sixwordstories | (no subject)

[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.]

Saito... [Was an odd case, all the way around.] Businessmen have investments. Big businessmen would do a lot to protect those investments. I honestly don't believe that Saito is an exception to that rule--he did, after all, pay us to plant an idea in a man's mind. He didn't do it for anti-monopolistic sentiments, Ariadne. He did it because it made his own company stronger.

I know that. But still, resorting to physical violence can't be good for the company image, right?

[There's a small pause of disbelief before Arthur leans in a little.] Do you think anyone would ever find out?

Hurting people - even killing them - that's gotta be much harder to cover up than extraction. [Her brow furrows.] It can't be common...

Well, I don't know if I'd use the word common. But it's a great deterrent for people like us, who can't be cowed by threat of law. If you knew that someone was going to break your arm if you failed in your job...

I wouldn't fail. [She wags her finger at him.] Now you're just trying to scare me. Okay, I get it, it's not cool or glamorous. Besides, you can pick and choose which jobs you take, too, right?

Most of the time, yes. And I hope it's working. This stuff isn't something to be taken lightly.

I was serious about Nash.

I don't take it lightly. And I don't intend to work with anyone but you or Cobb, so...

Whatever this Nash guy did, I won't be doing it. [She jabs at her food with a scowl.] If you think you can scare me away from it, you're wrong, though.

[He'd like to keep her working for him and Cobb only, but things don't always happen according to plan and Arthur knows how Ariadne is.]

I'm not trying to scare you away from it. [He takes a bite of his food.] I just want you to know.

I do know. I promise, I won't go around... I don't even know what you think I'd do that would get me hurt. [She smiles a little. If Arthur knows her, then he knows how stubborn she can be; if this is what she wants then this is what she's going to do, and there isn't much chance anyone will be able to drag her away from it.]

Anyway, I just meant cool as in... much more exciting than I expected my life to be. Don't get me wrong, I love architecture, but you have to know what I'd be doing after grad school - architectural grunt work, at best.

Which would have obviously been a stepping stone to designing architecture that would have rivaled the Sydney Opera House. Don't start being humble now, Ariadne. We both know your talent. [Arthur gives a quiet smile.]

But you don't have to convince me of the definition. I left a good job at the CIA--after being personally recruited--for dream tech. I get it.