Disclaimer: Inception©Christopher Nolan/WB/Legendary Pictures
Warnings: not really angst but unhappiness, self-hatred, mild slash, hurt/comfort
Notes: Written for Round 2 of hc_bingo on Dreamwidth, the prompt being "undeserved reputation."

Forgeries

Eames preferred the life of a freelance forger, picking up jobs with whoever managed to convince him that it was worth his while to take on the challenge. The team dynamic just wasn't for him, especially when those teams had a "family" vibe to them.

Especially when he knew just how little the extractors (and point men, and architects, and chemists save Yusef) who contracted him really thought of him.

They believed that he was uneducated, or that he was a university or an upper forms dropout, or that he was a womanizer, or that he was an indiscriminate man-slut, or that he was an unrepentant partier. None of the extractors (or point men, or architects, or chemists save Yusef) who contracted him was crude enough to say anything to his face, and Eames was content enough to let them think he had no idea what they said about him. Because he really didn't mind what they thought or said when he wasn't around.

Except for the fact that it really Idid/I bother him.

He knew the truth – that he had not only completed his education but had graduated from Oxford with high honors, that his degree was in art history, that he used what he had learned to tweak and alter and perfect those forgeries for which he was renown, that he only pursued those individuals who showed a genuine interest in him – but he remained silent and continued to project what those extractors and point men and architects and chemists (save Yusef) wanted to see.

In his mind, it was far better to be hated for something he was not than to be ignored for what he really was.

And what he was, was pathetic and hopelessly in love – it was not lust, nor was it infatuation – with a man whom he most definitely did not deserve.

There was a reason that he accepted jobs from Dom Cobb, and not just because the man was one of the few who ignored his reputation. Eames could not tell one of the few men he actually considered to be a friend that he would accept any job offer from him so long as it meant he could see Arthur again. Dom's long-time point man was everything Eames looked for in a romantic partner – confident, self-assured, unaware of his desirability yet still presenting his best for the whole world to see – yet he could never bring himself to push the boundaries of their working relationship.

Especially when Arthur seemed to take stock in Eames' bad reputation. Especially when Eames could not, Iwould/I not, show the man any face but the false one he gave to everyone.

It was in his best interest to remain alone, to avoid working with one team too often, than to be heartbroken at every turn. Even if he deserved it for daring to think he was just as worthy of being loved as everyone else in the world.

But for now, there was a job to do, and Cobb had come to him personally for help. So Eames smiled for the new young architect (Ariadne was a lovely name, and she was a lovely girl who might be able to finally help Cobb move on from Mal's death) and teased Arthur and flirted with Arthur, not even daring to hope that his advances would be answered.

He was so good at lying to himself that he didn't even notice that Arthur was flirting back.

End Note: My first Inception fic and I choose to jump right into the angsty deep end. I must be a glutton for punishment and/or ridicule or something...