1. Arthurscapes
Title: Arthurscapes
Length: 813 words
Genre: humor/fluff
Warnings: none.
Disclaimer: It all goes to Nolan, you know that.
Summary: A missing scene from the movie wherein Ariadne learns the jargon of the dream business, and exactly how good Arthur is at his job, this is pure A/A fluff.
Author's Note: It's fluff, so it isn't much. And this was written and posted on fanfiction.net last august, as our very first attempt in this fandom. That sounds like a warning, but....idk....Just keeping everything nice and orderly, like a certain pointman we know might like it. :)
"Show me the designs for the Arthurscapes, love," Eames said when he dropped by her desk in the workspace. Ariadne produced the hotel design, the level that Arthur would dream. Eames traced the pattern silently and then nodded, satisfied. "Excellent."
"Oh, I have to show you something about the Eamescape," she said. The roguishly handsome man's face moved inward, bunching around his eyes in confusion. Then he laughed, "Oh, you precious thing, that's not what it's called."
"What?"
Eames' smile was glowing with delight, "Arthurscape is the word for a dream within a dream-anything second level or down, really. It's a term that's been around for as long as the concept. It's slang, dear, we're not actually naming the dream after the dreamer. You see, so, what you just so adorably referred to as Eamescape isn't that at all, but actually just the second Arthurscape. Do you understand?"
She blinked at the schematic, slightly embarrassed, but mostly appreciative to learn new things. Eames took a look at the new addition she'd made to the hospital plans and Ariadne looked across the workspace, to where the sharply dressed and rigid point man discussed kicks with Cobb who sat hunched in a chair with his arms crossed. Suddenly something occurred to her and she asked Eames, "So what's his real name?"
He was pulled out of the new maze he was attempting, and failing, to solve. He looked around. "Sorry, who?"
Ariadne nodded discreetly toward Arthur. "What's his real name then?"
"Oh," the look that smoothed out Eames' face was pure fascination. "I keep forgetting how new you are to this work, Ariadne." He smiled and raised his voice to speak directly to the point man. "Arthur, I had no idea you were so humble, darling."
Arthur's conversation with Cobb broke and the younger man strode across the workspace in exactly seven long strides. He stopped at casual conversational distance and crossed his arms rather wearily. "What is it you're talking about, Mr. Eames?"
"I cannot believe you haven't bragged to this sweet little thing about having your own vocabulary words, Arthur."
"What?" Ariadne asked, as a look of alarm flashed across the point man's dark features.
Eames chortled, delighted. "Arthur wasn't named after the Arthurscape, darling, the Arthurscape was named after him."
Ariadne loosed a breath of wonder.
"Second level dreams are unstable and dangerous," Eames explained, "But Arthur here can make them as stable as reality. Thus, in this business, when someone dares to attempt the difficult dream within a dream, it is referred to as the Arthurscape."
"Alright, that's enough," Arthur said, dropping his arms. His eyes rested shortly on Ariadne, but for only as long as it took for him to say, "It's just a word." Then he looked pointedly at the charming British forger. "Eames, don't you have work to do or something?"
Eames shook his head and remained where he was to watch the show. If Ariadne was attempting to mask her amazement, she was failing rather poorly. She had stars in her eyes and sounded breathless when she asked Arthur, "They named whole worlds after you?"
No one in the workspace missed Arthur's double take, not even Yusuf from way over in the corner behind his chemistry set. Arthur's face had gone rather slack and he blinked, and then managed a shrug. An actual nervous laugh escaped him that made Eames cover his smile with both hands. For the first time since Ariadne met Arthur, he did not look directly at her as he spoke.
"I never really thought of it like that," he said, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. It was behavior wholly unprecedented in the normally so refined young man. He glanced at her and got her eye.
A moment passed when all that happened was shy smiling and staring. Then the two youngest members on the team blushed and turned pointedly back to their work at the exact same time. Eames, Yusuf, and Cobb gaped at Arthur for a moment, then traded a look and returned to work as well, taking the budding relationship in their midst in stride as they all silently agreed to let it alone, because it was none of their business.
Length: 813 words
Genre: humor/fluff
Warnings: none.
Disclaimer: It all goes to Nolan, you know that.
Summary: A missing scene from the movie wherein Ariadne learns the jargon of the dream business, and exactly how good Arthur is at his job, this is pure A/A fluff.
Author's Note: It's fluff, so it isn't much. And this was written and posted on fanfiction.net last august, as our very first attempt in this fandom. That sounds like a warning, but....idk....Just keeping everything nice and orderly, like a certain pointman we know might like it. :)
"Show me the designs for the Arthurscapes, love," Eames said when he dropped by her desk in the workspace. Ariadne produced the hotel design, the level that Arthur would dream. Eames traced the pattern silently and then nodded, satisfied. "Excellent."
"Oh, I have to show you something about the Eamescape," she said. The roguishly handsome man's face moved inward, bunching around his eyes in confusion. Then he laughed, "Oh, you precious thing, that's not what it's called."
"What?"
Eames' smile was glowing with delight, "Arthurscape is the word for a dream within a dream-anything second level or down, really. It's a term that's been around for as long as the concept. It's slang, dear, we're not actually naming the dream after the dreamer. You see, so, what you just so adorably referred to as Eamescape isn't that at all, but actually just the second Arthurscape. Do you understand?"
She blinked at the schematic, slightly embarrassed, but mostly appreciative to learn new things. Eames took a look at the new addition she'd made to the hospital plans and Ariadne looked across the workspace, to where the sharply dressed and rigid point man discussed kicks with Cobb who sat hunched in a chair with his arms crossed. Suddenly something occurred to her and she asked Eames, "So what's his real name?"
He was pulled out of the new maze he was attempting, and failing, to solve. He looked around. "Sorry, who?"
Ariadne nodded discreetly toward Arthur. "What's his real name then?"
"Oh," the look that smoothed out Eames' face was pure fascination. "I keep forgetting how new you are to this work, Ariadne." He smiled and raised his voice to speak directly to the point man. "Arthur, I had no idea you were so humble, darling."
Arthur's conversation with Cobb broke and the younger man strode across the workspace in exactly seven long strides. He stopped at casual conversational distance and crossed his arms rather wearily. "What is it you're talking about, Mr. Eames?"
"I cannot believe you haven't bragged to this sweet little thing about having your own vocabulary words, Arthur."
"What?" Ariadne asked, as a look of alarm flashed across the point man's dark features.
Eames chortled, delighted. "Arthur wasn't named after the Arthurscape, darling, the Arthurscape was named after him."
Ariadne loosed a breath of wonder.
"Second level dreams are unstable and dangerous," Eames explained, "But Arthur here can make them as stable as reality. Thus, in this business, when someone dares to attempt the difficult dream within a dream, it is referred to as the Arthurscape."
"Alright, that's enough," Arthur said, dropping his arms. His eyes rested shortly on Ariadne, but for only as long as it took for him to say, "It's just a word." Then he looked pointedly at the charming British forger. "Eames, don't you have work to do or something?"
Eames shook his head and remained where he was to watch the show. If Ariadne was attempting to mask her amazement, she was failing rather poorly. She had stars in her eyes and sounded breathless when she asked Arthur, "They named whole worlds after you?"
No one in the workspace missed Arthur's double take, not even Yusuf from way over in the corner behind his chemistry set. Arthur's face had gone rather slack and he blinked, and then managed a shrug. An actual nervous laugh escaped him that made Eames cover his smile with both hands. For the first time since Ariadne met Arthur, he did not look directly at her as he spoke.
"I never really thought of it like that," he said, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. It was behavior wholly unprecedented in the normally so refined young man. He glanced at her and got her eye.
A moment passed when all that happened was shy smiling and staring. Then the two youngest members on the team blushed and turned pointedly back to their work at the exact same time. Eames, Yusuf, and Cobb gaped at Arthur for a moment, then traded a look and returned to work as well, taking the budding relationship in their midst in stride as they all silently agreed to let it alone, because it was none of their business.