"Desiderio" is the Italian word for lust. Okay, so in "Vampires in Venice", Eleven mentions that he owes Casanova a chicken, and because I'm obsessed with Casanova, I thought about how that could have happened, and this is it. I imagine this taking place sometime after "Waters of Mars" when Ten travels a lot, before finding Ood Sigma at the beginning of "The End of Time". Note: this is slash. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: The glorious Doctor does not, unfortunately, belong to me, and nor does the lovely Casanova.

I flung open the doors of the TARDIS and stepped out into bright sunshine. By some miracle of space and time– perhaps the planets were aligned– I was exactly where I intended to be, which was Venice, Italy, circa 1750. There was one man in my travels I hadn't yet run across, and I was determined to meet him before I had to face the future. Bucket list, you know.

The man in question would be in his early twenties, still with a whole long life of cleverness and debauchery ahead of him but not at all lacking in either even at a young age. Rather like a combination of Jack and I. Was there some sort of technology that could combine our traits like that, short of a full-on Time Lord-human metacrisis? Curse a Time Lord's racing thoughts.

His name was Giacomo Casanova, unfortunately remembered only for his scandalous love affairs, numerous though they were, and not for his wit and intelligence. He was brilliant, really, and it would be fascinating to speak to him.

No one, of course, would take that as an answer. Everyone would assume I was going to him for sex since that was, of course, what he was most famed for. Besides, if I did want sex, he would be the man to see, whereas if I wanted intelligent conversation, there were a thousand sources: Leonardo da Vinci, for one, or Nikola Tesla, depending on the subject. But I had met da Vinci and Tesla, the latter being the one that impressed me most (though he was a bit mad, and had an oddly romantic fascination with pigeons). Casanova was uncovered territory.

(As a side note, if all I wanted was sex, I could've had anyone in history. I could've had Jack bloody Harkness in bed if I wanted, but that had never been what I looked for.)

I took quick, confident steps to the nearest pub and took a seat at the bar, asking the bartender if he knew where I could find Giacomo Casanova. While he thought, I looked around the pub. It was relatively empty for this time of day– it being roughly two in the afternoon– so there were only two men in the place, an older gentleman down the bar from me nursing a glass of wine, and a good-looking young man in the corner, clearly planning to "do business" with the young lady he was talking to.

All of a sudden the bartender (I didn't quite believe they went by the term 'bartender' at that time, but what else could I call him?) snapped his fingers in the general direction of the boy in the corner. "Giac!" he called in a thick, heavy voice.

The young man– Giac– looked away from his lady friend toward the pair of us. "Montano," he called back in a rich, warm voice with a practiced amount of whine in it, "I am otherwise occupied, so whatever you may require me for–"

"I don't need a damn thing from you, you lecherous little pipsqueak, but this man here's lookin' for you." Montano gestured to me, and for the first time, Giac met my eyes. His own, brilliant blue, widened.

"Emilia, my darling," he said, standing and pulling the lady's hand to his mouth, "you will have to excuse me, urgent business has come up and I'm afraid I will have to catch up with you later."

Emilia, a beautiful girl who couldn't have been a day over seventeen, seemed hardly more than enormous green eyes and chestnut curls. It was easy to see why Casanova would favor her. She nodded once, smoothed her skirts, and slipped out of the tavern without glancing back. Giac made his way over to me and took the vacant seat beside me.

"Well, signor, I do not believe we've met before. I do think I would remember a face like yours." He winked, and I took a moment to study his face. People assume that the jaded Doctor hardly notices such mundane things as human beauty, but it's really quite the opposite. I appreciate the beauty in nearly everything human and ordinary, having seen so much death and darkness in the rest of the universe, so I feel I am fully qualified to say that Giacomo Casanova was the most stunningly alluring man I had ever seen.

He was tall, about my height with roughly my build, which meant he was long and lean with long legs and narrow hips. His skin was light and he was clean-shaven, allowing the focus to be on the flush of his cheeks and the fullness of his lower lip. His eyes were the color of a clear sky and his hair was pale brown, short in the front and longer in the back. He had the smirk of an experienced man and the hands of an artist, long and slender. He was dressed in flamboyant red, a coat that fit him strikingly well.

"Ah, no," I said quickly, snapping out of my distraction and holding out my hand for him to shake. "I'm called the Doctor."

"Doctor? Hm, so am I, sometimes." He grinned. "I'd introduce myself, but it seems you already know who I am."

"Well, I've heard rather a lot about you."

"Some good, I hope."

I made a "so-so" face. "Some good, some… a bit not good."

He laughed and looked me up and down surreptitiously. "You know, Doctor, you are unlike anyone I've ever met."

"I get that a lot."

"Someone like you could probably go anywhere they wanted, do anything they pleased, be with anyone they desired. So what brings you to Venice, and what, may I ask, brings you to me?"

I opened my mouth to speak, to explain that he was one of the most brilliant minds in history and I wanted to chat, but before I could, he swooped in and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes flew wide open and I was frozen with shock, but it didn't matter since his talented tongue was doing most of the work. Oh, God, what was I doing? I was essentially dying by degrees; I was still, despite it all, in love with Rose; I hadn't come here for a shag; I was as a general rule not attracted to men.

Before my mind, which was normally lightening-quick, could focus enough on the situation to do anything at all, Giac pulled off me and sat back down. "Sorry," he said lightly as I gasped for breath, all the blood rushing to my cheeks, "but I just wanted to see if your mouth was as delicious as it looked."

I swallowed harshly and tried to say something, but my throat caught and all I managed was a hissing noise. With a slight groan I dropped my head in my hands. I've just met Casanova, who snogged me, and what did I do? I hissed at him. I looked back up to see him staring at me with a look of concern and hastily concealed amusement.

"Er, do you always do that after a kiss? Did you know you just hissed at me like a mad cat?" I groaned again but it mingled with a laugh that bubbled up out of me unexpectedly.

"That was not meant to happen," I explained weakly. "The kiss, or the– noise– I made after. I really did just want to talk."

"Well, unfortunately, Doctor, you've not caught me on a talking sort of day. There are days I could sit with you for hours and discuss law or medicine or philosophy or history, but today is not one of those days."

"What kind of day is it then?"

He dropped one eyelid in a slow, smoldering wink. "Today is the kind of day where I find a lucky stranger and escort them back to my apartments, where we… well…" That smirk again. "You see, Doctor, you may have come for my brain but you'll stay for something else."

"What makes you think I won't just leave? Why would I follow you home and spend the rest of the day in bed with you?"

"Because you've heard who I am, what I do. It's what I'm really, truly good at, you must know that. You're curious. You want to know if it's truth or rumor, and I am willing to show you. Give me a number."

"Er, ten." It was the first thing that came to mind, being on my tenth regeneration.

"All right, I'll make you a little wager. How does that sound?"

"What are we betting on, and what do I get when I win?"

"Cocky thing, aren't you? I like your fire. Okay, we'll make the bet…" He let his eyes wander to the doorway, where a small white hen was pecking around. "The prize is a chicken."

"A chicken. You're joking." His smile was wide, but his eyes were deadly serious. "Okay, not joking. What is this wager?"

"Do you think I'm as good as legend has it? Be honest. Am I as good a lover as the stories say?"

I hesitated to answer. "I believe you're good. I don't think you'd be as famous as you are without being good. But you'll forgive me when I say I don't think you can be quite as good as they say."

I said it partly to see his eyes flare up, and I wasn't disappointed. "Well, then, Doctor, here is my proposition: you spend the rest of the day and all night with me. You can leave freely in the morning. In return, I will make you regret doubting me. I can leave you panting and wanting. My wager is, Doctor"– he was suddenly very close to me, and I could smell his skin– "that I take you home and make you come ten times by tomorrow morning."

I burned with a scarlet flush. "Ten?" My voice came out in a kind of whimper. I may have been the last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm, but sex really wasn't my area. Why, oh, why did I think ten was a good number? A day and a half with Giac, and I would come once for every regeneration. What had I gotten myself into? I took a deep breath, and before my brain could register exactly what I was doing, I heard myself saying, "You've got yourself a deal."

Giac beamed and hopped to his feet, grabbing my hand and spiriting me through the narrow, twisting streets of Venice to his place. I followed him up the stairs, and it was sort of nice to follow someone for once instead of always leading. When we reached the bedroom, it was clear it was already occupied by a pair of girls.

One bolted awake when we came in, a voluptuously round young woman with long waves of red-blonde hair and pale green eyes. The other, a slender young Indian-looking girl, stayed asleep. "Portia, love, time to go home," Giac said to the girl who was looking at me so curiously. With a flush in her pale cheeks, she hurried to dress and leave, only hesitating when Giac kissed her goodbye.

He looked at me with a smile. "Portia is a close friend of mine. She may not look like much but she is…" He whistled low. "She is incredible. This one here"– he gestured to the still-sleeping girl– "Aelia. Lovely to look at, but less than spectacular in bed." He sat on the edge of the bed and shook her shoulder. "Aelia. Aelia, wake up. Time to leave."

She woke up slowly with much moaning and shifting about. "Oh, Giac, are you kicking me out so unceremoniously because you've made another conquest?" Her full lips set into a pout. She really did have a lovely face, fine-boned with brilliant amber eyes.

"I don't conquer, I submit," Giac quipped, turning back to face me. Aelia focused on my face for the first time and her eyes widened considerably.

"You're kicking me out so you can be with a man?" she shrieked. I took a step back, surprised. I knew Casanova went both ways, much like my Jack, but I hadn't expected to be shouted at about it.

Without waiting for an answer, Aelia grabbed her clothes, managed to get half-dressed, then stormed out past me, cursing all the while. "Sorry about that," Giac said after a moment of silence. "I beg you to allow me to make it up to you."

Without allowing me to answer, though I doubtless would have agreed, Giac stood and pulled me toward him and melded his mouth with mine. It was easier to lose myself in this kiss, one I expected, so I was fully able to return the favor. His mouth was soft and warm, tinged with the bitter sweetness of wine.

One of his hands slid down my chest to tug at the waistband of my trousers, deftly unbuttoning them and lowering the zip so that he could slip his fingers inside, stroking me through my pants. I was getting harder with every stroke, panting and groaning and squirming. "The sounds you make are so delicious," Giac murmured against my lips. "Just imagine how loud you'll be when I wrap my mouth around your cock."

I gasped. I had always been loud in times of pleasure, simply because I was used to talking all the time anyway. I couldn't bear the silence. Luckily, that did not seem like it was going to be a problem tonight, because even if I was only able to make vague sorts of sounds, Giac was more than willing to fill in the blanks with his filthy mouth. He dropped to his knees and tugged my trousers and pants down just enough to free my cock, and without a word he dove down and took the whole thing in one go.

"Ohhh," I moaned obscenely, reaching down and tangling my hands into his hair, not tugging but resting. His tongue was marvelous, a little pressure here and there and long, luxurious strokes like painting oil on a canvas. Giac wrapped long fingers around my base and turned his attention to the head, teasing with licking and gentle bites, which sounds painful and unpleasant but in the moment felt delicious.

It took only a few minutes (which ought to have embarrassed me, but really, I hadn't been properly pleasured in, oh, a few regenerations) for the heat to coil in my lower belly and my breathing to come faster and harsher. I moaned with every moment Giac made, and when he sucked so hard his cheeks hollowed, my knees gave out and I crashed to the floor before he could catch me.

"Oh, Doctor, you clumsy thing," he said, not unkindly. "It's been so long, hasn't it? So long since anyone got on their knees for you and worshipped that gorgeous cock of yours, so long since anyone but you wrapped their hand around you and stroked so fast it almost hurt. It's been so, so long for you, hasn't it?"

I panted and managed a weak yes, wordlessly motioning that he should go back to what he was doing. He grinned. "Oh, you are such a whore," he growled, and even that got me harder, because he was right, I was. Giac wrapped his mouth around me once more and just the heat made me start to come with a loud wail.

Halfway through my orgasm, Giac pulled away, spread my legs wide and pressed his tongue to my entrance instead, pushing inside the ring of muscle and making me scream with overwhelming pleasure. My nails dug into the wood floor, my toes curled, my back arched, and my stomach clenched as I came, unfortunately getting much of it over my shirt, jacket, and tie.

Finally, finally it was over. I took deep, shuddering breaths, sitting up and shedding my clothing. "Giac, that was…" I started, shaking my head, laughing, and running my hand through my hair. "You are brilliant."

He winked. "I've been told so, yes." He stood up and stripped quickly, tossing his clothes into a pile beside mine, and all I could do was stare, because he was a gorgeous thing. He was slim and strong, tall and lean, with broad shoulder, narrow hips, and mile-long legs. His skin was smooth and creamy all over, a shade or two darker than mine and without my freckles. "But you, Doctor, you're something else altogether. Something's different about you. Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit funny?"

"They really never stop," I muttered. I had gotten my breath back, and my body was responding enthusiastically to the sight of Giac.

He could hardly fail to notice. "Look at you, now! Hot and hard and ready for me again. Insatiable. It's beautiful." He dropped to the ground again, his knees cracking on the hard floor, and I winced in sympathy. He hardly seemed to notice as he stuck a finger in his mouth and stroked my entrance with it. My eyes fluttered closed and I sighed in pleasure.

The finger slipped inside and I flinched at the intrusion. Giac was careful, though, and soon enough my body accepted him as he added another finger. I relaxed under his expert touch, groaning and lifting my hips.

Then one of those long digits grazed a spot deep in my body. My eyes flew open and my hips kicked up so high my arse was lifted off the floor. "Oh, Giac!" I cried as his fingers stroked my prostate once, twice, three times.

"You're so tight, Doctor," Giac purred. "So hot and tight. My cock is going to feel so nice seated inside you. You'll be begging me to come." My own cock felt impossibly hard at his words, because I got off on my own voice, begging. It was one of several kinks I had. "Turn over, Doctor. Onto your hands and knees."

I did as he asked and waited. I felt the head of his cock press against my entrance and slip in easily. He pressed into me slowly, allowing me time to adjust, but that hardly took long at all and before long his thrusts got longer and harder and deeper. I moaned, my body welcoming and licentious, my cock grazing my stomach with every jolt.

I reached my hand down to stroke myself, which forced me to press my face to the floor in a thoroughly submissive position. I didn't mind, though, because it felt even better at this angle. I moved my hand quickly, twisting slightly on the upstroke and passing my palm over the head, where pre-come was gathering.

It took roughly ten minutes before Giac grunted and cracked his hips faster, nearly overbalancing me. He groaned and stilled, and I felt the heat of him emptying himself inside me.

"Come, Doctor," he ordered, and I had no choice but to obey. I came, blindingly white-hot, and it felt delicious. I sobbed in pleasure and a slight pain at the base of my spine, and I almost didn't catch the words Casanova breathed into my ear before he pulled out.

"Eight more."

The Next Morning

I leaned against the TARDIS, dressed in a new, clean blue suit. "You really don't have to go," Giac implored, a bit of longing in his eyes.

"I really do."

"I can't imagine why."

"No, I suppose you can't." I tried to look apologetic, but I was itching to move, to go. I could never settle in one time or place, it wasn't my style. I wouldn't ever forget this night, though, the night that Giacomo Casanova proved me wrong. I owed him a chicken, but since I never had any money, it would have to wait for another day.

"You are, without a doubt, the most intriguing man I've ever met," he told me with a slight nod.

"You are the first in a long time to prove me wrong." I grinned; I couldn't help it. What had I done? I had spent almost twenty-four hours in every position I could think of for a man I'd just met. Oh, God, I'm becoming Jack, I thought with some horror. Giac and Jack. Ha. They ought to meet.

"I won't forget you, Doctor," he said as a way of goodbye. We had our own private goodbye just that morning.

"Nor I, you." With a careful smile, I stepped inside the TARDIS and set off for another adventure.