![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Perfection In Design
Rating/Warning: PG
Wordcount: 1,800
Spoilers: Movie
Fandom: Inception
By:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kellifer_fic
Category: Arthur/Ariadne
Disclaimer: Written for entertainment purposes only. No money, no sue.
Summary: She came back for the creation, she stayed for him.
"What's your last name?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Why do you always answer a question with a question?"
Arthur pauses in his post-check of the device, hands stilling. Ariadne likes to watch him fuss over the device, pre and post checks always done, making sure feeds are clean and needles swapped out. She likes watching his hands, competence and grace made physical. "I don't actually, but that's beside the point," Arthur says. "I only require enough information to accurately answer your initial question."
"I'm curious," Ariadne admits because she is. When Arthur raises an eyebrow at her, she adds, "Because you're so formal." Ariadne sketches a hand in the air, encompassing Arthur in his entirety. "Cobb is Cobb and Eames is Eames. Why are you known by your first name and not your last?"
"How do you know Arthur isn't my last name?" Arthur asks mildly.
"It's not."
"It's not?"
Ariadne opens her mouth, closes it again. Chews on her bottom lip. At that moment Eames yawns and stretches from the other side of the space, sprawled in the beat up leather recliner he'd found in the street and dragged inside, refusing to subject his back to the uncomfortable lawn chairs Arthur insisted on filling the warehouse with any longer. "What's my last name?" Arthur calls out to him.
"Arthur," Eames says immediately with a grin.
"You heard us," Ariadne accuses. "You're both just messing with me."
"Why don't you want to know my first name?" Eames asks, pouting.
"What's your first name?" she asks.
"Ah, wouldn't you like to-"
"It's Tristan," Arthur says from the floor.
"You wound me with your lies," Eames exclaims, pressing a hand over his heart.
"Tell me Arthur's last name," Ariadne prompts Eames who frowns. "Or... wait, you seriously don't know? How do you not know? You know everything about everyone."
"You make me sound like some gossipy housewife," Eames grumbles and at Ariadne's pointed look he throws up his hands.
They argue back and forth for a while, the last ten minutes devolving into pure name calling when Ariadne notices that Arthur has made himself scarce. "I hate when he does that," she says.
"Our point man is certainly a master of deflection," Eames agrees. "Why do you think he wears those positively lovely suits? To take attention away from his face so you never remember what he looks like when you first meet him."
"I remembered," Ariadne says.
"Yes, but dear girl, you have an eye for perfection in design and that boy's face..." Eames touches his fingertips together and kisses them, an exaggerated smacking sound echoing through the warehouse.
Ariadne laughs.
~wake me up~
She dreamed of him after she left the warehouse the first time.
It was never anything complex, she just met him at a cafe, in a restaurant, at the movies. He always held an arm out to her with a small, private smile out and she always took it.
She went back because of the opportunity for pure creation, it was true, but a small part of her also missed Arthur, despite how briefly she'd encountered him. He was a calm and solid presence, unlike anyone she'd ever met before, reminding her of days spent sitting at the end of a dock at her parent's cabin with her toes in the water and the sun on her face.
~wake me up~
Keeping something to yourself is never a good idea as it tends to bleed into the dreamscape.
Ariadne knows she has a crush and it manifests itself in the most unusual way.
"Who's responsible for this?" Arthur grumbles, looking down at his outfit. He's in faded jeans and a Marvin The Martian t-shirt. His feet are bare. Ariadne suddenly finds her own shoes fascinating, mostly because she'd doodled Arthur in the exact same outfit only an hour before they went under. "At least let me have shoes."
There's suddenly black converse on his feet, laces undone and Arthur makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Okay, that might actually be worse than the bare feet."
They're waiting for Cobb on a street corner, Yusuf and Eames huddled together and smirking. Arthur's gaze cuts to them but then away when they clearly look amused but not guilty. He finally settles on Ariadne and huffs, "Really?"
"I'm sorry, I'm still learning," Ariadne protests and Arthur arches a brow at her as Cobb pulls up.
They pile into the car after a brief squabble between Arthur and Eames for the front seat that Arthur wins as usual and as Eames is buckling himself in he says, "At least she didn't leave you starkers, mate."
"Ariadne!" Cobb snaps and Arthur glares at her over his very bare shoulder.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Because Eames doesn't have the restraint to not make everyone in the car naked and Yusuf doesn't have the talent," Cobb points out.
"Sorry!" Ariadne blurts, cheeks flaming as Cobb awkwardly struggles out of his coat while still driving to toss in Arthur's direction. "It's like not thinking about the elephant."
~wake me up~
A few weeks later she wakes up from a session with her left hand in a bowl of warm water and her socks in the freezer.
It would be easy to assume it was Eames but she knows without a doubt that it was Arthur. Mostly because when he'd stepped out of the car he'd been back in the elegant grey three piece he'd gone under in and when Ariadne had mouthed I'm sorry, he'd mouthed back You'll keep.
~wake me up~
He turns up to her hotel room in Milan. "I think you left this behind," he says, holding up a gold chess piece. Ariadne immediately touches the pocket her totem is supposed to be in and it's still there. She narrows her eyes at him and he chuckles. "Not yours then?"
"I never showed you my totem, did I?" Ariadne asks and Arthur shrugs. She shakes her head, grinning. "You and Cobb. It's like telling a fourteen year old girl a secret and expecting her not to blab to her BFF."
"What's a BFF?"
"Why do you guys always make everything so complicated? If you wanted to see me, you could have picked up the phone," Ariadne says. She holds her hand up to her ear, thumb and pinkie extended to make a handset and sets her face in a stern expression. "Hey Ariadne? Want to have coffee with me?" she says in a lowered voice.
"Do I actually sound like that?"
"I don't know. How about you try?" she prompts, holding her hand phone out. Arthur smiles and leans down, mouth and ear at her fingers.
"Hey Ariadne, want to order room service on Cobb's tab?"
They watch a movie, eat gourmet burgers that require being dismantled before they can be tackled and Arthur kisses her cheek when he's leaving. Ariadne is used to relationships that last a study period or the handful of hours after a party. She's not really sure what this is but she definitely likes it.
"Are you courting me?" Ariadne calls when Arthur is almost to the elevators.
"Yes," Arthur responds, stepping through the open elevator doors.
~wake me up~
They're in a noodle bar, painfully recreated by Ariadne from their mark's dossier that Arthur had compiled. Ariadne is trying not to smile at Arthur who is in jeans and a t-shirt, his own doing this time, because the noodle bar is the type where a suit or even the most casual of Arthur's very particular wardrobe would be out of place.
The Marvin the Martian t-shirt and jeans are hers, the loafers are all Arthur.
"I couldn't think of anything else," he grumbles when he notices her scrutiny and amusement.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Ariadne says.
~wake me up~
"Why the illegal?" she asks. They're in Arthur's hotel room this time, Ariadne sprawled across his bed with her shoes kicked off and an ice cream sundae bigger than her head cradled in her lap.
"Is that a full sentence?"
"I mean, I get Eames and Yusuf. Their particular skills lend themselves more to the black market. Cobb because he couldn't get a legitimate job when he was a wanted criminal but you." Ariadne gestures with her spoon and then grimaces when chocolate sauce drips on the comforter. Arthur makes a face when she licks her thumb and uses it to scrub at the spot. "You could be in some corporate seminar somewhere, teaching team-building to bored people and raking in the cash."
Arthur shrugs, dropping onto the bed by Ariadne's side. "I like working with the best." He narrows his eyes at her. "What about you?"
"I like working with you."
~wake me up~
Arthur follows her out when she's killed in the dream, even if just for a minute if the job isn't complete. She hears Cobb and Arthur argue about it more than once.
"You don't have to, I'm fine, really," Ariadne says when one of the latest arguments leaves Arthur brooding and Cobb slamming doors.
"I just... I like to see that for myself," Arthur says.
~wake me up~
"Don't break his heart."
Ariadne looks up from her book at Cobb who is looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Shouldn't you be having this conversation with Arthur? That's the traditional way these things go."
"We're not really traditional," Cobb says and when Ariadne nods with a half-smile he adds, "You're tougher than you look."
"What about Arthur?"
"He was built the other way around."
Cobb hovers, looking more constipated by the second and Ariadne bites her lip to stop from outright grinning. "Did you want me to sign something?"
"No, of course not. I mean..." Cobb actually looks like he contemplates the idea for a second before he shakes his head briskly. "No, don't be ridiculous."
"It's really cute that you-"
"Oh shut up!" Cobb says and retreats.
~wake me up~
When he kills her in the dreamspace, she never sees it coming, never feels a thing.
~wake me up~
Arthur has a hand up to his face, thumb and pinkie finger extended.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm calling you. I think I might end up getting your answering service. I'm not sure you're there."
"Very funny," Ariadne says, reaching out a foot to jab Arthur in the side. "I'm already in your room."
"I was thinking maybe the whole courting thing might be a bit stuffy and old-fashioned for you. I'm attempting a... what do the kids call it? A booty call."
Ariadne is still laughing when Arthur kisses her.
Rating/Warning: PG
Wordcount: 1,800
Spoilers: Movie
Fandom: Inception
By:
kellifer_ficCategory: Arthur/Ariadne
Disclaimer: Written for entertainment purposes only. No money, no sue.
Summary: She came back for the creation, she stayed for him.
"What's your last name?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Why do you always answer a question with a question?"
Arthur pauses in his post-check of the device, hands stilling. Ariadne likes to watch him fuss over the device, pre and post checks always done, making sure feeds are clean and needles swapped out. She likes watching his hands, competence and grace made physical. "I don't actually, but that's beside the point," Arthur says. "I only require enough information to accurately answer your initial question."
"I'm curious," Ariadne admits because she is. When Arthur raises an eyebrow at her, she adds, "Because you're so formal." Ariadne sketches a hand in the air, encompassing Arthur in his entirety. "Cobb is Cobb and Eames is Eames. Why are you known by your first name and not your last?"
"How do you know Arthur isn't my last name?" Arthur asks mildly.
"It's not."
"It's not?"
Ariadne opens her mouth, closes it again. Chews on her bottom lip. At that moment Eames yawns and stretches from the other side of the space, sprawled in the beat up leather recliner he'd found in the street and dragged inside, refusing to subject his back to the uncomfortable lawn chairs Arthur insisted on filling the warehouse with any longer. "What's my last name?" Arthur calls out to him.
"Arthur," Eames says immediately with a grin.
"You heard us," Ariadne accuses. "You're both just messing with me."
"Why don't you want to know my first name?" Eames asks, pouting.
"What's your first name?" she asks.
"Ah, wouldn't you like to-"
"It's Tristan," Arthur says from the floor.
"You wound me with your lies," Eames exclaims, pressing a hand over his heart.
"Tell me Arthur's last name," Ariadne prompts Eames who frowns. "Or... wait, you seriously don't know? How do you not know? You know everything about everyone."
"You make me sound like some gossipy housewife," Eames grumbles and at Ariadne's pointed look he throws up his hands.
They argue back and forth for a while, the last ten minutes devolving into pure name calling when Ariadne notices that Arthur has made himself scarce. "I hate when he does that," she says.
"Our point man is certainly a master of deflection," Eames agrees. "Why do you think he wears those positively lovely suits? To take attention away from his face so you never remember what he looks like when you first meet him."
"I remembered," Ariadne says.
"Yes, but dear girl, you have an eye for perfection in design and that boy's face..." Eames touches his fingertips together and kisses them, an exaggerated smacking sound echoing through the warehouse.
Ariadne laughs.
She dreamed of him after she left the warehouse the first time.
It was never anything complex, she just met him at a cafe, in a restaurant, at the movies. He always held an arm out to her with a small, private smile out and she always took it.
She went back because of the opportunity for pure creation, it was true, but a small part of her also missed Arthur, despite how briefly she'd encountered him. He was a calm and solid presence, unlike anyone she'd ever met before, reminding her of days spent sitting at the end of a dock at her parent's cabin with her toes in the water and the sun on her face.
Keeping something to yourself is never a good idea as it tends to bleed into the dreamscape.
Ariadne knows she has a crush and it manifests itself in the most unusual way.
"Who's responsible for this?" Arthur grumbles, looking down at his outfit. He's in faded jeans and a Marvin The Martian t-shirt. His feet are bare. Ariadne suddenly finds her own shoes fascinating, mostly because she'd doodled Arthur in the exact same outfit only an hour before they went under. "At least let me have shoes."
There's suddenly black converse on his feet, laces undone and Arthur makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Okay, that might actually be worse than the bare feet."
They're waiting for Cobb on a street corner, Yusuf and Eames huddled together and smirking. Arthur's gaze cuts to them but then away when they clearly look amused but not guilty. He finally settles on Ariadne and huffs, "Really?"
"I'm sorry, I'm still learning," Ariadne protests and Arthur arches a brow at her as Cobb pulls up.
They pile into the car after a brief squabble between Arthur and Eames for the front seat that Arthur wins as usual and as Eames is buckling himself in he says, "At least she didn't leave you starkers, mate."
"Ariadne!" Cobb snaps and Arthur glares at her over his very bare shoulder.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Because Eames doesn't have the restraint to not make everyone in the car naked and Yusuf doesn't have the talent," Cobb points out.
"Sorry!" Ariadne blurts, cheeks flaming as Cobb awkwardly struggles out of his coat while still driving to toss in Arthur's direction. "It's like not thinking about the elephant."
A few weeks later she wakes up from a session with her left hand in a bowl of warm water and her socks in the freezer.
It would be easy to assume it was Eames but she knows without a doubt that it was Arthur. Mostly because when he'd stepped out of the car he'd been back in the elegant grey three piece he'd gone under in and when Ariadne had mouthed I'm sorry, he'd mouthed back You'll keep.
He turns up to her hotel room in Milan. "I think you left this behind," he says, holding up a gold chess piece. Ariadne immediately touches the pocket her totem is supposed to be in and it's still there. She narrows her eyes at him and he chuckles. "Not yours then?"
"I never showed you my totem, did I?" Ariadne asks and Arthur shrugs. She shakes her head, grinning. "You and Cobb. It's like telling a fourteen year old girl a secret and expecting her not to blab to her BFF."
"What's a BFF?"
"Why do you guys always make everything so complicated? If you wanted to see me, you could have picked up the phone," Ariadne says. She holds her hand up to her ear, thumb and pinkie extended to make a handset and sets her face in a stern expression. "Hey Ariadne? Want to have coffee with me?" she says in a lowered voice.
"Do I actually sound like that?"
"I don't know. How about you try?" she prompts, holding her hand phone out. Arthur smiles and leans down, mouth and ear at her fingers.
"Hey Ariadne, want to order room service on Cobb's tab?"
They watch a movie, eat gourmet burgers that require being dismantled before they can be tackled and Arthur kisses her cheek when he's leaving. Ariadne is used to relationships that last a study period or the handful of hours after a party. She's not really sure what this is but she definitely likes it.
"Are you courting me?" Ariadne calls when Arthur is almost to the elevators.
"Yes," Arthur responds, stepping through the open elevator doors.
They're in a noodle bar, painfully recreated by Ariadne from their mark's dossier that Arthur had compiled. Ariadne is trying not to smile at Arthur who is in jeans and a t-shirt, his own doing this time, because the noodle bar is the type where a suit or even the most casual of Arthur's very particular wardrobe would be out of place.
The Marvin the Martian t-shirt and jeans are hers, the loafers are all Arthur.
"I couldn't think of anything else," he grumbles when he notices her scrutiny and amusement.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Ariadne says.
"Why the illegal?" she asks. They're in Arthur's hotel room this time, Ariadne sprawled across his bed with her shoes kicked off and an ice cream sundae bigger than her head cradled in her lap.
"Is that a full sentence?"
"I mean, I get Eames and Yusuf. Their particular skills lend themselves more to the black market. Cobb because he couldn't get a legitimate job when he was a wanted criminal but you." Ariadne gestures with her spoon and then grimaces when chocolate sauce drips on the comforter. Arthur makes a face when she licks her thumb and uses it to scrub at the spot. "You could be in some corporate seminar somewhere, teaching team-building to bored people and raking in the cash."
Arthur shrugs, dropping onto the bed by Ariadne's side. "I like working with the best." He narrows his eyes at her. "What about you?"
"I like working with you."
Arthur follows her out when she's killed in the dream, even if just for a minute if the job isn't complete. She hears Cobb and Arthur argue about it more than once.
"You don't have to, I'm fine, really," Ariadne says when one of the latest arguments leaves Arthur brooding and Cobb slamming doors.
"I just... I like to see that for myself," Arthur says.
"Don't break his heart."
Ariadne looks up from her book at Cobb who is looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Shouldn't you be having this conversation with Arthur? That's the traditional way these things go."
"We're not really traditional," Cobb says and when Ariadne nods with a half-smile he adds, "You're tougher than you look."
"What about Arthur?"
"He was built the other way around."
Cobb hovers, looking more constipated by the second and Ariadne bites her lip to stop from outright grinning. "Did you want me to sign something?"
"No, of course not. I mean..." Cobb actually looks like he contemplates the idea for a second before he shakes his head briskly. "No, don't be ridiculous."
"It's really cute that you-"
"Oh shut up!" Cobb says and retreats.
When he kills her in the dreamspace, she never sees it coming, never feels a thing.
Arthur has a hand up to his face, thumb and pinkie finger extended.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm calling you. I think I might end up getting your answering service. I'm not sure you're there."
"Very funny," Ariadne says, reaching out a foot to jab Arthur in the side. "I'm already in your room."
"I was thinking maybe the whole courting thing might be a bit stuffy and old-fashioned for you. I'm attempting a... what do the kids call it? A booty call."
Ariadne is still laughing when Arthur kisses her.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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eta// i've read it a few times more now and it gets better everytime! it makes me fangirl so much. you did such a wonderful job.
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"What's a BFF?"
"Why do you guys always make everything so complicated? If you wanted to see me, you could have picked up the phone," Ariadne says. She holds her hand up to her ear, thumb and pinkie extended to make a handset and sets her face in a stern expression. "Hey Ariadne? Want to have coffee with me?" she says in a lowered voice.
"Do I actually sound like that?"
"I don't know. How about you try?" she prompts, holding her hand phone out. Arthur smiles and leans down, mouth and ear at her fingers.
"Hey Ariadne, want to order room service on Cobb's tab?"
I LOVE YOU
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And now you've got me wondering if Arthur is his first or his last name...
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And Ariadne accidentally making Arthur naked is just pure win. ♥
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This was SO cute! And it wasn't overdone at all. I would quote my favourite bits but I'm afraid of quoting the entire fic, haha.
"You wound me with your lies," Eames exclaims, pressing a hand over his heart.
and
"You make me sound like some gossipy housewife," Eames grumbles and at Ariadne's pointed look he throws up his hands.
Bahaha. Your characterization of Eames is perfect!
"Hey Ariadne, want to order room service on Cobb's tab?"
Oh my goodness. xD PLEASE write more for the Arthur/Ariadne universe...or just Inception in general. I can't wait to read them!
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:D
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Loved it.
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I love Cobb contemplating making Ari sign something.
Perfect.
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At that moment Eames yawns and stretches from the other side of the space, sprawled in the beat up leather recliner he'd found in the street and dragged inside, refusing to subject his back to the uncomfortable lawn chairs Arthur insisted on filling the warehouse with any longer.
I loved the story from this line, because it's so Eames, inserting himself into a situation without even trying because he just has that kind of presence to be distracting. :)
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