Everything That Is Real (Comes Around)

Part Eleven

            Arthur spent most of the next few days with Eames watching Susana. They did not talk about much and what little they did really did not have much substance. It was almost always about the job which was fine by him. The lectures about his failed relationship were getting old. The only person who had the right to bring that up was Ariadne and she completely ignored him now unless they had to talk about the job. Eventually she would have to teach him the maze and that meant lots of awkward time together.

            It was on the third day of watching Susana that Eames showed up at his door very early. Now Arthur was standing in front of him in his tank top and pajama bottoms. He was about to ask what was going on when Eames pushed himself through the door, closed it with his foot, and had Arthur pinned to the wall before he could even react.

            "Good to know your reflexes are still top notch," he deadpanned.

            "Good to know I'm still faster than you," Eames said as he held both of Arthur's arms against the wall by his wrists.

            "What are you doing here? This is early for you," he asked and Eames narrowed his eyes. There was a long pause before the forger leaned forward and caught Arthur in a rough kiss. It was another moment where he had no time to react and Eames kept his arms pinned against the wall. When he finally pulled away he stared at Arthur intently. It took a moment for Arthur to catch his breath and he felt very exposed under Eames' gaze.

            "We don't do that anymore. We haven't done that for a long time," he said.

            "Yes, I know, but we did. You ended it, but it was just a 'we're done with that' and that was it. You didn't take cheap shots or try to make me miserable, you just ended it. We weren't invested and you say that you weren't with her either. You didn't try to shove me away, you just said 'no more' and that was it. Why is it so different with her?" he asked and Arthur stared at him confused.

            "She was invested so of course it was different. You understood 'no more' because it was the same for you as it was for me. She did not feel that way so I had to push her away. If I hadn't, she would have thought there was a chance of reconciliation." Eames continued to stare at him with that same intense expression.

            "And is there?"

            "You were there, you heard what I said. Would you take me back after I said those things? After I said them again when it was just the two of us?" Arthur asked without hesitation.

            "You talked to her alone," Eames said and Arthur was surprised he did not know this. "And even in a place where you didn't need to lie, you just reaffirmed what you said the first time."

            "I wasn't lying the first time," he said and even then Eames did not look away.

            "So you didn't trust me back then either?" he asked.

            "It's you; I never let you out of my sight," Arthur said before he tried to move. "Are we done confessing? I'd like to get more sleep before we go out again. You should too; I don't want to listen to you complain all day." Eames stared for a moment longer before he released Arthur and walked out of the room without a word. It did not surprise Arthur that Eames had brought up their past in comparison to the present. What he had not expected was how long it had taken Eames to bring it up at all. Still it was a shock to the system to have Eames that close after two years of barely being within five feet of each other. It was not due to awkwardness or anything like that but more that they did not, and probably never would, see eye to eye. That was what had mostly led to six months of a physical relationship; the banter made everything interesting. It ended just as Eames had said: they were done one day and this was the first time either of them had mentioned it.

            Arthur climbed back into bed but could not fall back asleep. He was not taking cheap shots at Ariadne, at least he did not think so, but he also knew he had to be blunt to get the point across. It seemed a little cruel but he never sugar coated things. The longer the job went on, the more he wanted out of this entire mess. Cobb was going back to his kids, Eames would go off and do his own thing, Yusuf had not wanted to be back in the field in the first place, and Ariadne, well, he hoped she would go finish school. She did not belong in this world and it would be best if she just walked away. So, depending on the circumstances, he would go back to going from job to job. No more of this traveling with the same person. It only complicated things. It had been so much easier before Cobb and all of his baggage.

            Arthur tried to sleep until around six thirty before he gave up. Instead he took a shower that was too hot and took his time getting dressed. After Eames deciding that barging in was a good idea, Arthur was prepared to return the favor even if it meant that he would have to deal with the complaining for the rest of the day. So he did not hold back when he knocked on Eames' door and was not entirely surprised when a 'go away' emerged from within. He knocked again over and over again before the door opened.

            "I never thought I'd see the day I could describe you as 'annoying.' Truly this is a day that will live on." The sarcasm was enough that Arthur just rolled his eyes. Anything he said to that would just encourage Eames to taunt him some more.

            “We still have work to do,” he said and Eames just stared at him.

            “You're not very keen on this 'sleeping' thing, are you?” he said and Arthur shrugged. “Fine, just come in, and don't worry, I'll change in the bathroom.” Arthur walked into the room and glanced around as he tried to figure out how anyone could live in this mess.

            “It's not like I'd see anything new,” Arthur said and he heard Eames scoff behind him before the door to the bathroom closed. On the messy bed were the files on Dave and Susana that he had put together with tons of other notes scribbled all over them. He tilted his head to the side and saw lists of little things that he never would have thought to notice. Which foot Dave tended to start with, how he stood when in proximity to Susana, left or right handed, just all of these details that he never would have thought to write down.

            “See? I do work,” Eames said and Arthur turned around. Once again he was drying his hair with a towel before he pushed it back.

            “How much longer do you think you'll need before you can make a believable replica?” he asked and Eames shrugged.

            “Depends on how believable we want this to be. I'll need another week if we want it to be perfect, but if Fischer is getting impatient I could be ready by tomorrow.”

            “Fischer's not allowed to be impatient when he hasn't delivered the tour of her apartment yet,” Arthur muttered as he went to walk by Eames. A hand clenched his upper arm and held him steady. “Why do you keep doing this? Don't you have some other way of getting my attention?”

            “You need someone to force you to listen and I don't think you want me to pin you against a wall every time. Unless you do, then I'm game,” he said and Arthur glared.

            “What do you want now?”

            “Have you done something stupid?” he asked and Arthur looked over to see that Eames was staring ahead.

            “What are you talking about?” Arthur asked and the hand around his arm tightened.

            “You know what I mean,” Eames said.

            “I did what I had to,” Arthur said in a low voice. They stood like that for a moment before Eames released his arm and they both walked out of the room. Arthur did not want to talk about any of this anymore. Ariadne, Walter, how everyone was telling him how he should be reacting, enough was enough. He clenched his fists at his side to the point that his knuckles started turning white. He thought he saw Eames glance at him, but if he did the forger kept his mouth shut. He almost wanted Fischer to get impatient so they could get this job over and done with. Arthur had never had much in the way of the 'fight or flight' instincts but this was one occasion that he wished he could just leave. He was off to another day of trying to make small talk with a man he had absolutely nothing in common with; their only form of amusement was banter and the job. There was only so much of Eames' banter that Arthur could take before he went out of his mind.

***

            Ariadne leaned over her model and admired it. It was probably one of her best mazes so far and the idea of having a maze within a maze was brilliant considering the source of the idea. Now it just needed some context and the level would be complete. The next step was teaching it to Arthur so he would know every single detail. It was a long process and she was not looking forward to being in the same room as him. They would also have to share dreams, just the two of them, and she was not looking forward to seeing relaxed Arthur. The more she thought about it though she realized that the Arthur she had seen in that mountain town was someone she was never going to see again. It had been a rare moment that he had let her see and she had thrown it in his face. Even after all he had said Ariadne seemed to pity him more and more. Here was someone so emotionally distant that he could not relate to anyone in the real world where he could get hurt. For someone so strong he seemed so emotionally weak to her.

            It was while Arthur and Eames were out watching the mark that Cobb told her about Arthur's last conversation with Mal. It made Ariadne a little sad for both of them but it also made her feel a little better that he had not trusted the people who had taken him in. Cobb said that Arthur had been only twenty or so when they first met. The three of them had worked within dreams for almost two years. Cobb even said that Arthur was James' godfather despite the fact that none of them were that sentimental. Ariadne could hear in Cobb's voice the sense of betrayal he felt from Arthur's admitting that he had never trusted either of them. He had known Arthur for four years and in all that time Arthur had never trusted him. She did not blame him for being hurt by it. She had only been with him for a year and it hurt, but she also knew that there was nothing either of them could do about it. No one could change the past.

            After three days Arthur and Eames finally returned to the office. There was a certain tension in Eames' shoulders now and he gave her a small nod. Ariadne knew that meant he had to talk to her alone at some point. Arthur, however, seemed to be an odd combination of completely organized and being so on edge he looked like he was about to snap. Eames said that he more or less had enough to make a decent Dave but at this point it was mostly the subtle details that Susana might miss. Cobb said that he should continue to study the bodyguard until the very last minute because they only had one shot at this. Ariadne glanced over at Arthur who sat at his desk, eyebrows creased, looking ever so serious as always. He must have felt her watching him because he looked up and their eyes met from across the room. She did not look away, she just held his gaze and had to hold back surprise when he looked away first. The entire situation still felt so wrong, as if something was off.

            Eames offered to take her out to dinner after the day was over. As they all filed out Cobb asked Arthur if he was coming and he waved them off, saying that he was behind on his work. Yusuf said he looked like he was still not sleeping and left a small bottle of sedative behind. They all went their separate ways and Ariadne stole a glance up at the windows of the office building. The single light from his desk made the glow in the windows very dim. When she turned she saw Eames looking up the same way she was. They drove through town for a bit until they came to a diner. The thought of breakfast for dinner sounded like an excellent idea to Ariadne and she did not protest when Eames offered to buy.

            “So there is something I need to tell you about a certain someone but I'm not sure if you're going to like the answer,” Eames said between bites of pancakes.

            “I'm sure it can't get any worse than what happened between us the other day,” Ariadne replied taking a sip of her green tea.

            “He mentioned that you two spoke alone and that it wasn't pretty,” Eames said. “What happened?”

            “It's not important; he just said exactly what he said to me the first time without hesitation. Then he managed to get me out of his room in the most unconventional way possible,” she said and the second it left her lips she knew it was a mistake. He stared at her and did not break it until she sighed. “I needed to confront him but Cobb wanted me to see if I could straighten him out too. Arthur being a wreck could make things complicated for the job obviously. So we argued and it got a little heated. He was holding me by my arms trying to scare me into leaving and I refused. I don't know exactly what happened next but before I could even think about it we were--” She cut herself off and blushed a bit. “It got a little intense. When I was distracted, for lack of a better term, he led me outside of the room, set me on my feet in the hallway, said that he had told me to leave and then closed the door.” The second she saw the look on Eames' face she knew she had said too much. “Eames, I know what you're thinking and you don't need to defend me. I don't like it when people try to protect me.” In her mind she heard Arthur say 'that's why I keep doing it' with one of his smiles. They had seemed so sincere at the time and Ariadne wondered if it was just optimism because even thinking back to Rome just a few weeks prior he had seemed like a different person.

            “Ariadne, are you okay?” Eames asked and it brought her back to reality. Eames was staring at her and he looked worried. He had used her name and not some pet name. “You look like someone just punched you in the stomach.”

            “Yeah, well, just thinking about things that seem a lifetime away,” Ariadne said and she flashed her best smile. “Okay, what do you need to tell me?”

            “You know a forger has to pick up on the little things. I told you before that Arthur is hard to read when it comes to lying but I think I got some real truth out of him the other day,” Eames said and he looked down at the plate. “I asked him to answer, honestly, if he had ever trusted someone completely. And I looked for some indication that he was lying but there wasn't anything there. He wasn't lying.” She would have been lying to herself if she thought that somewhere deep down he had trusted her but that was not true. The knowledge that what he had said was true, really true, was enough to make her stomach twist into a knot.

            “What about the Walter situation? Were you able to find out anything about that?” Ariadne said and she was surprised how even her voice was.

            “I asked and I couldn't tell one way or another which is surprising. Whatever he decided he's not letting anyone else see it. I'll keep asking but I really don't know if I'll ever get a straight answer. If I don't find some way of getting him to answer 'yes' or 'no' I don't know if I'll ever get the information. Whatever he's planning, he's not letting anyone help him,” Eames said. The rest of the dinner they talked about everything except Arthur. Considering how much they bickered, Eames seemed to care for Arthur a lot more than she thought he would. In fact it surprised her how much everyone was concerned for him. She just wished he would notice.

            They finished dinner and Eames was about to drive them back to the hotel when Ariadne realized she had forgotten her sketchpad on her desk. She promised to just run up and grab it without trying to poke or prod Arthur. She gave Eames her most convincing smile and jogged into the building and up the stairs. The door was locked from the inside but she had her own key. The door opened and she blinked back her surprise. Arthur was slumped over his desk fast asleep. He did not stir when she opened the door and she knew he was a light sleeper. There did not seem to be any sedative missing so she could only guess that he was severely sleep deprived. Ariadne thought about having Eames come up and move him to the hotel but logic told her that a few punches would be thrown in that case. She was wearing a zip up sweatshirt since the evenings were generally fairly cold and she watched him sleep. Very rarely was she able to watch him sleep but it seemed like the only time Arthur ever looked relaxed.

            Ariadne shrugged off her sweatshirt and walked over to his desk. He only stirred a bit when she draped it over his shoulders. That familiar pit in her stomach formed and she grabbed her sketchpad and raced out of the office building, taking care to close and lock the door quietly so as not to wake the sleeping Arthur.