Title: Le Famille
Author: A Crazy Elephant
Summary: Or "Five Times Ariadne Met Her Team Members' Families and the One Time They Met Hers"
Category: Family/Friendship
Word Count: 1,232
Disclaimer: Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan, not me. Sad.
Author's Notes: First, thank you all for your support and input! This has gotten more alerts and more favorites than any of my other pieces! I can hardly thank you enough; you guys are awesome!
K, now here's what's happening. I've got all but Ariadne's chapter planned out and half written. The goal is to get up a new chapter once a day. Feel free to pester me if I fail to do so. Again, brace yourselves for the fluff. Happy Halloween!
3 – Cobb
9 months, 3 Weeks, 4 Days Since Inception
The inception team comes to her graduation.
Most of them, anyway. Saito, required to be at some business summit, sends her a card of congratulations and a floral arrangement that now sits on her kitchen table and she doesn't hold it against him. Honestly, she's rather surprised any of them show up, let alone feel they have to apologize for their absence. They're only coworkers after all – friendly coworkers true, but still. Though, she supposes, their work is far more intimate and requires significantly more trust than the average pencil pushing positions her classmates have all accepted. Poking around someone's subconscious over and over has to establish some kind of relationship, she's sure.
They don't sit together; she can see them scattered out among the crowd from her seat in the salutatorian's chair onstage. Eames and Yusuf are camped out on opposite ends of the back half of the crowd looking more or less as they did the last time she saw them (meaning Yusuf is cheerful, but with a pained look that says he would perhaps be more comfortable in a smaller crowd and Eames has on a devilish grin and a suggestive glint in his eyes). Arthur has chosen the middle of the crowd, a few rows up from the faculty. He too looks much as he always does in one of his impossibly pressed suits, but he carries flowers and smiles encouragingly while Cobb sticks to the front, seated just behind Miles wearing a smug sort of pride and accompanied by two fidgety blonde moppets in Sunday clothes who can only be the famous James and Phillipa.
The ceremony is the standard graduation proceeding she remembers from high school and her undergraduate. She gives a short speech of gratitude to the faculty and a requisite inspirational bit before the valedictorian's longer, though equally bland and uninspiring speech and she can see a touch of pride in Eames' smirk as she lies enthusiastically about 'oh the places they'll go' with their shiny new masters degrees.
When it's over and she's toting a diploma, she is forced to congratulate the various acquaintances she's made over her term here, have her photo taken numerous times and accept thanks from other professors and advisors and she loses track of her former teammates, despite the plans for a celebratory dinner downtown, in the whirl of faces and rush of the crowd as the audience presses in to greet their graduates.
Cobb rescues her. He weaves through the enthusiastic crush of former peers, their families and their friends to catch her vainly trying to escape a longwinded congratulatory speech from one of her least favorite professor before firing off an impressive little lie along the lines of 'Ariadne, your mother's waiting for you- why, yes Professor, I am Miles' son-in-law- the children are well, thank you for asking'. The entirely false announcement of Ariadne's mother (who is actually in an entirely different hemisphere at the moment) and her expectations is enough for the professor and she is able to follow Cobb through the chattering crowd and off to the small car he's rented where Arthur waits with Phillipa and James.
They are older than she remembers from Cobb's projections. Phillipa's pushing six now and explaining to Arthur all about her first year in kindergarten. James is now nearing four and is entirely uninterested in his sister's tales of Sammy In Her Class and the paragon of education that is apparently Miss Kim of Highland Elementary and is instead attempting to persuade 'Uncle Arthur' to critique the crayon masterpiece he drew during the ceremony. At the reappearance of their father, James gives up on Arthur for artistic feedback and jogs forward.
"Dad- look- see- it's a worm." The little boy announces proudly holding up the miniature legal pad Cobb had placated him with for the duration of the commencement speeches and diploma presentations so that they can see the wobbly wax sketches of a worm and an army of worm friends.
"It's a very nice worm," Cobb agrees, diplomatically. It isn't surprising to see him playing the father rather than the extractor, but it's no less hilariously adorable. There's something touchingly humorous about watching the former preeminent extractor who's talked more secrets out of more people in his sleep, consider the merits of crayon annelids. "James, can you say hello to Miss Ariadne?"
"Hello, Miss Ariadne," James echoes distractedly, before holding out his artwork for her inspection. "Do you like it?" He asks hopefully and she nods.
"He's a wonderful worm." She agrees and this seems to be enough praise for James who whirls around to stick out his tongue at Phillipa.
"I told you; I told you he wasn't stupid!" James grins triumphantly at his sister, who is still regaling the point man with descriptions of the Highland Elementary Playground and her literary accomplishments in reading all four 'Frog and Toad' books by herself before the end of the school year. At her brother's interruption, Phillipa scowls and sticks out her tongue, which earns her a warning glance from Cobb. "Pip kept saying he was a stupid worm." James explains to Ariadne as they approach the vehicle, where Arthur sits with the passenger door open, patiently listening to the girl's enthusiastic school stories.
"Hello," Arthur greets, catching a victorious James who's rushed the last few steps to the passenger seat before the boy collides with his knee. Phillipa frowns again, but decides to ignore her brother and Ariadne can see a judgment along the lines of stupid boys cross the girl's face before the child smiles.
"I'm Pip." She introduces. "And I'm supposed to say 'congratulations'."
"Thank you, Pip." She smiles. "I'm Ariadne."
"I know." The child admits and her smile wavers as James is finally able to attain Arthur's assessment of the worm sketch. "Daddy said this is your party and you get flowers from Uncle Arthur because you finished school." She observes. It isn't a snide observation, rather there's something matter of fact about the girl's tone.
"Pip-" Cobb clearly had intended his children to be on better behavior this afternoon, but Ariadne doesn't mind and the urchins in question, too pleased to have an audience other than their father, don't pick up on his frustration.
"Do you think I'll get a party when I finish school?" Phillipa asks and Ariadne nods.
"I'm sure you will. And I'm sure we can convince your Uncle Arthur to get you flowers too." Ariadne assures her and the child perks up enormously, even as her brother continues to chatter over her about his drawing.
"I'll be in first grade next year! You get to go to the computer lab in first grade and music class twice a week!" Phillipa explains brightly. "I'm nearly there!"
"Nearly," Ariadne agrees. She doesn't have the heart to correct the girl.
"Will you come to my party?" Phillipa asks seriously, momentarily fearful while James mumbles to the point man that he'd like a party too but would much prefer that Arthur show up with a tarantula rather than flowers.
"If you'd like me to,"
"Yes." She says decisively, before turning to her father. "Can Miss Ariadne come to my party, Daddy?" The extractor doesn't seem thrilled with conversation concerning his little girl's graduation from anything.
"Maybe we should go to her party first."