Christmas Open Thread

[rude_not_ginger]

•deck•the•halls•

• THE DOCTOR LEARNS THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS •

~•~

Christmas Eve. 2009.

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[forever_noble]

She was busy blowing into her own cup of cocoa as she carefully made her way over to him, the heat from the cup warming her chilled fingers. It figured she'd leave her mittens in her other winter coat, though it did make ringing up home a great deal easier. Never could manage to press the right numbers while wearing those things. Couldn't help smiling though; she was in good company and, if the first sip was anything to judge, she had a good drink to top it all off. Now if she could only think of a gift for him.

"Glad to see you're grinning," she said, lightly bumping her shoulder against his. "D'you realise we could have a right and proper Christmas this time? No robot Santas or chases in taxis, and no particle things pulling me into the TARDIS? Not that Mum will have us round for dinner. Doesn't exactly trust you still, or so Gramps--" She cut herself off, finally noticing the device.

"Doctor," she said a little pointedly as her enthusiasm started to wane. "We are going to have a proper Christmas? Aren't we?"

[forever_noble]

She snickered to herself when she saw him do that. Leave it to him to misunderstand that of all things! But she figured he was just letting himself get distracted by this odd mission of his.

The side street was deserted, or nearly deserted as there was one person just rounding the corner ahead of them. Everybody else in town were sticking to the main streets. "So what sort of creature are we looking for, you think? One that encourages people to spend more on their credit cards than they're--ohhh!" she moaned after stepping into a dirty, slushy puddle she hadn't noticed. She could feel the cold creeping into her boots.

[rude_not_ginger]

"Might be," the Doctor said, stepping in the slushy puddle as well. It soaked through his trainers instantly, but he focused on the blinking light on his machine. "Or, it might be an alien hellbent on taking over the world. Not like we haven't dealt with that on Christmas before."

He gave her a wide, excited grin. "But! It happens to be in that department store over there. I think."

[forever_noble]

"See, like I said. Tradition." She smiled anyway after she gave her foot a good shake. Walking would help fend off the cold and--.

"Did you say 'department store'?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. Then she narrowed her eyes, reading the sign of said department store--and her shoulders sagged. She'd hoped it would be a Selfridges but they were in the wrong part of the city for it. "Huh, don't think I've ever been to that one."

[rude_not_ginger]

"I think Rose used to work here," the Doctor said with a small sniff. It was the sort of place Jackie would shop all of the time. He gave Donna's outfit a quick look over and then shrugged, before heading off towards the main door.

He never could understand human fashion.

[forever_noble]

"Oh? Did--oi, what was that look for?! I'm dressed well enough to go into this place, thank you!" And she was about to say something nice to distract him from thinking about Rose too.

She frowned and threw the door open, not waiting for him to go first--but she didn't get far. The store seemed to spread at least into the two-storeys and he had the psychic whatever device. Reluctantly she waited, her brief anger gone, and held her hand out slightly to retake his.

[rude_not_ginger]

He took her hand naturally. Being her friend was a lot like breathing. In certain situations, it wasn't easy. But, in general, once he got back into the groove, he did it without thinking.

"Downstairs," he said. He took a glance at the large map before them. "Not accessible to patrons, it appears. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, I think."

[forever_noble]

She'd say the same thing about him and their friendship. She put up with a lot of his spaceman nonsense, but being in his world thrilled her--and she couldn't be happier seeing all that stuff and nonsense with him.

"For you? If it was, I'd have to wonder if your hot chocolate was spiked with something," she commented, eyeing the map thoughtfully. "Shouldn't be too hard though, not with everybody doing their last-minute shopping."

[rude_not_ginger]

"Fantastic."

He headed immediately for the nearest stairwell, pausing only long enough to grab a map, should he be stopped and asked where he was going.

"Right, it looks like we've got to go downstairs, about to the middle of the shop. Shouldn't be too hard. He stepped towards the door blocking the stairs downstairs and opened them easily with the sonic.

[forever_noble]

"And what then?" she asked, following him into the stairwell. Her voice and footsteps echoed all around them. "This alien threat doesn't seem all that threatening yet. You sure that thing isn't picking up on some kind of disgruntled employee in an elf costume?"

[rude_not_ginger]

"No, too big for that," the Doctor said. He flipped the machine to audio as they went down the stairwell. A quiet beeping noise grew the closer they got to the alien threat.

"Well, it might not be threatening, but it's always best to check. With a level this high, it could end up extremely dangerous."

[forever_noble]

Donna frowned. The combination of a large alien plus a high psychic level really wasn't one she exactly fancied, but she steeled herself for anything.

"Doctor, there are a lot of people up there," she said just loud enough over the din of the beeping device, worry knitted into her brow.

[rude_not_ginger]

"And if it's dangerous, we'll get them out," the Doctor said, looking over to her. "We won't let them get hurt, Donna, I promise. But we can't start a panic, either."

He soniced open another door. A large blast of psychic energy hit him as he opened it. He winced and rubbed his head. "Blimey, can't you feel that?"

[forever_noble]

She gave his hand a squeeze, more to reassure herself than anything, and nodded. "I know. Last thing I'd want is to start a panic over something that wasn't a last-minute sale."

But when that door opened, she barely felt a thing. "Feel what?" she asked, giving him a concerned look. "What's wrong, Doctor?"

[rude_not_ginger]

"Psychic interference in there," he said, rubbing his temples in an effort to soothe out the pounding. "Heavy. Like something's dumping out all the bad noise it's taking in."

He kept hold of Donna's hand, but walked a little slower as he stepped through the door.

"If something goes wrong," he said. "You need to get up there, toss a fire alarm, and get back to the TARDIS."

[forever_noble]

"I'll toss that fire alarm, but I'm not heading anywhere without you," she said defiantly. "Not when you're getting hurt like this."