Author Notes: I think that these two shows are really cool to crossover. There should be more Doctor Who x Pet Shop of Horror stories. I'm not going to crumble either if you have something to say, so don't be afraid to say it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.
Disclamer: I don't own anything from Doctor Who or Pet Shop of Horrors. The one thing I do own is Pyralis, so please don't steal him.
The Doctor Meets D
"You crazy ship, where have you dropped me off this time?" I asked the TARDIS as I picked myself off the floor. The ship's conscious skirted around my mind and urged me to go out the door. I sighed and complied with my captors command.
I looked around and felt a little excitement. I was in a US China town's back alley by the looks of things. I walked over and picked up an old newspaper. Ah, in L.A.'s China town. Exciting things always happened in China town. I guess the TARDIS was trying to take my mind off of Donna.
I walked out into the street and started walking, waiting for something to catch my interest.
"Look, Donna . . ." I trailed off as I remembered that she wasn't with me, she was back home with her family. I started feeling depressed again until someone bumped into me and I nearly fell over. I looked up and saw a man wearing a German military outfit walking next to a little girl. I was going to laugh at the absurdity of the pair until I thought about how that's probably what myself and my companions would look like. Donna would have surely been . . . this trip isn't working well.
I dusted myself off and tried to find something to distract myself. I looked across the street and saw a pet shop. I figured that a pet shop owned by a 'Count D' would have to have some interesting things to occupy a time lord's mind, right?
I made my way across the street and entered the shop. I was assaulted a heavy incense that permeated the shop. I looked around and saw a distinct lack of animals, odd.
"Ahh, hello. Welcome to the pet shop where we sell love, hope, and dreams. May I help you with something?" a voice from behind me said. I jumped and turned around. It was a effeminate oriental man with a gold eye in a long Chinese outfit. He moved with a strange grace and had an air of mystery. Definitely a nonhuman.
"No, I'm just looking. I'm a bit of a tourist and was just looking at the different shops. You're Count D I presume?" I asked wandering around a little trying to find some pets. I could use something cute and fluffy right now. I could just imagine Donna fussing over some type of baby rabbit or a puppy or . . . maybe I should try looking at the turtles or the snakes.
"You may call me that, though that it is my grandfather's title. Might I ask for your name? I don't usually get so rare a guest," he said in nearly perfect English. I turned around and he was staring at me with a piercing gaze.
"I'm a rare guest? Well, I guess you don't get to many people from jolly old England," I said, playing oblivious to his hint.
"I don't know who you are, and though you might have a British accent, you aren't from the isles. You aren't human. You have to much sadness around you to be a human." He said without changing the expression on his face. It was kind of creepy really.
"Neither are you Count D," I said, my voice losing a bit of its forced joviality.
"I never said I was. I'm just running a pet shop, finding people's perfect pets." He also seemed to get more serious as well. We stood staring at each other before I started to wander around the shop again.
"I'm the Doctor." My voice sounded strange tp my own ears, almost if I was defeated by something. Maybe I was.
"And what are you looking for Doctor?" D asked while following me around the shop. I had to think for a moment because the first thing that popped into my mind was 'a distraction', but something told me that wasn't the right answer. I stopped walking and focused my gaze on a hanging birdcage.
"I'm looking for a companion that won't have to leave."
The Count's eyes widened before a soft smile appeared on his face.
" . . . Doctor, I believe I have something for you. If you would follow me," D started walking to the back of the store and motioned me towards a door. I sighed and followed him.
It opened into a huge hallway lined with doors. We passed numerous doors before he finally stopped walking. I could feel the heat radiating from the door from where I was standing.
"D, what's behind that door?" I questioned in a serious voice.
"He is one of my more temperamental pets, though I think that he will like you," D said with an enigmatic smile. He opened the door and walked in. I followed at a cautious distance and looked around the room. Everywhere I looked there were braziers of all shapes and sizes with fires in them. Next to a huge fire pit was a teen in a black shirt and baggy black jeans. The only other thing I could see about him was his long orange hair and black tattoos along his arms.
"D, you said this is a pet shop, so why is there a human here?" I questioned in a hard voice.
"Calm yourself Doctor. I assure you, I sell only animals. This little one is a rare type of salamander." The boy was still ignoring our presence though he was now sitting up.
"You expect me to believe that this human is actually a lizard?" I asked studying him more closely. From what I could tell, he could've possibly been an alien with his coloration, but saying that he was a lizard was pushing it.
"Yes, you see, he is one of the last of his kind. He's a fire salamander, but their primary home was destroyed in the fire's of Pompeii," I flinched at the mention but the Count kept talking, "It wasn't the fires that killed the species though, they live in lava after all, it was being encased in ash. A few were able to stay within the volcano and make it out afterwords. He was unfortunately found by some humans and was mistreated." The Count still had a smile on his face, but had a hard and angry look in his visible eye. It was gone in an instant though and he continued his story. "One of my ancestors found him and took him under his care. He has lived at the shop ever since. Apparently as long as they are looked after, they have an indefinite life span. He has such little trust in humans that he has been unable to find a home." He paused and put a hand on the orangette's shoulder and whispered something. The boy got up and turned towards me.
"Doctor, this is Pyralis."
"Greek for 'of fire'," I muttered, my mind preoccupied with the new view. In all of my travels, I've never seen anything like him. He eyes were a solid color, constantly shifting from reds to oranges, like an actual fire. His hair was longer than I first thought and reached down his back. Just the aura that he gave off was nothing close to human.
"Is he blind?" I asked, letting my curiosity take over.
"In a sense. He doesn't see in the traditional way one would think. His hair acts like a bat's sonar, picking up the sound waves bouncing off objects. He can also taste, smell, and most likely see auras. In essence, he can see better than most people."
I was processing the information a mile a minute. The boy, Pyralis, never took his eyes off me. He tilted his head to the side and walked towards me. He kept staring at me, and even I was getting a little freaked out. Then out of nowhere he threw his arms around me and did it all without a single change in expression. I looked at the count with a horrified expression on my face. The last time this happened I ended up getting kissed, and I didn't want that to happen. Count just had a happy smile on his face and clapped his hands.
"I knew I remembered correctly," D said excitedly. Pyralis turned his head toward D like he just remembered he was there.
"He's the one from Pompeii," he said with a nod, "He's like me. I want to be with the Doctor."
"This is all very nice and all, but do you need to be hugging me?" I asked trying to undo his grip on me. His hands weren't budging and he just stood there. After a minute he looked up at me.
"Yes." I just looked at him and then kept trying to un-pry his hands. No matter how hard I tried though his hands wouldn't come off. D only smiled and motioned out of the room.
I followed him back through the hallway and into a room just off the main lobby, struggling to move since he still didn't let go.
"Here you are Doctor. This is a simple contract with instructions on how to take care of your new pet." He handed me a pen and the contract.
"'Feed him fruits, bugs, or peppers when hungry; don't let him get cold; don't submerge him in water.' Seems simple enough," I said as I signed it. The count snatched it away as soon as I was done.
"Well Doctor, I hope that you will enjoy you new pet." He gave me one of his mysterious smiles as he stowed the contract away.
I was still kind of swept away by the whole thing and just made a non-commental noise. I turned toward the jingling of the shop bell. After a moment a loud voice accompanied the bells.
"Yo D, you here?" a rough looking blond man, probably a police officer, wandered to the backroom. When he saw Pyralis and me he just stared. Then he sighed and covered his eyes.
"D, I've got enough normal crazies to occupy my time with. As long as his dead body doesn't turn up I won't say anything." I shot a look towards the Count but he ignored me to glare at the man.
"Detective, I do have a customer present. Please refrain from slandering my business like that."
"Yeah well, I need some information and the man already has his pet. Not to mention that the AC stopped working in my car and the cake was supposed to be chilled." As soon as the detective finished the sentence the Count instantly changed. It reminded me of when Donna once found a box of small furry things in the inter-planetary bazaar.
"Well, I hope that you enjoy your pet Doctor. Now if you would," D nearly pushed me out the door. I turned around to say something but the door was slammed in my face. I stared at it for a minute before Pyralis started pulling me up the steps. I snapped out of it and wandered back to the street. On the way, people stared at me more than usual, but I ignored it and continued toward the TARDIS. When I finally found the right alley I snapped my fingers and the doors opened. Pyralis was the one to stop now.
"Neat," was all he said before I pulled him along with me into the ship. He finally let go of me to get a proper look at everything.
"It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside," he said in his lazy drawl.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot. This is my first time having a fire salamander as a pet though, so you're going to have to help me," I said in a light tone wondering just what exactly I was going to do with him, and if he was really a salamander at all.
"Don't worry, it's my first time having a time lord as a pet as well." I could only give an astounded look as he smiled. It was the first emotion that I had seen on his face, and for some reason that surprised me even more. Before I could retort though he walked over and lightly poked me in the chest then on my forehead. After that he started to sniff the air. His face changed slightly to match his voice.
"You miss the special woman don't you?" he asked with a trace of emotion in his voice. It was so small that I couldn't identify it.
"How do you know about Donna?" I asked trying to see his face. He kept his face staring at my chest though while he spoke.
"I told you, I remember you from Pompeii. You and the woman made the volcano erupt." I instantly remembered that moment and then with knowing that I made an entire race go instinct I was nearly crushed under the guilt, but before I could sink to deep his hand darted out and grabbed my wrist in an iron grip that would probably leave bruises , but the sudden pain jolted me back out of my nightmares. "No, it had to be done. The creatures that stole our mountain were much worse," he let go of my wrist and stared me in the eyes. The fires that I saw in them trapped me. "You were so sad and bleak, and it has only gotten worse since that time. No one, human or not, can live with that darkness. I will do everything in my power to burn that darkness away." I was so touched that I didn't move. I also wasn't expecting him to collapse and fall backward. I darted to his side and was about to start checking him over for wounds or sickness before he spoke.
"I'm hungry," he stated in his lazy drawl, losing all of the seriousness of the previous moment.
They both stared at each other in silence, which was broken only by the rumbling of the orangette's stomach. The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and got up.
"I'll go see what I have in the kitchen." He said with his eyes closed and still pinching the bridge of his nose. He walked away mumbling to himself about nearly having joint heart attacks. Pyralis sat up and smiled a small smile as he watched the Doctor's aura move from the deep black to a dark shade of grey. Other colors were slowly starting to show themselves as well. A small hit to the head was well worth seeing those emerging colors. There was still a dark patch or two; one in his heart and one in his mind, though even they became slightly lighter. He didn't know what the dark rose color in his heart symbolized, but it was obvious what the deep purple in his mind was supposed to represent.
"What are you smiling about?" the doctor said as he put down a bowl full of fruits and jalapeños.
"You came with food," he said in his regular voice, wiping the smile from his face.
"Well, I guess since you are my new companion, in a way, do you have anywhere you want to go?" the Doctor asked getting back into the rhythm.
". . . somewhere warm."
"Then we're off to the moons of Pythera! Did you know . . ."
The salamander was nodding along as the Doctor was explaining the complicities of the rare Pytherian fire flower. Neither of them noticed the satisfied hum that came from the TARDIS as she watched her plan to lift her master's spirits succeed. Pyralis wasn't the only one that could see auras. In the time since the Doctor signed the contract for Pyralis, he hadn't thought of Donna even once.