we interrupt your regular programming...

[hard_talker]

[there's no Leonard Cohen tonight, no music, no loud tone of voice.  Mark just dictates flatly, in an almost bored monotone.  he wouldn't have bothered at all, save for the fact that, well ... it's what he's supposed to do.  it's what he would have wanted him to do ... and he knows he should do more, actually be angry or involved, more vocal.  he just doesn't have the heart right now.]

Okay, everyone, we've actually got two new arrivals this week, Annabeth and Konzen.   Someone's opened up a shrink office, for those of you in need of professional help, and Lois updated her report on what's out there in the great wide world of Wonderfuck.

But there's... I mean, I have...

[he's quiet for a moment, but the silence is loaded, like he's holding something he can't handle. and finally, as much as he wishes he were braver than this... as much as he knows this deserves more, he just can't. the blank nameplate he saw this morning... the one that confirmed and compounded the feeling in the pit of his stomach... It's too much. he falls back on his armor, hides behind his old nonchalance]

Oh, and the Doctor's gone.  You know.  The one who just got married.  Gone. 


[radio.  silence.  he doesn't even know how to hold all of this, so he's not going to try.]

Comments

Mark

[atrophied]

Still alive there, Mark?

Greg

[hard_talker]

It's up for debate.

Mark

[mal_addict]

...Friend of yours? [Buddy no, don't break while she can't go find you and drag you out of a pit of despair ]

Sarge, to end

[hard_talker]

More.

[she deserves his honesty, something more than blind sarcasm or anger, but that one word is almost too much on its own]

Mark

[peeta_bread]

He's... gone?

[It didn't seem real, like at any second, the Doctor would filter to him and say just kidding.]

Peeta; & I am so sorry....

[hard_talker]

That's what I SAID, isn't it?! Jesus, clean the fucking frosting out of your ears!

[ino]

[... wow. when even mark is trying not to sound pissed off or upset .... yikes. she knows how close they were, so ... this has to be a pretty nasty blow.

she'll be foregoing the check-up over the journals and instead opting to go straight to his room. she'll be tapping on his window for him to let her in :) since ... she COULD just let herself in but she doesn't want him to pee himself]

[hard_talker]

[he hears the knock at his window and freezes in panic. shit, not Ino. he's pretty sure if he opens his mouth right now, it's open season. anger and sarcasm are the only safe things. the truth is still too raw. hoarsely:] We're all out, come back tomorrow.

Hard Harry

[courageous_wit]

[it takes her a moment to phrase this properly because she was good friends with the Doctor as well]

If you need it, I'm here to talk.

Hermione

[hard_talker]

About what, the statistics of how long he was here?

[he is going to hate himself so much for this, he already knows it, but he can feel it building like a pressure cooker, and if they don't leave him alone, it's not going to be pretty]

[hullo_sweetie]

Yes, I've noticed...

[hard_talker]

What's your problem? You're still married, just to the younger model. [he's a little upset right now, River, nothing's going to come out right]

Mark

[lord_wizard]

Damn. I knew it...

[This both comes as a surprise and...doesn't. And he knows that Mark is taking it hard, but what do you even say to that? Especially when he knows Mark will push away any attempt at sympathy...]

...thank you for letting us know.

Felix

[hard_talker]

[bitterly amused] Hey. It's my job, right?

[translation: thank you for not trying to be Nice And Understanding, he can't handle that shit right now]

[encryptedlock]

Fuck!

[York won't bother asking if he's sure, just running as fast as possible to see if it's true.

Of course, it is.]

[hard_talker]

That starts to cover it. Yeah.

Dictated - Uh oh

[wizard_redfive]

[It took Dairine two whole weeks after the Mother's Day fiasco before bothering to tune in again. Honestly, she's still mad at Mark, but by now she's cooled down enough to at least give him a second chance.

But when she hears this announcement, all the anger vanishes, flooded out by a numbness threatening to drown her. For one horrible minute, she thinks Mark is talking about her Doctor. But no, no, she saw him today (even if he wasn't quite himself). When the truth dawns on her, though, it's not much better.

Dairine's voice is quiet, barely audible she's so upset.]

Oh... damn.

[hard_talker]

[just as subdued. he knows they were friends, but he also knows she hasn't been talking to him, and he hasn't been able to quite figure it out. so he's not sure what to do here]

Yeah.

[iamdamnloyal]

Oh! I'm not really a professional, but thank you for letting people know that I offered to help out. I mean, I've been trying to help out for a while, but it's nice to get noticed.

[hard_talker]

You sound really girly for a Peter Venkman.

[goldencirclet]

G-gone?

[hard_talker]

[oh, Goku. one of the few who can get past his rage, right now, and reach how he really feels, get something honest out of him. he's quiet for a moment, trying to pull some semblance of himself together, before he realizes it's not going to happen. thickly:]

... yeah.

Mark

[is0latedthinker]

[It's never nice when someone leaves. Whether it's disappearing for 20 years or being sent home from the Castle, the loss of a friend always hits hard.]

...I'm sorry to hear that.

Filtered to end

[hard_talker]

What, you rather I hadn't said anything?

Mark

[foolreversed]

...You going to be okay?

Adachi, to end

[hard_talker]

[oh so quietly]

How did it feel.

Right before you -- you couldn't take it anymore.

I need to know.

[wilder]

Oh.

That sucks.

[At least you people make it sound like it does]

[hard_talker]

You don't even know how much it does, so don't even START.

I'm technically on hiatus right now, but for the Doctor... mind if I placeholder?

[stalkershiki]

Th-The Doctor is...

Oh.

...Thanks for, ah, letting us know.

nope - fair warning, he's going to be an asshole

[hard_talker]

Oh yeah, hey, don't fucking mention it.

Room filter

[eat_me_beat_me]

[Nora quietly watches Mark from across the room, quietly curled up in a chair with a pillow clutched in her arms. She hadn't known the Doctor well... not this version, anyway... but she knew how close Mark had been to him. She was completely at a loss for words, knowing that nothing she could say could come close to making everything better or lessening the pain he was feeling right now.

All she could do was be there, let him know that he wasn't alone. Standing, she set the pillow down and crosses the room to him. Silently, she puts a hand on his shoulder, unsure if he wants more than that... or if he would just want her to leave]

[hard_talker]

[every muscle in his body tenses at her touch. it's so frustrating: at the same time that he wants to shove her away, to holler at her and yell and curse and scream and rage until she never wants to talk to him again ... he wants to pull her into his arms and hold on to her and just sob and never let her go.

he's had friends leave, sure. close ones. and it's always been devastating. but nothing hurt as much as this. nothing made it so abundantly crystal clear, so ... raw and real.

everyone leaves.

and having her hand on his shoulder might as well be the castle screaming at him: we'll take her, too.

he closes his eyes. no words, no nothing. he can't even deal with himself, right now]

[psych0p0mps]

what

[hard_talker]

It transcribed. Read it over.