"Aren't we?" he says, for once wondering why the idea of friendship is so taboo. He doesn't consider Eames a friend. He considers him many things other than friend, but maybe all those things add up to something like a friend, and either way Arthur doesn't want him to die on more than just a political level. Surely, it would be bad in this climate for the Lord of Autumn to die, but more than that Arthur would prefer that Eames didn't die.