fanficition cove

Originally written/posted: February 2011
Fandom: Inception (2010)
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,120 words
Notes: Not sure at all what this one is…sorry! Not reread.

He was up for an Oscar, and the awards were tonight.

And to say that he was nervous was a colossal understatement.

“You’ll do fine darling, I promise, and if you lose, then I’ll sue!” Eames whispers into his ear, and Arthur has to smile at that because it’s Eames, and Eames had always been the best at making him feel not as nervous.

“Eames, I’m probably going to lose.” Arthur says, because he knows it’s true. “I just can’t compete with the other people up there.”

“So? It’s just Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Jeff Bridges and Leonardo DiCaprio, you could beat them in your sleep, love.”

“I don’t think so. I’m just Arthur, and they’re household names.” Arthur says, adjusting his bow tie (him and Eames were wearing matching ones; it was Eames’ idea, and Arthur did like it, he had to admit).

“You’re a household name to me, and once you win, you’ll be a household name to everyone else.” Eames tells him with such honesty and sincerity that Arthur has to grin at that, his heart bursting.

“Come on Eames, if we don’t leave now we’ll be late. And I actually want to get some pictures on the red carpet.”

Eames nods, puts on his suit jacket (which was matching to Arthurs, he’d never admit it to Eames, but it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside). He then takes Arthur’s hand, places a gentle kiss on each finger tip and then leads him out the door.

“By the way, if you see Leonardo DiCaprio, tell him that we found his twin living in the suburbs of Los Angeles.”

Arthur swats his shoulder as they walk to the limo waiting for them outside their house.

*

“Arthur,” Eames says, and looks over at him, concerned, noting the distant look in his eyes that only came about when he was incredibly nervous, and he knew that Arthur was nervous, he knew he was and he wanted to calm him down. He had faith in Arthur, he knew that he could do this, that it would be an easy win in Arthur’s book, but Arthur was doubtful, and nervous.

Eames didn’t like that look on him at all.

“Eames,” Arthur says, confused, and Eames has to force down an amused smile at that.

“Calm down, darling, you’ve totally got this.” Eames tells him, not because he wants to flatter him, but because he knows it’s true. He knows Arthur has got this award, and he wasn’t just saying that because Arthur was his beautiful and talented fiancee.

He was simply, the best.

“You don’t know that.. I haven’t even practiced my speech. Oh god, my speech, Eames, oh… I haven’t… oh shit!” Arthur was rambling now, it would’ve been cute and adorable if it wasn’t unnerving. He was never like this, only when he wasn’t sure if he’d get called back about getting a certain role that he wanted.

But even then, it wasn’t this bad.

“I know this, because you’re my fiancee, and while being incredibly good looking, and humble, and sweet, and funny, you’re also gifted and talented in every way that I wish that I was. You’re too modest for your talent, darling. I know you’ve got this because you’re my Arthur, and you’re great at everything, and you can’t lose at something you’re great at.” For good measure, Eames places a gentle kiss on the outskirts of Arthur’s mouth, knowing that it would probably calm him down.

If Arthur did win (Eames knew he would, but he was being modest) then Arthur would be a complete and total nervous and shocked wreck up there. He wanted to calm him down as much as possible, because Eames’ had faith in him and he wanted Arthur to finally have some faith in himself, too.

Arthur pressed their foreheads together, before smiling so wide that his dimples dented his cheeks, carding a hand through Eames’ hair. “I love you.”

Eames grins, widely, and then presses a kiss to Arthur’s nose. “I know.”

Arthur’s scowl doesn’t slide off of his face until they get to the theatre.

*

“Here he is! It’s newcomer, Arthur Levine!” Shouts Maria Menouno, and Arthur walks toward her, not being a big enough of an asshole to just walk away. “How are you this evening?”

Arthur smiles, nervously, and shrugs his shoulders (unprofessionally) and steals a glance at Eames, who’s standing by his side. “I’m great, how are you?” He asks, and he smiles wider when he feels Eames give his side a reassuring squeeze.

She grins, in a way that might’ve looked condescending if she hadn’t looked so happy to actually see him there, causing him to flush a bright, bright red. “I’m great! Thanks for asking. May I ask who you’re wearing?”

“Armani, thanks,” Eames’ says with a huge, shit-eating grin on his face, and Arthur has the urge to punch him in the ribs on live television. He luckily resists.

Maria, not too put out, gives out a laugh and a charming smile. “I’m wearing Armani as well, though.” Arthur clarifies before Eames could say anything else embarrassing.

She looks between the two of them, and then she gets a look in her eye that Arthur can’t quite place. Adoration, maybe? “You’re wearing matching suits, aren’t you?”

Arthur blushes, “guilty as charged,” he says.

He’s pretty sure she’s looking at him in the way that Ariadne does, and it does weird things to his stomach, like they’re the most adorable thing that she’s seen since Husky puppies.

He had to admit though, they were pretty adorable.

“Have a lovely time at the ceremony, guys.”

Arthur and Eames bid her goodbye, before making their way along the carpet.

Eames’ arm doesn’t leave his waist the entire time.

*

Arthur’s a sodding mess, his hands are shaking and he thinks he may be crying, but he can’t be sure because he currently can’t feel his face from nerves. Eames presses a kiss to his hair, and whispers, ‘relax love’, and Arthur wishes he could. But his whole career is resting on this moment and he just, he can’t concentrate on anything but Seth Rogen, and normally he might’ve found that a little weird, but he was nervous so he thought that it could be accepted as an exception.

“And the winner for best leading actor, in a lead role, is..” Seth Rogen tears open the envelope and it feels like eternity, Arthur can literally count about 500 breaths between the time it takes Seth to rip open the envelope and to actually reveal it’s contents. “Arthur Levine!”

Arthur feels like passing out, he feels like taking Eames by the hand, and running somewhere else, anywhere but to go up on that stage, but his feet are glued, and somehow he’s smiling. He’s so happy he could cry, and he feels Eames, tugging on his hand to bring him to a standing position, but he’s just glad that someone out of the two of them is thinking because he honestly wasn’t. He looks over at Eames, and grins, so fucking huge it probably didn’t fit his face but he didn’t care. He didn’t care and he never felt more infinite than he did now.

“I told you so,” Eames says, and because of that, Arthur has to kiss him. He doesn’t think about it before hand, he doesn’t try and over analyze what this could do to his career, he just doesn’t care because Eames is here, and he won, and he kind of wants to celebrate and this is one of the only ways he knows how.

They pull away and Eames grins at him, pushing him towards the stage, and Arthur goes, like he’s walking through liquid.

Arthur can’t believe it, he had just kissed his fiancee, who was another man, on television, in front of thousands of guests in the theatre, and in front of millions of American’s (and foreigners) at home. He should’ve felt slightly embarrassed and a little self conscious but he wasn’t going to let that ruin his high. He was completely and totally happy and Eames may be rubbing it in how right he was for the next month or maybe even the next ten years, but Arthur didn’t care at the moment.

He had won, he had actually done it and he honestly felt like he was dreaming.

His legs felt sloshy and his head felt like it weighed way more than it was supposed too, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but this was one of the most glorious moments of his life (second only to when Eames asked him to marry him) and he was just happy he had survived long enough to see this happen.

He walks up to the stage, gives Seth Rogen a one armed hug, takes the Oscars and just feels the fuck out of it, running his fingers along the smooth surfaces of it, seeing his reflection in the shiny gold. He’s kind of in awe, because it’s his, and it might be a little heavier than he thought it would be, but it’s his, and he’s never felt more exhilarated by a piece of gold in his life (his engagement ring was silver). He stepped up to the microphone and let out a sound that was half a mewl and half a whoop of excitement.

Arthur clears his throat before trusting himself to speak, “Oh…um..wow.. I…I should’ve practiced this..but I thought that… might’ve been a little pretentious, and I’m not pretentious at all, I promise.” As if on cue, he can hear a very familiar British voice yell ‘Yes you are!’

Arthur’s positive that wasn’t Colin Firth, either.

“And, I just, I can’t believe… I won… I don’t… this feel’s like a dream, honestly. I remember when I was young, I would practice the speech in front of the mirror in my bathroom, holding up a bottle of tooth paste, and I’d steal my father’s gel and slick my hair back and pretend.. and this is so much better. Really, it is. And I just, I want to thank the producers of the film, Mary Zucker, and Todd Green. I want to thank the director, Henry Fine, and I also want to thank all of the my fellow cast members and the crew that would stay up late, sometimes not getting any sleep at all, you guys are the reason that this movie has been made and has made as much of an impact as it has.”

“I also want to thank my family and friends, for literally being the wind beneath my wings and pushing me to do this role when I thought I wouldn’t be able to complete it, and I also want to thank Eames,” Eames gives a whoop, and Arthur has too laugh, nervously, because this is the most nerve-wracking thing he’s ever done. “He’s been my rock, and he’s the reason I ever got into acting, and he’s everything and more to me, and I just, I want to thank you for believing in me when I didn’t have the strength to believe in myself. I want to thank you because you’ve also been the wind beneath my wing– Oh christ! I’ve said that twice now…um.. I just, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t believe…” He trails off, not being able to finish what he wanted to say, but he knew that Eames could hear the words that had gone unspoken, and that’s truly all that mattered.

Arthur feels tears come to his eyes, and he only has about twenty seconds left, and he’s barely even thanked half of the people that he wanted too. “I also lastly want to thank my competitor’s for some rock hard competition this year, and if I could, I would totally duplicate this award and pass it out to all of you. I also want to thank the Academy for this pleasure, and just thank you for letting me live out one my dreams. Thank you.” He says into the microphone, and the audience breaks out into applause.

Arthur, not so deaf with glee as he thought he would be, could hear Eames’ above all the rest, and he walks back stage with a grin on his face.

*

When Arthur and Eames’ get home they have sex.

Multiple times.

All the awards, Arthur thinks to himself once they lay on his bed, completely fucked out and spent, must go to Arthur.

The celebration in winning is almost as good as the actual award.

*

The next morning, Arthur logs onto his computer, to see an email from Ariadne:

To: arthurtheactor@gmail.com
From: drawingdesignsari@yahoo.com
SUBJECT: i c u won at the oscars

Dear Academy Award Winner Arthur Levine,

CONGRATS ON THE AWARD BIG GUY!!! Cobb and I watched you win – by the way am I the only one who thinks he and Leonardo Dicaprio look alike?

BY THE WAY: Matching suits? Adorable! I always knew you’d come around! You were glorious, but thanks for leaving Cobb and I out of your speech. I guess us, as your publicist and agent, mean nothing.

See you on Sunday, buddy!

—
Ariadne.

P.S. Can I rub your Oscar or.