Dress and Tie, an inception fanfic

This was inspired by the song 'Dress and Tie' by Charlene Kaye (feat. Darren Criss). I just felt like it suited them and I had to try my hand at a songfic. Lyrics are at the bottom if you want to read them.

Even though I still somehow don't own Inception, or even this song, I hope you enjoy it.

Arthur stepped off the plane, troubled. Dom was going off the rails. Again. Worse than before. They'd already attempted a job to get him back to his children, and it had backfired. The mark had a split personality problem that, despite Dom's insistence that it would still work, had resulted in them getting shot out of the dream early because they had chosen the wrong safe and the projections had gone crazy.

But this time it would work. They wouldn't need to go on the run. Again. And maybe after this job he would actually be able to enter a few more states in America without being prosecuted.

Arthur sighed, heavy with emotion. His heart had been tried here too many times. He missed Dom's kids too. He was their godfather, and had watched them grow from babies that were far too small for the immensity of the world to the children they had been when Cobb had to go on the run.

But Inception wasn't possible. They had to remember that, fast.

He showed up on Lauren's doorstep. Again. Looking like he had just taken a 6 hour flight. Which, technically, he had. She let him in anyway, looking just as weary as he was.

"How long has it been now? 4 weeks?" Her English accent softened the questions slightly. Only slightly.

"4 weeks, 6 days." Arthur confessed. "I'm sorry."

Lauren sighed, exhausted. "An apology is all you have for why I can't ever know where you go, when you're leaving, and when you're coming back?"

Hidden in his pocket, Arthur rolled his die between his fingers. "Yes."

Lauren nodded, running her fingers through her hair in a pattern that Arthur had come to associate with defeat. "Alright. I'm guessing you can only stay the night, as well?"

"Yes."

"And I can't know why."

"Yes."

"Arthur…" She didn't finish the sentence. He wished she would, he felt so incompetent right now. He wanted to tell her everything she needed to hear, knew that every problem in this relationship was his fault, knew that if he didn't say something now, it would be over when he walked out the door in the morning to go to Paris. But he couldn't. And though he knew deep down it had always been inevitable, that it was neither of their faults, he still felt that guilt. She was a lovely girl. But at the same time he knew that if she had been the one, he wouldn't have left her in the dark for so long.

In the morning, he left quietly before she could wake up and pass him on the sofa. He left no trace of his stay there, apart from the note on the table reading Sorry, next to an intricate crystal design of a twig of cherry blossoms. Her favorite flower.

It was all him. He was such a coward.

Ariadne shuddered awake and found herself in the middle of the park near her apartment. In her pajamas. She had no clue what the time was, but she imagined it was around 3 in the morning. She sighed. This was the fourth time this had happened. She turned around and began the lonely walk home.

She blamed Inception. It had seriously screwed up her body clock and ability to sleep. She hadn't sleepwalked since she was five. It had scared the hell out of her parents at the time too. Ariadne wondered how she was able to stay so calm and rational about it, and assumed it was because she was used to insane scenarios now. She'd had to move apartments when she came back to Paris, simply because Arthur had advised it as a precaution. It didn't really matter to her anyway. Her apartment had been dingy and cramped, and now she could afford something that was suitable for living a life in.

Arthur. She tried not to blush as she simply thought of him. She couldn't prevent a smile from creeping onto her face at the thought of him. Their friendship had been so easy, compared to the difficulties of the job they had faced together. She allowed herself to imagine for a moment that he was there with her, accompanying her home, protecting her from the unpredictable night. The way he exuded warmth, the sound of his feet on the pavement at that exact and constant pace, the hyperawareness she felt whenever she was with him. It was only when she passed a shop window and saw her reflection that the dream passed, and she was alone. She knew that would never happen.

Ariadne yawned, rubbing her eyes carefully so she wouldn't smudge charcoal over her skin. She was so glad to be back in the working world of extraction, but she found that once she began designing dreams, it was hard to say when to call it a day. She skimmed over her two final sketched ideas for the day with a smile. She couldn't wait to see them through the PASIV.

Ariadne started packing up her things, glancing around the warehouse. Eames had called her up to do a job. Nothing too serious, just a simple extraction. She'd been a bit disappointed that Arthur hadn't contacted her about it, but had hidden that behind the excitement of working and seeing some of the old team again. Cobb had gone home to his children, and hadn't given any inclination that he would be returning to the dream world anytime soon. Yusuf had been spending his days quietly making new compounds for dream testing. The only condition he had demanded in working with us was that he would never enter a dream space, for extraction or for test runs. They had complied. Saito of course, had been the employer last time, so while his skills in the extraction world were fairly useful, and the team enjoyed his company, he was busy running his newly paved empire.

Arthur. Arthur was there as always.

But at the moment, the workspace seemed empty. Eames had, as he always put it, 'buggered off early', probably down to the bar to flirt and drink, though he always claimed that it was partly to practice reading people. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, and Yusuf always stuck to the typical nine to five work schedule.

Ariadne grabbed her bag, turning off the light at her desk. As she walked towards the door she noticed that there was a beam of light not belonging to her lamp or the street light outside. She searched, and saw the office door ajar, a light shining through from the room. She was aware that she had discovered something shocking last time she stuck her nose in her team's business, but she couldn't help her curiosity.

Ariadne carefully opened the door a little wider to check. She could see one black shoe and the cuff of a pair of black pants. She heard the familiar hiss of the PASIV, and prayed that there was only one person in the room as she swung the door open. Arthur, of course, was lying there.

It didn't make sense. Ariadne panicked for a moment, thinking it was a trap. After all, Arthur was the most professional person she knew. She never thought he would use dreaming for anything but work. Nevertheless, she was so tempted to join him in the dream, for a completely different reason to when she crashed Cobb's dream.

Arthur strolled around the city he had created. He knew using dreams in a recreational way was dangerous, but he couldn't help himself. He needed something to occupy his thoughts in a healthy way. But he wouldn't let himself think about her again. She was already occupying his days, and he would not allow her to clock in during the night as well.

He groaned, knowing he would need help in forgetting about her for the moment. Even in his own controlled dreams, he couldn't escape. He walked into the bar he had created, nodded to the projection behind the counter and bought a gin and tonic. Then another. At least after the dream, he could drive home sober and still have the feeling of inebriation while he was here.

Arthur turned slightly to his left and saw Ariadne.

He blinked a few times before believing that she was a projection. His mind was trying to tell him something: she was unavoidable. He should just give in and admit the truth to himself.

"I notice you have a thing for blue." She commented, glancing down at her dress and comparing it to the shade of his tie. They matched.

"Why are you here?"

"I saw the light on in the office. I got curious." Ariadne admitted.

He wasn't expecting a logical answer.

"I'm sorry if that invades your privacy." She bit her lip, toying with her drink.

"Maybe I want my privacy invaded."

Ariadne didn't know how to answer that. She downed her drink, intent on leaving and waiting out the end of the dream elsewhere.

Arthur caught her hand as she turned away. He was so tired of being alone, but tired of getting everything wrong.

"Don't leave. Please."

She looked down at their joined hands, then back up to his face, and sat down.

After the initial shock of seeing her there, he relaxed, and Ariadne found herself talking to him with a friendliness that they hadn't shared before. Perhaps it was the mind inebriation.

"Dance with me."

"What?"

"You heard. Dance with me. Please?"

Arthur had removed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves a while ago. It shouldn't have been legal for him to be that smoldering.

"Fine." Ariadne accepted the hand he held out to her, and they made their way onto the floor, mingling between a few other projections.

The band played some form of slow jazz song. Ariadne tried not to let her breathing speed up as he took her in his arms, but somehow she couldn't make her heart stop beating out of time. She didn't know where to look. She hadn't felt this out of place since school.

But after one glance up at Arthur's face, she fell into a slightly trance-like state of being. She ignored how the places where his hands held her tingled, she ignored how clumsy her feet were. She just concentrated on the way he was looking back at her.

They didn't notice the dream beginning to crumble away around them till the music stopped as the walls fell down.

"Quick, give me a kiss."

Every night I walk the streets
Never dreaming what could happen
Sad and so lonely I saw
In the mirror my reflection
Staring back at me
I thought, will I ever find what I need?

But I'll wear that dress if you wear that tie
And baby we'll dance through the night
Cause no one's got what we've got going
Happiness never held onto me
Until you helped me see
That together we're just better off

Oh my heart's been tried
Time and again
I always thought that it was me but
I see now just how wrong I was
No, I haven't known you for a lifetime
But somehow I've never been more sure that you're for me
Baby please, don't
Don't leave just come and dance with me tonight

Don't be cruel to me
Oh I've wanted more
But I've been wrong before
So much learning to lose
But you're not a day too soon
So say you feel the same and
We'll never be lonely anymore

I'll wear that dress if you wear that tie
And baby we'll dance through the night
Cause no one's got what we've got going
Happiness never held onto me
Until you helped me see
That together we're just better off

Feel free to comment here and also, if you're interested, please check out my other fiction, 'A Continuing Affair', again with an Ariadne/Arthur pairing.

Thanks,

Light-and-Smoke