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"So, have you asked her yet?"
Cobb glanced up, clearly startled, but didn't pretend not to know what Arthur was talking about. "Not yet." A pause. "Is it that obvious?"
Arthur carefully didn't let his gaze drop to the ring that was clearly visible on Cobb's left ring finger. He'd been wearing it in their dreams for a week now, but didn't seem to be aware of it. It was the sort of tiny subconscious tell that you might not notice about yourself, Arthur supposed.
"Not really," he said, and checked his gun one last time. "Let's get this job done."
Afterwards, back in the waking world, Cobb said, "I only decided to ask her a week ago. I haven't found the right ring yet."
Arthur thought back to the ring Cobb had been wearing in the dream. "You might be better getting it made, if you've got something specific in mind. I can give you the address of a decent jeweler."
"Yeah," Cobb said thoughtfully, "maybe that's the best way."
"You have got the rings, haven't you?"
Arthur carefully didn't sigh. He'd seen Cobb face the twisted depths of what the human subconscious could dream up without losing his cool. There was no reason why a wedding should seem so much more terrifying. Cobb had been wearing a wedding ring in his dreams for a long time now, and whenever Arthur had worked with Mal during the past few months, she'd been wearing a matching one. The wedding itself was just a formality.
"Yes, I've got the rings," Arthur said in an undertone. "Calm down, Dom."
The music started, and they both turned. Mal was beautiful in her dress, but as always it was her dark eyes that caught Arthur's attention. She was smiling at Cobb as she walked towards them, Miles beaming beside her.
After the ceremony, Arthur bent to kiss Mal's hand, her wedding ring cool against his skin. "You look stunning, Mal."
Mal hugged him. "Thank you for keeping Dom sane up there. I was a little bit worried he might bolt."
Arthur grinned wryly. "Not much chance of that. You caught him a long time ago."
Mal smiled, brilliantly bright, and then Cobb was clapping him on the shoulder and tugging Mal away onto the dance floor.
Arthur watched them dance and raised his glass in a silent toast.
"Dom, you're not ready for this."
"I'm not getting any more ready just sitting around on my ass," Cobb snapped, then ran a hand through his hair, took a deep breath. "Sorry. I just..."
Arthur studied his friend, taking in the sharp lines that had formed around his eyes in the past few months, and the pale strip around his ring finger. Dom might have removed his ring, but he was fooling no one but himself if he thought that meant he'd moved on. "Look - it's been less than a month since you lost her. And even before that, only a few months since you were trapped in limbo for decades. All I'm saying is I don't think you're ready to go back into dreams yet."
"I don't have a choice," Cobb said. "I don't - look, the only way I'm going to get back to my kids is if I find a way to get those charges dropped. And the only way I can see to do that is money. A hell of a lot of money. This job would be a start. And it should be simple -"
"No job is simple when you're dealing with a disturbed subconscious," Arthur said.
"She's not that badly messed up," Cobb objected. "Arthur - I need to do this. I can't just sit around here any longer. I'm ready for this. Mal's gone, and now I need to move on and focus on getting back to my kids. But I could really use your help."
Arthur shook his head, but pulled out his cell and called the client to say they'd take the job. He didn't correct Cobb's assumption that it was the mark's subconscious he'd been referring to.
But he wasn't surprised when, once they entered the dream, Cobb's wedding ring was as firmly in place as ever.
He wasn't too taken aback when the job went to hell, either.
"They're still together?" Ariadne asked, her voice incredulous.
Arthur thought of the woman who'd followed Cobb into his dream and shot him in the knee, her wedding ring still gleaming on the hand that hadn't been holding the gun. He wasn't sure where to begin explaining Cobb and Mal to someone who'd never known Mal in real life, someone who hadn't even spent enough time in dreams yet to understand how the lines could blur. They were still together, yes. Just not in any way Ariadne would understand.
"No," he said finally. "She's dead. What you see in there - it's just his projection of her."
Ariadne was silent for a moment. Then she asked, "What was she like in real life?"
Arthur thought back to the way Mal had smiled when he'd kissed her hand. The way she'd laughed when Cobb had spun her as they'd danced. The way her eyes hadn't moved from Cobb as she'd put a bullet in Arthur's knee.
"She was lovely," he said honestly.
He wondered if Ariadne was developing a crush on Cobb. It wouldn't be the first time someone fell for him after he opened their eyes to the world of dreams. Arthur hoped not, though. Ariadne seemed a nice girl. And it wasn't smart to fall for someone who wore a wedding ring, even - especially - in dreams.
He saw Eames' eyebrows go up before the hand landed on his shoulder. The pressure was unexpected but very familiar, and Arthur knew who it was before Cobb dragged a chair across to sit at their table.
"Well well," Eames said. "Retirement get too much for you, old boy?"
Cobb grinned, and Arthur couldn't look away. It had been a long time since he'd seen Cobb smile that freely.
"Something like that," Cobb said easily. "So could you two use another extractor on whatever project you're cooking up?" He met Arthur's eyes, and Arthur wasn't quite sure what expression was on his own face, but he could sense the smirk growing on Eames'.
He cleared his throat. "Always," he said simply, and turned the page in his notebook, ready to work out how this would change their plans.
The job was a complicated one, but for the first time in a while Cobb's presence seemed to simplify things rather than screwing them up further.
"This is the first level," Arthur told him, showing him around the hotel.
"Nice work," Cobb said, casting a professional eye around them. "Did Ariadne build it?"
"The basic layout," Arthur said. "She's graduating next month, so I didn't want to overload her right now. There might be a few details we'll want to change."
Cobb nodded, ran his hands along the wood of the bar to admire the finish. "It looks pretty good, though."
Arthur was too busy staring at Cobb's hands to answer. His left ring finger was bare; there wasn't so much as a strip of lighter skin to show where his subconscious had worn Mal's ring for so long.
"Arthur? Hey, you okay?" Cobb had turned to lean against the bar, watching him.
Arthur pulled himself together. "Fine. Just... you took off your ring," he said, still too surprised to dissemble.
Cobb frowned. "My – I took my ring off years ago. You sure you're okay?"
Not the real one. Arthur hadn't ever expected his subconscious to remove that ring.
"Guess I just haven't been getting enough sleep," he said finally.
An old joke between them, and it served its purpose, Cobb's frown softening into a smile. "Funny, I could have sworn I caught you sleeping on the job." He straightened. "So, you want to show me the rest of this level?"
Arthur swallowed as the full implications of the ring's absence finally sank in. He could share layouts with Cobb again now. He could… "Why not," he said, aiming for nonchalance.
Cobb smiled at him, knowing and affectionate, and they fell into step together.