"Oh, fascinating," the Doctor openly uttered, not holding back the awe in his voice. His intense gaze swept over the tiny, gold pendent with one hand and set new coordinates with the other. A huge smile liberally spread over his face.
Words buzzed on the Doctor's tongue yearning to be shared. Before he even thought about it, he rattled them off. It was just second nature to him to speak his mind, sharing his thoughts, ideas, and dreams with his latest companion. They loved it, and why shouldn't they? He was a treasure trove of knowledge and fun facts. They wouldn't be here with him, if they didn't.
"…seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch specifically for…" he stated confidentially, glancing up only to see no one was there. His broad grin fell away.
Of course, there was no one there. There hadn't anyone been since Martha left. Sure, he had met people here and there, but they never stayed long. He was partially to blame for that.
Sighing deeply, his head dipped. Silence consumed the TARDIS as it hadn't in so many years. No laughter echoed off the metallic walls. There were no shouts of his name in joy or irritation. When he moved to step around the console, no other pair of footfalls followed after him.
Keeping his head down, he fought the dull ache gripping his hearts. He tried to calm himself through tracing the rim of the console and letting his mind wander over the last fun-filled few adventures. He had met some amazing individuals.
Astrid... Martha... Captain Jack... Donna Noble...
"Donna..." he whispered sadly, remembering the sharped-tongue woman with fiery red hair. His gaze rose to the oscillating central column. He remembered that fateful Christmas so long ago. Not only had she defied the odds, staying tough as nails against the Queen of the Racnoss without batting an eyelash, she had turned him down.
The smallest of smiles flittered across his face.
There weren't many who had willingly turned him down. Most either couldn't wait or never got the chance, but Donna fit in to neither group. Honestly, that didn't surprise him. Donna was a unique individual. She was so full of spirit and fire. Of course, she also was full of anger and doubt, mostly towards herself, which he always felt bad about. In his mind, he was sure he could turn that around if she had accepted his offer.
With a deep sigh, his gaze lowered again. As so many others, she had been full of potential. The difference between her and so many others was him, just his thinking. Whenever any of the others showed interest in joining him, he left them out in the cold out of fear.
He told himself it was to protect them. It was their safety he wanted. In truth, he was only protecting himself. After more than 900 years of existence, he was tired of caring for people only to lose them in the end. Whether through death, forced separation, or their voluntary departure, it was him left hurting.
Now, after what felt like centuries alone, he would do anything to have someone here. He wanted a travel companion to talk to about his barmy ideas and thoughts. Some brave being who would stand beside him through the best and the worst times. Maybe he would awe and thrill them. Or, maybe they'd find him utterly irritating and argue with him when he was wrong. If he was lucky, they would do both.
Stopping in front of the monitor, he stared at the sight of the bright and beautiful world of Earth. "There's got to be someone who wants to travel with me," he said to the cold emptiness of the TARDIS console room. "I'm done waiting. I've had enough of this silence."