"…Goldfinger. ..He's the man, the man with Midas touch… A spider's touch…"
One of the best things about five star hotels was that their suites usually came with excellent soundproofing – thus allowing their guests to sing embarrassingly loud and off-key, if they felt like it.
"…Such a cold finger… Beckons you, to enter his web of sin… But don't go in…"
Another nice thing about those luxury hotels…? Bathrooms big enough to dance in, while doing your morning routine, even though singing with a toothbrush in your mouth admittedly was difficult.
"…Golden words he will pour in your ear, but his lies can't disguise what you fear… For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her, it's the kiss of death, from Mr. Goldfinger… Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold…
This heart is cold!"
What he appreciated most, though, was the discretion that could be bought for a comparatively small amount of money. After all, it would have been somewhat embarrassing, if somebody had caught him singing and dancing around in the bathroom like a fool, his face covered in shaving cream.
"…Golden words he will pour in your ear, but his lies can't disguise what you fear… For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her, it's the kiss of death, from Mr. Goldfinger… Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold… This heart is-"
A soft chuckle behind him made him stop abruptly and whirl around.
"Morning person, aren't you, Saito…?"
Eames.
Fuck.
And not two steps behind him, Arthur, who added: "Interesting choice in music, too. But certainly very… fitting…" The corners of his mouth were twitching, but being Arthur, he would not allow himself to laugh.
Saito groaned. Of all the people to walk in on him behaving like a fool, Arthur was certainly the worst. Well, maybe apart from Maurice Fischer, but the old bastard had been dead for over a year now, and he would hopefully remain that way.
Since he could not bear to look at Arthur – prim, proper, upright, serious Arthur, who had probably never in his life been caught doing anything inappropriate – well, except for shooting people in the head on occasion, his mind supplied. Instead, he decided to focus on Eames. Being caught by Eames was slightly less bad, somehow. Maybe, because Eames would view the entire matter as being hilarious, rather than embarrassing and while he might tease Saito about it for a while, you could not lose your face in front of somebody who so shamefully disregarded all standards of propriety.
"Ah well, you got me there, Mr. Eames…", he said lightly. "My only flaw."
"Apart from singing Shirley Bassey songs in the shower," Eames replied, grinning.
"There's a reason I'm not married," Saito said, shrugging, "I like my freedom. And besides, I wasn't exactly in the shower. I would have strongly objected to the two of you entering my bathroom while I was in the shower."
"So would Arthur, judging from the look on his face."
Arthur looked slightly nonplussed, but managed a small smile. "Uh, awkward… I was against entering your rooms at all, but Eames doesn't believe in knocking on doors, so I followed him to make sure he'd behave."
"Indeed," Saito said, raising his brows. "Well, I must say, so far, you are not doing a very good job."
"He was probably distracted by your musical talent," Eames threw in, the grin still broadening.
"He sings better than you," Arthur huffed.
"Why, I'm flattered…!" Saito said, before proceeding to wipe the cream of his chin.
"It's not to say much," Eames disillusioned him promptly, "Arthur hates my singing."
"Why am I not surprised…?" Arthur and Eames were polar opposites. The forger delighted in teasing and annoying the point man, who in turn objected to almost everything Eames did. Saito had never quite understood that little game of theirs, but as long as they both had fun playing it, who was he to care…? It was fun watching them, too.
"Well, now that you've learned of this embarrassing little secret of mine, I think it would be only fair if you told me one of yours in return," Saito said to Eames, winking.
Eames shrugged. "I don't have any."
"Because unfortunately, he isn't embarrassed by anything," Arthur added, pulling a face as if remembering something particularly horrible Eames had said or done in the past.
"Now, now, let's not be unfair, pet," Eames replied mildly, "you are prudish enough for the both of us."
"A match made in heaven," Saito chuckled.
"Not exactly," Arthur said, frowning.
"Not yet," Eames amended. "We'll get there eventually."
Arthur looked doubtful.
Saito smiled. "I think, even though Mr. Eames may not keep any embarrassing secrets, he does keep a rather precious one."
Sleep deprivation will do odd things to you... this morning, I had a fleeting vision of Saito singing "Goldfinger", the theme song from the James Bond movie at the top of his voice, and I just couldn't resist... ;) I hope you had fun reading this. Robert will be next (and probably last, but I might do a bonus chapter).