Amuse-Bouche - Art Masterpost
Title: Amuse-Bouche
Author: bauble
Artist: dumbimps
Rating: PG-13; slightly NSFW due to bare chests
Comments: This is for the inception_bang challenge. It was wonderful working with such a talented author again, and I'm very lucky that she was so patient and understanding. Thanks also go to Shu, Bernie, and Cecelia for helping me out! Everyone is amazing. ♥♥♥
"Oh, for the love of-" Arthur breaks into a sprint, makes his way past the reporters to the stage, putting both hands underneath Eames' armpits and hauling him bodily out of his chair. Eames stumbles, but finally seems to break out of his trance, and Arthur wraps an arm around his waist to half-drag, half-run him out of the falling balloon's trajectory.
"Oh no, that's quite alright. You are free to wear whatever you'd like-I'm certainly not one to censor sartorial expression." Eames moves a little closer, and Arthur can see that the pattern on Eames' shirt is actually made up of cut-outs forming a peacock fan, revealing a wide expanse of well-defined chest and abs beneath. A part of Arthur wants to reach out and touch, possibly lick at the intriguing flash of nipple he sees. He promptly quashes that part.
The band begins to play and Eames begins to sing in earnest, backup dancers swarming around him in synchronized worship, crawling up and down his body to undo the buckles of his straightjacket. Once all the buckles are undone, he throws it off to reveal black leather pants and a vest made up of what appear to be chains, the vee down to his belly button, revealing all the planes of his muscular chest. Arthur knows they're not chains-merely intricately threaded silvery fibers-but from a distance, it's impossible to tell.
After the game is concluded (there's a tie), Eames drifts away from the other people. "Arthur?" he says, fingers holding onto the edge of the pool as he peers up.
Arthur kneels down by the edge of the pool. "Yes, Eames?"
"Then why-" Arthur stops when she clicks another link, a video filling the screen while upbeat, fast-paced music comes on. There's some Japanese narration before Eames appears, wearing a tight white leather jacket and pants, gyrating on some kind of stage. Behind him is a sea of animated radishes, laughing and twirling as he pauses to take a long sip of the energy drink that appears in his hand. This runs for about thirty seconds, with phrases appearing in the background above the radishes like, 'Boost your creative juices!' and 'Yum yums!'
At the end of the commercial, Eames thrusts the bottle forward while grinning toothily at the camera and says, "Tastes good!"
Arthur stares glassily as Eames reaches down to trace Arthur's mouth with a still-gloved thumb. "Yes sir," Eames whispers, as if for Arthur. "We'll have…"
Arthur strains upwards as Eames bends down. "A real good…" The words brush against Arthur's lips as they close the distance. "Time."
"Are you certain you want to talk about this?" Eames looks up at last, and his expression is careful, guarded. "There are some doors we can't close, even if we never walk through them."
"If we're going to keep working together, we need to be on the same page. And I-" Arthur hesitates. "I care about you, Eames. I don't want to mess this up."
Eames opens the box, his mouth forms a soft 'o' in surprise. "This is-these are…"
"They're water dragons," Arthur says as Eames takes out one heavy gold cufflink. "I watched an interview where you were talking about your tattoos, and about the Chinese legend that if a koi could swim up the river and successfully climb the waterfalls, it would become a dragon. I thought-" Arthur swallows. "Maybe it was time you had something to commemorate all the waterfalls you've climbed." As soon as the words are out, he cringes, "Oh god, that sounded so much better in my head on the plane. I-"
Author: bauble
Artist: dumbimps
Rating: PG-13; slightly NSFW due to bare chests
Comments: This is for the inception_bang challenge. It was wonderful working with such a talented author again, and I'm very lucky that she was so patient and understanding. Thanks also go to Shu, Bernie, and Cecelia for helping me out! Everyone is amazing. ♥♥♥
"Oh, for the love of-" Arthur breaks into a sprint, makes his way past the reporters to the stage, putting both hands underneath Eames' armpits and hauling him bodily out of his chair. Eames stumbles, but finally seems to break out of his trance, and Arthur wraps an arm around his waist to half-drag, half-run him out of the falling balloon's trajectory.
"Oh no, that's quite alright. You are free to wear whatever you'd like-I'm certainly not one to censor sartorial expression." Eames moves a little closer, and Arthur can see that the pattern on Eames' shirt is actually made up of cut-outs forming a peacock fan, revealing a wide expanse of well-defined chest and abs beneath. A part of Arthur wants to reach out and touch, possibly lick at the intriguing flash of nipple he sees. He promptly quashes that part.
The band begins to play and Eames begins to sing in earnest, backup dancers swarming around him in synchronized worship, crawling up and down his body to undo the buckles of his straightjacket. Once all the buckles are undone, he throws it off to reveal black leather pants and a vest made up of what appear to be chains, the vee down to his belly button, revealing all the planes of his muscular chest. Arthur knows they're not chains-merely intricately threaded silvery fibers-but from a distance, it's impossible to tell.
After the game is concluded (there's a tie), Eames drifts away from the other people. "Arthur?" he says, fingers holding onto the edge of the pool as he peers up.
Arthur kneels down by the edge of the pool. "Yes, Eames?"
"Then why-" Arthur stops when she clicks another link, a video filling the screen while upbeat, fast-paced music comes on. There's some Japanese narration before Eames appears, wearing a tight white leather jacket and pants, gyrating on some kind of stage. Behind him is a sea of animated radishes, laughing and twirling as he pauses to take a long sip of the energy drink that appears in his hand. This runs for about thirty seconds, with phrases appearing in the background above the radishes like, 'Boost your creative juices!' and 'Yum yums!'
At the end of the commercial, Eames thrusts the bottle forward while grinning toothily at the camera and says, "Tastes good!"
Arthur stares glassily as Eames reaches down to trace Arthur's mouth with a still-gloved thumb. "Yes sir," Eames whispers, as if for Arthur. "We'll have…"
Arthur strains upwards as Eames bends down. "A real good…" The words brush against Arthur's lips as they close the distance. "Time."
"Are you certain you want to talk about this?" Eames looks up at last, and his expression is careful, guarded. "There are some doors we can't close, even if we never walk through them."
"If we're going to keep working together, we need to be on the same page. And I-" Arthur hesitates. "I care about you, Eames. I don't want to mess this up."
Eames opens the box, his mouth forms a soft 'o' in surprise. "This is-these are…"
"They're water dragons," Arthur says as Eames takes out one heavy gold cufflink. "I watched an interview where you were talking about your tattoos, and about the Chinese legend that if a koi could swim up the river and successfully climb the waterfalls, it would become a dragon. I thought-" Arthur swallows. "Maybe it was time you had something to commemorate all the waterfalls you've climbed." As soon as the words are out, he cringes, "Oh god, that sounded so much better in my head on the plane. I-"