The Doctor rolled his eyes for a moment when he was sure Peri couldn't see him, as she did a little pirouette around the TARDIS console room. She once again had headphones on her Sony Discman, moving to the music, her lips softly synchronizing to the lyrics she was listening to.
The Doctor asked, raising his voice to break through the headphones, "What are you listening to?" He fiddled with various stations on the console, trying to look almost disinterested but anxious inside to find out what had captured her attention so readily in the last couple of weeks.
Since she had acquired her beloved "Discman," she seemed to constantly be wearing the accompanying headphones and muttering songs to herself.
"You do realize, of course, that the TARDIS has a much better sound playback system, don't you?" he'd asked her when they'd gone to the London of her relative time-space dimension.
"Hmmm mmm," she'd muttered and added, ending the discussion, "Tough, I love this set up. It's ours."
The Doctor mulled that ending statement over in his head during the succeeding several days. He was slightly disturbed by it, wondering if Peri was getting to be unhappy with their arrangement. "It's ours." She's longing for home, he thought. She's ready to get on with her American life in her American university to finally finish her degree in botany.
Although he was trying to act non-chalant about the prospect of her leaving, she picked up on his mood immediately. She had learned, over their time together with him in this incarnation, how to really read him and she sensed his sulkiness.
She pulled the headphones off and stopped the CD playing and simply said, "Something's bothering you."
The Doctor waved his hand at her, dismissing the possibility. "Nonsense, nothing's wrong at all."
Peri walked to him and took the hand that he'd motioned with, before he could return to mindlessly fiddling with various buttons and switches on the console. "Come on, I know you. I mean you, as you are now. You do realize I've traveled with you longer than I did in your previous life. You're 'my Doctor' now." She paused a moment, wondering when she'd started thinking of him that way. "Huh."
"'Huh'?"
"Just realized how weird that sounds."
He didn't want to admit to himself, let alone to Peri, how pleased he was that he was "her Doctor." That perked him up a bit but then the sulky vibe returned and Peri squeezed the hand she was still grasping.
"Tell me. You've been acting weird since we left London. Okay, weirder than usual."
He looked down at her, giving her the expected mock frown. "I've done nothing of the sort."
"Yes you have." She released his hand and motioned to her Discman. "Ever since I got this!"
"Well... You said 'it's ours.' 'Ours' as in Human, American, made in China electronics, terra familiaris. You're getting bored with me. The TARDIS. Missing America. Missing university. You're an intelligent, beautiful young woman with dreams of becoming a well-respected botanist and want to get back to that life."
Peri gawped at him as he continued, amazed at how badly he'd interpreted her simple statement.
"You want to go home," he stated flatly, making his best effort to keep all emotion out of his expressive voice. He was stunned by the change in her demeanor as she tenderly took his hand again.
She angled her head to gaze up into his soft green eyes, his blond curls framing his face. As she stared at him she saw a rosy blush move over his fair skin and knew she'd better explain in more detail what "It's ours" had meant.
"I meant 'it's ours' as in yours and mine, not that it was of Human production. All of this is yours, it's alien to me, Gallifreyan. The only things that are mine are in my personal quarters. But this Discman, I bought for both of us, it's our mutual property. You're welcomed to use it any time you ask, but you haven't asked!"
The Doctor was paralyzed for a moment as what she said sunk in. "You mean, you don't want to go home?"
Unexpectedly, Peri turned sharply and started to fiddle with the Discman. The Doctor thought she was dismissing the entire conversation and moodily turned to the exit of the console room, his head bowing slightly.
She touched his shoulder and motioned for him to be still. "Hang on a sec, I want to find this one line in the song. It'll explain a lot."
"Oh," he mouthed simply, since she was wearing the headphones once more.
She abruptly plucked the 'phones off her head and placed them on him. "Now listen to this bit. It kinda says it all."
"For all the time that you're with me, we shall be at home! Follow me where I go..."
He smiled down at her and gently placed the headphones on the console. He turned his hand to grasp hers finally, tucking her arm through his. He motioned to the exit. "Perhaps a cup of tea and a more in-depth discussion are due." He thought he'd burst inside when she happily nodded her head and allowed him to lead her away into this new understanding.