Valentine's Jitters
Clara beamed as she opened the door to her small flat, able to sense J standing outside it before she even got to the door. It was…a little odd, for him to knock, usually he'd just set his TARDIS inside the flat, disguise it as a cupboard or something, like an extra door set into the wall, and pop out to see her. But it wasn't an alarming odd, just different.
"Cap'n!" she cheered, only to blink as she saw him and took him in, he was dressed very formally, his hair actually slicked back, garbed in a black tux…and a bow-tie, "What's wrong?" she frowned, "Who died?"
"No!" his eyes widened, "No, no one died, no," he gave a nervous laugh, "No, I just…um…this is for you," he held out a long, flat box to her.
"Thank you?" she gave him an odd look for it.
He nodded and waited, but she didn't move to open it so he shifted in place, "Um, I don't mean to push but…could you open that and put it on and meet me back here? If…if you're not busy. I know I sort of popped in but don't humans usually try to keep their schedule free today?"
Clara gave him an odd look for that remark, but nodded slowly, "Ok, give me a mo?"
He nodded, crossing his arms, and then letting them hang, and then moving them behind himself, and bobbing on his feet…he was quite a bit more fidgety than normal so she knew something was most certainly up. He was planning something.
And even though she'd promised not to peek into his head, to respect his privacy as he was respecting hers (despite the fact that he'd told her a few times that he was more used to his mind being read and had no qualms with her if she wanted to do it), she tried to. She frowned and furrowed her brow, trying to make it seem like she was just observing him, but also trying to wiggle her way into his head and see what was bothering him so much.
'Sorry Clar,' she heard him whisper in her mind, smiling at her lightly, 'But it's a surprise.'
She huffed, knowing it was more her own lacking skills with really pushing into his head than his experience with telepathic people that was keeping her from seeing it and had let him notice she was peeking. The Link made hiding things from the other almost impossible without enormous effort and even then it was still hard to maintain for too long. She still wasn't used to the Link and the access it gave her so she never tried to push for more. She probably should have in the past though, she might not have been caught this time.
"Ok, ok," she sighed, turning to head into the flat, though…she shut the door behind her to keep him out, just a small form of revenge for not telling her the surprise.
She moved down the hall and into her bedroom, putting the box down on her bed and pulling a red ribbon off it, opening the white cardboard box and gasping as she pulled a gorgeous red gown out of it. It was fitted at the top, sparkling, with a dark fabric for the skirt, a sheer almost sparkling layer of cloth over the skirt. There were two thin straps but no sleeves, a gem studded belt around the waist. It was…beautiful, completely marvelous!
She turned quickly, pressing the dress to her front to look at herself in the mirror, grinning widely before she moved to change.
~8~
Clara took a deep breath, smoothing down the dress despite not needing to do it, as she stood before her front door once more. The gown was…breathtaking on her, she'd done up her hair too in small curls, pinned to the top of her head with a few strands framing her face and neck. She looked pretty good if she had to say, but what was really making her a bit nervous was J's reaction. Not that it would be bad, no she could almost imagine his reaction to her, and it caused a warm flush to settle in her bones at the thought of his jaw dropping and his eye widening and his ability to speak leaving him just at seeing her in the dress.
And with that in mind, she quickly opened the door to see him standing there still, though leaning on his TARDIS that he'd parked just next to her door, his back to the door. She cleared her throat and he spun around.
His reaction did NOT disappoint.
His jaw fell to the floor, his eyes widened, his brows shooting up into his hairline, as he openly gaped at her, his eyes travelling over her, seeming to forget how to breathe on top of how to speak.
"Clar…you…it's…I…dress…."
Clara laughed at his reaction, stepping forward to put her hand under his chin and snap it up, "Thank you."
"You look beautiful," he breathed, finally getting his mind to work once more, taking her hand from under his chin to press a kiss to, "Just…stunning. Amazing, lovely, gorgeous, div…"
"Ok," Clara blushed as red as her dress, pressing a finger to his lips with her other hand, only for him to take that one too and press a kiss to her finger, "Thank you," she nudged him, "You don't look too bad yourself, Cap'n. Any reason for the blacktie?"
"Yes, yes, I have a reason," he nodded, "Can't, for the life of me, remember what that is right now," he looked her up and down, "But I swear I DID have a reason."
Clara bit her lip at that, pleased to know she'd gotten to him so much that he'd forgotten the reason for giving her the dress in the first place.
"I need to send mum a thank you card after this," he mumbled.
"Evy?" she blinked, not quite expecting him to bring up his mother.
"She um…she picked out the dress, got it all wrapped up before I could see it, just told me to trust her, which…which is probably good, I don't think I'd have been able to pick out something lovely enough for you."
Clara smiled softly at that, knowing that J had a chance of inheriting the Doctor's abysmal fashion sense despite his usual good choice in clothing. This was, clearly, something very important to him to let his mother pick out a dress for her, he really wanted it to be perfect and to not get it wrong. And she was sure a bit of it was Evy wanting them to be able to have that reaction to seeing her in the dress too.
"I'll remind you," she reassured him, "Though I can't quite remind you what you wanted me in a dress for, you kept that from me. But I'd guess it's something formal?"
He looked at her, blinking, "Right!" he nearly shouted, "Right, yes, yes, I remember now!" he beamed, his confidence restored as he held out an arm to her, "My Lady?"
Clara laughed but linked her arm through his, "Good sir."
J winked at her, leading her off to his TARDIS for transportation.
~8~
Whatever confidence J had built up upon remembering what he'd planned for their adventure had quickly left him, which had actually surprised Clara quite a bit. J wasn't normally the sort to be hesitant or nervous, yet that was exactly what he was right then.
But, then again, where they'd ended up was also very much unlike what she would have pictured for the Doctor's son.
They were in a restaurant. A nice one. A very nice, formal, expensive one, it seemed. She'd heard of it, vaguely, heard other women at Coal Hill mention it. It was very hard to get a reservation to it was so booked, though she supposed, with a time machine, you could go back a year or two and make a reservation and then just pop to that date. She'd done it a handful of times too.
"Are you ok, Cap'n?" she asked, having just watched him guzzle down an entire glass of water, including the ice.
"I'm fine," he smiled, "It's just…it's warm in here, isn't it?"
"No," she frowned, "A bit chilly actually."
She barely blinked before J was out of his seat, pulling off his jacket to place it around her shoulders and was sitting down again, "Better?"
"Sure?" she really had no idea what was wrong with him right now, he was acting so…jittery, "Cap'n, what's all this about?"
"Nothing," he smiled at her, "Nothing, just a date. That's all, just a date, a date in a place, a date in a fancy place," he looked around, "Fancy, fancy place…with…breakable things around and people watching…" he frowned as he saw an older couple watching them, watching him, "And food…with sauces…" he looked down at his white shirt and back up at her, "Just a date."
Clara hesitated to ask him a sneaking suspicion she had, "Ok, I'm going to ask you one question," she told him as he poured himself another glass of water, "And you're going to answer it, truthfully, without brushing it off or changing the subject. Ok? ONE question and then I won't ask another one or pry for the rest of the evening. Deal?"
J sighed, "Deal."
"Right," she bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to know the answer, but took a breath, "Are you planning to propose to me tonight?"
It would have been comedic, the spray of water that shot out of J's mouth at her question while he was mid-sip of his water…had it not sprayed on the waiter as he came to take their order. J's eyes widened, but turned to Clara instead, ignoring the man as he glared and stalked back to the kitchens.
"What…why would you…I…you think I…"
"Cap'n, breathe in," Clara reached out to take his hand, squeezing it, trying to calm him down, he looked like a deer in headlights about to run.
J took a breath, and held it…and held it…and held it…
"And breathe out!" Clara cried as his face started to turn red.
He let out a deep exhale, gasping a few more breaths in, before managing to get out, "You think I'm going to propose to you?"
"Are you?"
"No," he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck, "No, I'm…not right now. I…I'm in your head Clar, as much as I try not to pry or dig, I am still in your head. I know you're not ready for something like that. I wouldn't put you in a position you weren't comfortable or ready for."
"Then what's got you all worked up?" she shook her head, inwardly very relieved he wasn't about to propose.
"Nothing," he smiled tensely at her, squeezing her hand back, "Nothing, now," he nodded down at her hand, making her roll her eyes, "I just…wanted to take you on a date. A nice date. And that's what we'll have."
Clara eyed him at his determined tone, but said nothing more as he called the waiter over once more, the man stopping three feet from the table to take their order incase J decided to turn into a fountain again.
~8~
As the night went on, Clara could tell that J was relaxing more and more, which was a relief as he seemed to be enjoying the evening more. He'd seemed so tense at first, so wound up and fidgeting that Clara had almost thought this was a cunning adventure, that they were infiltrating the restaurant or meant to be keeping track of another eater, but she was starting to realize it wasn't any of that, it was just a normal date. It was…odd, she didn't associate 'normal' with J, but it was a change.
"Have you had a good night, Clar?" J asked, smiling at her across the table as their meals were taken away.
"The best," she replied, beaming, "Are you ok now?" she had to ask, he really had seemed SO uncomfortable at first.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok."
"What was it Cap'n?" she eyed him, "What had you so nervous if you weren't planning to propose," she teased.
"It's not important," he waved it off, "Because the dessert is almost here and everything will be fine."
Clara's small smile started to fall at that, what would be fine?
"Shall I go get us two cakes?" he wiped his hand on his napkin and moved to stand…
Unfortunately, he shoved his chair out at the exact moment another waiter was walking past with a dish that was on fire. The man fell, sending the dish into the air and J ran for it, needing to catch it so that it wouldn't land on a table and sent the tablecloth on fire. He managed it, but stumbled into a couple as they were leaving, pushing them falling onto another table, that sent the occupants of it jumping back, hitting the waiter that was walking around with the pepper. That man fell to the ground, the pepper grinder shattering on the floor and sending a puff of pepper into the air, causing two other servers to start a sneezing fit that sent them stumbling into a small buffet table, knocking into it…and sending a large ice sculpture of a swan shattering on the floor…which only served to make the waiters that scrambled to clean it all up to trip all over themselves.
"Ok, time to go," Clara jumped to her feet when a patron knocked into their table, spilling their wine on her, grabbing J's hand to yank him out of the restaurant, the man only having a moment to set the flaming dish on a table, before being pulled away as a literal domino effect of people falling and shoving and tripping happened all around the restaurant.
~8~
"I'm sorry Clar," J whispered as he sat on her sofa with her later that night, the two of them having just barely managed to get into his TARDIS and back to her flat without anyone noticing. She had gone to get changed out of her dress and J had dropped himself onto the sofa, just sitting there with his head in his hands till she came back.
"For what?" she shook her head.
"I ruined Valentine's Day," he muttered.
"Cap'n…" Clara began.
"No," he looked up at her, "Don't tell me I didn't, because I did. I just…I wanted SO badly to give you a proper date Clar, just one…one normal humany date in a nice restaurant for an earth holiday about love and I mucked it all up."
"Captain…"
"I really was trying," he stood, needing her to believe that, "I tried. I…I got a suit and a bow-tie and I tried not to be too alien or stick out. And I was going to eat a normal humany meal in a humany place and not draw attention. I was going to give you a nice, normal, calm dinner…"
"J…" she tried using River's name for him, but he was on a roll.
"I was nervous, and it was hard. It's really hard for me not to talk loud or get excitable or talk about science or aliens or time travel. I wanted it to be a good date. I wanted you to have a good time without me making a fool of it all. A date where I didn't break anything or make people look at us oddly or spill anything on myself and make a mess and…I failed. I'm sorry, Clar, I'm so sorry. I just wanted our first Valentine's Day to be good for you and…"
"Sigma!" she huffed, finally getting through to him and getting him to stop, "You didn't ruin Valentine's Day."
"But I did," he sighed, so resigned, "I tried to be normal…and I just made it all worse and I ruined it."
"No you didn't," she smiled, taking his hands and stepping closer, "And do you know why?"
"Because you love me enough to see my flaws and epic failures as sweet and endearing?" he tried to smile but it didn't quite take.
Well that wouldn't do.
"I do," Clara nodded, "But that's not why Valentine's Day is fine," she leaned in more, tapping his nose with hers, "It's because tomorrow is Valentine's Day."
J blinked at her, "What?"
"Valentine's Day is the 14th."
He blinked again, "And that's…that's today, isn't it?"
Clara gave a small giggle, "Today's the 13th."
J stared at her, "You're kidding me."
"Nope," she smiled.
He let out a breath at that, "Well isn't that wizard…" he'd gotten so worked up about making Valentine's Day perfect…so much so that he'd completely missed the day in question.
"Which means, Valentine's Day hasn't been ruined," Clara added, "So you're fine."
"But that still leaves tomorrow," he reminded her, looking at her, "It'll be our first Valentine's together."
"And you want it to be perfect," she murmured, and he nodded, "Well then, shall I tell you how to make it so?"
"Please?" he gave her puppy dog eyes for it, making her laugh.
"Just be here," she told him, "Just be here with me, we'll order in, watch the telly, cuddle on the sofa…" she gave him a little nudge, making him stumble back to sit on it, allowing her to turn and sit sideways on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, "Though chocolates would help," she teased, "But that's all I need, Sigma, just you, here, with me, just that and whatever day it is will be one of the best."
J just stared at her with a soft smile, "I love you so much Clara."
She flushed at that, seeing the truth in his eye, the depth of his feelings for her, "I love you to, Cap'n."
He beamed at that, leaning in to kiss her gently, he may have mucked up February the 13th…but he would make sure the 14th would be truly one of the best days ever.
His Link deserved as much and more.
A/N: Awww :') I really wanted to try and see what J would be like if he tried to 'be human' for a little bit in a more public place surrounded by adults, even if it was just a date with Clara :) Even trying his hardest, he's still the Doctor's son and his luck doesn't always run that way, and he's not quite 100% on piloting to the correct date when he's nervous lol ;) Good thing Clara loves him anyway :)
And, this month, I'm officially adding 2 more spin-offs, one for my OC the Judge and one for Sherlock's Leena, so this story will be updated, from here on out, on the 14th/15th of every even month (February, April, June, August, October, and December).
I also want to apologize for the really terrible delay in updating this story :( 2014 was a mess of family/computer/health issues and 2015 started off with our family dog passing away along with my dad being diagnosed with cancer which caused a pause in all writing in general :( But he's on the road of being declared Cancer Free and everything is looking up so I hope to be able to keep the stories updated and updated regularly ;)
Some notes on reviews...
Yup, we will definitely see J and Clara regenerate one day ;) I'll have a better idea of when once we see how Clara departs the show ;)
I like X-Men yup :) I'll actually be writing a Wolverine/OC story eventually so we might see a retelling of First Class with it depending how that story goes, but we'll definitely see the OC in Days of Future Past at the least ;)