For handysparehand
It all seems a bit ridiculous, really, when Arthur thinks of how his mornings used to go.
Being woken up by Winifred, washing and dressing before heading down for breakfast and then either heading to his study or biking out to the University.
Today he wakes up to the sounds of a ship humming all around him. He stretches out and climbs out of bed, only to be distracted by his pajama bottoms. They have stars on them. And planets and comets and things. And it’s accurate and to scale, the sky as you would see it if you looked up from the Physics Exhibit, and that shouldn’t make Arthur as giddy as it does.
He gets over this by the time he reaches the small gathering outside the bathroom, yawning and rubbing at his eyes under the glasses. The two other people standing there look identical to him, and it always takes him a moment to figure out which is which this soon after waking up.
“Morning, Doctor.”
“Good morning, Arthur! Or did you mean him?”
“I thought he meant you.”
“Both of you, really.”
That makes the one in the kitten pajamas the human Doctor and the one in the dinosaur pajamas the two-hearted Doctor. And just like that, the slight moment of confusion passes in Arthur’s mind. He smiles, then looks down to trace constellations on his own pajama bottoms, trying to figure out how many of these he remembers just from memory.
He stops when he feels eyes on him, and glances up to see both Doctors grinning at him. Blushing lightly, he quickly drops his hand.
“Knew you’d like them. Donna helped me pick them out.”
“Definite improvement from the green ones you used. We’ll have to get you more of these once we make another pit stop.”
“But….I like the green ones.”
Before any of them can reply, the Master shoves through the small crowd and steps into the bathroom, locking the door behind himself and barely sparing anyone a glance. Arthur always wonders how he manages that every morning, even when they all get here before him. Maybe he should start trying to wake up when Donna does; she might be nice enough to let him go first if he promises he’ll be quick about it.
“Ah, well, he’ll be there at least an hour, might as well watch a bit of telly while we wait. Come on, Arthur.”
He glances over at the one in the dinosaur pajamas, then does as he’s told and walks off in the direction of the television.
He grabs a bowl of cereal on the way, picking a box at random. He finds one with a cartoon-style dog on the front, and figures this is as good a box to go with as any. He’s barely sat down when the two Doctors look at him.
“That’s not fair, how come you get cereal?”
“I want cereal.”
“I grabbed it from the kitchen, on the way here. You could grab a bowl.”
“But I’m already sitting down in front of the telly, and I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Bring me a bowl too, when you bring his. Wouldn’t be fair if everyone else had one.”
“I like the one with the marshmallows that turn the milk purple. Or chocolate.”
“Purple chocolate milk?”
He wanders off in search of the cereal before their craving becomes any more specific, returning with two bowls in his hands. He hands them to each before taking a seat again, grabbing his own cereal as he watches the tiny mouse and duckling pumping water out of the cat.
Last time he’d looked, the cat had been trying to cook the duckling. He always missed the best bits when he got up.
Normally, he would already be sitting at his desk working, or talking to one of the University Professors. The thought makes Arthur frown a bit.
“Doctor-”
“No.”
“…what?”
“I know that look. You’re not working while we watch telly.”
“But-“
“No.”
“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Just saying no like that.”
“So I can?”
“Nope.”
“But you just said-“
“I didn’t say ‘no’. I said ‘nope’. There’s a difference.”
“He has a point, linguistics and all that.”
He’ll have to find a way to sneak work in with him when the Doctor’s aren’t looking. But for now the Master has finally come out of the bathroom, so they’re all free to try and decide who will go in next, an argument that quickly turns into a game of rock-paper-scissors, once they realize that none of them have a coin that can settle a three-way argument.
It all seems a bit ridiculous, really, when Arthur thinks of how his mornings used to go. But he doesn’t think he minds all that much.
Being woken up by Winifred, washing and dressing before heading down for breakfast and then either heading to his study or biking out to the University.
Today he wakes up to the sounds of a ship humming all around him. He stretches out and climbs out of bed, only to be distracted by his pajama bottoms. They have stars on them. And planets and comets and things. And it’s accurate and to scale, the sky as you would see it if you looked up from the Physics Exhibit, and that shouldn’t make Arthur as giddy as it does.
He gets over this by the time he reaches the small gathering outside the bathroom, yawning and rubbing at his eyes under the glasses. The two other people standing there look identical to him, and it always takes him a moment to figure out which is which this soon after waking up.
“Morning, Doctor.”
“Good morning, Arthur! Or did you mean him?”
“I thought he meant you.”
“Both of you, really.”
That makes the one in the kitten pajamas the human Doctor and the one in the dinosaur pajamas the two-hearted Doctor. And just like that, the slight moment of confusion passes in Arthur’s mind. He smiles, then looks down to trace constellations on his own pajama bottoms, trying to figure out how many of these he remembers just from memory.
He stops when he feels eyes on him, and glances up to see both Doctors grinning at him. Blushing lightly, he quickly drops his hand.
“Knew you’d like them. Donna helped me pick them out.”
“Definite improvement from the green ones you used. We’ll have to get you more of these once we make another pit stop.”
“But….I like the green ones.”
Before any of them can reply, the Master shoves through the small crowd and steps into the bathroom, locking the door behind himself and barely sparing anyone a glance. Arthur always wonders how he manages that every morning, even when they all get here before him. Maybe he should start trying to wake up when Donna does; she might be nice enough to let him go first if he promises he’ll be quick about it.
“Ah, well, he’ll be there at least an hour, might as well watch a bit of telly while we wait. Come on, Arthur.”
He glances over at the one in the dinosaur pajamas, then does as he’s told and walks off in the direction of the television.
He grabs a bowl of cereal on the way, picking a box at random. He finds one with a cartoon-style dog on the front, and figures this is as good a box to go with as any. He’s barely sat down when the two Doctors look at him.
“That’s not fair, how come you get cereal?”
“I want cereal.”
“I grabbed it from the kitchen, on the way here. You could grab a bowl.”
“But I’m already sitting down in front of the telly, and I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Bring me a bowl too, when you bring his. Wouldn’t be fair if everyone else had one.”
“I like the one with the marshmallows that turn the milk purple. Or chocolate.”
“Purple chocolate milk?”
He wanders off in search of the cereal before their craving becomes any more specific, returning with two bowls in his hands. He hands them to each before taking a seat again, grabbing his own cereal as he watches the tiny mouse and duckling pumping water out of the cat.
Last time he’d looked, the cat had been trying to cook the duckling. He always missed the best bits when he got up.
Normally, he would already be sitting at his desk working, or talking to one of the University Professors. The thought makes Arthur frown a bit.
“Doctor-”
“No.”
“…what?”
“I know that look. You’re not working while we watch telly.”
“But-“
“No.”
“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Just saying no like that.”
“So I can?”
“Nope.”
“But you just said-“
“I didn’t say ‘no’. I said ‘nope’. There’s a difference.”
“He has a point, linguistics and all that.”
He’ll have to find a way to sneak work in with him when the Doctor’s aren’t looking. But for now the Master has finally come out of the bathroom, so they’re all free to try and decide who will go in next, an argument that quickly turns into a game of rock-paper-scissors, once they realize that none of them have a coin that can settle a three-way argument.
It all seems a bit ridiculous, really, when Arthur thinks of how his mornings used to go. But he doesn’t think he minds all that much.