025 ▌Un to Intentional Recording [video]

[am_i_being_rude]

[There is what can really only be described as an array of absolutely ridiculous things around a clear area clearly meant for someone to be sitting, only there isn't someone there. And then there is. Aaaaand then there isn't. It's rifling through the desk behind him that he finds the device on.]

Normally I have a bit of a problem working on one project at a time but this... This is, this is maddening. Constant ticking - I can see where it makes a man a bit wonky. Tell you what though, excellent for composing. Never skips a beat.

Comments

[Video]

[iwasherefirst]

[Rose is at work and she is trying to work with much the same efficiency the Doctor seems to be working with. She can't think, much less be cordial to people who are cranky to begin with because of the ticking. For the moment, she's hidden herself in one of the racks in the store. When she clicks the video on, it's obvious she's crouched in some small space with all carious bits of clothing all around her.]

Excellent composin' gets on your nerves when it's the same. beat. every. single. time.

Blimey, now I'm talkin' in beats.

[Video]

[am_i_being_rude]

[To be honest if he had her job that's probably where he would normally be regardless of ticking.]

Yeah, it's a bit like progressive-alternative therapeutic jam. It works for about four minutes and then you sort of want to have a Van Gogh at it. It is, however, an excellent metronome if you're trying to create the stuff. Unless you happen to be a one-of-me who doesn't lose track of time and is acutely aware of the passing of it and doesn't need something to help him keep it straight, in which case it gets on all of your nerves.

[Video]

[iwasherefirst]

[Most of the time, she likes her job. She's just not crazy about it today.]

Sorta thinkin' it was torture and brain washin'. and m'not acutely aware of passing time.

oh wow I didn't close that italic tag. whoops. after 'gogh' wasn't supposed to be slanty.

[am_i_being_rude]

What was torture and brain washing?

psh no worries. I figured that's what it was

[iwasherefirst]

The ticking is torture and brain washin'. You know, gettin' us to break and admit somethin'. I have no idea what.

:: action

[generated_anomaly]

[Jenny is having the best time, sitting upright in the hammock, crossed-legged with her spine straight as a board and watching her father. Her eyes are wise as she watches him dart this way and that, not really sure what he's doing at all in any of the numerous places he focuses on. Really, he is fascinating to her. He defies everything she was programmed to be and do and believe in and she loves it.

She's actually more interested in him than in the ticking, although her fingertips do drum against her knees in time with the constant tick. Although when he mentions composing, she has to chime in. She'd been so still and quiet that it was probably easy to forget she was there. But now, she's gonna make some noise. Excuse her, dad.]

What are you composing, then? I don't see any composing, supposing composing means what I think it means. I'm finding that some words have different meanings and that there are some new words entirely! A boy recently taught me a curse word. You would think being made for war would make me programmed for all the curse words as well. Who deserves to curse more than a soldier giving their life for something?

:: action

[am_i_being_rude]

[Normally he would probably be more receptive to having an audience, but he's attempting to think so many thoughts today in an attempt to actually be able to hear himself thinking any of them that it's a little more difficult to sustain the usual performance. Though, due to her being her, it mitigates it somewhat. He really doesn't mind talking while he's doing stuff though. In fact it's sort of surprising they haven't been until now.]

Composing! I was composing something, where did it- A ha! [He stretches over to pick up a sheet of paper so he can wave it at her.] Rose wants a theme song. And I just like composing. It seemed like a waste of a good metronome to not take advantage of it, being so loud and all. Of course, if you want anything in a different time it's rubbish. [That gets his attention.] A boy taught you a curse word? Which one?

:: action

[generated_anomaly]

[A theme song? Jenny is once again confused. But that's okay, it's a common state for her. She understands the concept of a theme song, of course. But she doesn't understand the purpose of each person having their own theme song. Is that a thing? Is it common practice? Should she have a theme song too? Does her dad(s)™ have their own theme songs? Donna's theme song would probably be nice to hear, all active and full of life and emotion.]

That's interesting. People with their own theme songs... I never thought! When are they played? How are they played? Do you do all the composing for everyone? Composing is a talent I don't think I was programmed with. Maybe I could learn.

[She slips off of the hammock to move over to her dad so she can see the paper. As she does, she absent-mindedly answers his question.] His name is Dean Winchester. Two lovely names, aren't they? He taught me the word shit. Do you often use the curse shit?

[am_i_being_rude]

[He scrunches his face a little bit.] Wellll... Normally people don't, no, and they don't really get played. And I definitely don't compose it all. I'm much too busy! Saving universes - well, usually. Sometimes I'm too busy being brilliant in general. Not that I couldn't if I wanted to, obviously. [He gestures to the sheet. Because clearly it's finished and she can read music and it's wonderful. Her comment does actually get him to look up at her, attention focused, for however fleetingly it may be happening.] Oh, you can learn anything.

[He'd meant which curse word, but he was going to ask her which boy right after and she answered both questions anyway. He files the information away for later fatherly conversations.] They're alright. Not normally, no. Not for lack of the emotion behind it, but really there's not a lot of point in it; by the time things are to that point there's more important things to be said. [Besides, when he curses, if he were to, clearly, it would be more colourful and hidden in different languages]

Voice

[threeolives]

Oh thank god, I thought it was just me. Good to know I'm not the only one hearing things (well, hearing things louder than usual anyway).

Voice

[am_i_being_rude]

Nope! Definitely not just you. Normally, yes, if you hear it, it's just you, because you're off by your just yoursome. But not today, nooooooo. [He blinks. Looks up from what he's doing and starts again.] Hi! I'm the Doctor! And you would be...?

Voice

[threeolives]

So this is one of those curses, then? You'll have to excuse me, I'm somewhat new.

"The" doctor? The definite article doctor? I think I've heard of you. My name's Pepper Potts.

Voice

[am_i_being_rude]

Fine time to be new. I suppose at least after this the regular ticking'll just seem a regular old nuisance with its regular rhythm and quieter regular manner. Shame you missed the Lego one though! Oh, that was brilliant! Everything made out of little plastic bricks. Rose and I built a balcony, and one of me built an Eiffel tower in the main room. He did a good job on it.

[You've heard of him! He loves it when that happens!] Exactly! Just the Doctor! Definitely a definite article at this point. Wonderful to meet you Pepper Potts. Brilliant name, Pepper Potts. Are you getting along well, aside from the ticking?

[valentineluke]

Like the sound of drums.

May I ask you a rather personal question?

[am_i_being_rude]

[That's always fun, when someone asks that.]

You probably can; we'll see how it goes after that.

[valentineluke]

The other two 'Doctors', are they related to you?

[am_i_being_rude]

Oh, very. Extremely related. Related on both sides, even. We're all the same person.

Later, evening. [Action] [closed]

[am_i_being_rude]

[He is quite tired by this point. Thinking that quickly all day long and the relentless drumming - at some point he realised he'd gone from thinking of them as ticking to drumming and tried to stop and then didn't care. For all their monotony they might as well have been drum beats by now anyway. He's still attempting to keep up the trains of thought, several more than normal, but the lowered mood and added stress of it combined with the recent addition to the household in general and all the memories dredged up by her through absolutely no fault of her own are starting to cause him... Thoughts of a pattern he's altogether aware are not his best path but one he finds himself treading nonetheless. He has done for a fair few months now, but those were slightly different, and had the benefit of less certainty behind them. These had begun a slow simmer toward anxieties he had thought adequately taken care of until now.

Entering the flat relatively late in the evening - it's dark outside. He had been home a bit earlier when it was just him and Jenny while he had his 'lunch break' but ultimately there was just more to tinker and do at City Solutions. More to delve into to remain occupied. And he'd stayed as long as he could manage, but now. Now he was home, setting the backpack down on the dining table they had now that there were four people regularly eating meals in the flat, shucking his coat and tossing it haphazardly towards the oversized chair, where it mostly missed and pooled around it, and flat out, straight up, falling down into the hammock bed with an exhalation that he hoped would dispel all of... this, from him. If momentarily. But alas. Didn't work. And while he appreciated the silence, he was going to have to either find something to do or attempt to sleep to get over the ticking beats. He'd meant it this morning when he said he could understand now, how this could have driven his old friend crazy, having to carry this around in his mind the whole time. Maddening. At least he didn't have to worry about it anymore, and he would only have to worry for another hour and thirteen minutes twelve.]

[iwasherefirst]

[The ticking is having a more general effect on Rose; the maddening of the beat in her head making it difficult to concentrate to the point that she feels like she can't think. Since getting off work, she has been puttering around the flat, flitting from one thing to another. She's tried reading, watching telly, eating and taken a bath. She even resorted to a couple of glasses of wine which was enough to give her warm fuzzies but ultimately not enough to do anything about the ticking. She is re-organizing her closet without any real effort due to the inability to concentrate on anything besides the ticking when she decides another glass of wine can't hurt anything.

She's wearing a pair of silky pajama pants and a button up of the Doctor's--it's probably pretty standard sleeping attire for her at this point--when she ventures out of the bedroom. A smile curves her lips when she sees him in the hammock and she pads across the floor and climbs into the hammock, curling up next to him, pressing one cheek to his chest and her hand over her other ear.]

You don't quite drown out the tickin'.

[am_i_being_rude]

[He's trying to remember some obscure game he learned in recreational mathematics, thinking about how to get that one polymer strand in the tissue he was working on to properly self-replicate without misaligning itself, wondering what to eat and what could be eaten quietly, and attempting not to think about roughly fifty percent of the other occupants in the flat, when he hears her walking over. He lifts an arm when she arms climbing in next to him, settling it around her as she rests on his chest.]

Not quite in sync with it either. It's been bothering me all afternoon. The asynchronization.

[iwasherefirst]

[She likes that he lets her just settle against him like that. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying for just a moment to drown out the sound of the ticking with the sound of him. His voice sounds rumble-y in his chest the way she's listening and vibrates slightly.]

Mmmm, yeah. Just a little off. I like the sound of you better.

video;

[leathered]

Not sure what kind of composition you could get out of it. Very, very regular one, I suppose.

[ He's a bit grumpy today. So. Not exactly spending much time with the "family." ]

video;

[am_i_being_rude]

It's good as long as you want anything in standard time. If you want anything slightly off, it wrecks the tempo entirely.

video;

[leathered]

Think I'd be hearing it in my sleep, if I bothered.

These sort of things usually only last 24 hours, correct?

video;

[am_i_being_rude]

Probably. Get to have a lovely little dream with just as rhythmic ticking and the benefit of the subconscious to make it more flamboyant as an added bonus.

Yeah. Should end at midnight. Well, the loud ticking. Then we'll get the normal ticking back.