hopefully he wouldn’t freak out when the skinny blonde chick wasn’t there, and a blind Asian girl wa Who: Tenth Doctor (John Smith) and Gwen Stacy When: After This Phone Conversation Where: Coffee Shop then home What: Picking up the blind girl Rating/Warning: Low/None Status: Complete
Gwen was still sitting on that chair when John arrived. She was clutching her phone, staring blankly into space. The old man who’d been so thrown off when she sat at the table was gone now, he’d left in a huff several minutes earlier.
Gwen didn’t know she looked any different. She sounded different, sure. John hopefully had read valarnet and knew, or he’d heard it in her voice and could tell... hopefully he wouldn’t freak out when the skinny blonde chick wasn’t there, and a blind Asian girl was in her place.
John arrived in what he considered to be record time, considering waiting for the bus. And since there was only one woman sitting outside of the bakery -- looking freaked out -- and because he had read the internet posts on his phone while sitting on the bus, he had a strong suspicion that this was actually his flatmate.
Hey, he wasn’t the Doctor for nothing.
“Gwen?”
“John?” Gwen thought she might cry. Like, seriously. She perked up and looked around in the general direction of the voice, though she couldn’t see him at all. “Oh, Thank God, John. I can’t see anything!”
“You’re also a tiny Chinese woman,” John noted, clearly more fascinated than he was sympathetic. The urge to pull his sonic screwdriver out was so intense, he couldn’t stop himself from doing it, and buzzing it around her. Even the screwdriver sounded happier than it should have.
Rude, but not ginger, you know.
“But you have a very keen hair color. Really, it’s quite cool. Red and purple?”
“What??” Gwen asked, sounding absolutely shocked. In the whole ‘aaah, I can’t see’ thing, she hadn’t noticed her change in height, weight or ethnicity. ...honestly, why/how could she? “How... How am I not me?” She asked, both hands coming up to explore her own face, then her hair. “Red and purple?”
“Oh yes,” John agreed, and damn him for sounding so happy, probably. But he was an excitable sort of man, and this was a bit interesting, wasn’t it? “Apparently a problem with a thing and some stuff. Happened to a few people. Does make me wonder where the other you which is her got off to, though.” He shrugged, and realized that was useless. “Well. Anyway. We should get you home, huh.” He took her hand in his and led her to standing. “Keys?”
“Some stuff.” Gwen repeated after him. There was such strong disbelief and exhaustion in her voice, she almost sounded angry. Almost. It was really hard to get angry when John was that excited. She let him help her to her feet. “Keys, right.”
---
The drive home was -- strange. John was chattering, watching Gwen, watching the road, and then really really watching the road because christ, wrong side of the street.
“Okay,” he said, once they’d parked. “We’re here. How do you want to handle this?”
“Just help me up into the apartment and I’ll fumble around in my room until I find... things...” Gwen said. She had a feeling she could get around in her own room just fine. The kitchen and bathroom might be a different story.
“Mm,” John agreed, finally sounding a little sympathetic as opposed to excited. It’d taken him a bit to realize that this really just wasn’t much of a walk in the park for her. Sometimes he did things like that; forgot about feelings when he was too interested.
He got out of the car, and helped her out too, leading her toward the flat and then up the stairs once he’d gotten the door unlocked. “What’s it like?”
Not exactly a walk in the park, no. Though she’d had a little bit of time to start getting used to the way things were without sight. It felt like all of her other senses were on overload already. She could only imagine how this woman dealt with things. “...it’s like my eyes are closed and I can’t open them.”
“Huh.” Not the most amazing description, but John supposed he couldn’t fault her. They worked their way up the stairs and he got the door open for them. “Where? Living room? Your room?” Beyond guiding, he wasn’t really sure how he could help. Not directly.
“My room.” Gwen said. She wanted to... lay down in her own bed. She’d have to figure out how to eat, how to use the toilet, how to shower... all in the dark. It was going to be a learning experience, for sure. But she was starting to feel like she was ready for the challenge.
The Doctor took her where she asked, and then offered her a smile that would clearly be lost on her. “There you are. No worries, I’ll make finger food for dinner, yeah?”
“Thanks. Something I don’t have to see to eat? Like... corn dogs?” Gwen neede comfort food. She moved into her bedroom and flopped down onto her bed with a sigh. This was going to be an adventure.