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]

How rude! You make it sound like you're afraid you won't get me to leave.

[The teasing drops, but only a little, to true interest.]

Let me see it.

[thatoldthatkind]

More like I don't want you complaining if you don't want to leave. [ Tap on the nose. ]

Just this way. Don't go wandering off!

[waterfell]

If I don't want to leave, I just won't leave.

[See, no complaining. And really, stop touching her. Because that is absolutely not the smallest of smiles starting to form. In any event, Ami follows the Doctor, torn between curiosity and trepidation.]

[thatoldthatkind]

[ He grins and throws a lever, causing the TARDIS to simply float in space then he motions for her to follow. He quickly hops up the stairs and disappears into a hallway. ]

[waterfell]

[She hurries behind him, half ready to hurry ahead of him if only she knew where they were going. She reaches the hallway just a second behind.]

Which room? Where is it?

[thatoldthatkind]

[ The Doctor stops and licks his finger, holding it up as if he's testing for the wind. ]

Down the hall, left, left then right then left again and the third door to the right. Next to the palm tree.

[waterfell]

[She's not going to take the time to wonder how there's a palm tree in the middle of a smallish ship which in turn is entirely inside a phone box. Instead, she's going to hurry down the hall - left, left, right, left... third door to the right.

Almost hesitantly, she waits a moment before turning the handle. The metal of the knob feels cold to her skin.]

[thatoldthatkind]

[ He follows after her, hands in his pockets with a smile on his face. It's always confusing for companions to find their way around for the first time. Even so, he's never tired of seeing it. ]

[waterfell]

[The first time. She'd like knowing that thought; it means he anticipates more, wants there to be a next time.

But unknowing, Ami is simply drawn into the room... and relieved. Instead of anything too hidden, anything too revealing, the room is simply entirely to her taste: contemporary, clean, bright and well-lit, with overflowing bookshelves and well-stocked aquariums taking up ample space.

It's not unlike her chambers in the Dark Kingdom. She turns back to the Doctor.]

I like this!

[thatoldthatkind]

[ The Doctor leans in the doorway of the room and glances around it. It fits Ami. Not just her as a mortal, or a senshi, or a princess. Her in completion. Of course it does! His dear always knows how to make their companions happy. ]

Good! You ought to. Otherwise the TARDIS has done it completely wrong. And she never does.

[waterfell]

You have so much faith in her! Has she never let you down?

[thatoldthatkind]

Nah. But, I've let her down.

[waterfell]

Did you make up for it? [The question is neutral.]

[thatoldthatkind]

I'd like to think so.

[waterfell]

Then, what did you do? [Pretty words aren't enough.]

[thatoldthatkind]

Ah, now that's between me and her.

[waterfell]

Isn't that another way to say 'nothing'?

[thatoldthatkind]

No. It's saying that it's not something I'd share with someone that isn't my TARDIS. Who is a something.

[waterfell]

As you wish, then! Let's see what the TARDIS has provided this room.

[The books are, of course, to her tastes, relevant to her current research along with a (somewhat embarrassing) few novels, already discreetly hidden behind other books. But Ami knows they're there, somehow.]

[thatoldthatkind]

[ He stays in the doorway, arms folded with a small grin on his face. The kind a parent has when watching their kid run around their new room. ]

[waterfell]

[Perhaps the most surprising part of the room is the simplest: There are framed photographs of Ami with various people she knows in her waking life - but more she knows from her dreams. Pictures with friends, someone else might call it. Ami herself would probably make an excuse or pass it off as something else.]

Every detail is just so, isn't it?

I wonder, then, what your room is like.

[thatoldthatkind]

That's something that stays off limits. Besides, it's not like I even have a room! I rarely sleep. Which is why we don't see each other too often.

[waterfell]

'Rarely' still means there's somewhere you should do it, right? I want to see it.

[thatoldthatkind]

You're not seeing and yes, sometimes. Otherwise we'd never meet.

[waterfell]

Would that disappoint you? [It's flippant as always, but she may be listening for the answer.]