A/N – Wow everyone, thanks for the great response, it really means a lot, and definitely motivated me to get this up as quick as I could! Here's chapter 2 – keep in mind that as time goes on they are both getting progressively tired. Let me know what you think (reviews apparently make my fingers type faster =P )
Roused from her musings by a knock on the door, Ariadne rose from the edge of the bed and moved to look through the peephole. After everything she'd just gone through, she figured a little caution wouldn't hurt, and she wasn't expecting any visitors, so who could it be? Glancing through, she felt a flutter of excitement when she saw Arthur standing there, looking cool and collected as usual. Wow, he really wore those suits well, she noticed not for the first time. And then suddenly she snapped out of it – why was she spying on him through a peephole and not opening the door for him? That was really quite rude, given the fact that he was the one that had made it possible for her to stay in this.
"Shut up and don't make a fool of yourself," she thought to herself, and with that, turned the lock and opened the door.
Arthur was still standing there, looking quite calm, which surprised Ariadne, considering how long she had taken opening the door.
"Hello," he said with a small smile, cocking his head to the side slightly. "Can I come in?"
"Of course, " she said, stepping aside quickly. He nodded in thanks, moving into the room.
He could see where she'd been sitting by the mussed sheets on the bed beside the nightstand, where a gold chess piece lay on its side.
"Been sitting there and testing your totem the entire time?" he asked, gesturing towards the object in question.
"How did you-?"
"We all do it Ariadne, and after a job like Fischer's…" He let the sentence trail off, but she knew what he meant. The constant questioning she'd been subjecting herself to, the repetitive motions of flicking the chess piece over, just to set it upright again so that she could repeat the motion. Curious, she let her eyes sweep over Arthur, and realized he had had his right hand in his pocket since he'd arrived. She'd bet the entirety of her earnings that the red loaded die was in there, assuring the point man that this was reality.
"Ariadne," he said, bringing her out of her thoughts, "I'm here to go over a few post-job things with you. Will you sit please?" As she moved to her previous position on the side of the bed, he took a seat in a chair across from her, sitting back and crossing one leg over his knee. She, on the other hand, leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees, the gold totem resting in her hands like an offering.
Seeing the fatigued look in the girl's eyes, Arthur figured that he'd better make this quick before exhaustion claimed her entirely. He wasn't in great shape himself.
"So," he said, getting down to business, "as you were told, the money you earned has been wired into the account we opened for you before we left Paris." Seeing her nod, he pressed on, hoping to keep this debriefing quick and concise. "Do not try and contact anybody from the team, for at least a few months. We wouldn't want anybody making a connection between us and Fischer, especially considering what he's about to do with his new empire. I've booked this room for you for three days, which should be enough for you to recover from the side effects that, if I'm not mistaken, you are already feeling. After going into a dream that deeply, you should be feeling quite tired and weak, despite the fact that you were sleeping the entire time."
"Aren't you tired as well?" she asked suddenly, catching him off guard. He didn't know why he found this question so strange – then he realized that in all the years he'd been doing this, she was the only person other than Dom who had shown any type of concern, or at the very least, interest, in how he was. Everyone else had just assumed he was fine. He was the point man after all, and his job didn't end after they woke up.
Yes, he was exhausted, and the bed she was sitting on looked so very inviting. But sleeping in Ariadne's bed would not be professional, and he had a job to do.
"I'm fine," he replied laconically.
He may have been imagining it, but Arthur thought he saw her face fall as he brushed off her question. What was she expecting? Yes they got along well, and he thought she was a great girl. But she was also a coworker, and he was on the job. He wondered if she had ever thought about the kiss they'd shared – he couldn't deny that seeing her face, and those lips, brought it to mind. He could imagine doing it again, closing the distance between them with one stride, running a hand through her hair while the other held the loaded die in his pocket that promised him he was in reality. However much he tried to suppress the thought, it would not disappear. It could never become a reality though. His life was empty, full of problems and uncertainty. He couldn't bring her into that, no matter how much he wanted to. She had a great life. Going to school for something she loved, and a family he assumed, though she'd never mentioned them to him.
Sighing and passing a hand through his own hair, he realized how tired he actually was. It wasn't because of the feat they had just pulled, but rather all the assignments throughout the years. It was his job to make sure people got what they wanted, and he was good at it. Therefore, it was kind of funny that when it came to his own life and the things he wanted, he got nothing. He was tired of his life, he supposed.
Ariadne had watched his face throughout this silence, observing the minute changes. What could he be thinking of, and focusing that hard on? It couldn't be the business he had come on. She was sure that over the years he'd run countless debriefs. He could do them in his sleep – in fact, he looked so tired that he practically was. Maybe tired was not the word for him though. In her eyes, he looked more worn.
She wished he would lose the point man persona, if only for the moment, and just be Arthur. Arthur was the man she had kissed, not some cold, hard professional. She admired how dedicated he was, to be sure. The job would have been impossible without him. But the job was over now, and based on the silence, she figured her debriefing was as well. Even though her eyelids felt like lead weights, and her brain like mush, Ariadne decided that she would get through to Arthur. Cobb had seen her stubborn side, and now it seemed as though Arthur would too… perhaps a little bit of cunning as well. She hadn't lived in Paris for years without picking up a few things, and she did know that closeness couldn't hurt in a situation like this. Yawning, she shifted back onto the bed a bit more, so that her feet no longer touched the ground.
"That chair cannot be very comfortable. I've never understood why nice places have horribly uncomfortable furniture. This bed though, this bed is very agreeable. Why don't you come sit over here, just for a minute, then you can go back to your room?"
Arthur was not too tired to realize that Ariadne was up to something. One day he would have to teach her about subtlety. Not now though. If she wanted him there beside her he would go. His will to fight, to deny that this was what he wanted, was gone. Besides, his sitting on a bed beside Ariadne would not screw up her life. He could leave after, and no harm would be done. Standing up, he crossed the short distance to the bed, and sat down.
Deciding to push it one step further, Ariadne reclined back onto the bed, waiting to see he he'd follow suit. Sighing, Arthur removed his jacket, laying it at the end of the bed before shifting back and laying down, trying not to think of the smile that grew on Ariadne's face as he did so. This was only for a minute, he told himself. The two faced each other, not seeming to notice that they were lying sideways on a bed with no pillows or blankets. That did not matter for long though. They were both sound asleep within moments of their heads hitting the mattress.
