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]

"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.

[isnt_the_same]

"I know." He looked over and smiled at her.

[chesstotem]

"Here we are -" She led him around a corner and into a tiny little place that had a few tables, but clearly did mostly take-out business. "This place has the best curry you'll ever eat, trust me."

[isnt_the_same]

"I do," he said. "So what should we order?"

[chesstotem]

"The vindaloo is amazing, if you like it spicy," she said with a grin.

[isnt_the_same]

"Sure. Do you mind ordering for me?" He asked.

[chesstotem]

"I'll just order what I always get, then, since I usually order at least enough for three." She approached the counter and greeted the woman there by name - she was clearly a regular here - and placed her order of vindaloo curry and rice and other good things.

[isnt_the_same]

Arthur she ordered, he asked, "Are we eating here?"

[chesstotem]

"I was thinking we could take it back to my place," she said.

[isnt_the_same]

"That's fine," he said.

[chesstotem]

"And maybe we can talk shop a little?" she suggested, as the woman handed them several plastic bags with boxes of food in them.

[isnt_the_same]

He nodded and grabbed most of the bags.

[chesstotem]

"You're so gallant," she teased. "C'mon, my flat is just up the block and around the corner. We don't want the food to get cold."

Of course, she knew it wouldn't. She'd walked this way many times before.

[isnt_the_same]

"Alright."

When they got to her building and up to her place, Arthur set the bags down on the counter in the kitchen.

[chesstotem]

Ariadne promptly began divvying up the food, handing Arthur a plastic fork and napkin as well. "What do you want to drink? I have water, apple juice, some cheap wine..."

[isnt_the_same]

"Water's fine," he replied and sat down at the table with his food.

[chesstotem]

She poured them each a glass of water, and sat down across from Arthur. "Probably the best idea. This curry is pretty damn spicy," she said with a laugh.