Over and over I found myself still astray...

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor had been hoping he would be able to just... be by himself for a while. Things to be done in the TARDIS, after all, plenty of repairs to be made. Once the major repairs were made, though...

It was supposed to be a quick trip, just to make sure everything was in order. And then the TARDIS shook, mid-flight, bucked and twisted and jumped

Comments

[faithful_slayer]

He probably also won't be too surprised when an arrow comes out of nowhere and buries itself in a tree in the vicinity of his face.

Granted, twenty-first century, so that's not entirely common, but...way weirder things have happened to him, right? Weirder things, even, than a pretty brunette stepping out of a nearby tree, pointing a longbow in his face.

"Hi. You have thirty seconds to convince me that I don't want to kill you."

As meetings go, this one is...not entirely auspicious. But Faith's had worse.

[thatsortofaman]

It's more that he's startled more than really frightened by the arrow flying by his face, but the Doctor yelps a little and stumbles back, staring at the girl with the longbow with an expression of pure bewilderment.

"What? It's the early twenty-first century, unless I've really missed my guess. Who carries around bows and arrows in the early twenty-first century?" He lifts his hands a little, realizing she's... still pointing it at him, gaze flickering from the point of the arrow to her face and back. "Ahh... um... well, would it help to point out that I have absolutely no idea where I am?"

[faithful_slayer]

The brunette steps closer, another arrow at the ready.

"If you have to guess about the century, that makes you a time traveler, which either means warlock or demon. If you don't know where and when you are....I guess that makes you an incompetent time-traveler. Which probably means that either you're not dangerous and I should let you go, or you're going to do us all in out of sheer stupidity and I ought to kill you before you kill us."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor blinks, raises an eyebrow at her. "I am not a demon. Or a- oh, honestly, why is it always magic? Humans."

He steps back a little as she steps forward, hands still raised. "And I'm not incompetent, I just... sort of... got a little lost. My ship sort of... crashed here, and - do you really have to be pointing that at me? I'm unarmed."

[faithful_slayer]

"Oh, come on. I'm the fucking Slayer, dumbass...and you stumbled into my patrol path. You're not gonna convince me you're an innocent...."

At this point, a large creature bursts into the path between them.

Without missing a beat, the brunette fires her arrow into the ruby in the center of its forehead, killing it, then brings the bow back to bear on the Doctor with two more arrows already notched in it.

"Now tell me the truth before I set these on fire."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor, for a moment, is a bit busy staring at the spot where the creature - demon? - was to register the threat. Threats... often don't register with him. This... is not regular behavior for someone from early twenty-first century Earth. Nor should there be creatures like that wandering around this time and place... This is all making less and less sense.

He swings back to the girl after a second, barely seeming to notice the arrows now. "I'm sorry, you said you were the... Slayer?" Now he's curious. Curiosity tends to overcome what little survival instincts he possesses.

[faithful_slayer]

"Yeah, that's me. The Slayer, the Chosen One, the Daughter of Sineya, She Who Kicks Ass, Takes Names, and Looks Damn Good In Leather." She flicks on the lighter in her hand - was that always there? - and smiles at him, saturnine and without warmth. "You can call me Faith."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor blinks, studies her for a second, and shakes his head slowly. "Never heard of it." By 'it', you can assume he means 'Slayers in general'. "Which is saying something considering... well, I'm me."

And not arrogant at all, no.

He pauses, remembering she's got deadly weapons pointed at him. "Really, you can put that down. I'm... practically harmless."

[faithful_slayer]

"You're not human. That makes you something I can kill and maybe a threat. So tell me who and what you are, and I'll be the one to decide whether I put this down."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor sighs a little, rolling his eyes. "What makes you think I'm a threat? I just happened to be here! ...You're very violent, has anyone ever told you that? Well, with a name like 'the Slayer'... I'm called the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord, not that that will mean anything to you, but I promise, I'm not a threat. Just a traveler, passing through."

[faithful_slayer]

"Oh, my god, you're not just a demon, you're a demonic fanboy."

Faith sighs, disgusted.

"Typical. American ones always go for the Anne Rice references, but you, you have to be different, you have to all be watching Doctor Fucking Who...okay, admittedly, that Rose chick was hot, I'd totally tap that, but come on."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor looks momentarily baffled, and then annoyed for a second - bad enough to be mistaken for a fan the first time, but this is just too much - and then...

His face falls, expression going from cheerful and somewhat confused but essentially harmless to something colder, darker. More suspicious than angry, and there's new and old pain underneath all of that. "How do you know about her?"

[faithful_slayer]

"Got the show shoved down my throat. You're not the first fanboy I've ever met, you're just the first who claims to actually be the main character."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor stares at her. Just... stares. "What?"

Sometimes... that's really all you can say.

[faithful_slayer]

"Let me guess, you've got a car around here that you've painted blue and named The Tardis?"

[thatsortofaman]

"No, I've got a... box that's blue and called the- It's a TARDIS! It's my TARDIS!" Beat. "You're not with LINDA, are you? Or... Torchwood?"