The Black Pot

The Doctor remains in his seat, grinning. "Nicely done!" he cheers for Quirrell, applauding.

He gets to his feet and tucks his hands into his pockets, then leans against the edge of the table and waits for the crowd to quiet down. When he can speak without having to raise his voice much, he begins, smiling as he does.

"See the thing about time travel, is that it makes it possible to go back into the past and make sure people you... care about get just the thing they were hoping for, just what they wanted, for the holidays. It's a little bit like playing Father Christmas." He grins. "Maybe even better than playing Father Christmas, because it's a complete surprise to the people getting the gift... Can't really stick around to reveal yourself -- just think of the paradoxes it would cause if they met you before they really meet you!"

"And..." He removes one hand from his pocket and points to the crowd, tone a somewhat stern. "For those of you more familiar with the rules about timelines and interfering with them, if done properly -- that is, making sure you aren't seen – the whole secret-gift-giving-thing is sort-of permissible under the Cheap Tricks clause. Which is a very important clause. Not unlike Santa."

He shrugs, then hurries on to better explain himself, speaking rapidly. "And it's not every year that I do it, just, you know, every once in a while, when I see something special. A microscope for Liz, an out-of-print book on plants Peri. Rare recording for Grace. And plenty of others." He grins, eyes twinkling. "Don't want to ruin any surprises."

His smile fades, expression becoming more serious. He speaks again after a moment. "But I think the best present I ever gave was a red bicycle. To Rose Tyler. When she was twelve." He smiles fondly. "I thought she’d like it. And the red – not sure if it was a favourite colour, but like a rose... " He shrugs and smiles somewhat sheepishly. "I thought it was an appropriate choice at any rate. And it made me think of her."

After another pause, he continues quietly. "I told her about it, one time, after we'd started traveling together. I was smiling, had a good day, saved the world, met Jack, everyone lived, and she said to me, she said 'Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas.' And I replied, 'Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve.'" He grins, eyes looking a bit too bright and continues with a short chuckle, "I don't think she believed me!" His smile fades, expression turning wistful, before he shrugs and adds "But that's fine." He stands quietly for a moment, looking downward, scuffing the floor with his trainer..

He takes a deep breath, shakes his head, trying to shake off his mood, before continuing. "Anyway! What I would want as a present..." He hesitates a moment, then speaks quietly. "Well, it's really not worth destroying the universe for. Well, she is. But... Never mind." He shakes his head forcefully. "Impossible! Not important!"

"And besides!" he bursts with forced enthusiasm, smile taking a moment to become truly genuine. "It's the season of giving!"

"So, tell you what, I have too many things. Really. The TARDIS is bursting, which..." he breaks off, nodding emphatically before continuing on in a rush "...is saying something, seeing as it's dimensionally transcendental. So, you're all invited to stop over after our meeting this evening and pick something out. Anything you want out the wardrobe, the library, storage, even the art gallery. Though, you will have to arrange how to transport whatever you select, since, you know, my ship is still not quite working."

"Ah!" he adds quickly. "And, I'll make sure my... er, roommate is out... or locked up... or something... so he can't bother you at all." He lowers his voice. "He's... a bit Grinch."

He grins suddenly and takes his seat. "Hope to see you later! And Happy Holidays!"

Q can't quite believe he's actually going to do this. He gulps down the rest of his third (or is it fourth?) drink and goes up to the stage. He takes the boom box he's just gotten (no WAY is he doing this a capella!)and and after a brief struggle with plugging it in, Q pushes play and turns to face the audience. He sings, doing his best Eartha Kitt:

Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree,
For me.
been an awful good boy,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa baby, a 54 convertible too,
Light blue.
I'll wait up for you dear,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Think of all the fun I've missed,
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed,
Next year I could be just as good,
If you'll check off my Christmas list,

Santa baby, I wanna yacht,
And really that's not a lot,
Been an angel all year,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa honey, there's one thing I really do need,
The deed
To a platinum mine,
Santa honey, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex,
And checks.
Sign your 'X' on the line,
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

Come and trim my Christmas tree,
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's,
I really do believe in you,
Let's see if you believe in me,

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing,
A ring.
I don't mean on the phone,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry down the chimney tonight,
Hurry, tonight.

Data understands giving and receiving presents. Many, many cultures observe a similar practice. "That is a very nice thought. If it is not any trouble, I would like to request an ambient metaphasic impulse conduit. That, or a quantum duodynetic plasma scanner. Either one would be welcome." He pauses. "I realize that these may be difficult for you to come by here, so perhaps I should just ask for a cat. I miss Spot."

It strikes me as being rather wrong and unfestive not to have a holiday-themed topic of discussion for December, and so this month I'd like to talk about presents. Who doesn't love presents? So what I want to know is this: what would you like for Christmas and why? Or what's the best present you can think of to give someone else? A real present or a hypothetical one, I don't mind.

And, should you be inspired to give your humble waitress waiter a present, you should of course feel very welcome to do so.

The tag for this month is presents, and please claim your characters here.