(Untitled)

[greatestmonster]

Who: Ashley Corman, metacrisis of Lucy and the Master
Fandom: Doctor Who
Type: AU Original
Notes: Because Ash is the closest I have to a female muse, dammit, and I want to play one right now for some reason. This version of Ash lived in Japan briefly, before the UK discovered him and demanded he be turned over to UNIT. t_eyla and I's human!Doctor and human

Comments

Well, he's an acting prof XP

[greatestmonster]

Dorian steps towards him before he has a chance to turn-though he does turn as the other approaches, taking a few steps backwards as he does so, the razor again snapping shut in his hand. Unlike one of his "parents," his first impulse isn't to threaten-as much as he wants Dorian to keep his distance, he isn't about to brandish a straight razor at him.

Brandishing straight razors is for people he likes.

"Sounds like the Doctor. Looks like the Doctor." He tips his head to the side, a gesture inherited from the Master, and considers Dorian. "But, no. You don't seem."

The line of his shoulders remains tense. He has yet to meet, in this version of his timeline, any other metacrisis. He knows what he is-the Doctor told him, and the Master dismissed him and hated him for being such-but he doesn't really believe in his alienness. Yes, he has hazy not-memories and a life that starts from only a year or two ago, in his memory, and, yes, he regained consciousness on an operating table with his chest still open from failed heart surgery and lived through it. But he feels human.

Meeting another metacrisis would challenge that perception-so he's hoping you're just an alternate. Someone with a common face.

(Totally choosing timelines as I go here, woo. Ask if you need any more information.)

Okay, that would make sense. My brain went to physics or something.

[letmewritelies]

This is probably a good thing, considering the fact that if he did attack him in any way, Dorian wouldn't hesitate for a moment to fight back. Although it's not common, violence can come quite easily to him when the occasion calls for it.

His eyes are on Ashley's mouth as he speaks, watching the way he forms the words before his eyes dart down to the other's hands or around the room. The conversation leaves him on edge and his fingers curl and uncurl as he stands there.

"I am not a doctor," he states again because he isn't sure what else to say. Dorian has had little experience with the multiverse at this point and the exposure he does have never involved dopplegangers.

Mostly he's been sticking to quiet places, places that he can't be easily found.

He's moving again, his actions a little less graceful now and a bit more jerky. A half step is taken away before he begins to move to Ashley's other side, studying him with a hint of curiosity but mostly caution.

"Who are you?"

(Hey, go for it, I'm still feeling out where he is in his own timeline myself, so it's all good.)

[greatestmonster]

"Ashley Corman." He hops up to sit on the edge of a heavy stand, pushing back an open leatherbound book displaying anatomical diagrams of the upper and lower jaw to make space for himself.

A hint of the head-tilt remains, as he watches Dorian. The other man hasn't shown any reaction to Ashley's appearance-his face-and the Doctor he knows was constantly reacting to it, as much as he tried not to show it. He felt like a freak around the Doctor-around the man who insisted on telling him that he wasn't human, on explaining his life to him.

Around the man who rejected him. Go work in London, Ash. Find a life with UNIT. Don't interfere in the Doctor's life with the Master.

"Who are you?"

[letmewritelies]

"That is a name," he begins as he moves, seeking out a wall to lean against. "I did not ask for a name. The question I asked was about who you are. That encompasses more than a name. By definition 'who' is asking what or which person. A person is more than a name, though it may be argued that someone may simply be referencing a body. I however, am not."

His eyes close and he takes in a careful breath. "Who are you Ashley Corman?"

[greatestmonster]

"I am-" Ash watches the Doctor lookalike narrowly, taking in the odd delivery pattern and the carefully-drawn breath, the need the man has, apparently, to collect and calm himself "-a Londoner. Non-native, I'm told. A member of UNIT. A technical writer and editor. I enjoy wine, women, and pain. I'm also partial to men. And I'm half alien."

He says the last entirely for effect-he barely believes it himself, no matter how often the Doctor insisted it was true.

[letmewritelies]

His thoughts are only somewhat accurate. While, in this moment, Dorian finds himself needing to center his thoughts, it's not always the case. There are many an instance where such things are not required, it's just when certain things take place, such as the 'incorrect' answering of a question, that irritate his mind.

Listening carefully as the other man rattles on, his eyes open when he finishes. "There," he says, the slightest hint of pleasure in his voice. "That was not terribly difficult, was it?"

[greatestmonster]

"It's significantly more than I offer for most introductions."

"And I believe I asked who you were. Care to give me your 10-second self-synopsis?"

Ash puts his hands down flat on the stand behind him, leaning back comfortably on his arms. Now that Dorian shows no sign of a connection to the Doctor, he's much more at ease.

[letmewritelies]

"How often do other introductions entail more than a name?"

When the questions fall on him, he only gives Ash a look, not irritated or any such thing but merely a look that seems to say 'If you had given me a moment longer, I would have done gotten there'.

When he speaks, it's done in mimicry. "I am," he starts, grinning just slightly. "A patient in an unknown location. A member of nothing. A fiction writer. I enjoy wine, silence, and sweets. I'm also partial to low temperatures. And I'm considered mentally unstable."

If that was being timed someone would be able to note that it took exactly ten seconds, he was keeping count in his head.

[greatestmonster]

"A mentally unstable patient." Ash regards Dorian with the edge of a smile, still leaning back on his hands. "What's your name, Patient?"

[letmewritelies]

He considers the question, fingers curling and uncurling as he does so. It's not as much tension now as an act of thought.

"A name," he sates carefully, almost as if he was testing the words.

The name is on the tip of his tongue but it feels if it wants to get garbled before it can be said. When he speaks, he's not entirely certain what's going to come out of his mouth.

"Dorian James Talbot."

He can't help but be somewhat relieved when he finds that he was wrong.

[greatestmonster]

"Dorian James Talbot. Are you sure?"

A half-smile lightens the question. Whoever Dorian is, he's different. 'Mentally unstable' would be Ash's own first assessment, so Dorian's practicing accuracy in advertising-but he'll wait to make a firm judgment. Glass houses and stones, after all.

[letmewritelies]

"Well," he states. "That depends. What standards are you holding sanity to. I cannot answer the question until I am aware of what you consider to be 'sane' versus what is not. However, if you would like to go with the standards that those most often around me choose, then no, no I am not."

He smiles back and it's a curious one. "However, I might meet the criteria if you hold different expectations."

[greatestmonster]

"I hold no expectations." He pushes himself up from leaning back on his hands, spreading his arms wide out to his sides, emphasizing his words. "We're in an old-fashioned tonsorial parlor in a multiversal home of diplomacy. You look like a man I'm supposed to know, and I look like a man the man you look like works with. Expectations need not apply."

"Go on. Tell me something insane."

[letmewritelies]

He closes his eyes when Ashley speaks, the words being paid attention to but the sounds proving to be much more enjoyable. It's not a sound he could listen to for hours but at the moment, it is quite pleasant indeed.

"Something insane, he echoes. "I don't think I believe in it," he says. "Insanity. I don't believe that such a thing exists. I think you look at something and the way you see it is simply that. Others have the need to diagnose and calculate, judge what you see and compare it against what others perceive. That's it though, perceptions. When the perceptions don't match, one becomes wrong one becomes insane.."

His food taps idly for a few moments,, a four-beat rhythm that goes quiet until he speaks again. "I enjoy the sound of your voice. Thank you for speaking."

[greatestmonster]

He listens, paying attention-not just polite, but genuinely interested. Something in Dorian's manner hooks at him, the thoughtful earnestness somehow so very certain of itself, a combination of brokenness and self-possession he hasn't encountered before. It compels him, but it also makes him wary. Certainty can be dangerous; it's much safer to pay attention to those who lack certainty, who need him to help them play at it.

When the other man starts tapping, he frowns, scalp prickling. That's irritating-like someone smacking while chewing gum. That needs to stop.

And then it does, and Ash slides off the cabinet he's perched on. "You're easily pleased."

[letmewritelies]

"By your standards," he replies simply. "Others believe that I'm quite difficult to please."

Moving to one of the chairs, he places his palm against the leather fingers gliding down as he speaks. "I simply enjoy particular sounds. The tones in your voice are pleasing in my opinion. Certain textures, like the chair, carry the same quality. All of them are pleasant to me."

Hands falling away, his attention is fully on Ash once more. "DO you hold to common Earth standards of sanity?"