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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.

Sure, years from now, if I was lucky, and got in at a good firm, and managed to get promoted... [She flips a piece of bread at his face.] You're buttering me up now.

I just think of it as... skipping all of the really dull stuff. And adding in the occasional element of... car chases and stuff.

[Arthur catches the bread and gives her a Look.] Occasional elements that are not in your job description.

[She makes a face right back at him.] I'll go under if I need to. Cobb couldn't stop me; Miles couldn't stop me. You can't stop me. You don't need to protect me from it.

[Now he's frowning.] Obviously I do.

[She's frowning too, but her brow is knit in confusion.] No. You don't. You didn't have to on the Fischer job and you won't have to on any other job.

Do you hear yourself? I'm not talking about you not being competent, Ariadne. I'm talking about your tendency to poke your nose into everything. "Cobb couldn't stop me"? That sounds a little fifth-grade to me.

It's just the truth. He needed me there; he wasn't going to stop me from coming along.

That job was an exception to every rule that we work under. It is not the norm.

I know. [She turns conciliatory now.] And I know Architects don't always go under for the jobs. I'm not saying I'm going to force my way along on every job. But c'mon. You have to let me go along sometimes.

[Dom had been their Architect, and he'd always come on the job--the reason being, of course, that he and Mal had been a team. The Point Man had just been an addition.]

You will. Anything less would be a detriment to your learning. The more you know about functioning dreams--the dreams of the Marks, the extractions--the better you can build things with specifics. But it is dangerous and so you defer to us, since we do, in this case, actually know better.

[Had Arthur known the risks at the time, he would have put his foot down against Ariadne coming into the Fischer job with them. But then again, had he known the risks, he wouldn't have gone either.]

I do defer to you. But I also trust my own judgment. Is that okay? [She offers him a tiny smile.]

[It was rhetorical, but Arthur doesn't mention it.] Of course it's okay, Ariadne. And you should. This isn't a discussion about your skills. [It's a business. If she steps out of line, he'll tell her, up to and including having to fire her--not that he thinks that will happen. Maybe really, Arthur's just worried how their relationship will impact the job.

He offers a thin-lipped smile back across the table.]

You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Arthur. [She reaches across the table, wipes a tiny dab of curry sauce off the corner of his mouth and licks it off her finger.

Ariadne isn't worried. Work is work - she doesn't expect anything to change there, especially not with Arthur. Nothing needs to change about it, it's fine the way it is. But this wasn't supposed to be a business discussion, this was supposed to be a getting-to-know-each-other-better discussion.]

[He huffs a quiet laugh.] You are not a normal girl and this is not a normal situation.

[Inexplicably, she looks down at her food.] I'm going to take that as a compliment, and say that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me.

[And a louder laugh.] Considering I'm the one talking, I think that's safe to assume.

Oh, I don't know about that. I don't think it's really safe to assume anything about you. [For someone used to figuring people out pretty fast, Arthur often has her stumped.]

[Probably true enough. He takes a bite of food.] Well, think about it this way. You know I'm a man of habits, and I like my habits. So for me to be with you if I'd call you less than normal...

Must be a compliment. [He smiles with the corner of his mouth, meeting her eyes.] You consented to swing dancing on a first date--though I was sure long before that you weren't anything close to normal.

I think it was the way you yelled at Cobb that first day in the dream.

[She does laugh at that.] So wait, you're saying you were attracted to me because I was upset and yelling at you and Cobb?

I don't remember you yelling at me. [He's still smiling.] But, in a way, yes. Not because you were upset, but because you spoke your mind without considering the repercussions. You were just this grad student, alone in a warehouse with two strange men you knew to be on the other side of the law, and you didn't even think of anything but holding Cobb accountable for his actions--even though, as I've heard, they were your fault too since he warned you multiple times to stop changing things in the dream.