for isnt_the_same

[chesstotem]

The only good thing about being in Paris, and away from Arthur for a while, was the easy ability Ariadne had to report back to her bosses with what information she had so far.

It was also a bit of a relief to know that they didn't really have any intention of prosecuting Arthur, or anyone else from the Fischer job - at this point, her bosses were sniffing out something much bigger, and just wanted her to use them to get closer to whatever the bigger operation was, to figure out who was behind it.

She suspected it was something much worse than anything Arthur would be willing to do.

Still, aside from the regular calls to her bosses, it was exactly as boring and depressing as she'd known it would be, having to pretend to be a student again, attend classes without even the hope of Arthur on the phone in the evenings. She walked to the college most days, went to a couple of classes, walked back to her messy little apartment in the late afternoon or evening. Ate takeout for dinner, because she could barely cook for herself. At night, she would touch herself, remembering how Arthur felt on top of her, inside her.

The next day, she did it all again.

Comments

[chesstotem]

"Or would Thai be better?" She wasn't really familiar with the good expensive, high-class restaurants in Paris, so she figured she'd take him to a small local place with really good ethnic food.

[isnt_the_same]

"Any's fine, Ariadne. Just pick something," he said with a small smile.

[chesstotem]

"I just want to make sure it's something you'll like," she said, leaning in to give him a kiss. "Gotta get ready for class."

[isnt_the_same]

"I'm up for anything."

He kissed her in return.

[chesstotem]

"Okay. I guess I'll see you at four, then," she murmured, and went to get ready - she had to take a shower, herself, dry her hair, get dressed, then walk to campus.

She knew Arthur prided himself on being very good at what he did, so she didn't cut any corners - she attended class, and acted the perfect little grad student, taking notes and everything, just in case Arthur had eyes on her.

At four, she left the architecture building and started scanning around for Arthur.

[isnt_the_same]

While she was in class, Arthur met with some contacts just to keep up with any news and/or rumors as well as any jobs that might need a point and architect.

When it was four in the afternoon, Arthur arrived at the university. It didn't take long for him to spot her despite her short stature. "Hello," he said as she came up to her, hands tucked into his pants pockets.

[chesstotem]

"Hi," she greeted him with a smile, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I hope you didn't do anything too exciting while I was in class."

[isnt_the_same]

"No, I didn't," he replied, smiling a little at the kiss. "So where to?" Arthur asked, offering his elbow to her.

[chesstotem]

"I decided on Indian. It's actually closer to my apartment - I usually walk, though it'll take a little while."

[isnt_the_same]

"That's fine," he said.

[chesstotem]

"Good. I'm still basically living like a poor college student," she said with a laugh.

[isnt_the_same]

"You know you don't have to," he pointed out. The money they got from the Fischer job was a lot, after all.

[chesstotem]

"I know. But I'm not really sure what to do with it, aside from paying off my debts."

[isnt_the_same]

"You could always invest it." He himself had some of his money in the stock market.

[chesstotem]

"I dunno. I don't really want to take risks with it or anything like that."

[isnt_the_same]

He nodded thoughtfully. "That's acceptable, too"

[chesstotem]

"I guess I'll just keep it stored away in savings for now," she said with a shrug. "There's not anything I need, or even particularly want with it. Save it for a rainy day I guess. Give some to charity, maybe, to offset any bad karma?"

[isnt_the_same]

"Bad karma?" He questioned with a laugh.

[chesstotem]

"Yeah, you know..." She shrugged. "You know what we did. Sure, it turned out okay, but it can't hurt to do a little good in the world, can it?"

[isnt_the_same]

"I suppose not," he mused aloud.

[chesstotem]

She gave his hand a squeeze. "I promise, I'm not going soft on you or anything like that."

[isnt_the_same]

"Good, I was afraid that might happen," he said with a laugh.

[chesstotem]

"You know it never would," she insisted, grinning.

[isnt_the_same]

"Yeah, yeah." Arthur shook his head.

[chesstotem]

"I'd never want to disappoint you like that," she pointed out, rather honestly.