On the first day of Christmas
Dec. 26th, 2015 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tallulahgsmy true love sent to me
one extended hand
[Title] Universe Within
[Fandom] Malory Towers/Doctor Who (classic series) as requested bysabethea
[Rating] G
[Summary] The strange man saved the day and now he's leaving. Mary-Lou thinks he deserves a thank-you.
Mary-Lou didn't know why she had followed the strange man – the Doctor – out of the school. Something about how everyone else had been too dazed by seeing the things from the attic in broad daylight to notice him leaving. She had wanted to say thank you? Oh, that was silly. He didn't look like the kind of person who needed thanks, especially from someone like her.
She gritted her teeth and kept hurrying up the path. Everyone needs thanks. And if she turned back now because she was too shy, that would be her being a coward, wouldn't it?
The Doctor must have heard her coming. He stopped and waited for her to catch up and she told herself it was ridiculous to be nervous. He had brought the things from the attic out into the open by playing a recorder, for goodness sake, a blue and white thing like a child's toy.
Yes, she thought, but when he shouted at us to run, and when he found out what the – the monsters had been doing, then he wasn't childish at all...
“They haven't come back, have they?” he said as she reached him. “That would be very annoying.”
She shook her head. “I... no, everything's... everything's all right. I wanted to... I wanted to come and say thank you.”
He blinked, looked at her as if she were very odd – but odd in a good way. Like people looked at Irene. She felt herself turning red and now she couldn't talk at all.
“How kind of you to say so,” he said, gently. “I believe I owe you thanks in return for walking into that darkness on your own. It took a lot of courage.”
It was the kind of joy Mary-Lou hadn't felt for years. Not since being able to help Darrell in first year, or hearing Daphne tell her in second year that they were still friends.
“I'm... I'm scared of lots of things,” she said, glancing away, at the rocks and the long shadows falling from them as the sun set. “I... I often have to... make myself not be.”
“An important skill to have.” The Doctor started walking again, picking his way over the clumps of soft grass. “The universe is full of scary things. Facing them all down can be quite an effort. One has to start somewhere, however...”
They were almost at the top of the hill. Mary-Lou guessed he was going to keep walking. Find the path down to the town, perhaps. Her guesses gave out after that. She couldn't imagine a place this man had come from, a place where there were others like him.
“You – you face down lots of scary things, don't you?” she said, thinking of how he'd behaved back at the school. Oh, he hadn't been happy about it, but he hadn't seemed surprised. He hadn't seemed to feel like screaming just because such things could be real.
“I certainly meet many. Perhaps I don't always face them down. Sometimes the best course of action is to run. Extremely fast.”
That wasn't what she'd expected to hear. She blinked, and he said, “Of course, one comes back later, and tries to sort things out. But running away is often the best initial course of action. As opposed to running in like a bull in a china shop...”
There was a police box on top of the hill, as if a piece of the town had been cut out and glued in here.
“My ship,” the Doctor said, pointing to it, as if it weren't a police box but something entirely different. “I would offer to give you a lift back down to the school, but... that might not be entirely wise, there is a risk we'd end up slightly off-target. The TARDIS does love to take the scenic route.”
Mary-Lou looked from him to the police box to the lights of the school back the way she'd come.
“I... I wouldn't mind,” she said, and she knew it was true, even though she couldn't explain exactly why. You said sometimes running away is all right. You understood I was scared. I don't think I'll ever meet someone like you again. You said the universe...
Oh, goodness, what was she doing? Why would he want a stupid little mouse like her inviting herself along?
“I'm sorry,” she said, quickly. “I mean...”
“Nonsense. No need to be sorry.” The Doctor strode towards the police box. “Very well. Climb on board and I'll see where we end up. I'll have you back in time for school tomorrow.”
Mary-Lou scrambled through the grass and reached the box just as the Doctor opened the door.
It was bigger on the inside.
one extended hand
[Title] Universe Within
[Fandom] Malory Towers/Doctor Who (classic series) as requested by
sabethea[Rating] G
[Summary] The strange man saved the day and now he's leaving. Mary-Lou thinks he deserves a thank-you.
Mary-Lou didn't know why she had followed the strange man – the Doctor – out of the school. Something about how everyone else had been too dazed by seeing the things from the attic in broad daylight to notice him leaving. She had wanted to say thank you? Oh, that was silly. He didn't look like the kind of person who needed thanks, especially from someone like her.
She gritted her teeth and kept hurrying up the path. Everyone needs thanks. And if she turned back now because she was too shy, that would be her being a coward, wouldn't it?
The Doctor must have heard her coming. He stopped and waited for her to catch up and she told herself it was ridiculous to be nervous. He had brought the things from the attic out into the open by playing a recorder, for goodness sake, a blue and white thing like a child's toy.
Yes, she thought, but when he shouted at us to run, and when he found out what the – the monsters had been doing, then he wasn't childish at all...
“They haven't come back, have they?” he said as she reached him. “That would be very annoying.”
She shook her head. “I... no, everything's... everything's all right. I wanted to... I wanted to come and say thank you.”
He blinked, looked at her as if she were very odd – but odd in a good way. Like people looked at Irene. She felt herself turning red and now she couldn't talk at all.
“How kind of you to say so,” he said, gently. “I believe I owe you thanks in return for walking into that darkness on your own. It took a lot of courage.”
It was the kind of joy Mary-Lou hadn't felt for years. Not since being able to help Darrell in first year, or hearing Daphne tell her in second year that they were still friends.
“I'm... I'm scared of lots of things,” she said, glancing away, at the rocks and the long shadows falling from them as the sun set. “I... I often have to... make myself not be.”
“An important skill to have.” The Doctor started walking again, picking his way over the clumps of soft grass. “The universe is full of scary things. Facing them all down can be quite an effort. One has to start somewhere, however...”
They were almost at the top of the hill. Mary-Lou guessed he was going to keep walking. Find the path down to the town, perhaps. Her guesses gave out after that. She couldn't imagine a place this man had come from, a place where there were others like him.
“You – you face down lots of scary things, don't you?” she said, thinking of how he'd behaved back at the school. Oh, he hadn't been happy about it, but he hadn't seemed surprised. He hadn't seemed to feel like screaming just because such things could be real.
“I certainly meet many. Perhaps I don't always face them down. Sometimes the best course of action is to run. Extremely fast.”
That wasn't what she'd expected to hear. She blinked, and he said, “Of course, one comes back later, and tries to sort things out. But running away is often the best initial course of action. As opposed to running in like a bull in a china shop...”
There was a police box on top of the hill, as if a piece of the town had been cut out and glued in here.
“My ship,” the Doctor said, pointing to it, as if it weren't a police box but something entirely different. “I would offer to give you a lift back down to the school, but... that might not be entirely wise, there is a risk we'd end up slightly off-target. The TARDIS does love to take the scenic route.”
Mary-Lou looked from him to the police box to the lights of the school back the way she'd come.
“I... I wouldn't mind,” she said, and she knew it was true, even though she couldn't explain exactly why. You said sometimes running away is all right. You understood I was scared. I don't think I'll ever meet someone like you again. You said the universe...
Oh, goodness, what was she doing? Why would he want a stupid little mouse like her inviting herself along?
“I'm sorry,” she said, quickly. “I mean...”
“Nonsense. No need to be sorry.” The Doctor strode towards the police box. “Very well. Climb on board and I'll see where we end up. I'll have you back in time for school tomorrow.”
Mary-Lou scrambled through the grass and reached the box just as the Doctor opened the door.
It was bigger on the inside.
