Inception drabble (M)

[serotonin]

The result of desire for more Inception on the forums and some ideas bouncing around in the brainbox... fair warning, this features fetish!Eames so if that's not your thing you might not want to read it. Same goes if you're sensitive about Britpicking

---

The insistent buzzing of his mobile, amplified by his nightstand, drags Eames out of sleep. The glowing numbers on the screen informing him of the ungodly hour briefly register in his brain before getting eclipsed by the caller ID.

"Darling! Long day at the office?" It's been two weeks now since Arthur had flown out to the job in Bulgaria and Eames has definitely not started doing sappy things like wearing one of Arthur's shirts to sleep in.

"You could say that," Arthur murmurs, catapulting Eames into full awareness and attention. The voice in his ear is recognizably Arthur's, but it's utterly wrecked -- a cracked husk at least an octave and a half lower than usual and sounding as if his throat has been thoroughly sandpapered. Eames swallows against a dry mouth, unprepared for the sudden surge of attraction pooling in his stomach and shivering up his spine. Fortunately, Eames is a master at presenting what he wishes people to see.

"You sound awful," he says calmly, "are you coming down with something?"

"No," Arthur says, exasperation obvious, "I'm apparently allergic to something in Bulgaria and the antihistamines here are doing fuck-all. I've been like this since, oh, two days after landing. Ugh, hold on --" and an itchy sounding stifled "h'IXTCH!" followed by a second "...heh'ITSCH-ah!" that escapes his tight control come clearly through the line, despite the fact that it sounds like Arthur's moved the phone away.

Eames, too, can't quite suppress his tight exhale in reaction. And then he has to wonder, not for the first time, if Arthur can just see right through him like he's window glass or something. A single, congested sniff sounds in the background before a bit of static over the line tells him that Arthur's back. He's not quite sure if he trusts himself to bless Arthur in a normal voice, so he doesn't.

"Mmm, sorry," Arthur apologizes, a faint whisper of sound suggesting to Eames that he's rubbing at his nose, "I pretty much can't stop sneezing. EH-ISCHHT!'" The sneeze is loud and sudden, clearly not giving him enough warning to stifle, and Eames lets the memory of it echo through him.

"Bless," he offers after a pause to make sure Arthur isn't going to sneeze again, aiming for nonchalant. He's not sure if he made it, but it's always possible that Arthur might not notice in the haze of congestion and general allergicness that is probably his brain right now.

"Thanks," Arthur says wearily, even the one word imbued with irrationally attrative jagged edges. "Hold on a second," he continues, a soft thunk and muffled silence indicating he's put the phone down. Eames closes his eyes, pictures Arthur right now. Half-dressed, he estimates, rolled-up sleeves and jacket off with waistcoat unbuttoned, showing a glimpse of his braces. Eyes a little reddened with irritation and smudges of exhaustion underneath. Dark hair probably starting to reassert its natural curl around the delicate shell of his ear, especially with his head snapping forward with a sneeze every few minutes. Edges of his nose flushing a deep pink, a bit chapped from days worth of rubbing. And as he hears soft, strained gurgling, the lower half of Arthur's face in cupped hands, the white of his characteristic handkerchief folded and crinkled from a day's use peeking out between his fingers.

Eames breathes in deeply, chasing his fleeing self-control, as Arthur returns with a soft sniffle and a tired sigh. "Doing all right there, love?" he asks, because Arthur does sound terribly worn out and even though it is drop-dead sexy, he is not a completely terrible boyfriend.

"Yeah," Arthur breathes, "I just... hiih... God, nnh-not again..." His continued struggle is obvious to Eames in the rhythm of his breathing and is, predictably, fruitless. "Hah'iishh! h'kiishn! eh'NGXSHTew! itschh'EW! hiih-tsscht! ...nghh." At this point, Eames is pretty sure Arthur would be able to hear his accelerated heartbeat over the phone... "h'NGTSH-hahESCHHahh!" If he weren't sneezing, anyway. "hah-ishhh'schu!" The last sneeze is long, drawn out with irritation and an attempt for relief.

"God bless," Eames breathes, impressed, unable to stop himself. Arthur sniffles wetly in response, the sound slightly muffled, and Eames pictures Arthur with his nose pressed desperately against the top of his wrist. Bugger. Arthur sniffles again, sounding slightly more desperate. Bugger all. Arthur will be the death of him one way or another. "Blow your nose," Eames instructs, hoping that his voice sounds comforting, as his control over it seems to have fucked off elsewhere, "and go take a long, hot shower." He pauses expectantly, hearing Arthur's breathing start to hitch, and is rewarded with a flurry of small, tickly sneezes culminating in a strong, harsh "hah'RESSSKKCHT!" Eames resumes, going for a stern tone with this last bit. "And don't work after, go straight to sleep. I mean it, darling, you sound wretched."

"Mmm," Arthur agrees, and coughs from the congestion trickling down his throat. "Pretty sure I feel as bad as I sound." And that in itself is a dead giveaway.

"Right then, off with you," Eames encourages, then adds nobly, "and you can ring me after you get up. Which should be late afternoon for me."

Eames fancies he can hear Arthur's cringe over the phone. "Didn't even think about the time difference... hhh'isshhew! ehh... h'ehh... ihh--! I hate that... hold-hah'issscht! Sorry about that."

"S'fine, promise," Eames reassures him, only lying a little bit.

"Love you," Arthur says tiredly, sniffles, and clicks off just as his breath catches. Eames stares at the background on his phone for a moment, a bit shell-shocked. His brain comes back online two seconds later, though, replays the conversation, and he comes in a minute flat. Late afternoon, hmm?

---

Wow, okay, didn't anticipate the length, so sorry if it's a bit long for a drabble! Also I think I ran out of steam a little towards the end, someone knocked on my door, sigh. Hope you enjoyed and I'd love feedback if you have any, since this is the first sneezefic I've written down.

[DogLover]

Mmmm, allergic Arthur...and fetish!Eames! Oh, yes, that was quite hot. You should really write that phone conversation in the afternoon. I mean, allergies are always the worst after you wake up

[VoOs]

Mmmm, fetishy phone conversations... Delicious stuff. <3 I love your descriptions.

What a great first contribution to the forum! Welcome here.

[Spoo]

I am so incredibly impressed with the extraordinary amount of detail in your style. Seriously, it's phenomenal. I never jumped on this fandom ship, but Lordy Lou, this is fetish GOLD. Everything flowed exceptionally (or should I say, inceptionally well). Love, love, LOVE your writing.

I expect to see more of you, darling! Especially since you've really captured me with your talent. Welcome to the forum!

Spoo~

[Coffee Chicken Barista]

I love this! So adorable. Hope to see more of your writing!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

First: welcome to the forum.

Secondly... allergic!Arthur. Very well-written. I could picture them in this situation perfectly while reading. Thank you for sharing!

[obsessed]

Welcome! Consider me a fan:)

[LeapYearKisses]

Welcome to the forum! With a brilliant first post such as this, I hope you stay a long, long time. XD I love your fetish!Eames! It makes me really happy to find another writer on here who writes fetish!Inception. Your style is very engaging, and, might I add, exciting. Are you planning to continue this? That would be fantastic! If not, I hope you will grace us with more Inception-themed goodness. XD

Edited March 24, 2012 by LeapYearKisses

[serotonin]

In general, thank you everyone for reading and for all the kind comments! I feel most welcome and encouraged

@DogLover: I'm glad you found it hot! I may have been trying to stuff several of my favorite things in there... *whistles innocently* So it's good to know that they work for other people too. I don't think I'm going to write the next phone call, but there maaaay be a companion coda-type drabble in the works.

@VoOs: Thank you! And may I say that I find your descriptions quite lovely as well <3

@Spoo: *all up in the blushing over here* D'aww. Yes! Thank you! I am glad that this worked for you regardless of pairing especially since your work definitely works for me, aha, despite my merely surface knowledge of your fandoms

@Rachiella44: Thank you, dear! I do like me some fluff.

@Sigrith: I know, right? Allergic!Arthur is a big star in the Hollywood that is my head. Thank you for reading!

@obsessed: Thank you

@LeapYearKisses: Hold on. Stand there a second while I fangirl you, the author whose drabbles with these two guys called Arthur and Eames got me started on this whole Inception thing. And another second while I squee over you liking my style. ...Okay. Done now. Fetish!Eames is indeed brilliant... as is fetish!Arthur. Mmm. I don't think I'll directly continue this one, but I am thinking about a sort of companion piece with Arthur's viewpoint. Annnd some other Inception-y stuff like maybe some Arthur/Eames/Ari or perhaps a college AU with hot TA!Eames or um stuff.

[LeapYearKisses]

\o/ Write the college AU! Write it! *sparkly eyes*

[Zwee]

Mmm... serotonin, that was beautiful. Like actually, that was so high up on the list of sexy drabbles. I miss Inception! I'm so hoping there's more to come! I really like your writing style. How about all of the above, for that list?? Seriously, thanks 300 much!

[Ciuty80]

welcome to our forum^^

this was a perfect start, seriously i´m just by now YOUR fangirl!

this with such a CUUUUUUTE drabble! :drool:

please moar!

[Bruyere]

Oh this was delicious. I love your fetish!Eames and aww, poor Arthur, so miserable.

Hope to read more of your fic soon

[SterlingSilver]

Love this~! There needs to be more <3 xDD

[favrielle]

Mmmm, this was yummy.

[27jj]

Ohhh man. I never realize how much I NEED Inception sneeze!fic until it pops up on the forum;) Loved this

[serotonin]

Thanks everyone! You make me gleeful like a thing that is full of glee I wish I could've written more stuff sooner, but the dread pirate Thesis fast approaches.

And so, in rebellion against all the work I should be doing, I come bearing a coda! Well, um, more like the teaser-couple-of-paragraphs-prequel to the coda because I need to be up in less than six hours. There isn't much sneezing in this one, although there is a bit of language, but I anticipate the actual coda making up for it. Hope you enjoy ^__^

---

Arthur usually showers in the morning, but on this job, he showers after work. The first thing he does after walking into his hotel room is turn the water on, extra-hot, and lets it heat up while he strips down. By the time he gets into the bathroom, there's plenty of steam just waiting to weave its way up his nose and send him into desperate fits. He doesn't actually need the help to start -- whatever he's allergic to here is insidious enough that he's sneezing most of the time anyway -- but after the initial fusillade of sneezes, the steam loosens his allergy-induced congestion and clears the relentless itchiness from his sinuses for the duration of the shower. Some days he appreciates the reminder of what it's like to be able to breathe and to think for minutes at a time without being interrupted, but other days it makes him even more frustrated.

The last few days have actually been good days, since it's been raining non-stop. In today's shower, he almost feels like he's back up to his usual level of functioning, but he still can't wait to just finish the damned job and go home to Eames. Hmm. Eames. In their past few phone conversations, Arthur's subconscious has been quietly collecting data and waiting patiently for Arthur to regain enough cognitive function to slam it into his working mind.

Apparently, today is that day and Arthur freezes with the soap in his hand, assimilating all the observations that have just flooded into his mind on the subject of Eames. Most notably, Eames' usually steady voice has been a bit uneven lately, like he's breathing a bit fast. Especially after Arthur's just managed to catch his breath after a fit. And he doesn't think Eames normally blesses people, but sometimes he blesses Arthur and he sounds... involved? Maybe a bit awed? Arthur isn't the people-reader Eames is, but he can read Eames with no trouble at all and he wishes he were going off more than vocal cues. But in a sudden moment of inspiration, he thinks of lust. And, somewhat to his surprise, it all checks out. Could Eames be turned on by his sneezing?

In dreamshare, you see a ton of pretty weird shit, so it's not the weirdest thing he's ever seen. Arthur thinks about it for a few more minutes as he automatically finishes washing, turns off the water, and towels off. Then he heads straight for the laptop.

[DogLover]

Wait, wait, there's gonna be a coda?! *explodes from all the excitement*

This preview of sorts was deliciously hot. You are such a tease

[LeapYearKisses]

\ (*3*) / Bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~

That doesn't even make sense. That's how excited I am.

[obsessed]

lovely!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

By the time he gets into the bathroom, there's plenty of steam just waiting to weave its way up his nose and send him into desperate fits. He doesn't actually need the help to start --

Yay, continuation. Am looking forward very much to seeing what you'll do as continuation of this rather delicious teaser.

[BlueGirl]

Ok, I am in luurve with this fic, and super-excited for the next part!

[Zwee]

Yep. You totally rock. I'm loving this so much! I noticed your drabble coming up again and again until I realized you had continued it and I got so excited! And now I'm even more excited! Thank you thank you. I literally can not wait for the next part.