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[itspurecreation]

While talking with one of her doubles, Ariadne had referred to her practice tower as a Rapunzel Tower, so instead of starting with the pristine beach that she usually did, today she went with a picturesque forest, it made the gleaming white-stone monolith look even more pristine and perfect. She smiled, letting the sounds of birdsong and small

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[brb_dreaming]

Arthur did not make a habit of stealing into people's dreams while they were under. He had no desire to spend 'quality time' with Eames in his dreams, and his suspicions of Dom's dreams had kept him away, at least without the extractor's permission. Ariadne, however was... different. She was new to the team, and something of a genuine curiosity to him. Oh, he knew more about her than she probably cared for him to, thanks to the detailed background check he'd done, as was procedure. But those specifics didn't tell him everything about her, and although it bothered him slightly, he couldn't help but want to know more. That evening, he was actually just on his way out when he saw her petite form laid out there in the chair, peaceful in her slumber. He smiled, ever-so-slightly, and found he couldn't resist.

Mere heartbeats later, and the point man joined the architect in her dreams.

He is surprised by the general theme of her dreamscape, but impressed, as always, with her eye to detail. Again, he is reminded of her natural ability, and why she made such a perfect fit for the team. It was not difficult to follower her into her tower, and although he thought about observing her quietly for a while, he could not help the small smirk that crossed his features at the sight of her. Arms crossed lightly over his lean stomach, he leaned casually against one wall of the room, opposite her.

"Didn't figure you as the princess type," he countered thoughtfully aloud, slight amusement playing about features that would otherwise house a scowl, or a more serious expression.

[itspurecreation]

She jumped at the voice, she'd been in the middle of looking over one of the hanging tapistries, an image of three women carrying heavy chalices and dancing in a circle, it was a picture she'd seen on a tarot card once and had fallen in love with, the card was the three of cups and it was possible that the women were supposed to be the Maiden, Mother and Crone, only in the tapistry they were all young and could have been sprites of some kind.

She laughed softly when she realized who it was, shaking her head, "Every girl is, once in a while." She shrugged then, turning to face him, unable to keep her smile in check just at the moment, "But it surprises me sometimes too." And it did, usually when she found herself sighing wistfully over some frilly concoction of a dress before her better sense took over again, "So, what do you think?" Difficult to say, really, what she was referring to, whether it was the current room, the whole tower, or the princess dress she was wearing.

[brb_dreaming]

It was also difficult for the point man to keep his own amused smile in check. His brow raised as he contemplated just how, exactly, to answer her question. "Its... nice," he said a little awkwardly, unintentionally implying her dress as he eyed it. As she probably remembered from his dream layer in the Fischer job, he preferred more elegant dress and decor. It made sense, what with the pristine way he dressed in reality.

He approached her calmly, gazing about and studying the world she'd created around them. "Could use a paradox or two, but its not bad." He shrugged one shoulder lightly. "Tasteful. Imaginative. Wouldn't expect any less from you." Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly at her, somewhat playfully but with a hint of seriousness, when he came at a stop in front of her. "I'll thank you for not putting me in some costume with tights and poofy sleeves, though."

Probably not too wise to give her any ideas, though. Had it been Eames' dream that he'd ventured into, he would have been at the mercy of the obnoxious shirt-wearing forger.

[itspurecreation]

She laughed brightly, shaking her head, "Well if I'd known you were coming..." She left that statement as it was. She tilted her head then, "You must have come up the outside then, if you missed the paradoxes." She actually thought about that one, "Or you just landed up here, I've done that once or twice myself."

She moved away from the wall then, barefoot under the dress, rolling her eyes at the mass of it and stooping for a moment to collect a handful, holding it out of the way, "Okay, there, would you like a tour?" The tower was a stack of practice rooms, she never corrected an old one, just made a new one with the changes and stacked it on top, which was why it was so tall, though even that was an illusion, since the tower was definitely taller on the inside than the outside.

[brb_dreaming]

Arthur liked hearing Ariadne laugh. During the training for the Fischer job, there had been some light-hearted moments, but they had been few and far in between. As much as Eames drove him crazy, it was sometimes worth it to see the amusement on her delicate face. The job itself had, of course, been all about being professional... save the stolen kiss in his dream layer, perhaps, but he prided himself with the smooth manner in which he'd done it. "This is your dream, Ariadne," he half-smiled quietly when she wondered aloud at how he had gotten there, and shrugged one shoulder. "I'm just visiting. I look forward to seeing those paradoxes, though, yes. Lets see how well your training stuck." His expression was almost playful, as he gestured that she lead the way for her little tour.

The point man was pleased by what he saw, although he was not surprised. Ari was a natural at it. She was clever to have her practice rooms like this, and he looked forward to exploring every detail, in the most calm, casual way as possible. His approval did not always come as visibly as, perhaps, Dom's or Eames' had, but that was just how he was. Her charming modesty made it easier to compliment her.

[itspurecreation]

Eames had had a way of making her laugh, and usually at the most inopportune moments, she'd once called him the big brother she'd never had, because it was apt, as far as she was concerned.

"Most of the stuff up here is what I've already practiced and honed." She explained, meandering from the uppermost room and down the narrow corridor, headed for the spiral staircase that ran down the whole center of the tower, of course she set it into a Penrose loop, just letting them circle a few times before she released it again to continue as normal, "The lower floors are a whole lot of rough draft work, so we'll start up here." As she walked she tucked her handful of skirt into her belt to keep it out of her way and leave both hands free.

[brb_dreaming]

Eames had a way of getting under Arthur's skin, and just about driving him crazy. They were like two opposites of the same coin - both very talented at what they did, but also two very different people, to say the least.

Arthur followed after her casually, keeping his expression relatively calm, and blank, although his alert gaze took everything in. The spiral staircase was a nice touch, and a slight smile crossed his lips at the reference to his beloved Penrose stairs. He was also doing his best not to accidentally step on her slightly extravagant gown, his brow furrowed in a way that was hiding his amusement. It just got better when she tucked much of the dress away into her belt to get around easier. Now this was the Ariadne he knew. Shaking his head lightly, he wiped the small smirk off his lips when she looked at him, expression coolly thoughtful once again. "That's fine," he nodded in approval, both to her words and the work he'd seen so far, feeling surprisingly anxious to see more of her creations. In a way, he felt like he was getting a teaser, and viewing masterpieces in the works. He found it all fascinating, of course, as was the main reason he'd stayed with this job for so long.

[itspurecreation]

She stepped away from the stairs when they got to a landing, "This was some forced perspective work." She said, indicating the floor below the landing, "You can't really tell it from up here, since this is the angle it's supposed to be seen from, but you can tell it from the floor, c'mon." She all but bounded down the shorter staircase at the edge of the tower, one that connected the landing to the ballroom below.

The floor was tiled, starting as checkerboard at one end and fading to something more resembling houndstooth at the other, which from the landing above gave the impression that the room was much longer than it was, but from the floor it was easy to tell the size and scope of it, "See?"

[brb_dreaming]

Arthur followed her behind her in his much more calm, casual manner, taking in her creations thoughtfully. He nodded at her question, taking in the perceived size of the room. "That's good," he said simply, arching a brow down at her. "Someone has trained you well." There were the slightest hints of an amused little smile playing about his lips. He was well aware that he'd had a hand in training her, at least where paradoxes were concerned, alongside Dom, of course. Arthur wasn't surprised at her ability to take such simple training and run wild with it, using her creative imagination.

"Some projections are easier to trick than others," he went on, still eying the work about him as he spoke, "depending on various factors - how well they're trained, perhaps. Different levels of deceit are good. I was impressed by some of the things you used for the Fischer job."

[itspurecreation]

She couldn't help but smile at the praise, which in turn made her feel a little silly, that simple praise could effect her that way. She shrugged, "And that was when I was still learning what I could do, I mean, I'm still learning, it's an ongoing process, but I know a lot more of what I'm capable of now than I did then." She was babbling a little, she tended to do that when she was either embarrassed or excited.

"I made a mobius strip out of an escalator in here, I think it's down on the tenth or eleventh floor." She realized that she was starting to babble and shook her head to stop herself, moving for the stairs to the landing once more, and the main staircase beyond, "The next few floors are mostly mirrors, I've learned some interesting tricks with mirrors, they're one of my favorite design elements."