The Love of an Office Supply Store
It was the end of August, and every child knew what that meant. School was on the horizon, and that meant for a trip to the Wal-Mart or-
"Office Depot?" Ariadne asked. "Why do you want me and Arthur to come?" She could hear Arthur laugh in the other room.
"Just do it," Cobb said through her mobile speaker. "The kids really miss their Aunt Ari and Uncle Arthur. And you haven't stepped into an office supply store since you became an Architect." She could since the man's grin that made his blue eyes sparkle.
"Fine," she said, sighing. Really, she didn't mind…Ariadne loved Phillipa and James. They were adorable.
"Yay," Cobb cried, which caused Ariadne to convulse with laughter. The Architect never heard such an adorable word come from the man with the job title Extractor'smouth. It made him sound like a child, rather than a widower raising his two young children.
Arthur came when she snapped her mobile shut. "So, we are really going school supply shopping?"
Arthur, Ariadne, Eames, and (shockingly) Saito, arrived at Cobb's place at noon. They were ready for an adventure. All present were surprised who Saito had with him.
"Bloody hell, you have a son?" Eames gasped. Only because his hands were in his pockets, prevented him from pointing at father and son. The boy in particular had hair gel in his dark locks, making it into a point. He was dressed in nice clothes and appeared to be in fifth grade.
"Yes, this is my son, Shuhei Saito," the Tourist said, putting an arm around his child protectively. "He speaks some English."
"Hello everyone," Shuhei said, blushing. He had a very polite voice.
Cobb, Arthur, and Eames responded in Japanese.
"Phillipa, James-it's time to go!" Cobb yelled inside the house. Quiet reigned for a split second, then the sound of stamping bare feet rang throughout the inside dwelling. Two blonde haired children and a skinny boy with light brown-red hair ran out the door. Saito recognized the skinny boy and pulled him away by the ear, growling at him in Japanese.
The other boy seemed non-apologetic. Ariande laughed, accepting hugs from her "niece and nephew."
This was going to be fun.
"So why are you here?" Eames asked in his direct manner to Saito. He businessman shrugged. They were in the parking lot of Office Depot, but no one had exited the car.
"I felt like bringing Shuhei, the boy needs some friends. And Kai Ichinose, well I owed his mother and his piano instructor a favor."
Both Japanese boys perked up at the word "piano."
"Saito is number one elementary school piano player kid in Japan!" Kai exclaimed, hugging the other boy.
"Ichinose-kun is much better than I am," Shuhei explained to the "dream team."
"Really?" Cobb asked eyes focused on the road.
"He has a piano in the forest back home, that no one else can play. He's amazing-just like a dream!"
"Ajino can play it! But he doesn't count, cause he's no fun" Kai said, dreamily.
Just like a dream, eh?
"So what characters are you going to get on your supplies?" Ariande asked Phillipa and James.
"Princess Belle!" Phillipa exclaimed. "She lives in France just like you Aunt Ari, and she's really really smart just like you!"
"Transformers!" James yelled. "'Cause they transform into robots from cars! It's the coolest thing ever."
"When I was your age, I wanted the Powerpuff Girls. They were awesome."
"Psh, girls? Bring on the bad guys," Eames muttered.
"What?" the Architect glared at the Forger.
"X-Men and Batman are cooler," Eames yelled.
"Shut up! Batman doesn't have powers!"
Saito and Arthur gave each other knowing smirks. Eames smirked, just because he is Eames. That's how he rolls.
The automatic doors opened with the metallic woosh, and Ariande gasped. The other "dream team" members acted like children as well. There were so many tools for no other purpose than to create.
Shuhei grimaced at the sound of cheers. He wanted to be at home.
Phillipa and James lost their minds as well, heading straight for the Crayola section. "Look Daddy, there's a crayon tower!" James cried.
Cobb read the label. Able to hold 150 crayons. "Awesome, but we don't need one hundred and fifty crayons…Fine." The father caved. He just returned home, damnit he needed to start disciplining again. But it was too hard for the moment…Mal and he loved office stores…for the art.
Phillipa was more partial to the colored pencils. Her eyes widened at the amount of hues. "So pretty," she breathed.
Eames cackled as he reached the Sharpie section. Thirty permanent markers in various shades? So much mischief, so little time.
Arthur was partial to the paper aisle. It was simple, it was elegant-just like his three-piece suits.
Saito and Shuhei examined the pens. Shuhei wanted to sample all of them. Saito agreed on the inside, where it counts.
Kai went to the executive chairs. He sat on one. Started spinning, his high-topped sneakers on skinny legs whacking desks and he started singing the Minute March on the top of his lungs.
Eventually, Cobb broke out his delirium of potential, grabbed a cart, and started putting supplies in it. Notebooks (Transformers, sadly no Belle-Philly substituted for Tiana), folders, Crayola crayons (the best), pens, pencils, Sharpies?"
Eames shrugged. "Might need them, darling." Cobb rolled his eyes.
"For what, to be hooligans just like you, darling?" Arthur mocked.
Shuhei got his father to buy him a high quality pen with puppy dog eyes. Surprisingly, the pen that Shuhei got was the same price as the chair Kai wanted. Saito paid for both, vowing that this was the last time Kai would roam about unsupervised. The boy needed a firm hold. Perhaps Ajino would straighten him out.
The cost was a lot, but Cobb managed to break it down into a small fraction with coupons and the sale that was going on. He had money; he just wanted to save it for college and not use it all at once. They were growing up too fast. He sighed. Pretty soon, Phillipa would have a boyfriend and James wouldn't think girls had cooties.
"You alright, partner?" Ariadne asked. Cobb looked up. The silver top was spinning, wobbling…and then after an eternity, fell.
"Everything…seems so perfect and peaceful."
"I know what you mean."
"I try hard not to use the PASIV, it just becomes hard sometimes. I don't want to go too deep. That would hurt what family I have…Who I just got back." He seemed to be close to tears.
Ariadne hugged Cobb, relishing the touch of his business-casual wear.
Eames used Arthur's back as a springboard, marking his neck with a purple Sharpie that the Forger just ripped out of the plastic wrap. Kai was playing Cops-and-Robbers with Phillipa and James, and dragged Shuhei into it while Saito looked on, smiling. The children were communicating with the best sign language and best language of all…smiles and laughter.
"It'll work out…" She smiled, holding the bag of paper and drawing pencils she got from the trip to Office Depot. Plans for amazing buildings floated about in her head. Plans that could be drawn and then created…in her dreams.
"Let's go home," Dom said, standing up, pocketing the silver top that used to be Mal's before the misunderstood death. "Everyone's waiting for dinner." He grinned.
Dinner was an affair-spaghetti with meatballs on the side. Kai and Shuhei argued who got to use the piano first. Shuhei won, surprisingly. They both could play really well, but Kai's piano touched an emotional center in his audience.
They played extreme Sorry, with two boards; one came from Arthur's collection of games. It was adorable for the children to yell "sorry!" when they clearly didn't mean it, knocking the pawns back to start.
Then it was over. Saito, Shuhei, and Kai as well as Eames, went to their respective hotels. All who remained were Ari and Arthur.
Cobb sent his children to bed after two stories from Aunt Ari and Daddy, and making them promise not to draw and to make their breath "minty fresh." Ariande laughed, still surprised that the Extractor had another list of vocabulary.
Arthur, who knew that Cobb was a good father, was relaxed, drinking a glass of red wine.
"You still have it, Cobb." Arthur commented when his business partner came downstairs.
"Thanks, bro," Cobb said without a trace of sarcasm. "You too, sis. You're a great storyteller."
Then the Aunt and Uncle were gone, and Cobb was left alone in his house with his sleeping children, reflecting on the day of creativity. Opened the closet with the familiar metal briefcase. Shut the door.
Then, he spun the metal top on the kitchen table, where just an hour ago, Arthur spilled a glass of water. Took out a sheet of paper and a crayon and started to draw until he fell asleep at dawn, head dropping on his hands.
A/N: Some harmless Inception fluff. Points to those who know where Shuhei and Kai come from (hint: a manga about piano, rivalry, and a forest.) I went to Office Depot for my school supplies and stared at the crayons for a while. I miss getting new crayons every year…
Nierx out.