Here is the second chapter of the story:) I hope you will like it. It continues where the first left off. On another note, thanks a bunch for the reviews and the helpful criticism. Also, thanks to Melissa for the kind first review, I appreciate it :)

Please tell me what you think! (Ari and Arthur ftw of course)

Arthur opened the large French windows and they stepped out into the courtyard, leaving some of the projections inside. Ariadne looked back and saw them walk to and fro without a single moment of hesitation.

Now that they were outside, it seemed that the conversation they had had inside was going to be abandoned. For a while at least.

The soft rays of sunshine were filtered through the thick canopies of the trees surrounding the building.

There were a couple of benches on the left and a tennis court on the right.

Two young women were playing, both wearing snow-white tennis outfits.

When they saw Ariadne and Arthur walk their way, they stopped and the tennis ball fell at Arthut's feet.

He picked it up and looked at it with little interest.

'Have you decided on your totem?' he asked.

Ariadne pulled her red jacket tighter, because it was mildly colder outside. She pushed her hands in her pockets.

'Not yet. I'm having some difficulty finding something unique and personal. There are hundreds of things...'

'You need to find something only you can control, an object whose secret purpose only you know. The object must be your key to reality, so in the dream world, it must have opposite or different properties or features from those in the real world.'

'Yours is a loaded die, right?' she asked and she saw him nod from the corner of her eye. 'Why the die?'

He threw the ball back at the tennis girls. They smiled and waved at him warmly.

He raised a brow, sneaking a glance at Ariadne. Her subconscious really was polite. But it was his dream, so he wouldn't expect anything to go wrong.

'Well, in my case, I chose the die because I hate gambling or any games based on luck. So I chose something that would remind me of my real self in the dream world. It probably doesn't make that much sense but...'

'No, it does,' she said quickly. 'Somehow it does. You chose something negative to have a definite impact. I guess I could go with that.'

'You have to find it on your own,' he repeated.

'I will. Wouldn't want to be lost between dream world and reality, would I?'

'Well,' Arthur began, shrugging his shoulders, 'it won't be such a big risk for you in any case. You won't be going in with us.'

Ariadne stopped and stared at him slightly surprised.

'Oh, I won't?'

'No, of course not. We need you to design the levels for us and then teach them to us. That will be all. There's no need for you to put yourself in danger,' he told her.

Ariadne nodded her head, trying not to sound or appear disappointed. She had no reason to be. She had suspected it would be like this. Experiencing the dream world was more like a forbidden fruit. She wasn't allowed to bite more than once.

'Besides,' Arthur added, reading her face quickly, 'it would be too dangerous. You're far too young and you have no experience in this field of work. We would have one more concern with us that we do not need.'

'Too young? You're not exactly a senior,' she observed.

He chuckled. 'That I am not, but I do have six years of experience which you lack.'

Ariadne nodded, looking away. She knew he was right. It wouldn't be smart or safe for her to get further involved.

That didn't mean, of course, that a part of her didn't still feel disappointed.

'How did you get involved with this in the first place?' she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders, in a noncommital gesture. He looked back at the tennis girls. He was stalling. And trying to evade the question.

He was tired of this kind of question and he was tired of the same stereotypical answer he always had to give.

'I knew the right people and they knew me,' he replied reluctantly.

He almost grimaced. Every time, he had to say that. Like a bad rhyme that wouldn't go away.

It belonged to his usual set of sentences he had committed to memory and used like he did a shirt or a pair of pants.

Ariadne understood from his manner that he didn't want to discuss it any further.

'Lucky for you,' she mumbled, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

'The dream world, as you have experienced it yourself, can be quite unpleasant sometimes. So it doesn't always feel like luck.'

'Well, would you want to do anything else?' she asked, challengingly.

After this, would she want to do anything else? Would anyone?

He paused for a moment, trying to choose the best sentence to answer this. In the end, he settled for the monosyllabic truth.

'No.'

'I thought as much,' she replied.

Arthur looked at his watch. The song started playing in his head. The dream was ending.

After they both woke up, he offered her a glass of water.

They both sat at the edge of their lounge chairs, drinking from their glasses. The warehouse was sunny and warm.

Glancing at him through her eyelashes, she wondered if he ever took off that uncomfortable-looking tie. Or if he ever wore any T-shirts.

She didn't envy him. She could have never worked in such stiff clothes.

He looked like the gunman in those fancy, elegant thrillers. The paid assassin or some sort of mercenary.

But he wasn't a typical American agent. He looked more like a French or Italian spy, someone suave and well-mannered that wore the right clothes and dined at the right places.

But of course, she was being silly. She always liked to make ridiculous theories about the people around her. Make them appear bigger or smaller than they were. Make them more romantic, or more realistic.

It was one of her secret hobbies. Now that she was older, she was slowly beginning to give up the habit.

But from time to time, some colourful character still managed to make her think of French noir films and then she wouldn't be able to help herself.

As for Arthur, he wasn't thinking about anything. Every time he went under, he kept his mind blank. When he woke up, he had a hard time getting back to his thoughts.

He noticed Ariadne staring slightly.

'Um, where's Cobb?' she asked at one point.

'Mombasa. He's there recruiting another member for the team,' he replied.

'Who?'

'A forger. We'll need one for the job.'

'Forger of objects?'

'And people too.'

'Forger of people? Like he could make a perfect copy of someone?' she asked, thinking it was some sort of absurd trick she couldn't understand.

'Basically, yes. In the dream world, he can impersonate that person.'

'Wait, you mean to say that, in the dream world, he could appear as someone else? He has the ability to be someone else?'

'To the subject of the dream and the projections, yes. He would take the appearance of that person. It takes a lot of training though.'

Ariadne could not believe her ears.

'Amazing...' she whispered.

Arthur fought the urge to roll his eyes. It had been a very long time since he had felt the same awe as she did. He had to make allowances for this young, naive girl who didn't know anything about his world.

At least she was a fast-learner and she was willing to learn.

'So do you know this particular forger?' she asked, curious again.

'I guess you could say that,' he muttered, looking at his watch again.

Ariadne waited expectantly for him to continue. He almost smiled internally. This girl had a problem with curiosity.

'Him and I,' he continued amused, 'we go way back. But we haven't kept in touch.'

'Oh, really? Probably because he's in Mombasa, right?'

This time he actually smiled. She was really far too curious.

'You're trying to ask me more about him while trying to seem like you aren't,' he remarked, amused.

'It's not the polite thing to do, but yes, I am prying, because we're going to work with him so I want to know more about him. It's the natural thing to do.'

Her reasoning was very sweet and naive, he decided.

'Well, all you need to know about him is that his name is Eames and he is an arrogant and clever English man with no regard for common sense. In that aspect, he fits with us well,' he said, meaning him and Cobb.

Ariadne chuckled, more at the fact that Arthur was trying to give a harmless, trivial description of this man than at what he was saying.

She had never heard of this kind of forger before. To her, he was the most fascinating man in the world right now, but to Arthur, he was just an old acquaintance.

'And he is right for the job?'

'Cobb wouldn't go to such lengths to get him if he weren't.'

'Such lengths?'

'Let's just say Mombasa is not a safe place for him right now,' he concluded getting up.

She was about to say something in regards to that, but he straightened his tie and went to the desk to pack up the suitcase.

'Well, I think it's enough dream building for one day. I have other things to attend to and I am sure you do as well,' he said briskly.

The words felt like a rush of cold wind on her face. She immediately got up, thinking that he didn't want to waste any more time with her for the remains of the day. She understood that he was a busy man and she was just a Parisian student.

'You're right, I should go, I am sort of busy with school right now. Exams and all that. So I guess you, I mean Cobb, or someone will give me a call,' she blabbered, stammering a bit.

He looked back at her and smiled patiently.

'Yes, of course. Don't worry about that. Until then, you should practice building mazes more. On paper, that is.'

'Oh right, it's a good idea. I'll get right on it,' she said, nodding her head.

'Good then,' he muttered, turning away again.

'I'll see myself out then,' she said and took her leave quietly, looking back to see Arthur still at the desk with his back turned to her.