There's something that looks like a man with a leather coat and a serious lack of hair bounding his way into the street from that blue box over on the corner and he looks elated
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Veroncia takes this opportunity to lean up against the side of the police box, raising two very expectant eyebrows as she looks him over in the most judgmental way she can. The glowing screwdriver does not escape her scrutiny, in fact, but she'll leave that for later.
Everything in Roanoke is annoying, because everything in Roanoke is wrong. These people, they didn't belong here. They belonged in their cozy little corners of the universes, and not mish-mashed into one place where their timelines made his head feel fuzzy.
"What if I have?" Stop looking at his screwdriver, little girl. He crosses his arms, but doesn't tuck it away.
She hears her name shouted while she's browsing in one of the shops. Her chest squeezes and her breath catches because she's pretty sure she knows which incarnation that is. The sweater she's holding is dropped promptly as she turns and runs. She doesn't want him to leave without her.
"Doctor!" she shouts while running. "Doctor! I'm here!"
Does she sound desperate? Well, that would be because she is
"Wandered off again? You just can't help yourself, can you?" A puff of air escapes his lips when she barrels into him, and really he's got no choice but to wrap his arms around her, what with all that momentum.
But then he's pulling away to chastise her some more, complain about the anomaly that last time she didn't pop in with him but suddenly Roanoke is letting his passengers in and it hits him. More wrongness. He had been smiling, if only briefly (couldn't upset the status quo) and now the scowl returned.
"More than wandered." He sniffs at the air, nothing special! Just taking in a breath, honest. "Rose Tyler, just where have you been?"
She notices the smile to scowl and knows she's been busted. Her hands come to rest on his chest while she purses her lips and then pulls her bottom one through her teeth. It's not an easy thing to tell him.
"About three an' a half-four years in your future." Her fingers curl reflexively around the lapel of his coat. It's almost a silent plea for him not to leave her. Not again. Please.
It's offputting, sure. But the Doctor, as uncomfortable in so many ways as he is, won't shove her away. He won't step back and he won't put distance between them. Discomfort be damned, Rose Tyler was allowed to ignore his personal space.
"Been busy, then." He smiles again, not the happy smiles of a man about to get chips, but the bittersweet one. The one that understands that a lot has happened, and doesn't need to know what it all is. Spoilers.
Of course this is combined with the fact that he won't look away from her.
Oi! Nothing wrong with a U-Boat, now, perfectly respectable vessels. That is, if you're comfortable sinking to the bottom of the ocean in something the size of the local pub with the possibility of being crushed and sunken in moments.
Which...wasn't too far from how the TARDIS could be. Right, not the point.
The point is that his second very favorite person ever is barreling at him (is this going to be a theme?) and he's scowling his Very Best Scowl.
"You!" He'd literally just seen his Jack moments ago, and if Rose had been any indicated, this Jack was probably also very much not his. Not that the Doctor owned anyone. Entirely. Let the scrutinizing begin.
Anyone who says they don't smile after a reception like that is a bloody liar. Even the Doctor finds himself grinning despite the incongruence, and returns Jack's embrace, for just a moment. Then it's back to scowling and pushing away.
"Careful, this jacket's one of a kind, you know!" Just more grumbling before he gets around to answering Jack's question, of course. Can't just go letting him have the upper hand here, oh no.
"I hardly wander. Perhaps stroll, or even stalk about. And you should know, it's not as if your memory's failing." Or as if anything is failing at all. The Doctor can't help but keep squinting at his friend. The TARDIS ceases translating a moment as the Doctor bids Jack a hello in Japanese.
Inara is cleaning up after a client when she hears a commotion outside of her spa. She picks a heavy, silk robe off a hook and slips into it then slides her feet into slippers before stepping outside.
None of the anomalies here are any less wrong than any others; simply different. Some familiar, some very much unique. This woman, with her jim jams and helpful eagerness, was a uniquity. Uniquee. ...She was a rare one.
"Oh, yes you may. We'll start with the...late 37th century." He purses his lips together, does a little more scowling. "No! Early forty-- no, twenty...sixth." Smugness was not always attractive but it did bring a very wide smile to the Doctor's face, one that reached his eyes.
She arches an eyebrow at his hopping around centuries but when he finally gets it right she smiles. "Very, very good. You're one of the few who seem to realize we have a twenty-sixth century."
He smiles a little more genuinely, now. It was always nice to get to meet the ones that came out of his favorite little group of humans. He can't help his curiosity, though.
"Sorry, Roanoke messes a bit with the old sniffer, takes me a bit longer than it should. Don't know if you're in the same dimension as most of us, though. Not too far off, mind. Just...enough." The way he says it is far from insult, far from judgment. In fact if anything, the Doctor is a little bit in awe. Of course, that means Inara is subjected to some serious scrunity as he moves closer and seems to be, well, smelling her. A bit musky, in the good way.
TARDIS feels him. In her head. In her bones. She might not be a ship but she's also not a girl. She can also feel...herself and it gives her a bit of a headache.
In any case, finding him...and herself isn't difficult. She traces that feeling all the way to a street and a blue police box that she misses with an ache that twists the pit of her stomach. She approaches the police box, places a hand on it and then looks to the Doctor with a tilt of her head before she looks back to the box.
"This is a paradox. It could cause dimensions to crumble. Although I suspect that is unlikely to happen as this dimension is isolated from all of the others."
He doesn't hestiate, doesn't waste time speaking. The Doctor rushes over, grips ... her by the wrist and tugs her fiercely away from his TARDIS.
"Get away from her."
It doesn't hurt, no. But there's a discomfort here, with the three of them so close together. He continues to pull her away, down the street where he might be able to breathe better, to hear better. It was bad enough with all these orphans wandering around, but his future self has lost track of his TARDIS, and his present self having to babysit did not sit well with him.
"Nothing's likely to crumble, no. Whatever powers Roanoke...it won't be brought down by something of its own design." He releases the wrist, and turns away, forcing himself to break contact. Getting attached to this one wouldn't do him any favors.
There's frustration in her expression and a bit of confusion. Sure she understands why he wants her away from the police box but she doesn't understand the way he bristles at it. She watches him for a moment, silently, head tilting this way and that as she tries to make sense of the emotions and vibrations she's getting out of his head. Emotions in human form are very different still, very violent and so very solid. They wash up, overwhelm and make it hard to concentrate. She's not entirely sure how humans walk around without crumbling beneath the weight of their emotions.
"I should think I've more right to be near her than you. After all, she is me. I'm her."
Since she can't separate some of the emotions or read them or make sense of them she'll go with irritated and superior.
Oh, and if anyone has the ability to feel irritated and superior, it's the Doctor. The mirror effect is something that only increases his irritation, causing him to audibly sigh and turn back around, abruptly.
"No. No you don't. You aren't. We're not--" another huff. "Yours hasn't been by? Nothing at all?"
Along with her superiority funneling back into him, there's no mistaking a common thread of feeling lost and alone, and that's something the Doctor knows a lot about. Something he cannot just ignore.
Comments 37
"Lose something? Or ... someone?"
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"What if I have?" Stop looking at his screwdriver, little girl. He crosses his arms, but doesn't tuck it away.
Reply
"Doctor!" she shouts while running. "Doctor! I'm here!"
Does she sound desperate? Well, that would be because she is
Reply
"Wandered off again? You just can't help yourself, can you?" A puff of air escapes his lips when she barrels into him, and really he's got no choice but to wrap his arms around her, what with all that momentum.
But then he's pulling away to chastise her some more, complain about the anomaly that last time she didn't pop in with him but suddenly Roanoke is letting his passengers in and it hits him. More wrongness. He had been smiling, if only briefly (couldn't upset the status quo) and now the scowl returned.
"More than wandered." He sniffs at the air, nothing special! Just taking in a breath, honest. "Rose Tyler, just where have you been?"
Reply
"About three an' a half-four years in your future." Her fingers curl reflexively around the lapel of his coat. It's almost a silent plea for him not to leave her. Not again. Please.
Reply
"Been busy, then." He smiles again, not the happy smiles of a man about to get chips, but the bittersweet one. The one that understands that a lot has happened, and doesn't need to know what it all is. Spoilers.
Of course this is combined with the fact that he won't look away from her.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Which...wasn't too far from how the TARDIS could be. Right, not the point.
The point is that his second very favorite person ever is barreling at him (is this going to be a theme?) and he's scowling his Very Best Scowl.
"You!" He'd literally just seen his Jack moments ago, and if Rose had been any indicated, this Jack was probably also very much not his. Not that the Doctor owned anyone. Entirely. Let the scrutinizing begin.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
"Careful, this jacket's one of a kind, you know!" Just more grumbling before he gets around to answering Jack's question, of course. Can't just go letting him have the upper hand here, oh no.
"I hardly wander. Perhaps stroll, or even stalk about. And you should know, it's not as if your memory's failing." Or as if anything is failing at all. The Doctor can't help but keep squinting at his friend. The TARDIS ceases translating a moment as the Doctor bids Jack a hello in Japanese.
Reply
"Can I help you?"
Reply
"Oh, yes you may. We'll start with the...late 37th century." He purses his lips together, does a little more scowling. "No! Early forty-- no, twenty...sixth." Smugness was not always attractive but it did bring a very wide smile to the Doctor's face, one that reached his eyes.
Reply
Reply
"Sorry, Roanoke messes a bit with the old sniffer, takes me a bit longer than it should. Don't know if you're in the same dimension as most of us, though. Not too far off, mind. Just...enough." The way he says it is far from insult, far from judgment. In fact if anything, the Doctor is a little bit in awe. Of course, that means Inara is subjected to some serious scrunity as he moves closer and seems to be, well, smelling her. A bit musky, in the good way.
Reply
In any case, finding him...and herself isn't difficult. She traces that feeling all the way to a street and a blue police box that she misses with an ache that twists the pit of her stomach. She approaches the police box, places a hand on it and then looks to the Doctor with a tilt of her head before she looks back to the box.
"This is a paradox. It could cause dimensions to crumble. Although I suspect that is unlikely to happen as this dimension is isolated from all of the others."
Reply
"Get away from her."
It doesn't hurt, no. But there's a discomfort here, with the three of them so close together. He continues to pull her away, down the street where he might be able to breathe better, to hear better. It was bad enough with all these orphans wandering around, but his future self has lost track of his TARDIS, and his present self having to babysit did not sit well with him.
"Nothing's likely to crumble, no. Whatever powers Roanoke...it won't be brought down by something of its own design." He releases the wrist, and turns away, forcing himself to break contact. Getting attached to this one wouldn't do him any favors.
Reply
"I should think I've more right to be near her than you. After all, she is me. I'm her."
Since she can't separate some of the emotions or read them or make sense of them she'll go with irritated and superior.
Reply
"No. No you don't. You aren't. We're not--" another huff. "Yours hasn't been by? Nothing at all?"
Along with her superiority funneling back into him, there's no mistaking a common thread of feeling lost and alone, and that's something the Doctor knows a lot about. Something he cannot just ignore.
Reply
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