Author's Note: This is only my second attempt at slash and my first attempt at an Inception fic, so please, please, please, be gentle in your reviews. I always welcome ConCrit!
What's the most resilient parasite? An idea.
It was an idea that had Arthur waking up at night in cold sweats with the sheets tangled around his naked body. He didn't dream anymore, but this idea, this single, throbbing thought, had him restless and aware, even in his sleep.
The flirting, clearly, had been a mistake. He hadn't meant to get this serious about it. Especially with someone he worked with, someone he had to see everyday. Someone who clearly gave no thought to him beyond a jab here or a taunt there. Arthur had risen to the occasion, responding with similar teasing, escalating slowly to the aforementioned flirting. The flirting had led to the iideas/i, and ideas, especially unlikely, unexpected ones, were the most dangerous thing imaginable.
When Arthur was around him, all he could concentrate on were his lips, the soft curve of his chest under his shirts, the slight jaunt of his hips as he stood, listening to Ariadne explain the dream world. His presence sent Arthur into a position he had never been before. His hormones had never gotten the best of him, not even in high school. This was the worst of all his ideas.
At night, in the silence of his room, Arthur thought of those lips, that chest exposed to his teeth, those hips bent over the worktable in the warehouse. His cock throbbed at the idea of those lips wrapped around its tip, Arthur's hands in the other man's hair, Eames on knees in front of him.
The idea had first entered his mind because of Yusuf. It was mentioned in passing, not meant to cause this sort of reaction. It was just an observation of Yusuf's, really: "He's really taken to you. I mean, he flirts with anything that moves, but with you… it's a little different."
At first, the words hadn't affected Arthur at all. He had noticed a slight difference in the way Eames regarded him as opposed to the others, but he had assumed that it was just an effort to see him riled up and he was mostly succeeding in that area. However, as Arthur became more and more interested, as the idea began to take root, he noticed, more often than not, the way Eames's eyes ghosted over his own slight frame, the way he sought out Arthur's gaze in a room. It was something he never would have noticed without Yusuf planting that idea in his mind.
The things that he had once disliked about Eames were the things that turned him on more than anything. His condescending remarks, his cocky one-liners, the curve of his lips as his smiled at seeing Arthur annoyed.
Arthur had many fantasies starring the other man. He thought of Eames before he went to bed at night and after he woke up in the morning. He thought of Eames while he worked, while he ate, while he bathed. He couldn't escape the other man. Even Eames's profession turned him on; thief, Forger, conman.
At times, Arthur hated Yusuf for compromising their position, their job, their focus. For doing this to Arthur. For planting this desire inside of him, enveloping and consuming his every thought. But at the same time, he knew it would have happened sooner or later. He was so starved for intimacy and Eames was just so damn attractive. Regardless of how it happened, Arthur was consumed with the idea of the other man.
Cobb, as usual, was right. Ideas could destroy you.