It had taken all of twelve and a half minutes for John to make his escape, lying across the couch while watching TIM flick through the various channels accessible on basic cable. Maybe it would be easier to just hack into Netflix, but that wouldn't do much if he couldn't even decide what he wanted to watch. Weeks of stress and hurrying to fix all of the mistakes he made years ago – including shooting and presumably killing Roger – meant that he was overdue for a few hours of relaxation and mind-numbing television, or thought provoking television, depending on his mood.
His mouth hung open with a cut off request when the door near his feet swung toward him, a head of familiar dark curls being the first thing to pop into his line of sight, the black leather jacket he'd given Astrid following it only seconds later. "I thought you might want this back, especially since we could use all the luck we can get – even if it is from some old jacket."
The corners of his mouth tugged upward in a smile as he shook his head, sitting up to reach out for it as she stepped into the room. "You don't know what kind of action this jacket has seen." It was hard to not be protective of the oldest piece in his wardrobe, especially when he had just been thinking about the very thing that had inspired his choice of that jacket. "You don't know what it represents."
"And what does it represent?" She practically sauntered into the room, sitting down on the couch once he moved his feet.
There was no hesitation between when she asked her question and when John answered it, his small smile still in place. "Nine hundred years of time and space."
"I think the dirty sewer air is finally starting to get to you."
With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, John shook his head. "TIM, do me a favor and turn on Aliens of London. Our friend here needs to learn the importance of never questioning my fashion choices." The Netflix screens flickered by quickly as the supercomputer found the requested episode, the two humans settling closer together on the couch. "That's the Doctor, the one in the jacket, and his blonde companion is Rose Tyler."
The way he spoke of the characters, almost as if they were old friends instead of fictional people, made Astrid pay more attention to his reactions than the episode itself. It's almost immediately obvious that this isn't the first time he's seen this episode, and it likely won't be the last time if they make it through the next few days alive.
"So if your jacket is your idea of dressing up as the Doctor, then who does that make me?"
Only a short moment later, just long enough for him to think about a response, he voiced a fact he hadn't paid any mind to before her question. "Well you, Astrid, wouldn't be Rose Tyler, or Mickey Smith. You'd be the TARDIS – the time ship that the Doctor travels in. She takes him where he wants to go, and where he needs to go, and has always been there, and will never leave. Plus, your name is an anagram."
She couldn't help her grin as she shook her head, listening to the tone of reverence in his voice. Barely a few moments after he finished speaking, Astrid leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek. "If you were to ask me to travel through time and space with you in a magical phone box, I'd say yes."