Bringing home strays [closed]

[alwaysalright]

After their escapades, the Doctor leads the now full-sized Andrew and the recently rift-attacked Daine through Central Park, across Bow Bridge, and into the Ramble. Eventually they reach the blue box hidden off the path, and he unlocks the door, leading the two others inside, without really explaining to Daine how they're all going to fit inside a wooden box. He's gotten used to the new console room by now, all shiny and colourful, but he glances back at his two companions to see how they like it.

Comments

[bluesuit_handy]

Unfortunately for the Doctor, Andrew's quite happy -- eager, even -- to eavesdrop. Old habits. Also, wanting to be sure they're not whispering about him. That latter part might weigh into it just a little too much to be entirely healthy. He sips his mug and lets himself fall a pace or two further back so he can listen.

When Daine talks, it takes him a moment to understand. "What?" he asks, honestly confused. It comes back to him quickly, though, and his expression morphs into one of pleased surprise. "Those two're still here? Blimey, they must be getting on in years by now."

[theoldgirl]

The TARDIS responds to the Doctor's emotions with a sense of understanding, but also attempts to mediate - Andrew has his reasons, try to be lenient. He's only human. She knows Doctors never quite get along, but she dislikes such disharmony between them and resolves to talk to Andrew as well. 'Out loud' she explains, "I explored the telepathic current last night and met Gabriel. He's found that many of the changes caused by the rift seem to be triggered by strong emotions. Perhaps you can control it if you know what causes it."

She's only paying attention to the conversation ahead in passing, having felt Daine's influence again. As an afterthought she moves the butterfly room closer, curious if she can feel even such tiny minds. They're like motes of dust to her, less even than that; she can't imagine having contact with them.

[alwaysalright]

The Doctor will be lenient if Andrew gives him something to work with. Sometimes it seems to be like talking to a brick wall of sulking.

The Doctor considers this new information. "Many, but not all." Andrew's power seems to have been a physically triggered power. Still. Now he thinks about it... There were two when he met the TARDIS, at which point he definitely felt strong emotions, but those were positive rather than negative. There's been several other occurences too, and he can probably attribute some emotions to them. "Might be something to it," he adds after a moment.

When Daine asks, he answers, "Oh, those names have been passed down through a few generations, they're not the same ones. And I did, they're named after friends." Stewart is of course named after the Brigadier.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine nods her understanding before turning back to the path ahead. She thought they'd sounded far too much like two-legger names to have been chosen by the bats.

Speaking of, she's getting close enough that she could probably see them, if she looked with her magic. She takes in a deep breath, and by the time she's released it, she has the bats: a few bright pinpricks of copper fire some yards away. Farther beyond them, though, there's something else... a sort of faint, copper cloud or fog. Daine frowns, curious and a bit baffled. It can't be the menagerie, because she can't hear any of the People aside from the bats. But it's certainly not nothing. She checks the bats' position again, then blinks away her magical vision. She'll see to Jasper and Stewart, first, then she'll try and figure out what's behind that fog.

She slows as she approaches the door she figures the bats must be behind, then glances inquiringly back at the TARDIS. Barging in seems rude, so she curls her fingers around the mug of cocoa she forgot to put down and waits for someone else to open the door.

[bluesuit_handy]

"You met Gabriel?" asks Andrew, giving up any pretense whatsoever of not having been listening. "What'd you figure he was? I've only seen him in the, ah, dreamspace. Seemed nice enough, but I doubt he's human."

He practically runs into the back of Daine, not seeing that she's stopped. In halting, he spills a little of his cocoa on the floor, and winces before giving the mage a curious look. "Don't you want to see what's behind door number one?" he asks, reaching out to turn the knob himself.

[theoldgirl]

As far as the TARDIS is concerned, they weren't discussing anything secret anyway; in fact, her information will likely be useful for everyone. "Oh he is far from human," she replies in a tone of voice that suggests she was rather impressed with him. "He called himself a demi-god, but he didn't seem very committed to that designation. I would say he is fairly similar to me in terms of mental scope and power, though we were both rather guarded about not revealing too much of ourselves." Which was necessary at the time, of course, but she does hope they'll be able to develop some mutual trust and perhaps a friendship. She so rarely gets to meet beings who are able to understand her.

"I liked him too," she agrees with Andrew, "but do be careful. Apparently he has powers of creation and others, like time travel, though the rift limits him as severely as it does me."

She doesn't even notice Daine's hesitation, unable to imagine that someone might think it's rude to explore her structures, when that's part of her purpose. Behind the door, one of the larger libraries is waiting for them, looking something like this, with several levels of bookcases and a high vaulted ceiling, velvety soft furniture and flames crackling in the fireplace. Not that she's showing off or anything.

[alwaysalright]

"I met him too, before I found the TARDIS." He should probably look further into who he is and what his intentions are, given his power but honestly, there's a lot of things he should be looking into, and only one of him. Maybe he should get Andrew to split up again to have some extra help. But if the TARDIS likes him, then it's good enough for now.

"Oh, you found it on your first go!" he says as he sees what's inside. "Are you cheating?" he asks with a grin. He's quite fond of this library. Very warm and grand - his whole console room was sort of like this once.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine frowns a little when the conversation turns to Gabriel. She doesn't hate him, but she doesn't trust him one jot, either, and she's still a little upset with herself for letting him into the base in the first place. "He's not very good at keeping secrets, either," she supplies, since no one else has mentioned it and they ought to know, if they don't already. "Other folk's secrets, I mean; I s'pose he does well enough with his own."

She steps into the library, a little cowed by all the grandeur. Even the palace library isn't so fine as this, and she carefully sets her cup down on a little table before she can spill it on anything. The Doctor's friendly accusation makes her blush; she could just as easily say they're cheating by making her hunt for the menagerie instead of just taking her to it. "I wanted to meet the bats," she explains, her focus already drifting to them as they approach. A moment later, she has a hoary bat on each shoulder. "Hullo," she says to them, grinning.

[bluesuit_handy]

"He does get around," chuckles Andrew. "Wonder if anyone hasn't run into him. I'll be sure not to tell him any secrets if I see him again."

Not concerned in the slightest about the disposition of his cocoa, Andrew leans up against the nearest set of shelves and sips his drink. He should have topped up before they left the console room, he decides. His expression brightens when the bats not only make an appearance right on cue, but land on Daine. "Oh, that's brilliant," he tells her. "Doesn't take you long, does it?"

[theoldgirl]

"I suspect he can keep other people's secrets just fine if he so chooses," the TARDIS argues, "but he seems rather unpredictable in his motivations." So there's really no telling what he's going to do with your secrets. She thinks she was cautious enough around him to not have to worry, though, and she learned a good bit about him in return, which might make him less likely to reveal information about her lest she do the same about him. And anyway, she had gotten the impression that he liked her too.

She can't tell what communication passes between Daine and the bats without being in her mind, so she settles for observing and sipping her cocoa.