Universe-Flavored
By Debesmanna
"What does the universe taste like?" Kaylee asks.
The Doctor considers the question carefully. "I don't know if it's a flavor that humans can understand."
She shakes her head in denial. "No, River said that you knew, and I want to know!"
He knows that she means the little dark-haired River, extraordinary and wholly human—the one who belongs to Serenity, not the one who belongs to the TARDIS. Her River, not his. But it's so much like something that his River would ask that he laughs without quite knowing why.
"Weeeell…" He closes his eyes, and tries to remember if he's ever thrown open the TARDIS doors in the middle of space and stuck his tongue out.
"Well?" she prompts.
"It depends on the tongue."
Kaylee huffs in annoyance. "That's not a real answer."
"No really! I've had eleven you know, and nothing ever tastes the same twice. Including the universe. I suppose…" He pauses, considering. What does the universe taste like with a brand new tongue?
There's the one he tested out in Amelia Pond's kitchen. "Fish fingers and custard," he declares.
Then, the time before that, Christmas Eve with the Tylers. "Tea."
And before that… "Bananas."
"You're just making this up!" Kaylee says, although she's amused rather than irritated. It's something that the Doctor appreciates about her more than he can possibly say: a girl who has seen more than her fair share of grief and yet is genuinely warm and cheerful with everyone she meets. It gives him hope.
He tries to clarify. "The universe is…the taste of growing. The taste of new. It's…whatever wonder is. Even I can't taste it all at once." He doesn't say that if a Time Lord can't, then there's no way that a human can.
But then Kaylee is smiling, big and sweet and uncomplicated, and says, "Then it's strawberries!"
The Doctor gives her a surprised look. Then he grins. Humans have a knack for understanding more than he likes to give them credit for.
"Exactly!"