ihearyouthink | Finding Inception

He falls in step with Arthur, hands in his trouser pockets as he looks side to side. "Something a little more abstract...dream-like.

...pink elephants." He smirks to himself at that last bit.

"Ah, ok. I will be on my best behavior. You have a tenacious subconscious, I take it?"

That gets a chuckle out of Arthur as he leads him down to a diner not that far off sitting down for them to have drinks. Tea even. He doesn't need to be in Charles' head to know.

"I do, yes. Everyone's subconscious is like this. That is unless it's been militarized. Then we'd have projections with guns coming at us. It's a bit too bad that it's only me you've gotten today."

He's British. The tea is a given and a welcome sight. Sipping at the tea with a happy sigh. "That hits the spot...imaginary tea."

"Good to know. I'm not fond of guns, especially if they're pointed in my direction." It's a habit but he gives the waitress a charming smile as she passes...and she gives him the coldest look he's ever gotten from a woman.

"Ah but see here it's as real as you and me, Charles." And yet not at the same time. "The more you think about it being imaginary the more the dreamworld will fall apart around us." Which means if it starts falling apart it's on Charles not Arthur.

"I don't either but I've had it happen before. Come with me, Charles."

"Oh. Well in that case, real tea it is." It tasted real enough, it was easy to convince himself that it was real.

"Any warning if the dream should start collapsing?" He gets up to follow after him.

He leads him further down the road up a set of steps that seem to bring them right back down where they started but Arthur doesn't stop walking. He'll let Charles realize the paradox where it was. There was a lot to notice within the dreamscape.

"If the dream starts collapsing I have to shoot us both to wake us up. If you die here we get stuck in limbo."

He stops almost dead in his tracks at that little tidbit of information. "...shoot us. With a gun?" Oookkkay this just got more interesting. And possibly dangerous.

He starts walking again, looking back at the way they came. Weren't they here before? "What happens if someone is in limbo? Instant coma? Or has no one ever come back from it?"

"That's what I said. Shoot us with a gun.'

He's quiet for a moment at the question not sure how much of things he wanted Charles to know when the others were... "Someone came back from it, yes. But being trapped in limbo makes you question reality. It's why each one of us carries a totem. Something that will tell us whether something is real or not. But if you're stuck in limbo... you're not waking up in the real world."

"Now that, I will admit, I'm a little uncomfortable with." But he says it casually enough, realizing it would just be one of those bridges you crossed when you got to it.

"That sounds a little bit dangerous." And it begged another question as they go around the same street corner again, yes he sees what you're doing there Arthur. "But if you already know you're dreaming, since you are the dreamer, does it take time to keep a dream like this stable while being aware of it?"

Except that now it's a completely different street rather than one of his paradoxes. He takes note of it and shakes his head. "Only way out of a dream before the timer is up is killing yourself. There's no other way around it."

Dangerous was well... that was an understatement. "This isn't taking any effort at all, actually. Now if it were someone else's mind then it would take time to keep the dream stable. But at the same time it would be kept stable with a whole team and not just one man. I'm merely the Pointman. I'm not the extractor or the architect."

"Don't suppose a nice slow poisoning would be effective, would it?" He's not really serious, just trying to make light of the situation.

"Ah, so the more people believing it to be real, the more real it is." Charles catches on fast. He also is starting to get more looks from the others and feeling a bit center of attention. "They don't seem to like me being here."

"No, it wouldn't really be effective."

Perhaps if it was made the right way then it would be. Though as they walk he shakes his head giving a slight smirk. Charles wasn't just now noticing it was he?

"They don't like you being here because you've been in my head."

Telepathically which means his subconscious knows therefore he knows.

Probably not as shocking enough to wake a person from sleep.

"Ah, I see." He narrowly avoids being hit in the shoulder by a passerby. "Anything I could do to get on their good side?" If there wasn't, Charles had a few telepathy tricks he could try but he'd rather do things Arthur's way before attempting them.

"Unfortunately there's nothing that can be done to get on their good side."

Not that he knows of anyway. Then again no one has ever tried to get on the good side of someone's subconscious. That would be a new one if Charles did try to. Not that Arthur thinks it would work.

Probably more difficult if Arthur doesn't believe it will work in his own mind. But Charles does like a good challenge.

First, he tries a direct approach, walking up to the nearest projection with a charming smile. "Hello, I'm Charles Xavier. It's so nice to me-...." and they walk by as if ignoring him.

He tries again with another but gets the same response. "Blimey, they are cold. I'm starting to wonder if your subconscious ever has any fun when it's out and about." He rejoins Arthur, considering what to do next.

Arthur's trying not to smile at Charles' approach watching as his projections just ignore the other man. Though he wonders if he, himself, can change their mind. Probably not but he really doesn't know.

"One never knows what their subconscious gets up to when they're not within their own mind."

He gets an idea from that. "What if you were to talk to them? Introduce me, as it were...they might be more receptive." Worth a shot, right? One would hardly be ignored in their own mind.

That has Arthur raising a slight brow since he's never actually talked to his own subconscious. So that was an interesting concept all together really. "It's worth a shot." Walking over to one of them he gives the lady a smile though he has no reason to introduce himself, "Hello. This is Charles Xavier. A friend."

Hey, it was worth a shot.

Never?? Charles would have thought that would be the first thing to do once inside one's own mind. But then he tends to think differently than most humans.

He follows Arthur's lead, perking up with a warm smile as he's introduced. There is a difference in response, the projection does see Arthur as if he is ok...but still won't regard Charles with anything but a cold stare.

Enough of this, Charles is taking matters into his own hands. He takes the lady's hand in his own, speaking levelly, "I'm a very good friend, I would never let any harm come to Arthur. You know that's true." there's a weight behind his words, giving Arthur's subconscious a nudge in the right direction so he will completely trust him.

The effect is startling, there's a hint of a smile at Charles, not unlike Arthur's own. And she moves to walk on by, the cold environment mellowed slightly around them. "How was that?" Charles asks, quite pleased with himself. It might not last, but he'll take what he can get for now.

Never. Then again the subconscious mind knew who their owner was so to speak. So he just watches the projection and watches that cold stare. Though he does raise a slight brow when the telepath takes the projection's hand.

"What exactly did you do, Charles?"

It amused the hell out of Arthur but that much is obvious. He doesn't know everything the telepath can do after all.

"I altered your perception of me...slightly." He turns with an insufferably pleased grin on his face. "Put myself on the trusted person's list in your head, as it were. Don't worry about it, I can undo it easily once we're out of here."

"I see... That is a very interesting trick. Do you use it often?" Hey, he's a curious man especially now that he knows Charles can do that. "And if it worked on one projection does it mean the others will be affected as well?"

"I can, in theory, change a person's perception of anything. And no," he adds. "I don't do it often. It doesn't always last, depending on the mind and how deep I go for it."

As a demonstration, he has his fingers to his temple as he says,"Hand over your wallet." Arthur will find himself doing it as if on automatic. Though whether it is due to what he said just now or the previous alteration causing him to trust Charles is difficult to say.

He's not going to keep the wallet and returns it almost immediately once his point is made. "A handy trick but it can be slightly dishonest."

Change a person's perception huh? Like he'd done with his projections. However he raises a slight brow the moment those fingers go to Charles' temple. He sees himself handing over his wallet and laughs. Especially once it's given back to him.

"That would come in handy indeed."

Charles chuckles as well. "Its almost parlor tricks like that, but I am careful with it. Is never use it to hurt another person intentionally."

...well, not a good person anyway. There was evil types of people in the world and Charles would have no problem using his telepathy against them.

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