Who: John Grimm and The Doctor (13) What: A Wild TARDIS appears Where: Grimm’s apartment When: Feb 1 Rating: Low Status: Combination gdoc/thread
She had had a hard time trying to sleep on her own. There were nightmares and she wasn’t sure quite why. Gallifrey kept cropping up in her dreams, but there did not seem to be much rhyme or reason. Eventually she had left the TARDIS owned by her eleventh regeneration and found herself at John’s door. He had graciously taken her in, recognizing the the look in her eyes.
Sleep had finally come, thanks in part to John and his ways. As the hint of morning began to poke through the blinds of the room, there was a faint, familiar whirling sound coming from the living room. In the bedroom, the Time Lord remain sleeping, tangled in the sheets and in a deep sleep she had not had in a long time. Even the familiar sound of the TARDIS, the police bod now taking up a lot of space in John’s living room, had not yet roused her.
-- Most nights the Marine barely slept much at all; the nightmares and PTSD causing the man to typically pace and patrol around the apartment before finally managing to get a few hours in at last. The last week or two had been a bit different though; mostly thanks to the Doc spending a handful of nights at his place. John couldn’t explain why her presence made things easier, yet there was no denying that he did manage to sleep restfully when the blonde shared his bed. When the Doctor appeared on his doorstep last night John found himself smiling softly as he let her in.
Usually Reaper was a man of strict routine, rising around 5am to head out and begin his daily jog and workout. But this morning he had decided to sleep in a bit, if only to savor as much time with his companion as he could before they both had to get up and start their day. A strange sound stirred him from his peaceful slumber though, and when he realized it was coming from the living room John practically leaped out of bed quickly. Drawing his sidearm from the nightstand and moving towards the bedroom door as he quietly called out to warm the Doc.
“I think someone’s broken into the flat, Doc. Stay here while I check it out.”
Her safety was his top priority above all else, and while the man had no desire to have to harm or kill anyone; if he crossed paths with an intruder meaning to do them harm...well the Space Marine would not hesitate to act. Even if he wasn’t wearing anything at all.
--
John's voice is what roused her from her sleep. She was aware of the urgency in his voice and she awoke quickly and clamoured to her feet. Somehow between the bed and the door she managed to get on all her clothes, minus coat and her boots.
She joined John despite his words to stay where she was. "Don't be silly, John. I'm coming with you." She kept her voice at a whisper, but she reached for the bedroom door and looked to him. That was when she saw his side arm. "No guns." She pleaded with him silently with her eyes, though she was ready to open the door on his command regardless of what he chose to do with his weapon.
-- He didn’t care that he was standing there without a scrap of clothing on. Not when the adrenaline was already pumping and his training was kicking in. If anything a sort of soldier’s tunnel vision just took over, and the man’s body tensed as he prepared to head out into the living room. However when the Doc quietly spoke up his gaze shifted to her, and a look of genuine mixed emotions flashed across his eyes. Worry for her well being the chief among them. For a silent moment the man didn’t say a word, mulling it over in his head, but with a soft sigh he nodded at last before chiming in softly. “Fine, but keep behind me. Worse comes to worse I can take a hit, but I’d rather not have you get hurt.”
Her request to go without a gun had an earnestly shocked look shift across his features, and even though he felt a stir in his heart when he caught her own look back, the Marine just shook his head slightly. She might not have been a fan of his weapon, but Reaper had no intention of heading out there without it since someone or something had broken into his apartment. Doubly so because the Doc had insisted on coming along too. The last thing John would do is disarm himself, when it could possibly put her life in danger. “The gun comes with me if you do, Doc.”
He gave her a minute to make up her mind, but when it was clear the Doctor wasn’t staying in the bedroom he finally just nodded for the door to be opened. The second it was Reaper was already on the move; with inhuman speed he swept into the living room, weapon aimed and ready. Yet when he spotted the strange blue box Grimm paused for a second, before making a quick check of the rest of the place. “Looks clear...but there’s an odd large box sitting in my living room.”
--
The fact that John was completely naked didn’t seem to phase the Doctor moreso than he was armed, but she knew if there really was a threat outside this door then they needed to act quickly and arguing over a gun was probably not the best course of action. She appreciated his desire to protect her, but she wondered if John had any real concept of what she went up against on a regular basis back home.
When she jumped out, her sweep looked a little less professional and militaristic, but her eyes stopped searching entirely when she saw her ship. Overwhelmed with emotion, her eyes widened and mouth opened and suddenly she was grinning from ear to ear.
“Took you long enough!” Yes, she was talking to the big, blue box. The Doctor walked up to it and placed her palm on the door. She closed her eyes and quietly told it, “I’ve missed you” before she remembered John was there and she turned around, her arms outstretched. “It’s my ship!”
-- Her sudden shout had John spinning around, body practically coiled to spring into action against whatever threat was there. But when the blonde moved to touch the box, and announced that it was her ship, that tension in his frame faded away. Only to be replaced with a feeling of exhaustion that came from shifted between heightened alert, and back down to normalcy. It took a moment for his tunnel vision to fade, and for Grimm to make any sense of what she was saying. Mostly because the blue box looked nothing like a ship at all.
Still with a sigh John’s shoulders slumped as he forced his breathing and heart rate back down. With a click of the safety the Marine moved to set his sidearm down on the counter, before letting his eyes focus on the thing she called a ship at last. “How’d it get here? And who put it in the living room?”
--
It was only after he put the gun on the counter that something seemed to register in her that he had moved like someone truly ready for a fight. Her smile melted into something a little more warm and kind with less excitement in it, though she couldn’t hide the excitement in her body.
“Oh, I imagine she showed up here on purpose. Probably sensed I was here.” Though now she felt a little guilty for not waking up instantly to its sound. It seemed like John truly was a blind spot for her. She didn’t dwell too much on that though as she continued to look at John. “Shall we take a peek?”
She turned to open the door, only to find it shut tightly. The Doctor frowned and tried again. This time she looked a little cross and pointed her finger at the door. “Listen here. You can’t just show up like this and then not let me in. It’s not fair.” After a moment of staring at the door she sighed and turned around. She gave John an apologetic and somewhat sheepish look. “I think she wants you to put some clothes on.”
-- Had he not been so tired, and fighting off the draining fatigue that came after the adrenaline started to fade, John would have likely recalled that the ship of hers was actually sentient. It finally clicked though as the Doctor spoke of it showing up on purpose. The offer to take a peek was met with a tiny shrug, and the Marine slowly moved to stand beside her as the Doc smiled his way.
The fact that the door was stuck was certainly a little anticlimactic though. To be honest Grimm was about to offer her the use of his tools to try and get the lock undone. However when the blonde looked his way, and mentioned that her ship wanted him to put clothes on, John glanced down and finally realized that he was naked. There was no sudden blush or look of shame though. If anything Reaper simply switched his gaze from her to the ship, then back again. With a soft sigh the Marine finally shrugged before turning to walk back into the bedroom. Though whether it was to get dressed, or to go back to bed, who could say.
--
“John?” She watched him go with a bit of a perplexed look. When he disappeared she quietly scolded the TARDIS about first impressions before she walked toward the bedroom after him. When she stepped back inside, though, she did so gingerly as she didn’t know what she was going to find.
“Are you alright, John?” She held a look of concern as she stood there near the door frame. Perhaps he wasn’t ready for the TARDIS, though the thought brought a pang to her hearts and it was a little confusing. She had rarely met someone disinterested in the ship. “...Should I go? Leave you to rest?” Should she apologize even though she wasn’t quite sure why?
-- By the time the Doctor slipped into the bedroom John had already slipped on a pair of sweatpants, and was in the middle of tossing on a tee shirt too. Still when he heard his name the Marine quickened his efforts, and finally turned around to look her way when the shirt was on at last. The questions that followed caught Grimm off guard, and with a warm chuckle he scratched his head. Not really knowing how to answer. In the end though the man just went with the truth, since that was always his way.
“I’m fine, Doc. Just a bit tired, and physically drained. But I’ll be right as rain after brewing some coffee.” He wasn’t really sure why she’d go, but when it became clear that the Doc thought he was upset or something, a little but real smile tugged at his lips. “You can go if you want, Doc, but I’m not kicking you out or anything. Just need a second to come back down after that adrenaline spike.”
--
The look of concern on her face didn’t dissipate, but it did soften a little. She was so used to the strange and sudden happening that she often forgot that not everyone responded to that in the same way. She let out a breath as she closed the distance between them and reached to touch the side of his face gently. “I’m sorry.” She drew him in for a soft, gentle kiss before pulling back.
“I’ll start the coffee for you. I owe you that.” She turned and disappeared out of the room, heading to the kitchen. It turns out making coffee was entirely harder when you didn’t have one invented on another planet. She eventually figured it out, but not before getting grounds of coffee on the floor, some of it smudging her cheek, and spilling water on the counter. She bent over at the waist to sweep up the pile of grounds on the floor, knowing John much preferred order to chaos.