fatemarked | (no subject)

(no subject)

[A woman comes on the video with a smile, and she's sitting in one of the lounges, looking relaxed. Well, mostly relaxed, every so often, her thumb brushes across the new mark on her palm. Following the lines of the snake eating it's own tail, she's done it so often now she can do it without looking. Her voice is normal though, despite the fidgeting.]

Hello. For those who didn't meet me yet, I'm Martha Jones, and I'm a doctor. If you've need of one, you can always come to me. [In case you don't want to see the people in the medical center is what Martha means.]

[Private to Snape.]

Why'd you request me? I didn't even think you'd liked me very much.

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[He wishes he hadn't used video. It makes him so very uncomfortable when women smile when he's trying to be sarcastic - like perhaps he might have accidentally flirted.

Not only that, but he feels as though maybe he's not playing with a full deck; trying to reference past experiences and finding them gone like gaps in a bookshelf can be unnerving.

His attention strays from her face to his hand, where the tips of his fingers are rubbing his thumb in a minor display of that discomfort.]

It isn't beyond the realm of possibility.

[The ease has gone from his tone.]

[The smile on her face falters, and then it entirely fades away as she sees how she's put him ill-at-ease. The apology is instant, because the last thing she wants to do is to create some sort of space between herself and the man whom she's supposed to be protecting.]

I'm sorry.

[Unease doesn't make him any less astute; he raises his eyes and scrutinizes her, a crease forming between his brows. Such an odd reaction, he thinks: she immediately sensed his discomfort and apologized for it.

That's unusual.

Doctors don't do that.

But women do. Women who are hyper-aware of the emotional well-being of the people around them. Emotional caretakers.]

Do you even know what you're apologizing for?

[He means it rhetorically, but he's interested in seeing her do a little self-analysis here.]

Edited 2016-02-11 23:47 (UTC)

[Well, that was a question Martha hadn't expected, and she blinked for a moment in response to it, her teeth catching her lower lip for a moment as she considered the question.]

Making you uneasy, of course. I'm not sure how I did it, but I know I did so that's enough.

My emotions are not your concern.

[Doctor? Yes. Sentinel? Well, if she had to be. But emotional caretaker? No, absolutely not.

Even so, his tone is more delicate than it is abrupt. He's curious, not angry. What precipitated this behavior? She was young enough for it to have been her family, but just old enough for it to have been a husband.

He realized then that there was a good deal he didn't know about the person he had requested as his Sentinel.]

Your wellbeing is always my concern, Mr. Snape. Emotional wellbeing is a part of that.

Do you always jut your chin like that when you've decided to be stubborn?

[Because that's going to get obnoxious real quick.]

[Well, Martha doesn't know how to respond to that for a second.]

You're certainly going to find out, aren't you?

You could refrain from expressing the desire to exert your odd whims on me. I do not require an emotional caretaker.

[He's not angry - or even annoyed, really. He's just...himself.]

I could, but I'm not going to. You requested me, Mr. Snape, and this is who I am. You should get used to it.

[At least she isn't the sort to try and change herself to win approval. Not only is that somewhat irritating, it's dangerous when it's someone meant to protect him.]

Doubtful.

But on that vein, perhaps we should discuss your plan to keep me alive.

Well, for starters I'm training every day with the lessons that they've provided, and we're staying down here until I feel that I'm prepared enough to defend you before we go outside.

If something happens down here, you stay behind me.

Assuming something were to happen in the next two months...I doubt asking any attacker if you can take their pulse would be effective.

Perhaps not, but you never know, maybe they might need a doctor.

But I'm not nearly as weak as you think I am, Mr. Snape. I've lived through more than you can imagine.

I would lay odds that the unimaginable experience was a disappointing - [Slight squint. Married? Nah.] - boyfriend. In which case, of course, you are absolutely correct. I can't imagine that situation at all.

[Martha's eyes narrowed before she could actually prevent herself from doing it. Sarcasm slipped into her tone quickly, letting him know how he was under her skin.]

Funny.

[A slight cant to his head betrays the fact that he wasn't trying to be unkind, and that he's quite curious now. There was a man involved, he thinks, but that doesn't seem to be the whole of it.]

Enlighten me, then.

I've traveled through time, Mr. Snape, and seen a world worse than would have happened if Voldemort won. I worked for an international secret organization that deals with first contact with aliens. I'm not some shrinking violet.

You really must stop comparing disasters to the Dark Lord as though he exists to create scale. England and much of the continent would have suffered, true, but I sincerely doubt he would have affected the other three-fourths of the world in any substantial way.

Not to derail, of course, but I can envision many scenarios worse than his success.

Well, it was far worse than that. It was global, Mr. Snape, and I not only survived it, but I ended it. I will protect you.

Do you intend to tell me the story that accompanies such a prodigious claim?

If I have to.

I certainly won't attempt to compel you if you'd rather not be forthcoming.

It may require a suspension of disbelief, given our different universes.

You sound as though you are building up the foundations of a gothic ghost story.

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