(Untitled)

[sortofaman]

The Doctor found himself sometimes missing the oddest things. Momentary things, little quirks. A bottle of good wine. A chip shop. Bridges. Things came and went and didn't stay for very long, but when they were there, the feeling was quite intense

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[coffee_sir]

Ianto always found walking the best means of shutting off his brain. But that had been before he had been gifted with a dog. Who insisted, now, on running ahead of him, curious to sniff the same thing she sniffed the day before with even greater interest.

The Doctor, however, was something she hadn't sniffed before, and, spying a human shaped figure ahead, she bounded off to investigate. "Fach," Ianto called after her, sharply, and in a blink the small puppy screeched to a halt, staring at the Doctor, body quivering with excitement, but looking for all the world in that moment like she was a well-trained dog. In that respect she was almost as deceptive as her owner.

[sortofaman]

The Doctor was not easily fooled, namely because the puppy was very, very small (and quite deserving of her name, then) and he knew full well that Ianto Jones had not had a dog all that long or he'd have heard about it.

He folded the penknife and put it back in his pocket. "Croeso," he said to the puppy, holding a hand out for her to sniff and giving Ianto a faint grin. "And who might you be then?"

[coffee_sir]

The puppy inched forward, as if taking small steps would make her unnoticeable, and enthusiastically started licking his hand.

"That," he said, "is Banon. Be careful. She'll probably start nipping you in a bit."

[sortofaman]

"A good strong name," the Doctor said. Apparently he wasn't the only one to see that sort of thing in his dog. "Though a bit schizophrenic?" He let the puppy lick his hand, watching her with a little bit of caution.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto lifted an eyebrow, then, getting the Doctor's meaning, grinned and shook his head. Banon, done with tasting the Doctor's hand with her tongue, started gnawing gently at his fingers, not with the intention to bite or hurt, but much in the same way that a baby explores everything with its mouth. ...If said baby were furry and had sharp puppy teeth.

"Herding dog," he said, coming closer. "It's what she does."

[sortofaman]

The Doctor laughed and let Banon do a little of it before gently pulling his fingers away and wiping the slobber off onto his jeans. "Atalanta took well to herding birds," he said. "If she ever needs a role model. Admittedly, one that's slightly off-kilter."

Like most things a Time Lord touched.

[coffee_sir]

No fingers left to nibble on, Banon sniffed about the Doctor's feet, experimentally seeing if his shoes tasted any good. They didn't, so she circled the rock, sniffing attentively.

"So far all she's tried to herd are humans. Mostly Daniel and I. But we've broken her of that habit. At least I think." Ianto frowned slightly in thought, then focused on the Doctor again, giving him a smile. "And how have you been? The island give you anything nice?"

[sortofaman]

"You've gotta keep her occupied, though. They're too smart and end up chewing everything you own in protest." The Doctor thought it was a good warning. "And yeah. Actually, I did. I got a garden. Quite nice, really. Though it took a bit of work to get it sorted."

[coffee_sir]

"So we've learned," Ianto said dryly, watching Banon nose around in the dirt, but not without a faint smile. "Daniel got something like a library in the spare room. Banon took to gnawing on his least favorite author when we didn't wake up to play with her early enough."

Ianto looked up with a blink. "A whole garden? What had to be sorted?"

[sortofaman]

"At least it was his least favourite," the Doctor said dryly. He might have remained rather unimpressed with Daniel as a whole, but that was a Time Lord prerogative. "And there was some pruning to be done. If I were stubborn about rose bushes I'd probably be there yet."

[coffee_sir]

"Budge deserves to be dog food, apparently," Ianto continued with a shrug. Not being a linguist himself, he didn't care except for whatever mess Banon might have left in her wake.

He grinned at the Doctor. "Sounds like the island wants you to be even more settled here. Mind if Banon and I check it out sometime? I promise she won't dig any holes." Thankfully that seemed the one dog pastime that the puppy didn't indulge in.

[sortofaman]

"Good fibre," the Doctor said. "And yeah, I'd say settled is pretty damn near how much it is. The TARDIS sure isn't going anywhere." Though he should probably check her, he hadn't been in in a few days. "And of course you're both welcome to. No squirrels to chase, though."

[coffee_sir]

"She'll recover, I'm sure," Ianto said lightly, taking a second to glance over at the puppy, who was battling a bit of hanging vine.

"A Time Lord without control of time," he sighed, in that mournful way people adopted when remarking on the terribleness of something not that terrible at all. "You seem to be doing perfectly well though, even without the garden."

[sortofaman]

"A Time Lord gone human's not really much of a Time Lord at all, one might argue," the Doctor said, "though really me being the l...one of the last, it's mostly a semantic point. I've had to be adaptable." He grinned at the puppy.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto frowned, catching wise to the stutter but not quite understanding it.

"You know," he said, "I've only watched a few of those reels -- sorry" (though he really didn't think the Doctor would begrudge him, as he wasn't searching for information or anything) "-- and I could have sworn that line went another way."

[sortofaman]

The Doctor shrugged in recognition of the apology. "I was mistaken," he said simply. "And now he's here."

His tone should have made it clear that this was not a cause for celebration.