Prompt Post No. 19
Welcome to Round 19 of the Inception Kink Meme.
Prompting System
Prompting System
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It’s cold when he wakes up.
It’s always cold on the station.
Space is like that: at once, colder and hotter than you can ever imagine.
Arthur swings his legs out of bed and tries not to remember what it feels like to wake up wrapped in another’s warmth.
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He is monitoring their position and making his daily alignments when he hears Eames.
“...the engines have proven they can handle it, Yusuf, and Saito’s been telling me for weeks that the fuel levels are more than --”
“And I’m telling you, Eames, you have to ask Arthur. He’s our navigator, not to mention second in command.”
“Yeah, well we all know why that is, don’t we?” Eames retorts, sullen.
Arthur winces, that one stings.
They enter the pit together. Arthur spins his chair round and pretends not to have heard.
“Eames here has something he would like to propose to you, Arthur.”
Arthur keeps his face impassive and waits; Eames is busy staring daggers at Yusuf.
“Fine, I’ll do it then, shall I? Eames wants to speed up so that we can be over the Northern latitudes by the time the solar wind hits.”
Arthur addresses Eames, “You realise this would mean that everyone would be working double-time?”
“Yes, I’ve already talked it over with them, they’ve all agreed to work the extra hours.” Eames is staring past Arthur, not quite looking at him.
In all honesty, it sounds like a fine idea. It’s not what Cobb would have done.
“Sorry, Mr. Eames, but I just don’t think it’ll work.”
Yusuf appears to be preparing to argue but Eames stops him with a wave, he knows Arthur knows the maths. They turn to make their leave but just as the doors slide open Eames stops, turns, and looks Arthur dead in the eyes for what might be the first time in weeks.
Weeks that feel like years.
“That was low, Arthur.”
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In the end, Arthur does it anyway.
By the next morning the rest of the crew have realised and it’s all Arthur can do to stare into his breakfast and not Eames’ eyes, which have been following him.
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Arthur and Eames meet first week basic training. Eames is broad, still wearing his dog tags and has the easy grace of someone who knows how to get what they want. Arthur is 22, has a black belt and a head full of facts; facts and Eames.
Professionally, they work well together, more than well; each making up for what the other lacks. It’s almost predictable, until it isn’t.
They fuck precisely once during that time, and for years afterwards whenever he thinks of it Arthur’s whole body floods and thrums with a warm fervour.
Protocol splits them up. Arthur and 39 other participants are dispatched to a new location to hone and show off their relative skills.
(And, for a good majority of his day, Arthur focusses on anything other than the way Eames’ thumbs had caressed his palms or how his voice had sounded as he’d panted out an “Arthur, love.”)
These things happen.
So, of course; of course after all Arthur’s hard work he lands himself in the same final team as Eames. Of course that happens.
(And, suddenly not focussing on Eames doesn’t sound nearly as important as giving him beard burn on the insides of his thighs or watching his eyes, dark and dilated, flutter shut as Arthur holds his hands above his head.)
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This is how it ends:
Captain Cobb is appointing his 2nd; Eames has the best odds (at about $1.75, according to Yusuf.) And yet, Arthur gets the position.
It’s pedestrian as fuck, he’s sure they both know that, but nothing happens for a while.
Nothing, until Cobb’s wife commits right in front of him.
The logistics of disposing of a body, especially that of a loved one, in low earth orbit are about as disturbing as they would seem.
Just like that Arthur becomes his right-hand-man as well as his second-in-command. Cobb needs somebody, anybody, to be coping with this right now. Arthur can cope.
Eames, however, cannot.
Their previous state of nothing-ness culminates in a shouting match, in which they both say things they think they mean at the time:
“ -- just can’t believe you could be this thick, darling, he’s --”
“I’m not your darling.”
“ -- not your friend, he’s using you!”
“What did you even think this was, Eames?”
Things continue in this manner until one day, in what will later be described as a brief fit of space madness, Cobb decides to make some exterior repairs to the ship.
Without telling anyone.
He falls and would have been lost forever had Eames not risked his own life to save him. Cobb’s injuries were extensive though, and he’s been under Ariadne’s care in their ICU since.
Arthur gets the blame from Control for not knowing everything, at all times. He mostly agrees with them, but also thinks that he was mostly distracted by Eames and so blames him, maybe, a little bit.
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“Same as he was last time, Arthur” Ariadne quips.
“You know, I am technically your Captain.”
She gives him a mocking, two-fingered salute and Arthur smirks back; “Thank you.”
“So, oh great leader, Saito tells me you’re not coming to the viewing.” Ariadne tries to look uninterested by busying herself with her monitors.
Arthur shakes his head, “Nope, far too busy I’m afraid.”
Stock, standard answer.
He’s flashed an unimpressed look, at which he raises an eyebrow and nothing more is said.
Somewhere in the back of his consciousness, Arthur appreciates that avoiding Eames is childish, if a little bit pointless in a crew of 9 people (minus two Cobbs).
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Arthur likes the station at night.
Mostly for the silence; Space is never particularly loud, but during working hours the station buzzes with life. It has to.
Arthur appreciates it more when everyone is asleep and complying with their fictional daylight/nighttime schedules.
“Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,”
He knows why he finds himself passing the Observation deck, but is surprised to see Eames standing there, silhouetted against the glass, all the same.
Then again, Edith was always his favourite.
“Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l’homme auquel j’appartiens.”
Arthur knows he should turn and leave, but there’s a set to Eames’ shoulders that keeps him rooted.
“Quand il me prend dans ses bras,”
Eames sings along in a quiet, broken voice, “Il me parle tout bas,”
Arthur should definitely leave.
“‘Fischer’, turn it off,” Eames says and the music cuts. Arthur thinks he hears a muttered “Je vois la vie en rose...” before --
“Arthur, come over, I can feel you standing there.” And suddenly Arthur is by Eames’ side.
Eames’ eyes never leave the view, but he gives a small smile, “could hear you thinking, too.”
“How long have you been here?”
Eames hums, “a while, everybody else has already been and gone, but I --” He has to pause. “I mean, I know she looks pretty amazing to begin with, but this is just...”
Arthur turns to look. The Earth below them is lit spectacularly; rolling waves of greens and reds and even brighter greens, splitting the sky, barely moving yet weaving through their very atmosphere.
Arthur is struck by his own sheer brevity.
“Make you feel insignificant, doesn’t it?” Eames muses.
Arthur thinks about the handful of humans who have seen this view before them.
“Mm, there’s something in that though,” Arthur begins. “Like, there’s significance in insignificance...”
“Like, we’re better for having been here,” Eames agrees, nodding lightly. He lets out a long, shaky breath and with a tiny huff of laughter, angles his face mostly away from Arthur to sniff and scrub at his nose discreetly.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," he breathes finally, and Arthur is watching Eames' face. Watching as the lights reflect off his skin and in the shine of his eyes.
Arthur is still looking at him when he says quietly, "It's lovely."
Eames’ answering smile is as breathtaking as the view.
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Snow crunches under Arthur’s feet as he squints through the darkness.
A figure slowly comes into focus, ahead of him.
“Goddamn it, Eames!”
The figure in question lets out a bark of laughter, then closes the distance between them by trying to tackle Arthur to the ground.
He only manages to give Arthur a rough sort-of hug, which then turns into a very pleasant hug when Arthur wraps his arms back around Eames’ many layers.
“How many more times are we going to do this, Eames?” Arthur mumbles into the other man’s neck.
Eames moves back but keeps an arm around Arthur’s waist, “Oh, at least a few more times.” He presses his lips against Arthur’s ear, “As long as you keep looking so adorable and warm asleep in that big bed,” Eames looks up, “and these bastards keep being so disappointing.”
Arthur follows his gaze and sees the tiniest wave of green above them in the sky.
“Not quite as impressive from down here, are they?”
“No,” Eames agrees, forlorn.
Arthur pull him around and kisses him, hard, because he wants to and he can.
“Mr. Eames, you are the sappiest bastard I’ve ever met,” Arthur sighs and pulls him back towards their cabin, “C’mon, I can think of plenty of other things we can do that will remind you of that night.”
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A/N: Apologies for the delay :)
I guess there should be a warning for brief (and crude) mention to canon character death but it just completely slipped my mind.
Vague space facts are vague...
Tiniest bit of context: Let's just say this is set in the future, where I guess there are tons of temporary stations/ships with people on them just hanging around up there (doing research, taking notes, other vague science-y things.)
ALSO TY OP for giving me an excuse to watch Northern lights videos on youtube for hours ;)
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[Arthur is struck by his own sheer brevity]
[Watching as the lights reflect off his skin and in the shine of his eyes]
And the little things in all the parts, from the station being cold, to space being quiet, the characters--I could just see them floating around in their suits (or walking, if this is the future with artigrav) and Yusuf being Yusuf and Arthur being scientific and stoic and Eames being so *Eames.*
!!! I just saw and read the epilogue. Oh my, again so beautiful and adorable and made me smile.
You know, the inspiration for this was from, of all things, playing Skyrim and watching Bethesda's version of the auroras, and then *I* went to youtube and watched the real thing for hours ;) and THEN I saw a video of them from SPACE and this prompt happened.
And then this gorgeous fill happened, and I am so happy. :)
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