[004]

[oliverplus]

[Oliver is sitting in the middle of the Plane's theatre, his feet propped up on the seat in front of him, munching popcorn and clearly enjoying himself immensely. he's laughing, he's cheering, and at this particular moment he's just gasped at the turning point of the film]

What? No way! This is sci-fi. Anything's possible! You have to...hah! Now you've got it! Yeah, give that a go!

[puts a handful of popcorn in his mouth, then makes some sort of angry noise around the food. swallows and draws back a hand, clearly planning to chuck some popcorn at the screen]

Not you again! You'd think after all these years they would've learned to make the villains more-

[and then, for no clear reason, he stops. for anyone watching, it appears that for a moment he is frozen mid-motion. someone with a discerning eye would notice his expression slackening. finally, very slowly and calmly, he lowers his hand, dropping the popcorn back in the bucket. and he stares at the screen before him--a screen currently rocked by an explosion--with an utterly blank expression. when he speaks next, there is no hint of emotion in his voice--no concern, worry, or shock. he's just making an observation]

...the colour's gone.

[ooc: Oliver is now experiencing his second experiment. Everything has gone black and white--his sight, his thought processes, and even his emotions.]

Comments

[bonnypiperlad]

[Jamie's decided to go see if there's something decent playing at the theatre - although after the last time he has his doubts. Care Bear Movie, indeed. He's rather pleased to see something with a little more action to it playing, and doesn't actually even notice Oliver until he speaks.]

Hey?

[Puzzled, he turns back to the screen. Nope, big explosion, very colourful. Looks fine to him.]

Och, no, it's still there. What are ye talking about?

[collector]

[Brax's suit is actually grey today, because he is a man of many greys: moral, psychological, and, apparently, fashionable. He looks at Oliver with some concern.] Are you certain about that?

[oliverplus]

[turns to Jamie, his expression still flat] No, there's no colour. It's all black and white.

[narrows his eyes, studying Jamie] So are you. Everything's black and white.

[oliverplus]

[in that case, Oliver will at least see his suit in the right colour!]

Yeah, I'm sure. There was colour, but it's just black and white now. [turns to Brax] You too. [looks around the room, his expression considering, taking it in, but not curious] It's all black and white. Everything.

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[The Doctor happens to've stuck her head in a few minutes before to see what's playing, and stayed to be a creeper be amused by her future!alternate!companion's reactions.

So she's right there for his reaction which is all kinds of worrying, and will be hurrying in his direction.] Oliver?

[oliverplus]

[turns at the voice] Doctor.

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[She slows down, but that doesn't make her any less concerned or cautious.]

The colour's gone from what?

[oliverplus]

[doesn't answer right away, taking a moment to look around the theatre so he can reply with certainty] Everything. It's all black and white now.

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[..Ouch. That's really not good.]

Aside from that, how do you feel?

[oliverplus]

Fine. [he has probably never been so concise in his life, but not even that is registering with him right now]

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[She drops into the seat next to him and digs a light out of one of her pockets to check his pupil dilation. Not that she expects this to show her anything useful, but it could.]

It just happened all at once?

[oliverplus]

[watches her dispassionately]

Yeah. There was colour, and then it was gone.

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[Hrm.] And this doesn't... worry you?

[oliverplus]

No. [looks at her] Are you worried?

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[Her expression is one of the most open and honest he's likely to see, and accompanied by a tinge of pain.] At the moment, I'm very worried.

[oliverplus]

[it's like she's flicked a switch. he trusts the Doctor more than anything, and if she's worried, then it goes to follow that it's worth worrying about. and so, just like that, he is]

Then I should be worried. [and in fact, he looks worried now--frightened even] Doctor, what's gone wrong?

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[At the very least, he's... feeling. That's good, but she didn't want to incite him into panic, she just wanted a sign that he's feeling something.]

I'm not sure. But I'll find out. [She squeezes his shoulder, reassuringly. She can fix this! Maybe.]

[oliverplus]

I trust you. [but the fear doesn't fade. he knows she's still worried. therefore, so is he] I have to help you. What do I do?

[not-theman-iwas.livejournal.com]

[Oh, Oliver. She's gotten into her "I'm the Doctor, I'm going to make everything better" tone.] Just talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling. Nothing else has changed, has it? All your other senses are intact?

[oliverplus]

[looks her in the eyes] I'm afraid. It scares me when I don't understand what's happening.

Nothing else has changed. I can hear you. I could feel your hand. I smell popcorn. [reaches into the bucket, putting a few pieces in his mouth and chewing them quickly] I can taste. [though neither the smell nor the taste of the popcorn is striking him as particularly interesting or good, but he's not aware enough of his own situation to articulate that]

[collector]

That's interesting. [leaning down to look at Oliver closely] May I see your eyes?

[oliverplus]

[surprised by the question. of course you can see his eyes, Brax; what are you asking?] Yeah. [turns to him]

[collector]

[peering at him closely] Achromatopsia is fairly rare, usually damage to the thalamus or cerebral cortex when it isn't genetic. So your eyes themselves are likely fine. [not that brain damage is better than eye damage] It is rather... unusual for the symptoms to appear suddenly while one is watching a film, however.

[oliverplus]

[watch Oliver use straight logical thinking in a crisis! this is a change. he doesn't seem concerned at all] If that's not how it's supposed to happen, then that's not what it is.

[collector]

Oh, I don't know, could be an unexpected and very particular growth of a tumour or something. [He says it so casually...] But you're likely right. You haven't gotten into any tangles with strange aliens or that sort of thing of late, have you?