Disclaimer: As always we'll own nothing but the original characters, and the situations all characters find themselves in.

A Real First Date

Due to the fact that he'd never had a boyfriend before Eames had gotten used to the idea that he was probably doomed to wait until college before he could find someone who would not only want that position, but would want to get naked with him as often as possible. The fact that he now had a guy who was at least possibly interested in the latter, but couldn't get naked with him, was a major pisser on par with being stuck in his damn wheelchair. Of course it was partially the injuries that had put him the chair in the first place that were cockblocking him, though more than that was the simple fact that he and Arthur couldn't seem to find time alone together no matter how much energy he put into trying to come up with ways to manage it. The fact that Arthur's life seem to revolve around his siblings didn't help, not to mention his own mum and grandmother's habit of sticking their noses in, being far too interested in what he and Arthur got up to for them to actually get up to anything good. If the fates had been kind he could have at least insisted that he and Arthur be able to have their tutoring sessions in his room, but Arthur, being Arthur, took his tutoring far too seriously to do anything but actually tutor him.

So yeah, by the end of their first week as a sort of couple Eames was deeply bitter that those first experimental kisses and touches when Arthur had been debating whether to get involved with him or not were the furthest they'd gone physically. Telling himself that he was too obsessed with the whole thing didn't work at all either, teenage hormones long denied overriding his common sense on the matter. The fact that his obvious frustration amused Arthur was just icing on the crappy cake Eames couldn't help but bake and try to stomach.

And it was because of his hormones that Eames was tempted to do the Snoopy dance when he got a text from Arthur asking if he was free the following evening. Apparently both James and Phil had been invited to go to a magic show being hosted in the city with some school friends, the original ticket holders having been grounded for breaking their mother's favorite lamp it seemed. The parents of the friends would be picking up and dropping James and Phillipa off, which meant that for close to five hours Arthur would have the house completely to himself and apparently wouldn't mind some company.

Eames couldn't type his enthusiastic 'Yes' quickly enough, that text quickly followed by the question of when he should show up. He'd roll his wheelchair all the way there if need be, not that he said so. He hadn't taken complete leave of his senses yet, though it had been touch and go at times.

The return text offered to pick him up at a quarter after five, and that Arthur could get him back home a half an hour before the kids were due back so that he'd be there when James and Phil got back from the show.

As much as he would have liked to state that he could get there easily on his own, Eames didn't want to bug his mum or Mimi for a ride when they already had to play chauffeur enough when it came to his doctor and therapist appointments. Not to mention it was just sad to be dropped off by a family member at his age, though being picked up, needing to be, was frustrating as hell too. God but he wanted his old, able to handle anything he dished out spine back so much there were no words. How he was supposed to make Arthur see him as a man after all, when he didn't feel like one half the time, stuck in a chair, so dependant on others?

Scowling himself for being a whinny baby even as he thought such stupid thoughts, Eames shook his head and told his ego to grow a set. He was just as much a man now as he had been before the crash, more so really really since the surgeries, therapy, and just plain facing his own mortality head-on had made him grow up pretty damn fast. And for that matter he wouldn't always have to be in the chair, while there were plenty of other real men out there who were stuck in a chair for life or worse. Being a man wasn't about whether your limbs worked or not, but how you lived your life and contributed to the world around you, no matter what hand you'd been dealt in life. Or at least that was what he'd believed before he'd ended up in the chair and he refused not to believe now.

"Eames, I'm going to get groceries, anything you want that isn't on the list?"

Shaking off his pep talk thoughts for the moment, Eames mentally reviewed what he'd already put on the list, called out a request for Sunny D, and then added that he'd be going over to Arthur's tomorrow so she didn't have to worry about him for supper.

Popping her head into the doorway, Eames's mum raised an eyebrow and asked if she'd known about this before now.

And showing that he was done being an idiot for the moment Eames didn't point out that he was technically an adult and didn't have to tell her these things, instead explaining that Arthur had just texted him, offering to pick him up and drop him off so that wouldn't be a problem. They'd just be hanging out, not going anywhere or anything.

"Will Phil and James be there?"

"Mum."

"Tom." She shot back, the use of his actual first name a sure sign that she was serious about this. "I'm not blind, young man, as much as I might wish it when it comes to you two sometimes. And I was a teenager once too, with plenty of teenage boys around to remind me that the blood meant for their brains rarely left their pants. Just because you can't knock each other up doesn't mean I can just skip the be smart and safe speech. As much as we both wish I could."

Groaning, Eames covered his face with his hands. "Wasn't the other sex talks enough?!"

One of the biggest downsides of having a father who was a soldier was the fact that the majority of the big man to man talks every boy was supposed to have with his father had actually been with his mother. As a result a number of those talks had left them both with bad memories, even though his mum was a doctor and so she was used to talking about sex more than most parents. The worst was when she'd tried watching the Yank version of 'Queer As Folk' to better understand his homosexuality. Those had been dark days in their household.

The grudge he held for the thoughts that show had put into his mum's head, which had resulted in numerous questions on her part that he really hadn't wanted to talk or think about, would follow him to the grave.

"Unfortunately no, the others weren't enough, Sweetie." Coming further into the room it was obvious his mum meant business from the look in her eyes, much less her 'you better listen, mister' body language. "You're to use protection, understand?"

Nodding, Eames saw no point in arguing that particular point.

"And keep in mind that he seems to be the only one taking care of Phil and James, which means you two have to both be adult enough to keep it in your pants when they're in the vicinity." Railroading over his sputtered reaction to that Eames's mum kept going. "And you need to keep in mind that Arthur seems to have a lot more experience when it comes to sex and relationships than you, and you need to make sure that you both take it slow because you're in enough physical pain already without that boy breaking your heart because he was thinking with his dick and not his heart too."

Eames almost asked if they could please leave Arthur's dick out of the discussion, but his brain realized how that would sound and stopped him. Thank God. He settled for nodding and groaning some more, having no idea what to say at the moment that wouldn't make it a hundred times worse. If that was possible. Which it probably wasn't at this point without Arthur actually being present, but better safe than sorry.

"Tom, I'm serious. Don't make me have to have a talk with Arthur too. For all our sakes."

Paling at the very idea Eames goggled at his mum like she'd just threatened to castrate him. Though if she caused Arthur to lose interest in him Eames was pretty sure that his balls might shrivel up and die as it was. "Mum, please, I'm literally begging you. Do not have this conversation with Arthur. Please!"

"Then be smart about things, and I won't have to."

"You have my word, I swear!"

He got a narrow eyed stare in response, but she seemed to believe whatever she saw on his face because she nodded and then told him that they'd leave it at that unless she thought otherwise.

Eames was never so glad to see his mum leave a room in his life.

)

Pulling up to the driveway Arthur continued a short distance and then parked the car behind the other vehicle there before turning the engine off. Taking a brief glance at his reflection Arthur confirmed that his hair was in place and he hadn't gotten some mysterious substance on his person on the drive over which was the main thing. One never knew when you had kids crawling around in your car after all. Assured that he looked good Arthur got out of the car, curious as to whether or not he would be treated to the once over he understood parents often gave to people who wanted to date their children. Given Hikaru's age he'd never had to worry about his ex's father, but he knew how protective Eames's grandmother and mother were where Eames was concerned. In all honesty he wasn't worried about being lectured either, if nothing else it would be a good learning experience for when he needed to properly scare any of Phillipa's future dates into line.

He supposed it said something about mankind's inborn primitive nature that he was sort of looking forward to that day.

After walking over to the front passenger side to open that door up for Eames's convenience, Arthur made his way to the front door and rang the bell, waiting patiently and not surprised when it was Eames's mother who opened the door for him, though he'd expected Mimi to ambush him as well. "Dr. Eames."

"Hello, Arthur, come on in. Ariadne called Eames on the land line a few minutes ago and he's in the kitchen talking to her. Given that he heard the doorbell he'll probably be out any minute." What went unsaid, though they both knew it, was that Eames wouldn't want the two to be left alone together for longer then they had to be.

"No problem. I'm in no rush." Good manners had Arthur asking Eames's mother if she'd been having a good day, listening as she described a day spent dealing with a family of six who were all dealing with food poisoning due to the matriarch of the family's refusal to accept that she needed glasses. She'd misread an expiry date with explosive results so to speak.

Wincing, Arthur gave her his sympathies, especially since he had learned the perils of dealing with sick children since he'd taken over guardianship of his siblings. He pitied everyone facing that sort of scenario.

The sound of Eames's wheelchair on the hardwood floors reached both their ears then, the teenager obviously moving faster than normal in a rush to get to them both. Whatever he saw on their faces had relief washing away the worry from Eames's face, Arthur interpreting the grateful look Eames aimed in his mother's direction to mean Eames had been expecting his mother to do something to embarrass him and was very thankful she hadn't.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Arthur. Ari was determined to talk my ear off no matter what I told her."

"No problem. Ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'll see you later tonight then, Mum."

Looking amused now she agreed with that and wished them both a good evening.

Returning the sentiment Arthur nodded and then headed over to open the door for Eames, sharing an amused look with the other teenager's mother at the speed with which Eames went through the doorway before Arthur turned and headed out as well, following Eames over to the passenger side of his car, where Eames was already in the process of shifting from his chair to the seat.

"Are you just really anxious to be alone with me, or away from your mother?"

"Honestly? Both."

Chuckling in response Arthur waited until Eames was in his seat before moving to compact the chair so that it would fit in the backseat.

"Oh, hell, sorry. I should have done that. I was just-"

"In a hurry to leave. I got that." Waving away his apologies Arthur soon had the chair stowed away and then headed back around to the driver's side, opening the door up and sliding behind the wheel with a smile on his face. "Were you worried she was going to lecture me?" Putting his sunglasses on since the sun was brutal at the moment, Arthur looked over at Eames as he started up the car. "I was sort of hoping she would just so that I could pick up some pointers when Phillipa is old enough to date."

Now it was Eames's turn to chuckle. "There's a big difference between how men greet would-be dates and how mums do it. Of course my mum would be tougher than most, come to that, if I'd had a sister for her to be all protective about. I'd be worse though, unless she was a right pain in my arse that I was hoping to unload on some poor unsuspecting bloke."

"Your English is up."

"Happens sometimes." Mostly when he was nervous, but Eames didn't say that. "So I bet Phil and James were excited about the magic show. I always enjoyed them, except when it's bloody obvious how they did the tricks. It's believing, if only for a bit, that the magic is real, that makes the shows worth seeing."

Generally he'd never had much of a problem figuring out how the various 'magic' tricks worked, but then he had never been the sort to shut down his brain and just enjoy something for entertainment's sake. To him figuring out the magician's tricks was the fun part. But Arthur understood Eames's point of view as well, in the sense that he knew that he was in the minority while those who enjoyed magic shows for their spectacles alone were far more prevalent.

So instead of belittling Eames's comment Arthur simply nodded and stated that James and Phil had been wired since they'd been offered the chance to go to the show, and that he pitied the parents who were now in charge of five very hyper kids all under the age of ten. He'd barely survived Phillipa's birthday party at the beginning of the summer.

"I can imagine."

"The reality was worse than what you can imagine without experiencing it, but Phillipa was happy which was the main thing. Though I'm very thankful that I have a year to recover since James will want something much more low key."

As it happened Eames had done a fair amount of babysitting in his day, parents seemed to assume that the son of a doctor would know how to take care of kids in a medical emergency, so the two were able to discuss the hells that came with being in charge of children, or even one particular devil child in Eames's case, all the way to Arthur's house without any awkward silences or pauses.

By the time he'd pulled into his own driveway Arthur was even willing to admit that Eames had had it worse than him when it came to being exposed to kid related trauma.

"Oh yeah. That one kid is one of the reasons the idea that I'll never have biological children never bugged me as much as it does my mum. Though I promised her I'd think about adopting provided I had a partner to share the insanity with. I bow before competent single parents."

Since he was a single parent of sorts Arthur would have possibly suggested that Eames could bow to him all he wanted if not for the pain that would undoubtedly cause. Instead he simply agreed that they didn't get enough credit before getting out of the car, not surprised when Eames didn't wait for him to come around but instead carefully got out of the passenger side and walked the short distance to the backseat door to open it up to retrieve his chair. He trusted that Eames wanted to get physical with him enough that he wouldn't risk doing something his body couldn't handle so Arthur didn't try to interfere or help.

Once Eames was in his chair Arthur simply moved into position to walk alongside, walking ahead only once they were close enough to the door that he needed to get it for them both. Unlocking it Arthur opened it up and then headed inside, motioning for Eames to follow after him.

Locking up behind them Arthur smiled when he heard Eames pointing out that there was no need to lock from behind him. "I haven't lived around here long enough to be comfortable not locking them. Do you always leave your doors unlocked?"

"Not during the day, just at night."

"I suppose I'm a better safe than sorry type." Turning around Arthur joined Eames, who'd moved further into the front hallway area to study the three large picture frames that led the way up the stairs to the upper level. "That was Phil's idea. She liked the idea of making new ones for every season." Currently there were two letters in every frame to spell 'Summer', and the drawings all around the letters depicted what he and his siblings looked forward to when it came to that particular season.

"You're really good. Like seriously good. I can barely do stick figures."

"I'm good at reproducing something faithfully, but I lack any real artist ability according to my more honest art teachers. Being creative isn't one of my strong suits, at least not in the artistic sense. My father says that I take after his side of the family in that way, his artistic abilities came as a complete surprise there. My maman was into interior design, she had an eye for it from what I've seen of her work, and she always looked put together and perfect style wise. Phillipa and James are like them, or at least when it comes to that sort of thing."

And reading the look Eames was giving him easily enough Arthur shook his head. "It doesn't bother me, that I'm so different from my parents. I'm glad to be me, and not like them." Not wanting to talk about them either, that would be quite the mood killer in his books, Arthur motioned towards the doorway that led into the living room. "I thought that we'd hang out in there for a bit, if it suits you."

"Sure. Sounds good to me."