fete au Paris (open, dreamscapes!verse)

[chesstotem]

Time might work differently in dreams, but it was even weirder when an event both anticipated and feared was approaching. The past week or so had occasionally felt to Ariadne like it was speeding along at a breakneck pace towards a barrier, while at the same time crawling up a tall mountain.

And then, almost as soon as it arrived, it was over. Her thesis defense was successful, and the following afternoon she and two of Miles's other students received their degrees.

The mistress of labyrinths was now a master of architecture.

Miles knew how to throw a party. The entire upper floor of a trendy Paris restaurant had been rented out for the occasion - there was lots of food, and even more champagne, to toast Ariadne and her two classmates.

Lots of people were invited, of course, but there were a few in particular Ariadne was especially excited to see. Not that she was waiting, or anything. She was already on her second glass of champagne.

[Okay, this is mostly for dreamscape!verse folks, but anyone else who might reasonably be expected to be invited is welcome, as well as potential party-crashers! Threadhopping is not only encouraged, it is essentially mandatory, so have at it!]

Comments

[seestheglimmer.livejournal.com]

The instant Olivia walked in to the party, she felt a little out of place at such an upscale establishment (never mind the fact that she would barely know any of the party attendants). But considering she had told the FBI she was going to Paris to attend the graduation of a family friend, she figured she should probably at least make a quick appearance before heading back to Boston. They did have a cover story to uphold. And honestly, she did also want to congratulate Ariadne.

So she dug out the little black dress and heels she had packed (which had previously been collecting dust in the back of her closet in Brighton) and tried to make herself as polished as possible. She wasn't quite sure if she was up to Paris standards, but she didn't think she looked too bad either.

She took a glass of champagne off a tray as she scanned the crowd for Ariadne and idly wondered if Cobb and Arthur would also be in attendance or if that would be too conspicuous.

[thesecurity.livejournal.com]

It was definitely too conspicuous, only that sort of thing had never stopped them before. Cobb was Miles' son-in-law and an architect, Arthur his business partner.

Legitimate enough for government work, as they say.

Arthur took a champagne glass but held it rather than drinking; it was awkward, being here. He didn't know half the people himself, friends Ariadne had collected in Paris--a life that she had collected in Paris--that he knew nothing about despite what they were letting start between them. Arthur wasn't the type of person to ever feel old (he wasn't even quite thirty yet) but considering the possibility of meeting Ariadne's family and friends in some general future made his palms slightly damp for reasons he wasn't about to try and deconstruct. Arthur liked what he knew. This was not what he knew.

Which was probably how he ended up fading into the background, watching rather than interacting, untouched drink in hand until a familiar blonde head raised his eyebrows.

"Agent Dunham."

[seestheglimmer.livejournal.com]

She had been sipping her champagne and people watching when she heard the somewhat familiar voice behind her. She turned around and gave a small smile when she saw the, as always, impeccably dressed Arthur with his own glass of champagne, looking as uncomfortable as she felt.

"I thought I told you to call me Olivia," she said, teasingly.

[thesecurity.livejournal.com]

Arthur's lips pressed into a shallow smile, half an apology. "You did, I'm sorry." He stepped up to her side but kept one eye fleetingly on the crowd around them. The impression of his attention was on her, however. "I didn't expect to see you here."

[seestheglimmer.livejournal.com]

"I guess I could say the same for you," she said. She took a sip of her champagne and scanned the crowd herself. "Since Ariadne's supposed to be a friend of the family, I'm doing what I would do if she actually were. Besides, how could I possibly resist drinking alone in a crowd of French-speaking strangers?" She looked back at Arthur and smiled.

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

Ariadne had needed to mention Olivia for Eames to notice her. That was the first problem. The second was that Arthur had found a less than loyal FBI agent rather than called him for the job that she was doing. The fact that it was Olivia of all people was not in the top ten problems. More in the top fifteen.

"You look lovely, Olivia." He said over her shoulder, attempting to catch her by surprise.

[seestheglimmer.livejournal.com]

And catch her by surprise he did. She turned around with a somewhat startled expression. Out of the short list of people she expected to see at this party that she knew, he was certainly not one of them.

"Wha..." she started to ask with a confused look, until quickly something dawned on her and her face changed to that of understanding and a little amusement. "Mr. E, I presume?" she asked, remembering the mysterious other teammate who Ariadne had been hesitant to reveal. Of all the thieves in all the world... she thought to herself. This was just her luck.

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

He chuckled, raising his eyebrows at her in confirmation. "Can't say that I ever expected to see you here. The company that Ariadne keeps, someone should keep tabs of that,"

[seestheglimmer.livejournal.com]

"I could say the same about you, but your connection to those with questionable morals isn't really a surprise" she countered. "But if you're worried about Ariadne's associations, you'll have to take it up with Mr. Cobb."

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

It took everything Eames had not to text Ariadne to come to a bar on the other side of town after her grand fete so he could toast to her in the comfort of his own scenery. It really did. But it was hardly a secret in their circles that Eames prefer ed to work with Cobb and Arthur, so any association between himself and Ariadne was hardly a bad one. He hadn't gone to the graduation itself, after all, so he could show up here.

He took a glass of champagne from one of the waitresses with a smile and a 'merci', leaning against the wall and looking around. He had dressed nicely for the occasion, shaved too. Eames wasn't an idiot, he knew how to fit in so that no one suspected that he was a party crasher. The suit might not have been perfectly tailored to a certain point man's specifications, but this wasn't about Arthur was it? No, this was entirely about their mistress of labyrinths.

[chesstotem]

There were a lot of people, many of whom Ariadne knew only fleetingly, or not at all. It was okay, though, because it was done and now she could relax with some more of this lovely champagne. So she was a little flushed when she broke away from the crowd and spotted a familiar figure leaning against a wall.

"Fancy seeing you here," she said, unable to stop herself from cracking a grin at Eames. "And no paisley in sight."

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

Eames gave her one of his trademark little-smiles, nodding in acknowledgment and taking a sip of the champagne. Good stuff, but then again this was Paris. Even the two euro garbage was good stuff, comparitively. "It seemed I was unlucky enough to find a Versace store that was entirely sold out of everything paisley." He joked, continuing to look around. "I take it the ceremony went well."

[chesstotem]

She laughed. "Well enough. I got that little piece of paper with my name on it, so I guess they decided to cut me loose. I didn't want to give them any more money, anyway." Not that she didn't have plenty of that, now. She followed Eames' gaze, spotting Miles regaling a few people with what was likely to be a story about James and Phillipa's latest Lego masterpiece. "Sacramento is going to be very different."

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

He nodded, taking another sip of his champagne and looking back at Ariadne. "Sacremento's boring, but there are always ways to make the best out of wherever you are. A capital city like that one isn't going to have the best young nightlife, but the best bars are always the ones nearest to the government buildings and those farthest."

[thesecurity.livejournal.com]

Arthur would have agreed on the last point.

He leaned back against the wall next to Eames, his own--mostly untouched--drink in hand. Ariadne had said that the Forger would, might, show, though Arthur couldn't say that he'd believed it until he'd seen it for himself. "It will never cease to amaze me how you dumb down your French to get a reaction from people." Arthur finally looked over at Eames, raising an eyebrow. "You shaved."

And yes, he did sound vaguely surprised.

[perfectforgery.livejournal.com]

"It serves my purposes in ways you wouldn't understand," Eames answered, not looking directly at Arthur yet. No, his eyes are on the nearest waitress, and when she gets close enough he leaves his glass on her tray and takes another with a smile and another 'merci'.

"And I do, contrary to popular belief, shave frequently. Not regularly, but frequently." He commented as he took a sup of his drink, still watching the crowd.

[thesecurity.livejournal.com]

"I'd say it serves the same purpose that shaving once every two weeks does," Arthur said, pulling absently down on his cuffs before crossing his arms over his chest, careful with the glass in hand. The words were an actual obversation, not a slight, but Arthur didn't follow the thread of conversation further. "I'm a little surprised to see you here." Glad--for Ariadne's sake, of course--but surprised.

[halfforgotten.livejournal.com]

Dom was a little behind schedule. But that was only to be expected when his first responsibility was to two rambunctious children. They were not happy with the idea of both Papa and Dad being at a function they couldn't attend. In the end, he promised them a whole day in return for good behavior. He was sure he was getting the better end of that deal.

Wrapped package in tow, stepping into the party was almost like stepping back into his old life all over again. This was not the first Miles' soiree and he could even remember his own so similar, though perhaps not at as trendy of a place. Dom was lost momentarily, just taking in the atmosphere.

[chesstotem]

Ariadne had been watching for him, of course. She wasn't a bit surprised when he was late, not after meeting the two little balls of energy that were his kids the other day - she knew they would put up a hearty fight.

So when she spotted him, Ariadne dropped what she was doing (just a boring conversation with a couple of classmates about Roman aqueducts) and crossed the room to greet him.

"You didn't have to get me a gift, you know," she said with a grin.

[halfforgotten.livejournal.com]

He offered the package first. Pleased to see her, the other day had been quite fun, for the kids as well as himself.

"Of course I didn't have to, but I couldn't resist." Dom smiled warmly. "You know, of all the things you proved to be good at, I think finishing this impressed me most."

[chesstotem]

"Really?" She tilted her head at him, taking the offered package. "I did, you know, think about just... dropping out. I could've stayed in L.A., or gone to New York or something, because, god, after all that..." She didn't have to say any more about 'all that', because Dom knew as well as she did, better than anyone, what it had been like, what they'd been through. What they'd shared.

"But that's just not who I am. I love the dreams, and I'm grateful you led me to that, but I also learned to stay close to what's real."

Okay if kids crash? :)

[cobbette.livejournal.com]

Dressing up was the best!

Phillipa Cobb twirled around the guests in the room, feeling like a princess (or, she reminded herself, a spy pretending to be a princess) in her new poofy dress of white cotton and embroidered purple flowers. There was even a big purple bow on the front! But the best part, the very best, was that Grandmom had let her put on a little bit of Mom's old perfume. If she had been only a little older when it happened, Phillipa might have remembered those times she stole into her parent's room and dug through her mom's belongings, coming out clomping in heels and swimming around in yards of silk and lace. She might have also remembered her mom's laughter whenever she had.

The girl was on a very VERY important mission. Phillipa Cobb, master spy, sometimes ninja, keeper of super secretive secrets!

Then she saw Ariadne and she bolted off in her direction, slipping through groups of legs. "Adnee!"

Sure!

[chesstotem]

Ariadne turned and smiled, bracing herself for the hug that was sure to follow. "Hey, kiddo. You look beautiful."

[cobbette.livejournal.com]

Indeed, a hug did follow. Phillipa launched herself at the woman, her tiny body providing a surprising amount of force as she wrapped herself around Ariadne's legs. "YOU look beautiful. Congratulations!" She had been told that Ariadne should be congratulated, she had did something really hard and had been in school forever to do it.

[chesstotem]

"Oof. Thanks, Phillipa." Ariadne was feeling rather beautiful, truth be told, though she wouldn't tell the young girl that it was as much because of the champagne as it was the swishy skirt she had on. "Now I get to build things like your dad does, for real."