Oh, I've seen it all before in movies of myself

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

((Closed for John and the Doctor, backdated to the day after the meeting))

The Doctor rapped sharply on the door to the Star Tours early in the morning and stood waiting, munching on an apple and humming the Star Wars theme.

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[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

That wasn't any of the answers the Doctor had anticipated. He was silent for a long moment, and then decided to take a step back.

"I.... Sorry, that might've not been the best way to ask the question." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The Master and I are guessing tele program, yeah?"

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

John snorted a little at the first comment, then winced. "Yeah. Coulda told me you had already been discussing this with him, you know." It was weak, as reproaches went, but then again, he hadn't exactly meant it that way.

"I haven't seen this version of you, I should mention. Up to the eighth, far as I know." He wasn't about to say that the show had been canceled. For all he knew, someone picked it back up, and that's why he was seeing this version at all. Worked for Star Trek. "It's called Doctor Who. Which is probably funny to everyone except you, now that I think about it. Someone tip you off about all this, or were you just being clever?"

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"Doc... Doctor Who?" the Doctor asked, increduously. "That's why everyone keeps saying that, because it's... it's... my programme's tagline?"

For some reason, knowing the name of the thing was almost more baffling than just knowing that there was one, -even- to the point that he was -distracted, for a moment, from that statement 'up to the eighth' and everything it could possibly mean- a little stuck on it.

"The neon talking tyranasaur wanted to squash him because he was an evil villian, and then he got excited when he heard Gallifreyan," he explained off-handedly. "No, we didn't need to be particularly clever." A hand through the hair. "This... this is weird. This is really weird."

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

"Uh...." He didn't really want to say yes, just because it sounded so stupid when the Doctor put it like that. "Well, it's also the mystery factor. Since you don't give your real name out. I guess."

John was starting to feel like a horrible person.

"Of course," he said awkwardly at the mention of T-Rex. "In this place it would be the giant green extinct talking monster that informs you of your fictitiousness." He sighed. "Look, you're right, it is definitely really weird, but you're in good company. We've got no reason to believe that all of us aren't fictional at this rate. And for what it's worth, I don't really think any of us are. I mean, we are somewhere, but not altogether. If that makes sense."

He really shouldn't bother discussing high science with a Time Lord, but at this point, John thought anything might help.

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"It is my real name," the Doctor groused, apparently not placated. "It's not my only name, but that doesn't make it not real. I earned my name." A sidelong glance at John. "Suppose you know all about that then."

"Oh I agree with you," he continued, hand making yet another pass through his hair. "It's not that, it's just...."

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

Okay, apparently not the right way to go with it. John gave himself credit most of the time; getting people to open up to him wasn't usually that hard. But in this case, it was a bit more like D'Argo. Not the 'don't let him get close enough to give you a concussion' part, but he did have to tread lightly. "Sort of," he conceded, scratching the back of his neck. Which made them both look slightly comical, between that and the hair passes. "I mean, I remember something coming up about it, and about what they called you at school, but it's been a while. Anyhow, I didn't mean that it wasn't real in the way that you meant it. Just meant it's clearly not your original given name, which is what most people think when you say your name is the Doctor."

It probably wasn't really worth it to try and make the point.

"...just that it's unsettling to think that people have seen things that you've done in your life?" John shook his head. "Think we've all had that thought. It's not like you've really got anything to worry about; it's your show, Doc. It isn't a UNIT show, or one about the Master. It's yours." He hoped what he was implying was obvious. C'mon, you've got more ego about you than anyone. It's part of why people love you so much.

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"My show," the Doctor muttered, and then laughed. "Oh, there are so many people who would be extremely annoyed by that." -he's thinking of his professors mostly, the ones who'd always thought he was (unimportant. and isn't it funny that this makes him, in a certain sense, more important than, say, Rassilon) useless. and there were his classmates, and more than a few enemies over the years (more important than the Eternals, hah! take that Black Guardian.)-

He opened the bottle and took a sip of water, mostly to have something to do besides stand there.

"So you like the show, then?" he -was still avoiding the bigger questions- surmised, an assumed lightness in his tone.

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

John can certainly take the joke, even if he's not aware of the particular people the Doctor is thinking of. The guy had certainly foiled enough evil schemes.

The question's more than a little uncomfortable for so many reasons. "I do. A lot of people do. It's like the English version of Star Trek. A genre staple would probably be the best way of putting it. Sort of."

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"Well, that's good anyway. I'd hate to be boring. Or one of those early morning programs no one ever watches." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Probably started before you were born, though, eh? Sometime in the 1960s?"

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

There was that ego he remembered. See, it wasn't so bad, was it? Maybe this conversation wouldn't cause any permanent damage and--

How the frell had he figured that?

John swallowed. "Huh. Uh, yeah. It did." It would be better if he just left it at that. Really, it would. "Can I ask, how...."

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"Companions," the Doctor answered with a shrug. "There's a pretty distinct timeline that the majority of them fit into, actually." He tapped one finger rapidly against the bottle. "And that also explains how you knew all about the Master. It was you who warned Cayce, wasn't it? What did you tell her?"

[always-confuzed.livejournal.com]

Of course. The Doctor was too smart not to figure that. He'd started with companions from the 60s and and moved forward from there (minus a few that were pulled from other planets, if memory served). "Right. Any reason you think you did it that way? Or did you just like the century?"

He couldn't help but look a little sheepish at being caught. "I told her that he could control people's minds, and that she should try to stay out of his way." John pressed his lips together, and there was a change in his bearing, something that Aeryn would have recognized. It had appeared after living a year in the Uncharted Territories. "I have to keep my friends, my family safe. If something had happened to Cayce because she didn't know, it would've been my fault. I know it's none of my business, but I can't be sorry for that."

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"Of course not," the Doctor agreed, in a manner that was only little too understanding to be dismissive. "I'd have done the same, in your position. Especially if the last you saw of him was back when I was curly and auburn and he wore shades?" A sidelong glance. "How... much attention did he get within the show, anyway?" he asked.