Dreamscapes (Attn: Ariadne)

[dreamplanner]

Arthur often went to the Starbucks near his house, but rarely did he do so for any other reason than to buy a cup of coffee to take back to his apartment. He didn't work well in a crowded coffee shop; his mind seemed to function better in the quiet of his own home. Today, however, he'd come here to meet Ariadne, and had, as was usual for him,

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[define_belief]

Ariadne greeted the kitty and looked around. The room was like Arthur's dress and how he generally presented himself: neat, and very together. It was unassuming, but not devoid of character. The paintings surprised her a little, but they didn't really contradict anything she knew about him. She remembered the staircase and touched the picture. Mal looked so different from the way Ariadne had seen her. Not just happier. Lighter, carefree. For the first time Ariadne wished she had met her before. All the other people she had met who did this were men. Maybe it didn't make any difference, but just the same.

She followed him into the other room. "OK," she replied. She relaxed onto the recliner (much better than the lawn chairs). It was fortunate that she didn't have a problem with needles. But even if she did, for this, she would find a way to get over it. She closed her eyes and heard the ocean.

They were on the shore. Not like Limbo. This was a calm afternoon and the cliffs nearby were white and solid rather than decayed and crumbling. Cobb might have told her not to use a familiar place, but after all, she had only seen Dover up close once, briefly. It was technically mostly made up. She hoped dreaming a mostly isolated place would give them a little more time since the subconscious figments would have to cross the stretch of beach or climb down the cliffs. Even then, it wasn't as though they were trapped...

She began walking purposefully towards the surf.

[dreamplanner]

Arthur had never been to limbo, so when he realized they were on a beach, he had little reaction. He'd awakened in stranger places. Just out of curiosity, he looked down at what he was wearing, finding himself barefoot, but dressed in well-pressed black slacks that were rolled up to mid-calf with a belt and a white dress shirt. He was wearing a dark blue tie, but it was loosened and a bit askew.

He saw Ariadne a bit up the beach and headed in her direction.

"Ariadne!"

[define_belief]

Ariadne stopped walking when Arthur called out, turning to look at him. She was briefly surprised that his pants were rolled up and at his bare feet. She herself was wearing dark jeans, brown leather sandals, and a dark red long-sleeved shirt. She kicked her shoes off and waited for him to catch up.

"Come on," she invited, and continued walking. When she reached the water, she didn't stop but stepped right onto it and kept going.

[dreamplanner]

People were appearing on the beach by the time they reached the water, families with children, teenagers playing volleyball.

Arthur stopped at the edge of the water, pushing his hands in his pockets, and glancing back at the other people on the beach, glad to see that they weren't reacting.

He watched her for a moment, then carefully followed her, stepping on the water and hurrying to catch up.

"What are you doing?"

[define_belief]

Ariadne glanced back to see if Arthur was following and took in the projections. Damn, they showed up faster than she expected. They were ignoring her for the time being. She'd just be wary. Maybe they would have to swim? Or get on boats? She would have to dream up a gun, she supposed. No way would she let herself wake up through being hit by a boat.

"Walking," she said smiling. "Everywhere else there were people all over, but what about somewhere with fewer reasons for projections to come by?" She looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes. "And it's neat."

[dreamplanner]

It had been a long while since Arthur had allowed himself to relax and enjoy a shared dream - at least in the sense that Ariadne was at the moment. He bit back a warning about bending the dreamscape. Ariadne knew the dangers; she'd faced Mal in Dom's dream when she'd done the same thing. Anyway, they weren't under sedation, so if everything went pear-shaped they'd just wake up. There was no reason she couldn't explore and test boundaries if that's what she wanted to do - as long as she knew the risks.

So he simply shrugged at her words.

"Alright. Just watch the projections. If you die, you wake up. If you just get hurt, it hurts like hell."

[define_belief]

"Don't worry," Ariadne assured him. "We'll see them coming."

His warning did give her pause, though. She had been pretty well-guarded on her trips, between Cobb and Arthur watching out for her. Here it was just two of them and it wasn't a mission. She looked around again, more wary. Just because Mal wasn't around didn't mean Arthur didn't have any darker manifestations, no matter how even and together he seemed. But so far the projections on the shore hadn't made a move towards them, though more were looking. Evidently people walking on top of the water was new to them.

She kept going, making the water clear so she could see the sealife. She became aware of a sailboat, but it was far off and not coming towards them.

"So what do you do in dreams when you aren't working?"

[dreamplanner]

Most people on the beach were staring at them now. The teenagers had put down their volleyballs and were heading towards the shore - and some of the others were swimming out towards them, although they were still a long away off.

Arthur watched them for a moment before turning back to Ariadne, realizing they weren't in any imminent danger. He shoved his hands in his pockets, closing off a little. His dreams...well, first, nobody ever asked him that before. And he preferred to keep his dreams private.

"Typical stuff."

[define_belief]

"Well, that didn't last long," Ariadne kept her tone light. "Think they'll calm down if we go back?" She turned to look at him again.

"I just mean the dream sharing stuff," she said. "Or is the research top secret?"

[dreamplanner]

Arthur shrugged.

"They suspect you - I don't know if it'll make much difference now.

He hesitated, then gave her a half grin, looking at his feet.

"No, not top secret. And anyway, you're part of the team. A lot of the time the research is kind of what you're doing now. Seeing how far we can go, how the subconscious of the subject reacts to certain thing. We've worked with depth before, but it's been a long time since we've done that. You know, since Mal."

He was about to say more when a sailboat pulled up beside them, with an older, bearded man on board.

"Hey!" the man called, not necessarily aggressive, but certainly wanting to get her attention. "Get on board, or you're going to get wet."

[define_belief]

Ariadne realized she was relieved when he relaxed. She grinned back but was distracted by the boat. She stepped cautiously backwards onto a raft which had just appeared. Maybe it would be less eye-catching and annoying to the subconscious if she was at least not standing on the water.

"That's- that's ok. No thanks," she replied. She wasn't exactly sure how talking to subconsciouses worked.

[dreamplanner]

The man looked at her for a moment.

"Come on, get on board, and I'll take you to shore. That raft isn't going to take you anywhere."

He was more than a little insistent about it.

Arthur came up behind her and put a gentle hand on Ariadne's back, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"Just get on."

[define_belief]

Though she really did not want to be around any projections, Ariadne trusted Arthur.

"Give me a hand?" she requested, deciding defying gravity and leaping easily may not be the best idea. That would have to wait for next time.

Avoiding the projection, she boarded the boat and stood back, prepared to conjure a weapon.

[dreamplanner]

Arthur stood at her bac protectively, close enough that she could likely feel his heat. The man looked at them with a twitch of his lips which, while not a smile, also wasn't threatening.

"So you're Ariadne, then?"

[define_belief]

Ariadne looked at him, confused for a moment. But then, Arthur knew her, so it made sense that his mind did as well. However, it was still the most personal interaction she had had with a projection and she was not sure how to go about it. She looked up at Arthur, unsure if she should reply.

[dreamplanner]

He put a hand on her waist protectively, and nodded.

"You can talk to him, Ariadne."

He didn't seem dangerous - not yet, anyway. And talking to projections could lead to some very interesting discoveries about the subject, which he supposed was okay. He really didn't have anything to hide.