Who: River & The Doctor (12) What: Just morning fluff, light bickering, and a missing sonic. When: Morning of Lost & Found plot. Where: River's flat. Status: Complete. Ratings/Warnings: Fairly low. Minor sexual references in the middle.
Morning.
As a Time Lord, the Doctor did not require much sleep. One hour out of a 24 hour cycle usually did the trick. But River didn’t share the same trait, and needed rest like a conventional human, like her parents. During their time together on Darillium, the Doctor made an adjustment, and for River’s sake trained himself to sleep. All because River had asked, wanting to cuddle beside her husband in bed. He had to admit, that part was nice. The waking up part was a bit of a struggle. He always woke up groggy - probably had something to do with sleeping more than natural.
Bleary eyed, his wild hair tousled, he shuffled into the kitchen. The Doctor had been assigned his own apartment, but he rarely went there, preferring to spend his time at River’s. He never asked to move in, it just happened, falling into the same pattern they’d kept for 24 years.
“Morning,” was his grumbled greeting to his wife, followed by the request, “Coffee?”
Though she didn’t need as much sleep as someone fully human, River needed more of it than the Doctor. If she’d wanted his previous face to sleep when she did, she’d usually had to thoroughly exhaust him first; and even then, sometimes, she knew, he really only laid next to her and watched her sleep. So when she’d first made the request, during the early days of their 24 years on Darillium, she’d almost been surprised how easily he’d agreed.
But she’d never felt more at home than when she was with him, never felt safer. And she always slept better in his arms. The nightmares were quieter, less frequent. It meant she was already well awake by the time he made his way into the kitchen.
Pulling down a mug, she filled it, kissing his cheek as she handed it to him. “Sleep well?”
“Mmmmmmerruhhhh,” he groaned in such a way that it perfectly expressed his level of misery - just high enough not to want to talk until he had a dose of caffeine. Her kiss did extract a small smile from his lips before the mug was raised for a drink.
River’s coffee wasn’t his favorite. It wasn’t even in his Top Ten List. First place was held by Elisabeth Pepys, wife of the 17th century author, while second place went to Unit officer John Benton. Even Nardole’s was better, ranking in at #7. However, as ordinary as it was, the Doctor preferred River’s above all else - after 24 years of drinking it nearly every morning, he came to associate the taste with her, love being the special ingredient.
It wasn’t until after his second sip that the cobwebs in his brain started to clear. There had to be a better way to go about waking up, but the Doctor couldn’t be bothered to find out. “What do you have planned for today?” he asked out of curiosity.
River smiled, leaning back against the counter as she wrapped her hands around her own cup. She’d hardly ever admit it, though she expected the Doctor knew, but she adored these little moments of domestic bliss. It was something she’d craved most of her life. As much as she loved the adventure, the danger, the running…she’d ached for exactly this. And even 24 years hadn’t quite gotten it out of her system. It was easy to fall into the same routines, the same life they’d shared during that long night.
“Well…I was thinking, they have a defense department here that runs patrols for monsters coming through the waypoints?” She took a drink and gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. “At least one of us should have a job. I thought I might sign up.”
“Monsters?” The Doctor’s reaction was a mixture of concern and excitement. Concern because well, yes… monsters, and that was bad. Attacks by monsters were bad, there was no disputing that. But monsters also meant a break from the ordinary, the promise of adventure, discovering something new. And since he was temporarily grounded without a TARDIS, he craved some excitement, even if it meant potential danger. Domestic bliss was nice and all that, but without breaks, it could get boring. Not to mention that he always was turned on by River when she went into dangerous mode. Just thinking about that while looking at her made him pause for several moments before continuing.
“That sounds cool.” He tried to sound aloof, but was only marginally successful. “Let me know how that works out. Maybe I’ll join you on patrol.” Following orders was not something the Doctor did, so signing up for a patrol where he might have to do what he was told didn’t interest him. However, hanging out with River in an unofficial capacity was more his speed.
She noticed that hint of thrill underneath his concern. The way he was looking at her also didn’t escape her attention, and she covered a smile with her cup at his long silence.
“You don’t mind, then?” It was a formality, asking, and they both knew it. River almost always did exactly as she pleased. But she did value his opinions. And she loved him. She did at least consider how he felt before she made significant decisions. When he was around, anyway.
It was funny how so many of those habits she’d picked up on Darillium had lingered, how they’d reappeared the moment he’d shown up here.
“What about you? Any plans for today?”
“Mind? Pft. Nawwww. Knock yourself out. Better yet, knock out the monsters if any do show. You say they arrive like we do? From different universes?” A sudden thought about the possibility of his old enemies, like the Cybermen or Daleks making an appearance made him pause, but he didn’t give voice to his concerns, deciding not to ruin the mood. However, he would make a mental note to look into the level of technology this place had, and what he could privately do to prepare for an emergency.
“I dunno,” he said in response to River’s question. “I think maybe I ought to finally get a haircut. I assume there’s barbers here, right?” He ran his fingers through his grey hair. “It’s been a while since my last one and it’s getting a bit shaggy. What do you think?”
“I assume so,” she answered his first question, giving it a moment of consideration. “I didn’t exactly ask.”
Sometimes she was still more the do-now-ask-questions-later type, and it hadn’t seemed terribly important at the time. Though, if these monsters were being brought in the same way they had been, it did raise some new questions, not to mention a few concerns.
Leaving her cup on the counter, she crossed to run her own fingers through his hair. “I think we still need to do those roots,” she said, light and gently teasing, before pressing a kiss to his temple. “A haircut isn’t a bad idea.”
The Doctor closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation. How was it possible to stay grumpy with her loving touch? “Be careful there. Keep this up and neither of us will be leaving the flat this morning.” From the tone of his voice, he knew River would get the innuendo. If anybody else had made that comment about the color of his hair, he might’ve felt insecure, but this was River, so instead he just made a silly face. “How about a mohawk, then? I’ll look young and hip,” he teased right back.
“I’m not in a hurry,” she responded easily, her voice low, as she lightly massaged his scalp before letting her hand slip from his hair.
River stepped back a little to give him a once-over, as if she were giving it real consideration. “I’m not sure it works that way.” She leaned in to kiss him. “Besides, I kind of love the more grown-up look."
‘Grown-up’ was acceptable. Mature sounded too responsible for the Doctor’s liking, and it was so much better than the ‘O’ word. When he was with River, he never felt old.
“I’m in no particular hurry, either,” he muttered. “Let me finish my coffee and then maybe…?” He finished his sentence by raising his eyebrows, suggestively. Even after years of married life, there was still a part of him that was too shy to actually talk about sex out loud.
Oh, it was a good thing she still found that endearing. She might have laughed if she wasn’t worried it would ruin the mood, and she was rather enjoying her lazy and quiet morning.
“Well, darling, if you're asking…” She kissed his neck, once, twice, three times, before pressing another lingering kiss to his lips.
Her kisses were returned with the same sweetness, but when their lips parted and the Doctor’s eyes lazily opened, the words he muttered were, “Coffee’s getting cold.”
A little humor, but honestly? He really did want to finish his coffee first.
She lightly slapped his shoulder. “You are impossible.”
But with a final kiss on his cheek, she murmured, “I'll just go get ready for the day then, shall I?” Then she headed back toward the bedroom.
She’d learned a thing or two about the value of patience over the course of their long marriage, and really, she had meant to wait for him there. But a moment later, she was sticking her head back around the bedroom door, frowning. “Sweetie, have you seen my sonic?”
As she left his side, the Doctor turned his head to glance over his shoulder at her, and smirked mischievously before returning to his coffee. He was just wondering if there were any pastries in the fridge, when he heard River’s call. Then his smile turned into a frown.
“You lost your sonic?” he asked, accusingly. “How did you lose your sonic?” If he had thought it through, he would know that losing something as important as a sonic screwdriver was not like River at all, but thinking she had hit a chord: he’d given her that screwdriver at the beginning of their 24 year ‘night’ on Darillium. In his mind is was a gift so precious, it might be akin to a spouse losing their wedding ring.-
“Well, it should be here,” she shot back, annoyed by his tone, “You know I never go anywhere without it.”
And that was true enough. Though most days, now, she was willing to leave her diary tucked safely away in the flat, she’d kept her sonic in easy reach since it had shown up here. It was a constant companion any time she ventured out.
“You’re sure you haven’t seen it?” she tried again, glancing back toward the nightstand where her diary lay by itself.
“Well obviously ‘never’ doesn’t apply to ‘today’, now does it?” came his retort, laced with sarcasm. He shifted in his seat to face the bedroom to watch River as she searched. “Where was the last place you had it? Did it fall and roll under the bed?”
She released an impatient sigh. “Sweetie, I haven’t left the flat! And it isn’t under the bed,” she insisted.
Despite her protests, she thoroughly checked the floor around and underneath the bed for any sign of the wayward device. It couldn’t have just vanished. And while she could be careless with some things, her sonic wasn’t typically one of them.
River’s fruitless search only soured the Doctor’s mood even more. Huffing out of exasperation, he took a gulp of coffee before reaching into his house robe pocket - if his sonic wasn’t there, he’d really be embarrassed, but any misgivings disappeared when his hand felt its cold metal.
“You probably took it into the lavatory, or set it down whilst watching the telly last night.” His words had an air of confidence: he would find it for her.
Scanning the immediate area, he checked the readings, and reported, “Are you sure you had it last night? It’s nowhere in this apartment. Did you go anywhere last night? Maybe you walked in your sleep?”
River let out a soft noise that clearly indicated she was offended by the suggestion. She’d known exactly where it was when she’d gone to bed last night, thank you very much. And he, of all people, should know she wouldn’t just wander off without it.
“Positive,” she answered, a note of irritation creeping into her voice, “And do you honestly think you sleep so soundly that you wouldn’t notice?”
Grumbling at first, he directed his thoughts away from River and to a possible reason for her sonic’s disappearance. “Those damn geese were stealing things left and right, weren’t they? I thought we got rid of them. They wouldn’t be able to get into here, would they?’ He looked around the apartment for any evidence of trespassing.
“Geese? How could we have missed geese?” But she was visibly upset now. The sonic had only recently been returned to her and its loss wasn’t settling well. Her gaze strayed back toward her diary, instinctively making certain it was still there. “Besides,” she finally said more softly, sighing, “I think the geese have gone.”
“I don’t know!” the Doctor raised his voice in reply. “How did the geese come here in the first place? Hell, how did any of us get here? How do we know for sure the geese are gone? There’s a lot of how’s in this equation.”
“The geese are gone,” she said with finality. To be honest, she wasn’t entirely certain, but at this point, she didn’t care. She didn’t like the tone he was taking with her, and she wasn’t having it. “But there has to be some other explanation.”
Her expression softened. “Sweetie, you know I wouldn’t have just,” she gestured a little bit helplessly, “lost it. Don’t you?”
The combination of River’s expression and the softening of her voice made the Doctor pause. It finally occurred to him that she was in actual distress over the loss. After several silent moments, he told her, “Get dressed. We’ll find your screwdriver even if we have to tear this whole island apart to do it.”
River brightened slightly, coming back into the kitchen to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." She slid her arms around his shoulders, giving him a faint squeeze. "Finish your coffee. I'll just be a few minutes."
There weren't many things the Doctor liked more than to feel like a hero, helping others. Maybe subconsciously he was guilty for all the terrible things he’d committed throughout his life, and needed to somehow make up for them? So while it wasn’t saving a space colony from a Cyberman invasion, or going against a horde of murderous Daleks, in its own way to help River find her sonic was pretty amazing. Especially because they loved one another.
He nodded his response, and waited for River to go back into the bedroom - he’d have to get ready, too. But first, coffee.