There's a man wandering through the university halls, looking a little bit determined and a lot bit insane.
River finds this completely fascinating.
It's not often that she sees a new face around here. Her homeworld's university is small and dusty, just like the archaeology degree she's working towards getting. Her school friends had laughed at her when she'd told them. She'd said she was doing it for the adventure, and they didn't believe her. None of them understand the excitement in exploring new civilizations. All right, old civilizations, yes, but it's the closest she's ever going to get to new ones, at least in her lifetime.
If she could do it in a more hands-on way, she would. The Time Agency recruiters had been by, a few years ago, and River had snuck away to listen to their lectures. It left her bright-eyed and hopeful, but her parents would never have approved. The Time Agency is something you whisper about, and secretly marvel at, not something you actually pursue.
Archaeology would have to be enough. Or nearly enough, but who's to say that she can't fill the gap by talking to odd strangers? He's certainly strange enough that everyone else has been giving him a wide berth.
The man's obviously got a story to tell. If River can ever get him to tell it, that is; this is the third time she's passed him and tried to get his attention. Her class started ten minutes ago, and she gives up on making it at all. The problem now is to find some way of getting him to look up. She settles on stepping straight into his path and hoping he stops. He does, although it's a little short. River is expecting some sort of reprimand, but all she gets is a brilliant smile and flash of paper in her face. She blinks at it. 'Hello, sweetie'?
Perhaps accosting strange, possibly mentally unstable men in the middle of the hallway in search of an interesting conversation wasn't the best of ideas.
She blinks again, and the message on the paper changes. Interesting. Distantly, she is reminded of those lectures from the Time Agency.
'Undercover mission,' the paper reads. 'Can't get caught socializing with the professors, now can I? Have to pretend like I don't know anyone. I'll find you when I'm done, we can catch up then.'
River gapes at him. So he is insane, then. The certainty isn't much of a comfort, unfortunately.
The man seems to take some pause at her expression, and he gives her a once over. Takes in her haphazard ponytail and the schoolbooks for the class she isn't attending, clutched protectively against her chest, and says, "You're not a professor, are you?"
"I'm an undergrad," she says, because she can't think of anything else to say. Her? A professor? Please. Talk about boring.
"River," he says carefully, as if she's the mentally unstable one here, "Do you know who I am?"
"Should I?" she asks.
He blinks, and gets a faraway look in his eyes, as if considering this. "That depends. What year is it?"
"It's 5037."
The man whistles low. "I suppose you shouldn't, then. Well, River Song! I am the Doctor." The man- well, the Doctor- gives a sweeping bow.
River opens her mouth, but he cuts her off. "No need to introduce yourself. I can just see that we're going to become the best of friends."
"Er," says River. She feels like she should be objecting to this, but she's not sure how. She settles for an awkward, "Why are you here, exactly?"
"Someone- I had assumed you, now I'm not so sure -gave me a call to come here, but I seem to have arrived a bit early. No matter, I think I've uncovered a bit of intrigue with some of the staff. Nasty business, smuggling of alien artifacts that don't exist for several thousand years. In fact, I was just on my way to investigate. Care to join me?"
This is insane, River thinks. This is completely insane, but also utterly brilliant. The part of her that refused to join the Time Agency is screaming at her to run as far as she can, but for once, she tells it to shove it. "Well," she says, "I'm already late for my class. I suppose it couldn't hurt."
The Doctor grins. "Same as ever, I see."