Who: River & The Doctor (13) What: Getting acquainted. When: Shortly after the space cruise. Where: The TARDIS. Ratings/Warnings: Low. Status: Complete.
River had taken the remainder of the space cruise to adjust to the idea of being, well, being. She was living on stolen time now. And she’d had more than a few things to sort out with her husband.
But now it was time she got better acquainted with her wife.
She’d never expected to see the Doctor again after Darillium. Of course, she’d hoped, she’d always hoped. Then she’d gotten the wrong version of him, the last time she would ever see him and he hadn’t even known her. To suddenly find herself with her husband once again at her side and this, this new Doctor. Her wife. She hadn’t been expecting that, but all she knew to feel was love and the thrill that came with getting to know her spouse all over again.
The TARDIS was usually happy enough to let her through the door. She hoped that still held true now that she was this Doctor’s. “Sweetie, are you in here?”
The Doctor hadn’t been sure if she’d ever run into River again. She knew well enough that River liked to pop up when she was least prepared and every time she said her goodbyes, there River was again. When she arrived on the ship, though, the Doctor had been pleased. She gave the woman her space, letting River come to her rather than pursue. The last thing the Doctor wanted to do was come off as needy or pushy, especially with River.
At the moment she was in the floor of the TARDIS by the center moving around wires and fiddling with things when she heard River call out. She paused. “Here!” There was some clangs and bangs from the floor and maybe like something shattered before the Doctor’s head popped up from the floor. She was wearing goggles and she first grinned at seeing River before pulling her goggles up on her head. “You made it! Hello. One second.” She tried to untangle herself, but it was a little awkward and took a moment or two before she managed to climb out and back up onto the floor.
While the Doctor was busy detangling herself, River took the opportunity to get a better look at the new console. She rested a hand lovingly on one of the crystals, having her own brief moment with the TARDIS before moving to greet her wife.
“Are you trying to be adorable this time around?”
The first time she reached out to touch her, it was hesitant. She didn’t know this face yet, and it had taken time for the last to get used to physical contact.
The Doctor looked a little surprised, but in a good way. “You think I’m adorable?” Had anyone told her that yet? Hmmm, fuzzy memory. If Graham had been here, he’d know for sure. Unlike her previous self, this one didn’t flinch, though she did follow River’s hand. It was only when River made the connection that the Doctor realized that might look odd and looked back at River with another smile, though her features softened a little. “You look really well, River.”
River nodded, trailing a finger down the Doctor’s arm. “Very.”
There was always something brilliant and terrifying about getting to know a new regeneration, learning all the similarities and differences. Encouraged by the fact she hadn’t pulled away, River stepped in a little closer, smiling at the compliment as she gently brushed some stray hair back from her wife’s face. “Thank you, Sweetie.”
She let her hand drop, but she didn’t move away yet. “I’m guessing it’s been a while since you saw me last.”
“It has. The last time I saw you -” She paused and looked a little guilty, her features softer and a little more forthcoming in this regeneration. “Well, before I looked like this. But it’s good to see you again! Wondered if I would or not. Haven’t really run into anyone I used to know - probably for the best. A little sad my fam isn’t here. Think you’d like them. Graham, Ryan, and Yas. Traveling with me for a while now.”
It was then that the Doctor realized how close River was, she blushed. The Doctor had become a blusher. Then she smiled. “Would you like something? I’ve got - well, you know. No pears though.” She made a face.
She tried not to let the Doctor see how much it hurt, to know if they weren’t here together now, she likely never would have met this version of her. It shouldn’t hurt so much. She didn’t have the right. They’d had their time together.
“Three of them? My, the TARDIS hasn’t been that occupied in a while.”
Oh, she did love the blushing. That might be her new favorite thing. She reached for her wife’s hand. “Come on, Sweetie, we’ll have tea, and you can tell me all about…your fam, was it?”
“Fam. Yes. It’s what all the cool kids are saying in the early twenty-first century, you know.” The Doctor smiled as she silently agreed to tea and gestured for River to follow her. Sure, River knew her way around, but the TARDIS could be finicky about rooms sometimes. Turning to walk also helped the Doctor try to process the look she had seen on River’s face.
No, better off distracting.
“Did you know I got to meet Rosa Parks? Brilliant woman. Ten out of Ten, would recommend!”
“I’m not sure it is,” River murmured as she followed her away from the console. She was grateful for the familiar hum of the TARDIS in her mind, as comforting as her wife’s chatter.
The Doctor rarely knew when to shut up, but occasionally it could be charming. Especially if it was something they were excited about.
“Well, maybe someday.” River was painfully aware there would be no ‘someday,’ but she kept her tone light. She even managed a smile. “So, were you helping her or was she helping you?”
The Doctor wasn’t aware she had stepped in it with her own words, again, as her mind was now racing a mile a minute on the thoughts of the woman she met. “Always a bit of both, isn’t it? Though it was more like we were helping history that time. Rosa doesn’t need any help being incredible, but she did need help with a time traveler that decided it’d be better off if she never got on that bus to begin with.” And the Doctor had said no thank you to that quite quickly.
“Did you have fun on the space cruise? Wasn’t a terrible cruise. A lot of people had warned it’d be terrible and bad, but except for the occasional rude robot, I thought it was fine. Loved those little jelly desserts. Still can’t figure out what it was made from. Keep circling back to some variant on Xureulian Jam.” Which came from a place on a particular alien animal she figured River wouldn’t want to know the details about.
River’s smile was genuine at that, but she didn’t have much chance to comment before the Doctor was off on another topic. It was probably a testament to how long they’d been together that she found that endearing now rather than annoying.
“I was only here for a little of it, but I’ve certainly been on worse,” she answered truthfully with an absent shrug of her shoulders. “No one died, as far as I know. Nothing exploded.” Her eyes sparkled with a hint of amusement. “Actually, it could have done with a bit more excitement. But the food was excellent.”
She had to agree about the excitement on the ship. A little excitement usually didn’t hurt, right? A lot of excitement could be very dangerous, but a little was usually alright. “Well, I think you might find Tumbleweed interesting enough for a while. Things tend to happen here. Had a woman turned people into goblins and steal children a few months ago - not a fun time.” But interesting, certain. “I’m sure you’ll find somethings to keep you busy.”
“No,” River agreed, tilting her head slightly, “but it does sound like exactly the sort of thing you’d be involved in.”
And if it was the kind of thing that tended to happen around here, then at least life wouldn’t be dull. Funny that the husband’s suggestion to combat boredom had been to start teaching again and the wife’s involved things like goblins and stolen children.
“And how do you keep busy, Doctor?”
“Me?” She pointed at herself and then shrugged. “Oh well, you know… fixing the TARDIS, mostly. Lots of maintenance, you know. Not all of mes were big on the caretaking. Sometimes I make things too. Made a hair dryer out of three porcelain dolls I had lying around. Fun times.”
Basically…. She was bored a lot. Doing something helped to keep the thoughts at bay a lot of the time though so the Doctor tried to keep her body and hands moving whenever she could. “Thought about inventing a new type of Slinky, but the original is pretty brilliant, isn’t it?”
River nodded, smiling as her fingers once again lightly brushed through the Doctor’s hair at her temple. “It is,” she agreed. “I never could leave anything lying around with you.”
Things did have a habit of ending up a part of something else.
“You know I could help, if you like? With the maintenance, I mean.” She actually was rather handy around the TARDIS, but primarily it was an offer to visit more often, spend time with her. It sounded like she was spending too much of it by herself.
The Doctor looked surprised, but pleasantly so. It would be nice to have company in the TARDIS again. Someone who knew their way around the TARDIS would be extra helpful. “Actually, I’d like that very much. I could even run through some upgrades I was thinking about. Never really had the time before to think of upgrades, or downgrades either, come to think of it.” The TARDIS was getting a lot of attention since they showed up in Tumbleweed. The ship hadn’t even tried to run away from her since the first time, which was nice. “She’ll already let you in, so we don’t have to worry about the how. Nice to know the TARDIS’ memory’s intact.” Even if hers was a bit suspect.
“It’s settled then.” It would be good, having an excuse to see this TARDIS regularly and spend more time with her wife. She loved her husband. She loved their TARDIS and the room he’d had added from their time on Darillium. But the Doctor was the Doctor. She loved her wife, too. This was a chance to get to know her properly, to be with her. And while she was at it, she could give this future version of her beloved timeship a little extra attention as well.
“I guess you’ve been here awhile?” Not as long as her other self, River could tell. But apparently long enough to have a feel for the place.
“A couple of months. Hard to tell. Sometimes I forget what day it is. Remember events better, like the space cruise or the person who turned people to goblins. This is probably the first real time I’ve been stuck anywhere for long. Even when I was the other me, I snuck off when Nardole wasn’t looking. Now we all find ourselves rather stuck almost entirely.” Sometimes it bothered her more than others. “Can travel to the moon, though, should you ever fancy a chance of pace.” She grinned. “And you’ve still got your room here, if you’d like to stay from time to time.” All her companions still had their rooms here, even Bill. The Doctor couldn’t bear to get rid of them.
“Hardly any of you are good with time, Sweetie, especially when you’re living it linearly.” But it had been enough of an answer to satisfy her curiosity. And she knew how hard it was for the Doctor to stay in one place, even by choice. To have it forced upon her was likely maddening.
She tilted her head, smiling as she reached for her hand. “Would you like that, if I stayed now and then?”
The blush was back again, subtle as it was. She was sure her other self would be a little judgey on the whole blushing thing, but she couldn’t quite help it. How any of her other selves had kept it together around River was beyond her. The Doctor gave River’s hand a small squeeze. “I’d be mad not to want to spend more time with you.” Considering normally the Doctor knew that her time with River was finite. “Come around when you like. Sometimes Rose comes to visit or Clara, but they’ve got their own thing going on so it’s not that often.”
River, on the other hand, found it adorable. She loved having such a visible effect. And it was a very attractive look on her wife.
“Good.” She gently pulled on the hand in hers to draw the Doctor closer. “I can’t stay all the time. Two of you. But I’d like to make a habit of it.”
She leaned in to kiss her slowly, giving her time to adjust or flee; it could be a gamble with new regenerations. “He will always be my husband. But you’re still my wife.”
And she would never leave her out. She couldn’t. She wanted her to know that.
It was probably easier now than when there were more of them around. Two seemed more manageable than three or four for some reason. The Doctor didn’t looked overly bothered by that. “When you’ve got tired of his grumpiness, you can come over for tea and I’ll tell you a brilliant joke or two.” Even if Ryan maintained her jokes were corny or not funny. She’d show him.
River laughed softly, lifting a hand to brush her thumb across the Doctor's cheek. “I'd like that, Sweetie.”
Terrible jokes and all. Because she loved them both, she'd married them both, and she was going to show them both as much as they’d let her.