The blasted TARDIS was acting up again- he knew she meant to take him wherever he needed to go, but sometimes he simply wanted to go somewhere unnecessary. Unnecessary, such as backpacking in the rainforest, in order to eventually survey a gorgeous waterfall and surrounding lagoon. Speaking of lagoons, there were sea-dwelling creatures on some planets which humans might call mermaids. And they didn't sing or brush their hair all day – last time, he had barely gotten away without being bitten. He wouldn't mind browsing for gadgets on a planet-wide market. Nothing wrong with stocking up on a few extra pieces for repairing future malfunctions in the TARDIS. One time he did particularly enjoy visiting was listening to Bach practice his violin as a child before he went away to school. For the record, Bach was an amazing musician; right from the start- none of that disgusting beginning-musician noise. Eventually, even the Doctor tired of saving planets, and simply needed a break. The drive to fix the TARDIS' helpfulness (or interference, based on your point of view) is why the Doctor was now knee-deep in electrical components. Most of the parts had been meticulously dismantled from various holes in the walls of one of the rooms deep in the TARDIS. This particular room happened to be close to most of the mechanical control structure of the ship, making it a convenient advantage point to access the controls, hence the holes in the walls. As the Doctor climbed nimbly over a teetering pile of circuit boards on his way to fish out another vital component, the appliances gradually stained the Doctor's yellow-striped pants with alien grease and oil. He didn't seem to notice anything except his work, until a certain concerned companion attempted to open the door. "Doctor? Are you in there? Why won't the door open?" asked Peri. A quick glance verified his suspicions: a pile of temporal compensators had collapsed against the door and prevented it from swinging freely. He called out, "Just a moment, Peri," and hopped over to the door, and started shoving them out of the way, opening the door when it was wide enough for a person to slip through. Peri's eyes grew wide as she surveyed the carnage on the floor, tables, chairs, and bench.
"Oh!" was all Peri could manage before the Doctor carefully picked his way around the piles back to where he was previously dismantling the guts of the TARDIS. As if remembering that she was there and had attempted to come inside, he turned and looked at her expectantly.
"Well? You didn't just wander in here- what's on your mind?" he asked. Peri thought for a moment, then realized the array of discombobulated pieces on the floor had made her problems seem a lot smaller at the moment.
"I, uh, was just a little hungry, and wondered if you would like to join me in the galley." This earned her a cock of his head.
"Thanks, Peri, but I need to finish this before too much time passes, since those temporal compensators won't do much good if we try to land anywhere. And what's the point of a time and space machine if we can't go anywhere to land!" he declared, turning back to the wires poking out of the hexagonal cavity. Peri snorted, considering the likelihood that every single component would be properly assembled in its proper place.
"I beg your pardon?" asked the Doctor, peering over his shoulder and arching an eyebrow.
"C'mon, Doc, you don't really think this is all going to go back where it's supposed to, really? Just look at this mess! There's nothing actually wrong with the TARDIS anyway - now we're never going to get back home!" she scoffed, with a tone she hoped would convince him that she was half-joking about her doubts. His expression twisted when she said 'Doc', and continued to sour with every word she said.
"I would appreciate it, Perpugilliam, if you would refrain from calling me 'Doc'. And never doubt that I will complete the task set before me! The TARDIS needs fixing, I am going to correct the temporal and spatial faults in the navigational array, and you may certainly go home whenever you please, after my job is complete!" huffed the Doctor with annoyance, now ripping wires from the inner workings of the TARDIS with renewed vigor. Peri's face crumpled and she slipped out through the door, quietly pulling it closed. The temporal compensators had been leaning against the backside of the door, and they tipped and crashed on the floor with a mild clang which suited Peri's now-darkening mood.
After a few minutes, the Doctor pulled his head out of the hole in the wall, and, noticing Peri's absence, quickly replayed their conversation in his mind. She had deliberately tried to upset him, and it sure worked. His giddy aunt, was he ever annoyed! But why would she be so upset when she succeeded in her task of mocking his abilities? He thought harder about their exchange, to see if he could glean the cause of her distress. Was it the fact that pieces of the TARDIS were strewn over the place? No, she wasn't upset when she first walked in, so it wasn't related to the TARDIS pieces. Was it that he was taking on such a project instead of, oh, painting her toenails for her? No. She had worried about him at the beginning of his current incarnation, for taking on the job of fixing the chameleon circuit, but he had succeeded in making the TARDIS change shape (for a while, now that it was slipping back into the regular shape, fixing the circuit was next on his list of things to do). Perhaps it was the fact that he had snapped at her? Possibly. He regretted it, even if it wasn't the cause. He truly didn't mean to "bite her head off", as she once put it. He had never unintentionally given anyone a verbal lashing; everything he said had its purpose and was completely merited by the situation. But was his verbal snap really the cause of her disappearance out the door? Maybe she thinks that I like the TARDIS more than her. No, that wasn't it. She understands that this is my ship, a machine with a problem to be fixed—wait, was that it? She said, 'there's nothing actually wrong with the TARDIS anyway - now we're never going to get back home!' She doubts my prognosis; she thinks I'm making busy work for myself! Well, of all the things to think… he grumbled. Was he being selfish, though? Did his cause really outweigh her company, and was being self-confident a necessary action against her doubt? Did he need her company? He decided to put his sonic screwdriver down for a few moments and see if he could find her in the galley. She had said that she was hungry earlier. Maybe he could apologize for upsetting her, make her understand his position, or possibly see hers? He gently pushed the temporal compensators aside and slipped through the door into the hallway. Peri wasn't in the console room (no harm checking to see if everything was currently in order), she wasn't in the galley, so he finally went down a set of stairs towards the residential 'wing' of the TARDIS. He gently knocked on her door, calling, "Peri? Could we talk for a moment?" He heard her pensive voice a moment or two later: "Um, I'd rather be alone for now, Doctor." The Doctor stepped back into the middle of the hallway and looked at the floor. Well, in the direction of the floor. The floor was so white; there was really nothing to look at- except the greasy shoe prints which matched every step he took down the hallway. He ignored the mess and meandered back to the room of controlled disaster, silently tinkering with the inner workings of the navigational array until he found the error: somehow, a few wires had been tangled in the middle of a rather important junction, making intermittent unintentional electrical connections. He carefully reversed the polarity of the neutron dispersal conduit with the sonic screwdriver, then started putting everything back in place. After several hours of re-assembling the parts strewn everywhere and placing them in their proper original locations, the room was cleared of electrical time machine apparatus. He put his tools in his old toolkit, strode to the console room, and set the TARDIS to run a diagnostic of the navigational system. He looked down at his pants and saw what an absolute mess they were, covered in oil stains and grease smudges and clinging dust from centuries hidden inside the wall. Oh, well, he would change later. After depositing the toolkit to the shop room, he returned to the console room and checked the progress of the diagnostic. It had finished and revealed no problems with the navigational array. He took in this information with the knowledge that the TARDIS had reported a problem-free diagnostic before he tore the array out of the walls and found the error. Well, only one way to find out if it was truly fixed: go somewhere sometime and see if the TARDIS actually landed where and when they wanted to be. He started to walk down to Peri's room to ask her where she wanted to go, but remembered her clipped request from several hours ago. Turning down a different hallway, he entered the library. He found a piece of blank paper and a pen, and scrawled a quick note to Peri.
Peri lay on her bed in her room, thinking about what the Doctor had asked a few minutes ago. Why had he changed from wanting to concentrate on his noble task to asking to talk to her? When she had tried to enter the room he was working in, she had only wanted to ask him a simple question- would he take her to Earth, in the 1920s, to go dancing? It hadn't seemed like a major request, just a simple destination and time. Anywhere would do, as long as it had a good jazz band and a dance floor. She had hoped that maybe, just maybe, they could dance and he would see her as more than a silly student tagging along with him on his intergalactic adventures. She certainly saw more in him than a crazy runaway alien. The way he looked at her, sometimes… his deep blue eyes and caring smile, his beautiful curly blonde hair. Maybe he thought of her as a friend; she just didn't know when he saw her as a friend or an inexperienced girl needing an explanation to his brilliant new scheme. She had seen his determination to fix the TARDIS, and she had wondered why he needed to tear so much out of the walls. She hoped she was wrong when she sarcastically wondered if they would ever see Earth again- she didn't mean to imply that she doubted him, just that… well, she didn't know what she exactly meant. She just sort of said it. It didn't have meaning- did it have to make sense, to not annoy the Doctor? she wondered. Instead of lingering on the unpleasant thoughts of whether or not her unintentional meanings bothered the Doctor, she started daydreaming about the roaring twenties, about the dance they would only have in her imagination. The band was squalling; the steady beat brought them closer together on the dance floor, then farther apart, then together again. She had on her favorite black dress, flared at the bottom, perfect for dancing. The neckline was modest yet comfortable, and his hand was on her back as they swayed to the music. Her hand fit perfectly into his, and they moved in together in step, his strong shoulders flexing gently as he guided her through the steps. He wore a navy blue top and black cravat, the blue bringing out his eyes, which sparkled in the dark room as he gazed at her face… Her fantasy came to an abrupt halt as she heard a piece of paper being slid under her door. She opened her eyes, sat up and rubbed her temples, then went to read the note.
Dear Peri,
I fixed the problem with the TARDIS' navigational array. The diagnostic came up free of complications, but it said that the last time, too. There's only one way to find out if it's truly repaired, and that's to go somewhere! I was wondering if you'd like to join me to see the sun set on Tiliyus 4. The TARDIS is currently in the vortex, but with the array now functional, we could go anytime. How about, 6-o-clock, relative time, tonight? I hope to see you then.
-The Doctor
P.S. I didn't mean to shout. I hope you'll accept my apologies.
The Doctor traipsed down a different corridor to his room. He opened the door and surveyed the organized chaos with a trained eye. It might seem messy to anyone else, but nobody else was ever invited into his room anyway, so it didn't matter. He knew where everything was, and when it was from. Well, not exactly what 'year', just from which incarnation. He quietly closed the door behind him, took off his multicolored jacket, and hung it in his closet next to an enormous fluffy, furry coat which looked like a dead Yeti. The swaying hangers unbalanced the next garment in line, a green velvet smoking jacket, and the long, multicolored scarf which was wrapped around the neck of a different hanger fell to the floor of his closet onto his green shoes and spats. Oh well; he thought; I'll pick it up tomorrow. He folded his filthy trousers neatly onto a hanger and hung them inside the sonic shower, then started the garment cleaning cycle. As the grease and oil gradually dripped down the drain, he laid down on his modest twin bed in his striped pajamas, willing the minutes to go faster. As he studied the ceiling, his mind began to wander. He really hoped Peri would allow him to fix their relationship. He had no doubts that he in fact could, but since he was only fifty percent of the equation, all bets were off as to if he could make everything better simply by his will. Peri was so stubborn, sometimes! Why did she doubt his abilities? As if he didn't know his own machine, inside and out! Now, why did she? He didn't suppose she did it simply to bother him. Friends wouldn't do that. Were they friends? He considered her a friend, like a travelling-friend type of friend, not a romantic friend. At least he had never considered her like that. Maybe she did? But he never gave her any reason to think so; no candlelight dinners, romantic dances, boxes of chocolates. Aha! He thought. That's why she was upset! She wishes we could pick up another companion, preferably male, one which she could form a romantic relationship with! Well, I'll ask her tomorrow after we go watch Tiliyus 4's sunset. Maybe the glimmer of the nearby double planets and explosion of stars will enlighten her as to the fact that there is more in life than just finding someone corporeal to appreciate and be appreciated by. The mental alarm clock dinged in the Doctor's head, signifying that it was time to get up. Enough time to head to the console room, set the coordinates, and wait as the TARDIS maneuvered herself through the time vortex to the proper place and time before 6-o-clock. The navigational array's status in the console room was unchanged, and the journey went smoothly. With seven minutes until six, he went purposefully back to his room to change into the newly cleaned yellow trousers. His usual garb bright and clashing with two minutes to go, he traded his green shoes for a pair of purple wellies, just to avoid the inevitable sand which would work its way into his shoes. Tiliyus 4 was gorgeous at any time of the day, but it was covered with half-submerged sand dunes lining the infinite lengths of beaches next to the deep blue oceans. Sort of like Norway on Earth, except with sand dune fjords instead of vegetation-covered rock. The dunes constituted most of the planet's land mass, but they were spread over the entire planet, so it was possible for one to find a nicely secluded hill and watch the surrounding ocean stretching to infinity, and feel as though they were almost on Earth. The Doctor had done just this a few times in his lives, when he especially wanted to visit an old companion but couldn't because of temporal complications. The time rotor started its usual screech as they started to land, and a glance at the view screen confirmed the Doctor's suspicions: his repairs to the navigational array were completely successful. He had deposited the TARDIS on the land-facing side of a particularly tall westward-facing dune on the edge of the ocean, and the brilliant orange sun was just beginning its descent towards the blue horizon. A final thump of the time rotor was matched by the door to the console room, as Peri cautiously edged into the room. She had been wary of spending more time with the insufferable Doctor, but the image on the view screen melted her reservations instantly. The TARDIS was parked on the backside of a sand dune on a planet with a cool green sky. The sturdy grasses waved a little in the gentle breeze, as if inviting her to step out onto the fine white sand.
"Tiliyus 4," declared the Doctor. "A lovely little planet. Very similar to parts of Norway or Denmark, on your planet. Shall we watch the sun set, then?" He turned and opened the doors for Peri, as she goggled at the flawless dune free of footprints.
"It's… beautiful, Doctor. Thank you," she managed in the end, after getting over the fact that no monsters were chasing them, threatening to dump them through space and time holes, switch bodies with them or control their minds.
They scrambled up the steep sandy hill and an ocean bound only by the horizon met their eyes. The deep blue waves crashed on the white sand with a force which betrayed their calm façade. The scrubby reeds tugged a little at the cuffs of the Doctor's pants, and when they were at the crest of the hill, he took off his jacket and spread it out as a blanket to sit down on. Peri hadn't brought anything to sit on, so he sat on the lower end and she sat on the upper end. Slowly, the gigantic orange sun slid down towards the horizon. Peri shivered a little in the breeze coming over the water, and the Doctor got up and held out his hands toward her. She clasped them and he pulled her up; bending over, he picked up the jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, smiling. Then they sat down again and watched the sun sink below the blue horizon. As the last glimmers of light disappeared, Peri started to get up to go back to the TARDIS.
"Wait, Peri. It's not done yet," stated the Doctor. She gazed over the expanse, looking for what he was waiting for. Then he suddenly pointed out a little to the left of where the sun had trailed away: "There. See the slivers of light? Those are Tiliyus 2 and 3. You can just barely see them on the best night of the year." Of all the times the Doctor had piloted the TARDIS past Tiliyus 3 and watched its cloud cover and rings of dust, seeing it had never seemed as magical as this time. Mostly hidden in shadow behind it was the pockmarked face of the second planet, illuminated by the sun below their horizon. The angle of light brought out the depth of the craters and made the smooth expanses between the crags shine like a silver platter. Here he was, sharing one of the most incredible sights in the galaxy with a person (he hoped) considered him a friend. He contentedly lay back, ignoring the grains of sand filtering into his hair as he stared up at the now darkening sky. Peri followed his lead and looked at the sky too. As if on cue, first a single star poked out through the dwindling light, then another, and another, until it seemed as if the entire galaxy was being rolled out above their eyes. Each point of light was clear and sharp, the swirls of gas and dust between them like cosmic lace. The bright nebulas gleamed, and the light from innumerable stars inside them lit them up like multicolored lanterns. Distant galaxies seemed to call out as their light, travelling for so many thousands of years, finally met an eye. Peri looked over at the Doctor, and saw that he was smiling, the same smile that made her stomach drop out when he directed it at her. She tentatively reached over and touched his hand, then picked it up and quietly held it between them as they gazed at the brilliant lights above them. She closed her eyes, and he did too, as they savored the moment. All thoughts about the small misunderstanding that morning were forgotten.
As their imaginations went their own ways, neither of them noticed the clouds sweeping over them as night fell. The clouds silently grew thicker and heavier, until it started to rain. On a planet with no mountains near the ocean, the weather could change in minutes. The Doctor and Peri certainly noticed the weather changes when the few raindrops suddenly multiplied into a downpour. They leapt to their feet and slid down the hill to the TARDIS. Once in front of the door, the Doctor asked for his jacket for the key. Peri handed it to him, getting more drenched by the minute. He dug his hand in one pocket, down past his yo-yo, pocket watch (the broken one he always intended to fix but never got around to actually mending), recorder, cricket ball, and a bag of jelly babies. The key wasn't in the other pocket either, not among the thermocouplings or Zeus plugs or the sonic screwdriver. It wasn't in his vest pockets, either. He suddenly realized that the small clink he heard as he took his trousers off the hanger after being cleaned was probably the key falling onto the floor of his sonic shower. He silently cursed his inattention to detail, and Peri saw the displeasure on his face. "What's wrong, Doctor?" she asked. He said, "I just realized, I accidentally dropped the key inside the TARDIS before we left. I should have a spare, somewhere… I simply have to remember where I put it." He thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered where he had hidden it. "Here, put your foot in my hand; hold onto my shoulder. There's a spare hidden behind the P of Police Box. Up you go!" and he hoisted her up to find the spare key. "Got it!" cried Peri, and the Doctor gently set her back on the sand. A few moments later, they were standing in the console room, dripping from the sudden downpour.
"Well! I think I'll go get some dry clothes on," stated Peri as she exited into the hallway. The Doctor went to his room to shower and change too, and he found the regular TARDIS key on the floor of his bathroom. He popped back to the console room, opening the outer doors and jumping up just long enough to drop the spare key back into its storage pocket. A sonic shower and change of clothes later, the Doctor found himself wandering to the galley to see if he could find something. Peri was already there, stirring swirls in a mug of something steaming and foamy. She glanced up at his appearance and raised her eyebrows at the sight of him in blue striped pajamas.
"Would you like some too? It's apple cider," she offered. He said, "Yes, please," and retrieved a mug from a cabinet. As they sat at the table together, mutually appreciating each other's company, it occurred to him that this was precisely what he had hoped Tiliyus 4 would cure Peri of. To his surprise, he was actually enjoying the sensation of something as simple as sharing a pot of hot apple cider. Perhaps being an ancient wandering renegade alien wasn't so bad, as long as his adventures were shared with pleasant company.
Peri slowly sipped her steamy cider, watching the froth dissolve. She savored the hot fruity taste and thought about how this day had ended up being rather nice. Her mind wandered back to their 'date' on the dune, how happy she had been, just lying on the sand next to her friend, watching the stars. He hadn't protested when she held his hand- maybe he thought similar thoughts about her and she only needed the courage to find out. The way he had gently held out his hands to her, and had wrapped his coat around her shoulders. His normally curly hair, soaked by the rain, made him look like Noah from The Notebook as he fumbled with the key in the lock. She couldn't just sit there, in his kitchen, sipping his cider, without doing something. What to do? What to say? She scrabbled at the threads of her thoughts, trying to find something coherent and sensible to say to the kind Doctor sitting across from her. In the end, all she could come up with was, "Thank you, Doctor, for a lovely sunset," with a smile. The simple statement earned her one of his stomach-dropping smiles as he said, "You're welcome, my dear Peri."