Fic: Entomophobia 1/1 [Doctor Who, Teen]
Title: Entomophobia 1/1
Author: GylzGirl
Characters: The Doctor, Donna Noble.
Rating: Teen
Prompt Word: #10 "Confession" for the weekly drabble challenge at doctor_donna
Word Count: 1181.
The rotor stilled and the Doctor looked towards the interior doorway. Wherever in the TARDIS Donna seemed to be, she always seemed to know when they'd landed. As if on cue, she came barreling into the room. "Where are we now?!" She was grinning, rushing towards him with that boundless sense of wonder that breathed life into his soul.
He smiled. "Rizcovax 11. Home of the Vaxili Empire."
"Ooh, that sounds posh. And who are they?"
"Wait till you see, Donna. They're an insectoid race who have founded a peaceful empire where music is the main form of currency. Amazing." The Doctor turned from her and so missed the way that her face blanched white at his words.
"Insectoid?" She swallowed quickly, hoping to wet her suddenly dry throat. "The crawly kind or the flying kind?"
"Crawly. And hoppy as well. Descended from a species not too unlike a common earth cricket. " He turned to her and she managed what she hoped was an enthusiastic looking smile. "Oh, but wouldn't that have been wonderful? If they'd become cricketers instead of musicians? If that'd happened I'd bring everybody I ever met here! That would be brilliant. Mind you, I'd have to keep an eye out to avoid my Fifth self. He'd have been here like a shot. Probably have a summer home."
"Crickets?" Donna asked with a little quiver in her voice.
"Mmm," the Doctor agreed as he bounded down the ramp and opened the door.
Donna followed him out, clasping her hands together to keep them from shaking. The sky was a pale orange with streaks of red brushing through it. She could only assume they were some kind of clouds but the image it presented reminded her of blood so she looked away. The ground was made of shiny green stone that had scoring marks etched into the surface, probably for traction on behalf of the biped off-world visitors. The buildings were rather beautiful although Donna found herself wondering about the gravity ratio on this planet if those kind of structures managed to not fall over. She flicked her eyes to the Doctor realizing that she'd definitely been hanging around him for too long if she was curious about flipping gravity ratios.
Then a local inhabitant hopped across her path. There before her stood a 6 foot 7 inch cricket in all its glory. She grabbed the Doctor's arm to steady herself, suddenly feeling lightheaded.
The Doctor felt a vice grip on his forearm. He turned his head and found Donna clutching at his arm, her face white as a sheet. She was swaying where she stood, eyes over-bright and wide, looking with utter horror at the Vaxilian guide who had hopped over to see if they needed directions to a hotel or a good restaurant.
"Donna?" He said, moving in front of her and taking hold of her arms. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Her whole body trembled and then collapsed. "Whoa, I've got you." The Doctor pulled her into his arms and then lifted her onto his shoulder in a makeshift fireman's carry. He turned briefly to the poor Vaxili who was chittering worriedly behind him, asking if he would like medics sent for.
"Thanks all the same. This is my friend's first visit here and it appears that the oxygen levels may be a bit too thin for her."
The Vaxili chirped that it happened all the time and to try again in the summer when their tree-life produced more strongly just in time for the beginning of their award winning concert season.
******
The Doctor entered Donna's room with a nice cup of tea. She sat up in the bed, accepting it gratefully as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
"Now, what was all that about back there?" He said sitting beside her and rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. He knew she must be quite upset if she was letting him fuss over her without protest.
"Well," she said quietly as she set the cup on the nightstand. "When I was little I was out playing in the summer at a friends house. It had gotten dark and her mum sent me home. I took a short cut through a little wooded spot not far from our house. It's been developed since then but at the time the only thing man-made near it was a tennis court with those big flood lights for night games. I don't know if it was the draw of the lights or what but we would sometimes play there during the day and it had never happened before and..." She began to shake again.
"It's all right. Tell me what happened?" The Doctor said soothingly, trying to help calm her.
"I...I fell into a bit of a hole. It wasn't too terribly deep but I was only 8 so it was going to take some climbing for me to get out of it. I started to grab the sides of the little pit to pull myself out of it and it was crawling...crawling with crickets. There were hundreds. They were all over me. I screamed and fell down again and there were more in the bottom. They were hopping all around my head and I screamed and screamed. That's how they found me. Gramps heard me from way off and came and pulled me out of there."
"Oh Donna." He stroked her hair, perfectly picturing in his mind the poor terrified little ginger girl being carried home in Wilfred Mott's loving arms.
"I still have nightmares about it. Sometimes." Donna flashed her eyes to his, embarrassed and afraid at what her little confession might mean for the future of her traveling with the Doctor. If there were planets he was going to have to avoid because of her and some stupid childhood trauma, she might start seeming a whole lot less fun to have around.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You... you seemed so excited. I didn't want you to not get to experience it just because of me. I don't ever want you to regret bringing me along."
"Donna, please listen to me." Her eyes finally met his. "You must never think that. The reason I get so excited is being able to show you new places. Seeing your reaction is what makes it so wonderful for me. Today, I saw you shut down before my eyes because you were so afraid. If I had only known, I could have prevented that. Please, you must promise to tell me from now on if there's something wrong." She nodded, still clearly embarrassed. "We all have things like that that we're afraid of."
Her eyes widened. "Even you?"
"Oh yes," he said smiling as he swiveled on the bed until he was against the headboard next to her. He extended his arm around her shoulders and she lay her head on his chest. "You want to talk fear of bugs. Did I ever tell you about a little planet called Metebelis 3?"
Author: GylzGirl
Characters: The Doctor, Donna Noble.
Rating: Teen
Prompt Word: #10 "Confession" for the weekly drabble challenge at doctor_donna
Word Count: 1181.
The rotor stilled and the Doctor looked towards the interior doorway. Wherever in the TARDIS Donna seemed to be, she always seemed to know when they'd landed. As if on cue, she came barreling into the room. "Where are we now?!" She was grinning, rushing towards him with that boundless sense of wonder that breathed life into his soul.
He smiled. "Rizcovax 11. Home of the Vaxili Empire."
"Ooh, that sounds posh. And who are they?"
"Wait till you see, Donna. They're an insectoid race who have founded a peaceful empire where music is the main form of currency. Amazing." The Doctor turned from her and so missed the way that her face blanched white at his words.
"Insectoid?" She swallowed quickly, hoping to wet her suddenly dry throat. "The crawly kind or the flying kind?"
"Crawly. And hoppy as well. Descended from a species not too unlike a common earth cricket. " He turned to her and she managed what she hoped was an enthusiastic looking smile. "Oh, but wouldn't that have been wonderful? If they'd become cricketers instead of musicians? If that'd happened I'd bring everybody I ever met here! That would be brilliant. Mind you, I'd have to keep an eye out to avoid my Fifth self. He'd have been here like a shot. Probably have a summer home."
"Crickets?" Donna asked with a little quiver in her voice.
"Mmm," the Doctor agreed as he bounded down the ramp and opened the door.
Donna followed him out, clasping her hands together to keep them from shaking. The sky was a pale orange with streaks of red brushing through it. She could only assume they were some kind of clouds but the image it presented reminded her of blood so she looked away. The ground was made of shiny green stone that had scoring marks etched into the surface, probably for traction on behalf of the biped off-world visitors. The buildings were rather beautiful although Donna found herself wondering about the gravity ratio on this planet if those kind of structures managed to not fall over. She flicked her eyes to the Doctor realizing that she'd definitely been hanging around him for too long if she was curious about flipping gravity ratios.
Then a local inhabitant hopped across her path. There before her stood a 6 foot 7 inch cricket in all its glory. She grabbed the Doctor's arm to steady herself, suddenly feeling lightheaded.
The Doctor felt a vice grip on his forearm. He turned his head and found Donna clutching at his arm, her face white as a sheet. She was swaying where she stood, eyes over-bright and wide, looking with utter horror at the Vaxilian guide who had hopped over to see if they needed directions to a hotel or a good restaurant.
"Donna?" He said, moving in front of her and taking hold of her arms. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Her whole body trembled and then collapsed. "Whoa, I've got you." The Doctor pulled her into his arms and then lifted her onto his shoulder in a makeshift fireman's carry. He turned briefly to the poor Vaxili who was chittering worriedly behind him, asking if he would like medics sent for.
"Thanks all the same. This is my friend's first visit here and it appears that the oxygen levels may be a bit too thin for her."
The Vaxili chirped that it happened all the time and to try again in the summer when their tree-life produced more strongly just in time for the beginning of their award winning concert season.
******
The Doctor entered Donna's room with a nice cup of tea. She sat up in the bed, accepting it gratefully as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
"Now, what was all that about back there?" He said sitting beside her and rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. He knew she must be quite upset if she was letting him fuss over her without protest.
"Well," she said quietly as she set the cup on the nightstand. "When I was little I was out playing in the summer at a friends house. It had gotten dark and her mum sent me home. I took a short cut through a little wooded spot not far from our house. It's been developed since then but at the time the only thing man-made near it was a tennis court with those big flood lights for night games. I don't know if it was the draw of the lights or what but we would sometimes play there during the day and it had never happened before and..." She began to shake again.
"It's all right. Tell me what happened?" The Doctor said soothingly, trying to help calm her.
"I...I fell into a bit of a hole. It wasn't too terribly deep but I was only 8 so it was going to take some climbing for me to get out of it. I started to grab the sides of the little pit to pull myself out of it and it was crawling...crawling with crickets. There were hundreds. They were all over me. I screamed and fell down again and there were more in the bottom. They were hopping all around my head and I screamed and screamed. That's how they found me. Gramps heard me from way off and came and pulled me out of there."
"Oh Donna." He stroked her hair, perfectly picturing in his mind the poor terrified little ginger girl being carried home in Wilfred Mott's loving arms.
"I still have nightmares about it. Sometimes." Donna flashed her eyes to his, embarrassed and afraid at what her little confession might mean for the future of her traveling with the Doctor. If there were planets he was going to have to avoid because of her and some stupid childhood trauma, she might start seeming a whole lot less fun to have around.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You... you seemed so excited. I didn't want you to not get to experience it just because of me. I don't ever want you to regret bringing me along."
"Donna, please listen to me." Her eyes finally met his. "You must never think that. The reason I get so excited is being able to show you new places. Seeing your reaction is what makes it so wonderful for me. Today, I saw you shut down before my eyes because you were so afraid. If I had only known, I could have prevented that. Please, you must promise to tell me from now on if there's something wrong." She nodded, still clearly embarrassed. "We all have things like that that we're afraid of."
Her eyes widened. "Even you?"
"Oh yes," he said smiling as he swiveled on the bed until he was against the headboard next to her. He extended his arm around her shoulders and she lay her head on his chest. "You want to talk fear of bugs. Did I ever tell you about a little planet called Metebelis 3?"