Arthur is leaning casually against one of the pillars in the pseudo-courtyard, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. Of course, being an impeccably well-dressed man who appears to be too old to be a student but too young to be a professor isn't helping matters much. (Neither is being armed.)
"I apologize for the misconception." Arthur says, not sounding very apologetic at all.
"Then today will be memorable for a myriad of reasons." Arthur says, his voice drier than the Sahara Desert. "I'll just ask the waitress for some water when she comes back. Don't worry about it." He folds his menu and places it on the table to his right, carefully squaring it with the corners of the table.
She raises an eyebrow, putting her own menu down without commenting on the particularly... meticulous way in which he dealt with his. His increasing potential for some kind of compulsive disorder has ceased to surprise her.
"I mean, I was planning on completely forgetting about today in favor of my elective on da Vinci's theoretical structures, but I guess learning that you're some strange creature that doesn't drink coffee will give it a place in my memories, yeah." She's kidding, of course--this day will live on in her memory as That Day I Humiliated Myself Multiple Times In Front of Arthur.
Arthur doesn't have a compulsive disorder. He just likes having everything in its place-- because that makes easier to tell when someone has gone through your things. (He may, on the other hand, have just a hint of paranoia.)
"I drink coffee, when I have to. This just doesn't count as a time when I have to." Arthur points out, feeling slightly misrepresented by Ariadne's statement.
"I understand that, Arthur," she says with a grin, leaning back in her chair, resting an arm on the table. "Caffeine comes in handy sometimes, and you're too practical to ignore that under extenuating circumstances."
She looks a little shifty when the waitress shows up, but she ends up just picking his cup of coffee up and putting it by hers with a smile at the waitress. She probably would have ended up drinking two cups anyway--it'll just be an extra mug to be washed.
The waitress, who seems to be trying not to give Ariadne and Arthur a 'thanks for giving me more work, student who probably will not tip well and oddly well-dressed boyfriend' look, returns a minute or so later with a glass of ice water.
"Exactly-- thank you." Arthur says, glancing over at the waitress... and makes no move to continue the conversation after she leaves.
Well. This is lovely. Yes, yes, having lunch with Arthur, two steaming cups of delectable, heavenly coffee, and... a total lack of anything to say. Ariadne really loves today. She really does.
You know you have problems when you'd rather be back in Limbo dealing with people's crazy ex-wives (as in dead wives) than trying to think of something mildly intelligent to say at a restaurant with that guy who kissed you in the middle of a very sensitive job for some entirely inane reason like "Yeah, I thought I'd give it a try." Damn.
"What've you been up to, then? I get the feeling I'm the only one of the group still taking classes," she says, lifting an eyebrow slightly, hoping he'll say something conversation-provoking.
Arthur, who continues to appear completely oblivious to the awkwardness surrounding him, absently tips back onto the back feet of his chair as he tries to come up with an answer for Ariadne. (The painfully honest answer is "I've been turning my shitty apartment into something vaguely resembling a fortress using only equipment that can be bought non-suspiciously at Home Depot, because I still think we may need a safe house for a while", but he's not sure he wants to admit that out loud.)
"I've been lying low, for the most part. I'm in the States on an assumed name, so attracting too much attention isn't a good idea."
That might be slightly conversation-provoking. Maybe?
She blinks, looking baffled by this concept. After frowning one or two different ways, she realizes that Arthur is probably wanted in several countries, and that some of the others might not even be beyond extradition if he were caught in ones that don't want him, because thought-theft is pretty high on the scale of Things That Aren't Fun To Have Stolen. She's really not sure what she thinks of this.
Then again, if she keeps heading down the path she's on now, she'll be in the same position pretty quickly.
After sipping at her already half-gone coffee, she stares at him.
"I'm guessing that's nothing new for you." Another faint eyebrow quirk. "Have you gotten caught before? I mean, I'm also guessing that a lot of people aren't too fond of you and Dom, so what happens when they find you?"
It almost didn't occur to Arthur that the assumed name might be problematic; Ariadne was just a normal architecture student until a few weeks ago, and fake identities were probably just something out of the Jason Bourne movies to her. To Arthur, though, they were just a fact of life. He'd been using them ever since he started working, and although he'd used the name Arthur ever since he started working with Dom, it still wasn't his real name.
"It depends on where I'm caught, how much the authorities are able to connect the name I used at the time with what I did, which shouldn't be much, and on how much evidence the prosecution is able to collect. Extraction cases are essentially a he-said, she-said affair without anything substantial to prove that a theft took place, which is why they're almost impossible to bring to trial." Arthur says, sounding almost as if he were trying to reassure Ariadne... in his own special deadpan way.
"But if I were to be caught and if the government was somehow able to connect me to an extraction case, I
( ... )
Ariadne knows that what they do is illegal, and she's known it since the beginning. She's a little embarrassed that she hasn't particularly considered the severity of the consequences before. Hearing Arthur say that he would be in jail for a long time if he were caught has her frowning, and she fiddles with her fork, looking agitated.
"You kind of forget that this is so illegal," she says quietly, eyes on the fork twirling in her hand.
"But anyway," she adds, looking up with a faint smile. "Like you said, any complaints are mostly hearsay, so it'd be pretty difficult to actually charge any of us."
"Exactly. That's why it's important to not draw attention to yourself if at all possible. They're not above charging us-- or you, in theory, but you haven't done anything criminal since you arrived in the States, so you should be all right-- with something completely unrelated to the extraction if it would mean jail time." Arthur says, sounding very casual for a man talking about the possibility of going to jail.
"... so, how have your classes been?" Arthur asks, belatedly remembering that being arrested might not be the best topic of conversation. Unfortunately, Arthur doesn't have a lot of experience with non-job-related chatter, so he asked the first thing that came to mind.
She's about to say something--her mouth is just staring to open to let words out--when he changes the subject, and she closes her mouth and smirks and rolls her eyes vaguely. Tactful subject change is tactful, and that's actually not irony--it was fairly tactful. Natural, no, since there was definitely a conversation to have continued there, but it was tactful
( ... )
The irony of Ariadne being accused of 'dreaming too big' has Arthur smirking a little-- at least, before their little ray of sunshine waitress arrives with their orders. She does not get thanked this time, because it's become abundantly clear that she doesn't actually care and so Arthur doesn't quite see the point in bothering.
"I'm... not sure." Arthur gives his sandwich a slightly suspicious look before noticing that it's actually what Ariadne ordered. See if he tips you now, waitress from hell. "I think we may need to trade, though."
Yeah, that irony tended to get to her, too. She had laughed for a while when the professor said that.
She glances down at her plate, realizes that oh, that's totally not what she ordered, and sighs as she hands the plate to Arthur, taking hers from him.
"Remind me not to tip her well. That's weird, though, I'm pretty sure I had her last time I was here. Unless--aww, man, I really need to teach him how to tip..." She abruptly looks duly scandalized, hands stilling in their habitual rearranging of the sandwich garnishes.
"Ah, that explains it." Arthur says with a nod, trying to decide whether or not to ask who Ariadne was here with before. On the one hand, he's curious... and would like to know if she has a boyfriend. On the other, he's pretty cure that would be considered rude. "I wouldn't think you'd be able to keep a job as a waitress with an attitude like that all the time."
"I apologize for the misconception." Arthur says, not sounding very apologetic at all.
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"I mean, I was planning on completely forgetting about today in favor of my elective on da Vinci's theoretical structures, but I guess learning that you're some strange creature that doesn't drink coffee will give it a place in my memories, yeah." She's kidding, of course--this day will live on in her memory as That Day I Humiliated Myself Multiple Times In Front of Arthur.
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"I drink coffee, when I have to. This just doesn't count as a time when I have to." Arthur points out, feeling slightly misrepresented by Ariadne's statement.
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She looks a little shifty when the waitress shows up, but she ends up just picking his cup of coffee up and putting it by hers with a smile at the waitress. She probably would have ended up drinking two cups anyway--it'll just be an extra mug to be washed.
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"Exactly-- thank you." Arthur says, glancing over at the waitress... and makes no move to continue the conversation after she leaves.
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You know you have problems when you'd rather be back in Limbo dealing with people's crazy ex-wives (as in dead wives) than trying to think of something mildly intelligent to say at a restaurant with that guy who kissed you in the middle of a very sensitive job for some entirely inane reason like "Yeah, I thought I'd give it a try." Damn.
"What've you been up to, then? I get the feeling I'm the only one of the group still taking classes," she says, lifting an eyebrow slightly, hoping he'll say something conversation-provoking.
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"I've been lying low, for the most part. I'm in the States on an assumed name, so attracting too much attention isn't a good idea."
That might be slightly conversation-provoking. Maybe?
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Then again, if she keeps heading down the path she's on now, she'll be in the same position pretty quickly.
After sipping at her already half-gone coffee, she stares at him.
"I'm guessing that's nothing new for you." Another faint eyebrow quirk. "Have you gotten caught before? I mean, I'm also guessing that a lot of people aren't too fond of you and Dom, so what happens when they find you?"
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"It depends on where I'm caught, how much the authorities are able to connect the name I used at the time with what I did, which shouldn't be much, and on how much evidence the prosecution is able to collect. Extraction cases are essentially a he-said, she-said affair without anything substantial to prove that a theft took place, which is why they're almost impossible to bring to trial." Arthur says, sounding almost as if he were trying to reassure Ariadne... in his own special deadpan way.
"But if I were to be caught and if the government was somehow able to connect me to an extraction case, I ( ... )
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"You kind of forget that this is so illegal," she says quietly, eyes on the fork twirling in her hand.
"But anyway," she adds, looking up with a faint smile. "Like you said, any complaints are mostly hearsay, so it'd be pretty difficult to actually charge any of us."
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"... so, how have your classes been?" Arthur asks, belatedly remembering that being arrested might not be the best topic of conversation. Unfortunately, Arthur doesn't have a lot of experience with non-job-related chatter, so he asked the first thing that came to mind.
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"I'm... not sure." Arthur gives his sandwich a slightly suspicious look before noticing that it's actually what Ariadne ordered. See if he tips you now, waitress from hell. "I think we may need to trade, though."
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She glances down at her plate, realizes that oh, that's totally not what she ordered, and sighs as she hands the plate to Arthur, taking hers from him.
"Remind me not to tip her well. That's weird, though, I'm pretty sure I had her last time I was here. Unless--aww, man, I really need to teach him how to tip..." She abruptly looks duly scandalized, hands stilling in their habitual rearranging of the sandwich garnishes.
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