The Doctor (12) (twelfth_doctor) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-05-01 09:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, clarke griffin, doctor (12) |
Who: The Doctor (12), Clarke Griffin
What: Meet the TARDIS
When: After this exchange
Where: Clarke’s place / Kyoto Cherry Blossom Festival, Japan
Warnings: Low
Status: Complete in gdocs
They’d been on that cruise for only three months, but separation made it feel like longer. Oh, how the Doctor had missed the TARDIS! The sensation as his fingertips gently stroked across her console as he confidently sauntered past with a bounce in his step; the shadows cast by the smokey blue lights that ran along the ceiling, punctuated by the gold from his favorite roundels; the low, but ever present sound of her engines fading in and out, which was the TARDIS breathing. When he told Clarke that he loved the TARDIS more than even his wife, it was no exaggeration. Not many people realized that she was more than just a means of transport, a place where he lived, but was a living being, with whom you could communicate and interact. And the Doctor was smitten.
It was the sort of love that he enjoyed sharing. He took particular joy in watching the reactions of people who met her for the first time. Which was why he made the offer to Clarke to introduce her. The TARDIS locked into Clarke’s coordinates through the device she was using to message him with, and the Doctor joyfully threw back the lever to start the engines whirring.
The grinding sound of the TARDIS' engines manifested in the place where Clarke was, followed by the gradual materialization of the TARDIS, herself. The door swung open, and the Doctor emerged, remaining in the threshold. He immediately spotted Clarke, grinned, and then held out his hand for her in a welcoming gesture. Nothing else needed to be said.
--
Clarke wasn’t sure what this guy was on about. He seemed kind of crazy, but in a nice way. He was enthusiastic, and she hadn’t seen a lot of that on her time on the ground. Except from Madi, who was only a pre-teen. The other Delinquents were enthusiastic first but then the war with the Grounders started and things became bleak. Even bleaker when the adults came down and tried to ruin their truce with the Grounders.
She was outside her “tower” home, which reminder her a little of Polis tower-- it wasn’t spherical like Polis tower. The inside didn’t much look like it-- but it did have Lexa’s bedroom. A room she hadn’t slept in yet, despite the two being lovers before. Six years had passed, so things were moving slowly.
Clarke was in the grass, enjoying the somewhat-warm day. Spring was here. Suddenly, the chirping birds were interrupted by a strange sound, and before her-- a large blue box appeared. Clarke had never seen a phone booth in her life, so she didn’t know what to make of it.
When the Doctor held his hand out, Clarke went against her better judgement and stood, reaching her hand out for his. “Where are we going?” she asked, vacantly. Weirder things had happened, might as well go with it.
--
“Wherever on Earth you want,” was the Doctor’s enthusiastic promise. It was a dirty, rotten shame that the TARDIS couldn’t leave the Earth’s atmosphere or travel through time in this place, otherwise he would’ve told here anywhere you want, instead. A bit of a disappointment, but this wasn’t the first time he’d been stuck on Earth before. He hoped that one day, the Portal would hiccup and the TARDIS would be work properly again, but until then, he would make do.
Taking Clarke by the hand, he drew her inside, and then let go, smiling the entire way. The Doctor left her there on the ramp as he casually walked toward the central console, fixing the cuffs of his shirt past the sleeves of his jacket to make a show of detachment. But the gleam in his eyes told a different story: he watched Clarke for her reaction, waiting and hoping for the words that always gave him a tickle.
---
“Wh-- it’s so much bigger on the inside?” She sounded confused, questioning him. How could that be? “It’s the size of a booth out there.” Clarke used one thumb to motion back outside. “Is this magic or science? Because it looks like magic.”
She walked further in, following the Doctor. “I don’t know where on Earth to go, Earth was destroyed where I was from. And when it started to regrow… I wasn’t sure were I was at. Any suggestions?” She gave him a weak smile, thinking about how sad it was that she didn’t even know anything about Earth. Time to hit the books.
---
Ahhhh! Clarke was right on cue, and the Doctor struggled to suppress a giggle. He was in phenomenally good spirits, and taking on the mood of a dramatic actor, he made a wide gesture with his arm to introduce her. “To quote the human author, Arthur C Clark, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’! TARDIS. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. The interior exists in a separate dimension, which accounts for the outside size. This is not any technology built by humans.”
At the console, the Doctor leaned forward to ask, “Are you a city type of girl, or would you rather someplace more natural?” He had an idea for both, but it was traditional for the new companion to make the final decision.
--
Clarke watched him flail about with a small smile on her face. She wasn’t used to doing much of that-- smiling. Things were bleak where she was from. But this place seemed nice, maybe she could put down her defenses.
“Natural, please,” she said, shaking her head. “I like the greens and the oranges, the brown. Cities aren’t my thing.”
--
The Doctor’s smile hitched a couple of notches higher, and there was a noticeable twinkle in his eye as he acknowledged Clarke’s decision. “I think I have a more colorful idea. Now’s the right time of year.” He checked his instruments and flipped a few switches, then told her, “Hang on!”
The lever was flipped back, and the TARDIS came to life, whirring and spinning. The room was jostled, but the Doctor gripped the edge of console to steady himself, thrilled to have the freedom to travel again. It didn’t take very long before the TARDIS became still again, and the Doctor adjusted the lever and hit the button that unlocked the door. With a gesture of his hand toward the door, he told her, “Well? Go see for yourself.”
The TARDIS had landed in the middle of a park, beside a calm river flowing through a pink, fluffy cloud of cherry blossoms In the distance, Mount Fuji, rose among the clouds like a benevolent spectre to give its approval of nature’s radiance. The people mulling around, enjoying the picturesque sight, walked right past the TARDIS without paying it any mind, as if it were natural for a British police box to be smack dab inside Japan.
“Kyoto!” the Doctor exclaimed. “The Cherry Blossom Festival. If the TARDIS was working properly, I could’ve taken you to see the oranges and browns of autumn, but I figured this might do…” There was a little hesitance in his voice at the end, hoping Clarke would be pleased with where he’d taken her.
---
Clarke grabbed onto a railing when the TARDIS started to move, looking slightly alarmed. She’d been on rockier rides before, thanks to the Dropship that brought her to Earth. Her expression softened once they stopped and she watched him carefully as he walked towards the door.
She really didn’t expect to have moved so far so quickly. She knew a little bit of Earth geography from school on the Ark. It was part of history, actually. So she knew that Kyoto was in Japan and Japan was nowhere near Texas.
It only took her a millisecond to process the geography part-- because she was suddenly breathless. “Oh my god.” One hand went to her heart, and she stepped out quickly, walking under the trees. Her hands went out and the little petals fell down and into her hair and on her hands. “This is beautiful, Doctor. I never knew anything could look like this.”
--
The Doctor followed Clarke outside, smiling with satisfaction at how happy Clarke was, his hands clasped casually behind his back. As he strolled, he looked up at the clusters of soft flowers - sometimes you didn’t need to travel the length and breadth of the universe, it was possible see amazing sights right here on Earth.
“People come from all over for this festival,” he said, his hearts light and joyful. There was a thin carpet of petals covering the ground, and the Doctor shuffled his feet through them to kick them up. “Go on then,” he gave her permission. “Have fun. Explore.” There was no danger here, and it made the Doctor happy to see Clarke so happy.
---
Clarke had already walked several feet ahead of him. When he told her to ‘go on,’ she looked back at him. “Without you?” Even if there wasn’t danger, she had a habit of traveling in pairs, packs, groups. “Safety in numbers,” she said in a distant voice, looking up at the trees and how the petals fell down onto her face. She blew a raspberry to get one out of her mouth.
She wished Madi was here to see this. The young girl who also survived the radiation death wave. Another nightblood. She would have loved it-- pink wasn’t a color often found in nature, especially after nature had been destroyed by radiation.
---
“No,” the Doctor’s reply was accompanied by a ridiculous, squished up face to show how ridiculous such a question that was. “Not without me. I’ll be following. I just want you to enjoy yourself.” He then smiled. These folk from Clarke’s universe had a pretty horrible life, at least up to now. The Doctor felt satisfied that he could give this one a happy, memorable day, that might help combat all the awful memories.
---
Clarke smiled. The people who knew her didn’t often see that. She had to force it a lot of times when she was with Madi-- even if the little girl made her happy. She felt like Madi was a daughter to her, she understood what it was like to be Abby, her mother. But it was still a lonely existence. It was difficult if the two ever had an argument, being the last two people in the world.
“Then follow me.” She mosied down the road, still with her hands out in awe. There was a cart for food nearby and Clarke pointed it out to him, “Should we see what he’s selling?” She didn’t have any money on her, at this point in Tumbleweed’s history she hadn’t gotten a job yet. Maybe The Doctor could spot her.
---
The Frozen Rickshaw stand advertised in plain English ’mochi ice cream’, colorful balls which were sold skewered on a stick. The Doctor came up behind Clarke and looked over her shoulder at the ware, and commented, “Oooooo! Never too chilly for ice cream!”
The rickshaw was staffed by a young Japanese lady in a perky, kawaii cap, who smiled and spoke in perfect English with a British accent, “May I help you, please?”
“One tropical lime and a strawberry for me, and whatever my friend wants. Oh wait.” He rummaged through the pockets of his jacket until he found what he was looking for - a thin billfold that contained not money, but a blank slip of paper, which he flashed at the sales lady.
The lady’s eyes opened wide and she bowed respectfully at the waist. “Yes, sir. Whatever you want! It’s an honor to serve you!”
As she hurried to get their order, the Doctor glanced over at Clarke and raised his bushy eyebrows high in a confidentially joking manner.
---
Clarke watched this whole thing go down with a skeptical look on her face. It wasn’t too out of the ordinary for someone to be speaking English in Japan, but it did give her pause that she had the same accent as the Doctor.
Then the whole slip of paper-- She did a double take, “Oh, I’ll take the same thing, thanks.” It sounded good! That and she wasn’t sure what she should order. Once their ice creams were given to them, Clarke sauntered over to a park bench and gently sat her bottom on one side. “Her accent wasn’t what I was expecting… and why don’t you have money?” It seemed like a rude question but she just watched him flash a blank piece of paper at someone. It wasn’t too out of left field to ask.
---
“Translation matrix,” the Doctor explained, between bites of mochi. “The TARDIS automatically, and instantaneously translates any language within the area. Handy when you’re traveling the universe.” He inclined his head in the direction of the sales lady. “She was actually speaking Japanese.” He then wagged his index finger between the both of them. “To her, we’re speaking Japanese.” The Doctor then smiled, and went into his pocket to bring out his billfold, again.
“This? Is psychic paper. It shows what I want the person reading the paper to see, or sometimes, what the reader might expect. It’s my ‘Get Out Of Jail Free Card’. It’s gotten me out of a jam more than once. Whatever she saw was enough for her to give us both free ice cream.” He held the paper out for Clarke to read. “What does it say, now?”
---
Clarke took a bite of her mochi, pausing to enjoy it. Wow, she hadn’t had anything like this before in her life. And she thought the Easter candy was good. “We’re speaking Japanese to her?” She quirked an eyebrow, feeling like she had done that every step of the way with the Doctor. Clarke thought she should get used to it and just accept that he was strange and everything that came with him was amazing.
She squinted at the paper, “It looks… like it says you’re a policeman. Police get free ice cream?” She looked back to her mochi and took a big bite. “Oh… oh ow…” Her forehead and temples ached-- burned, and she wasn’t quite sure why. “Oh, this hurts… what in the hell?”
---
“Policeman?” That made the Doctor laugh. “Maybe they do? It’s their show of respect for authority? Or, what’s more likely, policeman is what you thought, and the psychic paper picked up on your idea of what I ought to be.” Which was kind of interesting, but the Doctor didn’t have much time to think about what that meant, because then Clarke expressed pain and he was immediately concerned. That is, until he realized what had happened.
“Brain freeze. You’ve never had it before? You get it by consuming something cold too fast. Here, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth and tilt your head back. That’ll help to get rid of it.”
---
Clarke tilted her head, like a confused dog. Her just-above-the-shoulder hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it away with the hand that didn’t have the mochi. “I just know we had guards on the Ark. They were our police.” She bitterly thought of how they did their jobs. If you broke the rules, you were thrown out into space.
“No, never!” She hissed, then obediently did as the Doctor said, shoving her tongue up in her mouth. She tilted her head back and looked completely silly. “Ohh, okay, it’s going away. I never had anything this cold before…” Clarke thought maybe she should explain, “I lived in space my whole life. We had water and protein cubes. Then the last six years I lived off fish and birds. Nothing like this. No sweets, except maybe berries.”
---
“Ugh, protein cubes!” the Doctor exclaimed, sticking out his tongue, distastefully. “On my planet, that’s the regional cuisine. Protein cubes, vitamin pills, and to switch things up, nutritional wafers. Bland, dull, boring!” He rolled his eyes, then continued. “Before I was enrolled in the Time Lord Academy, my best mate and I would sneak out of the Capitol and drink with the Shobogans in Low Town.” He grinned at this memory. “I first got a taste of substantial food, there. It wasn’t fancy, but tasted a hell of a lot better than the stuff in Arcadia. Ever since then, I knew I couldn’t go back to popping pills. The TARDIS is still able to produce them, though, for when I’m busy or on the run.” He gave Clarke a look and gave her this advice, “Take advantage of everything while you’re here, and learn to enjoy what you’ve got. Earth is a little planet, and it has its faults, but there’s a lot of diversity, and much to offer.”
He thought about Clarke’s explanation of guards on the Ark, then asked, “Do I look like the type that would throw somebody off a spaceship?”
---
She nodded at him, listening to his story while enjoying her mochi. His planet sounded a little bit like the Ark. They had to eat protein cubes because they had been in space for nearly a hundred years and all the good stuff had been gone by then. Clarke wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what his planet’s deal was.
“Take advantage of everything, got it.” She smiled, but it was a little forced. Clarke knew life was more than just surviving, but it was hard to do that sometimes, to get out of that mindset. “Earth is beautiful. Even Tumbleweed isn’t so bad.
When he asked his question, she shook her head, “No no, not even a little bit. You look--” like a crazy old man? No, try again. “Like a spaceman.” She smiled, genuine this time. “Should we be getting back, spaceman?”
---
The Doctor couldn’t help but notice the forced nature of her smile. Even the more reason to spoil Clarke rotten! He accepted the title with another grin, then said, “We just got here. Are you in such a hurry to leave? We just can’t get ice cream and go! We haven’t even taken any selfies yet! Is there something in Tumbleweed that you’d rather be doing?”
If his TARDIS had been working properly, he could’ve told her that he’d be able to take her back in time to the exact point they’d left, so she wouldn’t miss a thing. Alas, the Doctor could only advocate shuffing off responsibilities in Real Time. So, from the tone of his voice, his question to her strongly suggested that No, there shouldn’t be anything more important than enjoying the cherry blossoms. “Come on. Let’s go for a stroll.”
---
Clarke laughed when he mentioned a selfie. She learned what that was a little while back, on the boat. “Okay, we can take pictures. And no-- there isn’t anything there I’d rather be doing. This place is… magical.”
She stood up and paused for the Doctor to stand as well. “You can tell me more about your planet, if that’s okay with you.” She deposited the wrapper for her mochi into the little trash bin next to the bench, happy to keep the place clean.
Definitely an interesting day.