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crack_van2011-12-24 05:21 pm
laceymcbain.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2011-12-24 05:21 pm
Comfort and Joy by delires (PG-13)
Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and so here's a present a little early: an Inception Christmas fic. Enjoy!
Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: ~ 8800 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
delires
Author Website: Fic Masterlist; Fic on AO3
Why this must be read: Delires is known for the Chav!verse, but I'm particularly fond of this Christmas fic. Arthur and Eames inadvertently develop a Christmas tradition of sorts when they end up spending one Christmas after another together (under extenuating circumstances) until Eames isn't quite sure if they have a Christmas thing or a Christmas thing. The story goes back and forth between the present, where Eames is trying to sort out what to get Arthur for Christmas and whether to get together with him, and the past four Christmases ... in Hong Kong, in a snow-filled ditch in Russia, in Las Vegas, and an awkward moment in New York.
The story's compelling because it's never certain what the outcome will be. You've got to feel for Eames in this scenario, and Arthur too in a way--neither of them is particularly good at the relationship thing and making a leap of faith is a tremendous risk. The dialogue is brilliant - this is Eames and Arthur as I like them best. Smart and contradictory, colleagues but also friends, guys who can appreciate the importance of having someone who understands their lives, and yet, still be a bit vulnerable.
Is their fifth Christmas the one that works out? You'll have to read the story to find out.
“Well. That’s that scuppered,” Eames grumbled, climbing back into the car and jerking the door shut behind him.
“No go?”
“No.”
“Want me to have a look?”
“Unless you can use that condescending stare of yours to weld metal, we are not going anywhere, Arthur. I can tell a write-off when I see one.”
Arthur held up placating hands.
“Hey. I’m not the one with a relationship hanging in the balance,” he said, and Eames could sense the implication of superiority in his voice.
In hindsight, it was not something which Eames should ever have agreed to. But he liked Sarah more than most of the people he had been with. She was quiet and calm and felt like someone worth hanging onto. So, when he had been leaving for Russia and Sarah had told him to be back by Christmas Day or she would be unceremoniously throwing him over for that guy from her office, Eames had agreed. At the time, being back in London by Christmas had seemed both reasonable and manageable. At the time, Eames had severely overestimated himself.
Arthur would, his tone implied, never be so foolish as to tie himself into such ridiculous romantic ultimatums.
There was no phone signal and nowhere to go in the middle of a blizzard, so they spent an hour huddled in their parkas, drinking their way through the bottle of vodka which Eames had been taking back to London as a present.
“This is so tragic,” Arthur said. “I am going to die here. On Christmas Eve.” He turned and narrowed his eyes at Eames. “With you.”
Eames shifted a little in his seat, trying to pull his arms closer in to his body.
“Well. You do know what they say is the best way to conserve body heat, don’t you?” he said, and let his smile go a little dirty.
“No,” Arthur said, shaking his head. “We are not doing that.”
“Why not?”
“Because conserving heat doesn’t work like that, which I know you know anyway. But mostly, it is because I won’t have every Christmas of my life be all about drunk sex,” Arthur said, raising the half-empty vodka bottle to his lips, “Because that is not classy.”
Eames watched Arthur drink and held out a gloved hand for the bottle to be passed back to him.
“Bloody hell,” he said. “Every Christmas of your life? What kind of childhood did you have?”
“Not my childhood Christmases, obviously,” Arthur said, thrusting the bottle at Eames. “Goddamnit. Why do you always trap me into saying such ridiculous shit?”
Eames grinned.
On LJ: Comfort and Joy
On AO3: Comfort and Joy
It doesn't matter how old or new or (how popular) a story is, authors love feedback!
Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: ~ 8800 words
Author on LJ:
deliresAuthor Website: Fic Masterlist; Fic on AO3
Why this must be read: Delires is known for the Chav!verse, but I'm particularly fond of this Christmas fic. Arthur and Eames inadvertently develop a Christmas tradition of sorts when they end up spending one Christmas after another together (under extenuating circumstances) until Eames isn't quite sure if they have a Christmas thing or a Christmas thing. The story goes back and forth between the present, where Eames is trying to sort out what to get Arthur for Christmas and whether to get together with him, and the past four Christmases ... in Hong Kong, in a snow-filled ditch in Russia, in Las Vegas, and an awkward moment in New York.
The story's compelling because it's never certain what the outcome will be. You've got to feel for Eames in this scenario, and Arthur too in a way--neither of them is particularly good at the relationship thing and making a leap of faith is a tremendous risk. The dialogue is brilliant - this is Eames and Arthur as I like them best. Smart and contradictory, colleagues but also friends, guys who can appreciate the importance of having someone who understands their lives, and yet, still be a bit vulnerable.
Is their fifth Christmas the one that works out? You'll have to read the story to find out.
“Well. That’s that scuppered,” Eames grumbled, climbing back into the car and jerking the door shut behind him.
“No go?”
“No.”
“Want me to have a look?”
“Unless you can use that condescending stare of yours to weld metal, we are not going anywhere, Arthur. I can tell a write-off when I see one.”
Arthur held up placating hands.
“Hey. I’m not the one with a relationship hanging in the balance,” he said, and Eames could sense the implication of superiority in his voice.
In hindsight, it was not something which Eames should ever have agreed to. But he liked Sarah more than most of the people he had been with. She was quiet and calm and felt like someone worth hanging onto. So, when he had been leaving for Russia and Sarah had told him to be back by Christmas Day or she would be unceremoniously throwing him over for that guy from her office, Eames had agreed. At the time, being back in London by Christmas had seemed both reasonable and manageable. At the time, Eames had severely overestimated himself.
Arthur would, his tone implied, never be so foolish as to tie himself into such ridiculous romantic ultimatums.
There was no phone signal and nowhere to go in the middle of a blizzard, so they spent an hour huddled in their parkas, drinking their way through the bottle of vodka which Eames had been taking back to London as a present.
“This is so tragic,” Arthur said. “I am going to die here. On Christmas Eve.” He turned and narrowed his eyes at Eames. “With you.”
Eames shifted a little in his seat, trying to pull his arms closer in to his body.
“Well. You do know what they say is the best way to conserve body heat, don’t you?” he said, and let his smile go a little dirty.
“No,” Arthur said, shaking his head. “We are not doing that.”
“Why not?”
“Because conserving heat doesn’t work like that, which I know you know anyway. But mostly, it is because I won’t have every Christmas of my life be all about drunk sex,” Arthur said, raising the half-empty vodka bottle to his lips, “Because that is not classy.”
Eames watched Arthur drink and held out a gloved hand for the bottle to be passed back to him.
“Bloody hell,” he said. “Every Christmas of your life? What kind of childhood did you have?”
“Not my childhood Christmases, obviously,” Arthur said, thrusting the bottle at Eames. “Goddamnit. Why do you always trap me into saying such ridiculous shit?”
Eames grinned.
On LJ: Comfort and Joy
On AO3: Comfort and Joy
It doesn't matter how old or new or (how popular) a story is, authors love feedback!