[Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

[groupiedrifter]

CHARACTERS: Precursors and you. And Eventually Newton. Hopefully!
LOCATION: A holding room in Ximilia Station.
DATE: Est. two days post-mission, after the kaiju is defeated and the orb is retrieved.
CONTENT: The precursors are revealed — and are finally removed from Newt's mind.
WARNINGS: Possession and the bodily autonomy issues that come with that. More will be added if necessary!

Closed and opened starters will be added as I go, which will be announced on plurk! But if you don't use plurk or would rather keep an eye out by email/tracking, feel free to use the tracking option and mark to receive notifs any new top level comments posted to this log! The log will involve an open starter to visit the precursors where they're cuffed/contained in the room, so stay tuned.

Also no rush once the open starters are posted!

Feel free to focus on the player plot log first and come back to this later.

CLOSED STARTER | THE DOCTOR
DARKLING'S TOP LEVEL | WHILE NEWT WAS SLEEPING...
OPEN STARTER | THE PRECURSORS, REVEALED
CLOSED FINAL CONCLUSION | THE PRECURSORS, REMOVED
OPEN PROMPTS | NEWTON GEISZLER'S RETURN

Comments

v. beep beep hot garbage comin' thru

[attackbrows]

[ Just another typical stroll through the Sunlight Room. These days, it seems to be the popular locale of choice and The Doctor can’t quite fault for people electing to meander around through the trees and grassy pastures. But it's also there where he spots Newton having a moment to himself.

Emotional intelligence isn’t The Doctor’s strong suit by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s easy to infer how a person might feel after having an entire race of colonizing aliens invade their brain matter. The loneliness, the isolation… It can be a painful thing.

He walks up to stand next to Newton, stuffing his hands in his pockets and takes a breath. ]

So what’d you think of the old girl?

[groupiedrifter]

[Newton wasn't really sure what he'd say to the Doctor. If he should say anything at all. He'd felt this old badger usually just tolerated him on behalf of Clara, or maybe the other Doctor. That he'd just kind of always be the greasy hedgehog he had to endure. Friends, but aloof, bickering in a lab or bumping each other's hip for control of a guitar. Newt's used to having friends like that, and it makes his chest ache to think of a particular friend who filled that space for him —

But he wasn't sure what the Doctor actually thought of him.

Even now, he wonders. If helping him out of his mind was more for Clara's sake than his.

Regardless, he owes him more than he can ever really repay.

Sitting there with newfound company, he smiles a little toward the artificial lighting.]

... She was awesome.

Like... a perfect pillow fort. I can't remember the last time I felt that safe.

[As far as Newt's concerned, that is a high honor to bestow on any place or any thing.]

[attackbrows]

She’s the best pillow fort there is.

[ There is a soft fondness in his voice when he speaks about the TARDIS. Much like old friends who’s seen themselves at their best (and worst).

And despite this Doctor differing from his counterpart, they are still the same person. They just have different ways of expressing themselves. It doesn’t matter if The Doctor finds Newton to be a yappy hedgehog. What really matters is that he carries himself with kindness in his heart. And that’s more than he can ever ask.

His lips twist into a smirk. ]

You’ll be safe with her once she materializes. I’m sure the other me will give some sort of grand tour. [ He slightly cocks his head to the right. ] I always loved giving tours…

[groupiedrifter]

Yeah...

[He looks a little lost in the thought. Not a bad little daydream to have, the idea of being able to see the real, physical thing. But could it measure up to the net of security it had provided him in one of the darkest moments of his life...?

Time would tell. Maybe.

If he was still around. He hopes he is.]

You guys must be missing her like crazy.

[attackbrows]

[ Now it was his turn to take a moment before responding. There’d been plenty of times where he and TARDIS had separated. Sometimes it takes days, years even before The Doctor can reunite with her. But he can still feel the emptiness in his chest whenever he’s not in her embrace. ]

It’ll pass. Just the same as you do with any old friend. You hold on to the emptiness for a while, but come to realize you all are a stone’s throw away.

[ A beat. ]

I’d be concerned with the younger one. Always “sexy this”, “sexy that” — I was like one of your teenagers with no filter.

[groupiedrifter]

Hey, she's totally sexy; nothing wrong with pointing out the appeal!

[Is he serious about that? Teasing? He'll never say. But he's probably both.

Either way, at least Newt seems to be loosening up around the Doctor.]

... That sort of thing is a lot easier to believe when you've got a time machine to visit those friends with. Or... I guess a weird little station that might pull your friends here to visit for a while.

[He looks down, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve.]

My friends from home are gone now, but I guess they're only a stone's throw away.

Or a few universe's away.

[He looks up at the Doctor.]

Same thing, right?

[attackbrows]

[ He turns his head downward for a second. Mostly to hide the grin escaping his face. To hide his wildly teenaged-like crush over his ship. He’s over 2000 years old now! Surely, he doesn’t want to appear like a smitten 90-year-old.

But when he glances at Newt looking up at him, looking as small as he ever was, he can feel something pulling at his hearts. Perhaps it’s because deep down he knows that feeling all too well.

His hand reaches over to give Newt’s hair an ever-so-gentle ruffle. ]

That’s the thing about friendships, Newt. They never expire.

[ He brings his hand back down and keeps his eyes on their simulated horizon. ]

You once told me back in Braccia that I was acting too big for my britches. [ Or something to that effect. ] That I was no different from being human. But therein lies the problem…

[ A beat. ]

I don’t think I can ever be as brilliant as you lot.

[groupiedrifter]

[Newt is suspiciously slow at batting at the hand in his hair, as if maybe he's a chump who will always love when someone treats him like they care about him. If he's smiling slightly, nobody has to point it out, right? Right.]

Pffft. You're a genius superhero-type time traveler who helps fix worlds, ships, and everything in-between, all while lasting longer than the Duracell Bunny.

I'm pretty sure matching that is a little tough for us humans.

[He turns his expression toward the horizon himself, hands fidgeting in his lap.

There's a hangnail to obsessively pick at until a band-aid's needed, after all.]

Besides, I haven't been feeling all that 'brilliant' these days.

... Maybe more like a crumpled up sock that just missed the hamper.

[attackbrows]

It’ll pass. The hardest part is the remembering. That subtle, pulsating thing you like to call guilt.

[ This whole pep talk thing? He’s terrible at it. Used to be great at it in his previous incarnations, but now? Sometimes his guilt gets the best of him. Those same pangs of guilt and terrible nightmares...? The last he needs is to be seen as a hero. He’s done far too many wrongs in his past to merit that. Just a lonely little monster travelling inside his blue box, trying to make the universe a little more gentle. ]

People will tell you it isn’t your fault. That you did nothing wrong. But the sinking you feel inside will always outweigh any verbal affirmation.

[ I suppose this is his silly way of saying “I know the feeling.” ]

[groupiedrifter]

[His eyes stare past the hands in his lap. And then his gaze trails along to the image of yamarashi, stark against his skin. He remembers a nightmare that he couldn't remember until he'd woken up in that hospital bed... nightmares of his tattoos coming to life, bursting free from his flesh. His mouth works for a moment, and he mumbles:]

"If you're not a monster, why are they in your head?"

[He stops, straightens his back.]

They used to tell me a lot of things. In my sleep.

... I'm not sure when I started believing so much of it. That it was all my fault. That I did everything wrong, and I was better off with them in control. But... they also said I was a detachable tail that would get torn off eventually, and I'd be left behind.

[He runs his hand over the tattoos on his arm.]

People talk around here. They try to say things to undo those feelings... And to be honest, a lot of it — I just don't know. I'm all mixed up. But... [He glances over at the Doctor.] I wasn't left behind.

["Sometimes actions outweigh the sinking feeling," is what he says in return.]

[attackbrows]

[ The expression on The Doctor’s face slightly twists. That was his way of trying to piece the logic behind, doing everything wrong and being detachable. Such incredibly daft creatures, those Precursors. ]

You’re a messy bunch. Always with your snappy decisions and lack of hindsight.

[ Sort of like how The Doctor has tried to emulate. He’s always been a bit of a rebel in some respects, but not like humans. A rag-tag group who wanted to shoot for the moon and have now reached the outskirts of the universe.

He fiddles with the ring on his left finger. ]

You have good people with you. Keep them close.

[groupiedrifter]

What a coincidence; I think timelords are pretty messy, myself.

[He's at ease as he says it, though there's something uncertain in his eyes as he glances over to the Doctor. Like he's trying to read faraway words that even his glasses can't salvage.]

... You better be keeping people close, too.

Yeah, yeah, you're old and want people off your lawn, but still.

[attackbrows]

[ He doesn’t flinch at the suggestion. All his life, he’s been told not to walk alone.

Easier said than done.

The side of his lip twist into a wry grin, knowing that he is about to lie straight through his teeth. ]

Perish the thought. I’ve got an atlas full of names to phone in.

[groupiedrifter]

[Scoff.]

Just because you own a phone book doesn't mean you ever use it like you're supposed to.

[...But he doesn't seem to press the issue anymore.

He sits quietly and enjoys the scenery in uncharacteristic silence.]