001 - video (plus spam for Arthur)

[cauchemal]

[Anyone on either side of Mal's room (7.05) will hear a voice calling "Dom?" After a moment, Mal knocks over her communicator, switching it on, and the Barge video feed is treated to a dining-table's-eye-view of a pretty woman looking worriedly around what appears to be the living room of a creatively- and eclectically-decorated Southern California

Comments

Arthur Spam Thread - "hostile, suspicious". I LOLed.

[cauchemal]

She spins back to face him, pulling her arm free. There's an angry spark in her blue eyes, but she keeps her mouth shut and listens to him. Frowns a little; the truth is, none of the people she saw in the flesh struck her one way or another, but she was too intent on her purpose to notice.

"You'd be surprised what patients can accept when they've been prepared for it," she replies shortly, and there's a you-ought-to-know-that tone there. Not that Arthur had worked with the clinical cases as much as she had. "Just tell me the truth, Arthur. Where is my husband? What has he talked you into now?"

Arthur Spam Thread

[cauchemal]

She remembers that die. Remembers telling him no, don't demonstrate it to me, don't let me see it. She's more sure than ever now that this is really Arthur, though the fact doesn't make her any less wary, and she's still not sure of the soundness of his assessment of this strange place's reality. She can't check his totem. She has to take his word for it.

Stalemate.

She heaves a heavy sigh, covering her face with her hands, suddenly overwhelmed my every kind of exhaustion. "Arthur? Will you ... will you walk me back to my room, please? I'm so tired, and I don't want to go alone."

Arthur Spam Thread

[paradoxlol]

Arthur pockets the die again, nodding. "Of course." He takes a few steps back, getting started, then casts a conflicted look at her. "It's... good to see you again."

He needs to look at this optimistically. If Mal's here, if she gets her second chance... would it change everything back home?

Arthur Spam Thread

[cauchemal]

"I'm glad you're here," she says. It's true.

She's quiet for much of the walk back to her room, letting Arthur occasionally help her get her bearings, and once they get to the right floor, figuring out which room is hers is easy: it's the one with the door hanging wide open. She stops in the hallway before entering; over her shoulder, he can see that the room is a wreck, turned upside-down in her search for her totem.

"Arthur," she says, finally giving voice to a question that's been nagging at her, "how long has it been? Since you last saw me?"

Arthur Spam Thread - VAGUE RESPONSE THANKS TO VAGUE CANON

[paradoxlol]

"You need to get in the habit of locking your door," he says, as soon as he sees that it's wide open. "Even when you're inside, keep it locked." He keeps his eyes focused on the mess, wishing he could brush aside her question, but knowing he can't. "Several years," he says, his voice strained just a touch, barely noticeable to most people. It's something he can talk about fairly easily with other people, but talking to Mal about life after her death... It's definitely screwing with his head. He continues to look at the room, rather than Mal. "It's been several years."

That's not counting the times he'd seen her projection, but she doesn't need to know about that. He can't bring himself to tell her about the effect it all had on Cobb.

Arthur Spam Thread - works for me! yay, vague canon. :|

[cauchemal]

Years. She can't process this; the layers of dream and reality as she understands them are all folded on themselves now like some kind of devilish origami trick, and she can't find the notch or the flap that will undo it all and make sense of it. She turns away from Arthur, her face blank, and takes a few steps into her room. Then stops. A small choking noise rises from her throat, something worse than a sob, and she slowly sinks down to the floor. For a moment she's quiet, unmoving, and then her whole body starts to shake with silent weeping.

Arthur Spam Thread

[paradoxlol]

He gives her a moment, knowing it's a lot to take in, but when Mal starts to shake, he doesn't feel right just standing there. Arthur's really not as emotionless as people tend to think, especially when it comes to the few people he considers friends. He puts a hand on Mal's shoulder, then crouches down beside her, keeping an arm around her, but he doesn't say anything just yet. He lets her have this moment, but tries to make it clear that he's here for her.

Arthur Spam Thread

[cauchemal]

Regardless of circumstances, she's infinitely grateful for the contact, and eventually the sobs subside, and she draws a few ragged but even breaths.

"I think," she says quietly, "that I'd like to be alone. I … I need to think. It's all so very much."

Arthur Spam Thread

[paradoxlol]

Arthur hesitates. He doesn't know how much of a danger she is to herself right now, and he doesn't want to come back later to a horrific surprise. Then again, he knows how stubborn Mal is, and he's used to just nodding and doing what she asks. It's that maternal vibe she gives off; he just can't refuse her requests that easily.

"Okay..." He pulls out his communicator, as he's not sure if she found her own yet. "Use one of these to call me if you need anything."

He pockets it again and stands up, looking around. "And if you need any help picking up, I'll be around."

Literally. Because he doesn't plan on leaving the corridor for the next few hours. He may listen to Mal's requests, but he's not about to leave a suicidal woman completely unsupervised.

Arthur Spam Thread

[cauchemal]

She nods in recognition at the communicator; so that's what that thing is. "All right. I think ... I think I shall manage."

She guesses, somehow, that he's going to be outside; she knows his habits and his loyalties well. Escape can wait. For now, if Arthur listens, all he will hear inside her room is the soft sounds of a woman slowly trying to clean up the wreckage of her life.