Jamie had come to accept that life with the Doctor was going to be different from now on. It was just the two of them now, with their travels at the mercy of the Celestial Intervention Agency. And even though the Doctor had made peace with the fact that Jamie didn't mind the restrictions upon their travels, it didn't mean that he wasn't prone to bouts of dark moods. These dark moods coincided with whenever he had to speak to Goth; Jamie could sense their mutual loathing for each other even while listening to their conversations in another room on board the TARDIS.
This particular morning was no exception; Goth had called early in the morning, while Jamie had been asleep, and it was the ensuing argument that had awakened the piper; he had, more than likely, reacted to the Doctor's angry tone. Goth had been chiding the Doctor on his latest mission report (lacking in details, and full of unbelievable fabrications, he had claimed—to which the Doctor had queried as to how Goth could possibly know that there were fabrications if there were no details). This devolved into a full-fledged argument that ended with Goth issuing a stream of insults that he knew the Doctor daren't retaliate to, lest he lose his status with the Agency. After Goth had finished browbeating him, the Doctor retreated to his study, grumbling under his breath as he sat, fuming, in his armchair.
Jamie knew that all he had to do was show up in the room, and the Doctor's mood would lighten immediately. The piper was more than pleased to be able to give back the kindness that the Doctor had shown him so many times, but wished that it didn't have to come to this for him to do so.
Jamie had just been ready to enter the study when he heard some of what the Doctor was muttering.
"I've given them fifty years of my life. My services are still not appreciated. I leaped through hoops and toed the line, practically begged to have a traveling companion…" The Doctor trailed off, exhaling. "Oh, Jamie…" At last, he smiled. He checked his watch. "Oh, no; he's still asleep, isn't he? I'll let him have a bit of a lie-in."
The Doctor sighed and now stared blankly at the fire in the fireplace, periodically glancing at the empty armchair beside him.
Jamie stood there for a moment, debating on whether to go to him now; he then decided that today called for something special.
Quietly, he darted away, down the corridor. He paced for a while, wondering how best to cheer up the Doctor.
He now looked upwards, at the ceiling of the TARDIS.
"What can I do?" he asked, quietly.
A door nearby opened; Jamie headed in to the kitchen. The TARDIS's food machine was one of the things Jamie loved most about the ship; anything he wanted to eat could be easily made. The Doctor didn't need to eat much, but, even so, he always made it a habit to share meals with Jamie, on account of what it meant to piper.
"We can have breakfast together, aye," Jamie mused. He then paused. "Och, but that's nothing special. We have breakfast together every day anyway."
He continued to pace again as the food machine now began to produce all the things that the Doctor liked—roasted grouse, pressed duck, a savory gumblejack stew…
"These are nae breakfast foods!" Jamie pointed out. But then, he blinked. "But they're his favorites. Aye. We'll have these for breakfast, then?"
It was most definitely out of the ordinary, Jamie realized. But, then again, when did the Doctor ever do things in an ordinary fashion.
Nothing about the Doctor was ordinary. That was just one of the things Jamie loved about him. But it was also what the other Time Lords hated about him.
The piper now mused over this, looking at the many warm foods and then wondering what to do.
"I know what t' do," he said, at last. He gently placed a hand on the wall. "Thank ye, TARDIS."
The Doctor was still where Jamie had left him—in his chair, still staring blankly at the fire. The piper cleared his throat, and the change over the Doctor's face was instantaneous; the sullen expression gave way to a smile.
"Ah, Jamie!" he exclaimed, getting up from his armchair at last. "You're up early, aren't you?"
"I've actually been awake for a while now," Jamie admitted, walking over to him.
"Oh? Have you eaten yet? You must be hungry…" The Doctor trailed off as Jamie now wrapped his arms around him, giving him a tight hug. "Jamie?"
"Don' ye believe them," the piper said.
"Believe them?" the Doctor repeated.
"The other Time Lords," Jamie said.
"Oh. Oh, I see…" the Doctor realized. "You… You heard the things that Goth had to say to me."
"Aye," Jamie said. "All the arguing woke me up."
"I'm sorry, Jamie; I didn't want—"
"No; I'm glad it did," Jamie said. "Today, I finally heard the things that Goth was saying. He's been saying those things to ye for all the time ye were working for them, wasn't he?"
"Yes, he has," the Doctor said. "When the Agency stepped in after he and the other two in my tribunal were ready to make me regenerate, he was the only one of the three who was against getting my sentence postponed. In fact, I strongly suspect that he wanted all of my regenerations taken away."
"But why?" Jamie asked.
"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor sighed. "I suppose I'm some sort of nuisance or an embarrassment—all of the Time Lords think so. But Goth has taken it to a personal vendetta, it seems."
"Ye're nae an embarrassment or a nuisance t' me," Jamie insisted, now pulling back from the hug to look at him. "Ye looked after me for three years, and now ye're doing that again. And ye ne'er asked anything from me."
"As much as I've given, I've received," the Doctor assured him. "We look after each other, and I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Neither would I," Jamie said. "And all the Time Lords in the galaxy cannae change that. They tried, and here we are."
"Yes, I do think I've finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel," the Doctor said, with a smile. "Mind you, there'll be another tunnel, but I shall deal with that then, instead of worrying about it now."
"Good," Jamie said. "And now, we should have breakfast."
"Oh, yes; you didn't have to wait for me, you know. You could have eaten if you were hungry."
But Jamie shook his head.
"I like having breakfast with ye," the piper said. "I've set e'erything up for us. Follow me!"
He took one of the Doctor's hands in his and led him out of the study and towards the console room.
"Jamie, our dining area is that way…"
"I know; we're nae eating in the dining area," Jamie said, as he led the Doctor to the console room and out the doors.
"Oh…!" the Doctor exclaimed, seeing his favorite foods resting on a picnic blanket just outside the TARDIS; it was a vast, grassy hillside that overlooked a small brook. "Oh, Jamie, it's lovely!"
"The food was the TARDIS's idea," Jamie admitted. "But the picnic was mine. Maybe the other Time Lords don' appreciate ye, but I do."
The Doctor gave him a long look.
"Thank you, Jamie," he said, softly. "This means a lot to me, you know. Mind you, I've always known that you appreciated me—even amidst all the teasing."
"Och, I only tease ye because ye tease me!"
The two of them sat down on the picnic blanket as they bantered, and Jamie handed him a serving of roasted grouse on a plate before taking a serving for himself. And as they ate their breakfast, their idle chatter soon drove Goth and the Time Lords far from their minds.