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Ace sipped on the last dregs of her pint, really wishing she had picked anything else but the beer.
“He’s got it up his sleeve,” said the pretty woman next to her. “See, he’s just flicked it off the edge.”
Ace raised an eyebrow. The man on the table across the pub did seem a little shifty, as he spun cups over the woodwork, then finally pulled his hands back, holding them up as the woman on the other side pointed at one. He picked it up to reveal nothing,
“Unfortunate,” he said, and picked up the other two cups to reveal the little ball. “But you know how the game works now. Would you like to try again? Put something on the line?”
The woman sighed and got up. “Clear off, Mordred,” she said, in a warning tone.
“What? I’m just trying to play a game with this lovely -”
“Pat,” called the woman, and Mordred started packing up, grumbling. The woman watched him go, then returned to Ace at the bar. She waved down the bartender for another drink.
“Does he come here often?” asked Ace.
“Only when he needs money. You know what the definition of insanity is?”
“I can pull up Merriam-Webster for you.” She made an exaggerated motion of rooting through her bag for her phone. The woman chuckled, then nodded at Ace’s empty pint, a flirtatious smile coming over her face.
“The lemonade cocktails are much better, if you’re staying.”
Ace’s alarm rang very loudly in her ear. She startled awake, flipping onto her front, and spent a good few moments trying to remember how to move her fingers before she could turn off the alarm. She flopped back into bed, pulling out her phone and wincing at the brightness. It took a few more moments before her eyes adjusted, and she could clearly see that it was 9:00. Her setting-off alarm.
Oh, fuck.
Exactly on time, a text came in.
I’m looking forward to seeing you! x
Ace groaned and rubbed her face.
same here, she replied, tossing her phone down. She stretched, then went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower, checking herself in the mirror to see if the various hickeys on her neck had faded, and groaning when she saw they hadn’t. She sprinted to the bus after grabbing her clipboards and cards, unable to stop herself from spinning one of the pens around in her fingers from nerves. She made herself breathe in deeply.
She managed not to arrive late. The Doctor was already there, a scarf wrapped around his neck. He smiled, and doffed his hat to her. She did as best she could, given the hangover, which was a small grimace.
A little conscious that there were several pairs of eyes on her, she didn’t go in for a hug, but he came over to her still.
“It’s a good turnout,” he noted. “Especially given how far away the election is.”
Ace nodded in agreement.
“So why is the beer so.. bad, anyway?” asked Ace, once things had quietened down a little. Shou Yuing grinned back at her.
“He makes it himself.”
“Does he have a licence?”
“He got one back in the 80s.”
Ace raised her eyebrows very high. “That… can’t still be valid.”
“Well, no, but nobody drinks it twice. And not if there’s any of the regulars around to dissuade them.”
“Christ. I get why.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you in time. I've been away for a bit - clearly I let down my guard.”
Once it was 10:00, and it seemed clear that no one else was coming, the Doctor clapped his hands for everyone’s attention.
“Hello, everyone,” he said. Ace looked around the little crowd. There were some older faces - Karra, Ray, Tabby, Tilda, and Mags - and some newer ones too. “Today’s our first door-knocking session of this election, and I can see we have quite a few new faces, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m Dr John Smith, currently running for the Argyll and Bute constituency. You might know me as the Doctor; Ace tells me that’s what I’m known as online.”
That and fucking umbrella guy. Well, the latter was on Tumblr. The Doctor didn’t need to know about Tumblr.
“But I’m in London, and figured I ought to come and say hello before Ace - her next to me, in the bomber jacket - takes charge. Ace, if you’d like to?”
Ace put on her best reassuring smile. “I know a lot of people coming door-knocking for the first time think it’s going to be scary, but it’s really not once you get used to it. Nevertheless, for your first session, we’ll be pairing newcomers with experienced door-knockers. We’ll be trying for groups of two, but there will be -” she nodded at Delta and her daughter “- exceptions to that. Before we do all that, though, let’s go through the clipboards.” She passed several out, and little groups formed as they looked at them.
There was a great thunder of flipping paper. Ace really wished she’d had enough sense last night to not get involved in drinking games.
“Last call!”
Ace glanced at Shou Yuing. “Can I get you anything?”
“Vodka and coke.”
“Sounds nice. I’ll have one too.”
“Didn’t you say…?”
“I’ll be fine,” said Ace, despite the fact that she probably wouldn't be. “We start at ten.”
“On the front, you’ll see lists of names and addresses. They’re taken from the electoral register. I know everyone says to check their names, because these lists can sometimes be out of date, but some people get a bit creeped out about a stranger turning up at their door knowing their name, so I tend to skip that. In the columns next to it, you’ll see a little box. That’s for their likeliness to vote. T1 means they are planning to vote for the Tardis Party, T2 means they’ll think about it, or are thinking about it, T3 means they’re neutral, and T4 means they probably or definitely won’t. This helps us mark interest. There’s also a fifth mark, but I’ll get to that.”
Against her will, her eyes flicked, for a moment, to the Doctor. He was watching her with open fondness, standing tall with pride.
“The area we’ll be covering today is mixed houses and flats. Flats are a little trickier, but look for a service buzzer, and if not, ring one of the flats and politely ask if you can come leaflet the stair. Odds are they’ll probably let you in. With flats, go from the top to the bottom. That way you’ll feel less intrusive to the people in the building, but, more importantly, you won’t be starting every conversation winded.”
She flipped to the sheet at the bottom.
“There’s a suggested script on the last page, but generally, the idea is to be friendly. If they don’t want you to be there, thank them for their time with a smile. You might think they’ll be annoyed at having someone turn up at their door, but a lot of people nowadays actually really appreciate it, even if they’re not planning to vote Tardis. Since we’re one of the smaller parties, and we’re not getting so much press attention, it’s also a good idea to regularly go around and remind everyone that we exist and we have candidates. Speaking of which, you’re got a small list of policies and statistics on the back for if you get drawn into deeper conversation. But this is mostly gauging how people in this area feel, and noting any real concerns any of them have.”
“I feel everything comes back, eventually,” said Shou Yuing, as they pressed close, shivering, outside the pub, “to Harriet Jones being ousted. Her Party flounders and dies without her, the Fenric Party takes over, and then runs itself into the ground, and then Avallion takes over. It’s not like I don’t, like, not like Morgaine Dulliss. But she just sort of came into this shit government and she’s not actually changing any of the shit that made it… shit.” She turned in a circle to warm up.
“Yeah,” said Ace, who couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“What if we knock on someone’s door and they… spit on us, or something?” asked a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyelids.
“The chances of that happening are very rare,” said Ace. “We’re not a particularly contentious party. But if it does, mark down an ‘H’ for hostile on your sheet. And if whoever it is doesn’t answer the door at all, just slip one of these -” she lifted one of her many bundles of cards - “through the letterbox. Finally, keep in your pairs or trios, so none of you get lost, and you can all have each other’s backs if anything goes wrong - though, again, it’s very safe. Put on a badge as well - the Doctor has some - so people know you’re from Tardis. I think that’s all.”
“Yes,” said the Doctor. “Let’s take a photo, anyone who wants to be in it, and then you all can split into groups and be off.”
They all arranged themselves for the photo. Delta slid up to Ace. “We can’t really be in one,” she said. “Digital footprint reasons. Long… story.”
“That’s alright,” said Ace, and handed her her phone. She arranged herself with the rest of the volunteers, one of the Doctor’s arms going over her shoulders. She really, really hoped that the thin layer of concealer on her neck had held. They held some posters, smiling brightly, then started sorting themselves into groups. Ace posted the photo, then headed over to Delta and her daughter.
“You’re sixteen, right?”
The girl nodded. Ace found herself smiling.
“Well, that’s a brilliant age to get into politics. I was sixteen when I got into all of this, you know. I think I explained the safeguarding policies - but Delta, as long as you’re with her. We’ll make sure the two of you are together… Ray, how about you go with them?”
Soon they were all split into groups. Ace was paired with a woman by the name of Mel, who had a great puff of 80s hair and a children’s TV show presenter’s smile. The Doctor said goodbye, then set off for the nearest Tube station.
Shou Yuing said she’d need to get a bus, so Ace walked her there. There was no one around, so she said maybe she’d stay a moment, just to make sure she got on safe. Shou Yuing smiled.
“You’re sweet.”
They look at each other for a moment longer.
“Do you want to, um -”
Shou Yuing laughed. “I’ve been trying to give you signals all evening.” She kissed Ace fully, and Ace sighed happily, lifting a hand to stroke through the edge of her long hair. Shou Yuing, surely made reckless by the alcohol, nibbled into her neck, and Ace groaned quietly. They split apart only when they saw the bus, both their cheeks rosy.
“Get home safe,” said Ace.
“I will.”
And then she was gone.
Ace and Mel set off quickly for a big block of flats, noses buried into their scarves. Mel talked unendingly about cardio, but Ace didn’t mind. Reaching the highermost flat, Ace stepped over to Mel to show her the register.
“You might find that the names here don’t match up to the ones on the door,” she explained. “That’s normal. Sometimes new people move in and don’t change the plaque.” She rang a doorbell, which made no sound. “And if the doorbell doesn’t work, just knock.” She rapped three times. Mel held her breath for a moment. There was no answer or sound of movement.
“Leaflet and move on.” She pressed one through the letterbox and went to the next door.
After Mel had watched her talk to a few people - who were all mostly positive or neutral about Tardis - she started leading conversations. Something about her attitude and her demeanour made people want to agree with her. She talked passionately about how, though both the Albion Party and the Saxon bandwagon were popular, they’d split far-right voters through the middle, while Tardis had no real competition on the part of the political spectrum it occupied and, most importantly, appealed to people across the left-wing spectrum, and even some people in the centre. With the current dissatisfaction with both the Avallion Party and the Fenric Party, a good number of people were turning further right, yes, but a lot more thought what Tardis could offer was pretty good.
“Impressive,” commented Ace, as they went down another flight of stairs. “You have a great set of lungs.”
“That’s the cardio,” she replied brightly.
Ace got home and locked the door properly, stripping and falling into her bed. She could feel a headache in the making already.
It was only then that she realised she hadn’t got Shou Yuing’s number.
They got a few people giving them their contact details, and a few would-be Avallion voters. Pretty good overall - but they were starting in the spots where people, for the most part, liked them.
They ultimately managed to get through a few blocks as it started nearing the end of the session. Mel had gym right after this, so was hovering a few steps below the floor, and was going to bolt once they’d finished this building. Ace, meanwhile, was going to go home and take a nap. Was this what happened once you stopped being young and reckless? A night out and you had to take a nap the next day? Okay, she had drank rather a lot…
There was no answer, so they moved down one, and tried the other door. No answer.
On the last door, Ace checked the name again. There was a Wei Yang Li - huh, you don’t tend to get separated names very often nowadays - in this flat, and Lunar New Year decorations up on the door. She knocked three times.
“Yes?” called someone, opening the door, revealing a Chinese man with slightly long hair. He peered at them curiously.
“Hello,” said Ace. “We’re with the Tardis Party, and we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions -”
“No, sorry. I’m not really into that.”
Ace wondered how people could not be into politics in times like these, but getting into arguments never led to anything sensible. “Alright, tha -”
“But my sister is. I’ll just get her for you.” He shut the door almost entirely, and from inside Ace could hear him calling out in what she thought was Mandarin. She caught a ‘Tardis Party’, and, repeated, ‘Xiǎo Yún’. A female voice responded.
“Go catch your bus,” said Ace to Mel. “They don’t seem like serial killers.” She was shot a grateful smile, then Mel dumped her cards and badge into Ace’s pockets and half-sprinted away.
Wei Yang appeared again. "She's coming," he said. "Is she on your list? She only moved in with me a few days ago. There -" he switched back into Mandarin, then passed the door off to someone else.
Ace opened her mouth to start with the usual spiel, but she was suddenly caught off guard by the familiar face appearing around the door.
“Shou Yuing?”