Author's note: Wow, it has been a while... Sorry about the hiatus. I got exposed to too much gamma radiation and developed a superpower: spontaneous unintentional teleportation. It happens when I want it least.
So here we go, ANOTHER post-regeneration vignette. I need to stop writing these. *pokes the Doctor* (It's all HIS fault, you see.)
Enjoy!
Reset to Default
It was loud, and crowded, and bright, too bright. It felt as if everyone was touching him, or poking him, or running into him deliberately. The colors were too intense, a riot, a kaleidoscope, an explosion, a rainbow spattered all over the city. Pink, roses, ribbons for research. Red, crimson, cherries, fire, blood, strawberries, pomegranate juice staining the dress shirt of the man across the street. Yellow, sunflowers, golden splashes and puddles of condensed sunshine. Green, leaves reaching to the blue, blue sky. The TARDIS, indigo. And violet: Rose's plain little dress. It was the brightest, loveliest purple he had ever seen.
Everyone was shouting at once, conversations at each other. He was trying not to eavesdrop, not to tie the voices together by their individual threads, but he kept hearing snatches.
"Did you see her yesterday?"
"Lord have mercy, what a tacky dress."
"That was an awful movie."
"Do you want ice cream or pizza first?" Always get ice cream first, he interrupted mentally.
There were strangled strains of music streaming on the wind, clashing with each other, and he flinched. The sound—the meaningless noise—it was all too much. He wanted to run back to the TARDIS and hide in a corner, his eyes shut and ears covered. There were just too many people, too many things to see and do all pressing in and yelling for attention. Me first! No, me!
Someone gripped his hand. He jumped and turned defensively. It was only Rose. "You okay?" she asked.
The Doctor swallowed. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Rose grinned, tongue touching her teeth. "Come on. Let's go get some hot cocoa." She gripped his hand gently. The Doctor smiled, tentatively.
"Sounds good."
Rose pulled him off into the crowd.
He just remembered: he loved this.