It all started out as an accident, really.
Well, I say accident. More like, Amy would not stop distracting the dashing timelord known as the Doctor with her skimpy red tank top that was just a little bit too low cut. It wasn't his fault he couldn't stop staring at her exposed bosom. Hmph.
Now, for the Doctor and Amy, this had been just a typical navigational mishap. Meant to go for the London Summer Olympics 2012- Given, they would have to avoid the opening ceremonies- but instead they ended up a year or two off. In some bloke's apartment, as a matter of fact.
Well, I say some bloke. This bloke just happened to be Dan Howell, who had been enjoying an afternoon of procrastination on his glorious couch watching the television.
So as you can imagine, the TARDIS materializing in his living room was no expected occurance for the poor boy.
"Ah, here we are", the Doctor said, stepping out of the police box. "Time for some
good old rugby ga-"
He froze, eyeing the flabbergasted young man who had just witnessed a blue box appear out of nowhere in his flat.
Amy also walked out, not finding what she expected. This wasn't the Olympics?! And who was this admittedly...attractive...boy who sat before them?
Dan was the first to take action, springing from the sofa in shock. "What the literal fuck just-Who the hell are you people"?
The Doctor regarded him with a mock face of disapproval. "Well that's no way to greet guests! Foul mouth, this one has."
Dan's jaw dropped. Amy grinned and waved at him from behind the Doctor. In any normal circumstance, Dan would have smiled back, because the fiery ginger was cute.
"Anyway, I guess we ended up in the wrong place. Maybe a year after? Looks like we're still in London". The man, (who couldn't have been more than five years older than Dan) took out a weird looking gadget that was long and narrow with a whirry type glowing bulb on the end. He waved it all about Dan's living room, then seemingly satisfied, stuck it back into the pocket of his tweed jacket. "Somewhere in Britain? That accent's Posh, not Cockney".
"No. This is not happening. You are not real, none of this is real. Oh my god."
Dan struck an almost defensive pose, backing away from the strange man with even stranger fashion sense, with his stranger yet blue box and his seemingly unaffected companion.
"Nice to meet you, too. I'm the Doctor, and this is"-
"Amy. Amy Pond." The redhead took a few steps forward to shake Dan's clammy hand. She was Scottish. Huh. That was cool.
"Uh, hi, Amy, nice to meet you", he managed. "Doctor...who"? He asked suspiciously to the bowtie-clad Timelord.
"Ooh, I just love it when people say that"! he cried. "Just the Doctor. Anyway, we're done with the formalites now...Wait, no we're not. What's your name"? He asked the confused looking lad. Why was he wearing a leather t shirt, anyway?
"I'm Dan Howell."
"Dan. Hmm. I've grown fond of 3 letter names. Well, even more so of 6 letter ones. "Dan" wouldn't be short for "Daniel", would it"?
"Uh, yeah, it is"...
"Doctor, why don't we show Dan the TARDIS? Maybe even...I dunno, bring him on an adventure"?
The Doctor looked at Amy with an exaggerated expression of disbelief. "We will most certainly NOT be taking him on an adventure! It'll give him a heart attack! In fact, it was nice to meet you Daniel, but we'll just be leaving before"-
"Come on. Pleeeeaaase. At least we could show him the TARDIS. If he can handle that, he can handle a little bit of exotic traveling." Amy looked at the Doctor with puppy eyes.
Exotic traveling?
The Doctor turned back to Dan. "Okay. Fine. We will bring your little male model-looking chap on. But first...Change whatever you've got going on north of the hips. That's an unfortunate choice of outfit."
Dan didn't even know why, but with little disagreement he did as he was told, coming back a minute or so later from his room in a grey jumper and an expensive-looking jacket.
"Jesus Christ, what are you people? The fashion police"? he mumbled.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow he didn't have. "Much better...Someone sure has a thing for leather. Anyway, let's go."
He led Dan and Amy into the TARDIS, Dan expecting a tiny box barely big enough for 3 people consecutively.
But no.
What Dan saw before him was physically, logically, and absolute irrevocably impossible. But hey, what the hell. A blue box had just appeared out of nowhere in his living room where a strange man came out and made him change clothes. A blue box named "the TARDIS".
So, in comparison, the interior of the "TARDIS" being much bigger on the inside then the outside was a shock, but not enormously unbelievable.
"It's...bigger on the"-
"Inside. I know. I remember my first time in the TARDIS. It's such a thrill, isn't it"?
Amy reached out and grabbed Dan's hand, smiling first at him, then looking at the Doctor meaningfully. Dan blushed, and squeezed her hand as well.
"Come on. Let's show him the ropes," the Doctor said. Dan couldn't help but notice the Doctor looked slightly displeased at him and Amy's hand holding. He wondered if the Doctor had a thing for her.
They made it up to what appeared to be a central control system in the middle of the huge space. The Doctor placed a hand on it tenderly.
"Here is the console room. And welcome, Daniel Howell, to the TARDIS. Not just anybody gets to hear that, either."
"So, uh, what does the TARDIS do, anyway"? He asked, glancing around.
"Ooh, I'm glad you asked." The Doctor began flicking levers and switches on the circular console, running around it to reach different panels.
"TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. She's a time machine, baby"!
"A time machi-WOAH"! Dan was thrown against the side of the console platform as the TARDIS began to shake. It reminded him of an earthquake. It was over abruptly, though. A whining sound resonated through the console room.
"I'm sorry, I know you hate short time leaps", the Doctor murmered. Was he talking to the TARDIS?
Amy laughed. "Did you see the look on Dan's face? That was priceless"!
The Doctor grinned, then looked to Dan. "Alright, we traveled to...10:39 PM the same day we left from. Check it out." He strolled down to the TARDIS doors and opened them, Dan and Amy following him. Sure enough, Dan was back in his flat. His TV was still playing, but intead of Star Trekk the nighttime news was on. Daylight no longer shown through his curtains. He could barely make out "10:39" on the clock on his wall. Apple slices set out on the counter, which were fresh a minute ago, had turned brown.
"But...How"?
He rushed over to the window and looked out. As promised, it was night. The city of London was lit up with evening rush, cars and people going in every which way. The cinema across the street had its nighttime shows on display.
And suddenly Dan realized that this was no joke. What he was experiencing was strange to a higher extent he ever had, but it was real. He knew at that moment that he trusted Amy and the Doctor with his life- And that, speaking of his life, there was no going back. Dan Howell's existence, from this day forward, was never going to be the same.
Dan hopped back into the TARDIS. "Tell me all about this ship. Tell me all about you guys. Tell me everything I could possibly want to know."
Amy and the Doctor smiled.
"The TARDIS is what we call dimensionally transcendental. That's why it's bigger on the inside".
Dan stared at the Doctor blankly. Amy smirked.
"A different dimension exists in the interior of the TARDIS than the exterior. The TARDIS is infinite on the inside; Architectural reassignment systems can move around any part of the TARDIS to where ir would be more conveniently located. Sometimes, to annoy us...Or protect us."
"Wait...So there's more than just the console room on this ship"? Dan asked.
"'Course", Amy chimed in. "There's all sorts of high-techy things, but there are others too. Bedrooms, labs, storage rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, swimming pools, libraries, swimming pools in libraries, apparently". She gave the Doctor a meanigful look on the last part, making Dan think it was some private joke between the two.
"Basically, this place is self sustaining. You wouldn't believe the complexity of the TARDIS if I told you". The Doctor patted the console. Dan found it only slightly weird he treated it like his sweetie.
"It's something you gotta live and see", Amy commented. "We'll show you the important bits later. Right, Doctor"?
The man nodded. "Well, any more pressing questions"?
Many, but Dan shook his head.
"Well, now it's time for the real fun. Timey Wimey fun". The Doctor pulled a lever again, cringing.
"Oh, no, that won't do...That was for my pretty boy phase. It sounded better in my head. Anyway. Time and space is yours now, Daniel. So where to"?
Dan was once again struck with cluelessness. How many times in his life had he imagined traveling to see the future? The past? To see the Titanic, or maybe Revolutionary Frace fashion? A day when hovercars roamed the street and a cure for cancer had been discovered? Admittedly, not a lot, but his head still spun.
"A Beatles' concert", he sputtered stupidly.
The Doctor stared at him. "I offer you all of time and space, and you want to see some rock band from the 60s"?
"'Some rock band from the 60s'?! The Beatles were the forerunners of rock. They set the stage for some of the best music we've got."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, as if Dan was a child entertained by simpleton pleasures.
"Alright. But tomorrow, it's my turn to choose where we're going. We'll be going on a proper trip". The Doctor once again pulled some levers and switches and they were off.
They parked the TARDIS outside the venue and the Doctor handed Dan and Amy TARDIS keys to wear around their necks.
"What're these for"? Dan asked.
"Perception filters. People won't notice us, just like they don't notice the TARDIS. We don't need tickets"! The Doctor looked more pleased with himself then he probably should have, but it didn't matter. Amy grabbed Dan's hand again. "C'mon. Let's go."
Dan was amazed at how easily the trio was able to slip past the crowd of waiting people. The concert lasted over two hours. He enjoyed himself more than he had in a long time. He laughed and sung along and smiled. He also enjoyed the company of Amy- The pretty, exciting, smart Scottish girl- And even that of the Doctor. The strange man who had the bowtie and owned the myterious blue box whose domain was all of time and space.
When the concert ended, Dan was exhausted and hungry. "Hey, can we get something to eat? I've got nothing at my flat", He asked when they were back aboard the TARDIS.
"Of course", the Doctor said, hanging his jacket over the side of the console, revealing a dress shirt with suspenders that outlined the Doctor's rather fit body in such a way that Dan guessed probably kept Amy up at night.
"Amy, I've got Timelordy type things to do. Would you show Dan to the kitchen"?
Amy nodded, and the Doctor disappeared somewhere under the console.
Amy brought him up a flight of stairs down some strange corridors. Walking next to her, Dan was surprised to realize she wasn't much shorter then him. Three, maybe four inches? He felt a bit conflicted as he realized his elbows weren't perfect boob height for her. She looked over at him and noticed him staring at her, but she just smiled. Dan felt his face get warm.
"Hey, I need the kitchen", Amy said to apparently no one. But the next turn they made, a rather large door labled "Kitchen" stood before them. She marched in with a triumphant smile.
"How'd you do that"? He asked.
"The TARDIS is alive, you know. Once she gets to know you, she'll be nice to you."
The kitchen looked just like any homey kitchen would, except bigger and just a bit disproportionate. Amy rummaged through the fridge and cupboards.
"Hmm. Better save some of the more exotic stuff for later on. But wait." She removed a pitcher from the fridge filled with orange liquid and scarlett red flecks.
"Try a taste of this", she said, pouring a tiny bit in a pink glass. The texture was thick like a smoothie. It looked frozen. He eyed the concoction suspiciously.
"What is it? Is it gonna taste weird"? He asked.
"No. Just try it. It's cranberry orange". So he did. And never in Dan Howell's twenty two years of life had he ever tasted something as perfectly sweet and tangy as this drink. The flavors exploded in his mouth, dizzying him in a delightful way. They slipped down his tounge, into his throat, and an electric feeling of more intense pleasure then he had thought humanly possible by any means filled his whole body. He shuddered, a tiny moan escaping his lips. Realizing the sound he made, Dan set down the empty glass and blushed, looking away from Amy.
"How...how did that happen"? Dan knew exactly what the feeling had been comparable to in the human world. He blushed, knowing Amy had done it to him.
She smiled. "I just make a killer smoothie", she said, winking."Added a half a mililiter of "borrowed" Euphoria from the sacred wells of this planet we visited called Zeldonia last week. Even just a 0.2% higher concentration would have killed you, overloading your pleasure centers. It's some pretty potent stuff." She leaned in, her hair brushing against Dan's neck. "It's got the power of having seven orgasms at the same time."
Dan felt a shiver go up his spine against his will.
"Anyway, there's lots of other food that'll do interesting things to you, but we can save that for later". She tossed him a bag of ranch Doritos and a package of Pocky sticks. "You like these, right"? she asked. Dan nodded. To be honest he kinda found her accent a little bit sexy.
She led them down a corridor again. "We've got the companions quarters somewhere around here, I guess. If the TARDIS is gonna play nice."
"So is that what he calls you? Companions? Sounds kind of like a pet name to me", Dan commented, scrunching up his nose a bit.
"No. We're important, Dan." He looked over to see her bright green eyes were focused intently on his much darker orbs. "Without us, the Doctor is lonely. He doesn't get to see the universe in the same new light, through our eyes. He just gets jaded, and nothing feels special any more. But it's more than that. He slowly starts losing boundaries. Forgets everything that gives him humanity. If he doesn't have us to remind him of everything he stands for, he falls apart. The Doctor needs us."
Dan nodded, astounded by what she'd told him. It was hard to imagine the strange man as needy, raw, and dark. He seemed like the kind of person people needed. Not the kind who needed people.
Amy's serious expression quickly dissolved into a cute smile that caused her dimples to appear, and she nudged his arm. "And hey, you might become one of us, "Pet".
Soon enough, they found a corridor that spilt off and had a dead end, doors spaced evenly down it on either side. They all had small labels. The very first room on the right had a large sign written in strange writing. It wasn't English; Large alien-looking circular script was hand written on it. Below it was a pink stone that had been carved into what appeared to be a rose.
"What does that first one say on it"? Dan asked Amy. She regarded the door with a sympathetic expression.
"He loved her." Amy looked solemnly at Dan. "He said he still hasn't touched a thing since she's been gone."
Dan understood all that he needed from that simple exchange, and nodded.
Finally, they made it to Amy's room, near the end of the hall. "Yours would be right next to mine, so...Here." She grabbed a sticky note from nowhere along with a pen and scribbled "DANIEL THE CHEEKY MALE MODEL", slapping it onto the door. "What I imagine the Doctor would write", she said. Dan laughed.
The bedroom was mostly bare, nothing but a matching black bed and sette. Dan plopped onto the soft bed, forgetting how tired he was. But he wasn't ready to go to bed yet. Hard to even believe he hadn't been in bed in the first place, from all the craziness that had happened in the past several hours. Amy sat on the sette and they munched on their snacks.
"So, Amy, how did you meet the Doctor"? Dan asked, suddenly wondering if maybe it was too personal a question.
Her expression morphed into a nostalgic smile. "Back when I was seven years old," she said, "The Raggedy Man in a blue box crashed in my yard. I'm sure he believes it was a coincidence, but I think it was fate. I needed that man more than anything I'd ever needed in my life, and here he was, completely by accident. You see, there was a crack in my wall. I thought it was just an ordinary crack, but it wasn't. It was a rift. It let things into our own world that weren't supposed to. Of course, at the time, I didn't quite understand that. He offered me to come away with him, and in all my life I had never been so excited. I packed a little suitcase, and he promised he'd be back in five minutes. But he made a mistake. Five minutes turned to ten, twenty, thirty. I fell asleep. Raggedy Man didn't come back.
"Twelve years, he took. Twelve years and four psychiatrists who tried to tell me he was a figment of my imagination. But it doesn't matter now, does it? Anyway, that was two years ago. He came back for me, Something still doesn't quite feel right, though. I feel like I'm supposed to go home for something, but there's nothing there."
Amy looked quite troubled. Her features told she lost something, but Dan had less of an idea than she apparently did as to what.
But a smile soon returned to her face. "What about you, Dan? We've all got a story to tell. Now it's your turn."
Dan didn't say anything for a moment. "Well...I guess compared to you, I've never really had much of an interesting life. I mean, I grew up like anyone would, but ever since I was a teenager I got pretty into YouTube, so I started making my own videos on there. I live with my best friend, Phil, who also makes videos. I've got two million subscribers now. Me and Phil host a BBC radio show too, on Sundays. So, yeah. I'm pretty happy"...
Dan trailed off. He was snapped back to reality, out of this little room, out of the TARDIS, to his flat. To his life. Friends, videos, live shows, parties, publicity events-They all demanded his attention. But most importantly, Phil. How would Dan explain this to his best friend? The older boy had always had put on a imaginary and innocent, childish façade, but Dan really was the more skeptical one; So maybe, hopefully, Phil would be a little less dumbfounded.
Either way, Dan didn't want to bother Amy with it, or even himself at that moment. He wanted to go to sleep and let his worries go away until tommarow.
"Wow. Two million? A radio show? That's pretty significant. I think we've both got our own ways of leading an extraordinary life. So don't think your own significance pales in comparison, or something. I've never done anything really interesting, other than being with the Doctor. You on the other hand...You've done something that makes an impact."
Dan patted her shoulder. "Hey, I've never saved the world. Or any other." They shared a warm smile, then Dan plopped back onto his bed. "Well, I guess I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm exhausted."
Amy and Dan said their goodnights, then Amy left to go to her own room. This time, she decided, instead of blue eyes she didn't know, she might dream about dark eyes like melted chocolate, dark eyes that didn't make her wake up with tears in her eyes.
And Dan fell asleep quickly, dashing men in bowties and gingers in miniskirts and big blue boxes flashing behind his eyelids.