( action ) / ( audio)

[dropkick]

[ Wandering through the City in something of a daze, Arthur is on his way to the outskirts of the City proper. From there it isn't terribly far from the forest, which isn't really the place for him - prepared or not, and he's more the former than the latter today. His mind is one-track though his goal is anyone's guess.

It's an unexpected day all in all. What had originally been intended as a day spent to scout around for different work has become, instead, an indefinite search for the end of a rainbow. He doesn't give much thought to others wandering around him in a similar state, doesn't give much thought to anything except his destination where he's 100% certain there's something he's looking for.

Or, well, someone.

If you happen to run into him, it might be literally, because that's how attentive he is to his surroundings at the moment - hardly.

At one point, turning his device over and over in his hand absently, the audio clicks on, just barely picking up the end of him muttering: ] ...the woods? Figures.

Comments

[boutant]

Cobb?

[ She straightens, and though he can't see it, he might be able to hear it in her voice. ]

What makes you think that?

[dropkick]

[ That's the tough thing about it. He doesn't have any concrete proof. He's only got his own certainty and while he feels like he's never been more sure of a thing, even cursed he knows that doesn't pan out for other people. Later he'll feel ridiculous, exponentially so, but for now he's just distracted in the guarded way of someone who's more invested than he wants to admit. ]

It leads in that direction, so...either the woods or past the woods - beach maybe. That'd make more sense, actually.

[ An answer but not really an answer. ]

[boutant]

[ An answer but not really an answer, and the way Arthur's speaking -- distracted, (which, if he's searching for Cobb, makes sense... but still, this isn't quite the same sort of distraction as Arthur when you try to talk to him while he's working) glossing over the fact that he should know that not-answers aren't enough for Ariadne. ]

What leads in that direction?

[ There's a sinking feeling in her stomach; she thinks she might know the answer. ]

[dropkick]

[ Here the pause is longer since Arthur has finally made it to the border of the forest, pausing because he does contrary to some beliefs have a sense of self-preservation. If it's secondary where Dom is concerned, it's only in a pick/choose situation. Right now it's just unfortunate the stupid rainbow arcs over this way instead of, say, looping several times around the carousel.

There's a sigh, the slight muffled buffer of air as he adjusts the device in his palm. ]

It's... [ ridiculous ] a rainbow.

Seems more solid somehow though.

[boutant]

[ She's fairly certain that most people would say Arthur has a far better sense of self-preservation than she does, at least in most instances. Cobb seems to be a special case for everyone. ]

A rainbow.

[ Of course it's the rainbow. She can see it even now, arched across the sky. ]

What happens if he's not at the end of it?

[dropkick]

[ Dominick Cobb is a cornerstone of what Arthur feels for anyone who matters to him, and it's strange how convoluted that can get since he doesn't let it happen in general, or hasn't previously. It was easier on the run of course, not stuck in one place and seeing the same faces all of the time. But needless to say he's got a well entrenched foothold in Arthur's heart, in what constitutes significance - past, and present though maybe not future. It had felt terrible to have him disappear, and then it had felt worse to be that way about it when he knew logically Dom was going where he should be, where Arthur too on the whole wanted him to be.

If Dom isn't at the end of it, Arthur tells himself, well, no big deal, but it feels like quite the opposite. He just feels ridiculous even thinking about it. ]

Don't know.

It just feels like he has to be there.

[ Or...

... ]

[boutant]

Why would he be there, Arthur?

[ It's obviously that he's cursed, and Ariadne knows that logic might not reach him because of it. Still, she has to try to see if she can get him to snap out of it. ]

[dropkick]

It's...I don't know.

I just...I woke up and I knew he was there. Is there.

[ If he sounds less than certain he himself is going to ignore it in favor of the cursed necessity the City has made it for him, following that ridiculous streak of color in the sky. ]

[boutant]

I know you want him to be there, Arthur. I want him to be there, too.

[ She sighs. ]

But I think you're cursed.