Going to Sink
Rating: G
Prompt: #051 - Water
Claim: The Time War
Table: Here
Spoilers: None
Characters/Pairing: Koschei, Theta
Summary: When a school trip doesn't offer much distraction Theta finds other ways to entertain himself.
It was a beautiful day: sunny, windless and as warm as it got in this part of Gallifrey. The first sun was setting and the second would follow in less than three hours, allowing a short time of near darkness in which the leafs of the trees seemed to glow and the seas sparkled. It was a perfect day for wandering through the mountains, for lying in the grass of the meadows, for just being outside and enjoying life. For someone. Somewhere. Probably.
Koschei could hardly believe there was anyone out there, least anyone able to enjoy anything. It seemed to him that Time Lords beyond a certain age lost all ability of having fun, or generally a personality. And everyone below that age was locked away in the classrooms and libraries of the academy. Except for them. Their class was currently on one of those rare, once-in-twenty-years trips to the distant mountains that were supposed to teach them more about the world they lived on.
And their teachers made sure they learned a lot. The moment they’d arrived two days ago they’d been locked inside a building with dorms and classrooms, to guarantee that neither of them could miss any learning time by running around outside and possibly risk getting fresh air into their lungs.
The room didn’t even have windows.
Koschei rolled his eyes in annoyance as the entire class rose from their chairs to recite the Hymn of Rassilon, as they always did at this time of day. The monotone sing-songed coral would have made him fall asleep had he still sat in his chair, which he suspected was the reason for them having to stand.
The choral passed eventless, as should be expected. There was no interruption; no one missed the tune; no one was so involved with the book they were reading under the table that they missed what was going on. The hymn was recited by a well behaving, disciplined group of students and nothing went wrong.
When it was over the class fell silent and waited for their teacher to give the command for sitting down again. The teacher was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Frowning deeply while his mind tried to reach the obvious conclusion.
Finally he spoke.
“Theta Sigma is missing,” he realised.
-
The main entrance was locked in a way Koschei couldn’t bypass in the few minutes he had before anyone of the staff would walk into the hall - so he escaped through the window right beside it. After getting out it wasn’t very had to find Theta, as the other boy had told his friend where he would go and what he would do once he got there. They had seen the lake on a map of the area and with his nearly-perfect memory it was easy to get there.
In theory. In reality he had to climb over rocks and pass through a small forest where he almost lost his orientation. It was the loud splashing sounds that showed him the right direction in the end.
After emerging from he trees he had to climb another few rocks before seeing the lake. It was settled into the mountains, deeply blue in the fading light and would have been calm and peaceful if not for the young Time Lord hopping through the shallow water near the edge, every so often running from one side of his construct to the other to fix this or adjust that.
Koschei watched him for a long moment before calling out:
“I thought you’d have finished that by now.”
Theta looked up from his work and grinned at him. His hair was longer than was appropriate and wet at the edges.
“I have finished it!” he declared despite all contrary evidence. “These are just some unimportant details.”
“The kind of unimportant details that can get you killed?”
Theta grimaced.
“There’s nothing inside this that can explode, Koschei,” he assured him and knocked onto the wooden surface.
“That’s what you said last time.”
“I needed half the day to get the material and the tools here,” Theta changed the topic. “There was no way to get even close to the equipment needed for creating a pocket dimension, so I had to carry every single piece all the way here.” He sounded rather satisfied. Koschei looked at the thing he had built and couldn’t believe he was actually going to use it.
“Your absence was noted,” he said.
“Oh, I bet I was sourly missed.” Theta seemed to worry more about hammering a nail into the wood than about the punishment that awaited him. He was like that. “There! Done!”
Koschei shook his head in mock desperation as Theta beamed at him. The thing he had built was two and a half metres long, one metre in width and drifted on the water. With some luck it would still drift on the water once Theta climbed into it. They had found the construction plans for the primitive boat from the times before Rassilon and Omega in the library and the moment they did Koschei had seen on Theta’s face that he wanted to build one. He didn’t even have to say anything. He had seen exactly the same expression on his friend’s face when they discovered the lake and inwardly he’d groaned. It was a stupid waste of time but he never even tried to talk him out of it, knowing it would be useless.
And it was still better than sitting through another boring day of learning. For Theta it was nothing that needed much thinking about.
They had seen the plans only once, for a minute, and the construction wasn’t as simple as it seemed from the outside, as even the pre-Time Lord Gallifreyans tended to make things more complicated that they had to be. Still it had apparently been long enough for Theta to memorize every detail - something that would have surprised their teachers, as he often failed to remember even the simples of mathematical formulas.
Koschei wasn’t the most enthusiastic student when it came to topics he was not interested in, but even without extensive effort he was still better than most. Theta on the other hand took pains to make sure he just about passed his classes. Somehow he always managed to get just as many questions right as was absolutely needed. Koschei had seen his tests, and wondered sometimes how much longer their teachers would fail to notice that every once in a while he failed at the easier ones but solved problems even Koschei had to struggle with. They probably thought it was just plain luck.
“You’re going to sink,” he foresaw as he watched Theta pull the little boat closer to the shore.
“Then I sink,” the other boy shrugged. “I can swim.”
Sometimes he was brilliant and sometimes he overlooked the most obvious things. Koschei sighed.
“Your robes will get soaked and pull you down. You’ll drown.” His words actually made Theta stop and think for a second.
“You’re right,” he admitted, and slipped out of the heavy, traditional clothes, carelessly letting them drop to the ground. Then he pulled off his boots and left them behind with the robes when he walked towards Koschei with that spark in his eyes that made it so impossible to deny him anything. He winked at him one last time, turned and ran towards the boat, jumping onto it from a distance. The momentum he carried with him let the boat drift away from the shore and Theta laughed and waved as the distance between them grew.
One day they’d do this together, Koschei thought. Take a ship and get away from here, leaving all the garbage behind that made it impossible for a Time Lord to do anything out there. For Theta, at least, it would be easy.
He’d never really fit in with the other students. Koschei himself got along with them although he never had any close friends. Even though the other boy never said so he knew he was the one Theta relied on to be there, to one he needed, and the thought rose feelings in him he had never analysed - although he suspected one of them might be satisfaction. Another was the wish to protect him. Theta had chosen to role of the bad student himself, but Koschei knew it was hard for him to bear the scorn of the others. But as long as Koschei was with him it would be alright.
And while Koschei helped him through his classes simply by being his friend it was Theta’s restless energy the pulled him along and made him not only dream of all the things a Time Lord should not do but plan to really do them one day. He had such wonderful plans!
“Koschei!” Theta called from the centre of the small lake, leaning forward to gaze into the water below. “There are fishes here! Real fishes!”
“You’re going to fall in!” Koschei warned while he walked closer to the edge of the water.
“You have to see them!” Theta answered, leaned down further and not at all accidentally slipped into the water. Five seconds later he came up again his hair plastered against his head.
“Come here!” he called. “It’s not that cold! You have to see this, it’s fantastic!” And then he was gone again.
Even looking at the water made Koschei shudder. ‘Not that cold’ in this case clearly was an euphemism for ‘not frozen’. It was summer, which meant most of the snow had melted even this high up but it was still far from warm here in the mountains.
Yet Koschei had to admit that Gallifrey was quite beautiful in places, and maybe he’d have been able to appreciate it more had they been given a chance to see anything else but the citadel all the time. As things were he associated his planet only with stuffy books, boring lessons and halls full of dusty Time Lords and their stupid, restricting laws and traditions. The real life was out there, in the universe, and as soon as they were out of the academy Koschei would go there with Theta and, if he had any say in it, never return here. For all he cared Gallifrey could burn. He wouldn’t miss it.
But apparently going with Theta meant jumping into cold water now and then. Koschei smiled softly to himself as he shed his own robes and walked down the narrow shore, to see what the lake had to offer.
March 28, 2008
This is my last post before I travel to Danmark with my family tomorrow. That means no internet for one week, but I hope to have finished the next chapter of The Shade of Somewhere Else when I come back.
Prompt: #051 - Water
Claim: The Time War
Table: Here
Spoilers: None
Characters/Pairing: Koschei, Theta
Summary: When a school trip doesn't offer much distraction Theta finds other ways to entertain himself.
It was a beautiful day: sunny, windless and as warm as it got in this part of Gallifrey. The first sun was setting and the second would follow in less than three hours, allowing a short time of near darkness in which the leafs of the trees seemed to glow and the seas sparkled. It was a perfect day for wandering through the mountains, for lying in the grass of the meadows, for just being outside and enjoying life. For someone. Somewhere. Probably.
Koschei could hardly believe there was anyone out there, least anyone able to enjoy anything. It seemed to him that Time Lords beyond a certain age lost all ability of having fun, or generally a personality. And everyone below that age was locked away in the classrooms and libraries of the academy. Except for them. Their class was currently on one of those rare, once-in-twenty-years trips to the distant mountains that were supposed to teach them more about the world they lived on.
And their teachers made sure they learned a lot. The moment they’d arrived two days ago they’d been locked inside a building with dorms and classrooms, to guarantee that neither of them could miss any learning time by running around outside and possibly risk getting fresh air into their lungs.
The room didn’t even have windows.
Koschei rolled his eyes in annoyance as the entire class rose from their chairs to recite the Hymn of Rassilon, as they always did at this time of day. The monotone sing-songed coral would have made him fall asleep had he still sat in his chair, which he suspected was the reason for them having to stand.
The choral passed eventless, as should be expected. There was no interruption; no one missed the tune; no one was so involved with the book they were reading under the table that they missed what was going on. The hymn was recited by a well behaving, disciplined group of students and nothing went wrong.
When it was over the class fell silent and waited for their teacher to give the command for sitting down again. The teacher was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. Frowning deeply while his mind tried to reach the obvious conclusion.
Finally he spoke.
“Theta Sigma is missing,” he realised.
-
The main entrance was locked in a way Koschei couldn’t bypass in the few minutes he had before anyone of the staff would walk into the hall - so he escaped through the window right beside it. After getting out it wasn’t very had to find Theta, as the other boy had told his friend where he would go and what he would do once he got there. They had seen the lake on a map of the area and with his nearly-perfect memory it was easy to get there.
In theory. In reality he had to climb over rocks and pass through a small forest where he almost lost his orientation. It was the loud splashing sounds that showed him the right direction in the end.
After emerging from he trees he had to climb another few rocks before seeing the lake. It was settled into the mountains, deeply blue in the fading light and would have been calm and peaceful if not for the young Time Lord hopping through the shallow water near the edge, every so often running from one side of his construct to the other to fix this or adjust that.
Koschei watched him for a long moment before calling out:
“I thought you’d have finished that by now.”
Theta looked up from his work and grinned at him. His hair was longer than was appropriate and wet at the edges.
“I have finished it!” he declared despite all contrary evidence. “These are just some unimportant details.”
“The kind of unimportant details that can get you killed?”
Theta grimaced.
“There’s nothing inside this that can explode, Koschei,” he assured him and knocked onto the wooden surface.
“That’s what you said last time.”
“I needed half the day to get the material and the tools here,” Theta changed the topic. “There was no way to get even close to the equipment needed for creating a pocket dimension, so I had to carry every single piece all the way here.” He sounded rather satisfied. Koschei looked at the thing he had built and couldn’t believe he was actually going to use it.
“Your absence was noted,” he said.
“Oh, I bet I was sourly missed.” Theta seemed to worry more about hammering a nail into the wood than about the punishment that awaited him. He was like that. “There! Done!”
Koschei shook his head in mock desperation as Theta beamed at him. The thing he had built was two and a half metres long, one metre in width and drifted on the water. With some luck it would still drift on the water once Theta climbed into it. They had found the construction plans for the primitive boat from the times before Rassilon and Omega in the library and the moment they did Koschei had seen on Theta’s face that he wanted to build one. He didn’t even have to say anything. He had seen exactly the same expression on his friend’s face when they discovered the lake and inwardly he’d groaned. It was a stupid waste of time but he never even tried to talk him out of it, knowing it would be useless.
And it was still better than sitting through another boring day of learning. For Theta it was nothing that needed much thinking about.
They had seen the plans only once, for a minute, and the construction wasn’t as simple as it seemed from the outside, as even the pre-Time Lord Gallifreyans tended to make things more complicated that they had to be. Still it had apparently been long enough for Theta to memorize every detail - something that would have surprised their teachers, as he often failed to remember even the simples of mathematical formulas.
Koschei wasn’t the most enthusiastic student when it came to topics he was not interested in, but even without extensive effort he was still better than most. Theta on the other hand took pains to make sure he just about passed his classes. Somehow he always managed to get just as many questions right as was absolutely needed. Koschei had seen his tests, and wondered sometimes how much longer their teachers would fail to notice that every once in a while he failed at the easier ones but solved problems even Koschei had to struggle with. They probably thought it was just plain luck.
“You’re going to sink,” he foresaw as he watched Theta pull the little boat closer to the shore.
“Then I sink,” the other boy shrugged. “I can swim.”
Sometimes he was brilliant and sometimes he overlooked the most obvious things. Koschei sighed.
“Your robes will get soaked and pull you down. You’ll drown.” His words actually made Theta stop and think for a second.
“You’re right,” he admitted, and slipped out of the heavy, traditional clothes, carelessly letting them drop to the ground. Then he pulled off his boots and left them behind with the robes when he walked towards Koschei with that spark in his eyes that made it so impossible to deny him anything. He winked at him one last time, turned and ran towards the boat, jumping onto it from a distance. The momentum he carried with him let the boat drift away from the shore and Theta laughed and waved as the distance between them grew.
One day they’d do this together, Koschei thought. Take a ship and get away from here, leaving all the garbage behind that made it impossible for a Time Lord to do anything out there. For Theta, at least, it would be easy.
He’d never really fit in with the other students. Koschei himself got along with them although he never had any close friends. Even though the other boy never said so he knew he was the one Theta relied on to be there, to one he needed, and the thought rose feelings in him he had never analysed - although he suspected one of them might be satisfaction. Another was the wish to protect him. Theta had chosen to role of the bad student himself, but Koschei knew it was hard for him to bear the scorn of the others. But as long as Koschei was with him it would be alright.
And while Koschei helped him through his classes simply by being his friend it was Theta’s restless energy the pulled him along and made him not only dream of all the things a Time Lord should not do but plan to really do them one day. He had such wonderful plans!
“Koschei!” Theta called from the centre of the small lake, leaning forward to gaze into the water below. “There are fishes here! Real fishes!”
“You’re going to fall in!” Koschei warned while he walked closer to the edge of the water.
“You have to see them!” Theta answered, leaned down further and not at all accidentally slipped into the water. Five seconds later he came up again his hair plastered against his head.
“Come here!” he called. “It’s not that cold! You have to see this, it’s fantastic!” And then he was gone again.
Even looking at the water made Koschei shudder. ‘Not that cold’ in this case clearly was an euphemism for ‘not frozen’. It was summer, which meant most of the snow had melted even this high up but it was still far from warm here in the mountains.
Yet Koschei had to admit that Gallifrey was quite beautiful in places, and maybe he’d have been able to appreciate it more had they been given a chance to see anything else but the citadel all the time. As things were he associated his planet only with stuffy books, boring lessons and halls full of dusty Time Lords and their stupid, restricting laws and traditions. The real life was out there, in the universe, and as soon as they were out of the academy Koschei would go there with Theta and, if he had any say in it, never return here. For all he cared Gallifrey could burn. He wouldn’t miss it.
But apparently going with Theta meant jumping into cold water now and then. Koschei smiled softly to himself as he shed his own robes and walked down the narrow shore, to see what the lake had to offer.
March 28, 2008
This is my last post before I travel to Danmark with my family tomorrow. That means no internet for one week, but I hope to have finished the next chapter of The Shade of Somewhere Else when I come back.