Author's note: For anyone who's ever passed on the fan bug.
Movie Night
"You can't be serious."
The Doctor poked his head over the back of the couch.
"Oh come on Jenny! Look, we've got popcorn, we've got jellybabies, we've got fizzy drinks and chocolate yaejs. And the couch's really comfy." To prove his point, he bounced on the cushion. Jenny raised an eyebrow, hands folded over her chest.
"You aren't serious."
The Doctor shot her an annoyed look. "I wouldn't exactly go to all this trouble for a joke, Soldier." He turned in his seat.
"Oh come on. Give it a try. One won't kill you. An' if you don't sit down soon your fizzy drink's going to go flat and icky. It's time we had a movie night, and this is the most movie-nightish night I've seen in a lo-ong while."
"It isn't a movie. It's television."
"Your point?"
"Third rate television. Third rate human television. From the twentieth century even."
"Exactly. Pop culture. Teach you a bit if you pay attention."
"Third rate sci fi television."
The Doctor looked hurt. "All right, I'll admit it's not exactly an intellectual puzzle, but…think of it like a fudge brownie for the brain!"
"It's American sci-fi."
"Since when did you have a dislike for the Yanks?"
"I don't. American music is fantastic. But the television lacks pretty much all intelligence."
"Oh, so you think disco music is fantastic, do you?"
"No, not all American musi-"
"And by the same reasoning not all American television is a dog's dinner." The Doctor interrupted."So sit down and give it a chance."
Jenny looked at her father incredulously. "You are serious."
"I believe I said that." He replied dryly. He patted the couch beside him. Jenny rolled her eyes.
"Fine. But only a couple of episodes, okay?"
"See what you think before you go passing judgment." Her father said smugly as she sat beside him. He pressed the sonic screwdriver. The lights dimmed, and music swelled from the walls. On screen, a facsimile of Earth's star and co planets flashed by. A pretty bad facsimile. Lines rang out.
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise: its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Jenny glanced disparagingly at her father. "When did you start watching this junk?"
"Late nights in the seventies when I didn't have assignments." The Doctor murmured. "Now shush."
"This wasn't showing in the seventies." Jenny whispered.
"Yup. Saw it. Saw potential. Jumped ahead a few years. Now shush. Here's Picard."
The token 'alien' on the screen was a human in really bad makeup, and so was the android. Jenny rolled her eyes. How could somebody as smart as her father enjoy this drivel?
"Warp Six, Mr. Worf."
She dug into the bowl of popcorn, glancing at her father. Eyes riveted on the screen, the Doctor grinned like a kid. Jenny smiled grudgingly. He did like the stuff. It was still pretty pathetic, though.
Well, maybe it wasn't that bad. Some of the acting was pretty good.
Half an hour later, Jenny was captivated by the screen.
"Reverse, full power! Shields at maximum!"
There was a chuckle beside her. "Thought you said you didn't like Star Trek."
Jenny's eyes didn't flicker from the screen.
"Shush."