genetics | Inception: come on baby (let me get your heart racing)

this idea was originally going to be for a kpop fic (qmi at the makeup counter!), but then I realized I'm probably never going to actually write it. so I recycled it for inception instead? I feel like the tone is a little different though - more kpop-y, somehow (because in my head, kpop writing has this very specific tone that I can't describe, and also, I'm rambling.) tl;dr: what is this, idek! but I hope you enjoy it anyway. :D :D

come on baby (let me get your heart racing)
inception: arthur/eames [pre-slash]
g, 2170 words
AU. in which Arthur is graduating, Ariadne is insistent about shopping, and Eames works at the makeup counter.

"Oh, this is so exciting, I can't believe you're actually graduating!" Ariadne gushes loudly into his left ear as she squeezes his arm. Arthur barely holds back the roll of his eyes, and pointedly ignores the way his mother is dabbing at the corner of her eyes in the kitchen, busy pretending she's making lunch and not blatantly eavesdropping on the two of them. "When's the ceremony? Make sure you get your tickets early so I can come! And what about grad photos, you have to take those, right? Oh my god, what are you going to do?"

"May 25th, they’re not going to run out of tickets, yes, and what do you mean by what am I going to do? I'm going to show up and take them, of course."

Ariadne frowns at him. "You can't just show up, they're grad photos for university! You're going to have them hanging on your wall next to your marriage photos for the rest of your life, you have to look nice!"

Arthur sighs, having had a decade and a half to get used to her fits of excitement. "All we need is to bring a white-collared dress shirt to wear under the graduation gown, and it's only a 15-minute shoot," he informs her. "You'll get your turn next year."

Ariadne looks slightly scandalized. "Yes, but what about your hair! We need to something about it - and you are going to wear makeup, aren't you?"

Arthur stares at her like she's grown a second head. "Ariadne. I'm a guy. Guys don't wear makeup."

"They do for grad photos!" Ariadne insists. "You want to look nice, don't you? Especially you – you should do something about your eyebags. And your skin is so red and dry and everything."

"What do you mean especially me? And my skin is fine!" Arthur insists loudly, because damn it, he is not going to wear makeup, but a little voice in the back of his brain reminds him that this is his best friend of too-many-years, and telling her 'no' when she has her mind set on something is next to impossible.

"Don't be stupid, you need to take care of it properly," Ariadne shoots back. "You're probably getting all this dry skin because you're not using the proper face wash," she continues, skillfully evading any attempts on his part to fling her off his arm and ignoring the murderous look Arthur gives her. "What happened to the ones I bought you last Christmas? Have you even been using them?” She makes an outraged face. “I bet you haven't! Do you know how much that set cost? You should at least give it a try!"

Before Arthur can point out that there's no need to ask rhetorical questions, his mother comes out of the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches in hand. "Oh please, you two, don't fight - and Arthur dear, just listen to Ariadne," she says, turning unsympathetic laughing eyes on him. "You know she's right."

It's utterly unfair that even his mother takes Ariadne's side.

Ariadne beams. "Excellent! Now that we've cleared everything up - you're going to the mall with me this weekend so we can figure out what you need," she announces, as if Arthur had already agreed to her ridiculous idea. Before Arthur can correct her on her delusions, she gives an excited squeal and flounces off.

Arthur stares at her retreating back in despair.

Saturday morning finds Arthur at the department store with Ariadne firmly guiding him towards the cosmetics counters.

"Did we have to come here?" Arthur hisses, feeling like all the sales associates are just staring at them. He doesn't understand how anyone can shop under this much pressure. "Couldn't you just have picked something up for me?"

"Don't be silly - you need concealer, and they need to color-match you in person," Ariadne says, scanning the area. "Mal works here and she's awesome, you'll see. She should be here somewhere..."

Thankfully, before she manages to find whoever she's looking for, the store-wide intercom goes off, announcing to all the customers that selected perfumes are on 25% off for the next thirty minutes.

Arthur hides his delight as Ariadne looks wistfully in the direction of the perfume counters further down - and at the hordes of girls making a beeline in that direction. "I - oh, I know I shouldn't, but Arthur, do you mind if I...?" she trails off.

Girls, Arthur thinks, are completely insane. In this case though, it works out in his favour, so he can't really complain. "Go right ahead!" he says brightly while internally celebrating his good fortune. "Take as long as you want, and I'll be right here when you get back."

This, of course, is a great big lie, but Ariadne doesn't need to know that.

She looks uncertain. "Are you sure? You have an appointment later today, don't you? I should help you first, or at least find Mal so you guys can get started..."

"Ari, don't worry about it. You don't even know if your friend is working today. Besides, the sale's only for half an hour, isn't it?" He gives her a smile, perhaps just a touch too gleeful.

"Okay okay, I'll be right back," she says with a grin. "You stay right here so I can find you, okay?"

Arthur nods and waits until she's turned the corner before making a mad dash towards where he thinks the exits were.

Except the makeup floor, as it turns out, is like a labyrinth, formed so that only the female half of the population can figure out where they're going, Arthur thinks glumly as he makes another turn and finds himself face to face with yet another Clinique counter. Or maybe it's the same one he's already seen twice.

He could ask someone for directions, except so far, he's been avoiding the sales associates (who all seems to be wearing ten pounds of makeup) because they all look like they're just waiting to pounce on him. Thank god they all have to stay behind their counters.

He's just about ready to admit defeat when he catches sight of what looks like a store employee carrying a large box in his arms. A male store employee.

"Excuse me!" Arthur says quickly, trying not to run after him. The guy must hear him though, because he stops and turns around.

It occurs to Arthur that he'd stopped the only employee who seems to actually be busy on this floor (and that box doesn't look exactly light), except the man just shifts his weight and smiles at him. He has blue eyes, Arthur immediately notices. "Yes? How can I help you?"

"Er, hello. Sorry for stopping you – I know you’re probably busy, but I was just wondering if you could point me to the exit." Arthur shrugs, suddenly feeling sheepish. "I think I'm kind of lost."

He feels like kicking himself as soon as the words are out of his mouth, because how stupid is it to get lost in a department store? Why couldn't he have just shut up after asking for directions?

The man merely laughs though, and the sound makes something warm unfurl in the pit of Arthur stomach. "I know what you mean - this floor's a little confusing. How about his?" He motioned to the box in his arms. "Just let me drop this off at my counter first, and then I'll show you the way out?"

Arthur nods gratefully, following him.

"So, what brought you here today?" The man - Eames, his nametag says - asks. "Birthday present for your sister? Girlfriend?"

"What?"

"We don't get that many guys on their own on this floor," Eames explains, smiling. “Usually, they’re looking for something for a gift.”

"Oh! Um, my best friend dragged me here, actually." Arthur sighs. "I have grad photos coming up, and she wanted to play dress-up with me."

Eames looks amused. "Graduating? What do you study?"

"I'm an architecture major, minoring in econ."

"Really? I have a friend doing that too, although he graduated a few years ago." They turned another corner with Eames leading the way. "Did you manage to get what you came for today then?"

"Uh, actually, not really. Ariadne got distracted by the perfume sale, so I was trying to escape before she comes back," Arthur explains with a small smile.

Eames grins at him. "Well, if you want, I can help you out before you go?"

"You?" Arthur says loudly before he can stop himself, cheeks coloring as he realizes how he must sound.

“I do work at the cosmetics counter, you know,” Eames says, a touch defensively. “I know it’s mostly girls here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing.”

"Oh no no, I'm sorry,” Arthur says in a rush. “Really, that came out wrong. I was just surprise – I mean. That is, I wasn't trying to imply you couldn't do you job or anything.” Words stumbling to a halt, he wishes the ground would swallow him up. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”

To Arthur's relief, Eames cuts him off with a quiet laugh. "It’s fine, really - don’t worry," he says with an easy shrug. Finally reaching his counter, he put the box down on the floor before turning to Arthur. "And you don't have to or anything, obviously. I just thought it might be nice if you could leave with what you came for."

Eames does look a lot less intimidating than most of the sales associates he'd come across today. Besides, if he left now, Ariadne would probably just bring him back again next weekend. "Yeah, okay," Arthur says uncertainly, and watches as Eames whips out several testers and a bag of brushes onto the counter. "Sure. Why not."

When Ariadne comes back fifteen minutes later, she finds Arthur paying for a new concealer and hair gel with a dazed look on his face.

"This is your best friend then?" The guy behind the counter says, all deep voice and lovely British accent.

"I'm Ariadne," she says, sticking her hand out as she reads his nametag. "Thanks for taking care of Arthur here."

Arthur turns to her, protest undoubtedly at the tip of his tongue - but then Eames laughs, says "No worries, darling, it was my pleasure," and Ariadne watches in fascination as Arthur goes bright red.

Eames seems to hesitate a little as he hands Arthur his change, but Arthur is too busy imitating a tomato to meet his eye. "Thanks," he mumbles, stuffing his receipt into his wallet.

Ariadne is waiting until they're out of sight to bombard Arthur with questions, but before they can turn the corner to leave, she hears her name again from behind.

"Wait, Ariadne," Eames says, waving her back. "Could you come back for a second?"

"Hang on," she says to Arthur, running back to the counter. "Hey, what's going on?" she asks.

"Look, your friend, Arthur - is he dating anyone?" Eames asks, running a hand through his hair and looking nervous while stuffing a generous sample of the new facial cream in her direction.

"Wait, I. what?" Ariadne says, turning to look back at Arthur.

"No, don't look, he'll know we're talking about him," Eames says urgently. "Just pretend we're talking about the sample, okay? I was going to ask him, but ... I'd just met him, and I didn't want to come off like a creep." He looked down at the counter, avoiding her eyes. "And then as soon as he walked away, I started regretting it."

Ariadne barely manages to hold back her laugh. "To answer your question, no. He's not seeing anyone right now." She leans in conspiratorially with a helpless grin. "Why? Want me to give you his number?"

Eames freezes for a second before nodding emphatically, shoving a pen and a sheet of paper at her. "God, yes." He smiles, relieved, at her. "Thanks love, I owe you one."

"No problem," Ariadne says, scrawling down some digits before picking up her sample and favouring him with a knowing look. "I'll see you around, Eames."

("What was that about?" Arthur asks later as they step out of the store into the afternoon sun. He sounds a little jealous, but all things considered, she’s sure he’ll get over it. It's a gorgeous day, with the sky a lovely cornflower blue. Summer is just around the corner.

"Oh, it was nothing," Ariadne says with a laugh, a spring in her step as she swings her sample bag in the air. "Nothing at all.")

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Date: 2011-04-29 09:25 am (UTC)

From:

weatherfront.livejournal.com

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Because you mentioned the k-pop, I read this entire story with the mental image of Jessica playing Ariadne's role fldj;ghka AND IT WAS PRECIOUS. THE WHOLE THING IS SO PRECIOUS. *____* And that picture! This is exactly what I wanted today, Liz, hopeful and funny and everyone being HAPPY, JUST SO HAPPY THAT IT MAKES ME HAPPY JUST TO READ IT. You are so magical. ♥