Arthur will lead them on a merry chase. (takingpoint) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-10-29 21:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ariadne (the architect), arthur (the point man) |
Who: Arthur and Ariadne.
What: They need to talk.
Where: A clinic, then the car.
When: Last week sometime.
Rating: PG-13 for vague sex talk.
Status: Complete!
Arthur was sore. Really, really goddamn sore, but he'd never admit to it out loud, because that wasn't his style. Hell, he wouldn't have even gone to the clinic if Ariadne hadn't practically dragged his ass there.
So he wasn't surprised when they told him he had fractured two ribs and would have to take it easy for a while.
Now he was just waiting for the paperwork, sitting awkwardly on the table. "You were right," he admitted, with a quiet smile.
Ariadne shrugged a little, hugging herself around the middle. Doctor's offices were always so damn cold.
"If it makes you feel better, I really don't like being right." She handed him his jacket, shrugging a little and lowering her voice. "I hope you gave as good as you got."
Arthur shook his head, carefully wrapping the jacket around her shoulders. He wasn't cold.
"Course I did," he chuckled. "I really don't think she was expecting a fight from me." With a shrug, he glanced down at her. "Most people don't. It's an advantage."
Ariadne smiled up at him, shrugging a little bit and snuggling under the heavy coat. "Good. I still wish I could just... I don't know. Wave my fingers and fix everything."
Broken ribs just screwed up everything. Coughing, laughing, breathing...
Arthur laughed a little, though it caused him to wince. Damn. "As wonderful as you are, you haven't quite mastered magic yet."
Not that he minded. Her company was welcome, magic or no.
Ariadne smirked, shrugging a little bit.
"Well, yeah. But it's not like I could just throw you down on a couch when we get home and have my way with you with broken ribs, can I?"
Sometimes her mouth just... went, leaving her brain behind.
Arthur's eyes went wide, his ears and cheeks turned bright pink, and he sucked in a breath.
Which turned out to be a very bad, painful idea. It turned into a pained cough as he held onto his side, trying to regain his composure.
"I... just..." He tried, then gave up. This wasn't the sort of thing he talked about in public.
Shit.
Ariadne's eyes went wide, and as she cursed herself, her mouth, her ancestors and possibly any farm animals they ever owned, the doctor came back into the room, giving Arthur a prescription for pain medicine and an order to take it easy.
Ariadne scurried out to the parking lot, hoping that he didn't just leave her dumb ass in the parking lot.
Arthur wanted to scramble after her, but unfortunately, he had to deal with the discharge bullshit; getting the prescription, paying the copay, listening to the doctor lecture him about taking it easy...
When he finally got done, he moved as quickly as his side would allow towards the car.
"Hey, I'm sorry," he apologized once he reached Ariadne, frowning. "I just... you surprised me. And that's not... really... the sort of thing I talk about in public."
Ariadne looked pained, and shook her head. "I shouldn't have... Sometimes things are funnier or... Um. Better in my head. I shouldn't have said anything."
It was worse that he was apologizing. He had not done anything wrong. She was the one making him uncomfortable.
Arthur rubbed a hand over his forehead, unlocking the car and opening the passenger-side door for her to get in.
"It's all right. No harm, no foul." He shrugged.
Ariadne nodded her thanks and slipped into the seat, saying nothing.
She was a pretty sexual woman, not that she really ever had a lot of time to explore that part of her personality. Ariadne knew that Arthur, by his nature and profession, was a far more private person.
Maybe sex just wasn't a big deal for him. She'd have to be careful.
Which worried her more than she could say. Relationships didn't go great when you were always worried about upsetting the other party.
Arthur was a private person. It wasn't that he wasn't sexual– he'd already shown her that, he thought, on their date night– but it was that there was a time and place for it and the middle of a doctor's office wasn't it for him. Those sorts of things were... special moments, private moments, and he wanted them behind closed doors.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, turning on the car. He hadn't known her long, but he knew she had a tendency to take these things to heart.
For an architect, Ariadne wasn't much of a planner. Their night had been wonderful; practically perfect.
But planned.
She just was worried any time she was spontaneous it might not go well. But her fear was likely irrational, so she kept it to herself.
"It's not a big deal. You need to get home to rest."
He was quiet for a moment as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"You realize that whatever problem we're having right now, it isn't going to go away if we don't talk about it, right?" Arthur wasn't one to pull punches, nor was he stupid.
He could tell when she was upset, and he wanted to figure out a way to fix it so they were both happy.
"I know," Ariadne said with the same quiet candor, shrugging slightly. "Just afraid this might be a particularly unfun talk."
She turned her head, looking at him. "Is my whole 'first thing that springs to mind' thing going to trip you up? I don't plan. I'm not great at curbing my tongue. I'm worried that's going to be a problem. That you'll not really want to give it a shot with the whole thing, you know?"
"It'll take some getting used to," Arthur replied honestly. "But it doesn't change my mind. It's just an adjustment, that's all. I'm... I don't open up to people very easily, Ariadne. I can't. It's not in my nature."
He glanced over at her while they were stopped at a red light. "You're going to have to be patient with me. I'm sorry. I understand if that's... not what you want."
Ariadne took her time to answer. It wasn't something you could just be flippant about.
"I don't expect it all quickly. The opening up, or being comfortable right away."
She reached over, taking his hand resting on the gearshift. "But you're what I want. Nothing is immediately perfect, but I want to wait for you. Just forgive me if sometimes my mouth gets ahead of me. I understand if you don't want... Y'know. The grabby hands."
"Of course I'll forgive you." There was no hesitation in his answer. "You and I just have different styles of communicating, I suppose. And you kind of caught me off guard." He gave her a lopsided grin, squeezing her hand.
"Normally I would've just turned red and spluttered a little, and you would've found it cute."
Ariadne relaxed finally, squeezing his hand back.
"Had me worried there, Mr. Bond."
Arthur gave her one of those little smiles he reserved just for her, before his mouth settled back into a frown.
"There's... something else we need to talk about." He started cautiously. Might as well clear the air now.
And just when you think that you're safe...
Ariadne didn't let go of his hand, but she did give him her undivided attention. "Yeah?"
"It's about... me." He sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. There was a hard knot of guilt in his stomach, something he hadn't felt in years.
Huh.
"I'm not... who you think I am, Ariadne."
There was something almost melodramatic about it. No one just said stuff like that in real life, right?
Then again, until a couple months ago, no one had seen a giant green rage monster storm through a city either.
She just squeezed his hand. "Okay. Who are you then?"
"I'm not an accountant." Arthur swallowed heavily, taking his hand back. If he kept holding on to her like that, he'd want to hold onto the fantasy, too; to keep pretending he was just the simple accountant who just happened to be working at her company.
His fingers were nearly white on the wheel. "I am– or I was at Stark to gather information on the new company and sell it to the highest bidder. That's what I do for a living. Corporate espionage."
Ariadne's reaction was slow.
Her first thought was how not particularly surprised she was. Obviously, 'corporate spy' wasn't on the list, but she just had a feeling that there was something with Arthur that wasn't quite panning out.
She'd honestly been worried about a wife.
The second thought was how strangely similar it was to the dream world. He'd been 'dubious' there too.
Finally, she could think of a question. "Was?" Had he been discovered? Fired?
It seemed the only important question.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead– it was a sure sign of stress or worry with him, one of his few 'tells'. At least, when he chose to show them. Arthur was, at his core, a controlled man. People only saw what he wanted them to see, and right now, that still included Ariadne.
"Pepper Potts happened." His tone was flat. "The Skeeter leak had her poking into backgrounds and apparently she thought I mad the most sense." Please. What the hell would he gain from leaking mundane, social information to that airheaded bimbo?
"Stark gave me a choice. Work for him as internal security and rat out my bidders, or go to jail." He shrugged. "I'm contracted for two years. At the end of the two years, I'll renegotiate." For a higher price, probably. Stark had the prison threat, but Arthur had the inside information that he could easily sell to someone else, even from prison. He'd remind the boss-man about that in two years, but somehow, he doubted it was going to be a problem.
Ariadne closed her eyes for a second, trying to process that information.
It was a lot of information.
"... I don't care. For the record." She turned her head back to him, her jaw taking a decidedly stubborn tilt. "I don't care at all. The world isn't exactly black and white to me."
Well. That was a relief. He had a feeling she'd say something like that; if there was one thing he'd learned about her, it was that she was tenacious when she got her mind set on something.
"That's why I was attacked," he admitted with a small shrug, reaching back to take her hand. Or he assumed that was the reason, or something similar. "I've already made sure Stark knows about this." And he'd made sure Ariadne's security had been at least doubled, of course, but he wouldn't tell her that. It didn't seem like the sort of thing she'd take kindly to.
The way relief flooded through her as he took her hand made Ariadne vaguely light-headed. Her fingers laced with his again, and she squeezed his hand.
"Oh my God... that kind of thing common?" She was already wondering if she should buy a taser or something.
"Enough that I have hand-to-hand combat training and carry a firearm." He wasn't going to pull punches, not about this. This was her safety they were talking about.
He flicked on the turn-signal. "I'm pretty sure she was sent to kill me."
It was surprising how quickly her blood seemed to get cold at that single phrase.
"... Arthur?" She had fear her in her tone, and her hand was gripping his tightly. "This the first time someone's tried?"
Maybe not a taser.
"I was in the military."
It was a deflection. So much for not pulling punches.
She didn't reply right away.
"... okay," she finally said quietly, not letting go of his hand but making it clear she could see right through that one. "Is that woman still on the run?"
He glanced at her, then shook his head.
"No. Something good came out of it, at least. I'm not sure where she's gone to, but apparently she's 'not something I have to worry about anymore'."
The relief on Ariadne's face was obvious, and she looked forward. They were almost back to his place, at least.
"... good. The bitch."
Snappy value judgments were just one of the many services she provided.
He laughed at that, as much as his side would let him.
"I'm not going to disagree with you there," Arthur commented warmly, before pausing.
"Do you want to get ice cream?"
Ariadne couldn't help her response. She actually laughed, shaking her head.
"Yeah. Double scoops. Possibly with toppings."
"Toppings? I'm not sure I'm ready to get that wild," he commented with a smile, turning on to a side street.
That had gone better than expected. It was a nice change.