Who: Dream and Doctor What: A Date When: July 19 Where: Ice Formal Rating: low
The Doctor rarely wore dresses. It wasn’t that she hated them or anything, but she was so used to being a man that dresses didn’t come to her mind as the first thing to wear in formal attire. There was a formal coming up, apparently, and she decided to do the whole dress thing. She wanted to ‘wow’ Dream. Since she couldn’t exactly wow him with her technology - he had seen it all, really - then she wanted to do it in a more ‘human’ way. Of course, in typical Doctor fashion, she had left the Cruise dress shop with a stunned clerk. The Doctor apparently hadn’t chosen the right sort of dress for an ‘ice’ themed formal. Oh well.
She lit up when she saw Dream and hurried toward him in her dress. “Dream! How are you? Look at this dress. It swooshes.” The Doctor took hold of the dress’ skirt and demonstrated that it flowed well. This had, in fact, been the reason she had picked the dress.
–
At first, Dream wasn't too sure about suddenly being on a cruise. He didn't like when the dome moved him somewhere else without him knowing. Luckily the Doctor was with him and it made it all a little less unbearable. As long as he was with her, he'd be fine.
There was some formal dance happening tonight, and iced themed one, and they agreed to go there on a date. The Doctor had gone to get something to wear while Dream simply conjured up a nice suit for himself. Black, of course. He didn't wear any other color.
He waited for her and when he saw her... wow. He hardly ever got stunned but he couldn't help but just stare. The Doctor was absolutely beautiful. "It was a nice swoosh," he said as she twirled. He wouldn't be surprised if that was a big selling point for her. "You look quite lovely, Doctor," he leaned to give her a quick kiss. "Though I'm surprised you chose a dress. I don't think I've ever seen you in one."
–
The Doctor was happy that he seemed to get the whole swooshing there. She knew that Dream would never be the sort to say something negative toward her choice of clothing, but it was still nice he seemed to understand why this dress was particularly wonderful.
“No, I don’t suppose you have.” She brought her finger to her chin as she thought about it. “I’ve worn a few before now, but you’re right, I mostly wear trousers. They’re easier to run in. Plus these?” She looked down as she kicked out a foot to show her pointed, heeled shoe. “These are going to be a bit of an adventure.” They would end up off her feet at some point with no apologies. Perhaps her memories of John were particularly unfortunate when it came to dresses too, but she decided now was to make new, better memories with Dream. So she would.
She held out her arm to him even if technically that was supposed to be his job. “Shall we? I’m hoping you’ll twirl me at least once while we dance so I can show off the dress.” She grinned.
–
"They are indeed and I'm not surprised you prefer them." Dream didn't do much running himself, he didn't need to, but he'd probably prefer pants as well if he did. He glanced down when she showed one of her high heels. "Don't think I've ever seen you wear those either. If they do start to hurt, I can always conjure up something more comfortable for you to wear," he offered. He could even make a pair of running shoes appear, ones that would match her dress.
He took her arm, not caring if he was supposed to do it instead of her. Neither of them never really cared about that sort of thing, never had before. "I'll definitely make sure to do that," he said with a slight smile. Once they were on the dance floor, he took her hand while his other hand slid around her waist. The music was a bit more slow tempo and they swayed back and forth together. And yes, he twirled her a couple times like he promised.
–
Her first thought was ‘high tops’. It would eventually get that way, but for now, she intended to look pretty and surprise anyone who knew her. She understood now more than she ever had when she was a man that sometimes it just felt nice to dress up. Yes, you could dress up as a man too, but this felt different in some way that The Doctor had a hard time quantifying.
The Doctor managed not to stumble on her shoes too much and she looked delighted every time there was an excuse to make the skirt of her dress flare out. Dresses were fun! Well, this one was anyway. But soon her feet started to hurt and she needed a break.
Sitting down at their table, she made an ‘oof’ sound with exhaled relief, then bent to pull off the shoes of death. “Do you think I could convince other me to try these on?” It was a joke, but then The Doctor realized something. She blinked and looked up at Death. “Oh! There’s another me here now!”
–
Unlike the Doctor, Dream didn't feel pain or get tired. He could've danced a lot longer but he was fine stopping so the Doctor could take a quick break. No surprise that the first thing she did when she saw down was take off her heels.
"Good question. You won't know unless you ask," he said as he sat down beside her, conjuring himself a glass of wine and taking a sip. If she wanted something to drink, he'd conjure that up as well for her. All she had to do was ask. "Yes, I had felt his presence when he first arrived. How has he been settling in so far?"
–
She wiggled her toes which felt delightful after all that concealment. “He’s doing alright, I think. Already survived someone thinking he was someone else.” She hadn’t had that experience and she was kind of annoyed by that. She wanted to be confused for someone else! Maybe sometime.
“Oh, that looks lovely. Do you think I could have champagne?” Champagne felt fancy.
“To be honest, I think he’s having to come to terms with being stuck here. Took me a while, you know. And both of us keep tip-toeing on the whole living arrangements thing.”
–
"That must've been confusing." Dream, like everyone who'd been in town for a while, knew all about facetwins and how it could cause trouble. He hoped whoever had mistaken Ten for someone else didn't give him too much problems.
"Of course." He held his hand and a glass of champagne appeared, all nice and bubbly, before he handed it to her.
"Yes, same with my sister and I. We're not used to being trapped like this." Sometimes he still felt trapped but he felt less so being around the Doctor. "He's not staying in the TARDIS?"
–
Had the Doctor had an addiction to something, Dream’s ability would have been bad, but thankfully the Doctor’s only true addiction was to adventure and that came with the Dome pretty frequently. She accepted the champagne happily and took a sip - perfect, as to be expected.
“He has his own TARDIS. He was lucky and his came with him.” Of course, hers had given her the run around for a bit after she regenerated. “So technically his TARDIS would be home to Martha and Jack and Ianto… and a part of me knows I should open that door for them to leave to his and there’s a part of me that wants to stay terribly selfish.”
–
Even if she had an addiction of some sorts, Dream wouldn't indulge her. Especially if that addiction had become a problem for her. Instead, he would've tried to get her some help. He was glad that wasn't the case and that adventure was the only thing she was addicted to. That wasn't so bad.
"Did it? So there's two TARDIS's in town." Interesting. Maybe he'd visit Ten's. He'd obviously been in her TARDIS and he was curious to see how different the two were. He reached out and held her hand, speaking gently. "And that's perfectly normal. I've been quite selfish myself at times, but it is their choice. And it's not like you'll never see them again. We're all stuck under a dome after all. And maybe they'll still visit."
Maybe it wasn't quite the same but it was still something.
–
"Normally I'd be worried about the both of us being here at the same time, but I was around when Eleven was too and we both survived without destroying the universe. I imagine it has something to do with the Dome, but I could never quite figure it out. Maybe now that there's two of us again, I can start the experiments back up." Hopefully the Dome could handle both of their eagerness to explore.
"I'm sure he'd like a visit. I didn't mention you to him when we first met, but that was only because he'd just come from… well, we had to erase the memories of a close friend to save her life. I thought showing how happy I was in the face of that was a little mean." She looked at him. "Because I am happy, you know. Happier than I've been in a very, very long time." And it occurred to her that maybe that was the biggest reason of all to let Ten have their companions. She had Dream and he was alone.
–
"It must be. The dome is quite powerful." It was more powerful than Dream was, something he still didn't like to admit out loud despite being in Madison Valley for more than a few years now. But to someone like him, a few years was like a few minutes.
He nodded. Her reasons made sense and he would've probably done the same, especially right after Ten erased memories of a dear friend of his. "I'm very glad you're happy. You make me quite happy as well." Yes, he was still stoic and didn't show emotions much, not even around Death, but he was happy. He seemed more relaxed around the Doctor and smiled, even if it was rare.
"I've also grown quite fond of you, Doctor. I might have even fallen for you," he confessed.
–
While smiling was rare for Dream, blushing was rare for the Doctor and her cheeks reddened at the admission. She didn't mind that he wasn't overly expressive - she was very expressive for the both of them. Much like he just admitted, she had fallen for him as well.
"Well, it just so happens that I have too. For you, obviously." Not for herself. Maybe another earlier regeneration could have simply been inlove with themselves, but that hadn't been the case in quite some time.
"I have two hearts, you know, and you've taken both of them."
–
Dream was glad she didn't mind if he wasn't very expressive. Many would wonder if he really did enjoy their company and he did - he just didn't show it much. Luckily for him, the Doctor didn't seem to mind and yes, she was expressive enough for both of them but that was why they worked well together.
After his confession, Dream was nervous but one would never know. When she said she'd fallen for him too, he simply smiled as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned in to kiss her.
He had no idea how long he'd kissed her before pulling away. "You do make me quite happy, Doctor," he told her. "So, shall we dance some more? I did say I'd make you a more comfortable pair of shoes and I can also heal your feet so they won't be sore anymore. Or shall we call it a night and head back to the room?" He was fine with either as long as he got to spend time with her.
–
The kissing was amazing and it was very easy to get lost in it. Maybe that made them like teenagers, which was ironic given both of their ages, but what was a little indulging, right? It made her feel happy, that was for sure. The Doctor hadn’t been this happy in a very long time. It was honestly a little scary, but it was worth it.
“Let’s dance for a bit longer, then call it a night. It’s nice to have this time with you.” She smiled warmly.
–
"Very well." He stood up and took her hand. At that moment, her feet was healed and no longer sore and she had on more comfortable shoes. He led the way on to the dance floor once again where they danced the rest of the night.