019 - sorry for the srs bzns, ros

[cauchemal]

[Private to Arthur. Mal's been going over some of her private notes and just realised that Arthur told her that his last job pre-Barge was an inception. And now she wants answers.]

I need to talk to you. As soon as possible.

Comments

private

[paradoxlol]

What's wrong?

private

[cauchemal]

I'd rather tell you in person.

private

[paradoxlol]

[You are going to shoot him in the kneecap again :c]

Sure. Just name the time and place.

private

[cauchemal]

[No she's not. though she might kick him]

Your room, after lunch?

private

[paradoxlol]

Alright, see you then.

spam

[cauchemal]

[And at the appointed time, there's a knock at your door, Arthur.]

spam

[paradoxlol]

[And Arthur answers. Thankfully, his apartment's looking as clean as ever, and there's no sign of a teenage boy destroying inhabiting it for a few days.] Mal. [He offers a slight smile and lets her in.] What's this about?

spam

[cauchemal]

[She doesn't say anything until she's stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She goes just enough steps into the apartment such that this clearly isn't a quick speak-and-run, but she's also plainly unwilling to make herself too comfortable. She folds her arms and looks up at Arthur, steadily.]

Inception.

spam

[paradoxlol]

[Crap. Honestly, Arthur had forgotten that he'd even mentioned it to Mal-- it was right after she arrived, and so brief a mention that it didn't stick with him. He'd only said the word "inception," and they both thought it wasn't possible, so that was the end of that. Now that they knew just how possible it was, what it was capable of doing to people, Arthur had avoided the topic entirely, keeping the details of the Fischer job completely under wraps. After Mal... and after what the nanomites did to Perry and the others, inception's the last thing he wants to talk about. His jaw tightens slightly, but he keeps his voice neutral.]

What about it?

spam

[cauchemal]

That's what you were working on before you came here, wasn't it? That's what you said. Or am I misremembering?

spam

[paradoxlol]

[Arthur's expression remains tight, and he nods. There's no point in trying to hide it from Mal-- even if it's not on the network somewhere, there are too many people involved in the Fischer job on the Barge. The truth has a way of getting out here.]

I didn't think it was possible. Cobb said it was, and the client offered a deal he couldn't pass up. [He's almost tempted to add that he kept trying to get Cobb to walk away from the deal with Saito, but that would just be passing the blame. It's not his style, not when he did willingly go along with it.]

spam

[cauchemal]

You didn't- [Her voice breaks a little here, but she takes a quick breath and forces herself to continue.] You didn't ask him how he knew, did you? [She swallows.] Would you have gone on with it, if he'd told you?

spam

[paradoxlol]

No, Mal, I did. But every time I asked, he wouldn't tell me. I just went along with it. Because it was new, something I hadn't explored before... and because I wanted to help him. [And the money was a plus, but Arthur was never in it for the money, only the experience. He hesitates, a flicker of guilt crossing his expression.]

I don't know. [It would've been a lie to say he wouldn't have helped Cobb.] You have to understand, he-- after you... He was the top suspect. He had to leave the country; he hasn't even seen the kids since...

[Arthur runs a hand through his hair, frowning.] The inception job was his ticket home. And I didn't know the mark; I only thought of it as just another job, no worse than an extraction. But I had no idea what it did to you. Even if I did... There was too much riding on that job. I can't say for sure if I would've walked away.

spam

[cauchemal]

[There's a flicker of amusement at "because it was new"; that enthusiasm was part of why she (and Dom) liked Arthur so much to begin with. But it's quickly washed away by the rest. She feels the slightest twinge of guilt at learning that her subterfuges had been effective, and that they'd sent him on the run like that, leaving the children-but her rage at him is still too unmanageable to sympathise for long.]

"His ticket home." [There's no hiding the flatness and bitterness in her tone.] What-if he succeeded, someone would ... keep him from getting arrested? [She paces a few steps; there's something of the caged animal to her movements again, as when she'd talked to Angelica.] So he gets to go home and all he has to do ... is do something that he already knew could destroy someone. Destroyed me.

[The degree of anger that's building will not be entirely unfamiliar to Arthur; he's known her long enough to have seen her get fairly upset at least once or twice before. But it's the first time he'll have ever seen her this upset with

spam

[paradoxlol]

[Arthur's certainly recognizing the anger there. More than anything, it calls to mind Cobb's projection of her, but he knows Mal-- the real Mal-- isn't violent, so he's not disturbed so much as guilty (she was good at making him feel that, as so many good mothers were) and a small part ashamed.]

It was for the kids. [He knows that's not a winning argument, but he can't be bothered to defend Cobb much right now.] For what it's worth, he was insistent on making the act of inception cathartic for the mark. A positive idea, not a destructive one. [Except there wasn't any guarantee in that.]

spam

[cauchemal]

[An awful, bitter laugh escapes her then. Even she's a little startled by the sound of it; she didn't know she had it in her. But then, even in the most painful days of her parents' divorce and the worst days after Limbo, nothing ever hurt her like this.]

What he did to me was for the children, Arthur. He thought what he was doing was positive, not destructive. He's pulled you down with him.