Fic - Adjustments
Title: Adjustments
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Twelve and Clara
Rating: G
Warnings: Minor spoilers for 8x01
Author's note: Written for dw_allsorts (Prompt: school teacher)
Summary: It was a challenge sometimes, figuring out her new Doctor.
Adjustments
“How’s the term going?”
Clara looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow at the question, wondering what was up. The Doctor rarely asked about her personal life, so there had to be a good reason. “Good. Quiet, for the most part. Bunch of kids are out sick with a nasty cold, but apparently it’s a yearly thing.” She paused, levelling her best no-nonsense stare at his back. “Why?”
The Doctor sett down the chalk he had been scribbling on the blackboard with and turned to face her, not the least bit bothered by her stare. “I’m not allowed to ask questions about your personal life now?”
“Oh, you’re certainly allowed to. But you usually don’t bother. So why now, of all times?”
“I’m curious,” he responded bluntly, brushing chalk dust from his hands as he came down the stairs towards her. “After the Christmas break you had, I wanted to make sure you were doing well.”
“Yeah, some break that was.” Wheeling around, she set her book down on the console as he adjusted their course. They weren’t going anywhere in particular, just flying through the Time Vortex, so she let him fiddle for a few moments before adding, “Gonna abandon me in Glasgow again?”
She saw him wince ever so slightly at that, but his voice was steady as he said, “Wasn’t planning on it, no. So. Personal life. Good? Bad? You mentioned a cold going round - maybe I should look into it?”
Her eyes widened at that, and she gave him a light swat on his shoulder. “Doctor, don’t you dare! The kids are enough of a handful without you poking around! Let the doctors with medical degrees handle that!”
“But I do have a medical degree! Several, in fact.” As he turned away from the console to go up the stairs to his armchair, Clara was sure he was smiling.
“I’m talking actual degrees, not honorary ones.”
“So am I.” As she followed him up the stairs, he frowned and muttered, “I should really get you a chair. Or at least a stool...”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. The floor can’t be any harder than the chairs at school.” As she settled down, she realized that the floor was actually quite warm, and cast a quick smile in the direction of the central console. The TARDIS seemed to accept her more now, which was a nice change.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Clara,” the Doctor reminded her, and she sighed and looked back at him.
“Would you relax? My personal life is good. Work, mostly, but I try and get out now and again. Aside from you, that is.” There was no way she was bringing up Danny, especially since she wasn’t really sure what was going on between them. They were friends, that much was clear, but being anything more than friends was still up in the air.
“You’re smiling to yourself again,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m now allowed to smile to myself now?”
“Go ahead, smile all you want,” he replied, waving a hand at her. “But since you are, I can only conclude that things must be much better than simply ‘good’. It means you’re happy. Ah, the life of a school teacher. It’s certainly never boring.” The Doctor fell silent, looking thoughtful. Clara watched him curiously, surprised that he didn’t try and pry any further. The old him would have, that much she was certain of. New Doctor, new attitude, she supposed. She was still trying to adjust to him, to his moods and habits and quirks. Not travelling with him all the time made that difficult, but it had been her choice to have a life outside of him, and she didn’t regret it.
As she watched, his expression stilled, his mouth drawing into a thin line as he stared at his clasped hands. Anger? No, there wasn’t a spark in his eyes. Sadness, maybe? “What’s wrong?” she asked, figuring that there was only one way she was going to find out.
“I was just remembering. I travelled with a pair of teachers from Coal Hill School, long ago. When I was young and thought I could do as I wished, being a superior Time Lord with my TARDIS.” His snorted softly and added with a touch of bitterness, “How foolish I was.”
“I think a lot of young men are foolish at times,” she said carefully, wanting to be honest but not wanting to insult him either.
The Doctor smiled faintly and nodded, no insult taken. “Very true. And there are a lot of foolish old men as well.”
“You are anything but foolish,” she said firmly, watching surprise flicker across his face. “Stubborn sometimes, but never foolish.” His previous regeneration had been downright childish at times, but even then she wouldn’t call him foolish. Just overly enthusiastic.
“Awfully confident about that, aren’t you? I may prove you wrong one day, Clara, and we both know how much you hate to be wrong.” This time, his smile was wider, and she knew she was being teased.
“I’m pretty sure I can handle being proven wrong now and then. You’re not exactly fond of it yourself. Or have you forgotten what happened in the underground ship? You were having...issues about that.” Time to tease him back and see just how far she could go.
His lifted his chin as he replied, “My memory about that is perfectly fine. Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve had memory problems after regenerating. As for being proven wrong...I’m fine with being wrong in private, but I would prefer if you didn’t prove me wrong while in public.”
“I’ll try and remember that.” Good, she could tease him a little without him getting upset. So the new him was reserved, but not without a sense of humour. She could work with that.
“You’d better,” he said sternly, leaning back in his chair. “Now, you were reading The Crucible, yes? Bring it here and let me see how well you know what you’re teaching.” Smiling at his interest, she got up and went for her book.
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Twelve and Clara
Rating: G
Warnings: Minor spoilers for 8x01
Author's note: Written for dw_allsorts (Prompt: school teacher)
Summary: It was a challenge sometimes, figuring out her new Doctor.
Adjustments
“How’s the term going?”
Clara looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow at the question, wondering what was up. The Doctor rarely asked about her personal life, so there had to be a good reason. “Good. Quiet, for the most part. Bunch of kids are out sick with a nasty cold, but apparently it’s a yearly thing.” She paused, levelling her best no-nonsense stare at his back. “Why?”
The Doctor sett down the chalk he had been scribbling on the blackboard with and turned to face her, not the least bit bothered by her stare. “I’m not allowed to ask questions about your personal life now?”
“Oh, you’re certainly allowed to. But you usually don’t bother. So why now, of all times?”
“I’m curious,” he responded bluntly, brushing chalk dust from his hands as he came down the stairs towards her. “After the Christmas break you had, I wanted to make sure you were doing well.”
“Yeah, some break that was.” Wheeling around, she set her book down on the console as he adjusted their course. They weren’t going anywhere in particular, just flying through the Time Vortex, so she let him fiddle for a few moments before adding, “Gonna abandon me in Glasgow again?”
She saw him wince ever so slightly at that, but his voice was steady as he said, “Wasn’t planning on it, no. So. Personal life. Good? Bad? You mentioned a cold going round - maybe I should look into it?”
Her eyes widened at that, and she gave him a light swat on his shoulder. “Doctor, don’t you dare! The kids are enough of a handful without you poking around! Let the doctors with medical degrees handle that!”
“But I do have a medical degree! Several, in fact.” As he turned away from the console to go up the stairs to his armchair, Clara was sure he was smiling.
“I’m talking actual degrees, not honorary ones.”
“So am I.” As she followed him up the stairs, he frowned and muttered, “I should really get you a chair. Or at least a stool...”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. The floor can’t be any harder than the chairs at school.” As she settled down, she realized that the floor was actually quite warm, and cast a quick smile in the direction of the central console. The TARDIS seemed to accept her more now, which was a nice change.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Clara,” the Doctor reminded her, and she sighed and looked back at him.
“Would you relax? My personal life is good. Work, mostly, but I try and get out now and again. Aside from you, that is.” There was no way she was bringing up Danny, especially since she wasn’t really sure what was going on between them. They were friends, that much was clear, but being anything more than friends was still up in the air.
“You’re smiling to yourself again,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m now allowed to smile to myself now?”
“Go ahead, smile all you want,” he replied, waving a hand at her. “But since you are, I can only conclude that things must be much better than simply ‘good’. It means you’re happy. Ah, the life of a school teacher. It’s certainly never boring.” The Doctor fell silent, looking thoughtful. Clara watched him curiously, surprised that he didn’t try and pry any further. The old him would have, that much she was certain of. New Doctor, new attitude, she supposed. She was still trying to adjust to him, to his moods and habits and quirks. Not travelling with him all the time made that difficult, but it had been her choice to have a life outside of him, and she didn’t regret it.
As she watched, his expression stilled, his mouth drawing into a thin line as he stared at his clasped hands. Anger? No, there wasn’t a spark in his eyes. Sadness, maybe? “What’s wrong?” she asked, figuring that there was only one way she was going to find out.
“I was just remembering. I travelled with a pair of teachers from Coal Hill School, long ago. When I was young and thought I could do as I wished, being a superior Time Lord with my TARDIS.” His snorted softly and added with a touch of bitterness, “How foolish I was.”
“I think a lot of young men are foolish at times,” she said carefully, wanting to be honest but not wanting to insult him either.
The Doctor smiled faintly and nodded, no insult taken. “Very true. And there are a lot of foolish old men as well.”
“You are anything but foolish,” she said firmly, watching surprise flicker across his face. “Stubborn sometimes, but never foolish.” His previous regeneration had been downright childish at times, but even then she wouldn’t call him foolish. Just overly enthusiastic.
“Awfully confident about that, aren’t you? I may prove you wrong one day, Clara, and we both know how much you hate to be wrong.” This time, his smile was wider, and she knew she was being teased.
“I’m pretty sure I can handle being proven wrong now and then. You’re not exactly fond of it yourself. Or have you forgotten what happened in the underground ship? You were having...issues about that.” Time to tease him back and see just how far she could go.
His lifted his chin as he replied, “My memory about that is perfectly fine. Besides, it’s not the first time I’ve had memory problems after regenerating. As for being proven wrong...I’m fine with being wrong in private, but I would prefer if you didn’t prove me wrong while in public.”
“I’ll try and remember that.” Good, she could tease him a little without him getting upset. So the new him was reserved, but not without a sense of humour. She could work with that.
“You’d better,” he said sternly, leaning back in his chair. “Now, you were reading The Crucible, yes? Bring it here and let me see how well you know what you’re teaching.” Smiling at his interest, she got up and went for her book.