When it came to romance, the Doctor wasn't exactly an expert, far from it. But there was one part he did excel in. He always knew exactly where to take River on a date, and every time he would always make a brilliant choice, and always left his wife wondering where and when he would take her in the universe.
The particular location that evening was the festival of livelihood, which happened every ten years. People would gather to celebrate life, and what made life worth living. So, every time the festival came around, the vibrant cities of the planet Lyrica would fill themselves with colour as dusk brought on the night, and the entire planet was illuminated by the bright city lights below the moon. Then people would spend the entire night celebrating. Singing dancing, laughing. It is said that the festival brings on the most laughter on one planet, and some even say that the laughter can be heard from the clouds, but on that night, there never are clouds, thanks to the Lyricans' advanced technology. They could clear the sky from any clouds if they wanted.
As the TARDIS landed on the eighteenth of May 8235, River Song emerged from the vast wardrobes kept aboard the ship. Her hair was still the usual wild mane of blonde curls framing her face. The dress she wore was one she had saved for very special occasions. It was not too simple, nor overly sophisticated. The deep blue-violet dress stopped just above the floor, but had an open seam running up one side of the skirt. The dress was held up by a one-shoulder strap, and was tighter around the waist, fitting her perfectly.
The Doctor turned to River, in a suit that closely resembled the colour if his wife's dress. The tails of his coat flew behind him as he bobbed up to River, giving her a little kiss on the nose, followed by a gentle compliment. She smiled, linking arms with him, but he slipped his left arm out of her grasp only to wrap it around her waist.
"So, where are we off to now?" River asked, "It must be important, otherwise you wouldn't tell me to put on my best dress,"
"It's a surprise," The Doctor responded, tapping his finger on her nose. River stifled a giggle and let the Doctor lead her out of the TARDIS, opening the doors with the usual snap of his fingers.
River was alarmed as she stepped on a transparent floor, and found herself looking down at the bright planet miles below her. They seemed to be in some ballroom in the sky, maybe surrounded by an oxygen bubble or something. River didn't care much about the science behind it as she looked around. They were surrounded by the night sky and all the bright, beautiful stars. Soft music floated around them, though she had no idea where it was coming from. Her face melted into a bright smile.
"Amazing, isn't it?" the Doctor broke River out of her trance. "Don't worry, we're perfectly safe. Below us is the planet Lyrica, and today is the hundredth festival of livelihood, held every ten years,"
"It's beautiful," River marvelled, looking back up at her husband.
"Oh, this is just the cosmic ballroom!" he exclaimed "The real party is down there," the Doctor pointed to the planet below them. "But first thing's first, shall we dance?"
River responded with a nod. With a snap of his fingers, the TARDIS doors swung shut and the Doctor led his wife onto the dance floor. She held her left arm up, and smiled as the Doctor's long fingers intertwined with her own. She rested her right arm on her husband's shoulders and he tightened his hold on her waist. Soon enough, the two were spinning around in circles along to the music. They danced on air, among the stars. River obviously led the dance, since the Doctor was about a good dancer as platypus (his best move being the drunk giraffe dance). She loved these moments, when the two could just forget all their worries and just be together. River's gaze occasionally travelled to the stars surrounding them, but they mostly stayed focused on her Doctor.
Eventually, the two were left alone in the cosmic ballroom, the other couples had gone back to the surface of the planet (via an elevator, made of the same stuff ass the ballroom) to enjoy the festival. But the doctor and River kept on dancing. At one point, the Doctor suddenly twirled his wife around, so that her back was pressed against his chest. He then wrapped both arms around her, and rested his chin on her shoulder. River turned her head to face him, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek as they swayed together among the stars. The Doctor turned his head towards her, and pressed his forehead to his wife's. Smiling, River closed her eyes, and leaned in to kiss him gently. She felt his lips curve upwards as he returned her kiss. River turned her body towards him, and rested her arms over the Doctor's shoulders. He placed a hand under her chin, lifting her face up. Eventually, the two broke away from their kiss and the Doctor couldn't help the lovesick smile off his face.
"How about you and me head off to the festival?" the Doctor finally asked.
"I'd like that sweetie," River responded. The couple linked arms and waltzed off to the TARDIS.
Once inside, the Doctor suggested they change into more comfortable clothes, since they would be doing a lot of walking and running, and that the festival wasn't so formal. River changed into a pair of fitting jeans and a simple blue blouse, while the Doctor changed into his usual bow tie-suspender combo. He flew the TARDIS down to the capital city of the planet, where the biggest celebration of the whole planet was held.
As the TARDIS landed, the Doctor and River emerged to see the city lit up in every colour you could imagine. People walked along the roads, chatting and laughing as they admired the lights. Cheerful and upbeat music wafted through the streets, as well as the mouth-watering smell of food. But what caught the Doctor's eye first were the huge balloons of different animals above a multitude of tents in all different colours. Clapping his hands together, he bounded towards the fair with all the enthusiasm of a hyperactive six-year-old. River laughed and scrambled to catch up with her childish husband. He really was too adorable when he acted like that.
When River finally caught up with him, the Doctor took her hand and led her to one of the many games, just like a little boy would pull his mother around.
River had no idea that the Doctor was that good at fairground games. He won every single game he attempted. As the Doctor gave his wife an Adipose plushie, she couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably and kiss his cheek.
"What am I going to do with you?" River joked, reaching up and ruffling the Doctor's hair playfully. He stuck his tongue out at her, which sent them both into a laughing fit. After they had recovered and had wiped the tears of utter mirth from their eyes, they wandered back to the city hand in hand, swinging their hands between them.
The couple were now walking through the large park in the city. It wasn't a park of green grass and trees, it was full of monuments. There was a large glass pyramid that reflected its surroundings, and a seemingly smaller one next to it with lights running up it, constantly changing colours. Up in the air, large metal discs stood on tall columns, surrounded in strings of light of every colour imaginable, as if they were overgrown with glowing multi-coloured vines. There was even a massive replica of an old Earth rocket, and it too seemed to be positively glowing.
River pointed out a fountain. It showed some sort of serpent bathing in the water, and spraying water into the air from its mouth. She suspected there were hidden lights in the serpent's mouth, as the water glowed a bright orange, like fire. As they wandered along, they spotted a part of the ground that was tiled with huge lights, but they didn't seem to be on. But when the Doctor saw people stepping on the tiles, they lit up, each in a different colour and produced one note of music. He beamed, and ran towards the tiles. River ran with him. She felt like a child again, like when she grew up with Amy and Rory as Mels. Soon enough, they were running and jumping on the ground, watching it light up and create little melodies. River and the Doctor held hands as they hopped around on the floor.
Soon enough, they got tired, and the Doctor sat down on a nearby bench, River laying her head on his lap. She lay on her back, looking up at her husband as he watched the other people enjoy the festival. Lyrica was inhabited by the Lyricans, who were humanoid aliens, with silvery skin and deep blue hair. He watched children play with each other, blue hair flying behind them as they ran. River reached a hand up to the Doctor's face, stroking her thumb along his cheek. Turning her attention back to the sky, she felt an idea pop into her head as she saw two figures above them.
"Sweetie…" she began
"Hang gliding? Are you serious?" the Doctor exclaimed, his voice slightly panicked.
"Yes," River responded, her mouth curving into a slight smirk "Oh, come on, it's perfectly safe, I saw children doing it earlier,"
"B-but," her husband stammered. He was cut off by River's hand on his shoulder.
"You'll be fine," she reassured him. "You'll love it, you'll see,"
The Doctor was about to protest, but he was already strapped into the hang glider, so he didn't have much choice. He didn't really have anything to worry about. The hang glider technically wasn't just a hang glider, it had an electric engine which could be turned on and that would automatically fly them back to their starting point. With a deep breath, the Doctor braced himself as they took off.
As he felt his feet leave the ground, the Doctor opened his eyes. He didn't want to look down at first, so he focused on his wife, who was strapped in next to him. River was laughing. She laughed at the pure exhilaration she got from flying. He moved his hand over hers and looked down at the city below him.
The city really was quite a sight from above. There was not a single spot which was dimly lit. The whole city glowed in every colour imaginable, and the laughter and music floated up to their ears. River loved watching the colours dance below her as she felt the wind blow through her hair. She moved a little closer to the Doctor, knowing he'd need some support. River smiled as she felt her husband relax next to her. The two enjoyed their flight, laughing as they soared through the sky like birds in flight. River began to get a little daring, diving down and pulling up at the last second, and at one point she flew so close to the ground the Doctor could have sworn his foot touched the ground for a fleeting second before River sent them soaring up into the sky again. But he didn't mind, so long as River was enjoying herself.
When the two returned to the ground, River was utterly ecstatic, and she wouldn't stop going on and on about how much fun she had had up in the air. But she suddenly stopped as their stomachs rumbled, making them both laugh at themselves. River let the Doctor's surprisingly accurate nose lead them to the source of the mouth-watering scent they had detected earlier.
River licked her lips, leaning back on her chair at one of the many tables in the city square. She and her husband had satisfied their empty stomachs. Looking at the Doctor who sat across from her on their table. He hiccupped. River giggled, and suddenly beamed, for yet another of her "ideas" popped into her head. She had her vortex manipulator in her pocket. She wore it on her wrist, while hiding her hands under the table. The Doctor hiccupped again. River put in the co-ordinates on the manipulator, and disappeared…only for her to appear right behind a surprised Doctor. She leaned close to his ear and whispered "Boo,"
The reaction she got from the Doctor was priceless. Hearing River suddenly so close to him, he fell off his chair in surprise. His wife, on the other hand, began to laugh so hard that tears of laughter streamed down her face, along with her mascara. She wiped her face clean and helped the Doctor up.
"What did you do that for?" he asked, his cheeks bright red.
"To cure your hiccups sweetie," River responded, kissing him on the cheek "I just couldn't help myself,"
"Of course you couldn't" The Doctor poked her on the nose again.
River was curled up against the Doctor, exhausted from the festival. He tucked the deep blue blankets around her more snugly, and wrapped his arms around her, his fingers playing with her soft curls. River yawned, her green eyes closing slowly as she rested her head against his chest. She didn't want to fall asleep yet, she wanted to stay with her Doctor for longer.
"You know what?" he whispered softly in the darkness
"What?" she murmured
"The whole point of the festival was to celebrate what made life worth living, and I think that this time I really did celebrate,"
"Why is that sweetie?" River was on the verge of falling asleep.
"Because I celebrated with you," her husband replied softly, kissing the top of her head "You're one of the reasons my life is worth living,"