Right, second to come from Inception, I must be one a roll or some crap. The other stories may take a while to be updated, I actually have to THINK about what to put next .. Dx
Of Suits and Scarves
"... and you decided to put me in a damn suit and heels... why?"
Arthur rolled up his sleeves, sighing at his teammate. This had to be the fourth, no seventh, time she had bugged him with what happened the second level down on the Fischer job.
"Plus, what in the high hell was that in the hotel? 'Quick, give me a kiss.' Wow smooth, Arthur."
Arthur blushed at this and faked a cough, turning to his brunette friend.
"Listen, we were in a hurry, and you know me, I dress in suits and well it was a hotel .. it seemed... appropriate."
"Ah, and, was the kiss 'appropriate' Arthur?"
His eye twitches as he hears Eames cackling with laughter across the warehouse. He swings around on his chair to meet the Brit's eyes, glaring. Ariadne crosses her arms and uses a glare of her own at him.
"Ariadne, can we just... talk about this later? I'm sorry but I'm trying to get Mason's background checked over, and its not helping being distracted."
The young woman glares once again at him before storming in the other direction to her own desk, and Arthur hears her slamming drawers and moving her books and sketches around loudly. Eames gets up from the couch, and walks over to Arthur's desk, taking in the young man's frown and clenched fist.
"Arthur, mate, you have completely dug yourself in a hole this time." The said man looks up, and frowns harder at Eames.
"She'll get over it, I'm sure." Arthur's face softens slightly as he thinks of Ariadne, before the door of the warehouse opens and slams quickly, the sound echoing in the spacious room. Cobb appears from his desk, leaning on the table in the center of the room.
"Who left?" Yusuf pokes his head around the corner, and raises and eyebrow.
"Ariadne." Arthur mutters flatly.
"She's been acting a bit .. hurt for the past few days, in fact ever since we all got to Los Angeles and started working together again." Cobb checks his watch, and stares out the wide window of the room, and into the darkness of the night.
"Any idea what's wrong?" Yusuf walks up to the other men, a towel in his hands, his stained apron still around his torso.
"She's a bit ... touchy.. about the subject with Arthur." Eames pipes up, earning a kick to his shin from Arthur, who glares at him.
"What subject?" Cobb pulls out a chair from the table and takes a seat infront of Arthur and Eames. Yusuf cleans of his hands with the towel before sitting in an adjacent seat. Arthur looks away, blushing, and secretly hoping they would drop the subject.
There is a silence in the room for a few seconds before Eames can't take the no talking and blurts out;
"Arthur kissed Ariadne in the second level of the Fischer job."
As he says this, he is promptly punched to the side of his rib by Arthur, who sets his jaw, his hands clenching. Cobb and Yusuf exchange looks, their eyebrows raised before turning back to Arthur, congratulating him.
"It's about time Arthur, you couldn't stop talking about her." Cobb pipes up, smiling.
"And you wouldn't stop staring at her." Yusuf adds.
Arthur sighs, rubbing his forehead, feeling a headache forming. Eames smirks, turning towards him.
"I think you should apologize." Yusuf smiles meekly, before Cobb nods in consideration and Eames nudges Arthur.
"Yeah, darling, what kind of man kisses a lady but never follows through?"
"You, Eames." Eames' smile drops as he contemplates what Arthur says, before shaking it away and continuing to prod Arthur.
"Come on, apologize and then take her out to a nice fancy resturant, like the gentleman we all know you are."
"I agree, no woman could resist that." Cobb adds happily. Arthur sighs, closing his moleskin notebook.
"Fine." He gets up, grabbing his coat and bag, bidding the rest of the team goodnight.
The next morning, Ariadne almost forgets about everything that happened, as she wakes up smiling. After a shower and dressing in a new scarf she found in an Australian department store, she felt refreshed. She sat at her small table in her apartment, drinking coffee, and flipping through her previous designs and drawings that she kept in a leather book. She smiled as she went through the design of the first level city, and the snowy hospital for the Fischer job, remembering having to teach Eames and Yusuf about the levels.
Only the next picture made her smile turn into a pained look as she stared at the design of the second level hotel.
Her mind fills with memories of teaching Arthur, going under with Arthur, and most importantly just being with Arthur. Her senses were suddenly over come with the strong smell of his cologne, and the feel of his waistcoat, as the silky material brushed against her arm when he leaned over her to look at the three dimensional models.
She remembered going under with him for the first time and the look on his face as he attempted to get the hotel room correct, but ultimately failed. She remembered giggling and pulling the edge of the too small and crooked bed to fix it, and touching the door to give it an intricate design.
He had smiled and she could feel his eyes on her as she bid him to follow her through the hallways down to the elevator and emergency staircase he had requested. She remembered him congratulating her warmly as she showed him the paradox stairs she had put in.
The last thing she remembered was the feeling of him being centimeters from her, them both sat on a bench before he turned to her, that half crooked smirk of his on his face, and murmured;
"Quick, give me a kiss."
Her heart hadn't a chance to react before they both leaned in and he placed a small, chaste kiss on her lips, his scent filling her nostrils.
She came out of her trance like state, looking down at the drawing now spotted with her unnoticed tears. Ariadne stood up, and left her apartment in a hurry, drying her tears.
She had arrived at the warehouse early, surprisingly, and found only Yusuf asleep on his desk, and Arthur, at his own desk typing away. She closed the door as quietly as possible, wincing at the small creaks it gave until it closed, hoping not to be noticed.
Ariadne creeped slowly towards her desk, not noticing that Arthur was watching her, as she pulls off her signature red suede jacket and hangs it on her chair, before sitting down in it and pulling out her sketchbook.
Every few minutes she permits herself to glance through the curtain around her face that her hair makes and stare at Arthur, her heart first leaping happily, then aching sadly.
She does this few times before he catches her, and returns her gaze, before she promptly blushes (because no matter what, it is Arthur) and looks away.
Ariadne jumps as she hears Yusuf awaken and yawn followed by him muttering something about not going home last night. He gets up heading to the door, telling the two he is going to get breakfast and asks them if they would like anything.
Arthur flatly asks for a black coffee, and Ariadne requests a croissant, wondering if she is hungry. Just as Yusuf is about to leave, Cobb walks in, briefcase in hand. The two exchance a short conversation before Cobb asks Yusuf to get him a danish and some coffee with milk. Ariadne continues to stare away, ignoring Cobb's pain look at her and eager and pushy look to Arthur.
He retreats to his desk, pulling out numorous files and papers, leaving Arthur and Ariadne practically alone.
After Arthur catches Cobb's pushy look, he sighs, getting up and mentally shoving himself towards Ariadne's desk. He clears his throat gently, which makes her lift her head, and her brown eyes stare blankly into his amber ones.
"Look, Ariadne, I'm sorry about the kiss. I don't want to hurt you, and I was wrong. Can I make it up to you tonight? By maybe going out to dinner?" He feels his ears redden, and his hand clutched his die in his pocket.
Ariadne's subconsious desperately wants to accept, and to start over, to be with him, but she doesn't accept the decision with herself. Tears form in her eyes as she lets out a choked sound, feeling her chest wrench.
"Y-you think you can just buy your way out of this? Arthur, I don't you what you were thinking, or if you were even thinking when you kissed me, but I felt something, dammit! And it hurts that you just ignored me for the month we didn't see each other, and the week that we worked together again."
She gets up, grabbing her sketches and her pencils and retreats to the other side of the room towards the couch, letting out a silent sob.
Arthur freezes, hearing Cobb come towards him, and place a hand on his shoulder.
"Give her some time." He mutters before promptly returning to his desk, glancing at his watch again, cursing the whereabouts of Eames.
Yusuf returns, bags in his hands and places the foods and drinks on the table.
Cobb grabs his coffee and danish, thanking Yusuf and goes to the whiteboard next to the table, and starts to write down some notes. Arthur glances at Ariadne curled up on the couch, and takes his coffee, wincing at the bitterness of the taste, which he has never done before.
Yusuf takes out a wrapped item and puts it on the coffee table in front of Ariadne. She smiles gently, her eyes red, and looks back down at her sketch. Yusuf sits down at the table watching Cobb, as Eames walks in, his suit askew, and his jacket slung over his shoulder.
"Sorry about that, I met a hot one at the club last night and-" Arthur grunts, motioning for Eames to shut up. Eames grins, and turns to Yusuf, gesturing to his breakfast.
"Darling, did you get my coffee with cinnamon?"
"As always." Yusuf smiles, handing Eames the coffee cup. Eames nods in thanks and heads over to Arthus's desk, sitting on the edge.
"How's my favorite stick in the mud?"
Arthur glances up from his notebook, and frowns at Eames.
"Not today, Eames." The forger sadly gets up, feigning hurt and joins Yusuf at the table. Arthur puts his headphones over his ears, and turns on the Smiths, drowning out the conversations. (A/N: Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist xD Plus it seems like he would listen to the Smiths, as Tom did. Lmfao.)
As soon as Ariadne volunteers to get the teams dinner, and claims she needs some fresh air, Cobb, Eames and Yusuf exchange a look. She leaves quietly, putting her supplies back on her desk.
When the door clicks shut, the three men pounce on Arthur, surrounding his desk.
"What happened?" Cobb questions. Arthur pulls off his headphones and sighs, leaning dangerously far back in his chair.
"I asked her and apologised and she accused me of buying my way out of the situation. She also implied that she felt something with the kiss and I did not."
The three men sigh simultaneously, and Eames snaps his fingers, grinning.
"You could kiss her again."
Yusuf slaps Eames on the arm, shaking his head.
"Do you like her, Arthur?"
Arthur stares at Yusuf, turning pink.
"I... yes."
"Do you love her, mate?"
Arthur looks away embarrassed, and chokes out an answer.
"I don't know."
"You need to step into her shoes for a day, so she can see you felt something too and you can figure out how you feel." Cobb suggests.
"Literally." Eams puts in.
"No, not literally. That's disgusting. Jesus, whats wrong with you?" (A/N: I'm on a roll :P All I need now is an IKEA scene.) Cobb turns to Eames, and startes at him wide eyed.
"... well it could work..." The three men turn to stare at Yusuf who shrugs his shoulders.
"What? If Arthur dressed casual like Ariadne for a day, he may be able to figure out better what he feels. It was in the phycological stuff I studied in college." The team looks at the Chemist as if he just requested they sell drugs. Yusuf smiles meekly.
Arthur contemplates the idea, before shrugging, his mind thinking about how odd he'll feel dressed casual.
"I guess I could try. But no laughing."
Cobb and Yusuf nod, but Eames just smirks. The three walk away from Arthur and Eames murmurs something to them.
"We should get Ariadne on this, so it actually might work." Cobb volunteers to talk to her.
Ariadne returns with Chinese takout, and places it on the table, watching the four men sit down and ungraciously scrabble for the food. She giggles and grabs a small box and eggroll and retreats to her desk, taking in the sight of their squabbling.
Cobb eyes Ariadne at her desk and gets up from the table, his own cup of noodles in hand. He pulls up a chair to her desk and sits.
"Keep you company?" Ariadne lets out a small smile and nods.
"Your not going to break up their fighting?" She laughs as Eames starts to shout and accuses Arthur of stealing the last eggroll and Yusuf complains of no mustard.
"They'll be fine. Just let them eat, and they'll be quiet." He smiles, taking a bite of his food.
"Listen Ariadne, I love you like my own daughter, and I hate to see you get hurt... and Arthur told me what happened." Ariadne swallows a bite of her eggroll and turns to him.
"Its fine ... I understand that he feels nothing .. I guess." She can't help but steal a glance at Arthur, who eats quietly at the table, which Cobb notices.
"He did feel something, Ariadne. And he's not trying to play mind games with you."
"How do I know that? You two have been playing mind games for years.." She murmurs quietly, looking down at her food.
"Okay, so we have. But he wasn't playing any game. I think you should put yourself in his shoes to see how he really feels. Literally."
Ariadne raises an eyebrow at the idea.
"Did Yusuf think of that?"
"College." The two simultaneously mutter and let out a chuckle.
"Maybe I will... I guess just for fun."
Cobb smiles, looking over at the still fighting threesome.
"We need to get them straightjackets."
"And gags." Ariadne finally laughs.
"... I feel ridiculous."
"Don't worry darling, you look worse then you feel."
"...Eames..."
"Leave Arthur alone, Eames. Yusuf, did you make the sedation yet?"
"Not yet, I must admit... Arthur is distracting today."
"Gee..thanks."
"Darling when she gets a look at you she may die... but not from your looks... probably from laughter."
"Eames, go make yourself handy by checking out the Mason report."
"You're no fun Cobb."
"Well... today.. Arthur has enough laughter to go around."
"COBB!"
".. Sorry Arthur."
The three men crowded around Arthur, who felt very out of place.
Instead of his formal three piece Armani suit, he was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a dress shirt (He persuaded Cobb to let him wear), a pair of ankle boots and a light brown leather jacket. To top it off, Eames lent him a striped autumn scarf, which he wrapped under his shirt collar, embarrassed. Atleast he was allowed (tch) to keep his hair gelled back somewhat.
It seemed everytime he turned on his chair to another teammate, they would cough to hide a laugh. A vein popped on his head. He was very tempted to run out of the warehouse straight home where he could change into a new suit he had rewarded himself with from the Fischer job.
Out the corner of his eye he could see Eames with his phone out, taking pictures of him. Another vein popped.
To top it off, every time Yusuf came out of his "chemists corner" of the room, he would jump, clutch his chest and say;
"Sorry Arthur, I thought you were a burgular."
Fuck his life.
He thought it wouldn't get any better, until he heard the door open and saw Ariadne in what he thought was the sexiest thing. (Bar lingerie, his subconsious added evily.)
Ariadne had her hair up in a messy bun, and she was weaing a black pencil skirt, and a white blouse. She had a button up sweater in her hands, and around her neck was a black matching silk tie. Arthur swallowed heavily and practically ran into the back room. Ariadne made it to her desk, before involuntarily rubbing her sore ankle, cursing her high heeled mary janes.
"Well this room just got slightly awkwarder." Eames muttered from his desk.
Ariadne actually found it fun to dress up, but wished she had a scarf, her neck felt... violated without it.
She looked around the familiar surroundings, before coming to rest on Arthur's desk, which was empty. Her heart dropped, and she told herself not to worry, he could just be off sick. But this was Arthur, her subconsious yelled. He was never sick. She brushed off her sadness.
She walked over to the whiteboard, marveling at the clutter of notes and papers stuck to it. She placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head.
"I assume you guys won't have to do any work today." She says outloud to whoever may be listening.
"Trust me, darling, we will be way too distracted to do work today." Eames responds.
Ariadne, thinking he means just her, turns around and frowns at him.
"Eames, I don't look that different."
"Not very, love, but believe me there's someone in here who does." Confused, Ariadne raises an eyebrow. A male voice clears his throat from behind her, and she turns to meet a pair of amber eyes. She looks the man over, her jaw dropping.
"Holy ...shit."
Arthur really didn't think he looked that different, but apparently Ariadne's outburst made him believe that he begged to differ.
"Arthur..." She said gently. He waited for her to tell him she loved him, or maybe that she wanted him. His subconsious couldn't decide which.
"...what the hell are you wearing?"
Eames fell off his chair laughing, and Yusuf and Cobb came running out, watching the two.
"Uhm... I uh..." He couldn't speak, so he adjusted his scarf awkwardly.
"They suggested I should... walk in your shoes for a day so I could understand why you thought I didn't care." He finally croaks out.
Ariadne giggles, and her sadness disapears.
"They told me the same thing, so I could figure out that you did care." He smiles slightly.
Before Ariadne can apologize, she feels a pair of soft lips on her own. She smiles, gripping Arthur's scarf (which is a shock he would wear one) and pulls him closer. The two pull away, and Arthur rests his forehead on hers.
"Darling.. I don't know how to tell you this but..." he murmured, his breath fanning her face. (A/N: I have officially made myself happy. Four 500 DOS quotes. Ohh yeahh. xD)
Ariadne waited for him to tell her he loved her, or that he was sorry.
"...I feel more comfortable in a tie, mind switching?" He whispers, seeing Cobb, Yusuf and Eames going back to their work.
Ariadne giggles, removing his scarf and her tie, and they switch, feeling a bit less awkward.
"Dinner?" Arthur asks, as Ariadne walks back to her desk, and Arthur leans on the side of it. She smiles.
"Sure." He leans down to kiss her forehead and nose.
"We should change first though." He chuckles as she smiles, nodding vigorously.
Cobb runs in from his office area, his phone clutched in his hand.
"Guys, we have to go meet with Saito, he has a follow up job offer for us."
"Can we at least change, Cobb?" Ariadne gestures to herself and Arthur. Cobb shakes his head sadly at them.
"Sorry guys, he's expecting us there in twenty, and he's all the way across LA. Plus he's flying out to New York in a few hours. We have to go now."
Eames smirks, grabbing his jacket, and eyes Yusuf rushing to untie his apron.
"Poor old Saito's going to get a kick out of this I'm sure." he says, feeling Arthur and Ariadne glaring at him.
END.
That was fun. I can't believe I actually got in four parts from 500 Days of Summer. (inclusing the "holy...shit" from Ariadne.) Well this was fun, I hope you guys enjoyed. And make sure to picture Arthur and Ariadne in their outfits, honestly, its amusing. :P Reviews? Thanks.