[closed]

[devoutish]

WHO: Alfie Solomons, Dorian Gray, The (Twelfth) Doctor
WHERE: Heropa, Maurtia Falls
WHEN: Late December
WHAT: Chance meetings
WARNINGS: n/a; will edit if anything comes up

A - a shopping mall - Heropa

[Alfie does as much of his shopping as possible in small stores. They're much less common here than they are in his time, which makes it difficult, but over the months he's found a bakery he likes, and a greengrocer's, and a butcher's shop. He'll poke his head into the supermarkets and megamalls every once in a while - but he doesn't like them, he's not used to them, and, honestly, they're overwhelming. He doesn't need a store with an entire aisle filled with nothing but various flavors of breakfast cereal. It's ridiculous.

Still, while he avoids them like the plague when he actually wants to get some shopping done, he'll sometimes pay them a visit when he's in the mood to just be a tourist. There's so much to boggle at when he's just looking to kill some time. So that's what he's doing today - just wandering around Heropa's biggest indoor shopping mall, a few days before Christmas. It's a lot more chaotic than usual, but hey, he isn't planning to stand in any lines.

He's just on the cusp of getting bored and considering leaving when he spots a familiar face in the crowd. He isn't actually planning to stop and chat, but then eye contact is made, and... well. Okay]

Doctor.

[He tips his hat.]

Out braving the mad rush, are we?

B - a bar - Maurtia Falls

[Alfie likes this little place in particular, because it's conveniently located near his flat, and it serves this seasonal spiced rum drink that really is very good. He's not a heavy drinker, but he does indulge from time to time, and tonight seems like a good night for it. He's on the way back from services at his temple, wearing his yarmulke under his hat, and it's a quiet night - not completely empty, but close to it. There are a few patrons at tables near the back... and one very morose-looking guy sitting at the bar. Alfie opts for a bar seat himself, taking a stool a couple spots away from this sad specimen. And when his rum comes, he lifts his glass to him in a half-toast.]

Comments

[devoutish]

Then I'll come along. Which shop first? Something interesting, I hope.

[helpline]

The video game store! All the controllers have the little turny knobs that I'm particularly fond of.

[devoutish]

Video games are the interactive movies?

[helpline]

That's a completely reductive way of referring to them, but yes. They're the 'interactive movies.'

[ And the Doctor starts walking off towards not-GameStop, assuming Alfie's going to follow him as he does so. ]

[devoutish]

[He follows in a roundabout way, stopping to look at a window display or two as they go. By the time they reach the store, he's caught up again.]

"Interactive movies" seems accurate enough, from what I've seen of them.

[Spoilers: he hasn't seen a lot of them.]

[helpline]

When's your birthday? I'll get you that wonderful interactive movie called Tetris.

[ The Doctor figures he hasn't seen a lot of them. ]

[devoutish]

May the fifth, and with any luck, I'll be gone by then.

[helpline]

If you're not gone, then that'll be your present. How's that sound?

[devoutish]

Has it got a lot of buttons to mash? Is that why you like it?

[Alfie's fiddling around with a console display by the entrance. He has no idea what to do with it.]

[helpline]

I do love buttons, [ the Doctor remarked, with a wry little smile. ] But no, I like it because it's putting all the pieces together. Fitting things together in a neat, sensible way.

[devoutish]

A puzzle.

[He flicks a random button on the display. A shopkeeper might come over to tell him to cut it out soon.]

Suppose I like those well enough. I do the crossword in the paper from time to time.

[helpline]

There we go, then you'll like Tetris. It's already a perfect gift.

[ said despite the fact that it has absolutely nothing to do with crossword puzzles. ]

[devoutish]

Now, these.

[He gestures to a stack of first-person-shooters.]

These are like films. Yeah?

[helpline]

A lot more like films than other games. Except for them, it's like you're a character in the film.

[ The Doctor's picked up some of the game controllers that were for sale and started fiddling with them. Hopefully this'll do. ]

[devoutish]

Yes. Interactive films.

[He has this totally figured out, clearly.]

[helpline]

I'll need to find a party game for us to play. Those aren't really 'films' but are more of 'interactive board games.' They're a lot more fun than you'd expect!

[devoutish]

Board games are already interactive, mate.

[helpline]

The good ones are. There's this really awful board game that gets developed in the twenty third century, not interactive in the slightest. [ The Doctor points at Alfie, as if he's got something exceedingly important to say. ]

If someone asks you to play Mystery Date On The Moon, don't do it.

[devoutish]

No one would ask me to play that.

[He's like 99.9% sure of this, okay.]

[helpline]

You say that and then your granddaughter finds it when you're traveling and somehow you end up playing.

[devoutish]

Well, that's bad luck for you, but I haven't got a granddaughter. I'm safe.

[helpline]

You haven't got a granddaughter yet.

[devoutish]

Haven't got kids yet, either. Grandkids are a while off yet.

[helpline]

Doesn't change my point. If you haven't got kids yet, you also haven't got grandkids yet.

[devoutish]

Yes - and it makes them even further off. You see my point, yeah?