(no subject)
RED DIE
AN INCEPTION FANFICTION
PAIRING: Arthur x Eames
AUTHOR: Djap
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the boys and I won't make any money with them. Promise.
BETA: Neenabluegirl - thanks for your great work
LANGUAGE: English
GENRE: Romance, Established Relationship, Drabble (exactly 1000 words)
SERIES: Epiphany, Advent Calendar 2010
A/N: I kept wondering why someone like Arthur would have a die as a totem and why his and Eames' totem would be so similar, when in reality, they were so much different. This is what I came up with.
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Red Die
a Djap story
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Arthur was deep in thought as he rolled his die. Once, twice, thrice, always with the same result. He weighed his totem in his hands wondering how this could have happened.
Although the point man was known for his totem in their business, only Cobb knew the reason why he'd chosen it in the first place. Back then, when he was still young and inexperienced in everything, Dom was the only one who offered him help, which explained why he was still so loyal to the man years later.
One probably could say that he'd also been in love with Dom for years.
He knew that Dom never returned his feelings though and certainly never would. He was a ladies' man and once he met Mal it was pretty safe to say that he was Mal's man from then on. Arthur accepted all of that without a second thought and he also accepted that he'd surely live his life lonely too. He just wasn't interested in dating anybody other than Dom.
At least until he met a most talented forger.
When Arthur met Eames for the first time he quickly realized that the Brit was wooing him in every possible way. Of course he didn't give in at first. Eames was a threat to everything Arthur believed in. With Dom's help he'd learned to be in control of himself, to stick to a tight schedule, to think ahead and to be responsible for his own actions. Arthur clang to these lessons with all the force he could muster, because he was scared to fall apart if he loosened his grip on reality even a tiny bit.
Then, one day Arthur accidently saw Eames’ totem. The dream must have been really rough because Eames had needed to check his poker chip immediately. Looking at the totem Arthur was hit by a forceful epiphany. His and Eames’ eyes suddenly met over the heads of the rest of the team and Arthur felt his face heat up as Eames smiled knowingly. Eames certainly knew his secret, must have somehow felt their connection and Arthur barely could stand that fact, because the forger clearly had chosen his own totem for similar reasons to Arthur’s.
Eames seemed to cope much better with the situation than Arthur though. So the conman was a gambler and had no problem telling anybody who wanted to know. His only difference with Arthur was obviously his ability to stop himself from falling when his needs grew too intense.
Arthur was not point man for nothing and he had never researched anyone this thoroughly before. Eames was a real addict to gambling. Whatever bet he could take, it was a sure thing he would be a part of it and with his whole heart too. He loved risky business and Arthur thought that the only reason why Eames worked in the whole extraction and inception business was because he seemed to firmly believe it to be one big game.
So why didn't he get lost in his addiction? Of course Arthur knew that the man cheated shamelessly whenever he had the opportunity to, but still, sometimes even he lost. And sometimes he lost a lot of money. He never lost the grip on himself though.
Intellectually Arthur knows that the reason why he was attracted to the forger all of a sudden was the wish to learn the answer to this question. So he gave in to the man's advances, letting himself be swept away by Eames’ passion and by his surprising loyalty.
Over six months were gone by now, but Arthur wasn't any closer to his answer than he’d been at the start of their relationship. Quite the contrary was actually the case. A few weeks ago Arthur had realized that Eames had stopped taking the risky bets. Eames still gambled, but seemingly just to stay in practice.
Arthur had puzzled about this realization for weeks, before another epiphany hit. Eames was doing it for Arthur's sake. Eames wanted Arthur to be able to keep his routine and he wanted him to be happy. Obviously he feared that the gambling would one day drive Arthur away, because it was just too enticing, so he gave it up for his sake alone.
Just like that. He never even said anything about it to him, not even when they were mad at each other or fighting.
Arthur knew the feeling that must be driving Eames to do this by heart. Arthur had stopped gambling for Cobb, because Dom knew it would break him one day without the proper help. And now it seemed as if Eames was doing exactly the same for him.
There was only one problem: Arthur didn't want Eames to change. He'd actually fallen for the man because of his strength in this. The gambling wouldn't break Eames, because Eames was too strong for that. He was an addict of risk, but he always knew the real limits.
So there was really only one question left and Arthur had no idea how to answer it. Could he trust Eames to keep him from falling? From losing himself in gambling? Could Eames give him back his only real joy in life? Since he'd stopped gambling his life had seemed unbelievably dull and only the prospect of fearing to disappoint the one man who seemed to care, the one man he loved, had held him back.
"What are you thinking about, darling?" Eames suddenly interrupted Arthur's musings.
"About a honeymoon trip to Vegas." Arthur finally said, wondering if Eames would understand him this time too without an elaborate explanation.
He wasn't disappointed, because Eames certainly did.
"Sounds good, but we don't need to." Eames said gauging his words carefully.
"I'd love to." Arthur insisted.
"I'll keep you safe then." Eames decided and hugged Arthur tight from behind.
Arthur leaned back against his lover's chest and sighed contently, a happy smile adorning his features. Dom would be very disappointed, but for the first time in his life Arthur didn't care anymore.
Arthur's heart had finally moved on.
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Endless End
Finished 14thOctober 2010
