Chapter Two
(Lone Shee's Perspective)
The Lone Shee sipped his tea casually as he worked on his latest DNA project. He was relieved to finally have one moment of peace and quiet. Recently he had discovered an unusual color-changing gene that seemed to give Norns immortality and high resistance to histamine A and B. Naturally there had been a few casualties when he had tested it out on his Norns, but that was hardly a concern. If he did this correctly, then he could make a monumental genetic discovery!
Suddenly Ettie, a friendly Ettin of his, rushed in, frantically waving her arms about. "Sir, there's some visitors on the ship!" Ettie reported. The Lone Shee spun around in his chair, feeling alarmed. "What? Who are they?" he asked, trying to conceal his excitement. Could it possibly be a Shee?
Ettie vehemently shook her head. "No, sir. It's a female human and a person who appears to be either an insane British professor or a male Time Lord." "Time Lord? But…" the Lone Shee muttered, unable to believe what Ettie had told him. He had watched Doctor Who since he was a child and had always loved the show, but he had always assumed that Time Lords were a fictional race.
Still, he couldn't conceal his enthusiasm. "Is it really him? The Doctor?" he asked eagerly. Ettie just shrugged indifferently. "I don't know, sir. It might be him. Would you like me to send him your regards?"
"No, please don't. I'd like to greet him in person, if you don't mind," the Lone Shee replied, leaping up from his chair and sending a test tube full of genetic material splattering all over the floor. Ettie just sighed, rolled her eyes, and ordered the Toxic Norns to clean it up. Her master could be rather absentminded at times, which sometimes led to complete disasters.
She looked to the left, then to the right. When she was certain that the Lone Shee had left, she snuck up to his desk and stole his tea. Ettie sipped it hesitantly and grunted. "Chamomile again, eh? Oh well, you can only have so many positives," Ettie harrumphed.
...
The Lone Shee could hardly breathe. Here he was, experimenting in the middle of the night, and it just so happened that his favorite childhood TV character showed up in his spaceship? It just seemed too good to be true.
Taking a deep breath, he put on a nonchalant face and prepared to face the invaders. Tentatively, he stepped into the Norn Miso-and almost swooned.
Yes, it was the Doctor, in the flesh! He hadn't seen this Doctor, but he didn't know of any other character that carried a sonic screwdriver in Sheeish TV. This unfamiliar Doctor wore a brown coat, dark trousers, a white shirt, and a noticeable red bowtie. Beside him was a rather ordinary woman who seemed to be a human.
Although the Lone Shee was ecstatic, he knew he had to remain cool and unemotional. If he started asking questions about the Doctor's life or his adventures through time, he would look rather suspicious. Instead, he smoothed back his fur and gulped. "Who are you? Explain your purpose, species, and rather unusual telephone box contraption that you have brought with you," he demanded.
"Oh! Hello there! It seems we've found the owner of the ship," The Doctor said with a silly grin.
"Is it friendly?" Amy inquired.
"Excuse me!" The Lone Shee cried. "I am not an 'it'! I'm the Lone Shee! And what are you and this rather attractive human female doing in my spaceship? Planning an invasion on behalf of the Banshee, I assume?"
"Hey, hands off, furry!" Amy snorted. "What's a Banshee, anyway?
"The Banshee used to be Shee who were obsessed with gadgets, like me. They eventually stopped caring for Norns and began to care for Grendels instead. Then they had the idea of injecting themselves with Grendel DNA, and so they became heartless, cruel creatures. They're our worst enemies…like the Daleks are yours." The Lone Shee elucidated.
At this, Amy furrowed her brow and glanced nervously at the Doctor. "How do you know about Daleks?" the Doctor questioned, giving the Lone Shee a suspicious look. The Lone Shee hesitated, unsure about how to answer him. Should he tell him that he knew about Daleks by watching Doctor Who for years in his youth, or should he make up something?
He eventually decided to tell a half-truth rather than lie to the Doctor. It just didn't seem right to fib to his hero. Besides, he had never been a great liar.
"Well...You're quite well-known in our part of the galaxy. Your adventures are practically legend around here," the Lone Shee faltered. The Doctor grinned. "Ah! That's nice. Don't get that very often."
Amy looked somewhat nervous and looked cautiously around the spaceship. Eventually, she spoke. "Are…are you the owner of these Norns here? They're quite adorable." "Yes, I am. I've actually done lots of work in Norn genetics, and I've created quite a few breeds, not to mention Warping around and discovering new worlds and Norns," he replied.
"Oh, that explains it," Amy said, petting a curious Fallow that was nuzzling at her legs. The Lone Shee just smiled shyly. It was really quite something for him to be speaking with the renowned Doctor and his companion that he'd admired all his life. In fact, he was so ecstatic that he didn't notice Flame, a male Hardman, enviously eyeing the Doctor's bowtie.
Suddenly, before the Lone Shee could do anything, Flame lunged at the Doctor and ripped off his bowtie.
"Oi! Give that back!" The Doctor cried.
"Oh, dear…excuse me for a moment while I get your good bowtie back for you, sir," the Lone Shee stuttered in embarrassment. Blushing like a sunset, he walked up to Flame and valiantly attempted to reclaim the bowtie. "Tie nice. Me play with tie," Flame stubbornly insisted.
"No, Flame. We've got to give the nice tie back to this gentleman and his lady friend. You've got to be polite to guests, you know," the Lone Shee wheedled. However, Flame took no notice of his coaxing. Instead, he proceeded to put the bowtie in his mouth and chew it.
The Lone Shee let out a nervous laugh at the awkward situation and glanced at Amy and the Doctor. Amy seemed amused by the whole affair, but the Doctor was quite flustered and irritated.
"Flame, please, behave yourself. I know you may not like having guests on the Capillata, but that doesn't give you any excuse to be mean to them. Give it back," the Lone Shee prompted. "No! Tie nice. Me keep tie, no listen to you. Meanie," Flame pouted, crossing his arms adamantly. A corner of the bowtie was sticking out of Flame's mouth, like the feather of a bird hanging out of a naughty fox's mouth. The Lone Shee couldn't help but laugh at this, but when he saw the Doctor's expression, he stopped immediately.
"Flame, if you don't give back the tie to this gentleman, then I'm going to have to force you to give it back. And you wouldn't want that, now would you?" the Lone Shee scolded, desperate to reclaim the tie for the Doctor. However, Flame apparently thought that the tie was worth fighting over. Flame dropped to his haunches and growled threateningly, like a bull in an arena.
"A little aggressive there, huh?" Amy remarked. "Indeed…errr…just give me a moment, and I'll get it back from him," the Lone Shee stammered. He approached Flame and gently tugged on the tie, hoping to yank it from the obstinate Hardman.
Flame glared at him, and then pulled back on the tie. "OW!" the Lone Shee complained as his arm was nearly jerked right out of his socket. Flame wrenched it back, causing the Lone Shee to tug equally hard. Before long, a full-out game of tug-of-war erupted between the Norn and his Shee.
Though the Lone Shee fought with all his might, Flame simply refused to back down. As he struggled with his pet, he thought he heard laughter in the background. However, judging by the Doctor's reaction to his bowtie being stolen, he assumed that the laughter must be coming from Amy. "Come on now, you little brat! Just give it up already!" he snarled, impatient with his Norn's puerile behavior.
This was the final straw for Flame. The Hardman glowered like a wounded tiger. Then he yanked back his head and snapped the bow tie with disobedient triumph. "Tie gone," Flame grinned, basking in the glory of his victory and of the Lone Shee's expression.
The Lone Shee blushed, now finding himself in a highly awkward situation. He held the bowtie in his hand, wondering what on Sphercius he should say to the Doctor. He had the feeling that he might be thrown into an airlock if he said the wrong thing. "Errmmm…sorry, sir, but I'm afraid that we have just decapitated your bowtie. Care for tea and biscuits?" he apologized.
Meanwhile, Ettie had been watching the whole traumatizing drama from the doorway of the Workship. At seeing this recent development, she slapped her forehead and rolled her eyes. "Let's hope that the bowtie can regenerate as well," she muttered sarcastically.
