climax that promised to be as sweet as it was powerful.

Interrupting what they were doing to stop and kiss, to touch, it was only when the need became too great for either of them to control that they let themselves go and lost themselves in the other as their climaxes took hold of them and refused to let them go until they were worn out and incapable of holding a single thought as they drifted off and back asleep in each other's arms.

)

It was a couple hours later and having woken up once more Eames didn't know what the hell he was supposed to say. Somehow he didn't think an apology would go over well, and that would make the whole thing seem a lot more calculating then it had been. It had just happened, at least in the beginning. When they'd been together as a couple they'd had plenty of sex while they were weren't completely awake even without the dream machine's help. Back then they'd had a damn hard time keeping their hands to themselves even while they'd slept. His brain had just processed the fact that Arthur was there, that they were in bed together, and the fact that he really, really wanted to shag him. He'd needed to shag his man as much as he'd needed his next breath and his body had acted accordingly. He didn't even really remember all of it clearly up until he'd had his fingers inside his lover, his brain processing the fact that that was not something he wanted to miss. What had followed, okay he'd been aware enough that he probably should have stopped it or at least confirmed that Arthur was with him more than he had. So sue him, he was only human.

Even awake his brain hadn't been functioning at peak efficiency thanks to most of his blood having headed south earlier.

And it really didn't help the present situation that Arthur was still on his bloody side with his back to him, basically pretending that he wasn't even there and that what had happened hadn't.

He knew Arthur was awake as well, he could feel it.

Which was why he'd withdrawn the arm he'd draped around the other man's waist after their lovemaking, feeling like he should since Arthur had let go of it. Because as he much as he might want to pretend that it was just his lover not liking to be crowded in, Eames knew it was the man's way of making it clear he regretted what they'd done earlier.

And that was really starting to piss him off.

"You know, Arthur, it's a pity your birthday isn't sooner. I'd get you a nice new stick to shove up that tight ass of yours. The one you've got now has to be wearing down."

Arthur didn't bother to feign sleep, his response suggesting immediate harm in Eames's future if he didn't watch his step. "The only thing I had up my ass was you, and that, plus the events that occurred yesterday, are some very good reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea to push me right now."

It took Eames a moment, but when the man's words fully registered the Englishman flinched, realizing what he'd done. Arthur had been in a car accident the day before, he had to be sore as hell. And on top of that the man had said he hadn't had a lover since him and the man had never been the type to bring toys into the bedroom so it was probably a safe bet that the only thing entering Arthur's ass recently were the man's own fingers. He'd been gentle, but still…

"Ah hell, Darling, I'm fucking sorry, I didn't even…ah hell, have I hurt you?" His sincerity and worry obvious Eames sat up, wanting to touch but afraid to do so least he make the whole thing that much worse. Things were bad enough as it was and getting worse by the second it seemed.

Responding to that worry Arthur forced himself to turn so that he was lying on his back, masterfully hiding the aches that intensified as he looked up at the shadowy figure whose intense gaze he could feel like hands all over his body, searching for his hurts and wanting to make them better. "I'm fine."

"I'm not Dom, Arthur, I am aware of other people besides my bleeding self." Eames shot back, shifting so that he could reach over Arthur and turn on the light on the bedside table, needing to be able to see the other man's face clearly.

The sudden light had both men blinking to adjust to the brightness, eyes going back to connect with the other once they did.

"Now tell me again how you're feeling."

Arthur sighed, knowing the man wouldn't drop it unless they started fighting, and he had the beginnings of a headache already without adding to it. "I was banged up enough yesterday that the fact that my ass is sorer now really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Everywhere aches. And I'm as much to blame for what happened earlier as you are, for not stopping things once I realized what was going on."

"Why didn't you? I had to have been hurting you." And that had him feeling lower than a filthy sewer rat, especially since he'd seen for himself when they'd been in the tub how bruised and stiff the other man was. So why hadn't the point man stopped him?

A number of excuses came to mind, many of them at least based in truth, but in the end Arthur answer was one stripped of all pretense or excuses. "I didn't want you to stop."

Eames stared down at the other man for a moment and then looked away, swiping a tired hand through his mussed hair. What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

Obviously thinking along the same lines Arthur shifted back so that he was once again resting on his side, which was more comfortable than any other position at the moment. "You should go back to sleep, you'll feel better and we have things to take care of later. I have a package to pick up before we leave."

"What's in the package?"

"My real identity."

Raising an eyebrow over this Eames couldn't help be curious, especially since with all his contacts he'd never been able to find out anything about his lover before he'd started working with Cobb. Oh there had been plenty of dead ends to follow, false information planted for anyone who might care to look, but in the end what he knew about Arthur's past was from the man himself or one of the Cobbs. In truth he didn't even know what Arthur's last name actually was, though the man had assured him that Arthur really was his given name.

"You'll be traveling with me as yourself then?"

"That's the plan."

"Good."
)

Both men tried and failed to go back to sleep, finally giving up the pretense that they weren't on edge due to everything that had happened in the last day and a half. They'd both been rubbed raw emotionally and while the sex had been damn good at the time neither man was stupid enough to think that it had solved all their problems. Sex had never been their problem. It was once they weren't having sex and actually trying to coexist that things tended to get sticky, and not in a good way. Most of their relationship had been in fits and starts thanks to their work, and neither of them was any good at expressing their emotions unless they were fighting, which in theory they knew was bad but couldn't seem to change. They also both had the annoying habit of closing each other out when they were upset or feeling vulnerable too, which was why Arthur borrowed the man's laptop to hack into the airport's database to change his information there while Eames headed to the bathroom to shower and shave rather than either of them rather than take another stab at discussing anything important.

That the two men were calling themselves some very unflattering names as they went about their business would be a massive understatement.

Standing in front of the mirror Eames finished shaving, rubbing a hand over his now smooth jaw to make sure he hadn't missed any spots, a wry smile curving his lips. He'd been sporting stubble and parting his hair to the side since he and Arthur had broken up because he knew that Arthur disliked both looks. It had been stupid and petty, but he had never minded being petty and most people were stupid in comparison to his ex's genius.

And while going clean shaven and styling his hair more naturally with his bangs down wasn't much of a peace offering…Arthur was too obsessed with one's personal appearance not to notice and understand that it was his subtle way of saying he was going to make the effort not to deliberately try and piss the man off today.

That he'd probably do it accidentally went without saying.

With a towel around his waist since it had seemed way too girlie to bring his change of clothes in with him, Eames took a steadying breath, reminded himself that he was perfectly capable of not being an ass, and headed out of the bathroom to get dressed and face the new day.

Having finished his business with the airport already Arthur was in the process of logging out of his email after deleting all of Dom's messages without reading them when he heard the bathroom door open, looking up automatically and immediately wishing that he hadn't.

Oh damn. Talk about bringing sexy back.

Feeling drool well up in his mouth Arthur quickly dropped his gaze back to the screen, mentally cursing a blue streak even as his mind processed the fact that it had to have been a deliberate move on the forger's part. Part of him wanted to assume that Eames was trying to make him suffer by reminding him that he could be the sexiest man on earth when he put effort into his appearance, but going with his gut Arthur knew the real message and was torn between being glad and annoyed that the man was sure to be hit on a lot in the coming two weeks.

Not to mention the fact that taking on his old identity meant altering his own appearance and not for the better.

At the time of his decision he hadn't cared because he hadn't thought Eames would be around to see him and he hadn't been interested in trying to hook up with anyone while in Europe. He'd decided to go back to his original identity because he'd wanted to slip through the radar and fade into the background so that if Saito came looking for him he'd fail horribly. And while he could have gone with the ID Eames had retrieved from his jacket earlier, he couldn't guarantee that his former employer didn't know that alias and saw no reason to risk it.

The man was not someone he wanted to ever run into again under any circumstances.

Wearing nothing but jeans Eames walked over to the bed, slipping a simple black T-shirt over his head as he did so. He might prefer his own style of clothing, but like Arthur he knew the advantages of blending in and it was a lot easier to do in jeans and a tee when you were in America. "So got everything sorted out with the airport?" Not that he doubted the man's skill, but it was a safe enough topic.

"No problem." And forcing himself to look up Arthur met Eames gaze. "Do you trust me to go somewhere and come back? I…wouldn't mind the company but if you have any other errands to attend to before our flight I can manage easily enough if I take a taxi and move slowly." Probably.

Holding the younger man's gaze Eames didn't have to think about it. "I trust you but I'll come anyway, just in case you run into any trouble. Where are we going?"

"The parking lot of a hotel, it's about a twenty five minute drive from here. I arranged to have a car there with a suitcase packed with everything I'll need in the trunk. I'll have a couple changes of clothes then, enough to get me by until we arrive at our destination and I can do some shopping."

It went without saying that there was no way in hell he would trust Eames to shop for him, and he wasn't up to dealing with the task yet.

Lips twitching Eames inclined his head. "Then let's see what I have that will suit you well enough that you won't die a social death if someone sees you in them, shall we?"