Moving on to chapter six, once again I don't own Doctor Who, don't own the characters, all I own is the plot for this story. Hope you guys are enjoying it and thanks so much to those who've reviewed, it really makes my day!
Clara relaxed into the plush armchair, feeling content and full of souffle. She was glad she had discovered this room, and more glad that the Tardis had allowed her to find it in the first place. It was small and cosy, complete with assorted armchairs and couches and a intricately designed fireplace in the corner, which she assumed when lit would give the room a warm orange glow to match the gold and red theme.
She had retrieved a book from the small bookshelf against the far wall of the room, not sure what the novel was about but drawn in the the beautiful picture of a foreign planet on the cover. She peeked at the inside cover of the book, intrigued to see that there was writing there. It looked to be a bunch of gibberish to Clara, but it appeared pretty and enticing, an array of beautifully written symbols and foreign words that Clara guessed must have been written by the Doctor. She wondered if it was Gallifreyan and made a mental note to ask him about it later.
The renegade Time Lord had gone to check on the power source to try and estimate how long it would be before they were up and running again so Clara had decided to take the chance to relax. It had been an extremely long day, she wasn't even sure what time it was. Was there even an aspect of time in the Tardis? Probably not, she figured, opening her book and deciding she would fall asleep whenever she felt exhausted enough.
"No!"
Clara jumped at the outraged cry, looking up from her newly opened book as the Doctor burst into the room looking flustered and promptly began tearing the place apart. Clara dropped her book in surprise at the disheveled appearance of the angry Time Lord.
"I leave you alone for five minutes," She chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "What's wrong?"
"It's gone! Gone I tell you!" The Doctor cried, flapping his hands about in distress. "It's been stolen!"
"What has?" Clara yelped, dodging a cushion the Doctor had just thrown across the room in his adamant search, narrowly missing her head.
"My recorder!" He yelled, crouching down on all fours as he checked for it under the couch. Clara sighed. All this over an instrument?
"It'll turn up, Doctor," She laughed. "Here, I'll help."
"Wonderful!" He exclaimed happily, patting her on the back lightly in his sudden enthusiasm. "Thank you, Clara. Alright, I've checked nearly everywhere except for this room. If this is the Tardis' doing I swear I'll-"
He began muttering what sounded to Clara like a string of profanities in Gallifreyan, causing her to laugh as they continued their search, though his words earned an angry whine from the ship. They tore the room apart, overturning armchairs, throwing books off the bookcase and checking down the back of the couch.
"Doctor!" Clara laughed with a roll of her eyes. "Why would it be in the fireplace?"
"Why are you questioning me and not continuing looking for my recorder?" The Doctor retaliated, pulling his head out of the fireplace and looking around himself. He sighed, seemingly giving up and sitting down on the floor with a soft thud, looking downcast with an annoyed pout.
Clara's eyes widened as she spotted something protruding from his jacket when he sat down.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle as the Doctor looked up at her defensively.
"What?" He questioned with a scowl. "What is it?"
"You clever boy," Clara grinned, much to the bemusment of the Time Lord. "Have you checked your pockets, Doctor?" Clara laughed, watching with glee as the Time Lord's jaw dropped. His hand flew to his pocket and he froze for a second, eyes widening in shock. He slowly pulled out his recorder, a look of disbelief on his face.
Clara couldn't control her laughter at the Time Lord's stupidity and the adorable look of confusion on his face. The Doctor straightened up with a frown, clearing his throat with embarrassment.
"Planted there, obviously," He stated indignantly. "Someone trying to frame me. It wasn't there before, I'm telling you!"
Clara wiped a tear from her eye as she laughed.
"Oh, Doctor," She sighed with a grin, tapping the side of her head with a wink. "See, sometimes humans are just that little bit smarter than Time Lords."
The Doctor struggled to maintain his frown but couldn't help breaking out into a grin. He gave the recorder a quick toot and smiled at Clara, rushing over and embracing her in a hug.
"Thank you, Clara," She could hear the chuckle in his voice as she hugged him back. "Only you would have thought to look there, impossible. My impossible girl."
Clara closed her eyes in contentment and relaxed into his embrace, smiling at his words. She enjoyed being close to him like this. She pulled back to look at him.
"If only I was that helpful when we're in dangerous situations," She smiled jokingly but there was truth in her words. She hated to admit it, but she felt useless sometimes. Watching the Doctor fly the Tardis so expertly made her worry that if and when he requested her to do something, she'd let him down. She already had, almost. She wondered briefly if all his companions felt like this at some point and thought it probable that they would. "Back when we escaped from the Sontarans all I could manage to do was pull a lever and I nearly did that wrong! We could've died."
"But we didn't," The Doctor's eyes turned serious but gentle as he looked at Clara. He frowned slightly at her words. "You don't really think you're useless do you, Clara? You've helped me in ways even I don't fully understand."
Clara blushed slightly at his words. "I just wish that I could be a bit more of a help sometimes, that's all," She shrugged. "Your Tardis thinks so too, I can tell."
"My Tardis doesn't know everything," The Doctor winked, gaining an indignant hum from the ship. His eyes brightened suddenly and he grinned mischieviusly. "Come along, impossible girl," He grabbed her hand and ran from the room, pulling her with him. "You helped me find my recorder, now I'm going to return the favour. I'm going to give you a lesson in flying my Tardis!"
Clara felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest as the Doctor led her down the twisting corridors towards the control room. She held onto his hand tightly, enjoying the contact. She felt excited and nervous at the same time. Flying the Tardis was something she had always wanted to master, but she knew how complictaed it was. That, teamed with the fact that the Tardis hated her, didn't make for a very promising plan.
She tried not to feel intimidated as they entered the control room and looked at the console again. It was slightly more basic than the one she knew from the future, but she was sure it would be just as hard to manouver.
The Doctor pulled her over to the console gently and let go of her hand. She didn't want to admit it to herself but she missed the contact as soon as he let go, it left her feeling incomplete. She shook the thoughts away and concentrated on the daunting console in front of her.
"How's this going to work, Doc?" She asked with a questioning glance at the Time Lord who was gazing at one of the scanners. "I thought we didn't have enough energy to fly it."
"It's charging up, we don't have enough to travel in time or space, but we have enough to lift off from the ground, fly around this perfectly splendid planet," The Doctor grinned excitedly. "Good practise, it's the same thing only a tad less dangerous. And by dangerous I mean "The Sonatarns will find us and we will more than likely die" dangerous. But not to worry!" He clasped his hands together in front of him with a warm smile at Clara's slightly striken expression. "We're avoiding all that. Thing's should run smoothly. Just don't crash into anything."
"I'll try my best, Captain," Clara gave a mock salute, her fear at flying to ship beginning to diminish. She could do this, she'd show that cocky Tardis.
"That lever there," The Doctor gestured to part of the console in front of Clara. "That's the handbrake."
"Funny looking handbrake," Clara grinned. "So do I just pull it up or what?"
"Are you mad?" The Doctor looked horrified. "No, no you have to press these two at the same time, pull that up and then reach around here..."
Clara's brain went into overdrive as the Doctor began talking rapidly, using terms she didn't understand. She struggled to keep up, trying to ignore the fact that the Tardis was probably laughing at her.
"Right," She muttered, poking her tongue out between her teeth as she struggled to multitask. She huffed in annoyance. "Doctor, this one's broken!"
"Oh, no it's not broken," The Doctor stated cheerily. "Just a bit stiff."
He picked up a hammer from under the console and hit the controls with it a few times much to Clara's shock and amusement.
"That should do it," He smiled proudly, giving it one last whack and tossing the hammer into a corner of the room.
Clara laughed, trying to remember which buttons to press. The Doctor took one of her hands, moving it to rest on the correct lever. She twisted a dial and gasped as the ship began to move.
"Doctor," She cried, frozen in shock but feeling slightly proud of herself. "Am I doing it? I am!"
"You're flying it, Clara!" The Doctor confirmed happily, patting her head affectionately. She let out a victorious whoop, feeling accomplished and quite enjoying the feel of the Doctor's left hand resting on her lower back.
"You're doing well, just... No, not that one!"
"Oops," Clara winced with a laugh as the Tardis bumped into something solid. The Doctor left her side as she struggled to pilot the ship. She liked the feeling independence and couldn't help grinning. She was flying the Tardis! How many humans got to do something like that?
"Remember what I told you," The Doctor yelled from the oppisite side of the console, gripping it tightly as the ship swerved again. "If you think you're going to crash, you press those four buttons in sequence, one two three four!"
"One two three four, got it," Clara grinned, pulling down another lever. They weren't crashing yet, she was ok. The Tardis gave a quick lurch. The Doctor gave her a worried glance and reached for the controls.
"No, I've got this!" Clara assured him adamantly. She was determined to manage this by herself. He rolled his eyes at her, putting his hands up in surrender but immediately regretting it when the Tardis lurched again and he nearly lost his balance.
"Remember what I told you! One-"
"I know!" Clara yelled urgently, pressing the buttons frantically. "One two three-"
She slipped as she made to press the fourth button, ending up pressing a fifth in her hurry. She flinched as she pressed a sixth unintentionally, hoping it wouldn't do too much damage. The Tardis dropped rapidly, crashing off what felt like a solid brick wall.
The Doctor ran over to her, pushing her out of the way slightly and taking over the controls quickly. The Tardis began to regain balance again and Clara gave a nervous chuckle, biting her lip, slightly ashamed but having too much fun to care.
The Doctor closed his eyes and held his hands to his head with a defeated sigh. "Clara, remind me to give you a lesson in counting."
"Oi!" Clara swatted the mocking Time Lord's arm lightly, moving back to the controls. "It could've been worse."
"Yes, well, you're not doing bad for your first time," the Doctor moved to stand close behind her, reaching around her and taking her hand again to place it gently on the correct controls. Clara's heart hammered in her chest at the close proximity and she was finding it hard to focus on what he was saying. Her breath caught in her throat every time he moved her hand to help her along when she did something wrong and she hoped he didn't notice.
She smiled as she realised she was flying the ship without anymore casualties. Sure, the Doctor was helping her but still, he was only helping. And though she hated to admit it to herself, she didn't really want him to move from where he was standing close behind her, almost pressed up against her back at this point.
"I think it's time we land," The Doctor's breath brushed Clara's cheek lightly as he spoke, his face close to hers almost resting on her shoulder. "Don't want to use up too much power."
"Ok, I've got this part," Clara grinned, taking hold of a shiny metal lever and pulling it down, sliding a red bar across simutaneously. She let out a squeal of glee when the ship came to a gentle stop.
"Smooth landing!" The Doctor cried estatically, moved away from the console. "That's never happened before."
"What can I say, I'm talented," Clara winked playfully, earning a laugh from the Time Lord.
"Indeed," He smiled. "No bones broken, I have to say I'm delighted with your progress, Miss Oswald."
"I have to say I am too," Clara linked her arm through his with a grin as they walked down the hall, leaving the control room behind them. They reached the room before Clara even realised where they were going, the room where the lost recorder incident had taken place.
The Doctor removed himself from her hold and went to sit down on the couch, taking out his recorder and beginning to play a tune Clara didn't recognise.
She sat down in the armchair across from him, feeling worn out but enjoying the calming music. Definitely not an Earth tune, she decided as she listened to the lilting song quietly. She picked up her forgotten book from earlier and decided to take the chance to rifle through it's pages. She soon realised that nearly all the words were in a language unknown to her, most likely Gallifreyan. She couldn't understand a word of it, but the symbols were so beautiful she couldn't put the book down. She looked up at the Doctor suddenly at his change in song.
"Twinkle twinkle little star?" She raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile.
"A delightful tune," The Doctor winked, finishing the song and putting down his recorder. Clara got up from where she was sitting and plopped herself down on the couch beside the Doctor. A sudden thought occured to her.
"Where are your companions, Doctor?" She questioned curiously. "Don't you usually travel with others?"
The Doctor sighed heavily, a forlorn look crossing his features. "They left. I suppose they all do, in the end. They all had lives to get back to, Jamie, Zoe, Victoria... They were all very dear friends of mine."
"I'm sorry," Clara whispered, realising that this was a tough subject for any incarnation of the Doctor to talk about. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. He smiled gratefully in return. "Do you miss them?"
"Oh, of course, I miss all my past companions," The Doctor shrugged. "But life depends on change and renewal, it goes on."
Clara nodded, the words on of the wise Gallifreyan turning over in her head. It made a lot of sense, if she hadn't decided to change her average Earth lifestyle and travel with the Doctor, she would never have experienced all the amazing things she had encountered. Sometimes, change was a good thing.
"I'm glad I've got you," The Doctor continued quietly, giving her hand a small squeeze as he stared off into the distance thoughtfully. "I don't like being alone. You've made things better, a lot better."
Clara smiled at his words, unable to keep the blush from rushing to her cheeks. She cursed inwardly. She didn't usually blush this much. "I'm glad I'm here too," She replied truthfully, looking down at their intertwined hands. "I don't think I've ever had so much fun."
"Well, I'm glad you consider being on the run from a race of warrior aliens fun," The Doctor grinned, lightening the mood.
"You know what I mean," Clara laughed. She picked up the book from beside her. "This book, is it written in Gallifreyan?"
"Ah yes," The Doctor removed his hand from hers in his haste and took it from her excitedly, flicking through the pages. "I haven't seen this for years. Robbed it from the library at the academy."
Clara laughed. "Some things never change then," She gave the Tardis a suggestive glance.
The Doctor grinned lightly at her comment. Clara turned her attention to the book again.
"It's written in Old High Gallifreyan, the ancient language of the Time Lord's," The Doctor explained thoughtfully. "Not many can understand it."
"But you do?"
"I do."
"What's it about then?"
"Myths and legends mostly," The Doctor shrugged. "It says a lot about The Dark Time, a time where much of Gallifreyan culture was dominated by magic."
"Magic?" Clara asked in disbelief, a small amount of awe entering her voice.
"Or so they say," The Doctor scrunched up his face in slight disregard, giving another shrug.
"I don't suppose Google Translate would work on it then?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothing," Clara laughed at the Doctor's horrifed expression. "Futuristic computer talk," She winked jokingly, feeling proud that she knew something the Doctor didn't, even if it was probably too insignificant for him to even consider.
"I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them," The Doctor straightened his bowtie adamantly with a scowl.
"Me too," Clara agreed fervently. "Especially when you can't connect to the wifi."
The Doctor scoffed and muttered something along the lines of, "bloody futuristic computers," as Clara picked up the book again, studying the cover carefully.
"Will you take me to Gallifrey some day, Doctor?" She asked quietly. "I bet it's beautiful."
"I will, Clara, I promise," He paused. "Just as long as I'm not still on the run from them."
Clara chuckled, leaning her head on his shoulder, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over her as the events of the day began to catch up with her. "Why did you run away in the first place then?"
"I was bored," Clara felt the Doctor shrug. "The Time Lord's wanted to live this proper way with all their power and I... Didn't. I just wanted to travel. I mean look at the universe! Look how much there is to explore!"
Clara gave a yawn. "I know what you mean," She agreed with a small nod. "But... There's nothing wrong with that. What do they have against that?"
"Well," The Doctor began somewhat sheepishly. "I do tend to... Get involved with things a bit."
"You can say that again," Clara laughed, fighting the urge to close her heavy eyelids.
The Doctor turned his head slgihtly to look down at her, slumped against his side. "You're tired, Clara. You should get some sleep."
"S'what I'm doing," She mumbled, drowsyness beginning to take over.
"But don't you want to lie down in a bed?"
" 'm fine here, thanks," She murmured, closing her eyes and snuggling in closer to him. She felt him heave a sigh as he relented, putting an arm around her gently.
Clara suddenly didn't want to sleep, she had never felt more content than she did in that moment. She felt safe now, and she wasn't sure when she'd get that priviledge again, considering they were on top of the Sontarans hit list. But she felt herself begin to lose conciousness as the Doctor started absentmindedly tracing gentle circles on her shoulder and found she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She fell asleep, the last thought in her head being that she was happy.
Fluffy chapter theree =)) Hope ye enjoyed it! Please leave any feedback or constructive criticism, or even just tell me how you're liking the story :)
Did anyone notice the couple of classic who quotes I threw in there? ;;)
Oh and someone said Clara was out of character, sorry about that I'll try fix it :P So if I'm not doing the characters as I should, please give me advice on how to improve :) Thanks!