Who: Tenth Doctor and Amy Pond When: Last week in May, ish Where: Bookstore What: Random Encounter... again Rating/Warnings: Low/None? Status: Complete!
Amy was wandering through the aisles of the bookstore... again. She was looking for... well, anything, really. Something interesting. Something to take her mind off of her life, off of her confusing feelings. There was too much going on and not enough going on at the same time, and it made her brain hurt. If only she could dream. Her dreams made her waking life make more sense.
But she hadn’t dreamed in a long time. She was between dreams, confused about what she was feeling and what it meant. And where she wanted her life to go.
Maybe self help? She turned a corner and ran into a familiar face.
Definitely not in the self help section yet, but instead history, there stood John Smith. He was wearing his reading glasses and poking through each title as if it were necessary for him to touch each and every single book before picking one from the shelf and flipping it opened. Glancing up, he noticed Amy and greeted her with a wide, happy smile. “Oh, fancy meeting you here!”
“Mister Smith!” Amy said, moving over to shake his hand in greeting. They weren’t quite to the hug stage yet, but they would be. Soon enough. “How are you? Funny, running into you in a bookstore of all places.” This was the first place they’d bumped into one another, too. Funny, that.
“A huge shock,” the Doctor agreed, nodding with an exaggerated bob to his head and a hearty, excited sort of handshake. It wasn’t really a shock, of course, considering that John hung out in book stores as if he was worried they might go out of style if he left them. Sort of.
“And what are you looking for today?” He held up a book on Ancient Greece and shrugged as if he had no idea why he’d picked it over any others.
“Distractions.” Amy said, giving him a smile. The next bit sort of spilled out, as if she couldn’t stop it. “Too much stuff and not enough going on in my life, so I need distractions.”
John blinked at that, and then settled the book he was holding back down on the shelf, as if it had never mattered in the first place. “Books are good for it,” he said, easily. “But I know just the real thing that’ll help.” He smiled, and it was bright, friendly. “Fancy an ice cream, Amy Pond?”
“I would love an ice cream, thank you, John Smith.” Amy said, giving him a bright grin and turning to follow him out of the bookstore. “I can probably download something to my kindle later, anyway.” She loved the speed and transportability of the Kindle, but the feel and smell of physical books. So she did both.
It was probably bad, but John hadn’t jumped onto that bandwagon yet. He’d probably get to it eventually, but rather enjoyed perusing book stores a bit too much to bother. “Or you could just go back to the store,” he said, this shy of cheeky, even as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “There’s a nice little ice cream place just up the block. Me and Tara go a lot.”
“Ohhh, so long as we’re not going far, I can go back to the bookstore.” Amy responded with a nod. That wasn’t too far from her car, either. Perfect. “Or I can just order books from home. It’ll give me more time to research.” Then again, Rory might be there. Amy frowned. “Or I’ll go back to the bookstore. That sounds like a good idea.”
John gave her a funny look just before they reached the ice cream shop, and he opened the door for her. “Yes. There are a great many options. If it’s that difficult, you might want to limit which of the ice cream flavors you look at here, though.”
"Ice cream is pretty easy," Amy admitted. "I always try something new. Every time." Her mind now decidedly off her troubles at home, she gave him a wink as she headed through the doorway. "Whatever's new."
“Brilliant!” Because John had been a little worried that he might have to suffer through more bubblegum ice cream - the kind Tara liked so much, but always seemed to make him finish. It was the worst ice cream. Even though he always ate it without complaint. “I like your thinking. In we go, then.” And then they were peering at the flavors, looking at the special of the day. Anything for a friend!
Amy was leaning over and looking at all the different flavors through the glass. Was she in the mood for chocolate? No. Strawberry? No. Nuts in ice cream? Yuck. Her eyes stopped on one with caramel swirls and chocolate chips. “That one.” She said, pointing. “Small scoop?”
John gave a nod, and rather agreed with her choice so much that he got one of the same. Once paid up and ice cream in hand, they found a little seat by the window. “So how’ve you been, Amy Pond?” He loved saying her full name, although really wasn’t quite sure why. It just suited the woman.
It was a nice seat by the window. Amy had her ice cream in a cup with a spoon rather than on a cone. She started in, enjoying it quite a bit. “Honestly? ...I don’t know. Work is good. I’ve got great friends. So I guess I can’t complain.” She thought John was a good man; friendly and had always been kind. She trusted him. “I’ve been avoiding life a lot, and I’m not really sure why.”
It was hard not to trust a Doctor, wasn’t it? John did try his hardest to be friendly to everyone, and he liked to think that it showed. He licked at his cone (come on! It was a bowl you could eat! How awesome was that?), and then looked thoughtful for a moment. Just because she didn’t want to complain didn’t mean she couldn’t. “Avoiding life?” he asked, raising a brow. That hardly sounded fun at all.
It was impossible not to admit it when he asked. "Avoiding my husband." He was the doctor, wasn't he? He'd know if she was lying. "It's just so awkward. I don't know if I really love him, or if I just do in the dreams."
It was impossible to be taken seriously whilst licking at an ice cream cone, and so he stopped for the time being. He considered her words for a moment as if truly trying to take them to heart, and then gave a half a nod. “I understand,” he said, because he did. “I’ve encountered being in love with people in my own dreams that I’ve met here as well. There was a genuine pull of attraction that probably didn’t make as much sense as I thought it did at the time. I can see it being confusing.”
“It all moved so fast in the beginning. I was having all of these confusing dreams, and then we got married, and it was lovely for a bit. Then it got... ordinary. Boring. And he’s so busy with work... I don’t know if we feel the way we used to feel anymore.” She swallowed, frowning, and felt a surge of emotion. Tears welling up in her brown eyes. “...I think it was a mistake. We’re playing house and I just want to go home. Only... I don’t have a home anymore.”
John blinked for a moment, before his expression melted into one of empathy. “Oh, Amy,” he said, feeling a bit awful for her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” It was a wording he gave both here and in his dreams -- but they were always given honestly. He was sorry. Amy Pond didn’t seem like the type of woman who ought be crying, ever. “Have you -- spoken with him?” Obvious advice, really, and a bit ironic coming from the man who ran across time and space to avoid things.
“It feels like we haven’t talked in weeks,” she admitted, lifting a hand to wipe at her face. Silly thing. Crying like this. She didn’t like it. “Just, ‘what are your plans for dinner?’ and ‘working late, I’ll see you in the morning’ kind of stuff. We’re really just... roommates. Haven’t slept in the same bed in a week or so.” Even before then there was distance between them.
Well, that wouldn’t do. It wasn’t really any of his business to tell her how work on her relationship - how to fix it or not fix it or -- whatever. But he could be a friend about it. “Well,” he said, handing her a napkin, and ignoring the fact his ice cream was dripping all over his other hand. “I’ve always got a couch if you need.”
Amy gave a little chuckle. “That’s sweet of you. Thank you.” She said, and couldn’t help smiling as she wiped her face with the napkin. “...honestly, I’ll probably end up taking you up on that offer fairly soon.”
“I think it pulls out into a bed,” the Doctor said, hoping that sounded even more helpful. He wasn’t really sure if it did or not though, considering that no one had ever really tried sleeping on it before. Beyond normal naps. “And that’s fine, you know. Anything to help.”
"Your roommate wouldn't mind me crashing on your sofa bed, would she?" Truth was, Gwen would probably jump at the chance to have Amy over. They'd most likely get drunk on wine and bitch about men all night long.
“Gwen?” He gave her a look as if she’d just asked the silliest question in the world. “Not at all. You know she loves company. She’d probably love a reason to make extra cookies and not feel bad, too.” They’d met at that one party, and had gotten along brilliantly. Most of the people at that party had gotten on well. Even that weird blog guy seemed okay once he started making the perfect drinks.
It was a pretty nice party. Amy thought that John and Gwen should throw more parties. She nodded. “So long as she doesn’t mind. I’ll call you if it becomes... necessary.” She was thinking the end was drawing near. If she had to tell Rory, she’d leave him in the apartment and go away so he could have time to process.
“Do that, yeah.” And then John was licking ice cream from his hand and wrist and all over where ever it had melted. Really, it was such a mess sometimes. Bleh. Delicious bleh, though. “And don’t worry too much, yeah? Bad advice I know, but sometimes things happen and it’s not the best but it really doesn’t mean the world is ending, you know?”
Delicious mess. Sounded like a band name. “I know. And it’s not bad advice, really. Just... not exactly the kind of thing people enjoy hearing. Doesn’t make it any less true, though.” She paused, having a bite. “You’ll have to give it to me again in a week or so. When things...” She was pretty sure that things were going to have ended by then.
John only nodded at that, but figured maybe Amy Pond might enjoy a tiny bit more on the positive side, if things were going to go pear shaped so quickly. “Even when things are bad, there’ll still always be beauty on this strange little planet, Amy.” he said after a moment more of licking and then napkin using. They were Doctor sort of words. But he was a Doctor sort of man.
The words seemed pretty familiar, even though this wasn’t her Doctor, he was still a doctor, wasn’t he? And in that way, she felt more connected to him, more trusting of him. “You always seem to know the right things to say,” Amy said, giving him a smile. Or, well, what she could muster of a smile. She wiped at her eyes one last time with her napkin then started in on her ice cream again. It was super melty, at least hers was in a cup and not all over her hands.
“I’ve had a lot of practice,” John said, with a tiny smile before going back to his ice cream completely.