chesstotem | A challenge (for loadedparadox)

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A challenge (for loadedparadox)

Ariadne didn't have much time - Arthur had gone down the street to pick up bread for her, and she had only a few minutes to set everything up.

PASIV out, set up, and then she scribbled a note: Time for your challenge. Ready? Find me, and earn your reward.

By the time Arthur returned from his errand, she would be under, waiting for him to join her in the dream she'd built.

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Crossing to her side, he sank down carefully onto the grass at her side. "Might? All you are going to say is might? I nearly didn't make it."

She laughed a little, reaching out to touch his jaw. "I have to pretend to be modest, at least."

Arthur leaned into that touch, smiling slightly. "And why would you have to pretend that?"

"Well, did you expect me to say, 'yes, you're absolutely right, it's the most magnificent maze I've ever seen'?" She leaned against him a little. "It's one of the best I've done so far, though, I'll give you that."

"I agree. I would have gone with the best one you've ever made," he teased. "Though a far a mazes go, one of the best I've seen."

"Thank you," she murmured, wiggling her bare toes in the water, watching the pretty goldfish dart away. "That means a lot to me, coming from you."

"I expected to find an endless loop I couldn't beat," he admitted.

"Well," she murmured with a shrug. "Maybe... Maybe I sort of wanted you to find me. You're not a projection trying to kill me, after all."

"Good to know. I'd hate to see the sort of trap you might keep me in," he admitted. "Speaking of, how did you minimize those?" Leave it to Arthur to talk business.

Ariadne looked at him. "I don't know. I just... wanted privacy. I made it happen. It's my dream, and my subconscious."

She was a little curious at how he was acting.

After all, he'd won. He could claim his reward.

"And so you plotted against me. I could have panicked coming back and finding you gone," he noted, voice teasing as his fingers brushed the back of her hand.

"Gone? Asleep?" She smiled. "I left you the note. To make sure you would join me.

"Not that I don't enjoy being here by myself, too, though..." She hesitated, looking at his hand touching hers, then leaned over to brush their lips together, briefly.

He smiled at that. "Just saying." He didn't say why though, because he'd said he wouldn't keep bringing up Russia. He remembered that much of the night when he was drunk.

"You have to love your work," he said, leaning into the kiss.

"Yes," she murmured when the kiss broke. "I'm a little surprised, though. We're due to wake up in a few minutes, you won my challenge, and you haven't asked for your reward yet."

Arthur's hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing over her bottom lip. "I found you, didn't I? That wasn't it?"

"Flattery," she said, unable to help the blush that colored her cheeks at his words. "Do you not want anything else?"

"I've been told it will get me anywhere," he pointed out with what might have been nearly a cheeky grin. "What else could I want?"

Ariadne studied him curiously for a moment, then shrugged. "I suppose we can talk it out when -"

Her eyes opened, to the familiar sight of the ceiling in her apartment. She sat up, glancing around for Arthur.

A brow arched at that look, but then the dream was gone and he was laying there in a much more familiar place.

Without thinking he reached for the cuff, sitting up. "Ariadne?"

"Yes?" She was already taking out her own IV, carefully winding it back up into the PASIV so it could be put away safely.

He moved in behind her, touching her arm as he leaned in to kiss her temple. "You are a delight. Have I told you that recently?"

"I... I don't think in so many words, no," she murmured, then turned her head to meet his lips with hers - no longer coy, or chaste, but exploratory.

He returned the kiss, his fingers brushing the back of her neck. "What was bothering you? In the maze," he asked, voice soft and his lips still against hers.

"Nothing," she said, honestly. "You surprised me a little. Didn't bother me." She slid her arms around him, scooting closer to his warmth.

A brow arched. "Surprised you how," he asked, curious.

A challenge (for loadedparadox)

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