onlyholey | Send George an Owl

[ Ariadne is really going to have to work on her perception, at least when it comes to what she perceives while making out with redheaded wizards on her stairs, because she has no idea Eames is there until he speaks. The reaction is immediate, though; she tenses, hand digging into George's back slightly as she quickly pulls away from the kiss. Shit. ]

Um. [ Great start, Ariadne. ] Hi, Eames. Have you two met?

[ a w k w a r d ]

[George, however, doesn't look too taken aback by this particular interruption. They were snogging in her stairwell, it was bound to happen eventually. He just leans back and gives Eames a friendly smile.]

Not in person, yet. Alright?

Alright, there. [ That ginger is something fluorescent. There's only a few of those who make regular posts on the network, anyway. His lips quirk easily, because Eames isn't unfriendly when he wants to keep the air light. ] One of the Weasleys, I believe? The shopkeepers.

Edited 2011-12-21 00:47 (UTC)

[ There is a moment where Ariadne, despite being the one out of the three of them who is friends with a pterosaur, wonders why she is the only person with normal reactions to things. Maybe it's a British thing.

It's not going to stop her from muttering under her breath in French about them both, though. ]

[You are just friends with too many trolls, Aria. And George is finding endlessly hilarious to act like he wasn't just caught snogging like a randy teenager in the public areas of her home.]

George Weasley, yeah. We haven't quite opened the shop yet, but we're getting close.

I'm sure you'll do just fine- businesses around here don't seem to suffer for anything.

[ Eames glances at Ariadne, brow raised a bit. They'll need to talk about bringing people back here, of all places. ]

Are you two on your way out?

[ Don't you give her that look, Eames. You're just going to get a steely-eyed one in response. ]

Not really, no.

[ Did it get tense in here or is it just her? ]

[Ooooookay. Can they just go back to the snogging already? He still has his hand in Ariadne's, so he's going to tug at it a bit. Can we go to your room, please? Before the mood is ruined?]

Lovely to meet you and all that.

And you.

[ But his attention is on Ariadne. ] A word?

[ Urrrgh. If it wouldn't be completely obvious, she'd grind her teeth. As it is, she gives George's hand a squeeze for a moment before letting go. ]

Yeah, sure. George, can you see if Waffle needs food for me? It's under his cage.

[He gives her the eyebrow. Subtle, dear.]

Alright. See you in a few.

[ As George heads up to Ariadne's room, Eames takes her aside to the kitchen (the go-to room for serious conversations, apparently, if anything lately is to note for it). He keeps his voice low but it's a languid tone, nothing too forceful or overbearing. He's not trying to attack Ariadne, after all, but there are a few things Eames would prefer to be conservative over. ]

I realise that what we're doing here is a bit outside your normal lifestyle, Ariadne, but you can't bring people here.

[ Languid tone or not, she's tense and it shows, nails lightly digging into her palm. She keeps her voice down, though, despite how much her natural reaction is to go on the defensive and attempt to make herself seem larger than she is, voice and everything. ]

I'm not letting anyone in the basement. I keep my eyes open. We're supposed to fit in, aren't we? It's a little hard to do that when you have to keep finding excuses for why someone who's otherwise social won't invite people over. [ There's a tense exhale, fingers on one hand shifting so four nails tap against her thumb. ] It's already hard finding excuses for why I'm living with four men, two of which are old enough to be my father. "We're from the same world" just leads to "how do you know each other". You know Orange, he asks questions -- he's already figured out that I barely know any of you.

Besides, Arthur doesn't mind. [ She asked him once, when Harry and George were coming over to get burn her stories during the fanfiction curse. It might have been situational, but she'll use it. ]

[ It occurs to Eames that perhaps Ariadne isn't used to crafting stories. Orange is inherently observant on his own - comes with the trade of being an undercover cop, of course - but even he can be blindsighted well enough. It's one of the many reasons he wasn't necessarily approving of Cobb bringing on a brand new architect - an important job for the lot of them, but also the afterward of it, the consequences that lie in being caught. Once you start in mind crime there's the necessity that comes in cleaning up your tracks afterward - and Ariadne is a student, a damn good architect, but not a criminal. Not a natural bred liar, anyway. ]

There are plenty of easy reasons why a house as full as this doesn't make company a usual thing. [ But that's just a side note. ] A messy house from living with other men. Rhada's piss everywhere. Grumpy roommates. One can fit in without inviting the ability to pry. Besides, doesn't Mister Weasley have a room of his own?

[ Which brings him to the center point. ]

What is going on between you two?

[ Ariadne's never had to craft stories. She's good at hiding the truth through simply not saying it, but covering it up is harder. Arthur had said once that they need to teach her how to lie, but Eames is the best liar out of all of them, and he'd disappeared before anything could happen. She's fresh, green in this business and she knows it. She needs to learn, wants to learn, but when Eames had disappeared, there wasn't anyone she could learn from. Arthur was busy with Cobb, Cobb was busy with himself, and Yusuf didn't have the same level of caution the others did. Was it any wonder that she'd gone off by herself? ]

Anyone who's met Arthur wouldn't buy the first two, and anyone who's met me wouldn't buy the third if I really wanted to do something. And he shares it with his twin brother, which would admittedly be hot, but I don't think they're into incest. [ His dead brother, which is why she'd asked him over in the first place.

She's not surprised by the question, though she's still tense. There's no nervous shifting or fidgeting; she's small, especially compared to Eames, but she isn't going to give way under his scrutiny. She's too stubborn for that. ] Did you miss sex ed while you were in school, Eames?

I don't care who you have sex with, Ariadne. But I'd tread lightly if I were you, as far as involving yourself with the people here. There's a difference between enjoying the moment and the repercussions of wading too deep. [ There is, after all, a killing for forgers in the market of fulfilling lost dreams. ] If it comes to the moment where we all have to be on the same foot to stay awake, I don't want to be kept from it just because some of us have decided otherwise.

[ Ariadne, Cobb, Arthur, Yusuf - any of them. Cobb is not an anomaly because he held on to dreams, but Ariadne and Yusuf are the least experienced of all of them when it comes to staying so long within one. It's not a slight at Ariadne's will but just an honest fact: Eames isn't willing to risk his desires for the sake of someone else's. Though Ariadne bringing company over can't exactly be rectified without losing more tact than he already has, Eames doesn't have to be pleased about it. ]

If you bring people here, I want to know. Otherwise your privacy ought best be had elsewhere.

[ There's a snort. ] Eames, if there's a moment where the rest of you actually need me so everyone can stay awake or get out or whatever is going on in this place, then we're already in trouble. You've done it without me, you can do it again. [ Nevermind that she was the one who brought Fischer back, who had the idea and the balls to go after him in the first place. ] Let's face it, out of the five of us, I'm probably the one you need the least. My skill set isn't exactly valuable here.

[ It's not something most people would expect her to say -- it's not something she would expect herself to say, most days. The truth, however, is that things have been weighing on her -- Cobb's barbed comments, being kept on a 'need-to-know' basis, Orange pointing out that she doesn't really know them -- and this, for whatever reason, whether it's the days before or the fact that Eames is finally here for her to tell because at least he won't deny it, it's coming out now.

She takes a deep breath. ] I'll let you know. I'll look for an apartment, while I'm at it. [ Harder to tie up a loose end if she's not where they can keep an eye on her, but she hates feeling caged. ]

If you believe that, you've sorely underestimated your self worth. [ Eames doesn't think he's the only person to see Ariadne as she is - a bright mind, a fresh perspective. She's new to the lifestyle, yes, pushy and demanding, but things can be fixed with experience and the other traits aren't a negative. Perhaps he's warmed up to her throughout the job and too during their stay here because she reminds him so much of Moneypenny - well, MP behind the violence and the shivs, that sort of raw, unconstructed talent, ironic with her schooling. Ariadne knows rules but she also knows integral gut feeling. ]

I'm not trying to kick you out. [ Let's just get that straight, here. ] But if that's your own decision, I understand. I wouldn't want to stay under the same roof as Cobb, either.

Try being told every idea and theory you've had and everything else you do is wrong somehow, because someone else is older and wiser and knows more than you do, despite being the one who saved the job, and maybe you'll see why that is.

[ The problem is that no one tells her that. She needs praise from others, not just herself, not just from those who have no idea what it is she's doing and just see a pretty design or a nice idea. She craves it, because as strong-willed and stubborn as she is, she's new at this. She was at the top of the world when she came here, and now everything keeps pushing her down to the bottom. ]

I know. I just... I can't think here half the time, or I'm not allowed to because it might upset someone's delicate dream sensibilities or Cobb will get his post-traumatic stress disorder all over everything. [ There's a shake, somewhere between anger and pure, raw feeling. She's stressed, there's no doubt about that. ] I'm going to go upstairs and not think in a way I actually enjoy. If you're going out, see if there are any decent apartments; you can have a room.

[ And if he has nothing to add, she'll be heading upstairs. ]

[George is very innocently feeding waffle birdseeds when Aria comes up. He gives her a look.]

Have a good chat?

Not really.

[ At least she's honest. Waffle happily makes kissing noises at her. ]

You should let him out of my room and then take off your pants.

[ejhbvevbyu. Well then. George Weasley has never considered himself in any way shy but that was... forward. If he's getting red now it's only due to his blasted Weasley complexion.]

In a hurry?

[ Here, she'll help by taking Waffle and letting him out herself. He doesn't need to pick up anymore noises. ]

Right now, yeah -- which sort of ruins what I'd called you over for, so I hope your afternoon's free.

[ She's still aware enough, despite how frustrated she is, to realize that she still wants to take her time with him... just not right now. ]

[When she comes back in from letting the bird out, he's not going to let her get any further than the door. He plants a hand on either side of the frame, penning her in.]

You know, I could object to being used to get revenge on your flatmates.

[ Oh hello. That is actually... extremely hot, hi. ]

You could.

[ She moves her hands, letting them slide over his sides. ]

I'm pretty sure he went out, though. And I'm not convinced that you mind.

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