Authors Note: Hello, this is my first fan fiction story about Ariadne and Arthur. So I hope this goes well. This is going to be short and probably a one shot unless I want to add a chapter or two.

Ariadne POV:

I was walking up to my hotel room from the complimentary breakfast in my plaid boxers, pink V-neck and purple sheep slippers. I was texting my paranoid mother when I glanced up to see the back of man in a brown suit with black hair slicked back. Arthur? I thought to myself. I looked behind me; no one was there. It had been a week since Inception. There's no way Arthur would stay in the same hotel room as me. He wouldn't risk it. Continuing down the hallway passed my room, I followed him cautiously and trying to not create any attention. He turned the red corner in the hallway, but when I came around he was gone. I sighed, am I imagining Arthur is here? Does my subconscious want him to be here with me? It was just one kiss. I thought angrily but my heart whispered me the truth, I wish he was here. Turning to walk back to my room, I found myself staring at the chest of the man in the brown suit and he wasn't happy to see me.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked me with his arms crossed.

"Um… I was taking a walk… What are you doing?" I asked with my arms crossed projecting the same emotions he was.

"I'm here on business." He said releasing his arms and becoming expressionless. "Why did you follow me?"

"Because I thought you might have a need to talk to me." I said. He was the man at breakfast with his nose in a newspaper hiding his real face. I started to walk back to my room but Arthur placed two fingers on my arms and called my name.

"Ariadne… How have you been? Are you feeling okay? Safe?" He said with his eyes showing concerned.

"Yes, of course. No one knows that I even left Paris. I can still dream too." I said but blushed at the memory of inappropriate dreams I've had about Arthur.

"That is inexplicable. Dreamers that experience falling into Limbo have the tendency to cease dreaming when the wake up." Arthur said, "But you are dissimilar to most dreamers which is the reason I cannot explain why something's affect you and others show no influence on you."

"Am I dissimilarly good or dissimilarly bad?" I asked him.

"I don't know yet," he glanced at his watch. "Take care of yourself Ariadne." And with a nod, he walked away.


I was bored with drawing buildings on the balcony. The balcony had a concrete floor with a black metal fence lining the edge and if you lean your elbows on it you could see the whole city. It was beautiful during the sun rise and I wished I could watch it with someone. I brushed off that thought and decided that it was time to go out so I needed to shower. Letting my hair air dry as usual, I grabbed a pink cardigan, a white spaghetti strap and a pink and red floral scarf with jeans. Sliding my feet in my red flats and picking up the hotel keys and my totem, I walked out the door. I found 'The Vintage Coffee Shop' across the street from my hotel and went inside for tea. Ordering a green tea with peppermint, I sat down and admired the décor of the shop. The walls were brick with spotlights on historic pictures of the town. Lights were dangling from the ceiling causing a glow to form throughout the room. There were big windows that I could look through over my shoulders showing places to eat outside and the busy street behind them. That's when I saw him again. I picked my tea and ordered a black coffee and stepped outside. I walked over and gently placed the coffee on to his table. Once again, he was hiding behind his newspaper. Deciding to see how much I could push him. I left Arthur's table and walked toward the boutique next door called Strawberry. I searched the back rack full of scarves and kept my eyes out for him to enter the store. Pretending to be focused on the yellow, white and royal blue scarf, I heard the bell signaling a customer's entrance but I didn't look up. The scarf had intertwining line of yellow and blue while it was a white background. I draped the scarf on my forearm and picked up a peacock scarf. The last scarf I chose was a knitted grey scarf with three black stripes on the ends. I gracefully walked over to the checkout counter, noticing Arthur was hiding behind the rack of Maxi dresses and piled the on top waiting for the girl to scan my scarves. I paid with forty dollars out of my back pocket and peered over to nothing as he hid once again.

"Do you want me to call the cops?" The girl said behind the counter.

"Not sure. Why?" I asked her.

"Because he hasn't taking his eyes off you since he walked in here. It's a little creepy." She said putting my receipt in the bag. I didn't say anything more; I just thanked her and left. I walked out and took a sip of my tea. There was book store across the street, continuing the oblivious act. As a car passed me, I saw Arthur in the reflection leaving the boutique and watching my next move. Passing a few shelves before reaching the young adult section, I take another sip of tea and found 'Hourglass' by Myra McEntire. I remember Helena raving about this book. Looking up from the book, I saw black hair above the row of books. Ironically, the young adult fiction was placed on the other side of political biographies. Carefully, I walked to the side of the wooden shelf and waited to see if he looked up from the book about Warren Buffett. I took the grey and black scarf out of the bag and tiptoed quietly in to the aisle. He didn't look up from the book when I dropped the scarf on to his shoe and left the aisle. I bought the book and took the last sip of my tea before leaving the bookstore and making my way back to the room.

I hope he notices the scarf or I just gave up twelve dollars, Excited for my new peacock scarf, I changed in to dark wash jeans, black knee boots, and a grey leather jacket with the scarf. I had read the book an hour later, irritated that it only took twenty pages before Michael and Emerson make out when they were basically strangers and Arthur took weeks to even kiss me. Standing up from the white couch, leaving the book behind, I decided to order Chinese food for dinner. When I opened the door for the delivery, I saw the scarf tied to the door know but no Arthur in site.

"Thank you." I said to the door man and gave him his tip. I shut the door behind me with the food and the scarf in my arms. Hunger erupted from my stomach causing me to skip getting a plate and eating it out of the carton with chopsticks. I had two fortune cookies laid next me; I open the first one and read it.

'You have a fine capacity for the enjoyment if life'

And the next one said,

'Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow. Look up.'

Confused about the contradicting fortune cookie, I put the slips of paper down and went back to eating my orange chicken. I glanced up to look out the sliding glass door when I saw my fortune. Arthur. With his back to me, leaning on the railing without his jacket and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. That's when I understood the message from the cookie, the first sentence was a paradox and the second was a direction. Getting up, half-falling over the chair, I ran to the door and slid it open.

"Arthur." I said in the doorway. He turned to me with a smile. He leaned his back on to the balcony with his elbows propped up as well and looked at me.

"Ariadne." He said like he was expecting me. I stepped closer to him until we were two feet apart from each other.

"What are you -?" I began to ask but I was interrupted by the feel of his lips on mine. The strict point-man put his hands on my cheeks and pulling me closer. He moved his left hand lower to my neck, his fingers reaching underneath my scarf. Lifting his lips momentarily before he tilted his in the other direction and kissed me again. The butterflies in my stomach had left and now my heart was just beating out of my chest. His right hand left my cheek and found my hip; I lifted my hand to caress his freshly shaved cheek and slide to his neck placing my thumb right next to his ear. We pulled apart breathlessly but our hands didn't leave their positions.

"Arthur? I thought we weren't supposed to see each other." I asked him furrowing my eyebrows.

"A paradoxical fortune. And it was worth the risk." He said as the golden sunlight began to dance on our skin.

"Not 'worth a shot', Point Man?" I teased flirtatiously and raised my eyebrows. But Arthur just smiled and kissed me again while the sunset behind the buildings.

I am prepared for brutally honest criticism, I know that this is probably awful and you hate it but read and review please. I have written other stories so maybe you would enjoy them more than this one. 'Hourglass' the novel mention in this story is a read book and it is wonderful! You should read!

With love,

Steph