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headcanonsandmore · 6 months ago

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'New Year Surprises'

Summary: On New Years Eve, Tegan and Nyssa stop off to pick up Mel on their way to Yaz's party and get a bit of a shock.

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Read on AO3.

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‘I still don’t know why we couldn’t have just called UNIT for a lift,’ Tegan muttered, as she followed Nyssa up the staircase. ‘Kate did say we’re priority as former TARDIS occupants.’

‘Because firstly, that would be taking advantage,’ Nyssa replied, with a giggle. ‘And secondly, I think we both needed the walk.’

‘The walk from ours to the tube station and then from the other tube station to here?’

‘Yes,’ Nyssa said, turning and pressing a quick kiss to her wife’s cheek. ‘I knew you’d understand.’

The Australian rolled her eyes fondly and followed Nyssa through the door onto Mel’s floor.

‘I hope Mel doesn’t mind catching the tube with us to Yaz’s,’ she said, removing her woolly hat from atop her head. ‘Must be strange for her, not being here with Ace this year.’

‘True, but I suppose Ace was here for Christmas. Now… five… six- ah, here we are.’

Nyssa rapped smartly on the door, before stepping back a respectful pace. Tegan grinned sideways at the Trakenite, taking in the long burgundy scarf and hat that complimented the black overcoat she was wearing. Curls of brown hair -greying slightly nowadays- poked out from under the hat.

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ Tegan said, still smiling. ‘Just thought you look particularly ravishing this evening.’

Nyssa’s cheeks flushed prettily and she giggled.

‘I seem to remember you being the ravishing one this morning, Tegan-’

‘Ssshhh!’

The two women descended into giggles.

There was a turning of the door handle, and the redheaded form of Mel Bush appeared, a wide smile on her face.

‘Hello, lovelies!’ she exclaimed. ‘No need to stand on ceremony; come in, come in…’

As they stepped into the warmth of Mel’s flat, Tegan and Nyssa both zipped off their coats, which Mel quickly hung on a stand nearby.

‘Sorry, I’m running late,’ Mel said, gesturing to her half-damp frizz of red hair and the pink fluffy bathrobe she was wearing. ‘I swear, today has flown by…’

After the older two women had removed their boots, Mel bustled them both into the kitchen and into two wooden chairs beside the table, both of them were covered in cushions. Mel’s interior design skills tended to focus on a sweet spot between functional and cosy, meaning her flat was comfortable yet airy.

‘Happy New Years!’ Mel exclaimed, as she put the kettle on. ‘Coffee? Tea?’

‘One hot chocolate for me,’ Nyssa said. ‘Decaf coffee for my wife.’

‘I’m not that bad, Nys.’

‘Your GP said otherwise,’ Nyssa cheeked, dimples appearing as she smiled sideways knowingly. ‘No caffeine after midday, if I remember their exact phrasing.’

A few minutes later, Mel placed the two mugs down in front of her friends, and sat down across the table from them.

‘I thought that Christmas party we had was lovely,’ she said, with a smile. ‘It was wonderful to see everyone again.’

‘Well, almost everyone,’ Tegan said, wryly. ‘I don’t think Yaz was up for seeing the Doctor again.’

‘True, but she doesn’t celebrate Christmas anyway,’ Nyssa added. ‘Hopefully, tonight will be a good chance for us all to catch up.’

‘Exactly,’ Mel agreed. ‘How are you enjoying Hanukkah this year, Tegan?’

The Australian shrugged.

‘I’m not really religious but Nys did suggest we get a menorah.’

Nyssa smiled, squeezing her wife’s hand before turning her attention back to Mel.

‘By the way, how are you coping with Ace not being here?’

‘Oh, you know,’ the redhead said, with a sigh. ‘It could be worse. It was lovely spending Christmas with her but UNIT work can’t wait any longer.’

‘Japan, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes; apparently there’s some potential extra-terrestrial activity happening there at the minute, so Kate asked Ace to get the first flight out on Boxing Day.’

Tegan and Nyssa smiled sadly over the table at her.

‘Oh, don’t you two start!’ Mel laughed, as she got out of her chair and grabbed a biscuit from a tin on the counter. ‘I’ve already had Jo suggesting I pop over to Wales to stay with her family for the rest of the holidays.’

‘And you didn’t take that offer up?’

‘I had other offers- oh, speak of the devil.’

Yasmin Khan walked into the kitchen, towelling her hair off. She was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

‘I thought I heard other voices,’ she said, cheerfully, apparently not noticing that Tegan’s mouth had fallen open. ‘Hello, both; all good?’

‘They’ve popped round to pick me up,’ Mel said.

‘Brill; I’m heading back to mine so I’ll see you both later,’ Yaz replied and -to the shock of Tegan and Nyssa- promptly gave Mel’s rear end a quick squeeze. ‘See you later as well, Mel.’

‘Bye,’ Mel said, with a grin.

Yaz shot Mel a lopsided smile, before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek and heading out of the kitchen. A few moments later, there was the sound of the front door closing behind her.

It was at this moment that Tegan’s voice finally returned to her.

‘What -in the bloody hell- is going on?’

‘Well, Yaz needed to leave now to get back to help Martha set up-’

‘You know fully well I’m not referring to that!’ Tegan exclaimed, cheeks still flushed. ‘You… when… why…’

‘I think what Tegan is trying to say,’ Nyssa interjected, putting a steadying hand on Tegan’s arm. ‘Is that Yasmin appeared to walk out after apparently sharing a shower with you.’

‘Oh… yes,’ Mel said, nonplussed. ‘What of it?’

‘What of it?’ Tegan repeated. ‘Ace has been barely out of the country for five minutes and you’re already having it away with a woman young enough to be your daughter!’

Mel frowned at her.

‘I’m guessing Ace forgot to tell you that her and I have an open relationship? Or are you just being judgemental, Tegan?’

Tegan blinked.

‘You’re… you’re serious?’

‘I’m not lying, if that’s what you mean,’ Mel replied. ‘Ace sees other people and so do I; we discussed it between us and we find it works out quite well.’

‘Ah, I have heard of people having relationships like that,’ Nyssa said, as Tegan opened and closed her mouth in bewilderment. ‘Quite a few amongst the staff on Terminus used to; it was handy for childcare and things like that.’

‘B-but…’ Tegan spluttered. ‘Yaz?’

‘Listen, I know you regard her as something of a surrogate niece,’ Mel said, crossing the room and sitting down again. ‘But she’s not a child. She’s a grown woman, Tegan.’

Tegan stared for a moment.

‘Er… sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘That was rude of me. Mouth and brain weren’t working together for a minute there.’

‘It’s quite all right. Tegan,’ Mel said, with good grace. ‘I probably should have expected that reaction. I mean, neither of you were to know.’

‘So…’ Nyssa said, patting Tegan’s hand gently as she looked back at Mel. ‘How did you two…’

‘It happened after one of the support meetings,’ Mel explained. ‘Yaz was feeling a bit down because of everything that happened with the Doctor, and Ace was away in South America at the time. I invited her back here for a movie night, we started cuddling during the sad scenes in “The Holiday”, one thing led to another and… well, we woke up in bed together the next morning.’

‘But how do you know that-’

‘Sans clothes.’

‘Ah.’

‘It kept happening every so often when Ace was out of the country, so me and Yaz discussed it and decided to make it a casual thing. Whenever we both get a bit lonely, you see.’

‘And…’ Tegan said. ‘And the age thing doesn’t have an impact?’

‘Yaz doesn’t seem to mind,’ Mel said, with a slight twinkle in her eye. ‘Especially since I’m still very flexible from when I used to dance-’

‘Alright, alright!’ Tegan exclaimed, feeling her cheeks flush. ‘You don’t have to spell it out!’

Mel laughed again, and stood up.

‘I’m going to get changed for the party,’ she said. ‘Give me half an hour and I’ll be ready.’

‘Okay.’

With a smile, the redhead headed out of the room.

Nyssa turned to her wife.

‘Has the shock finally worn off?’

‘Mostly. Just wondering how we managed to miss that two of our friends were casual lovers.’

‘Well, our lives have been pretty hectic,’ Nyssa giggled. ‘Good thing we were away on holiday when all that Sutekh nonsense was happening.’

‘I’m still find stray bits of sand in our wardrobe,’ Tegan said, with a roll of her eyes.

‘At least we’ll have a bit of gossip to talk with Yaz about now.’

‘Oh, heck; Ryan makes enough jokes about Yaz liking older women as it is…’

‘Welcome!’ Yaz grinned as she opened the door of the small flat she shared with Martha Jones. The sound of the party blossomed out from behind her; Tegan could make out a stereo playing music, as well as numerous raised voices. Given that so many people were packed inside, that didn’t surprise her. ‘Can I get your coats?’

‘Oh, you are a dear,’ Mel said. ‘Can I help with setting things up?’

‘Thanks but no need,’ Yaz said, as she gathered the older women’s coats together. ‘I’ll just pop these in me room.’

Yaz disappeared, and Mel turned to the Australian.

‘Tegan, you’re not going to be weird about me and Yaz, are you?’

‘No, I’m not!’ Tegan exclaimed. ‘Can we please move on from that? It’s really none of my business who you’re-’

‘Seeing,’ Nyssa finished, quickly. ‘We really don’t mind, Mel; we’re happy for you.’

Mel gave a giddy laugh.

‘In that case, I’ll grab us some drinks. Back in a mo!’

Nyssa smiled fondly at her wife.

‘Tegan…’

‘I know, I know…’

A few minutes later, the redhead returned and Tegan took her glass of pink lemonade from Mel with good grace.

Yaz -who had returned by this point- slipped an arm around Mel, and steered the redhead away to where Ryan, Martha and a few other younger people were stood, along with Kate and Osgood.

‘Happy New Year!’

Graham grinned, raising a glass of lemonade as he passed Tegan and Nyssa on his way to rejoin his grandson.

Yaz laughed as Mel pecked her on the cheek. Graham chuckled.

‘Shame Ace isn’t here,’ he said, grinning. ‘She’d make it into a tug-of-war for who can hold Mel longer.’

‘I wouldn’t mind that,’ Mel laughed. ‘But I’d worry about one of them being left out.’

Tegan inclined her head to speak softly into Nyssa’s ear.

‘This is gonna take a while to get used to,’ she said, quietly.

‘Well, it seems to make them all happy,’ Nyssa replied. ‘Maybe just keep a button on your lip until it becomes normal to you.’

Tegan sighed.

‘I’ll try. Sorry, love; I know I’m being a bit weird about this.’

‘No need to apologise, my darling,’ Nyssa said, softly. ‘I was as surprised as you were; it just so happens that you have a better knack for speaking up than I do.’

‘Meaning I can’t keep my mouth shut when I probably should,’ Tegan groaned.

Nyssa chuckled and wrapped an arm around her wife’s waist, bumping their hips gently together.

‘Well, Mel didn’t seem too bothered and Yaz didn’t overhear, so no harm done.’

‘I guess,’ Tegan grumbled, resting her head on Nyssa’s shoulder. ‘I take it that a second apology to Mel is out of the question?’

‘Yes,’ Nyssa giggled. ‘How about we settle for ringing in the new year with our friends?’

‘That sounds nice.’

The party gradually got more and more exuberant as midnight approached. Ryan and Martha took to their new party trick of throwing popcorn into each other’s mouths from several paces away, causing much laughter. Tegan and Nyssa, neither of whom were drinking, took to brushing up the mess with the flat’s broom.

Tegan was just placing the last bunch into the bin when there was an almighty flash.

‘What the-Ace?’

‘It worked!’ exclaimed the delighted Ace, who had just appeared in the middle of the sitting room. ‘I knew you were onto something with that do-hicky, Osgood!’

It was at this point that Mel threw herself into Ace’s arms and kissed her full on the mouth. There was another outbreak of cheering and applause.

It was at that moment that the clock struck midnight, and the room erupted in jubilation.

Tegan placed the broom against the wall and turned. The Australian smiled at her wife and pressed a kiss to her lips.

‘Happy New Year, Nyssa.’

The Trakenite grinned, and slipped her arm around Tegan’s waist, pulling her closer. Their lips met again.

‘Happy New Year, my darling.’

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Thanks for reading, everyone; hope you all have a great new years and a fantastic 2025! Rest assured, I have not forgotten my current Work-In-Progress; the next chapter is just taking a little while than usual due to IRL stuff (I was ill for a week and have only just gotten back to normal).

#doctor who #doctor who fanfiction #tegan/nyssa #nyssa/tegan #ace/mel #mel/ace #yaz/mel #mel/yaz #happy new year #tegan jovanka #nyssa #nyssa of traken #mel bush #yasmin khan #yaz #ace mcshane

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