Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

Sorry late update, FanficNet wouldn't let me in to post them earlier, before I went to work.

Valentines' Day present to TheaBlackthorn and Bethany Ruth for your awesome reviews!

Heated Moments

This was definitely not what he'd expected to find when he'd headed backstage, Dom thought as he stared at the sight of two of his teacher's making out enthusiastically on a chair. The way his best friend was moving against the school's drama teacher was distressingly close to a lap dance, and the Brit's hands were on Arthur's ass and obviously enjoying it. And if that weren't bad enough the sex sounds the younger man was making in the back of his throat…well no friend wanted to hear their best friend making sex noises. Ever. Was this how Arthur had felt every time he'd stumbled on him and Mal making out? If so he owed the guy a serious apology.

And since the two were apparently too busy shoving their tongues down each other's throats to be aware of his presence, and his polite voice clearing sounds weren't getting any reaction from either of them, Dom was slowly coming to the horrible conclusion that he might have to physical separate them before either would be able to hear a word he had to say.

Dragging his tongue and then mouth out and off the other man's mouth Arthur turned his head to glare at the man who seemed determined to keep talking until they paid him attention. "Fuck off, Dom. Busy here." And turning back to what he was doing Arthur took immediate advantage of the fact that Eames's mouth had dropped open in shock.

As shocked by Arthur's response as Eames Dom gaped at his friend, unable to believe what his best friend had just said to him. Arthur ALWAYS had time for him. He depended upon that. Jesus, he'd known that the man had a thing for British accents and tattoos, but this was just extreme.

"You two know that I could fire you both for doing this on school grounds, right? It could have been a student who walked in on you. Are you even listening to me?"

Eames tried to indicate that he had been trying to listen but Arthur's hands had just slipped under his trousers to drag short, manicured nails over his arse, making it very hard to hold a thought in his very lust filled head.

Also noticing the angle of Arthur's hands and the way Eames was moving Dom made a choking noise, fighting back the desire to throw a hand over his eyes to try and block out the sight already etched onto his brain. He'd never had a problem with his best friend being gay, but there was a big difference between being fine with Arthur's sexuality and having it pushed in his face this way. And right now desperate times called for desperate measures.

Thankfully, he knew a number of Arthur's buttons too.

"By the way, Arthur, did I mention that Mr. Fischer called the school today? He wanted to find out more about the drama program you apparently convinced him Robbie just has to be in to improve his academic record. You could have blown me over with a feather when he told me he'd given his permission, but you've always been able to wrap him around your finger when you really try. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was sucking up to you because he wants in your pants."

The choking sound Arthur made as his head whipped up to look at Dom echoed in the room.

"Thought that would do it." And since he knew he had seconds to talk before one or both men retaliated for his interruption Dom turned his attention to a well mushed Eames. "Your landlord called the school, Eames, there's been a fire and part of your apartment was damaged."

Trying to regenerate the brain cells Arthur had so completely demolished Eames struggled to focus on what Dom was saying. "Come again?"

"Apparently your next door neighbors were drug dealers who cooked some of their products at home. They were interrupted by the police an hour ago and in the ensuing struggle a fire broke out. Your landlord knew you worked here so he called the front office to let you know. You need to head over there now…once you get your sweater back on."

"My neighbors are drug pushers? They seemed like such a nice couple. Even brought me brownies to welcome me to the building." A ruefully amused look came into the Brit's eyes. "Though that might explain why I was in such a bloody good mood after eating them."

Sliding off the man's lap Arthur held out a hand to help Eames to his feet, biting back a groan when the man's thanks ended with darling. He was already suffering enough, thank you very much.

Rubbing the back of his neck Eames gave the principal another rueful look. "Ah…thanks for coming to get me, Dom. Appreciate it."

"I'd say anytime…but I'm pretty sure Arthur would kill me if I made a habit of this. Bye."

Since the interruption had been a legitimate one Arthur didn't say a word when his friend beat a hasty retreat, though the comment about Robbie's father being interested in him was nightmare inducing. He'd think about it and dole out punishment as he saw fit for that later.

And turning his attention to the man putting his badly stained sweater back on Arthur shook his head and then reached into his pocket to withdraw his wallet and retrieve one of his cards. Holding it out to the man Arthur explained when Eames took it from him with a questioning look. "If your place isn't livable when you get there call me. I'll give you directions to my place."

Grinning Eames made a production of tucking the card into his trouser pocket. "Thanks, Darling."

"You're welcome."

)

Hours later Eames finished shoving a bunch of his stuff in a duffle bag and then headed out of his seriously disgusting and wrecked bedroom, doing his best to ignore the damage. It wasn't easy, especially since his rifling around earlier had made the wreckage of his place more than obvious as he sought out the things he refused to leave behind. Now that he had his stuff and was free to go Eames headed out of his smoky apartment, walking briskly down the hallway and then the stairs, jogging out of the building where he drew in several deep breaths of relatively clean air. Ugh. The police had felt the need to question him about his neighbors and the firefighters had told him more about fires and what they could do to a building then he'd ever wanted to know. On top of that his landlord had alternated between claiming that none of this was his fault and making sure that he realized he wasn't getting his rent back or money for a temporary place while the damage was being taken care of. Add the obviously desperate for a man neighbor on his floor who had had to come over to try and convince him to move in with her, again, and he'd been torn between going homicidal or letting his head explode from the ensuing headache of epic proportions.

The fact that he'd spent the whole time seriously jonesing for Arthur hadn't helped matters either

But he was out now and wanted nothing more than a shower, some food, and a bed to collapse on. And while he was pretty sure that Arthur's offer of a place had been largely a result of their shared desire to finish what they'd started at the theatre, Eames didn't doubt that the offer would still stand even if sex wasn't on the table.

Rubbing his hand over the stubble on his chin Eames sighed and then retrieved the card Arthur had given him, smiling a little over the fact that the man had a card in the first place. It was just the man's name and phone number; he imagined the upper class felt themselves too good to just write their number on a napkin like any normal person would. Though the thought of his darling giving his number out to anyone else peeved him more than he would have expected it to.

Getting out his phone he quickly punched in Arthur's number, the other man picking up on the forth ring. "That offer of a room still open, Darling?"

"It is. Have you eaten yet?"

"Offering to cook for me, Arthur?"

"I can, but I was thinking more Chinese. There's a place near me that's excellent if you're interested. I'll order and it will be here when you arrive."

Food in general sounded good to him, at this point he didn't care what it was. "If it's near you I can pick it up on the way, my treat since you're putting me up and all. I can't imagine you enjoy having people invading your space, especially unexpectedly."

Arthur didn't argue about the paying thing, which Eames appreciated. After hashing out what Arthur would be ordering for them the other man gave him directions to his place which were as precise and details as he'd expected them to be. Repeating it back to make sure he had it right Eames gave his estimated time of arrival and then said good bye for the time being.

He'd also been right in assuming that Arthur would live in a neighborhood that no doubt housed a number of their students, his car definitely outclassed as it was surrounded by the best the foreign car industry had to offer. Even the restaurant he eventually arrived at looked straight out of a Chinese film and Eames had no doubt that he was picking up authentic Chinese cuisine instead of the American version of it.

He was surprised the place did take out.

Thankfully he'd thought to change before leaving his place so that other than smelling a little smoky and looking no doubt exhausted Eames was pretty sure he didn't look completely like a bum. And when he told them whose order he was there to pick up the curious looks from the staff disappeared completely. Apparently Arthur was well known to them, especially since the old woman who inquired about his order had immediately smiled at the mention of Arthur's name and had hurried off after taking his money and giving him a thorough once over.

"It will be just a minute." Another woman assured him, seeing that he was a little confused. "She is just going to make sure they add more food to your order. We always give Mr. Arthur extra, he is too skinny, but we not put enough if you're eating with him."

"Oh." Personally he thought Arthur was perfect just the way he was, but free food was free food.

And then he caught sight of all the food they were getting and Eames thought that he probably should have assured them that they didn't need extra food. That the woman told him that there was a dish in there for someone named Buffy just made it that much more confusing.

But he was too tired to question so Eames thanked them again, tipped well, and headed out of the restaurant.

The house he pulled up to ten minutes later was too big for one man in his opinion, but at least it wasn't a mansion either. Parking where he hoped he wouldn't be in the other man's way come morning Eames got out, looping his school satchel and duffle bag over his neck so that his hands were free to deal with supper.

Needless to say he was grateful that Arthur had obviously been keeping an eye out for him, the door opening as he started up the path leading to the front porch. He'd never seen the man in casual clothes before, much less barefoot. Very sexy.

Too bad his hormones were in hibernation at the moment due to exhaustion.

Arthur took a gander at all the food Eames was loaded down with and shook his head. They had to get over this obsession with feeding him at that restaurant. Moving forward he took the two bags from the very tired man before him, seeing plainly that the older man had not had an enjoyable past few hours. "Can you handle chopsticks or do you prefer the usual silverware? And do you like Chinese beer?" He asked, not about to pry since he'd imagine Eames was all talked out at the moment.

"I can handle chopsticks and the beer sounds good right about now."

"Good. At a guess I'd say you want a shower first, straight up those stairs and to your left. When you're done go through the door there, I'll have supper set up." Arthur motioned to the door under the stairs while Eames set down his other bags. "If you need it I set some clothes on the bathroom counter for you, the pants should work but the shirt you're going to have to leave unbuttoned."

"I can live with that. Thanks, I won't be long." Leaning forward Eames brushed his lips against Arthur's, smiling when the man allowed it.

Parting ways to take care of business Eames forced himself not to wallow in the shower, his growling stomach reminding him that it wanted food and that he was keeping Arthur waiting. Not that the other man would whine about something like that, but it was the principle of the point. So he washed away the smell of smoke and put on the pants Arthur had left out for him since all his clothing currently smelled from the fire and the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of his present situation. He wasn't going to bother with the shirt, figuring that Arthur wouldn't mind in the least since he'd gotten the impression the man had a thing for his chest, but since he needed to eat…yeah, shirt was probably a must for both their sakes.

So he put on the shirt and left it unbuttoned, opening the door to find that someone was waiting for him.

"Okay…I get Dom's warning about the dog now."

Getting down on one knee Eames reached out and rubbed the little dog between its ears, now knowing exactly who Buffy was since the dog's pink bandana proclaimed that to be the brown and white Pomeranian's name in silver script.

And okay, he couldn't wait to hear the story behind this little lady.

So with Buffy leading the way Eames headed down the main staircase and to the door Arthur had indicated earlier, opening it and walking down the short flight of stairs to find himself in the house's basement. Taking a look around Eames couldn't help but give an envious sigh when he caught sight of the huge flat screen television, flanked on both sides by shelves holding an impressive DVD collection.

It took serious effort to look away but the food was waiting, so Eames headed for the large leather sofa in front of the flat screen, taking in the food spread out over the coffee table with grateful, hungry eyes.

"Since you're up feel free to pick out something for us to watch if you'd prefer a movie to watching television. Your sort of entertainment will be to your right on the third and fourth shelf." Arthur informed the other man as he set down the dish that had had Buffy's name written on its lid on the floor, watching the other man out of the corner of his eye in case the man intended to make a comment about his pet the way most did.

Mindless entertainment sounded good, and after looking over the choices he wasn't surprised to find out that the man not only divided his DVDs by genre, but alphabeticalized them. Apparently the man thought he was the explosion and car chase type, which was true enough, and so Eames opted for the 2003 version of 'The Italian Job' and popped it into the player, waiting until it came up on the screen before walked over to take a seat beside Arthur, taking the loaded down plate he handed over. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Eames smiled and then asked the question he just had to ask as the trailers flashed across the screen. "So how did you end up with a dog named Buffy?"

Understanding the interest, especially since everyone who met his dog felt the need to comment, Arthur's answer was automatic and to the point. "My would be actress grandmother got Buffy from a boyfriend a little over three years ago. When they broke up she dropped by for a visit, looking for some sympathy and access to my bank accounts since she'd lost her source of income. I didn't have either for her and she left pretty quickly, leaving Buffy behind since she didn't want her anymore." Arthur's eyes went to the little dog with affection in his eyes. "I managed to undo most of the damage my grandmother did by not training her properly, but no matter what bribery I used I've never been able to get her to answer to anything but Buffy. And she barks like mad if she doesn't get to wear one of her bandanas, which are ALL pink and monogramed with her name."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it."

Wisely Eames didn't comment further and dug into his food, settling back to enjoy the food, movie and the silent company of the man beside him. He appreciated more than he could say that Arthur wasn't peppering him with questions, both out of curiosity or to find out how long he'd need a place to stay. His darling was treating this like a regular occurrence which was nice. Homey.

And complete with a dog, Eames thought with a grin as Buffy barked in protest of the shooting of Donald Sutherland.

Who could blame her?