protect this house, by atomicskull (R)

[bookshop.livejournal.com]

Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: protect this house (archived Pinboard cache); Public mirror - PG
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: 6,005
Author on LJ: atomicskull
Author Website: N/A; some inception fics have been cached on Pinboard and mirrored here
Why this must be read: It's no coincidence two of my favorite Arthur/Eames fics both center around Fashion Week, considering what a huge role clothes play in this fandom, and how decidedly opposed Arthur and Eames' dress senses are to each other. This fic is likewise the polar opposite of the tequilideas fic, quiet and oh, so subtle, while still being wrapped in layers of desire and love, and the ever-present conflict between the need to protect your heart and the need to let in the one you love most.

As you might have guessed, it's a fic about fashion week that's not really about fashion week at all.

atomicskull's writing is beautiful and compelling, and she is much missed.

They don’t see each other for over a year. Eames still sends Arthur picture text messages of things he finds amusing (“found this in LA” with a picture of a sticker on the back of a stop sigh that reads, above a graphic rendition of the character – fuck you, I’m Batman.) and Arthur still sends Eames post cards that are blank save for one single little – A.

But they don’t see each other. Eames doesn’t fly over a thousand miles for sex. It’s nice, sort of. (If he’s denying it.)

That is, until Eames lets himself realizes that he likes chasing Arthur across the globe, and he always got the impression it was the same for Arthur to go to Eames.

They should see each other about six months into that year, but Arthur is not at Mal’s funeral. He’s with Dom, making sure Dom doesn’t follow his wife off some high up ledge, tucked away in some country where he can’t be extradited. Arthur’s the only thing holding Dom together, right now.

Eames gets a postcard from Macedonia one day, and when he flips it over he’s surprised to see that there’s writing on the back.

Mal told me once, when we were possibly on the wrong side of too many glasses of wine in Cannes, that she hoped that you and I would get married in her lifetime. I think what I’m feeling right now (and it’s hard to tell, I’m going to regret this postcard in the morning as much as I’m going to regret the vodka straight from the bottle) is regret.

- A.

It’s not the first time in his life that Eames has wondered if he loves Arthur, but this time it hurts.

protect this house: archived Pinboard cache; Public mirror