Ch. 2: New Haircut and a Suit
According to legend, the two moons of Darillium were deeply in love and once a lunar cycle they would meet, perfectly aligned in the sky. And from their union stars were born. Thus, Darillian children birthed on this night were said to possess the ability to communicate with the moons and were the connection to the stars. The towers this civilization built were in honor of the two moons. They sit atop the tallest peak on the small planet and reach high into the sky. Now, no one knows why, but every 100 years these towers sing; playing the ancient songs of its people. The civilization of Darillium died out thousands of years ago due to a planet-wide disease, but legend says that the towers began to sing the day the last person perished, and continue to sing on the centennial anniversary of their death. Whether mourning is the reason the towers sing or not remains a mystery but regardless they do; and this is the night that the Doctor brought me to witness it. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my incessant asking and his ages of promising, but rather his desire to see this magnificent phenomenon himself.
There was a knock on my office door at the university; strange because most staff had already ventured home. I often preferred to stay later, making use of the quiet in order to delve deeper into my research. Usually I had to sift through many history accounts in order to find even a single a trace of him, but this time he found me. To be honest the punctuate sound gave me a bit of a start. It was late evening after all and I was alone, so naturally I drew out my gun from my desk drawer. I approached the door, switched off the safety, took a swift breath and turned the nob. To my delight, my Timelord waited on the other side. He immediately broke into a wide smile as his legs characteristically wobbled and his arms flailed. I'm an independent woman, but it certainly is a joy to see the man you love genuinely happy when he sets his eyes upon you.
"Rivah!" He exclaimed.
"Hello sweetie!" I replied, holstering my gun. "What brings you here, darling?"
"Dunno, I thought we could do a thing or something." The Doctor was all gussied up, wearing a well-tailored black suit, bow tie and top hat. Bless him, for he even wore his dancing shoes!
"Well that opens up so many possibilities." I grinned suggestively, pursing my lips and straightening his lapels.
"Well, you see I got a haircut and thought I ought to celebrate!"
I lifted his top hat skeptically examining the brown mass atop his head. His fringe may have been combed for a change, but it looked exactly the same to me.
"I-I had it taken up above the ears a bit." He grinned cheesily at me.
I flashed him one of my signature 'Oh, you!' looks. He always pretends to be flustered but I know for a fact he enjoys it.
"So where are we going? Somewhere extravagant? A party? Or are we going to just have a night in?" I pulled him into my office. He stumbled over his shiny shoes and landed over top me, incidentally pinning me to my desk. "Oh, eager aren't we!" I nipped at his nose that hovered inches above mine.
"Oie!" He exclaimed, scrambling off of me. "First we should find out where we are, dear."
"Alright." I agree enthusiastically. "Jim the fish? What about Hitler?"
"Good 'ole Jim. And we should have kept the Fuhrer in the cupboard. Does the top of the Great Pyramid ring any bells, dear?
"Oh, why yes it does sweetie! And let me just say that it really was a good one." I winked.
"What about New York?" His tone saddened.
"Mum. Dad." I managed.
"Okay, right then." He paused, "I...uh... guess we're all caught up, Professor. But what year is it here, exactly? I say 'Let's go and visit River.' and the TARDIS just set off. I hadn't even time to set a date before she took off. Mind of her own that one has sometimes. Never leads me wrong though; always plunks me down just where I ought to be." His nose crinkled as he smiled a most wonderful smile. Those green eyes went soft and kind and looked upon me with such sweetness.
"It's the 52nd century; 5192. Although I like to travel back every now and again to explore when people have need for an archeologist." I answer.
The Doctor's face looked dismayed. Perhaps he'd been traveling alone longer than he had realized. But he quickly shrugged it off and turned his attention back to his plans. "The reason I've popped in was that I have a banquet to attend in 4328 and I need a plus one. I returned the Sacred Cheese Block of the Rodent Allegiance of Muridae, you see, and they're throwing me an honorary party. How could I say no? Well, I couldn't actually say no because they sort of threatened me with those horrible bitey teeth things." he mimicked incisor teeth using two fingers in front of his mouth while narrowing his eyes. "I also could not pass up the free cheese. Cheese is cool."
"Oh lovely, a rodent society. That's a new one. But what ever should I wear?"
"I've got something for you whose color won't make the mice go mad. It's in the TARDIS."
Before he had a chance to finish, I grabbed my gun and purse and was headed for the big blue box. He scrambled after me, doing a twirl before shutting the door behind us.