There's a bit of a pause in the stream of dialogue - or monologue, really, as the Doctor was telling them a story.
"Did they have ice planets there? Or candy floss?" April asks, all curiosity and surprisingly little fear or pain. She's still on the Doctor's lap (or, well, on his lap again, after giving him time to regain feeling in his legs), and seems to be pretty comfortable.
The Doctor's probably still taking advantage of the contact to keep her awareness of pain muted somewhat.
The Doctor blinks down at her for a second, because that question took him a bit by surprise. It's not as if the story he was telling had anything to do with candy floss. "I'm afraid not. For that matter, why would they have ice planets on a- oh, that sort of ice planet. It's a... sort of a... sweet... thing," he says, for Tosh's benefit. "Very complicated to eat, and a bit messy too, if you're not doing it right. From what I understand, at least."
He can feel Thane in the doorway - aside from being able to smooth over April's awareness of pain, it also boosts his own psychic abilities to the point where he can sense these things. Without turning to look at him, he goes on, "Although I did once meet a robot made entirely out of sweets. Not a nice person. For a certain definition of person... Wouldn't take sweets from him. You're not about to start handing out sweets, are you, Instagur Thane?"
Thane steps into the room. Well, that's the problem with psychics. They tend to know things. He'd see about wiping out the Doctor's abilities, but it's not as though he knows anything about Time Lord brain anatomy.
"It was on the list of options," he says, walking over and holding out the journal. It's open to a very specific entry.
He'll see how he reacts. Then ...well, see where to go from there.
The Doctor shifts April a little, very gently, and takes the journal, studying the entry for a moment. "Huh," he says simply. "Thoughtful of him." He looks up at Thane with an expression that more or less translates to, And what do you expect me to do about this?
Tosh, across the room, has tensed, eying Thane with her jaw clenched. He looks like Jack, more even than Des does, though how that works she's not sure, but it's wrong. It's different. And very, very unsettling.
April tenses when Thane comes in - he'd been at the periphery of her mind, but... well, he wasn't in. And she was paying attention to the stories. It hurts a bit when all her muscles tense, shifting her ribs a little, but she can't relax.
She presses against the Doctor and doesn't look up. Maybe if she just... sits here and doesn't move or make a sound, he'll forget about her and let her just stay here in the Doctor's lap. Maybe.
The strange twinging feeling in her lung every time she breathes says otherwise, but she's trying not to freak out.
Thane hasn't forgotten that April is there so much as decided she doesn't matter for the moment. "Yeah, nice of him," Thane says. "What's real nice is that sources say my being here was a fluke of improbability, and yet somehow, he's coded something into the journals that needs my presence to display it."
He crouches down, bringing him eye-level with the Doctor.
"Precocious man, your Captain. I'm wondering how many of these little love notes he's left, and how many people he's kindly asked to take care of me."
The Doctor shrugs a little. "Your being here specifically... definitely improbable. But I doubt the event of your existence is what he coded into it. Point of no return sort of thing, more likely."
And he did go after one of Jack's team. If there's anything Jack would have been concerned about when it came to backsliding, becoming a threat to them would have been high on the list. He pointedly doesn't glance at Tosh - the Doctor much prefers when Thane's attention is on him.
"I can't tell you that, though, because I honestly don't know. He's difficult to predict at the best of times, and the time just before you arrived, the time when he wrote that note... was not that."
"Well, if you were concerned about that, I don't think taking one of his team captive was the best possible plan, all things considered."
Then, it's not as if Jack actually had a lot of allies, before this. Torchwood was about the extent of it, unless you count Elashte, who's... unused to wars, and unlikely to involve himself in this, and a handful of demons.
"His team already had it hard for me, and not in the best possible way," Thane says. His eyes narrow. There are people - probably more people than otherwise would have been - who are going to be after him, but taking that up with the Doctor is hardly going to solve that.
But there's more than that bothering him.
"Who the fuck were you, to him?" He asks. Thane mentioned Harkness trying to curry favor with the Doctor. The note makes it sound like the Doctor was Harkness's master. The Doctor said something - something when Thane had just come into that little office - about wearing his friend's face. Friend. Like they weren't staring over a great gulf of Time Lord imperialism and cultural supremacy. Dog, Thane thinks, is likely to be the more correct term there.
The Doctor raises an eyebrow. It's not hard to keep an eye on Thane's surface thoughts, with April this close to him, and he can't help but smirk a little to himself, hearing it now. "Friend. Like I told you. We travelled together, a long time ago."
And there, in Thane's surface thoughts, is a fairly explicit DOES NOT COMPUTE. Time Agents - the ones as far gone as he is - don't have friends. Partners, occasionally, and that's the kindest term the Agency offers.
And one doesn't make friends with a Time Lord. That'd be like - that'd be worse than making friends with a Chula. If someone has that much power you get the fuck out of their way or curry favor as hard as you can.
So. Dog is the way he's going to translate that, just like diversion is the way he's going to translate all of the Doctor's 'friends' he's got targeted, which rankles, but there's no way he can reach the Doctor's planet, tear that down. Especially not if it was destroyed in the War.
"I doubt that," he says, standing. Because I might not know your kind by anything but reputation, but I sure as hell know mine.
The Doctor rolls his eyes a little, leaning back against the wall. "Of course you do. Do you... often ask questions when you're not going to listen to the answers, or is that just with me?"
"What makes you think I don't listen?" he asks. He listens. Takes in all the words, the tone, the history he knows. But he's an information extractor, not an information recorder - most of what he's handed are evasions and lies. He glances back, over his shoulder, toward Sato. "I tend to get what I'm looking for, anyway. How are you feeling? Pleasantly concussed, I hope. And as you haven't played fast and loose with the lights, yet..."
Despite being nauseous, dizzy, and having a headache, on top of being handcuffed to a pillar, Tosh manages to shoot him a scornful glare. Granted, it's very rare she can't manage a look like that, no matter the situation. Tosh can always find reasons to look at someone like they're an idiot.
Beyond that, she doesn't respond. It's not as if he doesn't know the answer anyway. She tried to make the lights flicker when she first woke up, just to see if she could - the resulting pain was enough to convince her not to try again for some time.
"Did they have ice planets there? Or candy floss?" April asks, all curiosity and surprisingly little fear or pain. She's still on the Doctor's lap (or, well, on his lap again, after giving him time to regain feeling in his legs), and seems to be pretty comfortable.
The Doctor's probably still taking advantage of the contact to keep her awareness of pain muted somewhat.
Reply
He can feel Thane in the doorway - aside from being able to smooth over April's awareness of pain, it also boosts his own psychic abilities to the point where he can sense these things. Without turning to look at him, he goes on, "Although I did once meet a robot made entirely out of sweets. Not a nice person. For a certain definition of person... Wouldn't take sweets from him. You're not about to start handing out sweets, are you, Instagur Thane?"
Reply
"It was on the list of options," he says, walking over and holding out the journal. It's open to a very specific entry.
He'll see how he reacts. Then ...well, see where to go from there.
Reply
Tosh, across the room, has tensed, eying Thane with her jaw clenched. He looks like Jack, more even than Des does, though how that works she's not sure, but it's wrong. It's different. And very, very unsettling.
Reply
She presses against the Doctor and doesn't look up. Maybe if she just... sits here and doesn't move or make a sound, he'll forget about her and let her just stay here in the Doctor's lap. Maybe.
The strange twinging feeling in her lung every time she breathes says otherwise, but she's trying not to freak out.
Reply
He crouches down, bringing him eye-level with the Doctor.
"Precocious man, your Captain. I'm wondering how many of these little love notes he's left, and how many people he's kindly asked to take care of me."
Reply
And he did go after one of Jack's team. If there's anything Jack would have been concerned about when it came to backsliding, becoming a threat to them would have been high on the list. He pointedly doesn't glance at Tosh - the Doctor much prefers when Thane's attention is on him.
"I can't tell you that, though, because I honestly don't know. He's difficult to predict at the best of times, and the time just before you arrived, the time when he wrote that note... was not that."
Reply
"You know exactly what will happen if his allies start coming after me."
Reply
Then, it's not as if Jack actually had a lot of allies, before this. Torchwood was about the extent of it, unless you count Elashte, who's... unused to wars, and unlikely to involve himself in this, and a handful of demons.
Reply
But there's more than that bothering him.
"Who the fuck were you, to him?" He asks. Thane mentioned Harkness trying to curry favor with the Doctor. The note makes it sound like the Doctor was Harkness's master. The Doctor said something - something when Thane had just come into that little office - about wearing his friend's face. Friend. Like they weren't staring over a great gulf of Time Lord imperialism and cultural supremacy. Dog, Thane thinks, is likely to be the more correct term there.
Reply
Reply
And one doesn't make friends with a Time Lord. That'd be like - that'd be worse than making friends with a Chula. If someone has that much power you get the fuck out of their way or curry favor as hard as you can.
So. Dog is the way he's going to translate that, just like diversion is the way he's going to translate all of the Doctor's 'friends' he's got targeted, which rankles, but there's no way he can reach the Doctor's planet, tear that down. Especially not if it was destroyed in the War.
"I doubt that," he says, standing. Because I might not know your kind by anything but reputation, but I sure as hell know mine.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Beyond that, she doesn't respond. It's not as if he doesn't know the answer anyway. She tried to make the lights flicker when she first woke up, just to see if she could - the resulting pain was enough to convince her not to try again for some time.
Reply
"If you're trying not to give me the satisfaction, love, I'll get it either way. And anticipation makes the payoff sweeter."
He pauses for a moment, then breaks into a grin.
"Oh, but you're fun! You're one of Harkness' harem. I bet there's a reason he liked you. Bet I can find it if I dig hard."
Reply
Leave a comment