[Meatball Parade on loop for 10 hours]

[falsify]

Catchall for Eames to keep clutter to a minimum! As always, PM or PP to chat it up, or just throw a starter down I'm probably amenable.

Comments

[specifiercity]

"It's not--" he stops himself, wondering where he was planning on having that sentence going. It's not all of a sudden? That implies he's been thinking about it, which he definitely has not. Not on purpose.

"I'm not," he says, a little too annoyed and abrupt to be completely convincing. He's angry at himself for asking so many questions to begin with, and now he has to deal with the result of that.

[falsify]

Sure he's not, that's why he's asked so many questions. That's why he's been so obviously invested in the things Eames has to say.

"It's not...?" Eames prompts, not letting Arthur get away from this.

[specifiercity]

He's not going to acknowledge that, because it was a dumb thought to begin with, so Arthur just shrugs a little instead and finally turns to look at Eames. It's a brief look, like he's nervous that if he looks too long or too closely he might actually figure out why he's feeling so defensive.

"What, am I not allowed to be interested?"

[falsify]

"You're allowed to be interested," he says, and he looks from the window to Arthur with his eyebrows raised for emphasis before he turns his gaze back outside, "but given it's my life you're poking around in, I think I'm allowed to ask why."

[specifiercity]

"You didn't have to answer," he says impatiently, shifting in his seat. He wants to do anything but talk about why he's interested or what he's interested in. There's a jumble of thoughts he hasn't been able to sort out and doesn't want to and he's trapped in this stupid car with Eames now and why won't that fucking witch come out of the fucking building.

[falsify]

"And you're dodging the question."

He's not about to let Arthur bait him into a fight to get away from this. It'd be easy and Eames isn't falling for it, not when Arthur's so obviously reticent to explain away something Eames was originally ready to brush off as idle curiosity.

[specifiercity]

Arthur takes a deep breath, trying to sort out his thoughts enough so he can confidently tell Eames something without horribly embarrassing himself. He stares at the building and at the witch's car to stabilize himself and let go of some of the tension in his body.

"I was just curious," he says. "I don't know why I wanted to know, I just did. I don't have any ulterior motives here, Eames."

[falsify]

"Okay, fine." Eames relents, slouching in his seat with a heavy sigh, "that's all you had to say."

[specifiercity]

Arthur clenches his jaw and sighs. "I'm sorry," he says, sounding tired. He feels compelled to apologize, not just to placate Eames but to clear his own conscience. He feels like he's done something wrong.

[falsify]

"It's fine," Eames says, hefting another sigh. "It's not like I was compelled to answer your questions. "

[specifiercity]

That gives Arthur pause, and his eyebrows twitch as he replays that back to himself in his head.

"So why did you?"

[falsify]

"Not like I could lie about it, is it?"

You know, what with the whole 'cannot tell a lie' thing he's subject to an all that.

[specifiercity]

"You could have just said you didn't want to talk about it," he says.

[falsify]

Eames shrugs a shoulder in response, totally nonchalant, "I didn't really mind."

[specifiercity]

Arthur's in the process of trying to think about how to respond to that when he sees the door to the building open and the witch walks out. He looks down at his watch as he grabs his pen and his notebook so he can jot down the time.

"Time to go," he says.

[falsify]

Eames watches as she gets into her car, hoping for something unusual or untoward, but it's mostly the standard things one does when starting their car. And then someone comes out and joins her and he figures that's it for tonight unless either of them have a pair of binoculars handy.

Either way, it's probably a fair assumption where the rest of her night is going.

"I think we've got all we're going to," he sighs, agreeing with Arthur.

[specifiercity]

Arthur turns the key in the ignition and starts the car with a sigh.

"You want me to take you home?"

[falsify]

"Oh-- Such a gentleman," Eames teases with a grin tugging at his lips, "please. Thank you."