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[theunascended]

Dinner. It'd been a long time since he'd actually made dinner. It wasn't anything special this time. Just bits and pieces tossed together to make something that Daniel wasn't sure what to call. But it was food. And there was a table. And there were notes that he was using

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[karmic_darwin]

When Daniel told him he'd invited Alcuin to join them for a working dinner, Mohinder had been vaguely piqued. He wouldn't have invited Alcuin to spend time with he and Daniel, for any reason, without consulting Daniel first. Because of the awkwardness of how they'd gotten together in the first place.

But they did have to teach the class together. And he had been the one who'd been with Alcuin, so if Daniel felt comfortable about the three of them being together, Mohinder couldn't object. It might be uncomfortable for him with the rec room's mischief fresh in his mind, but if it would make Daniel comfortable, he would do it and smile.

As always in the evenings, he found Daniel with his nose buried in a book. If they hadn't been expecting Alcuin as well, he'd have settled on the bed with a book of his own and forgotten Daniel was there until they both happened to look up at the same time. Tonight, they needed to be present.

So he moved behind Daniel, bent and kissed the side of his neck, murmuring, "Hello, professor" in French, and

[will_you_see]

And of course, simply because it seemed to be how things were usually fated to happen with the three of them, Alcuin walked in before the acknowledgment occurred.

Flushing, Alcuin first took a step backwards, but then realized that he had no way of knowing how long this would go on, and truly, it might be best to make himself known now than if things... progressed.

He cleared his throat.

"My apologies, I don't mean to interrupt..."

[theunascended]

Daniel, still absorbed by what he was reading, did little more than turn his head and give Mohinder a chaste kiss. He looked up when he heard Alcuin and sighed. It looked like his solo work was done for the evening.

"It's fine, Alcuin. I did invite you. I was just working on my other class. I only have the one student, so it shouldn't be as complicated." But, on the other hand, it was one of his favorite subjects to teach. Egyptian history.

There were still piles of books on the floor, though less because of Mitchell appearing and becoming Daniel's roommate. Still, it was a little cramped.

"Outside?" he suggested. "There's a table. And the lights."

[karmic_darwin]

With someone else, Mohinder might've been offended to have his advances ignored. But with Daniel, as he himself, any acknowledgment at all while working was substantial. He drew his fingers through Daniel's hair, then righted himself as Alcuin spoke

[will_you_see]

Alcuin nodded at both of them, following behind Mohinder back out the door.

Mohinder's discomfort was obvious enough that Anafiel would have been displeased indeed at Alcuin's powers of observation had it not caught his notice. He wondered if he could say something to reassure the man, but then realized that that would be rather difficult without knowing the exact source of the discomfort. It could be anything from hiding problems with Daniel to lingering issues with the betrayal of his confidence to residual feelings concerning their time together (which could be anything from shame to lust that he was trying to hide in front of Daniel...). In any case, yes, it could be a great many things, and Alcuin did not want to make any assumptions.

Alcuin sat down at the table and commented, "It's a beautiful night," before taking a second to admire it. Then he pushed some hair away from his face with his hand and added to Daniel, "Thank you for your hospitality. Should we get started?"

[theunascended]

Daniel did feel a twinge at the behavior, but since he was no better with Jack, or even with Alcuin, he didn't say anything, just smiled at the two of them. He grabbed the paperwork that wasn't a part of his Egyptian history class and followed them. He put the notes down and nodded to the food already at the table.

"Feel free," Daniel said, beginning to open up the various containers.

His stomach growled a little and he wondered just how late it was.

[karmic_darwin]

Alcuin sat, then Daniel. Mohinder hesitated only briefly before sitting beside Daniel and across from Alcuin, putting either Daniel or Alcuin in the middle depending on how the situation were viewed. It hardly mattered. With a table of this size, they were all within easy touching distance anyhow.

That observation didn't help Mohinder's lingering awkwardness. He set his notepad to the side and helped Daniel with serving the food.

"Thank you for cooking," Mohinder said, not really looking at either of them. "Next time, it's my turn."

[will_you_see]

Alcuin helped himself to some food, though after a few minutes of what he felt was largely pointless small talk and uncomfortable silences, he sighed.

"Look," he said, turning to look at each of them in turn, "far be it for me to address the elephant standing in the room, but... is there anything that the three of us should discuss, before moving onto plans for the class? Because making sure that there are no lingering issues between us is probably an important part of making sure that this joint venture doesn't blow up in our faces. The last thing the students need to deal with are the instructors casting uncomfortable glances at each other."

[theunascended]

"Only time will help my problem," Daniel said, glancing at Mohinder and his uneasiness. "Unless there's something new that I haven't heard about?" His stomach twisted a little. He hadn't been paying attention to the emotions that were thick in the air because half of his mind had still been on work.

He was paying attention now, though.

[karmic_darwin]

Rubbing his hands up his face, Mohinder took off his glasses and set them aside. He sought Daniel's gaze first, slid his hand across the table to rub his fingertips against Daniel's forearm. "There's nothing new."

And there wouldn't be, no matter how much he cared for Alcuin. He'd made Daniel a promise about Dani and it applied equally to Alcuin.

Still touching Daniel, he tilted his chin toward Alcuin. "The songs the jukebox played have made me a little skittish, Alcuin, that's all. That, and--" He slid his fingers down to Daniel's wrist then curled his hand around Daniel's briefly. "This is new, being together with someone else around. It would be awkward no matter who was present, but considering everything between the three of us and not wanting to hurt either of you in any way, it's more so."

[will_you_see]

Alcuin watched them for a moment, then simply said, "I don't know what else to say aside from assuring you that I am all right. I have a rather thick skin when it comes to such things anyway, and I really am very happy for you. If I have any unpleasant feelings about the situation at all it is merely its position in a larger pattern and nothing that the pair of you have done individually. If you're happy, then you should be happy, and you should let the world know it."

[theunascended]

"Shall I assume it was doing something similar to what it was doing with us?" Daniel asked, stomach still tight. He pushed his fork around his plate, but found that he couldn't really eat anymore. "Something old, then, that's never been resolved. Alcuin's right."

Like his guilt over basically abandoning Alcuin for Mohinder. That was definitely old. And, as he'd said, could only get over with time.

"Being around with someone else doesn't bother me. It has been a month, after all." A month since the beach. Since all their jealousy, or at least most of their jealousy came out into the open. He'd even started telling his friends that there was someone.

[karmic_darwin]

Softly, Mohinder said to Daniel, "Not the same." He laced his fingers through Daniel's and stroked his thumb over Daniel's palm. "Not really."

Taunting he and Alcuin about being attracted to each other, about all of them having sex together, that wasn't the same as love songs and eroticism to overheat them.

He lowered his chin, ducked his head in apology to both of them. "It's resolved. It's just a little awkward."

[will_you_see]

"I suppose there's nothing else to be said then," Alcuin said after a moment. He simply had to trust that Mohinder was being straight forward. "I only wished to know if there was anything that I could do to make things less awkward. But I do realize that sometimes these things simply take time."

Watching Mohinder and Daniel be affectionate with each other did not make him jealous, or bitter, or really anything unpleasant... perhaps a touch sad, that he himself missed that sort of casual intimacy.

[theunascended]

"Well, I can't know, since you haven't told me what happened with Alcuin," Daniel pointed out. "And I didn't say same, I said similar. As in taunting and being a general pain in the ass."

Sometimes, he missed when things had been simple. When he'd been on his own or when there had been only one person and there was none of the awkwardness that there was now.

Sometimes.

[karmic_darwin]

Mohinder sighed. He hated fighting with Daniel, and he wanted to do it front of Alcuin not at all. Some things ought to be kept between the two of them, but now that they were into it, it would only be worse if they didn't resolve it now.

He gave Alcuin an apologetic look. "Excuse us, Alcuin, please."

Turning to Daniel, Mohinder sought and held his gaze. "There was little to tell, and your teammate arrived the same night. There hasn't been time alone in which to tell you."

He rolled his shoulders forward, one part shrug and one part loosening of tension. "The jukebox played songs about our attraction to each other. The most notable about..." My god, this was uncomfortable. "A threesome. And then Alcuin left to do other things."