A Shining in Colorado

[artfulforger]

Whatever life Arthur and Eames had dreamt of for their future, all of that ended one Halloween when they got drawn into a house they came to know as Rose Red. Since then, their plans of working in dream share for the time they had was gone. Instead they were dealing with the supernatural. Whether they wanted to or not. Even when they tried to ignore it, the preternatural found them time and again, and so they had given in to the spirits and ghouls about them and changed their life plans.

Which was how they ended up in a private car on a long and winding road up the side of a mountain heading for a hotel built by a man with his hand in everything at the turn of the century. The Stanley Hotel.

The owners had been directed to them by someone, and that they couldn't say who recommended them left Eames nervous. Or maybe it was the way they kept heading up, the way the driver had said little, and that all he had found online was a lot, A LOT, of stories about hauntings. Including twin girls and people going missing.

"So... Did you tell Peter where we were? In case we don't come back?" He still found it odd they were relying on a werewolf, but at least they had someone with supernatural knowledge and some serious strength watching their backs.

Comments

[artfulforger]

For Eames, it was kind of nice to get back into the forging he did before dream sharing. Documents. Art. Using his hands and not just his minds as he had in dreams. It was something he had been amazing at, what had brought Dom and Mal to him, and he really liked being back on it.

"If we don't, we're blind in this, and you know it." It was how they had made connections in dream share as well. They knew the value of connections. He laughed though at that. "No, I doubt they do, though that would make life so much easier, wouldn't it?"

Not that anything they came across seemed designed to make life easier.

"We go wherever we want," he pointed out. "Unlike dream shares, us being off the grid doesn't stop those in this business from finding us," he pointed out. And it was the truth. They'd been found in a myriad of places, after all.

"I think it is," he said without hesitation. "I think it's real, and it's going to be waiting there for us," he said, quiet but strong in his tone. "I just wonder which of us i will take, well, a shining too?" It was a bad joke, trying to lighten a mood he had set.

[bamf_pointman]

Arthur knew that as well as Eames did but didn't change the fact that sometimes his opinion of other people, in general, lacked. Still, he had to admit, it was better safe than sorry. Besides. If other people in the business was as unconventional as Peter? Or as snarky? He suppose there are worse things.

"I know," he admitted with a nod. "I doubt it's going to be easy but maybe they'll have their shit together." And unlike those in their old line business, not as easy to sell out team members.

Arthur's mouth curled up. "Even when we wish it did at times," he said wryly. "At least it means we will never be out of work." Even if, most of the time, they weren't paying jobs.

Better for human kind. Or something like that.

He nodded. He couldn't argue with that. Everything in their lives so far had pointed to as much. Arthur's mouth curled up into a smirk as he glanced over at him. "That is definitely at the bottom of you list of funny jokes," he teased him while taking his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We'll know soon enough, I imagine. Nearly there."

[artfulforger]

It was the people where this was actually a bit harder for Eames. Certainly they had both worked with all sorts over the years, but when the all sorts now came as ghosts and werewolves, it was harder than it was before. They had kind of been the very apex of the dreamshare world, but now they were anything but. It was hard for Eames to adjust to.

"You know, I suspect they do. If they didn't, imagine how much of this world that would be outed." This world. Not their world. No matter what Eames sometimes though, this was their world as well now.

Eames snorted a laugh at that. "Like being in the mortuary business, I guess." There was never an end to clients, after all. In this it would be the same.

"It was a bad joke, but we have to be prepared for it," he admitted. "We've seen already how these things tend to draw one of us in." And how bad that could get as well.

[bamf_pointman]

Not being at the top of this new world they had found themselves in bothered Arthur a bit, if he were to be completely honest. Though, he had no doubt that they would, at some point, be there because that was the type of men they were. If by shear stubbornness alone.

His mouth curled up just a little and nodded. "It's true. Too many things would be outed if they didn't." It was hard sometimes to realize that this was their life now. They dealt with the unusual and the strange on a daily basis. It was even crazier than the dreams they would build once upon a time ago.

"I know. We'll just have to be prepared."

Still, Arthur couldn't ignore the twisting in his stomach just knowing that something wasn't quite right with this 'job'. They were prepared this time. At least, as prepared as they could be in any case.

[artfulforger]

Even if they wanted to, going back wasn't possible. This world taking them in had blocked out their ability to go back. Ghosts in the dream share could get a lot of people killed, themselves include. They could drag them all into limbo and never come back. Whether they wanted to or not, going back wasn't possible. Not now, possibly not ever.

"Funny to find out they're less likely to sell one another out than those we've known in the past. " though before it was something not to be believed. In this world, they could all die. Though that brought a thought to Eames.

"I want to ask Peter about hunters. How much do they worry about that, because we need to think about if we need to worry about it." They were helping the supernatural. If there was someone hunting them, there was a chance they would come for Arthur and Eames eventually.

It was definitely trying to be prepared, but he snorted at that. "It's the Stanley Hotel. I don't think there's any being prepared for this, Arthur." Not from what he's read. Not from the reports they found digging around on the internet. Prepared was knowing what they were walking into, but that was about it.

[bamf_pointman]

It wasn't as though they hadn't tried either. That first job of his right after they found out had been a job that hadn't gone as smoothly as possible. Never did when you had some sort of creature straight out of Incan mythology.

"Funny to find out they're less likely to sell each other out than those we've known longer," he agreed with an almost annoyed roll of his eyes. How many time had that happened to them put together?

Arthur glanced at him when he mentioned hunters then nodded. "Good point. We'll have to ask about that. I'm curious myself. The last thing we need is to get mixed up with them." It had originally seemed to surprise Peter, if surprise was really an emotion that the werewolf experienced much, that they weren't going in that direction and instead leaning toward helping where they could.

"Remind me again why exactly we took this job..." Though, Arthur knew as well as Eames did why they took it and it was definitely not the money. These jobs never did pay as well as their old jobs did which was a disappointment in of itself.

[artfulforger]

He smirked at that, but it was a tight, pained look. They had to laugh at it, make fun of it, treat it like it was nothing major because otherwise it would weigh on them and no matter what job they were doing, they couldn't let that happen. For their own lives.

"And we need to be wary if we do have to worry about who we run into when we're doing all of this. And what will stop them if we do." Because he assumed they'd be human, but with the world they're tangled up in, who knew what kind of hate was going on between them all.

"Because if we didn't, we'd be hearing about the next person that disappeared up here and then how would we feel?"

Which was the long and the short of it. They were criminals, but they were good men.

[bamf_pointman]

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Exactly. So. Business as usual," he said, glancing at Eames for a moment, tightening his hand around Eames'. His tone may be nonchalant but his eyes, if someone looked hard enough, showed something differently. He didn't have a good feeling about this at all.

"Horrible," he answered his rhetorical question before exhaling a slow breath. He shifted closer to the forger, pressing his leg against Eames'.

It was mere minutes later when the car came to a stop in front of the large hotel. Arthur silently surveyed the hotel then looked at Eames. "Let it be said on the record that I do not have a good feeling about this." Not that Eames felt any better, he was sure.

[artfulforger]

He laughed, the sound not quite as bitter as he felt thinking about it. His fingers held Arthur's securely, not willing to let go while they're dealing with all of this. He wanted to cling to him, to hold him tight. Just because this was becoming so normal doesn't mean that it is easier, or becoming more normal to them. Normal didn't make it entirely okay.

That was all the encouragement Eames needed though, moving to slide his arm around Arthur and pull him closer. "We'll handle it and make it okay," he murmured, leaning over to kiss the shell of Arthur's ear.

"Oh? You have a bad feeling about the huge creepy hotel," he murmured, hugging Arthur once more. "Seconded though."

[bamf_pointman]

Arthur went willingly and settled into Eames' hold. He was thankful that if he was going through this with someone, it would be the forger. He nodded. "We will," he agreed, resting a hand on Eames' leg, giving it a squeeze.

His mouth quirked up wryly. "Imagine that," he said, looking over the hotel. "This is the first one in a long time that has given me this sense of dread." They practically lived out of hotels and more recently AirBnBs. He was no stranger to them but this one? No thanks.