Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me. I know I haven't updated this one for a bit - thanks to Laura-xx for giving me a poke! ;)

Arthur pulled down, and twisted. He could feel the projection squirming beneath him. He smiled, confident in his ability to keep it down, to keep it subdued. He felt it thrash and twist.

Suddenly, he felt a blow to his abdomen, and gasped. The projection had grabbed an object close to hand, and used it to attack him. Choking, Arthur began to crawl off the bed, gasping for breath. The projection was standing up, and was removing the linen bag.

Arthur looked at it, and felt a shudder of revulsion. The projection was him...but despite the expensive suit, and the carefully slicked back hair, he hoped he didn't have such a supercilious smirk on his face. The projection nodded.

"Arthur. Please." It smiled, a more friendly smile. "We do need to talk."

Arthur blinked. The bedroom suddenly seemed small, claustrophobic. He blinked, suddenly aware that he was dressed as the polar opposite of what the projection looked like. He began to walk forward. "Ariadne-"

The projection put up his hand. "You told her to run. She'll be safe. If you thought she wouldn't be, you wouldn't have told her to run."

Arthur shook his head. "Get out of my way."

Suddenly, he felt a blow direct to his face. He staggered back, and the projection walked forward again. There was a menacing aspect to its stance - a slow, careful strut that belied a complete confidence in its words and actions. "No," the projection said, confidently. "I won't. You need to listen to me, Arthur. Listen to me and lose your arrogance."

Arthur looked at him, stunned, as the projection moved and opened a door. He walked inside, and sat down at a table. Arthur sat in the seat opposite. "This feels like.." he spoke carefully, aware that this was Ariadne's dream - this feels like a police interview room."

"But that's what having this is like," the projection said, casually. "Being under constant surveillance."

Arthur leaned back. "If you say so."

"Listen, Arthur," the projection said, calmly, shaking its head. "Just cut your losses with her. Really. She's never going to be much of a girlfriend for you."

"Oh, really?" Arthur leaned forward, coolly arching an eyebrow. "Why?"

The projection looked at him. "Well, I could go on about the obvious physical flaws...too short, too fat..." it chuckled, a chuckle that turned to a choking grimace as Arthur leaned over, and pulled it up by its collar. "OK, let go!"

Arthur released his grip. The projection sank back down into its chair. It adjusted its collar, and looked at him. "Can we talk about this in a civilised fashion?"

Arthur glared. "Perhaps you would like to stop insulting her."

"Well, this is the difficult one. Because I am telling the truth...or the truth as she perceives it." The projection leaned forward. "Listen to me, Arthur. Being with her is going to cause you nothing but pain."

Arthur drew back, and looked at it. "I'll deal with it."

"How?" the projection asked. "Messing with her mind? Trying to incept her? Using dream extraction? Oh, no. You'll never solve it that way. Because this is buried inside so deep, that if you do extract, she'll eventually notice. She'll realise. And then she'll ever trust you again."

"Well, I'll have to take that chance," Arthur said, stolidly.

"Why?" the projection shook its head. "Leave her. Find someone else. Someone who isn't going to fret over every calorie, who isn't going to stink of vomit. Someone better."

"But what will happen to her?" Arthur looked at the projection. "Think about it."

"Well, she'll probably starve herself to death." The projection shrugged. "But if you don't have anything to do with her, you'll never need to know."

"I can't just abandon her."

"Very noble."

"Its not a question of being noble, its a question of helping someone who is in pain." Arthur glared at the projection. "Of wanting to actually help someone."

"Like I said, noble. But you have your team to think about...do you really want to become her full time nurse, her carer?" The projection raised its eyebrows. "Plus, you'll have to have all those tedious conversations with her...'no you're not fat', 'oh, I love you anyway...'" The projection chuckled. "You'll get bored very quickly."

"I love her."

"You must do. Or is this out of pity? The knight in shining armour rescuing the poor fat girl?" The projection stood up, and smiled. "Think about it."

"Its out of love."

"Then go and find her. She'll be so happy to see you."

"You're just leaving it?"

"Arthur." The projection looked at him. "When will you get it? I'm how Ariadne sees you. As this bully who is going to criticise her for her weight, and constantly hurt her over it." The projection was grinning, and Arthur wanted to kill it. "You have to change that perception. Good luck."

The projection turned, and opened another door. Stunned, Arthur tried to gather his thoughts, unsure of what he should do next.

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