A/A - "Let's play a game..."
She groaned. “Please tell me this isn’t some sort of roundabout way for you to educate me. Just give me the information and let us move on, if that’s the case.”
They were in her apartment. In many ways, it had become theirs, because it was where he now stayed whenever he was in Paris, and he was in the City of Light rather often as of late. It was a Saturday morning, and she was drinking coffee as she sketched, Arthur seated across from her, busy reading the paper. Or, so she had thought. Apparently he was occupied with making plans, instead.
A smile tugged at the edges of his lips, and she wasn’t sure whether it was because she was being ridiculous or because he found her tone of distress endearing somehow.
"Don’t worry, I’m not going to teach you anything. Though the game I have in mind is still mentally-based, so I cannot guarantee all of your brain cells will get to rest," he nodded apologetically.
With a sigh, she closed her sketchbook and placed it on the coffee table beside her mug. Straightening up, Ariadne eyed him curiously for a minute. “Alright. What do you have in mind?”
Letting out a noise that implied she wasn’t getting the answer just yet, he rose from his seat and started toward the kitchen. “You don’t get answers that easily. Go get dressed and then I’ll give you more information.”
Ariadne stuck out her bottom lip in an attempt to pout at him, but she was too lighthearted about it, and he held firm in his decision. Reluctantly, though still driven by curiosity, she let her shoulders drop and stood, heading off to her bedroom.
She called out from the other room, “do you know where we’re going?”
"Yes," he was humoring her, since she knew he didn’t care much for yelling through walls.
"Are corduroys acceptable?"
"Yep." Probably another way of saying, I know you want to wear them and you’ll be huffy about not being able to do so if I say otherwise, so I’m very glad I have no reason to do that.
Once she was dressed, Ariadne made her way through the little space, only to find that Arthur was busy putting their plates and mugs into the dishwasher. Organization had always been of great importance to him.
She leaned against the counter and looked over at him, crossing her arms. “So. What is this game you apparently got me to agree to?”
When their gazes met, she could tell he seemed quite pleased with himself, which simply piqued her interest even more. “A scavenger hunt.”
Ariadne’s eyebrows went up for a moment. The last time she had done a proper scavenger hunt, she was pretty sure she was in middle school. Surely he’d have them doing more than digging up the school playground, but it still seemed rather odd of a request. “What are we going to do? Go find the oldest building? Look for the giant landmark? Discover a park or fifteen?” She stopped after a moment, knowing better than to go on amusing herself when he probably had an actual idea.
"I was thinking of something a little more advanced than that." His lips continued to twitch into that knowing little smirk that left her guessing. Though, right now, it caused her to incline her head even more skeptically as he closed the dishwasher and went to grab his jacket form the coat rack. "Don’t look at me as if I’m speaking gibberish. I thought you were supposed to be the mistress of the labyrinth or something to that extent."
Her gaze turned rather murderous, but when she rounded on him, it was clear she wasn’t truly angry. Arthur had said it on purpose since he knew that, while she had no issues with her namesake, and held some similarities to the mythological woman, the architect felt that the comments about her name got old when she was about fifteen. “I’m going to get you for that.” Even as she said it, she went to grab her own jacket and stick her arms in properly.
Opening the door, she looked over her shoulder. “Come on, Dionysus. This may be your game, but the mazes don’t have all day.” She flashed him a cheeky grin, watching as understanding registered on his face.
Soon enough, they were out the door and had left her apartment complex. Upon arriving at the bottom, however, she realized that she couldn’t go anywhere since she didn’t know what to look for, and so he maintained the upper hand, despite her earlier impatience.
"What are we looking for?"
Arthur shook his head and pulled out a notecard, handing it to her.
"A riddle? Seriously? I’m not a sphinx."
"Just read it," he was smiling.
She sighed, nodding. In fact, Ariadne had already done so. But she hadn’t read it carefully, nor had she understood what it meant, so she glanced back down and read it once more.
A hint was better than nothing at all, but it was still just a hint, and so she didn’t know exactly what to look for or where to go. After a few moments, an idea struck her, and she thought of a place somewhat near the architecture school from which she had now graduated. It was a café where she sometimes went if she had a large break between classes, and she remembered Arthur popping up there on a few occasions to surprise her.
They made it there and she turned around to face him, looking at him hopefully. “Did I get it right?” He nodded and she grinned, raising her arms victoriously. “Do I get a reward?”
"Something like that," he smiled. "Look around."
She frowned, but still seemed pleased. “I have to work to figure out the place and to find the next hint?”
"Mhmmm," Arthur seemed thoroughly entertained with the whole concept. He was probably patting himself on the back in his head or something.
It took some snooping, but finally, she found another notecard, this one placed on her usual seat when she used to frequent the place. The next riddle was a little more involved, though after some frustrated thinking, she knew what it was and led the way to a restaurant. She figured if she was totally off, Arthur would redirect her before she traipsed through too many arrondissements without needing to do so.
When they arrived at the restaurant where they went on their first official date, she looked down at herself. It was a very formal restaurant, and she was clad in casual wear Hers, unlike Arthur’s, was clearly not passable for anything dressy.
"Did I get the place right?" He nodded. "But I can’t go in like this."
For some reason, he didn’t seem to care much, instead just smiling at her confusion. Damn man. She never understood what went through his mind.
Suddenly there was a tap on her shoulder, and she whirled around with a faint gasp. The doorman was standing before her, and she eyed him curiously. “Ariadne?”
"This is for you," he held out a card and she thanked him. When she turned around to ask Arthur what this was all about, she found that he was no longer there. What kind of games was he playing now?
With a frustrated huff, she accepted the fact that he had, in fact, left her, rather than just gone off to the bathroom or something of the sort. Did this mean she was supposed to roam the streets of Paris all on her own with notecards and incredibly well-written riddles as her only guide?
The next riddle had her stuck for a moment, and she tried to think about where she’d gone so far. It wasn’t until later that she would realize he only had her stop at the café so she could get to the restaurant without seeing the bridge. Arthur knew she still hated that bridge, even if it had been years since Mal’s projection had stabbed her there. But for now, her mind was solely on the riddle.
Their first date was here. Could the riddle relate to their second? No, that didn’t seem to be the case. What about their third? The one where they had gotten it just right.
But nothing in the riddle seemed to relate to the museum… The bakery. Where they had stopped to pick up a little cake before heading to her apartment. Ariadne took off quickly, not wanting to waste time. Her thoughts resembled something similar to a mixture of curses and words of congratulations for the clever point man.
The woman in the bakery greeted Ariadne with a smile. She liked the place and had returned on several occasions, and so her face was familiar. “There’s someone in the restroom. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a minute.”
Ariadne looked up in confusion, about to tell the woman that she didn’t have to use the bathroom, before comprehension dawned on her and she smiled. “Thanks.” Quickly, she made her way over to the little bathroom door, where she found the nice picture frame that rested on it had a notecard peeking out. Of course Arthur would put it there. She remembered making a remark to him about the photograph, and, without fail, he had managed to keep note of that detail, as well.
The next riddle was in the form of a poem. Sine when did Arthur write poetry?
He didn’t. It wasn’t his, but a famous work. Not a well known one, which is what still made it a thought-provoking hint like the rest.
And she pieced it together. The afternoon he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Earlier in the day, they had gone to his preferred park and she had read aloud from the book of poems her mother had sent her, laughing at a few that she didn’t understand.
That park was in a different arrondissement, but she figured if she booked it, she would still have some time. Taking a cab seemed like a waste of the point of exploring right now, in Ariadne’s opinion.
Sure enough, placed under a rock on top of the bench where she had explained her lack of comprehension at the poetry, there was a notecard.
Picking it up, she read rapidly and tried to decipher the message. Something about the color red? That wasn’t helpful; Ariadne’s favorite color was red.
The red thread. This was the second time today he’d referenced her namesake.
But her name was Ariadne and her favorite color was red, and that wasn’t news. So what did the red thread have to do with anything?
Suddenly, she thought she had an idea, and she bit her lip, turning a little pink as she set off to figure out if she was right.
As it turned out, she was. The gift had been a spontaneous one, but it made for an important memory for two reasons. While there were plenty of reasons worth reminiscing, but those that appeared most significant were that she had donned this gift (which, to put things simply, was a very nice set of undergarments) on their four month anniversary, and that it was the next day they had revealed to the rest of the team that they were a couple.
It proved a relief when the note was stuck to the door like a ‘will return later’ sign, preventing her from having to enter the shop. Now didn’t exactly seem like the time to roam around the various shelves and racks of nice fabrics.
When the riddle there mentioned accidents, it didn’t take her long to know what he was inferring. The timing was switched, since this incident had come before the sporting of any gifts from the store which she had just visited, but she suspected it was last because of how important it was. Arthur was always very purposeful in his actions, so there was no way this could be unintentional.
They had gone to stay in a hotel for a night, despite its closeness to her residence, because the idea was fun and they were more spontaneous than anyone might guess. Yet even they couldn’t have predicted that their slight disagreement as they dressed for dinner would lead to Ariadne admitting to being in love with him. Or that he would tell her he felt the same.
Entering George V, she felt out of place, but she ignored the informal look of her scarf and jacket and made her way over to the concierge desk. She was attempting to hold back a chuckle when the lady behind the desk noticed her and held up a notecard. “De rien,” she smiled before turning away and moving to pause in the lobby to read the hint.
The next notecard was the most confusing. On it was an address. Her address.
Was this Arthur’s idea of a joke? He had just sent her all around Paris, fueled solely by riddles and nostalgia, and abandoned her partway, just to guide her back to her apartment? Sure, it had been fun, but this seemed odd.
When she made it to her door, she saw a notecard on the floor in front of the door. Had she really just come up here, only to be redirected? Picking it up, she saw that there was not a riddle, but instructions.
Ready to figure out what the heck he was up to, she unlocked the door and went inside, placing down the notecards she’d collected thus far on the little stand below her coat rack, and keeping the latest one in hand. Doing as it said, she wound her way through the apartment (small, but still a much nicer size than the tiny one she lived in while she was a student).
Taped to her bedroom door, which was suspiciously closed since she never left it that day, was another notecard, wishing her a happy early birthday. Her birthday wasn’t until next week, so she didn’t know what was happening.
Upon opening the door, she didn’t see Arthur, and she didn’t have time to look for another note. Instead, she was distracted by a sudden scurrying at her feet.
A puppy. He had gotten her a puppy.
Ariadne didn’t even attempt to contain her squeal, bending down and getting on her knees to scoop the little animal into her arms. He was adorable and tiny, and she was pretty sure she would never let go of him. The fact that he started to lick her face didn’t help redirect that decision in the least
Hearing laughter behind her, she looked up to see Arthur now leaning in her doorway, a smile on his face.
"You-" she wanted to say something but the puppy was squirming and nuzzling her and it was distracting and way too cute.
Lowering himself down onto the floor beside her, he looked over at the architect and her new pet. “Was it worth the brain power?”
"Absolutely." She was fairly convinced she would never stop smiling, especially knowing how their talk of moving in together and her large desire for a puppy didn’t normally mix together. Now she had a puppy, and Arthur was still here, as happy as ever. "Though I may have skipped memory lane if I had this little guy ahead of time."
He chuckled, “oh I know.” It was true, he knew her well, and she would have gotten too excited to go anywhere or do anything if she knew she was getting a puppy soon.
"Thank you," she smiled, leaning over and kissing him briefly, before once again having her attention stolen by the animal in her arms.
But before either of them could say anything else, the puppy decided to wiggle its way over to Arthur’s lap and then hop off and flop excitedly in front of them, effectively keeping the two occupied and smiling for the rest of the evening.
