I hope this is okay to ask. What do you think happens to Arthur and Eames at the end of Here is a Thing That Isn't Happening? Not like, do you plan on continuing a story you wrote a decade and a half ago, more like the helenish headcannon headlines. Thank you
omg yes!!! I know exactly what happened and I even wrote a bunch of it but then I didn't finish and THIS STORY is actually the reason I am very stern with myself about not publishing WsIP because it's just too easy to walk away. (Although I think this one is perhaps maybe a gray area because they were self-contained episodes???? Asking for a friend who maybe has some more self-contained episodes of hrpf floating around that are refusing to turn into a story.) ANYWAY, straight from a working doc named "Drinks!" I can tell you that THE final beats of the story were:
Arthur and Eames get drinks and agree that they are very mature and totally past all of the weirdness from the past
But they aren't.
So first, this is not an age difference that is especially meaningful - I really can't remember if I ever specified, but I would say it's 6 years MAX and probably something like 5 or 4 years 8 months, because even though Arthur seems like this fully formed, mature adult to Eames when he first drags him home from off the street, I'd say he's 21, maybe, precocious himself, and in that stage of life where you still know everything and think you're grown.
So I don't know what the age difference is, but you know who does? down to the DAY? uh, Arthur and Eames, who both know it's this Huge Looming Thing that Can Never Be Reconciled:
Eames who's coming up on thirty and when he sees sixteen year olds they're babies, he can't even imagine sleeping with one of them, and he's retroactively burning with embarrassment about trying to sleep with Arthur, GOD, that must have been disgusting. Or maybe not even disgusting, maybe Arthur just thought it was funny, or something. pathetic.
And Arthur notices that Eames is too careful with him-- takes pains over being professional and friendly and Arthur's not stupid, he understands that this is a Boundary, that Eames is politely (kindly, even) keeping Arthur at arms' distance. and Eames is so perceptive, he probably knows, GOD, he knows that Arthur thinks about him That Way sometimes and he honestly, he tries not to, he tries and it's really difficult because Eames is so--! Oh, tall and smart and built and so gorgeous it makes your eyes water and Arthur knows that it's wrong for him to feel That Way about Eames. (And is so consumed by shameful lust he's oblivious to the fact that Eames knows he's a loser compared to Arthur, who is so hot--beautiful, really--and clever, a genius, knows everything and everyone and--)
So many assumptions and regrets and tangled feelings and they're made for each other, right? The premise of this story is they're made for each other and irresistibly attracted to each other and OF COURSE they start having sex before figuring any of this out and BOTH of them think they're taking advantage of the other one, like Arthur knows he's basically a sex offender and Eames knows Arthur just feels sorry for him and both of them know that if they were a stronger, better person, they would stop, here, I even had this in a section labeled OH JEEZ EAMES & ARTHUR START TO DO IT
“Hey,” Eames says. “You know I’m not a horny kid anymore, right? I know that I’ve been looking at you and I’m sorry. it’s--rude. You’re just. I’m not going to jump you or anything, so you don’t have to keep leaving while we’re trying to get some fucking work done.”
“You’ve been looking at me,” Arthur repeats.
“Yes, I know,” Eames says. “I don’t mean anything by it, I’ll get past it, I just. want.”
Arthur licks his lips. He feels a little light-headed; it’s the most attention Eames has focused on him since that first day. Eames flinches, staring at his face. “And if you could stop doing things like that, it would probably help--”
“Like what?” Arthur says.
“Like licking your fucking pretty mouth, like touching me or, making me think about holding you down and fucking you until you look at me,” Eames blurts out. “Sorry, fuck. I mean, sorry that was really unprofessional.”
Arthur nods in agreement. He needs to get out of here. He licks his lips again, by mistake.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he says. He’s rehearsed this, a little, in the bathroom, staring at himself sternly and telling himself to get it together, so it comes out pretty smoothly. “I would never act on--or expect,” he falters, because Eames is looking at him.
“It’s not you making me uncomfortable,” he says, slowly. “It’s me, I’m making you uncomfortable. Right?”
“You didn’t do anything,” Arthur says.
“Stop looking at me like that or I will,” Eames says. His eyes are wide and dark and afraid. “Arthur,” he says, and then he puts one fingertip softly against the exact center of Arthr’s lower lip. Nothing happens for five seconds, ten. Then Eames moves his finger, just barely, drawing it in gentle, random pattern and Arthur licks his lips and his tongue touches Eames finger and without really understanding how it happened, Eames’ finger is in his mouth and he’s sucking on it.
“I--” Eames says. He looks shocked; his mouth is open.
But finishing it would have involved coming up with probably 2-3 other dream jobs for them to do while they were having bad-idea sex and THAT seemed like a lot of work so now I just have fifteen tabs open on my desktop about when the Canadian Hockey Team moved to a five star hotel at the Olympics.
lodestoned
by @scoops404 and @alittledizzy
Dream/George
rated Explicit, 5.5k and counting
part one of five; updating mondays
written for @alizetwt!!
You make the big declarations, you name the relationship, and you ride off into the sunset. At least that’s what it’s supposed to look like, right?
When Dream and George finally address the feelings that have long been building between them, they find things are a little more complicated than that. Navigating the highs and lows of a new relationship is challenging, from determining the difference between going out to eat and going on a date to figuring out the whole sex with another guy thing to breaking the big news to their best friend and roommate.
How will they handle all the new experiences that come with finally being boyfriends?
Or DNF are finally dating, but what does that even look like?
For George's 29th birthday, I commissioned eight artists to make fan art of all the different Georges we know and love. Enjoy this rainbow of George on his special day!
Artists in order:
@uftopia / @/uf2pia (Tumblr/Twitter)
@/hirouzumaki4 (Twitter)
@carpedzem (Tumblr/Twitter)
@jjoneechan (Tumblr/Twitter)
@/goloify (Twitter)
@istarryi (Tumblr/Twitter)
@paritnuft / @/nuftparit (Tumblr/Twitter)
@/zozo_rabbit (Twitter)
Go follow all of these amazing artists! Support their work in any way you can, and happy birthday to George!