This would be my first published Inception story on this site, and I'm really excited to keep working with it. I'm writing this for my good friend, as a thank you for keeping me sane when I was in a bit of a slump. You know who you are! I hope you enjoy this.

Inspiration came from absolutely nowhere. Probably from starting a fresh year of college. It should be stated now that to point out any inaccuracies pertaining to university is none of my fault. Like mentioned, I go to a college. Where we do real work (I kid). This will be an Arthur/Eames story. There's no avoiding that. And most of the characterizations might be toyed with a little, as this all takes place before the canon plot of the film. Bare with me as I have a bit of fun with it.

Title: Teacher's Pet
Summary: To better gather information on a mark, a university's president, Arthur enrolls as a student. He has a run-in with a familiar face; Eames is working as a professor in order to do some preparation for a job of his own. What becomes a simple task becomes a daunting quest to avoid resulting awkwardness and sexual tension, much to the forger's delight.
Rating: T, but it will probably go higher.
Warnings: Swearing, awkwardness, sexual themes, Arthur being a grouch.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Reviews would be appreciated!

"This won't be too easy, the university president is quite a difficult man to get dirt on. He's very careful."

Cobb had been valiantly unconcerned by their client's warning. He simply smiled and assured that this was their job; digging up secrets was what they made a living from. Ever the confident extractor. Even as this was said, Arthur had doubts in the back of his mind. It was his job to get copious amounts of information on their mark, and so far he had been given very little to go on. Like hunting for a ghost with only a name to work with. However, he didn't raise this concern during the meeting. He had gotten life stories out of less.

"It can be done. It would be helpful if we could track his daily life. If I can get the chance to nose through the university a little, even better. " The young point man, said, clasping his hands together on the tabletop and straightening his back a little. To this point, the client had not been acknowledging him all that much, but now the aging man fixed him with a look that was just slightly surprised, with his white eyebrows quirking upwards a little. Arthur pressed on. "Do you know if the university is hiring staff right now? Cleaners? Librarians?"

"Are you even old enough to gain employment?" There was dry amusement in the man's voice. As Arthur's expression soured, he felt Dom's elbow nudge his ribs gently under the table.

"What about transfer students?" the extractor suggested, trying to press the discussion forward before tempers even became a factor. That was not a terrible idea, but Arthur gave him a sideways glance, his hard eyes already smoldering with a resounding 'NO'. The client leaned back in his chair a little, fingertips tapping the wood table as he thought.

"I'd be willing to front a semester's tuition and get the kid into a program. Classes only started a couple weeks ago."

Arthur, his proverbial feathers ruffled, looked between Cobb and their new employer with a look of indignation and annoyance.

"You're not serious." he hissed.

But they were.

Arthur had dropped out of university in his second year. And while Mal had discouraged his decision to abandon education to pursue his newfound talents as a point man, the decision had been a well thought-out one. He was not a 'higher education' type of man. Intelligence did not always mean having a piece of paper saying you wasted four years of your life drinking, eating crap food and writing papers on subjects that had absolutely zero application to the real world.

When he had met Dom in his freshman year, his potential had been spotted and put to the test. From his first experience in the dream, he was hooked. Sociology and literature couldn't hope to be half as fascinating as the world that had been opened up to him. So, leaving behind his scholarships and carefree school life, he eventually took the dive into his new career and never looked back. That was almost four years ago – by now he would have graduated and landed himself some soul-sucking government job. With all of this in consideration, he was not keen on returning to university posing as a student. Chances were, it would only remind him of why he left so eagerly.

As they arrived in Toronto for the job and settled into a pair of hotel rooms (provided at no expense by the client), Arthur was growing increasingly aware of how he was not going to be involved in a lot of the planning at first. Mal and Dom would handle the building of the dream and most of the preparation; it was simply his job to dig up everything he could on the university president. This was discouraging, as he liked being there for every step of the process. Dom had half-jokingly commented that it was a wonder that an endlessly hungry mind like this had not thrived in college. It only made Arthur skulk away in a huff.

He had been given an alias and the schedule of a first semester student. He was Mason Cooper, a student registering last-minute and taking whatever courses he could still get into. He didn't even look at the timetable or the classes; chances were he would be scarce for most of them, anyway.

His incredible distaste for the arrangement must have been obvious, because Mal took the effort to drive him to the downtown campus just to make sure the young man didn't hurl himself into traffic just to avoid going. Much like a mother sending her child off to kindergarten, she wished him luck, have him a playful and embarrassing kiss on the cheek, and sent him off. Arthur just knew that she would be an endless source of social humiliation for her children when they reached their teenage years. Wiping at his cheek and wrinkling his nose, he climbed out of the car and watched her drive off. Standing at the curb with a laptop bag over his shoulder and a crumpled class schedule in his hand, he sighed in defeat and turned to look at the building. Students were everywhere; reading, talking, making friends, and in some cases, looking severely hung over for a Monday morning.

It brought back memories, alright. Maybe he should start this school year like he used to - with a stiff drink or six.

As his day progressed, the idea sounded better and better. The campus was massive and crowded. And every staff member he stopped to ask for help in finding a room looked like he had just ruined their day by existing. He had been told to attend at least some classes to maintain the appearance of a student, but the three he had today all bored him to tears. And half of the students, freshmen straight out of high school, made him want to claw his own face off in frustration. Apparently any ignorant, vacant teenager could apply for higher education these days. Honestly. He would rather be doing his job than enduring an endless string of idiot questions and comments.

Just to make things worse, his phone went off in the middle of the last lecture, earning him a stern request to leave. Equally flustered and relieved, he did just that. It was Dom calling.

"You know I have a class right now." He snarled into the phone as he answered it in the corridor. There was an amused laugh on the other line.

"Put your phone on silent, then. See? Valuable life lesson."

"You called just to embarrass me, didn't you?"

"That, and to make sure you weren't drinking yourself to death at the bar."

"It's a good time to start." Arthur then promptly hung up and stalked off out of the building. He was in an absolutely miserable mood by now, and just wanted to do something productive before he returned to the hotel to sulk for the rest of the evening. On a campus map provided by the moderately kind lady at the bookstore, he located the school offices and headed in that direction.

One thing he had not missed about university; it was a hike to get from one side of the grounds to the other. After ten minutes, he was only halfway there. Arthur decided to take a breather to sit down and calm himself somewhat. It wouldn't all be miserable like this, he told himself. And it was only for a few weeks. The point man took a deep breath as he sat down on a bench located next to one of the athletic fields, and tried to smooth down his hair. Some strands had broken free from the excessive amount of gel that he had put in it that morning, as he had been running around trying to get his bearings. Arthur dropped his bag on the ground and rubbed at his tired face.

He could do this. It was university, not the military or something equally demanding. He had done this before – for two years – and survived just fine. Then again, at that time he was young and stupid. He had booze. And a few friends. And a sincere, misguided interest in what he was studying. No, no, he could still do this. He just had to focus on his real task.

"I know that aura of pretentious misery, anywhere."

The statement, spoken in a teasing, affectionate, and alarmingly familiar voice, gave Arthur just a start that he was on his feet in an instant. He spun on his heel to see the newcomer, who was leaning his hip on the back of the bench and wearing the most infuriating grin. He stammered something incoherent, trying to shoehorn shock and aggravation into the same exclamation and failing to say anything at all. He got a chuckled response for his efforts.

"Nice to see you too, darling."