Another Inception piece! If you've read my other piece 'Dreams' this may start off familiar but its not what you think...but it did start off that way. You understand after you read my AN at the bottom. Enjoy!
It was only the three of them left at the warehouse. Saito had returned to his hotel room, Yusuf had gone out to meet a supplier who had a chemical he needed, and Cobb had disappeared. That left Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne still there working. It wasn't all that late by any means; it was after all only 11PM, when Ariadne threw down her pencils and turned to the two men who were both looking over their research.
"I'm bored." She said drawing their attention.
"Then let us do something darling." Eames replied putting down his manila folder full of information on Robert Browning.
"We don't have time to stop work." Arthur said looking up from the table with information about Fischer spread over the top, "We leave in three days."
"Arthur, we can take a break for one night. Have you—either of you—ever been to La Tour?"
Both men shook their head in response. Arthur did know what La Tour was though. He'd heard of it the last time he and Cobb had been in Paris. It was this little hole in the wall club not too far from the Eiffel Tower—which explained the name La Tour… The Tower. The singer there was supposed to be one of the best in the city—and this was Paris which was famous for its little places with big voices.
"I'll meet you both back here in half an hour and we'll go for a bit." She said grabbing her things and heading out the door.
Arthur had no intention of going with her and Eames when she returned. There was too much work to be done too many details to go over. But when he saw her reenter the warehouse just under thirty minutes later— clad in a deep red halter dress, black stilettos, and a black bolero—he quickly changed his mind.
After Eames changed his shirt, which had somehow gotten stained in the short amount of time she had been gone they headed for the nearest metro station since they were quite a bit away from where they were going. La Tour was just getting started when they arrived near midnight. They found seats at a small table near the door and ordered drinks. Both men were surprised to hear her order red wine. From their seats they could see the small stage and dance floor that had a few couples slowly dancing.
It was just after they'd gotten their drinks that a familiar tune started playing and Ariadne closed her eyes and raised her head a little to hear better…which made Arthur just then notice the beaded black choker necklace she wore. A smile slowly spread over her face as the drum beat slightly quickened and the saxophone joined in.
"I love this song." She whispered as the singer began.
"Then shall we?" Eames asked, pushing his chair back and placing his hand in an age old way of asking for a dance.
She briefly glanced at Arthur before accepting. He wondered if she had been waiting for him to offer as well. From his seat he could see the two of them and how close they were. Eames seemed to be whispering into her ear but even Arthur for all his skills couldn't lip read. Eames caught him watching and tossed a smirk toward Arthur. And right on time with the music he spun Ariadne so that her back was against his chest and right on time with the bass drum (or was that the snare?) he moved her hips deliberately causing her to laugh. He spun he back around and Arthur found himself standing.
He edged his way through the people to stand at the edge of the dance floor. He watched Eames dip her slightly and bring her back up as the singer finished the song and spin her as the instruments continued playing. As the music ended Eames unexpectedly let go of her hand as she was spinning and she found herself in Arthur's arms.
She hadn't even noticed him move from their table to the edge of the dance floor. The music changed from the drums and saxophone to the piano with just a hint of drum in the background. She found herself back out on the dance floor with Arthur—and found that she didn't care at all. As she listened to the lyrics she felt this was an appropriate song for her and Arthur to dance to.
Everything they were doing was made from dreams and there was this chemistry between them—she'd noticed it…hell, even Cobb had noticed it! But so far they had resisted the temptation to do anything. But she wasn't sure how much linger she could resist him. He felt her shiver as he whispered the meaning of the french lyrics to her—even though he knew she would already knew what they meant.
Arthur had never realized that dancing like this could be so…invigorating. Yes, he had danced with many women but it had never been like this. Ariadne seemed to fit just perfectly to the contours of his body and she had no trouble following his lead. He felt more than heard the final notes and seamlessly twirled her and then dipped her. He wasn't quite sure how one of her legs had ended up hooked around one of his own but he wasn't quite sure he cared.
Their eyes stayed locked as he lifted her out of the dip. He opened his mouth to say something—anything when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"As splendid as this evening has been…Cobb just sent a text asking where we all are. We should probably be getting back to work." Eames spoke jolting the both of them out of their own little world.
Arthur let Ariadne go and as they walked back to the table he realized that was the first time their eyes had disconnected since they had started dancing.
When they returned to the warehouse Yusuf and Saito gave them odd looks—especially Ariadne…after all they had never seen her out of her usual skinny jeans and scarf. Arthur looked a Cobb who didn't say anything but had a smirk on his face.
Arthur ignored it and settled back down on his stool. He took one last glance at Ariadne in her dress before settling back down to work.
It was the next day when he found a scrap of her thick paper on his desk with a note.
Tout est fait des rêves. Et je ne suis pas sûr que je puisse résister la tentation. ~Ariadne
He smiled slightly.
"What the bloody hell?" Eames said as he came out of his dream world.
He shook his head to get the fogginess out of his mind. He looked up to see Cobb, Yusuf, and Saito staring at him.
"Have an interesting dream, Eames?" Arthur called from his table not too far away.
"Interesting could be on way to describe it." He muttered more to himself than anyone else.
He took another look at Arthur before looking around for Ariadne. She didn't seem to be there when the door opened and she entered balancing a bunch of drinks from the little café down the street. She handed them off one by one, Cobb's (black, no sugar), Yusuf's (café au lait), Saito's (light no sugar), and his own (Earl Grey tea with two sugars and a hint of lemon), before handing Arthur his (café noisette). She was already sipping her own café crème and lingered for a moment with Arthur before heading back to her own workstation not too far from where Eames still lingered after his sojourn dreaming. He looked back and forth between the duo noting for the first time the small, sly glances that they would send when the other wasn't looking. He shook his head. This was going to be one hell of a long job.
Ariadne's note: Everything is made of dreams. And I'm not sure I can resist the temptation.
AN: This honest to god started out as a serious A/A piece related to my other fic Dreams. And then I got the idea about it actually have been Eames' dream and it was just too much fun to pass up.
The song that Eames and Ariadne dance to is Take It All from the movie Nine. I had to do it mostly because I do like that song and partially cause it is sung by Marion Cotillard, who for those ofyou who don't know played Mal in Inception. The song Arthur and Ariadne dance to is Temptation originally by Tom Waites but I used the version of Cote de Pablo singing off the NCIS soundtrack.