Caresses
"Well Doctor, for one who is not afraid of the dark, you have been pushing your horse pretty fast."
- Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Ace was getting rather anxious. It had been almost an hour since the Doctor had made arrangements to meet back up at the TARDIS, but he was nowhere to be seen. She knew it had been a bad idea to let the Professor wander on his own, even if it was a peaceful planet. He could have done something stupid, like chasing an exotic butterfly that was made with butter and bread right off the edge of a cliff. With that thought in mind, and a short under-her-breath grumble, Ace set out to find her missing companion.
What she expected was to be out in the somewhat dense wilderness for ages trying to track the Professor down. What she didn't expect was to see him all but sprinting at her after searching for barely half-an-hour. And as he came barreling by, he grabbed Ace by the arm and twisted her to follow him.
"Quick! Back to the TARDIS!" He managed to splutter between large intakes of air to fuel his double hearts. He had evidently been running for a while. And that was a good enough reason for Ace to match pace with the Doctor. "And don't look behind you!" He called out to his following friend. But that was most certainly not a good enough reason for her NOT to look. Tossing a glance over her shoulder she couldn't properly see anything. Thinking this a waste of energy, Ace slowed. That is until she finally was able to discern the quick moving shapes that blended in eerily well with the forest scene. The natives were most certainly restless, and they most certainly had rather sharp looking spears.
And with that Ace was motivated right back into action, and with a short burst of speed she was steady with the Doctor again. The small tribe seemed to be gaining on the pair, but if Ace's predictions were right, they'd be back at the TARDIS with nary a second to spare. Luckily Ace was correct. The Doctor reached the craft first and propelled himself into the door as he inserted the fast acting key effectively pushing the door open with his inertia. Stumbling with a lack of solid support, Ace had to practically jump over the Doctor and right him with a quick heave up from bellow his arms as she gave a quick boot to the TARDIS door, shutting it on their unwelcome guests. A cheetah virus did come in handy at times.
There was pounding on the outside of the doors, but that didn't bother Ace, she knew that there was no way that those indigenous people could get in. So she took the time to regain her breath, leaning against the consul to support her tired weight. The Doctor came back slightly quicker, all the while giving Ace a small smile and a twinkling in his eyes. As the adrenaline dispersed through her body Ace couldn't help but respond the the Professor's mirth with a light chuckle.
"You just had to look, eh?" He teased.
"I just wanted to know what had you so scarred." Ace shot back.
"Me? Scared? Never." The Doctor had it in him to look mockly offended.
"For someone who wasn't afraid, you sure did run fast." At this point it was all Ace could do to keep back the giggles threatening to get loose. How bloody typical! The Professor had a knack for getting himself into trouble, but loin-cloth wearing, face paint decorated, spear wielding natives were quite a novel twist.
"Yes, well. I was certain that someone else was running right next to me." The Doctor shared the accusation.
"Always Professor." Ace sobered somewhat, completely serious, but not loosing that warmth in her eyes and mouth. The Professor reacted in kind, and rewarded both himself and Ace with a quick tweak of her nose that spoke of affection greater than he had words for. Another typical vacation day for team TARDIS.