Insomniac

Prompt: Arthur suffers from cycles of terrible insomnia. The only way he really gets to sleep is when he's stretched out on Eames' back. Extra fluffy points if Eames finds himself forced to lie perfectly still for hours longer than he'd like just because he doesn't want to disturb Arthur's one chance for genuine sleep.

Eames glances over at Arthur and his heart aches. Arthur looks painfully tired and miserable as he researches their next mark. Night after night, they return to their hotel room and the pointman just cannot sleep. Standing up, Eames walks over to Arthur's desk and starts massaging his shoulders.

"Mmmmm," Arthur moans softly, throwing his head back against Eames's abdomen. "Feels nice."

"You've researched enough for the day. Let's go back to the room." He presses a kiss to the top of Arthur's head before heading back to his own desk and gathering odds and ends. He turns around and sees Arthur looking barely coherent. Eames goes to him and wraps his arm around his waist. They head back to the hotel slowly; Arthur stumbles a couple of times. It breaks Eames's heart to see Arthur so exhausted.

Opening the door to their room, Arthur breaks free from Eames's grasp and takes off his jacket and hangs it up. He takes off his tie, shirt, and pants and puts them all in their respective places. The forger simply strips in the middle of the living area, leaving his clothing in various places. He lies down on the couch and turns the TV on. Arthur walks over to him and looks disgruntled.

"Share." He barks the command, which makes Eames smirk. When Eames doesn't move, the pointman growls in frustration. "Fine, I'll just have to lay on top of you."

"You make it sound like such a punishment, love." Arthur crawls up on top of him. Eames turns his attention to the TV program, enjoying Arthur being on top of him. About ten minutes later, he hears gentle snoring in his ear. He turns his head and sees Arthur sleeping. A smile spreads across his face. He continues watching the TV, glad to see Arthur finally sleeping. The position on the couch starts hurting after a couple of hours and it forces Eames to wake Arthur up.

Arthur gets down slowly, still half-asleep. "Was I sleeping?"

Eames stands up and stretches, trying to get the blood flowing properly to all of his muscles again. "Yes. And I feel so bloody guilty about waking you up."

Arthur shuffles over to him and pecks his cheek, "That's sweet of you." Arthur treks off to the bedroom and gets under the covers. Eames turns off the TV and follows him. Eames hopes Arthur's insomnia is a thing of the past. Two hours later, when Eames is still awake due to all of Arthur's tossing and turning, he realizes how hopeless his thought had been.

Eames kisses Arthur's bare shoulder, which startles him slightly. "Unable to sleep again, love?"

"I don't get it. I was just sleeping." Frustration and exhaustion coat each word. The forger wraps his arms around Arthur. "I just want some sleep." Eames feels even guiltier about waking up Arthur now.

Then an idea dawns on the forger, "Perhaps, you can try lying down on my back again. It worked earlier."

"I couldn't. You won't get any sleep."

Eames pulls back from Arthur and gives him a stern look, "One night of sleeplessness in comparison to all of yours is not a big deal. Beside which, it was nice. Don't fight me on this, darling. You need sleep and this might work."

Arthur rolls his eyes and sighs. "Fine, but if I am not sleeping in ten minutes, I am not staying on your back." The older man gets on his stomach and Arthur gets on his back, muttering about feeling foolish. Eames sighs slowly, the warmth of Arthur's body enveloping him. He falls asleep almost instantly, not noticing that Arthur does the same.

Morning comes around quickly. Eames glances at the clock and it reads 9:00. To his surprise, Arthur is still on his back and still very much sleeping. Eames cannot believe he personally slept for so long, considering they fell asleep around midnight.

As much as Eames wants to get up and use the bathroom and get some coffee, he resists the urge for Arthur's sake. From this angle, he can see his phone blinking; they are both late to work. They must have received at least ten phone calls from Cobb by now, but Eames just pushes those thoughts away. This is the first night in three weeks where Arthur got adequate sleep. The thought of Cobb and all of his squinting makes the forger smirk in amusement at any rate.

He remains as still as possible, but an hour later, feels Arthur shifting a bit. A few seconds later, Arthur presses a kiss to the skin of his back.

"Oh!" The pointman scrambles off of his back and runs over to the closet. "Why didn't you wake me up? We're over two hours late!" Leave it to the workaholic to be upset about being late, instead of grateful for a total of twelve hours of sleep in one night. He comes out of the closet, shirt half-buttoned and belt unbuckled. "Move your ass, Eames. Cobb is going to be furious! We were supposed to run a trial today! Shit!" Eames cannot help but laugh at his lover's ridiculous antics. He lazily gets up and starts to dress. Once they are both dressed, Arthur pulls Eames to him and kisses him hotly.

It stuns the forger, who stares confusedly, "What was that for?"

Arthur smirks as he grabs his briefcase, "Mmm, not sure. Whatever it is about your back that allowed me to sleep, I'm grateful. I might just show you how grateful later." He winks and walks out the door. It takes Eames a moment to will himself to wait until later to jump Arthur's bones. He grabs his own materials and heads out the door as well, locking it behind him. He jogs down the hallway and catches up with Arthur, who is holding the elevator door open for him.