Disclaimer: I don't own anything that Christopher Nolan owns. I do own a copy of the Jonas Brothers CD that came out in 2007, though.
Hi, there! This is a birthday gift for my friend/school sister/beta: carameltootsieroll! Happy happy birthday! I really hope you enjoy this. I put Nick Jonas, sort of. He's in there. Readers, please enjoy as well! No beta, sorry, all mistakes are mine.
Nick Jonas Gets Cake
Earlier during the day, Ariadne asked Cobb if she could leave work early, saying she needed to take care of some personal, dining annual schedules. Although the extractor was surprised, he had let her go and then asked their Point Man what they were up to today. When Arthur replied that even he was in for the surprise, Cobb nodded slowly and left. Eames, being the helpful man that he is, mentioned something about ex-boyfriend rituals, which Arthur dismissed.
An hour after she had left, Arthur checked the file that he had made of her during their first job together. Thanks to technology, it was easier and much faster for him to get his research done. Unfortunately, when he checked the date 'September 16' or even 'September', nothing popped up.
He thought that it shouldn't be a problem if he asked her outright. So once he came home, he asked and he didn't expect the answer. "It's Nick Jonas's birthday!" He had to research who this Nick Jonas guy is. Fortunately, he's just another former teen star who had formed a band with two of his brothers a few years back. Not Ariadne's type but she must have a reason. No competition.
Now, as he looks at what she's preparing in the dining room, not even the on the kitchen table where they usually eat, he can't help but feel slightly jealous. They've been together for about six months, they started dating during mid-March and she asked him to move in with her just last month, and since both of their birthdays are on February, they haven't celebrated their birthday together as a couple yet; they have, however, celebrated as best of friends who would go out on dates. Who knows what she'll do for his birthday now that they're officially dating.
"This little crush you have on this…boy band member…" Arthur says, not exactly sure of where he's going. He sees his girlfriend running back and forth from the kitchen and the dining room, placing balloons on chairs and party hats on the table. "It's…not very…practical?"
Ariadne smiles at him. "This wasn't shown in your research?"
He shakes his head. "Not really. I've seen it around your past social media networks. I didn't think much of it, honestly." She continues to arrange the table for her pleasure. She tells him that there's cake, and when he looks inside the fridge there's a round, white cake which he's honestly excited to eat. "Do you need any help?"
"I'm almost done," she says, shaking her head. "But you can put this CD on." She moves forward and hands him a transparent compact disc case with a white CD inside. "It's a mix, my favorites."
Arthur nods and heads to the stereo. Putting it on play, he waits to hear how this pop rock band sounds like. He looks at the case he's holding and notices a piece of paper stuck in the back. Turning it around, he realizes it's the song list. The first song is something called 'S.O.S.'.
Back in the kitchen, he hears his girlfriend begin to sing-along. "Oh, this is an S.O.S., don't wanna second guess, this is the bottom line, it's true..."
He heads back to the kitchen and watches her sway around and cleaning some dishes. She notices him behind her and smiles. "I hope you don't mind."
He smiles back. "Not at all." Gesturing towards the other room, he asks, "May I?"
"Of course." She nods. "I'll be with you in a moment." And she goes back to singing along. "Next time I see you, I'm giving you a high five..."
He grins at her actions. Sure, he'd rather hear her sing something mellow and using her guitar but she's happy and that's more important.
Another song has begun to play when she finally does come back. She picks up a party hat and places it on top of him. "Just put it on until the end of the dinner, please?" He doesn't like it but he agrees. Ariadne serves him the spaghetti and a drink. "It's not much but I promise you that the cake will make up for it." She puts some for herself before sitting beside him.
"It's fine, don't worry," he assures her. "I would like to know what this is all about."
"It isn't anything big, really. Well, it is, I suppose. When I moved here for college...before grad school," she clarifies, "I was alone. A Canadian from Brooklyn with French blood." She shrugs. "I'm usually a loner so it isn't new to me." Arthur reaches out to squeeze her hand, wanting to remind her that he's there. "One time I was sitting outside, drawing and I had my laptop with me. It just so happened that I stumbled upon an article about the Jonas Brother, it was during the height of their popularity. And this girl comes up to me and asks if I liked them, too."
"Valeria."
Ariadne smiles. "Right. And so I looked, and this gorgeous girl is just staring at me, waiting for my answer. I was honest and she just scooted over beside me and gave me these headphones and started playing songs. They're not my usual type but I was just so happy that I ended up genuinely liking them. I thought it would be a one-time thing, you know, after that incident we'll just see each other around campus but..."
"She actually reached out to you."
"For some months I thought it would suddenly end but one time she knocked on my door on a Friday night, well, around midnight, actually, and had these stacks of DVDs and so much food. She had invited me to go out with her and some friends but I had to finish this project and since Elise," she mentions her former roommate, "would be gone for the night, I could concentrate."
"Did you finish the project?"
"Just when she came in, actually." She giggles. "She decided not to go out with her friends—well, they're mine now, too—and spent it with me. And guess whose birthday it was, too."
"Nick Jonas."
"It turns out he's both our favorite." She checks the time. "But since she's out of town, I'm spending it with you. She'll call later, though, when she isn't busy."
"It's a special day for you," he says, kissing the back of her hand. "Thank you for sharing it with me." So this isn't just because of one, famous guy. It's about her and her best friend.
They finished their food while talking about the crazy antics she and Valeria had done. As Ariadne is about to get the cake, her phone rings. "It's Val," she says with a smile.
"Do you need any privacy?"
"No," she tells him, "stay." Placing her phone down and pressing receive and putting it on loudspeak, her and the caller simultaneously say, "Happy Birthday" to each other before laughing uncontrollably. "Arthur's here, too."
"Bonjour, Arthur."
"Hello, Valeria."
"I can't celebrate Nick Jonas's birthday properly," Valeria groans, "the food in this hotel is not worthy."
"I'll save cake for you when you get back."
"Marshmallow cake?"
"What else?"
"Ooh, you're such a temptress! I want to go home now!"
"You'll be back soon enough."
"Is that When You Look Me in the Eyes, I hear?"
"It's just starting."
"Then why am I still on the line? Go! Dance with Arthur!"
Ariadne smiles and Arthur notices the blush forming when she darts her eyes to him and then back to the phone. He smirks. "We'll have a mini-party filled with cake when you come back."
"Yes, please! I'll see you soon, mon ami. Bye, Arthur."
"Bye, Val. Have fun." She turns off her phone. "Cake?"
"What's this about dancing?" he wonders.
"It's not your kind of music, Arthur," she hitches, "let's have some cake."
"No, I think I'd like to dance with you more. I'll even keep the party hat on." He points to the blue cardboard with balloons drawn on it that's on his head.
Ariadne grins. "Well, the chorus is starting," she says as she stands, "shall we?"
Arthur stands and pulls her to him. "After, we get cake."
Thank you for reading. Please leave a review if you'd like. Nick Jonas and his brothers have always been just...pretty much...there...for me so I just chose the songs that I've actually heard of. I don't not like them, I mean, Nick's cool and he's a cutie, we're just not close, haha. Anyways, this was fun to write.
There's a foreshadowing here for Twenty Steps. A simple foreshadowing but still fun to put in here. And it doesn't really follow my story concerning Ariadne and her friendship with Valeria (Twenty Steps is the "real" version).
I haven't been writing for this one, and it's because I'm so focused on Twenty Steps. But if inspiration strikes, I'll probably get to write the ideas that have been stuck in my mind for some time now. I've also found a lot of prompts, which I'm pretty excited to write since a lot reminded me of Arthur and Ariadne.
For those who follow Twenty Steps, we'll see each other again tomorrow! Again, happy Birthday carameltootsieroll!
