[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

it's just so flighty like that.

[brushoff]

Solomons, it warms what little of my heart I have left to hear you talk about me with such regard.

[ said in a tone that is just BLEEDING SARCASM. ]

[devoutish]

[He tips his hat.]

My pleasure.

[brushoff]

[ Dorian raises his glass as if in a toast before he just finishes it off. Dorian Gray: drinks like a fish. ]

On the bright side, getting punched certainly isn't the worst thing that's happened to me. Have I told you about the time I died? That's a good one.

[devoutish]

If you come back to life, it doesn't fucking count.

[brushoff]

See, now we have to define 'come back to life.' Because the way my immortality works, it's tied to an Achilles heel. Stab me, I pop right back up moments later. But destroy that weakness and poof, there's a dead Dorian...or at least there would be if the nanites didn't bring me back to life.

[devoutish]

So the end result's the same, right, no matter how you slice it.

[brushoff]

Not entirely? I died when my Achilles heel was destroyed. Stayed dead for a day before I popped up back to life. Normally, it takes less than a minute.

[devoutish]

If you die, really die, you stay gone for longer than a day.

[brushoff]

Again, not in this world you don't.

[devoutish]

My point is that death here isn't real death.

[brushoff]

It's real enough. Real enough that when it comes on you and it's happening you don't think 'huh, I'm glad the nanites will save me', you think 'holy shit, I'm fucking dying.'

[devoutish]

Yes, yes; and then you think, "And I'll be alive again in less than a day".

[brushoff]

Spoken like someone who's never died. [ Dorian's 100% serious as he says this, gesturing for another drink from the bartender. ] It's a vastly different experience when you're living it through.

[devoutish]

Spoken like someone who's never seen much of real death. Real death, the kind you don't pop back from.

[brushoff]

I fought in a war, [ Dorian idly responded, narrowing his eyes at Alfie. ] I watched people who I called friends lie in the trenches. So yes, I've seen real death—probably more than you have.

[devoutish]

Mm - I also fought in war. I also saw those things.

[brushoff]

So don't lecture me on death.

[devoutish]

Don't say stupid fucking things about it, and I won't need to.

[brushoff]

How is what I said stupid?

[devoutish]

I've told you why already. Listen, mate, don't ask me to repeat myself.