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Chapter 10 - Dinner with the King

The Doctor and Rose sat next to one another in the large dining hall on the Asclepius. Genie continued to sit on her Daddy's lap. Lewis and Lance sat across the table. Lance was clicking the table top, which was a large screen with a menu of everything the food replicators could make. He seemed to be having a hard time making up his mind what he wanted to eat.

"Ah. Nothing sounds good tonight." Lance complained.

Rose asked, "What time is it?"

The Doctor looked back at her. "I'm keeping the ship on London time. It will help when we get back home. Plentitude has a longer day than Earth does. It's 6:14 now in the evening."

Lewis spoke to Genie. "I hear you were watching a movie with your Daddy."

Genie nodded her head.

Legate and Logan walked in and took a seat at the table.

"What were you watching?" Lewis asked her.

Genie quietly said, "Frozen. Daddy thinks it's weird."

Logan smiled as he sat down. "Frozen? I think every little girl likes that movie. Personally, I prefer Tangled. That was a good movie."

Genie smiled and got excited. "That is a good movie. Daddy, we should watch that one! Have you seen it? It has a lizard in it and a girl that hits a man in the face with a pan! It is so funny!"

The Doctor looked confused at her. "This is entertaining?"

Rose giggled, "That is a good movie! You two should watch it. Have you seen it?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't think so. Is this a Disney movie?"

Rose pointed at him, "Yes. And the parents aren't dead. Logan, you probably would know. John was asking me if any Disney movies have the parents living in them. Do you know of any except Tangled?"

Logan thought for a moment. "Oh, that's just mad. There's a lot of them that do. 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Hercules, Brave, Mulan, Mary Poppins, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid 2 and pineapple coconut classic, Swiss Family Robinson."

The Doctor groaned, "I've seen the Swiss Family Robinson. That's the most unbelievable … ugh. Worse than the book! Hated that one."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I think John's a bit grumpy."

Genie giggled.

King Clagl was escorted into the large dining hall by Ashena and Licis. The two men were laughing as they walked in the door. Ashena held her father's arm. The rest of the room stood up out of respect for the royal family. King Clagl quickly held out his hand.

"Please. We are all friends here. It isn't necessary. Be seated." His booming voice said as he sat down.

Logan stood up quickly and held out a chair for Ashena who sat down next to him. Clagl noticed and smiled. "He is a kind young man. I like him, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled as he looked at Logan. "He's a great addition to the family. Indeed."

Logan smiled as he blushed at Ashena.

Tony and Timon walked into the room with Jack and Jake.

Tony held out his hands. "And you are back underway. You're welcome! Sorry, I broke your ship."

The Doctor chuckled. "It's not a problem."

Rose looked out the window to notice the stars had started to streak by again. "Well, hang on. Clagl is here-"

Clagl held out his hand. "My ship is on the way to Plentitude to collect my son. It is alright. We will dine, then slow down so I can return to my ship afterwards."

Jake smiled, "I'm sorry. We've not met. I'm Jake Simmonds."

Clagl shook his hand. "I'm Clagl. Father to Ashena."

Jake's eyes grew large. "Oh! King Clagl, then?"

Clagl shook his head. "No. Simply Clagl. I know I'm king. You don't have to say it. Anyway, Doctor. I've spoke with my Ashena. She seems completely healed from her sickness. I owe you my thanks."

The Doctor smiled at Ashena. "She's fine. Complete recovery."

Clagl laughed, "And she is very happy living on Earth. Granted, I didn't realize you would be out here so soon again."

"Well, it wasn't planned. A machine on at the hospital needs my attention. I hope this will be a quick journey there. I'm really needed back on Earth. We need to get Ashena enrolled in school, Rose has business to attend to, and there are things with my other work that need my attention there."

"And I'm dancing in the ballet." Genie said proudly.

The Doctor and Rose smiled proudly at her. Rose looked back at Clagl. "Yes. Genie is dancing for the Royal ballet."

Clagl nodded his head. "A few days away is good to clear the mind though. I am grateful you thought to bring Ashena. It is lovely to see her again so soon. I'm sorry my wife has already returned to our homeworld. I will contact her to tell her we've been able to see one another. She will be most pleased."

Clagl turned to look at Ashena. "And do you think you will want to remain on this planet, with these people?"

"For a while." She smiled. "They are very kind."

"I don't know if I like her hair being a color. It's odd." Clagl said.

Rose smiled, "That was necessary for her to fit in on Earth. No one there her age has white hair. Blond is more like what a human would wear. I used to wear my hair that color when I was her age."

The Doctor smiled at Rose.

She turned to look at him and blushed. 'I can feel that. Stop.'

His bit his lip and cleared his throat.

Tony rubbed his chin. "What are we eating? John? What do you recommend? I feel like an adventure."

Jack laughed. "I've got you, man. Hang on."

Jack clicked a few things and a plate of a large, blue, transparent fish appeared on a bed of orange lettuce in front of Tony, Timon, Jack and Jake.

Tony looked at it and nodded. "Alright. I'll give this a shot."

Jake looked at Jack. "What is this?"

Jack was already tucking in. "Try it. You might like it."

The rest of the room decided to have the same thing, except for Rose who shook her head and declared she wanted something simple. She had a plate of Shepherd's pie, which King Clagl thought looked interesting and had that for the first time in his life.

Genie and the Doctor were both full of ice cream still, but he went ahead and had the computer give them fish fingers. Genie continued to sit in his lap as they ate off of the plate together.

"We were talking about Disney movies." Rose told them. "Clagl. Have you ever seen any Disney movies?"

"Of course! They are very popular back home." Clagl nodded his head.

Tony shook his head and held up his hand. "Alright. Hang on. How in the world have you seen Disney movies?"

The Doctor smiled, "Very popular things from Earth will get picked up and taken back to other planets. I imagine you've seen a lot of John Wayne movies, too."

Clagl nodded his head and smiled. "He's my favorite! Are people of Earth really like that?"

The Doctor laughed, "No. Well, I'm sure some Americans are. One in particular, I'd like to introduce to you sometime-"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I am an American and I will speak for the majority that we are not like that! All of you crazy ass Brits think we all have cowboy boots in our closets and six shooters on our hips. Crazy."

Jack chuckled at Tony.

Tony looked at him, "Help me out here, man. You're an American, aren't you?"

Jack shook his head. "No, not really. I grew up on the Boeshane Peninsula in the 51st century. It's an Earth colony. Not a place of Americans or Brits, or whatever."

Jake smiled, "I've got it. I know how to settle this. When you were a boy, did you play baseball or football?"

Tony nodded his approval, "Yes. That will settle it. What did you grow up playing there?"

Jack smiled, "Cricket. I was good, too."

Tony shook his head. "I'm a pilgrim in an unholy land here." He looked back at the Doctor. "How the hell did you find this guy?"

The Doctor pointed at Jack. "Jack has traveled in time for centuries. He even fought in the war. Although, which side?"

Jack chuckled, "The British, sort of. It was during the Blitz. That's when I met the Doctor and Rose. We traveled together for a while, then well…. We didn't. I used my Vortex Manipulator and ended up in the mid 19th century. I didn't trust to use it again, so I just settled down and waited for a version of the Doctor I knew to come back."

Jake looked at him, "How long did you wait?"

Jack shook his head as he ate some more of his fish. "I don't remember. A while. It's not important."

Clagl looked interested. "Huh, very interesting. I've seen movies of the war. That didn't happen long ago, did it?"

Tony shook his head. "Nah, ended less than 100 years ago. How have you never seen Star Wars then, Ashena?"

Ashena shrugged her shoulders. "It had never made it out into space."

Jack wiped his mouth, "Well, think of it, man. How would that movie really sit with an alien race?"

Tony thought for a moment and then shook his head. "That's just crazy. What Disney movie is your favorite, then?"

Ashena shook her head and thought. "Probably, The Little Mermaid. That was so sweet."

Logan smiled, "You know, The Little Mermaid is filled with references to other Disney films. Much of the style and technique was pulled from Disney classics likeSleeping Beauty and Snow White, and The Little Mermaid was the first since Fantasia to rely heavily on special effects — which took 10 animators over a year to perfect. In addition, Kermit the Frog, Goofy, Mickey and Donald Duck all appear in the crowd during King Triton's arena entrance. Ursula was partially based on Madame Medusa from The Rescuers. The rest of the inspiration for the character came from Divine, the iconic drag queen who was John Waters' muse."

Jack laughed, "Oh man! Divine, the drag queen! That's someone I've not thought of in years! Was she an alien, Doc'?"

The Doctor chuckled, "Close enough. He was an American."

Tony pointed forcefully at him and said in his terrible British accent, "Cheeky, Governor."

Rose sat stunned. "Logan. How do you know all of that?"

Logan smiled, "In the movie, Ariel's father, Triton, is the king of the ocean. However, Greek mythology cast Posideon as overlord of the seas — with Triton as one of his sons. Perhaps there's a back story we're missing? I want to see that movie."

The Doctor bit his lip and laughed quietly. "I've never thought of that. That's true. Huh."

Logan continued. "People who like Shakespeare will see parallels in Hamlet and The Lion King. The original title of The Lion King was "King of the Jungle" — which was scrapped when the Disney team remembered that lions don't live in the jungle. The original plot of the film was swapped for a "Bambi in Africa meets Hamlet" story, which is how the studio described the project to screenwriter Irene Mecchi when she was brought on. Mecchi called it "Bamlet" for short."

The Doctor's eyes lit up. "You're right! I've never noticed that! It is Hamlet. That's why I like that one!"

Rose rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh brother. And we just had gotten you to stop quoting Hamlet."

He smiled like a loon at her, "Upon a fearful summons."

Rose shook her head. "Logan. You've really done it now. He's the worse at that."

Clagl chuckled, "Tell me, Logan. How do you know so much about this?"

Logan smiled, "I took a class one summer for video production. I thought about doing that as a career after school. My younger brother gave me a book about the Disney Company, and I learned all of that there. It was all he wanted me to read to him everyday for months."

"You didn't pursue it?" Jack asked.

"Nah. One class was enough for me to realize it wasn't for me."

Legate nodded, "Sometimes that's all it takes. When I was at the Academy, I took Strategy. I wanted to be a Primus at some point. That was the hardest class. Apparently, my brain isn't wired that way."

The Doctor smiled, "So, you don't plan to pursue Primus?"

Legate shrugged his shoulders. "Not right now. Maybe in a few centuries I'll revisit it. But, no way. Not now."

Lewis wiped his mouth. "I think Primus is usually only sought after by an older Quauthin. I've never heard of anyone really young doing it. I thought I was too young."

Rose looked back and asked, "How old was the youngest to become a Primus?"

Lewis shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. That's a good question. Summus might know."

The Doctor rolled his eyes back and appeared to be in thought. "No, he doesn't know. Now, he's curious. He does tell me that I'm the oldest."

Rose smiled, "Well, that's not surprising."

He smiled proudly at her.

Rose pointed at Genie, who had fallen asleep in his lap.

He looked down at Genie. "When did she go to sleep?

Rose smiled, "Do you want me to take her? I need to go get Sam."

He shook his head. "She's fine. I'll bring her back in a bit. Let her sleep. She's not told me to put her down yet."

Lewis stood up and walked over to the Doctor. He knelt down next to him and spoke to Genie as he rubbed her back. "Genie. Let me take you to lie down so you can rest. You're quite safe. Your Daddy got rid of all of the bad guys."

Genie let go of her Daddy and went to Lewis without opening her eyes.

"Thanks Lewis." He told him quietly.

Lewis rubbed Genie's back, "Happy to help." The Doctor smiled as Lewis carried her out of the room.

Rose smiled and stood up. "I'm sorry, but my son is awake and requesting his mum. Clagl. It was lovely to see you."

Clagl stood up and kissed Rose's hand. "We'll see one another again."

Ashena smiled, "Father. I'm going to go back to my suite. Will you please join me after you are finished here?"

"Of course, my child." He smiled at her.

The room stood up as Rose and Ashena left, then was seated.

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