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fae_boleynStory Title: Architecture of Your World and Mind
Chapter Title: Lost My Balance On A High Wire
Fandom: Inception
Summary: Inception's not an easy job, it takes months of careful planning. These are the planning stages. Also, genderbend, girl!Arthur and girl!Yusuf. Movie AU, begins when the movie does, but the primary focus is the pre-job months.
Pairings: past Mal/Cobb, girl!Arthur/Eames, Ariadne/girl!Yusuf (so, yes, het and femslash, no m/m in this one, I do apologize)
Author's Note: Rather more Anita/Eames than Ariadne/Yasirah in this one, next chapter is slated to be more balanced but this set-up struck me from nowhere. Anita is almost inexcusably bitchy in this chapter, but I promise justification is coming for it.
Caught in the middle of a crossfire
Lost my balance on a high wire
Tried to figure out what to do
Pushed to the edge of my reason
Everywhere around me is treason
I don't want to do that to you – Sink or Swim, Tyrone Wells
Eames walks into the warehouse the morning after his flight gets in from Sydney, still vaguely jetlagged. Cobb and Saito are nowhere to be found, which has him raising an eyebrow, and Anita is hooked up to the PASIV with a younger brunette he doesn't know. Clearly, that's Ariadne the architect. Yasirah's there too, and barely glances up when he comes in, though she does call out a hello. Eames responds but doesn't try to start a conversation; he's worked with Yasirah a handful of times and he knows she isn't a fan of talking while she works.
Instead he flicks through his notebook, filled with written observations about Browning and the general dynamic amongst him and the Fischers. There's also sketches of Browning, which help him develop his forgery. He knows everything on the lined pages by heart, but he's also got nothing better to do. Still, he's keeping half an eye on the dreamers, and when they stir he sets the notebook aside.
Anita wakes up fully first, catches sight of him and flashes a brief smile. The girl, Ariadne, looks around and stares at him. “Who are you and when did you get here?” she asks, brow furrowing.
“Name's Eames,” he says, slouching back in his chair. “I'm the forger on this job; have they told you what that is yet?”
“Yes, because the primary objective of training is making sure everyone knows what you can do,” Anita comments dryly.
Eames smirks at her. “It's lovely to see you again too, Anita.”
“How was the flight in?” Anita asks, shaking her head.
“Awful. Bloody jet lag. Where's Cobb and our esteemed employer?”
“Cobb's not in yet – Miles is going to visit the kids and Cobb is trying to convince him to take last-minute messages – and Saito... God only knows, I'm sure he'll be here at some point today.” Anita glances him over, and a slight frown crosses her face as she takes in Eames' tired appearance. “If you're that jetlagged you don't have to be here, we can manage another day without you, I assure you.”
“And deprive you of my company for any longer than strictly necessary? Now, Anita, why would I do that to you?”
“You're insufferable, you know that, right?”
“And you love me for it,” Eames laughs, before he realizes exactly what it was he said. Well, there was no reason to take it seriously, was there?
Anita makes a noncommittal noise, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, Eames.”
She's different, is the thing Eames sees most clearly as Anita makes proper introductions between him and Ariadne, and then goes back to the training she and the younger girl were working on before. They stay topside for a while, discussing dream levels and tricks to avoid projections, a conversation Eames contributes to from time to time. But he spends more time observing.
Ariadne's eager for this, practically chomping at the bit. Eames feels a little uncomfortable helping to corrupt a new person into this life, and he can see the same hesitation in Anita, but Ariadne seems assured enough to know her own mind, and this life is a choice like anything else.
Really, he knows he's only focusing on Ariadne to avoid thinking about Anita, but it doesn't work for long. And looking at his former partner, he doesn't like what he sees. Anita was never as relaxed as he can be, always held herself at attention for reasons he never quite understood, but she was never this... rigid before. Never like she's just waiting for something to go wrong so she's ready to run in and fix it. Eames doesn't like it, not at all.
She's got to know he's studying her, cataloguing the changes, but if she does she makes no sign of it. That's about par for the course, though. And she's doing the same to him, just like their first meeting after Alexandria. Just one more shared habit. Cobb walks in and sees Eames, giving him a quick nod before gatherine everyone before one of his beloved whiteboards. This is going to be a long job, Eames thinks with a sigh before Cobb prods him into giving his report.
~ ~ ~
The team decides to break for lunch, Eames practically dragging Anita out – and Ariadne desperately wants to know what is going on there, because something is – and Cobb vanishing to one of the inner rooms of the warehouse. Ariadne looks over at Yasirah, who doesn't seem to have even noticed that anyone's left.
“Do you want to go grab a sandwich or something? I know a place near here,” she asks, and damn it, she hasn't felt quite this awkward since she asked Carly James out in the 11th grade, but she's used to liking girls her own age, not older academics who sometimes seem totally detached from the world. Her ears are burning a bright red, she's sure, but luckily her hair hides them and she doesn't really blush otherwise.
Yasirah looks up, blinking at Ariadne as she sets her reading/working glasses aside. “Oh, it's afternoon alr...” She trails off, glancing at the clock that Cobb had insisted on nailing to the wall. “Bloody hell,” the chemist says, rubbing at her eyes. “When did that happen?”
Ariadne laughs, suddenly feeling a lot less nervous. How many times has she seen one of her school friends lose track of time the same way? How many times has it happened to her, for that matter? “Between meeting that British guy and all the training Anita's putting me through, I'm not entirely sure. But seriously, come on, I know a place just around the corner, and I guarantee you'll like it.”
“Well, with an advert like that, how can I refuse?”
They walk the five blocks to the little cafe Ariadne knows, make their selections, and then sit at one of the outdoor tables. “I've never actually been to Paris before,” Yasirah says thoughtfully. “I've been to quite a few other places, but somehow I never managed to make it to Paris.”
“God, I've been here long enough it's almost boring to me now,” Ariadne admits. “Anita said you and Eames are from Mombasa, right? What's that like?”
“Well, neither of us are actually from Mombasa, originally,” Yasirah points out. “I grew up in London with summers in Alexandria, and God knows where in Britain Eames is from. But to answer your question... Chaotic, dusty, cluttered... It's a bit mad there, but I like it. Most of the time.”
“Why'd you leave London?”
“Well, in this line of work, a woman – or a man, honestly – is better off flying below the radar. Don't tell Cobb that; he's known for doing the exact opposite. But Mombasa's a good place for that; it's a big enough city to get lost in, but not such a well-known city that people go poking around there. That's the downside to setting up a permanent place somewhere like London, New York, or Paris for that matter.”
Ariadne nods. “I guess that makes sense. I grew up in this tiny town in Pennsylvania – the church my family went to was Catholic, and there weren't many Catholics in the county. I think the church served half of it. That's even worse than a popular city, probably, since everyone knows your name, or at least your face.”
Still, she misses some things about her hometown, like the diner at the shopping center where you could sit on bar stools and get ice cream, or the hex signs you'd see if you drove five minutes past the town boundaries, or... or... She's never really gotten over the fact that she no longer has any reason to go home. But she doesn't want to talk about the fact that she can't go home, so instead she talks about the good things, the little things that don't hurt to remember.
~ ~ ~
Anita's not stupid. She knows exactly what Eames has been thinking since he got here. “It's over after this,” she says after a long silence.
Eames glances at her, a skeptical look in his eyes. “You really think Cobb'll let it go? Just give up dreaming? Could you do it?”
“I don't have two kids at home.” I don't have anyone except a sister, and she has her own life and doesn’t need me mucking things up. But then you knew that, didn’t you? Anita pushes the thought aside, because there's no time for wallowing in that and it's pointless anyway. “You haven't been around him much; yeah, I really do think this is it for him.” Eames turns to look at her, leaning against the rail of the bridge they've stopped on.
“Maybe so,” he tells her noncommittally, but the sharpness in his eyes tells her that he doesn't really give a damn what Cobb does. They've never liked each other much, Anita remembers, mostly only staying civil because they had no choice in the matter. And then Eames asks, “And what about you? What are you going to do after this is done?”
Anita looks away from him, wondering what to say. That she doesn't know? It's the truth, but that doesn't mean she wants to admit it. The fact is, she may not be particularly fond of Cobb herself these days, but at least she has a place with him. She has a job to do and she knows what her role is. In a twisted sort of way it's comfortable. “I'm sure I can find any number of people who need a skilled point for a job,” she says instead of any of that. It's simpler, and the times when she could confide in this man are long gone.
“Is that really what you want to do? Wander around aimlessly?”
“It's what you do, so don't play that card with me. You sound like a hypocrite.”
“I'm not you, Anita, and actually it's not entirely what I do. I do have a home base, if you didn't notice.”
“And you think I can't do that?” “I think you don't know what you're going to do. I think you've been orbiting around that nutcase for so long that you've forgotten how to function without the insanity going on.” Eames glares at her and Anita glares right back, hating him for always being able to just know what's going on. She can't figure out how he does it, and right now she doesn't care.
“Are we really going to do this again?” Anita snaps. “I already know you think I’m an idiot for staying with Cobb this long, but I don’t see where you get off thinking you can tell me what to do with my life!”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, for fuck’s sake! I’m concerned about you, don’t you get that?”
“I can take care of myself, thanks. I’m not some damsel in distress and if anyone would know that I’d think that you would. Considering I saved your ass as many times as you saved mine, if not more.”
Eames throws away the cigarette he’d been smoking, gray eyes blazing as he says, “I never said you couldn’t. I’d like to see you in one piece and sane, if you really want to know.”
“I don’t see why it matters to you what happens to me.” She’s being deliberately obtuse at this point and they both know it, but Anita really can’t bring herself to give a damn.
“I care about you, and you know that, so stop playing stupid,” Eames says, his voice deliberately low and even as though he doesn’t trust himself to speak with any less control. And that’s it, it’s too much because this is exactly what Anita doesn’t want, what she’s never wanted because she knows she’s not cut out for it. More than that, she knows it’s not going to last and she’s dealt with that before, but she doesn’t think she could take it if she trusts Eames and then he changes his mind. So what she says next is a low blow, but it’s also nothing but the truth.
“Well then maybe you shouldn’t.” And she walks away, leaving him standing there.
~ ~ ~
It's very clear that something's gone wrong. Ever since their lunch break two days ago, Anita and Eames have been at each other's throats. Yasirah thinks even Cobb and Saito have noticed, and as Saito seems to have no interest in any of them and Cobb walks around in a fog, that's pretty serious. But then, it's ridiculously obvious, with the way the forger and point woman are constantly sniping or else pointedly ignoring each other. Like right now, for example.
“I will split up my father's empire,” Cobb's saying. “Now, obviously, this is an idea that Robert Fischer's mind would choose to reject, so we have to plant it deep in his subconscious. Now, the subconscious is motivated by emotion, so we need to work with that.”
“How do you translate a business strategy into emotion?” Anita wants to know.
“That's what we have to figure out,” Cobb explains. “Now, we know that Robert Fischer's relationship with his father is tense...”
“Well, can we work with that? Suggest breaking up the father's company as a 'screw you' to the old man?” Eames suggests.
“No, because I think postive emotion trumps negative emotion every time. We all yearn for reconciliation, for catharsis. So we need Robert Fischer to have a positive emotional reaction to all this.”
Eames leans back in his chair. “All right, well, try this. My father accepts that I want to create something for myself, not follow in his footsteps.”
“That might work,” Cobb concedes.
“Might?” Anita chimes back in. “We're going to have to do a little better than might.”
“Thank you for your contribution, Anita,” Eames says, a nasty edge to his voice.
“Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames,” Anita fires back.
“Hmm?”
“Specificity?”
“Inception's not about being specific,” Cobb cuts in, looking more than a little surprised by how quickly that had turned personally nasty. Yasirah shakes her head and returns to her work, resolving to talk to Eames later. She gets her chance when she sees the man slipping outside, and she follows him. Sure enough, he's got a cigarette, and she's known Eames long enough to know that's never a good sign. “So what's going on with you and Anita?” she asks without preamble.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Why do I not believe that? In case you forgot, I'm the one who sat listening to your drunken rambles about that woman after the last job you worked with these two. So you might as well tell me.”
Eames scowls at her. “We got into it again, that's all. About as bad, if not worse, than the last time. Fuck, I don't know why I even bother anymore.”
Yeah, it's bad. If there's one thing Yasirah figured out from those rambles, it's that Eames is completely gone on Anita, so if he's on the verge of giving up entirely... She wonders what could possibly have happened to cause that. But Eames doesn't give her the chance.
“But whatever about me. Because it looks like you are getting quite cozy with our lovely young architect.” Yasirah rolled her eyes.
“You are trying to change the subject.”
“Anita is impossible, and I'm sick of banging my head against the proverbial brick wall,” Eames tells her in a clipped voice. “There's your answer.” Eames tosses his cigarette butt aside and goes back inside, leaving Yasirah alone outside. Well.
This is going to be a mess, she thinks, shaking her head. She's trying not to think about Eames' comments concerning her and Ariadne because, well... She doesn't know yet what's going on there. She knows what she might well like to have going on there, but that isn't going to mean a thing if Ariadne's not interested. She'll just have to wait and see.
Chapter Title: Lost My Balance On A High Wire
Fandom: Inception
Summary: Inception's not an easy job, it takes months of careful planning. These are the planning stages. Also, genderbend, girl!Arthur and girl!Yusuf. Movie AU, begins when the movie does, but the primary focus is the pre-job months.
Pairings: past Mal/Cobb, girl!Arthur/Eames, Ariadne/girl!Yusuf (so, yes, het and femslash, no m/m in this one, I do apologize)
Author's Note: Rather more Anita/Eames than Ariadne/Yasirah in this one, next chapter is slated to be more balanced but this set-up struck me from nowhere. Anita is almost inexcusably bitchy in this chapter, but I promise justification is coming for it.
Caught in the middle of a crossfire
Lost my balance on a high wire
Tried to figure out what to do
Pushed to the edge of my reason
Everywhere around me is treason
I don't want to do that to you – Sink or Swim, Tyrone Wells
Eames walks into the warehouse the morning after his flight gets in from Sydney, still vaguely jetlagged. Cobb and Saito are nowhere to be found, which has him raising an eyebrow, and Anita is hooked up to the PASIV with a younger brunette he doesn't know. Clearly, that's Ariadne the architect. Yasirah's there too, and barely glances up when he comes in, though she does call out a hello. Eames responds but doesn't try to start a conversation; he's worked with Yasirah a handful of times and he knows she isn't a fan of talking while she works.
Instead he flicks through his notebook, filled with written observations about Browning and the general dynamic amongst him and the Fischers. There's also sketches of Browning, which help him develop his forgery. He knows everything on the lined pages by heart, but he's also got nothing better to do. Still, he's keeping half an eye on the dreamers, and when they stir he sets the notebook aside.
Anita wakes up fully first, catches sight of him and flashes a brief smile. The girl, Ariadne, looks around and stares at him. “Who are you and when did you get here?” she asks, brow furrowing.
“Name's Eames,” he says, slouching back in his chair. “I'm the forger on this job; have they told you what that is yet?”
“Yes, because the primary objective of training is making sure everyone knows what you can do,” Anita comments dryly.
Eames smirks at her. “It's lovely to see you again too, Anita.”
“How was the flight in?” Anita asks, shaking her head.
“Awful. Bloody jet lag. Where's Cobb and our esteemed employer?”
“Cobb's not in yet – Miles is going to visit the kids and Cobb is trying to convince him to take last-minute messages – and Saito... God only knows, I'm sure he'll be here at some point today.” Anita glances him over, and a slight frown crosses her face as she takes in Eames' tired appearance. “If you're that jetlagged you don't have to be here, we can manage another day without you, I assure you.”
“And deprive you of my company for any longer than strictly necessary? Now, Anita, why would I do that to you?”
“You're insufferable, you know that, right?”
“And you love me for it,” Eames laughs, before he realizes exactly what it was he said. Well, there was no reason to take it seriously, was there?
Anita makes a noncommittal noise, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, Eames.”
She's different, is the thing Eames sees most clearly as Anita makes proper introductions between him and Ariadne, and then goes back to the training she and the younger girl were working on before. They stay topside for a while, discussing dream levels and tricks to avoid projections, a conversation Eames contributes to from time to time. But he spends more time observing.
Ariadne's eager for this, practically chomping at the bit. Eames feels a little uncomfortable helping to corrupt a new person into this life, and he can see the same hesitation in Anita, but Ariadne seems assured enough to know her own mind, and this life is a choice like anything else.
Really, he knows he's only focusing on Ariadne to avoid thinking about Anita, but it doesn't work for long. And looking at his former partner, he doesn't like what he sees. Anita was never as relaxed as he can be, always held herself at attention for reasons he never quite understood, but she was never this... rigid before. Never like she's just waiting for something to go wrong so she's ready to run in and fix it. Eames doesn't like it, not at all.
She's got to know he's studying her, cataloguing the changes, but if she does she makes no sign of it. That's about par for the course, though. And she's doing the same to him, just like their first meeting after Alexandria. Just one more shared habit. Cobb walks in and sees Eames, giving him a quick nod before gatherine everyone before one of his beloved whiteboards. This is going to be a long job, Eames thinks with a sigh before Cobb prods him into giving his report.
~ ~ ~
The team decides to break for lunch, Eames practically dragging Anita out – and Ariadne desperately wants to know what is going on there, because something is – and Cobb vanishing to one of the inner rooms of the warehouse. Ariadne looks over at Yasirah, who doesn't seem to have even noticed that anyone's left.
“Do you want to go grab a sandwich or something? I know a place near here,” she asks, and damn it, she hasn't felt quite this awkward since she asked Carly James out in the 11th grade, but she's used to liking girls her own age, not older academics who sometimes seem totally detached from the world. Her ears are burning a bright red, she's sure, but luckily her hair hides them and she doesn't really blush otherwise.
Yasirah looks up, blinking at Ariadne as she sets her reading/working glasses aside. “Oh, it's afternoon alr...” She trails off, glancing at the clock that Cobb had insisted on nailing to the wall. “Bloody hell,” the chemist says, rubbing at her eyes. “When did that happen?”
Ariadne laughs, suddenly feeling a lot less nervous. How many times has she seen one of her school friends lose track of time the same way? How many times has it happened to her, for that matter? “Between meeting that British guy and all the training Anita's putting me through, I'm not entirely sure. But seriously, come on, I know a place just around the corner, and I guarantee you'll like it.”
“Well, with an advert like that, how can I refuse?”
They walk the five blocks to the little cafe Ariadne knows, make their selections, and then sit at one of the outdoor tables. “I've never actually been to Paris before,” Yasirah says thoughtfully. “I've been to quite a few other places, but somehow I never managed to make it to Paris.”
“God, I've been here long enough it's almost boring to me now,” Ariadne admits. “Anita said you and Eames are from Mombasa, right? What's that like?”
“Well, neither of us are actually from Mombasa, originally,” Yasirah points out. “I grew up in London with summers in Alexandria, and God knows where in Britain Eames is from. But to answer your question... Chaotic, dusty, cluttered... It's a bit mad there, but I like it. Most of the time.”
“Why'd you leave London?”
“Well, in this line of work, a woman – or a man, honestly – is better off flying below the radar. Don't tell Cobb that; he's known for doing the exact opposite. But Mombasa's a good place for that; it's a big enough city to get lost in, but not such a well-known city that people go poking around there. That's the downside to setting up a permanent place somewhere like London, New York, or Paris for that matter.”
Ariadne nods. “I guess that makes sense. I grew up in this tiny town in Pennsylvania – the church my family went to was Catholic, and there weren't many Catholics in the county. I think the church served half of it. That's even worse than a popular city, probably, since everyone knows your name, or at least your face.”
Still, she misses some things about her hometown, like the diner at the shopping center where you could sit on bar stools and get ice cream, or the hex signs you'd see if you drove five minutes past the town boundaries, or... or... She's never really gotten over the fact that she no longer has any reason to go home. But she doesn't want to talk about the fact that she can't go home, so instead she talks about the good things, the little things that don't hurt to remember.
~ ~ ~
Anita's not stupid. She knows exactly what Eames has been thinking since he got here. “It's over after this,” she says after a long silence.
Eames glances at her, a skeptical look in his eyes. “You really think Cobb'll let it go? Just give up dreaming? Could you do it?”
“I don't have two kids at home.” I don't have anyone except a sister, and she has her own life and doesn’t need me mucking things up. But then you knew that, didn’t you? Anita pushes the thought aside, because there's no time for wallowing in that and it's pointless anyway. “You haven't been around him much; yeah, I really do think this is it for him.” Eames turns to look at her, leaning against the rail of the bridge they've stopped on.
“Maybe so,” he tells her noncommittally, but the sharpness in his eyes tells her that he doesn't really give a damn what Cobb does. They've never liked each other much, Anita remembers, mostly only staying civil because they had no choice in the matter. And then Eames asks, “And what about you? What are you going to do after this is done?”
Anita looks away from him, wondering what to say. That she doesn't know? It's the truth, but that doesn't mean she wants to admit it. The fact is, she may not be particularly fond of Cobb herself these days, but at least she has a place with him. She has a job to do and she knows what her role is. In a twisted sort of way it's comfortable. “I'm sure I can find any number of people who need a skilled point for a job,” she says instead of any of that. It's simpler, and the times when she could confide in this man are long gone.
“Is that really what you want to do? Wander around aimlessly?”
“It's what you do, so don't play that card with me. You sound like a hypocrite.”
“I'm not you, Anita, and actually it's not entirely what I do. I do have a home base, if you didn't notice.”
“And you think I can't do that?” “I think you don't know what you're going to do. I think you've been orbiting around that nutcase for so long that you've forgotten how to function without the insanity going on.” Eames glares at her and Anita glares right back, hating him for always being able to just know what's going on. She can't figure out how he does it, and right now she doesn't care.
“Are we really going to do this again?” Anita snaps. “I already know you think I’m an idiot for staying with Cobb this long, but I don’t see where you get off thinking you can tell me what to do with my life!”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, for fuck’s sake! I’m concerned about you, don’t you get that?”
“I can take care of myself, thanks. I’m not some damsel in distress and if anyone would know that I’d think that you would. Considering I saved your ass as many times as you saved mine, if not more.”
Eames throws away the cigarette he’d been smoking, gray eyes blazing as he says, “I never said you couldn’t. I’d like to see you in one piece and sane, if you really want to know.”
“I don’t see why it matters to you what happens to me.” She’s being deliberately obtuse at this point and they both know it, but Anita really can’t bring herself to give a damn.
“I care about you, and you know that, so stop playing stupid,” Eames says, his voice deliberately low and even as though he doesn’t trust himself to speak with any less control. And that’s it, it’s too much because this is exactly what Anita doesn’t want, what she’s never wanted because she knows she’s not cut out for it. More than that, she knows it’s not going to last and she’s dealt with that before, but she doesn’t think she could take it if she trusts Eames and then he changes his mind. So what she says next is a low blow, but it’s also nothing but the truth.
“Well then maybe you shouldn’t.” And she walks away, leaving him standing there.
~ ~ ~
It's very clear that something's gone wrong. Ever since their lunch break two days ago, Anita and Eames have been at each other's throats. Yasirah thinks even Cobb and Saito have noticed, and as Saito seems to have no interest in any of them and Cobb walks around in a fog, that's pretty serious. But then, it's ridiculously obvious, with the way the forger and point woman are constantly sniping or else pointedly ignoring each other. Like right now, for example.
“I will split up my father's empire,” Cobb's saying. “Now, obviously, this is an idea that Robert Fischer's mind would choose to reject, so we have to plant it deep in his subconscious. Now, the subconscious is motivated by emotion, so we need to work with that.”
“How do you translate a business strategy into emotion?” Anita wants to know.
“That's what we have to figure out,” Cobb explains. “Now, we know that Robert Fischer's relationship with his father is tense...”
“Well, can we work with that? Suggest breaking up the father's company as a 'screw you' to the old man?” Eames suggests.
“No, because I think postive emotion trumps negative emotion every time. We all yearn for reconciliation, for catharsis. So we need Robert Fischer to have a positive emotional reaction to all this.”
Eames leans back in his chair. “All right, well, try this. My father accepts that I want to create something for myself, not follow in his footsteps.”
“That might work,” Cobb concedes.
“Might?” Anita chimes back in. “We're going to have to do a little better than might.”
“Thank you for your contribution, Anita,” Eames says, a nasty edge to his voice.
“Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames,” Anita fires back.
“Hmm?”
“Specificity?”
“Inception's not about being specific,” Cobb cuts in, looking more than a little surprised by how quickly that had turned personally nasty. Yasirah shakes her head and returns to her work, resolving to talk to Eames later. She gets her chance when she sees the man slipping outside, and she follows him. Sure enough, he's got a cigarette, and she's known Eames long enough to know that's never a good sign. “So what's going on with you and Anita?” she asks without preamble.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Why do I not believe that? In case you forgot, I'm the one who sat listening to your drunken rambles about that woman after the last job you worked with these two. So you might as well tell me.”
Eames scowls at her. “We got into it again, that's all. About as bad, if not worse, than the last time. Fuck, I don't know why I even bother anymore.”
Yeah, it's bad. If there's one thing Yasirah figured out from those rambles, it's that Eames is completely gone on Anita, so if he's on the verge of giving up entirely... She wonders what could possibly have happened to cause that. But Eames doesn't give her the chance.
“But whatever about me. Because it looks like you are getting quite cozy with our lovely young architect.” Yasirah rolled her eyes.
“You are trying to change the subject.”
“Anita is impossible, and I'm sick of banging my head against the proverbial brick wall,” Eames tells her in a clipped voice. “There's your answer.” Eames tosses his cigarette butt aside and goes back inside, leaving Yasirah alone outside. Well.
This is going to be a mess, she thinks, shaking her head. She's trying not to think about Eames' comments concerning her and Ariadne because, well... She doesn't know yet what's going on there. She knows what she might well like to have going on there, but that isn't going to mean a thing if Ariadne's not interested. She'll just have to wait and see.
