Day 51: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[full_score]

Claude was all too relieved when the announcement signifying the end of lunch played over the intercom system. It gave him the perfect excuse to let his nurse collect his things and lead him out of the cafeteria. He wished he could have privately said something to Luke, at least -- that he appreciated him looking out for him, for one thing, and

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[tartaros_avatar]

Being an evil mastermind meant a certain amount of pride. Generally, you would go to any lengths and depths to get what you wanted done, but certain things were just too undignified to ever consider.

Hence why he was sitting in the Sun Room, rather than having to deal with the indignity of arts and crafts. No matter how much it strained his eyes to deal with the light, it was still better than being treated like a child. And so Recluse had decided to rather futilely attempt to find the least brightly lit spot in the room to sit and think

[timedork]

The day had been going well. He'd had a couple of nice chats-as well as nearly finishing those plans for Brainiac 5, and he expected he would be able to finish those by tonight. He would have to post a note for him on the board to let him know, or simply find the boy once the schematics were completed. And of the two? Well, he liked the latter option.

The nurse seemed intent on taking him to arts and crafts, commenting on the 'odd scribbles' he'd been working on earlier. The Doctor had started to explain that they weren't exactly 'scribbles', but he changed topics half-way through and insisted that he'd rather stay in the sun room for now (and finished the diagrams later). The nurse seemed disappointed, but agreed to let him stay in the run room

[tartaros_avatar]

"Go ahead," Recluse looked up from where he'd been staring while he thought, narrowing his eyes slightly as the light of the sky through the windows above entered his peripheral vision, trying to fight the reaction.

"Recluse. I don't believe we've met," he introduced himself, extending his hand to the exceedingly forward man. It looked as though he most certainly would have remembered this one if they'd crossed paths before.

[timedork]

The Doctor finished sitting, giving a nod as the stranger introduced himself. He turned to look the man in the eyes (red eyes, he noted; Recluse must either have not been human or not been entirely human) and started to extend his own hand to shake Recluse's offered one, but what he saw gave him pause. He hadn't seen anything like it in days-weeks, actually; not since the last time he'd talked to Marcus. There was a faint wrongness about Recluse; different from the way Jack was, but very similar to the one he'd noticed about Marcus.

After a pair of heartsbeats, the Doctor finished reaching forward to shake the man's hand. "I don't believe we have; I would have remembered," he agreed. "I'm the Doctor."

He shifted in his seat to find a somewhat more comfortable position and glancing away momentarily. "Are you one of the new arrivals, or have you been here longer and our paths just haven't crossed until now?"

[tartaros_avatar]

That was an amazingly generic alias, or an actual name that was even a little strange by Rogue Isles standards. Either way, Recluse shook the Doctor's hand, not intentionally trying to grind any bones together. "It's... interesting to meet you, Doctor." Why lie and say it's a 'pleasure' when the answer really didn't matter?

"I've been here twenty-nine days. Given the turnover rate here, I certainly don't think that counts as 'new'." He actually seemed to be among only a few who had stayed that long. The only other one that he could really identify with certainty as having stayed for approximately as long as he had so far was Haku. "And you?"

[timedork]

"And you!" the Doctor replied, drawing his hand back quickly at the end of the handshake. Interesting certainly was a word for it.

He gave Recluse a smile, forcing himself not to avoid the man at all now, since he'd been the one to join Recluse in the first place. A little bit of wrongness wasn't that bad... Jack's words about him being prejudiced rang in his ears.

"Twenty-nine days, is it? That's a certainly a... very long time around here, from the looks of it-the turnover rate, as you said," he commented. Almost a month... Was a month, if it was February. During a leap year. "I've been here eighteen, myself."

[tartaros_avatar]

Hmm. Maybe it was his imagination--or the handshake--but the Doctor seemed a bit on edge. "Quite a few days. We might have crossed paths sooner, but," he held up his hands in a noncommittal gesture, "I'm not called Recluse without reason."

He couldn't help but voice curiosity over what he thought he'd detected in the man. "Is something bothering you?" He was used to people being edgy around him, if not outright terrified, but here at Landel's and completely without his intention to cause it, it was at least a little out of the ordinary.

[timedork]

The Doctor had opened his mouth to ask a question about Recluse's name, but in the next moment, he'd been asked about what was bothering him. If something was bothering him.

"What?" the Doctor said abruptly. A pause, and then, "Oh... No, sorry. No."

And didn't that sound just so very convincing? Explaining to Jack the reason why he'd run away and left him was one thing, but... "It's nothing. I'm just..." He needed an excuse. "Your eyes. I'm not used to red eyes- Well, that's not entirely true; I've seen plenty of folks with red eyes-glowing ones, too, though that... Well. I'm rambling, aren't I?"

He shifted again, relaxing. Really, it wasn't that bad; the sense of this is wrong! wasn't even as strong as Jack's, and he had managed to get along with him again just fine. "You said you're not called Recluse without reason," he said, changing the topic. "Did you pick the name, or was it given to you?"

[tartaros_avatar]

Well. That wasn't exactly convincing. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like an answer. I don't remember ever meeting you, but I'd rather like to know whether this is from any past interaction with myself or--" And then another thought hit him. "--one Marcus Cole." If that man had gone around warning the other prisoners against him, it would frankly have just been typical. The bastard could never let Recluse carry out any plan unimpeded, could he?

Regardless, he'd answer the question. "I underwent a period of changes that left my eyes exceedingly sensitive. Though I was in charge of a large portion of a powerful organization's operations, those who answered to me almost never saw me, mostly as a result of the light sensitivity. They started referring to me as 'the Recluse' behind my back, which I didn't mind." They'd changed it to Lord Recluse within weeks, once they'd realized just exactly what they were dealing with.

[timedork]

The Doctor brightened instantly at the mention of Marcus, but didn't comment immediately. Instead, he listened to Recluse's explanation of his name, giving a nod and an "I see" at the end.

"It's nothing, really," the Doctor insisted, in respond to Recluse's own question. "But... you know Marcus? That explains it." Indirectly. After a fashion. If Recluse and Marcus knew each other, maybe that similarity between them had a third factor, so that what lingered around them had some external source. "Well... maybe. You reminded me of him in a way, that's all. Not physically, but... a sort of a feeling. Something in common."

That was all the Doctor was really willing to say on the subject; anything further would require much, much more explanation: about himself, about Time Lords, about time itself and what should and shouldn't be.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse waited, projecting as much outward calm as he could manage, struggling a moment later to hide more than a little surprise. Not only had Marcus actually not indirectly taken a swing at him this time, but the Doctor could tell that their power was related? Interesting.

"We do have something in common. I was the one that unlocked the power source which granted both of us metahuman abilities, and the world beyond as well, at least in our dimension." A detail that historical accounts accounts Marcus had touched always conspicuously failed to mention. Yet another point of rancor brought up unintentionally, but he'd hide that as well, given the reaction the Doctor had to mention of Marcus.

"How did you know? Our powers are so suppressed here, barely any of it is detectable to others."

[timedork]

"Oh, well..." the Doctor started, trailing off. He opened his mouth to try to continue, but then shut it again abruptly. How to explain it without really explaining it? "I've got a-... a thing."

It wasn't exactly the best explanation he'd ever given, but it wasn't the worst, either.

Marcus had mentioned a box before, filled with 'potential and creativity and energy'; maybe that was the 'source' that Recluse was talking about... Which could have, in turn, been that third factor...

"It's difficult to explain-... like explaining color to a blind man," he added, hoping to clarify somewhat. "I can just tell. I can... see it. It's barely there, but it's there."

[tartaros_avatar]

"Yes, I noticed." Every single metahuman in existence could be said, in the Doctor's words, to have 'a thing'. He was more interested in specifics. "I understand that discretion is often needed when one has abilities, but how exactly could that be used against you here? If we manage to return to our homes, I doubt I would ever see you again."

"I have some sense of that. Marcus and I can every so often sense things that we cannot see." Such as each other's presence. Both of them had somehow known the other was still alive, after the collapse of the Well of the Furies. "Why are you able to do this?"

[timedork]

"That's true," the Doctor conceded. He'd determined before that he and Marcus were from different universes, and if Recluse was from the same one as the other man... Odds were they would never meet again once they were back where they belonged. "But I wasn't trying to be discrete."

How he was able to tell was an easier question to answer, but the explanations were, in essence, linked. Recluse didn't seem likely to drop the issue, so at this rate... it was probably best to just tell him. "I can do this because I'm a Time Lord. Any Time Lord would be able to take one look at you-or Marcus-and... they'd just know. Maybe it's because of the 'powers' you gained, but something about you... It's fixed, unchanging."