#48 Christmas Drabbles 2010 - batch 4
Batch 4: the Inception round.
In which I am rather faily, and hope that the requesters in question will forgive me.
For yay_box: an apology, and Arashi+Saito Inception AU
KAREN I know this doesn’t fulfil your prompt but I sat down a couple of times to write Arthur and Eames and found that I couldn’t think of anything without watching the movie again. At time of writing I have not yet purchased the DVD, but I will do some more pondering after I’ve done so! ...have this instead, for now?
“You are unemployed, homeless and living in a net café,” says Saito. “Domoto-san tells me that you also owe them a large amount of money. I don’t see how you have any room for negotiation here.”
Nino bristles visibly, and looks like he dearly wants to hit Saito in the face. He’s already tried that, though, and has the bruises for his effort. Ohno had been startled by Saito’s almost lighting reaction, whip-fast as he intercepted Nino’s blow and pinned Nino’s arms against his back with seemingly no effort at all.
Ohno was startled, but not surprised.
This man wears a suit and carries the elegance and self-assurance that comes with his high rank in a powerful company, but the way he moves has nothing to do with that. Saito moves like a tiger, all coiled strength and cool fury. Ohno has seen men like that around the yakuza bosses who run the dream arcades. He makes it a point to stay away from them.
“Why us?” asks Ohno.
“You are the best, to put it simply,” Saito replies. “Domoto-san’s fever dreams are impressive, but for my purposes I’ll need a different set of skills. He told me to come to you.”
Ohno nods. “And what is it that you want?”
“I want you to show me what you know about dream sharing,” says Saito.
For one hour that afternoon Ohno and Saito lie side by side on the narrow chairs of a manga café cubicle, IV lines snaking out of their forearms and coiling into the innocuous-looking device sitting between them.
While Nino sits hunched in a corner, fitfully watching the seconds tick by on the PASIV timer, Ohno builds a city and brings Saito inside it. He shows Saito how malleable a dreamscape can be; how to tell if he is in one.
“It’s not easy,” says Ohno, as the walk past a row of shops selling nothing but fishing equipment. “Some people lose track.”
“Have you?” asks Saito.
“No,” Ohno replies. “I hope I never will.”
Saito is less interested in the physics of the dream than he is in the manipulation of the subconscious. As they walk along the street he asks Ohno questions about delving into the subconscious and the secrets within it.
“I know what you want,” says Ohno, in the same casual tone he used when describing the process of building a dream. “But we won’t steal.”
“Your friend picks pockets on the street,” Saito points out. “You made off with more than your share of Domoto’s profits.”
Ohno turns and fixes his eyes on Saito, his expression calm. “I meant the other sort of stealing.”
“Is that as a matter of principle?” asks Saito, returning Ohno’s gaze. What he really means is whether there is a price tag attached to that principle.
“Perhaps,” says Ohno, continuing down the riverbank. He knows Saito is smiling as he turns to follow.
“This is the last thing you need to know,” says Ohno. They’re standing in the middle of a playground, but the children who were playing there just ten minutes ago have now stilled, their eyes trained on Saito. The young mothers clustered near the benches are starting to rise from their seats.
“It’s also the most important thing.”
Saito doesn’t flinch as Ohno pulls out a gun and aims it directly at his chest.
“When you die in a dream-” Ohno begins.
Saito smiles. “You wake up.”
Ohno pulls the trigger.
When Saito awakens the first thing he does is touch his hand to the spot where the bullet would have gone through. He turns to Nino with a expression of faint wonder on his face.
“Do you-”
“No,” says Nino, shaking his head, “you never get used to it.”
For that hour’s work, they receive enough money to rent a flat in central Tokyo and start sourcing for a competent architect.
“I still find something innately reprehensible about trading our moral values for money,” says Nino, in between large bites of his hamburger.
“Your moral values were compromised a long time ago, Kazu-chan,” Ohno points out. “And if you keep eating hamburgers in bed all sorts of insects will come.”
Nino smirks and leans back on his pillows. “I’ll buy a new bed.”
----
For illuvium: Inception - Eames and Arthur or Tom Hardy and JGL
BB I HAVE LET YOU DOWN. ALL I CAN GIVE YOU IN EXCHANGE IS THIS PICTURE OF BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND THE PROMISE THAT I WILL HAVE SOMETHING UP MY SLEEVE AT SOME POINT IN THE NEAR FUTURE. That may or may not involve the aforementioned individuals and also your favourite actor of the moment.
----
For uminohikari: Setting Sail - five years into the future
“I don’t think I can walk away from this,” says Ohno.
Nino looks at him and wonders exactly how much Ohno remembers from those long months of dreaming. Because Nino remembers. Nino remembers the way Ohno used to look at them as if they were mere projections in a dreamscape; the awful serenity that came over Ohno’s face only when he was asleep and connected to the PASIV. For the past five years, he has done everything to keep that far behind them.
But Jun comes to them with Mao and Aiba and Sho, armed with diagrams and dossiers and intricate plans for one, important job, and it’s too much like the old times for Nino to bear. Ohno is in his element, though; that rare animation has crept back into his movements as he pores over the information and asks Jun questions about the mark.
“No,” Nino repeats, interrupting Aiba’s explanation about the somnacin formula. He looks directly at Jun so that he won’t have to see Ohno’s face fall. “I said we’ve stopped doing jobs.”
“It’s not just any job,” says Mao. “You know I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t important.”
“This is Shun’s problem,” says Nino.
“It’s my problem,” says Mao. “And I’m asking you for a favour.”
Mao doesn’t mention anything about repaying past favours but she makes it clear enough to Nino. It is probably the reason why both Sho and Aiba are there as well.
“I’m sorry,” Nino tells her, meaning it.
The others don’t press the issue; not even Mao, who looks very badly like she wants to. They understand the weight behind Nino’s refusal.
Ohno, too, does not say anything. After everyone leaves he makes chahan for the both of them, exclaiming a little over how good it is as they eat.
He mentions it again, hours later.
“They need two forgers and an extractor for that job,” says Ohno, standing at the door to Nino’s bedroom with a plate of watermelon in hand.
“Bribing me with fruit stopped working a long time ago,” Nino points out, but he gets up anyway to take the plate from Ohno. “And if they’re flexible enough they’ll make do with who they have.”
“Jun-kun is good at his job, but even he acknowledges that he’s only half as good without us,” says Ohno.
“Oh-chan.”
“I don’t think I can walk away from this,” says Ohno, deliberate and honest and earnest, and Nino would be lying if he says he doesn’t miss this - the thrill of a job; the team; Ohno being Ohno, clever and wise and one step quicker than anybody else. Ohno looks at Nino and something in his expression seems to say, I’ve got it handled.
And Nino can do nothing but nod.
In which I am rather faily, and hope that the requesters in question will forgive me.
For yay_box: an apology, and Arashi+Saito Inception AU
KAREN I know this doesn’t fulfil your prompt but I sat down a couple of times to write Arthur and Eames and found that I couldn’t think of anything without watching the movie again. At time of writing I have not yet purchased the DVD, but I will do some more pondering after I’ve done so! ...have this instead, for now?
“You are unemployed, homeless and living in a net café,” says Saito. “Domoto-san tells me that you also owe them a large amount of money. I don’t see how you have any room for negotiation here.”
Nino bristles visibly, and looks like he dearly wants to hit Saito in the face. He’s already tried that, though, and has the bruises for his effort. Ohno had been startled by Saito’s almost lighting reaction, whip-fast as he intercepted Nino’s blow and pinned Nino’s arms against his back with seemingly no effort at all.
Ohno was startled, but not surprised.
This man wears a suit and carries the elegance and self-assurance that comes with his high rank in a powerful company, but the way he moves has nothing to do with that. Saito moves like a tiger, all coiled strength and cool fury. Ohno has seen men like that around the yakuza bosses who run the dream arcades. He makes it a point to stay away from them.
“Why us?” asks Ohno.
“You are the best, to put it simply,” Saito replies. “Domoto-san’s fever dreams are impressive, but for my purposes I’ll need a different set of skills. He told me to come to you.”
Ohno nods. “And what is it that you want?”
“I want you to show me what you know about dream sharing,” says Saito.
For one hour that afternoon Ohno and Saito lie side by side on the narrow chairs of a manga café cubicle, IV lines snaking out of their forearms and coiling into the innocuous-looking device sitting between them.
While Nino sits hunched in a corner, fitfully watching the seconds tick by on the PASIV timer, Ohno builds a city and brings Saito inside it. He shows Saito how malleable a dreamscape can be; how to tell if he is in one.
“It’s not easy,” says Ohno, as the walk past a row of shops selling nothing but fishing equipment. “Some people lose track.”
“Have you?” asks Saito.
“No,” Ohno replies. “I hope I never will.”
Saito is less interested in the physics of the dream than he is in the manipulation of the subconscious. As they walk along the street he asks Ohno questions about delving into the subconscious and the secrets within it.
“I know what you want,” says Ohno, in the same casual tone he used when describing the process of building a dream. “But we won’t steal.”
“Your friend picks pockets on the street,” Saito points out. “You made off with more than your share of Domoto’s profits.”
Ohno turns and fixes his eyes on Saito, his expression calm. “I meant the other sort of stealing.”
“Is that as a matter of principle?” asks Saito, returning Ohno’s gaze. What he really means is whether there is a price tag attached to that principle.
“Perhaps,” says Ohno, continuing down the riverbank. He knows Saito is smiling as he turns to follow.
“This is the last thing you need to know,” says Ohno. They’re standing in the middle of a playground, but the children who were playing there just ten minutes ago have now stilled, their eyes trained on Saito. The young mothers clustered near the benches are starting to rise from their seats.
“It’s also the most important thing.”
Saito doesn’t flinch as Ohno pulls out a gun and aims it directly at his chest.
“When you die in a dream-” Ohno begins.
Saito smiles. “You wake up.”
Ohno pulls the trigger.
When Saito awakens the first thing he does is touch his hand to the spot where the bullet would have gone through. He turns to Nino with a expression of faint wonder on his face.
“Do you-”
“No,” says Nino, shaking his head, “you never get used to it.”
For that hour’s work, they receive enough money to rent a flat in central Tokyo and start sourcing for a competent architect.
“I still find something innately reprehensible about trading our moral values for money,” says Nino, in between large bites of his hamburger.
“Your moral values were compromised a long time ago, Kazu-chan,” Ohno points out. “And if you keep eating hamburgers in bed all sorts of insects will come.”
Nino smirks and leans back on his pillows. “I’ll buy a new bed.”
----
For illuvium: Inception - Eames and Arthur or Tom Hardy and JGL
BB I HAVE LET YOU DOWN. ALL I CAN GIVE YOU IN EXCHANGE IS THIS PICTURE OF BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND THE PROMISE THAT I WILL HAVE SOMETHING UP MY SLEEVE AT SOME POINT IN THE NEAR FUTURE. That may or may not involve the aforementioned individuals and also your favourite actor of the moment.
----
For uminohikari: Setting Sail - five years into the future
“I don’t think I can walk away from this,” says Ohno.
Nino looks at him and wonders exactly how much Ohno remembers from those long months of dreaming. Because Nino remembers. Nino remembers the way Ohno used to look at them as if they were mere projections in a dreamscape; the awful serenity that came over Ohno’s face only when he was asleep and connected to the PASIV. For the past five years, he has done everything to keep that far behind them.
But Jun comes to them with Mao and Aiba and Sho, armed with diagrams and dossiers and intricate plans for one, important job, and it’s too much like the old times for Nino to bear. Ohno is in his element, though; that rare animation has crept back into his movements as he pores over the information and asks Jun questions about the mark.
“No,” Nino repeats, interrupting Aiba’s explanation about the somnacin formula. He looks directly at Jun so that he won’t have to see Ohno’s face fall. “I said we’ve stopped doing jobs.”
“It’s not just any job,” says Mao. “You know I wouldn’t come to you if it wasn’t important.”
“This is Shun’s problem,” says Nino.
“It’s my problem,” says Mao. “And I’m asking you for a favour.”
Mao doesn’t mention anything about repaying past favours but she makes it clear enough to Nino. It is probably the reason why both Sho and Aiba are there as well.
“I’m sorry,” Nino tells her, meaning it.
The others don’t press the issue; not even Mao, who looks very badly like she wants to. They understand the weight behind Nino’s refusal.
Ohno, too, does not say anything. After everyone leaves he makes chahan for the both of them, exclaiming a little over how good it is as they eat.
He mentions it again, hours later.
“They need two forgers and an extractor for that job,” says Ohno, standing at the door to Nino’s bedroom with a plate of watermelon in hand.
“Bribing me with fruit stopped working a long time ago,” Nino points out, but he gets up anyway to take the plate from Ohno. “And if they’re flexible enough they’ll make do with who they have.”
“Jun-kun is good at his job, but even he acknowledges that he’s only half as good without us,” says Ohno.
“Oh-chan.”
“I don’t think I can walk away from this,” says Ohno, deliberate and honest and earnest, and Nino would be lying if he says he doesn’t miss this - the thrill of a job; the team; Ohno being Ohno, clever and wise and one step quicker than anybody else. Ohno looks at Nino and something in his expression seems to say, I’ve got it handled.
And Nino can do nothing but nod.