Comparing notes 1.5
Monday, 28 February 2011
11:54 AM
"I would appreciate it, my good fellow, if you would unhand my young friend. She doesn't appreciate it, and it's hardly the way to make a good first impression."
They baffled him, really, the apparent inability of the males in a drinking establishment to recognize a rejection, even while sober. It was blatantly obvious to him that Peri wasn't interested in most of the advances she got.
Why didn't her would-be suitors realize it? He was certain the last one would be walking with a limp for a very long time. Thank goodness he was above all that.
"Come along, Peri. I think it's time we left."
"Finally," she sighed in relief.
The Doctor wrenched open the door, took two paces, and froze. Across the street was his ninth self, hand-in-hand with his young companion, Rose, who looked somewhat disheveled. Dumbstruck, he watched as they paused in the shadows of an alley for a kiss. There was nothing chaste about it. After a long moment they separated and practically dragged each other down the street.
"Doctor what are you doing? You're blocking the door."
Peri sounded quite peeved, but he found he couldn't move. Finally she slid around him. "What is it, Doctor?" she laid a hand on his arm, glancing uneasily up and down the now-deserted street. "What's wrong?"
"Um ... er ... nothing. Shall we go?" With that he strode off in the opposite direction to his counterpart, a confused Peri trailing behind. *What on Earth has happened to him?* He was completely and utterly above that sort of behaviour. No interest whatsoever.
It came as more of a surprise to him than to Peri when he paused in a dimly lit section of the street, pressed her to the wall and kissed her thoroughly. If Peri didn't exactly kiss him back with the same enthusiasm, neither did she push him away. Nor scream, nor hurt him with that move he suspected she'd learnt from Erimem. Instead she just looked at him quizzically.
"What was that for?"
That wasn't the response he was expecting. "Well, I ... um ... er ... I just ..."
Peri smiled to herself. It wasn't often she got to see the Doctor lost for words. And was he blushing? She'd long since concluded that he was completely immune to women, or earth women. Especially after she and Erimem had done their best to seduce his previous incarnation, mostly just to see if they could (mostly), and he'd remained utterly oblivious. But clearly he wasn't entirely disinterested.
"So it's a case of monkey see, monkey do, huh?"
"What? And who are you referring to as a monkey. There's only one of us here descended from apes - and they are not monkeys!"
Peri's grin widened. It wasn't often she felt like she had the upper hand where the Doctor was concerned. She liked it. "Oh, come on! Surely you noticed there's something going on between your future self and Rose. I'm assuming it was them you saw when you froze in the door of the bar."
"Pub," he muttered sulkily.
"Whatever. So, what? You saw him enjoying it and thought you'd try for yourself?"
"Well, yes. Sort of."
She forced the grin from her face. "Thanks a bunch!"
"When I say 'yes', I don't mean I put any thought into it. It was more sort of instinct."
This time she frowned at him. "I think we need go back to TARDIS. Now."
"Why?" he asked warily.
Instead of answering she grabbed his hideous aqua tie and yanked him down to her level. Spinning him around, this time she pressed him back against the rough brick wall before kissing him lingeringly. She pulled back and grinned at him again. "Because you need the practice, and this *really*isn't the place."
Much, much later Peri smiled softly to herself in the dim light of her bedroom. "You know, we really should catch up with that other version of yourself and Rose."
The Doctor looked up from where he'd been mapping her skin without the use of his hands. "Dare I ask why?"
She slid her hands into his soft, blond curls, encouraging him to continue his task, then arched her back in pleasure as he did so. "Because I think Rose is going to owe me a thank you."
