The Girl Scout Guide to Savingthe Universe (1/3) com
“I think Athenashould…join something.”
Rose was tryingto sleep. Sometimes the Doctor had an annoying habit of laying next to herwhile she was trying to sleep and talking to her. He didn’t seem to think sleepingand talking were mutually exclusive. “Can we talk about this later?” shemumbled into her pillow.
“I mean, theremust be groups, right? Groups for little girls?”
“Uh-huh,” shesaid, sleepily. “I’m sure there are.” Then she processed what he was saying androlled over to face him. “What sort of groups?”
“I dunno.” Hepaused. “Groups that aren’t about…cooking and cleaning and playing house.”
She sighed.“Doctor…”
“The universe isa tough place, Rose. And she’s one of the last of the Time Lords.
“Athena’s theonly one on this ship who has survival skills,” said Rose, dryly. “If we leftyou and Brem on your own, you’d set fire to the kitchen trying to make thetoaster into a laser-toaster and accidentally jettison the rest of the rooms onthe ship trying to create a new kitchen.” [If only this was hyperbole!]
“I mean,Fortuna’s young still,” continued the Doctor, as if she’d said nothing at all.“It’s fine, I don’t worry about her. But eight years old…At eight years old, wewere being made to look into the Time Vortex.”
Rose yawned.“Fine. So have her look into the Time Vortex.”
“I don’t want herdoing that. Scarred you for life, that did.”
“Ah. Then itmakes perfect sense that you were forced to do it at eight years old.”
“I just think shecould…get out of the TARDIS.”
“Doctor, we takeher outside of the TARDIS. She’s seen things most people are never going to seein their lifetimes. She isn’t really as girly a girl as you seem to think. Sheholds her own against Brem, which God knows the two of us have difficultyaccomplishing. Just because she likes pink and prefers to wear frilly dressesdoesn’t mean she can’t take care of herself.”
“Someorganization would she could learn…ingenuity. Think-on-her-feet-ness.”
“She could jointhe Girl Guides,” said Rose.
“Yes! Girl guides!That sounds brilliant. What are they guides of?”
“I’m not entirelysure. I never was one. Mum said they weren’t gonna teach me anything useful.”
“Then I bet theyteach the most useful stuff in the world!” enthused the Doctor.
“Great. I’d liketo sleep now.”
“Go on,” he said,“I’m not stopping you.”
She sighed.
“In America,they’re called Girl Scouts,” said Brem, reading from one of the books in frontof him. The Doctor and he were sitting at one of the tables in the library,tomes about Girl Guides scattered between them. [I love this about the TARDIS library, and I would like tolive there just for that room alone. When they need books on any subject thereare Multiple Tomes readily available!] Brem loved a goodresearch project. He had jumped into this Girl Guide one with all of theenthusiasm that Athena had decidedly not displayed when the Doctor had told herthe plan.
“Girl scouts,”repeated the Doctor. “Ooh, I like that. What are they scouting?”
“It doesn’t say,”said Brem. “Maybe they’re scouting adventure?”
“Well, thatsounds ideal. Don’t you think that sounds ideal? That’s practically what weare. Scouts of adventure.”
“We’re TimeLords,” Brem told him. “We’re not adventure scouts.”
“Why must you beso literal?” asked the Doctor. “I know what we are. I’m speaking metaphorically.In grand, metaphorical terms. Sometimes, Bremsstrahlung, you miss the metaphorsin life.”
“Not with you topoint them out to me,” said Brem. “Says here they sell cookies every year. Ithink they mean biscuits.”
“Cookies?”repeated the Doctor. “Who sells cookies?”
“The Girl Scouts.Not the Girl Guides.”
“Welllllll, thisGirl Scout business sounds better and better, don’t you think?”
“Can’t argue withbiscuits,” agreed Brem.
“That settles it,then,” decided the Doctor.
“You’ll never gether to go,” said Brem.
“You’re such asceptic,” said the Doctor.
“That’s me: aliteral, sceptical Lord of Time. You can be the metaphorical, blindlyoptimistic Scout of Adventure.”
“Frankly, I thinkmy title’s better,” sniffed the Doctor. [This kind of argument, when you think about it,was probably how the Doctor’s originaldisagreement with the Time Lords of Gallifrey began…]
“You’ll never gether to go,” said Brem again.
“I’m just notgoing,” said Athena.
“Why not?” asked the Doctor, reasonably. “They scoutadventure, and they sell biscuits. What’s not to love?”
“They camp,”said Athena. “Do I look like a person who is going to enjoy camping?”
“Camping in atent?” asked Fortuna.
“Yes,”Athena answered.
Fortuna wrinkledher nose. “Well, that sounds awful, Theenie.” She turned to her father. “Whyare you making Theenie live in a tent? Why can’t she live in TARDIS with us?”
“She is going tolive in the TARDIS with us. She’s just going to go camping every once in awhile. Not all the time.”
“Why am I theonly one who has to go camping?” demanded Athena. “You didn’t make Brem gocamping.”
“Wellllllllll-”The Doctor looked over at Brem.
Brem did not lookup from where he was sonic screwdrivering his shoelaces to stay permanentlytied. “Do not even think about it.”
“Your brotherdoesn’t go camping because he’s boring,” said the Doctor. “Whereas weare scouts of adventure.”
“We’re TimeLords,” Athena told him.
“What is wrongwith you kids?” demanded the Doctor. “Why do none of you understand metaphors?”
“Athena has avery good point,” Rose pointed out. “It’s unfair to make Athena go campingunless you’re going to go camping yourself.”
“Exactly,” saidAthena.
“So there,” added Fortuna.
The Doctor hadnoticed that the females of the ship tended to band together this way. “I…campall the time!” [And the shipright along with them, for that matter.]
“Really?” askedRose. “When have you camped?”
“Yeah?” saidAthena.
“Yeah?” addedFortuna.
“I…Well…Thisis practically camping, don’t you think?”
“You think thisis camping? Living on a ship that does all your laundry for you?” said Rose.
“Yeah, you thinkthis is camping?” said Athena.
“You think thisis camping?” added Fortuna.
“When I wasyounger, when I was, say, I don’t know, eighty or ninety, I used to gocamping.”
“In a tent?”asked Rose.
“Yeah, a tent?”said Fortuna, mixing it up a bit by being the first to support her mother’schallenge.
“A real tent?”added Athena.
“A tent ofsorts,” he said.
“Did it have ahot shower?” asked Rose.
“Yeah, youprobably took bubble baths,” said Athena.
“With pinkbubbles,” added Fortuna.
“It…It was camping.”[I love that he does notactually deny the pink bubbles! Hee!]
“If you makeAthena go camping,” said Rose, “you’re going camping with her.”
The girls weresuddenly silent. Their faces swung toward their father, aware it was now hisserve. Their mother seldom delivered ultimatums this way, and he could feel theanticipation of his answer.
“Fine,” heannounced, grandly. “I will go camping with Athena.”
Brem finallylooked up from his shoelaces and reached for his journal and began scribblingfuriously. The girls gasped.
“Really?” saidAthena, and she looked delighted. “You’ll go camping with me?”
“Yes.”
“Daddy!” sheexclaimed, and threw her little arms around his neck. “We’ll have so much fun!”[This is adorable, and there isno way that the Doctor’s heart did not completely melt at this point! I alsothink Rose turned to mush here too.]
“Of course wewill,” he replied. “I’ve been trying to tell you that.”
“I’ll come, too,”said Fortuna.
“Um,” said Rose.She was confident Athena could take care of her father and herself on a campingtrip. She was less confident of adding a six-year-old into the mix. “Not justyet. Not this camping trip. Another camping trip.”
“But I want togo,” complained Fortuna. “That’s not fair! Theenie’s going to have all thefun!”
“You’ll gocamping another time,” Rose promised.
“But I want to gothis time.”
“While Dad andTheenie are camping, I’ll play that princess video game with you, Fort,” saidBrem. [Brem is Unquestionablythe World’s Best Brother]
Fortuna looked athim hopefully. “Will you?”
Brem nodded.
Fortuna smiled. “Okay. That’s okay, then. And I’ll gocamping next time?” She looked back at her mother.
Since Rosedoubted there was even going to be a first camping trip, she said, “Sure.”
“So when can I join the Girl Scouts?” asked Athena.
“I think you haveto wear a special uniform, you know,” mused Rose. “Maybe the wardrobe will havesomething for you.”
Athena bounced abit with delight before racing out of the room, followed closely by Fortuna.Rose trailed them at a more leisurely pace. [These kids get that bounciness from their Dad-See this quote from
The Doctorglanced at Brem. “How was that? Huh? Not too shabby, right?”
Brem shook hishead at him. “You didn’t get her to go camping. She got you to gocamping.” Brem resumed writing in his journal. [Brem’s view of the universe sometimes seems much clearerthan the Doctor’s.]
The Doctor openedand closed his mouth, frowned, and then said, “What are you writing, anyway?”
“I think herebegins a new chapter in my memoirs. I’m titling it.”
“Titling itwhat?”
“’The Doctor,Scout of Adventure, Goes Camping.’”
“I could drag you along, you know.”
“I have to stayhere and play video games with Fort.”
“To the nextcamping trip, then.”
“The next GirlScout camping trip?”
“Well, they musthave an organization for boys.”
“They don’t,”answered Brem. “I looked and looked and looked, because I so wanted tojoin one. But nope. Only Girl Scouts.”
The Doctor lookedat him. Brem met his eyes steadily. “Are you lying?” the Doctor asked, finally.
Brem resumedscribbling. [There is nopossible way that the Doctor is going to win this one against Brem. Hee!]
“That’s what GirlScouts wear?” said the Doctor. “That?” He regarded Athena’s little brown dressdubiously.
“I know, it’s drab,isn’t it?” said Athena. “I mean, brown?” [This bit alwaysmakes me wonder if Athena feels that the brown suit is drab too.Maybe that is why she is so big onglitterizing things for the Doctor? ]
The Doctor regardedher silently, in her brown Girl Scout uniform, with her hair back in the pinkribbon she never took off. “I thought it’d be more…”
“What?” askedRose.
“Adventure-y.”
“Brown isadventure-y,” Rose told him. “It’s like camouflage.” She thought there was noreason for the Doctor to know that Athena could have chosen the uniform withtrousers and had insisted on a skirt. Rose had done plenty of world-saving in askirt. She didn’t see why Athena couldn’t do the same.
“I…guess,” agreedthe Doctor.
“You wear brownall the time,” Rose continued.
“You’ll fit rightin!” said Athena.
“Yes. I supposeso. Fine. Off we get.”
Rose croucheddown for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Have a wonderful time, darling,” shesaid.
“Uh-huh,” saidAthena, and turned to Fortuna. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
“And Brem and Iare going to try to get to the Dancing Kitten World in the Pretty PrincessPerils.” [Just imagine allthose fluffy, highly decorated dancing kittens entertaining the glittery,Pretty Princesses! ]
Brem looked upabruptly from his journal. “I thought we were playing that when they were goingcamping. They’re not going camping yet.”
“If you playPretty Princess Perils with me, I’ll let you try to figure out what setting onthe sonic sets my dolls’ hair on fire.”
“That’s a deal,”said Brem.
“We’re notsetting anything on fire,” said Rose.
“What about justa bit of smoke?” asked Brem.
“What aboutmelting the plastic instead?” suggested Rose. [Rose is quite possibly the Universe’s Best Negotiator]
“That couldwork,” considered Brem.
“Fine. Good.”Rose turned back to Athena and the Doctor. “Have fun!” she said, cheerfully,and Athena waved good-bye and took her father’s hand and skipped with him outof the TARDIS.
They’d landedsomewhere in America; the Doctor hadn’t been fussy about it. But now, herealized, he may have made a miscalculation. It was cold out. Their breathfogged in front of them, as he walked and Athena skipped down the sidewalk.
“Will they makeus camp in the cold?” asked Athena.
I hope not
“This is going tobe fun, don’t you think?” said Athena, as she skipped.
“Of course itis.”
“We never get togo anywhere, just you and me.”
The Doctor pausedfor a second, looking down at her. She was concentrating now on hopping on oneleg next to him, holding tightly to his hand to keep her balance. “I suppose wedon’t,” he said. They either took all three kids or none at all when they venturedon-planet. And it was true that they tended to fall along gender lines if theysplit up once they got to the planet. But only because Brem insisted he had tobe there for the buying of TARDIS parts, and the girls had no interest in thatsort of thing.
Athena beamed upat him adoringly, and he was suddenly very happy that he’d agreed to go campingwith her. “This’ll be our thing,” said Athena.
“Yes,” he agreed,solemnly, as he resumed walking.
“Can we have asecret codeword?”
“Codeword for what?”
“I dunno. We cantalk about it like it means something super important. It’ll drive Brem spare,not knowing what it is.”
“I’m in favour ofanything that drives Brem spare,” said the Doctor.
“Platypus,” saidAthena. “That’s our codeword. Platypus. Is the plural of platypus platypi?
“Goodness,” musedthe Doctor. “I’ve never thought about that one before, Theenie.”
“Do you actuallyknow where you’re going?” asked Athena.
“Of course I do.”
“Because we’vewalked in a circle. There’s TARDIS again.”
“Ah,” said theDoctor.
“Maybe it’s justsomething that looks like TARDIS,” said Athena. “Probably you’re on theright path.” [These girlscompletely and utterly adore their dad. Lines like this just melt my heartcompletely]
“You know what Ilike about you, Athena?” said the Doctor.
“What?” askedAthena, happily.
“You aren’twriting memoirs about me.”
“Oh, Brem isn’twriting memoirs about you, either,” said Athena.
“What?” asked theDoctor, startled.
“I mean, he’swriting about you. He’s writing his memoirs. But he really only writes nicestuff. He says he just pretends to keep you in line.” Athena looked upsuddenly. “You won’t tell him I told you, will you? It’s a secret.”
“He only writesnice stuff? How do you know? Have you read it?”
“Bits and pieces. He says he won’t let me read all of itbecause then I’ll have no reason to buy it when it’s finally published.”
The Doctor mulledthis over. “Brem thinks he needs to keep me in line?”
“Well, yeah,”said Athena. Her tone said obviously. [Although the kids apparently believe this is for theDoctor’s own good]
The Doctor,distracted, realized he was nearly back at the TARDIS again and stoppedwalking. “Did your mother say we had to go left on Maple or right on Maple?”
“I dunno,” saidAthena. “But look!” She held something out to him.
He took itautomatically. A compass.
“Will that help?”she asked.
“Er,” said theDoctor. “Absolutely. A great deal. Thank you. Now let’s go quickly pop into theTARDIS because I, er, forgot my compass. And I think we need two.”
“Yeah,” agreedAthena. “Because if we got separated, we’d each need one.”
“Exactly.”
Athena skippednext to him, back to the TARDIS. Rose looked up at him curiously, as he andAthena entered the kitchen, where she was making tea and reading a gossipmagazine.
“Daddy forgot hiscompass,” said Athena.
“You what?” Rosesaid, staring at him. [I thinkRose The Wife knows something New Companion Rose suspected: that gadgets oftenjust give the Doctor time to come up with a solution to the problem.]
“Yes. Mycompass,” said the Doctor, and leaned down and murmured into her ear. “Did yousay left on Maple or right on Maple?”
“There aretimes,” said Rose, sighing, “when I really wonder which of us is the"> moreevolved species in this relationship.”
Rose was tryingto sleep. Sometimes the Doctor had an annoying habit of laying next to herwhile she was trying to sleep and talking to her. He didn’t seem to think sleepingand talking were mutually exclusive. “Can we talk about this later?” shemumbled into her pillow.
“I mean, theremust be groups, right? Groups for little girls?”
“Uh-huh,” shesaid, sleepily. “I’m sure there are.” Then she processed what he was saying androlled over to face him. “What sort of groups?”
“I dunno.” Hepaused. “Groups that aren’t about…cooking and cleaning and playing house.”
She sighed.“Doctor…”
“The universe isa tough place, Rose. And she’s one of the last of the Time Lords.
“Athena’s theonly one on this ship who has survival skills,” said Rose, dryly. “If we leftyou and Brem on your own, you’d set fire to the kitchen trying to make thetoaster into a laser-toaster and accidentally jettison the rest of the rooms onthe ship trying to create a new kitchen.” [If only this was hyperbole!]
“I mean,Fortuna’s young still,” continued the Doctor, as if she’d said nothing at all.“It’s fine, I don’t worry about her. But eight years old…At eight years old, wewere being made to look into the Time Vortex.”
Rose yawned.“Fine. So have her look into the Time Vortex.”
“I don’t want herdoing that. Scarred you for life, that did.”
“Ah. Then itmakes perfect sense that you were forced to do it at eight years old.”
“I just think shecould…get out of the TARDIS.”
“Doctor, we takeher outside of the TARDIS. She’s seen things most people are never going to seein their lifetimes. She isn’t really as girly a girl as you seem to think. Sheholds her own against Brem, which God knows the two of us have difficultyaccomplishing. Just because she likes pink and prefers to wear frilly dressesdoesn’t mean she can’t take care of herself.”
“Someorganization would she could learn…ingenuity. Think-on-her-feet-ness.”
“She could jointhe Girl Guides,” said Rose.
“Yes! Girl guides!That sounds brilliant. What are they guides of?”
“I’m not entirelysure. I never was one. Mum said they weren’t gonna teach me anything useful.”
“Then I bet theyteach the most useful stuff in the world!” enthused the Doctor.
“Great. I’d liketo sleep now.”
“Go on,” he said,“I’m not stopping you.”
She sighed.
“In America,they’re called Girl Scouts,” said Brem, reading from one of the books in frontof him. The Doctor and he were sitting at one of the tables in the library,tomes about Girl Guides scattered between them. [I love this about the TARDIS library, and I would like tolive there just for that room alone. When they need books on any subject thereare Multiple Tomes readily available!] Brem loved a goodresearch project. He had jumped into this Girl Guide one with all of theenthusiasm that Athena had decidedly not displayed when the Doctor had told herthe plan.
“Girl scouts,”repeated the Doctor. “Ooh, I like that. What are they scouting?”
“It doesn’t say,”said Brem. “Maybe they’re scouting adventure?”
“Well, thatsounds ideal. Don’t you think that sounds ideal? That’s practically what weare. Scouts of adventure.”
“We’re TimeLords,” Brem told him. “We’re not adventure scouts.”
“Why must you beso literal?” asked the Doctor. “I know what we are. I’m speaking metaphorically.In grand, metaphorical terms. Sometimes, Bremsstrahlung, you miss the metaphorsin life.”
“Not with you topoint them out to me,” said Brem. “Says here they sell cookies every year. Ithink they mean biscuits.”
“Cookies?”repeated the Doctor. “Who sells cookies?”
“The Girl Scouts.Not the Girl Guides.”
“Welllllll, thisGirl Scout business sounds better and better, don’t you think?”
“Can’t argue withbiscuits,” agreed Brem.
“That settles it,then,” decided the Doctor.
“You’ll never gether to go,” said Brem.
“You’re such asceptic,” said the Doctor.
“That’s me: aliteral, sceptical Lord of Time. You can be the metaphorical, blindlyoptimistic Scout of Adventure.”
“Frankly, I thinkmy title’s better,” sniffed the Doctor. [This kind of argument, when you think about it,was probably how the Doctor’s originaldisagreement with the Time Lords of Gallifrey began…]
“You’ll never gether to go,” said Brem again.
“I’m just notgoing,” said Athena.
“Why not?” asked the Doctor, reasonably. “They scoutadventure, and they sell biscuits. What’s not to love?”
“They camp,”said Athena. “Do I look like a person who is going to enjoy camping?”
“Camping in atent?” asked Fortuna.
“Yes,”Athena answered.
Fortuna wrinkledher nose. “Well, that sounds awful, Theenie.” She turned to her father. “Whyare you making Theenie live in a tent? Why can’t she live in TARDIS with us?”
“She is going tolive in the TARDIS with us. She’s just going to go camping every once in awhile. Not all the time.”
“Why am I theonly one who has to go camping?” demanded Athena. “You didn’t make Brem gocamping.”
“Wellllllllll-”The Doctor looked over at Brem.
Brem did not lookup from where he was sonic screwdrivering his shoelaces to stay permanentlytied. “Do not even think about it.”
“Your brotherdoesn’t go camping because he’s boring,” said the Doctor. “Whereas weare scouts of adventure.”
“We’re TimeLords,” Athena told him.
“What is wrongwith you kids?” demanded the Doctor. “Why do none of you understand metaphors?”
“Athena has avery good point,” Rose pointed out. “It’s unfair to make Athena go campingunless you’re going to go camping yourself.”
“Exactly,” saidAthena.
“So there,” added Fortuna.
The Doctor hadnoticed that the females of the ship tended to band together this way. “I…campall the time!” [And the shipright along with them, for that matter.]
“Really?” askedRose. “When have you camped?”
“Yeah?” saidAthena.
“Yeah?” addedFortuna.
“I…Well…Thisis practically camping, don’t you think?”
“You think thisis camping? Living on a ship that does all your laundry for you?” said Rose.
“Yeah, you thinkthis is camping?” said Athena.
“You think thisis camping?” added Fortuna.
“When I wasyounger, when I was, say, I don’t know, eighty or ninety, I used to gocamping.”
“In a tent?”asked Rose.
“Yeah, a tent?”said Fortuna, mixing it up a bit by being the first to support her mother’schallenge.
“A real tent?”added Athena.
“A tent ofsorts,” he said.
“Did it have ahot shower?” asked Rose.
“Yeah, youprobably took bubble baths,” said Athena.
“With pinkbubbles,” added Fortuna.
“It…It was camping.”[I love that he does notactually deny the pink bubbles! Hee!]
“If you makeAthena go camping,” said Rose, “you’re going camping with her.”
The girls weresuddenly silent. Their faces swung toward their father, aware it was now hisserve. Their mother seldom delivered ultimatums this way, and he could feel theanticipation of his answer.
“Fine,” heannounced, grandly. “I will go camping with Athena.”
Brem finallylooked up from his shoelaces and reached for his journal and began scribblingfuriously. The girls gasped.
“Really?” saidAthena, and she looked delighted. “You’ll go camping with me?”
“Yes.”
“Daddy!” sheexclaimed, and threw her little arms around his neck. “We’ll have so much fun!”[This is adorable, and there isno way that the Doctor’s heart did not completely melt at this point! I alsothink Rose turned to mush here too.]
“Of course wewill,” he replied. “I’ve been trying to tell you that.”
“I’ll come, too,”said Fortuna.
“Um,” said Rose.She was confident Athena could take care of her father and herself on a campingtrip. She was less confident of adding a six-year-old into the mix. “Not justyet. Not this camping trip. Another camping trip.”
“But I want togo,” complained Fortuna. “That’s not fair! Theenie’s going to have all thefun!”
“You’ll gocamping another time,” Rose promised.
“But I want to gothis time.”
“While Dad andTheenie are camping, I’ll play that princess video game with you, Fort,” saidBrem. [Brem is Unquestionablythe World’s Best Brother]
Fortuna looked athim hopefully. “Will you?”
Brem nodded.
Fortuna smiled. “Okay. That’s okay, then. And I’ll gocamping next time?” She looked back at her mother.
Since Rosedoubted there was even going to be a first camping trip, she said, “Sure.”
“So when can I join the Girl Scouts?” asked Athena.
“I think you haveto wear a special uniform, you know,” mused Rose. “Maybe the wardrobe will havesomething for you.”
Athena bounced abit with delight before racing out of the room, followed closely by Fortuna.Rose trailed them at a more leisurely pace. [These kids get that bounciness from their Dad-See this quote from
The Doctorglanced at Brem. “How was that? Huh? Not too shabby, right?”
Brem shook hishead at him. “You didn’t get her to go camping. She got you to gocamping.” Brem resumed writing in his journal. [Brem’s view of the universe sometimes seems much clearerthan the Doctor’s.]
The Doctor openedand closed his mouth, frowned, and then said, “What are you writing, anyway?”
“I think herebegins a new chapter in my memoirs. I’m titling it.”
“Titling itwhat?”
“’The Doctor,Scout of Adventure, Goes Camping.’”
“I could drag you along, you know.”
“I have to stayhere and play video games with Fort.”
“To the nextcamping trip, then.”
“The next GirlScout camping trip?”
“Well, they musthave an organization for boys.”
“They don’t,”answered Brem. “I looked and looked and looked, because I so wanted tojoin one. But nope. Only Girl Scouts.”
The Doctor lookedat him. Brem met his eyes steadily. “Are you lying?” the Doctor asked, finally.
Brem resumedscribbling. [There is nopossible way that the Doctor is going to win this one against Brem. Hee!]
“That’s what GirlScouts wear?” said the Doctor. “That?” He regarded Athena’s little brown dressdubiously.
“I know, it’s drab,isn’t it?” said Athena. “I mean, brown?” [This bit alwaysmakes me wonder if Athena feels that the brown suit is drab too.Maybe that is why she is so big onglitterizing things for the Doctor? ]
The Doctor regardedher silently, in her brown Girl Scout uniform, with her hair back in the pinkribbon she never took off. “I thought it’d be more…”
“What?” askedRose.
“Adventure-y.”
“Brown isadventure-y,” Rose told him. “It’s like camouflage.” She thought there was noreason for the Doctor to know that Athena could have chosen the uniform withtrousers and had insisted on a skirt. Rose had done plenty of world-saving in askirt. She didn’t see why Athena couldn’t do the same.
“I…guess,” agreedthe Doctor.
“You wear brownall the time,” Rose continued.
“You’ll fit rightin!” said Athena.
“Yes. I supposeso. Fine. Off we get.”
Rose croucheddown for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Have a wonderful time, darling,” shesaid.
“Uh-huh,” saidAthena, and turned to Fortuna. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
“And Brem and Iare going to try to get to the Dancing Kitten World in the Pretty PrincessPerils.” [Just imagine allthose fluffy, highly decorated dancing kittens entertaining the glittery,Pretty Princesses! ]
Brem looked upabruptly from his journal. “I thought we were playing that when they were goingcamping. They’re not going camping yet.”
“If you playPretty Princess Perils with me, I’ll let you try to figure out what setting onthe sonic sets my dolls’ hair on fire.”
“That’s a deal,”said Brem.
“We’re notsetting anything on fire,” said Rose.
“What about justa bit of smoke?” asked Brem.
“What aboutmelting the plastic instead?” suggested Rose. [Rose is quite possibly the Universe’s Best Negotiator]
“That couldwork,” considered Brem.
“Fine. Good.”Rose turned back to Athena and the Doctor. “Have fun!” she said, cheerfully,and Athena waved good-bye and took her father’s hand and skipped with him outof the TARDIS.
They’d landedsomewhere in America; the Doctor hadn’t been fussy about it. But now, herealized, he may have made a miscalculation. It was cold out. Their breathfogged in front of them, as he walked and Athena skipped down the sidewalk.
“Will they makeus camp in the cold?” asked Athena.
I hope not
“This is going tobe fun, don’t you think?” said Athena, as she skipped.
“Of course itis.”
“We never get togo anywhere, just you and me.”
The Doctor pausedfor a second, looking down at her. She was concentrating now on hopping on oneleg next to him, holding tightly to his hand to keep her balance. “I suppose wedon’t,” he said. They either took all three kids or none at all when they venturedon-planet. And it was true that they tended to fall along gender lines if theysplit up once they got to the planet. But only because Brem insisted he had tobe there for the buying of TARDIS parts, and the girls had no interest in thatsort of thing.
Athena beamed upat him adoringly, and he was suddenly very happy that he’d agreed to go campingwith her. “This’ll be our thing,” said Athena.
“Yes,” he agreed,solemnly, as he resumed walking.
“Can we have asecret codeword?”
“Codeword for what?”
“I dunno. We cantalk about it like it means something super important. It’ll drive Brem spare,not knowing what it is.”
“I’m in favour ofanything that drives Brem spare,” said the Doctor.
“Platypus,” saidAthena. “That’s our codeword. Platypus. Is the plural of platypus platypi?
“Goodness,” musedthe Doctor. “I’ve never thought about that one before, Theenie.”
“Do you actuallyknow where you’re going?” asked Athena.
“Of course I do.”
“Because we’vewalked in a circle. There’s TARDIS again.”
“Ah,” said theDoctor.
“Maybe it’s justsomething that looks like TARDIS,” said Athena. “Probably you’re on theright path.” [These girlscompletely and utterly adore their dad. Lines like this just melt my heartcompletely]
“You know what Ilike about you, Athena?” said the Doctor.
“What?” askedAthena, happily.
“You aren’twriting memoirs about me.”
“Oh, Brem isn’twriting memoirs about you, either,” said Athena.
“What?” asked theDoctor, startled.
“I mean, he’swriting about you. He’s writing his memoirs. But he really only writes nicestuff. He says he just pretends to keep you in line.” Athena looked upsuddenly. “You won’t tell him I told you, will you? It’s a secret.”
“He only writesnice stuff? How do you know? Have you read it?”
“Bits and pieces. He says he won’t let me read all of itbecause then I’ll have no reason to buy it when it’s finally published.”
The Doctor mulledthis over. “Brem thinks he needs to keep me in line?”
“Well, yeah,”said Athena. Her tone said obviously. [Although the kids apparently believe this is for theDoctor’s own good]
The Doctor,distracted, realized he was nearly back at the TARDIS again and stoppedwalking. “Did your mother say we had to go left on Maple or right on Maple?”
“I dunno,” saidAthena. “But look!” She held something out to him.
He took itautomatically. A compass.
“Will that help?”she asked.
“Er,” said theDoctor. “Absolutely. A great deal. Thank you. Now let’s go quickly pop into theTARDIS because I, er, forgot my compass. And I think we need two.”
“Yeah,” agreedAthena. “Because if we got separated, we’d each need one.”
“Exactly.”
Athena skippednext to him, back to the TARDIS. Rose looked up at him curiously, as he andAthena entered the kitchen, where she was making tea and reading a gossipmagazine.
“Daddy forgot hiscompass,” said Athena.
“You what?” Rosesaid, staring at him. [I thinkRose The Wife knows something New Companion Rose suspected: that gadgets oftenjust give the Doctor time to come up with a solution to the problem.]
“Yes. Mycompass,” said the Doctor, and leaned down and murmured into her ear. “Did yousay left on Maple or right on Maple?”
“There aretimes,” said Rose, sighing, “when I really wonder which of us is the"> moreevolved species in this relationship.”