A/N: So this is chapter four. I haven't gotten around to editing it yet (I was just too excited to post it up), but I'll do that in the morning. It isn't nearly as long as the last chapter but it's exclusively Arthur/Ariadne with mentions of Eames and Cobb. I started writing the chapter aiming for a cute and somewhat fluffy chapter and didn't quite get that. But I swear I'll get to some cute and fluffy A/A in the near-ish future. Also I think my updates might get a little slow as the last chapter drained me mentally. I've never written a chapter quite like it before, so please forgive me. I will try to keep the updates snappy though. Also I would like to thank all of you that reviewed last chapter. I found your speculations on who the mole is awesome. It also helped reassure myself that I can actually do something like that without giving it away. The concrits were awesome and I'm glad that so many of you think that I've done a good job with keeping everyone in character. Alas it is after eleven and I should be getting to bed. So enjoy the chapter~
Disclaimer: Inception and its characters are property of Christopher Nolan. I own absolutely nothing.
Chapter Four: Coffee
The days following the sabotage attempt were stressful. There once private and hidden warehouse compromised. The day after Ariadne's OD Cobb called a meeting. It was similar to the one Cobb held while Ariadne slept the afternoon before only with more talk about safety and emphasizing awareness of their surroundings as they headed in. He also laid it out that if possible no one should leave the warehouse alone at night.
But for now, today, they were working for the most part. Arthur noticed that Ariadne would come out occasionally and stare at the dream case by his feet. She hadn't done a run through since the incident. It seemed that for the moment she was wary – if not scared of the technology that the case held. While he wasn't looking forward to making Ariadne face her new founded fears it needed to occur in the near future.
He also noticed (and at first found it quite annoying) that Eames was keeping close to her. In the long run however Arthur knew he could trust Eames to take care of her. At least until he could do it himself. Arthur was fully aware that he couldn't take care of Ariadne and keep an eye on everyone else without one of the two suffering. She deserved better than to fall by the wayside because he was too busy watching everyone else. As it was Arthur was having trouble keeping his finding from Cobb. He doubted that Cobb would do such a thing (he trusted the man with his life) but for now he thought it better to keep his cards close to his chest.
"Arthur?"
"Hm?" He replied looking up from his little black book that he was making notes in.
Before him was Ariadne. She didn't look any worse for wear if he ignored the tightness in her eyes. She wasn't sure if this was right. Her fingers were curled in her scarf, knuckles white from gripping the fabric too tight. Carefully Arthur put his pen down and gave Ariadne his complete attention.
For a few seconds it appeared that she'd lost her nerve and then her fingers let go of her scarf and settled at her sides. Her back straightened in determination and she looked him in the eyes.
"Will you share a dream with me?" She asked finally the nervousness back in her eyes, the same eyes that flitted apprehensively to the case at his feet.
"You're not ready." He stated.
She wasn't. Still she was worried about having to repeat the endless heaving that she did only days ago. He could see her relief that he told her 'no' in the way her body relaxed almost imperceptibly. Maybe if he weren't the point man he wouldn't notice. Or maybe he would have, everything about her seemed to require his full attention to even the minutest detail of her body language.
"It's still too fresh in your memory." He went on when she didn't walk away.
Ariadne sighed and set herself down on the stool on the otherside of the table. Her elbows resting on the top as she dropped her head into her waiting hands. Her eyes closing as she thought (he assumed that was what that meant anyway). Not wanting to interrupt her Arthur turned his attention back to his little black book, his notes not nearly as interesting now that he was face to face with Ariadne.
Frustrated with his own lack of work ethic at that moment Arthur closed the book, sliding the elastic into place holding it closed. He glanced at Ariadne, her eyes still closed her expression almost peaceful. He wished that he could go back and keep her from that horrible moment where she couldn't wake up.
"How are your designs coming?" He queried after a moment watching as her eyes opened revealing the dark brown hue that he'd gotten so accustomed to watching open after a dream ended. A flash of memory floating through his mind reminding him of that time he stole a kiss from her in an attempt to keep their presence unknown in Fischer's mind.
Ariadne's lips pursed and he knew that she hadn't gotten any work done recently. Everyone thought she had, her music always a sign that she was working. No one thought to check on her in the hours between her arrival and leaving. Eames made sure she ate lunch and got her back to her hotel safe. But no one intruded on her space. That was tantamount to signing your life over to her. Usually resulting in her pulling a few rather dangerous pranks in run throughs.
He tapped his fingers against his leg for a moment as a pondered a thought that crossed his mind. Mind made up he picked up his notebook.
"Would you like to get some coffee with me?"
Silence stretched and Arthur wondered if he'd asked her the wrong question. Then she smiled (albeit a little weakly) and responded with a 'Sure.'
Removing his jacket from where he'd draped it over the back of the chair he slipped his notebook into the breast pocket and picked up the dream case. He noted how she stiffened and deemed it a good idea to explain that.
"Cobb doesn't want me to let it out of my sight."
"But wouldn't that mean you've already failed when you put it under the table?" She asked a slight hint of humor in her voice as they both walked toward the exit.
Arthur didn't notice before but she'd already had her little bag on her shoulder. Almost as if she'd wanted someone to give her a way out today. For the moment he was more than happy to oblige.
The little diner they stopped at was quiet. Most of its patronage was still in work so finding a table without many people around it wasn't difficult. For a while they sat simply drinking their coffee. The sound of a hiccupping air conditioner flowing through the vents over head while the employees tried to drown it out with music set at a slightly awkward level - quiet but not quite quiet enough.
Arthur thought about insisting they go elsewhere but Ariadne seemed taken with the place. She murmured something about it's normal look that she appreciated and missed with all the bistros and cafe in Paris. So he didn't fight with her about it. He was wishing now that twenty minutes passed that he had. The air conditioners hiccups were becoming more frequent as the minutes ticked by. As a result his nerves for the place were fraying ever so slightly too. But she looked happy, and much more relaxed that he deemed it a worthwhile sacrifice.
"Do you think you'll be able to get some work done tomorrow?" He asked off hand finally filling the comfortable silence with shop talk. He'd toyed with the idea of asking her about anything else but that was too personal and Arthur was anything but professional (regardless of how he may feel about Ariadne).
"I'm going to try." She said into her cup as she was about to take a sip. Returning it to the table she took a breath her shoulders rising and falling with the inhalation and exhalation. She was trying he realized to get up the nerve to say something else. Possibly more personal on that topic (or maybe not on that topic at all). "I come in every morning fully intent on designing. Then I get in my office and it's like I'm blocked up. Everything I sketch feels tired and useless."
Arthur sat quiet. She didn't say anything more, Ariadne just sat her hands once more tangling in her scarf. He wondered if she was using that now as her lifeline rather than her totem. He hoped not, that was never going to do. But he understood at least in a vague sense. She needed time and they had precious little of it. The date that they determined as their opening was approaching quickly. Too quickly.
"Well you best figure it out soon. We don't have a lot of time." Arthur wished after he spoke that he hadn't. The wounded look that Ariadne threw him was enough to make him feel like he should stuff his foot so far in his mouth that it could never come out. She had to understand though. Their relationship was purely professional.
"I'll try," Ariadne muttered glumly her hands removing themselves from her scarf and wrapping around her cup of coffee. there was a moment in which Arthur wondered at the possibility that she was going to pour it over his head for his idiotic and entirely unfeeling words. But she didn't move just held her cup and then spoke, "Tomorrow we'll share a dream?"
He hesitated the answer from earlier on the tip of his tongue when he changed his mind, "Of course. We'll need to get over your newfound aversion to shared dreaming." He answered and Ariadne nodded. He thought that everything would be alright. he didn't foresee that she would lean across the table and pour her coffee over his head before stalking off.
Apparently that was not the answer she'd sought with her question. Arthur watched her walk out coffee dripping from his now messy hair. their waitress came back her expression unimpressed as she set the check down on the table.
"You screwed that one up." She commented and walked away her red heels clicking on the linoleum floor of the diner.