Inception Fic and Some Rambling
Hola, friends! I wrote a fill for this prompt about a week ago and forgot to post it to my journal, so here it is. One of the last fills I will write anonymously because I am going to be brave and de-anon myself on the kink meme. HUZZAH!
Title: 5 Signs
Pairing/Rating: Arthur/Cobb partnership; PG
Summary: Five glimpses into the relationship between the world's best extractor and his point man.
- - -
I.
The first time Eames ever worked with Cobb and Arthur, he had no idea what to expect. The Cobbs, of course, were legends in the field of dream-sharing, but Eames knew that Mrs. Cobb was no longer in the picture so he expected Mr. Cobb to be a right mess.
Rather, Cobb was a neat and precise extractor, easily living up to his title as one of the world’s best, and his point man was no different. Arthur was a machine, fierce and fearless and - to Eames’ everlasting annoyance - flawless, and apparently not the least bit apprehensive about self-sacrifice.
Cobb asked Arthur to buy him five minutes during which Cobb and Eames could manipulate the mark into giving them the information they needed, with Eames posing as the mark’s most trusted confidante.
Arthur gave them ten, and went out in a blaze of gunfire the likes of which Eames had never seen expended on a single man before.
It was an impressive first showing, to say the least, after which Eames quite looked forward to working with the duo again.
II.
During the Fischer job, Arthur was assigned multiple times to pick up lunch or dinner while the rest of the team kept working in the old warehouse. Some days he was asked to pick up sandwiches, other days it was Chinese takeout, but whatever the order, his sharp memory served him well and everyone always got what they wanted.
It was on a rainy Thursday that Ariadne noticed something a bit off about the process. They had all agreed on subs for dinner, and Arthur had gone to everyone asking for their orders, as usual, but he never asked for Cobb’s. Despite that, when Arthur returned he handed Cobb the first sandwich from the bag, and Ariadne watched as Cobb unwrapped the sub. A faint smile graced his lips when he saw it was his favorite.
Ariadne supposed that was what happened after years of being partners.
III.
“So this is the mark?” Cobb said, scanning the folder Arthur had just handed him.
“Gordon Pruitt, the CEO of Pruitt Industries,” Arthur said as he passed the last two folders to Eames and Ariadne. “The hardest part of this job will be getting close to him.”
Cobb frowned. “Could we try -?”
Arthur gave a curt shake of his head. “Too much security.”
“But what if we -?”
“We would need an inside man for that.”
“Even if -?”
“Yes.”
Cobb sighed and flipped a couple of pages in his file. Then his eyes lit upon something and he grinned. “What about the Driver gambit?”
Arthur thought it over and then smiled. “That could work.”
“Great.” Cobb shut the folder with a snap and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. “Good work, guys. We’ll meet back here in two hours.”
Eames exchanged a baffled glance with Ariadne.
“Did you catch any of that?” she whispered.
Eames replied, “Not a word,” and threw his copy of the file onto the desk, completely clueless but still confident the job would get done.
IV.
The pain on Cobb’s face was palpable as he was forced to watch his point man be tortured, held hostage by their mark’s livid projections. Cobb winced at every punch, every kick, every broken bone and new bruise, as though he were the one being hit. His face was bloodless with dread, his entire body tense, and he wanted nothing more than to take Arthur’s place, to put him out of his misery and wake him up.
Cobb knew that should be him receiving those blows, him bleeding and coughing and crying out in pain, and it would have been him if Arthur hadn’t known exactly what Cobb had been planning and shoved him out of the projections’ way at the last minute, choosing to sacrifice himself for his partner yet again.
Cobb hated it. He hated that Arthur was so loyal, so willing to protect Cobb and think nothing of himself. Cobb felt every wound inflicted on his point man. He remembered every sacrifice, and imagined when they were awake that he could still see every scar on Arthur’s body, all the bullet holes and gashes and bruises. Cobb felt the aches that Arthur forgot upon awakening and blamed himself for every one.
So although he felt relief, as bitter as it was, when a projection finally decided to put Arthur out of his misery and put a bullet between his eyes, Cobb felt that wound, too, and added it to the collection that haunted him day in and day out.
V.
Arthur was always welcome in the Cobb household, but his presence only became truly necessary after Mal’s death.
While Cobb was on the run and Miles was too busy to leave Paris, it was Arthur who delivered the presents and warm wishes to Phillipa and James. The children had always adored him and looked forward to his visits, just as they had when their mother had been alive. They called him Uncle Arthur and climbed into his lap and clapped with glee when he sang them songs or performed dramatic readings of fairytales before bed. He doted upon them as a proper uncle would, and told them stories of the exotic places their father was visiting on his ‘business trip.’
For Cobb, Arthur relayed tales of Phillipa’s first lost tooth (swallowed while eating popcorn at a movie theater) and the good marks James was earning in preschool. He delivered crayon drawings of dragons and castles and one showing the four of them - Cobb, Arthur, Phillipa, and James - all together, delicately sketched out by Phillipa in purple crayon on notebook paper. Cobb locked himself in a hotel room for an entire night after that.
Arthur was their middleman for two whole years, providing reassurance and support for both sides of the Cobb family, so when Cobb called Arthur on the night he was reunited with his children, a little spent after a day of play and laughter and pure joy, and asked him to spend the summer at their home, no one was all that surprised.
And when Arthur ended up staying past the summer and into the winter and new year, well. No one was all that surprised by that, either.
- - -
Also, the fourth prompt post for inception_kink just opened up and it already has OVER 1000 COMMENTS?!? Good Lord, fandom, please slow down! I will never catch up! ;A;
On another note, have finally finished all 3 episodes of BBC's "Sherlock" and LOVED IT. But damn that cliffhanger! The new series had better come out soon or I will go mad. MAD, I TELL YOU. And I've already rambled about all the reasons I love the show (if you're curious or want to join me in flailing you can find that entry here, even though it only covers the first episode), but whatevs. The show is utterly brilliant.
Now I need to go write, as I am for some reason still filling prompts on the meme even though I was planning to concentrate only mostly on my big bang from this point on. Inception fandom, you have successfully devoured my life. Le sigh.
Umm. I think that's it for now. Later, darlings! ~<3
Title: 5 Signs
Pairing/Rating: Arthur/Cobb partnership; PG
Summary: Five glimpses into the relationship between the world's best extractor and his point man.
- - -
I.
The first time Eames ever worked with Cobb and Arthur, he had no idea what to expect. The Cobbs, of course, were legends in the field of dream-sharing, but Eames knew that Mrs. Cobb was no longer in the picture so he expected Mr. Cobb to be a right mess.
Rather, Cobb was a neat and precise extractor, easily living up to his title as one of the world’s best, and his point man was no different. Arthur was a machine, fierce and fearless and - to Eames’ everlasting annoyance - flawless, and apparently not the least bit apprehensive about self-sacrifice.
Cobb asked Arthur to buy him five minutes during which Cobb and Eames could manipulate the mark into giving them the information they needed, with Eames posing as the mark’s most trusted confidante.
Arthur gave them ten, and went out in a blaze of gunfire the likes of which Eames had never seen expended on a single man before.
It was an impressive first showing, to say the least, after which Eames quite looked forward to working with the duo again.
II.
During the Fischer job, Arthur was assigned multiple times to pick up lunch or dinner while the rest of the team kept working in the old warehouse. Some days he was asked to pick up sandwiches, other days it was Chinese takeout, but whatever the order, his sharp memory served him well and everyone always got what they wanted.
It was on a rainy Thursday that Ariadne noticed something a bit off about the process. They had all agreed on subs for dinner, and Arthur had gone to everyone asking for their orders, as usual, but he never asked for Cobb’s. Despite that, when Arthur returned he handed Cobb the first sandwich from the bag, and Ariadne watched as Cobb unwrapped the sub. A faint smile graced his lips when he saw it was his favorite.
Ariadne supposed that was what happened after years of being partners.
III.
“So this is the mark?” Cobb said, scanning the folder Arthur had just handed him.
“Gordon Pruitt, the CEO of Pruitt Industries,” Arthur said as he passed the last two folders to Eames and Ariadne. “The hardest part of this job will be getting close to him.”
Cobb frowned. “Could we try -?”
Arthur gave a curt shake of his head. “Too much security.”
“But what if we -?”
“We would need an inside man for that.”
“Even if -?”
“Yes.”
Cobb sighed and flipped a couple of pages in his file. Then his eyes lit upon something and he grinned. “What about the Driver gambit?”
Arthur thought it over and then smiled. “That could work.”
“Great.” Cobb shut the folder with a snap and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. “Good work, guys. We’ll meet back here in two hours.”
Eames exchanged a baffled glance with Ariadne.
“Did you catch any of that?” she whispered.
Eames replied, “Not a word,” and threw his copy of the file onto the desk, completely clueless but still confident the job would get done.
IV.
The pain on Cobb’s face was palpable as he was forced to watch his point man be tortured, held hostage by their mark’s livid projections. Cobb winced at every punch, every kick, every broken bone and new bruise, as though he were the one being hit. His face was bloodless with dread, his entire body tense, and he wanted nothing more than to take Arthur’s place, to put him out of his misery and wake him up.
Cobb knew that should be him receiving those blows, him bleeding and coughing and crying out in pain, and it would have been him if Arthur hadn’t known exactly what Cobb had been planning and shoved him out of the projections’ way at the last minute, choosing to sacrifice himself for his partner yet again.
Cobb hated it. He hated that Arthur was so loyal, so willing to protect Cobb and think nothing of himself. Cobb felt every wound inflicted on his point man. He remembered every sacrifice, and imagined when they were awake that he could still see every scar on Arthur’s body, all the bullet holes and gashes and bruises. Cobb felt the aches that Arthur forgot upon awakening and blamed himself for every one.
So although he felt relief, as bitter as it was, when a projection finally decided to put Arthur out of his misery and put a bullet between his eyes, Cobb felt that wound, too, and added it to the collection that haunted him day in and day out.
V.
Arthur was always welcome in the Cobb household, but his presence only became truly necessary after Mal’s death.
While Cobb was on the run and Miles was too busy to leave Paris, it was Arthur who delivered the presents and warm wishes to Phillipa and James. The children had always adored him and looked forward to his visits, just as they had when their mother had been alive. They called him Uncle Arthur and climbed into his lap and clapped with glee when he sang them songs or performed dramatic readings of fairytales before bed. He doted upon them as a proper uncle would, and told them stories of the exotic places their father was visiting on his ‘business trip.’
For Cobb, Arthur relayed tales of Phillipa’s first lost tooth (swallowed while eating popcorn at a movie theater) and the good marks James was earning in preschool. He delivered crayon drawings of dragons and castles and one showing the four of them - Cobb, Arthur, Phillipa, and James - all together, delicately sketched out by Phillipa in purple crayon on notebook paper. Cobb locked himself in a hotel room for an entire night after that.
Arthur was their middleman for two whole years, providing reassurance and support for both sides of the Cobb family, so when Cobb called Arthur on the night he was reunited with his children, a little spent after a day of play and laughter and pure joy, and asked him to spend the summer at their home, no one was all that surprised.
And when Arthur ended up staying past the summer and into the winter and new year, well. No one was all that surprised by that, either.
- - -
Also, the fourth prompt post for inception_kink just opened up and it already has OVER 1000 COMMENTS?!? Good Lord, fandom, please slow down! I will never catch up! ;A;
On another note, have finally finished all 3 episodes of BBC's "Sherlock" and LOVED IT. But damn that cliffhanger! The new series had better come out soon or I will go mad. MAD, I TELL YOU. And I've already rambled about all the reasons I love the show (if you're curious or want to join me in flailing you can find that entry here, even though it only covers the first episode), but whatevs. The show is utterly brilliant.
Now I need to go write, as I am for some reason still filling prompts on the meme even though I was planning to concentrate only mostly on my big bang from this point on. Inception fandom, you have successfully devoured my life. Le sigh.
Umm. I think that's it for now. Later, darlings! ~<3