InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm gonna live forever, or die"

Eames (dream_bigger) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-01-19 23:36:00

Entry tags:

ariadne, eames

WHO: Eames and Ariadne
WHAT: flailing, drinking caffeinated beverages, the usual
WHEN: After this
WHERE: The "Welsh place", as Eames calls it.

Eames arrived before Ariadne, and ordered himself a pot of tea and a sandwich. He told the girl who had served him that he was waiting on someone else showing up, and that her order should just be added onto his own, and then he found a cozy spot and settled in with a few essays he still needed to read over before he could start marking them properly.

He couldn't concentrate on them, though. He tried reading them all, and just about managed to get past the abstract each time before he'd realise he had no idea what he'd just read. Someone left his food down on the table, and he absently nodded his thanks at them, then continued to not-read his essays. Mainly, he was berating himself for somehow being blind to Arthur's dilemma. When Cobb had been there before, Arthur hadn't cared at all about the fact that Cobb knew his Point Man was happily bedding both Eames and Ariadne, and Eames had just naively assumed that things would be the same now that Cobb had returned.

And then there was the fact that while Eames would be happy to hire sky-writers and brass bands to let people know he was with Arthur and Ariadne (if they'd let him), it seemed that Arthur had somehow kept his previous relationship with Eames a complete secret. And to be honest, that hurt.

To put it bluntly, Eames felt like a stupid twat.

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dream_bigger
2012-01-20 02:07 am UTC (link)

Eames sighed and went to pinch the bridge of his nose, only to realise that he was still wearing Mr. Earnshaw's glasses. Huh. Ah well. "Arthur didn't take too well to the fact that I invited Cobb to stay. And yes, I know, you questioned it." He paused then to pour out a cup of tea, and to take a drink.

"The reason being," he continued, speaking quietly so that only Ariadne could hear, "that Arthur has never told Cobb that he's bisexual. I didn't realise I needed to check about this because the last time Cobb was here, Arthur was fine about it. I was never out of your flat, and I know we weren't the quietest... but now he's back and Arthur's freaking out at me."

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labyrinthine
2012-01-20 02:21 am UTC (link)

"And I was so very good about not saying 'I told you so'," she commented, propping her chin on her hand and leaning towards him to listen. And she winced at his explanation. That wasn't at all what she had expected.

"Jesus. Never?" Ariadne shook her head slowly. "I thought he would just flip out about having even less personal space, not... coming out." She picked up her drink and took a sip, leaving her hands cupped around the mug as she thought. "Maybe it's the lack of plausible deniability, I don't know. Maybe it's a delayed freakout about being all settled down. Or maybe he's just being irrational and taking it out on you." She reached over and put her hand over Eames' free hand, rubbing over his knuckles with her thumb.

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dream_bigger
2012-01-20 02:40 am UTC (link)

"You were. You were excellent at it," he replied, then stayed quiet as she offered explanations. He twisted his hand round to catch hold of hers, and attempted a smile.

"Never. Not once. Not even when... Not at all. And I don't really care what it is... well, I do, but I just... I love him, I never wanted to force him into coming out to his best friend but that's because I thought he'd already done so, and I don't know what to do to fix it because I can't just shove the pair of them in a room and tell them to discuss their sexual preferences, and I can't uninvite Cobb even if he is weird and doesn't like big dogs, and I'm not moving out of our bed because it's ours, and... Shit... I'm going to shut up. The pair of you, seriously, I think you're the only two people I know who could tie me up in knots like this," he admitted.

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labyrinthine
2012-01-20 02:53 am UTC (link)

"Not even when... not before?" Ariadne hated her inability to let things slide, sometimes. Also her inability to think before she opened her big mouth. She let out a heavy sigh and shrugged, still holding Eames' hand.

"I don't think you can, honestly. It was a mistake, but... I mean, I assume you apologized, but it sounds like these are Arthur's issues and he has to decide how to handle them. Assuming he does that instead of repressing everything as per usual. And you can't undo it. Unless you feel like selling your soul or asking one of the angels for a favor." With her free hand she picked up her mug for another sip, hiding what felt like an extraordinarily inappropriate smile. "I guess that must mean you love us, huh? Like, a lot."

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dream_bigger
2012-01-20 09:17 pm UTC (link)

"Not even before," he agreed, then watched her as she went through his options.

At her last question, he tilted his head very slightly and nodded. "Yeah. Like, a whole lot," he told her, before smiling at her. It didn't last long, though, and then he sat back and studied the spinning clump of small bubbles in his tea.

"I'm being stupid, aren't I? I mean, I've forced his hand, and that was never going to go well, and yet... I understand not telling people back home, but. Yusuf knew. Yusuf was pissed off with me within a week of Arthur and I getting together because I kept telling him. And Mal knew, because... because she was Mal... I thought he knew."

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labyrinthine
2012-01-20 09:38 pm UTC (link)

Ariadne kept rubbing soothingly over Eames' wrist as he talked, unsure what to say. She hadn't been there for any of this, hadn't known this history. Sure, she'd known that Arthur and Eames were together before they were brought here, but she hadn't seen it in action. Would Arthur have an entirely different perspective, something to justify what he'd done or not said? Did that even matter?

"I don't think you're being stupid," she said eventually. "I would've assumed Cobb knew about him as well. I know Arthur keeps things quiet, but not that quiet. Unless there's something else about this that's bothering you."

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