For Laney, stepping into a dank supply closet filled with dead and not-so-dead cockroaches was not exactly what she first thought of when embarking on an adventure with a strange man who called himself by a noun. But that box...
"How the mess did you get a big, freakin' box in here?" she pondered aloud.
The Doctor didn't reply, just smiled and leaned against it, ignoring the fact he had jsut knocked over a couple of mops.
Laney hesitated, resting her hand on the rough wood, feeling it with her fingers. Her mother would kill her. If she went into a closet with a strange man, she could hear her mother now. What do you think you're doing, Laney Marie Connerly! You get back in that room right now and you call UPD!
In her head, she knew that's really what she probably should do. But this box... she kept running across the outside of it, as if to see it was real. The wood... that familiar feeling of the grain, of light splinters where it had been used or damaged, smooth near the door where it had been touched... if Laney trusted anything, it was the things a piece of wood could tell her. The little metal handle was tarnished, used from the touching of hands over a long time. The hinges had seen better days. It seemed so old and used, but...that bright blue box shone like a the day it was built. Old and new. Ancient yet recent. Finally, her hands reached that little tarnished handle, she pushed in the door, and stepped inside.
Awe. Shock, yes, but mostly awe. Laney laughed out loud in surprise, looking back at the Doctor, who had followed her in and closed the door. Almost immediately, she ran up the steps to the main console, looking at all the strange devices. Ever a person for touch, she brushed her hands along the smooth metal console, looking at the cavern around her.
"It's...beautiful!" she cried happily. Excitedly, she hopped down, running up the closest flight of stairs, panting, breathless with glee. "Is this a POOL in here?" Her voice echoed into the console room.
The Doctor chuckled under his breath, tossing his coat in the brown chair by the console. As he adjusted the strange contraptions, he fondly caressed the TARDIS' console board, grinning like a lovesick schoolboy. "Did you hear that, girl? Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, you sexy thing," he whispered to her. "I like her already. Now, why don't we see why Miss Laney is having psychic connections to the Civil War, shall we?"
As Laney continued to dash around the interior, the Doctor tweaked what looked to be a metal spork attached to a bunch of wires, before winding up a whirligig and pulling the monitor towards him. "Miss Laney!" he called out.
It was almost too much for a girl. She came running out of another mysterious corridor, almost hyperventilating but way too excited to sit still. She hopped up on the platform and plopped down onto the floor near the Doctor's feet, tired but giggling incessantly. "Doctor," she weezed, "This place is huge! I didn't really believe whatever you were saying earlier, but once I saw the inside... This is huge! You live here?"
Tweaking a few more controls and finally, with a surprisingly graceful spin, slamming a button, he offered her a hand up off the floor, raising his eyebrows. "Want to see something even more amazing?"
"Of course I do!" she squealed, grabbing his hand and pulling up, trying to regain her feet. Unfortunately, she was a little stronger than the Doctor had anticipated. There was an awkward moment where he stumbled forward, she made it to her feet, then tried to catch him, but hadn't regained her balance when he tumbled over the ledge of the console, with Laney going down with him. When the proverbial smoke cleared, she found herself almost directly on top of the Doctor, nose to nose.
Cue awkward silence. Seconds passed, both of them stunned, before finally the Doctor gave her a cheeky grin and patted her on the face. "Well, Miss Laney, you could have at least asked me to dinner first."
Laney quickly rolled off of him, her face turning as red at the Doctor's bow-tie. She stuttered profusely, muttering apologies under her breath as she nervously rolled up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "I'm so sorry, Doctor, I'm just clumsy is all, I didn't mean for it to...I mean... yeah." She stopped, opening her mouth like she had something to say before blushing even deeper and turning away to compose herself. When she had finally lost at least half of the pink from her ears, she turned back to him, tucking an imaginary piece of hair behind her ear. "So, um, what were you going to show me?"
The Doctor was way ahead of her. He hopped quickly back to the control panel, flicking switches and once again giving her that dangerous smile. He wrapped his long fingers around a lever and almost purred, "Hold on, little miss."
Suddenly, it was like standing up during a plane taking off. The ground rumbled and shook as Laney dropped to her knees and grabbed a pole on the control panel, holding on for dear life. The Doctor laughed and Laney held onto the pole for dear life, wondering what she was doing in a strange box in a supply closet that moved.
Screeeeee. Screeeeeee. Screeeeeeee
Laney's fingers slipped from the pole and she fell on her face. Still terrified, she gripped with the tips of her fingers to the floor, and just as she thought she was going to die...
THUMP.