Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.

"Ariadne." Cobb smiled at her, hoping he came over as relaxed, attempting to calm the nervousness that was surging within him. Arthur was staring at his laptop, refusing to even glance up at either of them. "How are you?"

Ariadne blinked, as though suprised he were speaking to her. She was looking, Cobb noticed with a pang, at Arthur. "I'm all right," she answered.

He narrowed his eyes. Her voice sounded slightly tired. "Any reason?"

"No, I just-" she broke off, aware that there were another pair of ears in the room. Shaking her head slightly, she began to move downstairs, towards the basement.

Cobb watched her go, then turned to Arthur. "Do you know what's wrong?"

Arthur leaned back in his chair. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Well." The Point Man shrugged, stretching, arching his back. Cobb watched the lean frame move with envy, suddenly increasingly aware of his burgeoning paunch. "She saw me in the coffee shop...maybe I upset her."

Cobb studied Arthur carefully. He was noticing how his formerly clipped speech patterns were beginning to sound different - he was speaking with more of a leer in his voice. "What did you do?"

"Oh, just talked to one of the girls there." He smirked, and Cobb even felt a slight repulsion. "She gave me her number."

"Really?"

"Yes?"

"And I'm going to take her up on it."

Cobb nodded. Watching the Point Man continue to smirk, he turned and began to walk downstairs.

Ariadne was focusing on creating her new dreamscape. Biting her lip, she carefully moulded the skyscraper, then, crushed it.

It brought back too many memories.

The first time Arthur had looked at her, it had been questioningly. Then, it had turned to respect. Then, affection. But now, it was with near contempt. As though he could not accept that they had once been close. Once, she thought with a slight shudder, been growing increasingly intimate.

She bit her lip. He'd come over to her apartment, they'd talked. They'd drunk wine and made conversation. But she had felt tiredness slowly creep over, and before she could move, found herself overtaken with sleep.

She'd woken up the next morning to find herself covered with a blanket. Arthur had left. That morning, she'd approached him, apologised for falling asleep. He'd merely smiled and pointed out that they were all working long hours, perhaps the wine han't been a good idea. She'd blushed, but when he'd suggested dinner, she'd accepted.

It had been an evening of anticipation and nervousness. She'd waited for him, and then when he'd arrived, felt shabby and under dressed in comparison. He was in a sleek suit, her in a dress - but she felt childish and undeveloped when they'd arrived at the restaurant. and, she hd noticed, every woman had turned to look at him.

As hey'd sat, she realised he'd been ignoring the stares and overt looks. He'd asked her questions,, gently and attentively. He'd wanted to know about her childhood, her school years. She'd tentatively asked him questions, and discovered that beneath the seemingly brittle exterior, was an intelligent, dryly witty man.

But the kindness, the gentleness he'd shown - had gone.

"Ariadne?"

She looked up. Cobb was standing in the doorway. "Ariadne, please, talk to me." He walked over to her, his face creased in concern. "What is going on?"

Ariadne shook her head, then, tears began to course down her cheeks. Reaching out an arm, Cobb pulled her close, letting her bury her face in his shoulder as she cried.

"So,, tonight would be ok? Excellent. See you at 7."

Smiling, Arthur clicked off his cellphone, and began to wander downstairs. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Cobb and Ariadne. "What is it?"

Cobb turned, frowning. "Arthur."

"I don't know what's going on," Arthur said, looking directly at the Architect, "but thought you should know, I'm seeing the girl from this morning tonight." He shrugged. "Thought I should tell you. I don't want you bumping into us, when we're out."

"Arthur-" Ariadne swallowed. "Arthur, I-"

"Ariadne, let me make this clear." Arthur's dark eyes flashed as he swept over her. "You never meant enough to me for me to regret any of this. Understand?"

Stunned, she stood silently, shaking, as he turned and left. Cobb pulled her closer, hoping that neither saw the slight smile of triumph emerge on his face.

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