Characters: David (10); Martha (introduced); and a Mystery Character (revealed by the end of this installment)
Rating: T because of interesting Q & A.
Warning: Someone messaged me and informed me that there is character bashing (presumably Martha, unless I REALLY missed something). You have been warned.
David kicked the flat tire, trying to contain his anger. This was perfect, just perfect. The one day he and Tara are able to get away, his car suddenly decides it needs a flat tire. Tara still sat in the car,
"Do you need some help, David?"
"Nope! No, I'm just…I'm good." Tara pushed the door open and stepped out, brown hair floating in the light breeze and bright blue eyes sparkling happily,
"You know I drive more than you."
"Yes you do." said David, grunting as he unscrewed the lugnuts. Tara smiled,
"And you know I know more about cars than you do."
"Yes."
"So why are you changing the tire?" she said. David fell back as he overbalanced, dust puffing up on his blue pinstripe suit. He looked up at Tara's smug grin,
"Because I'm the driver and the driver changes the tires."
"Really? Are you sure this isn't some form of counterproductive chivalry?"
"Absolutely positive." said David.
"Good. Then I'll do it." Tara got down on the road beside him. David almost told her not to, but he'd learned early on that arguing with his roommate was a futile endeavor. Tara quickly had the lugnuts off, the car on the jack, and the flat tire off. It was only when they were hunting for the new tired that they discovered there wasn't one.
"Well isn't that just fantastic." said Tara, plopping down on the road beside the wheel-less axle and dusting off her hands. David sat down beside her.
"We'll just have to wait, I suppose. There's bound to someone else on the road that'll give us a lift.
Three hours later, they were still waiting. They had played forty-four games of tic-tac-toe (Tara winning most of them), discussed dark matter (David had been surprised to learn Tara had a strange phobia of alternate dimensions), and played untold rounds of Truth or Dare. Finally, they both lay back in the grass beside the road to stare up at fluffy clouds.
"What's out there, you think?" asked Tara quietly.
"In space?"
"No; in the tree hollow. Of course in space." said Tara with a snort. David took a while with his answer,
"Stars. Planets. Black holes. Meteors. Why?"
"Because it feels like there's more. There should be life forms, intelligent life forms." said Tara, rolling over until her side was pressed against David's, "I mean, can you truly imagine Earth being the only planet in all the universe to house life?" David stared up for a moment, pondering his answer,
"I don't know," he said finally, "There isn't proof."
"But we've explored only a tiny portion of space."
"I was getting there." Said David with mock-annoyance. "But, seeing as we've explored so little, I can't say for sure whether or not there is intelligent life. It was Einstein, wasn't it, who said they're still looking for it here on Earth?"
"Shut up, you." said Tara with a grin. Just then, they heard gravel crunching. Both Tara and David shot up. A car was not so far down the road, already slowing down. It pulled up next to David's car. The window rolled down and a woman poked her head out,
"You two need a ride?" David stepped forward, shading his eyes against the bright sunlight,
"Yeah; where are you headed?"
"Back to London. You?" she said. David turned to Tara,
"Back to London, I guess?" he asked her. Tara nodded,
"Back to London."
"Excellent. I'll give you a ride." said the woman, unlocking the doors. David jumped in the front seat, catching the woman a bit off-guard. Tara climbed into the back seat, scowling at David. He didn't notice it as he turned to their new driver,
"So what's your name?"
"Martha Jones." she said as the car took off. She held out a hand and David shook it,
"David Jackman. And that's Tara Stevens."
"'Course there's another name he calls me too" muttered Tara. David turned in his seat to face her,
"We had just met and that was one time."
"Doesn't mean I have to let you forget it." snarked Tara with a snort.
"Sounds like there's a story there." Said Martha. David sighed good-naturedly,
"I met Tara in a bar on campus—we went to uni together—and the first thing I called her was 'Sexy.'" he said. Martha laughed,
"Oh yeah? What'd she do?" Tara leaned forward from the backseat,
"I threw my drink in his face and called him an objectifying pig." said Tara, only the tiniest of smiles breaking onto her face. David laughed,
"We've been friends ever since."
"Oh, so you're not a couples."
"Yes."
"No." Tara and David looked at each other, David in surprise and Tara with wide eyes, whispering, "Go with it." David cocked his head to the side and said,
"I mean 'no'. No, we are a couple."
"Really? How long have you two been together?" said Martha with a smirk. Tara quickly replied,
"Two years."
"Anniversary?"
"May 21st."
"His favorite food?"
"Chips."
"Least favorite?"
"Pears."
"Kink?" asked Martha. David blushed and interrupted,
"Now there is no need—"
"Role playing, and I can give you all the dirty details, so you can just go ahead and take your claws out of him." said Tara, leaning forward on her seat and staring at Martha in the rear view mirror. An awkward silence desceneded on the car all the way back to London. Martha dropped them off at David's apartment. Tara jumped out like the car had burned her. David was a little more slow-moving. Before he got out, Martha laid her hand on his arm,
"Hey, if you ever get tired of Trina, just…you know. Let me know." She slipped a business card into his breast pocket and kept his gaze for a moment. David gulped,
"Right. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the ride." He jumped out and waved Martha off. As soon as she was gone, he rounded on Tara,
"Where do you come off saying all that?"
"Sorry, did I get something wrong?"
"Well no, but…"
"She was expressing interest in goods that were not for sale." said Tara with a shrug. David stopped, confused,
"What?" Tara rolled her eyes,
"Did you entirely miss the way she ogled you practically all the way back?"
David nodded. Tara sighed,
"Well, she did."
"But maybe—"
Did she or did she not detain you to say that when you're done with me, she'll be waiting? And did she or did she not slip you her number?" said Tara, hand on her hip. David looked down and kicked at the tiny pebbles on the sidewalk. Tara nodded, "I told you."
"But why'd you scare her off?"
"Did you want her to stay?" asked Tara. David shrugged,
"Not really."
"So why are you mad?"
"Not mad," said David, "just surprised. I've really never known you to be so unreasonably rude."
"Not unreasonably. She was about to come on to you and you know it. I just saved you the trouble of having to turn her down." said Tara with a grin. David shook his head,
"Come on," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "my roommate Sexy."
A/N: Yes, the TARDIS's personality is David's roommate. This is way before everyone else in the timeline, before David even moved in above Gallifreyan Dentistry. I apologize for the jumping timeline stuff. When I finish this or at least have a better handle on it, I'll go back and organize everything in chronological order. In the meantime… prompts? Want to see more Amy/Rory? 11/River? Jack/Donna? 10/Rose? Just drop me a line with a prompt and I'll see what I can do. I hope you enjoyed this!
