Somewhere in the universe, the Doctor's going to turn around after stepping out of the TARDIS, and notice the red-head standing in the doorway looking dubious.
The Doctor turns around. And blinks, with his best "you could not possibly blame me for anything that's happened right now" face.
"Ah." He glances around at the field in front of them. The grass is blue, which is... something like an ocean, but... "Doesn't look much like a beach, does it?"
"Well, I dunno, it could be behind the TARDIS," Donna points out, and sighs. "First the library, then Brazil, then the Corlax Federation Wars, then 18th century Venice, and now some... grassy place? It's all well and good, and I won't deny that Giac was quite the romancer, but I want to go to a proper beach one of these days."
She walks out and stands next to him, surveying the landscape. "So, where are we?"
The Doctor starts to peek around the TARDIS, to make sure there is no ocean back there - though he's sure he would have heard it, if there were. And then he twitches, pivoting back around to glare at her.
"Alright, will you just... stop talking about Venice? Please? At least in those terms."
She will not stop bringing up "Giac". Sometimes in more detail than he ever wanted. This, he thinks, is a more pressing issue than the lack of a beach.
There is a teenaged girl sitting on a bench nearby, shouting into a mobile and clearly trying not to cry.
"Yeah, well, see if I care! I never want to see you again either! You're a bloody talentless bastard, and your music's shit!"
She hangs up rather violently and then chucks the mobile as hard as she can. It sort of... explodes into pieces on contact with the ground.
...here, Doctor. Make it better. Somehow. DO NOT QUESTION THE NARRATION, FOR IT CAN REVEAL YOUR DARKEST SECRETS. Like that sentient lycra tracksuit that lives in your wardrobe and occasionally tries to eat people.
The Doctor recognizes that voice without even having to pause to think about it. He thinks, for a moment, about stepping back into the TARDIS, setting the coordinates for anywhere else and just leaving, but...
She's crying. And so for a second he just hovers there, one hand on the door of the TARDIS, staring at her.
Bloody hell.
He pushes himself away from the TARDIS and starts toward her with a sigh, frowning a little. "Are you... all right?" That is a stupid question. He grimaces almost as soon as he says it.
The Doctor actually smiles a little when she snaps at him. That shouldn't be endearing, probably, but sometimes...
He slides onto the bench beside her, though he stays as far to the opposite side of the bench from her as he can without falling off. "Me too, actually." It's been a bad... Actually, he stopped paying attention to long it's been about six months ago.
"What's your Capsule doing in my closet?" a rather indignant blonde girl says from the doorway to the bedroom that the Doctor's now surveying. She's got her arms crossed over her chest and is scowling adorably.
Oh. Oh. Now that's... odd. Cara tilts her head a little, curiously - a movement much more reminiscent of her father than her mother, and steps towards him. "You... you're wrong. In the wrong point of the timeline, I mean," she clarifies, because it's nothing about him personally, just... he's out of place, and she can sense them. "How did you get here?"
He stops. He's halfway inside the TARDIS. If he slammed the door shut now and ran for the controls, she wouldn't very well be able to stop him. Probably.
"Yes, I am. So I should leave." He says it in that calm, patient time, like he's trying to talk sense into a small child. ...She's so young, and this isn't fair. Like it ever is.
The Doctor steps out into a lovely day in an alien jungle, of sorts. It's very lush, extremely humid, and there might even be some ruins nearby, nearly hidden by vines. He also might notice the ground shaking slightly, as if something very heavy were running towards him.
This is followed very shortly by... well, despite the fact that it's the furthest away, the first thing that he'll likely notice is the gigantic, loinclothed creature running towards him, roaring, swinging its crude mace. Only after noticing that is he likely to notice two reddish wolves - one larger and armoured, the other smaller (though not by much) - running away from it, and the small, red-headed, pointed-eared archer riding on the larger one's back
( ... )
The Doctor yelps, flailing for a moment, but... okay, large creature crashing through the jungle behind them, clearly planning to kill them, so maybe he can put off the flailing until it won't probably knock him off the... whatever it is they're riding. He grabs hold of the saddle, and glances back, past her to the thing following them.
"Have a chance against what? Where are we?" They can totally have this conversation while (apparently) running for their lives.
"Ogre!" the girl responds breathlessly, and turns to check on their progress. They're pulling ahead, thankfully, and it looks like the ogre might give up soon.
But not yet.
"Stranglethorn, you must be a bit lost if you don't know that!"
"Well, naturally," the Doctor remarks, somewhat bemused. Of course it'd be an ogre. It looks like an ogre, after all.
He tries to shift a little, hook one of his legs up over the saddle, but that pitches him forward and nearly shakes him off altogether, so after a moment he settles for just dangling there. He'll move when they stop running.
"I'm usually more than a bit lost. Doesn't bother me much!"
Welcome to a world which looks almost but not entirely exactly unlike Logopolis, Doctor. It's not a very interesting place, but we're confident that you can find a way to amuse yourself.
Such as the wide, green-indigo-blue vortex opening up just over there and disgorging a red rubber ball and one (1) young-looking humanoid
( ... )
The Doctor watches for a minute before he says anything. Well, she seems so serious and official on those radios of hers, he'd hate to interrupt her.
And then, finally, he shoves his hands in his pockets and walks over to stand just behind and to one side of her, peering at the vortexy-thing over her shoulder. "Call it fifty percent what?"
...he'll get around to introducing himself in a minute.
Dmitri turns to see who's talking, and immediately bursts into a grin. She does a brief hopskip, running up to him.
"Sweet merciful Ganesh with an invoice from Anulap, with you, I think that might hop up to seventy. Sorry. Twenty percent's actually pretty good, given that I just - hi. Doctor. Dmitri Lang, Angel of Knowledge, not any of those religious sorts, I kinda know you from-" she hikes her thumb at the Rift. "-back there. Where I came from. Another universe. And before you say anything, the walls aren't closed; we're pretty sure it's different on our end."
It's not often the Doctor is speechless. This... is going to be one of those times, because everything he was going to say, she just sort of... preempted. That's not even fair.
"You... too? ...I've only met you the once, obviously, and did you just say you came from another universe?" How many times are people going to do this? If this turns into another Torchwood incident...
Comments 95
"Well? Did we get a beach this time or not?"
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"Ah." He glances around at the field in front of them. The grass is blue, which is... something like an ocean, but... "Doesn't look much like a beach, does it?"
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She walks out and stands next to him, surveying the landscape. "So, where are we?"
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"Alright, will you just... stop talking about Venice? Please? At least in those terms."
She will not stop bringing up "Giac". Sometimes in more detail than he ever wanted. This, he thinks, is a more pressing issue than the lack of a beach.
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"Yeah, well, see if I care! I never want to see you again either! You're a bloody talentless bastard, and your music's shit!"
She hangs up rather violently and then chucks the mobile as hard as she can. It sort of... explodes into pieces on contact with the ground.
...here, Doctor. Make it better. Somehow. DO NOT QUESTION THE NARRATION, FOR IT CAN REVEAL YOUR DARKEST SECRETS. Like that sentient lycra tracksuit that lives in your wardrobe and occasionally tries to eat people.
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She's crying. And so for a second he just hovers there, one hand on the door of the TARDIS, staring at her.
Bloody hell.
He pushes himself away from the TARDIS and starts toward her with a sigh, frowning a little. "Are you... all right?" That is a stupid question. He grimaces almost as soon as he says it.
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Then she sighs. "Sorry. Just... bad day." A pause, and a clarification of, "A really bad day."
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He slides onto the bench beside her, though he stays as far to the opposite side of the bench from her as he can without falling off. "Me too, actually." It's been a bad... Actually, he stopped paying attention to long it's been about six months ago.
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...here, Doctor. Have some old memories.
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Timeline. Reality. Whatever. His being here right now could not be more wrong. He's just going to... go.
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Puzzles are what baby Time Ladies like mostest.
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"Yes, I am. So I should leave." He says it in that calm, patient time, like he's trying to talk sense into a small child. ...She's so young, and this isn't fair. Like it ever is.
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This is followed very shortly by... well, despite the fact that it's the furthest away, the first thing that he'll likely notice is the gigantic, loinclothed creature running towards him, roaring, swinging its crude mace. Only after noticing that is he likely to notice two reddish wolves - one larger and armoured, the other smaller (though not by much) - running away from it, and the small, red-headed, pointed-eared archer riding on the larger one's back ( ... )
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"Have a chance against what? Where are we?" They can totally have this conversation while (apparently) running for their lives.
Reply
But not yet.
"Stranglethorn, you must be a bit lost if you don't know that!"
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He tries to shift a little, hook one of his legs up over the saddle, but that pitches him forward and nearly shakes him off altogether, so after a moment he settles for just dangling there. He'll move when they stop running.
"I'm usually more than a bit lost. Doesn't bother me much!"
Reply
Such as the wide, green-indigo-blue vortex opening up just over there and disgorging a red rubber ball and one (1) young-looking humanoid ( ... )
Reply
And then, finally, he shoves his hands in his pockets and walks over to stand just behind and to one side of her, peering at the vortexy-thing over her shoulder. "Call it fifty percent what?"
...he'll get around to introducing himself in a minute.
Reply
Dmitri turns to see who's talking, and immediately bursts into a grin. She does a brief hopskip, running up to him.
"Sweet merciful Ganesh with an invoice from Anulap, with you, I think that might hop up to seventy. Sorry. Twenty percent's actually pretty good, given that I just - hi. Doctor. Dmitri Lang, Angel of Knowledge, not any of those religious sorts, I kinda know you from-" she hikes her thumb at the Rift. "-back there. Where I came from. Another universe. And before you say anything, the walls aren't closed; we're pretty sure it's different on our end."
She extends a hand.
"Nice to meet you. Again."
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"You... too? ...I've only met you the once, obviously, and did you just say you came from another universe?" How many times are people going to do this? If this turns into another Torchwood incident...
Reply
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