Trying Something New
"You said you wanted an adventure."
Donna glared at her companion. "I meant exotic beaches or huge space shopping malls."
The Doctor glanced around. "There was a shop before we got here," he said, waving behind him, where, separated by a full wall of dense foliage, was a little shack that sold tiny food portions and over-priced bottles of sunscreen.
He stepped closer to the edge. "And there is a beach!" he countered, pointing down.
"This is not the beach!" Donna snapped and gulped at the twenty foot drop in front of her. Nothing stopped her from tripping and falling over the edge into the water below. "How do we know it's deep enough?"
"The sign says so!" he answered and then frowned. "At least that's what I think it says, we parked the TARDIS far –"
"Oi!"
The Doctor met her gaze, all seriousness. "It's perfectly safe. People have been doing cliff dives from the spot for centuries!"
"Then why is no one else here?"
"We're here before all that gets started."
"So how do we know there aren't some alien sharks or eels or whatever down there?"
"I'll go first," he volunteered, removing his long robe. "If anything happens to me, I'll just regenerate."
Donna rolled her eyes. "You'll be regenerating by yourself under water," she said and then realized she was staring at a half-naked Doctor. "Oh, you're…pale."
The Doctor looked down. "Not a lot of sunlight on the TARDIS."
"Guess we're fixing that," she said and then glanced down again. "Are you positive? It's really safe?"
The Doctor exhaled and swung his arms around. "Yeah. Perfectly safe," he declared.
"You don't have to act all brave," she said.
He smiled at her. "The best thing to do is to do it afraid!" he said and before Donna could comment, he ran two steps and jumps over the edge, his loud "Woooooo!" following him all the way.
Donna gasped and watched, kicking small pebbles over the side. The Doctor's splash was rather large given his slight frame and kind-of elegant decent. Donna would have graded it an 8.5. She held her breath, the silent moments after he'd disappeared terrifying her. "If he's dead, I'm gonna kill him," she muttered.
A moment later, a soaked Time Lord emerged, and Donna's shoulders sagged. He looked up, squinting into the sun. "Amazing! Molte Bene!"
Donna wrapped her arms around her chest. He must be mad.
"Come on down, Donna Noble!"
If he can do it, so can I, she thought and glanced around. They truly were alone, which didn't feel entirely safe, but it did give her confidence to remove her own robe.
"Donna!" he called again, his voice filled with his perpetual merriment.
Stealing herself one final time, Donna remained still. This was new. This was scary. But somehow, with the Doctor, she felt like it wasn't so bad. And she would be safe.
"Okay," she whispered and before she could think again, she took a few running steps and jumped into the open air.