Hello! As usual thank you to all my reviewers and followers- enjoy!
"What about this one?"
The Doctor looked me over, "Lily, we are in London in 1893, you're going to have to wear something a little more old fashioned." He said this like he was explaining something completely obvious to a four year old, so of course I had to say something snippy in return.
"Well I've never been to nineteenth century London, how am I supposed to know what to wear?" I had already tried on two other dresses, and the Doctor had rejected both of them. He was insistent on me wearing traditional clothing since it was frowned upon for women to wear pants where we were going. The Doctor himself had put on a tailcoat and a top hat, but my outfit was slightly more complicated to figure out. "And, you know, you could help me pick out the right clothing instead of rejecting all of my choices."
He gave me an exasperated look before standing up from his chair and walking through the rows of clothing in the TARDIS wardrobe. The place was amazing: there were trench coats, suits, dresses from all eras, hats, shoes, sweaters, scarves, socks, and I even spotted a feather boa near the poncho collection.
A few moments later I heard a triumphant "Aha!" from somewhere in the maze of clothing and the Doctor came quickly back holding a long red dress and dropped it into my arms.
I took one look at the thing and gave the Doctor an apologetic smile, "Um ... yeah. The thing is, red isn't really my color. Is there one in blue?"
He stared at me in disbelief, "You women, there's just no pleasing you, is there?" and he went back into the mass of clothing, muttering about how he never had this problem with any of his male companions.
About twenty minutes later (it took so long because the damn thing was so hard to get into) I emerged from behind the changing screen in a floor length navy blue dress with off-the-shoulder straps and black gloves. "Well, how about this one?" I asked, and I spun around to show off the whole thing.
Whatever exasperated comment he was about to give me left him immediately, and he stared at me with his mouth open and ran his fingers through his hair like he didn't know what to do with himself.
"Careful, you'll catch flies." I chided him.
His cheeks turned a light pink color and he closed his mouth quickly, "Yes ... well. You look ..." he seemed to struggle to find the right word, "appropriate."
"Oh, Doctor. It makes me all warm inside when you get so sentimental."
He blushed a little deeper, "Oh shut up." He then took my hand and I lifted up the hem of my dress to keep up with his quick pace.
We walked quickly through the halls of the TARDIS and down the stairs to the console room. "So what's so special about 1893 anyway?"
He gave me a mischievous smile, "You'll find out soon enough. But I know you're going to enjoy it." He walked across the console towards the doors with me in quick pursuit.
"You're so confident that I'll love it?"
He paused for a moment with his hand on the door handle, "Yes." and he opened the doors.
The first thing I saw was snow, and not the pathetic excuse for snow that I usually see, but giant puffs of white that floated in the air and made the world a snow globe. The street corner we were standing on was teeming with people in outfits just like the Doctor and I, and there were shops all along the sidewalk with decorations in the windows.
"It's Christmas." I said with a laugh, "I'm in 1893. At Christmas. My life is so weird but I don't really care at the moment."
The Doctor smiled at my reaction, "If you like that, wait 'till you see what we're really here for." He then linked his arm in mine and we strolled down the street- like we did this everyday (well, he did- but that's beside the point).
We crossed the street, avoiding the old fashioned cars and horse carriages, and walked up to the window of a café. Inside I could see a variety of people drinking tea and other traditionally British things, and in a corner I saw a well-dressed man with a mustache writing on a pad of paper. He looked strangely familiar...
The Doctor followed my gaze and nodded, "Yes, him. We are here to see him."
"Who is he exactly?" I could remember seeing his face before, but I couldn't place it.
"Let's find out, shall we?" He said with a smile and took my hand to lead me into the café.
It was very warm inside, and I couldn't help but overhear people's conversations with how crowded it was. I actually almost burst out laughing when I heard someone say, "Jolly good."
We came up to the table the man was sitting at and, when he saw us, he stood up, "Ah, Doctor. How delightful it is to see you again." He shook the Doctor's hand vigorously.
"And you as well." he released the man's hand and gestured towards me, "This is my companion, Ms. Lily Watercreek. Lily, this is Arthur Conan Doyle." He waited for my reaction with an amused expression, and I'm sure I reacted just as he expected.
My jaw dropped and I looked back and forth between the two men standing in front of me: one was an amazing time-travelling alien, and the other created the world of Sherlock Holmes... Frankly I wasn't sure who I was more impressed by at the moment.
"What? Really? The Arthur Conan Doyle?" I smiled at the Doctor and he gave me the same I knew you were going to love this look. "I am such a huge fan of yours, the stories of Sherlock Holmes are the greatest detective stories ever. I've read every one!" At this point I was acting like an obsessed fangirl, but, let's face it, I kind of was.
"Why thank you, young lady. It is always a pleasure to meet someone who appreciates my works. Which story, if you don't mind me asking, is your favorite?"
"Oh, definitely The Final Problem. I think the interaction between Holmes and Professor Moriarty was extremely interesting. Of course I enjoy all of the stories, even after The Final Problem." I looked back at the Doctor and he gave me a warning look, like I should stop talking,
"My dear girl, I think you are confused. The Final Problem was my last publication of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and I do not intend to write any more." He gave me a curious look, as if he was wondering if i was mentally stable. Oh, the irony...
"Oh..." I looked at the Doctor for help, luckily he seemed to understand what I wanted him to do.
"Yes, well now that we're all acquainted, shall we sit?" He pulled out a chair at the table and gestured me to sit in it before taking his own seat, and Arthur Conan Doyle sat across from us.
"Right you are, Doctor. It has been a fair amount of time since I saw you last." He gave him a questioning look.
"Well you know me, I never stay in one place for too long."
"Yes, and I have often wondered where you go off to."
The Doctor smiled at Doyle coyly, "I take it you received my telegraph."
That made me take my eyes of Doyle and focus on the Doctor, "Wait, you have a telegraph?"
He looked at me as if I was asking a stupid question and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Yes, of course. The TARDIS is equipped with every form of communication from every time period in history. You can't very well Tweet-" he said this as if he had a grudge against Twitter, "-someone from the dark ages, can you?" Obviously he said this to keep Doyle from hearing about the TARDIS, but his effort was wasted since I didn't hear a word he was saying- I was too focused on how close his face was to mine.
He seemed to notice this as well and slowly moved his lips away from my ear, giving me that awkward flustered smile he always wears when something like this happens.
Doyle, to my horror, also seemed to notice and took a polite sip of his tea before interrupting our awkward moment, "Yes, I did in fact receive your telegraph, but it was over a month ago, Doctor. What could possibly have occupied you for that amount of time?" He gave me a shrewd look and took another sip of his tea. In amusement I looked at the Doctor, who seemed just as shocked as I was at his suggestion.
"Now Arthur, I don't know what you're implying, but your impropriety seems to be growing with age."
Arthur Conan Doyle laughed a bit at this, "Quite right, Doctor. It is unlike a man of my stature to speak in that way to another man. But then again, you aren't any ordinary man, are you?"
The Doctor sighed and took up a playful tone, "Ah, Arthur. Clever as always. But you know you'll never get any answers from me."
"Perhaps I won't have to, Doctor. Perhaps, like Sherlock Holmes, I shall deduce the answers to my questions."
The Doctor smiled at the challenge, "You'll at least have time to try now that you've killed off the main character in your story."
Doyle sat back in his seat, "Yes. Honestly, the whole ordeal was too much. I have been much blamed for doing that gentleman to death, but I hold that it was not murder, but justifiable homicide in self-defense, since, if I had not killed him, he would certainly have killed me. I was expected to write the equivalent of intricate novels into newspapers on a deadline. I just wasn't able to go on with it."
"That's a shame," I said to Doyle (even though I knew he would write more Holmes stories eventually), "Sherlock Holmes is my favorite literary character, I would love to see more of him in the future."
Doyle gave me an apologetic smile, "I am sorry, Ms. Watercreek, but I am afraid I am done with Sherlock Holmes for good. I am going to focus now on my other literary pursuits." He drained the rest of his tea and pulled a pocket watch out of his coat pocket. "Oh, I am sorry, Doctor, but I have an eleven thirty appointment I must make. Had you arrived when you said you would, I could have arranged more time." He scolded the Doctor.
"I know, you keep telling me to pay attention to time. But honestly there's no point because it all runs together for me." We all stood up as he said this, and the Doctor shook Arthur Conan Doyle's hand once again.
"You always say the strangest things, Doctor. I swear I will figure you out. You're just another riddle to be solved, and I have never been faced with a more difficult one."
"I have." The Doctor said more to himself, but he looked at me as he said it- so I knew he was talking about my visions. I had actually forgotten I had them since I entered the TARDIS, I was just too busy and overwhelmed to think about them.
Doyle seemed to miss the hidden meaning of his words and smiled at me, "I'm charmed to have made your acquaintance, Ms. Watercreek."
"The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Conan Doyle," I was surprised at how nineteenth century I sounded as I said this, and apparently the Doctor was too as he was barely suppressing a laugh.
We all walked out of the café but, before we could go our separate ways, Doyle told the Doctor something in private. In response the Doctor adopted the awkward flustered look I was beginning to know so well, "Impropriety, Arthur, that's all I'm saying." Was all he said before walking away from Arthur Conan Doyle and joining arms again with me. We walked back to where the TARDIS was parked and the Doctor held the door open for me.
"So, how was the past?" He said with a satisfied smile.
"Amazing! I met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! I can't believe I just met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!" I laughed, "How did you know I would like him so much, anyway?"
"Well when I was in your house I saw that you owned the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes and the movies also. It was just a little ... deduction." He finished with a smile.
I rolled my eyes, "Oh, you think you're so clever."
He tapped my nose with his finger, "Correct." and he ran up to the control panel in the middle of the room. "Alright then. We've done the past and future. Where's next?" he asked me, and this time I had ideas of what we could do.
"Can we meet more people? Like ... Cleopatra! Or Marilynn Monroe? Or how about Elizabeth 1! She's got to be interesting."
The Doctor looked at me uncomfortably, "Um ... no. I don't think it's a good idea for me to see those particular people... Anyone else?"
I shook my head and smiled at him, "Oh, I don't care. It doesn't matter where we go, it'll all be wonderful!"
The Doctor smiled at this, but then his face became very serious and he walked back towards me, "Lily, I haven't been completely honest with you." he paused for a moment, as if he was regretting telling me this, "Traveling with me will not always be like this- it will be dangerous. Some people have travelled with me and ... bad things have happened to them." When he finished he looked down and I could tell he really didn't want to have this conversation.
"What do you mean by 'bad things'? What happened to them?"
He looked at me sadly, "Some left me, some got left behind, and some, not many but some ... some died."
We were both quiet for a minute, and I let all of that soak in. "I just want you to know, in case you would rather go home." the Doctor said, but I didn't even have to think about my answer.
"Nah." I replied very nonchalantly. The Doctor looked surprised at the quickness of my answer, but pleased all the same.
"You're sure? Absolutely sure?"
I rolled my eyes, "What? Do you want me to say 'no'? Yes I'm sure! I've probably never been so sure of anything in my whole life! I just got a taste of the universe, and you won't be able to get rid of me that easily."
He smiled at me and, as usual, I smiled back, "Alright then, here we go."
And soon we were off into space.
Okay, I had to make a Sherlock reference in this story eventually, so here it is! I even used a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. Anyway, now that they've had one trip into the past and future, I can get down to the good stuff! Yey sexual tension! Please tell me what you think!
[This part is for Mara (that means if you're not Mara, don't read it!): Hello! Okay, so in one of your reviews, you said you were going to give me your email address so I could message you back. And ... I never got it- so I don't know if I just didn't get it or you changed your mind... Yeah, I swear I'm not a stalker. Please let me know because you're too awesome to not message back! Oh, and happy new year to you too :) ]