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The other man does look older, no longer the rebellious teenager, although he’s still dressed all in black. His hair is shorter on top, longer at the sides and he carries himself differently, adding years to his appearance. He doesn’t move under the Doctor’s scrutiny, keeping his eyes on the bottle of beer on the counter, his fingers turning it slowly and carefully."I suppose I owe you an apology."
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Bookmark Notes:
Ch1
Onward
Jadesfire
Summary:
The other man does look older, no longer the rebellious teenager, although he’s still dressed all in black. His hair is shorter on top, longer at the sides and he carries himself differently, adding years to his appearance. He doesn’t move under the Doctor’s scrutiny, keeping his eyes on the bottle of beer on the counter, his fingers turning it slowly and carefully."I suppose I owe you an apology."
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“You should know,” the Doctor says without looking around, “that for me, it hasn’t been long. Not nearly long enough.”There’s a considering silence, then the man says, “You came straight here?” When the Doctor nods, he hears him take a deep breath. “It’s been longer than that. For me.”
“Lucky you.” If he’s honest, the Doctor isn’t entirely sure what drink he ordered, just that it comes in the tallest glass in the bar, and therefore he assumed it would last him longest. Given he now has the urge to drain the whole thing in one go and just get up and leave, that might have been a tactical error. “How long?”
“Long enough.” There’s another pause, and the Doctor hears glass chink again. “I don’t even remember their faces any more.” There is so little emotion in the statement that the Doctor looks over despite himself.
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“Humans aren’t meant to live that long,” he says, trying to think. He only knows of one other human who could match this man for age, and there’s nothing of Jack’s hard-edged energy about him. “How can you bear it?”“That’s why I need to forget, sometimes.” There is condensation running in tiny droplets down the bottle, and the man touches a finger to the pooling water. “If I can.”
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“I'm going by Ambrose at the moment,” he says, picking up the bottle and smearing the remains of the water across the bar. “It attracts less notice. Like John Smith."The Doctor grimaces a little and pulls his drink towards him. "You know who I am, then?" he says, trying to give himself some space to think.
"Once you know the right questions to ask, you're not hard to find. Everyone's heard of you, one way or another." He gives the Doctor a sidelong look. "You've got almost as many names as me. In fact..."
"You can't tell me," the Doctor says quickly. "Some of that hasn't happened to me yet." He's not sure yet how it all ties together, the events at Lake Vortigern that are in both his past and future, but he knows that more knowledge can only be a dangerous thing. Some stories have to play out at their own pace, his included.
As if understanding, Merlin nods. "Knowing the future doesn't always help. You can still make the wrong choice."
There’s too much truth in that for the Doctor to deny it, so he just takes a long swig of his drink, wondering if he likes the taste. Possibly not. They sit in silence for a while, the life of the bar going on around them, and it's a strange feeling. The Doctor is so used to being outside these worlds, to being the one who sees the bigger picture, has the wider perspective. He wonders what another few thousand years would add to this sense of dislocation, but decides against asking. He'd rather find out when – if – he gets there.
Eventually, Merlin stirs.
"If you came straight here from Midnight," he says carefully, "you must have a time machine."
"Yes." The Doctor tries to keep his voice as neutral as possible, not yet sure where this is going.
"You can go anywhere? Any point in time?" There's too much hope underlying that question, so the Doctor turns his head, just enough to see how the hand resting on the bar is shaking, that there's a slight flush to Merlin's cheeks and that his eyes are still bright and shining.
"In theory, yes." He's speaking softly now, trying not to give false hope. "But-"
"I tried," Merlin says, clenching his hand as his voice catches. "I can move time, slow it down, speed it up. But I can't go back there. I can't save him."
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Bookmark Notes:
The Doctor and Merlin meet on the train to Midnight. Merlin doesn't help him. They meet again later, at a bar, and secrets are revealed.
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Bookmark Notes:
love love looooooove the characterizations here! I've always enjoyed the "Jethro is Merlin" idea but no one could spin a goth emo boy into an all-powerful being *just* right. This manages that 'just right'.
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Bookmark Notes:
❤️
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