Fic: Drive Safely
Drive Safely
by me, doctorpancakes
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Two/Jamie, and a nice new friend
Rating: PG
Word Count: 925
Warnings: silly
Author's Note: Written in haste for the who_at_50 flash fiction comment-a-thon, which, in my scrambly I'm-about-to-move-to-another-country-and-I'm-scared panic, I'd completely forgotten about.
“Here we are, Jamie, by all accounts one of the most beautiful planets in the cosmos,” the Doctor announced, leading Jamie out of the TARDIS with a grand flourish into what more or less amounted to an unattractive, sunless wilderness of tree trunks and mulch. The Doctor’s face fell in disappointed surprise. “Oh. Oh crumbs.”
“It’s a wee bit breathtaking, Doctor,” replied Jamie, stifling a giggle.
Jamie was disappointed, but not surprised: after all, things had a tendency of going creatively pear-shaped where the Doctor was concerned. At least he was guaranteed that whatever else befell them, it would never, ever, be boring. He loved that about their life, unexpected wilderness and all.
“That’s odd,” fretted the Doctor, “I’m sure I’d got the coordinates right, and this doesn’t look a thing like Lepidus IV! Oh, I do hope the planet hasn’t been replaced, or ravaged by a great plague the TARDIS databanks neglected to mention.”
“Or that you got the coordinates wrong again,” added Jamie.
“Or that - Jamie!” grumped the Doctor. “Cheeky.”
“Oh, you know I still love you,” Jamie grinned, “no matter where you’ve actually landed us this time.”
Just then, a large bird in a dark waistcoat landed before them with a gentle thump of her nimble feet. Instinctively, Jamie found himself bravely clutching the Doctor’s shoulders while the two of them struggled to hide behind one another.
“What are you doing here?” asked the bird, cocking her head to one side.
“Yes, well, we’ve just arrived, you see,” replied the Doctor, deflecting her suspicion with the most charming smile he could, “and we seem to have got ourselves a bit lost. Haven’t we, Jamie?”
“Oh, aye,” nodded Jamie, just after the Doctor had prodded him with a light, surreptitious elbow.
“I find that hard to believe,” she said, with a ruffle of her dark feathers. “No one comes down here except the engineering staff.”
“Engineering staff?” queried the Doctor.
“We keep the canopies running,” she said, pointing a wingtip at the heavy lattice of branches and thick leaves hanging several hundred feet above them, “and the irregularity I detected in this sector must have been you two. You must not be local.”
“Because we’re not engineers,” offered Jamie.
“You haven’t got beaks, that’s a bit of a dead giveaway,” observed the engineer. “And I’ve never seen such useless-looking wings as yours. How do you fly?”
“Well, we don’t, as such,” explained the Doctor, “I have a ship that flies us wherever we need to go. I’m the Doctor, by the way, and this is Jamie, my... this is my Jamie.”
“Nice to meet you,” added Jamie with an awkward wave, his other hand curled affectionately round the Doctor’s elbow.
“You too,” said the engineer, who gave her name as an untranslatable sing-song sequence of chirps and tweets which, it turned out, was only pronounceable to persons possessed of a second windpipe.
Jamie struggled for a few moments to vocalize the name in response, sending the engineer into a fit of giggles.
“Never mind,” she assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s Pip, for short. I expect you two need a lift?”
“A lift?” puzzled Jamie.
“How else do you expect to get up to the shining cities of Lepidus IV from here without a good solid set of wings?” Pip quirked a bemused eyebrow at them.
“You mean to fly us up to the canopy yourself?” asked the Doctor, clasping his hands in delight. “Splendid!”
“Splendid?” ventured Jamie, glancing up at the rustling leaves with great skepticism. “I don’t know, Doctor.”
“It’s perfectly safe,” Pip assured him, beckoning them to hop onto her back. “I promise you I’m a very good driver.”
“Aye, that’s what he says too,” replied Jamie, rolling his eyes.
“Jamie,” admonished the Doctor, carefully settling in piggyback-style, clutching two fistfuls of Pip’s waistcoat in preparation for takeoff.
“Sorry,” replied Jamie, pressing a small kiss against the Doctor’s shoulder, and drawing his arms round the Doctor’s waist, preparing himself for the fact that not only were they riding a flying beastie into a city that was apparently on some trees, but that the flying beastie was a very nice lady to boot.
A flap of wings, and Pip was off. Jamie opened his eyes, quite reluctantly, just as they broke through the canopy and into the city above. The sudden influx of bright lights and the hustlebustle of birds passing every which way dazzled him. It was a wonder that the tall branches and leaves could support the magnificent structures and people around them; indeed, perhaps the greatest wonder was the engineers who managed to make such a world work in the first place. Jamie could not help but feel a swell of wonder and admiration for their new friend.
“Told you I’d get you here safe and sound, didn’t I?” said Pip, as she soared above the buildings, giving Jamie and the Doctor an aerial tour of the city.
“Oh aye,” nodded Jamie. “I never doubted it.”
“Jamie,” cautioned the Doctor, “you might want to, ehm, mind your kilt, as it were.”
“Eh?” squinted Jamie.
“Only there’s quite a bit of a breeze going past us at the moment,” elaborated the Doctor, “and I shouldn’t like to give anyone beneath us a bit of a surprise.”
“Doctor, I - oh. Oh.”
Jamie blushed.
by me, doctorpancakes
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Two/Jamie, and a nice new friend
Rating: PG
Word Count: 925
Warnings: silly
Author's Note: Written in haste for the who_at_50 flash fiction comment-a-thon, which, in my scrambly I'm-about-to-move-to-another-country-and-I'm-scared panic, I'd completely forgotten about.
“Here we are, Jamie, by all accounts one of the most beautiful planets in the cosmos,” the Doctor announced, leading Jamie out of the TARDIS with a grand flourish into what more or less amounted to an unattractive, sunless wilderness of tree trunks and mulch. The Doctor’s face fell in disappointed surprise. “Oh. Oh crumbs.”
“It’s a wee bit breathtaking, Doctor,” replied Jamie, stifling a giggle.
Jamie was disappointed, but not surprised: after all, things had a tendency of going creatively pear-shaped where the Doctor was concerned. At least he was guaranteed that whatever else befell them, it would never, ever, be boring. He loved that about their life, unexpected wilderness and all.
“That’s odd,” fretted the Doctor, “I’m sure I’d got the coordinates right, and this doesn’t look a thing like Lepidus IV! Oh, I do hope the planet hasn’t been replaced, or ravaged by a great plague the TARDIS databanks neglected to mention.”
“Or that you got the coordinates wrong again,” added Jamie.
“Or that - Jamie!” grumped the Doctor. “Cheeky.”
“Oh, you know I still love you,” Jamie grinned, “no matter where you’ve actually landed us this time.”
Just then, a large bird in a dark waistcoat landed before them with a gentle thump of her nimble feet. Instinctively, Jamie found himself bravely clutching the Doctor’s shoulders while the two of them struggled to hide behind one another.
“What are you doing here?” asked the bird, cocking her head to one side.
“Yes, well, we’ve just arrived, you see,” replied the Doctor, deflecting her suspicion with the most charming smile he could, “and we seem to have got ourselves a bit lost. Haven’t we, Jamie?”
“Oh, aye,” nodded Jamie, just after the Doctor had prodded him with a light, surreptitious elbow.
“I find that hard to believe,” she said, with a ruffle of her dark feathers. “No one comes down here except the engineering staff.”
“Engineering staff?” queried the Doctor.
“We keep the canopies running,” she said, pointing a wingtip at the heavy lattice of branches and thick leaves hanging several hundred feet above them, “and the irregularity I detected in this sector must have been you two. You must not be local.”
“Because we’re not engineers,” offered Jamie.
“You haven’t got beaks, that’s a bit of a dead giveaway,” observed the engineer. “And I’ve never seen such useless-looking wings as yours. How do you fly?”
“Well, we don’t, as such,” explained the Doctor, “I have a ship that flies us wherever we need to go. I’m the Doctor, by the way, and this is Jamie, my... this is my Jamie.”
“Nice to meet you,” added Jamie with an awkward wave, his other hand curled affectionately round the Doctor’s elbow.
“You too,” said the engineer, who gave her name as an untranslatable sing-song sequence of chirps and tweets which, it turned out, was only pronounceable to persons possessed of a second windpipe.
Jamie struggled for a few moments to vocalize the name in response, sending the engineer into a fit of giggles.
“Never mind,” she assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s Pip, for short. I expect you two need a lift?”
“A lift?” puzzled Jamie.
“How else do you expect to get up to the shining cities of Lepidus IV from here without a good solid set of wings?” Pip quirked a bemused eyebrow at them.
“You mean to fly us up to the canopy yourself?” asked the Doctor, clasping his hands in delight. “Splendid!”
“Splendid?” ventured Jamie, glancing up at the rustling leaves with great skepticism. “I don’t know, Doctor.”
“It’s perfectly safe,” Pip assured him, beckoning them to hop onto her back. “I promise you I’m a very good driver.”
“Aye, that’s what he says too,” replied Jamie, rolling his eyes.
“Jamie,” admonished the Doctor, carefully settling in piggyback-style, clutching two fistfuls of Pip’s waistcoat in preparation for takeoff.
“Sorry,” replied Jamie, pressing a small kiss against the Doctor’s shoulder, and drawing his arms round the Doctor’s waist, preparing himself for the fact that not only were they riding a flying beastie into a city that was apparently on some trees, but that the flying beastie was a very nice lady to boot.
A flap of wings, and Pip was off. Jamie opened his eyes, quite reluctantly, just as they broke through the canopy and into the city above. The sudden influx of bright lights and the hustlebustle of birds passing every which way dazzled him. It was a wonder that the tall branches and leaves could support the magnificent structures and people around them; indeed, perhaps the greatest wonder was the engineers who managed to make such a world work in the first place. Jamie could not help but feel a swell of wonder and admiration for their new friend.
“Told you I’d get you here safe and sound, didn’t I?” said Pip, as she soared above the buildings, giving Jamie and the Doctor an aerial tour of the city.
“Oh aye,” nodded Jamie. “I never doubted it.”
“Jamie,” cautioned the Doctor, “you might want to, ehm, mind your kilt, as it were.”
“Eh?” squinted Jamie.
“Only there’s quite a bit of a breeze going past us at the moment,” elaborated the Doctor, “and I shouldn’t like to give anyone beneath us a bit of a surprise.”
“Doctor, I - oh. Oh.”
Jamie blushed.