'Obligatory FanFic AU's'
Incredibly long cross-country train ride /On a train and the train is stopped in the middle of nowhere for some reason
Usually Arthur liked taking the train; in fact, it was his favourite method of transport. Travelling by plane may have been easier, but in his opinion, the sight of rolling hills and quaint villages rushing past the windows was far better than clouds. The train journey's when he had to work were slightly less enjoyable, as he had to sit staring at his computer screen mostly, rather than being able to look out of the window, but he could still put in his headphones and listen to something calming and beautiful as he took a smooth ride past hills and forests.
This train journey was turning out to be not as enjoyable.
Arthur had gotten to the train early and found his pre-booked seat quickly, setting up his laptop at the table and getting comfortable swiftly, preparing for the long journey ahead.
After not too long, the train had filled, and Arthur thought for the longest time that he'd be sitting alone, the space opposite him vacant- until the very last moment that was.
Seconds before the doors of the train closed before the departure, the blur of a man had sprinted past Arthur's window, a suitcase bouncing in hand. The blur apparently then boarded the train, as Arthur then saw a man who resembled it down at the far end of the carriage, talking with a bright smile to a flustered stewardess. Arthur then watched as the man started to shuffle down the aisle, apologising loudly for his lateness to everyone he passed, the huge, cocky smile still covering his face.
"Here we are" the man then beamed once he got to Arthur's table, and he shoved his suitcase onto the overhead shelf above the seat, "Good afternoon" he nodded to the ravenette, sitting opposite him,
Arthur stared at the man for a moment before giving him a small nod and going back to his laptop.
He could tell from his demeanour and flamboyant dress that this man was not the sort of person he would usually make acquaintance with, and that he was more likely to annoy him than anything else,
"The name's Eames by the way" the man said after a moment, the train having just started to move, "Thomas Eames",
Arthur looked up at him again, his gaze quickly becoming a glare,
"Have you got a name?" he then asked, in a very British accent, suave and smooth,
The ravenette sighed and looked back to his computer, his fingers running over the keys quickly, "Arthur" he answered quietly, determined to assert his disinterest,
"Fantastic name" Eames beamed, earning an eye roll from the other man, as well as a slight involuntary blush.
0o0o0
The train journey had been awkward enough with Eames trying to make conversation with Arthur at every possible moment, like the times when the American would take his headphones off, listening to the train announcements, but it was made worse when the train suddenly ground to a halt, causing bags to fall from the overhead shelf and people to shout out in surprise.
"Must be something on the track" Eames commented as Arthur took his headphones off again,
The Brit's blue eyes were focused on the field outside until they finally fell on Arthur again,
"Are you okay?" he asked, his signature smirk showing itself once more,
Arthur nodded stiffly and looked back to his computer.
His brows then furrowed- it wasn't charging anymore.
The ravenette checked the plug, but it was still securely in place, he then flicked the outlet off and on again, but there was no change in his laptops status,
There was then a sudden clicking from above, and the gently buzzing the AC unit stopped, the cold air no longer pouring out of it,
"Looks like the power's off" Eames said, their eyes meeting once more, "You know what that means" he added,
"What?" Arthur frowned,
"You've got to conserve your battery. No more laptop" the blonde replied, and with that he extended his hand, his forefinger pointing outwards and he slowly closed the lap top. He then quickly put his hand back into his lap and smiled, "We'll have to talk",
Arthur's eyes rolled again and he sighed,
He then took his phone from his pocket and plugged his headphones into that instead, turning on the music quickly and letting his eyes drift closed.
0o0o0
Arthur woke to the horrible feeling of his face burning,
He grimaced as he felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face, and he yanked the headphones from his ears, opening his eyes and adjusting his seating, attempting to find a position that wasn't quite so hot and sticky,
"We haven't started moving again yet" Eames told him, a paper fan now in hand and his bright paisley shirt now unbuttoned even further down his chest, showing off even more of his clavicles.
"Great" Arthur growled and he took a tissue from his pocket, wiping some of the sweat off of his brow,
"You should take your tie off you know, and maybe even your waist coat" the Brit told him,
"No thank you" he sighed, trying to ignore the man again,
"You'll overheat" Eames frowned, "Who where's a suit on a train anyway?",
"It's better than the mish-mash you're wearing" Arthur snapped.
It was true, he was wearing a rather peculiar and somewhat ugly combination of clothes- a tan jacket and a pair of dark brown slacks with a vibrant orange and pink shirt, with swirling paisley designs across it.
The ravenette then closed his eyes again, trying to find sleep once more,
He could barely even think of sleeping however, the heat of the sun and the enclosed train carriage sticking close, make him sweat unbearably.
After only a few minutes Arthur let out a growl of defeat and he pulled at his tie, loosening it from around his neck,
"Told you so" Eames said, staring at him with a smile, "So Arthur-" he began, shifting in his seat, "-what do you do?",
Arthur simply glared at the man in response,
"Oh come on, we could be stuck here for at least another hour, we could make a little conversation, try and pass the time" he frowned, his blue eyes taking on a puppy-dog like sadness,
"Fine" the American grumbled, "I'm an architect".
"I would never have guessed" Eames replied, "Although you do strike me as probably being rather good at drawing straight lines" he shrugged,
"What?" Arthur asked, a little confused by what he was saying,
"I'm an actor myself, stage work mostly, classical theatre",
"Classical work?" the ravenette asked arching an eyebrow- he would almost admit that he found that amusing, he didn't think the man could name a piece of classic theatre, let alone understand the complex language used in one to act it out.
"Yes" Eames nodded, apparently having not picked up on any of the disbelief in the question, "I recently played Volpone",
Arthur's eyes widened at that, "Volpone? As in the lead role in the play 'Volpone'?",
"Yes" Eames nodded, "I got rather good reviews too" he beamed proudly,
"Huh" the ravenette murmured.
0o0o0
It was much longer until Arthur decided to go back to working on his laptop, it being one of the few things he had with him that could distract him from the excruciatingly close heat that filled the train carriage,
The ravenette was quite sure however, that the last two or three paragraphs he'd written had made sense whatsoever.
He sighed and sat back in his seat, his hands slumping from where they hovered over the keyboard,
The American's view of the bright computer screen than blurred for a second, as his eyes focused to a point beyond it, and just as his vision began to crisp up again, he caught sight of a pair of blue eyes watching him closely.
Eames perked up a huge grin when he saw that he's been noticed staring,
"Can I help you mister Eames?" Arthur asked, his fingers going back to darting over his laptop's keyboard,
"It's just Eames" the man replied, "And no" he chuckled,
"Are you sure? You seem to be staring at me" he said stiffly.
"Very sure, I'm just enjoying the view" Eames shrugged,
"The countryside?" Arthur suggested,
"No, your beautiful eyes",
And then it happened, a genuine blush bloomed across the ravenette's cheeks, and if possible, he felt even more flush.
"E-excuse me?" he stuttered, his eyes wide and focused on Eames who was wearing an extremely proud expression,
"Your eyes, they're gorgeous, really wonderful" he said leaning forward, his arms resting on the table between them,
"They're… they're brown" Arthur said, immediately regretting the comment when he realised just how stupid it sounded,
"Yes, yes they are, aren't they?" Eames laughed, "Browner than brown in fact darling".
The American's eyes widened further still, "What did you call me?",
"Darling" the other replied, "Why?",
"That's my-" Arthur cut himself off, No, he couldn't have known, "Never mind" he righted himself,
"Okay then" Eames said, he then rested his chin in his tabled palm and continued to stare at the man opposite him.
"Are you going to keep staring at me like that then?" the ravenette frowned,
"Definitely darling" the Brit smirked, winking at him.
Arthur grunted and opted to ignore the other man as best he could, choosing to disregard the last minute of conversation,
He began to read what he had been writing and concluded that indeed made very little sense. He sighed and sunk a little further into his seat,
"Come come darling, it's much too hot to be doing work" Eames said, suddenly standing from his seat, "Let's do something else instead" he added, side stepping around his end of the table, sauntering down the central isle of the train, and plopping himself into the vacant seat beside Arthur,
The American glared at him for a moment, "I think it's probably too hot to be sat next to each other either" he snapped, trying to reduce his proximity to the other man,
"Oh please, you're acting like I just shat in your cereal" Eames sighed, his eyes going to the ravenette's computer, "Now this looks incredibly boring" he said, grabbing the laptop and sliding it along the surface of the table to sit in front of him,
"Hey! What are you-" Arthur yelped, watching helplessly as the Brit opened a tab for the internet and clicked the link for YouTube,
"I'm not trying to steal from you! I'm just looking for something to watch" Eames said softly, as his tanned fingers worked over the keyboard, "Ahh, here we go" he added, selecting a video, and readjusting the computers position on the table so that it sat between them.
The loading video was titled 'Doctor Faustus, The Globe, Act one, 2008' and despite his frustration at the man beside him, Arthur couldn't help but find that his interest was piqued- at least Eames had an interesting and impressive profession and a half-decent taste in material to watch.
After a good twenty minutes filled with dialogue from the Faustus character, the demon Mephistopheles was finally summoned- at first, a hideous puppet hobbled onto the stage, controlled by three black clad men, but Faustus found its appearance offensive and asked for it to appear instead to him as a Franciscan Friar. The puppet left the stage through the door at the back, and after thirty seconds, a man stepped onto the stage instead.
At first, Arthur could barely believe his eyes, but then he considered the fact that Eames was the one showing him the video, and he determined that what he was seeing must have been true,
The actor playing the demon Mephistopheles was Eames, visibly a few years younger and paler than he was now, but it was undoubtedly him.
When the video came to a close, the actor glanced over to Arthur, who couldn't help but nod and smile softly,
"You were very good" he admitted, shifting to be more comfortable in his seat, "And the Globe, that's very impressive too",
"Thank you" Eames beamed, "That was my second time performing at the globe, a few years earlier I was in a production of 'Twelfth Night'" he explained, "Would you like to see?",
If it hadn't been for the fact that the train was still showing no sign of starting again, Arthur might have said no, but on this occasion, he saw absolutely no point in doing any more work- he nodded and shrugged noncommittally.
Eames smiled widely and set about typing on the laptop again, this time leaving it in place and leaning across the other man slightly as he searched for the right video.
This video was far shorter than the first Arthur had been shown by the actor, and it instead showed the play's end rather than its start,
The ravenette couldn't help but let out a chuckle as the video loaded and revealed an image of Eames stood at center stage, dressed head to toe in a flamboyant red and yellow outfit,
"I was Feste" Eames replied, laughing just as much, if not more so himself,
"The fool? Seems very fitting" Arthur replied, drawing his attention entirely to the screen as Eames spoke the play's final monologue.
As the final words were spoken, the brightness of the computers screen increased, and the train lurched to life, slowly starting across the track again,
"Well I suppose I'll leave you to your work again" Eames beamed, minimizing the video with a couple of quick clicks,
The internet tab, and Arthur's paperwork from earlier both closed however, leaving the screen depicting Arthur's screensaver instead.
The image was bright and white, glowing from the laptop distractingly,
It showed an intricately designed building, with complex curves and peculiar additions that made it to be the most unique building Eames had ever seen,
"Did you design that?" he asked, pointing at the screen as Arthur regained control of his computer,
"Oh" he said softly, pausing his finger from clicking back to his document, "Yes. I designed it a few years ago" he nodded,
"Then how come it's not decorating a skyline in some huge city somewhere?" Eames chuckled,
The American shrugged, "I only designed it for fun" he replied, "I mostly do paperwork for the firm these days, so it's more of a pretty picture than an actual design",
The blonde was gawking at him, "They have you stuck doing paperwork when you can design buildings like that?" he asked, hardly believing what he was hearing.
Arthur shrugged again, "It's not so bad",
Eames sighed and stood from the seat, heading back to his own, "You're wasted at that place, wherever it is. They should give you a raise" he said as he lowered into the chair,
Arthur smiled softly behind the screen of the laptop, unable to deny his gratitude and embarrassment.
0o0o0
An hour later it was announced that the train would be reaching its final destination very soon, and Arthur took that as a sign to start getting ready to leave.
He closed his laptop and hoisted his bag onto the seat beside him so that he could start packing it again, slipping his computer and his notebooks in neatly,
He then re-dressed himself as best as he could with the limited elbow space, and rested his hands in his lap as he watched the very final edges of countryside turn into residential streets and then a city.
Eames had been awfully quiet for the last half an hour, and despite still feeling a bit of an intolerance towards the man, Arthur would be lying if he said he hadn't wondered why,
The ravenette looked over to the other man, his arms folding across his chest.
Eames smiled immediately as their eyes caught one another, "I was thinking" he began, shifting in his seat slightly,
"That sounds extremely dangerous" Arthur replied quickly, earning a chuckle from the other man,
"I assure you it's not darling" he said, his hand going into his pocket, he then pulled out his wallet and flicked it open, coming to the notes section, "It strikes me that you're a very busy man, but, if you find yourself, not so busy, or in need of a break, you would be very welcome to come and see me in a production of the Scottish play" he said, taking out a strip of cardboard from his wallet and handing it over to Arthur.
The ravenette was more than a little taken aback, but he found himself very reluctantly taking the offered ticket,
"You know, if you have the time while you're in the city" Eames said, the train now starting to slow, as it came very near to the station,
"If I have the time" Arthur said, looking at the ticket for only a moment before sliding it into his pocket and looking back to the actor, "Thank you" he added, slightly begrudgingly,
"You're very welcome-" Eames nodded, "-darling" he added, standing quickly and gathering his bags, leaving Arthur more than a little flustered.