Disclaimer: if they're mine, they'll be on a merry chase by now, naked!
New bee here, pls judge me but tenderly~~
Arthur didn't want to call him, no he absolutely didn't. It was only because Cobb asked, and his speeding heartbeat had nothing to do with the phone call. Yet when it switched to the voicemail, he felt a drop of his stomach.
"Eames, this is Arthur, are you still alive? Anyway, Ariadne's birthday is next week, we're going to throw a surprise party for her, remember to show up on time." He hang up the phone, restraining himself from calling the forger again.
It was Ariadne's birthday that day, even Saito managed to find time between his world domination plans, but Eames still hadn't been heard of. Arthur might have stared at the warehouse door a little bit too long, but he told himself it was only because Ariadne might suddenly burst in and he had to stop her, not because he was waiting for someone, definitely not. And he totally didn't smile when the world's best forger showed up in front of the door, with a garishly wrapped box in his hand.
"Sweet pie, miss me?" Eames grinned, placing a chaste kiss on Arthur's cheek.
"Nice to see you still alive, Mr. Eames." He tried his best to sound pissed at his new pet name and pushed Eames away, "you didn't call."
"I was told to show up on time, that's what I did, isn't it?" Eames' arms were still loosely wrapped around Arthur, "specificity, remember? Arthur."
"I wasn't ..."
"Make yourself useful!" Cobb yelled from a distance, sending death glares to Eames as if that could warn him off Arthur, "We have a party to prepare."
"Yusuf!" Cobb suddenly turned around and yelled even louder to the chemist, "I saw that! Don't you dare to put it in the drinks!"
"I'd better go fetch Ariadne," Arthur slapped away Eames' hands, heading to the door. A frustrating Cobb and an Eames were more than he wanted to handle. For the record, he was happy because it was Ariadne's birthday, not because Eames actually showed up.
"What happened? Something wrong with my maze?" She walked behind Arthur, who looked rather nervous.
"Cobb asked for you, I don't know what's wrong." Arthur speeded up just enough to make her run a little. So when they opened the warehouse door, a breathless and blushing Ariadne was almost swept off her feet when the gang shouted "SURPRISE!" to her.
"Happy birthday," Arthur gave her a mischievous smile.
"Oh guys " she tried to catch up her breath, her face grew even redder, but now she was laughing happily, "I don't know what to say."
"Alright young lady," Eames interrupted, "just say 'let's start the party'."
Cobb brought out the cake, it has a whipped cream glossing and some pineapples stuffed in between. Each of them took a slice and went to sit around the now empty working table, waiting for Cobb's toast. Eames dragged a chair and settled beside Arthur. He happily leaned towards Arthur's direction as if the warehouse did not have enough space, elbow touching Arthur's.
"What " Arthur's complaint was interrupted by Yusuf's suggestion to sing the birthday song. The Brit winked at him and started to sing along with the crew. His voice is low and a little hoarse, making his accent stand out even more. Arthur did not stare at his lips, really.
After a brief toast given by Cobb, the team was anxious to give Ariadne her birthday presents. Cobb got her an antique book on mazes. Yusuf a bottle of self-formulated perfume, Ariadne looked a little terrified when the chemist asked her to try some on. Saito's present was an evening dress, a little too exposed for her liking. Cobb glared at him: "She's not one of your mistresses." "Of course not, or I'll give her sexy lingerie."
Eames gave her a necklace in blue and gold: "You should show that neck of yours instead of hide it behind scarves."
Arthur hesitated for a moment before handing her his gift. It was a pair of earrings, also in blue and gold.
"Hey, they match with my necklace." Eames pointed out, "Looks like we have the same kind of taste in jewelries, I wonder if we can share some other things too." he smiled at Arthur innocently. Arthur was sure Eames got that necklace just to embarrass him, although he wasn't quite sure how.
Arthur started to feel relaxed when half of the champagne Saito kindly provided was consumed. Eames was still sitting too close to be comfortable, but he could now choose to ignore him. If he felt hot, it was obviously because of the champagne, not because of the body heat from the person beside him.
"So how's the cake?" Cobb asked casually, sipping Saito's expensive champagne, very much contented.
"Tastes like Eames."
Oh.
OH.
Fuck.
Arthur could not help but noticing the sudden silence of the team, everyone was staring at him, and no one cared that Cobb was choking on his champagne.
A piece of cake fell off his fork as he looked around the team, it almost stained his tie.
"Um I mean "Arthur struggled to come up with an explanation.
"We know what you mean," Ariadne giggled, she was very drunk, "so how does Eames taste?"
"No! I didn't "Arthur felt his flawless calm falling apart like a collapsing dream.
"Oh, darling" Eames put an arm over his shoulder, "You don't have to. I always know you've got a sweet spot for me."
"Eames!" Arthur glared at him, unable to think of a witty comeback even if there was one in the first place.
"Yes? Arthur dear," he leaned just a bit too closer, now that they were breathing each other's air.
Arthur stared at Eames' lips, some cream was still on his lip, making it extremely difficult for Arthur to move his eyes away. He now wondered how exactly Eames tasted like.
"So " Arthur's voice grew weak, his throat dry. He looked at Eames, the rest of the sentence discarded him.
"So..?" slowly, Eames licked off the extra cream on his lips, never breaking eye contact with Arthur.
Later, Arthur would call it "a moment of insanity", but Eames called that "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings", when he recalled how he told Eames: "You've missed a spot." and how he licked the cream off those lips, and how that soon escalated into a furious kiss.
He could vaguely remember Ariadne hi fived with Yusuf, who was also busy making really obscene faces to them.
Saito just smirked and said as a matter of fact: "About damn time."
Cobb finally recovered from his choking: "We. Need. To. Talk!" he sank his voice, eyes dark, glaring at Eames, a thousand ways to torture and kill him was already in mind.
Arthur just laughed and pulled Eames away, he turned to Cobb: "Maybe later. But right now I have some research to do with Mr. Eames."
Indeed, the soft, sweet, fascinating cake, tasted just like Eames.