video | first

[spacerhyme]

[ the video feed flickers onto the face of an older gentleman; unflattering low angle, poor lighting, eyebrows hanging heavy over his eyes and lips tightly pursed. he's wearing a nice, heavy coat over a hoodie and a t-shirt featuring a sick ass space shark, though much of the ensemble's coated in a fine yellowish dust. looks like it could use a wash.

not his main concern right now. ]

Really? [ one corner of his mouth quirks up, wry. ] Cast across time and drifting lost and alone amongst storms of raw negative energy, but you've got social networking. How very... human, I bet a human knocked this up. D'you call it Spacebook or something?

[ original dad joke, do not steal. no apology is forthcoming.

the camera swings round, losing sight of him for a second as he sets the device down on something solid. re-adjusts it until it's centered properly on his face, steady now. ]

Hel-lo, Avagi. I'm the Doctor. Yes, just the Doctor. I arrived on your quaint little space station only recently — not the worst I've encountered. Well done. Probably... well, possibly not even in the bottom ten, but I mourn for some of your equipment. Someone made off with two-thirds of your laboratory, you realize, and ohhh, the state of your computers...

[ briefly aims the camera up at one of the aforementioned storms. ] But I must say, the open-plan observation station is a bold design.

[ casually tossing topics out as he rapidly approaches the actual purpose of this broadcast. this time he points at the screen, seriously, ]

Has anyone established themselves as your de facto leader yet? I'd like to know who to ignore.

The rest of you, tell me about the Ingress as it was, and the planets you've visited. Any of them.

[ over and out. ]

Comments

[ex_bossily211]

[That answer is enough to get her to grin, dimpled and excited that he's actually agreeing to it. She may've cheated with the big sad eyes, but she got her way so score one for the needy game player.]

Ten minutes, tops. Promise. We don't even have to talk.

[It feels nice to do this. Banter about nothing important. It almost feels like things are going to slip back to being normal in no time, despite the fact nothing about this situation is normal at all.]

[spacerhyme]

[ for a beat, his expression warms, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly from the force of her enthusiasm. it's such a small, silly thing, but whatever gets her smiling. ]

Good. Don't talk with your mouth full, I hate people who talk with their mouths full. Some things should never be seen.

[ —and then he wanders over towards his side of the room, pulling a few odds and ends out of his pockets as he goes and putting them away. looks like bits of scrap he's been collecting from around the ship, like a nerdy magpie.

he seems to feel the same way about inconsequential banter. ]

A few hours... better get ready.

[ex_bossily211]

I'm already ready.

[Memories of his criticizing her appearance when Danny was in the picture fill her head, and she ends up sighing in exasperation. Honestly, Doctor. ]

I think you just like making me feel self-conscious.

[spacerhyme]

Are you?

[ he glances up, distractedly. ]

I can't tell, can I? You're the one who's always [ wiggles his fingers at his own face ] doing thing... It looks like your face to me.

[ she'll always just look like "clara" to him, no matter what. if that last christmas proved anything, she could suddenly be eighty and he probably wouldn't notice. ]

[ex_bossily211]

[And that's why she loves him. She'll always be his Clara, no matter how old and wrinkled she is. He manages to get her to smile, though she tries her best to act like she's put out by his assessment of her appearance.]

My daft old man, always good with compliments.

[A glance is given in his direction before she trails along after him to start messing with the items he's gathered so far.]

Do you really think I need to make myself look better?

[She's vain and egocentric and her appearance means everything to her.]

[spacerhyme]

[ it's mostly a load of junk: broken computer parts, wires, cabling, tubes, the sort of detritus you'd find around a run-down space station. he's still watching her carefully though, lips pursed, as she touches his stuff. ]

No. [ just... plainly. brow knit, like he's confused by the question.

like he didn't used to make snide remarks on a fairly regular basis. but that was ages ago, wasn't it. ]

I'm not the right person to ask, though. That's a question to ask yourself.

Or your maybe-a-date, although if he's already agreed to take you to dinner, I doubt if there's an issue.