Hey guys, bit of an odd fic. See notes at the end!

Time Puppy

Ryan has a theory, and Ryan is hell bent on making Yasmin agree with him.

"I'm telling you Yaz, you're choosing not to notice"

Yasmin rolled her eyes for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. They had been sitting on the floor of the console room, waiting for Graham to come back with some petroleum jelly. The Doctor was under the console, sparks and parts flying from her spot, and the TARDIS was groaning angrily at her.

"I don't think you're right"

"okay, friendly"

"that's just how it goes"

"curious and energetic"

"must be an alien thing"

"get serious Yaz. Think about it"

While they waited, Ryan had brought up a theory of his. Obviously they knew the Doctor wasn't human (as if the spaceship didn't give it away), but Ryan was convinced her species had to be some kind of hybrid. Ryan meant she had to be part canine.

"you're being ridiculous"

"I'm telling ya' Yaz, there's no other explanation"

"no c'mon, Don't. Do. That" the Doctor crawled from under the console in all fours, and shook her body to shake off all the dust. Ryan pointed at her with both arms, as if to place more emphasis on her actions "what's got you so cranky"

"she's not a dog"

"well i didn't say the whole of her but…" the young man turned towards the Doctor, who was trying to shake all the dust off her hair with her hand, like a dog would scratch the back of its ear "look at 'er!"

"hey Doc, I found it!"

Graham bust through the door, a big container of Vaseline in his hand, leading the two on the floor to spring up to their feet.

"Atta boy Graham, this'll fix her right up"

Yaz' eyes followed the blonde woman, a spring in her step as she ran back towards the console and dove back under.

"she's not"

"you're in denial"

-oOoOo-

The next time it came up, the Doctor had landed the TARDIS somewhere in a replica of earth. The way she had said it, it was "New New New New New New New New Jersey", with maybe one too many 'New'. Of course she wasn't aiming for New Jersey, frankly even New Jersey doesn't aim for New Jersey, but the TARDIS had exasperatedly groaned at her. Apparently she had landed in the actual New New York too many times, and the time machine was tired of it.

So now they were in a new place that the Doctor had never landed it, and she had ran out of the time machine at full blast, dragging Yasmin along with her.

When they had eventually found a bit of civilization, and some decent food, Ryan sat by Yasmin when the Doctor was distracted, and cheerily brought it up again.

"now are you convinced?"

"what are you talking about now?"

"that she's part K9!" Ryan held his hands up before the police officer could protest, asking to be heard "hear me out. She can hear stuff we can't"

"we can hear the TARDIS, we just can't understand it"

"same difference" Ryan waved his hands around, keen to not be interrupted "and she ran out of the TARDIS, like a puppy getting a walk"

"she's always like that"

"that's what I mean! If you tell your dog 'outside' and leash it, it pulls you out and wants to see everything"

"we're in an alien planet Ryan, we all want to see everything"

From the corner of her eye, Yasmin could spot the Doctor, sniffing the food that was in Graham's plate, scrunching up her nose every time something didn't seem up to par. Graham for his part was trying to swat her away and eat at the same time. Yaz' head cocked to the side, it almost seemed… No. Ryan didn't have this one right.

"you're starting to see it too, aren't ya?"

"shut up Ryan"

-oOoOo-

Next time it happened, Ryan hadn't even been there. If nothing else, it irked Yasmin even more that his dumb theory had cracked so far into her head that she could see it without him. Him and Graham had taken a pit stop in Sheffield, to check on the house and other errands. Yasmin had stayed behind to help the Doctor with some minor maintenance, well so they had told her, they took turns staying to make sure she didn't accidentally blow the planet up. Not that she would, the Doctor had a good head on her shoulders, the problem was doing it by complete accident—usually by touching something in the TARDIS that she wasn't clear on.

"hey Yaz"

"yes Doc?"

The blonde woman cocked her head to the side, eyes bright and full of wonder. Her lips lifted up in that huge smile, dimples adorning her cheeks "thank you for staying behind"

Yasmin's smile grew to match the doctor's, her arms immediately going around the startled alien (though she was extremely happy that this self loved hugs a lot more than some of her other selves, hugs were nice). The Doctor tightened her hold on Yasmin, adjusting her head on the younger woman's shoulder, sighing contently.

"even though I know it's because you don't want me to blow the world up"

"what" the heat rose to Yaz' face, her ears were probably bright red, thankfully the Doctor was right on her shoulder and couldn't see "I-I-what"

"I heard you guys talking earlier"

Yaz thought back to the conversation they had, they were drawing straws in the kitchen for who would stay behind. But Graham had locked the door, and the Doctor was supposed to be off who knows where. Unless she can hear better than… No Way.

"sorry?"

"'s okay" Yaz could feel her settling into the hug, her brain was most definitely playing tricks on her too, she could almost assure herself that the woman was nuzzling into her "I'm glad someone can take the fault if this goes wrong"

"well that's me, always the—wait, what!?"

The Doctor laughed loudly, separating from the hug but keeping her hands on Yaz' arms "too easy Yaz" she reached down and quickly pecked her cheek, bright smile still on her face "c'mon now, we got a world to not blow up"

-oOoOo-

Ryan grabbed his cup of tea and whistled away, wiggling his eyebrows at Yasmin as he went. He had managed to thoroughly annoy her. Badgering her nonstop about their in house alien. And frankly? She had had it.

"hey Doc, where are you from?"

The blonde shot her head up from the screens she was staring at, a melancholic gaze settling over her usually happy features.

"that's a long story"

Ryan and Yasmin looked at each other, both feeling extremely guilty, realizing they hadn't actually bothered to ask about the Doctor's life in the same way she had invested herself in theirs. And ever since they had begun talking about Ryan's theory, it hadn't even come up.

"I mean, obviously, not earth, right?"

"yeah, not earth" the Doctor sighed, beckoning them to her "I am from a planet called Gallifrey" the screen in front of her showed the bright red planet on its field of black and stars.

"it's got two suns?"

"it does" the Doctor reached out to grab Yasmin's closest hand, soon as the screen changed to a golden city enclosed in a glass dome "when the suns are up the fields almost shine, like they're about to sing"

Yaz' hand felt entirely too warm, this close to the blonde woman who had gone from happy and energetic to serious and melancholic to the beat of a question. It was the beautiful full out complexity that had dragged her here in the first place. The universe was a marvelous place, and history backwards or forwards was mysterious and there was so much to learn from it, but they all collided in this woman, who was going on and on about her planet. How similar it was to earth in some things. How her people had no bother with translating pronouns. How no Ryan, you look Time Lord.

"so do you have any other blood in you? Are you part anything?"

Yaz nearly cracked her neck turning to stare at Ryan, who smirked her way.

"got a bit north Gallifrey in me. Explains the accent"

The Doctor cocked her head to the side, her nose scrunched up as she thought about the question. Yasmin could see it. Her hand reached upwards, under the Doctor's hair, almost like one would on reflex scratch a puppy's scruff.

"I'm not part dog, but that feels so nice"

Ryan began laughing loudly, both at how much the Doctor was cynically enjoying the scratching, and how they all tended to forget that the Doctor knew things. Her wonderful human companions tended to forget that, much as she wasn't everywhere, the TARDIS was. And boy did it have a ball, telling her that her companions thought she might just be a space puppy.

"had a past life that liked its ears scratched?"

"no, but I definitely had one that liked belly rubs and kisses"

It was a reflex. Yasmin couldn't help it. It was like baby talking an adorable pet when it came your way. Ryan's jaw dropped to the floor when the Doctor's head disappeared from the top of the screen, dragged over to Yasmin's. Both hands tangled in her always ruffled hair, she couldn't help but kiss the wonderful woman with all she had.

The universe was vast and wonderful, and she wanted more of it. She wanted to see every star, and every planet. Meet new people and see new things. But more than anything she wanted more time with the woman who was responding in kind, kissing her like her life depended on it.

"I'm not one"

"what"

"I'm energetic, and happy, and lovable… And okay I can see why you thought I might be part dog"

Yasmin couldn't help the laugh that came out. It was one of those laughs that built from the bottom of your tummy, that you could hear rumbling through your heart, that sent your arms to cling to whoever you might be holding.

"it's okay Doc, everyone loves a puppy, especially a Time Puppy. Especially Yaz"

Hey guys! Still on this wagon. This was heavily inspired by a tumblr post out of all things. So you know. This is the life I live now that this ship has entered my life. Opinions are most welcome, again, I swear I'm going to get to Fire and Iron, I just have a severe block with how to write the next episode!