Title: Standard Lines
Rating: PG
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Spoilers: Inception
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: They belong to Christopher Nolan, no matter how much I wish they belonged to me.
Summary: Arthur and Eames break up. Or do they?
Author's Notes: It's short, I know.
"It's for the best."
Arthur wants to rip his tongue right out of his horrible, slanderous mouth.
"Yeah, it never would have worked anyway."
Eames stares at the ground, because there is no way he could ever look Arthur in the face and agree to this.
"We're just too different. I mean, I'm too uptight, too clingy. And you're so, you know..."
Fantastic. Incredible. Perfect. These are the adjectives Arthur's heart is screaming.
"Of course. I'm too wishy-washy, commitment isn't really my thing."
But that's not true, because Arthur is the only thing Eames has ever wanted. The only thing he'll ever want.
Eames walks toward the door of Arthur's apartment hesitantly, not quite ready to leave. Once he walks out that door, it's over. There is no going back. He's not ready for that. Arthur follows him, opening the door and feeling as though his whole world is going to fall apart the moment the forger is on the opposite side and the lock slides into place.
"I'll mail your things to you, if you forgot anything."
Eames doesn't dare look at Arthur, for fear that his tear ducts will betray him and allow the salty tears to flow.
"Thanks. And...uh...take care of yourself, Arthur."
Arthur's chest feels as though someone is grasping his heart with an iron fist.
"You too, Eames."
Eames nods his head and steps through the threshhold, waiting for the inevitable barrier to come between them. He takes a deep breath and turns to look at the point man one last time, just as Arthur is closing the door.
Arthur slides the lock into place and allows his knees to give, his hands cradling his now tear-soaked face, as he collapses to the floor.
On the other side of the door, Eames is just staring. He stares at the door as if it holds all the secrets to the universe and wishes for the ground to swallow him whole. He's not certain that he could move from this spot if he were forced to do so.
They stay this way for a while. Neither moves. Eames is lost in the shock of the decision he made and Arthur is lost in the grief of allowing Eames to walk out of his life.
Arthur's heart skips a beat and he has a fleeting feeling that he should open the door. It's unexplainable, but unavoidable. It's not a choice to be made, it's fate. He tells himself that if he opens the door and Eames is still there, he's going to pull him back into the room and never let him go.
Eames turns to walk down the hallway of the apartment complex, when he hears the soft click of the door's lock. He turns around, thinking he's certainly imagining things now. Arthur made his decision, he's a man of his word. He doesn't change his mind.
The point man steps out of his apartment and stares at the forger,with tears staining his face, and his dark brown locks disheveled. Neither of them say a word, they just stare.
Finally, Arthur steps forward and nearly yells, "What if we're wrong?"
Eames feels a tug on his heart, as though the heavens are pulling him in the direction of Arthur, but he doesn't move. Not yet.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what if...what if all these things we think make us too different for one another, actually make us exactly right for each other?"
Eames smirks and replies, "You mean, what if your obsessive compulsive behavior is the perfect balance to my smart mouth?"
Arthur smiles and feels as though he can breathe for the first time in days.
"Precisely. What if I love you more for every annoying habit, every smart remark, every ridiculous decision you make?"
The forger breaks the distance between them, taking the point man's face into his hands and kissing him as though he were the most precious gift the world had to offer.
"And what if there's nothing in this universe that I want more than to wake up to you drinking coffee and reading the paper, ironing your suits, and correcting all my grammar mistakes?"
Arthur laughs lightly, taking Eames by the hand, and walks toward his apartment. Once they are inside, he pushes Eames up against the closed door and whispers, "You really should work on your grammar."
Eames chuckles and plants a kiss on Arthur's neck. "But then, what would you do with your spare time, darling?"
Arthur's hands find Eames' belt buckle and he begins to loosen it.
"Oh, I could think of a thing or two."