Say My Name 5/6
anonymous
January 21 2011, 23:37:39 UTC
She's shopping when a man nudges her shoulder with his own. She levels a sharp look at him. Dishwater blond hair, slightly below average height, military posture, generic clothes. No identifying marks on the face or hands, and he doesn't say her name. Someone she doesn't know. He reaches for her arm, then drops his hand when she steps back out of range.
"Sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to startle you."
She's not good with remembering voices (she speaks to most people on the phone, and the distortion's hard to compensate for), and his isn't particularly familiar. But he's looking at her like she's familiar.
They stare at each other for a moment, him expectantly and her with polite confusion. She breaks first. "I'm sorry, should I know you?"
An awkward pause. "Um, I thought you did. It's John. John Watson?"
Oh. Oooooh. She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, which is, "You cut your hair. It doesn't look like that on the videos."
John's hand comes up to touch his hair. It's shorter than when she last saw it, by a good couple inches in all directions, and styled differently. "I got a haircut a few days ago," he says slowly.
"Okay." She nods, and offers him a smile. "Hi. It's nice to see you again."
"You didn't remember me?" he sounds hurt -- genuinely hurt, not faking it.
"Sorry," she says. "It's not personal. I can't recognize faces. I was born with it."
John rocks back on his heels as he digests this thought. "So you can't --" he waves a hand at himself, "recognize me?"
"Not by your face," she agrees. "And you changed your hair, so." She shrugs. "It helps if you use the name I gave you -- you're the only one who has Anthea, so if you call me by name, I can recognize you."
"Oh! Is that why you gave me a fake name?"
"Mostly." But also because it's fun. She likes choosing what people call her, and she has a good enough memory that it'd be a shame not to take advantage of it.
"Well, that's good." He smiles at her again. "I worried it was because you didn't like me or something."
"No, you're alright."
"Only alright?" he teases.
"Maybe," she teases back, with a coy smile.
--
like rumpelstiltskin but better (saymyname) wrote,
sometimes i forget Sometimes I forget about the face thing.
M is really good about it, and I didn't even have to say it outright to him. He carries this slim black umbrella with him everywhere he goes, and that's his tell. And his brother S wears this posh coat that must have cost a thousand pounds, I haven't seen another one like it.
Everyone else mostly stays in their places or wears a nametag or I'm talking to them by email or phone where faces don't matter, and it's easy to forget that when they take off the nametag or go somewhere else or dye their hair (I hate when people dye and cut their hair at the same time, that's the worst), they become entirely different people.
I met J (S's not-boyfriend, but they live together) while doing the shopping yesterday. Or, I should say, he met me, and I didn't figure it out until after I acted like a total prat and asked if I ought to know him. So I had to explain it to him, but he was nice about it and didn't ask me any annoying questions (I sent him an email with some links to more information about it too, just in case).
She's shopping when a man nudges her shoulder with his own. She levels a sharp look at him. Dishwater blond hair, slightly below average height, military posture, generic clothes. No identifying marks on the face or hands, and he doesn't say her name. Someone she doesn't know. He reaches for her arm, then drops his hand when she steps back out of range.
"Sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to startle you."
She's not good with remembering voices (she speaks to most people on the phone, and the distortion's hard to compensate for), and his isn't particularly familiar. But he's looking at her like she's familiar.
They stare at each other for a moment, him expectantly and her with polite confusion. She breaks first. "I'm sorry, should I know you?"
An awkward pause. "Um, I thought you did. It's John. John Watson?"
Oh. Oooooh. She blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, which is, "You cut your hair. It doesn't look like that on the videos."
John's hand comes up to touch his hair. It's shorter than when she last saw it, by a good couple inches in all directions, and styled differently. "I got a haircut a few days ago," he says slowly.
"Okay." She nods, and offers him a smile. "Hi. It's nice to see you again."
"You didn't remember me?" he sounds hurt -- genuinely hurt, not faking it.
"Sorry," she says. "It's not personal. I can't recognize faces. I was born with it."
John rocks back on his heels as he digests this thought. "So you can't --" he waves a hand at himself, "recognize me?"
"Not by your face," she agrees. "And you changed your hair, so." She shrugs. "It helps if you use the name I gave you -- you're the only one who has Anthea, so if you call me by name, I can recognize you."
"Oh! Is that why you gave me a fake name?"
"Mostly." But also because it's fun. She likes choosing what people call her, and she has a good enough memory that it'd be a shame not to take advantage of it.
"Well, that's good." He smiles at her again. "I worried it was because you didn't like me or something."
"No, you're alright."
"Only alright?" he teases.
"Maybe," she teases back, with a coy smile.
--
like rumpelstiltskin but better (saymyname) wrote,
sometimes i forget
Sometimes I forget about the face thing.
M is really good about it, and I didn't even have to say it outright to him. He carries this slim black umbrella with him everywhere he goes, and that's his tell. And his brother S wears this posh coat that must have cost a thousand pounds, I haven't seen another one like it.
Everyone else mostly stays in their places or wears a nametag or I'm talking to them by email or phone where faces don't matter, and it's easy to forget that when they take off the nametag or go somewhere else or dye their hair (I hate when people dye and cut their hair at the same time, that's the worst), they become entirely different people.
I met J (S's not-boyfriend, but they live together) while doing the shopping yesterday. Or, I should say, he met me, and I didn't figure it out until after I acted like a total prat and asked if I ought to know him. So I had to explain it to him, but he was nice about it and didn't ask me any annoying questions (I sent him an email with some links to more information about it too, just in case).
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