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Not Leaving You

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Prompt - "You need to leave."

Requested - anon

The Doctor never said more about his past than he had to. Most of the people who travelled with him never asked too many questions, too caught up in the life that came with knowing the Doctor to ask about who he really was. When they did ask he gave them just enough to stop asking. 

He didn’t know what was different about you. When you asked he found he didn’t mind sharing a part of himself with you, a part of himself that nobody else knew. He couldn’t say for sure why because it ached his hearts terribly to talk about a life long gone but it was a little bit easier with you at his side.

You were a curious thing too, he’d lost count of how many times he’d lost you, you wandering off, too distracted by something or other and ready with a million and one questions by the time the Doctor finally did find you.

He knew sooner or later you’d be curious about him too, once you found out he had two hearts that had taken up about a week’s worth of conversation, you asking questions about Time Lords and what else was different about them, not knowing that there were no more Time Lords out there and missing the sad look that the Doctor forced off his face.

He had taken you to a planet he had found many, many years ago, one that made his chest feel warm and a smile pull on his face as you repeated the name after him, the word Zirafell sounding as beautiful as the planet itself coming from your lips. He had never shown it to anyone before but there was something so extraordinarily different about you that he wanted to share all his hiding spots and secrets with you.

The two of you were sitting in the field, the TARDIS parked not too far away. The grass was littered with little pink and blue flowers and a lilac lake glistened under the two suns in front of you.

“Where are you from anyway?” You asked softly, breaking the peaceful silence that had settled between you causing the Doctor to look at you in surprise but you kept your gaze on the lake.

“Me? Oh nowhere really.” The Doctor answered after a few beats of silence, watching as a frown pulled at your face.

“Everyone’s from somewhere.” You told him, finally turning to face him and seeing the discomfort on his face. You wondered whether to push it but before you could decide the Doctor spoke again.

“Not me. Not anymore.” The Doctor sighed and you stayed silent for a moment, just looking at him.

His gaze was on something just passed your shoulder, refusing to look at you as his mind played memories from long before you could even imagine. You wanted to know what he was thinking about though, wanted to know what put that sort of look on a person's face. 

“You could always go back home.” You told him, keeping your voice soft.

The Doctor looked back at you, a sad smile spreading across his face. You hadn’t seen that smile in a while, of course you’d seen it plenty when you’d first met him. A sad man sitting alone looking like his whole world had fallen apart around him and there was nothing he could do about it.

It took some time but eventually he told you about the people he’d lost and how travelling with him was dangerous. He had told you he’d take you home, that he’d understand if you wanted to leave but you just wrapped your arms around him, pulling him in for a hug, smiling into his chest when he gripped you tight.

“Not even I can do that.” The Doctor laughed softly, no amusement in it as he turned to look out at the lake. He never wanted to talk about it, about all that pain and suffering, about what he had done and yet sat here with you, he wanted you to know that sad, angry, lonely part of him. 

“My home’s long gone, Y/N.” The Doctor said after a long silence where you had figured he wasn’t going to share anything with you. “It was a beautiful place, you’d have loved it. I’d love to have shown you. The Time Lords, my people, the universe was so much brighter with them in it. People would cheer when they saw one and now, now they’re gone, my planet’s gone.”

“What happened to it?” You asked, voice barely above a whisper as you looked at him, his eyes glazed over. 

“There was a war.” He told you, swallowing around a lump in his throat. “It doesn’t matter, but nobody won that day. Nobody ever really wins I suppose. Everyone died. Everyone but me.”

When you first saw the Doctor, before you knew who he was, you just referred to him as the sad man. Watching him now you couldn’t think of a better way to describe him, the sad man, the sad man who was all alone in the universe, the sad man who had lived through the destruction of his whole planet, his whole race.

The sad man with a magical box who spent his life bringing hope everywhere he went.

“The last of the Time Lords.” You murmured, remembering what a woman from several months back had hissed to him, at the time the Doctor brushed it off when you asked questions, now you knew why. 

“The last of the Time Lords.” The Doctor agreed just as quietly and neither of you said anything else, there was nothing left to say so you rested your head on his shoulder, his coming to rest on top of yours as the two of you stared ahead at the lilac water.

From that day onwards you and the Doctor were closer than ever, he shared more of his life with you and you found yourself falling a little bit more for the man as each day passed. It was a dangerous thing to do, falling in love with the Doctor and yet you let yourself fall, not bothering to question if he would catch you but enjoying the fall while it lasted.

You felt closer with the Doctor than you had with anyone you had known back home, not a single day went by where you regretted leaving, regretted choosing the Doctor over your old life. You knew you’d make the same choice over and over again. You could never give the Doctor up.

Months passed since that day, months where you and the Doctor would spend your nights floating through the galaxy, legs hanging over the TARDIS door as the Doctor told you about the different stars and planets that surrounded you with such fondness, months were he took your hand in yours and you couldn’t help but smile, savouring the feeling of his thumb running softly across the back of your hand as he pulled you along, tugging you back to him when you went to wander off. Months were you and the Doctor traded secrets in the quiet of the night, things that you’d never have dreamed of sharing with anyone else and yet knowing the whispered words were safe with each other.

“You’ll love this one, Y/N/N!” The Doctor told you with an excited grin on his face, hurrying you to put your coat on causing you to laugh before he finally grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the TARDIS, pausing long enough to lock the box before the two of you were off.

“Welcome to Thucruiruta.” The Doctor beamed at you and you couldn’t help the gasp that escaped you as you finally looked around.

The planet was beautiful, the sky was golden and all sorts of creatures were moving around you, so many things demanded your attention and the thing that won it was the Doctor squeezing your hand.

“It’s beautiful, Doctor.” You breathed out, watching as the Doctor’s grin softened and you didn’t even try and stop yourself from smiling back, leaning into him before letting him lead the way.

The Doctor was eager to show you everything, used to your curiosity and the hundreds of questions you came up with, more than happy to show off and answer them, making his way through the stands and insisting you try all the different foods on display. 

It was hard to imagine such a perfect day taking a turn but you had also gotten used to trouble following the Doctor by now, so when an explosion sounded not too far in the distance you immediately turned to the Doctor, waiting for him to do something.

It didn’t take him more than a second to grab your hand, pulling you into the heart of the danger and you went along with him willingly. You knew you always would, you never gave it a second thought, you knew that you would always follow the Doctor no matter where he went.

You gasped as you took in the scene, people were scattered all over the floor, some crying out and others not moving at all. You gripped the Doctor’s hand in yours and he squeezed back before moving further into the chaos, looking around for some clue as to what had happened.

There was a child on the floor, a deep cut in their green skin as blue blood poured from it. You pulled your hand from the Doctor’s and made your way to the child’s side as the Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out to try and find what had caused the explosion. 

“You alright?” You asked softly, pulling your jacket off and using a sharp bit of rubble to rip the end of your shirt in lieu of a bandage. 

“Hurts.” The kid whimpered and you gave her an encouraging smile, warning her it might sting as you tied the torn material around her arm as tightly as you could.

“Good job, that’ll be good until we can get you to your family.” You told her standing up and holding a hand out for her, pulling her up by her uninjured arm and looking around. “Where was your family?”

You watched as she pointed the way you had come from, away from where the explosion was and you glanced over your shoulder to see the Doctor glaring down at the sonic, a furious expression you couldn’t ever remember seeing on his face that sent a shiver down your spine.

“Come on then, let’s see if we can find them.” You said, pulling your gaze from the Doctor and forcing the uneasy feeling you suddenly felt in the pit of your stomach away, leading the young girl away from the scene.

Even in the sea of screams and shouts for friends and family you managed to find the young girl's family quite easily, her mum falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around her daughter, mindful of her arm after she winced. 

You stayed long enough for the family to thank you tearfully and the girl to hug you before you pushed your way through the crowd and looked around for the Doctor, frowning when you couldn’t see him.

You made your way further into where the explosion had gone off, gasping when something sharp dug into your arm, looking to your left to see a tall figure beside you, sharp teeth visible as the thing grinned down at you and pushed you forward, dragging you alongside it and not even pausing as you fought back against it.

There was a slimy sort of wet texture to the creature and you couldn’t stop yourself from wincing as it’s nails drew blood from you, the thing snarling the whole time until it pushed you onto the floor and you were staring at sharper nails and blue feet, looking up to see more than a dozen of the things standing together.

“Let her go.” The Doctor’s voice sent a wave of relief through you and your head snapped around to look at him. “Now.”

The Doctor’s voice was cold, so devoid of any emotion that it scared you. The creatures, however, didn’t seem at all phased by him and instead laughed at the Doctor.

“The Doctor always was too fond of the humans.” One of the creatures laughed, sending a wave of spit flying from his mouth. “Too bad he can never save his precious little pets.”

That seemed to hit a nerve with the Doctor and you had heard the stories of his past companions, of how much danger they had been put in simply by being with him. You knew it was scarred on his two hearts, every loss, every defeat, every life lost, every life he blamed himself for.

“The Doctor’s not good at saving anybody.” Another one called, amusement clear in its voice, “Poor little Doctor, all alone, no Time Lords around anymore.”

The creatures all laughed together and you winced as you watched fury take over the Doctor. It seemed these creatures had history with the Doctor, at the very least they knew exactly what buttons to press to tear him apart.

The Doctor looked different, he didn’t look like the Doctor you had seen every day, he looked like a whole different person. Cold fury in his eyes, mouth set in a thin line and his knuckles bone white from the grip he had on the sonic.

“You will let her go and you will leave this planet.” The Doctor told them, voice low and commanding the attention of everyone.

You could only stare at him, fear in your eyes, not sure who you were more afraid of in that moment. Usually you could read the Doctor easily, always seeming to know what his next step was but right then, in that moment you didn’t know what he was going to do.

“Or what, Doctor?” One of them spat but you didn’t bother looking behind at them, keeping your gaze on the Doctor. “The last time we met you were a coward, what’s changed?”

“What’s changed?” He shot back, taking a step forward and you felt your breath catch in your throat at his tone. “What’s changed? The last time I showed you mercy. That was a mistake. I won’t make the same one twice. Now leave.”

“Or what?” It asked again, tone hard as the creatures refused to move.

“Or I’ll burn this entire planet with you on it.” The Doctor said without hesitation and your eyes widened, staring at him in shock.

“You wouldn’t, the Doctor wouldn’t harm innocents, not in the name of revenge.” One of them laughed but it sounded nervous, like it didn’t believe its own words and looking at the fury on the Doctor’s face you had to agree with it.

“Do you really want to test that theory?” The Doctor asked, the silence stretching as the creatures all looked at each other. “All I have to do is press this button and you’ll be dead before you realise it.”

The Doctor held the sonic up and you shook your head, not that he was looking at you but you couldn’t believe him. He wasn’t bluffing, he wasn’t improvising whilst he came up with a plan to deal with this without harming anybody. He was being deadly serious.

You were terrified of the man before you. He wasn’t the Doctor, not the Doctor you knew anyway.

“Liar!” A creature yelled and the Doctor gave it an unimpressed look before going to press the button but you stood up before he could.

“Don’t!” You shouted, reaching a hand out like one would around a scared animal, locking eyes with the Doctor for the first time since you’d been pushed onto the floor. “Don’t.”

“Y/N, you don’t know what these are.” The Doctor told you, his thumb hovering dangerously close to the button on the sonic. 

“I don’t care. This isn’t you, you’re the Doctor! People look to you for hope, you’re not a murderer, don’t do this! Don’t become them.” You pleaded with him but his face was still set with cold fury and you feared there was no changing his mind.

“Get to the TARDIS and don’t look back.” He instructed and you immediately shook your head.

“No.” You told him. “No, I’m not letting you do this. There are millions of innocent people on this planet and you will not destroy them for whatever grudge you’re holding.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you need to leave. Now get on the TARDIS, Y/N!” The Doctor snapped and you felt tears sting your eyes but held your ground.

“No. If you’re going to burn this planet you’ll do it with me on it.” You said, voice shaking as tears made their way over your eyes, hating that you didn’t know what the Doctor was going to do.

“Get on the TARDIS.” The Doctor commanded through gritted teeth but you shook your head again.

“I already told you I’m not leaving.” You told him, blinking away the tears as they carried on running down your face.

The Doctor held your gaze, the small part of him that wasn’t consumed with anger and hatred felt guilt and hurt as you looked at him like you were terrified, like he was the monster instead of the creatures behind you. 

“Leave.” He spat out, not taking his gaze of you as he addressed the creatures. “Get off this planet and if I ever see you again I won’t show a shred of mercy.”

The creatures wasted no time scurrying away, hurrying over to their ships and taking off just as quickly, leaving you and the Doctor staring at each other. Just as the Doctor opened his mouth, you cut him off.

“Take me home.” You told him, suddenly feeling drained.

“Y/N,” he sighed but you just shook your head at him, moving past him and making your way back towards where the TARDIS was parked, using your key to unlock the box and letting yourself in.

The Doctor sighed to himself, rubbing a hand across his face before pocketing the sonic and following after you, desperately trying to think how he could salvage this. He hadn’t wanted to let himself fall for you but over the year and the months you’d spent at each other’s side he couldn’t help it.

Now he was losing you because he had held onto a grudge from so many years back.

The anger had taken over him to the point he couldn’t control himself but you could, you stopped him even when he didn’t think he could be stopped.

When he walked into the TARDIS you were sitting in one of the chairs, looking away from him as he quietly worked on setting a course for Earth, hoping you would change your mind before you got there.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, watching you closely. He could tell you were listening but you didn’t say anything. 

“Those creatures, Y/N…” He trailed off and you finally looked over at him, seeing him take a deep breath before he spoke again. “Those creatures are called Eelvo’s. I met them a long time ago, long before I had this face. I lost somebody because of them and I let them go.”

“You don’t kill people.” You told him, your voice quiet but firm and the Doctor sighed as he came and sat next to you. 

“I have bad days, Y/N. Days where I am not a good man.” The Doctor told you, ashamed of himself, ashamed that you had seen him like that. He had never wanted that.

“Doctor, today I was more scared of you than any of those other things.” You said softly, glancing at the Doctor as he shut his eyes and swallowed thickly around a lump in his throat, fighting back tears.

The last thing he had ever wanted was for you to be scared of him.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what happened, seeing them again after so long, seeing the destruction they were still causing, the pain and lives they were still taking…” The Doctor trailed off, a single tear making its way down his cheek.

You sighed softly, reaching over to take his hand in yours and giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. You were still unsure, still hadn’t liked seeing the Doctor so furious but he was still the Doctor, he was your Doctor again and seeing him in pain was the last thing you wanted.

“I’m sorry, Y/N/N, I never wanted you to hate me.” He whispered, his voice breaking around the words and you felt your heart break with them.

“I don’t hate you, Doctor.” You told him honestly, “I’ve never seen you like that and I didn’t like it but I don’t hate you. I’m not sure I could ever hate you.”

The Doctor smiled over at you sadly and you returned it, squeezing his hand again.

“I’ll take you home.” He whispered and you frowned, you had asked him to take you home but the thought of actually leaving the Doctor behind sent an ache through you.

“How about Zirafell instead?” You asked him, a small smile pulling at your lips as he looked over at you in surprise. 

“You sure?” He asked, a hopeful note in his voice and you nodded, watching as his shoulders lost the tension in them and he let out a small breath, nodding himself before standing up and moving around the console to change the course, hoping that the two of you would be alright. 

10th Doctor Taglist (Click the link in my bio to add yourself!) - 

@ajordan2020, @nyx2021, @etanordoesbullsh1t, @book-fic-reader, @buckystrash, @queen-who, @cinderellacauseshebroke, @black-rose-29, @kodiakwhiskey, @alexxavicry, @instabull, @rosesinmars, @freeshavocadoooo, @audrie-bryant, @leothesquishy, @etanordoesbullsh!t

Thank you so much for reading!

[undiscovered-horizon]

Hi there! Could we see a touch starved!reader x The Doctor? Whichever Doctor you would want, but I admit I am biased to 11 hehe.

I really enjoyed your fic ‘Keep blessing me’, as someone who is plus size, I rarely see myself represented in media positively.

I can imagine reader being the type of person who is overlooked often, never been desired romantically and feels like she has been forgotten by the universe. She yearns to be held and feel safe but she also feels unworthy. She definitely is majorly pining for The Doctor but doesn’t allow herself to dwell much on it. Maybe he feels the same way?

[TW: negative self-talk, referenced/implied depression]

"Stone walls" - 11th Doctor x touch starved!Reader

Doctor Who-inspired playlist

Should you ask anyone who has taken part in some kind of competition at least once in their life, they will always say the same thing: the fourth place is the worst. Right under the podium, a hair's breadth away from being someone and yet they are nothing more than a mockery, the line separating memory and oblivion. Taking into account the series of unfortunate events you call your life, you were born in fourth place.

It was never anything explicit and perhaps that was the worst part. Had there been a groundbreaking revelation, a true calamity of heartache, you would have accepted it but it was that silence that sucked the life out of you. It wasn't that someone told you they hated you, it was that you were never chosen, drifting away on the waves of silence into the ocean of oblivion. Although you were born into this world, it never felt like you truly were part of it. Perhaps, all of existence was happening next to you or existence, to put it simply, refused to make you part of itself.

And then there was him - the Doctor, always scoring first place, always showered in gold medals and trophies because, truthfully, why wouldn't he? There was no way of telling how many catastrophes he had prevented, how many lives he had already saved. By his tireless service to the entire universe, it seemed as though he was born for this, to always be a winner. And the stories he told! How he had befriended so many species, how many hearts were offered to him that he had turned down. It was quite bittersweet, that you were so different and yet you were alive in the same universe.

Truthfully, you still didn't quite understand what ungodly whim made you his "partner in crime". The longer you were around him, the more you grow to understand just how not alike you were as if his brilliancy made you painfully aware of your mediocrity. Your place wasn't with him, quite obviously - he deserved someone better; someone you could never become. Maybe it would be better to leave soon, on your own, than have him grow impatient and simply throw you out. It wasn't the way you wanted to remember him, angry and annoyed, so you thought it best to relieve both of you of your underwhelming existence as soon as possible.

"You don't have to do this alone."

His voice caught you off guard. Has he been here this whole time? How long had he been staring at you, waiting for you to finally do something?

You turned around to look at him. The Doctor was leaning against the console, his arms crossed on his chest. By all accounts, it seemed that he had been standing there for quite a while, pondering whether he should speak up.

"I'm not sure what you mean," you answered with a slight shake of your head.

For a moment, he didn't say anything. His bright, green eyes stared into you as if he was waiting for something but you couldn't be sure what for exactly. After a while of silence, he left his spot to make his way towards you. His rhythmic footsteps echoed throughout the otherwise empty TARDIS.

"I'm not sure either," he spoke in a mild tone, "but I can tell something turned you sour. Whatever it is, you don't have to do this alone."

The Doctor gently wrapped his lanky arms around you, while you didn't quite know what to do. The moment he tightened his grip around you, something heavy inside your viscera pulled you towards the ground. You grabbed his tweed jacket with as much force as you could possibly muster. It felt as if the moment you let go of the coarse material, your whole body would simply fall apart. That gaping hole in your chest you tried your best to ignore suddenly felt deeper like a beast whose insatiable appetite only grows as it devours. This hunger or whatever it really was felt absolutely awful, so painful it coursed through your veins and filled your entire body with suffering. The Doctor gently shifted his body and your hands only tightened their grip on him as if there was no greater horror in this universe than him letting go of you.

"Just hold me," you whispered. "I'm lonely."

And he did just that.

Sometimes you thought about that one time you had asked the Doctor whether he slept. Truthfully, you never did see him sleep and somehow he was always full of energy. Did Time Lords not need rest? They were, after all, a very exceptional sort of aliens. In response, he only looked at you with a confused expression. "Why would I?" he asked, "It's eight more hours without you." You never did believe them but then, when the fourth place and the first place were equals for a moment, you thought that perhaps he did, in fact, mean them.

[bowieandqueen11]

Dhawan!Master Being In Love With You Would Include...

Request! Would you please write about flirting with the 11 doctor or the dhawan!master really in love with you? 👉🏻👈🏻

I love Sacha so I hope you don’t mind me doing the Master headcanons!! <3

Warning: NSFW!

(I do not own Doctor Who or its characters, all rights go to creators. Gif credit goes to @wincheskka.)

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°

Hmmm I had a dream about Dhawan!Master last night so this is perfect ty ty, I’ve been obsessed with the Master since about 2007 so you’re really calling me out right now I love it.

Not going to lie Master I love you but this man would be annoying as frick once he finally realises what he’s feeling for you. Instead of the usual burning hatred that plagues his mind and doubles him over in pain most of the time, it’s a scorching, devastating... loneliness? Need? Want? Eventually his brain cells will skip stones and hit love, but it will just take him a little bit of time; he hasn’t felt it very often, not since he was a young child running wild and free through the crimson reeds of his father’s fields back home. He’s lost all that now - even the memories are mere whispers tingling the rational part of him in the back of his mind, buried deep within the swallowing pit he no longer calls his hearts. 

Yet he’s still so touch starved, so aching for some kind of connection with something real and solid and fiercely alive that he becomes completely overbearing when he realises there’s a chance you might not actually hate him too.

He keeps creeping up behind you in his TARDIS, like a shadow connected to your feet looming up the walls from the corner of your eye. He looks so serious, so stern as he’s lost in his thoughts before he steps into your line of vision: little did you know, as he tilted his head from side to side and roamed his eyes over you, that he was just wondering how to not ruin this. How to not destroy you, as he does everything else: if he ever lost you, his hearts might as well crumble into dust and choke him into a sweet oblivion. Then he acts all aloof, and humoured when he comes up behind your back for an ‘impromptu TARDIS flying lesson’ - which is a huge step forward in his chain of trust within itself. His hands wrap over your own as he leans over your back, pressing your waist uncomfortably into the buttons lining the console. You can feel his breath trembling over the shell of your ear, his eyes never leaving yours as you feel his midriff entrap you against his shirt; his pointer finger gently grapples yours and glides it over to the buttons.

‘That one, love - just like that. You’ll be flying me around the place in no time.’ The sound of his hoarse, near growling voice trembling over your spine nearly breaks you out into a fleet of goose bumps, and you pretend not to notice the way he begins to smirk. His lips nearly brush over the pulse point on your neck as his fingers hunch over yours for a lingering few seconds, and then as soon as he started he’s run off in a blur to pull a lever on the opposite side of the console room. 

The man is literally chaos incarnate, so you can never really tell on a day to day basis how his way of showing love is going to leak out from his cracks. A lot of days, his more Missy side shines through: before you can even finish pulling your socks on he’s grabbed you tightly by the wrist and has you tumbling out the doors to visit a new planet. Just causing trouble, and trying to pull you out of it; even though he was the one who went up and aggravated the very obviously hostile Dalek leader, he still manages to push you around the corner and collapse on top of you in a fit of giggles when it starts shooting energy beams at you both. Even though he’s obviously enjoying himself, you can tell by the way his body is surging towards yours that he’s trying to keep you safe: by the way his hands have tightly kept your wrists pinned against the pockets of his trousers, rapacious in his appetite to feel you tight against him.

Speaking of - the Master is so protective of you. If he even hears the word ‘Doctor’, he’s started growling from deep within his throat and surveying the room with a snarl twitching his nose. Whenever you accidentally get roped up in his devious schemes against said Doctor, he always tries to keep you out of (his) harms way. Whether that’s fitting you with a stolen Time Vortex Manipulator on the plane he’s just destroyed, or making you stay on Earth so you’re far, far away from the planet he’s currently trying to boobytrap. 

When he’s not... you know... completely wrapped up in his torment and fury for revenge, the Master comes lingering outside your door like a kicked puppy, knowing that he’s upset you with all his wretchedness. With those exploding, doey, wet eyes, he just rests his forehead against the door frame and frowns at you until you finally relent and open your arms out to him. He doesn’t want anything, for once: he just comes running into your room in less than a millisecond, and jumps onto the mattress next to you. He finds his apologies become lost in the fog of his confounded mind, choking up his throat until he draws blood from his closed fists at the annoyance of it. Instead, he lies next to you, turning onto his side so he can be tucked up against your waist, and allows you ample space to reach up and run your hair through his curls. He closes his eyes in a pained bliss, feeling underserving of such tenderness, but jointly ready to burn down every star in the sky if anyone ever dared to take it away from him. When he finds it becomes too much: the love hurtling through his hearts like a man drowned, the only warning he gives before he knocks you onto your back and comes crawling up on top of you is a groan.

The man would have stars lining his eyes, gazing at you as if you were the whole galaxy incarnate. Not going to lie, he adores it even more if you’re the one on top of him *hm hm*. Sometimes he’s just so tired, you know? Just lounging down on the sofa of his second library, when you come in and climb on top of him, trapping his thighs between your knees and skirting your hand up his chest. You can feel him squirm, his breath becoming high and full of squealing moans as his cheek bumps against the hand you have splayed against it. You loosen his bowtie, calling him out for his choking kink when you pull it out from behind his neck and he bucks his hips up. Throwing it onto the velvet purple chaise longue on the opposite side of the ornate fireplace, you turn instead to focus on unbuttoning his check shirt, until the first tufts of chest hair begin to peek out from his heaving chest. You can feel how thunderous his hearts are beating as you go, his desperation radiating off him as clawing, bruising hands come up to grip into the meat of your waist. When he leans his neck up to kiss you, it’s all encompassing, as if he’s trying to swallow you whole: he snarls against your bottom lip before tugging on it, inhaling against your mouth as if he were languidly trying to steal the heavens that lived within your soul. Eventually you can feel his knee rise up to rest in between yours, yet the kisses don’t stop - instead he runs his hands up and over your shoulders until he’s cupped your cheeks, trapping you entirely against him.

He’ll even get you a matching set of silk pyjamas to make you feel more at home! On the days when the tempest within his head has managed to calm into a vernal rain, the two of them will match in them as you share a cup of warm tea. Sitting on his lap, he reads aloud a book on Gallifreyan history from over your shoulder; he keeps shouting out scathing insults about how wrong some passages are, which nearly makes you jump out of your skin. He’ll kiss your cheek in apology, lingering against you for a moment because he knows the feel of his fresh stubble by the side of your lips drives you wild, before he turns back to the domestic peace again.

Even though he’s so desperate and craving for your love so constantly, some days he feels so desolate that he looks like a sad little puppet collapsed down in a heap on the console chair. When you go over to try and give him a hug, he’ll act all disgruntled when you wrap your arms under his jacket and tight around his squishy little stomach. He’ll jut his chin out and act as if he’s not about to burst into tears, the stubborn little feral mouse he is, but if you stick it out he’ll always eventually give in. Once the head has collapsed down against the curve of your neck, and you begin to feel his hands snake around your back like a vice, you know the real him is starting to peek through again. When you pull back to place your pointer finger under his chin and pull him up to gaze at his bloodshot eyes, he gently takes your hands within his and kisses your knuckles, enraptured, as if he’s trying to devour every inch of you.

My man’s just a tragedy wrapped up in vivacious tweed, so his version of love is like a bursting supernova, constantly exploding and dwindling simultaneously in shards of striking light. It may be overwhelming at times, but by everything true in the galaxy, does he love you with every inch of his hearts. 

[saiilorstars]

When you lost all trust, don't worry. Someone is always by your side and that's your shadow.

​"Doctor, you might have to face it. That woman  — Grier — might be gone," Amy said cautiously while the Doctor pensively stared down at the console. Neither Amy nor Rory dared to go around the console to stand beside him, not yet. He was too upset. 

The Doctor raised his head, eyes following the Time Rotor go up and down. "She lost everything; her family, her home, her actual world. She got pulled into our world and I dragged her into my problems. She saved me from the Daleks, Amy. From there on, my enemies learned about her. What happened to her now was because of me. I didn’t find her in time and now look where she is?”

“But you’ve said it yourself, you can’t change the past for anything or anyone,” Amy said, growing slightly panicked the more she considered the implications of her own words. Rory too. “You-you said it could have catastrophic consequences.” 

“Doctor, this is your number one rule,” Rory said, “How far are you willing to go for a woman who’s already established she’s tried to kill you on multiple occasions and would do it again.”

The Doctor didn’t face either of his companions when he answered, and he answered almost immediately after Rory had asked the question. There was nothing to think about. There was never anything to think about when it came to Grier. “To hell and back, Rory.” Grier didn’t know it, but he would burn anything and anyone who got in his way. He would find Grier before her future was sealed. 

The Doctor would do everything in his hands to "save" Grier Cromwell, even if it cost him his last life.

Excerpt from Grier’s fic: A Moment in Time

Grier’s Masterlist

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​ ​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​ @gloryekaterina​​​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​  @lenonizi​​​​​ @kmc1989​

[alloftheimaginesblog]

requested by anon

It had happened when you were on one of your adventures with him. You'd been away for a little longer than either of you had anticipated and it wasn't until you landed back in your hometown two weeks from when you'd left, your phone blew up.

You immediately knew that something was wrong.

You had around one hundred missed calls from your mum and a load of voicemails from her. You listened to a few which were her sounding pretty panicked and sad before you heard the devastating news.

"I didn't want to tell you over the phone, darling, I-I've been calling but-but I think you're off with that- the Doctor so I-I have to tell you just now... It's your gran, love. She's gone. You know she was in hospital and she- she went last night around nine in her sleep- no pain. I-I-Call me back, darling."

The Doctor had held you as you sobbed. He felt awful. He hadn't meant to keep you for so long, he should've dropped you off a week ago and yet he'd gotten too caught up in having fun adventures with you that he'd forgotten.

A while later, he'd given you a cup of tea as you sat in the TARDIS with him before the TARDIS started to whir and signal that it was leaving to go somewhere else.

"Where are we going?" You asked, head snapping to him, "My-My family-"

He gave you a sad smile, "I'm giving you the chance to say goodbye."

You dissolved into tears again, running to hug him tightly, before the TARDIS landed and the whirring stopped, "Thank you, Doctor."

"If my calculations are correct is should be just after visiting hours are over. It'll just be you and her for a couple of hours until she... passes."

You pulled back, smiling up at him through your tears, "Thank you so much."

[celestetcetera]

Wild Blue Yonder really emphasized the Doctor not knowing the answer, huh? He’s wrong about Donna 3/4 times, he doesn’t speak the alien language, he doesn’t know what the creatures are nor is he very familiar with the space they’ve landed in. Hell, he even has a line admitting he’s wrong often.

But you know what else this episode did? It emphasized Donna’s brilliance. She may think she’s stupid, but she’s sharp as hell. She’s the one who figures out the imposter after giving a Doctor-level tangential speech. She’s the one who’s able to clear her head. She asks the right questions— why are their doubles scaring them?

Her imposter thinks she’s dumb at first, but when no-thing Donna realizes the real one’s actually smart, that’s when she’s able to break through the salt spell. Unfortunately Donna being brilliant means her imposter must be too.

Anyway. Love the role reversal. But for it to come at a time when the Doctor is feeling lost and confused, when they’ve just discovered they don’t even know themselves— it probably stings. Because what are they if not the smart one? When you take away all they’ve learned of this universe, there’s nothing left.

[aron-mp4]

I've been doodling this exact mini comic everywhere since 2018 and I've finally drawn it properly what a day to be alive

[doobea]

WE ARE THE LOVESICK (GIRLS) - SAE ITOSHI

synopsis: Sae learns what the term 'whipped' means and comes to terms with it.

content: a sick!fic, fluff, sfw, early established relationship, itoshi siblings have a good(?) relationship, feels more like a brother bonding fic, soft!sae, sae centric pov, fem!reader word count: 1.6K a/n: yuh the title is based off of my fave blackpink song hehe and my bf is sick rn and instead of taking care of him im writing instead whoops - also posting this on rins birthday is NOT a crime

There are two things that Sae takes from this impromptu trip back home. One is that he should've done his passport renewal online because now he has to wait up to a whole month. He's not mentally prepared to explain that to his manager who's currently over six thousand miles away. And two, he's recently learned that you get sick really easily when you travel. Like ridiculously sick.

"Sae, I'm dying."

There's a sniffle. A cough. And then silence.

You definitely sound like you’re dying, Sae thinks. From the kitchen, he carefully watches your movements on the couch. Which is almost minimum to none. When you don’t respond to your name, Sae rushes over and takes a look. Your cheeks are flushed, hair sticking to your forehead in a way that didn’t look comfortable, a bit of drool hangs from the sides of your mouth from your lack of ability to breathe, and worst of all —

"My head hurts, Sae…" Another cough. "Do you have any aspirin?"

In the most loving way, he wishes you would’ve just stayed back in Spain.

He takes hold of your palms and places his forehead against yours. It's hot and wet to the touch. It makes him physically recoil back and Sae looks almost annoyed with himself. Maybe he should've tried harder to convince you to not come.

Sae hasn't been back home in maybe a year or two, he thinks, but surely there must be some aspirin or any form of medicine in the house, right? A quick rush through the drawers and every nook and cranny in the house proves him otherwise.

Sae jogs back to your curled-up figure on the couch and throws on his windbreaker. "I'll go out to the store and get some."

"No," You sit up too fast and wince, hands settling on the sides of your temples to support the weight of your head. "I'll get over it soon. Maybe it's just the humid weather?" You lamely suggest.

You always double down whenever it comes to your health. Trying to convince yourself that it'll get better soon because you hate being an inconvenience to others — others being Sae. You're doing this even when you look like an absolute (beautiful) wreck in Sae's eyes right now. But maybe he shouldn't exactly leave you alone when you're in a feverish state, especially in a space you're unfamiliar with.

He takes off his windbreaker and gently places it over your shoulders as he thinks on his feet. "Then I'll get someone else to do it."

You wrap yourself in his jacket and repress back a coughing fit. "Huh, like who?"

Only one person pops up in his mind and Sae isn't sure if he can count on him. But, even after everything that they've gone through, he can probably trust him. Well, maybe not trust but more like he's his only option.

"When did you even get back?"

"Last night," Sae answers and rushes to the point. "I need you to make an errand run."

"What?" Rin’s voice fills with annoyance over the line. "Why would I do that?"

"Because," Sae looks over his shoulder at the sight of your body in a fetal position on the couch. You’re visibly shaking a bit too much for his liking. Sae takes a deep breath and exhales loud enough for his brother to hear. "My girlfriend is sick. I've checked the cabinets and we don't have any medicine. I don't want to leave her alone at our house."

There's a pause and Sae is wondering if his brother has hung up. Then, Rin clears his throat on the line.

"You want me to drop what I’m doing to get medicine for your sick girlfriend? Am I hearing that right?"

Sae snaps his head at the sound of you coughing once more. You look disheveled and your eyes are unfocused on what's in front of you. He sharply inhales once more. "That's exactly what I want. Do you need me to repeat it?"

Another pause and then it's Rin's turn to sigh.

"Whatever. Be there in fifteen."

And Rin keeps his word, showing up precisely in fifteen minutes, in his tracksuit to be exact, begrudgingly holding a plastic bag in his hands. The big yellow smiley face contrasts sharply with Rin's visibly irritated expression. In the bag, there’s a bottle of aspirin, cough syrup, vitamin gummies, and three ice cream bars.

Rin takes one of the ice cream bars before shoving the bag into Sae's hands. "You owe me." He hisses out.

Sae ignores his brother's glare and only nods, mumbling a lazy "thanks" before making his way back into the living room. Rin quietly follows behind. Sae figures it's because he's semi-curious about how he's been, though Rin will never admit it.

You stir from the couch at the sound of plastic and wake up when Sae pours out the contents onto the coffee table, immediately ripping the cough syrup packaging open and pouring the recommended amount into the little plastic cup.

"Here, take this." And Sae watches as Rin grimaces at how softly he speaks to you.

You weakly nod and tilt your head enough for Sae to bring it to your lips. A quick swallow followed by an equally quick shudder from the bitterness and you manage to crack a small grin. "Thank you, babe."

Rin suppresses a gagging noise when Sae plants a chaste kiss on your forehead. You take this moment to finally register two and two together. Sae hasn't outright introduced you to his family members, but he has shown you pictures of them from time to time.

"Sorry for the intrusion—you must be Rin, right?" You sit up straight, still wrapped around Sae's windbreaker, and extend out a hand. "He's told me a lot about you."

Yeah, maybe Sae should've locked you back home.

His younger brother throws him a look, not annoyed but slightly amused. "He has?"

You seem to miss the panicked scowl that Sae flashes at you and continue on. "Plenty! He talks about you almost every day and watches your games at the dinner table."

Sae tenses when he feels Rin's gaze hardening on him. "You do...?"

Sae awkwardly clears his throat, suddenly feeling heat rushing to his neck, and starts heading towards the kitchen. "I'm going to make a drink."

Fortunately, you didn't catch the thick tension and begin rambling to Rin. And seeing Rin attempting to start a conversation with you is physically painful. Sae sips on a cup of coffee as you talk about what you do for a living and how you and Sae met. Rin awkwardly nods, adding a small few comments here and there. He'll occasionally try his best to smile and sound remotely interested without coming off as a deadpan ass. Talking to Rin is like talking to a rock, Sae concludes. A giant, lanky, grumpy rock.

"It was nice meeting you, Rin." Your voice still sounds fried but better than what it was earlier.

"Yeah, you too." The taller male rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and stands. "Hey," Rin's voice directs over to Sae and he nudges his head towards the hallway. "Mind if we talk real quick?"

Sae exhales for what it feels like the tenth time today. "Sure."

Both brothers lean on opposite sides of the wall, seemingly also avoiding each other's gazes because wow the floor looks mildly entertaining right now. When was the last time that they even had a proper conversation without ripping each other's throats apart? Sae honestly can't remember but it didn't seem like that was on Rin's to-do list.

Rin breaks the heavy silence first with a loud unwrapping sound from his ice cream bar. He stares at it for a long moment and splits the bar down the middle, offering one stick to Sae. "How long are you staying for?"

Sae accepts it and takes a small bite. "A month."

"Showing your girlfriend around the country?"

"Maybe, but I'm just waiting on my passport."

"Should've done it online, dumbass."

Sae pretends the comment doesn't tick him off. "Why are you asking anyway?"

"Nothing." Rin drops the subject and finishes off his half of the dessert. "You've gotten softer. It's like you're whipped or something."

Sae rolls his eyes and bites off the remaining ice cream on his stick. "What does that mean?"

"It means that if she asked you to do a handstand and sing a song, you'd do it."

Sae finds himself pausing, thinks for a bit, and shrugs. "And that's a bad thing?"

Rin's eyes narrow before racking a hand through his hair. "Actually, forget I said anything."

For a brief second, Sae isn't sure if Rin is annoyed at the fact that he would do all those things for you or if he's annoyed that he didn't know what whipped means. Maybe both.

Rin pushes himself off the wall and starts heading towards the entrance, waving off to you as you lay on the couch, probably scrolling aimlessly on the phone. Before Rin steps out, he whips around and gives Sae a final hard stare.

"If you're ever free, let me know." And before Sae can even respond, he's out the door.

You giggle from the couch at the interaction. "He's cute."

The couch dips slightly as Sae plops down next to you, arms immediately wrapping around your waist and tugging you close to his embrace. "Sometimes weird." He adds.

"By the way," You start in a coy tone. "You're fine with doing all of that?"

Sae presses his lips against your shoulder and hums. "Doing all of what?"

"A handstand and singing me a song." Your grin is so infectious that it's making his heart swell.

"I can do it no problem," Sae replies easily.

[mini-minish]

jesties day out ✨🌂🧁

[swedenis-h]

When did it happen?

[noblogname765]

Oh JUST LOOK AT HIM

[imaginesfordifferentfandoms]

Wishing on the Stars

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Click here to add yourself to my taglist.

Prompt - Y/N, the Princess of Vathea, has spent her whole life wishing on the stars, waiting for a life of adventure and excitement. The stars answer in the form of the Doctor.

Inspired by - this post by @cxnnorussy

Zaliri was a beautiful planet full of the brightest greenery and beautiful sparkling stretches of water. For most children growing up on such a planet was exciting, there was never a dull moment, so many secret spots just waiting to be discovered, mountains to climb, hills to roll down, lakes to swim in and beaches to explore. There was always something happening, the many towns were always full of life, whether it be from stalls filled with beautiful things or the nicest of foods, celebrations thrown or fun days hosted. 

Most people couldn’t complain much about life on Zaliri, it was a good life. 

For you however it was anything but. For you as Princess of Vathea, the Kingdom that your father ruled, filled by many towns spreading all the way to the eastern border where the Kingdom of Thavis started, life wasn’t as good.

You hadn’t always lived a life so sheltered, one where instead of joining the festivities in the closest town, you had to watch from the windows of your bedroom, envying how the children danced and ran around together, hating how people hugged and laughed, sharing stories and food without a second thought.

It was all you wanted, to live a life away from the castle, one where you could laugh freely and explore the lands. 

But that wasn’t the life you led. Instead you were confined to the castle and its grounds, hardly allowed to leave and on the rare occasion you were granted permission to venture beyond the castle walls you were surrounded by guards and never allowed to stray from them. 

It hadn’t always been this way, you couldn’t remember much of your life before your mother died but you could remember her taking you outside, the Queen joining her people as they celebrated, you and the other children playing together as if you were no different from them.

It was only after her death that your father had sheltered you away, ignoring your cries and pleas to go back to the village. Your father was a fair ruler, the people liked him well enough though they had loved their Queen. It didn’t matter that the King didn’t come down to the villages and give his time to the people as his wife had once done, he kept them safe and they were happy.

You had grown used to your life, you might not have liked it, feeling as though you were wasting it, but you had accepted this was how things were. It wouldn’t matter for much longer anyway, soon a time would come when your father would let you go.

The day after your next birthday you were to be married and you would leave Vathea behind to live in whatever Kingdom your future husband would come into power of. You weren’t all too thrilled to be married to a complete stranger, you hadn’t liked it from the moment you’d found out your marriage would be decided for you but the thought of leaving the castle was enough to keep you from protesting too much.

Silently you mourned though, mourned a life that could have been, one of adventure and excitement, one of travelling to far off places and never having to be trapped again, being able to go wherever you wanted and fall in love with somebody who you truly wanted to marry.

You knew it was an impossible dream, even more ridiculous than the fairy tales you had read as a child and yet you still found yourself wishing and pleading to the stars that shone high above the castle, begging for them to save you, to show you the life you wanted.

Your wish was never answered though. Instead you watched from your window as carriage after carriage pulled up within days of each other, Princes and Kings coming to convince your father they were the best suited to create an alliance with, each leaving with dejected looks on their faces.

You couldn’t say you were too disappointed but as your birthday grew closer and closer you couldn’t help but worry your father would decline every suitor that pleaded their case. 

“I have met with Zaliri’s best and finest and I have yet to decide who you will marry.” Your father started that evening, his eyes narrowing as you slumped in your seat. “That is why a ball will be thrown, there you will meet the men I have picked out and you can choose whom you marry.”

You weren’t sure how to feel, of course the thought of marrying anybody you didn’t know was a wretched one but you feared that this was your one chance at freedom. Your father wasn’t concerned by your silence, focusing on his own meal and missing the way you pushed at your food with your fork, an action that if he had noticed would have had him lecturing you on the proper manners expected of a Princess and future bride.

The rest of the meal passed in silence, your thoughts on the upcoming ball with a feeling of dread.

“The ball will be hosted the day of your birthday and the wedding will be planned for the day after.” Your father told you before leaving the room and you sighed, heading up to your own bedroom to stare up at the stars, wishing for a miracle.

The castle was filled with life over the next few days, the workers were busy with the impromptu ball and as the day drew nearer royals from all over the planet starting arriving at your castle.

You did your best to avoid the men but unfortunately they were on a mission to win you over, finding you all over the castle no matter where you ran off to. It was exhausting and you found yourself debating whether a life with one of these dull men was worth it. 

Each one you encountered was more boring than the last, all of them were prim and proper, fussing over every little detail and seemed only capable of talking about themselves and their Kingdoms. You weren’t quite sure a single one of them had enquired about you yet, if they did ask questions they were about your father.

You sighed as you ducked out of the castle and out onto the grounds. There was plenty of room, though it didn’t feel that way when you were confined to them, but right now you were grateful for the chance to escape the madness inside, taking a breath of fresh air as you tried to avoid anyone else.

You had been walking for some time, lost in your own thoughts, before you were startled out of them by a body colliding with yours. You let out a yelp, waiting to feel the cold, hard ground, frowning when you felt a pair of arms around you instead, helping you back upright.

“Sorry about that!” The man before you said, a grin on his face as his arms fell back to his side. “You alright?”

Your eyes widened at the man, something about him was…odd. Different in a way you couldn’t quite put your finger on. He was so different to the other men in the castle, his brown coat that seemed so very unlike anything from Vathea, the way he smiled at you and addressed you so informally. 

“Miss?” The man prompted and you shook your head, unable to stop yourself from smiling back at him.

“My apologies, I’m quite ok, thank you.” You answered and watched as his smile widened even more, his eyes seeming to light up but you couldn’t say for sure why they would.

“Well I’ll let you carry on with your walk then, my lady.” He grinned, stepping out of your way and holding a hand out for you to walk past him.

You hesitated for a moment, every other suitor had taken up as much of your time as they could before you could politely slip away and this one was leaving you be, not even introducing himself or telling you how well off and important his Kingdom was. 

“Thank you, kind sir.” You laughed softly, stepping past the man, pausing to look back at him and shaking your head fondly as he waved at you.

You decided you quite liked the man.

That night the evening meal was a dreadfully boring affair, you had contemplated if you would be able to sneak out when your suitors continued to go on and on about why you should pick them. You looked around the long table, wondering where the man from the gardens had gotten off to, sighing as you realised you had never gotten his name to ask about him.

Hours passed before you were finally able to leave, forcing smiles and laughs as you excused yourself, nodding as you backed away from two men who refused to take a hint before simply turning and walking away from them.

On the way up to your room you suddenly stopped, the hallway was freezing and the lights were dimmed. A shiver went up your spine as you took a step back, unable to explain what it was exactly that had you so unsettled. You couldn’t get to your room any other way and contemplated taking one of the many guest rooms as you took another step back.

When your back collided with something hard you let out a small shout and turned around quickly, turning to see the man from earlier with his hands raised.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s just me.” The man said softly, your chest raising and falling quickly as you struggled to catch your breath. “That’s it, you’re alright.”

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to-”

“No need for apologies, my lady.” The man said, smiling at you, even as his eyes shifted around the hallway, looking past you at something.

When you went to turn around he caught your hand in his, pulling a gasp from you as you turned your gaze back to him but he was still looking over your shoulder. It was only when you cleared your throat did his eyes meet yours and you watched as they widened, your hand falling from his.

“Sorry about that. Won’t you let me walk you to your room?” He asked and any other time you would have declined but something about the hallway scared you so you nodded, watching as the man lifted his arm for you to take.

You couldn’t help but smile as you wrapped your arm in his and let him lead the way down the hall, your gaze darting around the room like you were waiting for something to pop out but you made it through without anything happening and breathed a sigh of relief when you came to a stop at your door.

“There we are now,” The man grinned, “safe and sound.”

You couldn’t help but frown slightly as you looked back towards the direction you had come from, a feeling of dread still weighing on you.

“Did something feel…wrong to you?” You couldn’t help but ask, dragging your gaze back to him just in time to see his eyebrows knit together.

“Wrong?” He prodded and you shook your head, unable to put it into words. “Trust me, nothing’s going to harm you.”

Your frown deepened at that and you looked towards the man, curious about his words, curious about who he was and where he had come from but the man just smiled and took his arm from yours.

“I’ll let you get some sleep, Princess, busy days ahead and all.” He dismissed himself, turning back towards the hallway and leaving you staring at his back.

How improper. One never turned away from a Princess, especially not a suitor who was trying to win her favour and yet this man was so peculiar. You sighed softly and entered your room, shoulders losing some of their tension at the warmth.

It took a while for you to change from your dress and into your sleepwear, turning the main light off and leaving only the soft orange glow of the lamp to light the room, as well as the moonlight that shone through the window.

You walked past your bed and sat on the seat that rested against the window, looking out at the lit up gardens before your gaze lifted towards the stars. You thought back on the strange man, his words, a promise that nothing was going to harm you.

What had he meant? It was a strange thing to say to somebody but mixed with the uneasy feeling you had it made you suspect he knew something you didn’t. He seemed so unlike anybody here and yet you found yourself doing as he requested.

You found yourself trusting him.

So far he had been different but charming and he had been pleasant towards you, something you couldn’t say for anybody else. As much as you hated that your only options were marriage or confinement, you couldn’t help but think you wouldn’t have minded much marrying that man. He seemed anything but dull, he seemed like he was ready for something exciting and you wanted to join him.

The next two days passed without much happening, you didn’t feel that horrible, cold unease you had felt days before and almost wished for it when compared to how bored you were listening to the men drone on and on. 

By the time Sunday came, the day before the ball and two days before the wedding, you were just about ready to damn it all and run far, far away. You had noticed your strange man had been absent from all meals and you hadn’t bumped into him again, only catching passing glances at him, unable to stop the smile that pulled at your lips as he grinned and waved at you before running off to do whatever it was he did.

That night you couldn’t find sleep, instead you spent hours staring out of the window from your place in your bed. There was a feeling in the pit of your stomach, not unlike the one you had felt the other day in the hallway. You felt on edge, every little creak making you jump until you sighed and sat up, hesitating before climbing out of your bed and shrugging a coat on.

You slipped your feet into a pair of shoes and opened your door, holding your breath as you waited for something that never came. When you stepped out you couldn’t help but shiver, hesitating for a moment as you debated whether you should just go back to your room.

You shook your head and practically ran through the hallway, making your way out of the castle and avoiding the guards as you snuck outside. You let your feet lead the way, not paying too much attention to where you were going, not until you came upon a tree that towered over you. The tree was always in shades of reds and oranges, never green like every other trees, no matter the season it never lost its leaves or colour.

Underneath it was a gravestone, one that you hadn’t visited for a long time, one that hurt every time you so much as thought of it. Still you let yourself fall to your knees, brushing your fingers along the stone.

You didn’t say anything, what was there that could be said? Everything that would happen from tomorrow was as set in stone as your mother’s name was on the stone before you. Nothing could change it, no amount of wishes to the stars could change what your life was going to be like.

You couldn’t say for sure how long you sat there but a sudden cold breeze had you shivering, the air had been still and warm not a second earlier and you lifted your head to see a mist that had come from nowhere.

You felt your breathing start to quicken as you stood up, looking around the gardens and feeling cold to your bones. A noise form above had your head snapping up and your eyes widened at the figure that watched you.

It was hard to make out exactly what it was, the sky dark behind it but you could see the wings, black and red giant things that flapped ominously as the thing stared at you with cold, unblinking eyes. 

Your heart raced, beating so loud you were afraid it would beat right out of your chest. You couldn’t move either, frozen as still as a statute, only able to stare at the beast in the sky. You gasped when a phantom pressure tightened around your neck and you felt yourself struggling to breath, pained gasps escaping you.

You closed your eyes, unable to fight back and knowing you were going to die. That was until a warm hand took yours, seeming to break whatever had been holding you in place and when your eyes snapped open you turned to see your mystery man.

“Run.” He commanded and pulled you along after him.

You wasted no time and followed after him, letting him drag you all the way back to the castle and only stopped when the two of you arrived at your doors.

“Come on now,” He said, opening your door and gesturing for you to step inside. “In you go, that’s it.”

You entered your room and he followed in after you, an act that if it had been any other suitor and any other time would have had you calling the guards but right now he was where you wanted him to be.

You couldn’t explain it but you felt the safest place for you right now was wherever this man was.

“What was that thing?” You asked, hurrying over to your window and staring out at the night sky, not seeing anything there but the moon and stars.

“A creature I haven’t seen for a very long time.” The man said and you turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“You know of such beasts?” You exclaimed, moving over to the man. “Just who are you? You’re unlike any man I’ve ever met before.”

“Thank you.” He grinned before seeming to remember the beast and sighed. “Right now I’m the man who’s going to come up with a plan to save your life.”

“Save my life? What in the stars are you talking about?” You asked, feeling more confused and frightened than you had ever felt in your life. 

“That creature out there, it’s a Lonix. It’s a very old and very dangerous creature and for some reason it’s locked onto you.” He said causing you to frown, the man might as well have been speaking another language for how much of it you understood. 

“You’re mad.” You told him, watching as his face softened and he smiled sadly at you. “Completely and utterly mad, talking such nonsense.”

“I wish it was nonsense, Princess, believe me I do but right now you’re in a lot of danger and I don’t know how to stop it.” He told you, his words so brutally honest that you couldn’t even try and deny them any longer.

“Who are you?” You finally asked, eyes filling with tears that you struggled to keep at bay.

“I’m the Doctor and I’m going to help you.” He promised and you let out a sob, the Doctor pulling you into his arms and you let yourself cry into his chest.

“You said you don’t know how to stop it.” You finally managed to say, the words barely a whisper but you were close enough to the Doctor that he heard the words just fine.

“I don’t.” He told you, his voice matching yours. “But I’m going to stop it, that much I can promise you.”

You nodded into his chest before pulling away, rubbing at your eyes with the sleeve of your coat, taking a seat on the bed and looking towards the Doctor.

“You said it,” you said, shaking your head in disbelief before trying again. “You said this thing, this Lonix had locked onto me. What does that mean?”

“The Lonix is a creature that keeps itself alive by feeding off others but it can only do that by making deals.” The Doctor started, coming to take a seat next to you on the end of the bed as he continued. “It promises something and takes a life, then it comes back years later and takes another life.”

“I have never made such a deal.” You told him, looking at him and hoping he knew you were being honest.

The Doctor easily saw how scared you were and he took your hand in his, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb softly.

“I believe you but somebody did make a deal. What about your mum and dad? The deal could be years old, it could have been for anything.” The Doctor asked and you glanced away from him only for your head to snap up, wide eyes looking at him.

“You said the creature takes one life and then another years later.” You said, watching as the Doctor nodded. “My mother died when I was five years old. My father, he, he never told me how she died, only that she had passed in her sleep.”

“If they made a deal then the Lonix should be after your father, not you.” The Doctor murmured, more to himself than to you.

“Is it going to kill me too?” You asked once the silence became too much and the Doctor focused back on you again.

“No, listen to me, I am not going to let it get you, do you understand me? You’re going to be just fine.” He promised and you took a shaky breath before nodding, forcing yourself to believe his words because what other choice did you have. “I’m going to fix this, I promise.”

The Doctor left that night despite your protests and somehow you managed to get some sleep, though your dreams were filled with monstrous beings and the Doctor not being quick enough. 

It was strange waking up the next morning, knowing danger was close by and yet having to go about your morning as if nothing had changed. You spent most of the day preparing for the ball later that evening, no chance to see the Doctor as you were pulled this way and that, into one gown and then another. 

You wanted to see him though. He was the only suitor that you wanted to see, you hoped he was able to figure out how to deal with this Lonix, hoped that afterwards it could be him you married. 

Your thoughts stayed on the Doctor all day. Such a peculiar man, you were still not certain which Kingdom he came from and what a strange name, the Doctor, he had offered no more, nothing other than the Doctor. 

Last night had changed something in you, not just seeing that terrifying beast but the way the Doctor held you in his arms, the way he held your hand and promised you everything would be ok. Marrying the Doctor didn’t seem like such a chore the way it did when you thought about marrying any of the other men who thought they had a chance. Marrying the Doctor seemed like a lifetime of excitement and you had a feeling he wouldn’t keep you locked away from it but instead he’d introduce you to a world you could only dream of.

It seemed as though the stars, after all those years of wishing on them, had finally heard you and decided to answer your pleas in the form of the Doctor.

You walked into the ballroom after all the guests had arrived, standing at the top of the stairs and immediately scanned the busy room for the Doctor. Every other time you had tried to find him he had seemed to disappear but tonight he was here, gone was his brown coat and bizarre shoes and in their place was a black suit, a white shirt and black tie along with a shiny pair of black shoes. 

Your eyes stayed locked to his, a smile spreading across your face as he grinned at you, standing off to the side as you walked down the stairs. 

Immediately you were surrounded by suitors but you only had one person in mind. You pushed your way through the crowd, ignoring the shocked and offended gasps, coming to stand before the Doctor who’s smile softened as he looked at you.

“You look beautiful, Princess.” He murmured and you laughed softly, a blush coming to your cheeks.

“Thank you. You look rather handsome yourself, Doctor.” The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but the sound of music coming from the band interrupted him, the men around you talking over themselves as they tried to be the first to dance with you.

“May I?” The Doctor asked and you grinned at him, slipping your hand into his, the two of you laughing as the others complained amongst themselves.

You and the Doctor joined the dance floor, his hand going to your waist and yours resting on his shoulder as your other hands entwined with each other and the Doctor took the lead.

“Doctor, I hate to ruin such a moment but I must know-” You began but the Doctor cut you off.

“The Lonix. There’s a way to stop it.” The Doctor told you, still moving the two of you to the beat of the music, dancing together like you’d been doing it your whole lives. “The only way to stop it is to trap it. If it doesn’t kill you by the time the day ends then it dies.”

“How do we trap it?” You asked, staring at the Doctor with a mix of hope and fear in your eyes and the Doctor squeezed your hand softly.

“It’ll be easier if you’re with me. It’s you it wants, it’s you it’ll follow.” The Doctor told you and you took a deep shuddering breath. “You can stay here though, if you’d like, I can find another way to trap it. This thing is pure evil, feeding off people’s weakest moments and destroying them, I’d understand if you didn’t come.”

“I’m helping you.” You told him, trying to be firm even as your voice shook. “This creature, this monster killed my mother and it wants to kill me. No other family will suffer because of it.”

“I like you, Princess.” The Doctor murmured, a smile pulling at his lips and you chuckled softly.

“I like you too, Doctor. I can honestly say you’re the most exciting thing in my life.” You said and watched as he looked at you in disbelief.

“Come on now, you’re a Princess on a planet that’s full of exciting things.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his words, watching as his eyebrows knitted together.

“For most that’s true, for me though my father never lets me leave the castle. I haven’t left the castle grounds more than a handful of times since my mother died.” You told him softly, unsure why you trusted him to tell him things you’d never told anybody. “I wished for so long for something to change, for a life of adventure and excitement, one where I could explore and never be stuck in one place ever again. I’m just not sure the universe wants me to have that sort of life.”

“Oh I don’t believe that.” The Doctor grinned. “I think we were meant to find each other, Princess.”

You blushed at his words, looking towards where your hands were still tangled together before forcing your gaze back to him.

“I think I’d rather like that.” You murmured, both you and the Doctor pressing closer to each other, your eyes shifting from his down to his lips.

Before either of you could move there was a loud screeching sound and the whole castle seemed to shake. People around you started to scream, all looking around as they tried to figure out what was happening but your gaze stayed locked on the Doctor’s.

“Allons-y.” He grinned at you and before you had time to question the strange word he was pulling you along with him, his hand still tangled with yours.

He led you out into the grounds and didn’t stop running until the creature was in view. There was a determined look on his face as he suddenly stopped, the creature roaring and flying down towards you.

“Doctor.” You called, voice shaking as you gripped his hand tightly in yours. “Doctor, what are you doing?”

He turned to face you, pulling your gaze away from the Lonix as he cupped your cheeks in his hands, forcing you to look at him.

“Do you trust me?” He asked seriously and you didn’t even hesitate, it should have been a silly question, you’d only known the man for a few days and yet they had been the most memorable days of your whole life.

“Yes.” You answered honestly, without the slightest bit of doubt and the Doctor smiled at you.

“Good. Now remember what I said, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” The Doctor promised and you nodded, putting your life in his hands.

Your breath caught in your throat as the creature flew towards you, your hand still holding the Doctor’s like it was your lifeline. The creature roared as it started its descent towards you and you held your breath, eyes scrunching shut as you waited for something to happen.

When nothing did happen you opened them and gasped at the creature in front of you, it was even bigger from up close. The Lonix thrashed against an invisible barrier, trying to break free but it was no use. 

“Told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” The Doctor said, drawing your attention back to him and you turned towards him with a deep breath.

“That’s it? It can’t hurt me?” You asked, wincing as it shrieked in its cage.

“Nope, it can’t hurt anyone ever again.” The Doctor told you and you couldn’t stop yourself from throwing your arms around him, pulling him into a hug and letting a few tears of relief slid down your face.

“Thank you, Doctor.” You whispered into his chest as his arms came around you, holding you close to him and resting his head on top of yours.

“You’re most welcome, Princess.” The Doctor held you until you pulled away, his hands coming up to cup your cheeks again, wiping the few tears that had fallen. “You should probably get back to your party, wouldn’t want anybody to come looking and find this.”

“That would be difficult to explain.” You laughed softly. “Won’t you join me?”

The Doctor hesitated, looking over his shoulder before turning back to you.

“Of course, Princess.” The Doctor agreed softly, taking your hand back in his and leading you back to the ball which seemed to have continued, forgetting all about the events from before.

The Doctor let you pull him back out onto the dance floor, the two of you talking softly over the music, blocking out all the other suitors who desperately tried to pull you away from the Doctor but most had realised it was no use.

The night went on, you and the Doctor alternating between dancing and sitting alone at a table with drinks in your hand, the alcohol slowly working and making you feel tipsy and you let yourself lean into the Doctor, the Doctor not complaining in the slightest as he pulled you closer.

It wasn’t until a member of the staff finally broke through your bubble that you realised it wasn’t just you and the Doctor in the room. The woman nervously interrupted the two of you and told you your father wanted to see you. 

You excused yourself from the Doctor, letting the woman lead you to where your father stood frowning at you.

“Is everything ok, father?” You asked and watched him shake his head.

“Who is that man you’ve spent the entire evening with?” He demanded to know and this time it was your turn to frown. “He is no King or Prince!”

“What are you talking-” You began to say, looking over your shoulder to see the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. “Excuse me, father.” 

You ignore his protests, walking away from him and leaving the ballroom, making your way out of the castle, hoping the Doctor was just going to check on the creature considering it was past midnight. 

You saw him off in the distance, the creature nowhere to be seen and the Doctor looking as if he were leaving. That wouldn’t do at all, you had chosen him, he was the one you wanted. At first it had been a marriage of convenience but now you were glad of it. 

You liked the Doctor, you felt like you could spend forever with him. 

You followed him down, frowning as you tried to figure out where he was going when you watched him unlock a small blue box before he pushed the door open and went inside. You ran down the hill to catch up with him, most confused about what he was doing.

When you finally got to the box your frown deepened, what in the stars was he doing in there?

“Doctor?” You called, waiting a moment before touching the box, just as you did the door opened and you took a step back as the Doctor stepped out. “What are you doing?”

“Oh well, um, I just had things to check on.” The Doctor stammered and you looked at him as though he had grown another head.

“In a box?” You laughed in disbelief and the Doctor looked between you and the box. “The box doesn’t matter. Doctor, I just spoke with my father and he says he doesn’t know you, that you’re not one of my suitors? How can that be? You were invited here were you not? None of those other Kings or Princes stood a chance once I met you, it’s your bride I wish to be, not theirs.”

“Oh Princess.” The Doctor sighed, looking at you with warmth in his eyes. “I’m not a King, I’m not a Prince.”

“Then who are you? Why are you here if not for me?” You questioned, confused and a little bit devastated that it wasn’t him you could choose.

“Believe me, the only reason I’m here is for you. I’m sorry, I didn’t, I was more focused on the Lonix than those men in there.” The Doctor told you sadly.

“Who are you, Doctor?” You asked because you had always known he was different but you couldn’t begin to know how.

“I’m a Time Lord. This box is the TARDIS, it travels anywhere in time and space.” The Doctor told you, watching as your eyes widened and you shook your head in disbelief. “It’s true, look.”

The Doctor clicked his fingers and the door to the TARDIS flew open, your eyes followed the moment before looking back to the Doctor who gestured for you to enter. You hesitated before doing as he instructed, gasping as you walked in.

“It’s bigger on the inside!” You laughed, walking up to the console and running your fingers along it. “Doctor, it’s amazing!”

“I can take you somewhere, if you’d like.” The Doctor offered and you froze, staring at him with some much hope that it made him smile. “Anywhere you like, any time you like.”

“You mean it?” You whispered, taking a step towards him and the Doctor nodded, taking your hand in his as he spoke.

“I can show you the life you wished for, I can show you the stars you wished on.” He promised and how could you possibly say no to that. 

You didn’t hesitate to agree, unable to stop yourself from hugging him again, blinking away the tears in your eyes as you realised you were finally leaving the castle grounds and you didn’t have to marry a man you didn’t love to explore the universe.

“One trip to the stars, Princess.” The Doctor grinned and you couldn’t help but laugh as he moved around the console, flicking switches and pulling leavers as he went.

The stars were beautiful, you happily listened to the Doctor tell you all about them, getting lost in both the stars and the Time Lord for hours. The one promised trip turned into two, the Doctor insisting you had to see the festival of lights on Luiria which really were the most beautiful sight, the Doctor would have agreed but he’d spent more time watching you than the lights and that was a far better sight. After that he couldn’t let you leave until you’d visited Oaphus and then of course there was Vaetis.

“Hey Doctor?” You said to him one night as the two of you wandered the streets of Noavis after watching a play, the Doctor’s hand in yours, his thumb brushing softly against the back of your hand every once in a while.

“Yeah?” He answered, tilting his head to look at you with a smile, you’d never been able to stop yourself smiling back at the man.

“How long can I stay with you?” You asked him, watching his smile widen as he pulled his hand from yours to drape his arm over your shoulders to pull you closer.

“For as long as you want.” He murmured and you lifted your head to look up at him.

“Forever?” You asked and the Doctor laughed, a laugh full of happiness as his eyes crinkled with how wide he smiled at you.

“Forever sounds perfect, Princess.” He told you, pressing a kiss to your hair and you couldn’t help but agree.

Forever did sound perfect.

10th Doctor Taglist (Click the link in my bio to add yourself!) - 

@ajordan2020, @nyx2021, @etanordoesbullsh1t, @book-fic-reader, @buckystrash, @queen-who, @cinderellacauseshebroke, @black-rose-29, @kodiakwhiskey, @alexxavicry, @instabull, @rosesinmars, @freeshavocadoooo, @audrie-bryant, @leothesquishy, @yeehawbrothers

Thank you so much for reading!🤎

[undiscovered-horizon]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request a little something about the Doctor. I was thinking something along the lines of the Doctors first kiss with the reader, their first ‘I love you’s, first hugs and maybe like first time opening up to each other to have that bond? Obviously not in that order lol just regular fluff and happiness with the Doctor! Thanks!

🫀REQUESTS ARE OPEN🫀 || Doctor Who-inspired playlist

"Milestones" - The Doctor x Reader

A/N: written with 11 in mind bc he's my favourite but honestly picture whoever you want

WORDCOUNT: ~ 1.5k

First hug

"Hey, you doing alright?" you asked quietly. Honestly, you knew the question was more than ridiculous - it was just an inelegant, slightly awkward icebreaker after what you've been through. Although it hasn't been long, barely a few hours, you've quickly learned that he was a prodigy at putting on a brave face. Someone so adamant about making sure everyone lives couldn't just brush off the abrupt end of innocent life. It simply didn't make sense.

"Yeah, sure, I'm doing fine," he answered in a reassuring and lighthearted tone. "Are you okay?"

Despite his best efforts at appearing completely unmoved, you could easily tell he was being dishonest - there was that haunted look in his eyes as if the moment he remembers he was an intelligent entity cursed with compassion and melancholy his tears would melt away his corporeal form. It was like capturing a storm in a plastic bag.

His eyes met yours in a questioning manner: he really was more interested in your well-being rather than the albatross hanging from his neck. It was a strange moment to choose selflessness. After a moment of silence, his stare went back to the console and the buttons he was pushing. You continued to watch him, thinking about the hypothetical sorrow gnawing at his thoughts. Maybe you didn't know him for long, it was difficult to claim you'd known him at all but he definitely didn't seem like someone heartless; the Doctor was many things but cold-hearted was not one of them.

The Doctor looked at you again but for a significantly shorter period as if he could tell by your expression that you weren't buying his facade. Consciously or not, his expression fell, revealing the somberness he tried to hide away.

"Come here."

Pulling him by his arm, you engulfed the Doctor in an embrace. Immediately, he tightly held you close to him, his hands fisting the material of your sweatshirt. It was a strange thing that people let go when they're holding on to someone.

"It's not easy, so don't pretend like it is," you quietly said against his shoulder. The tweed jacket was slightly coarse against your skin, pleasantly keeping you aware of the present moment. "You might not be human but you sure are humane. I know that."

He didn't answer but truthfully, he didn't have to - you knew exactly what was going on when his arms shifted around you, still holding you as close as one holds a fleeting dream of a love long gone.

Opening up

The Doctor was fixing something under the main console. Cables dangled around him, sparks of electricity revealed that the current was still on and any unwise move could have catastrophic consequences. He, however, seemed to be unfazed. It was an impression of him you were still getting used to - a man both hot and cold, simultaneously emotional and rid of all passions.

"Do you ever get scared?"

Momentarily, the Doctor stopped whatever it was he was doing. He looked at you with a grimace of confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know, running around dangerous places, getting stuck at the end of the world in hopeless situations. Do you ever get scared?"

"Sometimes, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"It's just..." For a moment you considered dropping the subject. Would your worries be a little too human, a little too mundane, for him to understand? "I know I get scared, don't even need aliens for that to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I love travelling with you but so many times I find myself in situations where I don't know what to do, I just want to close my eyes and wish the danger away. If you too get scared then maybe I'm not as wimpy as I thought I was."

"Wimpy?" he asked. You gently nodded your head. "Wimpy?" he repeated louder and with more confusion resounding in his voice. You furrowed your eyebrows not understanding what he was getting at. "You're not wimpy, why would you think that?"

"Because I get scared?"

Something about your statement must have struck a significant string in his heart as the Doctor got out from under the console and stood up. His eyebrows were furrowed and you knew that he was adamant to get to the bottom of whatever snake what biting at your heels.

"Scared is good. Scared means you care. You have something to lose. It's very human of you actually."

"When you're scared you never... look scared, at least I can't tell. You just do what you have to do and save the day as if it was just a walk in the park. How do you do that?"

"Because I have something to lose," he answered with a shrug before examining something on the top part of the console. The clicking of buttons echoed throughout the room.

"Which is?"

For a moment he didn't answer and just tapped away on the various controls and keyboards only he could understand. Slowly, his actions came to a halt. The Doctor turned his head to look at you, brave enough only to say one word before going back to fixing some failure in the machinery:

"You." He had that melancholic look in his eyes that he so often wore when he revealed some of his hearts' content. The Doctor's answer surprised you. It seemed so... simple. Mundane to the point of being strange.

Maybe you too had a good reason to both be scared and brave.

First kiss

"You're not actually considering going down there," you said as you looked down the maintenance shaft. It was so dark one could only wonder how far the bottom was. A low groan echoed throughout that seemingly endless metal pit.

"We're kind of out of options. Come on, it's an adventure! I'll be fine."

You weren't sure if his lighthearted mood was a sign of confidence or stupidity - a certain lack of realization of his chances of survival.

"Looks more lik a one way ticket to me."

"Nonsense," he dismissed your worries. "It's just a dead-end road. Have to make a U-turn at the end and you're on your way home. Easy-peasy!"

It was quite clear he wasn't going to negotiate his own plan filled with insanity and a ridiculous amount of sheer luck.

"Just..." you began but promptly stopped, momentarily overwhelmed by the very real possibility of him not coming back. And what were you to do then? A deep sigh left your lips before you finished your thought. "Just come back to me."

Without thinking much, realizing that this could very well be the last time you see that madman, you grabbed his clothes and pulled him in. His lips crashed against yours and the joy this passion brought was very much like fireworks: intense and burning but over a little too soon for the desperate heart to satisfy its yearning. You feel the same longing in his own movements, although it's significantly more reserved as if he was holding back, not yet ready to let the addictive feeling consume him.

"Well, now I have to," he murmured under his breath.

First "I love you"

"Alright, so what do you need?" you asked in a hurried tone. You were running out of time and the alarm siren did not make it any easier to focus on the task at hand. In fact, the longer you were inside the engineering deck, among red emergency lights and deafening sirens, the more you began to panic. The water flooding the ship made you aware of your own mortality with each wave brushing against your legs.

"I'd need another one of those gem things, the internal structure of the crystal makes it an excellent electricity conductor."

"Like... graphite?"

"Yes! Like graphite!"

Suddenly, you became aware of the rumbled sudoku notebook in the back pocket of your jeans. You shoved it in there along with a pencil when the Doctor flew right by you yelling at you to start running. It was fascinating what kind of pastimes travelling with the Doctor made you pick up.

"You're not going to believe this," you told him between chuckles. As if you were pulling a rabbit out of a magician's hat, you showed the pencil to the Doctor.

His face immediately lit up. He grabbed your face before kissing your forehead. "I love you!" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly.

Then he snatched the pencil from your hand and turned around to run in the direction of the engines. The Doctor ran maybe a few meters before making a sudden turn - for some reason, he had to return to you. There was something strange about how he looked at you as if he saw something more than you; like he had life-changing knowledge he never dared to share with you.

"I mean it," he said in a serious tone while vaguely pointing his finger at you.

Before you could answer him or even ask for clarification, he was already back on track with his near-miraculous plan of saving the day.

"Right back at you, you crazy old man," you said under your breath.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

clara oswald is the only doctor who character who could have made torchwood MORE fucked up

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 13:  Starting New

Current Masterlist // Previous Story

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​

[If you would like to be added to this specific OC’s taglist, let me know!]

"Stop her!" Rosana's shout echoed in the passageways as a group of girls chased after Renata. Rosana wasn't particularly chasing after Renata but she was still keeping an eye on where she was going, preferring to leave the job to the girls.

Renata was fuming and shouting as well but for Amy instead, knowing she had to be in danger. Renata didn't want to be in the school for another moment. "AMY! AMY! Where are you!? AMELIA!" She was forced back when a group of the fanged girls appeared, all hissing at her like she was next on the meal course.

Rosana smirked as she watched the Time Lady stumble back into the wall. "For all that bravery, you are still very outnumbered."

Renata swallowed hard, getting even more nervous when she heard Amy's voice begin to call for her. The girl was in the trouble and if she wasn't, she would be soon.

"Oh, the girl's here too," Rosana clapped her hands together, smiling sarcastically. "Who shall we go after?"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had pushed his way up the grate that allowed them into the chamber room full of chests. He helped Rory and Gabby climb out and once they were all above ground, they called for Renata and Amy. Neither woman answered.

"Doctor, I can't see anything!" Gabby exclaimed. "We left the torch down!"

"Just as well I brought this, then!" Rory pulled out a small pencil torch from his pocket, giving a bit of light to the room.

The Doctor, however, came truly prepared. He took out an even longer torch from his inside pocket, one that didn't need to be flamed on. "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight!"

Rory was amazed at how he had even carried that in his pocket. "Yours is bigger than mine."

"Let's not go there!"

Gabby smacked her hand to her forehead. "So, whether alien or human, men are truly all the same! Idiotas los dos!"

The Doctor merely smiled and turned to study the room they were in. The grate had been opened for them so at one point in the night, Renata and Amy had to have been in here. He noticed several chests against the walls and walked over to one.

Gabby watched him open one chest and crinkled her nose when he held a grimy old hand. "What happened to them?" She was sure she could see more grimy bodies inside the chest.

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them…"

"That's what vampires do, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own," Rory said, basing his knowledge off what he'd seen on t.v. How accurate it was, he didn't know.

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies," the Doctor straightened up and looked around at the other chests. If Renata was here and she'd seen the chests, her hearts must have broken.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?" Rory asked.

"Maybe not everyone survives the process," the Doctor theorized. If there was such a process then of course there would have to be dead bodies along the way. Nothing was ever perfect.

Rory huffed in frustration. Amy was in terrible danger, more than he previously thought! "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

"That's not his fault Rory," Gabby said quietly. "Everyone has a choice and Amy happens to be adventurous." Rory shook his head at her, not wanting to hear more of her defense. Gabby wouldn't insist, he clearly wasn't ready for that realization right now. She tried to do her best to help the Doctor figure more things out about the corpses but instead she ended up finding a hole in the wall. "Doctor, look at that," she pointed to the wall. The Doctor hurried to it and soon realized it was blasted in. "What is it?"

"Renée was here," he mumbled, his hearts beginning to pick up at the image of her having to fire at the wall. What could have made Renata fire? Rory was right, they needed to find them.

"Renata!?" they suddenly heard Amy's voice. "Renata!"

Rory sprang up like a spring. "Amy!" He ran out of the chamber room, making Gabby and the Doctor run after him.

~ 0 ~

Renata scrunched her face and pressed herself even more against the wall the closer the girls got to her. She was really outnumbered, she would admit that, but she was totally powerless. She could COULD use some of her butterflies but she...she didn't want to hurt the girls. They were still children, girls' whose lives had been ripped away.

~ 0 ~

"Renata!" Amy cautiously crept down the passage with Isabella in tow. Of course it would be their luck not to find the Time Lady when they really needed to get out. "God, Renata! Where are you!?"

"Amy!" Rory thoroughly scared her that she'd immediately smacked him away. "Ow! Amy!"

"Sorry!" Amy gasped when she realized it was him. She hugged him then saw the Doctor and Gabby coming down.

"Where's Renata?" the Doctor scanned the immediate area to no avail. He only saw Isabella and presumed who she was. "You found Isabella?"

"Yeah but I don't know where Renata is," Amy said as she stepped back from Rory. "She and the Signora were going to have a talk."

The Doctor properly panicked. Of course Renata would do the talking with the bad people. It's what he would do. He would much rather it was him than her. "RENATA!" He screamed, making the others jump in their spot. "RENATA!" He hurried down the passage, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Behind them, Gabby sighed. "So much for the element of surprise..." She still ran after the Doctor to join the screams.

~ 0 ~

"You should have just taken the deal," Rosana went 'tsk, tsk' as she watched her girls inch closer to Renata. Each time one of them hissed, Renata tried to lean away but remembered she was already against a wall, so instead she sucked her chest and body in as best as she could. "One entire city for us all. I could have even gotten your little friend a husband."

"She's already engaged and I don't do deals with murderers," Renata still spat despite her situation.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to end here," Rosana pretended to pout. She waved for the girls' to move back, but only slightly, so she could come face Renata.. "I can't risk the process on you and have you causing harm to my sons."

"Who said I would've wanted a Mummy's boy as a husband?" Renata smirked proudly at herself for that remark when she saw Rosana's indignant face. Gabby would have been proud of her!

"Those are my sons! How dare y—"

Renata took her chance and kicked the woman away. Funny, she felt something hard on Rosana's legs. Renata quickly backtracked with her eyes glued to Rosana, watching how the woman's entire appearance briefly shifted into an insectoid creature. "Saturnyne," Renata realized. "You're a Saturnyne! Of course!" She laughed until she realized she sounded exactly like the Doctor would. "I mean...you're a Saturnyne, of course you are," she nodded firmly.

Suddenly, the girls hissed again and Renata had no choice but to run again. She yelped each time one girl got close enough so that she could feel their hair touching her body. "I don't want to hurt them! I don't want to hurt you!" she cried, grabbing the sides of her dress to run quicker. "Please, just stop!"

"RENATA!"

Renata abruptly stopped at the Doctor's voice, making a huge mistake in the process. She felt one of the girls' hands on her and screamed. "GET AWAY!" She blasted a swarm of butterflies against the girls, knocking them to the ground.

"Renata!" the Doctor finally saw her and hurried towards her. Renata barely had time to move when he already had her in his arms. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"Woah, what happened to them?" Gabby blinked at the girls stumbling to get back up. She laughed, though, when she saw a remaining golden butterfly in the air. "Ah, Renata got hardcore."

"Did not!" Renata huffed and pulled away from the Doctor. "I didn't...I didn't mean to…" she turned to the girls with a heavy heart. She didn't want to hurt any of them but she certainly wasn't going to let them hurt her. "They're all empty shells now."

"And they're getting back up! We should go!" Amy motioned them to start running again.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella took the lead fast.

"Wait!" Renata stopped the Doctor from following and thoroughly startled him when she started pulling his jacket off him.

"What are you doing!?" he exclaimed, feeling part of his face get rather warm.

"She'll need it!" Renata hung his jacket over one of her arms then grabbed the Doctor's hand to keep running.

Isabella had led them down a few steps to get out through its door. She and Rory pulled on it to open it and ushered Amy and Gabby out.

"Quickly, get out!" Isabella then told Rory. She tried to follow herself but the sunlight burned her skin.

"It's okay! It's okay! I got you!" Renata came as quickly as she could with the Doctor. The dress was truly heavy. She threw the Doctor's coat over Isabella's head and then carefully led her outside. While they hurried down the steps, the Doctor sonicked the door behind them.

"Isabella! Isabella!" Guido climbed out of the gondola to meet his daughter. He was overfilled with joy seeing his daughter again.

"Don't take the coat off her!" Renata immediately instructed as the two now helped Isabella into the gondola. "Doctor?" She turned around to see him lagging at the staircase. "Get over here!"

"I need to meet this woman," he declared with absolute anger lacing his tones and features.

"Fine, but after we get the humans to safety. Then we'll both go back," Renata gestured to the group waiting for him. She wasn't all too crazy to go back into that school anymore but if he was going, then she had to as well.

"You're not coming," the Doctor came straight to her.

Renata raised her head defiantly. "Oh yes I am. In fact," she flashed a smirk at the Doctor before turning to the gondola, "Guido, take them back to your house please. And make sure that Isabella doesn't take the coat off until she's inside. Rosana sent her girls after me. I would like a word with her about her behavior," Renata nodded at Guido to take them away. He didn't question them. He needed to get his daughter away from the school as quickly as possible.

"You are mad, do you know that?" the Doctor groaned when it was just him and Renata. He just got her out of the school and now he was about to bring her into it again.

"I'm not mad, I am furious!" she snapped. "They're Saturnynes! And Rosana has kidnapped these girls, turning them into empty shells for her sons! She's stolen people's daughters and she tried to make them kill me. I am beyond mad. I am angry on behalf of every mother, every parent, who lost their daughters to Rosana and her cult."

The Doctor would not point out to Renata that her face was completely red solely because he was already walking on thin, almost nonexistent, ice with her. He nodded his head, acknowledging her feelings on the matter and then endeavored to help ease those feelings by doing whatever he could which, in this case, would be taking her back to the school.

He tried taking hold of her hand but she flinched away from his touch, whether it was due to her current state or because she was still upset about earlier he couldn't tell. Together, they made their way back to the school, this time going by the front to make their presence very known.

Rosana was sitting on her throne, clearly waiting for them - Renata, at least. Her lips curled into a smug smile upon seeing the Time Lady. "You stole one of my students."

Renata had no sense of control at the moment so she stormed over, or at least tried to because the Doctor had grabbed her back only a few steps forwards. "She's not your student! She was a prisoner!" she still yelled at the woman across the room. "Just like every other girl in here!"

The Doctor was very aware of the light gold that was rising from the top of Renata's head. It used to be less noticeable with her once blonde hair but now that her hair was as dark as night, the gold had nowhere to hide. Rosana was privy to the secret as well, for she rose from her throne with an accusing finger pointed at Renata.

"You say that I'm a liar but you lied first. You are not a Time Lady. What are you?"

Renata stopped thrashing in the Doctor's arms, stumped for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're glowing, Marchioness," Rosana smirked as she came down the small steps of her throne's dais.

Renata glanced at the Doctor to see him nodding. He looked concerned but if she was being perfectly honest, she felt fine. In fact, she felt great. She was angry but her health was perfect. She carefully untangled herself from the Doctor, apologizing to him for her behavior. Once she calmed, the golden energy faded.

"What are you really?" Rosana asked again, her eyes glinting with fascination.

"I am a Time Lady," Renata reiterated, adjusting her dress in the process. "And you are a liar." Rosana scoffed. "You're even wearing a perception filter."

"Funny thing that perception filter," the Doctor spoke for the first time, especially now that he was semi-sure Renata wouldn't try to kill Rosana on the spot again. "It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank... hence no reflection. But why can we see your big teeth?

"Self-preservation over-rides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Rosana arched an eyebrow at him, as if just now realizing Renata hadn't come alone. She looked him over for a few minutes before answering a question he hadn't asked. "Ah, you're the husband."

The Doctor scowled and glanced at Renata to see her throwing murderous glares at Rosana again. "No! We're not" she shouted even, as if the mere idea of someone thinking they were husband and wife was utterly despicable.

It hurt. A lot. Was she that angry with him? Did she think they were too far gone to ever fix things? No, she couldn't think like that. One error, an error that he didn't even commit, shouldn't be the end of their relationship. He couldn't let it be. He loved her as much as he knew that she loved him. She was just being her stubborn self again.

He cleared his throat. "I'm the Doctor and the only thing Renata and I are only concerned about is what's going on at this so-called school."

Rosana rolled her eyes. "I don't understand what is so difficult about this. We're all refugees here. I am only trying to create a second home. I offered a partnership with your, uh...friend…" She made a gesture towards Renata. "She's made it pretty clear she's no longer interested. But, I am a fair woman, so I shall offer you the same deal."

"And what would that be exactly?"

"Help me finish my plans and you can enjoy Saturnyne II with me." There was a new sultry type of look on her face as she approached the Doctor.

Renata immediately felt like charging on the woman again, only this time she was well aware it wouldn't be on behalf of the mothers everywhere but more...on behalf of herself.

"My partnership can be in any way you choose," Rosana delivered her last words with a charming smile.

It became a trust testament to Renata's self control when Rosana dragged her finger across the Doctor's chest. She didn't need a mirror to know that she was glowing again. This time she could actually feel a warmth bubbling inside her, urging to come out and tear Rosana away from the Doctor. She shouldn't be anywhere near him! Including Amy!

And once Renata thought about what it must have looked like when Amy kissed the Doctor, she felt a new rage wash over her. Tears and sadness were gone to be replaced with utter anger. Jealous. Yes. That's what she was. Jealous that everyone always wanted to keep her and the Doctor apart. Whether it was to keep the Doctor for themselves, or simply because they didn't like him being with her, it always happened. It. Always. Happened.

The Doctor very kindly, but sternly, pulled Rosana's finger hand off him. "I don't think so."

Rosana very quickly understood where they were and, after yanking her finger out of his hand, stepped away from the pair. "Get out!" she barked. "Rest assured that I will do what neither of you could do for your planet. I will bend the heavens to save my race."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Renata shook her head. "Not this way."

"GET OUT!"

"Don't think this is over!" Renata yelled right back. "We'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone! That's a promise!"

The Doctor grabbed her hand, this time letting him, and left the school.

~ 0 ~

Renata got a quick change out of her period dress into her regular clothes again. She brought Amy's clothes back to her at Guido's house in case she wanted to get out of the dress as well. It had been something Amy wanted to do ever since she got out of the school, but Gabby said no one was leaving the house until the Time Lords were back. Rory agreed as well.

Renata put all of her attention to Isabella after coming back. "Isabella, how are you feeling?" The young girl was sitting in a chair next to her father. Renata assumed Guido hadn't left his daughter's side ever since they came home.

"She says things look too bright," Guido said before Isabella even opened her mouth. It did explain why Isabella was staring at the table. "Is that normal? What were they doing to her there?"

Renata glanced back at the Doctor for some help. He was standing across the room, purposely keeping his distance from her because he knew that's what she wanted. As soon as she realized that he was holding her hand after leaving Rosana's school, she'd yanked it out of his and picked up her pace.

Still, it only took one look from Renata to make him come over. "Rosana said that this whole process lasted 2 weeks," she started explaining, "And Isabella's been at the school for how much time?"

"One week," Isabella answered, still keeping her gaze on the floor.

"Right, so then the process wasn't finished. They were draining her blood—"

"My what!?" Isabella made the mistake of looking up and quickly shielded her eyes before lowering her head again. "That's what they were doing to me!?"

"Why would they want to do that?" Gabby asked.

"They're vampires, aren't they? Isn't that what they do?" Rory said.

"They're far from vampires Rory. They're Saturnynes," the Doctor explained. He knelt down in front of Isabella, placing a hand on her shoulder as he ducked enough to meet her gaze. He pulled out his sonic with his other hand and waved it in front of her. "I'm going to scan you really quick, is that alright?"

Isabella nodded her head and watched him wave the sonic in front of her again, the light reflected off the sonic making her look away. Amy returned at that moment, dressed in her regular clothes, and strode over to Rory and Gabby.

"No, the Saturnynes' DNA didn't get to permanently change her," the Doctor said to Renata. "I'm guessing it really has to be a two week thing. I think Renata got you out just in time."

"I did too," Amy mumbled under her breath. She was the one who found Isabella in the first place. It was a joint mission and they jointly got her out.

"Thank you," Guido smiled at Renata with the most grateful gleam in his eyes. "I have my daughter back because of you."

Renata smiled back softly. "You don't have to thank us. No parent should ever have to lose their child." Her smile faded as the weight of her words truly settled. It was the same for the Doctor.

"What about my eyes?" Isabella's natural question pulled the two out of their darkening thoughts.

"Here yah go!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled out a pair of black sunglasses from his pocket.

"Dude," Gabby laughed at him while Renata shook her head at him.

"The side effects from the process should fade soon enough," the Doctor told Isabella as he helped her put the sunglasses back on.

"Now then..." Renata moved away to pace. Yes, she was pacing because there was still a school to tear down, stone by stone she would add. "Rosana and her little sons are not vampires," she sent a smile at Rory for his earlier assumption, "They're actually Saturnynes — basically like your local fish. They need water. And today, brides."

"Brides?" Amy made a face. That was surely becoming a theme, wasn't it?

"Is that why they're using the school then? To recruit...brides?" Gabby made a similar face as Amy.

"They're not 'recruiting', they're kidnapping," Renata snapped, although not at Gabby but at the situation. "Rosana is kidnapping girls to turn them into brides for her sons."

"And these sons...where exactly are they?" asked Rory, looking around as if he would find them right there.

"In the water," Renata glanced at the Doctor. "She has them waiting for these girls."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido declared, but Renata was quick to point a finger at him.

"You need to focus on your daughter and only her well being. We can do the rest, can't we Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "Oh yeah. We need to figure out how exactly Rosana is planning on taking the city over. Saturnynes come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do? Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable…"

"She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race," Renata said. "And God knows she's desperate. What could she do in this state?"

The Doctor thought of the answer fairly quickly. "How about sink Venice?"

"Oh," Renata's eyes widened. "And then repopulate it with the girls she's transformed. She has her sons waiting for that moment…"

"Gross, Mommy's making compatible girlfriends for her sons?" Gabby crinkled her nose. "How are we going to stop—" A loud clattering from above cut her question off.

"The people upstairs are very noisy…" the Doctor said after they listened to a bit more of the clattering.

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido said as he rose from his seat, moving even closer to Isabella.

The Doctor sighed, resigned that this was just part of the usual day-to-day for them. "I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"If they're fish people, how are they doing that?" Rory swallowed hard as the wood creaked even louder.

No one got to answer as those fish people shattered the glass to get into the house. The entire group huddled together. The Doctor brandished his ultraviolet torch again, and Renata made sure that Isabella was behind that ultraviolet torch.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Amy exclaimed when she spotted girls outside the windows. She flinched when they shattered that glass too.

Renata brandished her sonic at the girls, purposely forcing the girls' true selves. It definitely got the group to yelp.

"What's happened to them!?" Guido asked, now taking hold of Isabella's arm even tighter. They were not taking her away again!

"There's nothing left of them," Renata said sadly. They were gone with no way of returning.

"They've been fully converted," the Doctor agreed with a nod and then after a moment's thought he added, "Blimey, fish from space have never been so... buxom."

"Because that's going to make things better for you!" Gabby genuinely concluded that all men, whether human or alien, were just that clueless.

Well, Renata was glaring at the Doctor for his little remark. "GO!" She suddenly yelled and started pushing people towards the stairs. "Doctor, coat!" she yelled again when they left the stairs.

He understood and swept his coat from where he'd left it, throwing it over Isabella in preparation for the outside. "Go, go!" he ushered the girl with Gabby. Amy and Rory helped them towards the door.

"What are you doing!?" Renata stopped when Guido did by the barrels of explosives.

"They need to be stopped!"

"By exploding them!?"

"They're not gonna stop, are they!?"

Renata stopped and looked back at the staircase. She could hear the rumbling of the girls.

"We have to stop them," Guido insisted and looked at the Doctor for his help. They couldn't let the girls keep terrorizing them or anyone else.

"This is your house," Renata said as a last resort, but she hadn't said it very argumentatively in the first place.

"Doesn't matter. I've got Isabella now. Home isn't a place, you know?" Guido was fast at working even when he was saying meaningful words.

"We know," the Doctor said quietly, making Renata look over to him. He was already staring at her. "My home isn't a place either." Renata felt the air leave her when he grabbed her hand. He gave it the gentlest of strokes before running for the door. "Guido, c'mon!" he called back.

"Dad!" Isabella exclaimed, trying to make her way back into the house. Gabby was doing a good job holding her back.

Guido dropped a candle near the explosives and ran for his life. Soon as he was out, the Doctor ran them all away from the house before it would explode. It still threw the group to the ground but they were unharmed. Not a second later did lightning strike the darkening sky.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase," Renata picked herself up and listened to the clamoring of people on the street.

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy said, about to leave when Renata said a very sharp 'no'. She turned around to see the Time Lady shaking her head. "What?"

"You need to get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, coming up behind Renata. "All of you."

"Is that really necessary?" Gabby frowned. She didn't like the idea very much either.

"Absolutely," Renata nodded. "No more people getting hurt. Too many girls have been lost already."

"But you can't stop her on your own!" Amy exclaimed.

"With all due respect Amy, we've been doing fine before you." Truly, Renata felt just a bit of twinge for her harsh words when Amy's eyes widened.

"Get back to the TARDIS, all of you!" the Doctor exclaimed and glanced at Guido and Isabella. He was trying to cover Isabella as much as he could, never knowing when the dark clouds would disappear to let the sun back out. "And take them too!" He told Gabby.

"Fine," Gabby relented if only to get them to safety. "But if that woman tries anything, let the Vortex Butterfly have her ass."

"Gabriella," Renata shook her head.

"I mean it!" Gabby ushered Guido and Isabella to follow.

"Amy, you too!" the Doctor snapped when the ginger had remained back. Rory clearly wanted to go as well but since Amy wasn't moving, neither was he.

"But—"

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"

Amy couldn't believe both of them were sending her away like a child. She was not a child, dammit! Why must they insist on seeing her like one? She stormed off, leaving Rory to truly thank the Time Lords for what they did.

~ 0 ~

When they returned to the school, Renata went directly to the throne. She almost rolled her eyes when they discovered the circuitry behind it. It was so predictable and a tiny bit conceited.

"You're too late. Such determination... just to save one city," Rosana walked into the room, smirking at the two. "Hard to believe you let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"Renata didn't do anything like that," the Doctor said, to clear the air at least. He would not have anyone thinking that Renata did what he had to Gallifrey.

"Rosanna, this is over," Renata hurried down the steps of the dais."The girls have gone."

"You're lying," scowled Rosana.

"Then wouldn't we be dead?"

The realization struck Rosana in seconds but for all she wanted to say, she held her head high and turned to leave.

"Rosana!" called the Doctor. "Help us please. There are 200,000 people in this city."

"So save them," she said sourly.

Renata felt a whole new wave of anger hit her. She shouted after Rosana. "You know, I never got to be a Mother but I still try to save any children in danger that I come across but you...you're fine with killing them."

Rosana turned around with more or less fury as Renata. "You killed them! You did! I was trying to save them—"

"By killing someone else's children!? How is that any better!?"

Rosana had no answer at that moment. With one swift move, she was out of the room again.

Renata took a moment to calm her breathing down. She turned to the Doctor with tears in her eyes. "I didn't want to hurt the girls," she said, as if he was accusing her of the same thing.

"I know that, of course I know that," the Doctor came around the chair and hurried over to her. "Renata, you can be angry with me all you want but it doesn't change the fact that I know you. I know who you are." She let him take her hands in his, actually relishing with the light squeeze he gave them. "Let's save this city, alright? No more children are going to die."

Renata swallowed down that bile she was sure was part of her tears trying to come out. "Okay."

They went back to the throne to work on shutting down whatever Rosanna had started. A few minutes later, Amy and Rory showed up.

"Get out!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We need to stabilise the storm!"

"We're not leaving you!" It was Rory who said it this time, making the Doctor scoff with incredulity.

"Right," he stopped working, something Renata glared at him for, and stormed over to the two. "So one minute it's, "You make people a danger to themselves," the next it's, "We're not leaving you!" But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets…" The ground shook the three to the ground. Renata held onto the throne to avoid the same fate.

"At least tell me Gabby's still in the TARDIS!" she called.

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed. She presumed it anyways.

"Uh, what was that?" Rory asked as he helped Amy stand up.

"Nothing. Bit of an earthquake," the Doctor dismissed it only for Amy to question him even more.

"Forget about it!" snapped Renata. "You'll be more worried when the city actually sinks!"

The Doctor hurried back to her side to keep working on the throne, though there wasn't much they were doing to it anyways. It wasn't where they would get everything done. They had to divide and conquer. "Alright, Amy, Rory, come here!" The two hurried over. "So, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator."

"What are you going to do?" asked Amy.

"Gonna go check that bell," he answered and rushed off with Renata.

The two hurried outside to the balcony where the bell was tolling incredibly loud. They managed as best as they could to keep working on the second set of circuitry connecting the throne to the main control.

"What are you doing!?" Renata called when the Doctor hurried closer to the toiling bells, his hands clapped over his ears.

"I can't take the noise!"

"Oh, but you live to create noise!"

The Doctor's face went flat for a few seconds, though he did make a note that her sarcasm was back. He could work with that. He ignored the rest of her calls when he started climbing the bells. All Renata knew was that he could fall just like he did the last time he decided to climb something huge, only last time involved the prehistoric times and the ground was covered with mushy snow and not hard cement like it was now.

She focused on the wires instead, hoping to get them finished so he could come down quicker. He did, however, get the bells to stop toiling which did make a huge difference. He came back down with a smug grin.

"Shut up!" she warned before he started. "Help me pull! These cables are really stuck!" Not to mention the pouring rain was making it harder for her hands not to slip off.

"We need to go directly to the source," he declared and, knowing the types of shouts he was about to get, got onto the rail to climb up yet again.

"GET DOWN!" she jumped from the ground but soon regretted her shout when it nearly made him slip. "Oh my God, please just get down!" she called in a much quieter but still frantic manner. "Let me do it!"

"Out of your mind, you are! That's my job!" He sent her a wink, keeping her still for a second.

Renata swallowed incredibly hard as she watched him climb even higher. It was just like the last time. He was trying to do something for them and she had her hearts in her mouth with fear. She peered down to see it was a long way to the ground. He could not fall. She'd jump to catch him.

The Doctor did his best to keep a grip when he reached the top of the sphere at the pinnacle. He opened the sphere up and was relieved to see he'd finally found the main controlling device inside. If he shut that thing down, the storm would be no more.

"Doctor, did you find it?" Renata called from below. "Please be careful!"

He smiled to himself while he kept searching. She still very much cared about him. Hope was very clear right now. As soon as this was over, he was going to try and talk to her again. He just needed to finish this.

He searched like mad for a way to end the storm and to his delight, it almost made him laugh really, he found one simple toggle switch in the middle. With one flip, the storm was no more. He soon heard the cheers and clapping from below and, in his excitement, he waved down at them.

"DOCTOR!" He flinched with Renata's scream. Funny how her new incarnation still had the same scary scream.

~ 0 ~

Rosanna silently walked the way to the canal where her sons remained. She kept trying to turn off the perception filter around but the device was dead by then. She yanked off her gloves and pulled her dress off to be left in her chemise. The closer she got to the water, the more it bubbled.

"Rosanna, you need to stop," Renata's voice froze her for a mere second before the woman looked back at her and the Doctor.

"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask? You, who care so much about 'children' and whatnot."

"I am sorry for the loss of your children but you had no right to steal someone else's."

"You said you were almost a Mother once?"

Renata nodded slightly. "I never got to meet them. Didn't know if it was going to be a girl or a boy."

"And yet you carry yourself like a Mother, when the reality is you never were one. Maybe that was a good thing."

Renata pursed her lips together. "I didn't mean…"

"Rosana, stop!" the Doctor called when the woman inched closer to the edge. "You can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. I know, Rosanna, I did it. We both did."

Rosanna shook her head. "Tell me, Doctor... can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race? You, Marchioness, watch my children die off...Remember us. Dream of us." She let herself fall into the water where the last of her sons would end her life.

Renata's eyes filled with tears and turned to the Doctor, where he would hold her and remain for a few minutes.

~ 0 ~

With the storm gone, there was only cleaning to do afterwards. Gabby caught up with the group after being tasked to bring Guido and Isabella to a new home they'd oh-so-luckily won.

In a lottery.

Gabby laughed at the Doctor's sheer cluelessness but it always warmed her heart when he pulled these stunts for people. Isabella would soon be back to normal and then they could live happily in their new home.

"Alright you two you," the Doctor called to Amy and Rory who did seem far happier than when they first arrived. Maybe the trip wasn't a total loss. "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"Best not," Gabby mumbled to him on her way to the TARDIS. Those jokes were still on hold as far as he knew.

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me," Rory said suddenly. He wasn't quite accustomed to this type of life. One moment, he was sure that all he wanted was for Amy to stay away from the Doctor because he was dangerous...but then a moment later he himself wanted to go help. It was like an invisible urge he wasn't yet sure how it worked. "I'll just say you've…"

"Stay…with us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay," Amy smiled at him as she came closer to his side. It could do well for her mind to finally get things cleared up once and for all.

"Wow, this place just gets bigger huh?" Gabby laughed. So far, she loved Rory. She would definitely be good friends with him with the time.

"Fine with me," the Doctor said and spared a glance at Renata. She was keeping her distance again but upon being called, she came closer to them.

"Of course Rory," she smiled at the man sweetly. It was a smile that hadn't come up in a while, making the Doctor just a tad jealous of Rory at that moment. "And yes Gabby, it does keep getting bigger."

"Long way from where we started," Gabby said with a saddened smile. If only Donna could see them now. She would love it. Of course, Donna would love it even more if she could figure out a way to get Renata and the Doctor back to talking. Time was they would each take their half and make the two Time Lords fix their problems in the end. Now...now it was just her. She had to figure out a way to do it. "Rory, you want to see the swimming pool?" Gabby suddenly asked. "I bet Amy told you how it got lost, huh?"

Rory nodded. "Oh yeah. Talked about it for hours."

"Hey," frowned Amy.

Gabby laughed. "C'mon!" She reached for the TARDIS doors and opened them up, ushering the two in, then pointed a warning finger at the Doctor and Renata. "I am not letting you in until you talk to each other and I mean really talk. No more screaming, no more being cryptic—"she sent a direct look at Renata, because Gabby was sure that the woman was doing that bit again, "—and just...just talk, alright? Amy and Rory are doing well so I think...I think you can too." She pleaded to them with a tiny, almost minuscule smile, to heed her words. She disappeared in the TARDIS shortly afterwards.

It wasn't the place the Doctor envisioned for his talk with Renata but he would take whatever opportunity arose. He turned around and saw Renata had already put distance between them again. She had her arms folded over her chest, tightly enough to appear more like she was hugging herself rather than putting on a stance. She wasn't looking at him.

"Renata, Gabby's right. If Amy and Rory can work through a relationship of a few years I think we can do the same."

Renata's eyes darted to him in a snap. "Our relationship hasn't exactly been great from the start. Or did you forget that 700 year gap between then and now?"

"How could I? But really, what's the point in bringing out all the bad stuff that's already happened? You're clinging to all the bad parts!"

"Someone has to be realistic!"

"About what!?"

"About the fact that we always end up hurting each other! I love you, yes, but what if this is just destined to end in heartbreak again?"

"It's not—"

"How do you know!?" Renata practically screamed frantically. This time, however, she paid no attention to the gazes of the onlookers. "How do you know it's not going to end like the first time?"

The Doctor remained totally calm, an eerie calm that Renata silently questioned how it was possible. Wasn't he afraid of the same thing? Didn't he ever think about how things could end between them again? It terrified Renata. She didn't think she could handle that again.

"Because I have no intention of letting you go," the Doctor finally answered her, looking matter-of-factly. "Never again." Renata blinked. He looked like he had all the answers, he definitely felt like he did.

"Renata," the Doctor came closer to her and before she would even think of backing away, he wrapped an arm around her waist, "Last time we did this, things were so different. We were on Gallifrey, our heads filled with all these customs and rules — you more than I, let's be honest." Renata rolled her eyes. "We were so young. You weren't even out of the Academy. I, personally, had no idea what the hell I was doing. I mean, you know, more than what it is now. Last time, I was too much of a coward to come back for you. We argued, you told me to leave you even when you didn't mean it, but I still did it. I left you, I ran away, and I never looked back. I'm not doing that again. You screaming at me is a cover up for what you actually feel. It's always been how you operate. You grew up learning how to bottle up your feelings and keep quiet. And you don't get it, Renata..." the Doctor managed a small chuckle, "You still don't get it. You don't have to do that anymore. You don't have to be cryptic or hide how you feel. If there's something bothering you, tell me what it is. You won't get in trouble. Tell me what you're thinking. Tell me everything that's running in your head right now."

Renata nervously licked her lips. She couldn't meet his waiting gaze right away but at least she was making the effort to. The Doctor took that as a good sign. He wouldn't expect her to pour all her feelings out on the first try. It was a centuries-old battle that would last for a while. Little by little, he would help her change that habit of hers.

"It's hard," Renata admitted with tears in her eyes, her voice strained even then.

The Doctor brought his hands to Renata's cheeks, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears rolling down her face. "I know. I know it's hard—"

"No, you don't know," Renata shook her head, sniffling, "Because you've never struggled to talk to people. You always say what you want, whenever you want—"

"And that usually lands me in trouble," the Doctor reminded her for the sake of bringing a little humor to her right now.

"But you always have the courage to say what you want," Renata reiterated how different they were. "You were the one who confessed first. All those years ago, you said it first. You told me how you felt. Doctor, if you hadn't, I would've never said anything. I can say what needs to be said, but never what I want to say. Look how long it took me to tell you who I was when you and Martha found me? I hate myself for that — I hate that I can't tell you and even more that I end up lashing out instead like it's your fault that I'm so incompetent."

"None of that, please. You're not incompetent," the Doctor said, pressing a kiss on Renata's forehead, "Some people are naturally more shy, quieter, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not asking you to stop being neither of those. I just want you to know that you don't have to keep things bottled up inside. The way you grew up has played a huge role in the way you express yourself, yes, but it doesn't mean that you're 'incompetent'. You built a whole Foundation on Gallifrey, expanded it because you knew how to use your words in the right way."

"That's business, Doctor," Renata whispered, "I'm good at business, but everything else..."

"So let's take it step by step," the Doctor offered her, "It's going to take a while but we have all the time in the world. We can start right now."

"I don't know..." Renata sniffed, "It's frightening telling you..."

"Gala, talk to me," the Doctor spoke to her in their native tongue, cupping her face. With that, her eyes immediately locked with his. "Tell me what's wrong. You can do it. I'm here, listening."

Renata's eyes started looking around their immediate area. She was not used to being so open about a relationship, much less talking about it. It just felt wrong — like she was doing something that was wrong.

The Doctor leaned over and pressed another kiss on her temple. His lips lingered on the spot, wanting to be close and comforting for her. "I'm here," was all he said, implying that she could take as long as she needed to and he would stay right there with her.

Renata's eyes closed with his presence so close to her. She did love him. She loved him so much and it pained her to be so challenging for him. She wished she could be as carefree as others were, but there was just something inside her that didn't allow it. But if she didn't learn how to let go, even just a bit, she ran the danger of losing the Doctor. She couldn't let that happen. "I'm...I'm afraid..." She brought her hands up to the Doctor's arms, perhaps gripping them a bit tightly but he never said a thing about it. "I'm afraid that we won't work again. I'm...afraid that just like the first time...something is going to tear us apart."

"What's going to tear us apart?" the Doctor asked her, leaning back from her enough to meet her gaze.

"My sister did it first," Renata reminded him, "And now...now there's Amy..."

The Doctor chuckled. "Amy got confused but she's harmless, trust me. Plus, she didn't even know that we were together. What happened was insignificant."

"She's not the only one," Renata felt ridiculous the way her tears seemed to stream down her face. She wasn't used to making such a spectacle.

"Well who else is there?"

"...River Song. She's made it very clear that she knows you in the future—"

"There is a clear difference between knowing someone and...knowing someone," the Doctor said, even shivering at the assumption Renata was making. "I have zero interest in doing the latter and not quite fond of the former either, if I'm being honest."

"You can say all that stuff but what can you really do to fight the future? Because, despite her behavior, River has made very good points about me. Points that I can't argue against. She says I'm a fraud, and I am. I'm a liar. I lied to you for so long. I'm not this golden, dainty butterfly you want to see me as."

"I never saw you as a 'dainty butterfly'," the Doctor was puzzled with that assumption. Where did she ever get that from? "I never expect you to be dainty. You're Renata. You're actually very scary when you want to be. And all that stuff that happened between us...Renata, you have to let it go. I don't mean that you have to forget it, I mean...it's just time to move on. It was horrible, and painful, but it happened and we can't change it. I'm sorry. You can't let River Song dangle that in your face. She has no business talking about it. She draws power from that when you let it get to you."

"But what she says is true, I've hurt you too much."

"And I think I hurt you just as much. Darling I'm not saying we're perfect doves, but I love you like you wouldn't believe. So I beg you, let me take you on a date. Let me show you how much I love you and how I will never stop."

Renata's eyes twinkled with tears but her lips were twitching into a smile. "Can I show you that I love you too?"

"I definitely wouldn't mind," he smiled with her. He had taken hold of her hand and raised it between them, intertwining them with his. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and brought their bodies together. "This is good. This is the first time you've talked to me like this. Are you okay?"

Renata nodded slowly. "Yeah, just...feels weird," shes admitted, chuckling through her tears.

"It'll get easier with time, I promise. You don't have to talk to the whole world. I can do that for the both of us...just...always know that you can talk to me okay?"

Renata nodded again, this time truly intending on following through.

"Does that mean we're okay now?"

"I don't know if we'll ever be okay like we want to be, but I really cannot see myself living without you," Renata whispered. "I can't do that anymore. But...please try to keep other people from kissing you. It literally hurts my hearts knowing your lips were on someone else's."

"She kissed me," the Doctor reminded her, but he understood what she was trying to say. He didn't want to picture anyone else trying to kiss Renata either, much less that her lips had been pressed to others that weren't his. "But it'll never happen again. Now, can I kiss you?"

Renata pursed her lips together. He was waiting for her to answer, being patient and yet their closeness hadn't factored in as a disadvantage for her. Of course she'd want him to kiss her. She lost herself every time he was close to her. Right now was no exception. She began to nod, very lightly, but it was enough to draw the Doctor in.

She watched him close the gap between them and when his lips had finally pressed against hers, she kissed him too. She pulled her hand out of his - momentarily worrying the Doctor that it still wasn't enough - and grabbed his jacket's lapels instead, gripping them tightly as if he were going to run off on her. If it was up to the Doctor, he'd gladly let her hold onto him for all of eternity. He didn't want to be without her ever again.

[inazuman]

childhood best friend!wrio who ruffles you hair every time he sees you, even as you exclaim "wrio!" in both pleasant surprise and annoyance, slapping away his hand. he chuckles, remembering all the times he's done it in the years he's known you. how even with the way life moves, with how much you've both changed over the years, he still has you (and your usual antics) to lean back on.

childhood best friend!wrio who gets more affectionate with you the more drunk he is, going from petting your head to kissing you on the forehead as he drops you off in front of your door.

childhood best friend!wrio who finally gets a weekend off to spend some time with you. you get on one of fontaine's aircrafts together, with him holding a picnic basket full of snacks and two bottles of wine. and you just both talk when you're up in the air together, clinking your wine glasses together, staring out at the beautiful scenery. after being down in the fortress for so long, being up in the sky is a nice change of pace.

childhood best friend!wrio who against the beautiful backdrop of the sun setting, can't help but watch the way the light glows around you like a halo. you're gazing out at the edge of the ship, laughter in your breath, and when you turn to look at him he feels his heart stop.

childhood best friend!wrio who moves to join you, his elbows leaning against the railing, because he cares more about looking at you. in the intimate silence between you both, with the sun setting, you ask him, "do you believe in soulmates?". you're almost scared to look at him as you ask, his cheeks flushed a slight pink from the wine. there's a softness to his eyes as he reaches for you, fingers tracing over your forearm, before pulling you in, cupping your face as his lips touch yours.

childhood best friend!wrio who checks for your reaction, thumb grazing across your cheek. you smile at him and he immediately smiles back, both of you leaning back into each other, your giggle still lingering on your lips as he pulls you closer again, and again.

and a lil extra :)

boyfriend!wrio who lifts you up and spins with you in his arms the moment he sees you after work. who can't believe he waited all these years to have these precious moments with you. who won't ever take a minute of it for granted. as he presses a hand into your hair and lays a kiss on your forehead, all he feels is love.