Author's Notes: Not completely sure where this came from. The only notable thing I can think of is that this is one of Clara's copies. I hope you enjoy it, though, and I'm still kind of new to femslash, so I'd love to know what you think.
"Unless you would like to skip dinner and spend the night in a souvenir shop, Clara, could we get going?" Lyra snapped and Clara gave a sheepish smile to the seller and turned her attention back to the matter at hand, only turning back to hiss at her friend, "Her birthday is tomorrow!"
"If you haven't figured out what to buy her by now, I don't think you'll manage it in the next few minutes." When Clara didn't react Lyra neared her. "Just get her something from Earth. She likes that kind of stuff."
It was true. For whatever reason, River was especially fond of the planet below them. It was the time of the Third Great and Bountiful Human Empire and Earth was overcrowded, suffering and starving and yet she'd enjoyed their visit there last month. The way she'd talked to the children – so uncharacteristic for River to be so careful with someone – had etched itself into Clara's mind.
As she looked around for the hundredth time, her eyes finally fell on something – a quaint toy of sorts. It looked like a glass ball with several small figures inside – a roof, a chimney, a man dressed in red and a large brown bag next to him. It was filled with water and white particles resembling snow swam around inside it. The entire thing was fixed on a small porcelain block with miniature children with sleighs engraved in it.
"That's a snow globe," the seller said, pushing it towards her. "You need to shake it, look." He turned it upside down and Clara watched, enraptured, as the snow on the inside turned into a small storm and almost hid the scenery inside from her eyes.
It reminded her vaguely of something – the building inside a glass shield. Something seen in a history book, even if it had been a little more– red.
And suddenly, she had an idea.
"I'll take it," she said decisively – she needed it as a reference – and got out her credit card to pass it to the seller as she made a mental list of the materials she already had. Paper? Check. A frame? Could do without one. Brushes? Any kind she could need. The rest, though…
She bit her lip pensively. The so-called souvenir shop was actually a universal store – or the closest they had to one here – so it had everything that the students could need for their free time.
"And…" She chanced a look at one of the shelves right behind the man. Bingo. "…I'm going to need a lot of red dye."
o.O.o
Clara quietly padded into her dorm room, fervently hoping for River to be already asleep. Her girlfriend was a notoriously light sleeper, though, so she immediately stirred and sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep off her eyes. "Clara?"
"It's okay," Clara assured hastily. "Go back to sleep." She quickly packed all the things she needed under River's confused gaze.
"What're you doing?" She mumbled sleepily and Clara leant in for a chaste kiss.
"Nothing," she said, her fingers lingering over River's cheek. "I'll be back in two ticks."
"'Kay." She could already see River's eyes closing on their own accord. "Love you."
"Love you too," Clara said, dropping her voice as River pulled the covers around herself and nestled back into the bed.
Oh, and how Clara would have loved to follow her example. They'd started out as roommates in the last available room in the girls' dormitories as late applicants. Later, when she'd finally got the courage to admit her feelings to River – or rather, when River had made an assumption and it had turned out to be correct – they'd joined their beds into one for maximum comfort and right now the idea of going to bed was infinitely more appealing than going back out in the cold, but she didn't have much of a choice.
Luna's Hall of Arts was open at all times – possibly with the idea that students had all sorts of urges when it came to creating something, and the University had decided to encourage that – and Clara intended to use it. She couldn't very well prepare River's present while she was in the room, even if she was asleep.
As she walked out of the dormitories, Clara shivered and pulled her coat even tighter around herself. Luna had done too good a job with the imitation of Earth's atmosphere and the first days of February were undeniably as cold as they could get.
Well, she had work to do.
o.O.o
The first rays of the sun woke River up and she squinted against them as she tried to resist the urge to pull the blanket over her head. The light was different here than it had been on Earth; colder and more distant somehow. She missed Earth so much sometimes, no matter how miserable it was down there right now. But then again, Luna – and the moon as a whole – had its good sides as well. She simply loved Archaeology and the entire History database she was allowed to explore. And of course, there was also–
"Clara!" River looked up as her girlfriend came out of the bathroom. She looked like she'd been up all night – there were dark circles under her eyes and she tried to stifle a yawn as she gave a small wave – but her hair was its usual silky perfection and she was wearing the red dress River liked seeing on her so much. Just as the Time Lady was busy eyeing her appraisingly from head to toe, Clara climbed on the bed and wrapped her arms around River's neck, kissing her soundly.
"Happy birthday," she breathed into River's smile and then pulled away to reach for the bedside table and the rectangular package neatly tied with a large red ribbon. "Here," she said and River's smile grew when she saw the impatience in Clara's eyes.
Trying not to damage the wrapping, River carefully untied it and pulled out the object, only to realise it was a painting.
She'd always known that Clara was a talented artist, even if it was just a hobby for her. But this? This was something completely different.
"I know you've never actually been there," Clara said softly and there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. "But I thought that you might like to see it."
"How did you know what it looks like?" River asked in awe, still unable to take her eyes off the scenery in front of her.
"There was a book in the library on lost civilisations. I looked it up once, just to see what it was like." There was a pause. "To see where you could have lived."
The painting was so alive in her hands, River thought. She could almost see the people – the citizens of the Capitol – moving about and the two suns's reflected light on the shield. She'd never seen it, of course, but the Doctor had shown her through a telepathic link once, and Clara's creation was a perfect reproduction.
She finally managed to look away from the painting and left Ion the side so she could bring her back in for an embrace. "Thank you," she said quietly, too overwhelmed to think of anything else. "It's amazing."
"It's nothing," Clara said, her delicate fingers snaking in River's hair so she could press them even closer together. "I just wanted to make sure you felt at home.
"Thank you," River repeated, almost frantically, closing her eyes and trying but failing to bite back the impulsive, "I'm already home."