Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.
Ariadne swallowed. Arthur's face was set in lines of anger, and his eyes were narrowed. The last time she had seen that expression was during the Fischer inception, when he and Cobb had exchanged harsh words, and she feared, potentially blows. Now, the look was directed at her. She nearly shivered.
"Ariadne, if you want to go into my mind, all you have to do is ask." His voice was coldly polite.
"Arthur..." she looked at him, suddenly feeling emboldened. "You went into mine. Without asking my permission. Can you blame me for wanting to do the same thing?"
He shook his head. "No," he said, slowly. He smiled, faintly. "I suppose we share too many of the same traits."
"Please-" Ariadne swallowed, before slipping her fingers into his. "Please, let me help you. You've already seen what happened to me."
"Did I?" Arthur's eyes narrowed again. "I saw you being bullied and humiliated in High School. That's all I saw."
"Same here," she countered.
"Touche."
"But what happened to you? You were sent to a clinic?"
Arthur exhaled slowly, leaning against the couch. "I was."
"But..." she paused, unsure of how to frame her words. "But you..."
He looked at her. "You're not going to give up, are you?"
She shook her head. "Arthur, I admit that I was hurt in the past. But you...you won't admit it. Please, let me help you."
He looked at her, directly. "You really want to go further?"
She nodded. "Yes." She began to lace her fingers through his. "I do."
He sighed, and began to re-attach the IV to his arm. "Come on."
She blinked. She was sitting in an office, watching as Arthur, with both parents sitting either side of him, faced a doctor, a middle aged woman. She smiled reassuringly at Arthur.
"Now, the whole point of this process is to re-educate you about food," she began. "You're underweight, and you can't blame your parents for being concerned."
"But-" Arthur swallowed, and then fell silent. She looked at him. "Arthur, I appreciate this is difficult for you. Teenage boys are very resistant to the idea of having an eating disorder, but-"
"I don't have an eating disorder!" Arthur burst out, nearly in tears. "I'm just thin!"
"Arthur, these people are trying to help you," his father admonished him. "Please, be a little more co-operative." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Doctor. What's the programme?"
"Well, he'll be consuming some very high calorie foods. We're going to try and get his weight to increase by a kilo a week."
Arthur swallowed. "I'm here!"
"I know," the doctor said, almost patronisingly. "Arthur, I know that this is probably very distressing for you, but we'll do our best to ensure its comfortable for you."
He nodded, numbly.
"Fine. Let's escort you to your room, shall we?"
Ariadne blinked. Suddenly, she was in another room. Arthur, dressed in a plain white medical tunic, was standing on a scale. The doctor shook his head.
"You need to eat more, Arthur. You're not gaining enough!"
Arthur shook his head. "I can't."
"Sure you can. A teenage boy like you should be eating twice the amount!"
Arthur blinked back tears. "If you say so."
Ariadne could not bear to watch anymore. "Wake me up!" Wake me up!"
She blinked. Arthur was looking at her. "Hey, its ok." She swallowed, desperately wanting him to take her into his arms. "Its ok."
"So, now you know." He looked at her. "Do you think any of them ever listened to me? No."
She reached out and touched his arm. "Arthur, I-"
"You know how it feels?" he snapped, the painful memories clearly eating away at his core. "Know what it feels like to be sent away from home, to be judged on what does and does not go into your mouth? Let me guess, your parents sent you to a fat farm, didn't they?!"
She blinked, and looked at him, stunned. His face sagged. "Oh, God, Ariadne, I'm so sorr-"
"Forget it," she said, curtly, getting up. "Just forget it, Arthur."
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