"We're not picking the lock on the box. Let's just go." Oliver reached for his sister's arm, but she pulled away.
"You don't have to help, but I want to look inside. There's something special about this thing, whatever it is." Katie spoke first to Oliver, but then more quietly, as if thinking aloud.
"Katie, leave it. It's just a weird wooden box belonging to weird grumpy man and his weird, albeit pretty, friend. That's too much weird for me. Besides, we said we'd meet Daniel and Hannah later." Oliver was getting impatient.
"Pssh. We can leave them to their own devices. They only invited us up here to be polite. You just know that once we leave them, they'll go back to couple-land." Katie's voice held a tone suggesting contempt for Hannah and Daniel's apparently sickening happiness.
"What do you know? You're only 10! And it doesn't matter whether they'll go back in couple-land, or even if they talk to us the whole time we're there! We said we'd go, and we're going!" At that, Oliver took firm hold of Katie's hand, and dragged her away.
--- --- --- --- ---
"What sounds good for lunch?" Rose asked the Doctor over the top of a menu. They sat across from each other at some gruesomely adorable café.
"I'm not that hungry," The Doctor answered with a smile. "You go ahead and order." Reaching into a pocket, he withdrew a strange, pen-shaped object, and aimed it at the model kitten sitting in the middle of their table, its small, ceramic tongue outstretched to lick a small, ceramic paw. Pressing a button on the Sonic Screwdriver, it emitted a vwrrrr-ing sound, and glowed a bright blue. To Rose's shock, the kitten began to move.
"What did you do to it?!" Rose's attempt to remain calm was broken. She watched, fascinated, as the formerly inanimate feline began to stumble around the tabletop.
"You looked down. Like him?" The Doctor's grin spread from ear to ear, and Rose fought her emerging smile.
"Very much," she said with a laugh. She gave up her mopiness and pulled her hair out of its neon ribbon. Tying one end in a knot, she began to drag it along the surface of the table for her new pet to chase.
"Hold on a moment," The Doctor reached across the table, scooped up the small creature, and with a vwrrrr of the Sonic Screwdriver, turned it back to clay.
"What'd you do that for?" Rose's smile disappeared, and she crossed her arms across her chest. Just then, a waitress wearing an impossibly short skirt with an equally impossibly tight polo trotted to their table.
"What can I get for you today?" She asked, aiming a flirtatious smile towards the Doctor. He didn't seem to notice, much to Rose's satisfaction.
"Grilled ham and cheese for me. And a cup of tea. Rose, dear, what'd you like?" The Doctor didn't look up at the waitress as he placed his order.
Rose smiled at the waitress' obvious chagrin. "I'll have the same." Turning to the waitress, she ordered with a self-satisfied smile.
"Fantastic." The waitress had lost all of her bubbliness, and nearly ripped the menus from Rose's outstretched hand.
"Oh, one more thing," The Doctor tapped the waitress on the shoulder as she turned to go. "How much for this adorable ceramic cat? My Rose here has taken a liking to him."
"They're not for sale." The waitress stated coldly.
"Not even for this much?" The Doctor asked, innocently, as he slipped a few folded bills into her limp hand.
"He's yours." The waitress hurried away before this strange man could change his mind. The Doctor laughed, and made the kitten animate once again.
"You've thoroughly confused the poor girl, Doctor. You shouldn't do that to people." Rose's reprimand was softened with a laugh. "And since when am I "Your Rose?" She feigned huffiness, but deep down, she was delighted. Reaching across the table, she scooped the furry ball from the Doctor's palm.
"I think I'll name you Mickey," Rose told her mewing charge.
"You're naming your cat after your boyfriend?" The Doctor asked in confusion, but with good humor.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Rose replied with a smile. Mickey had curled up and nestled himself in Rose's teacup.
--- --- --- --- ---
"Katie! Oliver! Over here!" Hannah stood up and waved through the window of their restaurant. Daniel sat next to her recently vacated chair, a small smile playing around his lips.
"Hannah, sit down. They know where we are." He told his girlfriend, ruffling her short, sandy colored hair. She smiled, and mussed up his equally short, dark brown hair. They continued to give each other bad hair days until Katie and Oliver walked through the door.
"Hey guys. Sorry we're late." Oliver explained sheepishly. "Katie got distracted." He elbowed his sister gently.
"Yeah, it's my fault. I just wanted to see what was inside the box!" Katie's defensive reply sparked Daniel's interest.
"Box? What box?" He asked the younger girl, a keen interest in his voice.
"I'll show you!" She said, attempting to make a break for the door.
"No you won't!" Oliver's grip remained firm on her elbow, and he plunked her into the chair next to Hannah.
"Explain it to me then." Daniel pulled a composition book from a small pack resting beside him. It was battered with use, and had a pen duct-taped to the cover. He pulled the pen off, and flipped through the book until he found a blank page.
"It looked like a phone box, but without windows. Navy blue. He said his name's 'The Doctor,' or something like that." Katie began to jabber animatedly while Daniel took notes furiously.
Once Katie's flood of words subsided, she leaned over to see what Daniel had written. Hannah, too, leaned over, nearly falling out of her chair. Oliver stood up and walked around the table.
"I know who this is." Daniel whispered.