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Language:
English
Series:
Part 5 of Asexual Awareness Week 2017 , Part 59 of Neurodivergent Doctor , Part 16 of Aspec Characters , Part 93 of Autistic Characters , Part 2 of Seven and Ace
Collections:
autfic by autistics, Fuck Yeah Autistic Characters
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Published:
2017-11-11
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947
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1/1
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15
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93
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13
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1,088

Ace

Summary:

In which the Doctor and Ace have a chat that ends with self discovery and the acquisition of an accessory for Ace to show her new found pride.

Work Text:

“Professor?”

The Doctor looks up from where they have been playing the spoons against their legs. They love the sound and sensation of playing the spoons, but they know it can often irritate people. Ace isn’t one of those people, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Ace is stood in the doorway, holding a very long scarf. The Doctor recognises it as belonging to their fourth incarnation: it was one of his favourites, the special asexual flag pattered scarf. And, whilst they aren’t one for long scarves these days, the Doctor happens to have fond feelings for that scarf.

“What’s this?” she asks.

The Doctor smiles. “It’s one of my old scarves. Measures over twelve foot long if I remember correctly.”

“No, I meant… why is it patterned like this?” Ace says, a bit puzzled.

The Doctor puts down their spoons and rests their chin on their hand, their fingers in front of their mouth. They often adopt this position as they ‘thinking’ stance. And they have to think hard for a moment to wonder why Ace doesn’t recognise the pattern. But then it occurs to them that not everyone is aware of pride flags for sexualities, and the asexual flag also happens to be one of the ones most forgotten.

So they smile and gesture for Ace to come closer as they say, “Ah, that would be because it’s the pattern of the asexual pride flag.”

Ace looks confused; a rare glance at her eyes shows they are unusually wide.

“Is something wrong?” the Doctor asks.

“No,” Ace says slowly. “I’m just a bit confused. I didn’t know you got flags for sexualities. I mean, I’ve seen the rainbow, but I didn’t know each individual thing had its own flag.”

The Doctor can’t help but smile at her answer; they often smile when baffled. But then they smile properly and rush around the console, hitting buttons and opening the databank on one of the screens.

“Yes, they do,” they say. “There are lots of pride flags. Here, have a look.”

Ace comes over and leans against the console as the Doctor scrolls through the LGBTQ+ section of the TARDIS databank. She watches as they show her flags for all manner of sexual orientations and gender identities, and her face just lights up.

“This is so cool, Professor,” Ace says, watching the beautiful patterns and bright colours flicker past on the screen. She looks up from the screen, and the Doctor realises that she is looking at them instead. “So… you said you’re asexual?”

The Doctor nods. “Yes, I am. As well as gendervague, but that’s another story.”

“And that means not being attracted to anyone?” she says.

They nod again, relieved to have met someone who actually knows what asexuality is for once. “Yes, that’s it exactly.”

Ace smiles. “You know, I thought I might be asexual, but then I’m still attracted to people. In the end, I just got confused.”

“I don’t blame you,” the Doctor says. “Discovering your sexuality can be a confusing process – especially for me, because I’ve had to do this seven times now! But anyway,” they say, tapping their fingers together and smiling awkwardly, hating it when they go off on a tangent. “It may be possible that you are still asexual, Ace. If the attracted you feel is solely romantic, then you might be a romantic asexual person.”

“Huh? Professor, what do you mean?” Ace says.

The Doctor smiles. “You see, this is where it gets a bit more complicated. Some people split their attraction, and describe their sexual and romantic attraction in different ways. So if you are a man and attracted to women but only romantically, that would make you a heteroromantic asexual, as oppose to heterosexual. Does that make sense? For further reference, I am aromantic and asexual, as I’m not attracted to anyone, and that includes romantic attraction.”

Again, the Doctor realises that they have been infodumping, and their face blushes as they wring their hands together. But they hope they made sense. And, judging by the expression on Ace’s face, they must have done.

“So…” Ace says slowly, clearly processing what the Doctor said. “If I’m attracted to people regardless of gender but only in a romantic way, that would make me… panromantic asexual?”

The Doctor grins. “Yes, that’s correct. If you feel that fits you, of course.”

Ace grins too. “You know, I think it does.”

They tap her on the nose and start playing the spoons again, this time against the TARDIS console.

“Thanks, Professor,” Ace says.

“No problem, Ace,” they say. “I’m glad I could help. Also, for future reference, did you know what the short word for asexual that people use?”

“No. What is it?”

They grin. “Ace.”

If possible, Ace’s grin gets larger. “Really?”

“Yes, it certainly is,” the Doctor says. They drum the spoons against their legs again, before quickly tapping them against Ace’s shoulder.

Ace laughs. “So I’m Ace the ace?”

“Yes,” the Doctor says, chuckling. “I suppose you are.”

Ace smiles and goes to leave the room. But then she stops.

“Professor, can I keep this?” she asks, holding up the long scarf.

“Of course you can. I have no use for it,” they say, tapping the spoons against their head and then immediately regretting it.

When they next look up, Ace has the massive scarf around her neck and the biggest grin on her face they have ever seen. And the Doctor is just so glad that she is happy. Ace is like daughter to them, and it makes them so happy to see Ace happy.

And Ace certainly deserves to be happy.