Castle

The dreamscape was a gentle sloping hill, dotted with wildflowers, and it lead to empty castle ruins. Today, Ariadne was helping Arthur with his imagination. This was their fourth lesson now, he was improving greatly.

"I always had a thing for ruins when I was younger." He murmured close to her ear, causing her to tremble slightly. He slid his hand into hers as they strolled down the slope. A faint blush tinged Ariadne's cheeks and hoped it wasn't showing in the workshop. Eames was keeping an eye on them, and was sure to assume something scandalous.

Ariadne, her impatient nature getting the better of her, suddenly pulled on Arthur's hand and dragged him down the slope. Soon, panting and out of breath, they were inside the fallen castle. Plants had reclaimed the land and created a canopy above them; the contrast between man and nature was beautiful.

"It's wonderful Arthur."

Book

Arthur had re-read the same passage of his book four times now as he sat in the shade of his umbrella. The team, having left the illegal side of extraction behind them, had decided a holiday would do them all good. Cobb had his kids with him and they were splashing in the breaking waves. But that wasn't what was distracting him. Eames and Yusaf were playing a raucous game of cards beside him, Yusaf declaring loudly that Eames had cheated. Again. But that wasn't what was distracting him. The goddess that had lead them all through the complex mazes, saving their asses countless times, was bathing beside him in the sun's golden rays. Her skin glistened from just being in the sea with Phillipa and James, the simple one piece doing nothing to hide her delicate curves and pale skin. The Point Man tried his hardest to refocus but it just wasn't going to happen. That's when her pale fingers pulled the book from his hands, threw it on the sand beside them and said,

"Hurry up and kiss me already."

Simple Things

Little things, like brushing her hand when he walked past her desk, leaving coffee on his when she made the dash to the coffee shop around the corner from the workshop, those little things that made their relationship unique. While they worked, small glances across the warehouse like room, sending shivers through their skin. When it got late and she fell asleep at her desk, he would pick her up and lay them on the couch, the only place he could find dreams was in her arms. When his tie annoyed him whilst undressing at their small apartment, she would whisper, Leave it on, using it to pull him closer to her wanting skin. How he brushed his fingers so delicately across her stomach making her tremble, as she delved into his immaculate hair; it soon became unruly. When they woke up, their bodies interwoven, their eyes would also see the others before anything else that day. The intense love that burned in them almost disregarded the need to breathe. Simple things like his mother's ring on her finger, just a small diamond on a silver band, light bouncing off the glistening jewel; simple things like these made their love almost like a dream.

Boat

Ariadne loved the sea. The way it could constantly change, whenever the mood took it; how the currents came from miles away, far distant places of wonder and intrigue. Arthur did not like the sea. The way a riptide could appear so suddenly and drag you under; the way the bobbed and ducked making the boat sway.

Eames had bought a yacht with the inception money and wanted to show off to the rest of the team a few months later. After spending the day readying the boat with the ropes and the sails and lord knows what else, they had only set sail a few hours before sunset. Now, having eaten a gourmet dinner that was composed of beer straight from the bottle and banana splits, Arthur was feeling distinctly nauseous. Ariadne, however, was sitting right on the prow of the boat her bare legs dangling through the bars above the turquoise water enjoying the feel of the sea breeze dancing through her hair. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Arthur looking close to green clutching a bright orange life belt. She smiled as she remembered his appalled face when Eames had thrust it at him when boarding, having known his fear of water from previous occasions. With graceful ease, she stood and waltzed over to sit behind him. All the others were below deck getting drunk as hell, so she felt confident when she wrapped her legs around his waist that there would be few demeaning comments. If possible, Arthur became tenser but eased slightly when she kissed the spot beneath his ear, sighing as she did so.

"Need some distraction?" She whispered, as her arms encircled him, prying lose the life belt, and rubbed his chest in calming circles.

"I doubt even your magic fingers could cure this." He said, his voice shaking. "But I'm pretty sure they'll help." Ariadne smiled and held him tighter, grateful for the chance that for once she could save him.

Music

Ariadne's ears pricked up as she heard a gentle thrum of strings echoing through the apartment. She'd just got back from a quick run, and her hair clung to her forehead, making her feel horrid. All that however was blown out of the water when she heard the noise. She knew Arthur had some musical skill from the others, but this? She creeped towards their bedroom hoping it wasn't the stereo. But there he was, sitting on the edge of their bed, a battered guitar in his arms. His head was down in concentration so he hadn't spotted her yet. She could see he hadn't dressed yet, as his suit remained hanging on the wardrobe, and his toned bare chest peaked from behind the curves of the guitar.

Arthur looked up to see a sweaty Ariadne gaping at him in wonder. He felt himself blush as he quickly stood, placing the guitar on their bed.

"Er…"

"That was beautiful. Why didn't you tell me before?" Her voice echoed the wonder and surprise on her face.

"Well, I, er, didn't think it was, you know, important." He finished lamely.

"That was stupid." Ariadne's bluntness was always refreshing. Her smile eased the brusqueness of it.

"Play again. Please?" He just couldn't refuse those eyes. With a grin he picked up the guitar and sat. He had barely played a few chords when Ariadne said,

"I guess this explains this is why you're so good with your fingers." He looked up sharply, messing up the chord before seeing the look in her eyes. Music was soon forgotten for the rest of the day as well as the suit. As least, the kind that involved notes and designer labels.

Gloomy

The weather outside was gloomy in every sense of the word. The feeling on the inside of the workshop was much of the same. There was an atmosphere that seemed to dampen everyone's mood, even Eames's. All of the men were at their workstations, not one sound passed between them as they waited on their last team member to arrive. The only noise was the pounding of the rain on the windows, on the roof, in the gutters. That was before Ariadne burst through the door breathless and soaked through the skin.

"It's chucking it down out there! I ran the whole way, still I'm soaked. Eames if you open your mouth and say you get wetter when you run, I will…hurt you." Eames had indeed opened his mouth but had closed it with anything but a sheepish grin. She dripped her way over to her desk, snug between Arthur's and Eames's, and pulled herself out of her sodden clothes. Soon she was down to a small vest and her jeans. She couldn't do much about those, but the rest of her clothes were scatted around on various heaters. She sat down glumly and pulled yesterday's drawings towards her. Eames was focusing on several photographs and the mirror but Arthur stared at Ariadne. He could already see her skin turning paler than its usual tones and he swore he could see a tinge of blue on her plump lips. As she would never ask for help in this situation, he went for his jacket behind his chair to throw over her.

"Aria-" He went to hand her it, but Yusaf beat him by throwing a blanket from somewhere over her head.

"You're turning blue." He said with a kind smile before walking back to his portable lab. Arthur sat down quickly, a blush tinged his cheeks, but Eames had seen him. A wicked grin passed over his face.

"Nice try Arthur." He sniggered. The Point Man's crush had been obvious now since the Fisher job; Eames had a lot of fun messing with him, dropping comments, trying, and failing, to reveal this to Ariadne. Hopefully today would be the day.

It wasn't. Or so he thought. Ariadne soon left after Cobb ordered her home after excessive sneezing. Arthur of course offered to drive her back to make sure she got there safely. Eames winked at him on the way out. Arthur merely knocked the chair he was leaning on, smirking as he heard the satisfying bang and curse as he left the warehouse.

Compromise

"Why must you be so difficult?" Ariadne huffed as they looked through a catalogue. She folded her arms and pouted at Arthur who pushed his hand through his usually neat hair in irritation. They were sat in the spare room of their new small house, only a few blocks away from the beach arguing over furniture and the colour of the paint. Boxes of things were still out in the hallway forming skyscrapers of card labeled Kitchen and several Books.

"It's just paint, its not like they're going mind what colour it is." Arthur said firmly. Ariadne frowned.

"But it has to be perfect. You're into perfection Arthur, you understand this need. Everything must match!"

Arthur hated it when Ariadne was like this. She had been for a while now, even to some of their closet friends. He read a couple of books, but he hadn't imagined this part of their relationship being so difficult. Arthur sighed.

"How about a compromise? That paint with this set. Then we go back a few pages…aha, with this bedding?" Ariadne contemplated the mix. She hated to admit it but it all worked kinda well.

"I suppose it does work…okay compromise it is. But I still want to put some of our things in here, add our touch. Make it feel more homely." Arthur smiled and leaned over, close to her face murmuring,

"I'm not quite sure a newborn will be happy with a chess set, a miniature Eiffel Tower and fuzzy dice for a mobile." Ariadne's eyes lit it up.

"That would be great! Where can we get those fuzzy dice? They have to be red, doesn't matter it they clash, it wo-" Arthur covered her mouth with his, gently kissing away her words. Catalogue forgotten, Ariadne slid into his lap but pulled away and sighed when she couldn't get any closer. They looked down at her 8 month bump, their hands encircling it protectively.

"At least we're practising at compromise." Arthur said mischievously. Ariadne looked up with questioning eyes.

"We're going to have to when it comes to their name."

Spotless

His suits were always perfect. Not a single thread out of place, not a mark on any shirt, nor a tie out of place. Just perfect. Overall his image was spotless. But when it came to his personality, his history, it was far from clean. The crimes he committed, the people he stolen from and even sometimes killed. Admittedly, it was all in the dream world, but that didn't make it any less real, make him anything less than an animal. He was glad he couldn't dream anymore or else they would have been nightmares. Then, innocence had walked into his life, so bright and pure it had nearly blinded him. She had been drawn into their world, caught by the enticing addictiveness of it, like a drug that sucked at your soul. But not her. Through all the things she saw, all the things she did, her light didn't go out. It stayed bright, but for him it became less blinding, painful. It showed him things weren't all bad, brought him out of his night and into the day. Afterwards, he would often sing You are my Sunshine as he walked along a street whether night or day; it never mattered when she beside him.

Dying

Every time it happened, she felt sick. Whether it was practise or the real thing, the sudden jolt of being shot never got better. The explosions were worse, the ringing when she woke. The first time Eames had set off a bomb and she'd been too close, she was deafened when she woke. Only Arthur's calming hands soothed her, his lips moving in comforting words she couldn't hear for another ten minutes. It was better when they were dreaming together. He would hold her hand and when he was feeling brave he would even kiss her. Only briefly on the cheek, but it was enough to distract her. The others sometimes teased her for her yellow streak but one look from Arthur would soon shut them up. She often thought of him as her knight in shining Armani.

He made dying that bit better. She hoped he would be around when it happened for real.

Hands

Their hands found each other in the darkness, of the safe-house they were hiding in. Just the two of them. The electricity had just short-circuited in their building, and having a lack of flashlights, they were reduced to having a single flame in the form of Arthur's lighter. Having been stood in the hallway, they carefully made their way to the small sitting room and sat on the sofa, putting out the light once they had sat down. Their hands were still clasped together between them.

"Arthur…"

"…Yes?"

"We alone in a house with no one to interrupt us with no electricity." Words didn't come up again as their hands moved to each other's clothes, pulling at tie, a scarf, a belt, some jeans.

Afterwards their hands found each other again, holding each other close in the darkness.

"I love the dark. You can feel things so much better."