Here's a short little drabble I wrote a couple of weeks ago for
cherrybina's Fluff Meme based on a wonderful
comic by xkcd.
You are not the light of my life. Making you happy is not my greatest dream. Your smile is not all I live for. I’ve got my own stuff going on. But you’re strange and fascinating and I’ve never met anyone like you. I want to give you everything… just to see what you will do with it.
They’ll never be like Mal and Dom. They don’t have that all-consuming, dangerous passion that caused the Cobbs to fall into Limbo and never fully return.
Mal and Dom used to spend hours gazing into each other’s eyes. If Arthur tried that, Eames would probably ask him if he was feeling ill.
Eames is not Arthur’s whole life. Arthur likes opera music and fine suits. He likes the satisfaction of peering into every facet of someone’s life and knowing all their dirty secrets. He likes Mombasa more than he will ever admit to Eames, but he truly prefers places that see snow. He likes these things, and he doesn’t need Eames to enjoy them.
It’s nice to go a little out of his way to watch Eames’ face light up. But the fact of the matter is, they’ve both got their own interests and passions and they simply don’t have the time to count each other’s eyelashes and write love letters late into the night. It’s why so many people mistake what they have together as casual. They don’t know that Arthur and Eames have had a house in LA for three years now, that they’ve talked about marriage, that they’ve been in love for over half a decade and have no intentions of ever calling it quits.
Because even though Eames is not Arthur’s whole life, he’s a pretty damn important part of it. He’s never met anyone like Eames, never met anyone who could get under his skin the way Eames can. Eames completely fascinates and baffles him. He’s known Eames for over a decade, and he can still manage to surprise Arthur.
You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling. Eames always dreams bigger. He never ceases to amaze Arthur with his brilliance, whether he’s pulling a rocket launcher out of thin air or thumbing through a battered copy of East of Eden, sitting in his favorite armchair.
And the best part of all is when he can surprise Eames back. Zero-gravity kicks or licking ice cream off the corner of Eames’ mouth, it doesn’t matter.
No, Eames is not Arthur’s whole life. But Arthur’s going to love him for the rest of it.
Masterlist (Why yes, I am proud of finishing this.)