Aye, aye, aye look who's back! I hope the Doctor is in character, he is rather difficult to write at times. But I try. Hope this chapter is satisfactory. Next update will be quicker, lol i promise. Lets just get on with this shall we? Feel to review or fav or follow, feedback is good.
Note there are a few references to comic adventures in this chapter.
Chapter 23 Don't Be Stupid Rules
The Doctor was facing his chalkboard. He was ranting on about the dangers of changing time, making reference to past companion Rose, her dad, and Reapers, while writing down rules and explaining timey wimey stuff that she was just about understanding. Lauren, in turn had moved the armchair from the other side to sit before him, where she had sprawled herself ever since; citing she didn't want to sit on the hard chair by the table.
On the chalkboard the Doctor had written the words:
Ground Rules AKA Don't Be Stupid Rules
Emphasised with several chalk underlines. Although he had drawn a cool little Reaper on the side as he had retold Rose's story. Below that he had started listing:
Rule No1 No lying
Rule No2 Don't use foreknowledge to influence events
Rule No3 Don't use foreknowledge to save people's lives
Rule No4 No using foreknowledge without the Doctor's permission
Rule No5 Answer all questions the Doctor asks about foreknowledge
Rule No6 Don't let emotions get the better of you
Rule No7 Don't listen to Clara on using foreknowledge
Rule No8 Don't conspire with Clara against the Doctor on using foreknowledge
Lauren couldn't help but think how on earth did I get to this point in my life, as she lounged in the Doctor's armchair, half listening to his lecture. In fact she was starting to fall sleep.
It had been a long day. Facing the Boneless, almost being kick out by the Doctor, finding out she may never get home, trying to repair her and the Doctor's friendship, and now sitting listening to the Doctor rant. Her eyes drooped and her head fell to the side of the armrest as she struggled to keep herself awake but the Doctor's voice droned on and on and she was physically and emotionally exhausted.
The next thing Lauren became aware of was the sound of a book slamming closed.
"Wha – " She jumped at the sound, rudely jolted awake as she blinked up to see the Doctor's scowling face.
"Seriously?" The Doctor sighed, tossing the book he used onto the table.
"Oh come on! Can't you just let me sleep?" She whined. "It's been a long day, and I'm tired and grumpy."
"Grumpy? I see no difference," the Doctor remarked.
Lauren glared at him, failing to be in anyway imitating to the Doctor as she lay across the armchair with her legs dangling over one end, looking disgruntled.
"Get lost," Lauren groaned. She reached an arm behind her to retrieve the cushion resting under her back, but gave up attempting to pull it out and throw it at him as that involved her moving up from her position. Lauren didn't even have the energy nor the willpower to be bothered to move.
"Can't, my TARDIS, I know my way around here blindfolded."
"Stop pretending. You know exactly what I meant. You very well know how to get lost when you want to be alone."
"I can very easily make you get lost too, remember?" The Doctor shot back. "You're on a warning, we're discussing ground rules and you're falling asleep."
"Give me a break! I thought we weren't going to have this lecture until later." Lauren stopped to yawn, before continuing, "I' am taking this, you, seriously, but…Forgive me, I need to sleep, and I would like food and a shower." She yawned again, and sank even further into the armchair than the Doctor thought it was humanly possible.
Whatever resort the Doctor was saying, Lauren didn't really hear it. Already half way asleep again.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and reluctantly gave in and let Lauren be, realising it was not going to be a productive session if the student kept falling asleep. The Doctor sometimes forgot how easily humans tired. He took off his coat and draped it over Lauren as a makeshift blanket before turning to write another rule on the board.
Rule No9 No falling asleep during the Doctor's important lectures
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Doctor mercifully did gave Lauren a break after her nap. Lauren stayed longer than strictly necessary in the shower, although with the TARDIS having a constant supply of warm water, why would you not utilise that perk she thought.
Lauren was finally glad to be out of those clothes and put on new jeans, a fresh T shirt, and a light blue jumper that she had never seen or worn previously. It was new and had never been in her wardrobe before, sometimes that happened. New clothes would appear in her wardrobe or drawers; Lauren suspected the TARDIS gets bored and every now and then moves clothes that she thinks her occupants would like into their room. Either that or the TARDIS likes to play dress up with her occupants. She said thanks to the ship anyway, the TARDIS let out a happy sounding hum, so it was clearly her doing then.
As she rearranged stuff she managed to accumulate from her travels on her Victorian style desk, Lauren found her little red mood stone necklace she had picked up with Clara on Yavon, her first ever proper outing with the Doctor. She put the necklace on and its red core pulsed and swirled like a storm within. Lauren was rather fond of it, she should wear it more often she thought, admiring it.
She smiled to herself. Yavon was a good memory, and now she's here, trying to repair her and the Doctor's trust, about to sit through the rest of the Doctor's lecture, and do her best not to get kicked out of the TARDIS.
"Do you think I'm doing okay?" Lauren said out loud, staring at the galaxy projection on her ceiling.
She had no idea why she suddenly had to ask the TARDIS on this matter. It felt silly. It was a vague question and certainly wasn't one that the time ship could answer with her limited methods of communication.
As expected, the TARDIS didn't answer, merely gave a low, almost sympathetic purr in response.
Lauren sucked in a breath. She was hit with a thought.
How long has it been since I arrived? How many months?
It was hard to tell. Lauren felt a sense of alarm run through her at the thought that she couldn't tell exactly how long she's been in this universe.
She tried to think back to that night she suddenly vanished and woke up in Clara's classroom but couldn't remember a thing. She had fallen asleep or possibly blacked out the moment her head hit the pillow without getting changed, she had arrived back from a night out. That much she knew.
How many months if not years in her old universe has it been for Theodore and her mum? Is time passing at the same rate for them as it was for her? For her friends she made at university? Was she on a missing person's list? Going down on a top ten list of one of those people who mysteriously disappeared without a trace?
Lauren rested her head in her hands, elbows propped on her knees, pressing the palm of her hands into her eyes. Trying her best to hold back her grief.
The TARDIS gave a whine of concern and Lauren forced herself to get moving.
Lauren sniffed, wiping her nose with her sleeve and looked to see her mood stone's core had completely changed to a stormy grey. "Yeah, better get back to the Doctor, he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So you want to know every time I step out of the TARDIS if I have any foreknowledge on any adventures?" Lauren asked uncertainly.
"A simple yes or no will do. And no elaboration on it. I just need to know if you know." The Doctor clarified.
"Basically so you can watch what I do and say like a hawk, if I say yes," Lauren muttered. She had a feeling this was going to be difficult.
"No more lying," the Doctor repeated. "No more hiding."
As you've reminded me several times before
"I know, I've got that part thanks," Lauren grumbled, shifting in her uncomfortable seat. She had been made to sit at the table this time, because she looked far too relaxed in his armchair, the Doctor had remarked. He really was making this into a lesson.
She hoped the Doctor would finish soon. She mentally scowled herself, she got herself into this mess, so she had to stick with it. But he'd been going on for hours now. He said he was almost finished, Lauren didn't know what else he could keep going on about.
"You can't cope with it Lauren," the Doctor said flatly. "Keeping it secret that is. Humans generally are rubbish at keeping them, promises too," he added as an afterthought. "You lot can't keep anything quiet, you all blabber otherwise you go bananas. And you are no exception."
"Thanks," Lauren said sarcastically.
The Doctor's features then turned serious, well, more serious than he normally looked. "You had a breakdown on the Orient Express, and we both know how that went afterwards."
Lauren stared down at the table. "Might have had," she mumbled. She paused then, feeling a bit self-conscious now, but suddenly wanting to speak up, "I just…I could see everything playing out in my head," she hesitated, trying to phrase how she speaks of her foreknowledge carefully. "How could I stand there and let people die if I could stop it? I hated myself." Lauren admitted.
Lauren heard the Doctor shift, the sound of his signet ring click against metal as his hand grasped the railing. She saw out of the corner of her eye the Doctor now sitting on the top of the stairs, gazing down at the rotor.
"Yeah," the Doctor agreed solemnly, "The books know all about that," he reminded her of the after match of her anger in the library.
Lauren flushed, still embarrassed by her actions. As if she could forget that day never mind that moment.
"And, personally, I'd like to avoid any similar outbursts in the future and if you don't mind, keep my books intact thanks."
"I said I was sorry." She knew that he knew she was sorry, but she felt she had to say it again. Lauren cleared her throat, "So, uh, are we done here?"
"Soon," the Doctor stated, "Just one more thing," he promised and patted the ground, beckoning her to sit beside him.
Lauren sighed. The chair screeched as she pushed back and got up to make her way over, perching herself next to him. She gazed up at him expectantly.
The Doctor fiddled with his signet ring, twisting it back and forth around his finger before cocking his head to regard her. "Promise me one thing," he said.
"Yeah?"
His eyes lingered briefly on her mood stone necklace, taking in the grey swirling storm, with tiny flecks of red dancing around. She doesn't think the Doctor has seen it before, he looked curiously at it.
Low level phychic red core mood stone, likely got on Yavon he thought to himself.
"Don't hate yourself," he told her. "Don't blame yourself for it, those people…" the Doctor looked torn between seriousness and awkwardness, he still was in his early stage and wasn't great at discussing emotions.
"Listen, this moral complex you've got going. I've been inside your head, felt that…anger," he paused briefly, not making direct eye contact, but then Lauren didn't make it easy to as she intently stared at his fidgeting hands.
Lauren understood what he was trying to say even if he didn't finish his sentence.
She felt there was a lot more he wanted to say on what he saw/felt in her mind on the Orient Express, but his awkwardness created a barrier between his thoughts and mouth. (Unaware he had accidentally snooped in her mind earlier on.) He knew more about her, in a way she didn't know what; likewise, she knew more about him, in a way he didn't know what, and neither wanted to know how much the other knew of them.
"I have a responsibility – " He began.
A duty of care
"Yeah, I know, you're the Time Lord, I'm just a human." Lauren sighed.
"Exactly, glad you agree," he said before she could say anything else or elaborate. "You don't need to be thinking about this stuff." It's not your moral responsibility
Lauren thought his concern was rather endearing. But she didn't think she could keep this promise.
Then,
"I'll do the thinking, really I do a much better job."
Lauren rolled her eyes, I don't think that last statement came out right Doctor…
"OK I get your point now, I promise, to try anyway," Lauren said, muttering that last part, really wanting him to stop talking about her feelings now.
"I just felt I, I needed to say that," the Doctor stammered, "So, uh, can I stop now?" He asked, awkwardly.
"Yes," Lauren agreed, just as awkward as him. "...Can we just skip straight to next week and pick up Clara now?"
The Doctor's frame relaxed as he was now back in familiar territory. He bounded up and sprang to the console. "Good idea."
"Oh and Doctor?"
"Yes?" He halted briefly in his motions.
"Do you know how long I've been here?" She asked, he looked confused so she elaborated, "Since I randomly arrived in Clara's classroom."
"Um," the Doctor paused in thought, "Well, considering you're always with me on the TARDIS… around five months maybe?"
"Oh." Was all Lauren said.
Clara arrived with her weeks' worth of stress, and student textbooks which she had stacked in her arms that she promptly dumped on the jump seat by the console.
"How was school?" The Doctor casually asked with a raise of his eyebrow, looking up briefly from the controls and taking in her exhausted and fed up demeanour. "Teach them something useful for once? Or got history terribly wrong again?"
"Argh!" Clara cried, ignoring his words and instead jumped straight into what Lauren dubbed was her 'teacher's rant' where she spouted out her daily teacher frustrations. "Me and Danny are going to be in charge of a year eight class trip to the London Zoological Museum. And we'll be camping out and sleeping over there for a night. A whole day and night chaperoning a bunch of rowdy first years."
Clara shrugged off her coat and flung it on the railing. "And Bradley, one of my first years going on the trip, was being really disruptive today. He's got a bit of a temper, a loud mouth, and likes to take things without even a 'may I please?' Anyway he was trying to take another boy's dictionary, I was marking, and told him he could try to say please, you know? Install some decent manners in that boy and the next thing I know, I hear this loud crash and I look up to see he flipped the desk over…."
Lauren wasn't paying any real attention to what Clara was saying. It was amusing to Lauren in the beginning when she'd witness Clara rant, she listened and was rather interested in Clara's school life, seeing less of a character and more of Clara as an actual real human as she adjusted to living in the real version of her favourite TV show. But even Lauren eventually got bored of it and realised like most other people, didn't care that much unless something really interesting happened.
At this point though, she had already droned out most of what Clara was saying to background noise. A habit Lauren was good at after living with a bunch of other children and social workers in a care home for years, a lot of noise and shouting was accustomed and it became background static.
In fact, it was why she often found herself resting in the Doctor's armchair rather than the one in her room. She liked listening to the Doctor tinkering around, it was somewhat soothing. She sometimes liked to sleep there in the console room instead of her bed. Lauren loved her own space, her own company, her room the TARDIS made for her, but at night the sheer absence, the lack of other sound and the presence of others that she was used to, that not even the hum of the ship which was comforting in itself could not make up for it, still got to her occasionally.
Lauren flicked her gaze over at the Doctor. He clearly wasn't listening to Clara either, that wasn't unusual, he often tuned Clara's talk of boring human life out, though Lauren had a suspicion that the Doctor picked up and remembered more than he lets on.
After Clara finished her rant she strolled up beside the Doctor, playfully bumping her shoulder to his, well his upper arm, considering she was so short and he so tall in comparison. "So!" Clara said.
"So!" The Doctor echoed her, glancing down at her expectantly. "Where to?" He smiled keenly.
"My choice this week?" Clara said. The Doctor nodded. She walked around, trailing her fingertips on the edge of the console, considering her options. She circled the console, coming round to the Doctor's other side and stopped beside him again. She glanced up at Lauren sitting on the stairs to the upper level.
"Well?" The Doctor pressed Clara. "Anywhere, your choice." He was eager to get out and explore.
Clara chewed her bottom lip as she considered telling the Doctor, "Listen," she began, "Can we delay the adventuring for a few hours until I get some much needed extra time in catching up in my marking?"
That had the predicted reaction from the Doctor.
His eagerness vanished into disappointment, then he scowled and shifted with impatience before whining like a child, "But Clara!"
"But Doctor!" Clara parroted him with an exasperated expression.
"You never say no to an adventure, I know you can't," the Doctor tried to reason with her. He waggled his eyebrows, "Come on Clara," he said. Clara folded her arms across her chest. The Doctor huffed, "Why would you want to do boring marking of presumably terrible writing, when you could be doing something actually fun? The planet Felspoon has mountains that sway in the breeze, that's great to see," he suggested.
Clara sighed. "I'm not saying no, I'm asking for a few hours peace so I can do my marking. Anyway, not like I've asked you this before. We don't always have to jump straight into adventuring. A few hours won't kill you Doctor."
"A few hours of boredom might," the Doctor moaned. "Fine, go do your marking," he said reluctantly, waving a dismissive hand in her general direction. "There's some repair work I need to do anyway."
Isn't there always? Clara thought. Noticing he seemed grouchy today.
"There you go!" Clara said brightly, "Preoccupy yourself." She went to move the stack of yellow textbooks to sit down on the seat, as she sat down and picked the first one off the pile, taking out a red pen, she offhandedly remarked, "Between you always whisking me away and Danny, I haven't been able to keep up with my work."
"Oh, is it suddenly my fault?" The Doctor piped up, slightly confused at how he got in the way of her marking. "You're the one who keeps accidently leaving your student textbooks here."
"Sweet Jesus," Lauren muttered under her breath. This had gone on long enough she thought. After sitting through a lecture with the Doctor she was also just as keen as him to get out of the TARDIS and go somewhere or ideally she could go back to her room if Clara wanted to catch up on school work.
"Because you keep whisking me off at inconvenient times. You don't even arrive on Wednesdays half the time anymore. I swear you're doing it on purpose."
Lauren rubbed her temples, as the two of them continued squabbling. Feeling a headache fast approaching.
"Oh, I'm a distraction?" The Doctor said, slightly amused. "Well, you're the one looking for it."
"Hey!" Clara protested, aiming to smack him on the shoulder. The Doctor dodged her attempt. "Every time I have a date who turns up demanding an adventure? I swear, its like, oh, Clara's got a date, oh Clara's got other important things to do in her life, better mark that date in my diary so I can arrive my TARDIS – "
"Can you two please! I'm getting a headache," Lauren shouted over them. They stopped their bickering.
"What's up with you?" Clara called to her.
"I'm on probation," Lauren replied.
"Probation?" Clara said, frowning in confusion. Lauren tilted her head to indicate behind her. Clara turned, eyes drifted past Lauren. She spotted one of the Doctor's chalkboards had been filled.
"We are not calling it probation." The Doctor said, as Clara climbed the steps, brushing past Lauren, curious to see what was written on it.
"What do you call it then?" Lauren asked him.
"Not probation." Was his answer.
"Ground rules AKA don't be stupid rules," Clara read aloud, laughing at the blunt weirdness of it. "What is this?" She murmured.
"Us working things out," the Doctor summarized. "That's what you wanted, what we needed to do, and that's what we've been doing since dropping you off."
"Wait," Clara said, turning and staring down at him. "Is it still the same day for you two since we defeated the Boneless?"
"Well, time is irrelevant here, but pretty much." The Doctor answered nonchalantly.
"Gosh, no wonder you two are irritable today."
The Doctor just about managed to refrain himself from remarking 'Look who's talking'.
"Well, glad you two are finally coming to terms after – Hey!" Clara suddenly exclaimed with a hint of indignation, having spotted her name written among the rules list. "Rule seven don't listen to Clara on using foreknowledge…Rule eight don't conspire with Clara against the Doctor on using foreknowledge?! Excuse me!"
The Doctor idly poked at the console, his expression neutral as he shrugged at her. "Don't you have marking to be doing?"
"Doctor." Clara warned, making her way down the steps towards him again. She leaned on the panel next to him, quizzically gazing up at him. "What do you think of me?" She asked.
"What? It's important Clara! I'm ensuring Lauren doesn't meddle with time and ensuring neither will you encourage her. Come on you were totally encouraging Lauren there on using it with the Boneless."
"OK, perhaps a bit," Clara admitted, "But I was trying to understand it, trying to use it to our benefit."
"And that's the dangerous part, and you know altering timelines to save people has consequences. You have to go through me first." The Doctor said, standing his ground on the matter to Clara, and indeed Lauren as he also gave a quick but meaningful glance at her too.
The Time Lord then relaxed his posture slightly but he appeared to consider something with himself. "I trust you," the Doctor said honestly, "You're not stupid and, uh, and I can always rely on you to do the right thing. I know you wouldn't do that to me."
"It's for me, I'm the stupid one," Lauren piped in, trying to liven the mood up a bit. Suddenly getting a bit emotional at the Doctor's display, it felt hard hitting because she knew what Clara would eventually try to do out of grief.
"It's OK Doctor," Clara replied, surprised and rather touched by his words. She couldn't think of anything else to say on that.
"Just so we're all absolutely clear," the Doctor said to the two of them.
Clara simply nodded.
"Understood." Lauren said, albeit not sounding all that happy about it. She pulled herself up and descended the steps down to meet them.
"OK I'm going to my bed, if I'm not awake by the time Clara's finished her marking, please don't wake me up. Go without." Lauren said, still bone dead tired and wanting a proper night's sleep, she didn't care if it was still technically afternoon by TARDIS standards.
"And on that note," Clara said, grabbing a handful of textbooks, red pen in hand, leaving the other half still stacked on the jump seat, she followed in tow with Lauren down the steps in the direction of the corridor beyond. Wishing to do her work in the library.
"And I'll be here - " the Doctor said.
"Doing repair work!" Both Lauren and Clara chorused together.
"Yeah, knock yourself out," Lauren said.
Clara giggled, "He actually did one time. Well more than once."
The Doctor grumbled as he listened to the two of them sniggering and laughing as Clara told her the story, their footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lauren was still asleep by the time Clara was ready for an adventure so they went on without her. Not that she was complaining, gave her time alone. Apparently the Doctor and Clara landed on the Pollyanna, a Ninth Era sunship which had been on an expedition to circumnavigate the Sun.
The Doctor had managed to convince Clara to go on another adventure, this time Lauren was awake for that. The Doctor was planning on taking them to the frost fair in 1641. Except, he got drawn off course and landed in the Sahara Desert in 1941 and subsequently they got captured by Nazis…Way to go Doctor!
Lauren had followed the Doctor's rules, although it was easier to when she didn't have a clue, no foreknowledge on these adventures.
"No," She had turned to him and said the moment they were found and taken by the Nazis. The Doctor had looked her in the eyes, and silently concluded she wasn't lying. Turns out the German allies, the Tuareg tribesmen had made new extra-terrestrial allies, the Sontarans. That was a whole handling.
Then they attended a Frankie Seneca performance in Las Vegas 1964 after the Doctor found some tickets to see Seneca in a drawer. However before the trio could attend the concert, the hotel they had stayed it was attacked by a Cybock Imperium gang. Her and Clara got kidnapped but escape and the Doctor managed to intervene and offer the aliens a game of Russian roulette with the Time Gun of Rassilon; a gun which would not work on a Time Lord, and instead would self-destruct if one tried to do so. Turns out the Doctor was a pretty good gambler too.
Eventually Clara got dropped back to the same day she left before she got too carried away, anyway she still had that year 8 trip to organize.
"See, I have been behaving," Lauren said to the Doctor the next day as she walked into the console room.
"That's because you've conveniently not had any little foreknowledge in the trips we've had after my lecture," the Doctor responded, as he landed the ship.
"Like I said, I don't know everything. I'm not lying I swear, it's just a coincidence." Lauren tried to convince him.
Lauren did hope she'd encounter another episode adventure soon though.
"You're always a lot more scared when you know nothing," the Doctor commented, there was always more fear and indeed excitement in Lauren's eyes on those adventures when she told him she knew nothing of what was going to happen.
Lauren was starting to get the impression he wanted to really test her. To see if she'd listen to his ground rules and not attempt to change the outcome of a person's fate. Although that could have been just her paranoid thinking. He still seemed somewhat wary of her.
Lauren suddenly noticed he had changed slightly today and was wearing his black holey jumper. Oh she liked that jumper.
"Oh, nice jumper, haven't seen you wear it before," Lauren commented, changing topic.
"Thanks, just trying it out," the Doctor said, he rather liked the new jumper too.
"Suits you," she complemented. She came up beside him. Yes, definitely nicking that at some point, she thought as she boldly poked a finger at one of the holes where you could see his pale skin underneath.
The Doctor let out a un Doctor-like squeak that Lauren decided was her new favourite sound. In a flash she moved her other hand and poked another finger through one of the holes in his jumper. He emitted another squeak followed by an intake of breath. She poked again, and again at him in the ribs and she heard a barely suppressed laugh.
"Lauren!" The Doctor wheezed, backing away a few steps.
Lauren paused in realization. "Doctor, are you ticklish?" She asked with an ever growing grin on her face.
The Doctor's facial features morphed into what she would describe as mild horror, "No! No, definitely not! Time Lords don't – " he dodged her next attempt and scooted to the other side of the rotor, putting it between them. "Lauren," he warned, attempting to use his Oncoming Storm look.
Lauren darted around and tried to catch him, the Doctor however was rather nimble, and was now where Lauren originally stood, but she didn't stop and they were starting to run circles around the console.
"Lauren! Stop!" The Doctor cried as Lauren, too determined to be fazed, started tickling him relentlessly now. Poking and wriggling her fingertips. He was laughing, gasping, trying to bat her hands away.
"P- Please!" He wheezed before descending into a fit of giggles, he was now half clinging to the console panel, half stumped on the floor, squirming. He was clearly very touch sensitive, and she realised this was probably the first time he's been tickled in this body of his. Lauren tormented him for a few more seconds, savouring this moment of pure silliness. He made a jab under her arm as he managed to grab one of her wrists and she let out a shriek of her own.
Lauren finally stopped and the Doctor stumped in relief, his laughter quieting. He sighed breathlessly, his chest rose and fell like he just ran very fast until he calmed down. He wants to make no tickling into a rule, put it on the chalkboard he thought.
"Where have we landed?" Lauren asked, grinning like mad, deciding to have mercy on him and standing up.
"London, 21st century." He croaked, attempting to gather himself up with some dignity.
"Oh, how exotic," Lauren said sarcastically, "What's with you and modern day London?"
Just then someone began knocking on the TARDIS door. That was…odd.
The Doctor and Lauren glanced at each other. The Doctor quickly stalked to the door, Lauren right behind him, and swung it open. The Doctor didn't see at first who knocked, he was too tall, until he looked down. It was a child. A young girl whom Lauren immediately recognized and outside there were trees everywhere.
"I'm lost. Please, can you help me?" Maebh asked.