A/N: As promised, an update ^^ thanks for reviewing ^^ it made me happy looking at them :)

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! I swear D:

Chapter 2

Bonding

As he put his cup of tea down, he smiled.

"I left him at the warehouse. He was troubled, that's all I know." The Forger said.

"May I know since when Arthur tells you what troubles him?" Ariadne asked, curious.

"He doesn't." he half-lied easily and sipped some more tea. "Why do you ask?"

"No, it's nothing." She said. "And where is Cobb, he was supposed to come here already."

Eames eyed her and then looked at his watch.

"It's been just five minutes, Ariadne." He said, amused by her sense of punctuality.

"Exactly." She answered. Eames grinned.

"You know, you sound so much like Arthur sometimes." He said, thoughtful.

"I can tell you right now, I'm everything but a stick in the mud." Ariadne answered, laughing.

"He really doesn't have any imagination, does he?" He replied.

"He is one of the least imaginative people I've met." She said honestly.

"But he is a nice lad." The Brit argued in his defence.

Ariadne raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you hated each other."

Eames laughed.

"We don't hate hate each other. I would rather call it a love-hate relationship." He corrected her, his lips quirked since he couldn't help but smile. "What do you think of him?"

This question startled the Architect just a bit, since she never really talked that much to Eames.

"Yeah, he is a nice guy, I guess." She said simply.

"I find him rather entertaining." He kept grinning, remembering the Point Man being angry at him. "More than Cobb anyways."

He observed Ariadne as he said that and then kept going.

"He, Cobb I mean, is always thinking of Mal and everything. Poor chap, really, but he is just too miserable to be fun."

The girl just sipped on her tea.

"If I asked you for some advice, would you judge?" she asked suddenly to the older man.

"Honey, I've been working as a thief for longer than what I would like to admit. Who am I to judge?" he said with a knowing grin.

"Yeah, I mean, you are pretty messed up." She said either unaware of what she was saying, or really not caring.

"Thank you darling, I love when you insult me."

"I never insulted you!" she cried indignantly. "I'm just telling you the truth."

"Well, let's get to the point already, you had something to say, didn't you." The Forger stated rather than asked.

"Yeah…"

She sipped on some more tea. Drawing a huge breath, she turned to him.

"What if I told you-"

Just then, the chair next to Ariadne was being drawn out by Cobb.

"Sorry for being late." He quickly said as he sat down. He looked at them and nodded but then his face contorted.

"Where is Arthur?" he asked Eames.

"Well hello to you too, Dom." He said sarcastically. "He told me to tell you that he is sick."

Immediately after the words left him, Ariadne opened her mouth to speak, confused, since he had earlier told her that he had left Arthur at the warehouse and that he was perfectly fine. Eames shot her a furtive glance and for a fraction of a second he smiled at her as if stating that they some degree of trust, even friendship maybe, between them.

She closed her mouth again.

"Arthur is never sick." Cobb said with a frown.

"Don't shoot the messenger, darling." The Forger said matter-of-factly.

Ariadne was puzzled. Why couldn't he just tell Cobb the truth? No, better yet, why had he told her the truth, and told Cobb otherwise?

"Can't you just tell us what the matter is? You can tell Arthur later." the girl asked.

"The idea is underdeveloped." He answered. "Arthur was supposed to help me do this right."

"Guess it will have to wait then." Eames said and then drank his tea until the cup was empty. "He seemed pretty battered when I saw him"

"Do you think he will be OK for tomorrow at four, this café?" the Extractor asked and the other man nodded.

"Why this café though? Can't it just be in the warehouse?" Ariadne asked. It seemed most logical.

"I...Well, I wanted to buy the kids something and it's easier for me to go from here."

Ariadne's eyes turned gentle.

"And what are you going to do now?" the Brit asked. "You are already here, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I know." Cobb replied. Then a light ignited in his head. "I think I'll call Saito and explain him the idea."

"Why can you tell him and not tell us?" Ariadne demanded.

"I think the kid is right." Eames said, a slightly confused himself. "Mind answering her question?"

"I'll tell you later." Cobb said dismissively, stood up and left.

"Hey! Come back! You can't just leave us here!" the Architect called after, furious.

"Watch me!" Cobb answered as he walked away.

Ariadne looked at Eames in disbelief.

"Are you going to let him leave like that!" she asked loudly.

"There is nothing that we can do now, is it?" he responded calmly. "And don't get too noisy, dear, or else people are going to start staring."

After a couple of minutes, in which Eames just watched her breath out in attempts to calm herself and sip tea until her own cup was clear, he spoke.

"You really are a lot like Arthur, bloody hell."

A/N: Hoped you like it ^^ update next Thursday :)

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