[THREAD] Late Night Talks

[tastefulfashion]

Who: Ten (not-from-mars) and Romana II (tastefulfashion)
What: The much-long awaited slumber party. Of sorts.
When: In the future-- Set after Romana returns which is undetermined at this point in time. (Mun is sneaking some 'net time she is ganking from a friend's place.)
Where: Romana's room.
Rating: G? PG? No real warnings or anything.

Comments

[not_from_mars]

The Doctor was quite happy to hear that Romana had come back. In the weeks before she left to have some time to herself they hadn't spoken much, which the Doctor saw as disappointing -- because honestly, it was Romana. If they were stuck in one place together - and especially since he hadn't seen her in a couple hundred years - , they might as well make the best of it. He'd missed her.

And what better, he supposed than to impede on her living space? With her approval, of course -- and, well, even then, he might've just shown up anyway.

When he reached her floor, though, he decided that knocking was probably best.

[tastefulfashion]

The pencil in her free hand was tapping against her cheek, thoughtfully, when she heard the knock coming from her door. Without even raising her head to look she replied, "Come in - it's unlocked."

At the moment she was far much engrossed with what she was reading (there was always something new - or four somethings sometimes - happening every day). That did tend to happen with her. And it would be a habit she would never grow out of either.

[not_from_mars]

When he opened the door he leaned a bit against the doorframe, poked his head inside -- well, that was very Romana, engrossed in what she was doing. He stepped inside, closed the door quietly behind him.

"Welcome back." He smiled, though he knew she couldn't see his expression from her angle.

[tastefulfashion]

Tearing her gaze away from the opened journal Romana looked up at the sound of the voice, smiling. Both the notebook and journal were closed and set aside on the bed as were the pencils.

"Thank you, Doctor. It's good to see you again."

It was not often that she spoke with this incarnation, face to face. And frankly, she rarely did see any of his incarnations in person save for whenever there was a disaster going on within the castle---it was certainly nice for a chance to be meeting under kinder circumstances.

[not_from_mars]

This was probably where one would've asked how it had been, but he wanted to stray from that. There was no need for discussion that would bring them down, and he was sure that the topic of escaping from the castle's ... well, monotonous castle-ness would. Besides, he'd grant Romana that bit of privacy.

He dropped the bag he was carrying by the door, wandered over to where Romana was sitting and leaned against the wall next to it, hands in his suit pockets as he peered at the book, journal and pencils. "What're you up to?"

[tastefulfashion]

"Just checking to see what I had missed in the time of my absence," Romana explained, her hand motioning to said books on the bedside. Already she had filled a number of pages with information she had decided that might be of use to have for future purposes. It was always better to be prepared for anything.

The fact of her being shorter than him was obvious enough - sitting on the bed with him standing only made her look even smaller in comparison. Looking up at him there was a smile. "And what of you?"

[not_from_mars]

Her smile coaxed one out of him. "Oh, you know," he said, "the usual. Keeping myself from going mad, trying to find new and interesting things to do. And you missed quite a bit -- well, sort of. How caught up are you?"

[tastefulfashion]

"I have only a few more days of reading before I am completely up to date with everything. Quite a lot has happened since I was away..." She patted the notebook once. "But I think I have caught up on enough for now."

Easing herself up she took the books and pencils into her arms. She carried them over to one of the book cases where she tucked them away neatly on an empty spot of a shelf.

[not_from_mars]

When she stood up he moved, flopped down onto the foot of the bed, leaning against one of the posts. He watched her put the things away.

[tastefulfashion]

She had gained quite a small library for herself during her time here, most of the shelves packed with books ranging from reference texts to even the oldest of novels. Once the ones in her hands were safely put away she turned to look to the Doctor, hands on her hips.

"Would you care for tea or anything?"

[not_from_mars]

His eyes scanned over the books she'd collected, and only broke away when she spoke to him. He grinned a crooked grin at her.

"I'd love some tea."

[tastefulfashion]

Earlier that evening she had ventured to the kitchens to fetch a pot of tea and a few spare cups. Tea always helped her to concentrate - and those strawberry creme biscuits were quite enjoyable at that.

The pot was still hot. With care she poured a cup for each of them, adding the milk and sugar (even the little things like how he took his tea were never forgotten) as well. It was not until she handed one to him did she resume sitting on the bed, legs hidden under her skirt. She sipped her tea once and set it carefully on her lap.

"I was a little surprised by your request," she said thoughtfully. Not that she minded: it was just odd to her for someone to ask to share her room with them for a bit of time. "Is there something wrong with your room?"

[not_from_mars]

The fact that Romana still remembered how he took his tea made him smile - though, the Doctor had to remind himself, it hadn't been as long for her as it had for him. He took the tea, legs folded underneath him as he leant against the bedpost.

He took a breath to answer her, but closed his mouth thoughtfully. There was nothing wrong with his room. It had been stagnancy, to be quite honest, that drove him to ask - though quite frankly he'd been considering the question since April -; Jack had been staying in the TARDIS so often as to have moved back in, but that didn't necessarily mean he always had company. And since the Doctor couldln't go anywhere, had only the boundaries of Paradisa in which to travel...

"No, no. Nothing wrong with it." He sipped at his tea.

[tastefulfashion]

She was observing him over the rim of her cup. When he paused before answering, she sipped the tea, waiting. Maybe it was because she over-analyzed things far too often but she wondered if something was troubling him. Typically answers would come without hesitation. It was whenever he paused to think (and this was in every incarnation she noticed) did she notice that something must be troubling him.

There was a faint clink from where the cup met the saucer when she set it down on her lap once more. "Is something bothering you then?" Really now, she couldn't help being curious.

[not_from_mars]

"Not... bothering, per se," he said avoidantly. He wasn't sure if Romana had reached the weekend of the twelfth yet; a weekend that had been hard on everyone from their universe. He was still stiff, still sore, but above all his mind was greatly unrested. Mental wounds took longer to heal than physical. After that he'd been doing what he could to not dwell on what had happened, to continue on.

"I dunno," he began, still avoidantly, taking a sip of tea, "I just wanted a change for a bit, spend some time with a friend."

[tastefulfashion]

Oh, she had read of those days. It had troubled her greatly when she found the entires in regards to the matter, but it was not something she would press on about. There were things that were better to be left alone until the time called for it.

She smiled faintly after sipping her tea again. "Well, I am never one to object to company of a friend. It's... rather nice, really. After being away for so long I am glad to see familiar faces once more."