Neither Crowd, Nor Company. Just Fact (Inception, Arthur/Eames/Yusuf)
For: jain
Title: Neither Crowd, Nor Company. Just Fact.
Pairing: Arthur/Eames/Yusuf (and technically Arthur/Eames, Eames/Yusuf and Yusuf/Arthur)
Rating: PG13
Summary: Arthur and Eames and Yusuf have sex sometimes. They don't fall in love until later.
Author's Notes: 1) I came in solely as a pinch hitter, so I hope this is at least something close to what you wanted. 2) Many thanks to laria_gwyn for looking over this. However, any remaining mistakes are definitely mine.
The first few times Eames woke up in between Arthur and Yusuf, he had to remind himself how he had gotten there, remind himself of all the interactions and stolen moments that had led up to the present. Now, though, they’re both such constants in his life that he doesn’t have to think about beginnings, because the todays are more fulfilling.
--
(Eames and Arthur didn’t start sleeping together because of some alcohol-driven confession of love or the belief that they were made for each other. It had been convenient, a way to work through the leftover stress and tension from a job.
Every once in awhile, Arthur and Eames would meet in a hotel and wouldn’t leave until the next morning, once both of them were sufficiently fucked out and felt like dealing with the outside world again. Most of the time, Arthur would initiate, because he kept track of identities and potential threats, so he knew which passport would be good in the city they were located in and if they needed to make it quick because someone was coming after them. He also had a much busier schedule, with specific places he needed to be and the times he needed to be there by, whereas Eames jumped from city to city, making work for himself or waiting for someone to call with a promising job offer.
Eames was perfectly happy with their arrangement. He was always willing to be spontaneous when the situation warranted, and he rarely had anywhere pressing to be after spending weeks or months working on the same forge and studying the same mark.)
--
Normally, Arthur was the first one to wake up. It was why he slept on the outside edge, so he didn’t disturb anyone else in an attempt to get up and start working. Yusuf was on the other side, closest to the door, because he had the most late nights, and after nearly squashing Arthur or Eames in the dark a few too many times because he just wanted to collapse into bed, they decided it was best if he didn’t have all that far to go.
Eames was in the middle, which he chose to view as symbolic, even if it was the only practical option left. After all, he was the one who had brought both of them together.
--
(Eames’ and Yusuf’s relationship, at least the sexual part of it, started for convenient reasons just like Eames’ relationship with Arthur.
Yusuf had been too busy running his business, and Eames had just been too busy running to go out and find something a bit more permanent, or someone who was trustworthy enough to be semipermanent and not rat either of them out to the proper authorities. It's nothing more than rushed handjobs the first time, because Yusuf had chemicals to deal with and Eames needed to make himself a new passport, but once they'd done it the first time, neither of them had much of a problem repeating and escalating.)
--
The hours that they spent moving around each other in the house took some time to get used to, because meshing three lives together wasn’t easy without a magic wand, and they were somewhat lacking in that department.
In the beginning, when someone got annoyed--Yusuf at Eames for rifling through chemicals he knew were dangerous, Arthur at Yusuf when every experiment he ran for a week resulted in an explosion, Eames at both of them for not letting him sleep--they didn’t shout at each other so much as have angry sex against the first available sufficient surface. It seemed easier to get over an annoyance when they were just together for the sex.
Now, they’d reached a solution--Eames didn’t touch Yusuf’s chemicals, Yusuf didn’t experiment in the house, Arthur and Yusuf kept each other awake elsewhere--and most arguments could be solved by talking. The compromise for the lack of angry sex that used to follow such arguments was a significant increase in make-up sex.
--
(The thing is, Arthur and Eames and Yusuf were never supposed to start at all.)
--
Most days, the house was empty. Yusuf had a building tucked away in a corner of the city where he spent most of his time, working on new compounds and running his business. Arthur tended to either be away for a job for weeks or months at a time, and when he wasn’t away he was busy looking for another one. Eames hated being inside all day when he didn't have to be, so he tended to go out and run a few small cons, or practice skills that he couldn’t afford getting rusty.
There were a lot of days where they never really saw each other, never really cared that they didn't, which worked out well since their schedules were so different. It helped that they gave themselves options, though, and that they made the most of the time they did manage to spend together.
--
(They did, though, because of a job they worked together. The job had lasted a few weeks too long and they were frustrated. Outside, it was cold and not worth leaving the building, the job was done and there were no plans to leave the city until the next morning. No one quite remembered who suggested it, but sex is sex, and that's all anyone was after to begin with.
After the first time, none of them expected it to be a repeat occurrence. Arthur and Eames and Yusuf were never supposed to start. If anything, Arthur and Eames were supposed to stay post-job fuck buddies and Eames and Yusuf were supposed to stay friends-with-excellent-benefits, and eventually one or all of them were supposed to settle down or retire.)
--
Admitting that their relationship had become about more than the sex wasn’t hard, although the realization didn’t come at the same time for any of them. There was never an “aha!” moment accompanying some realization. Instead, it came quietly, a brief oh following an impromptu phone call from Eames to Yusuf, because rain makes me think of you or a note on the fridge that wasn’t just a grocery list from Yusuf to Arthur, because, yes, they were out of milk, but you look quite stunning today or a job in a warm climate with a few casinos from Arthur to Eames, because it’s been awhile and I know you miss it. It was a quiet reveal that things were different, that they had changed. But it fit, in a way, because nothing the three of them had done together was really thought-through, planned or static.
--
(Arthur and Yusuf rarely did anything without Eames. Partially because they weren't alone together much, but also because Eames had been the one who brought them together, and they probably never would have started something up without him in the first place. But Eames was in Thailand for three months, and it seemed like the best option.
It certainly didn't hurt that they had been sleeping together long enough to have a decent idea about how to get each other off.)
--
By the time they’ve come to their own realizations, it’s months before they mention it to each other. One night, though, on a rare occasion when they’re all home at the same time, and they’re not asleep or having sex--they’re just sitting next to each other on the bed, working on their own projects, and no one seems to find it weird. They’re three people who only got together for the sex, who never planned on moving in together or sharing their lives with one another. But now, it’s more than just the sex and home really is only home when they’re all together and there’s some sense of missing when one of them is gone and halfway across the world. And it’s simple for one of them to mention that things have changed, that they’ve changed, their relationship isn’t just convenient sex anymore.
Seconds pass before some one else echoes the sentiment, mentions they don’t mind the change, that they’ve grown rather fond of the situation, and then a third voice is agreeing. They don’t remember who spoke up first, or who was last, because they’ve never been very good at remembering who starts something new between the three of them, but it doesn’t matter. They’ve got each other and jobs they enjoy, something that turned into love when it shouldn’t have, and a sense of contentment, and that’s enough.
Title: Neither Crowd, Nor Company. Just Fact.
Pairing: Arthur/Eames/Yusuf (and technically Arthur/Eames, Eames/Yusuf and Yusuf/Arthur)
Rating: PG13
Summary: Arthur and Eames and Yusuf have sex sometimes. They don't fall in love until later.
Author's Notes: 1) I came in solely as a pinch hitter, so I hope this is at least something close to what you wanted. 2) Many thanks to laria_gwyn for looking over this. However, any remaining mistakes are definitely mine.
The first few times Eames woke up in between Arthur and Yusuf, he had to remind himself how he had gotten there, remind himself of all the interactions and stolen moments that had led up to the present. Now, though, they’re both such constants in his life that he doesn’t have to think about beginnings, because the todays are more fulfilling.
--
(Eames and Arthur didn’t start sleeping together because of some alcohol-driven confession of love or the belief that they were made for each other. It had been convenient, a way to work through the leftover stress and tension from a job.
Every once in awhile, Arthur and Eames would meet in a hotel and wouldn’t leave until the next morning, once both of them were sufficiently fucked out and felt like dealing with the outside world again. Most of the time, Arthur would initiate, because he kept track of identities and potential threats, so he knew which passport would be good in the city they were located in and if they needed to make it quick because someone was coming after them. He also had a much busier schedule, with specific places he needed to be and the times he needed to be there by, whereas Eames jumped from city to city, making work for himself or waiting for someone to call with a promising job offer.
Eames was perfectly happy with their arrangement. He was always willing to be spontaneous when the situation warranted, and he rarely had anywhere pressing to be after spending weeks or months working on the same forge and studying the same mark.)
--
Normally, Arthur was the first one to wake up. It was why he slept on the outside edge, so he didn’t disturb anyone else in an attempt to get up and start working. Yusuf was on the other side, closest to the door, because he had the most late nights, and after nearly squashing Arthur or Eames in the dark a few too many times because he just wanted to collapse into bed, they decided it was best if he didn’t have all that far to go.
Eames was in the middle, which he chose to view as symbolic, even if it was the only practical option left. After all, he was the one who had brought both of them together.
--
(Eames’ and Yusuf’s relationship, at least the sexual part of it, started for convenient reasons just like Eames’ relationship with Arthur.
Yusuf had been too busy running his business, and Eames had just been too busy running to go out and find something a bit more permanent, or someone who was trustworthy enough to be semipermanent and not rat either of them out to the proper authorities. It's nothing more than rushed handjobs the first time, because Yusuf had chemicals to deal with and Eames needed to make himself a new passport, but once they'd done it the first time, neither of them had much of a problem repeating and escalating.)
--
The hours that they spent moving around each other in the house took some time to get used to, because meshing three lives together wasn’t easy without a magic wand, and they were somewhat lacking in that department.
In the beginning, when someone got annoyed--Yusuf at Eames for rifling through chemicals he knew were dangerous, Arthur at Yusuf when every experiment he ran for a week resulted in an explosion, Eames at both of them for not letting him sleep--they didn’t shout at each other so much as have angry sex against the first available sufficient surface. It seemed easier to get over an annoyance when they were just together for the sex.
Now, they’d reached a solution--Eames didn’t touch Yusuf’s chemicals, Yusuf didn’t experiment in the house, Arthur and Yusuf kept each other awake elsewhere--and most arguments could be solved by talking. The compromise for the lack of angry sex that used to follow such arguments was a significant increase in make-up sex.
--
(The thing is, Arthur and Eames and Yusuf were never supposed to start at all.)
--
Most days, the house was empty. Yusuf had a building tucked away in a corner of the city where he spent most of his time, working on new compounds and running his business. Arthur tended to either be away for a job for weeks or months at a time, and when he wasn’t away he was busy looking for another one. Eames hated being inside all day when he didn't have to be, so he tended to go out and run a few small cons, or practice skills that he couldn’t afford getting rusty.
There were a lot of days where they never really saw each other, never really cared that they didn't, which worked out well since their schedules were so different. It helped that they gave themselves options, though, and that they made the most of the time they did manage to spend together.
--
(They did, though, because of a job they worked together. The job had lasted a few weeks too long and they were frustrated. Outside, it was cold and not worth leaving the building, the job was done and there were no plans to leave the city until the next morning. No one quite remembered who suggested it, but sex is sex, and that's all anyone was after to begin with.
After the first time, none of them expected it to be a repeat occurrence. Arthur and Eames and Yusuf were never supposed to start. If anything, Arthur and Eames were supposed to stay post-job fuck buddies and Eames and Yusuf were supposed to stay friends-with-excellent-benefits, and eventually one or all of them were supposed to settle down or retire.)
--
Admitting that their relationship had become about more than the sex wasn’t hard, although the realization didn’t come at the same time for any of them. There was never an “aha!” moment accompanying some realization. Instead, it came quietly, a brief oh following an impromptu phone call from Eames to Yusuf, because rain makes me think of you or a note on the fridge that wasn’t just a grocery list from Yusuf to Arthur, because, yes, they were out of milk, but you look quite stunning today or a job in a warm climate with a few casinos from Arthur to Eames, because it’s been awhile and I know you miss it. It was a quiet reveal that things were different, that they had changed. But it fit, in a way, because nothing the three of them had done together was really thought-through, planned or static.
--
(Arthur and Yusuf rarely did anything without Eames. Partially because they weren't alone together much, but also because Eames had been the one who brought them together, and they probably never would have started something up without him in the first place. But Eames was in Thailand for three months, and it seemed like the best option.
It certainly didn't hurt that they had been sleeping together long enough to have a decent idea about how to get each other off.)
--
By the time they’ve come to their own realizations, it’s months before they mention it to each other. One night, though, on a rare occasion when they’re all home at the same time, and they’re not asleep or having sex--they’re just sitting next to each other on the bed, working on their own projects, and no one seems to find it weird. They’re three people who only got together for the sex, who never planned on moving in together or sharing their lives with one another. But now, it’s more than just the sex and home really is only home when they’re all together and there’s some sense of missing when one of them is gone and halfway across the world. And it’s simple for one of them to mention that things have changed, that they’ve changed, their relationship isn’t just convenient sex anymore.
Seconds pass before some one else echoes the sentiment, mentions they don’t mind the change, that they’ve grown rather fond of the situation, and then a third voice is agreeing. They don’t remember who spoke up first, or who was last, because they’ve never been very good at remembering who starts something new between the three of them, but it doesn’t matter. They’ve got each other and jobs they enjoy, something that turned into love when it shouldn’t have, and a sense of contentment, and that’s enough.