TM Topic 177 - Who Has Made You Smile Recently?
It wasn't that the Doctor hadn't planned to smile for some time after he left.
On the contrary, he would probably do a great deal of it; curved lips are a handy diversion for tired eyes, amusement a welcome distraction.
However, as the doors shut behind him, and he leaned against them, he didn't think there would be joy to be found there.
Not after obeying such a request. Not after leaving her to die of something no one understands, that he could have averted if he'd simply thought before it was too late.
Yet when the doors opened they ran to him, so distant from the regret and the grief and the helplessness he'd sworn never to feel again. Peri was breathlessly detailing their adventure, hinting that it was quite nice here unlike some places they'd been, gently ridiculing him about botched plans; Erimem had that small, amused smile, putting in helpful asides and flashes of that righteous indignation he'd found so admirable.
He listened, and nodded, and protested, and once or twice, he smiled.
Perhaps that was why, when all was said and done, he told them they deserved a vacation, somewhere pleasant and safe, after everything they'd gone through. Why he'd somehow managed to pay for a rather nice suite and all of their needs while he was gone.
They were reluctant, and he was resolved, and he left them for a while, but never completely; he would think of them, and his lips would curve, and it would be real.
On the contrary, he would probably do a great deal of it; curved lips are a handy diversion for tired eyes, amusement a welcome distraction.
However, as the doors shut behind him, and he leaned against them, he didn't think there would be joy to be found there.
Not after obeying such a request. Not after leaving her to die of something no one understands, that he could have averted if he'd simply thought before it was too late.
Yet when the doors opened they ran to him, so distant from the regret and the grief and the helplessness he'd sworn never to feel again. Peri was breathlessly detailing their adventure, hinting that it was quite nice here unlike some places they'd been, gently ridiculing him about botched plans; Erimem had that small, amused smile, putting in helpful asides and flashes of that righteous indignation he'd found so admirable.
He listened, and nodded, and protested, and once or twice, he smiled.
Perhaps that was why, when all was said and done, he told them they deserved a vacation, somewhere pleasant and safe, after everything they'd gone through. Why he'd somehow managed to pay for a rather nice suite and all of their needs while he was gone.
They were reluctant, and he was resolved, and he left them for a while, but never completely; he would think of them, and his lips would curve, and it would be real.