Fic: Take You Home
Title: Take You Home (1/1)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2589
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, especially not these characters, or Inception.
Author's Notes: I've had this mostly finished for over a month, but I've put off posting it. It feels unfinished to me for some reason, but I can't figure it out. So I've given up, and am posting it. Totally unbeta'd so any mistakes are my own. Please comment!
Take You Home
It’s always Eames that makes them move in the end. Ironically, he’s also the one that makes them decide to stay in whatever new place they have settled down in, running around and finding the best restaurants and stores and people. He’s the one who drags Arthur to the most architecturally pleasing spots, and makes him fall in love with wherever they are.
But, without fail, within five or six months, Eames gets restless, and finds some reason to move on.
∞
In that small town in Connecticut (Breckview? Maycrest?) it was the people. Eames absolutely adored the people. They were the nosy type (his type, as Arthur would point out), and in the first week they were there, they had to have met nearly everyone in the town, just from the tidal wave of housewarming gifts. All of the old women were enamored with Eames, while the middle-aged housewives eyed Arthur (which prompted the latter to wrap his hand around Eames’ in a subtle way of saying I’m very taken).
Arthur warms up to the colonial architecture, and he likes waking up to the sound of the water hitting the rocks outside of their home. It’s one of the few places where they have a house, instead of an apartment, and he loves that feeling of having a space, a building, that is entirely their own. It’s not anything big, or fancy, but it’s theirs, and Arthur loves almost anything that he shares with Eames.
“I think we need a new couch,” Eames said once as Arthur walked into the living room.
“Why? It’s not like that one’s broken,” Arthur replied absentmindedly as he poured himself a cup of tea.
“I don’t think this one is wide enough,” Eames huffed, trying to get comfortable on said couch. “Not for napping, and certainly not for all the things I’d like to do to you.”
Arthur rolled his eyes, “We have a bed for that reason.”
“What if one of the things I want to do specifically requires a couch? Huh? What then?” Eames asked, sitting up and pouting.
Arthur smirked, putting down his tea and walking over to Eames. He rested his hands on his shoulders, and carefully straddled the older man. “Well, then I’ll just have to show you how much those yoga classes I’ve been taking can help us out with that problem.”
(Eames never complained about the couch again.)
Naturally, the same thing that made Eames decide that this was the place to stay was the thing that made him ready to leave. Kind old Mrs. Anderson, the one who brought them casseroles and cakes almost weekly began to poke and prod and question, the kinds of questions they could never answer. “What do you do for a living? Why are you currently unemployed? How are you managing to live in such comfort without a job?”
Eames wished he could answer her honestly, mostly because she reminded him of his grandmother, but he carefully evaded her questions, turning them around as new questions, about her grandchildren and her crafts and anything else that would keep her occupied. He went home that night, and started to slowly make plans, to remember which things went in what section of labeled boxes. He didn’t say anything to Arthur though, not that time (to be honest, he doesn’t tell Arthur about anything Mrs. Anderson asked, it ended up being unimportant).
What really makes him decide it’s time to go is the new neighbor. He’s not technically a neighbor, but the town’s small enough that everyone considers its inhabitants to be neighbors to them, and he unnerves Eames. He doesn’t say anything, or do anything, but he stares at them, and Eames knows that Arthur gets the same feeling about the guy (and Arthur’s feelings? Eames has learned that they are never wrong).
They’re packed up and gone within a week.
(They keep the house though, they always do, and six years later, they return for a summer and get married.)
∞
In New York, it’s the jobs. Eames doesn’t quite know what it is about the people of New York City, but there is never a lack of jobs for people in the extraction business, especially if you’re known as the best Point Man and Forger money can buy (and really, they are the best). Arthur always reminds him that if they wanted to, they would never have to work again, but they both know what is there unspoken (neither can bear to give it up).
They see Cobb and Mal in New York, they’re just passing through, showing Phillipa (who’s only two, and will never remember it) the sites. Mal is glowing, having just found out about being pregnant with James, and Eames wonders if he’s ever seen people look so happy.
As they walked in Central Park, Mal poked Arthur in the ribs, chastising Eames, “Do you ever feed him? He’s too skinny.”
“Mal, I can take care of myself, honestly,” Arthur protested. Both Eames and Mal ignored him as they began to argue about what Arthur should be eating, and trying to figure out the finer points of his dietary requirements.
“Let them go,” Cobb told Arthur softly. “Mal just worries, we’ve known you for far too long, and she’s always going to worry about you.”
“And what’s your excuse for Eames?” Arthur raised an eyebrow, knowing that there wasn’t an adequate answer.
Cobb shrugged, “Eames will use any reason to talk about you.” Arthur ducked his head, blushing, and Cobb added, “It’s not a bad thing.”
“I know,” Arthur murmured. “I know.”
They stay in New York an abnormally long time, a whole year. They stay long enough to be invited to dinner with their neighbors, and even babysit their kids a few times. Long enough that the workers at the coffee shop a block down recognize them, and slip them their coffee for free whenever the owner’s not around (which is quite often).
After a while, the constant stream of jobs was exhausting. It was great to have enormous amounts of money saved up (ridiculously enormous amounts), but really, Eames liked to have at least a week every month to himself, if not the entire month. And, he hadn’t been able to take Arthur out since the second month they were living there. Eames liked taking Arthur out, because everyone was always extremely jealous over how absolutely perfect Arthur was, so yeah. Eames was done with New York.
Which is exactly what Eames told Arthur after their last job, “I’m done with New York.”
Arthur let out a long tortured sigh, “Finally.”
(They return every once in a while, just to see those old neighbors, and their friends at the coffee shop.)
∞
In Rome, it’s the food. Eames honestly cannot get enough of it, and he knows Arthur loves it too (though, unlike Eames, he would never decide to live somewhere based solely on the culinary aspects of the place). They go out to eat at least once every day (usually twice, maybe three times), but mostly, they spend a lot of time in their apartment, sprawled out in bed together. Once in a while, they would have long conversations, rambling, and sometimes embarrassing (especially for Eames).
“You know how I realized that I was completely gone for you?” He asked one day, as Arthur traced one of his tattoos.
Arthur chuckled, going along with the trail of thought, “How?”
“I realized that I found everything about you attractive,” Eames explained, shaking his head. “The last straw was when I realized I found your teeth attractive.”
“You’re not serious.”
“Oh, darling, I sadly am very serious about this,” Eames answered sadly. “It was awful. Remember that impromptu trip to Vegas I took a few months before we got together? That was me trying to convince myself that I wasn’t in love with you.”
“You could’ve saved a lot of money if you would’ve just faced the truth,” Arthur mused. “But I guess there’s no fun in that.”
“No, not at all,” Eames grinned, pushing Arthur back, and rolling on top of him. “Anyways, I quite like how this turned out.”
Arthur leaned up to kiss him, “Me too.”
Eames gets tired of having to work out every day to stay in shape after three months. He loves the food (more than he should, really), but it’s not fair that Arthur has a metabolism teenage girls dream of. He doesn’t have to run and lift weights to make sure he looks good (not that he would ever tell Arthur how worried about it he is, but come on, have you seen some of those Italian men? It’s a lot to compete with). He tells Arthur that he’s bored, wants more jobs (which, from Arthur’s raised eyebrows, he does not believe), and that they should move.
(They return every year for their anniversary.)
∞
Eames isn’t particularly sure about what draws him to Mombasa, and he doesn’t really care to think about it too much (and it obviously doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Arthur deems it the one place where it is too hot to wear a suit every single day).
Unfortunately, only a few weeks after arriving in Mombasa, Mal dies, and Arthur stays with Cobb after the funeral. Eames stays in Mombasa, even though he gets restless at the three month mark (and nearly pulls out his hair by month eight), but he refuses to move to somewhere that Arthur won’t be able to find him at (never mind the fact that they have somewhere between eight and twelve homes scattered around the globe). He hasn’t heard from Arthur since the funeral, because he is known to be Cobb’s Point Man, and Cobb is on the run, and he can’t give away their position (and Eames knows this, but couldn’t Arthur give some kind of indication he was still alive? That’s all he needed).
When Cobb appears, Eames expects him to say something along the lines of “I’m sorry, but I got your Soulmate killed. Please do not think of creative ways of killing me, I have kids.” Instead, Eames spots Cobb’s tail, and keeps an eye on him as Cobb explains the job (inception, the man truly is insane), and manages to get a casual question about Arthur in (who is, thankfully, very alive). He doesn’t quite ponder the thought of actually getting to see Arthur again until they are safely on one of Saito’s private jets, did not even allow himself to think of it when they were going to get Yusuf.
(They don’t ever return to the Mombasa flat. Eames will later joke that it’s the one place Arthur just couldn’t live, because it’s too painful to talk about the real reason they never really spent time together there.)
∞
During the Inception Job, Eames happily revisits his favorite Paris pastime: People watching. Because, honestly, Parisians were a very odd breed and Eames couldn’t pass up the opportunity to observe them (this happens when he is out “running” in the morning). Eames has a feeling Arthur knows exactly what he is doing, but Arthur has always been nice enough to indulge him in whatever he finds charming about their location (sometimes, Arthur will even join him).
But, despite his morning “runs,” Eames doesn’t get that much time to people watch, between plans and reacquainting himself with the more sensitive parts of Arthur’s body (“Eight months, love. I’m sure Cobb doesn’t expect us to actually show up at work for at least a week. Minimum”). Especially once they really start going under to practice building the dreams that they will be using, and both Arthur and Eames get home so exhausted (even after sleeping all day) that they don’t have the energy to eat, let alone devote time to leisurely activities (unless, Eames argues almost every night, they involve Arthur, naked, in their bed).
Yusuf does not really appreciate hearing all of this while Arthur and Ariadne are building dreamscapes together. He especially does not appreciate hearing how jealous Eames is that the aforementioned pair are sharing dreams alone together.
“Do you know how long it’s been since Arthur and I shared a dream?” Eames said mournfully. “A year. An entire year. What if he’s getting tired of sharing dreams with me? What if he’d rather share dreams with someone else?”
Yusuf rubs his eyes, pretending for a moment that he is not actually listening to such a pathetic rant before answering, “You act as if it’s tantamount to cheating on you or something. And he’s not even doing it by choice right now, it’s for a job.”
“But. But.” Eames stuttered for a moment, trying to find a good argument, “A year Yusuf.”
“Why don’t you tell Arthur these things? I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to share a dream or two with you,” Yusuf offered logically.
“But we’re on a job. I can’t have him wasting his time when he should be doing something restful,” Eames whined.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Yusuf sighed, exasperated.
“I just want you to say anything!”
Yusuf leaves the room looking for a shot of anything (and no, he does not care about Cobb’s rules).
Eames stares after him angrily for a second, before tipping Arthur’s chair over abruptly and walking away before he was fully awake.
When they leave for the Inception Job, they ship everything they need to their home in L.A.
(Later, Paris will be the setting for their most intimate dream sharing experiences, and reserved for those moments alone.)
∞
They stay in L.A. for quite a while, just for the sole reason that they are both emotionally and physically drained after the Inception. There’s no reason to move, no one is chasing after them, and no one is quite sniffing around too much yet (though Eames keeps an ear out for when the rumors of the Inception become more concrete).
They get so lazy that for a time, they get their groceries delivered every other week, and spend the off week eating take out. This phase only lasts about a month before Ariadne visits them, and drags them both into the shower (fully clothed).
They leave only two months later.
(They return here most often, to see Phillipa and James and make Cobb laugh in the presence of people who are not his children.)
∞
“I hope this isn’t prying too much,” Ariadne starts one day, and Arthur rolls his eyes (because as if that ever stopped her before), but she continues, “But I never truly understood why you never get upset over constantly uprooting your life to go along with what Eames wants.”
Arthur paused for a moment, leaning back in his chair and staring out at the horizon where the sun is setting, “It’s not safe to get complacent in our line of work. Eames’ restlessness almost doubles as a safety precaution.” Ariadne nodded, pretending to understand (but she really was thinking about how no one was going to take down Arthur and Eames, complacent or not).
Truthfully, Arthur never really minded the constant moving, didn’t even think about it much, because honestly, he doesn’t care about where they live.
(Honestly, Arthur would live anywhere if it meant he was still with Eames. Of course, if anyone actually said this out loud, they wouldn’t be able to say anything ever again, so this goes unspoken.)