The words had hit him straight in the chest, point blank. They'd rattled around in his head and his ribcage, like something had shaken loose and couldn't anchor again. Arthur's always been good at compartmentalizing, had needed to learn in the military– seeing someone get shot right next to you did things to a person.
But he'd never expected this kind of news. Mal had been a civilian and while so many died from cancer, car accidents, freak accidents, even suicide; she'd never seemed the type. Maybe he was too much of an optimist, bent on hoping that his closest friend and confidante would heal. That she'd put away the notion that this world wasn't reality. Her psych evals had leveled out in the last few months. They all thought she might be getting better.
Instead, she'd turned all her cards against them. Against Dom, her husband, leaving papers behind that he was dangerous for her health. And in the end, before they'd left on their anniversary getaway, she'd patted Arthur on the cheek and said she missed him. In the aftermath, there hadn't been a note. She hadn't believed he'd been real. And that stung almost as much as the news of her jumping from reality into death.
So it's natural that he's waiting for Dom in the airport in Frankfurt. Because if someone stitched both their hearts together, maybe they'd get a whole. And maybe with enough time, he'd get Dom back to his life, to his children, to help him pick up the pieces of a shattered life. He waits, glances at his watch and at the escalator leading to baggage claim, trying not to tap his foot nervously.
this is the beginning of a break // cobb/arthur
The words had hit him straight in the chest, point blank. They'd rattled around in his head and his ribcage, like something had shaken loose and couldn't anchor again. Arthur's always been good at compartmentalizing, had needed to learn in the military– seeing someone get shot right next to you did things to a person.
But he'd never expected this kind of news. Mal had been a civilian and while so many died from cancer, car accidents, freak accidents, even suicide; she'd never seemed the type. Maybe he was too much of an optimist, bent on hoping that his closest friend and confidante would heal. That she'd put away the notion that this world wasn't reality. Her psych evals had leveled out in the last few months. They all thought she might be getting better.
Instead, she'd turned all her cards against them. Against Dom, her husband, leaving papers behind that he was dangerous for her health. And in the end, before they'd left on their anniversary getaway, she'd patted Arthur on the cheek and said she missed him. In the aftermath, there hadn't been a note. She hadn't believed he'd been real. And that stung almost as much as the news of her jumping from reality into death.
So it's natural that he's waiting for Dom in the airport in Frankfurt. Because if someone stitched both their hearts together, maybe they'd get a whole. And maybe with enough time, he'd get Dom back to his life, to his children, to help him pick up the pieces of a shattered life. He waits, glances at his watch and at the escalator leading to baggage claim, trying not to tap his foot nervously.