Set before The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe.
Just a short little piece that came to mind earlier. :)
It was Christmas time.
The Doctor danced a one-man waltz, humming Jingle Bells to himself, as he scattered various decorations around the TARDIS. A little tinsel around the control deck, a few baubles strung from the ceiling, twin stars sellotaped to the tops of each staircase banister. He let the silent music take a hold of him; eyes closed, arms stiff, a way taught to him by a delightful Elizabeth I (though he was under the impression that she didn't find him so wonderful any longer - one does not normally set armed 16th century guards on one's friends).
As he dipped an invisible woman in time to the beat, the Doctor found himself realising that something was missing. What was it? He mentally paused the music and let his mind wander. There was something.. something.. something..
"A hat!" he exclaimed suddenly to no one, voice full of glee, slapping the TARDIS control panel. "That's it, old girl! What's Christmas without a Santa hat?"
The Doctor was a self-confessed lover of hats, and, as he made his way to the large wardrobe he was already picturing his three-wall collection of headgear. There were the various 'year' headbands for every January in the past and next five hundred years (a few of whom were stained with suspicious liquids), rabbit ears for Easter (all in slightly sickening pastel colours), caps to wear backwards and look 'cool' during the summertime (though Amy, it seemed, disagreed - she didn't stop laughing for a whole hour when he'd worn one for their trip to Rome), masks to turn him into every monstrous creature in the universe for Halloween (including a piece of Dalek headgear he was yet to wear), and his Christmas collection of reindeer antler headbands and green elf hats with pointy ears.
As he skipped - almost skipped - to the entrance, he heard a strange noise. The Doctor stopped dead, one foot held in midair, listening hard.
There! There it was again!
It was almost like.. he didn't know what it was. Some kind of animal? No human he knew made noises like that; strange, almost grunting noises.
The Doctor frowned. Had something managed to sneak on to the TARDIS? Surely he would have noticed. The intruder would have appeared on the security footage! Though, he hadn't checked it in almost three years. Anything could've happened.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" he told himself after watching a handily fast-forwarded tape from the security cameras. He had seen himself (both the current version of himself and the previous incarnation who looked like he would greatly appreciate a nap for most of it) and all of his companions. Donna, Martha, Jack, Rose (he had skipped over that part), Sarah Jane, Luke, Amy, Rory..
Amy and Rory!
They had gone to bed around half an hour earlier, leaving the Doctor to complete his Christmas plans alone. But their room was near to the closet. They would surely have heard the intruder! He could ask them about this rascal. Maybe they had heard more from it and would be able to help him identify the creature.
"Amy! Rory!" he called, throwing himself up stairs and running to where they spent the night. Without knocking, he burst through the door breathless.
"Have you heard anything unusu-" the Doctor trailed off, staring at the scene in front of him. "Amy, why are you wearing a Santa costume? And why is it so.. short?"
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