He said nothing. He stared at her with a look of complete and utter confusion- not annoyance or anger.
Finally his lips formed words: her heart raced, her brain whirled. These are the first words he will ever speak to me. He's speaking to me! He looked her up and down, stopping at the fish fingers.
Finally, after what seemed like years of preparation, he spoke his first words to her: "What?!"
His face twisted up and he looked up at her, scanning her face to see if he could recognize her in some way. And he didn't. He stood up abruptly.
"I... Erm... have some fish fingers and custard for you!" she said, holding the bowl out before her so he could see the food.
"Well yeah I see that! But…. What?!" He said it the exact same way he did the first time with the same exact face.
"Well I thought you might be hungry from your travels and everything... oh!" she laughed awkwardly, "I forgot to introduce myself... I'm, uh, Melody by the way."
"Melody...Your name is… Melody? That's not a very common name, Melody. Your name is Melody. Really?" he said, shocked for a reason beyond her knowledge.
"Erm, yes. Is there a problem with my name, Doctor?" she asked, smirking. She realized she asked a simple question with more sass than was called for; but he didn't seem to mind. He almost seemed amused by it.
"No! No I think Melody is a great name- very lovely! But can I ask your last name, if you don't mind?"
"Pond. Melody Pond." She said shortly.
"Your name is Melody Pond?" He asked. She began to wonder if the Doctor really was the genius she had always believed he was.
"Well, yes... if you don't mind my asking… why is that so special?" she asked almost laughing at the sight of him.
"That's impossible!" he said, disregarding her question. He walked in circles around her, waving a green stick over her body she recognized as a sonic screwdriver. He looked at it and laughed.
"Excellent! Oh that's fantastic! Oh, and I'm the Doctor, by the way, but you already knew that, Melody Pond; which, come to think of it, doesn't make much sense, but then again a lot of my life doesn't make sense. And thank you very much for the fish fingers and custard!" He finally took the heavy glass bowl out little Melody's hands and started eating. "Now, may I ask you how you know my name-no-better yet- how do you know I like fish fingers and custard?" Holding the bowl close to his chest, he squatted so he had to look up at Melody and she down at him.
"Well, Doctor, that's a long story. Rather hard to explain to you, I would think." She didn't want to tell him he had his own television show; she felt like somehow it would be bad news. And it really wasn't the most exciting thing.
He dipped his fried fish into the custard and took a large bite, a little bit of the yellow dessert dribbling from the side of his mouth. He obviously was hiding a lot from her, even if it was only his emotions. "May I ask you why you were crying just a few minutes ago, Doctor?" She asked, immediately regretting the decision. She had already decided it was a bad idea: and now she had just broken one of her few rules set for herself: 3. Don't ask risky questions.
"Long story. Rather hard to explain to you, I would think." he said in her tone. She was relieved when he didn't take offense. He cheekily winked at her and gave a small smile.
"Well, isn't that a coincidence? Two long, hard to explain stories... we must make a good pair then, you and I," she said.
"Yeah... maybe. They could probably entertain us for hours," he said, as if weighing his options of bringing her or not.
"Maybe even days!" she said excitedly, hoping for the best.
"What do you say then? Will you come with me?" He said, already knowing the answer but asking it just for effect.
Melody paused and took a step back. She was doing it for affect, but wanted to see how he would react. "But…Leaving my life so suddenly…just dropping everything and going with you; what about school and my family?" she said sadly.
"Oh..." His face dropped a little and nodded sadly. "Okay. Yeah. I understand, Melody Pond."
"Doctor!" Melody laughed. "Oh, you are so thick! Of course I'm coming with you! I wouldn't pass it up for all the money in the world!"
"Really? Oh that's wonderful!" He smiled again and stood up to his proper height. He opened the tall blue door behind him with a "click.".
"Wait," he said, stepping back and turning to look at Melody, suddenly serious with a touch of fear in his tone. "Before you go in, there is something you need to know." He paused, slowly waving his hands through the air and wobbling a bit. He flashed his smile. "It's bigger on the inside." And with that he opened the doors, letting the excited little girl walk into his home.
"This, Melody Pond, is my TARDIS!"