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Tweak says, "R.A.B."

molly suresh can beat anyone at hide-and-seek (humanmapquest) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-06-18 03:15:00

Entry tags:

molly suresh, the doctor (10)

WHO: The (Tenth) Doctor and Molly Suresh
WHAT: The Doctor invited Molly out for chips and an apology. She accepted.
WHEN: Not long after this.
WHERE: A chip shop that specializes in Hindu-approved cooking methods.
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

Although still feeling a bit weak, Molly had agreed to the Doctor's invitation to go for chips during which he was apparently intending to apologize. She would be lying if she claimed she wasn't slightly suspicious. The Doctor wasn't one for apologizing but, well, if he had decided to do so, she was also hardly going to turn him down. Was she still slightly peeved with him? Yes. Yes, she was. Not really because of how he'd acted toward her but rather because of his general post to the network more than anything else. Lashing out at random people was one thing. Attempting to solicit a response from Asaph, and potentially put all of them in danger in the interim by making threats he couldn't possibly carry out? That was something else entirely.

Still. When it came right down to it, he was still the Doctor. And for that reason alone, she would never really consider turning him down no matter what his reason for wanting to meet. Not anymore than she would ever be able to stay truly mad at him no matter how he might act sometimes. Maybe she was foolish for feeling such a way but she didn't care. He was the Doctor and, therefore, she would do what he wanted. Within reason, of course. After all, there were always rules and limitations to consider, no matter who was asking what of her. Even he was no exception to that.

Tugging on her shoes and running a brush through her hair, Molly left her apartment near the university and made her way to the shop where she'd told the Time Lord to meet her. The place wasn't overly large, and the owners knew her by name, so it was no trouble getting a table that was out of the way yet with a guarantee of service that would put most five star restaurants to shame. She simply ordered a water as she waited, absently scrolling through the various posts on her PDA that she'd missed while recuperating from the other night while she waited patiently for the Doctor to arrive.

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not_your_tardis
2012-06-18 08:45 am UTC (link)

There was a certain way in which The Doctor operated, which was to say that, in his universe, he was right - at least most of the time. Still, he was old. He knew he was old and, like would often happen with most things that got old, The Doctor had to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he'd gotten too old for his own good. Even that though, under most circumstances, was little more than a fleeting thought.

Yes, perhaps arriving somewhere and deciding he was going to ignore all the facts of anyone who might know more than him, shout at everyone, and threaten a God-like figure was not the best idea, but, even Time Lords had to struggle with hindsight. Besides, he was The Doctor, The Doctor. If there was a God-thing out there, which he entirely believed there was, it wouldn't have been the first time he'd stood face to face with a thing like that and lived - at least mostly - to see another day.

Even then, at his worst, at his most angry, there were principles and sometimes, just sometimes, those principles unfortunately involved invoking the very rule she'd called him out on.

Granted, that wasn't the only reason he'd come, looking for some way to find himself a TARDIS, his TARDIS if he had any say in it, - because what was a Doctor without his TARDIS? - but it surely did play a very big part.

Then there was the matter of River's words, of her scorn, of her temper, of her reminding him, even if just for a minute, of just who he really was, and how even she would have rather not crossed the girl who he'd shouted at upon his arrival. He knew, beyond a shadow of any doubt, there was something to be said for that; after all, River never had any qualms about crossing him.

Then, perhaps, even if he wouldn't ever had really admitted it, there was that part of him that absolutely knew he'd been wrong in that moment. He'd just been so angry, and he still was, but there had been no reason to go grabbing and shouting at her, just because he'd wanted answers.

All she had done was given him the same answer as everyone else, even if it had been one he'd not wanted to hear; even if it was that answer he didn't believe as he stepped his first foot into that restaurant. The Doctor could not deny that she'd only told him what she'd known - and he shouldn't have shouted at her for it.

Sure, everyone had tried everything they could think of, and if he'd been here before he was sure he had too, but they were not him, this him, from that moment. They couldn't understand..

..and that wasn't their fault.

In his battered suit and hair still mussed from falling through a window, even if he had made an attempt to fix it, The Doctor strolled in, his usual non-nonchalant gait and gaze sweeping him through the room. When he spied the woman at the back, he shifted his gaze and stride, and walked right up to her table.

"Hello." He spoke quietly, before adding. "Again. May I sit down?"

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humanmapquest
2012-06-18 07:53 pm UTC (link)

Molly glanced up when the Doctor spoke, concern flashing briefly across her face at the sight of the state he was in before she managed to steer her expression into a more neutral one. Offering him a small smile, she nodded. "Hello," she replied lightly. "Of course you may." She would be a fairly terrible person if she'd agreed to meet him only to insist he stand for the entire meeting. Or sit elsewhere.

Setting her PDA aside, making certain it was set to silent so they wouldn't be disturbed, she folded her hands in her lap and studied him for a moment. She half-considered commenting on how he looked, on the state of his clothing and that hair of his that, in her reality, had spawned an entire style all its own. However Molly kept her opinion to herself, knowing that not only would it be a bit mean to say but that she really didn't have much room to talk. Yes, her hair was brushed and her clothing wasn't in disarray, but there were dark circles under her eyes and her skin was so pale it was very nearly translucent. She looked like someone who had been through the wringer, so to speak, and supposed that was a fairly accurate statement considering she'd been in bed pretty much entirely since the last time they'd met.

It was always that way, though, when she looked for the Doctor and found him inside the TARDIS, while the TARDIS was in flight. As clever as she was, Molly still was very much human and her mind simply wasn't built to withstand seeing something like that. It was too powerful, too raw, too much.

And yet, if she had to do it all over again, she would. Because as much as it put her at risk each and every time, she always had a good reason. Whether it was looking for the Doctor because he was missing, or the Master was in trouble, or even to help a version of him who was screaming at her, she never hesitated for even an instant to do her part. Which, of course, was neither here nor there now, and she knew within another few days she would start to look like her old self again.

For now, though, she was determined to take it a bit easy. True, meeting with this version of the Doctor might go directly against that decision, but... well, he'd asked. And Molly could no sooner tell him no than she could shoot someone in the face, or eat a hamburger. It just wasn't in her nature.

"I'd ask if you're settling in all right," she spoke up after a second, "but I don't see the point in asking a question when I already know the answer, even if it is just to be polite. So," she paused and shrugged ever so slightly. "I suppose the ball is in your court, because I'm not sure what else there is for me to say until I have something to discuss."

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not_your_tardis
2012-06-18 09:59 pm UTC (link)

There was a marked expression of something behind those brown eyes of his, though just what would have been impossible to say. His whole world, his whole universe, was in the process of being turned on its head. Everyone was telling him there was nothing he could do, something he didn't take very well at all, and, to top it off, The Doctor was in a very unique position he'd rarely found himself in. He had no plan and no TARDIS, he was, in short, feeling the most vulnerable he'd felt in the majority of his nine hundred and six year existence.

As he sat down, he folded his hands flat on the table. Listening to her, as he looked around the room, his memory flashed to the coffee shop he'd sat in with Wilfred, after his chase with The Master. He remembered the man pleading with him to help Donna, pleading with him to do something, anything, to find someone because he shouldn't be alone anymore. As The Doctor's eyes settled back on Molly he swallowed a thick knot in his throat, but that smile of his remained in constant vigil, the ever present band aid of a lie.

"Chips!" He replied cheerfully. "Thought we came here for chips. "Well, chips and an apology..." His voice drifted slightly. "Shouldn't have shouted like that." He gave he rare admission before he continued. "Not my best day." And the silent thought of likely one of my worst' was left to hang, unspoken, on the table between them.

Emotions were not things The Doctor dealt with, or at least not verbally, not to humans. As River had said, people needed him to show them the way, to be there when the lights when out and the real monsters came out. Still for all he might have hid it behind a mask of bright smiles and chipper butterflies, his eyes told the truth. He was fractured, hollow, struggling to keep his head above the rising tide, and clinging to any small bit of debris he could find - anything to keep him going.

"Are you all right?" He asked softly, his gaze regarding her well groomed, yet ghostly features with an air of concern. "What happened to you the other night? What did you do?" And this, his worry for her, was entirely genuine. "You know who I am. You stood there and let me shout at you - sorry again for that - and normally I'd expect that to do have done the trick - really, usually does whens someone knows who I am - but, not you. You were fine and then you..did something."

He was studying her as he launched into a stream of babbling, checking her features, her gaze, looking for any sign, any hint of truth, that might have been expressed there.

Even if rule number one was still in effect, that didn't change one of the most fundamentally true things about him. He was The Doctor and, above almost anything else in the whole of creation, he cared.

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humanmapquest
2012-06-18 10:50 pm UTC (link)

Molly knew that his cheery disposition really was just an act. She'd spent far too much time with the Doctor, had seen far too much of the show that told of his life, to fall for that old trick. However, there was a difference in falling for something and calling someone out on it. And she had no intention of calling him out. So she simply sat there, her expression an open one as she listened to him suggest chips and then apologize and then... well, then he probably made one of the biggest understatements she had ever heard in her entire life.

Yet, just like with the cheeriness, she let it slide. Because he was the Doctor, he always had his reasons, and not even she would claim to understand everything about him. Certainly not when it came to what he'd gone through before his arrival in the city. Seeing it, and living it, were two very different things entirely.

Of course, Molly also didn't immediately answer him when it came to his question about what she'd done the other night. Instead she took a few moments, waving the waitress over so they could place their order. By the time the woman had left the table, she finally felt as though she could answer him without trying to make too light of the situation. Because if she could see right through his forced cheery demeanor, she was certain he'd be able to likely do much the same with her.

"I'm fine," she assured him, first and foremost. "Still a little weak but I'll be back to my old self in a couple of days." In theory, at any rate. Which was entirely beside the point. With a sip of her water, she met his gaze once more.

"I looked for your future regeneration. He just so happened to be traveling outside of the city when I found him." Knowing that wasn't going to even come close to really explaining things, she continued. "I'm clairvoyant. I can find anyone, or anything, anywhere." Absently, she fiddled with the edge of her napkin, her expression becoming an odd mixture of faint chagrin and careful nonchalance.

"I..." she trailed off for a moment then finally spit out what she was working up the nerve to say. "I just don't tend to handle seeing the TARDIS when she's in motion very well, is all. Being mostly human and everything." Another pause then, in what was probably some vain attempt to stop him before he could really comment - even if it was her subconscious that was doing it - she said sincerely, "And thank you, for the apology. I appreciate it."

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not_your_tardis
2012-06-19 12:21 am UTC (link)

The Doctor listened, didn't even interrupt once, but when she finished, he was somewhat beside himself.

"Right. Clairvoyant and you know my future regeneration - and I've been here before - explains a lot." It was clear, however, that this was not the end of his babbling trail, as he pulled the Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket and gave it a wave over her direction. He examined it for a moment before looking back up at her. "Background radiation, consistent with travel in the TARDIS, but low level. No Arton - which means no time travel. Mostly just flying then?" His eyebrows raised at her despite The Doctor finding himself actually disappointed by that, as it lent a substantial weight to the idea that he was, in fact, not going to be able to leave.

"Still, human mind, even a brilliant one, attempting to look into a TARDIS at all would likely be a very, very, bad thing. And.." The Doctor paused, as if trying to figure out just what he was reading. "And..something else.." He puzzled for a moment before snapping the screwdriver shut and slipping it into his pocket. "Right!" He smiled across the table at her. "Still. I can't say I'd advise doing that." He spoke softly. "Though, mind you, I do appreciate it and.." His voice trailed off again. "You're sure? You're all right?" He was already working over the variables, the countless ways in which the mind could be impacted by attempting to mentally seek out a moving relative dimension in space and time.

"Have you got anyone to look after you?" He asked, seemingly out of nowhere. "Because you really don't look well." It was unlike The Doctor to mince words, even when his was fully aware this regeneration had a very unpleasant habit of being rude. Still, if this girl was suffering some kind of ill effects from looking for the TARDIS, there was a very large part of him that felt reasonably responsible for it. "If not, could come and stay with me if you like - haven't even seem my flat yet.." And, no sooner had he said it, than his features sparkled with a bit of an amusement.

"Look at that. I've got a flat." And then, just as quickly, the expression soured.

"I've got a flat." He groaned. "A flat. I'm The Doctor. I'm not supposed to live in a flat. That seems all boring and normal."

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humanmapquest
2012-06-19 03:30 am UTC (link)

While a few people sitting nearby shot them somewhat strange looks at the sight - and probably more so the sound - of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, Molly was wholly unfazed. It was hardly the first time she'd been scanned by the device and she highly doubted it would be the last. In fact, if anything, she was both faintly amused as well as a bit touched that he'd taken the time to do so. Tipping her head a bit at his first question, she answered with a simple, "She can't travel through time here. Until last year, in fact, she couldn't even leave the city. So yes. Mostly just flying. Especially in the last few months, with my lessons." Molly briefly thought of tacking on that not even the TARDIS in human form had known how to manage such a thing, but she figured that was probably a story saved for another day.

So instead she waited until he'd finished, one eyebrow arching slightly before she gave him a fond smile. "Don't worry about me, Doctor," she assured him. "I've been through much worse." Which was in no way an exaggeration, but she knew it also didn't really lessen the serious risk she took each and every time it happened. Pausing as he seemed to suddenly realize he had a flat, only to not find it nearly as amusing a second later, Molly was unable to keep the smile from spreading across her face.

"If there's one thing I can promise you about Colligo, it is hardly boring," she assured him with a soft chuckle. "There's plenty of things to do, and explore, and someone is almost always in need of saving of some sort. And that's not counting the random experiments that plague us from time to time, or the invasions. Plus the new arrivals. I can't say many have been as... colorful as you were when you showed up the other night, but they still need help and can offer a decent distraction, nonetheless."

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not_your_tardis
2012-06-19 04:41 am UTC (link)

"Lessons? What do you mean lessons? You can't give someone lessons on flying a TARDIS - well, not true, you can, but it hasn't been done since.." His voice trickled off for a moment. "..it hasn't been done in a long, long, time, and the last people to be given lessons were Time Lords.." His voice trailed off again and, when it came back, it was much softer and further away. "...Right. It's me, isn't it? I'm the one giving you lessons.." Who else could it have been really? The Master? Somehow The Doctor doubted it. The very idea of him having a TARDIS was unsettling enough.

"How can I not worry about you?" He changed gears rapidly, his tone taking a sharp increase in volume and an almost whimsical tone. "You can fly a TARDIS, read minds, and, evidently, handle a very, very, nasty man shouting at you - not everyone can do that last bit you know - seriously. Even the swarms in the library wanted nothing to do with it." And all of this was entirely true. She'd weathered his wrath and still gone out of her way to aid him. There was no way he couldn't worry about her. "And I doubt it." He replied, rather matter-of-factly, to the end of her statement. "Looking into a TARDIS ever, is a very dangerous thing."

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