+ Memories Caught in Still Life
Title: Memories Caught in Still Life
Fandom: Inception
Pairing: Cobb/Mal, Arthur/Cobb
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Movie spoilers
Length: 4,921 words
Summary: There are 183 of them--183 photos of Arthur.
A/N: One last one before classes start. Boooo. Still have so many fills I want to write. :( Anyway, original prompt is here.
oo1
The earliest photo Dom has of Arthur comes from before he even knew who the other guy was. It’s a shot of him and Mal at Cambridge, back when they were getting their doctorates. They’re sitting on the grass under a tree with their hands entwined. Dom has his arms around her; his lips are pressed against her cheek.
A mutual friend had taken it for them using an old Polaroid camera. The photo’s a little brown, a little yellow around the edges, but Dom would never dream of throwing it away. It’s got Mal in it, smiling in a way he can’t even imagine anymore, and in the background, sitting on a bench reading a book is Arthur.
Dom doesn’t realize it’s him until years later when he, Mal, and Arthur are going over old photos. They laugh together and exchange memories of Cambridge, of fish and chips, of professors they had.
oo2
The next photo of Arthur comes eight months later. Dom’s still at Cambridge, still working with Miles, and there’s a new kid with them. Arthur, his name was, is working on his undergraduate degree, but he’s got high hopes for himself and is deeply interested in the research Miles does, even if he’s not a psychology major.
And that’s how Dom met Arthur for the first time. They shake hands and greet each other in Miles’ classroom, exchanging names and contact information.
The picture taking doesn’t happen until that night though. There’s a little gathering of research students, and there are drinks all around. Dom vaguely remembers looping an arm around Arthur’s shoulders and taking a picture, but he can’t remember, can’t remember because he was so drunk. Instead, Arthur remembers the event for him, a smile curling his lips whenever it comes up.
The photo’s a little blurry; Dom blames his unsteady hands.
oo5
Photograph number five has them in Paris. Dom and Mal are engaged now, and they’ve gone to visit her mother’s family. Miles is thinking of transferring there, away from his own home for his wife’s sake, so he’s there, too, looking at colleges that’ll take an old man with an interest in the mind. As for Arthur, he’s finished his undergraduate studies and plans on studying in France--Francophile that he is, possibly under the guidance of Miles once more. He comes to Paris with them to search out an apartment.
The actual photograph comes from a family dinner. It’s a big one done in black and white for style, and when Dom gets it in the mail back in California two weeks later, he spots the tiny glimmer of the engagement ring on Mal’s hand. Arthur is standing shoulder to shoulder with him, a small smile curling his lips.
Whenever Cobb looks back at it, he thinks the other looks so young, so innocent.
oo9
The next time Arthur shows up in one of Dom’s photographs is during his wedding. Arthur’s his best man, and his smile is quiet and reserved in every shot. The tuxedo fits him well, Dom thinks, and Mal compliments him on his dress, too. The bridesmaids can’t seem to get enough of him.
Dom still remembers the murmured thank you’s and the shy glances for all the compliments. He doesn’t mean to steal attention from the bride and groom, he says, and the Cobb’s just laugh and pull him into their mutual embrace. Arthur is as much a part of their family as they are, the newlyweds assure him--it’s alright for him to be in the spotlight on a day like this.
The best man has red lipstick on his cheek in the photo--a reminder of the kiss he got from Mal.
o28
The last photo in the Cobb wedding album is one of Arthur, and it’s an unofficial one at that.
The photograph features Arthur, asleep on a couch, bowtie undone and hair mussed. Mal had taken it at the end of the night with a mischievous glint in her eye. Dom said to leave the poor man alone, but she would have none of it. It was Arthur’s fault that he had dozed off on their special day, leaving the maid of honor without a partner for the last dance of the night.
He wakes when the flash goes off, but he just laughs and calls them a pair of crazy lovebirds.
o34
Photograph number thirty-four comes from when Arthur visited the Cobb’s in California, two months after their wedding. They visit Disneyland, riding all the rides and watching all the shows. Mal makes them all wear those ridiculous hats with the ears, and Arthur comments that it’s too hot for them.
She doesn’t listen, of course.
Mal’s the photographer this time around, and she makes Dom and Arthur give the camera a thumb’s up. They’re both grimacing in the photograph, so Mal draws smiles on their faces with a sharpie when the photos are developed.
Phillipa adds whiskers and tails years later.
o4O
Arthur’s finished his studies in Paris and has come back to the States. He works with Dom and Mal now, works with them on dream sharing projects. It’s a brand new field with fresh discoveries every day, and they think, they believe they can come up with something new and amazing. They see the Nobel Prize in their future, and they smile at each other whenever the thought comes to mind.
But photograph number forty doesn’t come from a little meeting in the library over coffee and textbooks. It comes from when Arthur went under for the first time.
It’s just Mal, barely showing her pregnancy with Phillipa, and him, lying on two beds. The room is clinical and cold, too clean to make the picture seem comfortable, but Dom takes the picture anyway. It’s a big moment, he tells Arthur later. It’s the first time he’s gone under and played in the land of dreams, in the land where impossibility is a thing of the past.
o45
It doesn’t take the team long to figure out that they need defenses in the dream world. Dom’s been taken down more than once by the projections of his teammates, and he’s still learning to keep his building in check, to make sure he doesn’t draw the projections’ attention too soon. The first time he goes down, it’s to a projection clubbing him to death with a baseball bat. The second time? He gets run over by a car and dies slowly from a brain hemorrhage. The third time, Dom gets drowned in a river by a hoard of projections.
And for Mal and Arthur, seeing him die once is more than enough. It’s Arthur’s idea to start carrying weapons--guns, in particular--to finish off any poor soul who gets caught by projections; it might sting upon waking up, but at least it’s a quick end.
The only issue is that none of them have any experience with firearms, which is why they find themselves at a shooting range. They have a friendly competition, and in the end, Arthur wins; it turns out he’s a natural.
Dom takes a picture of Arthur holding up his target, peppered with holes. For a first-timer, his shots are good--almost disturbingly so. Mal teases that he’d make a good point man if he were ever in a military operation.
o53
Photograph fifty-five comes from when the Cobb’s and Arthur are discussing the matter of reality versus dreams. On more than one occasion, they’ve found themselves building from memories, which then lead to a few problems waking up. With dreams so vivid and real, it was getting more and more difficult to differentiate the two, especially when someone else was the dreamer.
Mal suggests the creation and use of totems. It’s simple, elegant, and so long as they’re careful with their totems, fool-proof.
This photograph is of the three of them holding up their respective totems: a top, a red die, and a ring.
When they look back at it, the photo is a little cheesy, what with their silly grins and the way they’re holding up their trinkets. Arthur thinks they look vaguely like knock-off superheroes holding up their items of power.
Dom toys with the idea of calling them the “Dream Team,” but he gets shot down by Mal.
o59
Phillipa gets a warm welcome to the world.
There are balloons, flowers, and the odd stuffed animal in the room. Everything is bathed in a pink light, and there’s laughter in the air. Mal’s aglow with her baby girl in her arms, and Dom couldn’t be a prouder father. And Arthur? He’s no parent, but he’s no less excited about the whole matter.
The Cobb’s want him to hold Phillipa, and for the first few minutes, Arthur says he can’t, that it’s not his place. But Mal persists, and with a few more muttered words, he finally takes her into his arms and rocks her to sleep.
Dom takes a picture of Arthur with his baby; Mal’s looking on in the background, her expression soft, gentle, and loving.
o67
Number sixty-seven is an accident Dom decides to keep. Mal’s back home with Phillipa, and Arthur came by after work to visit. They’re sitting in the dining room, discussing their latest venture into the dream world, one in which Arthur discovered his love for Penrose stairs.
Mal’s asking for details, eyes alight with interest for this paradoxical play, and Dom? Dom’s just trying to take pictures of Phillipa. His wife is laughing and shaking her head at him, but it’s Arthur who reaches over to pull the camera out of his grasp, saying that he needs to stop hiding behind the lens and join them in their conversation. He accidentally presses the shutter, and Dom ends up with a close-up of Arthur, complete with fingers covering part of the lens.
Dom’s the only one who knows he keeps the photo. It isn’t until much later that he realizes why he can’t bring himself to just get rid of it.
o79
Dom takes a picture of Arthur working on the PASIV device.
When asked why he did it, he just says that it seemed like a Kodak moment. Dom doesn’t mention that he found Arthur oddly captivating just then with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his tie a little loosened, hands poised just so over the machine. It doesn’t sound like something a married man should be saying.
o86
Arthur can’t come to Phillipa’s first birthday party because he’s on a business trip, but he drops by several days later to celebrate with the family.
He shows up at the door with presents bundled in his arms, and Mal can’t help but laugh at how she can’t seem to find him under the stacks of gifts. Phillipa is clinging to her mother’s leg, big eyes looking up at the man under the mountain of bags and boxes.
Dom wonders what his daughter thinks about Arthur right now, wonders if she’ll remember Arthur this way forever.
He takes a picture of all three of them before stepping in to help Arthur unload. Mal steps aside gracefully and whispers into the other’s ear that she’s pregnant again. Dom likes the way Arthur’s eyes flutter when she does that.
o99
For whatever reason, Dom thinks Arthur’s harder to catch these days. Sure, he still shows up at the lab, but there are days, sometimes weeks, where he won’t come in. It’ll be a simple phone call, a few words spoken, and then he’s gone. It’s alright because Arthur always comes back, looking a little tired and worn, but he’s still smiling when he strolls into the room.
Mal’s not in these days, what with Phillipa and a new baby boy. She stays at home, puts Dom’s research into words, and he likes it that way. The dream world isn’t as dreamlike as it was when they first started. The military had started to put it to use, started training soldiers to kill.
But what’s worse is when Arthur shows up one day with a newspaper in his hand. He tosses it on the table, and Dom catches the headlines: extraction. Their eyes meet, but neither says a thing.
The dream world, a place of perfection and impossibilities, has become a scene of a crime.
When they go to Dom’s place for dinner that night, Mal surprises them by taking a picture of them entering the door. She’s disappointed by how tired and angry they appear, but it goes in the family album anyway.
1O3
Research on the dream world has slowed down since the government stuck their noses into the matter. So many things are classified these days, and it gets harder and harder for the average scientist to ply his craft. Dom loses a lot of his funding, and he starts working more from home, which suits him fine.
It means more time with the kids, more time with Mal.
Dom pushes himself, pushes his wife as far as they can go until they hit a wall--limbo. He lives for fifty years in his dreams, and when he wakes, he sees how Mal’s changed. Dom notices how her hands linger on the knives as she prepares dinner; Arthur’s coming over tonight, Arthur who’s been out of town for the last two months.
They have bouillabaisse.
The dinner table is quiet except for the chatter of Phillipa and James, and Mal excuses herself halfway through the meal. Dom lets her go and turns to Arthur, asking how he’s been. When the other replies, he notices that there’s something different--a different air of maturity about the man now. Arthur still smiles, but it’s fainter; his laughter rarely reaches his eyes anymore.
He wonders why he didn’t notice it before. Dom isn’t sure when it happened, if it was recent or if it’s been there.
Arthur sleeps on their couch tonight because he doesn’t own a place of his own in California anymore; he travels too much. Dom takes a picture while the other sleeps. It comes out dark because he doesn’t use the flash.
1O9
It’s been one week since Arthur came into town, and he’s off again. There’s a fancy car waiting in the driveway, and Dom can’t help but wonder who else the other is working for. He starts thinking if he can really say that Arthur is still working with him at all; he hasn’t put in any hours recently--Arthur’s been sleeping most of the time he’s here at their California home.
Before he gets whisked off again, Dom demands that Arthur join them for a family photograph. It’s been a while since they had one of those.
So he asks the driver of that posh black car to snap a photo of them: Mal, Arthur, the two kids, and Dom together in front of the house. They’re all smiling, but only two of those smiles are genuine.
Arthur gives Mal a kiss and a hug before he leaves. It’s the last time he’ll see her alive.
11O
Mal’s dead.
All Dom can do is remember how she fell from that ledge, and he relives it over and over again. He forces himself to sleep with the PASIV device. He gets no real rest because he’s dreaming, but he tries to hide there and bury his grief.
He can still be with Mal in those dreams.
Arthur comes back from somewhere while he’s still under. He settles next to Dom on the floor, plugs in, and joins him in the dream world. There, he tries to comfort his long-time friend, soothe the pain. It doesn’t work quite as planned as Dom thinks the other is a projection, and Arthur spends most of his time trying to convince him otherwise.
When Dom does wake from that dream, he sees Arthur a foot away on the ground beside him. The other awakens a moment later, and Arthur looks tired, exhausted. They’ve both been grieving, one openly and the other silently.
It isn’t until a few days later that he finds a photograph on his cell phone of himself and Arthur sleeping next to each other. Miles admits to taking the picture a year later, claiming that Dom would need a reminder of who his friends are in times to come.
He’s right.
111
Photograph one hundred-and-eleven shows up in his mailbox five days after Mal’s funeral. The envelope comes without a return address. Dom never figures out who took it, never bothers to find out.
It’s a solemn photo, a little on the dark side without any flash. He’s standing at Mal’s graveside with Arthur. They’re wearing black suits and ties, crisp white shirts under the jackets, and their hands are clasped in front of them. Dom’s eyes are squeezed shut in the photo, while Arthur is staring at the ground.
The funeral is the first time Arthur calls him Cobb, not Dom.
112
It has been one year and one month since Arthur’s last shown up in Dom’s photographs.
They’re in Santiago, Chile, because Dom can’t go back to the States anymore. He’s been working as an extractor, slowly building his fame as one, one case at a time. Up until this point, Dom’s been working with a variety of people, new faces for each job. He wants some stability and some familiarity, but there’s only so much he can do, criminal that he is.
So he finds it a little funny, a little ironic when Arthur meets up with him in a bar with a job proposal.
They shake hands, catch up, and drink a few shots.
He’ll be his point man, Arthur says, and Dom says that’s fine. They work out their relationship, half old, half new, and that’s how it starts, how they become a team of two.
They take a photograph together for old time’s sake.
It’s a bad shot--too much room on the left side next to Dom. They both know, when they see the photo, who that empty spot’s for.
115
Arthur’s sleeping in their hotel room in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dom’s noticed that Arthur doesn’t dream anymore, but it doesn’t come as a surprise: he doesn’t either. He watches him sleep for a minute or five before taking a picture of his point man’s face.
It’s another beautiful shot taken without permission, another reminder of something Dom isn’t ready to face just yet. It won’t be the last.
127
Dom needs a forger for this new job in Melbourne, which is where he meets Eames for the first time. They’ve already discussed the details of the job and run through payment issues. They’re working in an empty warehouse now, sunlight streaming in through cracked and dusty windows.
It takes a few days to notice, but it seems like Arthur and this Eames have a history together. Dom doesn’t ask about it because neither looks like he to wants say anything about the matter. It’s just in the way they talk to each other, look at each other that makes him curious, discussing guns, ammunition, and jobs gone wrong.
He takes a picture of them talking while pretending to text someone on his phone. When he examines it alone in his hotel room that night, Dom can’t help but feel his stomach twist a little. Their familiarity annoys him, but he’d never admit that out loud.
He forces himself to forget it when he sleeps.
136
Number one hundred-and-thirty-six is an accident.
Dom’s trying to do something with his phone when he drops it. Arthur picks it up, inadvertently taking a picture of himself. It’s a giant blur, but Dom never deletes the photo.
He knows why he won’t now, but he doesn’t plan on letting anyone know. It’ll just upset the balance, upset Mal.
143
Arthur and Dom are celebrating the completion of their toughest job yet--an especially tricky extraction from another extractor’s mind. Their new architect--a guy by the name of Nash--takes a picture of the two of them at the restaurant.
They’re dressed to the nines, and it reminds Dom a little of the pictures they shared at his wedding. That day feels like a lifetime ago, and in a way, it is. Memories he’s buried away threaten to surface, and Dom orders more liquor for his table.
The atmosphere’s totally different from his wedding night. The laughter is stilted, conversation is polite, and the smiles are small and rare. They drink to remember and to forget. By the time the night ends, Dom doesn’t remember taking the picture anymore.
His memories of the night are a blur, but he’s got a crystal clear photograph to remember it by.
15O
Photograph one hundred-and-fifty is taken by professionals hired by Saito.
Dom doesn’t like to take photos with his clients because it’s physical evidence, but Saito won’t have any of it. Besides, he says, how can anyone take down as powerful a man as he? Any trouble a small photo might cause could easily be paid away. Those with money have the power after all.
He doesn’t like admitting it, but it’s a nice shot. Dom likes his team this time.
152
Ariadne gives him this photograph.
She uses a Polaroid camera she picked up at Les Puces, and Dom would’ve worried if she didn’t end up giving everyone else pictures as well. Her photography is a little on the amateur side with everything being centered and straight, but her little doodles make up for the lack of flair.
In the picture she gives Dom, he’s sleeping on a lawn chair and Arthur’s standing in the background, tinkering with the PASIV device. Ariadne’s given the point man a ridiculous mustache and polka dots on his suit. Dom, on the other hand, gets a teddy bear drawn in and large sunglasses. He smiles and thanks Ariadne for the picture before telling her to get back to work.
Dom spends the rest of the day wondering what Arthur’s picture is like.
158
The warehouse is deserted, empty except for himself and Arthur.
The lone lamp still lit is next to the lawn chair the point man is sleeping in, the PASIV device on the nearby table. Dom watches him sleep and wonders what he’s doing in the hotel, the dream layer he’s responsible for. Dom reaches over, cups Arthur’s cheek in his hand, before running a thumb over the other’s lips.
He takes a picture with his phone but never looks at it again.
162
Dom gets off the plane last and fusses with his cell phone.
When Arthur walks by, he takes a quick picture without looking and hopes no one’s noticed. Upon checking it later, Dom thinks it’s the worst shot he’s ever taken of Arthur. He barely gets his point man’s shoulder.
163
Arthur comes to visit Dom and his kids a week and a half after the inception job.
Phillipa and James are excited to see the other again, and they rush to meet him when he pulls up in the driveway. Dom brings his camera out and follows them slowly, a smile crossing his lips as Arthur opens the car door.
The point man kneels so he’s eye-level with the kids and pulls them close in a warm embrace. Dom takes a picture, and the click of the camera breaks the magic of the moment. The children start to laugh again, and the air is filled with the sound of their giggling.
Arthur stands and smiles at Dom. It’s genuine, this time, the expression on the other’s face. They exchange handshakes, and Dom invites him in, out of the heat of the afternoon sun.
He flexes his hand when Arthur’s not looking, tries to forget how warm the other’s fingers were against his.
171
The point man disappears from California a day earlier than expected.
When Dom gets up that morning, he finds his camera on the kitchen counter, a post-it note sitting underneath. Arthur apologizes for leaving without a word, says that a job came up, claims he has to be in Iceland in a few hours. He makes a point to mention that he took a picture with Dom’s camera.
He turns it on, and the first thing that comes up is a photo of Arthur giving him a smile. He’s waving his hand, and upon zooming in, Dom can read the small text scribbled there on his palm.
It reads “thanks” and nothing more.
172
Arthur returns to California as suddenly as he had left, and Dom’s reminded of the days when Mal was still around.
The kids are away, off in France with their grandmother, and he’s got the house to himself; they won’t be back until tomorrow. It’s lonely and quiet, so Dom’s happy to make room for Arthur. More than happy, if he lets himself be truthful with his feelings.
They sit in the living room; the Discovery Channel’s on the television, but neither of them are paying it any attention. Dom nurses a beer, while Arthur’s got a glass of red wine. Silence settles over them, but it’s comfortable. It’s so comfortable that he dozes off, eyes sliding shut.
He sleeps.
A minute, an hour later, perhaps four or five, Dom feels rather than sees Arthur shift. The cushion beside him sinks, and the empty beer bottle in his hand is plucked out of his fingers. Arthur’s hands are warm against his, and Dom slowly opens his eyes.
His point man is looking at him, gaze even and steady--fearless. Dom hears his name on Arthur’s lips--his first name--and his eyes flutter shut again. He’s dreaming, he has to be, and his hand moves to his pocket, to close around his totem, but the other won’t let him, fingers circling around his wrist.
Arthur’s telling him this is real, that this is reality, warm breath curling around Dom’s ear, and then he feels the soft press of lips against his skin, reverent in feel. Dom doesn’t know what to think, doesn’t want to think--he’s tired, drowsy with warmth, comfort, and alcohol.
When Arthur shows him a picture on his phone the next morning--lips pressed to his temple, Dom checks his totem. It’s real. He wasn’t dreaming.
173
Dom can’t stop thinking about last night.
He tries to occupy his thoughts by taking more pictures of Arthur with his children. It doesn’t work, but he adds many photos to the family album that day.
182
It’s late or early, depending on how one looks at the time. The clock on the wall reads three-ten in the morning, and Dom can’t sleep.
He wanders out into the living room and finds Arthur sleeping on the couch. As if out of habit, Dom gets his camera to take another shot of the other’s sleeping figure. He has so many of these now that he’s afraid to count them, afraid to see how bad his obsession has become.
As he focuses the camera, Dom isn’t sure if he does this on purpose or if it’s his subconscious: he leaves the flash on.
The living room fills with light, and Arthur wakes up, eyes fluttering open the same way they do when he rises from a dream. His gaze lands on Dom immediately, who finds himself wondering why he’s doing this, why he’s put himself in this position.
In truth, though, he knows why.
Dom starts uttering an apology, but Arthur’s already closing the distance between them, holding a single finger up to his lips. He tells him that he’ll wake the kids, and when Dom opens his mouth to protest again, Arthur kisses him the words right out of him.
Warm fingers entwine with his, and Dom finds himself being led back to the master bedroom. Arthur shuts the door behind them and takes the camera from his limp hands. It goes to sit on the dresser, and then the point man’s attention is all on him.
It’s dark, and all Dom knows is that Arthur is one warm, firm line against his body, gentle hands at the nape of his neck, soft lips on his own.
183
Dom wakes up at first light feeling tired, but he feels more alive and refreshed than he has in years.
Arthur is lying in bed next to him, back to the ceiling and face toward Dom. The sheet barely covers his hips, and Dom absently wonders if he’s cold. He’s still sleeping; his breathing is even and slow. Dom runs a finger down his spine, remembers doing so a few hours earlier in the dark. Arthur’s skin is warm and soft beneath his fingers, body pale and beautiful, marred only by a handful of bruises that fit perfectly to the curve of Dom’s hands.
His eyes settle on the camera on the dresser, and he thinks about getting out of bed to get it, to take another picture of Arthur sleeping. When Dom looks back down at the man next to him, though, he decides not to. He’ll wait until the other wakes up.
And then they’ll take a picture together.
Fandom: Inception
Pairing: Cobb/Mal, Arthur/Cobb
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Movie spoilers
Length: 4,921 words
Summary: There are 183 of them--183 photos of Arthur.
A/N: One last one before classes start. Boooo. Still have so many fills I want to write. :( Anyway, original prompt is here.
oo1
The earliest photo Dom has of Arthur comes from before he even knew who the other guy was. It’s a shot of him and Mal at Cambridge, back when they were getting their doctorates. They’re sitting on the grass under a tree with their hands entwined. Dom has his arms around her; his lips are pressed against her cheek.
A mutual friend had taken it for them using an old Polaroid camera. The photo’s a little brown, a little yellow around the edges, but Dom would never dream of throwing it away. It’s got Mal in it, smiling in a way he can’t even imagine anymore, and in the background, sitting on a bench reading a book is Arthur.
Dom doesn’t realize it’s him until years later when he, Mal, and Arthur are going over old photos. They laugh together and exchange memories of Cambridge, of fish and chips, of professors they had.
oo2
The next photo of Arthur comes eight months later. Dom’s still at Cambridge, still working with Miles, and there’s a new kid with them. Arthur, his name was, is working on his undergraduate degree, but he’s got high hopes for himself and is deeply interested in the research Miles does, even if he’s not a psychology major.
And that’s how Dom met Arthur for the first time. They shake hands and greet each other in Miles’ classroom, exchanging names and contact information.
The picture taking doesn’t happen until that night though. There’s a little gathering of research students, and there are drinks all around. Dom vaguely remembers looping an arm around Arthur’s shoulders and taking a picture, but he can’t remember, can’t remember because he was so drunk. Instead, Arthur remembers the event for him, a smile curling his lips whenever it comes up.
The photo’s a little blurry; Dom blames his unsteady hands.
oo5
Photograph number five has them in Paris. Dom and Mal are engaged now, and they’ve gone to visit her mother’s family. Miles is thinking of transferring there, away from his own home for his wife’s sake, so he’s there, too, looking at colleges that’ll take an old man with an interest in the mind. As for Arthur, he’s finished his undergraduate studies and plans on studying in France--Francophile that he is, possibly under the guidance of Miles once more. He comes to Paris with them to search out an apartment.
The actual photograph comes from a family dinner. It’s a big one done in black and white for style, and when Dom gets it in the mail back in California two weeks later, he spots the tiny glimmer of the engagement ring on Mal’s hand. Arthur is standing shoulder to shoulder with him, a small smile curling his lips.
Whenever Cobb looks back at it, he thinks the other looks so young, so innocent.
oo9
The next time Arthur shows up in one of Dom’s photographs is during his wedding. Arthur’s his best man, and his smile is quiet and reserved in every shot. The tuxedo fits him well, Dom thinks, and Mal compliments him on his dress, too. The bridesmaids can’t seem to get enough of him.
Dom still remembers the murmured thank you’s and the shy glances for all the compliments. He doesn’t mean to steal attention from the bride and groom, he says, and the Cobb’s just laugh and pull him into their mutual embrace. Arthur is as much a part of their family as they are, the newlyweds assure him--it’s alright for him to be in the spotlight on a day like this.
The best man has red lipstick on his cheek in the photo--a reminder of the kiss he got from Mal.
o28
The last photo in the Cobb wedding album is one of Arthur, and it’s an unofficial one at that.
The photograph features Arthur, asleep on a couch, bowtie undone and hair mussed. Mal had taken it at the end of the night with a mischievous glint in her eye. Dom said to leave the poor man alone, but she would have none of it. It was Arthur’s fault that he had dozed off on their special day, leaving the maid of honor without a partner for the last dance of the night.
He wakes when the flash goes off, but he just laughs and calls them a pair of crazy lovebirds.
o34
Photograph number thirty-four comes from when Arthur visited the Cobb’s in California, two months after their wedding. They visit Disneyland, riding all the rides and watching all the shows. Mal makes them all wear those ridiculous hats with the ears, and Arthur comments that it’s too hot for them.
She doesn’t listen, of course.
Mal’s the photographer this time around, and she makes Dom and Arthur give the camera a thumb’s up. They’re both grimacing in the photograph, so Mal draws smiles on their faces with a sharpie when the photos are developed.
Phillipa adds whiskers and tails years later.
o4O
Arthur’s finished his studies in Paris and has come back to the States. He works with Dom and Mal now, works with them on dream sharing projects. It’s a brand new field with fresh discoveries every day, and they think, they believe they can come up with something new and amazing. They see the Nobel Prize in their future, and they smile at each other whenever the thought comes to mind.
But photograph number forty doesn’t come from a little meeting in the library over coffee and textbooks. It comes from when Arthur went under for the first time.
It’s just Mal, barely showing her pregnancy with Phillipa, and him, lying on two beds. The room is clinical and cold, too clean to make the picture seem comfortable, but Dom takes the picture anyway. It’s a big moment, he tells Arthur later. It’s the first time he’s gone under and played in the land of dreams, in the land where impossibility is a thing of the past.
o45
It doesn’t take the team long to figure out that they need defenses in the dream world. Dom’s been taken down more than once by the projections of his teammates, and he’s still learning to keep his building in check, to make sure he doesn’t draw the projections’ attention too soon. The first time he goes down, it’s to a projection clubbing him to death with a baseball bat. The second time? He gets run over by a car and dies slowly from a brain hemorrhage. The third time, Dom gets drowned in a river by a hoard of projections.
And for Mal and Arthur, seeing him die once is more than enough. It’s Arthur’s idea to start carrying weapons--guns, in particular--to finish off any poor soul who gets caught by projections; it might sting upon waking up, but at least it’s a quick end.
The only issue is that none of them have any experience with firearms, which is why they find themselves at a shooting range. They have a friendly competition, and in the end, Arthur wins; it turns out he’s a natural.
Dom takes a picture of Arthur holding up his target, peppered with holes. For a first-timer, his shots are good--almost disturbingly so. Mal teases that he’d make a good point man if he were ever in a military operation.
o53
Photograph fifty-five comes from when the Cobb’s and Arthur are discussing the matter of reality versus dreams. On more than one occasion, they’ve found themselves building from memories, which then lead to a few problems waking up. With dreams so vivid and real, it was getting more and more difficult to differentiate the two, especially when someone else was the dreamer.
Mal suggests the creation and use of totems. It’s simple, elegant, and so long as they’re careful with their totems, fool-proof.
This photograph is of the three of them holding up their respective totems: a top, a red die, and a ring.
When they look back at it, the photo is a little cheesy, what with their silly grins and the way they’re holding up their trinkets. Arthur thinks they look vaguely like knock-off superheroes holding up their items of power.
Dom toys with the idea of calling them the “Dream Team,” but he gets shot down by Mal.
o59
Phillipa gets a warm welcome to the world.
There are balloons, flowers, and the odd stuffed animal in the room. Everything is bathed in a pink light, and there’s laughter in the air. Mal’s aglow with her baby girl in her arms, and Dom couldn’t be a prouder father. And Arthur? He’s no parent, but he’s no less excited about the whole matter.
The Cobb’s want him to hold Phillipa, and for the first few minutes, Arthur says he can’t, that it’s not his place. But Mal persists, and with a few more muttered words, he finally takes her into his arms and rocks her to sleep.
Dom takes a picture of Arthur with his baby; Mal’s looking on in the background, her expression soft, gentle, and loving.
o67
Number sixty-seven is an accident Dom decides to keep. Mal’s back home with Phillipa, and Arthur came by after work to visit. They’re sitting in the dining room, discussing their latest venture into the dream world, one in which Arthur discovered his love for Penrose stairs.
Mal’s asking for details, eyes alight with interest for this paradoxical play, and Dom? Dom’s just trying to take pictures of Phillipa. His wife is laughing and shaking her head at him, but it’s Arthur who reaches over to pull the camera out of his grasp, saying that he needs to stop hiding behind the lens and join them in their conversation. He accidentally presses the shutter, and Dom ends up with a close-up of Arthur, complete with fingers covering part of the lens.
Dom’s the only one who knows he keeps the photo. It isn’t until much later that he realizes why he can’t bring himself to just get rid of it.
o79
Dom takes a picture of Arthur working on the PASIV device.
When asked why he did it, he just says that it seemed like a Kodak moment. Dom doesn’t mention that he found Arthur oddly captivating just then with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his tie a little loosened, hands poised just so over the machine. It doesn’t sound like something a married man should be saying.
o86
Arthur can’t come to Phillipa’s first birthday party because he’s on a business trip, but he drops by several days later to celebrate with the family.
He shows up at the door with presents bundled in his arms, and Mal can’t help but laugh at how she can’t seem to find him under the stacks of gifts. Phillipa is clinging to her mother’s leg, big eyes looking up at the man under the mountain of bags and boxes.
Dom wonders what his daughter thinks about Arthur right now, wonders if she’ll remember Arthur this way forever.
He takes a picture of all three of them before stepping in to help Arthur unload. Mal steps aside gracefully and whispers into the other’s ear that she’s pregnant again. Dom likes the way Arthur’s eyes flutter when she does that.
o99
For whatever reason, Dom thinks Arthur’s harder to catch these days. Sure, he still shows up at the lab, but there are days, sometimes weeks, where he won’t come in. It’ll be a simple phone call, a few words spoken, and then he’s gone. It’s alright because Arthur always comes back, looking a little tired and worn, but he’s still smiling when he strolls into the room.
Mal’s not in these days, what with Phillipa and a new baby boy. She stays at home, puts Dom’s research into words, and he likes it that way. The dream world isn’t as dreamlike as it was when they first started. The military had started to put it to use, started training soldiers to kill.
But what’s worse is when Arthur shows up one day with a newspaper in his hand. He tosses it on the table, and Dom catches the headlines: extraction. Their eyes meet, but neither says a thing.
The dream world, a place of perfection and impossibilities, has become a scene of a crime.
When they go to Dom’s place for dinner that night, Mal surprises them by taking a picture of them entering the door. She’s disappointed by how tired and angry they appear, but it goes in the family album anyway.
1O3
Research on the dream world has slowed down since the government stuck their noses into the matter. So many things are classified these days, and it gets harder and harder for the average scientist to ply his craft. Dom loses a lot of his funding, and he starts working more from home, which suits him fine.
It means more time with the kids, more time with Mal.
Dom pushes himself, pushes his wife as far as they can go until they hit a wall--limbo. He lives for fifty years in his dreams, and when he wakes, he sees how Mal’s changed. Dom notices how her hands linger on the knives as she prepares dinner; Arthur’s coming over tonight, Arthur who’s been out of town for the last two months.
They have bouillabaisse.
The dinner table is quiet except for the chatter of Phillipa and James, and Mal excuses herself halfway through the meal. Dom lets her go and turns to Arthur, asking how he’s been. When the other replies, he notices that there’s something different--a different air of maturity about the man now. Arthur still smiles, but it’s fainter; his laughter rarely reaches his eyes anymore.
He wonders why he didn’t notice it before. Dom isn’t sure when it happened, if it was recent or if it’s been there.
Arthur sleeps on their couch tonight because he doesn’t own a place of his own in California anymore; he travels too much. Dom takes a picture while the other sleeps. It comes out dark because he doesn’t use the flash.
1O9
It’s been one week since Arthur came into town, and he’s off again. There’s a fancy car waiting in the driveway, and Dom can’t help but wonder who else the other is working for. He starts thinking if he can really say that Arthur is still working with him at all; he hasn’t put in any hours recently--Arthur’s been sleeping most of the time he’s here at their California home.
Before he gets whisked off again, Dom demands that Arthur join them for a family photograph. It’s been a while since they had one of those.
So he asks the driver of that posh black car to snap a photo of them: Mal, Arthur, the two kids, and Dom together in front of the house. They’re all smiling, but only two of those smiles are genuine.
Arthur gives Mal a kiss and a hug before he leaves. It’s the last time he’ll see her alive.
11O
Mal’s dead.
All Dom can do is remember how she fell from that ledge, and he relives it over and over again. He forces himself to sleep with the PASIV device. He gets no real rest because he’s dreaming, but he tries to hide there and bury his grief.
He can still be with Mal in those dreams.
Arthur comes back from somewhere while he’s still under. He settles next to Dom on the floor, plugs in, and joins him in the dream world. There, he tries to comfort his long-time friend, soothe the pain. It doesn’t work quite as planned as Dom thinks the other is a projection, and Arthur spends most of his time trying to convince him otherwise.
When Dom does wake from that dream, he sees Arthur a foot away on the ground beside him. The other awakens a moment later, and Arthur looks tired, exhausted. They’ve both been grieving, one openly and the other silently.
It isn’t until a few days later that he finds a photograph on his cell phone of himself and Arthur sleeping next to each other. Miles admits to taking the picture a year later, claiming that Dom would need a reminder of who his friends are in times to come.
He’s right.
111
Photograph one hundred-and-eleven shows up in his mailbox five days after Mal’s funeral. The envelope comes without a return address. Dom never figures out who took it, never bothers to find out.
It’s a solemn photo, a little on the dark side without any flash. He’s standing at Mal’s graveside with Arthur. They’re wearing black suits and ties, crisp white shirts under the jackets, and their hands are clasped in front of them. Dom’s eyes are squeezed shut in the photo, while Arthur is staring at the ground.
The funeral is the first time Arthur calls him Cobb, not Dom.
112
It has been one year and one month since Arthur’s last shown up in Dom’s photographs.
They’re in Santiago, Chile, because Dom can’t go back to the States anymore. He’s been working as an extractor, slowly building his fame as one, one case at a time. Up until this point, Dom’s been working with a variety of people, new faces for each job. He wants some stability and some familiarity, but there’s only so much he can do, criminal that he is.
So he finds it a little funny, a little ironic when Arthur meets up with him in a bar with a job proposal.
They shake hands, catch up, and drink a few shots.
He’ll be his point man, Arthur says, and Dom says that’s fine. They work out their relationship, half old, half new, and that’s how it starts, how they become a team of two.
They take a photograph together for old time’s sake.
It’s a bad shot--too much room on the left side next to Dom. They both know, when they see the photo, who that empty spot’s for.
115
Arthur’s sleeping in their hotel room in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Dom’s noticed that Arthur doesn’t dream anymore, but it doesn’t come as a surprise: he doesn’t either. He watches him sleep for a minute or five before taking a picture of his point man’s face.
It’s another beautiful shot taken without permission, another reminder of something Dom isn’t ready to face just yet. It won’t be the last.
127
Dom needs a forger for this new job in Melbourne, which is where he meets Eames for the first time. They’ve already discussed the details of the job and run through payment issues. They’re working in an empty warehouse now, sunlight streaming in through cracked and dusty windows.
It takes a few days to notice, but it seems like Arthur and this Eames have a history together. Dom doesn’t ask about it because neither looks like he to wants say anything about the matter. It’s just in the way they talk to each other, look at each other that makes him curious, discussing guns, ammunition, and jobs gone wrong.
He takes a picture of them talking while pretending to text someone on his phone. When he examines it alone in his hotel room that night, Dom can’t help but feel his stomach twist a little. Their familiarity annoys him, but he’d never admit that out loud.
He forces himself to forget it when he sleeps.
136
Number one hundred-and-thirty-six is an accident.
Dom’s trying to do something with his phone when he drops it. Arthur picks it up, inadvertently taking a picture of himself. It’s a giant blur, but Dom never deletes the photo.
He knows why he won’t now, but he doesn’t plan on letting anyone know. It’ll just upset the balance, upset Mal.
143
Arthur and Dom are celebrating the completion of their toughest job yet--an especially tricky extraction from another extractor’s mind. Their new architect--a guy by the name of Nash--takes a picture of the two of them at the restaurant.
They’re dressed to the nines, and it reminds Dom a little of the pictures they shared at his wedding. That day feels like a lifetime ago, and in a way, it is. Memories he’s buried away threaten to surface, and Dom orders more liquor for his table.
The atmosphere’s totally different from his wedding night. The laughter is stilted, conversation is polite, and the smiles are small and rare. They drink to remember and to forget. By the time the night ends, Dom doesn’t remember taking the picture anymore.
His memories of the night are a blur, but he’s got a crystal clear photograph to remember it by.
15O
Photograph one hundred-and-fifty is taken by professionals hired by Saito.
Dom doesn’t like to take photos with his clients because it’s physical evidence, but Saito won’t have any of it. Besides, he says, how can anyone take down as powerful a man as he? Any trouble a small photo might cause could easily be paid away. Those with money have the power after all.
He doesn’t like admitting it, but it’s a nice shot. Dom likes his team this time.
152
Ariadne gives him this photograph.
She uses a Polaroid camera she picked up at Les Puces, and Dom would’ve worried if she didn’t end up giving everyone else pictures as well. Her photography is a little on the amateur side with everything being centered and straight, but her little doodles make up for the lack of flair.
In the picture she gives Dom, he’s sleeping on a lawn chair and Arthur’s standing in the background, tinkering with the PASIV device. Ariadne’s given the point man a ridiculous mustache and polka dots on his suit. Dom, on the other hand, gets a teddy bear drawn in and large sunglasses. He smiles and thanks Ariadne for the picture before telling her to get back to work.
Dom spends the rest of the day wondering what Arthur’s picture is like.
158
The warehouse is deserted, empty except for himself and Arthur.
The lone lamp still lit is next to the lawn chair the point man is sleeping in, the PASIV device on the nearby table. Dom watches him sleep and wonders what he’s doing in the hotel, the dream layer he’s responsible for. Dom reaches over, cups Arthur’s cheek in his hand, before running a thumb over the other’s lips.
He takes a picture with his phone but never looks at it again.
162
Dom gets off the plane last and fusses with his cell phone.
When Arthur walks by, he takes a quick picture without looking and hopes no one’s noticed. Upon checking it later, Dom thinks it’s the worst shot he’s ever taken of Arthur. He barely gets his point man’s shoulder.
163
Arthur comes to visit Dom and his kids a week and a half after the inception job.
Phillipa and James are excited to see the other again, and they rush to meet him when he pulls up in the driveway. Dom brings his camera out and follows them slowly, a smile crossing his lips as Arthur opens the car door.
The point man kneels so he’s eye-level with the kids and pulls them close in a warm embrace. Dom takes a picture, and the click of the camera breaks the magic of the moment. The children start to laugh again, and the air is filled with the sound of their giggling.
Arthur stands and smiles at Dom. It’s genuine, this time, the expression on the other’s face. They exchange handshakes, and Dom invites him in, out of the heat of the afternoon sun.
He flexes his hand when Arthur’s not looking, tries to forget how warm the other’s fingers were against his.
171
The point man disappears from California a day earlier than expected.
When Dom gets up that morning, he finds his camera on the kitchen counter, a post-it note sitting underneath. Arthur apologizes for leaving without a word, says that a job came up, claims he has to be in Iceland in a few hours. He makes a point to mention that he took a picture with Dom’s camera.
He turns it on, and the first thing that comes up is a photo of Arthur giving him a smile. He’s waving his hand, and upon zooming in, Dom can read the small text scribbled there on his palm.
It reads “thanks” and nothing more.
172
Arthur returns to California as suddenly as he had left, and Dom’s reminded of the days when Mal was still around.
The kids are away, off in France with their grandmother, and he’s got the house to himself; they won’t be back until tomorrow. It’s lonely and quiet, so Dom’s happy to make room for Arthur. More than happy, if he lets himself be truthful with his feelings.
They sit in the living room; the Discovery Channel’s on the television, but neither of them are paying it any attention. Dom nurses a beer, while Arthur’s got a glass of red wine. Silence settles over them, but it’s comfortable. It’s so comfortable that he dozes off, eyes sliding shut.
He sleeps.
A minute, an hour later, perhaps four or five, Dom feels rather than sees Arthur shift. The cushion beside him sinks, and the empty beer bottle in his hand is plucked out of his fingers. Arthur’s hands are warm against his, and Dom slowly opens his eyes.
His point man is looking at him, gaze even and steady--fearless. Dom hears his name on Arthur’s lips--his first name--and his eyes flutter shut again. He’s dreaming, he has to be, and his hand moves to his pocket, to close around his totem, but the other won’t let him, fingers circling around his wrist.
Arthur’s telling him this is real, that this is reality, warm breath curling around Dom’s ear, and then he feels the soft press of lips against his skin, reverent in feel. Dom doesn’t know what to think, doesn’t want to think--he’s tired, drowsy with warmth, comfort, and alcohol.
When Arthur shows him a picture on his phone the next morning--lips pressed to his temple, Dom checks his totem. It’s real. He wasn’t dreaming.
173
Dom can’t stop thinking about last night.
He tries to occupy his thoughts by taking more pictures of Arthur with his children. It doesn’t work, but he adds many photos to the family album that day.
182
It’s late or early, depending on how one looks at the time. The clock on the wall reads three-ten in the morning, and Dom can’t sleep.
He wanders out into the living room and finds Arthur sleeping on the couch. As if out of habit, Dom gets his camera to take another shot of the other’s sleeping figure. He has so many of these now that he’s afraid to count them, afraid to see how bad his obsession has become.
As he focuses the camera, Dom isn’t sure if he does this on purpose or if it’s his subconscious: he leaves the flash on.
The living room fills with light, and Arthur wakes up, eyes fluttering open the same way they do when he rises from a dream. His gaze lands on Dom immediately, who finds himself wondering why he’s doing this, why he’s put himself in this position.
In truth, though, he knows why.
Dom starts uttering an apology, but Arthur’s already closing the distance between them, holding a single finger up to his lips. He tells him that he’ll wake the kids, and when Dom opens his mouth to protest again, Arthur kisses him the words right out of him.
Warm fingers entwine with his, and Dom finds himself being led back to the master bedroom. Arthur shuts the door behind them and takes the camera from his limp hands. It goes to sit on the dresser, and then the point man’s attention is all on him.
It’s dark, and all Dom knows is that Arthur is one warm, firm line against his body, gentle hands at the nape of his neck, soft lips on his own.
183
Dom wakes up at first light feeling tired, but he feels more alive and refreshed than he has in years.
Arthur is lying in bed next to him, back to the ceiling and face toward Dom. The sheet barely covers his hips, and Dom absently wonders if he’s cold. He’s still sleeping; his breathing is even and slow. Dom runs a finger down his spine, remembers doing so a few hours earlier in the dark. Arthur’s skin is warm and soft beneath his fingers, body pale and beautiful, marred only by a handful of bruises that fit perfectly to the curve of Dom’s hands.
His eyes settle on the camera on the dresser, and he thinks about getting out of bed to get it, to take another picture of Arthur sleeping. When Dom looks back down at the man next to him, though, he decides not to. He’ll wait until the other wakes up.
And then they’ll take a picture together.