"Infantile earth girl" the Doctor growled, walking into the kitchen. His many-coloured coat landed on a chair, then slid to the floor. A cabinet door whined. Plates jingled.

He filled the teapot, put it on and stood there, arms folded, staring at the pot's cover in an accusatory sort of a way.

"What is she thinking?"

The TARDIS gave his mind a nudge, not a strong one, but enough for him to look up and yell "Don't you defend her! Or should I remind you whose fault this mess is in the first place? If you wanted to show your support, why not take us where she wants to go?!"

Ignoring the telepathic equivalent of a shrug, he reached for the tea can, which he then put back on the table before wagging his finger at the ceiling. "And since when are you so supportive eh?"

He straightened up, his hands on his hips. The TARDIS answered with a mental impression of a sound, although not very loud.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. Doesn't even sound like Peri, he communicated very clearly. Whose memories have you taken this from? Nyssa's? Polly's? Mine? Sounds familiar. Dirty tricks, my lady.

The TARDIS backed off with a telepathic "sigh".

"Who is being difficult?" The Doctor snarked, taking mugs from the cabinet.

"Peri?"

She didn't answer, but the door wasn't locked. The Doctor elbowed it open and set his tray on the table, aligning it exactly with the edge of it, alongside the flower press, which was standing very crooked. So he put it straight.

Then he turned to see that Peri hadn't deigned to get out from beneath her covers, off-white like those old sweaters of his. He clicked his tongue.

"Tea is getting cold."

There was mumbling from the bed. "I don't want any."

"I also brought cookies, those with all the various bits in them" the Doctor continued, unabashed. "Well, more for me."

He made a display of taking one and biting into it with a crunch. It didn't taste particularly good, but he kept on munching, until he was sure Peri had resolved to stay under covers. Oh, well. As they say on Earth, plan B.

"Hey!"

Her eyes were swollen like a chameleon's, her cheeks red and blotchy. The Doctor silently folded the coverlet and sat beside Peri on her bed, painstakingly not looking at her tangled hair.

"You might be interested to hear I found out what went wrong."

"With your head?" she muttered, but he ignored it.

"The TARDIS had, not for the first time, decided to disregard my instructions."

The bed springs yielded with a nails-on-a-blackboard moan, and Peri's bare feet flashed at the edge of the Doctor's vision. He took a risk and shot her a glance. She was sitting up, combing her hair with her fingers.

"So, we're lost again?"

What do you mean, again? He wanted to shout, before remembering what he came here for and biting his tongue. He looked at Peri, still red and tousle-headed like a little girl.

"By no means" he said with great surety. "I know exactly where we are."

Peri snorted, very, very softly, and he slapped his hands on his knees before standing up.

"Well then, where to now? The universe is our oyster!"

"Right now" she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand "I'd rather have this tea."

She reached for a cookie, and the Doctor pulled himself a chair.