specification | [01] Well, hello -- Criminal Minds for noc

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[01] Well, hello -- Criminal Minds for noc

Inception.

Arthur had said it couldn't be done and yet here he was, boarding a plane to Prague just hours after completing the unfathomable.

They had just barely scraped through, what with all of the last minute plan changes, and they wouldn't know for weeks whether the seed would take but so far it looked like it had and they were all alive. To be honest, it had been one of the most difficult jobs of Arthur's career and also the most eye opening experience he's had in a long time.

Once Cobb and Fischer Jr had left with their respective parties, Arthur had seen their forger and chemist off. They were a pair who defied the expectations of their profession openly admitted to being together and never working without the other to wherever it was that they would spend their fourth - fifth honeymoon. ("Cabo." "God no, remember last time?" "Nepal? You liked Nepal." "It wasn't Nepal that I liked so much as --" Anyway, you get the picture.)

Once he had seen them off, he watched Ariadne buy her ticket for her return trip to Paris (she did have classes to return to after all) and would be sure to keep in contact with the architect. She had promise and if she chose to continue in dream share, she should work with some of the best.

As for Arthur himself, he booked the first flight he could to Prague. He had a safe house there and he could take a little time off to relax, study what Fischer did and check in with Cobb to see how he and the children were adjusting. He would never work with the extractor again unless in dire circumstances but the whole point was getting him back home to his children. As far as Arthur saw it, he had done just that.

He didn't normally indulge in first class seating when leaving a job - it could draw too much attention but for a fourteen hour flight, after just getting off of a long flight, he didn't feel like sitting in cramped corners with a child on one side and one behind him kicking his chair. At least in first class, that was bound to happen less. For now, it appeared that the chair next to him was empty and he was a little thankful for that. Perhaps he'd get a little sleep after all - well, eventually. Once the adrenaline of what he just helped accomplished wore off.

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He watched Tuck toy with the flute of his glass and watched the contemplative look cross over his face. If you asked, he wasn't sure what he had expected but it wasn't that. Well least, it hadn't been at the top of the list of things to expect.

"Not as often as you used to," Arthur surmised, nodding his head Tuck basically said as much. He shook his head and took a sip from his flute and sat it down again. "Nothing to be sorry for," he said with a wry quirk of his lips.

He was silent for a moment before looking at his companion for the flight. "Why didn't it work out?" He had been on the tip of his tongue to apologize for it not working out but he wasn't the sort to normally give false apologies. If it hadn't worked it, there had to have been a reason, right? That he didn't get to see his son very often, that was the sad part of it.

“Not nearly often enough,” he said with a nod. “We’ll make do with what we have though,” he said, downing the rest of his flute, perhaps revealing more with that single gesture than he had meant to. “Oh but I meant to be charming and playful, not depressing. Who wants that in their life,” he asked, meaning it though that Arthur said he had nothing to be sorry for meant a lot to him and showed in his smile.

“Why not,” he asked, arching a brow. “Oh, that’s logistics, what it was. She couldn’t handle that my job kept me away more nights than I was home,” he admitted, which was the god’s honest truth. Just not the job he had admitted to, nor was it the one he was on currently. “She needs someone home more often, I suppose. I couldn’t give her that.”

Arthur nodded and watched as he downed the rest of the glass. It was bothering Tuck a lot more than he was letting on and Arthur couldn't exactly blame him. Something like that -- not being able to see your child as much as you used to, would be unsettling. Arthur shrugged a shoulder and gave him a grin. "Still better company than a crying child." And, if he were honest, hotter company too.

Now that was something he could understand and relate to. "And that is the reason why I haven't have a relationship in...a long time," He admitted, being honest about that. He was never in one place long enough to warrant any long term relationships but flings - one night stands he was more than capable of. Unlike the chemist-forger duo, he hadn't found or trusted anyone in the dreamshare business enough to go out with. Ariadne had been very pretty and quirky but she wasn't what he was looking for now.

Kind of caught up in his own thoughts, and definitely more than a bit lost in misery, he hadn’t expected the joke. Pausing, he stared at Arthur for a moment before shaking his head with a laugh. “I can live with being better than a screaming child,” he said, giving Arthur a nod. “And thanks, mate. For listening and all. Not what I expected to do either when I took this seat.” Flirt a bit, surely, but not complain.

“Kind of makes it easier, doesn’t it?” He thought of the things his partner did, the way he went through women. It wasn’t for Tuck but he could understand why FDR did it. “Always seems a shame to have to choose between two things you love.”

Arthur was a little surprised when Tuck got the joke that he was intending it to be and it caused him to grin. Not many got or understood his brand of humor which...to be honest, wasn't much of one. His was the dry kind of humor and either people thought he was rude or plain unfunny. He finished off his glass of champagne and sat it down, licking his lips. "You're welcome," he said with a quirk of his lips. He had fully expected the man to flirt and the fact that it had gone in this direction -- well it wasn't bad, it was just something that neither of them had expected.

"It does make it easier," he admitted. "No commitments in case a job takes longer than expected, when you don't have the ability to call or not up at the same time as that person because of time zone changes." Still, Arthur hadn't said exactly what he did but any number of careers could take a man/woman to all parts of the world. "It can also be lonely to not have that other person that you can return to - who knows you." Not that he had any personal experience with that but he saw what it had been like for Mallorie and Dominick -- what it was like for the Chemist/Forger duo.

He looked down at the champagne flute and motioned the stewardess to come over and refill the glass.

It was definitely a dry humour, but he found that more than interesting and definitely intriguing. How could he not find a man with that sort of humor, and a work ethic, interesting. "Now, I'll just have to go on and continuing living up to that, won't I? Living up to being more entertaining than children. I can't promise always but for at least the length of the flight," he offered, words that nearly promised the possibility of another meeting.

"Moving along. Airplanes and time zones and long nights," he said with a sigh, nodding in agreement. He knew that life and he knew it well. "Why do you think you sit down next to strangers and hope to share a laugh and a smile," he asked, arching a brow.

"Yes, you will," Arthur said, sagely. "You can add it to your CV or as a particular interesting fact about yourself when you introduce yourself to a person or a group of people." He was teasing even if his tone didn't convey as much - the curve of his lips and his eyes said it all. Arthur did take notice of the play on words and wondered if this man thought they would be meeting again after the flight was over.

He chuckled and watched as the woman refilled their glasses. "To be entertained on particularly long flights so you won't have to watch Finding Nemo for the billionth time," he asked with a teasing tone.

Tuck laughed, considering this. "Hi, I'm Tuck and, also, I'm more entertaining than screaming children," he said and then grinned. "Which actually isn't that flattering because I'd like to hope I could achieve less annoying than something that doesn't make people want to kill themselves," he pointed out.

Picking up his glass, he matched that toast. "May I live up to your hope for me."

Arthur laughed and ducked his head before looking at the other man. "No, it's not that flattering is it," he asked. "My apologies." Still, Arthur was enjoying himself a little more than he expected to at the start of his flight to Prague. And when Tuck grinned or laughed, Arthur couldn't help the grin that spread across his lips in response. Tuck had a good laugh and a sexy grin.

"Then, here is to new acquaintances and whatever it will bring," he said and tapped his glass against Tuck's. They weren't exactly friends right now but who knows, after fourteen or more hours on the same flight -- they just might be.

"From you I can forgive that," he said, finding that casual flirting with a guy was so much easier than he'd found it with any woman since the break up. It was different and he wasn't as worried about it as he was with another woman. "I'll give you time to find a much better compliment," he offered, playing it coy.

"Well well, I do like your toast better," he admitted, taking a drink. "To whatever may come," he agreed, blushing a bit even as he said it.

For Arthur, he found it a little too easy to flirt with the man sitting next to him. He was an equal opportunist when it came to gender and sex but for the post part, he did require some level of attraction and at least for the long haul, someone who was also intelligent.

He chuckled. "Thank you," he said, dryly but keeping the smile on his face. "I'm sure I can come up with something in the next fourteen hours."

Arthur smirked and took a drink from his glass. "Whatever may come," he murmured, finding the blush charming on Tuck's cheeks.

Despite himself, Tuck's expression changed slightly, curious just what he might come up with. More than that, he was rather glad he was committing himself to time and attention with Tuck for the remainder of the flight. He wasn't certain what he had hoped for moving up to that seat, other than the chance at more leg room, but it was going a lot better than he might have thought.

"I am betting you'll only need maybe six," he teased.

"So, where does this leave us? Twenty questions? Truth or dare," he asked, definitely teasing with the way he was smiling.

Typically, Arthur spent these long flights reading, watching the pointless inflight movies and having a drink or two. It was the first time in a while that he had company on a flight that wasn't business and who he found himself enjoying as much as he was. "Is that right," he asked with a teasing grin. "Have to see how long before I come up with something." He had to admit, if only to himself, Tuck would be his type -- at least where looks counted.

He chuckled and licked his lips of any stray droplets and settled into his seat. "I don't think we'd have enough room to play truth or dare," he teased in response.

Tuck made a face, sitting back in his seat. Yet he sat at an angle, still watching Arthur. "Most of my impressive tricks I can't perform here," he said, thinking about the things he did best.

And then it hit him how it could sound.

"I mean... That is..." He blushed again, ducking his head. "Right. So, without my foot in my mouth... You happen to play paintball?"

Arthur blinked once then twice before he chuckled and ducked his head in response. When he lifted his head, it was with a small smirk of amusement on his lips.

"No, course not. This space is limited," he mused, teasingly.

"Paintball," he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I can't even remember the last time I went -- probably back in high school sometime."

"I shouldn't..." He nearly apologized for what he said and then couldn't help but smile a wide and bright smile when Arthur gave him an opening, and an out, as he had. "Right. Limited space," he agreed with a nod.

"Since high school? So what? Two years," he teased. "You and I ever end up in the states at the same time and we should play."

Arthur laughed when Tuck teased that he had only been out of high school of a couple of years while simultaneously feeling the heat creep up his cheeks. "A number of years -- ten-ish years," he said though it came off questioning. Sometimes, he found it hard to believe it had been ten years since he had graduated high school and how much had changed.

His eyebrows rose a little but he smiled. Arthur didn't truly expect anything like that to happen but thinking about it -- well that would be fun. "We'll have to do that. How much do you play," he asked -- purely out of curiosity.

“Ten? Yeah. Sure, that’s it. Such a baby face,” he said with a smile, enjoying the play between them. It had been a long time since he’d talked with anyone outside of business and now they were bantering and laughing and he was realizing how much he’d closed himself off in recent years.

“There’s a group of us that get together a couple of times a month.” All agents, all taking their real life skills to the game.

"Good genes," Arthur mused with a smirk. Though, to be honest, it sometimes kicked him in the ass. At times, especially when he dressed down and wore his reading glasses, jeans and a t-shirt he could pass as a early twenty-something and would nearly always get carded when buying a drink in the states. He hadn't had much reason to laugh over the last couple of years while on the run with Cobb so this change of pace was nice. To find someone that he bounced off of like this was...refreshing to put it mildly.

"So then you must be really good," he said, looking at him with a grin. He would undoubtedly sure that Tuck would kick his ass.

"You do. Amazing genes," he said, though he kept his eyes up and didn't mean the other kind. Like the denim kind. Well, maybe a little he meant it that way but not totally. "Which is me being suddenly awkward. I haven't talked to a guy like this since high school," he admitted, shaking his head and blushing again.

"I'm amazing, and I'm damn good on the field too."

"Thank you," he said, ducking his head a fraction, his lips curling up in pleasure. It had been a while since Arthur had allowed himself to flirt, to tease, to have this with someone -- if only for the foreseeable next several hours.

"And modest," he remarked with a dry tone but a teasing quirk of his mouth.

In the past he'd dabbled, played on both sides. Right until he became a federal agent and had to play like a normal, even if his job involved stealing, lying and killing. He wasn't working on the books now and, fuck them, he was going to be himself and enjoy himself.

"And handsome. I'm so many things," he teased.

Arthur chuckled. "Somehow, I knew that underneath the smiles and blushing cheeks there would be a cocky man. It was probably the joining me in first class," he mused teasingly. He had to admit, this was a much better way of spending a flight. Least until one of them got tired of the conversation or found something that turned them off of the other. So far -- he hadn't found that.

“Did that come off as cocky? I was hoping for brash and adorable,” he teased, grinning crookedly as he looked away and then back to Arthur. “So, where does leave us? You haven’t argued I’m handsome, we know you are, and we are flirting, aren’t we,” he said, that shyness showing through in asking that question.

“So are you indulging me? If so, do tell me, Love. I’d hate to ruin what could be a charming friendship with my own horrid behavior in front of a dashing yank.”

"A little bit," he said, still grinning and amused. He could see the shyness poking through and chuckled softly. "Yeah, we're flirting," Arthur nodded. "Where do you want this to leave us," he asked, tilting his head a little to look at him. "Want this to be a one off thing -- meet on a flight, flirt, have a quickie in the too small bathroom and call it good? Or something more?" Of which, Arthur didn't have much experience with. Quickies, yes. Long term, relationships -- not nearly as much.

When he heard the word 'love', Arthur's eyebrows rose and felt his lips tug upward. "Dashing and love...," he shook his head with a grin, his ears turning a little red at the endearments. Not that he would admit it of course. "No, I'm not just indulging you." Perhaps at the beginning, a little but the man was endearing and cute...and charming. "I'm enjoying myself talking and flirting with you." Tuck was a handsome man and there was no use denying that in the least.

[01] Well, hello -- Criminal Minds for noc

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OH GOD! What came into mind was Arthur in a room/paintball field full of agents. LOL!

This has to happen

LOL! Arthur says he disapproves but I love this idea.

Course he does. What criminal wants to be surrounded by federal agents?

Exactly! Not him, that's for damn sure. He's like it'd be the ultimate test.

I love it.

ME TOO!