An: I'm going off Around The World In Eighty Days here in order to try and figure out how they got to Japan. Historical accuracy is out the window. Everything is out the window. The world has been defenestrated.
Strangely, the words of Jess that stuck most in Jenny's mind were "bet you don't e'en get paid". Not that she was Vastra's maid to get paid but the money they did have, was kept either in the bank or in Vastra's old chest. Vastra never said she couldn't have money or limited what Jenny took, but Jenny didn't have any guarantees either. It troubled her. If she had to leave, could she survive on the streets again?
It was hard to imagine leaving with the Silurian lying snoring softly in the bed next to her. Jenny led on her side watching Vastra's eyes flick as she dreamt, wondering what Vastra was dreaming of? How would she even go about broaching the subject? And what would she be asking a guarantee of?
Jenny's restlessness resulted in Vastra being awake first once more.
13th December 1887
"Do you wish to train or are you staying in bed all day?" Vastra greeted her, pulling back the duvet to the accompaniment of Jenny groaning. "I see you've gotten lazy in my absence. This is the second time I have beaten you in rising…really!" she exclaimed as she overheard the curses Jenny was muttering. "Are you bleeding again?"
"No but you will be in a minute!" Jenny threw a pillow at her. Vastra caught it one hand.
"I doubt you've advanced that much that you could achieve that." Vastra expertly fielded the second pillow and then dumped them down on Jenny's head before walking out.
Jenny's eyes narrowed and she dressed quickly in her jodhpurs and boots, silk shirt tails loose and the blue waistcoat unbuttoned. She felt like fighting now.
Vastra was relaxing in the plant room with a cup of tea when a wild-haired Jenny Flint appeared in the doorway.
"Well?" Jenny walked over and stood in front of Vastra, arms folded. "We trainin' today or not?"
Vastra looked her slowly up and down. She felt a tugging sensation that she'd felt before when Jenny had kissed her.
"Oi!" Jenny was flushing under Vastra's scrutiny.
"Very well." Vastra shook herself and followed Jenny down to the basement.
Jenny's progress impressed Vastra. The young woman's movements had become sure and solid with strength behind them. She moved on to teaching the basic stances and movements of Silurian non-armed combat. Jenny's strength was improving but her stamina was lacking and she ended up slumped against the cool basement wall.
"Don't you ever sweat?" she panted, looking up at an infuriatingly cool looking Silurian.
"Sweat? Is that what you call it?" A tongue flicked out on instinct and tasted a bead from Jenny's forehead, making her squeak.
"Oi! Bleedin' 'ell." She clapped her hands to the now stinging spot.
"My apologies. Salty. Not unpleasant."
"D'you mind?" Jenny stood up, piqued and Vastra fell back into a fighting stance with a grin. They were interrupted by the sound of a letter falling through the letter box.
"A letter?"
"You received my last one? I didn't bother sending another; I knew I would be returning." Vastra shrugged. They moved back upstairs to investigate.
"Ah. From the Doctor." Vastra grinned, recognising the writing.
"What can 'e want?" Jenny peered over Vastra's arms to read it.
"He has a case for us! In Japan."
"Japan! But you on'y jus' got back from Egypt…" Jenny's heart and face fell.
"A case is a case. As swiftly as one is solved, another arrives. We must pack immediately." Vastra started for the stairs but stopped when she realised Jenny was still standing at the door. "I would have thought you'd be excited. A chance to try out your new outfit, test your skills. He recommends packing swords, we don't have any but I'm sure we can pick some up over there." She grinned as Jenny's face changed from forlornness to puzzlement to realisation and then a huge grin to match Vastra's, a hopeful grin. "And I can teach you basic blade combat on the way there."
"You mean I'm comin' with yer?"
"The Doctor specifically requests the Great Detective and her…" Vastra frowned suddenly, re-reading the letter, snorting before handing it to Jenny to peruse.
"I require the assistance of the Great Genius Detective and her Silu…" Jenny burst out laughing. "and her Silurian assistant." She grinned at Vastra's attempt at a haughty expression.
"I take it he was impressed with you, with your help in the defeat of the Kraal's plot."
"Musta bin ma'am."
"Well, we'd better go and pack then." Vastra shook her head in a mock huff. "Those trousers will do well for fighting but I think maid uniforms for the trip."
Jenny rather reverently laid her clothes in a suitcase Vastra handed to her and they set off the next day, to catch a train to the port.
14th December 1887
The station was cold and felt grimy from soot and smoke but Jenny was used to that at least. She handed their luggage to the porter and went to find a compartment with Vastra. The Silurian was shivering slightly in the cold and wanted nothing more than to wrap herself around Jenny but in full view of the public that was impossible.
"Here." Vastra gestured, opening the sliding door and locking it behind them, pulling down the blinds on the windows.
"Oi." Jenny complained, moving to put them up again when she was ambushed from behind by Vastra.
"I'm c-c-cold."
"Blimey! You are freezin'." Jenny hastily wrapped her black cloak around Vastra, underneath Vastra's own, effectively cocooning them. "'ow'd you survive winters before me then?" she asked, rubbing Vastra's back.
"Mostly in pain." Vastra hissed. "When the circus was over and I had to find accommodation elsewhere, I'd sleep during the day; it was too cold at night."
"Is that why you were wanderin' round when yer found me?"
"Moving at least kept me warm and it's easier to find dinner at night." Vastra sighed in relief as Jenny's body warmth permeated through her dress.
"Well there is that." She'd lived with Vastra for a while now and was no longer perturbed at the thought of Vastra eating people but it was still gave her pause when Vastra referred to people as "dinner". "You better now?"
Vastra grunted and didn't let Jenny go.
"Shouldn't we sit down at least? 'fore the train starts off?"
"Oh very well." Vastra sagged into a seat and sat there. She didn't look as yellow as she did when she was cold but she still shivered pointedly. Jenny rolled her eyes, double checked the door was locked and then sat down heavily in Vastra's lap. She could practically feel the Silurian's smug smile as Vastra wrapped them both in the folds of her cloak.
Eventually even Vastra had to admit she was thoroughly warmed through and Jenny put the blinds up again. She'd never been on a train before and knelt on the upholstered seat to look out at the flying countryside, in a rather un-maid-like fashion but Vastra didn't have the heart or the cares to remind her. The veil hid her grins. From anyone but Jenny.
"You said you met the Doctor on a train." Jenny said, finally sitting back down to watch the world pass more casually.
"Yes, I did." Vastra debated taking the bait. She'd not been forthcoming last time and her letter hadn't exactly been brimming with details. "It is what I suppose I think of as my birthday. In April. The Doctor told me the year was 1961. I told you they were building the Underground train system. My aunt had put us to sleep but the systems had been damaged in the disaster. The rest of my clutch were awakened before me and slaughtered. I was lucky; they thought I was already dead."
"An' then you ate 'em." The rather gory image of Vastra crouching with half a human arm coming from her mouth was a hard one to erase.
"I…attacked with some frequency, enough to draw the Doctor's attention. He saved me, in a way. He told me that if I continued, they would hunt me down and kill me. Or I could stop. And live. Which, according to him would be more fun. Which it most certainly wasn't at first. Upon ascending to the surface, I was captured and sold to the circus."
"What?" Jenny jerked upright and promptly fell over as the train lurched. "You never tol' me that!" she rubbed her head, looking up at Vastra from her position of being sprawled on the apartment floor with a distraught expression.
"The Doctor paid for my freedom when he returned to check on me but I stayed anyway. Where else could I go? At the time it seemed it was either that or death. He wasn't very pleased. That's why he joined the circus, trying to convince me to leave, to try something else." Vastra checked her "maid" over as she spoke.
"I shoulda stayed that time, shoulda got you out."
"Do you honestly think I would've listened to an ape when I did not listen to the Doctor?"
Jenny snorted.
"Besides, did you not?" Vastra smiled enigmatically.
"Huh?"
"I'm no longer working for the circus am I?" Vastra stood up and brushed her dress off.
"…no."
"And who supported me so that I did not have to return there?" she held out a hand and helped Jenny to her feet also.
"…me, I guess."
"And who helped to acquire our current wealth?"
"…me, I s'pose."
"You. You see? You succeeded where the Doctor failed after all. So there's no need to sulk." Vastra cupped Jenny's head in her hands and gently kissed her, a difficult achievement on a swaying train.
"What was that for?" Another lurch from the train made Jenny sit down with a thump.
"Kisses are a way to say thank you, yes?" Vastra shrugged, sitting down a little more gracefully. After all, if the little ape was going to use that as an excuse then so was she.
"Fer what?"
"For saving me." Vastra replied simply, leaning back and closing her eyes.
A small satisfied smile quirked Jenny's lips. "Yer welcome."
She returned to looking out the window once more but the landscape seemed less captivating than it had been before. "An' I weren't sulkin'." She muttered under her breath.
If the train had captured Jenny's attention the boat certainly did; a vast crowded steamer that was to take them to France. Their room was small and cramped, last minute ticket purchases allowed no luxury. There were two bunks, covered in white sheets and a blue blanket in an alcove with room underneath for storing luggage and a narrow space to walk in to get to them.
"It is only a short voyage at least." Vastra mused as Jenny hauled their luggage in. "And it has a window." She pointed to the small rectangle where dim light was streaming through.
It didn't seem like a short voyage to Jenny who ended up bitterly seasick. Vastra was used to the motion but stayed with her, curled up close on the rather sagging bed, trying to distract her with stories of her previous journey to Egypt.
"Were you scared?" Jenny asked. "Travellin' all that way by yerself?"
"It was a new experience."
"But anythin' could've happened! You coulda got caught again."
"I had my veil. Remember, it is only you and the Doctor that can see through it. Well, and a tribe of people in Egypt. But they treated me very well."
"Did they really think you was one of their gods come to life?"
"Who is to say I'm not?" Vastra grinned.
Jenny poked her for that.
December 16th – 19th 1887
They disembarked in France and took another train down through France and Italy, Jenny remaining in awe of it. As she remarked to Vastra, she'd never seen quite so much countryside in her life.
"Din't know the ground could go so high. Or be so empty fer so long."
"Have you never journeyed outside your country?"
"Never bin outside London." Jenny told her. "What about you?"
"As a warrior I travelled extensively but this is…" Vastra gestured out the window. "New. Before Egypt I had never travelled far in the world of the apes. The Circus toured occasionally. Up and down Britain."
"Not apes. What's Britain like?"
"Apes are the same everywhere. Disgusting, gaping creatures with no manners."
"Thanks!" Jenny snorted sarcastically.
"Well, the ones in Egypt were quite pleasant. I would introduce you, we'll have to change ships there but alas time is of the essence. The Doctor said in his letter he was there in February."
"February…" Jenny mused. "Wait we got another two months of travellin'?"
"Japan is half way around the world from Britain. And we're travelling by steam not teleport."
Jenny let out a long breath and closed her eyes. And they'd have to come all the way back too. But then imagine, said a voice in her head, if you hadn't come. At least she was with Vastra this time.
19th – 21st December 1887
Jenny shivered at the sight of the roiling sea, gripping the railings until her knuckles were white. She wasn't very much looking forward to another experience at sea. And a long one this time. Vastra annoyed her by standing easily on the heaving deck, walking about without stumbling at all.
And annoyed her even more by declaring "Ah! Egypt. I feel it was only yesterday." When they arrived at Suez.
And being thoroughly at home in what had become rather stifling heat, when you'd been used to winters being freezing.
They caught another boat to cross the Red Sea, which at least had winds to bring a sense of coolness.
25th December 1887
Jenny was reminded of the fact it was Christmas only by other travellers wishing each other happy Christmas. Not that Christmas had always been a big event in her life but it was her first Christmas with Vastra and she was disappointed that it would be spent in a small cabin in the middle of an ocean when they finally had money that she could've made it special.
"Christmas." Vastra quirked an eyebrow ridge when Jenny told her. She was led in their bunk reading a book, having become tired of, as she put it, being continuously surrounded by apes in such close quarters for so long.
"S'like a celebration. Meant to be all about the birth of Christ an' the like." Jenny sat on the floor opposite, her legs hugged to her chest. She'd stopped feeling sick but she still struggled to stand upright and still.
"I have read about him. I thought it was fiction?"
Jenny looked at her shocked. "Nah, s'like religion."
"It's very contradictory. The book that talks about it has some ridiculous ideas."
"Yeah…well."
"And so apes celebrate the birthday of someone who is now long dead, if they even existed in the first place."
"Yeah. No! Not apes. But I s'pose. Sort of. In the reform school they made us sing hymns an' pray a lot but we got a better dinner that day at least. Yer meant to give gifts an' be with family but I dunno. Guess I don't really believe in that stuff either." Jenny shrugged.
" Gifts hm?" Vastra rolled onto her side. "And you give them to everyone?"
"Well ter friends, family. Special people."
"So I would give a gift to you and you to me?"
"Well…yeah. I s'pose." Jenny wondered briefly what category she'd fall into.
"What would you like?"
"Dunno. Ain't never really 'ad much in the way of gifts. The Doctor n Rose give me the waistcoat. An' Gribble give me my flint." She reached into her pocket where the flint always was and held it in her palm. Its edges were still sharp, even after years being in a pocket. "An'…" she faltered. She hadn't thought of that for a while. Lettie giving her a kiss for her birthday.
"And?"
"Lettie give me a kiss once fer me birthday." She flushed.
"A kiss." Vastra repeated slowly. "They can be gifts too can they? What multi-faceted things they are." She sat up, closing her book with a slap and hopping off the bunk to crouch in front of Jenny. "Well then. I know what I would like for my Christmas gift."
"Huh?"
"A kiss."
"Yeah but…" Jenny stopped, balancing the awkwardness of explaining human romantic relationships and the awkwardness of giving Vastra a kiss. Huffing out a breath, she leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against Vastra's. Kissing Vastra was many things but awkward wasn't one of them.
"Hmmm." Vastra hummed, making Jenny's lips tingle from the vibration. "I like your kisses little ape. They are so very warm."
"Don't Silurians kiss each other? And not an ape."
Vastra stared at the wall behind Jenny's head, swiftly debating whether to explain the intricacies of Silurian mating rituals. "No." she said simply after a minute and moved back to the bed and her book.
An: My initial estimate of how long it would take them to get Japan was entirely wrong in being far too short and now they're having their first Christmas together on a boat. This fic is becoming a runaway train on a broken track…
