A/N: Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, readers, people who favourited and added this story to their alerts. I love you all.
I'd like to take the time to reply to all you lovely people who reviewed as my small token of thanks. :)
cinematherapy: You have no idea how honoured I am to have you reviewing. I know you as quite active in the Inception archives, and I've seen you mentioned by assorted authors for reviewing. Thanks so much for the wonderful review.
iheartardis: Thanks for the review! It's very appreciated. I definitely tried to add the cuteness factor into the story and it's nice to have that acknowledged.
kim: Thank you, kim! Your review was very ingratiating, and it's nice to have support.
Guest: Au contraire, yet another anonymous viewer. It was very appreciated for you to leave your review. And here below is your request, a second consecutive chapter. (:
ItsNatalie: Thanks! I'm glad the former chapter was a good start.
happytree0922: Thanks for the sweet review!
Marketplace Meanderings: Stolen Kisses Two
A week passed, and Arthur grudgingly admitted to himself that perhaps... just perhaps, he had an unprofessional interest towards the cute Architect. The Point Man within him was calm, but roiling with confusion and a sense of robotic duty, but the human half that he rarely showed was mooning after the vivacious little Parisian that had wormed her way into his heart.
Today, Arthur had gone through his regular routine, waking up at six in his hotel room, showering, and then returning to his job of watching Ariadne. He had to admit that he rather enjoyed this job, but he still twisted his features in a wry look when he remembered the rather mischievous expression on Dom's face when he assigned the man to the job.
"Watch Ariadne. Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble with Cobol, or anyone else. She'll mind you the least if she finds out you've been following her." Dom had given Arthur the tiniest of smiles and a clap on the back, then exited the men's room to leave the airport.
"Monsieur, voilá votre café.**" A tall, leggy redheaded waitress sashayed over and cocked a hip, smiling down at the collected Point Man, and placing the deep red mug of dark coffee in front of Arthur. He gave her a nod and then looked back down at his French newspaper, taking a sip of his coffee and glancing up to look at Ariadne, who was seated two tables away. The waitress huffed and strutted away, slightly annoyed at the fact that someone as attractive as herself (as she'd been told), had been rejected by such a classy man. She served Ariadne next, placing a mug of chocolate on the table before the petite girl, a sneer curling her lip.
The Architect was perched on one of the wooden chairs, legs crossed at the ankles as she picked at a croissant. She was engrossed in a library book, and judging from Arthur's observations, it was a copy of 'The World History of Architecture', which she'd borrowed yesterday. No, he wasn't... stalking her, he just knew everything she'd done for the past week.
Arthur looked down at his mug in amusement, the colour of the ceramic akin to the colour of Ariadne's cardigan. The Architect was dressed familiarly, in red with a gray silken blouse. Her jeans were dark blue, with little splotches of ink here and there. Arthur thought it was rather cute. She was cute. He shook his head. He was here on business purposes, and not for his own personal enjoyment. A small bemused sigh left his lips as he read about a recent arrest of a museum thief in the news.
"Arthur?" His head snapped up. Damn it. The girl in front of him was definitely not tall, leggy or red haired. Quite the opposite in fact. Warm gold-flecked eyes gazed at Arthur out of a porcelain face, lips curved in a smile. "Arthur, what are you doing here?"
Arthur's lips clamped in a grimace and he managed a tight smile at the animated girl who'd just leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a friendly embrace. He prayed that she couldn't hear his heart thudding in his chest, or see the flush rising up his neck. His Point Man training kicked in, and an automated response rolled out of his mouth. "Just visiting Paris, Ariadne. How have you been?" Gently, he disentangled her from his torso, and put down his now crumpled newspaper, which had been sandwiched between the two.
"I'm good, Arthur. I've passed my exams at school, and Miles says I'm very promising," Ariadne chirped, ticking the event off with a finger. 5 days ago, Arthur immediately thought. "And yesterday I went to see the new performance of The Mousetrap at the theatré." Of course something like that would catch your fancy, Arthur relayed in his mind. And of course, he knew that she'd been to the theatré at precisely two in the afternoon. He'd sat fourteen rows behind her. "What are you visiting Paris for? Another job offer?" Arthur shook his head. "No, just wanted to visit the city. Where it all started, no? This was the café you unconsciously based the dream café off of on your first dream share with Dom." Ariadne looked around in awe. "How'd you know? I didn't even realize until we got to the second level of the Inception job." Arthur chuckled and pointed to himself. "Point Man."
Ariadne rolled her eyes and adjusted the creamy yellow scarf she'd worn. "And would the esteemed Point Man like to go to the street market with a little Parisian architect?" Arthur smiled, left a tip for his coffee on the table, and stood up, offering Ariadne his arm. "Shall we?" "We shall. Ever so classy, Arthur."
Arthur allowed himself a chuckle and led the Architect out of the café and into the warmth of the bright sunlight. They were in the more picturesque part of Paris, and the cobblestone beneath their feet set the feel for the road. The market was a ways off, and Arthur would occasionally glance down at the petite girl on his arm and muse at how the morning light made her all the more beautiful.
As they neared the market stalls, Ariadne caught Arthur's gaze and giggled. "Like what you see?" She asked playfully, not knowing how the words caught at Arthur's heart, and how much he wanted to say yes. "Just wanted to look at you while I can. It's been some time since I've seen you," He lied smoothly.
Ariadne nodded, then gasped as her eyes stopped on a cheery red shaded stall on the right side of the road. The table was heaped with hundreds of different scarves. Arthur had to compose himself as he took an undignified stumble, as Ariadne suddenly slipped from his grip and trotted over to the stall.
Arthur chuckled tightly, ambling over to his female companion. She gazed in delight at the different scarves, and Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets, eying the merchandise with an expert eye. Ariadne smoothed her fingertips against different patterns, a sigh of content escaping her lips.
A couple of minutes later, Arthur's eye caught the fact that Ariadne's gaze and touch often relit upon an elegant silvery green scarf etched with white. Gently prying it from her fingers, Arthur conversed with the stall owner, handing over a few Euros to pay for the scarf.
Ariadne's eyes grew bigger, and she hardly dared breathe as she looked up at Arthur. Sweeping her hair to the side, she let Arthur gently undo the knot of her current scarf. She didn't see the blush that lit his cheeks as he undid the scarf, which many men had probably wanted to do, curious as to what lay underneath the almost always unseen skin.
Arthur couldn't resist as he tied the scarf round her neck. "Happy birthday, Ari." He whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss to her neck. He was gone when Ariadne turned around, mystified.
A/N: Did any of you catch the subtle reference I made to JGL's "Real men don't have swag, they have class." quote? It's in a piece of Ariadne's dialogue. :D
So, for the ** starred/asterisked part, the French basically means "Sir, here's your coffee."
I have a slightly 'contesty' request for you lovely people now. I need a male OC for the next installation of Stolen Kisses, and he must be in his late twenties to early thirties. And of course, he must be Ariadne's type. A slight spoiler here. If you would be so obliged, either leave a review, or PM me your submission if you would like to take part in this story. I will announce the winner next chapter, and the selected OC will make quite an important appearance in the next chapter.
The above contest is over, and I received two submissions, which honestly isn't too bad, though I sort of wanted more. :) But thanks anyways!
And thank you for reading part two of Stolen Kisses!
~ Snappers