I will be honest, I didn't like Inception. Saw it once, understood it but didn't like it. But I like Tom Hardy and I liked Eames, so I tried to write a little something for him.
The first thing Arthur had said before she met Mister Eames was that he was difficult.
Cobb had corrected by saying that he was very good at his job, like the whole team since he only worked with the best, but that his style and the style of their Extractor were very different.
"Eames can seem playful…"
“He is childish, frivolous and careless.”
"Thank you, Arthur. Let's just say he likes to have fun, but he knows how to be serious when necessary. We've never had any problems with him."
The work went well, apart from the incessant arguments between Arthur and Eames, although it was obvious that this amused the Forger a lot.
The rest of the time he flirted with Y/N. As an Architect, she had to concentrate to maintain a coherent universe during the dream, which was not easy with this smiling man who distracted her whenever he had the opportunity.
Difficult, Arthur had said, she saw quite well what he meant.
But really very talented, and really very charming. Hard to resist.
The problem was that Mr. Eames was a gambler. A player. He loved risk and challenge, which is why he continued to tease Arthur whenever he saw him.
As soon as he saw that he wasn't getting what he wanted with Y/N, she immediately became interesting.
She didn't really think the first time they kissed. The dream had been difficult to manage, the mission dangerous, they had almost died and Eames had been injured protecting her.
Her lips were pressed to his before she realized what she was doing, too relieved that he was alive. Immediately he had hugged her, responding to her kiss without worrying about their colleagues.
Cobb had sighed, Arthur had rolled his eyes, Saito had shrugged, Ariadne had smiled and Yusuf had taken notes.
No one blamed her for her reaction, because the whole team had been affected by what had happened. They didn't talk about it again.
Eames didn't mention it again either, but he called her more often. He came to her hotel room as if everything was perfectly normal.
It was hard to remember when he joined her in bed. It seemed impossible to resist Mr. Eames's charms, despite her best efforts.
"I'll take everything you want to give me, darling." he said to her one day, kissing her forehead as she fell asleep against him.
He kept his word. Eames took what she gave, giving nothing in return. He responded to her messages, her calls, he came when she asked him, he received her kisses, her caresses, and he took everything with a big smile.
Y/N didn’t blame him, he didn’t force her to give either. It was a balanced arrangement. She just had to avoid anything complicated with feelings. This was not the domain of Mr. Eames, eternal child.
Normally, she would have acted thoughtfully and carefully, being a very gifted professional at her job. But it wasn’t about work, and Y/N wanted to take some risks when she was with him. A game could be fun, once in a while.
“I want us to get married.” she said very calmly as they dined in a chic restaurant in Paris.
"… I don't have a ring on me right now, but I can get down on one knee with a baguette."
She hadn't thought he would accept. As he was a gambler himself, perhaps he wanted to see how far she would go. So Y/N offered everything.
A grandiose wedding, with lots of guests, two cakes, a princess dress, an indecently expensive wedding ring, with less than a year to prepare everything.
She quickly realized that she had no chance of winning this game, which very quickly became more painful than fun.
"Yusuf made me think that we need several options for the banquet. We need to add dishes."
“I mean, what dishes do I add ?”
"Oh, whatever you want. Anything is fine with me."
“And Cobb asks for the gift list.”
“Yes, he asked me too, I told him to check with you.”
Very effective response, always the same. Eames said yes to everything, without ever having to do anything, since the marriage was her idea, and therefore it seemed normal that she would be the one to organize it from start to end, even if he handed her his numerous bank cards as soon as she asked.
In the end, it wasn't their wedding that she was planning, but a wedding in which he would participate, perhaps, if he didn't run away at the last moment.
Y/N wondered if she was going to break down first. And probably she should, because the game was affecting her more than it should, and for a reason that was starting to become quite clear.
After all this time together, and despite all her good intentions, it was obvious that she liked Mr. Eames a little too much.
No, she was in love, that was a certainty when her heart was racing because he whispered her name, when she had trouble breathing when he didn't respond after a mission, and above all because she wanted to to cry every time he didn't invest in the preparations.
Yet he had been very clear from the start. He would take, nothing more.
The wedding was to take place the following week when Y/N turned to him at the end of a mission, trying to hide any emotion.
“I don’t want to marry you.”
He didn't really seem surprised, but still a little disappointed. His only response was to nod, accepting this announcement without putting up the slightest resistance. He took his things and left without giving his destination.
The rest of the team was not as understanding.
Everyone asked her why she was ending such a beautiful story. Even Arthur seemed shocked, as he was the first to criticize Eames.
“You seemed so happy together.” Ariadne sighed in despair. “When Eames looked at you, he had stars in his eyes.”
"Really ? I saw the way you smiled when he called your name. And he said it with such fervor and love."
"Ariadne, he doesn't love me. He doesn't care. It wasn't a relationship, it wasn't a marriage, just a game that went too far. Please stop."
Y/N took the first flight to Barcelona, to stop thinking about all this and be away from everyone. Unfortunately, their team had the best Pointman and Extractor, who always knew where to find his teammates.
Of course, this normally served no purpose outside of missions, and Arthur never gave out their location if it wasn't necessary.
It was impossible to imagine what Eames could have said or done to get this information, because there was no other way he could have ended up at her hotel room door.
He looked less confident than usual, scratching the back of his neck and grimacing.
“What do you want, Mr. Eames ?”
"Darling, you know I love you right ? Because Ariadne told Arthur, who told Cobb, who told Yusuf, who told me that you thought I didn't love you. I went down on one knee and offered you French bread, it's huge."
"… If you want us to sleep together, it's really not…"
“Darling.” sighed sadly with a terribly sad look. "I think we misunderstood each other. I'll take what you give me, and you can take everything from me."
“I don’t feel like I get much from you.”
"I agreed to marry you ! And be careful, I'm delighted, the happiest day of my life, and I would have accepted all the other requests. Anything to make you happy. That's why I wanted you to choose your dress, the flowers, the meal, to make it the wedding you wanted, because the only thing it ever needs for it to be perfect is for you to be there. I want you, nothing more."
"… I actually think we misunderstood each other."
"If it was just a game, darling… Tell me and I'll go drown my broken heart in a bar. But if you still want this marriage… I'm here."
Some people thought Eames was difficult, but in the end he was a very simple man.
So smart that he was stupid, not thinking it would be necessary to talk about his feelings. To him, it was obvious that he was in love, otherwise why would he spend so much time with Y/N ? Why would he want to hear from her, have her in his arms, have her named after him ? She was as smart as him, if not smarter, she should know that.
Yes, he liked gambling, his life wasn't stable, but when it came to that sort of thing, he was a romantic gentleman. Yusuf knew this. But not the rest of the team.
He hadn't thought that Yusuf didn't talk about his secrets with others, and that the rest of the team had been able to warn her against some of his bad habits, which didn't reflect very well on him.
He seemed casual, but with Y/N, he had been very serious.
"I can take over the entire wedding planning. It will take a long time, I have a lot of ideas. I don't know if you've noticed, darling, but I have imagination. The decoration, the clothes , music… So many possible themes but an unlimited budget. I mean, almost unlimited. I played a bit after the wedding cancellation and you know what they say ? Unlicky at cards, all that. What do you think of an underwater wedding ?"
“Maybe we could slowly resume the relationship before talking about marriage again.” she sneered, as relaxed as at the beginning of their story, when everything was simple.
"We can. I also have lots of date ideas. Are you afraid of heights ? Allergies ? In fact, I already know, I may have hacked your computer and forced Arthur to tell me the rest, but I really want you to tell me about yourself.”
“What if I want to talk about you ?”
“Ah, my love, we are going to be very bored, we will need a lot of alcohol. I know where our first date will be !”
They didn't talk about marriage again right away. No, Eames waited until the third date to propose again with a basket filled with several types of bread.
The team didn't really know how to react when they received wedding invitation again, where the new date had been replaced by hand, with a smiley face. They were happy, because Eames and Y/N seemed happy together, but at the same time they were afraid that the same nightmare would start again.
“If he hurts you, tell me.” Arthur said, one hand resting on his gun.
"Everything will be alright."
"Hmm. And remember he's an idiot, don't hurt him too."
“Oh, Arthur, you care !” cried Eames sarcastically.
"No, you might disappear again and even if I found you, it would jeopardize the mission."
"So charming, mate. Why are you my best man again ?"
“Specificity, right darling ?” Eames chuckled, taking Y/N's hand to kiss it, his eyes shining that screamed that he loved her more than anything, even if he wasn't good at telling it with words.
