"That's ridiculous."

"It most certainly isn't."

"On what planet is that not a ridiculous idea?"

"Come now, darling. You must be spending far too much time with Arthur. Your imagination is beginning to dry up."

"Ha ha. Very funny Eames. You're a laugh riot."

"I know I am, Ariadne. But thank you for the compliment."

"Ugh. Look, the point still remains that it's a ridiculous way to go about doing things."

"It's not ridiculous, luv. And it won't become ridiculous because you insist that it is."

"I repeat: on what planet is that not ridiculous? In the one you've created in your mind?"

"Now be fair. You're the only who creates worlds in your mind, not me."

"Cobb!" The frazzled little architect turns and looks their 'boss', her eyes pleading with him to do something, to say something, to end this stupid argument by agreeing with one or the other.

"Well, he's not wrong, Ariadne," he says easily, shrugging his shoulders. "You are the one who creates worlds in your head."

"Ugh." Leaning forward she practically slams her forehead against the table in front of her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, slowly counting to ten to try to keep herself from getting too frustrated by this whole situation. "Look, Eames, I know you enjoy forging," she tries to reason as she lifts her head back up and looks over at him. "But we're not going with your idea."

"I still say that my idea is just fine."

"Of course you do. It's your idea."

"Yes, but that's not why I think it's a good idea, darling. I think it would be the perfect distraction."

"I think you're trying to distract all of us, too. Trust me, even if we don't want to look there's no way we could stop from looking at that."

"Don't pretend, dear," he soothes, giving her a slow, easy smile. "We all know that you'd look because you want to."

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be very, very infuriating?"

"Arthur has, I believe. Among other things."

"Well, he's right."

"I'm hurt, darling. To imagine that you'd agree with that old stick in the mud."

"Better a stick in the mud than insane like you."

"I'm not insane."

"Yes, you are. And we're not going with your idea."

"I still say that my idea is perfectly fine."

"Eames," she starts in a frustrated tone. "I am not designing a porn studio so you can forge into a naked woman. Period. Get your mind out of the gutter you damn pervert. So, you better find a way to make that idea just disappear from that twisted little head of yours. Like right now."

Arthur laughs on his way back towards his desk, a cup of coffee in his hand, hiding a smile behind it. Pausing behind Ariadne he leans down and presses an arbitrary kiss to the top of her head. "And you wonder why I love you."

Normally Ariadne would just smile, would just write that off as his enjoying her picking on Eames. Because Arthur so loves it when someone picks on Eames. She especially loves it when it's her because most of the time she just takes Eames in stride. But there was something about the way he said it, the tone of voice that he used that lets her know that he wasn't saying it in that way. That wasn't the meaning behind that one. Sure, he may have enjoyed her picking on Eames but it was something more than that.

And so she turns her head slowly to look up at him and then looks at the others as they all look at Arthur too like he's just grown an extra head. But he just clears his throat and moves back over to his desk like he didn't say anything at all.

She had wanted to say something to him about what he just said to her but she knew that she shouldn't say it in front of the others. If she did he probably wouldn't address it anyway because he seemed a little uncomfortable with the knowledge that he had just said that out loud to her in front of everyone else. But he had never said that to her before, not in that way. It had always been his way of telling her he adored her picking on Eames or that she was good at her job and he appreciated it. Always a way like that. But never with the meaning that was hidden in his voice this time.

So she waited. She waited until they were all gone for the night; she waited until she could talk to him alone. She waited and watched him roll his sleeves back down from where he had bunched them up at his elbows, watched him take his coat off the back of his chair. She watched him move flawlessly as though he practiced his movements over and over again in front of the mirror to ensure he could get them right.

She buttons up her coat and ties her scarf around her neck, heading over towards him, watching him tug his coat on. "So," she says, softly, as casually as she can. "You love me, hmm?"

Arthur turns slowly to look at her, arches both of his dark eyebrows in question and leans back against his desk, crosses his arms across his chest. "Well, I suppose I said that, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." She smiles at him a little bit, tries to be casual about it, sticks her hands in her coat pockets. "It isn't a big deal," she insists, feeling stupid now for even mentioning it, for thinking that maybe she heard something more inside of it. She's pretty sure now that she heard what wasn't there, that she thought it meant more than it seemed like it did. "I mean, I know you like it when I pick on Eames-"

"No, I understand," he interrupts, shaking his head a little bit. "I suppose I did sort of just blurt that out, didn't I?"

"A little, yeah. But like I said, it isn't really a big deal or anything."

"But you're curious."

"Curious?"

"You're curious about my saying it."

"Well…no, not really." It's a lie. Or at least half of one. "That's not the first time that you said that."

"Yes, but it's the first time it sounded the way it did. That's what you're curious about. Not the fact that I said it but the way I said it."

"I guess, yeah."

Reaching out he takes her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilts her chin up a bit and gazes down at her, watches her face for a moment and then smiles a bit, just a little bit. "Come on," he tells her. "Let's go get some coffee, alright?"

She blinks up at him for a moment and then smiles a little bit. "Sure."

He releases her face, waits until she turns around. "Oh, and Ariadne?"

"Hmm?" She turns back towards him, dark eyes a bit wide with wonder.

He takes his face in his hand again and leans down, presses a kiss to her mouth. "I do love you, you know."

She's still blushing as they leave the building.