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Arthur and Ariadne are waiting inside a hotel room, waiting for Eames to return and tell them that the mark has taken the bait. Arthur knows that in the ambassador suite a floor up, there is a party, a very exclusive dress up party and the mark is one of the guests. Eames is there too, to lead the mark to them because that was the only way to get to the mark.
~~~
“Cougar.” Ariadne says with a sniff.
“What?” Arthur asks, looking up from the wad of papers in his hand.
“A cougar, love.” Eames drawls, “Don’t you know what that is?”
Arthur stiffens. What the hell was Eames talking about? Of course he knew what a cougar was. It was a type of animal, a feline if he was correct and he told him so. The look on Eames face when he answers makes Arthur want to punch Eames. All right so he was apparently wrong. No reason to rub it in.
“No, darling.” Eames says with an amused smile. “A cougar is an elderly woman who has a penchant for younger dashing men. A female version of the dirty old man, if you will.”
“And you would know, of course.” Arthur snaps. Eames gives him a look and is about to speak but Arthur has turned his attention to Ariadne.
“And how do you know that?” Arthur asks because he knows he hasn’t told them that this mark does have a penchant for younger dashing men.
With a shrug, Ariadne answers, “Well, she looks like one.”
Arthur raises a brow. He looks at the picture of the mark in one corner of the paper he has been reading from. She looked old enough to be his mother, but there was something unnatural about her features. It’s like they’d been stretched and…Arthur doesn’t know how to describe it. It was unnatural and the make-up was not helping it.
From the corner of his eye, he can see that Eames is getting ready with another of his snide remarks so Arthur immediately continues on, telling them what they need to know about the mark.
When he is done, he takes a seat beside Ariadne. Cobb stands up and begins to suggest ways to get to the mark. At first they had a little trouble with that because the mark was always at one event or another. The mark hated flying too so they couldn’t do it on a plane. The one week deadline was not helping them. If only they could find a way…Arthur then remembers that the mark is to attend an intimate party at a posh hotel. Maybe they could lure the mark away from the party?
As he is saying this, Arthur comes up with a plan to get back at Eames, that bastard.
“As we all know now that the mark is a cougar, maybe one of us can sneak into the party and lure her to a room where we’ll do the job.” He says, giving Eames a side long glance.
The first to react is Yusuf. He tries to cover a sudden spurt of laughter by coughing into his hand but he’s looking at Eames and Arthur knows that they are thinking the same thing. Seconds later Ariadne gasps and whips her head to face Eames who is now giving Arthur dagger looks.
“You shit.” Eames hisses, “I’m not cozying up to a cougar.”
“Too much for your lady killer talents, Mr. Eames?” Arthur says with touch of glee at the horrified look that is coming over Eames’ face at the thought of having to go near the mark.
“Well, we can’t have either Arthur or Yusuf to do it. They don’t have your talents.” Cobb says and Arthur thinks of giving him cookie points for having said it with a straight face. Yusuf and Ariadne are trying desperately not to laugh.
Eames turns to Yusuf and points a finger at him. “You. Better shut it now.”
But that only makes Yusuf laugh harder and he no longer bothers to hide it. As if it were some kind of infection, Ariadne starts to giggle as well while waving her hands in the air.
“I’m s-s-sorry, Eames.” She stammers in between giggles, “I j-just…h-h-had an image of you t-t-trying to seduce the mark.”
Eames looks ready to commit murder but Cobb stands up and walks up to him. “Look. Think of it as a compliment to your good looks and talent, okay? None of us guys have what it takes.”
Again, Arthur wants to give an award to Cobb for not cracking up. Then Cobb turns away from Eames and Arthur sees Cobb bite his lips to stop from laughing. Arthur snickers softly and pretends to read his notes.
Eames buries his face in his hands for a few seconds then looks up with resignation. “All right. All right. Since you put it that way.” He turns to Arthur, “So what kind of party is this, love?”
Arthur flips through the sheets of papers and answers, “A costume party. You’ll have to have a good disguise to lure the mark.”
Just then, Ariadne shrieks with laughter and nearly falls off the stool she is sitting on.
~~~
There is a knock on the door. Ariadne and Arthur look up from the PASIV unit they are setting up. Ariadne glances at him and mouths “You open it.” He looks at the door and then at his watch. Well, Eames must have a very convincing costume if he’s returned only after forty-five minutes.
He walks towards the door, opens it and instantly realizes that he is not prepared for what he sees there. It was Eames all right and Arthur can see just how effective his costume is.
It all begins with Eames’ unclothed torso.
Arthur is instantly drawn to his toned abdomen. He wonders what kind of costume would consist of tuxedo pants and a bare torso when he is drawn to the huge bunny ears on Eames head. His eyes widen a little as he tries to piece it all together.
No wonder the mark fell for Eames in just a little over half an hour…
Maybe the mark had no chance to resist at all, not with this get-up, Arthur thinks then immediately shakes himself mentally, reminding himself that Eames was a bastard and deserved this.
“Well, I appreciate your appreciative study of me, darling, but may I come in?” Eames says in a slightly strained voice.
Arthur steps aside and lets Eames through. He is surprised to see that the costume is complete with a ball of fluff sewn to the waistband of the pants.
Eames has a fluffy bunny tail, Arthur thinks and he can’t help smiling.
When Ariadne sees Eames, she whistles and then frowns, “You’re wearing long pants.”
“My dignity, darling, couldn’t make them any shorter.” Eames says as he yanks the bunny ears into a better position on his head.
As Ariadne sniggers, Eames sits on the bed with a heavy sigh, one that cuts through Arthur’s heart and makes him think that he should stop jabbing Eames now because he’s already had his fun and Eames is clearly not liking any of this.
He walks over to Eames and strokes one ear. Eames looks up at him and the despondent look he had been wearing suddenly changes into one that Arthur can’t quite describe.
“Liking this bunny, love?” Eames asks in a voice that Arthur can only describe as a bedroom voice and it makes him wonder why Eames is using it. On him.
“Not really.” Arthur answers, hoping his poker face was in place, “I like Holland Lops more.”
“Holland Lops?” Eames is smiling.
“Yes, Holland Lops.” Arthur stops stroking the ear and looks at Eames.
They stare at each other until Ariadne clears her throat. Eames is the first to look away and Arthur can’t understand why there is, all of a sudden, a small twinge of hurt in his chest. Just then, there is a knock on the door and Eames whispers, in a slightly panicked voice, that it must be the mark.
Ariadne and Arthur make their way to the bathroom as Eames goes to open the door. When Arthur shuts the bathroom door, Ariadne pokes him arm.
“Are you sure you want the cougar along with your bunny?” She asks.
He gives her a sharp look, “We’re working.”
Ariadne counters by giving him a look that says “You could have fooled me.”
~~~
Two days after that job with the cougar mark, Arthur goes to their make shift office to collect his things when he finds a cage with a white Holland Lop sleeping in it. Beside the cage is an envelope with his name scrawled on it.
He rips open the envelope and reads the note.
Darling,
Something to remember me by until we work together again.
Although…you are free to call me any time you want the real thing.
You’ll always know where to find me.
There is no name at the bottom but Arthur doesn’t have to guess who it is. He glances at the bunny and smiles. He’s not sure where Eames is going with this but he appreciates the gesture. He stuffs the note into his jacket pocket, picks up his bags and the cage and leaves the warehouse.