Who: TARDIS and Tenth Doctor When: Late one night Where: Pickup Truck of Cute What: Just plain adorable. Rating: A for Adorable, and PG for a kiss or two. Status: Complete
Tara’s parents had been visiting the past few days, having driven down from her father’s current deployment. Her father had chosen to purchase a truck in California -- often leaving it in Tara’s driveway when overseas -- so they could visit their daughter and get around easily whenever they were in town.
Later that night, Tara had asked if she could borrow the truck. She had a plan, one that involved the stars, pillows and blankets, and John Smith. Loading the bed with said pillows and blankets, she’d sent John a quick text warning him to grab all of his.
And as promised, twenty minutes later Tara was at John’s place with a truck full of pillows and blankets (covered, of course), waiting for her Doctor. She might have been bouncing while she stood by the truck.
The Doctor -- John -- was down only a moment later -- having a hell of a time opening up his own front door with all the blankets and pillows he had in his arms. Managing, although just barely, he called out for Tara -- arse balancing against the door to keep it open. “Help!” Please.
Tara ran right over, taking an armful of what John was carrying. He must have brought everything soft in the apartment! “Hello!” she greeted with a grin, turning and leading the way to her dad’s truck. With only a little difficulty, she got the bed’s cover open and tossed her armful in.
Turning back to him, she made sure he was alright on his own before asking: “Have you guessed what we’re doing?” She liked surprising him, and hoped he hadn’t figured it out.
Well, she’d told him to! “Hello,” he greeted, as happy as he ever was to see her: which was to say, he was a lot happy. Because he was always happy.
He followed suit, freeing himself from his arm load into the back of the unfamiliar truck. His mind didn’t need to go at top speed to figure out what she’d been talking about, but it did anyway.
“Oh,” he said, his grin toothy. “I think I have.” And he clearly approved.
“Good!” she said, fixing her arms around John in her typical hello hug. With the best friend twist, of course. Pulling away quickly, she fixed the cover back on and then bounced to the driver’s side. She climbed in, started it up and waited for John to join her. With that same great big grin meant only for him.
The best friend twist, John noted, was becoming a bit of a grind these days. Or maybe that’s just how he was considering these days. Either way, nothing to complain about. Just something he couldn’t think too hard on.
He returned the grin, and then hopped up into the passenger's’ seat -- funny thing, trucks. They were so terribly high up that they were nearly hard to get into. “Where, exactly, are we going?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
It was a wonder that Tara was able to get in and out of it so easily. Perhaps it was because of her years climbing in and out of army vehicles. As a child, she learned quickly how to get into them. Translating to her height as an adult, it became much easier.
Pulling out of the parking lot, the brunette grinned and glanced at John. “Far, far away,” she assured him, going back to watching the road as she turned the radio on.
Nearly an hour later, with Tara chatting at John the entire way, they arrived at a camping area far from the city and light pollution. It had quickly gotten dark over that hour, and the night sky was filling up with stars as they got out of the city. Pulling into the area she’d rented for the evening, she shifted into park and turned to smile at John. And it looked like the rest of the campsite was quite empty, so it seemed they had the whole universe at their disposal.
How very fitting.
How very fitting indeed. Even if they weren’t sure quite how yet, the Doctor knew that it was on their minds -- that some day the whole universe would be at their disposal. Until then, this would be perfect. If not better.
He turned back to her, and smiled as well. It wasn’t his usual giant grin, but more of a calm, pleased sort of look. Nearly adoring. Finally, he unlocked his car door, moving to open it. “Shall we?”
Tara was already climbing out of the truck, turning to grin widely at him before shutting the door. As if that were answer enough, she rounded to the back of the vehicle, climbing up onto the ledge and making work of removing the bed’s cover. She paused when she was done, turning and sitting on the gate, hands supporting on either side of her as she looked up.
“It’s a perfect night,” she observed aloud after a pause, a small smile lighting her features. She wished they could see the stars much more closely. Maybe one day.
The funny thing about living in California was this: it was almost always a perfect night. But he knew what she meant, and saw no reason to disagree -- that would just be contrary, and John wasn’t really that sort of person. Not that he knew of, anyway.
He hopped up next to her, leaning back a bit to look up at the stars as well. “Do you want me to make a fire?” Ambiance was important after all.
Tara regarded John with a lifted brow and something close to a smirk. “You know how to build a fire?” she asked incredulously. He was from England, wasn’t he? The British weren’t known for their camping ability. More for their tea and other luxuries. Her smirk lifted into a grin as she thought on it a moment longer. “Where can we put it?” she asked, because yes, she agreed that ambiance was very important.
He was the Doctor! He knew a lot of things! He also knew she had a lighter in her car, because all cars had a cigarette lighter, and that would probably help with the making of the fire. Because it made fire. Shuttup, Tara. He only made a face at her, and it was clearly one of those “oh ye of little faith” sorts of faces.
“We put the fire... in the fire pit.” He gestured to a little rock and grate circle in the middle of the campsite. They all came with those.
Following his gesture, Tara looked at the fire pit then back to John, her eyebrows lifted and that excited grin she wore so often spreading from ear to ear.
“I’ll find us some wood!” she exclaimed suddenly, launching herself off the back of the truck (stumbling a bit on the way down) and taking off into the woods. She’d probably trip and break her ankle somewhere in there, but the girl was a slave to her impulses. She just couldn’t tell herself to slow when she was excited about something.
He couldn’t blame her. John was quite similar in that regard. Still, he was also just a tad more cautious. “Careful,” he called after her, bouncing down from the back of the truck to follow her into the dark of the woods. They weren’t terribly thick, so at least the stars offered them some guiding light.
She had made quick work of gathering an armful of brush from the ground. Spotting John just a few steps behind, she hurried over and smiled proudly. Not usually known for camping, the girl was at least enthusiastic about it. And though what she thought was a decent amount of tinder would probably not be enough, she was happy to at least be helping. “My dad might have some fire wood in his truck too!” she said. Because don’t all dads that own trucks have things like that?
Totally. I’m believing it.
Totally. Except she’d just put a bunch of blankets in the bed of that truck, and wouldn’t she have noticed things like wood? “Most camping places have a spot to go get some,” The Doctor offered helpfully, even as he took some of the kindling out of her hands. Because he was eager to help, too!
It would be in the back seat of the cab, of course. Because Tara’s dad’s truck was totally one of with the extended cab. Pimpin’ truck and shit.
She grinned up at John in thanks when he took some of the kindling. “How about,” she began, heading back toward the fire pit. She didn’t seem as eager to rush as she reached for her best friend’s hand, watching him as she continued. “You head over and see if there’s some wood, and I’ll check if there’s any in the truck?”
It was kind of like a scavenger hunt. Those were fun. Tara was good at cheating during those.
There was no practical logic in that, and John knew it. He suspected very much that Tara knew it as well. The girl was excitable, but nowhere near stupid. Not even close. He rose an eyebrow, but it was rather dark and so probably wasted to the shadows. His fingers brushed with hers and then he gave an agreeable bob of his head. “Alright,” he said to go with the nod. Because it was dark. And anyway, he had a sonic screwdriver for light!
Back at the fire pit, Tara smiled happily up at John, bouncing up onto her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said. In any case, if John went searching for some firewood, she’d have time to get everything ready. She was planning for them to stay out all night, after all. Plenty to do!
Like build a proper stargazing fort in the back of her dad’s truck. All in a day’s work, really. She’d even booked the next day off of work to enjoy the night.
Rolling back on her heels, she let free his hand and set her small load of brush beside the pit.
And so off he went into the darkness. Most camp grounds were built in a very large circle. He knew this because camping was totally a thing that all people did when they were growing up -- even if they didn’t want to. Right? Right. And at the end of one of those big circles was usually a shed that housed firewood, and then maybe a bathroom or shower or whatever. Because even in the woods when you were meant to be one with nature, most people couldn’t handle things like -- well. Actual outdoor bathroom going. John didn’t blame anyone, that.
Apparently Tara had booked the campground furthest away from these things as possible though, as his walk was becoming quite a trek.
Meanwhile, Tara had set to work on getting the fire pit ready. She’d brought some food and wine from home, which she set in the back of the truck while John made the trek across the camp. The apparently very far trek.
She had been sitting by the empty fire pit for a few minutes before she started wondering how far of a walk it would be for John. She was getting cold, so grabbed one of the fuzzy blankets from the bed of the truck, and a scarf she’d brought with her from home before returning to the fire. She had also helped herself to a plastic cup of wine while she waited.
And the scarf might have been tied around the top of her head rather than her neck by the time she’d gotten halfway through her glass of wine.
Ten minutes later, there was still no sign from John. Or the Doctor. Whichever. There was, however, a strange shuffling noise coming from the wooded areas of their campground.
Tara was starting to get worried after she’d finished that cup. She looked around at the strange shuffling noise -- it wasn’t loud, but it certainly stood out in the quiet night air.
Wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, Tara wished she’d brought a flashlight with her as she stood and decided to investigate. Isn’t that how horror movies start? Tara didn’t want to think about it. “John!” she called out into the shuffling woods. “Is that you?”
Yes. It was. But somewhere on the long trek back to the camp he’d decided that he desperately wanted to do something a little sneaky. And a little funny. And okay, maybe a little mean, but not really. He was just having fun. Because that was what they were out here to do, right?
So, instead of responding, he just crouched down and shuffled a little bit more, forward, then zig zaggy. He thought about making a ghost noise, but was sure even in a guttural sense, he’d probably just sound... well. Like a British Ghost. And how many of those were haunting California’s campgrounds? None, that’s how many.
Clutching the blanket tight around herself, Tara shrugged it up higher on her shoulders as she put her plastic cup down on the back of the truck. She was officially creeped out by John’s shuffling, and pre-emptively checked her cell phone for service. None. Damn, wasn’t the modern world supposed to have service everywhere?
“John! I know it’s you!” she called out, sounding a bit apprehensive. Should she be calling out into the dark woods? What if it was a big mean animal? Or a murderer?
Oh, the thoughts that were running through miss Smith’s heads were not welcomed while she had no cell service.
Admittedly, this had been a poorly thought out plan. John was usually better than all this, really. Now that he had the poor girl freaked out, he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He had an arm full of logs, and if he said anything he’d completely ruin his not-very-well-laid plans. Well, shit.
“Nnnoooo,” he said, going for a ghosty... what? No? Sure.
Tara heard his voice (she knew his voice very, very well by now) and turned toward it, squinting in the dark. She couldn’t see him, but hearing was enough. At least she could identify the shuffling noises now.
“Come ouuuttt,” she complained a bit lamely, rubbing her chin with her blanket-covered fist. “I’ve got wine and you’re scaring me!” Both were true. Unrelated, but true.
Sigh. John rustled himself out of the clearing, and then dropped his armful of logs next to the fire pit. “That really didn’t go as expected,” he said to Tara nearly apologetically. Because it was meant to have been funny and scary all at the same time, and he’d somehow failed on both accounts. Oh well, no matter! He grinned and settled his hands on his hips. “Wine, you say?”
Even though Tara should have been a bit mad at him about that, she knew John well enough to know that he couldn’t pass down an opportunity like that. And anyway, his plan had failed just a bit. Rolling her eyes dramatically, she just made a face at him. Because he was silly and she loved her best friend, truly. He was just a bit mad sometimes.
Grinning a moment later (they really were a pair of nutters), she turned and fixed him a cup of wine. And she made one for herself too. Shuffling back over, she managed to balance two cups in one hand while the other held the blanket around her still. Skills, ladies and gentlemen.
Handing over his cup, she took a drink of hers. And smiled brilliantly (still wearing her scarf like a bandana and a blanket cape). “Did you find it okay?” meaning the wood, of course. “Was it an adventure? You were gone a long time!”
Who was nutters, now? John only gave her a perplexed sort of look over the scarf (she looked like she had an exceptionally old-school toothache) before taking the wine with an amiable sort of nod.
“It wasn’t much of an adventure,” he said, kneeling down to start arranging firewood into the little pit with his one free hand. “But it was a ways away. A good walk, though. It’s quite nice out tonight. Perfectly brilliant.”
That, Tara mused, was so the Doctor. She grinned at that, watching as he made work of building the fire. Taking another drink, she sat by the pit to watch his work. With no idea how to build a fire, she was sure she’d just get in his way.
“Doctor,” she said after a pause, sounding so casual in how she used his real name. “Do you ever miss the dream world? When you could travel through the stars and time wherever you pleased?” She had turned her eyes to the sky, looking as if she was counting all the brilliant dots that formed the Milky Way.
The Doctor leaned back from his crouching until he was flat on his ass in front of the fire pit, which was still fireless. He glanced over his shoulder at Tara, and then turned his gaze upward toward the sky, too. There wasn’t really an answer up there, although he looked at it like there might be.
“Of course,” he said, a little slowly. “I -- well. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t quite know who I am anymore. Is that funny?” He’d been thinking on it a lot lately. He’d been thinking on a lot of things lately.
Tara let out a small laugh at that. She was the queen of not knowing who or what she was. Neither the Doctor nor John Smith could know the identity crisis she was going through. She’d lost enough sleep over it already.
“I know exactly what you mean,” she breathed, sounding a bit distracted. She let out a big, hopeless-sounding sigh as she took a long drink of her wine. And continued staring at the stars.
“Of course you do,” said the Doctor, because why wouldn’t she? They were very similar in some regards. Of course, he was a person in his dreams still, but she was alive too. In a different way. Still. He looked at her again, and couldn’t help but touch her knee in an oddly thoughtful way. “You know I wouldn’t trade how you are now for anything.”
Tara looked down at the hand on her knee, smiling at her Doctor as she covered it with one of her own. She gave his fingers a squeeze. She felt as if something inside of her was transforming, making her feel a bit less human. She knew that John felt it as well. They were both still so human, so alive within their new world, and yet they were changing to something that was much more fantastic, ancient, and yet new as well. Time was the master of humanity, but through their dreams, both John (The Doctor) and Tara (The TARDIS) were becoming Lords of it.
Still smiling as she considered all of this, the personified soul of the TARDIS pulled at her Doctor, wanting to touch him with more than just what joined them in their pasts. Her humanity was such a tangible one, as John’s was, and it could not be denied that they shared the desire to be both Human and Time Lord. As they dreamed more, they would have to hold onto both. She had to hold tight to her humanity while also understanding her true nature. Alive, yet not. It was a big word.
Planting a kiss on John’s forehead, Tara pulled back to regard him. “And I you.”
Deep thoughts, of course, were very important. And acceptance of each other and themselves was important too. It was clear that they were managing well in that regard though, and so after a soft smile and a second of silence, the Doctor hopped back up onto two feet, his glass of wine sloshing as excitedly as he was. “Brilliant,” he said, as if they’d just solved world hunger. “Now let’s get this fire started shall we?”
Tara nodded enthusiastically as John shot up, grinning widely at her best friend's question. She shot up as well (her cup of wine didn't survive the trip though and she spilled some of it), motioning at the fire.
"How do you, um," she began, looking at John a bit hopelessly. "Make a fire?"
--
Some time had passed since the fire had been built, and a few cups of wine later Tara had remembered the reason she'd dragged John out here in the first place. Popping up to standing in the middle of their conversation by the fire, she grinned down at her Doctor and (without a word) took off toward the truck. She launched herself into the mass of pillows and blankets, turning so she could see the stars.
And let out a big, Tara-branded giggle.
John needed no more cue than that to hop up too, tearing his eyes away from the (rather impressively built, thanks) fire. Wine cup was left behind (they’d had a good amount of it anyway), and he made his way to the back of the truck as well, scooting up onto it to flop down next to his bestie.
“Perfect,” he said, after a moment, because the stars were bright and the fire was crackling and it really just was.
Tara mumbled her agreement as she arranged herself against John’s side, giving a squeeze as she draped her arm across his stomach. She turned her head and eyes toward the stars, smiling softly as she studied them from so far below.
After some silence, Tara turned to look back at John. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to see them more closely again?”
Arm wrapped around her, they hugged tightly and it was far more intimate than most best friends would usually be. But these two weren’t usual in the slightest and did what they wanted, when they wanted. They would not be judged.
“Why not?” John asked, raising his eyebrows a little and turning his head to look at Tara. Their noses touched. “I think we’ll be able to do more than that.”
Tara, still unaware of the powers she would develop, made a bit of a face at that. “I’m just a human,” she pointed out while giving him an eskimo kiss. “I can’t take you to the stars in this body.”
She wondered idly if he would prefer having his home back. His blue box that was bigger on the inside. Making a bit of a face, she shrugged and wished she could take her Doctor to at least the moon and back. To New New York to smell the apple grass. To the year five billion to watch the Earth end. To so many places they had seen before, but were so out of reach here. “I want to see the stars with you again,” she admitted, a very human wish.
“I think you could,” the Doctor said, both kindly and fondly. She didn’t yet know what she was capable of -- but he had a feeling she’d soon find out. It was only a matter of time -- and he’d seen her twice already out of her time. There was no telling who else she might have popped back in time to accidentally talk to.
He reached out to steal her hand -- slipping it into his as easily as ever. “We’ll see everything. Anything you want.”
Lacing her fingers between his, Tara smiled widely. “Anything that you want, Doctor,” she clarified. “I would take you to the moon and the stars,” she said, giving him another eskimo kiss. “Pick one. And if we can,” she pressed her lips against his as if it were nothing new. As if it were not the first time they were crossing such a boundary. She smiled into the chaste kiss, pulling back as she let out a breath. “I will take you there.”
Well, it was new for her, anyway. Except in the future, when it wasn’t. If that made any sense at all, the Doctor wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was that he was thinking entirely too hard on the matter - over thinking, if you will. And what was the point of over thinking something that could have been so obviously simple?
“I’ve always fancied the moon,” he said after a moment of silence and a small smile. And then, because he assumed it might seem natural (but he really was thinking on it too much to know for certain), he pressed his lips to hers again.
Her responding kiss was soft, innocent, just enjoying the moment between friends as she smiled against his lips. If Tara’s kisses were not full of smiles and giggles, there would be cause for worry.
“One day, then,” she began, giving his hand a squeeze. “If I can, I promise to take you there.”
Happy to the point of contented, John gave a nod, squeezing her hand right back, and then turned his head back up to stare at the stars with her again.
They were so bright out here in the dark of the woods they nearly twinkled. The fire popped and crackled on occasion, and the wind blew just enough to rustle the trees soft -- but not cold.
It was clear that even if Tara could not yet travel everywhere, she had taken him to a nearly perfect spot anyway.