3rd Kick [action]

[windsorknot]

[The scene seems normal enough. It's an office on the first floor within a larger office building with grey walls, a few framed images (M.C. Escher's work, mostly), and a mahogany desk. Someone's seated at the desk in a very comfortable-looking leather chair, his hand idly playing with a red die on the polished surface of the desk as he gazes

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[shifts]

[ This is interesting, and the last place Eames would expect to be. His toes are digging into warm sand, and he can feel water lapping up against his heels. He sees the building up ahead and, defensively, focuses on forging himself into someone opposite of him. After all, this could be a trap of some kind - and he didn't want to give himself away if there was little reason to.

This is a dream.

Eames steps forward, wading barefoot through the sand towards the office building. The open panel facing the ocean is on the first floor, and he peers into the room. ]

Arthur? Fantasizing of the holidays, are we?

[windsorknot]

[ He stops playing with the die and looks up, noticing the unfamiliar woman in the distance. He blinks a few times before finally answering in a listless tone. ]

Something like that.

[shifts]

Hm.

This yours, then?

[ He shakes out his feminine feet before stepping onto the hardwood flooring of the office, keeping the forge for now. After all, he had to pin whether or not this was truly Arthur, first. ]

[windsorknot]

I guess? [ He eyes the woman uncertainly. ]

It doesn't really matter at this point, does it?

[shifts]

[ Eames roams about the office, taking in the details - the frames on the wall, gaze dropping to the die on the desk. He returns his attention to a particular Escher print, dropping the disguise as he slides a finger down a frame, cleaning off an errant grain of sand. ]

I'd say it does, considering, but don't mind me of course. [ Raises an eyebrow at him, lips quirking humorlessly. ]

[windsorknot]

[ He stands up from his desk the second that Eames reveals himself, sending the chair flying back into the wall. ]

Eames? How did you...

[ The shock wears off in a few seconds as he quickly regains his posture. ]

What're you doing here?

[shifts]

[ Eames finds Arthur's reaction to be peculiar. Then again, he did just somehow end up in his dream. ]

We're somehow sharing a dream without being linked to the PASIV. Unless this is the same level as before, though I don't recall such a sudden... [ wave of their surroundings. ] environmental shift.

Plus, you suggested this was yours.

[ he takes a seat in one of the chairs across from the desk on the opposite side, leaning back into the cushion and stretching out his legs comfortably. he appears relaxed, but his eyes are calculative. ]

[windsorknot]

[ That answers his question as to whether Eames got here, at least. He walks to the end of the room, stopping where the sand begins to gaze out at the ocean. ]

This is limbo, Eames. I've been here for... I've lost count, actually. At least a few years, by now. Time doesn't flow very obviously here. In that amount of time, all I've built is this structure. Nothing more than that.

[ He turns to look at Eames before continuing. ]

What's the last thing you remember before coming here?

[shifts]

[ Eames follows Arthur's movements with a turn of his head. ]

Limbo? I thought we'd left it open to discussion?

[ Really, Arthur, this was just turning into a circular argument now. ]

This again? We were in the flat in the city.

[windsorknot]

The flat? What flat? We were in the middle of the Fischer job. The sedative's still in effect.

[ He tries to remember the last time they were in any flat. The warehouse certainly doesn't count. ]

[shifts]

[ Eames pauses, leaning so the side of the chair to pitch himself closer to Arthur, studying him. ]

You got yourself killed on the job?

[windsorknot]

[ That strikes a nerve. He finds himself unable to hold Eames' gaze for a moment. ]

I made a mistake. It turned out to be a fatal one.

[ He looks back to Eames for any kind of reaction. Because this mistake could have very well gotten them all killed. ]

[shifts]

Hm.

[ If anything, Eames looks mildly perplexed. ]

We worked around the man's militarized subconscious, Arthur.

[windsorknot]

[ Of course they did, and he knows this. But what other explanation would there be for him ending up here? And why can't he seem to remember exactly where he was before limbo? Something doesn't add up here. ]

I know we did. I also know I had to end up here somehow. Getting killed is the only explanation I can think of. Unless you've got a better idea.

[shifts]

[ Oh. That gets Eames' attention. He takes a harder look around them, in thought. ]

How long have you been here?

[windsorknot]

[ He thought he'd already explained that. Arthur doesn't even think to keep the irritation out of his voice. ]

I told you. I lost track of time. It's probably been more than two years by now. Maybe three.