- 3 -
The effect was all he could have wished. With a startled yelp, two faces turned in his direction, mouths and eyes wide open. In an instant both boys vanished among the racks of clothes. The Doctor thought for a moment. He didn't want to play hide-and-seek throughout the Tardis, and if he moved from the door he was pretty sure that was what would happen. So he stood quite still and let them realize he wasn't going to chase them.
"Hello?" he called, careful to keep his tone neutral. "It's alright. You can come out now." Nothing happened. "I won't hurt you." The Doctor sighed. "Olley olley oxen-free!" he called, then smacked his forehead. "You've been hanging around Rose too much," he scolded himself.
But the nonsense seemed to have the desired effect. The two boys - or were they young men? it was hard to tell - shuffled sheepishly out from behind the clothes. They stayed well out of reach and he could see them calculating their chances of escape. He raised his hands to show peaceful intentions and their eyes followed the glowing tip of the sonic screwdriver.
"You're not going to turn us into anything -- unnatural, are you?" one asked hesitantly.
"That's not a staff, Pip," the other corrected before the Doctor could speak.
"But it looks magical," Pip replied. "And this place looks like somewhere old Gandalf would live."
"Well he doesn't look like Gandalf. There's no beard or anything. I think he's an elf!"
"Merry, does he look anything like what old Bilbo said for elves?" Pip replied scornfully. "You must have rocks in your head."
The discussion was rapidly turning into an argument, and from the tones of their voices this was something they did frequently and enjoyed.
The Doctor was amazed. They seemed to have completely forgotten about him and the fact that they were trespassing in his Tardis. He'd better interrupt before things got completely out of control, although he wondered if it wasn't too late already.
"Ahem," he said pointedly, and was rewarded by sudden silence. "I'm the Doctor. Would you mind telling me who you are and how you got into my Tardis?"
"Tardis? What's that?"
"I told you he's a wizard, Pippin. They do magic and this place is definitely magical. Who else would call something a name like that?"
The argument was starting again, and, even as quick-witted as he was, the Doctor was beginning to get a headache trying to keep up with these two. "What are your names?" he asked more loudly.
"I'm Meriodoc Brandybuck," said the blond, "and this…"
"I'm Peregrin Took," the other interrupted, "but most people call me Pippin. And you left the door open."
Merry shook his head reproachfully. "That's a careless thing to do. You don't know what might have wandered in!"
"Yes, so since it was open, well, I just thought I'd take a look. You know, to make sure everything was alright," Pippin explained.
"And I couldn't let him go in by himself!" Merry picked right up. "No telling what might have happened. And then once we were inside we thought we'd just take a tiny look around."
"It's a very interesting place," Pippin informed him, as if he didn't already know. "You know, it's much oh no, here we go again with the "bigger on the inside" remark thought the Doctor smaller on the outside. How did you do that?"
At that the Doctor burst out laughing. Talking with them - or at least listening to them - was both stimulating and amusing. At his laughter they both relaxed a little and smiled back at him.
Merry's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.
"Time for elevenses," Pippin announced cheerfully. "Where can we build a fire?"
"Fire?" he repeated blankly as they trotted over and began gathering up the pile of food. Really, they changed directions more often than Rose, and she was always off on some tangent. Not that he minded, not with Rose.
"Well, yes, and if you have some water and a pot we can make a nice stew for lunch." Pippin gestured to the vegetables. "And do you have some bread and jam? We could have sandwiches now and the stew for lunch. That would be good, don't you think?"
"You're staying for lunch?" the Doctor asked in surprise, which they seemed to take as an invitation.
"Good," Merry said as they split around the Doctor and headed into the hallway. "So where's the kitchen? This way?"
"No!" the Doctor exclaimed sharply and they looked at him, startled. He didn't want to explain that there were some rooms of the Tardis which were not meant for casual visitors, so he smiled and pointed in the other direction. "The kitchen is this way."