A/N: The order of POV is Ariadne, and then Arthur. This is a collab between 'rominastephanie' (writing Ariadne's POV) and 'ThePandorica (writing Arthur's) – so on behalf of us both, please don't forget to review!
Blurb: Distance, only makes the heart grow fonder. Arthur/Ariadne.
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After the job
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The minute she wakes up – the rumbling of the engines loud in her ears – a feeling that has been pressing against her ribcage for weeks is instantly lifted. Suddenly, breathing isn't hard at all and anxiety isn't tearing at the inside of her throat. Instinctively, Ariadne reaches out for her totem; she is not really going to believe that the sounds and smells surrounding her are real until she tips her bishop and it lands with a thunk.
It does.
Only then does she allow herself to look around, thrilled that they have succeeded in performing inception. She turns her head, eyes travelling to Cobb; he's blinking and her heart is pounding in relief, and she offers a small smile, but a genuine one nonetheless.
They'd made it. They all had.
When it's time to disembark the plane, she does so with the tiniest hint of a satisfied smirk gracing her features. She's walking behind Arthur (straight-backed, a suitcase in hand) and she has a sudden urge to reach out to him (maybe just to ask the time?), but she doesn't because suddenly, echoing in her head are the words quick, give me a kiss and she's blushing. She feels silly.
Cobb walks through security without a hitch and Ariadne smiles at him; she can't help it. She feels giddy, excitement just flooding through her bloodstream, the adrenaline fresh in her veins. At baggage claim, she notices Yusuf, dragging his suitcase behind, taking off; sees Eames looking as much at ease as though they haven't been digging deep in dreams. She sees the mark, Robert Fischer, walk up toward his contact and manages to get a final glimpse of Cobb walk away with her beloved professor.
It's then that she realizes she has no idea where to go from where she is, standing there waiting for her bag. When she spots it, grabs it and then heads for the exit, she scans her surroundings, people without faces passing her by, looking (but not really admitting to) for a sign of him.
By the time she's outside, in the stuffy L.A. air, she's decided to take a cab to the nearest Days Inn and then leave first thing next morning and head back to Paris. She's throwing her bag in the back when she suddenly looks up and there he is.
Arthur's looking at her; she meets his gaze (almost defiantly) and before he climbs inside the cab, he smiles at her. It's a small gesture, lasts for barely any seconds, but the fact that he's acknowledged her calms her down considerably. She's not crazy and this is real. It's all real.
The feeling of serenity doesn't last however: next things she knows he's driving off and she's standing rooted to her spot with a thousand thoughts swirling madly in her head, questions with no answers and she sighs.
She really has no idea where to go from here.
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ii.
Breathe. Just breathe.
His inner voice chastises him, as slowly, he opens his gummed eyes to the dim half-light of the first class cabin. At first he can only make out half-blurred figures, due to his eyes still being watery– a natural side-effect that comes with any drug induced sleep. But then, the blurred images come into sharp focus and he instantly zones in on the person opposite him. Cobb.
His heart instantly lifts when he sees that his friend is okay, and more importantly, awake. He proffers a small smile whilst hastily reaching for the totem in his pocket. He rolls it twice, and both times, the little red die lands on six. A sharp sigh of relief escapes his lips, before he quickly pockets it once more and concentrates on packing to depart.
Once the plane has landed, he exits smoothly, taking one last long glance around the cabin, his gaze flicking to each of his teammates in turn. Yusuf's already exited the plane, along with their mark – Fischer, but Cobb, Eames and Ariadne still remain. He finds that his eyes linger a little longer on the young architect, who looks as relieved as he feels, and he almost finds himself grinning but stops himself just in time. Instead, he turns and walks out of the plane, his hand clasping the black suitcase with force and his back ruler-straight.
In the terminal, he is quick to find his bag – the first one to do so in fact. As he walks to passport control, his polished black shoes echoing on the linoleum floor beneath him, he lets his gaze pass over the general hubbub: hoping to sight a glance of her before he jets off to wherever it is he's destined for next. For a minute, he can't help but think of Paris,but quickly pushes that fanciful thought to the back of his mind as his passport it checked.
Once through, he promptly heads toward the bright yellow sign signalled 'exit', with similar coloured taxi's parked outside in the waiting bay. It's not long before he finds an empty one, and whilst stepping into it, something catches his eye and he looks up. It's Ariadne: she's getting a taxi too and for a moment he's tempted to call out to her, offer to share with her, but the impulsive moment soon passes and instead, he smiles– a warm, genuine smile before slamming the door behind him.
As the taxi drives off, she disappears instantaneously from his sight and his mind soon passes onto other matters at hand.
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