FIC: Flipped, Book 2 (2/10)
Title: Flipped, Book 2
Rating: heavy T for most contents, but it earns an M for occasional scenes and subject matter
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble has the biggest challenge of his life ahead - taking care of the new Tenth Doctor. Of course, it's harder because his male friend who was in love with him is now a gorgeous ginger woman... who's caught his eye. Sequel to Flipped, Book 1. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a future present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the sequel. :D Happy Belated Birthday, TM! :DDD I really jope you like this. I finally had to start posting because the uncertainty of whether I did well enough was getting to me.
Oh, and if you haven't read Flipped, please go back and do so. As in right now. :)
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
Chapter One
CHAPTER TWO: MIRRORS, DINING HABITS, AND INTRODUCTIONS
Fortunately, David was quick to return. He had a steaming device that plugged into the wall, which he did. “Smell might be the key, but maybe it's not strong enough just coming from the pot itself. If we turn some of this to steam...” He put the lid back down once the heating element was definitely hot, and then poured a small amount. The heating element hissed as the tea turned into steam, filling the room.
Moments later, the Doctor's chest rose from a very deep breath.
“Come on,” David muttered.
The Doctor's head started moving, and she opened her eyes, blinking. “Tannins and free radicals. I can feel them clearing my head.”
“How about the rest? Body feeling stronger yet?”
She frowned. “No, but that could take a moment. A check in the TARDIS infirmary and a healing sleep should work though.” She grinned. “Thank you.” She turned to face him, and blinked. “Who's that?”
“I'm Nerys Williams. I grew up with David.”
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, ever so slightly. “Oh... I've heard of you. So this is the woman who you covered for, David? The one whose family you look after?”
David cleared his throat. “Um... yeah. Emily was here, too. She's gone for clothes you can borrow until we find you better things, and I asked her to bring the kids. No! Don't sit up!”
“Why not? Why can't- Oh! Yes, I suppose I should wait.” The Doctor blushed. “Better not show the alien flesh to anyone, I guess.”
“For the record?” Nerys grinned. “You look like a good-looking human from here.”
David covered his face. He'd expected it, but it reminded him of things he really didn't want to think about. Not when they reminded him of what he'd done to recover more than a semblance of rational thought.
The Doctor blinked a moment, wondering why he reacted so and then looked around. “I need to get up. You have a dressing gown I could borrow for a moment? I don't fancy putting back on the clothes I was wearing.”
Clearing his throat, David went to his wardrobe and pulled one out. “Here. Do you feel well enough to walk downstairs?”
She tested her limbs under the sheets. “Yeah. Will need more tea to drink, but I could use that.” Her stomach growled as loud as a train. She laughed. “Oh, I need some food. Wonder what this body will like?”
Nerys looked at David like she half expected the Doctor to say something really crazy at any moment. He shrugged and grabbed her arm. “We'll be downstairs in the kitchen. If you need help, give us a shout.” He tugged Nerys out. “Curie?”
The dog stayed put, looking like she wanted to protect the Doctor.
David sighed. “Okay. You have someone who can call out if you faint. Which I hope you don't.”
“Me, too. And don't call it fainting. It's called passing out.”
“'Fainting' is an appropriate medical term. There's no shame in doing it even if you're a bloke. So don't let any ideas of how you should act have too much influence.” He took a deep breath. “You're no longer a bloke, so please don't keep acting like one. There's a cup right there. Have as much of the tea as you want. We'll make another pot.” He turned and closed the door behind them.
Curie stared at the Doctor for a moment, silent. The Doctor's lips twitched. Looking David's companion right in the eyes, she sighed. “And how am I supposed to act? I've lived as a 'bloke' for over a million years. Has he thought that far ahead?”
She didn't get an answer. Not that she expected one even from the talkative Curie. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the gown and quickly wrapped herself in it. She did not stop to assess her appearance, despite her curiosity. She wanted and needed sustenance, which plainly took precedence over learning what exactly this womanly body looked like.
Walking downstairs gave her another cause for alarm. Her breasts moved without her consent while walking briskly, and she did not want to know how they were going to move if she ran. Blanching, she pinched the bridge of her nose, now not so sure she liked what had happened to her.
Downstairs, she entered and found David preparing sandwiches. Nerys sat in one of the chairs, staring down into her own cup and looking utterly bewildered.
David hear Curie's approach before he heard the soft footsteps. He looked up, noting how the Doctor seemed to be measuring her steps and assessing how her new body moved. He tried to not laugh over the appearance of the gown. It covered all the essentials, not even showing a hint of cleavage (to his relief), but exposed her from the knees down. At least he could look at that without reacting. “How do you feel right now?”
“Hungry. And despite all the possible cultural traditions I might be breaking with this, I will try anything you put in front of me.”
Nerys frowned. “What traditions?”
“Well, we lived such long lives that we had to come up with a great many traditions to keep sane. Some involved what it meant when one person was invited to dine with another. Although since I was a man when I met David and have dined here before, I don't think any of them are technically being violated.” She sat down carefully, frowning. “Oh, I'm going to need trousers. I can't go around without them!”
David resisted the urge to face-palm himself. Barely. “Emily will be back soon, Hopefully she'll have some things to tide you over for a little while.”
“Is she my size?”
“Not even when she was pregnant,” Nerys answered. “You're going to need to shop for new things.”
“I can ask my ship to make some things, but I suppose some of them I have to acquire first.” She groaned. “I need to know what fits me, and what will be this body's uniform.”
“Uniform? Don't you change clothes?”
David snorted, finding a smile. “Oh, I swear the Doctor never changed trousers or jackets since I met him. His jumper? Yeah, he rotated those. As for anything else, I can't speak for.”
The Doctor glared at him. “I'll have you know that I did change pants regularly. What do you think I was? Someone sloppy who didn't care whether alien creatures could smell me from three miles away?! Well, think again, Earthman! We Time Lords were always fastidious about our personal health and care. Kept us mostly undetected when we had to observe events.”
“Note the use of the word 'mostly' there,” David retorted, aiming the comment at Nerys. “Meaning for such an advanced species, they were rubbish at covering their tracks. Probably because they forgot how to handle emotions and therefore anticipate what might happen. That little thing called intuition that humans have? Time Lords seem to lack it and common sense.”
“Oi!”
“You'll have to do better than that, Doctor.”
She had no reply. She just glared at him. She was pleased to notice that he cringed slightly in the face of it. But was it more that she was a woman now and he had an ingrained habit of being respectful to women? Oh, this wouldn't ruin their banter, would it?!
Nerys cleared her throat, not sure if some knock-down argument was about to happen. When David's temper was riled, things could get ugly. Although he would never raise a hand to a woman out of anger, he could find the words to wound when he felt justified. He wasn't Sylvia Noble's son for nothing, after all. Thankfully it hardly ever happened. “I take it you need pretty much everything then to manage as a woman? Have you thought about what you'll have to have that you don't right now?”
The Doctor thought a moment. Then she thought another moment, and still drew blanks. She umed and uhed for yet another moment. “I really don't know. Aside from I'll have to have something to keep these in place when I run.” She cupped her breasts.
“Please stop that!” shouted David, turning very red.
Blinking, the Doctor lowered her hands. “What's the matter?”
Nerys saved him from having to speak through a spluttering fit. “Women aren't supposed to grab their boobs. Least not in public. It's kind of like a bloke grabbing his privates in public.”
“Oh! Oh, I see how that could be misinterpreted! Sorry, David. I didn't make you embarrassed, did I?”
His face tried to turn a deeper color. “Maybe a bit. There's a lot we have to coach you in.”
The Doctor blinked. “Oh, am I going to have to use face paint?! Well, I'm not shaving!”
Nerys gaped. “But how else are you going to wear skirts and dresses?!”
“Well, I won't! It's unnatural, and I've always noticed that men want to date the woman, not her habits. And raise one comment about this body being fat and I'll tell you where you can put your opinion!”
“Doctor,” David interrupted, not wanting Nerys to endure anything more than she already had. “While I agree that there is too much obsession with creating the perfect body, you might find it necessary to wear a dress or skirt on occasion, I'm not sure that going in like you own the place is going to work as well as it used to.”
The Doctor paled. “Oh, no! You mean I get to be ginger at last but I'll have to shout even louder to handle the despots and villains?!” She let out a frustrated and inarticulate sound. At least to human ears. She truly said a Gallifreyan curse equal to the English “f” word. “This is not fair!”
“Who said life was ever fair?”
She grimaced, tossing him a slight glare trying to hide a sudden pain brought on by his words.
“Oh... sorry.” He cleared his throat, his darker freckles showing more intensely given the blood that fled his face. “Well, I guess you'll need me around a while longer to help shout them into submission. Or whatever else is needed.” He glanced at her, expression filled with curiosity. “You're going to need a good professional look, seem like someone commanding and worth paying attention to.” He groaned and rubbed his face. “And I think at least I'm going to need to be there with you for shopping. I can't risk letting you choose something like what your sixth self wore.”
Nerys spat her tea to the floor. “Sixth self?!”
The Doctor ignored her. “And how I am supposed to do that? Are you an expert on women's clothing? And as for that, the TARDIS didn't let me have much choice. I think she suspected what a pain that me was going to be and decided to make me pay early.”
He decided to ignore that detail about the past. For now. “No. I just know if the clothing in question makes the woman look good or not.”
“So what will look good on me?”
He frowned. “Haven't you looked in the mirror yet?”
“No.”
Nerys was agog. “But that's the most critical part of knowing! You'll have to look in one when you try clothes on!”
Sighing, David tugged the Doctor to her feet. “Come on.” He was glad she did not protest as he brought her into the bathroom and then turned on the light. He heard Nerys following, probably out of shock and slightly out of curiosity about what would happen next.
The Doctor looked long and hard at her new appearance. “Hmm. I have a fringe.” She giggled. “Of all the ways my hair could've turned out from regeneration!” She grinned. “Not that I'm complaining, but it is a little odd. But I suppose so is a ginger Time Lord. Hmm... I've a mole on my face.” She touched along her jaw, and briefly fingered the spot in question. “Well, these are good curves. Plenty of muscle underneath, but many might underestimate me since the foolish would assume this is fat.” She smirked. “Shame on them. And no flat bum anymore,” she added, turning enough to get a look. “Humph. My new trousers will have to handle these. At least the Old Girl will make them transdimentional.”
Nerys stared with huge eyes. She turned them to David. “Has the Doctor always been bonkers?”
“Sometimes I wonder.”
“Oi!” exclaimed the Doctor.
Raising his hands in defense and to placate her, David sighed. “Come on, Doctor. You know that you can seem utterly impossible at times!”
“I'm not impossible,” she answered primly. “Just a bit unlikely.”
Groaning, he shooed her back into the kitchen, to await when Emily finally arrived with the children. That moment could only be to David's relief. He did not want to spend the next hour keeping the two women already there at peace. Fortunately he suspected that the Doctor wold be easily placated by putting sandwiches in front of her.
He was right. Only he was not prepared to see the Doctor decide that each of the samples he put in front of her - except for the tuna salad that was Nerys' favorite - were utterly delicious and ate the entire things. “Good start, but I'm still hungry,” she declared.
Nerys, who always ate daintily but had no appetite at the moment, was certain her eyes were going to pop into the next room. “How can you pack so much away?”
“Time Lords have a high metabolism to begin with, but regeneration leaves an enormous energy deficit to be rectified. I need loads of fuel to replenish my energy and to ensure a good healing sleep to recover my strength. I have a few weaknesses that I'm hoping that will correct. If not, I'll use the TARDIS infirmary to see what can be done.”
David hurriedly put together more sandwiches, and pulled put all the fruit he could find. He watched as his supplies began to dwindle. He could see a massive run to Tesco was called for. He wondered if the Doctor would be satisfied by the food he did have in the house.
The Doctor still did not care about what her eating habits looked like, as David quickly noticed. That had not changed. What did change was his reaction to the habits - every time she licked any sauce or crumbs off her fingers or licked her lips (and that was often since she was trying to nab every last bit of food on her plates), he found he felt a little warmer than before.
Oh God, he wasn't falling in lust with the Doctor's new body, was he?!
Licking her lips of the latest crumbs, the Doctor grabbed a banana and opened it. She stopped after a moment and sniffed it deeply. “Oh, that smells heavenly!” She peeled it open completely, and took a bite. She groaned in delight. “My new favorite food!” she declared through her chewing.
David's eyes went wide. He'd never thought a woman - even a beautiful woman - eating could possibly be sexy before. What the hell was different?!
Nerys' eyes went back and forth between watching David's reluctantly transfixed expression and the Doctor's apparently innocent enjoyment. The Doctor devoured one banana and soon started on another. Smirking, she had to test the waters. “Doctor, do you want to left alone with your banana?”
The Doctor blinked, chewing her latest bite. “Why would I?”
David coughed and turned before he stood up.
Luckily, the front door opened. Curie barked happily and rushed to greet the arrivals. The Doctor heard cheering and some young voices crying Curie's name in joy. She looked at David. “Is that Emily and the children?”
He smiled, relaxing almost completely from the moment before. “Yeah.” He moved toward the entryway. Before he moved fully into the hallway, he knelt to the ground just in time to be slammed into by two children who looked no older than three to the Doctor. Cheers of “Uncle David!” rang out and he was instantly bombarded with tales of what they had done recently.
The Doctor watched as David's face transformed into a beaming expression she had never quite seen him show. It was almost like watching an reunion between parent and child. He was very close to these children.
Emily came into view carrying two large hand bags. She and Nerys both smiled widely at the sight, looking like they were very familiar with the particular scene.
While Emily put down the bags, the children pulled away from the hug just enough that the Doctor could get a good look at their faces. They both had dark hair that looked like Emily could have provided it, but it also reminded her of someone else. The little girl definitely resembled Emily, but her smile matched her brother's, and his face... and their eyes...
The Doctor turned to Nerys and leaned in. She had to ask, so she whispered. “Why do your twins look like David?”
Nerys had a lot of practice concealing her true feelings. At first it was hiding that she felt different than what she was expected to be like. Then it was covering up that she preferred her own gender. Finally it was not letting on that she was rather alone in the world except for Emily, David, and the twins. Taking a deep breath, she turned and whispered back, using a hand to keep anyone in the entryway from seeing her lips move. “My family didn't react well when I announced I was marrying Emily. Her own didn't like it either. We each have brothers - she has two and I one. We hoped that our siblings would be accepting enough that we could each carry a pregnancy and the other's brother would provide the sperm we needed. Trouble is... they also shunned us. We were prepared to go on the anonymous donor route, as expensive as that could be but... David surprised us. He offered to donate, out of the blue.”
The Doctor's mouth dropped.
“Bless him, all he asked for were two things: to be an uncle to any resulting children so he could dote on them as much as he pleased, and to be first to gain custody if anything happened to us. We agreed in a heartbeat. He would've been our first choice anyway.”
“That's... so like him.” She looked at the children again, now feeling something inside that she didn't remember feeling before. It seemed like a certain softness toward the twins. “What are you going to tell them if they ask? They'll surely notice one day.”
“We'll deal with it then.” Nerys dropped her hand and drew back, closing the conversation.
David let go of the twins, having heard their latest exploits and what they saw when they went to see Santa several days earlier, and took their hands as he stood. “Well, that's lovely, good on you! Now I have someone for you to meet.” He brought them over to stand by the Doctor, who they finally noticed was there. “Ella, Josh, meet the Doctor.”
They blinked, looked at her and then at each other. Finally they asked, almost as one, “What your name?”
The Doctor felt her lips twitch into a smile over the innocent question. “Well, that's a secret.”
“Why?”
“Long story, but it's meant for only one person to know. Can't tell you who. I don't know.”
They both scowled, in that way that only a little kid could make cute. It also made the contribution from David much more apparent.
Emily laughed silently. “What did I say? People have different ways. If she doesn't want to explain, you can't insist on it.”
“But she look like us! She sound like us!”
David squeezed their hands. “It's okay. Want some fruit?”
“Yes!” They hopped up and down, and the clamor became incomprehensible to human ears. Unless the person had been around them long enough to understand their particular version of language.
The Doctor was watching how David practically acted like a father in how he guided them through choosing their own food and getting them to sit down. Which they did on either side of the Doctor, like they were very curious about her and thought they could interrogate her.
Which they did. They had all sorts of questions. Why was her hair so vivid? What was she doing in a dressing gown? What had she eaten? Where was she from? Did she have family? What did she do? Where did she live?
The Doctor tried to field all of the questions, or avoid giving answers as much as possible since the truth was too much for anyone so young. And she had not seen anyone so small in a long time. She could not remember the last time she met tots of any age or species - that happened since the Time War. But she found she enjoyed their banter and talking with them.
What impressed Nerys and Emily was how quickly the Doctor seemed to get the hang of talking with their children. She almost seemed like a natural after a few minutes.
No one noticed how David just stared at the scene in awe. He remembered how the Doctor had been toward the young boy once he was freed from the mask, and suspected that his friend was naturally caring toward children - especially given how well he took to Curie. It was easy to tell how kind a person was by how they treated children and animals. But what captured his attention was how increasingly tender and even loving she was toward them. It did funny things to his insides. He wasn't ready to examine that. At all.
Chapter Three: Shopping and Other Invasions
Rating: heavy T for most contents, but it earns an M for occasional scenes and subject matter
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble has the biggest challenge of his life ahead - taking care of the new Tenth Doctor. Of course, it's harder because his male friend who was in love with him is now a gorgeous ginger woman... who's caught his eye. Sequel to Flipped, Book 1. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a future present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the sequel. :D Happy Belated Birthday, TM! :DDD I really jope you like this. I finally had to start posting because the uncertainty of whether I did well enough was getting to me.
Oh, and if you haven't read Flipped, please go back and do so. As in right now. :)
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
Chapter One
CHAPTER TWO: MIRRORS, DINING HABITS, AND INTRODUCTIONS
Fortunately, David was quick to return. He had a steaming device that plugged into the wall, which he did. “Smell might be the key, but maybe it's not strong enough just coming from the pot itself. If we turn some of this to steam...” He put the lid back down once the heating element was definitely hot, and then poured a small amount. The heating element hissed as the tea turned into steam, filling the room.
Moments later, the Doctor's chest rose from a very deep breath.
“Come on,” David muttered.
The Doctor's head started moving, and she opened her eyes, blinking. “Tannins and free radicals. I can feel them clearing my head.”
“How about the rest? Body feeling stronger yet?”
She frowned. “No, but that could take a moment. A check in the TARDIS infirmary and a healing sleep should work though.” She grinned. “Thank you.” She turned to face him, and blinked. “Who's that?”
“I'm Nerys Williams. I grew up with David.”
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, ever so slightly. “Oh... I've heard of you. So this is the woman who you covered for, David? The one whose family you look after?”
David cleared his throat. “Um... yeah. Emily was here, too. She's gone for clothes you can borrow until we find you better things, and I asked her to bring the kids. No! Don't sit up!”
“Why not? Why can't- Oh! Yes, I suppose I should wait.” The Doctor blushed. “Better not show the alien flesh to anyone, I guess.”
“For the record?” Nerys grinned. “You look like a good-looking human from here.”
David covered his face. He'd expected it, but it reminded him of things he really didn't want to think about. Not when they reminded him of what he'd done to recover more than a semblance of rational thought.
The Doctor blinked a moment, wondering why he reacted so and then looked around. “I need to get up. You have a dressing gown I could borrow for a moment? I don't fancy putting back on the clothes I was wearing.”
Clearing his throat, David went to his wardrobe and pulled one out. “Here. Do you feel well enough to walk downstairs?”
She tested her limbs under the sheets. “Yeah. Will need more tea to drink, but I could use that.” Her stomach growled as loud as a train. She laughed. “Oh, I need some food. Wonder what this body will like?”
Nerys looked at David like she half expected the Doctor to say something really crazy at any moment. He shrugged and grabbed her arm. “We'll be downstairs in the kitchen. If you need help, give us a shout.” He tugged Nerys out. “Curie?”
The dog stayed put, looking like she wanted to protect the Doctor.
David sighed. “Okay. You have someone who can call out if you faint. Which I hope you don't.”
“Me, too. And don't call it fainting. It's called passing out.”
“'Fainting' is an appropriate medical term. There's no shame in doing it even if you're a bloke. So don't let any ideas of how you should act have too much influence.” He took a deep breath. “You're no longer a bloke, so please don't keep acting like one. There's a cup right there. Have as much of the tea as you want. We'll make another pot.” He turned and closed the door behind them.
Curie stared at the Doctor for a moment, silent. The Doctor's lips twitched. Looking David's companion right in the eyes, she sighed. “And how am I supposed to act? I've lived as a 'bloke' for over a million years. Has he thought that far ahead?”
She didn't get an answer. Not that she expected one even from the talkative Curie. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the gown and quickly wrapped herself in it. She did not stop to assess her appearance, despite her curiosity. She wanted and needed sustenance, which plainly took precedence over learning what exactly this womanly body looked like.
Walking downstairs gave her another cause for alarm. Her breasts moved without her consent while walking briskly, and she did not want to know how they were going to move if she ran. Blanching, she pinched the bridge of her nose, now not so sure she liked what had happened to her.
Downstairs, she entered and found David preparing sandwiches. Nerys sat in one of the chairs, staring down into her own cup and looking utterly bewildered.
David hear Curie's approach before he heard the soft footsteps. He looked up, noting how the Doctor seemed to be measuring her steps and assessing how her new body moved. He tried to not laugh over the appearance of the gown. It covered all the essentials, not even showing a hint of cleavage (to his relief), but exposed her from the knees down. At least he could look at that without reacting. “How do you feel right now?”
“Hungry. And despite all the possible cultural traditions I might be breaking with this, I will try anything you put in front of me.”
Nerys frowned. “What traditions?”
“Well, we lived such long lives that we had to come up with a great many traditions to keep sane. Some involved what it meant when one person was invited to dine with another. Although since I was a man when I met David and have dined here before, I don't think any of them are technically being violated.” She sat down carefully, frowning. “Oh, I'm going to need trousers. I can't go around without them!”
David resisted the urge to face-palm himself. Barely. “Emily will be back soon, Hopefully she'll have some things to tide you over for a little while.”
“Is she my size?”
“Not even when she was pregnant,” Nerys answered. “You're going to need to shop for new things.”
“I can ask my ship to make some things, but I suppose some of them I have to acquire first.” She groaned. “I need to know what fits me, and what will be this body's uniform.”
“Uniform? Don't you change clothes?”
David snorted, finding a smile. “Oh, I swear the Doctor never changed trousers or jackets since I met him. His jumper? Yeah, he rotated those. As for anything else, I can't speak for.”
The Doctor glared at him. “I'll have you know that I did change pants regularly. What do you think I was? Someone sloppy who didn't care whether alien creatures could smell me from three miles away?! Well, think again, Earthman! We Time Lords were always fastidious about our personal health and care. Kept us mostly undetected when we had to observe events.”
“Note the use of the word 'mostly' there,” David retorted, aiming the comment at Nerys. “Meaning for such an advanced species, they were rubbish at covering their tracks. Probably because they forgot how to handle emotions and therefore anticipate what might happen. That little thing called intuition that humans have? Time Lords seem to lack it and common sense.”
“Oi!”
“You'll have to do better than that, Doctor.”
She had no reply. She just glared at him. She was pleased to notice that he cringed slightly in the face of it. But was it more that she was a woman now and he had an ingrained habit of being respectful to women? Oh, this wouldn't ruin their banter, would it?!
Nerys cleared her throat, not sure if some knock-down argument was about to happen. When David's temper was riled, things could get ugly. Although he would never raise a hand to a woman out of anger, he could find the words to wound when he felt justified. He wasn't Sylvia Noble's son for nothing, after all. Thankfully it hardly ever happened. “I take it you need pretty much everything then to manage as a woman? Have you thought about what you'll have to have that you don't right now?”
The Doctor thought a moment. Then she thought another moment, and still drew blanks. She umed and uhed for yet another moment. “I really don't know. Aside from I'll have to have something to keep these in place when I run.” She cupped her breasts.
“Please stop that!” shouted David, turning very red.
Blinking, the Doctor lowered her hands. “What's the matter?”
Nerys saved him from having to speak through a spluttering fit. “Women aren't supposed to grab their boobs. Least not in public. It's kind of like a bloke grabbing his privates in public.”
“Oh! Oh, I see how that could be misinterpreted! Sorry, David. I didn't make you embarrassed, did I?”
His face tried to turn a deeper color. “Maybe a bit. There's a lot we have to coach you in.”
The Doctor blinked. “Oh, am I going to have to use face paint?! Well, I'm not shaving!”
Nerys gaped. “But how else are you going to wear skirts and dresses?!”
“Well, I won't! It's unnatural, and I've always noticed that men want to date the woman, not her habits. And raise one comment about this body being fat and I'll tell you where you can put your opinion!”
“Doctor,” David interrupted, not wanting Nerys to endure anything more than she already had. “While I agree that there is too much obsession with creating the perfect body, you might find it necessary to wear a dress or skirt on occasion, I'm not sure that going in like you own the place is going to work as well as it used to.”
The Doctor paled. “Oh, no! You mean I get to be ginger at last but I'll have to shout even louder to handle the despots and villains?!” She let out a frustrated and inarticulate sound. At least to human ears. She truly said a Gallifreyan curse equal to the English “f” word. “This is not fair!”
“Who said life was ever fair?”
She grimaced, tossing him a slight glare trying to hide a sudden pain brought on by his words.
“Oh... sorry.” He cleared his throat, his darker freckles showing more intensely given the blood that fled his face. “Well, I guess you'll need me around a while longer to help shout them into submission. Or whatever else is needed.” He glanced at her, expression filled with curiosity. “You're going to need a good professional look, seem like someone commanding and worth paying attention to.” He groaned and rubbed his face. “And I think at least I'm going to need to be there with you for shopping. I can't risk letting you choose something like what your sixth self wore.”
Nerys spat her tea to the floor. “Sixth self?!”
The Doctor ignored her. “And how I am supposed to do that? Are you an expert on women's clothing? And as for that, the TARDIS didn't let me have much choice. I think she suspected what a pain that me was going to be and decided to make me pay early.”
He decided to ignore that detail about the past. For now. “No. I just know if the clothing in question makes the woman look good or not.”
“So what will look good on me?”
He frowned. “Haven't you looked in the mirror yet?”
“No.”
Nerys was agog. “But that's the most critical part of knowing! You'll have to look in one when you try clothes on!”
Sighing, David tugged the Doctor to her feet. “Come on.” He was glad she did not protest as he brought her into the bathroom and then turned on the light. He heard Nerys following, probably out of shock and slightly out of curiosity about what would happen next.
The Doctor looked long and hard at her new appearance. “Hmm. I have a fringe.” She giggled. “Of all the ways my hair could've turned out from regeneration!” She grinned. “Not that I'm complaining, but it is a little odd. But I suppose so is a ginger Time Lord. Hmm... I've a mole on my face.” She touched along her jaw, and briefly fingered the spot in question. “Well, these are good curves. Plenty of muscle underneath, but many might underestimate me since the foolish would assume this is fat.” She smirked. “Shame on them. And no flat bum anymore,” she added, turning enough to get a look. “Humph. My new trousers will have to handle these. At least the Old Girl will make them transdimentional.”
Nerys stared with huge eyes. She turned them to David. “Has the Doctor always been bonkers?”
“Sometimes I wonder.”
“Oi!” exclaimed the Doctor.
Raising his hands in defense and to placate her, David sighed. “Come on, Doctor. You know that you can seem utterly impossible at times!”
“I'm not impossible,” she answered primly. “Just a bit unlikely.”
Groaning, he shooed her back into the kitchen, to await when Emily finally arrived with the children. That moment could only be to David's relief. He did not want to spend the next hour keeping the two women already there at peace. Fortunately he suspected that the Doctor wold be easily placated by putting sandwiches in front of her.
He was right. Only he was not prepared to see the Doctor decide that each of the samples he put in front of her - except for the tuna salad that was Nerys' favorite - were utterly delicious and ate the entire things. “Good start, but I'm still hungry,” she declared.
Nerys, who always ate daintily but had no appetite at the moment, was certain her eyes were going to pop into the next room. “How can you pack so much away?”
“Time Lords have a high metabolism to begin with, but regeneration leaves an enormous energy deficit to be rectified. I need loads of fuel to replenish my energy and to ensure a good healing sleep to recover my strength. I have a few weaknesses that I'm hoping that will correct. If not, I'll use the TARDIS infirmary to see what can be done.”
David hurriedly put together more sandwiches, and pulled put all the fruit he could find. He watched as his supplies began to dwindle. He could see a massive run to Tesco was called for. He wondered if the Doctor would be satisfied by the food he did have in the house.
The Doctor still did not care about what her eating habits looked like, as David quickly noticed. That had not changed. What did change was his reaction to the habits - every time she licked any sauce or crumbs off her fingers or licked her lips (and that was often since she was trying to nab every last bit of food on her plates), he found he felt a little warmer than before.
Oh God, he wasn't falling in lust with the Doctor's new body, was he?!
Licking her lips of the latest crumbs, the Doctor grabbed a banana and opened it. She stopped after a moment and sniffed it deeply. “Oh, that smells heavenly!” She peeled it open completely, and took a bite. She groaned in delight. “My new favorite food!” she declared through her chewing.
David's eyes went wide. He'd never thought a woman - even a beautiful woman - eating could possibly be sexy before. What the hell was different?!
Nerys' eyes went back and forth between watching David's reluctantly transfixed expression and the Doctor's apparently innocent enjoyment. The Doctor devoured one banana and soon started on another. Smirking, she had to test the waters. “Doctor, do you want to left alone with your banana?”
The Doctor blinked, chewing her latest bite. “Why would I?”
David coughed and turned before he stood up.
Luckily, the front door opened. Curie barked happily and rushed to greet the arrivals. The Doctor heard cheering and some young voices crying Curie's name in joy. She looked at David. “Is that Emily and the children?”
He smiled, relaxing almost completely from the moment before. “Yeah.” He moved toward the entryway. Before he moved fully into the hallway, he knelt to the ground just in time to be slammed into by two children who looked no older than three to the Doctor. Cheers of “Uncle David!” rang out and he was instantly bombarded with tales of what they had done recently.
The Doctor watched as David's face transformed into a beaming expression she had never quite seen him show. It was almost like watching an reunion between parent and child. He was very close to these children.
Emily came into view carrying two large hand bags. She and Nerys both smiled widely at the sight, looking like they were very familiar with the particular scene.
While Emily put down the bags, the children pulled away from the hug just enough that the Doctor could get a good look at their faces. They both had dark hair that looked like Emily could have provided it, but it also reminded her of someone else. The little girl definitely resembled Emily, but her smile matched her brother's, and his face... and their eyes...
The Doctor turned to Nerys and leaned in. She had to ask, so she whispered. “Why do your twins look like David?”
Nerys had a lot of practice concealing her true feelings. At first it was hiding that she felt different than what she was expected to be like. Then it was covering up that she preferred her own gender. Finally it was not letting on that she was rather alone in the world except for Emily, David, and the twins. Taking a deep breath, she turned and whispered back, using a hand to keep anyone in the entryway from seeing her lips move. “My family didn't react well when I announced I was marrying Emily. Her own didn't like it either. We each have brothers - she has two and I one. We hoped that our siblings would be accepting enough that we could each carry a pregnancy and the other's brother would provide the sperm we needed. Trouble is... they also shunned us. We were prepared to go on the anonymous donor route, as expensive as that could be but... David surprised us. He offered to donate, out of the blue.”
The Doctor's mouth dropped.
“Bless him, all he asked for were two things: to be an uncle to any resulting children so he could dote on them as much as he pleased, and to be first to gain custody if anything happened to us. We agreed in a heartbeat. He would've been our first choice anyway.”
“That's... so like him.” She looked at the children again, now feeling something inside that she didn't remember feeling before. It seemed like a certain softness toward the twins. “What are you going to tell them if they ask? They'll surely notice one day.”
“We'll deal with it then.” Nerys dropped her hand and drew back, closing the conversation.
David let go of the twins, having heard their latest exploits and what they saw when they went to see Santa several days earlier, and took their hands as he stood. “Well, that's lovely, good on you! Now I have someone for you to meet.” He brought them over to stand by the Doctor, who they finally noticed was there. “Ella, Josh, meet the Doctor.”
They blinked, looked at her and then at each other. Finally they asked, almost as one, “What your name?”
The Doctor felt her lips twitch into a smile over the innocent question. “Well, that's a secret.”
“Why?”
“Long story, but it's meant for only one person to know. Can't tell you who. I don't know.”
They both scowled, in that way that only a little kid could make cute. It also made the contribution from David much more apparent.
Emily laughed silently. “What did I say? People have different ways. If she doesn't want to explain, you can't insist on it.”
“But she look like us! She sound like us!”
David squeezed their hands. “It's okay. Want some fruit?”
“Yes!” They hopped up and down, and the clamor became incomprehensible to human ears. Unless the person had been around them long enough to understand their particular version of language.
The Doctor was watching how David practically acted like a father in how he guided them through choosing their own food and getting them to sit down. Which they did on either side of the Doctor, like they were very curious about her and thought they could interrogate her.
Which they did. They had all sorts of questions. Why was her hair so vivid? What was she doing in a dressing gown? What had she eaten? Where was she from? Did she have family? What did she do? Where did she live?
The Doctor tried to field all of the questions, or avoid giving answers as much as possible since the truth was too much for anyone so young. And she had not seen anyone so small in a long time. She could not remember the last time she met tots of any age or species - that happened since the Time War. But she found she enjoyed their banter and talking with them.
What impressed Nerys and Emily was how quickly the Doctor seemed to get the hang of talking with their children. She almost seemed like a natural after a few minutes.
No one noticed how David just stared at the scene in awe. He remembered how the Doctor had been toward the young boy once he was freed from the mask, and suspected that his friend was naturally caring toward children - especially given how well he took to Curie. It was easy to tell how kind a person was by how they treated children and animals. But what captured his attention was how increasingly tender and even loving she was toward them. It did funny things to his insides. He wasn't ready to examine that. At all.
Chapter Three: Shopping and Other Invasions