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Caitlin Burns (quien_es) wrote in thereincarnates,
@ 2011-02-03 00:21:00

Entry tags:

caitlin burns, kai polivander

Who: Lin Burns/the Doctor and young!Kai Polviander.
When: February 3, 1996.
Where: Kai's childhood home.
What: Lin overshoots his mark by, oh. Fifteen years. The result: the Doctor meets little Kai for the first time (from Kai's perspective). From Lin's, things start to make more sense.
Rating: G. It's an 8 year old and the Doctor.

It had been a strange night for Lin Burns. First, he'd managed to get talked into some sort of 'apology kiss.' He still wasn't sure how that had happened. Why would Kai ever want to kiss him, anyway? And then afterwards, he'd been off to explore Cardiff.

Granted, most of Lin's nights were odd ones. As far as nights go, it hadn't been so bad; he'd met some brilliant new people and he certainly hadn't been bored, but he'd gone to sleep confused. When he woke up? Still confused. There was only one thing for it, really. He was going to have to take the TARDIS over to Kai's to ask the other time-traveller some questions.

Unfortunately, the Doctor occasionally had problems with precision and punctuality. As the narrow blue shape of the TARDIS materialized, it wasn't the bustle of 2011 that met the fellow who stepped out the door. The mistake in time wasn't what caught Lin's attention, though - it was the fact that he was, rather inexplicably, in Kent. Huh. Had he meant to go to Kent? (Err, Doctor? he asked inwardly. Did you mean to land us here? Perhaps we ought--)

But it was too late. Lin heard a sound behind him. They'd been spotted, which meant he couldn't just dash inside the TARDIS and go.

Well. He could, but it wouldn't have been very polite. And, while the Doctor didn't always care about 'polite,' Lin usually did. "Ah," he said. "Hello. Strange bloke in your garden, I know, I'm sorry." He slowly turned on his heel, hands up so that the garden's owner could see them. It never hurt to be careful, right?

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littlebluebook
2011-02-04 07:52 am UTC (link)

There was more to the TARDIS then Kai could have ever imagined, and he had never been happier to come to such a conclusion. Every time he passed by a door he swung it open and peered inside before scampering off to find a new door. He wanted to see everything and he wanted to see it all as fast as he could. Even when running as fast as he possibly could, it just wasn't fast enough for his tastes.

In all likelihood, he would have been more then happy to spend the rest of his life looking at all the different rooms in the TARDIS, until he found one in particular that made him stop. It was a library: huge and magnificent and filled with books and-

... Was that a swimming pool?

He stared at it for a moment, wondering why on earth there was a pool in the library before deciding it wasn't important. There were books to be read- information to be gathered. He all but skipped through it before just picking a spot and plunking down, dropping the book he had been carting around the whole time and grabbing a new one off of the shelf, grinning broadly. Now here was something that would always make sense.

Kai glanced up at the Doctor when he heard him come in, still grinning. "This is amazing. I'm still really confused, and I'm sort of wondering why there's a pool in here, but I guess you probably have a reason. And if you don't, I'm honestly not sure I care anymore. But I do have one question, though." His smile faltered a little as curiosity took it's place- not even his excitement could stifle that part of him, or his more practical side that wanted answers for things. "You said earlier that this was an occasion for a 'hello.' And you're a time traveler, so I was sort of wondering... Do we know each other in the future?" There was no denying the eager look on his face, so out of character for the young boy. Because he couldn't think of any other reason for this man to have come crashing down into his garden and acting so oddly around him- why else would he have come to Kent and invited Kai to look at his TARDIS thing unless they did? Or they were supposed to?

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quien_es
2011-02-04 04:39 pm UTC (link)

"Time is complicated." Lin began, "and this isn't going to make any sense to you right now, but you and I have a habit of doing things in the wrong order."

May I tell--
Keep it vague, Burns.

"You'll see me again, yes. I can't give you many details because I can't meddle in my own timeline, and I can't take you with me today for that same reason. I am really sorry. Truthfully, I never planned to meddle in your childhood - I was aiming for a different year entirely. Distracted driving, Young Kai. Don't do it."

It was meant to be a joke. None the less, somewhere in the back of the head, the Doctor grumbled. Great. More ammunition for River.

Lin didn't care. This was a little boy, not River Song, and they were telling him that he was going to have to be patient and wait. It was to be done gently, or not at all.

"I don't -- ahhhh. I'm rubbish with a lot of things, including apologies and goodbyes. Tell you what - since you know you'll be seeing me again, think of where you'd like to go. I'll take you somewhere." A pause. "Also, learn to love - or at least tolerate - the fez as a bit of headgear, because I'm standing firm on 'dashing.' They're dashing."

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littlebluebook
2011-02-05 12:34 am UTC (link)

The eager expression on Kai's face soon turned to confusion and then fell completely into a mix of sadness and disappointment. He'd only known this man for a few minutes, and yet he'd already opened his eyes to a whole world of possibilities. Everything was new and exciting and different, and suddenly Kai was actually enthusiastic about something. Before, the only thing he'd cared about was learning, and that had only been a craving to know for the sake of knowing. But now he wanted to see and learn about all this new and exciting things- all these new opportunities that the TARDIS and the Doctor could offer him. But the Doctor was saying no. He had to wait.

"So I can't come with you." His voice was very small, his shoulders hunched forward protectively. He clutched the book in his hands to his chest like it was some kind of shield. "And you can't even tell me when I'll get to see you again. I'm just going to have to wait around for you to show up again."

He nodded somewhat numbly at the promise, his mind working and spinning as he thought. The bit about the fez confused him, but he figured he'd learn about that eventually. He had something more important he wanted to ask.

Setting the book down gently he stood up, looking the Doctor in the eye, a determined look on his face. "But you promise I'll see you again? And-" and this was the tricky bit. He gnawed on his lower lip for a moment. "And when we meet, I was happy to see you, right?" Of course, what he really meant was 'Am I going to become bitter about the wait I'm going to have to sit through?' Because if he knew that, he thought maybe he could be okay with this. Maybe.

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quien_es
2011-02-05 02:00 am UTC (link)

"I promise." Lin said. Once again he bent down, hands on his knees, so that he was closer to eye level. "I know this is hard, and believe me, if I could meddle in my own timeline? I would. But there are very good rules against that sort of thing, and very bad things happen when you break them."

So, in a way, the fixation on spoilers made sense. You had to be very sharp and very alert when you went meddling in the pasts of people you'd already met. Still. A word or two of encouragement couldn't hurt, could it?

"You were happy to see me. You were brilliant."

Hmm. He couldn't just leave, could he? Not without a token. "Here. I've something for you." He reached back and dug around in a pocket. Although his fingers were far too big for the ladies' class ring, he still carried it everywhere on the keychain that held the TARDIS key and the keys to his father's front door. He looped the bit of jewelry off and offered it to Kai.

Class of 2003, it read. The school, if Kai were to dig, was located in Toronto. Searching for a 'Doctor' would do no good, though, and Lin's face was nowhere on the student roll. For the first time since it had happened, Caitlin was glad he'd regenerated. He could pass along the memento without passing clues Kai could use to spoil himself (and, for that matter, Lin.)

"To prove you know a time-traveller," he said, simply.

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littlebluebook
2011-02-05 05:27 am UTC (link)

The Doctor's promise did make Kai feel a little better, but not by much, even with him going on to talk about messing with time lines and breaking rules and what not. He understood why- to the Doctor, they'd already gotten to know each other in a certain way, and they couldn't change that. He still didn't like it though.

It wasn't until the Doctor told him that he had- or rather would be- brilliant when they met again that Kai felt a little better. So maybe it wouldn't be too bad of a wait after all. Maybe it wouldn't end up making him angry and bitter and stuff. "I was?" He sounded very, very relieved and a little pleased. "Good. Thank you."

He took the offered ring after just a moment's hesitation, examining it closely. It looked too small to fit on a man's hand, which confused him. Did the ring not originally belong to the Doctor? Either way, he didn't care- it was a gift, and he intended to keep it. He closed his fingers around it and held it against his chest for a moment before looking back up at the Doctor. He couldn't help it when his lower lip trembled just a little, and he leaned forward to wrap his arms tightly around the Doctor's neck.

"I'm going to miss you," he said into the Doctor's shoulder, his voice a little muffled. He barely even knew the man, but he already felt like they'd known each other for years. He didn't want to have to wait for him to show up again, but he would if he had to. But that didn't mean he wouldn't miss him all the same. "Are you really, really sure you can't come back and see me? Or that I can't come with you?"

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quien_es
2011-02-05 05:44 am UTC (link)

Okay, this was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful - like Amy Pond but worse, because Pond hadn't been intentional. This time, they were leaving and both Lin and the Doctor knew it. Kai was in for a long, long wait.

As a plus, Lin had wanted to hug the little boy for a solid five minutes, but had feared that such an invasion of personal space would be, ah. Creepy. Now he had an excuse. Poor kid. "I can't. But you've got some good times ahead of you." It wasn't a total lie. Lin didn't know the first thing about Kai's adolescence, but things must've been okay. The boy turned out alright, hadn't he?

"And when we meet again, I can tell you more. I won't have to hedge. I can answer some questions. We can see some things. Just -- look after yourself, okay? You're fantastic. Don't forget it."

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littlebluebook
2011-02-05 06:03 am UTC (link)

Kai just sighed sadly, trying to keep his lip from quivering again. He believed him when he said that there were some good times ahead, but he just wasn't sure how that compared to a TARDIS. "Okay," he said reluctantly. Pulling away after another moment, Kai brought his fist back up to his chest again, still clinging tightly to the ring.

He nodded, at least glad to hear that. "Good. I've got a lot, and I'm probably going to have more. I'll make a journal! Fill it up with all of my questions, and you have to answer all of them." He blinked with surprise at the next part. He'd been complimented before of course, but mostly on his intelligence and book smarts. No one had ever called him fantastic before.

"I- I won't forget it. I promise." He gave the Doctor a tentative smile. Fantastic, huh? A kid could get used to being told that he was fantastic.

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quien_es
2011-02-05 06:11 am UTC (link)

Lin actually laughed. A journal? Good heavens, this kid was River Song, wasn't he?

"That sounds perfect. Write them down, keep your journal handy, and there will be an opportunity to ask. You'll know when. I'll tell you."

Because as soon as this was done, Lin was headed straight for Kai's. Well. Perhaps he'd put something up on the journals first - all this I'll just pop in business had turned out to be a little dangerous.

"Okay?" It was both check-in and tentative test to see if Kai was ready to part ways. Lin wasn't callous enough to just shuffle the boy out, but he was starting to get the feeling that sticking around would only do more damage.

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littlebluebook
2011-02-05 06:46 am UTC (link)

Kai nodded again, a little more eagerly this time. He doubted he'd go anywhere without that journal, or the ring in his hands. He could tell that this was the start of something very important, and he was going to treat it as such.

"Okay." Kai could tell that the Doctor was meaning to go now, and while he was reluctant to be left behind, he knew that if he stayed much longer there's no way he'd be able to willingly leave the TARDIS. "Yeah, I mean... Mum's probably starting to wonder where I am anyways, so..." The sniffle had nothing to do with the situation of course. It was dust, or allergies or something.

His return to the front door was nothing like his earlier eager scampering- he was acting more like he was walking to his grave, actually. He stopped when they got back to the front room, giving it a hard look and trying to commit it to memory. He had a feeling it was going to be the last time he saw it for a while. Finally, he turned to the Doctor and gave him one last quick hug around the middle.

"I won't forget you, ever. I promise."

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quien_es
2011-02-05 07:08 am UTC (link)

Oh, great. Guilt city. Lin lifted a hand to pat at Kai's shoulder when the boy hugged him. He didn't really know what to say, so he forced a big, cheeky, cheerful grin. If there was one thing the Doctor could do? It was fake a happy face. Noooo. Everything's fine.

Lin had learned from the best.

"Believe me, I'm not going to forget you either."

He did not tell the boy that he'd see him soon. From Lin's perspective it was absolutely true, but it still felt like telling a lie.

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littlebluebook
2011-02-05 07:17 am UTC (link)

"Good," Kai said with another sniffle as he pulled away. "Because I'll be really mad if you do." He smiled back at the Doctor, though it was less the same cheeky grin and more of a sort of watery imitation of the thing.

He started towards the door again, and then glanced over his shoulder to say one last thing. "I'm not going to say goodbye. Because it isn't. So... See you later."

And without another word he slipped out of the TARDIS and back into the chilly night air, trying very hard to convince himself that his stinging eyes was because of the cold. It didn't work very well. He stood a little bit away from the TARDIS and just stared at it, wondering what was going to happen now.

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	quien_es 2011-02-05 07:24 am UTC (link)
	It started with the sound - that vrrrrrwwwww thrumming that had announced the TARDIS's arrival - and the box began fading in and out in time. After a few seconds, the blue object was gone, leaving behind poor Aunt Mildred's ruined turnips. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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