Inception-bang Round 3: A Little Less Sixteen Candles (7/14)

[osaki_nana_707]

Title: A Little Less Sixteen Candles
Author: osaki_nana_707
Artist: heavenly_rain
Type: slash, boarding school/secret agent AU
Word Count: ~57,500
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: ArthurxEames, appearances by pretty much all of the Inception characters except Saito (though he is mentioned)
Warnings violence, language, mild dub-con, simulated!underage, character death
Summary: Arthur, covert agent, has his cover blown during a job hunting down an underground criminal ring. With a price on his head, Arthur's boss has no choice but to hide Arthur away under a new identity... which just happens to be that of a teenage boy at a boarding school. Now he's forced to play the part of a sixteen year old and deal with classes, a roommate, and bullies-- not to mention the fact that he still doesn't know how his picture ended up in the hands of his enemies. It isn't all bad though. At least he has an extremely attractive teacher named Eames.

Link to fic master post: Here
Link to art master post: Here



Chapter 7

On Tuesday, Arthur awoke in the middle of the night with a gasp. He sat up in the darkness of his room, mind whirring over the image he'd conjured in his dream, trying to hang onto it as it slipped away like grains of sand through his fingers.

Something about Maurice Fischer… and gun shots…

He shook himself. It was already gone.

Arthur turned his gaze on Yusuf who was snoring loudly from his side of the room and decided quickly that getting back to sleep wasn't going to be easy with that amount of noise. He pulled on a jacket and walked outside, standing in the hall and dialing his cell phone.

It took about nine rings before someone finally answered. Cobb's sleepy voice came over the line, "Hello? Yeah, what is it?"

"Cobb," Arthur said, moving his way down the hall. "You said you'd keep me in the loop. I haven't heard a peep out of you. I'm always the one making the calls. What the hell?"

"There's nothing really to tell," Cobb said, and Arthur could picture him scrubbing a hand over his face. "Is now really the time to talk about this? Something got you spooked?"

Arthur hesitated, then sighed, running a hand through his hair as he slipped out of the building onto the passageway that led to the stairs. "Just… it's nothing, just this weird feeling I have."

"Those weird feelings of yours haven't let me down before," Cobb said.

Arthur wished he hadn't smoked all of his cigarettes before the end of the first week. He figured he could really use one right now. "Look into Maurice Fischer. See if there's anything suspicious in his background. It's just a precautionary thing."

"I'll get on it first thing in the morning," Cobb said. "I'll call if I find anything. Can I go back to bed now?"

"Yeah, sure," Arthur mumbled and hung up. He slipped the phone into his pocket and looked out across the grass. For a moment he swore he saw someone moving across the lawn, but that had to have been his imagination.

Still, it couldn't help to check.

He moved stealthily down the steps and kept to the walls as much as he could manage, keeping his hood up on his jacket to help shroud him in darkness. By the time he'd arrived at the fountain, he could no longer see the shadows shifting, but he had a feeling that if anyone was to go anywhere, they'd find what they were looking for in the main hall. He glanced around a few times for security and then slipped up the stairs to the door and sneaking inside.

Finding that the door was unlocked already set Arthur's apprehension into high gear. He couldn't help but wish he'd gone out into the woods where he'd buried his bag of weaponry after the inspection (he couldn't let that slip through his fingers again). He stayed calm though, keeping his steps soft as he moved down the hall. He didn't see anyone ahead of him, and a quick check revealed that all of the classroom doors had been locked. Maybe he really had imagined it.

He was just about to turn back and go back to bed when down Hall C he heard a sound. It was just a small sound, like a door being quietly shut, but that was all Arthur's adept ears needed. He moved quickly, his brain racing over what kinds of things he could use to protect himself should it come to that when one of the doors opened unexpectedly and he found himself colliding with another body hard enough that it sent them both to the floor.

Papers fluttered through the air as Arthur sat up and looked down to find a very startled looking Eames being straddled. "Arthur?" Eames questioned, surprised and very confused.

"Oh," Arthur said, cheeks burning as he realized-of course it was a teacher. Of course it was Eames. It wasn't even weird for him to be in the building, for him to have access to a key to unlock the front door. Arthur's stupid, spooked, agent brain had immediately conjured some villain, but now it all seemed so obvious. Embarrassment flooded over him, and he had no idea how to explain himself.

Oh, and there was the fact that he was still sitting on Eames's crotch.

Arthur scrambled to his feet and then took a few steps back, watching awkwardly as Eames stood as well. Eames looked around at the mess of papers scattered around them and then turned his gaze on Arthur. "What the bloody hell are you doing out of your room at this hour? It's well after curfew."

Arthur looked at the floor guiltily. "I… I saw something in the dark. That is, I woke up and went to get some air, and I saw someone moving through the dark. I thought I should go investigate it. I guess I wasn't thinking."

"No," Eames sighed, kneeling down to pick up the papers. "No, you definitely weren't. Darling, we've got security here, tall gates and brick walls. No one unsavory is going to get in here without it being known about."

Arthur crouched to help Eames. "What if someone unsavory already was? One of the students or the staff even?"

He wasn't sure why he had asked. It had slipped out of him unexpectedly, and he couldn't help but think about Cobb's mention about Arthur's hunches usually leading him in the right direction.

Eames's hand stilled, and he looked towards Arthur, expression unbearably honest. Any of the annoyance he'd had over discovering Arthur at this hour was gone. "Darling, is somebody harassing you? Is someone making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable?"

"No," Arthur said, handing Eames the papers he'd stacked. "I guess I'm just naturally paranoid, you know? There's a lot of people on campus. Statistically, at least some of them have to be seedy."

The corner of Eames's mouth quirked up into a smile. "You really are something, Darling. Your mind works in interesting ways. It does make me wonder what has created this mistrust of the world around you though."

"No one's ever given me a reason to trust them wholeheartedly, I guess," Arthur shrugged, not realizing until after he'd said it how revealing that was about himself. He hadn't even been consciously aware of it until after it was out in the open.

"That's so very sad," Eames said, and on anyone else it would have sounded horribly sarcastic. Arthur could tell that Eames meant every single word of it. "I suppose I can understand how people can let you down, but I certainly hope you don't lose faith in all of us, Arthur. We humans are flawed, but I think we've got potential."

"You say that like I'm some sort of alien or robot," Arthur snorted. "You're the one who said you could go crazy and kill me, so what makes you think I can trust you?"

Eames settled a warm hand on Arthur's shoulder and squeezed it. "That's something you'll have to decide for yourself, I suppose. Let me walk you back to your room. Promise you won't go sneaking around the grounds again?"

"I can promise you anything you want," Arthur said smugly. "It doesn't mean I'll follow the rules."

"Fucking teenagers," Eames said, laughing, then paused. "Please disregard that I just said the word fucking. Twice."

"I won't tell a soul as long as you don't tell anyone I was sneaking out after curfew."

"Deal."

They walked back across the yard in a comfortable silence, the moon high above them. Arthur found himself continually sneaking little glances at Eames the entire way back, catching himself two seconds too late. As they reached the stairs that led up to his floor, Arthur couldn't help but stop and turn towards Eames.

"Eames," he said hesitantly. "Listen, um… there's this rumor going around about you, and I was kind of… well, it's not like I care or anything, but I'm curious."

Eames's expression fell a little and he sighed. "I have a feeling I know exactly what you're talking about," he said, sitting down on the second step. Arthur joined him a moment later. "This is about that whole teacher-student relationship thing, yeah?"

"Well, it's not true… Is it?"

Arthur felt a bit mad for hoping that it was.

"No, it's not," Eames said firmly. "It was… this whole complicated thing. This girl, she… she was flunking out of my class and tried to come onto me in an effort to get me to raise her grade. I refused her, but she turned it around on me and started accusing me of being the one who came onto her. It grew into this big kerfuffle and while I was able to convince the staff of my innocence, not all of the parents agreed. As a precaution, they let me go, so that's what brought me here… I shouldn't even be telling you this. I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"What's wrong with you telling me? Seems to me like you have the right to set the story straight, right?" Arthur offered. "Pardon my French, but that's bullshit, Eames."

"I don't believe that's French, Darling," Eames smirked. "Yes, I do have the right to set the story straight if I find it necessary, but people are going to believe what they want to believe no matter what I say. That was why I lost my job in the first place. It doesn't matter that I never had a relationship with that girl or the fact that even if she had been legal I wouldn't have been interested. People around town knew I was gay, but they still believed her story over mine."

Arthur spluttered, "You're gay?" before he could stop himself.

Eames chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I am. Funny, you're one of the few people who I've told that was surprised. That puts you on the very short list of my father and my ex-girlfriend Nicole."

"It's-no, it's not that I'm surprised," Arthur stammered. "I mean, that is, uh-well, I guess it just caught me off guard because you're a teacher and as a student I guess I kind of shut off any sexual-related things when it comes to you."

Arthur sort of wished he could tell that to his wet dreams. It had to be illegal for Eames to be that good-looking, on display, and completely off limits.

"Understandable," Eames said, nodding. "It's sometimes easier for students to pretend their teachers aren't human so that they can vehemently dislike them without guilt. I certainly hope that's not how you feel about me though."

Arthur couldn't believe how his cheeks burned at that. Eames hadn't said anything in particular that should have emitted that kind of response. Arthur was positive he was going crazy. "I don't feel that way," Arthur said softly. "You're easier to get along with than a lot of the kids here." It was the truth, and the strangest part was that Arthur didn't think it was only because he was so much older than his so-called peers. He just seemed to click with Eames, and that was even more bizarre because he generally didn't click with anyone.

"Oh, Darling," Eames laughed. "You wouldn't like me nearly so much if I was allowed to tell you when you were being a git. Being a teacher, you can see how that'd be detrimental to my job."

Arthur didn't even realize he was smiling back until Eames poked a finger into one of his dimples. "How are the girls not falling all over you for that smile? I can't believe you were smoking and risking damaging that lovely smile."

Arthur was tempted to ask Eames if he was trying to seduce him (because frankly he was succeeding), but he decided it was for the best not to open that can of worms. Instead he just stood and said, "Goodnight, Mr. Eames."

"Sweet dreams, Arthur," Eames said cheerily.

Arthur locked himself in the bathroom and jerked off before going back to bed.

Kevin wouldn't let Arthur forget how he'd rescued him (Yusuf wouldn't either, although his joy sprouted from the aftermath rather than the act itself). It seemed that in Biology class, it was all Kevin would talk to Arthur about. He was constantly praising him with "Artie, you're so smart" or "Artie, you're amazing" or some variation. Frankly, it was annoying, but Arthur just gritted his teeth and bared it. Yusuf had quite firmly told him when Arthur complained that Kevin could be pulling Arthur's underwear up over his head or cramming him into a trash can and holding down the lid. Arthur supposed it could always be worse.

Eventually it became easy enough to tune Kevin out anyway because Arthur's thoughts were elsewhere. It seemed that the longer he was at this school, the more his thoughts became consumed with Eames. There was just something about him that made it hard for Arthur to focus on anything else when he was around. At first Arthur was sure that it was just building sexual frustration (even though he'd gone longer without than this). Seeing someone that attractive all the time was bound to get distracted, after all… but the thing was that he didn't find himself thinking sexual thoughts about him all the time. Sometimes it was just marveling at his charm or intelligence. Arthur couldn't stop thinking about that quirky little grin and the way his voice seemed to purr whenever he spoke. Arthur actually fantasized about spending time with him, going shopping or just sitting and talking. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever experienced.

Eames wasn't exactly helping matters by seeming to be around literally all the time. Arthur was constantly passing him in the halls to the sounds of, "All right there, Darling?" and all he could do was smile over his shoulder at him. He'd stare after him in the lunchroom longingly enough that even Yusuf was commenting on it. Arthur really wasn't sure how he was fooling anyone. He was being so obvious.

He had a crush on Mr. Eames.

This whole 'being surrounded by teenagers' thing really was detrimental to his state of mind, apparently. He just hoped he'd get over it soon.

"-Artie. Artie? You in there?"

Arthur jolted as he was pulled out of his daydream by Kevin nudging him. He looked at the boy a bit wide-eyed.

"Class is over," Kevin said. "Are you coming?"

"Oh. Yeah, yeah, I'm… yeah."

Kevin lingered for a moment, and Arthur realized he was waiting for him. They generally didn't walk together after class (since Kevin's friends wouldn't approve), so Arthur wasn't really sure what he was waiting for. He raised an eyebrow at him as he shoved a book into his backpack, but Kevin just shifted from foot to foot.

"Um," Arthur started, but Kevin interrupted.

"Could you maybe meet me here after classes are over later tonight? I need to talk to you about something. Something really important."

Arthur was confused, but he figured it had to do with the project they had been assigned earlier that day in class so he just nodded and said, "Sure."

Relief flooded over Kevin's face, and then he scurried out of the classroom before Arthur could ask any more questions.

Arthur probably should have noticed something weird about it, but he had other things on his mind.

Arthur mentioned Kevin's strange behavior to Robert and Yusuf over lunch. Yusuf's mind immediately went in the direction of violence.

"He's going to bloody beat you to a pulp," Yusuf said surely. "He's been playing the nice guy card to lure you into a false sense of security so he can massacre you."

"I highly doubt that Kevin is intelligent enough to put that sort of plan into action," Robert said flatly. "He probably is just really worried about his grade in Biology. Maybe he wants some private tutelage or something and he doesn't want his friends to find out."

"I don't know," Arthur said, pushing his food around on his plate as he stared out across the cafeteria. Eames was grabbing his own lunch, and he was wearing his glasses today, and Arthur had dreamed about running his tongue over the tattoos on his chest last night. It wasn't an image that was easy to get out of his mind.

"You think you could stare any harder, mate?" Yusuf asked. "Fuck, I can see the proverbial hearts in your eyes. You're setting yourself up for disaster, you know."

Robert looked over his shoulder in the direction Arthur was watching. "I thought I told you to stay away from him. Come on, Arthur, really? A teacher?"

"Oh, fuck off," Arthur grumbled, shoveling a bite of macaroni and cheese into his mouth. "I can't help it if he's attractive. It's not like I plan to make a move on him or something. Let me enjoy the view."

"Just don't drool all over the table. You couldn't be more obvious."

"Shut up," Arthur said, nudging Yusuf with his elbow. "Do you want me to come with you this weekend to try and get you a date to the dance or not?"

God, what was his life becoming that he was talking about crushes and dances?

"The dance isn't for another few weeks," Robert said. "You're trying to hop on the date train a little early, don't you think?"

"I'm going to need to," Yusuf explained. "I'm not exactly the best catch, after all, and I want to make sure I have a date before all of the girls hook up with someone else. I was dateless last year, may I remind you. It's just embarrassing."

"I don't plan on going," Robert said. "I think dances are stupid. I honestly don't see why you bother."

"It's the one night of the year where we're surrounded by girls," Yusuf snorted. "You don't think that sounds incredible?"

"Not particularly. I think I'd prefer a night with a piano than a woman, but then again I'm more career-oriented than you," Robert teased, expression turning smug.

Yusuf huffed. "Well, excuse me. I didn't know the piano was vital to your father's business deals."

Robert visibly wilted. "Yeah, well… it isn't but I can still pretend a little longer."

Arthur's brow furrowed. "Why don't you just do what you want to do, Rob? If you want a music career you should go for it. You've got the talent."

"Actually," Robert said, sipping at his water bottle, "I always wanted to be in musical theatre. Broadway, you know? But no, I don't have the talent. I'm not good enough to manage that, especially considering if I were to refuse to go into Fischer-Morrow my entire inheritance would be ripped out from under me. I'd never be able to afford to live, and I'm sure my father would make it even more difficult for me every step of the way until I came crawling back, and then he'd make me run the company and still not give me my inheritance."

"Fucking hell, man," Yusuf said, shaking his head. "Glad my father's not so much of a prat, right Arthur?"

"Now is the time that I remind you that my real father is dead," Arthur reminded.

"Now I feel like you're both just trying to make me feel bad," Yusuf complained.

At seven, Arthur found himself heading toward his science class rather than the library like usual. He hoped this wouldn't take too long since he still had a math test to study for. Oh, how he longed for the days when the things he was facing down involved something a little more treacherous than numbers on paper. He was so ready to be done with this place.

He found that the classroom was lit up even though all of the others were dark and Kevin was waiting nervously inside. Arthur looked around suspiciously when he stepped inside. "Um… so what's going on? Everything all right? I brought my Biology book if there's something you need to go over-"

"It's not about class," Kevin said awkwardly. "Um… it's uh… it's about you."

Arthur set his book down on one of the tables. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, no, you didn't," Kevin said, taking a couple of steps forward. "I just um… I wanted to talk to you about… us."

"Us?" Arthur asked skeptically. "What do you mean by 'us'? Do you want to like… change lab partners or something because-"

Kevin silenced Arthur by grabbing him by the biceps and kissing him. Arthur barely managed to shove him off and scramble away in shock. "What are you doing?" he shouted.

"I want you," Kevin stammered, reaching for Arthur again. "I know you're like me. The whole school talks about it because you hang out with Fischer, and everyone talks about how he likes to wear women's clothes. I know it's wrong, and I know it's forbidden, but no one has to know about us, so let's just-"

Arthur jerked away as Kevin grabbed for him. "Let's just what exactly? What the hell? Did you expect to just grab me and have your way with me or something?"

"But… you're gay," Kevin said.

"Irrelevant!" Arthur yelled. "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm automatically interested in you! What the fuck made you think that was okay?"

"…but… you saved me…"

"Of course I did! You're a friend-or at least you were! Christ, is that the only reason you were being nice to me? To get into my pants? Fucking hell!"

"No-well… Artie-"

"My name is Arthur. Not Artie. Find yourself a new lab partner. I'm done."

He grabbed his book and started for the door. Kevin grabbed him by the arm, but Arthur yanked it away and made a run for it down the hall. Behind him, he heard Kevin shout, "Fine! Go ahead and run, faggot!"

Arthur knew he could beat the hell out of Kevin effortlessly with the various martial arts training he'd received through his job, but he was pretty sure that would blow his cover. Besides, he'd just been kissed by a boy who wasn't even legal-even if he'd been kissed against his will, if that got around he'd still end up taking the fall.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, Arthur cursed internally. How did his life become a mess so quickly? God, he could still taste the boy on his mouth. It had been so innocent, and yet he felt so fucking violated. Arthur had never let anyone take anything from him without his permission, but he had never expected Kevin to-and since when did he become so naïve and trustworthy anyway? This school was ruining his trained brain, making him vulnerable. He had never let himself be vulnerable in his entire life.

Arthur's thoughts came to a screeching halt when the rest of him slammed into a body coming out of one of the rooms. He didn't even realize what hall he was on, but he did recognize the voice that said, "Whoa, Darling, where's the fire?"

Arthur pulled back from Eames, panting. "I- I'm sorry, I just… I um…"

"Hey… hey…" Eames said softly, brushing some of Arthur's hair off of his forehead. "Come on, let's go have a sit down in my office. You look really shaken up. Come on, come in and sit down, okay?"

It was Eames. Arthur couldn't exactly refuse.

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special thanks to redxluna for betaing!