batmanschmatman | 018 [audio]

[At first, Ariadne was a little startled by the sudden release of her hand. Her anchor had suddenly disappeared and she glanced over at him just as he wrapped his arms around her. The security she felt being so closely and securely held pushed that panic slowly from her mind. She carefully settled a hand on his back, re-anchoring herself in the reality that was the Barge. Or, as close to reality as she could get. She nodded against his chest, regaining her breath much quicker than the last time a train had torn through her walls.]

It's just a flood.

Exactly. [He gently rubbed her back, waiting for her to calm down. He was happy to stand there as long as she needed him to, happy to be doing something to help and definitely not minding the contact. It was sort of reassuring to him too.

After a moment, he risked a question. It was getting easier to figure out what was safe to say and what wasn't.] Do you need anything? Tell me what you need me to do.

[Ariadne was incredibly grateful that Dick had basically volunteered to be an anchor and for a few moments just focused on that. The train wasn't real, despite what she'd seen. It was just a flood. At the question she simply shook her head a little. This was enough, this was just fine. It was the sleeping part that had to come later that she wasn't so sure about. But he was already spending a good part of his day with her.]

I'll... [be okay? How many times had she said that already today?]

[He smiled slightly, still gently rubbing her back. It was just a flood, it'd all be over soon, and then they could get on with their lives as usual. Or, as usual as things ever got on the Barge, anyway. But until then, barring some kind of crisis or if Costigan needed more stuff for the flood induced headache, he was okay with staying here and keeping her company.]

Yeah. You'll be okay.

[Ariadne absolutely appreciated the gentle touch on her back. It was just enough to remind her that this world was real, but not harsh enough to unsettle her further. By this point, the architect was a little ready for the flood to be over. It was disrupting conversations and generally making her feel twelve different levels of crazy. Carefully, she shifted so she could stare better out at the living room. Things were mostly back to normal, the walls cementing shut and the couch knitting whole again.]

Do you... mind staying a little longer?

[Her confidence had been slowly drained by the number of trains that had plowed through her wall.]

[When she shifted to get a better look at the room, he pulled out of the hug a little, still with a hand on her back to make sure she was anchored in the here and now, but enough that she could pull away if she wanted to try and get back to normal.]

Of course not. Didn't really have anything else planned.

[The second part was almost purely teasing, while the first was sincere, if a little flippant. He didn't want to be making too big a deal out of it.]

[Ariadne didn't pull away, still staring at the living room as things became whole again. She was trying to get used to it, really, but the architect had put up a boundary between reality and dreaming and these sort of things disrupted it quite deeply.]

I can make some tea.

[But she's not moving anywhere, gaze still fixed on the room and mind focused on Dick's hand on her back.]

[Dick didn't move, still sensing her discomfort about the situation the flood was causing. He squeezed her shoulder gently.]

I can do it, if you want to take it easy.

[He nodded towards the couch, trying to suggest she sit down and get comfortable without accidentally calling the couch the Batcouch or something equally embarrassing and incriminating.]

[Ariadne hesitated before nodding, momentarily forgetting that she'd closed that kitchen door for a reason. However, once she did, she shook her head.]

I can do it.

[She carefully pulled away from him, stepping over the last remaining open tract in the floor.]

[Dick nodded, but shadowed her carefully, not wanting to wander too far or leave her alone in case she freaked out again. There was still a couple feet in between them, but he didn't sit down or wait for her to come back from the kitchen.]

[Ariadne felt Dick's presence behind her and hesitated briefly before opening the door to the kitchen. Inside was a paisley suitcase and a plain, corderoy shoulder sling bag. She felt almost positive that he could see it.]

[Dick did, in fact, notice. One of the many gifts/curses he'd picked up from Bruce was being annoyingly aware of just about anything in a room, so in case something happened or they were walking into a trap, he would be ready and prepared for just about anything. He eyed the suitcases, not exactly sure what they were doing just sitting around in the kitchen.]

Going somewhere?

[Ariadne moved over toward the stove, pulling out her kettle from underneath. She quietly filled it with water and set it on the burner as she spoke:] I packed this morning.

[The implication was that she'd packed after she heard of Hayley's involvement in a murder. She pulled out her small, small box of tea and two mugs.]

I haven't had an inmate yet last more than a few hours and I'm making a lot of mistakes already.

[Normally, she would chalk it up to a learning experience, but the murder had changed that.]

So, you're quitting.

[It was just a statement, flat and very unimpressed.

Okay, so Hayley had killed someone. So what? That wasn't her fault and to give up because you couldn't control someone else's actions was stupid. This was even different from his own crisis of purpose several months ago. He was there, he could have physically stopped Catalina from shooting Blockbuster. But he didn't. Ariadne hadn't been there when Hayley had killed Franklin, and he doubted she'd known about it in advance. There was nothing she could have done.

Besides, she was here because she'd made a deal, and the fact that she was willing to walk out on that bothered him. Sure, life here maybe wasn't what most people wanted, and he definitely sort of missed home, but he wasn't leaving. Not until his deal was finished. The fact that she was willing to walk away was practically unfathomable to the vigilante. Maybe he didn't know her that well after all.]

What about Cobb?

If I was truly convinced I wanted to quit I would have left already.

[Ariadne was very serious and somber, keeping her gaze on him as she leaned a little against the counter rather than the bags sitting next to the fridge. She was definitely here for Cobb, there was no doubt about it, but Arthur and Eames were here too and they had their work count out for them. She couldn't just abandon them when there were such crazy things going on. None of them were immune to the Barge or the things it could do to them and she meant what she said: she knew what she could and couldn't handle, she knew herself well enough to make that kind of decision. The fact that she hadn't walked out yet, to her, was a testament to her will to remain for those she was loyal to.]

I haven't had a chance to unpack them with... trains and everything.

[But he was right to ask, he was right to wonder. He didn't know that Arthur and she had basically made the same deal. She opened the box of tea and pulled out two bags, setting one in each mug.]

But it would be a lie if I said I didn't consider it very strongly.

[As she became a little more agitated, she began to speak with her hands:] It's just... there's so much.

Edited 2011-02-09 20:31 (UTC)

Is this because of what happened? That wasn't your - You couldn't have done anything about it.

[The frustration in his voice was a mixture of being annoyed with her for even considering it and annoyance that he still couldn't speak correctly without sounding ridiculous and possibly blowing his cover. Dropping Holy whatevers and tacking Bat onto the beginning of certain nouns wasn't exactly appropriate for the tone of this conversation or the subject matter.]

And you'll get assigned. Yours disappearing doesn't mean you're a - it doesn't mean anything. It happens. Pretty frequently.

Edited 2011-02-09 20:42 (UTC)

[Ariadne could hear that frustration and she clenched her jaw, allowing herself to become a sort of conduit for it. He had every right to be frustrated with her, but she kept in mind that his sentences had to be clipped because of the flood. She'd already heard the "holy" before and part of the "ba-" but hadn't made the connection yet. Still, her curiosity remained underneath her own issues.]

Ar--- [she'd been about to say that Arthur had had two disappear on him but caught herself.] Do you think it was a coincidence?

[She certainly didn't, but the architect wanted to hear his opinion first.]

Yes.

[The simple statement was firm. He meant it, and he didn't understand why she would think otherwise. Other people had made far worse mistakes then trying to figure out how to coexist with someone who shared your face and not been kicked off the Barge or had their inmate taken away.]

You wouldn't be here if you weren't supposed to be.

[Of course, this belief didn't really extend to inmates, since he still really, really wasn't sure what the hell Black Mask was doing here, or sort of Slade, or why Nygma was a warden and Harvey Dent had apparently graduated and left. Had he been a different member of the Gotham crowd - maybe someone who knew him back before Two-Face - he'd be more sympathetic, but it was hard to see good in the guy who'd tried to beat you to death with a baseball bat when you were a kid.]

[She'd heard about Narvin's nefarious activities with Una and considered Dick's words quietly. Sure, she disagreed, especially when she thought about how things could escalate from here. She had to be more careful and she needed to listen to warnings when people gave them, but that was something she'd never been really all that great at. Cobb had warned her not to build entire areas from memory and that had gotten her stabbed, she'd been warned not to tell Cobb the layouts and Fischer had been shot. Here, she'd been warned not to talk to Hayley and that had resulted, in her mind, in someone else's death on top of everything else that had gone down.

Ariadne still disagreed with Dick, though. The kettle steaming, though, broke her musings and she poured boiling water in both mugs before turning off the burner. She carefully moved toward him, offering one of them to him.]

You sound pretty sure.

[He accepted the mug, still regarding her seriously.]

I am pretty sure.

We all make... Dammit. [He sighed, brow furrowing in continued frustration with the flood.] We all screw up sometimes. Learn from it, and don't make the same one twice.

["Mistake" would have to remain implied, since Batmistake just sounded ridiculous. And he seriously did believe it. They'd all made mistakes - hell, he'd gotten an entire city flattened because he'd made the mistake of trusting that Deathstroke would keep his word that Bludhaven wouldn't be touched by the Society, but he was still here, fighting the good fight. Anything less was unacceptable.]

[Ariadne nodded, recognizing the good will and very serious intention behind his words. She didn't make a joke or anything to diminish what he said, as the architect had never been the type to. With her focus back on him and away from her own thoughts, she nodded again. The architect needed to step it up and start collaborating with more of the warden population.

She was glad that Dick was here with her.]

I won't.

Good.

[He slowly drank some of the tea and didn't elaborate further, shifting his gaze from the other warden to a random spot on the wall. He wasn't angry with her, more frustrated and sort of confused, since that sort of logic just made so little sense to him in that while he could see where quitting looked easy, he knew he'd be pretty immediately swamped in self hatred if he ever did just walk out on anything, especially this. What they were doing here was important, and he couldn't just walk away.]

[Ariadne knew what it was like to get up and walk away from something. She'd gotten up after being exposed to the most amazing thing in the world and simply left. But she couldn't stay away and she had the feeling that if she got up and walked away from the Barge, she wouldn't be able to stay away either. The longer she talked about it, the more confident she felt in staying. Things would settle down.]

Thanks.

Don't mention it.

[He managed a small smile before drinking more of his tea, still sort of contemplative and frustrated. He was usually pretty good at compartmentalizing and repressing things that bothered him - maybe too good, honestly - but thinking about why he was here and why he definitely wasn't leaving any time soon was kind of depressing, and usually weighed heavily on his mind for a while afterward if the topic came up.

After a moment, he inclined his head back towards the living room and the couch.] Want to go sit back down?

[Ariadne took some relief from the small smile that things hadn't become undone and made a mental note to unpack once he left. No need to leave the possibility lying around. She nodded quietly and moved toward the living room, sparing one hand from the mug to tuck some hair behind her ear.]

Yeah.

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