12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

AN INCEPTION FANFICTION

PAIRING: Arthur x Eames, of course

AUTHOR: Djap

GENRE: Romance, Holidays, Humor, First Time

RATING: NC17

LANGUAGE: English

BETA: Neenabluegirl – thank you for your patience and your help with my grammar. I'm very grateful that you had fun reading and especially beta-reading my stories and I'm very happy that you took the time to write all those nice comments. I hope that you had at least a little fun with the Advent Calendar, even if it was spoiled for you, because you already knew the stories (and most of the pics) when I finally got around to post them.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the boys and I won't make any money by using them. Pity.

SERIES: Epiphany, Advent Calendar 2010

A/N: Finally. Merry Christmas to all of you and I hope you got everything you wished for. This is the last piece of my Advent Calendar and I enjoyed writing/drawing/posting this very much. Thanks for all your nice comments. I really hope you had a good time with me this very 'gay' yuletide :D

…

12 Days of Christmas

a Djap story

…

On the first day of Christmas

my true love sent to me…

…

Tuesday 14th December 2010

"This is ridiculous." Arthur muttered to himself and stared intently at the large package innocently sitting on the floor in front of his door. His first impulse had been to claim that the hotel staff must have confused orders, because this certainly couldn't be for him, but then he saw his own name in tiny silver lines on the front of the accompanying letter, sitting on top of the package.

For about 10 minutes Arthur had no idea what to do. Nobody except the team knew that he was currently lodging in this hotel in this very room, not even his own mother. So this had to be a trap, right? RIGHT?

Then he felt stupid for not knowing what to do and lifted the package from the floor. If this was really a bomb or something like that, he deserved to be blown up with it, because his enemies knew where to find him in the first place.

He heard no tale telling ticking inside so he brought the package to his bed and set it down there. First he reached for the letter and after taking a deep breath he opened it. When nothing disastrous happened he opened his tightly shut eyes again, lifting his eyebrow in curiosity.

Obviously this was a normal letter with an absolutely normal card in it. Strange. No trace of any white powder or any electronic mechanisms that could kill him. Huh.

Arthur finally pulled the card from the envelope and instantly rolled his eyes.

In neat, golden letters it read: "On the first day of Christmas your true love gave to you the proposition to woe you and to capture your heart completely. Please enjoy."

Arthur racked his brain to remember where he'd seen the handwriting before but it was obviously altered on purpose and he had no chance of placing it despite its familiarity. That at least relaxed him a little. So, one of his teammates had sent this and not an enemy seeking revenge. This certainly was a joke, right?

He was pretty much convinced that this had to be a crude joke as he finally opened the package. Inside he found the ultimate woeing-package: flowers and chocolate. It didn't help that it was fine, dark and expensive Belgian chocolate, which was his favorite sweet and that the flowers were Hydrangeas, which he loved to an unhealthy extent. This wasn't only a joke, but also a quite cruel joke from somebody who knew him very well.

He still couldn't bring himself to throw the chocolate or the flowers away, although he really wanted to. His heart was still aching from unrequited love, which was the story of his life. He ate mournfully two pieces of the chocolate and put the flowers on his nightstand, pretending they were really from his one true love. How pathetic, he chided himself meanly.

Finally he took a deep breath and steeled himself for another day filled with hard work.

…

Wednesday 15th December 2010

The next morning, by the time Arthur reached the building in which they were currently working, he'd all but forgotten about the strange gift from the day before. It had snowed over the night and so, for once, Arthur didn't want to go to work. He had always loved the dark and cold season of the year and he especially enjoyed snow.

When he was still a child, he could spend many hours playing in the snow, plotting with his friends against the neighbor's children, building igloos and snowmen. When he was around ten he was known to be the best sleigh racer to be found in the whole neighborhood.

On the walk to the building, he had enjoyed the sound the crushed snow made under his shoes so much that he'd nearly kept walking instead of stopping at their hideout. But then, his responsibility had kicked in and he'd turned in to work after all, because they needed to end this job as quickly as possible, because Cobb wanted to be home for Christmas with his children.

As he reached the front door of the building he stopped dead in his tracks as the whole gift-thingy came back to him in a rush. His suspicions were confirmed again, that it must be someone from his team who was sending him these strange presents.

He went inside, taking the neatly packed package inside after brushing away the snow that had accumulated on top of it. He sat it on the kitchen table of their hideout, before shaking the snow out of his scarf, his coat and his hair. He probably should start wearing a wool cap too, but that would mean he'd need to cut the use of his hair product use and that was not an option. Eames would be obnoxious about it and tease him about his rebellious bangs for weeks. *fangirl squeal*)

After putting his stuff neatly on a hanger and changing from his heavy boots into more comfortable slippers he caught a glimpse of himself as he passed the mirror on his way back into the kitchen. His cheeks were flushed red his hair a little out of order due to the snow and his mouth was set in a happier line than usual, which was completely ridiculous.

Only because he'd been depressed former years around Christmas and just because Cobb was happy now that he was back with his children, he didn't need to smile so silly, did he? This whole game was pretty ridiculous and as soon as Arthur found out who was playing with him, he or she would learn what it meant to mess with Arthur's head. For now it was time to investigate, whether the mysterious sender of the package had made a mistake this time or not.

There had been snow on top of the package and the accompanying card as Arthur brought both items in and now, that the point man turned his attention back to those, he found the paper and the envelope crumble up under the melting snow. He looked for a dish towel and wiped the surface of his presents tenderly.

He finally lifted the envelope up and pulled the card from it, wondering what it would say.

"On the second day of Christmas, your true love gave to you something to listen to. I hope it will make the wait worthwhile."

Listen to? What was that supposed to mean? Arthur sighed because he knew that his curiosity would kill him one day. He ripped the present open and was surprised to find a new CD in the box. Then he swallowed. This didn't look good. He had been talking to Yusuf about this, because the chemist had asked him which music he preferred. No one else had been around that day, so was Yusuf playing this cruel joke on him? He couldn't believe that, it just wouldn't be in Yusuf's nature to do that. Besides, did Yusuf know him well enough to know about his favorite kind of chocolate and flowers?

This whole charade needed even more investigation on Arthur's side. His attention was caught alright, now it needed to see whether Arthur could catch the gambler.

…

Thursday 16th December 2010

Damn. It had happened again. When Arthur woke that morning due to a strange noise he had rushed outside to confront the person who was sending all those alleged gifts. But the only person he found was the Polish cleaning woman who was working on his corridor's carpet. The look she threw him told him exactly how insane she thought he was.

Well, he was wearing only his white shorts with the big red dots and nothing else. But it had been worse before, when she actually came into his room to him coming fresh out of the shower wearing nothing but his birthday suit, because he'd forgotten to put up the 'Do not disturb' sign. His strange working hours often clashed with those of housekeeping. He was used to that.

He looked down at his feet and swore again, because, damn, there was another package from his secret admire. He kicked it, hard, so that it crashed against the wall. The Polish woman threw him another disgusted look, then turned her back on him and got back to cleaning.

Arthur took a deep breath and suppressed the sudden desire to strangle the woman, before he went obediently over to the package and lifted it up to bring it back into his room.

Once there he had to suppress another urge, this time to set fire to the whole thing, he then practically ripped the envelope open to retrieve the card.

"On the third day of Christmas your true love – ha bloody ha – gave to you something to help you through lonely nights."

When he ripped the gift open in annoyance he was suddenly glad that the content wasn't as easy to break as the CD would have been. It was a book about French poetry from Voltaire, one of his favorite authors. Arthur caressed the spine of the book as he read the title, swallowing around the lump in his throat. Having lived through the nightmare of Mal, the Shade in Dom's head, Arthur was glad for once to be reminded of his old friend Mal, whom he had lost.

This book, together with French poetry he'd always enjoyed, had been lost to him for so long that he felt ages old now. This was a reminder of a happier past with his friends, living in Paris and still working on the right side of the law. When Mal killed herself Arthur had locked those memories away, before concentrating on Dom, who had needed his help badly.

No one of the current team should know about him loving Voltaire and French poetry except for Dom. But his friend wouldn't be so cruel and trick him like that just to get a laugh out of it. This wasn't like Dom at all. But it also wasn't like Dom to have the hots for him. Back, when they were younger, before Dom met Mal and with that the love of his life, both boys had been inseparable. It was inevitable for Arthur to develop a crush on his best friend, but he'd soon grown out of that. Now they were friends, good friends, and Arthur loved him like a brother. Had Dom really developed feelings for him after all this time? Arthur had always been sure that Dom was solely a woman's man, but how should he interpret these gifts then?

Arthur's head felt like splitting in two thanks to all this thinking and when he checked the clock he realized he had another hour before he needed to get ready for work. So he sighed and played his new CD on his notebook. Soon, Spanish guitar music filled the room. Then he leaned back on the headrest, burrowing under the blanket and groped for the book. He hadn't lost himself in Voltaire for far too long anyway, so to start today was as perfect a moment as any.

…

Friday 17th December 2010

Arthur had been annoyed when he found no present on his doorstep the next morning. He was sure to find it on the way to the hideout then, but was again disappointed. Had his secret admirer tired of this whole thing so soon? Perhaps he should have been keeping up with the sprinkled questions about his secret admirer yesterday, but after being too late for work because he'd actually lost himself to Voltaire for over four hours, he had worked hard to make good on lost time. Ergo he hadn't had the time to actually investigate anything.

The whole day at work he was grumpy and jumpy, waiting for anything unusual to happen. Of course nothing happened. At all. It was probably safe to say that this was the most boring working day Arthur had ever experienced. The worst – and sadly the most exciting - moment was when his notebook suddenly started to do very funny things. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and tried to save most of his data, but he didn't succeed. Damn. Sometimes life wasn't fair. Yeah he was good at hacking his way into a lot of secret facilities. And yes, of course was that a strain on his notebook, because he had to override a lot of safety issues in it. But hell, did he really need to demolish a notebook once a week?

Actually that last sentence was an exact quote from Dom, who usually paid for his working equipment, which made Arthur wonder if Cobb was really the one who had sent him all those presents. Because really, it wasn't his fault. There was no reason why Arthur should pay for the next notebook from his own money. Damn.

Arthur had pouted for the rest of the day trying to save anything about his old notebook but no, of course he wouldn't be that lucky. So he was in an extremely bad mood when he reached his hotel room in the evening and suppressed the urge to kick the present waiting for him on his bed.

Now it had to show up? After what was his worst day since Inception. Thank you very much but no, he wasn't interested. He ignored the package completely, undressed and took a long and very hot shower jacking off under the spray, not because he was aroused, but because he was angry and moody and it usually relaxed him.

He actually felt a little better afterwards so he didn't bother to put on any clothes when he returned to the bedroom, still drying his hair with one towel. Perhaps that Polish woman would be around and he would be able to tease her a little… When the hell had he gotten so mean anyway? What was wrong with him? Obviously this whole secret-admirer-thing was getting to him. The one he really wanted wasn't interested in him anyway and he wondered if he should turn the real admirer down if this whole thing was meant in perfect honesty. Would he be able to love someone else like he did love the person he'd really fallen for? Was he able to finally give up and get on with his life?

Arthur sighed, letting the towel fall next to the bed as he turned to the present.

"On the fourth day of Christmas your true love gave to you something that wouldn't make you late for work, because everybody knows how much you hate being late. You also will look very dashing in it."

Arthur actually snickered aloud at that. Okay, that certainly was true. He tended to bitch a lot when he was late for work, and it would be ill-adviced to make him late to anything on purpose. So perhaps this was why the present was so late that day? Because the admirer had to improvise with this one?

He was eager to rip the present open and he stared in awe as he pulled the awesome grey and burgundy three-piece out of the large box. He loved suits, everybody knew that and this one certainly was a very special piece of work. He'd been playing around with the thought of buying this suit for over two weeks now. He never went the same way twice to their hideout, but he always made sure to pass the store window where this suit had been on offer.

Okay, this was getting stranger and stranger every day. So it wasn't Dom who was sending the presents. He never cared for what Arthur wore. He didn't even care much what he wore himself, so why bother with Arthur's clothing style? No, this was speaking another language and one that brought Arthur back to reality rather harshly. This was definitely Ariadne's style, and how the hell could he have missed that there was a woman in their team? The cards didn't say anything about the gender of his secret admirer and just because he preferred males to females that didn't have to mean his admirer was a man. Arthur suddenly realized that his teammates probably even didn't know about his preference.

Okay, he just had a serious panic attack. How the hell was he supposed to deal with an amorous woman? Yeah, okay, he flirted occasionally with Ariadne, but just because she was cute when she blushed. He didn't mean anything serious with it. But did Ariadne know that? She was still so young in so many things that mattered. He kept forgetting that after how marvelous she'd done with Inception.

Arthur tenderly stroked over the fabric of the suit. Well, female love interest or not, he certainly was going to wear this suit the next morning. It would be a shame not to and he would have to have a serious chat with Ariadne one of these days anyway.

…

Saturday 18th December 2010

Arthur didn't hear anything from his admirer until he arrived at work. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror when he strode into the office and had to admit that his admirer was right. He did look very dashing in his new suit, which plastered another silly grin on his face. Thankfully, like usual, he was the first one, so he was surprised when the next present sat waiting on the desk for him.

"On the fifth day of Christmas your true love gave to you something you need, because it really wasn't your fault and because you are the best at what you do and deserved a treat."

Arthur was glad he had evolved from kicking his presents because he wouldn't have been able to live that one down. Killing two notebooks in one week would have been a new record even for him. Still, he couldn't quite suppress the surprised gasp and the silly grin that bloomed on his face at discovering the new Mac notebook.

He booted the notebook and happily typed away on the keyboard, making a list of his presents and his thoughts on the admirer because he certainly had to rethink all of the presents again. The suit might have been Ariadne's style, but she hated to spend money on useless things. And since Arthur regularly crashed his notebooks this would be quite useless in her eyes. It wasn't Cobb's style either, because he had made perfectly clear what he thought about Arthur's carelessness in the notebook department. Neither was the card a way of Cobb apologizing, because he always did that in person. No, all these facts pointed to someone else entirely, one who never bat an eyelid at spending money.

But really, wouldn't it be more Saito's style to buy Apple instead of just one notebook? At least he was finally sure that this wasn't just a cruel joke. Nobody would spend so much money on a joke, right? Not even Saito.

…

Sunday 19th December 2010

For once, Arthur didn't need to go to work. Cobb was gone to spend today with the kids and everybody else was allowed to take a day off. The point man didn't know what to do though. He'd already checked his doorstep twice but so far he hadn't gotten his present yet. If he stayed any longer at the hotel he'd probably go insane, so he dressed quickly and marched out into the snow.

They were currently working in New York and Arthur had always loved the city. When he was a child his father had worked here for two years. At first Arthur had hated it, because once again he had been forced to leave everything behind because they had to move again, but the city had soon captured his heart. Perhaps his whole life was the fault of his parents.

Since his childhood he hadn't been able to settle down long with anything. Even Eames, Mr. I-don't-care-where-I-live-as-long-as-the-place-has-the-opportunity-for-serious-gambling has an apartment to which he retreats when things get too much to bear. Sometimes Arthur envied other people for this ability. He blamed his parents for refusing him a home when he so desperately needed one. Still, Arthur had always wondered whether this would finally change when he found the right person to start a life with.

Arthur felt lonelier today than usually, perhaps due to the very thoughtful presents of a secret admirer whose devotion he very surely didn't deserve, so he knew it would be pure torture to visit one of the Christmas Markets. He still went to his favorite one and he was right with that assessment. Arthur had to watch so many happy couples, wrapped around each other to keep warm.

But still, Arthur didn't feel so lonely here anymore, even when he was alone, so he let himself bathe a little in the anonymous mass of happy people around him, drift here and there, listen to Christmas music and enjoy some eggnog. It was already dark when he returned to his hotel, walking because it had started to snow again.

When he reached his room he smiled bitter sweetly at finding the present he'd been waiting for all day. It sat neatly waiting for him on his bed but he didn't rush over to it and instead called room service for a hot chocolate and took another shower to warm up first. He was dressed in shorts and a tee when his hot chocolate arrived, before he finally turned his attention to the present.

"On the sixth day of Christmas your true love gave to you something enjoyable when you feel all alone."

Okay, that was very cryptic even for his secret admirer. Arthur had no idea what to expect when he opened the gift. He laughed out loud when he opened the box finding black satin sheets in it. They smelled fresh as if they had been in the laundry already, which was odd, because they didn't look as if they had been used yet. Did his admirer really know that he was allergic to some chemicals which were used for dyeing? It sure looked like it.

Arthur was beyond wondering about that though because it was obvious by now that none of his teammates could have known all this about him without a very proper research.

He did wonder about who would be the most likely to send this gift. He decided on Eames, because really, he was the most hedonistic of the whole team. Come on, black satin sheets? It practically screamed 'Eames'. He was practically the master of sin here and he was known to bed any person he found interesting enough. At one point he had made the surprising discovery that the king of debauchery actually could be monogamous and faithful if he was with the right person, which Arthur found most intriguing.

He hadn't believed it at first when Cobb told him about Eames past love life with a woman, with whom he'd lived together until her dying day. Arthur had felt the need to research that before he could believe it and he was surprised to see it was the truth. What kind of woman must it have been if she had been able to bind a man like Eames until she finally died of Cancer? That sure wasn't an easy way out of life and it couldn't have been pretty or easy for a man like Eames. But he had stayed with her to the end, changing the view Arthur had about Eames forever.

Arthur lost no time to change the sheets and quickly considered his other options. Who else could have sent such a gift? Saito? Certainly not. With him it could only be golden silk. Ariadne? No, she preferred things to be art, which extended to every aspect of her life. She would never have bought or sent him sheets in a plain color. Dom? Never silk. Dom hated silk with passion, because it made him feel even colder than he usually was. Dom always complained about it being too cold anyway and with him it certainly would have been cozy cotton. Yusuf? That one made Arthur snicker, because really, he'll never understand the man's passion for manga. The last time he'd seen Yusuf in his sleeping attire it had consisted of pajamas with a brightly colored Pikachu on it. Arthur didn't dare to think what his sheets would look like. It might damage Arthur's brain severely.

So back to Eames then. He wondered what kind of lover Eames was. In real life he was flirtatious and charming and he also knew no taboo in matters of love. Arthur knew that Eames dated people from both genders and he seemed to enjoy being both predator and prey in matters of seduction. He certainly was to be considered a good lover, as he was a person mostly working on intuition anyway. He also was a quick learner and knew how to read people.

Would he be passionate or would he be considerate if he ever got the inkling to seduce Arthur? The point man quickly shed the rest of his clothes sliding beneath the cool sheets. They felt like the pure sin on his already excited skin and Arthur blindly groped for his new notebook to play his new CD. Then he grabbed the last piece of chocolate, savoring the taste while he let his thoughts wander back to Eames.

How would the forger touch him? Would he feel cherished or would he be mocked now that he'd gotten the prude and bourgeois finally into his bed? Would he blow Arthur's mind by sucking his cock or would he challenge him and make Arthur suck him off? What position would he prefer if he was allowed to fuck Arthur and if yes, would he give it to him hard and fast or slow and languidly?

Arthur had problems to concentrate on the possibilities his mind was providing as he had started to stroke himself expertly. While his right hand stroked his by now hard cock in an old and familiar rhythm, his left first tweaked a nipple then gently fondled his balls with the exact right pressure he preferred. For once, Arthur also allowed himself to make as much noise as he wanted too. He'd served long enough in the army to know how to jerk off expertly without making too much noise. Making some noise was quite enjoyable though and this present was an invitation to enjoy himself, right?

So he did just that. Arthur finally came to the image of Eames coming too, head thrown back and moaning in ecstasy. The point man came in four quick hard spurts all over his chest and the new sheets and that realization made him smile. Usually his neat and practical self would immediately clean up that mess, but for once he didn't. Instead he just smeared it a little over his chest, entertaining the thought that he'd been thoroughly fucked and worn out for once and definitely too lazy to clean up. It had been way too long since the last time that had happened.

Besides, the Polish cleaner already hated him anyway. Let her deal with the mess tomorrow. That thought made him grin stupidly before he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

…

Monday 20th December 2010

Of course he did clean up his own mess the next day before he went to work. The woman was only doing her job and it wasn't her fault that Arthur was a mess since all this started. Besides he was in such a good mood, that it was hard for him to be angry at anyone. Actually he felt so bad for thinking mean thoughts about her, that he very politely greeted her as he passed her on his way to work and even tipped her for doing such a good job with his room.

She was so stunned by that she didn't answer anything, just stared at him with big round eyes. Arthur shrugged it off and waved her good bye, feeling her stare on his back until he was out of her sight.

His good mood didn't last long though. The streets were iced and right at the start of a new week of work he was late again. Even Eames was there before him and he was never on time. Eames was always fashionable late, except if there was serious work to do, so it pissed Arthur even more of as he of all people had the cheek to ask why he was so late. Okay, the embarrassing thought that he'd been jerking off to this obnoxious man last night only added to his bad mood, but what the hell, this day was shit anyway.

Arthur slammed the door shut behind him when he finally reached his makeshift office and wondered where his good mood had gone. This whole thing was seriously wearing him out. He desperately wished for this whole charade to be over, so that he could deal with the aftershocks of whomever's heart he had to break, because he was desperately in love with someone he couldn't have.

Arthur took a deep calming breath and reminded himself that according to the song he had to get through another six days of this torture until the identity of his secret admirer would finally be revealed. That was exactly the moment when he spotted the box, wrapped in now very familiar paper, sitting innocently on his desk. Arthur didn't know if he had the strength for another present so soon, but he knew his curiosity would win in the end.

So he gave in, like usually first reading the card: "On the seventh day of Christmas your true love gave to you something useful for your work, to keep track of your most interesting insights and ideas."

For once Arthur had an idea what that was supposed to mean. His hands shivered with anticipation when he carefully peeled the paper of the box. And yes, he had been right. Again he received a book but with mostly blank pages in it. It was a scrapbook, bound in brown leather, showing a very enticing tribal motive on the outside. He had wanted to buy this particular scrapbook for several months now, but he hadn't wanted to indulge in such luxury as he was entirely talentless in creating art and would use it only for notes anyway. On the inside, ever tenth page portrayed a copy of a piece of art from his favorite artist and Arthur spent about half an hour sitting on his desk savoring every piece of art instead of working.

Still, although this was a very awesome present it also left a bad taste in his mouth. This gift all but screamed 'woman' again and with that also 'Ariadne'. Damn, so he was back to the whole 'could-I-get-it-up-for-a-woman-again' question.

…

Tuesday 21st December 2010

Arthur had been cranky the whole Monday and he was still in a bad mood when he closed the door to his room. When he turned he looked directly into the smile of the cleaner and was startled a little.

"Why are you so angry when such a nice man is giving you so many presents?"

Arthur blinked in confusion. Could he really have been so stupid? Here he had spent hours on the question of who was sending him those presents instead of asking the person who had been there all along when the presents were delivered. Best in his job. My ass. Certainly not. Gods of Thievery, he could be so stupid sometimes.

"A man?" he finally stuttered dumbly and the woman's smile faltered for a moment.

"You didn't know?" she asked confused, her Polish accent making it hard to understand her.

"I hoped so, but I wasn't sure." Arthur admitted and wondered why he was suddenly so honest with the woman.

"There is so much love in his eyes when he brings the presents, that I didn't think a smart man like you wouldn't see the honest sentiment right away."

"You think I'm smart?" Arthur asked surprised.

The woman shrugged it off. "Not many people can stay at this hotel for so long. They are either rich or famous, but you go to work every day, don't you? So you must be smart."

Arthur acknowledged that with a nod.

"What does the man look like?"

"You really have no idea, do you?" She looked at him astonished.

This time Arthur shrugged. "I know it's someone from work, but I'm not sure who. Can you help me?"

"I'm sorry, I promised not to tell."

"Even if I tip you again?" Arthur asked hopefully, although he already had the suspicion this wouldn't get him anywhere. As expected the woman's features only hardened.

"Sorry, Mister, but I can't help you. He told me this is about the song of the twelve…"

Arthur interrupter her impatiently "Yeah I know about the twelve days of Christmas. So he will reveal himself at the end of it, right?"

She nodded, obviously relieved that he knew the tradition.

"So there is nothing you can do for me?"

She grinned, looking through the pockets of her apron until she found it with a 'Ha. Got you.' "Other than that, no." she said, then added "This is my last day here before the holidays. I wish you a merry Christmas. I'll be off now with my children for a few days." She gave Arthur the now familiar looking envelope, which felt a little thicker than usual. Suddenly it made sense: Why the gift had always been waiting for him, even if he wasn't around and another guest could have stolen it. Why he had found some of them in his room. He knew all their abilities so he had assumed the secret admirer had just put his education to good use and broken in. This solution was way easier and made Arthur chuckle. Dom was right accusing him, his thinking was way too complicated sometimes.

He took the envelope then he searched his pants for his wallet. The woman frowned, looking hurt, but Arthur shushed her. "It would make me very happy if you take this." Her eyes grew wide at the zeros on the bills, but Arthur didn't gave her the chance to speak up "Look," he continued "I know that the paychecks of hotel staff is always too low, and you were doing very good work. Take it and buy something nice for your children and please have a merry Christmas with them too, okay?"

Arthur was surprised and didn't know where to put himself as he was suddenly pulled into a fierce hug by the unfamiliar woman.

"I wish you luck with your man." She said taking the bills and putting them into one of her pockets. "His feelings are honest and I hope that you'll be happy with each other." That said she flashed him one last smile, then she was gone.

Arthur still smiled when he opened the envelope: "On the eighth day of Christmas your true love gave to you a ticket to remind you who you are."

Arthur laughed out loud when he pulled the ticket out. It was for a musical and none other than the Rocky Horror Picture Show. For once he stopped wondering who sent him the gifts. For once he stopped wondering how that person could know about all these things of his past and present. For once he just remembered the day, when he was still a teenager and a friend of his showed him the forbidden joys of that musical. That night he'd had his very first time with one of the actors. The production was cheap and not many people watched it at all, but he'd been enthralled with the whole thing from the first second to the last. For the first time he had felt free enough to let his desire for another man wash over him, taking him away with it, changing him forever. It had been quick and downright dirty and thankfully at least safe, but it had made an impression, Arthur had never forgotten. He was free to love whomever he wanted regardless what other people said.

Arthur took another fond look at the ticket, before he laughed again. In the same neat handwriting that was found on the cards was written a note directly on the ticket. "Hands off the actors" it read "Or I'll be pouting forever."

When he could stop laughing, Arthur wiped the corners of his eyes and whispered "I promise." To no one in particular but still swore to make good on that promise.

…

Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Tuesday had worked out so good that Wednesday would have to be great too. Sadly Life just didn't work like that, especially if you were named Arthur, or so it seemed. The musical had been awesome but it hadn't felt so good to be alone afterwards. So he was stupid enough to try and cheer himself up by visiting the Christmas Markets again and loosing himself in the mass of people. That had worked well enough at first, but then he'd spotted a shop selling red mulled wine. Arthur loved mulled wine, especially when he visited Germany, so he hadn't thought anything bad as it had tasted a little strange. Wine from different countries tasted different, right?

He obviously didn't know much about wine, but he still enjoyed the occasionally glass of it. His mood was still exceedingly good despite the bummer of still being alone, so he hadn't thought too much about the wine and just drank it. A lot of it obviously (he couldn't remember properly anymore) or at least enough that it could make his head explode now. This stuff must have been adulterated quite a lot because it usually didn't leave his head as if it might fall off any minute.

He somehow made it to the hideout, although his head thrummed meanly every time he heard a sound that was too loud. He was using the description too loud for anything that happened above the decibel level of whispering very quietly. He had taken already three aspirin but of course that didn't help anything.

So, for the record, he was late three times that week, and Dom gave him a good talking to for that. They'd been worried sick about him, especially so close for the end of this job and yadda yadda yadda… Arthur really couldn't be bothered to listen to Dom's rant so he just switched his ears off and tried to stay at least upright until his friend was done.

Of course that wasn't everything he had to endure though. Everybody seemed to find it extremely funny that their male role model had the hangover from hell and kept teasing him about it the whole day. So it didn't surprise Arthur, when he finally found his way home into his hotel room, that his present would also refer to his latest mishap.

"On the tenth day of Christmas your true love gave to you something better than the cheap stuff you've been drinking. Inexperience is no excuse, but being stupid enough not to ask for help in choosing your booth certainly is."

Arthur grimaced annoyed and wasn't surprised to find a bottle of red wine in the box. Right, he didn't know much about wine, but he knew how to navigate Google, so it was fairly easy to find out how expensive this wine had been exactly. When he knew, his eyes crossed over at the realization that there were actually people out there who would pay so much money for just a bottle of wine. So knowing the price tag of his latest present his mind was wandering to Saito again. Could the Japanese man really be interested in him? Was he his secret admirer? Arthur would have liked to give this some more thought, but he had no idea how to do that with sudden implosion still being an option for his head. So he undressed as quickly as he could, brushed his teeth, took a sleeping pill and knocked himself dead to another night of dreamless sleep.

…

Thursday 23rd December 2010

Arthur was bone tired. Finally they wrapped up their latest job and were ready for going home – or at least flying to Cobb's as he had invited the team over for Christmas Eve. But for now his day was finally over. The mark hadn't even known what hit him, thanks to their proper preparation. Since Inception they had worked together like a well oiled machine and Arthur wondered how long it would take for that effect to wear off finally.

Still he deserved some rest now and yawning all the time he made his way over to his hotel room. It would be the last night he spent in that room and he wondered where he'd sleep until their next job. He hadn't decided yet and figured that it would depend on whose heart he had to break. He'd go as far away from his secret admirer as he could, so that they hopefully could at least save their professionalism. They were cream de la cream right now in their business and it would be stupid to risk that just because they had personal problems.

He rubbed his eyes in surprise as he opened the door though. Waiting for him was the biggest amount of food he'd ever seen assembled for the arrival of just one person. This was a very expensive hotel and of course their food offer was exceedingly good. But this was way beyond anything he'd ever ask for, especially as he was known to only pick at his food.

He was about to call for the room service and ask how the hell they could have mixed up such an order without it being noticed, as he spotted the envelop sitting in between the plum pudding and the Lemon Parfait on Champagne. Arthur sighed as he reached for it wondering how his secret admirer would justify such a huge order that would go to waste mostly.

"On the tenth day of Christmas your true love gave to you a feast to celebrate a job well done, because you don't need to starve yourself to death as penalty for still being alone. Your love is waiting for you and perhaps you can finally settle down."

Arthur felt like crying after he read that, because it was strange to read this on a letter addressed to him. Was he that easy to read? Obviously. Was he oozing loneliness without even realizing it? Certainly. As expected he didn't feel like eating at all, but still made himself taste at least his most favorite dishes until he was so full he felt like bursting.

Then he went to bed, not bothering to pack yet like he'd usually do. There was time enough for that tomorrow. Instead he soon fell into a restless and dreamless sleep.

…

The flight had been boring and Arthur had mostly amused himself by playing solitaire on his still new and dutifully functioning notebook. Since Saito was part of their team flying had become easy and very much boring as there wasn't even the other guests anymore to annoy you. Instead he flew sitting in front of Eames, who kept throwing little paper bullets at him to annoy him and behind his best friend who couldn't stop rambling about the party he'd throw for them on that very evening. Everybody would sleep that night at Cobb's which would be nice though. Arthur was the godfather of Phillippa and he always enjoyed the company of the smart little girl. Her brother was too young and too childish yet to be a real joy to Arthur, but he was very cute too, so Arthur was sure he would manage.

The party was everything Arthur expected it to be. It was also fun and had surprisingly good food and also much laughter which he hadn't expected, although he was happy to see that not only the kids but also Dom was getting better and better every day now that he was finally back.

Arthur picked also up on something else that surprised him and brought him at least some relief: Ariadne and Dom seemed to get along more than good and at the end of the day he was almost certain they'd soon become a couple. Arthur was even happier to see that Dom's kids also seemed to like Ariadne very much, so she starting to date their father wouldn't hurt them too much.

That also meant Dom wasn't his secret admirer and Arthur wouldn't need to break his best friend's heart. Arthur was on the way to his guest room of the Cobb residence when he pondered which one would be the more likely candidate now: Yusuf or Saito. He liked both man dearly, but he couldn't imagine a relationship with either one, which was really sad. Thinking back on all the presents he'd gotten so far the cleaner must be right. One of them must be really in love with him and it was really sad that Arthur still seemed unable to finally settle down. Such a waste.

He nearly sat down on his latest present and he didn't really feel any impulse to open it. Still, it would be very unfair to not open it, so he did it reluctantly.

"On the eleventh day of Christmas your true love gave to you something to defend yourself properly against evil in this world."

How odd. Shouldn't his secret admirer say something like: I'll always be there to protect you from any harm? But he had been very unorthodox all along, so why should he change that now?

Arthur opened the box and smiled fondly. A 1911 Colt. Gods of Thievery, he really loved that weapon. It had been the first one he ever owned and he wanted to get buried with one. Of course there were much more efficient weapons out there, but one never forgot the first weapon you handled. He stroked it tenderly for a while seeing that the serial number was properly honed out and the rest oiled properly.

Of course the gift of a handgun made Arthur think instantly of Eames, but he discarded the thought right away. This could just be the expected response to Eames' clever line 'Dream a little bigger, darling.' and didn't have to mean anything. For a brief moment Arthur considered jerking off, to wind down for sleep, but then decided against it, because he didn't feel so good doing that right in Dom's house.

…

Friday 24th December 2010

"Oh my god, you?" Arthur said astonished staring at the man he'd just caught sneaking around the Christmas tree to place his present – which was to Arthur a very familiar looking envelope. Arthur had found no sleep, so on a sudden, silly and childish impulse he had decided to do something he hadn't done in years. He had felt the need to set up his own collection of milk and cookies for Santa Clause.

Well, what could he say in his defense? Old habits die hard?

He had certainly not expected to catch his secret admirer red-handed and had no idea how to react on it. So he just stared at Eames… EAMES OF ALL PEOPLE AND WHAT THE HELL DID THAT MEAN? … and waited for the other man to say something. Anything.

Eames looked caught and insecure and he had blushed a little around his ears which was a very becoming sight on him. It accentuated his stubble and therefore made him look even sexier.

Eames lifted his hand and scratched his head behind his right ear.

"Uhm…" he said intelligently, then "…you weren't supposed to find it out like thi…" he couldn't finish his sentence as he was suddenly interrupted by a very angry looking Arthur,

"So it's really you? This is no sick disguise? You are the one who had been sending those gifts to me?"

"Look, I know someone like you would never want someone like me, but I had at least to try…" Eames tried but was cut short again.

"Are you or are you not my secret admirer?" Arthur said deadly calm, making Eames swallow a little scared. Eames eyes flickered nervously to Arthurs hands as the point man very deliberately placed the glass of milk and the plate with the cookies on the nearby drawer. He swallowed again, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and mumbled "Yes, I… umph."

Eames was again interrupted, but this time in a much more pleasant fashion, by lips closing over his mouth. Arthur was all over the forger within seconds, manhandling him against the next wall to properly devour Eames mouth as if it were pure ambrosia. Arthur's hands were all over Eames, feeling him up, caressing, pushing, pulling. His fingers were shivering heavily though, which didn't go unnoticed by Eames.

He finally got a grip on Arthur's head and managed to stop the assault on his mouth long enough to murmur against Arthur's lips: "Sh, calm down darling. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. Let's take this somewhere more privet."

Arthur nodded, but was already licking at Eames lips again to beg for entry. Eames obliged, sighing softly and slowly started to pull the other man in the direction of the guest rooms. Arthur followed Eames lead, his still shivering hands busy with opening the buttons on Eames' shirt.

They tripped twice and just managed not to crash into the Christmas tree but finally they managed to navigate into Arthur's room. Once inside Arthur started his earlier assault on Eames' mouth once again, pushing the forger against the inside of the door, harshly freeing him of his shirt. As the forger wasn't wearing anything else under his shirt this maneuver left Arthur with a lot of skin at his hands, which was marked all over with black ink and now free for Arthur to touch and caress.

To say that Arthur's hands seemed to be everywhere at once felt to Eames like the understatement of the year and he still couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Arthur had never shown any real interest in him whatsoever so why now? Was this reality? It was a reflex to check his totem and he didn't realize he was doing it, until he felt Arthur's chuckle against his mouth. With one last bite on Eames' lower lip and a quick lick to lessen the sting Arthur pulled back from his mouth and stared at Eames' hand.

"You were the one sending me gifts for 12 whole days now so why do you need to check your totem? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Eames heard the real question behind that statement and asked one of his own instead of answering and rising to the jest "Why aren't you checking your totem? You certainly should be if this is so unbelievable."

"Because, if this isn't reality, it will kill me. If this is a dream, I don't want to know." Arthur said all humor gone, suddenly looking lost and sad and very vulnerable. Eames sighed again wistfully and tenderly caressed Arthur's cheek. He had known it wouldn't be that easy, but it was still something entirely else than he had expected.

He grabbed Arthur's hand and placed it over the little bump in Arthur's trouser pockets, where Eames knew the man kept his totem.

"Check it. If you can't do it for yourself, then please do it for me. This is reality and I will do everything I can to make you realize that. I want you Arthur. I have wanted you for a long while now, and I also want you to know this is reality.

"But…" Arthur tried to contradict, pulling his hand from his totem as if burned.

"No." Eames chided softly "Nor arguing about this. Come." He pulled Arthur over to the four poster bed and pushed him in a sitting position. "Take out your totem and let's have a look at it."

Arthur suddenly sported a huge grin, although the mirth only was short-lived and didn't quite reach the point man's eyes yet.

"What is it?" Eames asked and Arthur's grin even seemed to broaden if possible.

"That sounded corny."

Eames thought the bits and pieces of their conversation over and had to chuckle.

"If I promise to play very nicely with your other totem, will you check your less naughty one?"

Arthur sobered up instantly, grin gone quickly. His nervousness grew worse when he finally shoved his hand inside his pocket and retrieved the die. He took one last longing look at Eames then closed his eyes and sighed as he weighed the familiar item in his hands. Nothing seemed wrong so far, but he'd been wrong about that before. He threw the dice, letting it fall to the floor of the guest room so that it could roll freely. He didn't dare to open his eyes though, because he feared what he'd see.

Then he felt something touch his hair, softly stroking through bangs that had loosened earlier in their attempt to reach this room. The loose strands of hair were pushed behind his ear tenderly and Arthur shuddered with want.

"Open your eyes darling. I promise it will be worth the look." A voice laced with a very familiar accent whispered into his ear. Arthur had been hearing this voice in his imagination so often, there was no way this could be real. It certainly felt like a dream.

Arthur kept his eyes closed shut, as he heard a soft exhalation. The Eames of his imagination did that surprisingly often since he'd entered this dream, which was slightly odd. He certainly hadn't done that before. Then he heard some rustling and his knees were softly pushed apart as someone kneeled between them. The sound of his zipper being pulled down was loud to his sensitive ears now that sight was taken away from him by his own will.

The air was cold on Arthur's half hard cock, which was undecided yet if it should get with the program now that Arthur was really convinced this was all a dream. The hurt of waking up sticky and alone would probably break him this time, when it felt so real. Warm fingers gently groped for his erection and pulled it out of the confinement of his shorts.

Arthur sighed, his eyes still squeezed shut as he lifted one hand and placed it on Eames' head. He'd dreamt of this before, although it felt off somehow now. Then he finally got what it was and his eyes flew open in astonishment. All these times he'd dreamed about this or fantasized, there had always been a right hand touching his cock. That was a necessity Arthur hadn't given much thought to, as he was a natural right handed guy.

Eames was not though. He was left handed and this was certainly a left hand touching the point man in the most intimate of ways, coaxing squirming out of him patiently, making Arthur's erection grow quick and steady to full bloom. Arthur groaned, his eyes feasting on Eames familiar features. Eames was looking at Arthur's cock, mouth opened slightly ready to lean in as soon as Arthur would be fully hardened. His breath was coming in short huffs and he was watching Arthur's reactions closely to every new movement he tried out with his apt fingers.

Arthur's second hand also fisted in Eames hair, suddenly impatient to get this show running and pulling the forgers head into the direction of his cock. Eames obliged with a happy sounding sigh, first giving the head a tentative lick, before sucking it in his mouth, rolling his tongue gently around it.

Arthur sighed too, suppressing the sudden urge to surge upwards into that welcoming heat. He wanted this as fast and hard as possible, but Eames seemed to be in no rush and if this was really reality, then Eames deserved at least that much, didn't he? Arthur's eyes threatened to close again on their own accord this time due to sheer bliss, but his pupils flickered around in search for a red dot on the grey carpet.

When he finally found it, he couldn't believe what he saw. This time his hips did buck upwards, forcing Eames to swallow at least half of his cock. An apology was already falling from his lips when he felt more than heard Eames' chuckle, his mouth still closed around his cockhead and obviously – thankfully – in no distress about Arthur's lack of self-control . Those obscene and very addicting lips made a soft, hot slurping sound when they released him and something like a whine arose in Arthur's throat, causing Eames to chuckle again.

Eames replaced his lips momentarily with his hands "Easy there, Arthur. I'm fine. Don't worry, darling. I love this desperate look on you, it's very becoming."

Arthur wanted to strangle the man for being his obnoxious self, but to hell with that. The wonders those clever fingers were doing to him were worth the embarrassment.

"Shut up and fuck me." Arthur said instead, content at having managed to surprise Eames with those words, because that sentiment was written all over the forger's face. The oh so talented forger had figured him for a top, huh? Interesting. That train of thought made Arthur smirk, because really, he could do that if it was expected of him. But mostly he preferred the role of pushy bottom, even if it had been quite a while for him.

"If that's what you want from me?" Eames asked tentatively, sounding uncharacteristically unsure of himself for once.

"Actually I want you to blow me now, so I'll be relaxed enough to enjoy the following ride properly and so you can make me come again. You up for that?"

"Uhm." Eames said swallowing hard and blushing a little, although not in embarrassment but excitement. "Sure. Any other preferences I should know about?"

"We should probably save our kinks to make the rest of our lives as worthwhile as possible." He had intended it as a joke, but it came all out earnestly and Arthur realized that he really meant every word. If for Eames this was supposed to be only one night, it would probably be even worse than this being a dream. Arthur couldn't get a taste of nirvana and then be expected to leave without looking back. It was either everything or nothing if Arthur wanted to survive this.

Arthur held his breath while Eames seemed to mull that over in his head and he released it in a rush when a smile full bloomed on the forger's sinful lips.

"I like the sound of that, Arthur."

Arthur returned the smile, before he leaned in to steal a soft and chaste kiss.

"What are you waiting for then?" he finally quipped pushing his hips into Eames' loose fist that still kept hold of his cock.

And Eames did everything to Arthur that had been requested and even more. Arthur was sure some connections in his brain took serious damage as Eames sucked him of in the most expert way ever. Arthur was glad to learn that to Eames this was something he seemed to enjoy thoroughly even without the prospect of getting rewarded for it afterwards. He obviously loved giving head and relished in the fact that he was allowed to bring Arthur off like this. Thankfully he also took the liberty to start preparing him while frying his brain through the perfect mix of pressure, movement and suction.

It really had been a while for Arthur but thanks to the early preparation and this first release his tension level was low enough so that he could just lie back and enjoy whatever Eames was doing to him. This time Eames hands and fingers where everywhere, his mouth kissing and licking paths on his skin which Arthur's body would probably remember forever.

Arthur had no idea where Eames got the lube and the condom, but he was very grateful that Eames had enough brain cells left to care about those things. Arthur certainly hadn't and his patience was wearing really thin after all this waiting and teasing.

"Now, please." He begged finally and Eames for once stopped teasing. Instead he lifted Arthur's legs on his shoulders, and Arthur focused on his face looming above him, poised at his entrance to enter before his eyes fluttered shut in sudden pain. He wasn't ready yet, but he couldn't wait any longer, didn't want to feel this empty anymore.

Eames gave him some time to adjust and just as Arthur was ready to scream at him to stop caring, he moved again, this time burying himself with one slow, steady push. It still hurt, but the worst was over and Arthur's body relaxed in reflex. It remembered the movement, knew it would soon bring pleasure. Arthur's hands gripped Eames' shoulders hard and he'd certainly leave marks, but the content purr emanating from Eames above him reassured Arthur that the forger didn't mind. The point man wouldn't be able to change it anyway, he just hoped he wouldn't leave bloody scratches, because they were a bitch to heal and it would be a shame to disgrace those enticing ink dots that kept blurring in front of his eyes.

Eames still kept himself completely still at first, eyes screwed shut in fierce concentration, his breath controlled and heavy. Sweat was dripping from his face to Arthur's chest and his hands were slippery with lube as he gripped Arthur's hips. When he finally did start moving, it tore a deep heartfelt groan from Arthur, causing him to purr again in appreciation.

"Yes." Arthur hissed in agreement, his voice stressing the last syllable. "More!" he demanded and felt greedy. Eames complied though, obviously not bothered in the least by his selfish commands. They took off for the ride of their life and finally every rational thought were gone as both kept rutting against each other like animals. Arthur remembers his own orgasm as something that exploded inside his head, leaving him happy and sated and overwhelmed. He had no idea how Eames experienced his own orgasm though, because the point man lost conscious right away.

…

When Arthur came back to himself morning light was already flooding the room through the curtains. Arthur felt warm and a heavy weight on his chest stopped him from moving too quickly.

"Good morning, darling." Eames whispered into Arthur's ear, accent even thicker this morning than usual. The forger was spooned up against Arthur's lithe frame and his arm thrown heavily over Arthur, their legs entangled.

"Good morning, Mr. Eames." Arthur answered, surprised at how raw his voice sounded. He really hoped he hadn't kept the whole house awake by screaming his appreciation for what Eames had been doing to him.

"Sleep well?" the forger inquired.

"Like a baby."

"So, you won't freak out on me this morning?" Eames sounded too serious for this to be a joke.

"Should I?" Arthur asked back, not daring to turn around yet and look the forger in the eyes.

"I certainly hope that you won't, but…"

"I won't. I want you." Arthur confirmed, softly petting the arm laying across his chest.

"You really do, don't you?"

"No need to sound so surprised."

"You never showed any reaction to me flirting with you." Eames pointed out sounding miffed.

"You never showed any sign that you were actually serious." Arthur shot back.

"What a fine pair we are." Eames said, his arm tightening his hold on Arthur.

"You owe me at least one more present." Arthur said suddenly.

"Yes." Eames confirmed but didn't say anything else.

"What is it?"

"You already got it."

"Huh? But…"

Arthur felt cold and insecure when Eames suddenly pulled away, so he turned around following the forger's movement with the eyes. Eames leaned over and grabbed something from the nightstand. Arthur recognized it as the last letter, which Eames must have retrieved from the Christmas tree sometime last night when Arthur had been down for the count. He also must have cleaned both of them up, because Arthur well way less sticky than he was supposed to feel. How exceptionally considerate of the forger.

Arthur took the envelope and opened it with a pounding heart.

"On the twelfth day of Christmas your true love gives to you his love. Now it's up to you to decide whether you want it or not." The card read and Arthur's heart skipped a beat at that.

"I want it. I want you." Arthur said without hesitation, for once very happy and courageous in the matters of heart.

"Good." Eames agreed. "Because I want you too, darling. I love you."

"I love you too and also I wish you a merry Christmas."

…

Endless End

Finished 1st December 2010