video; un: labyrinths

[buildindreemz]

[ Ariadne's eyes are fever-bright, her skin pallid. She's clutching something in her hand, something she's reluctant to share with anyone else. Her eyes dart away, then back again, as though she's looking for something - or someone - out of the corner of her eyes. ]

Have you ever thought you were going crazy? Ever... questioned reality?

[ Christ, she's becoming a huge cliche, and she knows it, but there's nothing she can do about it. She didn't think she'd ever be in this situation. Maybe it was her own hubris. But now, here she is. Seeing shades again. Not sure if this is real or a dream. ]

I don't - it's hard when - none of you are -

[ Real. They're not real. She's thought that was a possibility, since arriving, but it's becoming clearer - or maybe muddier? The past several days.

Ariadne starts, jumping a little at something she sees offscreen. ]

I don't know what she wants from me. I never met her in real life. [ Annnnnnnnd cut.]

Comments

video;

[buildindreemz]

Someone who shouldn't be here. A shade. she hasn't come at me with a knife yet, I don't know why.

[immeasurably]

[ He thinks of Lenny, then. Lenny had been good at menacing, at coaxing, but ultimately her power had lain in the ability to convince him that he had power. That she was stronger than him and therefore to fight back would be pointless.

He doesn't know Ariadne, not really. Not unless you count that one conversation over sandcastles. Still, there's a certainty in what he says next — and a gentleness; after all, even if she's sick and even if this shade is just a figment, that doesn't in any way mean that she's not dangerous. ]

Because she can't.

[buildindreemz]

How do you know?

[ Because not being real has never stopped Mal before this. ]

She killed me once already, and she wasn't real then, either.

[immeasurably]

I know a thing or two about ghosts ㅡ especially the angry, violent kind.

[ Long story and maybe when she's feeling more herself he'll even share it. Right now, however, it's Ariadne's ghosts they need to be worrying about. ]

She obviously didn't do a very good job. [ A little gallows humor can't be helped in the situation, however poorly timed. ]

What happened the last time you saw her?

[buildindreemz]

I shot her.

[ Y e p. ]

[immeasurably]

Did you feel bad about it?

[buildindreemz]

No, why would I feel bad about shooting a projection?

[immeasurably]

Because when you see someone like that, someone specific, it's usually for a specific reason: fear, regret.

Maybe you regret the necessity of having to shoot her, even if she deserved it. You said you were an architecture student before, right? Not exactly the kind of job where handling a gun would be necessary.

[buildindreemz]

She wasn't there because of me. She was Cobb's projection. She was his guilt. I did what I had to do. What I'm trying to figure out is why she's here, right now.

[immeasurably]

Because she isn't really here. [ It's said simply and matter-of-fact, though even as he says it he knows that it's unlikely to make much difference. Gripped in the midst of a hallucination, logic tends to fall quickly by the wayside.

Even so, he continues on: ] How long have you been seeing her?

[buildindreemz]

I know she isn't really here, that's the point.

[ Jesus, people, stop trying to convince her of something she already knows! ]