you donāt even get a shot of their heads and/or faces, but itās easy to tell by their clothing and how they move ā in fact, iād even go so far as to argue that arthur does not, in fact, need eames to do anything here, at all.
however, arthur does not chastise eames here like he (probably) normally would ā actually, there isnāt any verbal communication between them here at all. they are simply in the background, moving the job along while cobb talks to ariadne, and for all intents and purposes, maybe itās nothing out of the ordinary; after all, theyāre constantly within touching distance of each other, even despite their apparent ādislikeā of each other (oh the headcanons i have for this!)
speaking of headcanons, the reason iām bringing this up is because iāve never really seen it discussed within manifestos ā on the contrary, i donāt think iāve ever seen it discussed, period. this isnāt the first time iāve noticed it, but i was painstakingly editing the entirety of inception down to the select scenes i would need to make an arthur/eames video, and in doing so, i was forward-motioning through the movie very slowly. that is to say, that i was able to analyze and reanalyze this very quick scene that most people pay no attention to without too much effort, and iāve been sitting here thinking about a million headcanons ever since (itās actually very easy to miss if youāre not looking for a/e specifically).
arthur is hooking peter up to the passive, preparing for the third level that will allow them to break into fischerās subconscious. eames appears shortly before this, and he immediately brings his hands up to rest on either side of peterās head after they established with fischer exactly what it is theyāre doing. eames does not really need to do this, because peter is not posing much of a threat here, and yet he does so anyway ā because the person that would be in direct danger would be arthur, who although is likely to multitask and not let his guard down to the point of being caught by surprise, is concentrating on his task at hand. we cannot see their expressions, which is kind of frustrating for me, because i want to see just how eames is looking at arthur ā where arthur is blank and composed (except that time eames was getting shot at), eames is fairly expressive with his face.
furthermore, prior to even going down into the second level (the level theyāre currently at) they found out that they could not be shot awake, and that if they die, theyāll end up in limbo. eames is not happy about this, which leads me to believe that he becomes increasingly concerned with arthurās wellbeing (we already know arthur lost his shit when they were in the cab, and eames was the only person arthur cared about injury-wise) so itās safe to say that arthur has already dealt with the reality of eamesās life being on the line (although, again, prior to this they believed theyād wake up if shot, but the plan is three levels deep, heavy sedation, etc etc). eames, however, has not had to deal with this reality because he does not doubt arthurās ability to kick ass when necessary ā but theyāre all about to go under and leave arthur to deal with some hostile projections on his own, and what if shit goes horribly wrong, and he gets stuck in limbo? what if this is the last time he āseesā arthur?
so, eames stands close to arthur. although we donāt see his face, iām willing to bet heās watching arthur very closely, studying his face and his slicked back hair and all of the details he can absorb in these seconds before going under. following this, he goes to arthur for assistance with the passive ā eames, who has done this before, who does not need someone to help him with this, unlike ariadne and saito. eames, the forger and the thief, who gives people what they need in the form of being another person but takes more than he gives; like arthur, eames is an independent kind of guy - he doesnāt rely on much beyond himself to get by. but heās suddenly submitting (seriously, heās on his back on the floor, and although eames has never outwardly displayed closed off or hostile posture toward arthur before this, laying on your back is definitely the most open you can be to a person). heās asking for help ā maybe not verbally, but he holds out his wrist to arthur. heās showing a little bit of vulnerability and trust here, although everything about these two tries to imply that they donāt trust, and this seems like an instinctual thing - like eames isnāt even second-guessing this gift heās giving, because itās fucking arthur. and, more than that, he wants a little bit more contact before he goes under: arthurās fingers wrapped around his wrist, the pressure, the heat. like an anchor (lol thanks teen wolf for ruining that forever).
whatever the state of their relationship, itās pretty obvious that arthur and eames exist primarily on witty banter, and so eames engages arthur here. itās dry, but itās playful, but only the two of them would know that judging by the smile that eames doesnāt bother trying to hide at arthurās deadpan response. and, last but not least on this particular moment of the movie (separate moments, but technically one scene, since itās all in the same hotel room) eames tells arthur to be back before the kick. eames does not tell cobb and ariadne this ā actually, quite the opposite: with or without them, eames will implement this levelās kick. eames expresses concern for arthur in this moment, verbally, but very under-the-radar (much in the same way that arthur did in the cab, although arthur was definitely a little more amped up on emotion there).
laksjdlaksjd. if this ship isnāt intentionally discreetly canon, iāll eat my own left arm.
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