[ male!mal ] it's a small crime and I got no excuse

[selfishtically]

It was a job almost like any other. Almost, in that Dom was absent from the job, the architect working with a different team that needed a capable builder. Mal and Arthur, meanwhile, were performing a simple extraction, a job that required no new or fancy designs. So Mal and Dom had separated for their respective jobs. Mal and Arthur, being

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[littlspecificty]

By this time Arthur had known Mal and Dom for nearly four years and was not only feeling confident in working with them as a team but also confident in calling them "friends". He had so few of those. While working with Mal and Dom was the norm, only working with Mal was... different. But not in a bad way by any means.

He had met the pair right before they got married and had known them to virtually always work together (as they had gotten into dream-sharing together) and was used to more or less being the "third wheel" in some respects. But being the sole receiver of Mal's attention on the job (and alone in their shared hotel room and an empty warehouse the found for planning) made Arthur aware of how much he actually liked Mal

[selfishtically]

"Simple but elegant," Mal pointed out, because even simple work needed dedication and they had pulled it off well. Mal watched Arthur move, the play of small corded muscle under his shirt, and when Arthur excused himself Mal sighed lightly as he turned to undress

[littlspecificty]

Arthur took his time in the shower, even jerking off so he would know that it wouldn't be so easy to get a hard on if Mal was going to keep using that voice on him all night. He wasn't sure he liked it (even while he knew at least one part of him did).

Dom was his friend and Mal was married to him. While he found Mal attractive in several ways... he wasn't sure they could engage in... whatever he had seen for a moment there in Mal's eyes. He was sure that it wouldn't be fair to Dom.

When he got out of the shower and dried off, some water still on his skin, his hair wet and unkempt, he made sure the towel was secure around his waist when he exited the bathroom. He went over to his suitcase - back to Mal - and was collecting the clothes he was planning on putting on back in the bathroom.

[selfishtically]

Mal had his shirt undone and was pausing to run his hands through his hair when Arthur exited the bathroom. He felt his gaze drawn to the bare skin of Arthur's back, and he inhaled sharply as Arthur leaned over his suitcase.

Now, it was now or never.

He stepped over to Arthur, footsteps quiet and then louder when he was within touching distance, but he didn't touch. Not yet, but he did make sure he was a moments from stepping into his path if he had to and then said "Arthur," coy and throaty.