"You're…"
"What?" he demands. "What is it?"
"…older."
His face goes blank. "Oh."
She mentally cringes, bracing herself for some kind of scolding.
"That's it? I'm older?"
"Well," she starts.
"No," he interrupts. "It's fine. I was worried it was something else."
"Like what?"
"Like, uh," he pauses. "I don't know, actually."
"Okay?" she murmurs.
"But it's all sorted, now."
"What d'ya mean?"
"My regeneration's complete. This," he says, opening his arms, as if to display himself, "is the new me."
Clara takes a moment to really, properly look at him. He stands still as she appraises him, but she can tell the anticipation is burning behind his already intense gaze.
"Well, like I already said, older," she shrugs. "The chin is actually normal, this time."
"Hey!" he teases, with a smile.
She returns it. "Eh," she sighs, "I can live with it."
His grin widens. "Good on ya," he answers, "'cause there's no going back. And the only way to change anything would be to kill me again," he laughs.
Clara doesn't. "Don't joke like that," she whispers. "I thought I'd lost you."
His smile falls, but only slightly. "But you didn't."
She shakes her head. "No, I guess I didn't."
He approaches the panel of the TARDIS and she follows, looping an arm through his and laying her head against his shoulder.
She tries not to overreact when she notices it's at a slightly different height than she remembers.
"Where to, now?" she asks quietly.
He throws a switch and pushes a few buttons. "I don't know, darling," he muses, "but let's find out, shall we?"
She smiles. Yeah, she thinks, still the Doctor.
A/N: Is anyone else SUPER PSYCHED about Peter Capaldi as the twelth Doctor, or is it just me? I wrote this like, the day he was announced. Excitement can't be tamed!
P.S. Can anyone else picture the 12th calling Clara 'darling'? It's, like, my only thing I NEED to have happen.