008 | walter reed |

[thatoldthatkind]

[ The Doctor is at the console of the TARDIS this evening, flicking lightly at one of the switches on it. His cowboy hat is firmly on his head and his eyes are on the blinking lights. He eyes the phone on the console before looking back at the lights. He always knows where to go, what to do. What left he can see in the universe before the ... well, end.

Maybe it's time he stopped running. But, he doesn't want to stop. There's so many people he has to meet and to help still. Maybe the universe would be better without the Doctor. River said that the whole of everything would turn against him if he kept carrying on like he does. Maybe it is time for him to stop.

He reaches up and tilts his cowboy hat down, unaware of his company. Maybe the dreamer is new to his dreams, or a frequent visitor. Either way? The Doctor has lost a bit of jump to his step. ]

Comments

[waterfell]

[Running is no use. Mercury's been running for years. It's one of the conflicts she hasn't quite figured out how to resolve yet.

Something is different. She's not the type to know how to make it better, to know the words to say or what to do, but she notes the change. She deflects attention from it. They're inside the TARDIS, so she steps up to the Doctor boldly.]

Where were you going this time?

[thatoldthatkind]

[ The Doctor raises his head and smiles at Mercury. It's a little distant at first, but he waves his hand and the mood seems gone. ]

Haven't quite decided just yet. You know how it is! So many places to go.

[waterfell]

Then I'll also come.

[As if there's no chance of argument, as if she isn't aware of his distaste for her. Perhaps she enjoys inflicting herself on him for that very reason.]

[thatoldthatkind]

Do you have anywhere in particular you'd like to go, Ami?

[waterfell]

Where you were going is fine. [Wherever that may turn out to be.]

[thatoldthatkind]

I've got no idea where that was. We're just sort of floating. Floating is nice, once in a while. Bit like a space cloud. Except we're solid and not made of poofy gaseous materials.

[waterfell]

[No. Stars are different from that, made of different substances. She isn't a poofy cloud.]

Floating through space can gather a lot of power. Did you know that?

[thatoldthatkind]

Nah, not for a TARDIS. Unless it's a rift.

[waterfell]

[She only smiles self-contentedly, a sure sign of an arrogant statement to come.]

In space, my powers become even stronger.

[thatoldthatkind]

[ Stare. ]

We'll be sure to keep the doors closed then.

[waterfell]

Oh~? Scared of what I'll do?

[Now, really, Doctor, she's perfectly harmless unless someone is in her way, or an enemy.]

[thatoldthatkind]

More like I'm afraid that space would eat you up in a vaccuum and spit you out a confetti mess of Mercury. And not the element.

[waterfell]

You're forgetting who I am again. [The chiding is light, behind that air of almost smugness. She's flown through space long before this, without any need for a ship.]

[hasevolved]

[Violet's no stranger to trying to run, and failing. Which is why she's glad for the change in scenery that she finds in the Doctor's dream.]

This place is cool.

[thatoldthatkind]

"Cool"? It's been a long time since I heard her be called "cool"! And, she agrees. [ There is a slight chime in the room. ] Don't you, dear?

[hasevolved]

[She looks around at the sound, impressed.]

"She?" What, it's alive?

[thatoldthatkind]

Yes. She is.

[hasevolved]

Wow. That's a new one. Does she have a name?

[thatoldthatkind]

The TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.

[hasevolved]

It's--she's--a spaceship. ... I'm not surprised.

[Impressed, more like.]

[thatoldthatkind]

A time machine. Spaceship-slash-time machine.

[hasevolved]

[Color her impressed.]

... Who are you, anyway?

[thatoldthatkind]

Oh, I didn't say earlier? Blimey, that's rude. I'm the Doctor.

[hasevolved]

Violet Harmon. Nice to...

[Wait.]

"The Doctor?" You don't have a name?

[thatoldthatkind]

That is my name, Violet! The Doctor. Just the Doctor.