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Makes sense. [She says it with a nod.] I'd like to see one sometime, though. [She won't suggest actually meeting his father - not yet, at least. That would probably sound too much like a committment, too much like she's assuming a long-term place in his life.

She'd like to, but it's only possible if Arthur decides to let it happen.

The maze takes shape, and she offers it to him wordlessly just as their food arrives.]

[Arthur isn't sure that he'd bring a long-term girl home to his father. His father... doesn't have a place in his real life.] All right.

[But he is there, and not to be ignored. Ariadne nods at the maze and pushes the pencil towards him invitingly.] I almost got married, once. [It's almost like a confession - well, he'd been generous enough to offer up a bunch of personal information, now it's her turn. He already knows the basics about her parents.]

[Arthur reaches for the maze, but is a bit side-swiped by Ariadne's bit of dropped information and so it, and the food, get ignored for the moment.] Oh?

[That does seem to surprise him a little. She actually almost smiles, because it's tough to take him off-guard.] Yeah. I dated this guy as an undergrad, for almost two years. He wanted to marry me. Gave me a ring, even.

Gave you a ring. Did you take it?

Yes, for about a week. But we spent the whole time arguing about whether to do it before or after my grad work. And I realized... he wanted to get married before, thinking I would decide not to go to Paris. Thinking I would decide to be his wife, and live in St Louis, and have his kids. Give up what I really wanted. [She makes a face at the thought of suburban bliss.]

[It shouldn't amuse Arthur, but it does. Her tone. The face.] You make it sound like it would have been a horrible thing. The picket fence, I mean.

Well, it's not what I want. [She shrugs a little, poking at her food.] Different people, different priorities. I'm not against marriage. I would've married him. I don't really think I want kids, though. It would never have worked.

I know. I just meant-- [Arthur shakes his head and looks at her maze. A single glance shows him how complicated it is, no clear way from point A to point B.] You made it sound repugnant.

But it's good you figured that out before you got married--that's a big difference in opinion, kids or no kids.

It would've been. [She laughs a little.] Can you imagine me, trying to play housewife? Pregnant and barefoot? Burning grilled cheese?

I had myself convinced I'd want kids eventually, but then he gave me the ring and... I realized that's stupid. I've never wanted that, I don't think that'll change.

[Arthur laughs and picks up his fork.] No, I can't picture it. Your children would all starve to death.

And not everyone wants kids; it's not the end of the world. Literally or figuratively.

Hey, I wouldn't be that bad. They'd just all get fat on Indian takeout.

I know it's not. It would've been for Taylor - he wanted to be a dad. He is, now, actually. Took him less than six months after we broke up for him to find a girl who actually wanted the same things as him. I'm lucky, though - my parents just want me to do what I want with my life, they don't badger me about wanting grandbabies or anything like that.

Do you keep in touch? [There's a hint of a smile before he takes a bite of the food.] Facebook?

It's nice that your parents see that. That they let you live your life.

Facebook? [She laughs, steals a bite off Arthur's plate.] I don't have one. I was invited to his wedding, but I couldn't go, because I was moving to Paris at the time. And I heard his wife was pregnant a few months later - that's it.

Yeah, I know how lucky I am - most people don't have the luxury of understanding parents.

[Arthur nods and steals some of hers in return.] I don't know if most is accurate. I just think there's a lot of good will that perhaps young people view as... steering. [He shrugs. He's young, still. And his father... well, no, he wouldn't call him understanding.]

[She pushes a plate towards him in offering.] I think most parents really do want their kids to be happy, they just don't understand that the happiness might not be on their terms. And most young people don't want to be their parents.

Still, even mine would probably try to talk me out of embarking on a criminal career.

[Arthur had wanted to be just like his father when he was younger.] I would hope so. [He laughs.] There's a line between wanting you to be happy and wanting you to be safe.

I'll be safe. [Arthur, Cobb, Eames - they'd never let anything happen to her.] I just have to keep them out of it, that's all.

I can't say being a criminal was ever in my plans, but... I don't know. Cobb said right away it's not legal... That just made me want to know more.

You're too hung up on it being criminal. Legality is a fluid thing and I tend to think we're above the bar instead of below it.

I am not. [She puts on a mock-offended tone and points her fork at him accusingly.] If anything, I think it's cool. You're the one who's had to justify it to yourself as not actually being bad. Wherever you place the bar, we'd still go to jail if we got caught. [Her words are blunt, but she's smiling, and she nudges his calf under the table with her foot.]

[He smiles, just a little bit.] First, you just used the word cool. Second, if we get caught? We are not going to jail, I can almost assure you that.

I totally used the word cool, and I don't regret it. [She nudges his calf again.] So what would happen if we got caught? I want to know. [She wants to know everything, of course. As usual.]

It is what I mean by above the bar. What would we possible get arrested for? Circumstantial proof at best; what we steal is intangible. There's no way a conviction would stick to anything that we do.

So it depends. You might want to ask our ex-Architect, Nash, that question. He healed well enough that he's not still eating through a straw--and that was the work of the people who employed us.

Ariadne, I am not joking. This is why you weren't supposed to be in the field on that job. Cobb and I took major precautions in Paris so that no one could possibly link you to us. As cool as the Dreaming is, it's above the bar. Which means payment is in flesh.

[She's silent for a moment, paused in her eating. When she does speak again, her voice is quieter.] I thought the sort of people who hired you were just businessmen, mostly. Like Mr. Saito. [Sure, Saito was a little scary, and she thought she understood the term filthy rich better after having met him, but he'd never given the impression that he would hurt her.]