ic contact

[helpline]

"No."
[ that's it, that's the voicemail message ]
( text, audio, video, action )

Comments

[jacksonian]

[ Mark stares a moment - and then, miracle of miracles, by some impossible chain of events...the corner of his lip turns up, and he actually laughs. It's not a big laugh, more a little chuckle than anything else, but it's not scornful or mean-spirited. And even that's enough to transform his face; he goes from looking gloomy and suspicious and grim to actually looking like a vaguely nice young man. Make no mistake, he returns to Surly Vorkosigan a moment later, but it did happen. ]

That's stupid.

[helpline]

[ Ohhhh points for the Doctor. He can't help but grin at Mark's smile. Small victories still count as a victory when dealint with grumpy teenagers. ]

Yeah, but it is what it is. Nobody calls a side dish eccentric, do they?

[jacksonian]

Yeah, but -

[ His face is a little lighter when he looks at the Doctor again. Laughing, after all, has lingering positive effects on the soul. He makes a circle with the pudgy thumb and forefinger of his left hand, then curls the thumb and forefinger of his right hand into a smaller circle. He puts the one in front of the other to demonstrate a sort of Venn diagram, with the small ring encircled completely by the bigger one. ]

That's a logical fallacy. Just because "eccentric" is an exclusively human term, that doesn't mean that "weird" is an exclusively non-human term. Just because all Zaps are Zots, that doesn't mean all Zots are Zaps.

[helpline]

Logical fallacy or not, that's how they're different! [ The Doctor's smiling a little as he continues. ]

All I was doing was describing how they were different. If we want to go all linguist, we can certainly do that--I've got a dictionary in here somewhere, those list etymologies.

[jacksonian]

Uh -

[ Which one is etymologies, again...? ]

That's...not bugs. Oh. The origins of the words?

[helpline]

I think? Could be bugs though, those words are easy to mix up.

[jacksonian]

Well, but why would etymologies matter, then? After all, that's just about what words meant a hundred years ago, not what they mean now.

[helpline]

They matter cause there's still a bit of those hundred years ago words in the words today.

[ said with a little shrug. ]

Plus, anything that can help me prove my point matters in the end.

[jacksonian]

[ A light snort that's not, perhaps, as rude as it could have been. ]

You sound just like Miles.

[helpline]

Except I don't like strategy games. They're too long and I get bored halfway through. Why play Risk when you can do darts instead?

[jacksonian]

[ A grunt. ]

Yeah, it's not my thing, either. I meant more in the sense of you searching for whatever proves your point.

[helpline]

I can deal with that better than liking strategy games.

[ said in the same tone as one would say 'a frontal lobotomy' ]

[jacksonian]

Huh. You really hate strategy games that much? What about Monopoly?

[helpline]

Capitalism for Kids? No thank you. If we're going to play a board game, let's make it Cluedo.

[jacksonian]

What's that one?

[helpline]

Only the best board game ever. It's a murder mystery!

You should come over to play it sometime, I'll grab Hazel to play also--ooh, maybe Clara and Breeze can stop by, I honestly don't know if Breeze has ever played it either.

[ welcome to Family Game Night, Mark. ]

[jacksonian]

[ A hesitation, then - ]

Miles wouldn't be invited, right?

[helpline]

Not unless you wanted him to be invited.

[ and he's got a feeling Mark doesn't want him to be invited in the first place. ]

[jacksonian]

[ An annoyed grunt. ]

Hell no. He'd ruin a game like that for everyone.

[helpline]

In that case, we won't invite him. [ said as if that's simple at that. The Doctor can understand not wanting to deal with your family, after all ]

The more people you have the better, but I think it's just six maximum. I know I can find at least one more person to join in with us.

[ even if it's just the Doctor browbeating Saint Walker into playing b/c he'd be too nice to refuse.... ] Oh, and I live at Heropa 11, by the way.

[jacksonian]

[ A hesitation - ]

You're serious about all of this?

[helpline]

Course I am. [ and then, 100% seriously, the Doctor asks, ] Why wouldn't I be?

[jacksonian]

I don't know. It just all seems...weird. You were threatening me not too long ago.

[helpline]

Because I didn't know that much about you--I wasn't sure what kind of a person you were and if you needed to be threatened or not. Now, I see you don't.

[jacksonian]

[ That makes him bristle, quite obviously: a contrary sort of anger boils across his face. Well - anger and a hint of uncertain desperation. The last thing he wants to seem to anyone is controllable. The absolute last thing. ]

Meaning, what, you think I'm docile?