River Song (spoilers_) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-05-18 12:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, doctor (12), river song |
Who: The Doctor (12), River Song
What: An invitation to the Kentucky Derby and a bit of dress-up
When: Saturday, May 5th
Where: The TARDIS
Warnings: Low
Status: Complete in gdocs
“Do you have a large hat?” Up to this point the Doctor had been silent, tinkering with a personal project in the Console Room of the TARDIS, seemingly too engrossed to notice River had entered. “One of those…” he wildly gestured with his hands around his own head to indicate the size and shape of hat he was talking about, “... with…” accompanied with more gestures to suggest things sticking up from out of it. “You’d seem to be like the type to have a hat like that, except your hair is so enormous, I don’t know if it would be able to fit you.” His last comment wasn’t delivered as an insult or even a joke, but something he took as a statement of fact. "Hmm?" River asked, not bothering to look up from the papers she was reading. It was finals week, and her students had just completed their exam the afternoon before last. She was up to her eyeballs in green books filled with barely legible handwriting discussing GIS, dating methods, and middle range theory. She missed her 51st century teaching position where the final exam was given in the field and her grades given orally immediately thereafter. She had barely made a dent her in pile, but all that grading had made her thirsty. She had come into the Console Room to break into her stash of the good stuff and to catch a peak at what the Doctor was getting up to. She glanced up when he started elaborating, and his hand gestures made her smile. "Oh, darling. I think you know I have any number of fancy bonnets. Someone has to be on hand to upstage those stuffy royals at The Ascot." She set the exam she had been reading on one of the chairs and sashayed over toward the Doctor. She leaned against the console and rested her chin upon her hand, throwing him a suggestive look that told him she was up for whatever he was. "What do you have in mind?" “You’re being far too busy,” the Doctor said in an accusatory tone of voice. “Not that being busy is a bad thing, mind. But you not paying attention to me, that’s the problem!” He was satisfied by how quickly she abandoned her papers to talk to him. “Funny you should say Ascot. I saw a news headline about the American version, something called the Kentucky Derby. Not sure what a Kentucky is, but figured with the word ‘derby’ in the title, hats figured prominently. It’s going on today, do you want to check it out?” "I am, am I? And why aren't you? Busy that is. Don't your students have any schoolwork?" Not that River particularly wanted him to divert his attentions, now that they were focused on her. It felt like it had been ages since they had taken a day trip together, and one that provided an opportunity to don outlandish dress and turn up the pretentiousness to eleven seemed like the perfect way to spend an afternoon. "A trip to the races!" she exclaimed a bit overdramatically by way of an answer. "Will you dress to match?" She arched her brow at him as if offering a challenge. “Pft,” the Doctor was dismissive of River’s mild accusation that he didn’t give out schoolwork. “Any pudding-for-brains can regurgitate information in a paper. For my final exam, I’m taking each of my students individual up in the TARDIS at night, as high as she can go in this planet’s atmosphere, and have them identify the stars and planets I point out to them.” That seemed to be a much more practical, and engaging way to test their knowledge. The challenge was initially accepted with a surprised, “Gents can wear outlandish hats, too?” He thought it was only a lady-thing. “Oh HELL YES!” The Doctor immediately sprung to his feet and clasped his hands together in eager joy. “I know exactly what to I’m going to wear! I’ve been waiting for the chance!” "Show off." River shrugged, unimpressed. "If the TARDIS wasn't hampered by whatever is keeping her in this time and place, I could give my students a real thrill." River smiled at his childlike enthusiasm. "It's less common, but you are as uncommon as they get." She pushed off from where she had been leaning against the console, and held out her hand toward him. "Let's have a look, then. It's customary for couples to match. I am sure I can find something to compliment whatever has you so eager to wear it." “Ugh,” the Doctor grunted, turning a disappointed eye toward the TARDIS’ console. “Don’t remind me.” In all honesty, it was impossible to forget. It was no small secret that the Doctor didn’t like being bound to one planet, living in a single, linear time. He could deal with it and had before, but his hearts were always longing for the stars. What sort of wonders were out there? What adventures he could be having? “Meh,” he tried to sound disinterested, to get his mind back on track to the conversation he and River were having. “I don’t know…” he said in a dubious sort of sing song voice. “My hat is pretty awesome. You might have to step up your game.” He rose from his position and took River’s hand, then walked with her hand-in-hand out of the console room and into the hall, heading for the wardrobe room. River smiled warmly at their hands entwined together. It was a sight and accompanying feeling she never tired of. The wardrobe room was quite possibly her favorite room in the TARDIS. She had never not found something utterly perfect for the situation at hand. Sometimes she wondered if the TARDIS herself wasn't responsible for keeping it stocked just so. The anticipation of just what the Doctor had picked out for himself was great, and she hoped it was utterly ridiculous. Having met all of his incarnations, she knew he was capable of making gaudy fashion choices. "I'm ready to be impressed," she crowed. The Doctor squeezed River’s hand and smirked as he glanced at her out of the corner of his twinkling eye, then let go so he could start digging through the multiple drawers that lined the walls of the room. Everything was unlabeled, so he had to rummage through just about every one. “It’s got to be in here somewhere. I saw it here not that long ago.” Not that long ago, according to the Doctor, was approximately six months ago, when he was looking for an appropriate outfit to wear for a New Year’s celebration, but the Doctor perceived the passage of time differently, so to him it felt like just yesterday. “Ah! Here we go!” From inside a pink and powder blue striped hat box, the Doctor pulled out what seemed to be an ordinary boater hat, one that was often seen worn by men at the Kentucky Derby. He held it up proudly for River to see. “Oh wait!” he just remembered, “I’ve got to do this!” He pressed a button in the band, and the lid of the hat folded back so an elaborate horse race scene emerged. The Doctor’s grin widened as he pressed another button, and the toy horses began bucking their front legs and pawing the ground as the trumpet fanfare resounded. River laughed when the racing gates emerged from the hat, and applauded when it animated. "Wherever did you get something so ridiculous?" She leaned in closer to inspect it. "It's absolutely perfect." She looked up at the Doctor and placed the hat on his head. "Very you." She pushed the button on the band and the scene disappeared back into the hat and studied him briefly before deciding, "I have just the thing." She left him standing in the middle of the wardrobe while she search the racks of clothing for what she had in mind. "Really, Doctor," she called out from another level, "You could at least organize these by century." Finally, she emerged with two sets of clothes layered on each arm. One she handed over to the Doctor and the other she kept for herself. The Doctor was so pleased by her reaction that he had to bite down on his lower lip to keep his grin from taking over the rest of his face. “I made it myself!” he declared. “Using Time Lord know-how.” He tapped the lid of his hat. “Bigger on the inside.” The reason? “I was bored and needed something to do with my hands. You’d be surprised how much stuff I have around the TARDIS that’s like that.” To defend himself against her criticism, he told River, “First of all, how many times have you seen me go in here to change clothes when I’m visiting a different era?” Answer - very rarely. From Ancient Rome to the 51st century, the Doctor usually walked around simply wearing whatever he happened to have on at the time, without worrying about blending in. “Second! The clothes are organized! They’re by thickness of fabric!” One look at what River chose, and the Doctor said, “Ooooo… white before Memorial Day! You’re being such a rebel, aren’t you?” He smiled and took the clothes to get a closer look, and then, “Oh no. No no no no no! This isn’t going to work, I can’t wear this.” It wasn’t the red and white striped jacket, or the button trousers, but the robin egg blue bow tie, which he flicked disdainfully with his fingers. “I’m over that phase.” No, River thought, she really would not be surprised at all. She smiled lovingly at the man whose ridiculous habits somehow made him all the more endearing. She blossomed under his compliments, pleased that her theme met his approval until he got to the bowtie. “But that’s the fashion, darling,” she purred, using her free hand to slide across his shoulder, up his neck, along his jaw, as she spoke, until she held his chin in her hand. “Besides, you remember how much you enjoyed being removed of your bowtie, don’t you.” She leaned in to press a kiss to his lips, a promise of things to come. With that, she slipped away to change, looking over her shoulder at him once and giving him a wink. Sexual innuendo often went over the Doctor’s head - he simply wasn’t hardwired that way. Sure, sex was fun, sure, but didn’t have the same biological drive that made it an obsession with some people. There was fun to be had in other ways! So, when River ‘reminded’ him how he liked having his bowtie removed, he furrowed his bushy eyebrows and rapidly glanced from left to right as he scowled, trying to make sense of River’s comment. Wouldn’t it be more logical not to wear the bowtie to begin with? Even the touch and the kiss didn’t click until River walked away and winked. “Oh,” he said softly. Then he really understood. “OHHHHHH!” That’s when he started to peel off his jacket and disrobe right then and there. He was changed in record time, and frankly, looked pretty ridiculous. “I feel a little like my cricket uniform days,” he said to himself while adjusting his tie in the mirror. River had to work harder with this Doctor to get him in the mood, but it was well worth the effort. She discovered early on that his general enthusiasm extended to the bedroom as well. She smiled to herself when he finally worked it out. “I’m sure we can find you a piece of celery if you’re feeling especially nostalgic,” she called from behind the folding screen where she was changing. She emerged in the white lace gown with a red underbust corset she had left purposefully untied. While she was well-practiced in corseting herself, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to have the Doctor do it. “I need you to do something with your hands,” she teased, motioning towards the laces at the back of her corset that needed to be tightened and tyed. One look at River, and the Doctor found himself smiling softly. It wasn’t her dress - he rarely paid attention to things like that - she could’ve emerged from behind the screen wearing a burlap potato sack, and he would’ve been none the wiser. What made him happy was simply her, and how lucky he was to still have River alive with him in Tumbleweed. It was worth the frustration of not being able to properly use the TARDIS. He took a deep, satisfying breath, and began the task of tightening the laces. “Are you fit to be tied?” he joked. “Or is this more practice for later?” River turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Spoilers.” |