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[redfive_exe]

Who: Dairine, Doctor, Clarice(?)
What: Back to school shopping
When: 21st afternoon
Where: Dairine waits outside her house
Rating/Status: low/incomplete

Comments

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

The Doctor walked toward the Tosh/Dairine abode with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. They were keeping his coat pulled back and there was a large smile on his face.

Blimey he'd hated school. Every miserable second of it. So it was only fair that the younger generation go through the same miserable hell.

Seeing her standing outside, he grinned, walking a bit faster toward her.

"Dairine my pampered little princess. Are you ready to go?"

[redfive_exe]

Dairine jumped to her feet at the sight of him, throwing up her hands frustrated-like as she sped to meet him halfway. "It's about time! I thought I was gonna be waiting forever."

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

The Doctor looked at his watch then rolled his eyes. "I'm two minutes early. Blimey, what's gotten into you? No, never mind, I tend to forget you're a brat by nature."

[redfive_exe]

Dairine brattishly stuck her tongue out at him, settling her hands defensively on her hips. "Well whatever. I'm here, aren't I? Should I wait while you yell at me for running off?"

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

"Why? You're back aren't you? All in one piece, no harm done?" he asked, shrugging. He couldn't yell at her when his best subject was running. He was very good at running.

"Just...tell someone next time, yeah? You had Tosh worried sick."

The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around. "We're going to pick up Clarice on the way. She's starting school as well and needs a few things. And you, little madam, are going to be nice. Clarice is different. Special." He pointed at Dairine. "Be nice," he repeated. "She's painfully shy."

[redfive_exe]

"It's not like I though I'd be gone that long...I didn't account for this universe's expansion correctly since it's not regulated by worldgates." She stuck her hands in her pockets, scuffing at the ground with the once-white rubber toes of her sneakers.

"Different? I can do different. I can do nice too, contrary to what some people might think." Dairine followed him to...the house next door? "Are you...wait. She lives here?" To tell the truth, Dairine wasn't home often enough to see her neighbors.

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

"Not real observant are you?" the Doctor teased, walking up to the door and knocking. The possibility that Lulu might have cupcakes lying around made his mouth water.

He adored her cupcakes.

The Doctor leaned over and whispered, "Be nice and no staring."

[never_blink]

After the Doctor's journal message, Clarice had quickly put together a list of the things she needed for school. It was fortunate he'd reminded her, she thought with some chagrin; with everything else that had been on her mind, she hadn't even thought about school supplies. Mostly she could use her same things from last year of course, but she needed some fresh notebooks and folders, and her new math class required her to have a different sort of calculator.

Preparations helped her put off being nervous about meeting another new person, this one evidently to be another classmate. Would she be anything like Jane? Clarice liked Jane very much, but she could be overwhelming at times; the mutant girl wasn't sure the school could handle two of her.

When the knock came, Clarice hurried to answer it. The scent of baking wafted over her shoulder the moment she opened the door, indicating that yes, in fact, Lulu had cupcakes lying around. (When didn't she? It was Lulu.) She smiled shyly at the Doctor and the stranger.

"Hello. Would you -

[redfive_exe]

"I don't really spend much time at home." Dairine grimaced at her fingers, picking at the dirt under her nails as the Doctor knocked. "What do you mean don't st--"

Purple girl. Dairine blinked.

Honestly it wouldn't have baffled her in a normal situation. She was used to aliens and too-tall, too-short, too-bendy people. What surprised her was the presence of someone like that in Aternaville. Dairine wondered if she was an alien.

Realizing that she was staring and that, in any culture, that would be rude, Dairine cleared her throat and shook her head, grinning as she raised a hand. "Yo!"

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

"Clarice!" the Doctor cried, wrapping her in a big hug before stepping back. "Darine, this is Clarice. Clarice, this is Dairine. Ooh, do I smell cake?" he asked, looking hopefully at Clarice. "I wouldn't say no to a piece. How are you by the way?"

He was grateful the Rose wasn't there to elbow him in the side, but his philosophy was that it never hurt to ask, especially where cake was concerned.

[never_blink]

The staring was relatively mild, certainly not the worst reaction Clarice had ever gotten. She closed her eyes as she hugged the Doctor back, letting the girl's curious gaze roll off. By the time she took a half-step back, Dairine was grinning at her. Clarice managed a small smile back. "Hello. It's, it's very nice to meet you.

"There are cupcakes." She clasped her hands behind her back as she let them pass, nodding toward the door to the kitchen. The Doctor knew the way, she knew. "And cookies, too. Lulu made them, I'm sure she'd be happy for you to have some. But it's not cake - I hope that's okay?"

[redfive_exe]

Dairine moved a little bit past Clarice, mouthing at the Doctor while Clarice's back was turned -- You could have told me she was PURPLE! It wasn't the purple that bothered her. It was the fact that the Doctor had left her so dumbfounded, gaping like a fish.

But when Clarice turned around, Dairine was grinning broadly, like nothing had happened.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Dairine. Doc says you're going to the high school too, huh? I'm a Sophomore."

[xx_doctorwho_xx]

"Cupcakes are brilliant," the Doctor assured her, rolling his eyes at Dairine. She was supposed to be some great interplanetary wizard! A purple person should be par for the course.

"I'm just going to grab a cupcake...or two. And a cookie...or two," he said distractedly, heading for the kitchen, following his nose. He wasn't sure if Lulu was home or not, but the next time he saw her, he was going to give her a great smacking kiss. "You two can talk about whatever it is girls your age talk about," he called over his shoulder.

[never_blink]

Whatever it was girls her age talked about? What did Clarice know about girls her age? Her only real friend at school was Jane, and while Jane was wonderful, she didn't think weather-controlling devices and mutated gerbils were what most girls discussed.

"Oh, um, I'm - I'm Clarice. I'll be a junior, this year?" It sounded more like a suggestion than a statement. "I started partway through last year. ...Do you want a cookie, or something, too?"

[redfive_exe]

Dairine shook her head side to side, watching the Doctor prance off toward the alleged cupcake area. "Nah, I'm good. He seems a little bit too fond of sugar, though. You might want to pull him away before he gets himself all worked up." Cue eyeroll. As if he had the gall to lecture her...!

Her thumbs back in her pockets, Dairine rocked back and forth on her heels, quiet for a moment. "So um...where are you from?"

[never_blink]

Pull him away? Pull the Doctor away?

"I think - he's always that worked up," Clarice offered with a weak smile. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief when Dairine came up with another question; Clarice was no good at driving a conversation. "Oh, I'm from Miami... that's in Florida?" Was that enough to say? Some people here didn't seem to know where the United States was, but she didn't want Dairine to think Clarice thought she wasn't smart or something. "Um, 1994. What about you?"