★ 012

[boutant]

[ Ariadne is sitting on the couch, an orange kitten curled up on her lap. Behind her is a man, who seems to be holding a cup of coffee and looking out the window. ]

Well. [ She pauses, rubbing the back of her neck. ] My father's here, but if anyone else would like to say hello or needs anything, I'm still available. He said he'll be going out for a walk in a little bit anyway.

[ As if on cue, the man pulls away from the window and heads for the kitchen. Ariadne watches him go, some of the tension gone when she looks back at the camera. ]

I'm Ariadne. Welcome to the City.

((ooc: Open for fourth walling! Please no telling her she's from a movie. Other than that, go wild~))

Comments

[flensing]

[One dream to another... this is not the city she remembers, nor is it where her body truly lies. Perhaps she should accept this, that her mind will shift and flex to keep the horror out however best it can. But why... would Ariadne be here. What is she meant to represent?

Anna is no dream interpreter, she does not know. All she knows is that she is happy to see the woman.]

Ariadne.

[The greeting one gives to someone already known.]

[boutant]

[ She has no memories of a dream-city, but she knows that she has been to this City before -- at least twice. She has no memories from then, either.

Really, considering the weekend, she's surprised that this is the first person who knows her who she doesn't know. Her smile is apologetic now, the kitten on her lap scrambling up her chest to play with her hair. ]

I'm sorry... I don't remember as much as I probably should.

[ And she is sorry, big brown eyes sad and worried. ]

[flensing]

[Ah... that... Truly, Anna cannot say she is surprised, but the faint pang of hurt is still there. She does little to acknowledge it, covering it over quickly.]

Non, you would not. You have been gone, and it--

[Was only a dream. Anna smiles ruefully, although her expressions are always driven through deeply with sadness.]

It is nothing.

[boutant]

[ She doesn't know her, but this woman knew her at some point. She's sad, hurting, and Ariadne doesn't know why but she knows she wants to help. ]

You know my name. Could I have yours?

[flensing]

Yes, I'm sorry.

[As if rudeness is the issue here. They both know it isn't.]

My name is Anna. Anna Assaoui. It's lovely to see you again.

[boutant]

[ There's no ping to her memory -- there never is -- but she's disappointed all the same. ]

It's lovely to meet you again.

[flensing]

I... do not know this place, Ariadne. Have you been here, long?

[Is this where you went?]

[boutant]

It's called the City.

[ 'Long'? What's the definition of 'long'? Three months may be long to some, but then there's Ginny, who's been here for three years. ]

Almost three months now.

[flensing]

[Honestly, the longer Anna thinks about it, the more she realizes what a silly question it was. It's just hard to change out of old habits. The politeness was a shield, a simple script to follow when she felt uncertain. She knows firsthand how little time really means.]

I'm sorry. [She laughs at herself faintly.] Dreams are not measured the same, I know.

[boutant]

[ Dreams. That makes her pause, look at Anna a little closer. Dreams strike a chord in her -- of course they do. Just not the one Anna wants to hear. ]

This place isn't a dream.

[flensing]

[She purses her lips slightly. They had said the same, in the other city. That it was not a dream, that the world she knew was the nightmare. Anna does not know which is which, but increasingly she has come to feel that they are all dreams, that there is no reality at all, there is only joy and suffering in absurdity. Random, meaningless.]

We do not all wake.

[A concession. Perhaps Ariadne is awake. Anna will not make the same claim.]

[boutant]

[ She could have told her, in the other city, that it was a dream. Not here. She had thought, maybe, for a while -- but no. It's too different from the dreams she knows here. ]

That's true.

[ A concession of her own. The dead walk here. Cobb walks here, stuck in Limbo back home, behind the rest of them. ]

[flensing]

Are you happy here, Ariadne?

[That's... all that really matters. Dream or not.]

[boutant]

[ She pauses for a moment, considering.

Then she nods. ]

Things happen here. Things that I wish wouldn't happen, to people I wish they wouldn't happen to. But sometimes... sometimes everything's okay. And there's so much here that I can never see anywhere else.

[flensing]

I'm glad. We can ask for little more.

[boutant]

... You're not happy where you come from, are you?

[flensing]

[Anna lowers her eyes.]

No.

[Her reticence was not shame, could not be when she treasured Lucie's memory so, but the story is a heavy one, and she thinks it is unnecessary to lay it out here.]

[boutant]

[ She pauses. She shouldn't -- really, she shouldn't. But... ]

Maybe you'll stay here.

[flensing]

I hope so. I miss you, and the others.

[She misses Lucie. But Lucie is gone.]

[boutant]

If you leave and come back, and you can't remember, is there something I should say?

[ Something to make her feel secure, to let her know that she's safe. ]

[flensing]

[The question seems to confuse her, but... She has seen it before. In the other city, in Ariadne now...]

J'ai peur aussi.

[boutant]

[ Ariadne swallows, but nods. ]

Je m'en souviendrai.

[flensing]

I hope I have not caused you any trouble, Ariadne.

[She says it in the present tense, but truly she means it for the future.]

[boutant]

I don't mind a little bit of trouble every once in a while.

[ Now, in the past, or in the future. ]