4. What's in a Name?
Rating: G
Genre: Humour, Backstory, Fluff
Pairings or Characters: First Doctor, Doctor's Mother/ Doctor's Father
Warnings: None, well- ignores "loom" concept for Time Lord creation.
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other characters mentioned do not belong to me. No profit made from this work, no infringement intended.
Summary: The Doctor's parents decide it would be good for their little boy to see another planet to quell his need to explore. Now they just need to figure out what to call him once there.
starjargon at 4. What's in a Name?
They were arguing about their son again- not something very dignified for Time Lords of their status. As one of the ruling families of Gallifrey,
others looked up to them for guidance. What did it say about them when their own very young son was one already one of the most notorious troublemakers at the Academy Prep?
Her husband was livid, disappointed yet again in their son's antics.
"Honestly, what exactly did he think he was trying to accomplish with those experiments of his?"
"He just said he wanted to make something different. See something new," she responded to her child- weary spouse as they marched hurriedly down the corridor, his fury evident in their brisk pace.
"New, new, new, always with the new! Why is he so fascinated with the different?! What is wrong with keeping the constant?! We have establishments for a reason. Because they work! Let him first learn to accept why things are set the way they are, then he could try to change them should he so choose."
"I think that is the point, Dear. He does not like things the way they are- they are too dull for him. He is not a normal boy, Husband."
"No, he is absolutely mad! Always breaking rules, never sitting still for more than a few minutes at a time- always trying to run off!" She held him back before he could reach the corridor to their son's room, unwilling to let her baby hear his father's frustration with him.
A brilliant idea snuck into her mind- the mind of a Time Lady who had settled once, unwilling to force her child to do the same thing.
"Then let us give him somewhere to run," she gently tried to coerce her spouse.
"What?" he asked, confusion written all over his face.
"He has long been unhappy here- you know this, my Dear. Allow me take him away from Gallifrey for a while. Let him see an alien planet, meet strange new people. If he insists on breaking every rule on Gallifrey, let him be far from Gallifrey. Then, when he has seen what other wonders there are in the universe, perhaps that will quench his wanderlust long enough for him to at least get through the Time Lord Academy."
The idea held a great deal of merit for the worn out father. Not only would his son cease being a constant source of embarrassment to him in front of his colleagues if he was away, he would gain a real appreciation of the superiority of the Time Lords once he was introduced to inferior civilizations. Surely, after seeing the primitive societies of other planets, his youngest heir, so curious like his mother, would finally be content to finish his education, then rise to take his place amongst his distinguished race. Perhaps someday he might even rise high enough to become Lord President. Even he held great pride for his son's blatantly brilliant mind.
"Yes, Wife. I believe that is an excellent idea. It will give you the chance for exploration I know you have always longed for, and perhaps smother our son's ridiculous craving for adventure. I shall help you with the preparations and shall await the return of you both with great anticipation," he proclaimed with a small nod, his long red robes billowing behind him as he turned to inform his son of his decision.
"Where are we?" asked the little boy holding her hand.
"A long way and time from home, my son," she announced, excitement coursing through her veins as she took in her first real foreign planet.
"What's it called?"
"Our people know it as Sol iii. Other planets know it as Terra. The native life forms call it Earth."
"Are we going to meet any?"
"Any what, child?" she asked looking at her era- appropriate reading materials, trying to reign in her glee and urge to explore every alien artefact and creature.
"Any native life forms."
She looked down at his face at this statement, confusion and wonder in his eyes as he took in all the hustle and bustle around them.
"Son," she breathed out with a thrilled smile, "they are all around us. All the people- they are aliens!"
He looked up at her questioningly, then turned to inspect their fellow travellers more carefully.
"They look Time Lord," he said, with a bit of doubt in his voice and his young face.
"I know- but that is only external. From what I know, these people are millennia away from our race. They only have one heart, and they cannot even regenerate!" She did not mean for such an unfortunate underdevelopment to sound so cheery, but she had allowed herself to get caught up in the exhilaration of the new. Then, she realized as she allowed her smile to gleam widely, that was the point of this trip- she was no longer bound by the rules or expectations of her people any more than he was.
"What're we doing here?" he asked inquisitively, turning to take in as much of these fresh surroundings as possible.
"Exploring! Is that not brilliant? We are going to live as humans do! I will get a human job, we will go by human names, you will meet human friends- it will be great fun!" She was surprised to hear the amount of enthusiasm in her voice, and found she had even allowed her body to give a little hop at the end.
"Human names?" asked her very intrigued son, who she knew had always felt so imprisoned and suppressed by the expectations inherent in his own.
"Yes!" she actually squealed, relieved to have studied somewhat in depth this aspect of human living. "I have decided mine will be Sue. What do you want yours to be?"
"Ummm," said the little boy, caught up in her excitement before he blurted out giddily, "Xlouricalonzalirin!"
"No, son," she shook her head fondly, smiling at his look of utter enthusiasm, "humans do not have names like that. Especially in this time period. We are trying to fit in with the humans, not stand out."
"Oh," he proclaimed, not saddened, but pensive. "So, what is a human name?" he asked his mother, who was obviously a great authority on the subject.
"Well," she searched her brain, quickly and mentally distinguishing the male and female names she had read about before offering one to her child. "What about Christopher?"
He let his tongue roll over the strange sounds, widening his mouth as he repeated the moniker, before frowning and declaring, "No."
"What about Thomas?"
He repeated his process, posing as he said the name, trying it on as though it were a new robe.
Then he shook his head.
"Colin?"
"Nope."
"William?"
"Definitely no."
"Peter?"
"Uh-uh."
"David?"
Scowl.
"Patrick?"
Harrumph.
"Smith- no, wait, sorry," she corrected herself, even as he straightened up and looked at her.
"Wait- I liked Smith. It sounds good. Distinctive." He posed importantly, looking entirely like her husband in that moment. "Why can I not be Smith?"
"No, no- my mistake, love. Smith is currently only used as a surname," she corrected, smiling at his interest in the matter.
"Oh. But doesn't that mean I can still be Smith though?"
"Alright," she grinned in surrender as she shook her head at her Time Tot, "but we still have to find you a first name."
"Okay."
"Matthew?"
"No!"
"Sylvester?"
They were walking through the strange streets by now, both bending and twisting and stopping every few steps to examine as many new things as their eyes could take in, asking local passerby questions as discreetly as possible. They continued this name game for quite a while until suddenly, the young boy ran to watch as an officer in a uniform stopped to help one of the many children who had filled the road not so long ago. He was cleaning a small wound on a young girl's knee, his smile kind and his hands gentle, the girl's tears forgotten as he made her laugh. Of course, her ever- inquisitive son went to investigate everything the man was doing, watching with interest as he patched up the little girl.
Suddenly, her over enthusiastic boy, who had been having a conversation with that older- looking human gentleman, ran to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to where he had been.
"Look Mum! That's it!" He pointed to the small words on a sticker he'd been examining where the man had come from.
"Ambulance?" she asked in confusion.
"No, no- that's just a sticker! The man said that these words mean there's someone close by who can help people get better. That's what I want, Mum, to help people get better- just like that man did! Just look at the name- it's perfect!" He pointed his pudgy little finger once more, and a smile lit her face.
He was right. It was perfect.
And so it was, after finding a small, seemingly insignificant sticker on a ubiquitous Police Box in the heart of Britain, her child was inspired to help make even "ordinary" people better.
Yes, she reflected, as they settled in for their visit on Earth. John Smith was a fitting name indeed.
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A/N- A "St. John's Ambulance" sticker would have signified/ still does signify First Aid knowledge and was in fact found on Police Boxes in the 40s and 50s. Fun Fact for those not caught up on their New Who- such a sticker was finally reintroduced to the front door of the TARDIS in Matt Smith's era, after being removed after William Hartnell's era.
The reason for the trip to Earth? Inspired by the quote in the Movie by the 8th Doctor that his mother was human. We're going to assume he meant that she lived as one instead of being a biological one.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
Genre: Humour, Backstory, Fluff
Pairings or Characters: First Doctor, Doctor's Mother/ Doctor's Father
Warnings: None, well- ignores "loom" concept for Time Lord creation.
Disclaimer: The Doctor and all other characters mentioned do not belong to me. No profit made from this work, no infringement intended.
Summary: The Doctor's parents decide it would be good for their little boy to see another planet to quell his need to explore. Now they just need to figure out what to call him once there.
starjargon at 4. What's in a Name?
They were arguing about their son again- not something very dignified for Time Lords of their status. As one of the ruling families of Gallifrey,
others looked up to them for guidance. What did it say about them when their own very young son was one already one of the most notorious troublemakers at the Academy Prep?
Her husband was livid, disappointed yet again in their son's antics.
"Honestly, what exactly did he think he was trying to accomplish with those experiments of his?"
"He just said he wanted to make something different. See something new," she responded to her child- weary spouse as they marched hurriedly down the corridor, his fury evident in their brisk pace.
"New, new, new, always with the new! Why is he so fascinated with the different?! What is wrong with keeping the constant?! We have establishments for a reason. Because they work! Let him first learn to accept why things are set the way they are, then he could try to change them should he so choose."
"I think that is the point, Dear. He does not like things the way they are- they are too dull for him. He is not a normal boy, Husband."
"No, he is absolutely mad! Always breaking rules, never sitting still for more than a few minutes at a time- always trying to run off!" She held him back before he could reach the corridor to their son's room, unwilling to let her baby hear his father's frustration with him.
A brilliant idea snuck into her mind- the mind of a Time Lady who had settled once, unwilling to force her child to do the same thing.
"Then let us give him somewhere to run," she gently tried to coerce her spouse.
"What?" he asked, confusion written all over his face.
"He has long been unhappy here- you know this, my Dear. Allow me take him away from Gallifrey for a while. Let him see an alien planet, meet strange new people. If he insists on breaking every rule on Gallifrey, let him be far from Gallifrey. Then, when he has seen what other wonders there are in the universe, perhaps that will quench his wanderlust long enough for him to at least get through the Time Lord Academy."
The idea held a great deal of merit for the worn out father. Not only would his son cease being a constant source of embarrassment to him in front of his colleagues if he was away, he would gain a real appreciation of the superiority of the Time Lords once he was introduced to inferior civilizations. Surely, after seeing the primitive societies of other planets, his youngest heir, so curious like his mother, would finally be content to finish his education, then rise to take his place amongst his distinguished race. Perhaps someday he might even rise high enough to become Lord President. Even he held great pride for his son's blatantly brilliant mind.
"Yes, Wife. I believe that is an excellent idea. It will give you the chance for exploration I know you have always longed for, and perhaps smother our son's ridiculous craving for adventure. I shall help you with the preparations and shall await the return of you both with great anticipation," he proclaimed with a small nod, his long red robes billowing behind him as he turned to inform his son of his decision.
"Where are we?" asked the little boy holding her hand.
"A long way and time from home, my son," she announced, excitement coursing through her veins as she took in her first real foreign planet.
"What's it called?"
"Our people know it as Sol iii. Other planets know it as Terra. The native life forms call it Earth."
"Are we going to meet any?"
"Any what, child?" she asked looking at her era- appropriate reading materials, trying to reign in her glee and urge to explore every alien artefact and creature.
"Any native life forms."
She looked down at his face at this statement, confusion and wonder in his eyes as he took in all the hustle and bustle around them.
"Son," she breathed out with a thrilled smile, "they are all around us. All the people- they are aliens!"
He looked up at her questioningly, then turned to inspect their fellow travellers more carefully.
"They look Time Lord," he said, with a bit of doubt in his voice and his young face.
"I know- but that is only external. From what I know, these people are millennia away from our race. They only have one heart, and they cannot even regenerate!" She did not mean for such an unfortunate underdevelopment to sound so cheery, but she had allowed herself to get caught up in the exhilaration of the new. Then, she realized as she allowed her smile to gleam widely, that was the point of this trip- she was no longer bound by the rules or expectations of her people any more than he was.
"What're we doing here?" he asked inquisitively, turning to take in as much of these fresh surroundings as possible.
"Exploring! Is that not brilliant? We are going to live as humans do! I will get a human job, we will go by human names, you will meet human friends- it will be great fun!" She was surprised to hear the amount of enthusiasm in her voice, and found she had even allowed her body to give a little hop at the end.
"Human names?" asked her very intrigued son, who she knew had always felt so imprisoned and suppressed by the expectations inherent in his own.
"Yes!" she actually squealed, relieved to have studied somewhat in depth this aspect of human living. "I have decided mine will be Sue. What do you want yours to be?"
"Ummm," said the little boy, caught up in her excitement before he blurted out giddily, "Xlouricalonzalirin!"
"No, son," she shook her head fondly, smiling at his look of utter enthusiasm, "humans do not have names like that. Especially in this time period. We are trying to fit in with the humans, not stand out."
"Oh," he proclaimed, not saddened, but pensive. "So, what is a human name?" he asked his mother, who was obviously a great authority on the subject.
"Well," she searched her brain, quickly and mentally distinguishing the male and female names she had read about before offering one to her child. "What about Christopher?"
He let his tongue roll over the strange sounds, widening his mouth as he repeated the moniker, before frowning and declaring, "No."
"What about Thomas?"
He repeated his process, posing as he said the name, trying it on as though it were a new robe.
Then he shook his head.
"Colin?"
"Nope."
"William?"
"Definitely no."
"Peter?"
"Uh-uh."
"David?"
Scowl.
"Patrick?"
Harrumph.
"Smith- no, wait, sorry," she corrected herself, even as he straightened up and looked at her.
"Wait- I liked Smith. It sounds good. Distinctive." He posed importantly, looking entirely like her husband in that moment. "Why can I not be Smith?"
"No, no- my mistake, love. Smith is currently only used as a surname," she corrected, smiling at his interest in the matter.
"Oh. But doesn't that mean I can still be Smith though?"
"Alright," she grinned in surrender as she shook her head at her Time Tot, "but we still have to find you a first name."
"Okay."
"Matthew?"
"No!"
"Sylvester?"
They were walking through the strange streets by now, both bending and twisting and stopping every few steps to examine as many new things as their eyes could take in, asking local passerby questions as discreetly as possible. They continued this name game for quite a while until suddenly, the young boy ran to watch as an officer in a uniform stopped to help one of the many children who had filled the road not so long ago. He was cleaning a small wound on a young girl's knee, his smile kind and his hands gentle, the girl's tears forgotten as he made her laugh. Of course, her ever- inquisitive son went to investigate everything the man was doing, watching with interest as he patched up the little girl.
Suddenly, her over enthusiastic boy, who had been having a conversation with that older- looking human gentleman, ran to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her over to where he had been.
"Look Mum! That's it!" He pointed to the small words on a sticker he'd been examining where the man had come from.
"Ambulance?" she asked in confusion.
"No, no- that's just a sticker! The man said that these words mean there's someone close by who can help people get better. That's what I want, Mum, to help people get better- just like that man did! Just look at the name- it's perfect!" He pointed his pudgy little finger once more, and a smile lit her face.
He was right. It was perfect.
And so it was, after finding a small, seemingly insignificant sticker on a ubiquitous Police Box in the heart of Britain, her child was inspired to help make even "ordinary" people better.
Yes, she reflected, as they settled in for their visit on Earth. John Smith was a fitting name indeed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N- A "St. John's Ambulance" sticker would have signified/ still does signify First Aid knowledge and was in fact found on Police Boxes in the 40s and 50s. Fun Fact for those not caught up on their New Who- such a sticker was finally reintroduced to the front door of the TARDIS in Matt Smith's era, after being removed after William Hartnell's era.
The reason for the trip to Earth? Inspired by the quote in the Movie by the 8th Doctor that his mother was human. We're going to assume he meant that she lived as one instead of being a biological one.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.