New story. Only slightly Slashy
Title: Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.
Author:
munnin_odanin
Beta:
elanorsmith - praise be to my goddess of punctuation.
Pairing: 9th Doc/Adric, Fifth Doc/Adric implied
Characters: Doctors 5 & 9, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan.
Word Count: 1815
Notes/Disclaimer: I make no money and do this only for the need to get it out of my head. Doctor Who characters belong to the BBC not me. No money, right!
Spoilers: not really
Summary: Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. The Doctor has held this flame in his heart for so long and fate gives him the chance to show it. (I suck at summaries)
Neo-Antioch market might have been one of the largest in the universe and probably their only chance of getting the parts they needed to repair the TARDIS but from the moment they had materialised, the place made Adric uneasy. He couldn’t find a logical reason or put words around it to explain his feelings to the Doctor but he knew he didn’t want to be here.
“I’ll stay with the TARDIS, Doctor.” he said as they disembarked.
“Nonsense Adric. There’s no need for you to do that. The TARDIS is perfectly safe where it is.” the Doctor called as he stepped blithely into the crowds. “Come along.”
It didn’t help that the girls were so eager to shop. Neo-Antioch was a strange blend of old and new, high and low tech. The finest Android dealers set up side by side with cottage garden stalls and sellers of hand-thrown ceramic pots. Strange and delicious smells snared the senses and sent Nyssa and Tegan wandering out of sight with cries of “Oh come and look at this!”
Every time they strayed from view; Adric grew more and more panicked, wavering between the desire to cling to the safety of the Doctor’s side and wanting to run after Nyssa and Tegan and keep an eye on them. The Doctor finally noticed his companion unrest.
“Adric? What’s wrong?” he asked, clasping the youth’s shoulders.
“I…I don’t like it here.” he admitted, ashamed of how childish his voice sounded. He wanted the Doctor to understand, to take him seriously but the soft chiding look in the Doctor’s eyes told him that wasn’t going to happen.
“I understand Adric,” the Doctor said slowly, “You’re not use to such crowds. How about I walk you back to the TARDIS and you can wait for us there, hmm?”
The patronizing tone drove Adric straight through nervousness and out the other side to fury. “You don’t get it do you!” he raged, pale skin flushed with passion. “This place is wrong! Something bad is going to happen. And I’m not waiting around for it to happen to me.” he shouted over his shoulder as he stormed off, “I can find my own way back to the TARDIS, thank you very much!”
“What was that all about?” Tegan asked, arms laden with flowers.
“I’m not quite sure.” the Doctor admitted as the bright colours of Adric’s tunic vanished into the crowd. “Perhaps I should…”
“I’ll go.” Nyssa called, taking the floral bundles from Tegan. “These need to go in some water.”
***
Adric took off across the market, fury and disgust burning in his veins. How dare the Doctor treat him like this! Well! The high and mighty Time Lord was going to get a shock soon. Something was wrong and Adric knew it and right now he didn’t care. He’d be safe and sound in the TARDIS.
Adric was so busy with his internal tirade that it took him quite a while to notice that he’d gone entirely the wrong way and was completely lost. His throat tightened in panic as he tried to get his bearings. It was then he noticed out of the corner of his eye a man watching him. Tall, rangy and dressed in a heavy leather jacket despite the heat, the man kept himself to the shadows but Adric could tell the deep set eyes were following him. Summoning all of his shaky courage, Adric walked, as calmly as possible, in the opposite direction.
Within a few metres Adric was even more lost than before and he was certain this time that the tall man was following. Not much hope of calling for help over the racket of competing spruikers and he was in no mood to admit he needed it. Not to the Doctor anyway. He took a few frantic steps before abandoning all pretence of bravado and breaking into a run.
He sprinted through the crowd, dodging between stalls and shoppers alike. He hit a booth and grabbed the tent pole to steady himself. The pole slipped and sent the stall’s merchandise flying in every direction. The owner bellowed his displeasure and struck Adric across the face, sending him sprawling in the dirt.
“You little ratbag! I’ll make you pay for that!” the stallholder lunged at Adric with a heavy staff but a long hand caught it mid-air.
“Leave the boy alone.” the tall man said, his voice low and dangerous. “The damages will be paid for. Leave him be.”
The stallholder took a swift step back and lowered the staff as the tall man towered over him, eyes dark with menace. “Well…as long as it’s paid for…no harm done sir.” the vendor stuttered.
The tall man dropped a square of plastic at the man’s feet. “More than a week’s profit. Now go.” The stallholder scrambled for the cred-stick and bolted through the crowd.
“Are you alright?” the tall man asked, crouching beside the fallen youth. Adric looked up but his head was still spinning from the blow. Large hands lifted him and lent him against a nearby wall.
“I…My head.” Adric said, coughed up dust.
“Look at me, Adric.” the man said, flashing a light in Adric’s eyes. “Nope. No sign of concussion. You’re alright Adric. Just take a deep breath”
“How…how do you know my name?” Adric stammered, his vision starting to clear. The face that looked down at him was the same that he had run from. Deep smoky eyes stared out from a long face with wing-nut ears and a sharp nose.
As Adric studied him, the stranger studied him in return. Long fingers reached out to stroke Adric’s cheek but stopped, the stranger’s hands shaking. “To think I almost forgot…how beautiful you were…are…” The man’s voice cracked with emotion. “No. Not forgot. Just put away. Stored safely like fine silver. Never tarnishing.” The man’s hand fell away from Adric’s face to his chest, the long fingers closing around the gold star. “By Rassilon!” the stranger sobbed, his long frame trembling. “Your star! I carry the pieces with me always. Oh Adric forgive me!” the Stranger fell to his knees as Adric stepped back, bracing his shoulder against the warm stone of the wall.
“Who are you? How do you know me?” Adric asked nervously, fairly convinced the stranger was out of his mind.
“Forgive me Adric. I never meant to…but when I saw you I…I had to…I knew I’d never…I shouldn’t be here at all but…” The stranger’s voice cracked again and he trailed off, trying to regain his composure as he climbed to his feet. “Adric. There something I have to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago.”
“If it’s so urgent, just tell me.” Adric demanded, trying to sound braver than he felt. “My friends are waiting for me.”
“No. No they’re not. Tegan’s trying on shoes and Nyssa’s on her way back to the TARDIS and I’m…he’s…” the stranger shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “The Doctor is buying a gravity inverter. Cheap one. Won’t work for long.”
“How do you know the Doctor?” Adric asked, suddenly afraid.
“I shouldn’t be here. Against rules.” The man seemed to be talking to himself but as Adric tried to slide along the wall, the stranger snapped to attention, catching Adric’s face between his hands. “Please Adric. Just let me say this and I’ll go. You’ll never see this me again.” The man tilted Adric’s face to meet his. “I love you Adric of Alzarian.”
Those simple words caught Adric completely off balance. “You what?”
“I love you. I should have told you. Every second of every day from the day since I realised. But I didn’t. I never told you. Never had the guts. And every day, every life since I have regretted it.” The stranger’s speech come out in a cavalcade of words. “Please Adric. I can’t change what happened. I wish I could. But I can change this. Adric Please know this. Know that I loved you, still love you, will always love you.” Fat tears fell down the long face.
Adric found himself drawn to those tears, brushing them away with the tips of his fingers. “But I don’t know you.” he whispered, almost pleadingly.
“I know, I’m sorry. I can’t explain. I shouldn’t be here but with everything that happened…All the things can’t be undone. This at least I can do. I love you Adric. And goodbye.”
Adric caught the stranger’s hand as he turned to leave. “At least tell me who you are. Please.” He asked softly.
The stranger stiffened at Adric’s touch then sagged in defeat. “I can’t. I really can’t.”
Adric rounded on him, catching the man by the arm. “Don’t…don’t go. Whatever happened, I’m sure the Doctor will help set it right…”
The stranger brushed his fingertips over Adric’s cheek. “Oh love! You always had such faith in me.” And he stooped to kiss Adric. Chaste but burning and passionate. Adric gasped, more in wonder that in shock. He parted his lips sightly, falling into the stranger’s embrace.
The stranger leapt at this invitation, plundering Adric’s willing mouth. He drew back slowly, eyes closed as he savoured the youth’s sweetness. “Oh god. That I ever thought you’d return my love.” He drew a ragged breath as though in pain. “I have to go. Adric I…thank you.” He lent forward as if to place one last fleeting kiss on Adric’s lips but hesitated, bitting his own lip as he pulled way and took of into the crowd at a run.
Adric slid down the wall as waves of emotion crashed over him and lost himself in broken sobs.
***
When she couldn’t find Adric at the TARDIS, Nyssa started back out across the markets, noting her surroundings as she went. She hadn’t gone two blocks of stalls before she saw Adric plodding towards her. Dazed and dusty, his head bowed and puffy eyes lowered. “Are you alright?” she asked, catching him by the arm and guiding him back towards the TARDIS.
The Doctor joined them at a run, Tegan in hot pursuit. “Adric! Look at me, Adric.” The Doctor had him by the chin and was flashing a light in his eyes.
“Of course I’m alright.” Adric insisted, wrapping his hand around the Doctor’s. “Just the heat. That’s all. Did you get the parts you needed?”
“Yes.” the Doctor replied, perplexed as he glancing down at Adric’s fingers entwined with his own. “Second hand but they’ll do.”
“The gravity inverter won’t last long,” Adric said gravely.
“And how may I ask, do you know that?” the Doctor demanded chidingly, holding tight to Adric’s hand as he unlocked the TARDIS door.
Adric squeezed the Doctor’s hand in return and he stepped past the Time Lord into the cool of the TARDIS interior. “Because you told me.”
Author:
munnin_odanin
Beta:
elanorsmith - praise be to my goddess of punctuation.
Pairing: 9th Doc/Adric, Fifth Doc/Adric implied
Characters: Doctors 5 & 9, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan.
Word Count: 1815
Notes/Disclaimer: I make no money and do this only for the need to get it out of my head. Doctor Who characters belong to the BBC not me. No money, right!
Spoilers: not really
Summary: Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. The Doctor has held this flame in his heart for so long and fate gives him the chance to show it. (I suck at summaries)
Neo-Antioch market might have been one of the largest in the universe and probably their only chance of getting the parts they needed to repair the TARDIS but from the moment they had materialised, the place made Adric uneasy. He couldn’t find a logical reason or put words around it to explain his feelings to the Doctor but he knew he didn’t want to be here.
“I’ll stay with the TARDIS, Doctor.” he said as they disembarked.
“Nonsense Adric. There’s no need for you to do that. The TARDIS is perfectly safe where it is.” the Doctor called as he stepped blithely into the crowds. “Come along.”
It didn’t help that the girls were so eager to shop. Neo-Antioch was a strange blend of old and new, high and low tech. The finest Android dealers set up side by side with cottage garden stalls and sellers of hand-thrown ceramic pots. Strange and delicious smells snared the senses and sent Nyssa and Tegan wandering out of sight with cries of “Oh come and look at this!”
Every time they strayed from view; Adric grew more and more panicked, wavering between the desire to cling to the safety of the Doctor’s side and wanting to run after Nyssa and Tegan and keep an eye on them. The Doctor finally noticed his companion unrest.
“Adric? What’s wrong?” he asked, clasping the youth’s shoulders.
“I…I don’t like it here.” he admitted, ashamed of how childish his voice sounded. He wanted the Doctor to understand, to take him seriously but the soft chiding look in the Doctor’s eyes told him that wasn’t going to happen.
“I understand Adric,” the Doctor said slowly, “You’re not use to such crowds. How about I walk you back to the TARDIS and you can wait for us there, hmm?”
The patronizing tone drove Adric straight through nervousness and out the other side to fury. “You don’t get it do you!” he raged, pale skin flushed with passion. “This place is wrong! Something bad is going to happen. And I’m not waiting around for it to happen to me.” he shouted over his shoulder as he stormed off, “I can find my own way back to the TARDIS, thank you very much!”
“What was that all about?” Tegan asked, arms laden with flowers.
“I’m not quite sure.” the Doctor admitted as the bright colours of Adric’s tunic vanished into the crowd. “Perhaps I should…”
“I’ll go.” Nyssa called, taking the floral bundles from Tegan. “These need to go in some water.”
***
Adric took off across the market, fury and disgust burning in his veins. How dare the Doctor treat him like this! Well! The high and mighty Time Lord was going to get a shock soon. Something was wrong and Adric knew it and right now he didn’t care. He’d be safe and sound in the TARDIS.
Adric was so busy with his internal tirade that it took him quite a while to notice that he’d gone entirely the wrong way and was completely lost. His throat tightened in panic as he tried to get his bearings. It was then he noticed out of the corner of his eye a man watching him. Tall, rangy and dressed in a heavy leather jacket despite the heat, the man kept himself to the shadows but Adric could tell the deep set eyes were following him. Summoning all of his shaky courage, Adric walked, as calmly as possible, in the opposite direction.
Within a few metres Adric was even more lost than before and he was certain this time that the tall man was following. Not much hope of calling for help over the racket of competing spruikers and he was in no mood to admit he needed it. Not to the Doctor anyway. He took a few frantic steps before abandoning all pretence of bravado and breaking into a run.
He sprinted through the crowd, dodging between stalls and shoppers alike. He hit a booth and grabbed the tent pole to steady himself. The pole slipped and sent the stall’s merchandise flying in every direction. The owner bellowed his displeasure and struck Adric across the face, sending him sprawling in the dirt.
“You little ratbag! I’ll make you pay for that!” the stallholder lunged at Adric with a heavy staff but a long hand caught it mid-air.
“Leave the boy alone.” the tall man said, his voice low and dangerous. “The damages will be paid for. Leave him be.”
The stallholder took a swift step back and lowered the staff as the tall man towered over him, eyes dark with menace. “Well…as long as it’s paid for…no harm done sir.” the vendor stuttered.
The tall man dropped a square of plastic at the man’s feet. “More than a week’s profit. Now go.” The stallholder scrambled for the cred-stick and bolted through the crowd.
“Are you alright?” the tall man asked, crouching beside the fallen youth. Adric looked up but his head was still spinning from the blow. Large hands lifted him and lent him against a nearby wall.
“I…My head.” Adric said, coughed up dust.
“Look at me, Adric.” the man said, flashing a light in Adric’s eyes. “Nope. No sign of concussion. You’re alright Adric. Just take a deep breath”
“How…how do you know my name?” Adric stammered, his vision starting to clear. The face that looked down at him was the same that he had run from. Deep smoky eyes stared out from a long face with wing-nut ears and a sharp nose.
As Adric studied him, the stranger studied him in return. Long fingers reached out to stroke Adric’s cheek but stopped, the stranger’s hands shaking. “To think I almost forgot…how beautiful you were…are…” The man’s voice cracked with emotion. “No. Not forgot. Just put away. Stored safely like fine silver. Never tarnishing.” The man’s hand fell away from Adric’s face to his chest, the long fingers closing around the gold star. “By Rassilon!” the stranger sobbed, his long frame trembling. “Your star! I carry the pieces with me always. Oh Adric forgive me!” the Stranger fell to his knees as Adric stepped back, bracing his shoulder against the warm stone of the wall.
“Who are you? How do you know me?” Adric asked nervously, fairly convinced the stranger was out of his mind.
“Forgive me Adric. I never meant to…but when I saw you I…I had to…I knew I’d never…I shouldn’t be here at all but…” The stranger’s voice cracked again and he trailed off, trying to regain his composure as he climbed to his feet. “Adric. There something I have to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago.”
“If it’s so urgent, just tell me.” Adric demanded, trying to sound braver than he felt. “My friends are waiting for me.”
“No. No they’re not. Tegan’s trying on shoes and Nyssa’s on her way back to the TARDIS and I’m…he’s…” the stranger shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “The Doctor is buying a gravity inverter. Cheap one. Won’t work for long.”
“How do you know the Doctor?” Adric asked, suddenly afraid.
“I shouldn’t be here. Against rules.” The man seemed to be talking to himself but as Adric tried to slide along the wall, the stranger snapped to attention, catching Adric’s face between his hands. “Please Adric. Just let me say this and I’ll go. You’ll never see this me again.” The man tilted Adric’s face to meet his. “I love you Adric of Alzarian.”
Those simple words caught Adric completely off balance. “You what?”
“I love you. I should have told you. Every second of every day from the day since I realised. But I didn’t. I never told you. Never had the guts. And every day, every life since I have regretted it.” The stranger’s speech come out in a cavalcade of words. “Please Adric. I can’t change what happened. I wish I could. But I can change this. Adric Please know this. Know that I loved you, still love you, will always love you.” Fat tears fell down the long face.
Adric found himself drawn to those tears, brushing them away with the tips of his fingers. “But I don’t know you.” he whispered, almost pleadingly.
“I know, I’m sorry. I can’t explain. I shouldn’t be here but with everything that happened…All the things can’t be undone. This at least I can do. I love you Adric. And goodbye.”
Adric caught the stranger’s hand as he turned to leave. “At least tell me who you are. Please.” He asked softly.
The stranger stiffened at Adric’s touch then sagged in defeat. “I can’t. I really can’t.”
Adric rounded on him, catching the man by the arm. “Don’t…don’t go. Whatever happened, I’m sure the Doctor will help set it right…”
The stranger brushed his fingertips over Adric’s cheek. “Oh love! You always had such faith in me.” And he stooped to kiss Adric. Chaste but burning and passionate. Adric gasped, more in wonder that in shock. He parted his lips sightly, falling into the stranger’s embrace.
The stranger leapt at this invitation, plundering Adric’s willing mouth. He drew back slowly, eyes closed as he savoured the youth’s sweetness. “Oh god. That I ever thought you’d return my love.” He drew a ragged breath as though in pain. “I have to go. Adric I…thank you.” He lent forward as if to place one last fleeting kiss on Adric’s lips but hesitated, bitting his own lip as he pulled way and took of into the crowd at a run.
Adric slid down the wall as waves of emotion crashed over him and lost himself in broken sobs.
***
When she couldn’t find Adric at the TARDIS, Nyssa started back out across the markets, noting her surroundings as she went. She hadn’t gone two blocks of stalls before she saw Adric plodding towards her. Dazed and dusty, his head bowed and puffy eyes lowered. “Are you alright?” she asked, catching him by the arm and guiding him back towards the TARDIS.
The Doctor joined them at a run, Tegan in hot pursuit. “Adric! Look at me, Adric.” The Doctor had him by the chin and was flashing a light in his eyes.
“Of course I’m alright.” Adric insisted, wrapping his hand around the Doctor’s. “Just the heat. That’s all. Did you get the parts you needed?”
“Yes.” the Doctor replied, perplexed as he glancing down at Adric’s fingers entwined with his own. “Second hand but they’ll do.”
“The gravity inverter won’t last long,” Adric said gravely.
“And how may I ask, do you know that?” the Doctor demanded chidingly, holding tight to Adric’s hand as he unlocked the TARDIS door.
Adric squeezed the Doctor’s hand in return and he stepped past the Time Lord into the cool of the TARDIS interior. “Because you told me.”