specification | Where do we go from here?

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Where do we go from here? - for ingeniously

The job was done.

Inception was done and fuck -- from what he could tell, it had gone successfully.

So far.

Cobb had gone through customs with not so much as a blink and left with his father-in-law to his kids. Fischer Jr had left a little after that and Ariadne was heading back to Paris to return to her classes and studies. Arthur loaded the PASIV onto his luggage cart and looked around, spotting Eames standing near a pillar.

Throughout the planning stages of the job, they had been snarky, condescending (to a certain degree), and on just this side of antagonistic. It was after he found out that there was a very real possibility that they could be shot down to limbo that Arthur mentally backtracked for a split second and thought about Eames -- thought about that night and thought about what they haven't discussed yet. When Eames called him 'darling' down in the first level in what he was sure was a condescending manner, Arthur found himself wanting to say something. But, he didn't. Eames was striding away after he took his shot.

When they were on the second level and everyone was hooking themselves in, who he should have helped was Ariadne but Arthur found himself kneeling down next to Eames and helping him with his lead, giving him a quirk of his lips. Everything could be shot to hell in a matter of seconds/minutes/hours and he could feel himself wanting that lasting touch, just in case.

They couldn't risk talking in public no matter if Robert and Cobb had gone, still -- he felt ready to talk to the other man about what happened months ago. About where this left them -- if it left them anywhere.

Eames had mated with him. Well...to be fair, his wolf had mated with him and that meant something according to his research. Something that couldn't exactly be ignored. As he made his way out of the airport with his luggage, Arthur pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Eames.

If you're not heading anywhere quick, meet me at the Renaissance hotel nearby? We can talk.

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He nodded sharply at the shortness of his answer and looked at his empty glass. When Eames asked him why he called him here, Arthur didn't fail to notice the hesitation in his tone. "Asked you here because I figure we haven't really spoken since then and -- there was that," he said, hesitating as well for a split second. "And you and where it would leave us -- if anywhere."

He felt a frown tug on his lips - it shouldn't matter probably where this left them but somehow, it did. They worked together and they verbally sparred on any given bases -- just because Eames' other side attempted to (and perhaps successfully) mated with him.

"I figured you didn't want to talk to me again. That I was only on the job because Cobb needed a forger and I am the best," Eames said, looking at Arthur with narrowed eyes.

Arthur fell silent and knew that originally he hadn't and even a part of him still hadn't wanted to and yet, when he thought of not talking to him again, there was a twist in his gut that he couldn't quite put a finger on.

To be completely honest, Arthur had no idea what the hell he was doing in this situation. This was completely new territory no matter how you looked at it and while he felt doubly sure it was for him, he figured it was probably the same for Eames, to at least some degree. "I figured we should at least clear the air," he said. If anything, he wanted to at least be able to call on and count on Eames as a forger if needed. He was the best and Arthur preferred working with the best.

Eames frowned, not saying anything until after their drinks were refilled. He took another sip of his, deeply, before he responded.

"You could have done that over the phone, or through email," Eames said, looking at Arthur critically.

"And? I asked you here, you agreed, we talked and now if you want to leave, then leave." He knew it sounded defensive which said a whole lot more than anything else. Having just attempted and completed Inception, thinking about everything that had happened that night, thinking about Eames and the lingering feelings he had toward him from even before that night happened -- Arthur was torn and mixed up. Which wasn't good for a man who needed to be on his game.

Arthur frowned and took a deep sip from his drink and sat it down on the table. He pulled out his billfold, took a couple of bills out and placed them on the table to pay for his refill.

Eames looked at Arthur as he spoke defensively, trying to puzzle out what it was that the point man wanted. He didn't smell of fear; just nervousness, perhaps a bit of anger. And something else.

Desire?

"I'm just wondering why you chose to do this face to face," he said finally.

Arthur sent him a look. "Forgive me," he started. "Thought this subject matter was better to talk about face to face than over a text message, a phone call or email," he said, his tone a little dry.

"But, you're right - we shouldn't even be here right now," he said and stood from the table. He wasn't sure why it mattered so much or why he was even upset. None of it made a fucking lick of sense and perhaps what he needed was just a long good nights sleep that might not ever come.

"Arthur."

Against probably his wiser instincts, Eames' arm shot out, catching the point man around his delicate wrist. At least, it seemed delicate, to a brute like Eames.

He looked up at him, intent.

"Is it that hard to admit that you might not know why you wanted to see me here - just that you did, maybe, want to see me?"

When Eames took hold of his wrist, Arthur reacted instinctually and grabbed Eames' wrist in return. He looked down at the forger and released a slow breath. His words rung so close to the truth that it surprised him. He didn't know and it was the not knowing why he wanted to see Eames only that he did part that perhaps frustrated him.

"I don't know and I don't like not knowing," he admitted after a long moment. He released Eames' wrist and made to sit back down on his side.

Eames released Arthur's wrist as well, watching the point man sit back down.

"I can see that," He said, resting his arms on the table. "But rather than drive yourself crazy - let's stop talking about it. What do you plan on doing now that we're rich men again?"

Arthur rested his arms on the table and looked down into his lap for a minute before looking across the table at Eames. "Think I'll take a little time off -- at least a couple of weeks. Go back home for a little while, relax and remember what it was like before it all." Before being on the run with Cobb. Before Mallorie took her life.

"What about yourself? Returning to Mombasa?"

"You have been working hard, especially on this last job." Eames didn't begrudge Arthur missing the militarization. Overworked, surely underpaid, and wanting to help Dom, it would have been easy to miss the signs.

"Well. I could, but Dom and Cobol have probably made it less than welcoming for me. Off to another city with wide open spaces nearby," he waved a hand.

"Apparently not hard enough," he said. Funny thing was, Arthur didn't hear any grudge in Eames' voice for missing a valuable piece of information. It was done and over with now, of course but it still could have saved them a headache.

He nodded. "There's plenty of wide open spaces in the US," Arthur sent him a small smile. "Hear Montana and Wyoming are good for that." He was teasing of course - he couldn't exactly see Eames staying in places like Montana or Wyoming but the forger did enjoy being contrary at times.

"Sounds like my line," Eames said, the corner of his mouth curving up. Then he gave a dramatic sigh, rubbing his fingers across his forehead.

"Can you really see me in Midwestern America, Arthur? Honestly? No, I'll have to find somewhere else I can go."

Arthur's lips curled up as he shrugged a shoulder. "Now it's mine," he said and took hold of his glass again, turning it around on the table.

"No, I can't see you in midwestern America," Arthur admitted with a chuckle. "I'd have no doubt you'd go nuts in a place like that." He nodded silently. "You'll find a place. Probably some place just as hot as Kenya."

"I could probably get away in Australia. Tourists would chalk me up to local wildlife. Locals too, maybe," He mused, taking a sip of his drink and then setting it down heavily. "Not sure if I'm willing to risk the rattlers though."

"You could," he nodded. "Or Morocco. I could see you in a place like Casablanca," Arthur mused with a small grin. It was still in Africa but on the other side of the continent, so at least there was that.

"Or you could go north - Poland, Germany or Norway."

"Too cold. There's a reason I no longer live in England," Eames pointed out, leaning back against his seat. This was small talk, of course, nothing of real importance. But it was better than pissing Arthur off at the moment.

"I'll just have to figure something out once I choose where I'm flying. I have a week or two."

Arthur nodded. He could understand that. "Staying around for a while then," he asked merely out of curiosity than anything else. It was unimportant small talk but it was a little better than being at odds with the forger. Arthur planned to only stay in LA for the next few days to make sure that they were paid what Saito promised them (other than Cobb's freedom of course) and that Cobb was properly settled in with his kids before heading back to New York where he could relax a little bit before the next job.

"No, not here," He said, shaking his head. "A day or two, maybe, then off somewhere else to relax while I set up my next itinerary. Don't want to set off any red flags," he said wryly.

"No, wouldn't want that," Arthur agreed with a wry smile. "Only staying here a couple of days myself then I'm off." He might have already said that before but by this point, it didn't matter. Arthur finished off his drink and turned the glass around on the table. He looked over and motioned for a refill of his drink before he leaned back into his seat. The job was complete and he didn't have to babysit Cobb any longer - that in itself was a call for celebration if you asked him.

"Where are you off to? Another job?" Eames queried, just turning his glass around as Arthur's was refilled. He didn't need another just yet, oh no.

Arthur nodded to the bartender and watched him go before returning his gaze to Eames'. "New York - have a place there. Figure it'll be good to go back for a little bit," he said with a shrug, bringing the glass closer to him.

"New York. Why doesn't that surprise me?" Eames asked with a slight smirk, leaning on his free hand as he looked at Arthur with a slight smirk.

"Because I look and act like a New Yorker," Arthur asked with a small smirk of his own. He picked up the glass and took another sip from it before setting it back down. He licked at his bottom lip and leaned back in his seat, looking over at Eames.

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Arthur is like AWKWARD FEELINGS ARE AWKWARD.

HAH

:D

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For some reason at first I thought I he was sitting next to Eames now

LOL! Nah -- he wouldn't -- not yet!

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