[FIC] Perfect Melody
A far too late Day 5 of my 5 day song-inspired fanfiction challenge, which was supposed to be done on either Saturday or Sunday and it is now Wednesday and I've only just finished. So, here's the last fic I'll do for this challenge (not to say I won't write after this, I'm far too addicted to this pairing -and movie- for that XD)
Title: Perfect Melody
Author: casenumber825
Word Count: 1,787
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Fandom: Inception
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: "Pushed by gravity; pulled by an attractive force. I met you by necessity" - 'Microphone' (by Ayumi Hamasaki)
Disclaimer: As before, Inception is owned by Chistopher Nolan; 'Microphone' is owned by Ayumi Hamasaki (& Avex Trax)
When things in Arthur’s life turned somewhat messy (as it often did in his line of work), he had the tendency to pack up and leave and start fresh in a new place. One would therefore assume that he had lost his roots long ago, that there was no stability in his life. While it was true that he never talked to his family and knew very little about them or their lives, he hadn’t completely forgotten where he came from or how he grew up, he just preferred to never have to recount it.
Arthur had stability. He didn’t have a lot of stability, in all honesty, and the stability that he did have was probably just as unstable as he was himself. That unstable stability came in the form of Mr Eames, not that Arthur would ever let him know that. Still, whenever Arthur did decide to pack up and leave, he always knew that Eames was never very far behind. Arthur knew that he didn’t even need to ask Eames to follow him to whatever place on Earth he decided to make his home for however long it needed to be. That was how Eames came to be the most stable thing in his life.
Eames and Arthur had known first met years before anyone else thought they had. They met when Arthur was 18 and taking a year out to study in London. He allowed some friends from school (who he’d long since erased from his memory) to drag him out for a night of pub-crawling. It had taken them at least a month to convince to drop his studies for at least a night and it just so happened that in one of the pubs they visited Eames was there, already half-drunk and casting sly looks in Arthur’s direction. It hadn’t taken long for the 21 year old Eames to saunter over and start flirting wildly with the young and rather tipsy Arthur. The young and tipsy Arthur had then agreed to leave his completely drunk friends behind and follow Eames to his London flat, where they proceeded to spend the rest of the night finding different ways of making each other moan.
Arthur had left the following morning with a raging headache and one of Eames’ spare shirts (Eames was an impatient and ripping Arthur’s shirt had been a less time-consuming way of getting it off Arthur’s body). Arthur still had the shirt and whenever he was feeling particularly lonely or sappy, he would use it as nightwear. He was dreading the day that Eames would inevitably rummage through his things and find the old shirt. However, despite the fond memories of their first night together that the shirt brought, Arthur had been furious when he’d not heard from Eames again, even though he’d left a note with contact details.
He’d gone back to America and a number of years later he was introduced to the world of ‘dream-sharing’ by Dominic and Mallorie Cobb and not long after that Eames had been introduced to the team as the forger they needed for a job they’d been offered. That day became the first day Arthur had ever told Eames that he hated him.
It had happened after their first practice run. It was late by the time they finished and Arthur just wanted to go to back to his small apartment and curl up in bed. He’d gotten as far as the bedroom door before there was a resounding knock throughout the apartment from the front door and Arthur knew who it was before he’d even opened the door,
“Hello, Arthur” Eames said, entering the apartment before Arthur had even extended the invitation, “You ran off so quickly after the practice run I barely had the chance to talk to you”
Arthur didn’t even have to look at Eames and he knew that the forger was wearing one of his ridiculously endearing smirks, “Get out” Arthur said firmly, through clenched teeth, hand still gripped onto the door handle,
“Oh, come on now” Eames protested, holding his hands up “No need to be like that, darling”
Looking back on the encounter, if Arthur had to chance a guess he would say that it was the term of endearment that caused Arthur to snap,
“I am warning you now, Mr Eames, if you do not get out of my apartment right now, then I will make you get out” His tone told Eames that he probably wasn’t joking
“Will you at least tell me what I did wrong?” Eames asked, edging slowly towards Arthur and the door,
“November 14th, 6 years ago in London” Arthur started, “I had sex with you, wonderfully amazing sex that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I never heard from you again and you have no idea how much I hated you, how much I still hate you for that”
“Oh” Eames said, not quite knowing how to react to this new information,
“Yeah” Arthur replied, “’Oh’, I even left my contact details in your coat pocket and there was still nothing”
“All I can say is I’m sorry, Arthur” Eames said as gently as he could, “I never meant to hurt you. It’s just, I was drunk and you were drunk and it shouldn’t have meant anything, but it did and I didn’t want to get into anything awkward”
Arthur stayed silent, staring pointedly at the floor, lips pressed together tightly. Eames took that as his cue to leave,
“I really am sorry” Eames said again before Arthur shut the door on him, “I do hope this doesn’t affect anything”
“I can work professionally and reasonably with anyone,” Arthur said pointedly, his tone matching the professionalism he was convincing Eames off, “Even you, Mr Eames” And with that he shut the door.
True to his word, Arthur stayed professional throughout the entire job. Apparently though, his professionalism didn’t stick around for the celebrations of a job well done afterwards, when Dom and Mal had gone back home to their children and Eames and Arthur had been left together, standing somewhat awkwardly outside Arthur’s apartment,
“I think this is where we should be parting ways” Eames said,
“Well,” Arthur replied, looking from Eames to his apartment, then back to Eames again, “You could always some in for a coffee” He shrugged “Seems unfair to make you walk all the way back to your hotel room without at least offering you that”
Eames smiled and allowed Arthur to lead him through the door, before making himself comfortable on the sofa as Arthur made the coffee. They drink in a comfortable silence, until Eames set down his mug and tried to start a conversation,
“Listen, Arthur…” He began before he was pushed back against the couch, Arthur’s lips firmly planted over his, an eager tongue begging for entrance, which he just as eagerly granted. However, almost as suddenly as it had started, it finished with Arthur pulling back, eyes wide with the realisation of what had just happened. He got up from the sofa and started backing up towards his bedroom door,
“I-I’m sorry, Eames” He stuttered, which was strange in itself as Arthur never stuttered. He held his hands up when Eames looked like he was about to talk, “No, Eames, I just...” he paused, gulping, “Look, you can stay here if you want, or you can go back to your hotel room, I don’t mind, I just… I’m sorry, again” He almost bolted into his bedroom, slamming the door shut.
Needless to say, he wasn’t surprised when Dom told him that Eames had taken the next flight to Mombasa.
After the rest of the team had split up in the airport after the Fischer job both Arthur and Eames lingered next to each other.
“Have you got any plans now?” Arthur asked, quite suddenly. Eames furrowed his eyebrows, wondering where this line of questioning was going to go,
“No, not really” Eames replied, shrugging his shoulders. Arthur glanced in the direction of the exit,
“I have a taxi waiting outside” He said, “If you want…” He trailed off, looking somewhat unsure of himself, trying to look at anything but Eames.
Eames nodded, and Arthur replied in kind before leading the way out of the airport and to the waiting taxi. The ride to Arthur’s current apartment was pretty much silent after the initial conversation about how the job went. It wasn’t particularly awkward; it just wasn’t all that comfortable either.
Once they’d reached the apartment and made themselves comfortable inside, the conversation they both been anticipating and dreading began,
“Look, Eames, about that night…” Arthur began,
“No, Arthur, it’s fine,” Eames replied, holding up a hand to stop Arthur from explaining, “If you want, we can just forget it ever happened and you can go back to hating me” Eames was trying for a bit of humour, but Arthur serious expression never wavered,
“Eames,” Arthur replied, grabbing Eames’ raised hand, setting it back on the sofa, yet not actually letting it go, “what if I don’t want to forget it?” He questioned, looking intently into Eames’ eyes, trying to see if he could figure out what Eames was thinking,
“I’m not sure I understand, Arthur” He replied, uncertainty clouding his voice,
“I don’t want to forget any of time I’ve spent with you” Arthur said firmly,
“Even the time you said you hated me?” Eames asked, a small grin present on his face. Arthur smiled back, closing his eyes briefly before looking back at Eames, he leaned forwards until their lips pressed together lightly,
“Yes, even that time” He replied as he leaned back briefly, before being pulled back towards the other’s man lips into a gentle, slow exploration of each other’s mouths.
They pulled away out of necessity more than anything else and Arthur moved closer to Eames on the sofa, resting his head on the other man’s broad shoulder, he sighed slightly, chest rising with the deep breath,
“Something wrong?” Eames asked,
Arthur didn’t move from his position on Eames’ shoulder, “I can’t promise you that I’ll always stick around in one place” He said,
Eames chuckled and planted a soft kiss on Arthur’s head, “Darling, I will promise you that it’ll take a lot more than just moving around to various places on Earth to get rid of me” He replied, to which Arthur smiled, even though Eames couldn’t really see it,
“So…” Arthur said, pushing himself up so he could look Eames in the face, “What did you want to do now?” He asked, sneaking a short glance to the bedroom. Eames smirked, following Arthur’s train of thought as he replied,
“Whatever you want, darling”
Title: Perfect Melody
Author: casenumber825
Word Count: 1,787
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Fandom: Inception
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: "Pushed by gravity; pulled by an attractive force. I met you by necessity" - 'Microphone' (by Ayumi Hamasaki)
Disclaimer: As before, Inception is owned by Chistopher Nolan; 'Microphone' is owned by Ayumi Hamasaki (& Avex Trax)
When things in Arthur’s life turned somewhat messy (as it often did in his line of work), he had the tendency to pack up and leave and start fresh in a new place. One would therefore assume that he had lost his roots long ago, that there was no stability in his life. While it was true that he never talked to his family and knew very little about them or their lives, he hadn’t completely forgotten where he came from or how he grew up, he just preferred to never have to recount it.
Arthur had stability. He didn’t have a lot of stability, in all honesty, and the stability that he did have was probably just as unstable as he was himself. That unstable stability came in the form of Mr Eames, not that Arthur would ever let him know that. Still, whenever Arthur did decide to pack up and leave, he always knew that Eames was never very far behind. Arthur knew that he didn’t even need to ask Eames to follow him to whatever place on Earth he decided to make his home for however long it needed to be. That was how Eames came to be the most stable thing in his life.
Eames and Arthur had known first met years before anyone else thought they had. They met when Arthur was 18 and taking a year out to study in London. He allowed some friends from school (who he’d long since erased from his memory) to drag him out for a night of pub-crawling. It had taken them at least a month to convince to drop his studies for at least a night and it just so happened that in one of the pubs they visited Eames was there, already half-drunk and casting sly looks in Arthur’s direction. It hadn’t taken long for the 21 year old Eames to saunter over and start flirting wildly with the young and rather tipsy Arthur. The young and tipsy Arthur had then agreed to leave his completely drunk friends behind and follow Eames to his London flat, where they proceeded to spend the rest of the night finding different ways of making each other moan.
Arthur had left the following morning with a raging headache and one of Eames’ spare shirts (Eames was an impatient and ripping Arthur’s shirt had been a less time-consuming way of getting it off Arthur’s body). Arthur still had the shirt and whenever he was feeling particularly lonely or sappy, he would use it as nightwear. He was dreading the day that Eames would inevitably rummage through his things and find the old shirt. However, despite the fond memories of their first night together that the shirt brought, Arthur had been furious when he’d not heard from Eames again, even though he’d left a note with contact details.
He’d gone back to America and a number of years later he was introduced to the world of ‘dream-sharing’ by Dominic and Mallorie Cobb and not long after that Eames had been introduced to the team as the forger they needed for a job they’d been offered. That day became the first day Arthur had ever told Eames that he hated him.
It had happened after their first practice run. It was late by the time they finished and Arthur just wanted to go to back to his small apartment and curl up in bed. He’d gotten as far as the bedroom door before there was a resounding knock throughout the apartment from the front door and Arthur knew who it was before he’d even opened the door,
“Hello, Arthur” Eames said, entering the apartment before Arthur had even extended the invitation, “You ran off so quickly after the practice run I barely had the chance to talk to you”
Arthur didn’t even have to look at Eames and he knew that the forger was wearing one of his ridiculously endearing smirks, “Get out” Arthur said firmly, through clenched teeth, hand still gripped onto the door handle,
“Oh, come on now” Eames protested, holding his hands up “No need to be like that, darling”
Looking back on the encounter, if Arthur had to chance a guess he would say that it was the term of endearment that caused Arthur to snap,
“I am warning you now, Mr Eames, if you do not get out of my apartment right now, then I will make you get out” His tone told Eames that he probably wasn’t joking
“Will you at least tell me what I did wrong?” Eames asked, edging slowly towards Arthur and the door,
“November 14th, 6 years ago in London” Arthur started, “I had sex with you, wonderfully amazing sex that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I never heard from you again and you have no idea how much I hated you, how much I still hate you for that”
“Oh” Eames said, not quite knowing how to react to this new information,
“Yeah” Arthur replied, “’Oh’, I even left my contact details in your coat pocket and there was still nothing”
“All I can say is I’m sorry, Arthur” Eames said as gently as he could, “I never meant to hurt you. It’s just, I was drunk and you were drunk and it shouldn’t have meant anything, but it did and I didn’t want to get into anything awkward”
Arthur stayed silent, staring pointedly at the floor, lips pressed together tightly. Eames took that as his cue to leave,
“I really am sorry” Eames said again before Arthur shut the door on him, “I do hope this doesn’t affect anything”
“I can work professionally and reasonably with anyone,” Arthur said pointedly, his tone matching the professionalism he was convincing Eames off, “Even you, Mr Eames” And with that he shut the door.
True to his word, Arthur stayed professional throughout the entire job. Apparently though, his professionalism didn’t stick around for the celebrations of a job well done afterwards, when Dom and Mal had gone back home to their children and Eames and Arthur had been left together, standing somewhat awkwardly outside Arthur’s apartment,
“I think this is where we should be parting ways” Eames said,
“Well,” Arthur replied, looking from Eames to his apartment, then back to Eames again, “You could always some in for a coffee” He shrugged “Seems unfair to make you walk all the way back to your hotel room without at least offering you that”
Eames smiled and allowed Arthur to lead him through the door, before making himself comfortable on the sofa as Arthur made the coffee. They drink in a comfortable silence, until Eames set down his mug and tried to start a conversation,
“Listen, Arthur…” He began before he was pushed back against the couch, Arthur’s lips firmly planted over his, an eager tongue begging for entrance, which he just as eagerly granted. However, almost as suddenly as it had started, it finished with Arthur pulling back, eyes wide with the realisation of what had just happened. He got up from the sofa and started backing up towards his bedroom door,
“I-I’m sorry, Eames” He stuttered, which was strange in itself as Arthur never stuttered. He held his hands up when Eames looked like he was about to talk, “No, Eames, I just...” he paused, gulping, “Look, you can stay here if you want, or you can go back to your hotel room, I don’t mind, I just… I’m sorry, again” He almost bolted into his bedroom, slamming the door shut.
Needless to say, he wasn’t surprised when Dom told him that Eames had taken the next flight to Mombasa.
After the rest of the team had split up in the airport after the Fischer job both Arthur and Eames lingered next to each other.
“Have you got any plans now?” Arthur asked, quite suddenly. Eames furrowed his eyebrows, wondering where this line of questioning was going to go,
“No, not really” Eames replied, shrugging his shoulders. Arthur glanced in the direction of the exit,
“I have a taxi waiting outside” He said, “If you want…” He trailed off, looking somewhat unsure of himself, trying to look at anything but Eames.
Eames nodded, and Arthur replied in kind before leading the way out of the airport and to the waiting taxi. The ride to Arthur’s current apartment was pretty much silent after the initial conversation about how the job went. It wasn’t particularly awkward; it just wasn’t all that comfortable either.
Once they’d reached the apartment and made themselves comfortable inside, the conversation they both been anticipating and dreading began,
“Look, Eames, about that night…” Arthur began,
“No, Arthur, it’s fine,” Eames replied, holding up a hand to stop Arthur from explaining, “If you want, we can just forget it ever happened and you can go back to hating me” Eames was trying for a bit of humour, but Arthur serious expression never wavered,
“Eames,” Arthur replied, grabbing Eames’ raised hand, setting it back on the sofa, yet not actually letting it go, “what if I don’t want to forget it?” He questioned, looking intently into Eames’ eyes, trying to see if he could figure out what Eames was thinking,
“I’m not sure I understand, Arthur” He replied, uncertainty clouding his voice,
“I don’t want to forget any of time I’ve spent with you” Arthur said firmly,
“Even the time you said you hated me?” Eames asked, a small grin present on his face. Arthur smiled back, closing his eyes briefly before looking back at Eames, he leaned forwards until their lips pressed together lightly,
“Yes, even that time” He replied as he leaned back briefly, before being pulled back towards the other’s man lips into a gentle, slow exploration of each other’s mouths.
They pulled away out of necessity more than anything else and Arthur moved closer to Eames on the sofa, resting his head on the other man’s broad shoulder, he sighed slightly, chest rising with the deep breath,
“Something wrong?” Eames asked,
Arthur didn’t move from his position on Eames’ shoulder, “I can’t promise you that I’ll always stick around in one place” He said,
Eames chuckled and planted a soft kiss on Arthur’s head, “Darling, I will promise you that it’ll take a lot more than just moving around to various places on Earth to get rid of me” He replied, to which Arthur smiled, even though Eames couldn’t really see it,
“So…” Arthur said, pushing himself up so he could look Eames in the face, “What did you want to do now?” He asked, sneaking a short glance to the bedroom. Eames smirked, following Arthur’s train of thought as he replied,
“Whatever you want, darling”