Cobb Picks up the Pieces: Comment Fic

[eternalsojourn]

First things first: I want to pimp metacheese's

Pan Fandom Friendship Fanworks Fest

If you make fanworks, you should contribute. Platonic love doesn't get enough play, in my opinion, although romance isn't ruled out in this fest. So you should go there. And make stuff. :D

Here's my contribution (which can be viewed at the source or here below the cut):

Characters, Pairings: Cobb, Arthur/Eames
Rating: G? Teen? I suck at rating anything that isn’t NC-17, sorry.
Word Count: 636
Warnings: None
Summary: The aftermath of Inception through the eyes of Cobb.

Cobb Picks Up the Pieces

It was a plane that did it.

Cobb stepped outside to gather the various toys that had been abandoned randomly throughout the yard, the forgotten detritus of lives lived in a hurry to get to the next thing, shiny, just out of reach.

It was as he stood, plastic shovel in hand that a soft noise drew his eyes upwards to a plane far above, drifting slowly across the sky.

It was only then, some six weeks after his return home that it struck him how close they all had come to being lost down there. How easily the plane could have landed with all of them slumped, no amount of face tapping or shaking enough to rouse them from their minds.

The shovel slipped from his fingers, and Cobb shakily made his way to the lawn chair and dropped into it, stunned.

***

“The person you are calling is not available...” Cobb hesitated a second, then hung up. He dialled again, jaw clenched, glaring down at his kitchen counter.

“This better be good,” Arthur said. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“Hi, Arthur,” Cobb began. At Arthur’s silence he added, “I thought we’d talk, but if you’re busy, then meet me for coffee. Come see the kids.”

“I’m in Dar es Salaam,” Arthur replied in that clipped way of his. The one that says, get to the point, damnit.

“Ah,” Cobb said, collecting his thoughts. He knew Arthur hated waiting, but he also knew Arthur would want to find out what Cobb was calling for. “Okay. Listen. I just wanted to say thanks. For helping me get back to my kids. You know.”

There was a muffled voice in the background, and Arthur covered the mouthpiece but Cobb still heard, “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute”. Then, “Look, I’m glad you got home.” There was silence for a minute before Arthur added, “I know it must be hard there. Without Mal.

Cobb flickered a frown. “...yeah. The kids and I are muddling through, though. I was serious about you coming to see them. They asked about you.”

“Well, we’re here for another two weeks. We could come out to visit after that, I guess,” Arthur said, measured.

“We?”

“Eames,” Arthur replied, faint hint of a smile in his voice.

Cobb paused, startled. He wondered how he missed it, if there was anything to miss.

“Oh. How long...?”

“After that,” Arthur said, and Cobb spared a moment to be grateful Arthur knew him so well.

“Oh, well, congratulations,” Cobb offered awkwardly. “...we okay?”

“Yeah,” Arthur replied. “Yeah, we’re okay. I’ll call you, all right?”

Afterwards, Cobb busied himself making coffee. The sense of loss that gripped him when Arthur mentioned Mal was spilling over. He’d have to start working legally again at some point, but what of the people who believed he was guilty? He didn’t know if he could return to his old circles. His friends — the ones who’d known both he and Mal — he’d spoken to none of them since his return. And dreamshare — the only dreamshare community that would accept him now was illegal, which was out of the question: he had his kids to think about.

Cobb stirred sugar into his coffee and tossed the spoon into the sink with a clang.

And Arthur. He’d almost alienated the one person who stuck with him through legal and illegal work, who’d crossed the boundary from colleague to friend, who’d eaten at his home, had ruffled his kids’ hair.

Cobb looked around his kitchen, listened to the tv’s bouncing, cartoon noises from the living room. He didn’t regret what he did.

Yeah. We’re okay.

Something loosened in Cobb’s chest. He picked up his coffee and wandered to the linen closet, washing fresh sheets for the spare room.

**End**

Comments

[mrsdstephens.livejournal.com]

Really well done depiction of Cobb waking up, so to speak, from the fog of his post-inception life.

[eternalsojourn.livejournal.com]

It's the first time I've really considered Cobb's life from his point of view, so it was interesting to write this. Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

lovely. i like the idea of cobb actually getting it, and arthur already having forgiven him. well done, you. ♥

[eternalsojourn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I kind of think that Arthur maybe had the jury still out on Cobb, but when Cobb calls, Arthur is maybe relieved Cobb is coming out of his own brambled head to reconnect with the world around him. Thanks for reading. ♥

[eamesie.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful, I always love the idea that Cobb eventually comes around and gets it. Even if it takes him longer than everybody else *g*

[eternalsojourn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cobb has a lot going on. It's actually one of the reasons I don't write him much; he was dealt with so thoroughly in the film. I like to think that he wasn't always broken and desperate; once upon a time he managed his relationships well and had charisma and charm. I can't imagine how hard it would be to rebuild the life he spent a lifetime creating, but now without Mal, and with the suspected murder hanging like a cloud around him. He has to, of course, for his kids.

Excuse me, I'll just talk at you when you left me a nice comment. /o\

Thanks for reading! <3

[pageslave.livejournal.com]

Ooh, nice one. Kudos for creating such a plausible character portrait in such a small space. I think it's safe to say most of us are in fandom for the pr0n, so it's always a welcome surprise to read something that's still compelling without it.

[eternalsojourn.livejournal.com]

\o/ Thanks, this comment means a lot to me. <3