Work Text:
~
Arthur is sitting at one of the tables outside the café, sipping his coffee. He's waiting for the mark to come by with Cobb. He glances inside as two women exit, and what he sees makes his blood run cold.
Eames is mopping the floor, an apron around his waist. He looks fantastic.
Arthur blinks, his heart racing now. This cannot be possible.
Eames is in Lusaka.
He looks again, and Eames is gone. Arthur glances around, feeling his palms sweat. There's no sign of Cobb or the mark, but he doesn't have time to investigate why he just saw Eames. Is Cobb making people other than Mal appear now? Undecided, he gets ready to stand up, and takes another look inside the café.
He reaches into the pocket of his suit and wraps his fingers around his totem. The weight of the die feels wrong, and he relaxes a little. At least he knows he's still on the job.
Then Cobb appears with the mark, and Arthur concentrates on getting the job done.
~
Waking up after, he yanks the line out of his arm and scans the room. Of course there's no Eames, just the rest of this team and the mark. Cobb is calmly removing the line from the mark. Arthur packs up the PASIV and tries to see if Cobb is acting weird. He's not.
Cobb just nods and they leave the hotel, job done. The mark will wake up and have no idea what was taken from him.
Cobb drives them to the airport.
“What the fuck happened in there?” Arthur asks.
Cobb just looks at him blankly. “What do you mean?”
Arthur doesn't want to say he saw Eames. It wasn't his dream, it wasn't even Cobb's. Eames should not have been there. “That dream didn't seem unusual to you?”
Cobb's still frowning. “No? Everything okay, Arthur?”
Arthur glances at the PASIV by his feet. “Sure. Everything's fine. I'm just tired.”
At the airport, Cobb scans the departure board. “Our flight is on time. Good.”
Arthur shuffles his feet. “Look, I... I need to get another flight. Something's come up.” He has to find out what's going on, and there's only one person he can really trust.
Cobb cocks his head, frowning. He knows as well as Arthur that he hasn't spoken to anyone except him since the job. “Well. Okay. When will you be back?”
Arthur hates lying to Dom, but he hates not knowing even more. “I don't know. I'll call you.”
Cobb holds out his hand and Arthur shakes it, then he watches Cobb walk away.
Arthur takes a deep breath and pulls out his phone. He calls Eames. He has to see Eames.
But he's never called Eames unless there's a job.
“Darling. How lovely of you to call.”
Arthur is glad to hear Eames' voice. He's forgotten how much it calms him. “You're still in Zambia?”
“Only for another week. What's up? Miss me?”
Arthur is horrified to realise, that, yes, he does miss Eames. “I need to see you.” But this is about business.
“I always knew you cared, darling.”
“I'm getting a flight to Lusaka. Will you meet me if I text you my arrival time?”
There's a pause, and Arthur knows that Eames has realised how freaked out he is, though he can't know why. “Of course. I'll be waiting.”
“Thank you.” Arthur hangs up, and heads to the ticket desk. He has a long journey ahead of him, but there's something weird going on, and he needs to work it out.
It's more than 24 hours later that his plane touches down in Lusaka. The last leg from Harare was delayed, but Arthur barely noticed.
He walks through arrivals and his heart skips a beat when he sees Eames waiting for him. The man is in a rumpled cream linen suit, pistachio-green shirt open at the neck and a faint sheen of sweat visible.
Eames smiles at him, and it is all Arthur can do not to fall into his arms. The fuck is wrong with him?
Instead, he stands in front of Eames and just stares.
Eames stares back, obviously waiting for a greeting, or perhaps an explanation of why his colleague has flown half way across the world to see him at such short notice. When Arthur says nothing, Eames smiles again.
“Right, Arthur darling. Let's go back to my hotel, and we can get a drink.”
Arthur is happy to let Eames take care of him, because he's tired and confused. Eames gives him worried glances, and gets them a bottle of Scotch to take up to the room. When Arthur is lounging on the bed with a glass in his hand, Eames perches on the end of the bed and peers at him.
“Out with it, darling.”
Arthur steels himself. “I saw you in the dream on my last job.”
Eames eyes narrow for a moment. Arthur expects him to ask if he is sure, or perhaps laugh. He doesn't.
“Ah.”
Arthur nearly chokes on the Scotch. “Ah? What the hell does that mean – Ah?”
Eames shrugs. “It happens.”
Arthur is leaning forward now, Scotch forgotten on the nightstand. “It doesn't just happen, Eames. What the fuck happened to me? Is Dom making the rest of us appear now?”
Eames puts his own glass down, and Arthur can see his fingers are trembling slightly. “When you saw me in the dream, did I try to hurt you? Or anyone else?”
Confused, Arthur shakes his head. “No. You were... cleaning.”
Eames quirks an eyebrow, and shrugs one shoulder. “Huh. I think that rules Dom out then, don't you?”
“So. What then? What was it?”
Eames takes a breath. “I asked Miles about it, after I... After I saw you in a dream once. The architect didn't know you, Dom wasn't even on the job. It was impossible that you could have been there. Except... Well, we know it's possible. I've dreamed you, and now you've dreamed me.” He looked at Arthur, and Arthur shivered.
Arthur frowns. “Eames, what the hell are you doing in my subconscious? And what am I doing in yours?”
Eames suddenly laughs. He leans forward, and cups Arthur's face in one large hand. “Do I have to spell it out for you, darling?”
Arthur can't move, and can barely breathe. Eames' hand feels warm against his skin, the forger's eyes burning into him.
“What did Miles say?” he whispers. Mal's father knows more about the PASIV than even Cobb.
Eames was even closer now. He licks his generous lips. “He told me I was in love with you, but more than that, we were soulmates.” He smirks, but his eyes hide something vulnerable. “Silly, isn't it?”
Arthur needs more, he needs to understand. “But how...? The PASIV...”
“It's an imprint,” Eames offers. “It senses the connection between us, and every time one of us uses it again, it wants to create the other. It uses the dreamer to... complete us.” Eames' voice falls to a whisper, and he draws his hand away, but Arthur catches it.
“I understand,” he says, and it's all that's needed to bring the smile back to Eames' face. “How long?”
Eames blinks. “A year.” It's a shocking admission.
“And you never said anything?” Arthur feels like hitting Eames. He also wants to kiss him. He does love Eames, he just never admitted it to himself before.
“I'm sorry,” Eames admits. “I didn't think you...” He shrugs.
Arthur reaches out and grabs Eames by the lapels, pulling him inches from him. “You should have told me.”
“I'm sorry,” Eames breathes. “I was scared.”
“Of the dream? Of me?”
“Of us.”
Arthur smiles. The idea of the two of them - together - is almost dangerous.
But he likes danger.
He leans in and kisses Eames softly. When he pulls back, Eames' eyes are closed and he looks beautiful.
Eames opens his eyes, smiling. “Darling,” he whispers.
Arthur laughs and kisses him again, harder this time.
~