Les morts sont toujours avec nous
Title - Les morts sont toujours avec nous
Author - sid_vicious_03
Rating - PG13
Pairings - Eames/Arthur
Word count - 3061
Warnings - None
Disclaimers - I don’t own Inception or any of the characters, sadly, but i do own the story.
Notes - Are at the bottom of the fic
Summary - One dog brought them together, and another one kept them together.
~*~
’’As much as i love bickering with you Arthur, please. Not now, just, just let me in. Please.’’ Eames voice sounded weak, or it was just Arthur’s mind that tricked him. It was three am, for all Arthur knew, Eames could be drunk. It wouldn’t be the first time that the forger had turned up drunk in the middle of the night at Arthur’s doorstep.
‘’Give me one good reason why I would Eames, last time, you smashed my glass table into pieces.’’ Arthur growled annoyed into the phone and rubbed his eyes. Hoping that Eames wouldn’t come up with any reason that was good enough, so Arthur could with a good feeling in his body turn him down and go back to bed.
‘’Arthur please!’’ Eames then shrieked into the phone, actually making Arthur flinch and in less than a second feel wide awake. And with that tone, Arthur didn’t have the backbone to say no. He didn’t have the gut for it. Not because he felt bad for it, but for he was more scared about the consequences if he said no.
‘’Alright uh, give me a second.’’ Arthur said and got out of the bed, knowing that it was wrong that he obeyed Eames just like that. Dom sure, but Eames out of all people. Arthur hung up on Eames and walked to the hallway, pressing down the button that would allow Eames to enter the building. And then he headed for the kitchen to get himself something to drink.
Coffee was his first idea, but he would head to bed again later and he would appreciate to be able to fall asleep. He would help Eames with whatever needed, push him over to the bathroom or the couch, and then head to bed again.
Eames showed up at Arthurs doorstep about two minutes later, literally leaning against the doorbell by so it seemed. That made Arthur growl and put down his glass of water and walk out to the hallway. ‘’Jesus Christ Eames you might not have a key but don’t tell me that you’ve lost your sudden ability to-‘’
Arthur’s words got stuck in his throat the second he saw him. Eames looked as if he had been sleeping on the streets for days in a row, if he even had been sleeping. His eyes were all red and Eames looked thin, as if he had been starving the last few days. Arthur’s first thought was that someone had gotten a hold of Eames, someone that wasn’t happy with that he worked in the dream sharing business. But there were no wounds to be seen. Eames shirt was wrinkled yes, but there wasn’t sign of blood.
Arthur stepped to the side and opened the door a bit wider in the process. Eames whispered a faint ‘thank you’ and entered the building, not taking of his shoes or coat, but headed directly into the kitchen. Arthur swallowed and closed the door after him, just looking down to his bare feet before he decided to walk after Eames and get that coffee, even offer him some but by the look of it Eames wouldn’t accept it.
In the kitchen, Eames had stripped of his coat slowly, neatly folding it (which caught Arthur by an even bigger surprise) and put it on the table before he sat down, covering his face with his hands. At that moment Arthur wished he had at least followed the same education that his mother had done before he shipped himself of in the army. That he at least knew a bit of psychology so he would have somewhat of an idea how to handle this situation. Because for once the brain of the point man was entirely stuck and wouldn’t get anywhere, not even give him a hypothesis.
‘’Eames?’’ Arthur asked carefully and moved closer, but slipped behind the counter so he was quick to the coffee in case he panicked, and that was exactly what he did when Eames looked up to him with those red eyes of his. And now it hit Arthur, Eames had been crying. ‘’Uh…’’ Arthur muttered, mind stuck again. ‘’Do you want some coffee?’’ Arthur tried and pointed over to the coffee maker to his right.
Eames nodded slowly and then looked down to the table, folding his hands together and pressed the backs of his thumbs against his lips. Arthur nodded as well, biting down on his lower lip which was a nervous habit he had worked years on suppressing.
The silence that came with the three more minutes until the coffee was ready was quite literally ripping Arthur’s sanity apart. By now he was wishing he never went to the military, never started the dream sharing, he was wishing that he had stayed up in the attic of his mother’s house and studied for a therapist, then this was practically a free job for him.
Arthur gave Eames a quite big cup of coffee, a red one with awful yellow dots on it that his sister had given him in protest of that he was to square. He figured it suited Eames with the taste in shirts. Himself he took a black cup with no form of decoration on it; maybe he was a bit square. The thank you that Eames gave him, sounded hoarse, which lead Arthur to the conclusion that he had to have been screaming, because the screaming he had done wouldn’t be enough.
After half of his cup of coffee, Arthur gathered together the ripped parts of his sanity and gathered his courage together. He had been working with Dominic Cobb, who’s projection of his wife enjoyed shooting and killing him. Even if it was a dream, it still hurt in his knee when he thought back of it.
‘’What happened?’’ Arthur asked, praying to god that it hadn’t been a disaster, like a family that he had kept hidden from him had been murdered, or that he was terminally ill, or something that matched up with that. Eames drank some of the coffee and then put the cup down, holding it with both hands and took his time with answering that question.
‘’I had to put down King Ellie today.’’ Eames said on a low tone and kept staring into the black liquid in his cup, it wasn’t until now that Arthur noticed Eames had his coffee without milk or sugar. But the answer baffled him a bit, he had no idea what he was talking about.
‘’What?’’ He asked carefully, but felt a little bit more at ease, if it was something that he couldn’t think of like now, then it couldn’t have been that serious, he always kept track of the serious things. And he had no idea what or who King Ellie was.
‘’I had to put down King Ellie. My dog Arthur.’’ Eames snapped and looked up to Arthur with almost furious eyes. But they softened quickly and seemed almost tearful again. And now, Arthur felt really stupid. He had even met the dog, the so called King Ellie, but he had forgotten about her since he hadn’t paid that much attention to her. And here Eames was, trying to get some comfort because Arthur knew of the dog, and then he had forgotten about her.
‘’Oh.’’ Arthur murmured, looking down and wanted to escape Eames gaze right now, filled with far too much pain that Arthur could handle. When Arthur was a kid he had owned a hamster for about four hours. He had gotten the hamster as a birthday present, and since it was his birthday he had decided that the hamster deserved some Coca-cola and candy as well. He had practically killed Poirot and had been devastated. But Eames, Eames had been the responsible owner for how long? Ten, maybe eleven years? ‘’I’m sorry.’’
Eames shook his head and looked away, one hand moving to wipe some upcoming tears away. ‘’She’s been my partner for the last fifteen years, that’s half of my life Arthur.’’ Eames muttered, and Arthur felt a pang to his chest. Okay, maybe not eleven years, fifteen, any human could make mistakes right?
‘’Why did you have to put her down?’’ Arthur asked softly and looked to Eames, tracing the edge of his coffee cup with his finger. He was sure of the fact that the only reason that he could look at Eames was because Eames didn’t look at him.
‘’Just listen to that sentence Arthur, a dog who’s fifteen year old, she was a chocolate Labrador, they usually don’t become much older than ten years. Why do you think I had to put her down? Age Arthur, she was sick.’’ Eames said, sounding more upset for every word that he spoke now and frankly, Arthur was panicking of the fact that Eames might smash something, or start yelling.
‘’Sorry.’’ Arthur murmured and looked down, wishing that he could take back what he just had said. He figured Eames was a little bit right when he jokingly said that he had about as much feelings as a robot. Eames remained silent, just shaking his head.
Arthur watched the red digits on the oven turn from 03.24 to 03.29, none of them spoke up, Eames drank of his coffee but Arthur let his cool down, he didn’t feel like drinking much more now. But he knew he had to say something, Eames almost seemed to wait for it.
‘’My mother used to say.’’ Arthur said and shifted around a bit, Eames looked up from the red coffee cup and focused those cried red eyes on him, and for once Arthur could actually return the gaze. ‘’Les morts sont toujours avec nous, d'une manière ou d'une autre. Mais certainement dans nos coeurs.’’
Eames frowned a bit, and Arthur wasn’t quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. ‘’Since when do you speak French?’’ Eames asked, and that was most definitely not the answer that Arthur had expected.
‘’I’ve always spoken French, I grew up with that language from my mom’s side.’’ Arthur said, not really understanding why it was such a wonder really.
‘’Are you from France?’’ Eames asked then, drinking a little bit more from the coffee, soon Arthur would have to refill the cup if he wanted more.
‘’No I’m not from France.’’ Arthur replied annoyed, he hated when people thought he was from France just because he spoke French. ‘’I’m from Belgium.’’
‘’They speak French in Belgium?’’ Eames questioned, just taking the matter further away from the original subject.
‘’Yes they do. Anyway!’’ Arthur said and put his cup back down on the counter and made sure that Eames wouldn’t talk up more. ‘’Translated, she would be saying; The dead are always with us, in one way or another. But definitely in our hearts.’’ Arthur said, looking to Eames who looked down again, staring into his coffee cup. Arthur looked down, silently tapping his fingers on the counter as he thought it through.
‘’Let’s get you some sleep, you look like you need it.’’ Arthur then eventually said, realizing that he had nothing more to say now. Eames seemingly wasn’t so much open for comfort and Arthur had said everything he could come up with. Eames nodded a bit and let go of the red coffee cup. Arthur took it and put it in the sink along with his own, filling it with water.
‘’I haven’t slept, for days because of this.’’ Eames said on a low tone and got of the chair. He swallowed. ‘’I haven’t slept in five days.’’ Arthur looked over his shoulder to Eames, not quite sure what to say to that. He wanted to offer Eames some sleeping pills, but he knew the other would refuse.
‘’You know where my bedroom is, just help yourself out.’’ Arthur said as he cleaned the coffee cups. He didn’t notice Eames nod, but he heard him leave the room.
~*~
By the time that Arthur had gotten into the bedroom Eames had already changed into something else and slid under the sheets, curled together and tried to sleep. Arthur hadn’t commented on it, he had just gotten back into the bed and turned his back to Eames. He might as well try to get the last few hours of sleep for the night done.
After an hour of falling asleep and waking up again, Arthur noticed that Eames was shaking behind him under the sheet. ‘’Eames.’’ Arthur said on a low tone, realizing that Eames was crying again. He nearly wanted to sigh when he realized that, but he just turned around and stroked his fingers very lightly over Eames shoulders to see just how much reaction he got.
Eames made it simple for himself and just turned around and hugged Arthur, hiding in his chest which honestly made him tense up a little bit. But he moved his arms around Eames body to hold him, stroke his hands lightly over his back.
‘’I’m sorry.’’ Arthur said. ‘’But I really don’t know what to say.’’ He moved his fingers up at the back of Eames neck, massaging his scalp lightly because he knew that it always made him relax, so he hoped it would work on Eames.
‘’Don’t worry, the important thing is that you’re trying, I think.’’ Eames mumbled straight into Arthur’s chest. Arthur nearly nodded, but he had feeling that the tension between them would drop rather quickly and that was the last thing he wanted at the moment.
‘’You can stay here for as long as you like, I’d hate to see you alone right now.’’ Arthur eventually say, stroking Eames hair straws very lightly. He felt Eames nod, then press his lips to Arthur’s chest, just above the location of his heart, for a small kiss.
Arthur swallowed, deciding that he hadn’t noticed it and would just go back to sleep, even if it was highly uncomfortable with his arms around Eames like that. But what mattered was Eames comfort right now.
~*~
Arthur kept his word.
A month later Eames was still staying with Arthur and had successfully adapted himself to Arthur’s way of living. The small kisses of Eames started to show up more frequent, a kiss in his neck when Arthur tried to fix together that spaghetti Eames loved. A kiss on his shoulder when Arthur was reading a book in the evening just before Eames would sleep. A kiss on the small of his back when Arthur didn’t want to get up in the mornings and Eames had to wake him up so he wouldn’t be late for work. Eames had later revealed that he got up that early in the morning himself just for Arthur’s sake.
Eames started to touch him with feather light fingers. Stroking the skin on his arm lightly as they watched tv, tracing every single one of his fingers. Stroking his fingers through Arthur’s hair when he was up late for work. Massaging his shoulder lightly whenever Arthur had dislocated his shoulder in his sleep (before the muscle pulled his arm back where it belonged) so the muscles would ease.
A month after he had told Eames that he could stay for as long as he liked, Arthur suggested that Eames perhaps should move in permanently, and when Eames felt like it, they could start working together. As a team.
Eames had smiled and asked Arthur if he was scared of Eames leaving him. Arthur had snickered and shook his head before looking back to his papers. He had told Eames that the thought and suggestion was purely business only. But inside he knew he was lying.
That evening Arthur had given Eames a kiss instead of the other way around. He really was scared of loosing Eames now, he liked his company far too much to let him go. He would miss someone to hold in the middle of the night, he would miss the touches and the kisses.
That evening Eames also suggested that they should be a couple. And when he saw Arthur’s confused face Eames had laughed and explained it by two other words so he would understand.
Romantically involved.
Arthur had laughed and pulled Eames in for a kiss as a reply.
~*~
Arthur had always thought he wouldn’t end up in a long happy relationship, sharing his life with just one person for the rest of his life, he was more someone who would go from one person to another whenever he felt comfortable.
But when he got home, two months after Eames had moved in with his horrible wardrobe, he saw the little puppy staring at him with those black beads of eyes.
Arthur didn’t know much about dogs, he always kept calling James and Phillipa’s dog a Dalmatian, just to have the children correct him that their dog, Mitchie, was a golden retriever. But this dog, Arthur was sure of wasn’t a Dalmatian, or a golden retriever for that sake. With all the white and grey, extremely thick, fur.
‘’Eames?’’ Arthur had asked and carefully put down his bag as if the little puppy (who looked completely harmless) could attack him any second.
‘’Yes darling?’’ Eames said, voice coming from the kitchen, and god Arthur could hear that he was happier than usual.
‘’Why is there a dog staring at me?’’ Arthur asked, he could hear Eames move around in the kitchen and barely two seconds later he showed up in the hallway. The puppy directly turning around and running towards Eames.
‘’I got him today, his name is Bowie, after David Bowie.’’ Eames said, that wide grin of his beaming as he kneeled down in front of the puppy to pick it up. Arthur smiled some as he saw that. He was sure that he was stuck in a relationship for the rest of his life. But he didn’t mind, he had the sudden urge to tell Eames he loved him.
‘’What breed is it?’’ he asked instead, determined not to forget that and actually learn something about dogs. Eames looked up, smile probably bigger then before as he realized that Arthur just practically said ‘you can keep him.’
‘’And old english sheep dog, boy you are going to love taking care of his fur when he gets bigger.’’
~*~
Thank you all for reading! :)
Comments are liked, but not needed.
Notes:
1. Yes people they do speak French in Belgium
2. All mistakes in the French are completely Google's fault
3. An old English sheep dog looks like this, so the fur really is a hassle. The puppy version of it, looks like this.
Author - sid_vicious_03
Rating - PG13
Pairings - Eames/Arthur
Word count - 3061
Warnings - None
Disclaimers - I don’t own Inception or any of the characters, sadly, but i do own the story.
Notes - Are at the bottom of the fic
Summary - One dog brought them together, and another one kept them together.
~*~
’’As much as i love bickering with you Arthur, please. Not now, just, just let me in. Please.’’ Eames voice sounded weak, or it was just Arthur’s mind that tricked him. It was three am, for all Arthur knew, Eames could be drunk. It wouldn’t be the first time that the forger had turned up drunk in the middle of the night at Arthur’s doorstep.
‘’Give me one good reason why I would Eames, last time, you smashed my glass table into pieces.’’ Arthur growled annoyed into the phone and rubbed his eyes. Hoping that Eames wouldn’t come up with any reason that was good enough, so Arthur could with a good feeling in his body turn him down and go back to bed.
‘’Arthur please!’’ Eames then shrieked into the phone, actually making Arthur flinch and in less than a second feel wide awake. And with that tone, Arthur didn’t have the backbone to say no. He didn’t have the gut for it. Not because he felt bad for it, but for he was more scared about the consequences if he said no.
‘’Alright uh, give me a second.’’ Arthur said and got out of the bed, knowing that it was wrong that he obeyed Eames just like that. Dom sure, but Eames out of all people. Arthur hung up on Eames and walked to the hallway, pressing down the button that would allow Eames to enter the building. And then he headed for the kitchen to get himself something to drink.
Coffee was his first idea, but he would head to bed again later and he would appreciate to be able to fall asleep. He would help Eames with whatever needed, push him over to the bathroom or the couch, and then head to bed again.
Eames showed up at Arthurs doorstep about two minutes later, literally leaning against the doorbell by so it seemed. That made Arthur growl and put down his glass of water and walk out to the hallway. ‘’Jesus Christ Eames you might not have a key but don’t tell me that you’ve lost your sudden ability to-‘’
Arthur’s words got stuck in his throat the second he saw him. Eames looked as if he had been sleeping on the streets for days in a row, if he even had been sleeping. His eyes were all red and Eames looked thin, as if he had been starving the last few days. Arthur’s first thought was that someone had gotten a hold of Eames, someone that wasn’t happy with that he worked in the dream sharing business. But there were no wounds to be seen. Eames shirt was wrinkled yes, but there wasn’t sign of blood.
Arthur stepped to the side and opened the door a bit wider in the process. Eames whispered a faint ‘thank you’ and entered the building, not taking of his shoes or coat, but headed directly into the kitchen. Arthur swallowed and closed the door after him, just looking down to his bare feet before he decided to walk after Eames and get that coffee, even offer him some but by the look of it Eames wouldn’t accept it.
In the kitchen, Eames had stripped of his coat slowly, neatly folding it (which caught Arthur by an even bigger surprise) and put it on the table before he sat down, covering his face with his hands. At that moment Arthur wished he had at least followed the same education that his mother had done before he shipped himself of in the army. That he at least knew a bit of psychology so he would have somewhat of an idea how to handle this situation. Because for once the brain of the point man was entirely stuck and wouldn’t get anywhere, not even give him a hypothesis.
‘’Eames?’’ Arthur asked carefully and moved closer, but slipped behind the counter so he was quick to the coffee in case he panicked, and that was exactly what he did when Eames looked up to him with those red eyes of his. And now it hit Arthur, Eames had been crying. ‘’Uh…’’ Arthur muttered, mind stuck again. ‘’Do you want some coffee?’’ Arthur tried and pointed over to the coffee maker to his right.
Eames nodded slowly and then looked down to the table, folding his hands together and pressed the backs of his thumbs against his lips. Arthur nodded as well, biting down on his lower lip which was a nervous habit he had worked years on suppressing.
The silence that came with the three more minutes until the coffee was ready was quite literally ripping Arthur’s sanity apart. By now he was wishing he never went to the military, never started the dream sharing, he was wishing that he had stayed up in the attic of his mother’s house and studied for a therapist, then this was practically a free job for him.
Arthur gave Eames a quite big cup of coffee, a red one with awful yellow dots on it that his sister had given him in protest of that he was to square. He figured it suited Eames with the taste in shirts. Himself he took a black cup with no form of decoration on it; maybe he was a bit square. The thank you that Eames gave him, sounded hoarse, which lead Arthur to the conclusion that he had to have been screaming, because the screaming he had done wouldn’t be enough.
After half of his cup of coffee, Arthur gathered together the ripped parts of his sanity and gathered his courage together. He had been working with Dominic Cobb, who’s projection of his wife enjoyed shooting and killing him. Even if it was a dream, it still hurt in his knee when he thought back of it.
‘’What happened?’’ Arthur asked, praying to god that it hadn’t been a disaster, like a family that he had kept hidden from him had been murdered, or that he was terminally ill, or something that matched up with that. Eames drank some of the coffee and then put the cup down, holding it with both hands and took his time with answering that question.
‘’I had to put down King Ellie today.’’ Eames said on a low tone and kept staring into the black liquid in his cup, it wasn’t until now that Arthur noticed Eames had his coffee without milk or sugar. But the answer baffled him a bit, he had no idea what he was talking about.
‘’What?’’ He asked carefully, but felt a little bit more at ease, if it was something that he couldn’t think of like now, then it couldn’t have been that serious, he always kept track of the serious things. And he had no idea what or who King Ellie was.
‘’I had to put down King Ellie. My dog Arthur.’’ Eames snapped and looked up to Arthur with almost furious eyes. But they softened quickly and seemed almost tearful again. And now, Arthur felt really stupid. He had even met the dog, the so called King Ellie, but he had forgotten about her since he hadn’t paid that much attention to her. And here Eames was, trying to get some comfort because Arthur knew of the dog, and then he had forgotten about her.
‘’Oh.’’ Arthur murmured, looking down and wanted to escape Eames gaze right now, filled with far too much pain that Arthur could handle. When Arthur was a kid he had owned a hamster for about four hours. He had gotten the hamster as a birthday present, and since it was his birthday he had decided that the hamster deserved some Coca-cola and candy as well. He had practically killed Poirot and had been devastated. But Eames, Eames had been the responsible owner for how long? Ten, maybe eleven years? ‘’I’m sorry.’’
Eames shook his head and looked away, one hand moving to wipe some upcoming tears away. ‘’She’s been my partner for the last fifteen years, that’s half of my life Arthur.’’ Eames muttered, and Arthur felt a pang to his chest. Okay, maybe not eleven years, fifteen, any human could make mistakes right?
‘’Why did you have to put her down?’’ Arthur asked softly and looked to Eames, tracing the edge of his coffee cup with his finger. He was sure of the fact that the only reason that he could look at Eames was because Eames didn’t look at him.
‘’Just listen to that sentence Arthur, a dog who’s fifteen year old, she was a chocolate Labrador, they usually don’t become much older than ten years. Why do you think I had to put her down? Age Arthur, she was sick.’’ Eames said, sounding more upset for every word that he spoke now and frankly, Arthur was panicking of the fact that Eames might smash something, or start yelling.
‘’Sorry.’’ Arthur murmured and looked down, wishing that he could take back what he just had said. He figured Eames was a little bit right when he jokingly said that he had about as much feelings as a robot. Eames remained silent, just shaking his head.
Arthur watched the red digits on the oven turn from 03.24 to 03.29, none of them spoke up, Eames drank of his coffee but Arthur let his cool down, he didn’t feel like drinking much more now. But he knew he had to say something, Eames almost seemed to wait for it.
‘’My mother used to say.’’ Arthur said and shifted around a bit, Eames looked up from the red coffee cup and focused those cried red eyes on him, and for once Arthur could actually return the gaze. ‘’Les morts sont toujours avec nous, d'une manière ou d'une autre. Mais certainement dans nos coeurs.’’
Eames frowned a bit, and Arthur wasn’t quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. ‘’Since when do you speak French?’’ Eames asked, and that was most definitely not the answer that Arthur had expected.
‘’I’ve always spoken French, I grew up with that language from my mom’s side.’’ Arthur said, not really understanding why it was such a wonder really.
‘’Are you from France?’’ Eames asked then, drinking a little bit more from the coffee, soon Arthur would have to refill the cup if he wanted more.
‘’No I’m not from France.’’ Arthur replied annoyed, he hated when people thought he was from France just because he spoke French. ‘’I’m from Belgium.’’
‘’They speak French in Belgium?’’ Eames questioned, just taking the matter further away from the original subject.
‘’Yes they do. Anyway!’’ Arthur said and put his cup back down on the counter and made sure that Eames wouldn’t talk up more. ‘’Translated, she would be saying; The dead are always with us, in one way or another. But definitely in our hearts.’’ Arthur said, looking to Eames who looked down again, staring into his coffee cup. Arthur looked down, silently tapping his fingers on the counter as he thought it through.
‘’Let’s get you some sleep, you look like you need it.’’ Arthur then eventually said, realizing that he had nothing more to say now. Eames seemingly wasn’t so much open for comfort and Arthur had said everything he could come up with. Eames nodded a bit and let go of the red coffee cup. Arthur took it and put it in the sink along with his own, filling it with water.
‘’I haven’t slept, for days because of this.’’ Eames said on a low tone and got of the chair. He swallowed. ‘’I haven’t slept in five days.’’ Arthur looked over his shoulder to Eames, not quite sure what to say to that. He wanted to offer Eames some sleeping pills, but he knew the other would refuse.
‘’You know where my bedroom is, just help yourself out.’’ Arthur said as he cleaned the coffee cups. He didn’t notice Eames nod, but he heard him leave the room.
~*~
By the time that Arthur had gotten into the bedroom Eames had already changed into something else and slid under the sheets, curled together and tried to sleep. Arthur hadn’t commented on it, he had just gotten back into the bed and turned his back to Eames. He might as well try to get the last few hours of sleep for the night done.
After an hour of falling asleep and waking up again, Arthur noticed that Eames was shaking behind him under the sheet. ‘’Eames.’’ Arthur said on a low tone, realizing that Eames was crying again. He nearly wanted to sigh when he realized that, but he just turned around and stroked his fingers very lightly over Eames shoulders to see just how much reaction he got.
Eames made it simple for himself and just turned around and hugged Arthur, hiding in his chest which honestly made him tense up a little bit. But he moved his arms around Eames body to hold him, stroke his hands lightly over his back.
‘’I’m sorry.’’ Arthur said. ‘’But I really don’t know what to say.’’ He moved his fingers up at the back of Eames neck, massaging his scalp lightly because he knew that it always made him relax, so he hoped it would work on Eames.
‘’Don’t worry, the important thing is that you’re trying, I think.’’ Eames mumbled straight into Arthur’s chest. Arthur nearly nodded, but he had feeling that the tension between them would drop rather quickly and that was the last thing he wanted at the moment.
‘’You can stay here for as long as you like, I’d hate to see you alone right now.’’ Arthur eventually say, stroking Eames hair straws very lightly. He felt Eames nod, then press his lips to Arthur’s chest, just above the location of his heart, for a small kiss.
Arthur swallowed, deciding that he hadn’t noticed it and would just go back to sleep, even if it was highly uncomfortable with his arms around Eames like that. But what mattered was Eames comfort right now.
~*~
Arthur kept his word.
A month later Eames was still staying with Arthur and had successfully adapted himself to Arthur’s way of living. The small kisses of Eames started to show up more frequent, a kiss in his neck when Arthur tried to fix together that spaghetti Eames loved. A kiss on his shoulder when Arthur was reading a book in the evening just before Eames would sleep. A kiss on the small of his back when Arthur didn’t want to get up in the mornings and Eames had to wake him up so he wouldn’t be late for work. Eames had later revealed that he got up that early in the morning himself just for Arthur’s sake.
Eames started to touch him with feather light fingers. Stroking the skin on his arm lightly as they watched tv, tracing every single one of his fingers. Stroking his fingers through Arthur’s hair when he was up late for work. Massaging his shoulder lightly whenever Arthur had dislocated his shoulder in his sleep (before the muscle pulled his arm back where it belonged) so the muscles would ease.
A month after he had told Eames that he could stay for as long as he liked, Arthur suggested that Eames perhaps should move in permanently, and when Eames felt like it, they could start working together. As a team.
Eames had smiled and asked Arthur if he was scared of Eames leaving him. Arthur had snickered and shook his head before looking back to his papers. He had told Eames that the thought and suggestion was purely business only. But inside he knew he was lying.
That evening Arthur had given Eames a kiss instead of the other way around. He really was scared of loosing Eames now, he liked his company far too much to let him go. He would miss someone to hold in the middle of the night, he would miss the touches and the kisses.
That evening Eames also suggested that they should be a couple. And when he saw Arthur’s confused face Eames had laughed and explained it by two other words so he would understand.
Romantically involved.
Arthur had laughed and pulled Eames in for a kiss as a reply.
~*~
Arthur had always thought he wouldn’t end up in a long happy relationship, sharing his life with just one person for the rest of his life, he was more someone who would go from one person to another whenever he felt comfortable.
But when he got home, two months after Eames had moved in with his horrible wardrobe, he saw the little puppy staring at him with those black beads of eyes.
Arthur didn’t know much about dogs, he always kept calling James and Phillipa’s dog a Dalmatian, just to have the children correct him that their dog, Mitchie, was a golden retriever. But this dog, Arthur was sure of wasn’t a Dalmatian, or a golden retriever for that sake. With all the white and grey, extremely thick, fur.
‘’Eames?’’ Arthur had asked and carefully put down his bag as if the little puppy (who looked completely harmless) could attack him any second.
‘’Yes darling?’’ Eames said, voice coming from the kitchen, and god Arthur could hear that he was happier than usual.
‘’Why is there a dog staring at me?’’ Arthur asked, he could hear Eames move around in the kitchen and barely two seconds later he showed up in the hallway. The puppy directly turning around and running towards Eames.
‘’I got him today, his name is Bowie, after David Bowie.’’ Eames said, that wide grin of his beaming as he kneeled down in front of the puppy to pick it up. Arthur smiled some as he saw that. He was sure that he was stuck in a relationship for the rest of his life. But he didn’t mind, he had the sudden urge to tell Eames he loved him.
‘’What breed is it?’’ he asked instead, determined not to forget that and actually learn something about dogs. Eames looked up, smile probably bigger then before as he realized that Arthur just practically said ‘you can keep him.’
‘’And old english sheep dog, boy you are going to love taking care of his fur when he gets bigger.’’
~*~
Thank you all for reading! :)
Comments are liked, but not needed.
Notes:
1. Yes people they do speak French in Belgium
2. All mistakes in the French are completely Google's fault
3. An old English sheep dog looks like this, so the fur really is a hassle. The puppy version of it, looks like this.
