Warehouse 13 FF: The Pleasure of that Madness [Artie/James; R; spoilers for 1.12]

[black_eyedgirl]

Title: The Pleasure of that Madness
Fandom: Warehouse 13
Characters/Pairings: Artie/James
Rating: Soft R for mostly non-explicit sexual activity
Length: 2,000 words
Disclaimer: Created by Jane Espenson and Brent Mote. 'SyFy' can have it back when they revert to a less ridiculous name.
Spoilers: Goes AU about 6mins before the end of S1.
Warnings:

Comments

[raedbard]

Late fb is laaaate. So I'll get to it.

Ohhhh, yes. Slashy as all get out, these two. (I was sooo tempted to skip to the end and show you the finale! With the ball gag! With the married-couple-y-ness! *g*) But this gets to the genius of it -- the back and forth, the love/hate, the control and submission. *fansself*

James coughs when the reversal is complete - an affectation, as it really is a painless process.
I love James, have I mentioned? ;) He's just so wicked right to the bone (at this last stage of his development), but ruffled and charming and, gah. The cough is genius. *g*

Artie nods and pushes the button. James holds eye contact until he can’t do it any longer.
*sadface* This first one is heart-breaking. Even though James knows perfectly well what's expected it's still awful that he has these thirty seconds blinking in the sun with Artie, then it's back to the bronze. Which pretty much makes you forget who the villain is, which, I guess, was the point.

“-children!” he says. “Children. We were never that young. We made mistakes, of course we did, some of us more than others, but we were never so wilfully stupid, surely?”
He stops because James is laughing.
*g* And yet -- still the old married couple. He still knows Artie's moods and thoughts and prejudices. Partner!kink. *g*

James snaps his teeth at Artie’s finger.
Yessss. Rawrrr.

“A sadly deprived appetite. How long has it been, Arthur?”
See? I kinda love him. Snarky glory.

Fifteen years since he walked through fire and into prison. Sixteen since the fight and eighteen since the wedding. Or does he mean the small numbers? Six months since I caught you. Four days since the last time I hacked my own computers to hide that I had been down here again. Two weeks since I last threw the switch and let you take another breath you weren’t supposed to have. Again.
Ohhh, you know how lists give me shivers. This is beautiful, because it's so simple, because you can see the figures ticking through Artie's mind, you can see how much it's been on his mind. And his answer, picking the small numbers. <333

“Ah? What ‘Ah’? We’re done here. Never again. You hear that, James? Never.”
“If you say so.”
This fic, and the other awesome Artie/James I read, are seriously making me wonder whether it's James I love best. *g*

a few character traits which Claudia considers idiosyncratic (his words) and borderline crazy obsessive compulsive (hers)
Hee! Claudiaaaaa. You *have* to write some Claudia sometime, I'd love to read that.

But he’s never been the kind of man who needs to prod at a wound to prove that it still hurts. Only with Carol. Only with James.
Oh, god, I love this pairing. Aahhhh. *heart bursts*

“I slept,” James insists. “The world on fire and you looked to me. What can you possibly have wanted?”
This liiiiine. Beautiful.

James says, “Not in years,” and Artie throws the switch.
And this one. :((( You know, these two could really start breaking my heart.

Watching James’ unnaturally mild expression and growing older.
And this one. Artie, you push all the same buttons as broken!Toby. *clings to him*

James stares at him. “‘Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?’”
“You’re reading the woman’s part,” Artie says shortly.
Hee! :DD Funny, we've both written Shakespeare in the middle of these two. Granted mine is a throwaway reference (well, as yet) and yours is a thematic vision, but still. *g* Suits them, somehow.

He just took his always-curving morals for a walk one day and saw where it led him.
Wowwwww. *envy* I like this line bunches. Also, that is James. That is the essence of James, let's see where this takes us and why can't you appreciate this vision of mine? Gah. *loves him, despite the nutty*

Pete, damn him, was not wrong about James’ voice. It is calculated to move mountains.
Saruman. *nods* ;)

...

& pt. 2

[raedbard]

“A kiss, old friend,” James says. “For old friendship’s sake. Before you press that switch again and condemn me to the silence.”
It's interesting -- and why this is such a nifty idea -- that, of course, it's not an endless waste of time for James, as it is for Artie. For him it's a series of mini encounters, a set of negotiations, five or six dates. *g* Layerrrrs.

James keeps talking. “You look older. Has it been so long? Or is this just the work?”
Though I suppose the illusion of no time having passed only goes so far, which is sad and epic in itself.

“An entire building, full of the ancient and unusable - and you. You’re the worst of them all, Arthur. You’ll rot away in here with the rest of them. Wasting. Untouched.”
Artie as artifact. Hmmm, that is interesting. *g* Perfect extrapolation though; the subtext behind everything James says before he gets bronzed -- come with me, we can be geniuses together. Argh, James, stop breaking my heart!

But James always makes the inalienable truths a little hazy.
*squees crazily* See, you have this way with little, maxim-like sentences. I fucking love that.

“Why so silent?” James asks. “Have I touched a nerve? It isn’t fun when you don’t talk back, you know. Although I suppose I could take the opportunity to have you listen. You gave up on me first, Arthur.”
And just when you (I) think, hey, I love this guy, with the comic evil! he comes out with something like this, the needling, the sharp knife that goes in without you feeling it. <333

“You put this place before the people in it. Which suits your own particular definition of nobility I suppose, but it’s hardly human.
Which kinda attacks Artie's whole rationale of the difference between them, which is something I *really* hope the show does more with next season, because the motions of that tension were really well done in the finale. We need more grey!area!Artie. In the meantime, *clings to this fic* (Totally siding with the sociopath and not really sure that should please me, but hey! *g*)

They had sent barbs at each other for hours, on road-trips and in hotel stays, hunting artifacts across the globe. They had been young and very foolish. Every insult was a test: to prove who was smarter, who was quicker, who was better. Who would break first.
Hah. Oh, the parallels, the parallels. *g* (Also, Artie/James roadtrip fic, please!)

“Shush. Ssh, Arthur, I have you.”
It's curious. There's love there, but ... hmm.

Once, Artie had slipped off a rooftop in the chase, and James had moved before anyone else would have thought to shout.
As per.

He says, “Arthur,” with a crack in it.
There's just such beautiful simplicity in that. I guess, the condensing of James' world into Artie. Gah. Lovely.

Artie laughs. “His second-best bed. Bequeathed to his wife.”
:) Always wondered what happened to that bed.

Artie says them with him. “‘Till it be morrow.’”
*sob*

Oyyy. I really really loved that. There's so much potential between them still, as a pairing, and this fic (like the other one) just reached into my brain and opened it up. Which apparently has made it all-about-James despite Artie being the POV character! *g* Idk. I love, sooo much.