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Tweak says, "Hand in the hair, ZOMG!!"

Dr. Owen Harper [Torchwood] (imatwat) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-05-01 19:01:00

Entry tags:

cordelia chase, owen harper

WHO: Owen Harper & Cordelia Chase
WHAT: Owen has changed.
WHEN: May 1st; Afternoon
WHERE: Owen & Cordy's flat
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

Owen had first arrived in the flat in a wave of confusion, one that had swept over him and left him faltering for some purposes to his being there, but even as the situation was explained to him, as the pieces seemed to fall into place that he was some other version of the man that the people here seemed to know and that he was here merely on the whim of some minor deity, he remained confused about the more obvious minor things like the fact that he was sharing a flat with a woman, that they seemed to be sharing one bedroom in that flat, that he was working here at a clinic as a regular doctor even though the majority of the Torchwood team seemed to be here and they had plenty of precedent to restart their work.

But even as he had more questions about all of that, he didn't want to press the issue. The other Owen seemed to be a lot bolder than he was, a lot more open, and even as he wanted to try and imagine the sort of individual that he would be if he was capable of that, he wasn't. He'd gone to his shifts, done the work that was expected of him, laughed awkwardly as the jokes some of the patients made about his bedside manner being just as terrible now as it had been before, though for entirely different reasons, and went back to his flat only to make up the couch to avoid trying to think too hard about the reasons that they shared the bed. Or make things even more awkward between himself and his, the other Owen's, roommate, Cordelia, than he already felt they were.

A few days on from arriving, though, Owen was starting to settle, slowly, in the new routine, and as he arrived back at the flat from his morning shift at the clinic, he figured that now was as good a time as any to try and get some more details about this place, his situation, and, most importantly, the other him. Pizza in hand as he slipped in the door, Owen cleared his throat, taking a deep breath to work up the ability to speak over the nerves building in his gut. And even as his voice break a little on the first word, he was able to get out, "I brought lunch," without getting too flustered.

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thisismyofframp
2012-05-02 12:38 am UTC (link)

Just when Cordelia had finally started to like Colligo, things had started to take a turn for the worst. First, she had gotten stuck in Spike's body. Then, Angel had lost his soul, followed by Fred becoming Illyria. And now, Owen was no longer Owen. Which, okay. Under most circumstances, she might not have minded that so much. However, truth be told, the guy had started to grow on her after all of this time of bunking with him, and he was the one thing that had stayed constant no matter what else the city sought to put her through.

Until now. Now, he was some washed up version of his former self. Far too nice for his own good, seemingly nervous for no reason whatsoever, and scarcely able to form a single sentence around her much less partake in their time-honored tradition of snarking back and forth in an effort to ease the stresses of their lives as well as because it was just plain fun. The point was, he was not the Owen she knew and she wanted her Owen back already, damn it.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. And as much as Cordelia wanted to just tell the version that was now in the city to get lost and not to come back until he could insult her while simultaneously flipping through channels on the television and eating Thai take-out, she couldn't bring herself to do it. He might not be her Owen, but he was still Owen. Which meant she had to suck it up and just deal.

Luckily for her, his shifts at the clinic and apparent decision to sleep on the sofa for however long he was present meant that their schedules didn't overlap very often. In fact, it had been nearly two days since she'd seen him for more than a few passing seconds. However, she knew that her luck wouldn't hold out forever and, finally, that moment came with a vengeance.

Looking up from the magazine she'd been flipping through, Cordelia raised her bottle of water to her lips and took a sip as she stared at him while he announced the pizza he'd brought was for the two of them. One eyebrow arched slightly as she slowly uncurled from the chair she'd been sitting in, marking the page in her magazine as she set it aside and rose to her feet.

"Lunch, huh? Okay. I could go for some lunch," she replied. Unable to help herself, whether it was because of a desire to get rid of the awkwardness that now filled the room or whether it was out of sheer habit, she tacked on a curious, if half-joking, "Just lunch, right? This isn't some lame ploy to get me to let me guard down so you can shave my head while I'm asleep tonight or something, is it?"

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imatwat
2012-05-02 01:20 am UTC (link)

Setting the pizza box down on the counter and moving to grab some plates, Owen very nearly dropped them as he was taking them down out of the cabinet. Sputtering at her question, Owen turned to stare at Cordelia with wide eyes, "What? No! Why? Why in the world would you ask that? Who would do something like that?" Owen asked, turning and setting the plates down on the counter next to the box as he stared at her for a moment longer before realization dawned on his features and he exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "Because I would. The other me would," He said, shaking his head slowly before looking back up at her with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," He said, handing her one of the plates before heading towards the fridge to get something to drink. "It's still hard to remember that people expect something completely different from me than what I'm used to. I mean, he'd shave someone's head in the middle of the night, and well... The worst I would do is probably... Um. Nope. I can't think of anything that would match up with that," He said with a bit of a laugh. "But if I did do anything, I'd be apologizing for it immediately after."

Pulling two beers out of the fridge, Owen offered one to Cordelia before popping open the pizza box to reveal a pizza with the works. Plucking a slice from the box, Owen set it down on his plate before pulling up a seat at the counter. "I wouldn't think I would be that different, you know. Reality to reality."

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thisismyofframp
2012-05-06 12:44 am UTC (link)

Honestly, the more this version of Owen spoke, the more Cordelia felt the urge to start humming the Twilight Zone theme song. It was just too weird, seeing him acting so different. Briefly, she considered backing out of the lunch offer but ultimately decided she owed it to the guy to stick it out. Besides, knowing her luck he'd fling himself off the roof in a fit of emo if she left him to his own devices. So it was probably better this way.

Taking the offered beer, she opened hers and took a long drink before setting the bottle down and glancing over at her roommate. "I doubt every alternate version of you is as extreme as this, though," she pointed out as she snagged a piece of pizza. "I mean, sure. You're about as different from the you that I know as freaking possible, but I'm guessing the change in your life, or his, or whatever, was probably pretty massive. Probably not so much with other versions." She shrugged, reaching for her beer and taking another drink before finally picking up her pizza.

"I got to be an alternate me back home once," she admitted after she'd taken a bite of her slice. "Turns out, if I hadn't run into a friend of mine at a party in L.A., I would have wound up a world famous television and movie star. No visions, no death and destruction, no spending my Saturday nights up to my eyeballs in demon goo while trying to help save the world." She shrugged and gave him a small smile. "In the end, though, I realized that no matter how much life had changed me, I was still me."

Another swig of her beer and she tacked on, "Like you. Sure, you aren't bold and brazen and, okay, you kind of act like you're going to squeal and hide from your own shadow at any given point in time. But you're still smart beyond the telling of it and you still wind up working for Torchwood. Which means that you're still the same Owen we all know. Just... nicer and more human-acting."

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imatwat
2012-05-06 02:08 am UTC (link)

"I can see that," Owen said after a moment, a bit of a smile on his features before taking a sip of his beer. "The movie star bit. It doesn't seem that far of a stretch. I mean, you are... Well," Owen said, blushing a bit before looking away and focusing on his food. It had taken Owen several years to work up the nerve to tell Tosh that he was attracted to her, and it really just wasn't like him to tell women that he found them attractive so the second that he'd realized where he was going with that statement, his mind had pretty much shut him down. The best that he could manage was, "You know what I mean," He said with a bit of a shrug before glancing back up at her.

"I'm not going to hide from my own shadow. I'm not that jumpy," Owen said with a bit of a chuckle. "The others might assume that I am, but I can hold my own when it's really demanded. I just prefer lab work as opposed to going out into the field. I have...problems with people," He said as he glanced up at her, raising a hand to adjust his glasses. "Ones you can probably guess."

It really didn't take a genius to figure out that Owen's people skills were pretty damn stunted when it comes to being anything more than a doormat. Even with the team, he was always the one that was put under pressure from the others to do what he was told or stay out of the way. At least, until they needed a miracle solution to an impossible situation.

"He's not nice?" Owen asked, looking curious at Cordelia. "Really? Mum always used to say that I wouldn't get anywhere in life if I had a bad attitude."

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