The Doctor entered the TARDIS closely followed by Clara. The two of them were drenched. Clara's hair hung around her face, actively dripping along with the rest of her. She watched with amusement as the Doctor struggled to pull off his long overcoat that stuck to him like a second skin.
"Do you need help with that?" Clara asked as she wrapped her hair together and squeezed. The water caused something below the floor to spark.
"Watch where you're dripping!" The Doctor hissed. His eyebrows knitted as he pulled on his sleeve in vain. He sighed and held it up to Clara to pull on.
"I forgot, not all Time Lord Technology is water proof." Clara rolled her eyes and pulled on the sleeve, freeing the Doctor's arm.
"Thanks." The Doctor flexed his fingers, which were stiff from the cold. He held up the other arm for her to pull on. "Meet you in the library when you're dry?"
"Fine." Half of Clara's mouth rose in a smile. She held out the wet Time Lord's Jacket for him to take back, then scampered off to her room.
The Doctor hugged the wet jacket to himself, looking at the door as it shut behind Clara. He was still getting use to her living with him, after not seeing her for months. He certainly did not mind not having to pop off to her flat every time she needed a change of clothes. Though he did find himself worrying that she'd decide she did not like living with him. He flung his watery jacket over the railing near the stairs and watched angry sparks fly up from the depths of the ship.
"Shut it you," The Doctor mumbled towards the TARDIS. He wandered off to his room to change.
Sometime later, Clara leaned against the Doctor as she stared at her book in vain. Her mind was wandering too much for her to really concentrate on reading after such a long day. Her thoughts kept wandering to Danny. The loneliness of Danny's absence gripped her whenever she lay in an empty bed. It would remind her once again that he was never coming back. The only times she found the pain to subside was when she would cuddle with her Doctor. Feeling him living and breathing next to her calmed her fears that she had lost both Danny and him forever.
By chance, Christmas brought her a second chance for her and the Doctor. After battling dream crabs the two of them realized how precious their time was together and the Doctor pleaded with Clara to return to the TARDIS with him back into a life of whimsy. Clara knew she had quite the stroke of luck that the Doctor had returned for her before she became old and gray like they had seen in their shared dream. So, without much debate, she and many of her belongings moved onto the TARDIS.
'You know they have e-readers for these now,' The Doctor had joked as they carried several boxes into the library. The boxes were much more heavy than he had expected.
'You're one to talk,' Clara had replied as she started to place her collection on an empty shelf they had set aside for her. 'The TARDIS has like six libraries.'
The Doctor held a book out for Clara to grab. 'Actually it's... it's more like twelve.'
'Twelve?!'
'Give or take...' The Doctor frowned. 'I like to start a new collection with each change you know... See where I've been, where I'm going... that sort of thing.'
It was little intimate details like that which always threw Clara for a loop. The Doctor kept things so close to his chest that any glimpse into his reasoning for things seemed like a real treat. Clara mulled over that fact now as she continued to stare at the book in front of her. She no longer wanted normalcy in her life like she had once thought. This meant with all the crazy adventures she and her Doctor got into now, these calm moments became special. It was this want for more intimate moments that made an idea Clara come to mind.
"I'm bored," Clara huffed as she closed her book.
The Doctor mirrored her by closing his book as well after placing in a bookmark. He looked over to her in slight confusion. "Bored?"
She turned to look at him and nodded.
"How could you possibly be bored?" The Doctor said, baffled. "Just a few hours ago we were being chased by Besperizi* trying to steal our clothes."
"We were... and you were quite impressive with your idea to suck them up with that vacuum."
"Anyone who isn't a pudding brain could have thought of that." The Doctor could not help but smile."We're in a time machine Clara, all of time and space is available to us. And you're bored?"
"Okay so maybe bored isn't the right choice of word." Clara looked away. "I more... want a change of pace. Like running in that rainstorm was."
The Doctor looked Clara over and scoffed. She had pulled her long hair up out of her face and she had on sweat pants and a tank top. She looked delightful, but in no fit state for anything other than bed. He was about to say this when she spoke again.
"When's the last time you've been on a date Doctor? And I mean a proper date. Going somewhere where nothing out of the ordinary is happening, just to spend time with... with someone you care about."
Clara had hesitated. She still was not sure what they were to each other, if anything. They had gotten a lot closer lately, but they had not discussed where things were headed. The Doctor was still too hung up on his appearance and how he was no longer a young'in with a bow tie. She did not want to bring up relationship dynamics in fear she'd push him away.
The Doctor's sharp eyebrows rose. It became clear to Clara that she started an explosion of questions inside of him. As his eyes narrowed with suspicion, he replied with a vague air to his words. "I guess the last time was well before I took up residence in the town of Christmas."
Ah, the town of Christmas. One of the forbidden subjects. Clara thought to herself. It was no secret for her that though it was only a few days for Clara, the Doctor had gone through hundreds and hundreds of years without her- without anyone- in that forsaken place. He did it because he felt it was his duty, but it put a pause on his life. He thought he was going to die there. He had never expected the Time Lords to give him this time, this borrowed time.
The silence stretched between them, but Clara held out her hand as a peace offering. She had not meant to remind him of all those long years where she would pop by every three centuries or so. The Doctor slid his fingers between hers and sighed. "I'm sorry I'm touchy about that, Clara. It was 900 years and you'd think I would have matured by now."
"I don't think you can ever mature." Clara said with relief. "You get reborn every once in a while and have to start anew."
The Doctor cleared his throat and looked away but a shadow of a smile seemed to be on his lips too. He did not let go of her hand. "To answer properly it would have been around 1000 years ago, with River. I use to break her out of jail and take her wherever she wanted."
"She was in jail? For what?"
"Killing me," This time the Doctor did smile and he said this quite innocently. He also made a point to not elaborate. "It was a wonderful time, but I'd be kidding if I said I remember it all now. It's like when you're trying to remember the nice dream you've had."
Clara ran her thumb across the back of the Doctor's hand. "Sometimes it feels like that with the time I had with Danny. I'm sure a thousand years would make me forget too."
"And yet I never forgot you," The Doctor said quietly.
"Only 'cuz I showed up a few times to remind you," Clara bit her lip to keep the tears stinging her eyes at bay. "But anyway, to cure my boredom, I think we should go on a few real dates."
"Adventures aren't enough?"
"They are, but I want to see what you're like when we do mundane things too, not just when you're about to give your "I'm the Doctor, I've lived 2000 years" speech."
"You always said you liked that speech," He let go of her hand then and looked down at his feet.
"And I do!" Clara reassured him. "But I'd like to see little things like how you butter your bread or um... I don't know, how well you do with conversation while strolling in a park."
"You've seen me butter bread before, Clara."
"That's not the... you're just ignoring my idea." she crossed her arms then and glared. "I will not have it. Tomorrow evening, I'll be dressed in my very best and you will have to decide on a place for us to have our first date."
The Doctor sputtered. "First? Of how many?"
"At least twelve. It doesn't have to be every night but you have to think of at least twelve ordinary things for us to do together. Think you can handle that my clever boy?"
The Doctor glared at her but his face softened when she curled up against him, her fingers tracing down his leg to his knee. He reached over to her ear and pushed a loose strand of hair behind it, and it looked as though he may kiss her for a moment, but instead he turned away and re-opened his book. "Tomorrow it is then."
The next evening, the door closed behind Clara as she bounded off to her room to dress for whatever mythical date the Doctor was suppose to conjure up. He still felt flabbergast. Dating was definitely not his foray anymore, which made him feel even older than he already felt. Couldn't they just stay in like they usually did? Why did she have to challenge him like this?
"Well I guess I have to get ready for my date." He growled out to particularly no one, but he knew by the way the TARDIS was flickering her lights that she was laughing at him. " . Yes, lets laugh at the old alien." He glared around him before walking to the door to go to his room so he could change and make a couple of phone calls. Anything to make the boss happy he supposed. The thought of his old nickname for Clara brought a smile to his face. Maybe this would not be so bad after all.
* Besperizi are A race of gaseous life-forms with binocular vision and two noses. They are master strategists and use musical instruments to communicate. They are obsessed with all things human, and they buy human clothes in order to look more like them. This race was generated by the alien generator on Scifi Dot com.