Who:OPEN to Whoniverse people and Sam Tyler What: A day trip and a picnic outside the city. Where: Outside Colligo - starting on the edge of the beach. When: Lunchtime/Afternoon on the 25th. Rating: TBD. Probably lowish. Status: In Progress.
For some reason, the journey through the barrier was a lot easier this time around. Of course, technically, the TARDIS was built to be piloted by a group of people, but the Doctor had been flying it perfectly well for centuries. Ish. Perhaps she was just glad to see everyone back again and hadn't kicked up as much of a fuss. Whatever the reason, the Doctor had bounded around the console like a man posessed, pulling on things and turning switches and accidentally pulling a few vividly coloured wires loose, but that was fine because she still flew like a dream and everyone was looking on like he really was very clever. So it wasn't long before they landed on the slope of the rolling green hill he and Donna had visited before.
The beach was a stones throw away, the green grass merging into white sand and, beyond that, an ocean that sparkled and glinted sapphire under the sun. The same sunlight, in fact, that bounded off K-9's casing as he trundled off to take soil samples. The Doctor had flung the doors of the TARDIS open to let her get some fresh air, and the picnic (Because who visited a place like this without a picnic? Honestly. Some people...) was spread out on the grass. No pears, of course. Pears were banned.
For his part, the Doctor was a little way away, crouched down on the edge of the water. If he turned back and squinted, he could make out the rest of the group, and the familiar, endless blue of the TARDIS. He'd lost his jacket at some point, and his tie kept being caught in the salt water that inched up the beach with every wave. But that didn't matter because he was busy poking his elbow in, shirt sleeve rolled up to reveal a skinny, slightly freckled forearm, testing the temperature of the water.
It was warmer than the average temperature of the oceans on Earth. Closer to Clom, really. He stuck his forefinger into the water next, quickly transferring it into his mouth to get a taste. Sodium chloride. Obviously. It was salt water. But there was something else in there too.. The Doctor licked his lips thoughtfully, caught up in his own tumbling thoughts.