Chapter 2 : Raw
His eyes swept around the room, drinking in every little detail - a shelf filled with books, books and more books that basically took up half of her living room, and in the adjoining kitchen he could just catch a glimpse of her sink, laden with dirty plates; and finally her totem, sitting innocently on a coffee table.
"Um, hang on, I'll fetch you a towel," she told him, and ran off before he could say anything.
Ariadne opened drawer after drawer, looking for a towel. You'd think she'd remember where she placed such necessities, but after spending more than a month away from home, she realized that she must suffer from short term memory loss - quite possibly an aftereffect of the job.
Finally, after reaching deep into a pile of discarded - and probably dirty - old clothes, her hand grazed against something coarse-like, and she yanked it out. Yes! A towel! She almost let out a whoop of joy. She really hoped Arthur wouldn't mind the fact that it probably stank. Thinking fast, she grabbed a bottle of her perfume and spritzed the towel with it. There, that was better.
Ariadne basically sprinted back to her living room, and found Arthur standing right where she'd left him, only this time, he was on the phone.
Wordlessly, she handed him the towel - which now smelt ever so slightly like springtime mixed with old socks - and he nodded at her in return, a frown etched on his face.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do," he murmured into the phone, "Goodbye."
He snapped his phone shut and slid it into his pocket whilst simultaneously using one hand to dry his hair with the towel.
Ariadne had no idea why she found that so - God forbid - hot.
"You shouldn't leave your totem on the table unattended," he said carelessly, gesturing towards her coffee table.
"What? Oh, uh, I didn't mean to, it's just that you kind of took me by surprise?"
Wait, what kind of response was that? He was making a statement, not asking for an explanation! She thought to herself, and resisted the urge to smack her forehead with the palm of her hand.
He didn't say anything, only smirked and continued to towel dry himself.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
He paused, and looked at her. Really looked at her - as though he was seeing her for the first time.
"I need your help. We got a job and are currently in need of an architect."
She gaped at him incredulously.
"Seriously? You want me?"
"Seriously. I hope the Fisher job has not scarred you," He continued, "And that you will accept. It's a relatively easy job - only two layers this time, and you won't need to be in the dream. I'll give you the details once you've agreed."
She didn't say anything, choosing instead to look down at the floor. Did she want this? Hadn't she been looking forward to another job? To be able to create and imagine again? But this could mean destroying someone else's life, her conscience argued. How could she live through such guilt?
Suddenly, a hand entered her line of vision and took hers. Instantly she felt hot all over.
"Hey, Ariadne, are you okay?" His voice had taken a softer, gentler tone.
She nodded, fixated at the sight of his hand clasping hers.
"How about you sleep on it, and get back to me tomorrow? I'll be here for this entire week anyway."
Sleep? She hadn't slept for about, hmm, let's see, a day, six hours and how many minutes now? Ariadne bit her lip.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and let go. She didn't look up. She didn't need to. She knew he would leave. It was his cue to go.
jeng jeng jeng. :P feedback/criticism is greatly appreciated! i know it's pretty short, but the next chapter's really long. so yea. i guess it'll make up for it?