Big thank you to cinematherapy, E.A.L Runaway and Nina.4444
Chapter 14: The Emotion
"It's just hard not being able to talk to him…" Ariadne sipped her wine. It'd been a rough flashback…she hadn't even made it to the restaurant before it came full throttle. Eames had to coax her through it in the alleyway between the shops. The worst thing about her flashbacks is that she knew she had them and she knew when they would come and she knew deep down while they were happening that they weren't real but when her own eyes and mind deceived her like that, it got the better of her. It'd become like watching it happen in person over and over again. James calling her and the blood spattering from his stomach as he collapsed. The screaming, the bullets…the glimpse of Philippa's head surrounded in blood as Arthur pulled her from the door. The man she loved shooting their best friend between the eyes over and over and over and over. Eames had suggested they get dinner and let her relax...wait until her jitters were gone before she returned home and here is where they found themselves.
"I don't see what's stopping you. I mean, I know you can't help the role he takes on in your hallucinations of The Incident but you should be more open to him then you're allowing." The forger picked apart a piece of bread and slid it across the pat of butter in the middle of the table… Eames didn't have the manners of Arthur.
"He just makes me feel so guilty. You should've seen his face last night when I told him I needed him to keep working because I needed to be away from him…It was like I stabbed him in the gut. It was horrible." She rubbed her face with her palm and then rested her chin on it.
Eames snorted after a bite of his wedge, "Because it should've been the epitome of happiness after that sweet statement?"
This earned a laugh from her. The forger then rested his hand on hers for comfort, "It'll get better, Love."
She nodded and decided she was hungry enough to start on her soup, now. He elaborated mockingly, "You and Arthur were meant to have a cheesy, fairy tale, Lifetime Movie ending. That's why I badgered him until he realized it too." Eames winked and Ariadne downed a spoonful of Tomato Bisque.
xxxxxx
"You did what, now?" Eames' choked on his water at the same time Cobb asked, "I thought you were going to get your watch fixed.."
"It was an impulse buy." Arthur defended, a bit shameful and embarrassed, "It was just sitting there…it was so exquisite and…and so Ariadne. I wasn't thinking. I just imagined myself on one knee like it was really happening and…"
Cobb deadpanned, "You walked out with a broken watch and an engagement ring."
"You don't even move in together for another two months!" Eames added.
"I know. I know it's too fast. And I know you don't approve, Cobb…but you know how I feel. You've been there…"Arthur smiled like they were remembering a tropical vacation spot.
"Yes, it's a wonderful place to be…if you were two normal people with normal jobs and normal lives." Cobb took another sip of water as his mouth went dry.
"I can't help it. I love her so much I can't see straight and I just… I wanted to buy her something special."
"Buy her a puppy dog for heaven sakes." Eames quipped.
Cobb added, "Or a pashmina."
Arthur continued, frantically, "I mean, we've been planning and preparing to move in together for nearly seven months. It's only natural that by the time it actually happened, we'd be even closer."
"Arthur…" Cobb advised, "Just wait until she moves in. You don't want to get too far ahead of yourself and scare her off. She's young."
xxxxxx
"Arthur, come to bed."
He heard her voice materialize behind him but wouldn't turn. He stayed with his hand clasped around his water glass on the counter and stared at the fridge, "I will in a minute."
"You said that four hours ago and you're standing in the same spot."
He wouldn't turn to look at her. He wouldn't turn to look at her. Why should he? She didn't deserve for him to look at her. She didn't deserve for him to patient, for him to keep giving and giving. "I can't sleep." It was true, her presence just burned the images into his mind further. The grimy, bulky hand placing itself on her silky, petite one. That special four letter word he'd reserved for himself.
"Then just come lay down with me." He felt her arms around his waist and stiffened. It was exasperating, the hold she still had on him. She could hold him there without chains. Those arms, her arms…draped across his midriff. So tiny, so delicate. They alone made him want to give in, let her lead him back to their bedroom, let them curl around him no matter how traitorous they'd become. Arthur would go down in flame trying to keep from granting her that.
"No."
Her head was rested against his back now, "You want me to make you some coffee or something?"
Exercising willpower was become a chore. "No."
Her hands began brushing against his suit, her voice lowered, "Don't shut me out like this."
Oh hell no. Ariadne wasn't allowed to pull that on him. Not after everything she put him through. Not after locking him out and building up walls. Not after kicking him out of their room, after refusing to speak at him, refusing to look at him. Not after the lies she'd told him and the ways she'd sliced him to mincemeat in the matter of one night. "Like you shut me out?" He bit.
Relief. She had removed herself from him and the agony momentarily subsided. He could breathe again. He could repair the slight chinks in his armor and be ready for her next attack. Then she was standing at his side, focused on him, "Arthur, what's wrong?"
He wouldn't look at her. He wouldn't look at her. He gulped, "Nothing. You wouldn't understand." Mhm. How does it feel to get that answer? To be brushed off? To be told you wouldn't understand and ending it like that?
"Are you mad at me for staying out too late?" Her voice was jilted. It sounded so innocent, so young, so worried. It jammed its way into his barriers and though she had hurt him to the core, he couldn't do the same. He still loved her too much.
He gave way and met her eyes, "It's nothing. I'm just overthinking things. Go back to bed, Ariadne, you need your sleep." He wanted to spite her but his voice would be nothing but gentle with her.
"I can't sleep without you." She whispered. The look in her eyes captured him, her unbuttoning his suit jacket reeled him in. "At least just come sit on the couch with me."
He was powerless to the effect she had on him. Like a zombie under her control, he robotically nodded his head and walked to plop onto the couch. He was numb. He stared straight ahead at the unblinking tv as she nestled into him. She laid her head on his chest and he could only picture her doing the same to the Forger. She wrapped her arms around him and all he could see was her throwing them around Eames. It was only when she muttered her next four words that his memory remembered everything they shared and everything they'd been to each other. They reminded him that they were engaged, they were in love. "I love you, Arthur."
Why would his Ariadne cheat on him? That's not who she was. She knew he wouldn't stand in the way of what made her happy, no matter the consequences for him, so why keep it a secret? If she wanted to leave Arthur, Ariadne would leave Arthur. Ariadne wouldn't say anything she didn't mean. It took her a year to tell him she loved him the first time, it was a special phrase to her, she wouldn't throw it around without meaning it. And Arthur didn't know the whole story. He and Ariadne had been growing apart, he'd been spending a great deal of time at work. Trying to give her space, trying to get his mind elsewhere. That could be the very reason she was confiding in Eames, right? Problems with Arthur: Arthur is mad at me. Arthur is never home. I don't think Arthur loves me anymore. Arthur hates me because of the incident. He was overanalyzing the vaguest of details, he was feeling this way for nothing. Arthur resolved to fix their relationship and that is what he would do.
xxxxxx
"Arthur, are you shitting me? Stop changing your bloody mind. The team is taking tomorrow off, you've already ordered everything…it's four am. Just do it, lad. That ring is burning a hole in your pocket."
"What if she says no? What if she wants to break it off? What if she decides she doesn't want to share a flat anymore?"
Eames rolled his eyes and wished the Point Man could see them, "Why would she? You two seem disgustingly twitter pated with each other, I'm sure it's not one sided."
"She's young."
"She's not but, what, five maybe six years younger than you?"
"I know but what if she isn't ready to settle? What if she wants to be independent and free to be with whoever she feels like? I feel like this is an ultimatum, like I'm trying to tie her down. She'll never agree, Eames. She doesn't want to marry me. She couldn't want—"
"Arthur, shut up. You're proposing tomorrow. You're welcome and goodnight."
xxxxxx
The next morning she woke with Arthur's jacket laid on top of her and a pillow under her head. She followed the waft of mouth-watering scents to the kitchen. There were two elaborate plate sets on the island and a vase of sunflowers with a bow. Bacon, omelets, French toast, hash browns and sausage links adorned the plates in the most precise servings. A bowl of fruit sat to the side for each of them. When she succeeded in tearing her gaze from the meal in front of her, she saw Arthur in his suit pants and under shirt standing at the stove. The pan was sizzling and crackling. She walked over to his side and saw a growing stack of pancakes (her favorite). He looked at her the instant she was behind him, almost as if his spidey senses could smell her coming. He beamed, "Good morning, beautiful." He placed a peck on her lips and returned to flipping her pancakes.
She was stunned. She glanced at the clock to read that it was ten thirty. "Arthur, aren't you going to work?"
"Yes, late." He flipped the pancakes in the pan, "I called and told them that I wanted to cook breakfast for my fiancée and that their research could wait."
She put her hand on his forehead playfully, "Are you feeling, ok?"
"I also thought I would come home early tomorrow and take you to our favorite place for dinner," He noticed her furrow her eyebrows, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she relaxed them, "But...it's not a holiday, it's not my birthday, it's not our anniversary…" she smiled, baffled, and shrugged her shoulders.
Arthur added the pancakes he was concentrating on to the pile on the plate, turned off the stove and turned to her, "I've been at work too much. I was trying to give you space, but…we've grown apart. I want you to fall back in love with me and for that to happen I need to make you feel special again."
"You always make me feel special. And I don't have to fall back in love with you…" she poked his side, "Because I never fell out of it, silly."
Arthur beamed and exited the room for a brief moment. A second later, he was back with an extravagantly wrapped box that he gently laid on the floor. "Open it."
She eyed him questioningly, knelt down and untied the huge yellow ribbon. The box top sprung open on its own accord and a big eyed, Jack Russell Terrier stood on its feet to greet her. He was dressed in a knitted green doggy sweater with spikes on his back that made him look like a dinosaur. To top it all off, he had a matching green collar and a bone hanging off proudly displaying the name "T-Rex."
Ariadne squealed and held the puppy close as it licked her face, "He's so soft, Arthur, he's perfect!"
From behind his back he showed off the adoption papers, "And he's from the pound just like you asked." He smiled and bragged, "I had him vaccinated and groomed."
She let the puppy jump around on the ground and leapt up to squeeze Arthur, "! But we're not allowed to—"
"Don't worry about Mr. and Mrs. Dubois; anything is allowed for a generous donation."
He was rewarded with several kisses on his cheek, "You, Mr. Nolan, are perfect." Ariadne picked up the puppy to cuddle again.
"Anything for you."
Arthur placed two extra slices of bacon on the ground for the puppy and then pulled out the breakfast chair for the Architect. "When I get home from work we'll take him to the pet store and you can pick out everything you want him to have."
Later that day, when Arthur got home, Ariadne and the puppy were waiting by the door. She was holding him, in his little green sweater. When he saw Arthur, his tail went all sorts of crazy and he barked (more like yipped) to get down. Arthur bent down to the doggy's level and Ariadne held him up to lap and lick Arthur's chin. She giggled, "Aww…he loves his daddy."
Arthur grinned at the phrase. He kissed her nose and they were off to the pet store. Their buggy had an elaborate plush bed, several doggy sweaters and bandanas (Ariadne argued that naturally, he would need scarves like her because pets always resemble their owners. Or was it the other way around?), A food and drink bowl, every dinosaur or bone toy she could find (she was really taking the T-Rex theme too far), dry food to last them months, milk bone treats, a leash, doggy pads, a carrier…then she discovered the cat castles. And even though they were for cats to jump around on she was convinced Rex would love one too. He barked when he saw them and licked her when she asked him…Ariadne believed she was some sort of dog whisperer and could understand him and so now she had to get him one because "Rex is begging, Arthur." And though Arthur wasn't phased by the actual puppy's puppy dog eyes, he was influenced by Ariadne's. Here he was piling a cat castle into the buggy and wheeling it to the register. He gave the cashier the "I know it's for a cat and I'm getting it anyways look" as he paid.
With so much stuff they had to call a cab to get home. Once in the back, Ari carefully and sweetly kissed Rex on his head and placed him in his carrier.
"Are you happy, Ari?"
"Yes! And so is little Rex! I can't wait to set his stuff up! Oh! And see him play on his castle…"
"No, I mean…at home. With me…Are you happy?"
"Of course." Ariadne pulled his tie and gave him a long, generous, thank you kiss.