Hello, everybody!
Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad that you like it! (Even though I thought that that chapter sucked).
Anyway, this chapter is not so 'action-scenes', it's more talking. BUT, I promise you that next chapter is going to be the Extraction. HA HA HA.
And that's going to be AWESOME. I hope so. HEHE.
Enjoy!
Love,
Isadora
Chapter 3 – Dark night, dark events.
"Well, well, well. I see that you've talked already ." Eames said amused. His eyes focused in Arthur's reaction. He didn't want to miss a single twitch.
Arthur just shot a menacing glare and turned his back.
"Rock Man, I knew you hadn't the guts to talk to her!"
"Shut up, Earnes." Arthur snorted. He was loosing control. Exactly what the Forger wanted.
Eames was pleased with himself. He knew that something was odd the moment Arthur opened his mouth to say about their lovely Architect.
"So, you didn't talked at all? Or you just 'forgot' to tell her?" his voice light and challenging. He moved closer to their Rock Man and whispered at his ear.
"I bet you don't even thought twice to don't call her, rocky."
And then, Arthur snapped. His left hand flew and punched the Forger's jaw. Before Eames could react, Arthur was throwing another fist at him. But he already expected that. So he shifted his position and stayed behind him, grabbing Arthur's arms and locking it.
"Mr. I'm-so-controlled have emotions, everybody!" he let the Point Man go after he was sure that he wouldn't hit him. "Nice to see you snapping sometimes, darling."
Arthur growled. His mind ached. Why he had snapped? Eames was joking of course, but something in his tone made him angry and well, every joke has some true in it, wasn't that right?
He could see Eames moving slowly to Ariadne's side, and Cobb stepping back. The Extractor didn't want to be involved in this kind of shit. He already had his children after all.
From Eames's view, he could see the architect's ears turn pink and her jaw clench. He came closer.
"Darling, you are almost breaking your pencil" he said, taking the object from her. The sketch was beautiful, but it had some strange forms. Hatred forms.
"Fuck off."
The Englishman was surprised. He never listened that! At least, not from her. His eyes were playful when he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at she pushed his hand away from her. Ariadne's eyes were full of tears.
She tried to take her pencil back, but Eames tossed it away.
"Now now." he said, grabbing her arm and going outside. "You need to spill it out."
"No! I have to finish the maze!"
She struggled to go back, but his grip was too strong. Finally, her tears started falling and she couldn't restrain them. She was mad, tired and hurt. Mad at Arthur. Tired to pretending that she didn't care. And hurt because he didn't say a word.
They stayed still. Ariadne was sobbing and Eames put his arms around her. So, she leaned her head in his chest.
After a few minutes, when she was calm and could find her voice she whispered "I don't want to go anywhere." And the Forger understood, sitting on the sidewalk with her by his side.
"Tell Eames."
"I... Wh..." she didn't know how to start. "I was mean."
Eames nodded and rested his hand on hers.
"But he deserved it." She wasn't sad. She was angry. And she wasn't going to apologise, in fact, he was going to beg for her forgiveness.
"No. He was jus..."
"Sorry, Eames. I have to go back." she cut him off. He was protecting Arthur? Ariadne wasn't going to hear another word.
Before she entered the warehouse she wiped her tears away.
Arthur didn't even glance from where he was. He had the mark's file again and was studying it. She didn't want to disturb him, so they were going to talk later.
"Arthur! Ariadne!" Cobb called. He was in the center of a circle of chairs.
The two of them walked silently. Without bothering to look at each other. The tension was palpable. She didn't like it, of course.
Before the Inception, she thought that they were friends, not only colleagues. Arthur helped her, showing ways to trick the projections, new possibilities of buildings. He was there when Mal killed her. He had that smirk when she went back after her first dream, he understood her. And during the Inception they kissed. A brief, light kiss. But still. It had to mean something, hadn't it? The Architect grabbed her bishop harder. She wanted to put it down and knock it, only to hear the soft sound off wood touching the floor. To know that she was in the real world.
"So, the Extraction." Cobb said after they sit. "The mark is very busy, as you can see, and I thought that maybe we could do his office for the first layer and a hotel for the second."
"A hotel? There would be a lot of safes there." Arthur said coldly. He didn't want to make this job harder than it already was.
"Maybe we could make a restaurant. Something formal and calm." Ariadne stopped to think. "A restaurant that he is familiar with, of course."
Cobb thought for a moment or two. His head was full of... surprise. Arthur never snapped, and Ariadne never was that mean. He sighed and prayed that they would get over it for their's and the job's sake.
"Yes. And Eames could use his blond bombshell there. It wouldn't seem too out of place." Cobb agreed.
Both of them nodded.
"Better start to work" Ariadne said, leaving them alone.
After a few minutes, Arthur waved silently and was standing up. But before he could leave, he felt a hand in his wrists.
"Are you alright?" Cobb's voice was soft and sorrow.
"I'm fine."
"Er, so, why did you do that?" he cocked his head to Earnes, standing ten feet away from them.
"I'm tired. That's all."
Cobb knew it better. The Point Man barely slept; he never was tired. The Extractor had one eyebrow raised and a fierce look. Arthur sighed.
"You know how annoying Earnes can be. And he just..." his voice trailed off. "I'm tired." And with that he leaved Cobb alone, going back to his work place, where the file stayed motionless and ready to be read. "Not tired enough to stop working." Dom thought bitter.
It was dark. The moon was high in the sky and it was beautiful. The stars like milk splattered on a black table-cloth. It wasn't full moon yet, just another few weeks and the night would be perfect.
The warehouse was quiet. Only Cobb, Arthur and Ariadne were still working. Earnes had called a day after a few more jokes about the "Rock Man" - for him, it wasn't Point Man anymore -, and Yusuf took off when the sunset started, he said that he was going to drink something, which nobody believed.
It was almost midnight.
Ariadne yawned and stretched herself, she was really washed out. The Architect got her belongings and waved only to Cobb. She knew that she was being childish, but she didn't care. Arthur noticed it, and started to walk in her direction, following her after she was outside. He had a plan.
"Ariadne. I'll walk you home." he murmured, right at her side.
"I know my way."
"It's almost midnight. I wouldn't like to know that you've been attacked only a few blocks to your place." he was stubborn, but she could be as well.
"I can defend myself. You know that I killed Mal, right?" her voice was even.
"In a Dream." he continued. "In Real world is a little harder."
"Ok. You win. Walk with me then." she threw her hands in the air, in surrender-like position. "But, I've got to do something first." she warned.
Arthur nodded. There was something odd in her voice, like she was embarrassed with what she was saying.
"Will you tell me what you have to do?"
"Hmm. We are almost there anyway." her hands were trembling a little. What was wrong with her? He looked over his shoulder, nobody was stalking them. They were the only ones walking.
She turned right and stopped in front of a building. It had two columns in each side of the door, white walls and a marble lion in front of the stairs that led to the massive door. He had seen this place before.
A boy opened the door and smiled at Ariadne. He was tall, mahogany-haired and had deep green eyes. Before Arthur could realize what was happening, the Architect jumped on his arms and kissed him. Not on his cheeks, but on his mouth. It was a passionate kiss, as Arthur could see.
He was staring at them in an awkward way, but he didn't know what to do. That was why she was so weird when they were coming. She knew what she was going to do, and he should have listened her. And now he was hurt. Something inside him ached, as if his heart wasn't large enough to pump his blood through his whole body, as if his long forgotten heart had shrunk.
Ariadne grabbed her boyfriend – he was her boyfriend, right? - and stood looking at Arthur. She was laughing. First quietly, but then louder and louder. The Point Man looked astonished, what was she laughing at?
The boy took a knife from his pocket and before he could stab Arthur he woke up.
Cold sweat running down his temples and he was gasping for air. He looked at his watch, it was 2 AM. The Point Man was alone in the warehouse. All lights were switched off but his. Arthur was lying down on his chair, with his load dice on the ground.
He grabbed his totem and threw it, knowing what number would show up. "It was only a dream"he thought fiercely. But it was comforting to see number five gazing at the ceiling.
The Point Man never dreamed. It's been six years since he had his last dream, and now here he was: having a nightmare – that couldn't be called a dream – with Ariadne. That girl who hurt him and made him snap.
He took his stuff and locked the door. Fresh air would make him good, but his nightmare wasn't going to leave him alone that easy.
"It was only a nightmare".
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