#so i imagine they Did jus pick that up from other species and used it in a really simplified way. but also the dont know what it means

[randomwriteronline]

Do the matoran even know what the difference between male and female is. Did the great beings ever instil the knowledge in them or is it just something that they like. Picked up from other species like the vortixx and skakdi. And makuta i guess. Do they assume female and male are an oversemplification of the elemental thing. So like you have female which is Water and then all the other elements just get funneled into male which instead of a specific element is just Not-Water.

How do they rationalize lightning matoran then. Like are they a subkind of ga-matoran? Because water is a good conductor for lightning? And what about Orde and the psionics. Great Beings go well we cant have you be male now bc youre too destructive, lets make the next ones all female, and Orde is just like what the fuck is a male. Or a female. Never heard of that in my life.

[danger-xylophones]

Can you do something with Cad Bane being jealous? 🥺

One for the bastard man, coming right up. (So sorry this took so freaking long, I fell into a rut and it just wouldn’t go away. But I got this written and I hope you like it!)

“You do know that you don’t have to do that right?” You asked with a wry smile on your face as you glanced out the corner of your eye at the hat-wearing bounty hunter. He huffed in response and tightened his grip on your waist in response, further wringing the fabric of his coat he’d unceremoniously tossed over your senatorial dress. 

“Yes, I do.” He gritted out, voice low and dangerous as he sized up the citizens of Coruscant the two of you passed by. “This place is crawling with scum, doll. And every one of them could be lookin’ for  a way to snatch up a pretty little senator like yourself.” 

You snorted unceremoniously at his statement but pressed closer to him all the same. “Doubtful, Cad. But if it makes you feel better, I won’t complain.” Cad didn’t acknowledge the sentiment out loud but you felt him pull you closer again with a grumpy huff. You giggled at the angry grimace  he wore and reached up to pinch at his chin. “Cheer up, you grump. This is supposed to be a romantic evening.”  

With a growl, he tore his face away and pinched your side in retaliation, eliciting a shriek that you barely managed to stifle. “I’m plenty romantic, izrin. C’mon,” he grunted pulling you in a random direction, “let’s get a drink.”

“Yeah, you’re a real casanova.” You muttered under your breath. Although, in truth, there was little room for disdain - you were just happy to be out with him before your big speech to the galaxy tomorrow. Without comment, Cad maneuvered the two of you through the throng of people to a seedy-looking bar. Upon entering the establishment, your nose was immediately bombarded by the stench of cheap whiskey, sweat, and grime and you had to fight the urge to turn around and head out into the marginally cleaner Coruscant air. But, Bane’s firm grip on your waist reminded you that this was one of the few times you could be with Bane without a real threat of discovery. So, you sucked it up. The bar was filled with people of all species - some clad in armor, others barely clad in anything - and further solidified in your mind that this had to be a hotspot for bounty hunters and criminals. With that realization, you found your own arm winding around Cad’s waist to secure yourself to him. You weren’t scared, per se, just a bit wary of your surroundings suddenly. 

There was a telltale rumble emanating from Cad Bane’s chest and a second later a gentle brush of his hand down the length of your arm. “I got you, izrin, don’ worry.” He mumbled just for you to hear as he continued to quietly chuckle at your discomfort. With all the confidence in the galaxy, Cad led you over to a lonesome booth in the corner of the cantina shrouded in relative darkness. He swept his free hand out to gesture for you to take a seat and you reluctantly let go of him to do so. Cad watched you crowd into the corner of the booth for a moment with crossed arms before humming suddenly, “You want anything?” 

You perked up. “A Nubian Sparkler?” 

“No, doll.” He chuckled at you with a slight tilt of his head causing your face to flush. “They only sell hard stuff here, none of those fruity drinks you senators enjoy so much.” 

“Oh,” you coughed, “nevermind then.” You shifted in the booth and pulled his coat tighter around you. Cad shook his head at you and left without another word, making a beeline for the bar. With your lips pulled into a thin line, you admired the duros leaning on the countertop of the bar from the comfort of the corner of the booth. You were an odd pair, you knew that - a senator and a bounty hunter. Sometimes you wondered how this relationship even came to be and how it continued to work. You knew it had started out as just sex but it had definitely grown into something more. There was this underlying tenderness you couldn’t pinpoint. 

Movement out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. Reluctantly you dragged your eyes away from Cad and to your right just in time to make eye contact with a man who was hesitantly approaching you. But the second your eyes met his, he suddenly started to swagger over to you. He was conventionally attractive with lightly tanned skin from frequent exposure to sun - Tattooine native, perhaps? - fluffy looking red hair, and high cheekbones to balance out his still baby-round cheeks. He had sparse armor that looked brand new and a pistol strapped to his hip that glinted in the low lighting as if it had been freshly polished. Everything about him - from the brand new armor to the arrogant swagger - screamed young and naive. And not your type. Although you knew he probably wouldn’t pick up on the nonverbal signal, you set your face and looked back to the bar where it appeared as though Cad Bane was getting ready to threaten the trandoshan standing next to him. 

“Hey.” Like you had predicted, the man hadn’t picked up on the hint. Inwardly you groaned, already annoyed, but outwardly you just sighed and turned to the hotshot. He was standing at the end of the table with chest puffed out, one hand on his hip, the other on the table as he leaned forward, and one foot crossed over the other so the toe of his boot balanced his leg. You had to fight the urge to laugh when you saw what you thought was meant to be a smirk on his face. You knew it was supposed to make him look confident - all it did was make him comical. 

Boredly, you raised one eyebrow at him and made a purposeful show of sizing him up. After another quick glance at Cad, (who was indeed pointing his blaster at the Trandoshan hunter next to him) you decided to spare the kid his wrath. “Not interested.” You stated with a click of your tongue. His face fell immediately. 

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say!” He protested, pose faltering, in a higher voice than he had initially greeted you with. 

“Don’t need to, move along.” You remained firm.

“Can I at least get your name?” The man continued, even going so far as to slide into the opposite booth. You bristled immediately. 

“No. End of story. Now move along.” You repeated, going so far as to make a shooing motion at him. Again, you set your face and returned your focus to Cad while remaining keenly aware of the persistent young man that was still seated in the opposing booth. The situation at the bar was escalating at a steady rate (The Trandoshan had his own blaster out now) and so was your agitation with the man as you could feel his gaze on you. 

“Oh, I see...” he mumbled suddenly, startling you enough for you to look at him. He was leaning on his elbows on the table now with fingers tented beneath his chin and a focused gleam in his eyes as he darted his gaze between Cad and you. “You’re interested in Cad Bane.” 

That did pull a huff of laughter from you and you subconsciously wrapped the coat still concealing your high-ranking status closer. “Yeah, that’s a word for it.” 

“Uh huh...well, what if I told you that I could set you up on a date with him?” You froze, trying to process what he had just said whilst fighting the urge to tell him to take a good long look at what you were wearing and what seemed to be missing from the duros bounty hunter. 

“I’d say you’re a dirty liar.” You settled for instead. 

He shook his head frantically, further ruffling his fluffy hair. “No, I can do it - but it’ll cost you.” His face changed, a scheming grin replacing the uncertain and dejected look he’d previously worn. You raised your eyebrow at him again, mildly curious and gestured for him to say his piece. “I want to know your name.”

“And I want to see you follow through on this,” you kept your voice stern, already imagining how well that would go. Although you’d started this interaction wanting to spare him from Cad, now that he was being stupid enough to try coercing you into accepting his invitation you found you didn’t care. A final glance at the bar showed you Cad Bane standing over the body of the Trandoshan, quickly downing a shot of some bright green alcohol. He’d be coming back in a minute.  “I’m Padme.” And he wouldn’t spare the young upstart. 

“Padme...a gorgeous name.” 

At that you did laugh but quickly covered it up with a faux sheepish thank you. “And you are?” 

“Cristen Tiel.” 

You hummed. “I gave you my name - now you go talk to him.” You nodded your head to the duros that was just turning away from the bar to face your booth. You could see the exact moment he noticed whoever this man was because his hand immediately landed on his blaster, his eyes narrowed, and he began to storm over. You glanced at Cristen just in time to see him blanch. A silky laugh slipped from you at the sight. You straightened up in the booth and obnoxiously adjusted the lapels of Cad Bane’s coat along with your hair, making a great show of preening for the approaching bounty hunter. It caught the attention of Cristen and he wilted. With a small smirk of your own cast in his direction, you left the table and stepped in the way of Cad before he got to Cristen. “Cad, your friend here was just telling me about how he could set me up on a date with you.” You purred, letting one hand fall on his chest in both a romantic gesture and a way of forcing Bane to halt.

Without looking away from Cristen who looked about ready to piss himself, Cad’s hands came up to lock onto your waist. “Did he now? Mighty kind of him.” He lowered his voice, dipping into that low drawl you knew he used to intimidate targets. “’Specially considerin’ he owes me for bailing.” 

“B-Bane! Um, I...S’good to see you made it out! Uh...I-I was ju-just keeping...uh, Padme here company!” Cristen stammered out as he hurriedly got to his feet, a loud thunk following when he smacked his knee against the table. 

Wordlessly, Cad looked down at you and you just shrugged in response. “Yeah...” he began, “my fullua is quite charming.” Cad finished in a low voice, one hand creeping around to encircle your waist completely while the other fell to his blaster again. 

Cristen swallowed nervously, eyes darting down to the blaster and back up to Cad and then to you. Calmly, you looked him dead in the eye and mouthed the word ‘run’ and that was all it took for him to start scampering. He didn’t get far though. Just as Cristen got to the door of the cantina, a single blaster bolt cut through the air and speared him right in the back. The young bounty hunter fell forward and landed flat on his face. A hush fell over the bar as patrons looked to the body with the smoking hole in the back. Then, all of a sudden, everyone sprung back to life - completely ignoring what had just happened. The next moment, Cad was pulling you out of the cantina and back out into the Coruscant night life. 

Angry mutterings slipped from the duros, a mix of basic and durese too condensed to make out any words as he roughy cut his way through startled citizens all milling about. You chose not to fight and just let the man lead you wherever he deemed appropriate with an oddly amused smile on your face despite technically just witnessing a homocide (perhaps, Cad was rubbing off of on you more than you realized). 

Cad took a hard left and eventually came to a stop in an alleyway still fuming and muttering about the cantina. He released you almost violently, as though your skin had suddenly burned him, and began pacing in front of you. You took the opportunity to lean against the only clean spot on the wall and fold your arms across your chest. Cad made two more laps before you decided to call out. “Cad.” Nothing. “Cad.” Still, no response but his angry mutterings transitioned fully into durese. “Cad.” You pitched your voice higher and added a lilt but still nothing. Rolling your eyes, you pushed off of the wall with your foot and stepped in front of him. “Cad!” You yelled at him and grabbed his forearms before he had the chance to reach for his blasters out of habit. 

“What?!” He yelled back.

“You need to calm down.” You lowered your voice back to its normal volume and released his arms to cross your own. “We’re not in the cantina any more, there’s no need for you to be this worked up.” 

“I am not worked up.” He huffed. 

“Right, and I’m not in love with a hard ass.” You fired back with a mocking nod of your head. Cad’s jaw tightened at the sass but he ultimately remained quiet. In the silence that followed, you took the opportunity to examine Cad in an effort to pinpoint what exactly was bothering him. With an idea in mind, you glided forward and reached out to cup his face with both hands. “Thank you.” You quietly murmured, watching his face for any minuscule reaction. 

“For what?” He asked, hands settling on your hips this time in a stronger than normal grip. You took a note of it. 

“For dealing with...that back there. He was starting to get on my nerves.” 

“One of the reasons I keep on tellin’ you to carry a blaster.” 

You rolled your eyes at the mention of the ongoing argument. “I would, Cad, but you have to admit it would look a bit strange for a senator to be lugging around an LL30-blaster pistol.” 

“Be attractive though.” He muttered, bowing his head just slightly to brush his lips against your forehead. Your eyes fluttered shut at the feeling as your hands fell to rest against his chest, not exactly use to Bane’s softer side peeking out, but he paused suddenly. “On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t.” 

You eyes flew open and you sent the bounty hunter a disbelieving gape as you received the confirmation to your theory that you needed. “Cad, listen to me.” Your voice grew hard as you snapped your head up to meet his eyes. “I want you to take a good long look at where we are.” Cad, albeit reluctantly, did as he was told before returning his attention to you with a questioning squint. “Look at what I’m wearing.” He gave you a quick once over. “Look at where I am.” While Bane seemed to retreat into his head for a moment, you were quick to curl your fingers into the fabric of his shirt and press your face against his chest, just below his clavicle. “We’re in an alley way on Coruscant, alone, while I’m wearing your coat - a coat, might I add, that you never let anyone touch -  while you’re holding me in your arms.” You lifted your head enough to gently press a kiss to his jaw. “What further proof do you need that I’m yours and that I’m not leaving you?” 

Cad took a moment, letting one of his hands previously resting on your waist travel upwards to the back of your head. With the new positioning, he was able to angle your head upwards and to the side. Finally, he dropped his head enough for him to murmer, “The rest of the galaxy to know,” into your ear. Without warning, Cad was walking you backwards and firmly pressing his lips to yours in a fiery kiss that stole the air from you lungs. Your back met the wall of the alley with a harsh thump that pulled a startled yelp from your throat that was swiftly muffled by Cad’s mouth. Still, he persisted, pressing you against the wall and never straying too far when the need for air arose. You separated again, chest heaving in a hurried attempt to gulp down the much needed air before Cad decided to continue. But, it seemed like the bounty hunter had found something else to concern himself with. While you were distracted, Cad moved to your neck and immediately found his mark high - just under the curve of your jaw - where nothing you owned would cover. You couldn’t even find the energy to be annoyed - too consumed by the feeling of Cad sucking a dark mark into the sensitive skin. 

Slowly, he pulled away and brought his hand up to clasp your chin between his thumb and forefinger. “There,” he hummed with a disarming smirk while he angled your head to the side to examine your neck, “I expect to see that during your speech tomorrow, fullua.” 

[walkingchemicalfire]

The Stray: Luca

Taking another stab at @whumpmasinjuly Day 12 prompt: “do it”

A/N: My brain just would not let this scene go. This story will be connected to the overarching storyline for “The Stray” but I want a different title in order to split Lyra’s timeline from Luca’s. If you have any ideas that you’d like to share, feel free to drop them into my inbox! For now though, Luca is the subtitle

CW: death, gore, blood, death threats, kind of suicidal ideation (that’s where the “do it” comes into play), dehumanizing talk, wetting in fear, use of needles, guns, knife, and a electrified snare pole

The first thing Luca did after the first bitch took a shot at him, was laugh. Oh humans, such imbeciles. Taking a shot at a werewolf was ballsy enough, but to not even use a silver bullet? Fucking moronic. So Luca just had to laugh when the completely human made (read: useless) bullet sailed over his shoulder and gouged a hole into a nearby tree. He spared it one glance before erupting into a deep belly laugh. The sound boomed through the surrounding forest and he was almost positive the human locked up from fear, if the bitter scent was anything to go by.

Luca descended onto all fours as his wolf broke free seamlessly. He had the scent on lock and tore through the dense forest in a adrenaline fueled rage. On the outreaches of his singular focus, he noticed that all the other creatures in the wood were madly dashing out of his path. Much wiser than the two-legged wretches in his sights. These weak, stupid, shitty cowards could never stand a chance against his might. What could they possibly have hoped for when they provoked him? A swift death surely, one that he would gladly grant them. Although it would be much bloodier than they were imagining.

Luca pounded into the small clearing where the scent trail ended. There were five of the motherfuckers. The bitch that took the shot hadn’t even risen from her prone position in the dirt, her rifle still pointed in the direction of where he had been walking. Luca watched with satisfaction as this one turned her head and immediately the blood drained from her face. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound never passed her lips. Instead, the last thing she saw was the dark depths of Luca’s gullet.

Luca crushed the skull in his jaws, removing it from the body with a quick yank and a twist. He tossed it over the short cliff ledge the now headless body was slumped atop. The explosion of blood in his mouth and the scent of it filling his nostrils heightened his senses to new levels. The wolf reveled in the hot liquid dripping from his maw. It invigorated him. Sent sparks of heat zipping through his veins. Igniting the hottest fires along his nerves.

The next moments passed in a blur of decimation. A flurry of pulverized flesh, shattered bone, and more blood than Luca could swallow. His entire front, from jaw to claws, was sticky with it. His fur was matted with it as well, and yet he could not find it in himself to care. All that he wanted was to rid his territory of these dipshit creatures.

Speaking of, the final bastard was making a desperate scramble to retreat. He was on his butt, crawling backwards while facing the massive wolf currently stalking toward him. Luca took in the human’s unadulterated terror with gleaming eyes. This scent was unparalleled in the overwhelming sense of panic and...the of foul smell ammonia. The wolf’s nostrils twitched at the burning stench of human piss. The wolf felt amusement at the realization. The human should be terrified of him. Perhaps it would teach him to stay away from him and his Pack.

Luca was never one to play with his prey, but this was much too inviting. The piss soaked human had backed himself into a tree. Panic took an even tighter hold over him as he realized he was trapped and facing his imminent doom. Luca was enraptured by his chest moving up and down in desperate heaves for his final breaths. He could just hear the blood rushing through his veins, the heart pounding in an almost continuous gallop. Luca licked his chops, savoring the anticipation of having that heart in his stomach.

He came to a halt before this poor excuse for a hunter of his kind, prepared to make his end quick with a slash to the jugular. He had just raised his paw to make the swipe when he felt the knife pierce his side. At first it felt like a normal knife, like the one he had practiced with back home and, more than once, had slashed himself with accidentally. But when the searing burn of silver made itself known, Luca knew he was in a bind.

“AAWWWOOOOAAHHHHH!!!” Luca’s howl morphed into a cry of anguish as he Changed to protect his wolf from the majority of the unbearable torment. He could already feel the silver digging its way through his connection. He wanted to mourn the loss, but he still had his anger to sate.

“You motherfuckin’ shitstain! This how ya fight? Stabbing us with silver ‘stead of facin’ your end with dignity?” Luca hurled the words at the human still backed against the tree before him. This one seemed to get some sort of sense back and he made a mad dash to his feet, only to face plant two seconds later. Luca barked a laugh at the idiot’s desperation. The sound broke off into a gasp as the knife shifted inside him. The human did a strange mix of stumbling and running, like his brain and legs did not agreeing on what speed was appropriate for the situation, and ducked into the surrounding woods.

Luca snorted at the retreat and a slight breeze provided him just enough assistance to catch the new odors of humans. There are way too many for him to overpower in his injured state so he resorted to a new goal: ride it out and slaughter them when the silver had run its course.

The Change had left him on his knees and it’s as good as a position as he can hope for with the knife still lodged under his ribs. He called out to the assholes hiding behind the trees all around him. “Come on out, fucking dickless shitheads! There’s a goddamn silver knife in my side so I ain’t Changin’ for a while. You’re safe, I promise.” And that assurance is as empty as all the bodies splayed out over the clearing.

It certainly got him what he wanted though. The humans move as a group, all with firearms at the ready, surrounding him on all fronts. Luca smiles gleefully when one to his left gets too close. He gnashed his teeth in their direction, beyond pleased when they stumble over their own feet and nearly fall. They make it too easy for him to thrive off their terror.

“Tell y’all what, if you lower your weapons and clear outta my territory, then I won’t gut you like your brothers in the dirt around you.” He remembered the first kill being a female and tacks on, “Hmm, and sister. Which I have to say, pretty shitty of your kind to have women fight your battles.”

“That’s quite enough, dog.” One of the humans breaks off from the circled group and stands in front him. This one has their hands tucked behind their back and is more or less in a relaxed posture. There are no defining outward traits for Luca to determine if this one is male or female. It’s then that he notices his senses are becoming too dull to even pick up a scent on the human.

He mentally shook himself and returned his focus to what vulgar term was just used. “What the hell did you jus’ call me?” He growls out.

“Dog. Spelled D-O-G. Of the Canidae family in the Animalia kingdom. The first animals to be domesticated by humans. Known as a lower species to, as you referenced a moment ago, our kind. Often found in the wild as unhinged, blood thirsty, carnivores that require correction to subdue.” The human paused to gesture between Luca and the lifeless bodies nearby. “You certainly fit the bill a few minutes ago.”

Luca snarled in response. He knew that was not the wisest response in proving that he is not an animal, but the silver was putting him down for the count at a rapid pace and all his remaining energy was going towards keeping himself upright. He has to face off this enemy before he can get away, he just doesn’t know if he’ll have the chance to get far enough.

The Leader scoffed softly and nods to one of the others in the circle to Luca’s right. Before he can even think to look over to see what’s coming, something goes over his head and encircles his neck. It’s a thick band of wire and Luca jerked in outrage and shock, the accompanying adrenaline rush providing enough clarity for him to ignore the sharp twinge as the knife was jostled. He moves in a twisting motion but the wired band is already too tight around his throat. There is no burn like the knife so he raked his nails over it, trying to find a gap he can use to his advantage. When none are found, he yanked his head to the side so the human who was tightening this wire would be thrown off balance. It worked, but he was also caught off guard as the human dropped a heavy pole that is connected to the contraption around his neck. The wire remained secure and he grunted as it pinched his skin.

Luca heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked above him. He looked up at the Leader to find they had a pistol leveled at his head.

Luca snorted and leveled his own glare at the human. “I sure hope ya got a silver one in the chamber there, motherfucker. Else I’m gonna tear your bleedin’ heart outa your goddamn chest and make you eat it.”

The Leader’s eye twitched just slightly, but it was enough incentive for Luca to shift forward and press his forehead to the barrel of the gun.

He never breaks eye contact with Leader. “Do it.”

The Leader pushed back and brings their finger over the trigger. Luca smiles at their hesitancy, making sure to show all his teeth that will make quick work out Leader’s throat, even without his wolf’s fangs.

The shot never comes. Instead, fire burns him from the inside out, branching out from his neck until all his muscles are spasming uncontrollably. He realizes in a daze that this is almost worse than the silver. The current continued surging through him until he could barely breathe.

Somehow he ended up face first in the dirt. He smelled fresh blood and it’s so close he can taste the tang of it. All his senses are under a trance. It felt like he’d been put in a vacuum and everything is being overrun by the ringing in his ears. He feels a prick of something near his neck and, belatedly realizing it was a needle, tried to extricate himself from the tight seal of the vacuum in his head. It does not release him and he groans as his vision darkens further and a sweep of cold rushes through his veins.

“They’re all dead when I break out of this.” Luca vows as he fades out.

Tag Team: @whump-tr0pes @sableflynn @whumpywhumper @0idril0 @cursedscribbles @mymoon199 @endless-whump

**Since this is a new OC, please let me know if you only want to be tagged on Lyra’s story**

[paigenotblank]

Accidentally Ours (2/7)

Pairing: Tenth Doctor x Rose Tyler

Rating: Teen

Written for a prompt for Ten x Rose kid fic/family fic where they adopt kids left orphans that they meet on their travels / and also a prompt for Ten x Rose with a mix of adopted and biological kids (@tinyconfusion​). Tagging @doctorroseprompts​ and @timepetalscollective​ which I think both had those prompts.

Trope: Accidental Baby Acquisition

Warnings: Kid Fic/ Baby Fic/ Pregnancy Fic.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

AO3 / TS

The three stepped out and the Doctor snapped his mouth shut as they came face to face with Jackie Tyler in the middle of her living room.

He mumbled under his breath, “I've really gotta start double checking before we leave the TARDIS.”

Jackie’s eyes strayed down to the infant in her daughter’s arms and then narrowed in on the Doctor with his hand still low on Rose’s back. “An’ jus’ how long have you two been gone this time?”

The Doctor swallowed and began shaking his head. “We haven’t-”

Jackie growled and took a step toward the Doctor. “I have a grandbaby and not one of you saw fit to even ring me?”

“No! Mum, she’s not-” “You’ve got the wr-” Jackie cut him off with a slap to the cheek.

He grabbed his jaw. “Ow.”

“Mum! The baby’s not ours. Really, we’re just babysittin’.”

“Pull the other one.” Jackie looked disbelievingly at the pair of them. “She looks jus’ like you did when you were a baby.”

“Mum, you say that about every single baby you come across. ‘Looks jus’ like my Rose did when she was that age.’ ‘Sides, all babies look alike or they wouldn’t have to put a name band on them in hospital so they don’t get mixed up…" Jackie raised an eyebrow at them. "She’s not even human! She’s from a planet called Skale.”

Jackie scoffed. “You expect me to believe Mr. I Hate Domestics over there is adding nanny to the CV?”

“Jackie, we couldn’t not take her. She’s being hunted by creatures that are... They’re called Gworatimians. They hunt in swarms and target infants, because they’re the most vulnerable in a population.”

Jackie covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.

“They feed off of the brainwave frequencies of time sensitive species and Skales, because of their proximity to Gallifrey, developed a slight time sense. Nothing like the Time Lords had, but because Skales weren’t also telepathic they couldn’t protect their children with mental barriers. Adult Skales develop rudimentary ones given time, but their infants have nothing.” He turned to Rose. “Another advantage that Time Lords had was that because looms created children that were neurologically fully developed, they were able to maintain their own mental barriers right from their looming.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re gonna go off on how superior Time Lords are now?”

He turned back to Jackie. “A Gworatimian swarm could sense a being with the right frequency brainwave from millions of miles away. And they’d drain their victims of thought and energy in minutes, leaving them shells of themselves.”

Rose cradled the baby closer to her chest. “Doctor, enough!”

“Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought since Skale was destroyed during the war...but it seems that the Skales didn’t all die out. They must have found refuge somewhere that my future self ran into them.”

“Whotcha goin’ on about? Future self?”

“A future me brought her back in time to this me and Rose and asked us to watch her while he dealt with the swarm.”

Jackie rubbed her temples. “You did what now?”

The newborn chose that moment to start crying again. “Mum, please, we can finish this later, but right now we need help. We don’t know what she wants and we don’t know what she needs and we don’t have anything for her and-”

“Blimey. Fine, now I believe you. ‘Cos only that daft alien would think to drop off a baby for babysittin’ with absolutely nothin’ to take care of her.”

“Oi! It must’ve been a very delicate and sudden situa-”

“Please,” Jackie groaned. “It’s a good thing you came here, sweetheart. I’ll be back in a tick. Don’t go swanin’ off before I get back.” She opened the front door and disappeared into the hallway.

“Can you believe your mother?” He rubbed his reddened cheek.

Rose raised the crying baby to her shoulder and swayed gently with her around the small living room, while trying to hide a smile. “Well, it’s true. You didn’t bring us anything but a baby wrapped in three blankets and the nappy she was wearing.”

His eyes grew round and he placed his hands over his hearts. “Et tu, Tyler. Obviously I was in a bit of a rush.”

Rose’s tongue peeked out the side of her smile. “Least Mum doesn’t think she’s ours anymore. Can you imagine?”

“Ah…” The Doctor’s gaze dropped to the red mottled face of the tiny baby and his hearts twinged. To have that kind of life… “Er, right. Yeah, that’s a relief. Wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea about us. Well, more than she already had.” STOP TALKING, idiot! He gave nervous laugh and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Rose mentally kicked herself. Way to go, Rose. Bringin’ that up. Could you be any more stupid?

He noticed her drop her eyes to the carpet and a faint blush on her cheeks. Stupid, stupid, Doctor.

The door opened and Jackie entered with a bottle of formula, several clean nappies, and a small package of wipes.

Rose stared at her mother. “You’ve been gone two minutes. Where’d you-”

“Ellie down in 44 watches her grandson three days a week.” Jackie handed the Doctor the formula. “Make yourself useful an’ heat this up will ya?”

The Doctor took the sonic from his pocket and pressed it against the bottle.

Jackie took the fussing baby from Rose and cooed at her sweetly while she laid her on the rug. “Now there, sweetheart. Bet you want a nice clean nappy and then somethin’ to eat, yeah?” Jackie glanced up at the Doctor and Rose. “You two better pay attention if you plan on doing this the next time. “

Rose kneeled next to her mum and watched her carefully.

Jackie shook her head and addressed the baby. “You jus’ leave it to me, sweetheart.” Quick as flash, Jackie had the baby cleaned and fitted with a new nappie. The Doctor looked on gobsmacked. “When was the last time she ate?”

Rose and the Doctor looked at each other. “Erm…”

“Not since we’ve had her.”

“And that's been 1 hour 37 mins, so presumably before that.”

Jackie clucked and bundled the baby up in her arms. “Do you hear them? Useless.” Jackie settled herself on the loveseat and took the bottle from the Doctor, testing the temperature on her wrist before feeding the little girl. “Thankfully you have Nana Jackie to take care of you.”

Rose hissed, “Mum!”

“What?”

“You’re not...we don’t get to keep her.”

“What’s that got to do with anything? She’s just a helpless little thing and right now we’re who she’s got. So who’s to say I can’t be her Nana Jackie while you’ve got her?”

Rose stood chewing her lip and darting glances at the Doctor, with his hands in his pockets and seemingly lost to his own thoughts. He looked up and was surprised to see Rose watching him. He grinned cheerfully. Rose’s stomach dropped at his usual deflection.

“Your mother’s right.”

Rose jaw dropped. “Say that again?”

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, it’s not like the baby will remember if Jackie calls herself ‘Jackie’ or ‘Nana.’ There’s no harm in it.”

Jackie put the corner of a throw over her shoulder and lifted the baby upright to burp her. She smirked at her daughter and the Doctor and said, “Or you two ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad.’” Rose spun to face her mother and missed the moment of absolute longing on the Doctor’s face. Jackie, however, didn’t miss a thing. Before Rose could get a word out, Jackie was instructing them, “She’ll be good for a few hours now, but you really need to go run down to the shops and pick up some essentials. I’ll watch her ‘til you get back.”

“Mum…”

“She’ll need formula, bottles and teats, baby-grows, nappies, wipes, powder and ointment, a car seat-”

“A car seat?”

“I assume she’s gonna be traveling with you in that box of his. It’ll be safest if she’s in a car seat. Also, some toys, burp cloths, bibs, a changing mat, a cot-”

“Mum!”

“She’s gotta sleep somewhere, Rose.”

“Thanks, Jackie. I’ve got a cot on the TARDIS already. Come on, Rose, let’s go.” He dragged her from the flat before she could protest. Jackie’s laugh followed them out into the hallway.

---

Two weeks later, Jackie was sitting on her couch watching EastEnders when the faint outline of a blue box began materializing in her living room.

She folded her arms across her chest as the Doctor made his way through the door.

“What did I say about parkin’ your box in my-” Jackie raised and eyebrow when Rose walked out pushing a pram. “Oh! Still got 'er then?”

Rose sighed. “Yeah.”

The Doctor used Jackie’s distraction to pop into the kitchen.

“He better not eat all the jammie dodgers, I just did the shopping yesterday!”

“Hey, Doctor, Mum said she bought you jammie dodgers!”

“Rose!”

From the other room, they could hear the Doctor yell, “Brilliant!”

Rose yelled, “Make us a cuppa too, while you’re in there!”

Rose took the baby out of the pram and sat down next to her mum. Jackie smiled at the intensity of the baby’s concentration when she looked up at Rose. ”You used to look at me like that. Like I was your whole world.”

Rose reached over and squeezed her mum’s hand. “The Doctor says she’s brilliant and soakin’ everything up. He can even talk with her now.”

“He’d talk to a rabbit in the forest that one.”

“No. I mean he speaks baby, so he knows what she’s wantin’ when she wants it. Hardly ever cries anymore.”

“Well, that’s a handy skill for a parent.” Rose frowned at Jackie. “And don't you tell him I said that.”

Rose bit back a grin. “Oh no, can't have the Doctor knowing you find him at all impressive.”

“Course not. He’s got a big enough head as it is.” Jackie ran her thumb over the baby soft cheek. “So what’ve you been callin’ her?”

“Mostly ‘baby’ or ‘sweetheart.’”

“I meant for a proper name.”

“I’m not gonna rename her.”

“Well, if she’s got one, what is it?”

“How should I know. The Doctor...the future Doctor, the one that dropped her off, never said. But her parents must’ve named her, even if we don’t know what it is.”

“An’ when’s he gonna come back for her?”

Rose bit her lip. “The Doctor thinks any day now.”

“What if himself is wrong? Remember 12 hours - 12 months, Rose? What if the future one thinks it’s been 2 weeks an’ when he finally gets back it’s been 2 years? You can’t get by with calling her ‘sweetheart’ and ‘baby’ for two bleedin’ years.”

“It’s not going to be two years.”

“It’s already been two weeks! When are you going to consider that maybe she needs a proper name?”

Rose sighed and stared down at the baby. She began to fuss and Jackie scooped her up from her daughter.

“There, there, darling. I know you’re just wantin’ to belt’ out a lovely little melody, but- Oh, Rose, what do you think of the name Melody?”

“Mum, stop it.”

“Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist.”

“Please, that’s...just don’t.”

The Doctor strode into the room with two piping hot mugs of tea and a warmed bottle. “She getting hungry, Jackie?” He looked over Jackie’s shoulder and grinned. “Ah, is it time for someone’s mid-morning snack?” The Doctor put the mugs on the coffee table with the bottle and took the baby from Jackie. “You ladies enjoy your tea, and I’ll take this little one back to the kitchen for her feeding.” He grabbed the bottle and had the teat between her lips before he even made it through the door.

“He’s better at that than I imagined.” Jackie offered Rose a cuppa as she sat beside her on the couch and noticed her frown. “What’s the matter, love?”

“I have to remember that she's not mine and I don't get to keep her. I can’t give her a name and then expect to be able to let her go.” Her eyes filled with tears and Jackie put the tea on the table before drawing Rose into her arms. She buried her head in her mum's neck and began to cry. “I...I just love her already. So much. And I don't know how ’m I gonna give her up.”

Jackie rubbed Rose’s back. “We do what's best for our children whether they’re biological or not. That’s what bein’ a parent is.”

“It's gonna hurt.” Rose took a shaky breath.

“Being a mum hurts, sweetheart.” Jackie kissed Rose on the side of the head and sat back. “You bring home this perfect little miracle from the hospital or wherever and you’re her whole world. And then one day you wake up and she just doesn’t need you as much as she did the day before. She wants to feed herself even though she can barely get the spoon in her mouth. She wants to pick out her own clothes even though they don’t match. She pulls away one little step at a time, fights for her independence. Needs you a bit less each day. Stops telling you everything thing that happened in her day. Starts spending more time with friends and then boyfriends and then a mad alien in a blue box.”

“Mum…”

“And then one day you realize your little baby is grown and has her own life and you’re on the outside looking in. You might get a call or a visit once in a while, but it’s not the same and you don’t know where the time went.” Jackie wiped tears from her eyes. “Each baby step away is like a little dagger to the heart, but you take hope in the fact that she knows you love her more ‘an anything and will do everything you can for her. ‘Cos she’ll always be your baby at heart.”

“Oh, Mum.” Rose grabbed her mum’s hand. “You know I love you too, yeah?”

“I know, Rose. An’ I love the woman you’ve become. I do. I’m not sayin’ that.” The two women embraced for a few moments, before Jackie leaned back and looked solemnly at her daughter. “But I want to say one more thing, and then I’ll leave off.”

Rose worried her lip, but nodded.

“After your father died, I...I went a little outta my head. I was so afraid of living without him and imagining all these ways I could lose you too. Was convinced I would.”

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but Jackie cut her off.

“No, let me say it. I’m not proud of it, an’ thankfully it didn’t last long. You were so young, and when I tried to distance myself, you got clingy. The more clingy you got, the harder I tried to pull away.”

“What changed?”

“Your nan. She set me straight. Made me see what I was doin’ it wasn’t fair to you. Puttin’ walls around my heart wasn’t gonna stop me from getting hurt. Was doin’ the opposite. Babies need unconditional love. But they give it back. Lovin’ you healed me after your father’s death.”

Rose sniffled and tried to hold back her tears.

“I know it’s not fair, sweetheart. You didn’t ask to be in this position, but neither did she. And that Doctor in the future, maybe he knew something. Maybe you’re what's best for her right now. Let me ask you something. You said you already love her…”

“Yeah.”

“Well, is it really going to hurt less if you pretend not to? Losing her is going to hurt, do you want to have regrets that you held back? Loving someone with your whole heart is never a waste. Even if it breaks your heart.”

Rose sat quietly pondering what her mother said, when the Doctor entered in a flurry of activity. “Ready to go? Oh, er, am I interrupting?”

Jackie patted Rose’s hand. “No, just finishing our catch up. I’ll let you two get on.”

Jackie stood and pulled the Doctor into a hug, kissed the baby, and turned to Rose. “Don’t be strangers.”

Rose hugged her mum. “Of course not. We’ll be back for another visit soon. Maybe you could make your shepherd’s pie and we could have a proper sit down.”

Jackie’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Rose glanced at the Doctor whose eyes were wide in surprise. “Right, Doctor?”

He snapped his jaw close. “Er, yeah, don’t see why not. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

Rose gave her mum one last squeeze before grabbing the pram and following the Doctor into the TARDIS.

After setting the TARDIS into the time vortex, he turned to Rose. “What was all that about dinner with your mum?”

“She’s lonely and I...I don't know...” Rose put her hands on her hips with a scowl. “I should make time to have dinner with her every once in a while.”

The Doctor stepped back, eyes wide.. “No, I, er, quite right.”

Rose swallowed thickly. “I...there’s somethin’ I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, eh, okay.”

“I'm gonna start calling the baby ‘Melody.’”

The Doctor looked down at the sleepy bundle in his arms and then back to Rose. “You...what?”

“Mum came up with it and I think it's a beautiful name.”

“But-”

“We can't go on calling her ‘baby’ indefinitely. She needs a name.”

“But she could leave any day now.”

Rose nodded. “She could, and then she can go back to her parents and they can call her by whatever name they gave her, but until she does, I’m callin’ her ‘Melody.’”

“Oh...” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.

“Don't you like it?”

“No. Yes. It's a lovely name, but what's this all about?”

“I know I won’t get to keep her, but she needs a mum. An’ that's what I’m gonna be to her while she’s here. She needs someone to love her. And I do. I can't help how I feel. And I want her to know how much, even if it hurts at the end.”

The Doctor looked away from Rose.

Rose sighed. “I’m sorry, Doctor.”

He looked at her in surprise. “What for?”

“I...I know this is difficult for you and I never really considered things from your point of view...regarding us. You told me about the curse of the Time Lords an’ all, but I just kept seein’ it from my side. Like it was some sort of test. Wasn’t I worth it to you and all that.”

“Rose, of course you’re-”

“No. I mean, I get it now. I really do. I didn’t take your feelings...your hearts into consideration, which...which was selfish of me.”

“Rose-”

“And I didn’t even realize it until I did the same thing with Melody. Convinced myself it would be easier, if I held back a little piece of my heart. And I just want you to know that I understand and I’m not gonna press you anymore. I'm gonna respect your decision.”

“What do you mean? You’ve not-”

“Please. I know I haven’t always made it easy for you. An’ it might’ve been a bit intentional on my part. But I’ll ease back on the flirting like the huggin’ an’ cuddling an’ stuff.”

The Doctor shook his head. “No, I don't-”

“Let me finish. I'm not saying I don't still want-” She took a deep breath and continued, “Just the ball’s in your court now.”

“Rose, I…”

Rose tilted her head and waited.

“You know how important you are to me, right?”

Rose met the Doctor’s searching gaze and could see the intensity in his eyes. She knew he cared for her, though she didn’t quite know how deeply that care went. She nodded anyway.

“It's not that I don't want...in fact I want more than anything…I just, I don't know how I'll…I can’t lose you, but...” The Doctor shifted Melody in his arms and ran a hand through his hair.

Rose stepped closer to the Doctor and put her hand on his arm. “I’m never not gonna be your best mate. So if that’s all you can be then...then that’s what we’ll be, but I...” Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking once more at the man who was her everything. “I love you.” She watched as a million emotions ran over the Doctor’s features - surprise, elation, longing, hope, fear. “Just thought you should know. That’s what’s in my heart. When you figure out what it is you want - whether it is exactly what we have right now or...more, you know where to find me. I promise, I'm not goin’ anywhere.”

He released the breath he was holding. “You’ll be the first to know.”

Rose gave him a small smile and went to grab Melody, but the Doctor pulled back. “I'll watch her for a bit. If you don't mind...Mum?”

Her smile widened and she blushed. “Yeah, okay. I'm gonna make myself a cuppa and then maybe watch a movie.”

The Doctor nodded. “I’ll meet you in the media room in a few.”

He watched Rose leave the room with a pang to his hearts. What’d I do to deserve her? He scoffed at himself. Nothing. ‘Cos I don’t deserve her.

He shook his head and smiled at the baby. “Hello there, Melody.” The baby cooed up at him. “Oh, you like your new name do you? It meets with your approval? Rose said...fine, your mum said your nan picked it out...We don’t ever tell Jackie that, but yes, your nan can be rather wonderful. Raised your mum all on her own. Did you know that? You can call me ‘Doctor’ you know...but that’s my name...awww come on ‘Not-Mum’ is-” Melody started to whimper. “Okay, ‘Not-Mum’ it is. Please stop, sweetheart. There, there...You wanna go find your mummy?”

The Doctor and Melody left the console room and headed for the media room. “I know that Mum is soft and smells good and...I never said she wasn’t!...She does give the best hugs...I can’t imagine...that’s the issue...Oi! Well, that’s just rude.” The Doctor sighed. “I know I’m being an idiot. But-” He looked down at Melody in surprise. “You’re very wise for 2 weeks old. Has anyone ever told you that?” He laughed at her response.

The Doctor plopped down on the sofa next to Rose and passed the baby off to her. He kissed the side of her head and swung his arm around her shoulder. Rose stared at him in shock and his grin widened.

“Did you just kiss me?”

“Yup.”

“But I thought we decided-”

“You decided that you were going to withhold affection until I got my act together, not me.”

“Doctor..."

He released a deep breath. “This is me getting my act together.”

Rose raised her eyebrow. “I’ve been gone all of five minutes. You can't possibly have just change your mind in-”

“Rose...I want this. I want to help you raise Melody for as long as we have her. I want your hand in mine while we explore the universe. I want to be with you.”

“And you decided just like that.” Rose clicked her fingers.

“I've always wanted that. That hasn't changed.”

“And you're suddenly okay with...with me withe-”

“Don't. Please. I’ll never be okay with…that.” The Doctor snuggled against Rose. “But Melody reminded me that you smell good and give excellent hugs.”

Rose snorted and the Doctor could hear the humor in her voice when she said, “Melody, huh?”

“Mmhmm. She’s brilliant, our daughter.” Rose gasped. “She reminded me that I never want to be without them, even for a day.”

Rose turned her head away from the Doctor. “I didn’t mean to pressure you-”

He cupped her chin and turned her back to face him. “You didn’t. Little madam even called me an idiot, which I think she must’ve picked up from your mum.”

Rose tongue poked out the side of her smile. “That so?”

“Mmhmm. Said I’ve been an idiot for squandering what time we do have.”

She worried her lip, but couldn’t drop her gaze away from the Doctor’s intense stare.

“Rose, this life we live, it’s dangerous. I could lose you well before your time, an’ the thing is...” He took a deep breath. “You could lose me, too. Would have done, if it had been up to me back on Satellite Five. It’s both of us that are taking a chance. Not just me. You’re so much braver than I am.”

“I'm not.”

“You are. And the thing is nobody knows what the future brings, so if it’s all the same to you, I’d like my future to have as many Rose Tyler hugs as can fit in it.”

“Yeah?”

He lifted his free hand to her cheek and she nuzzled against it. “Yes. No regrets, Rose.”

“Erm…” Rose bit her lip. “So is it just hugs we’re discussin’?”

The tips of the Doctor’s ears turned red and he dropped his hand to tickle Melody. “M-” He cleared his throat. “I’d be amenable to more. If maybe you wanted...”

Rose shifted her body to better face him. “I’m not playing this game anymore, Doctor. You know what I want. What is that you want?”

His breath left him in a rush. “Everything. I want everything.”

Rose leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. His eyes fluttered closed and he made a soft humming sound in the back of his throat.

When she pulled back, she asked, “That okay?”

He nodded shakily. Rose snuggled back into his side and the TARDIS started playing The Muppet Movie for them.

[bath-ironstout]

Passing the Torch

Deep within the mountain known to all as Khaz, buried deeper still within in the bustling Dwarven capital city of Ironforge, many of the city’s denizens slept.  In the wee hours of the night, the night-shift laborers had all but taken over the streets which were only hours earlier crowded and alive.

The Mystic Ward, with its magnificent temple and ever-shimmering azure Pool of Reflection that made up the symmetrical center of the open plaza, was one of the few quarters of the city that enforced any type of curfew.  Because of this, it was deathly quiet.  Save for a few lost, drunken tourist wandering the wrong reaches of the upper-city, the caustic reflections of the pool danced to the distant echoes of hammersong from the Great Forge on the high stone ceiling.

Inside one of the quaint Dwarven apartments carved of the mountain’s very stone, a young Dwarven woman stared pensively at several objects laid out across an otherwise empty bed.  The bed itself was cozy enough.  It too was made from stone, covered in a thick, wool comforter tinged with a thin layer of dust from lack of use.  The sheets were made hastily, and it’s surface was rather wrinkled.  Atop the sea of greyish green fabric, a black leather-bound tome cracked with age, a tall stone-ware beer stein with an ornate pewter lid covered top to bottom in knicks and scratches, and a heap of well-worn amber-brown plate and chainmail armor lay in separate piles

Bathildis Ironstout had mourned the death of her father.  She had been mourning for hours.  Hours turned to days, and when she thought she had nothing left to give, she grieved some more.  Before she knew it, a week had passed, and sadness and denial made way for anger and bargaining.  She sat perfectly still, her slate-gray eyes traveling from object to object as she veiled her nose and mouth with cupped hands.  Alberich had left these three items behind for her, as was evident in a letter found within the book.  

The grizzled Dwarven wanderer had anticipated the risk of his own death due to the nature of the wild adventure he had embarked upon.  Before every step in his quest, he double-checked to make sure that his affairs were in order should something happen.  The thought of his meticulous foresight despite such reckless abandon sickened Bathilids.  She seethed silently.  He could have thought first of his loved ones and avoided such a dangerous undertaking.  A stone formed in her throat as she considered it again.  He knew something was coming.  He could have said something... anything!  But he didn’t.  He knew anyone capable of rational thought would object.

Everyone who knew Alberich, knew of his insatiable wanderlust.  On top of this, Bathildis often caught glimpses of just how clever her father was.  A Dwarf of few words, he was much wiser than he ever let on.  There was always a glint in his eye whenever he was scheming something, and usually she could catch it to protest, but this time he just up and left like he always did.  Only this time, he didn’t make it back alive.

Bath scowled and sat upright, looking toward the closed iron door not three paces to her left.  She imagined it swinging haphazardly open as it always did when he returned home.  She imagined her grizzled father bursting in with that armor on his sturdy frame, and that massive knapsack he always carried slung over his shoulder - the stein, the lantern, the pickaxe, and rope dangling down, the bedroll and layer of road dust along with all of the bag’s unseen clanking contents - always a Khaz damned mystery.  The image quickly faded from her mind as sobering reality once again took hold.

With a heavy sigh Bathildis turned to face the bed again.  This time her eyes locked on the book.  The Clan Ironstout Brewing Journal was as close as her clan could come to having any sort of family heirloom.  The cover was engraved and painted with now faded gold-leaf runes.  It read “Clan Ironstout: Brewing Recipes and Knowledge by Delkas Ironstout and Baerra Firestein.”  Beneath that, in much clearer, newer script, it read, “Additions by Alberich Ironstout” and yet still below that, “and Bathildis Ironstout.”  Inside it’s dusty pages sat scribblings, formal writings, and sketches in all manner of hand.  Clearly a cooperative undertaking, it had contained a plethora of secrets.  It was considered holy to Clan Ironstout, and though she had contributed quite a bit to its contents, she was never it’s keeper.  That was until now.

Alberich had passed the torch - so to speak. He had left her clear instructions as to what to do with it.  Protect it with her life.  Don’t go anywhere without it.  Those were obvious.  What wasn’t so obvious were the instructions paired with the armor and stein that sat to either side of it.  Bath picked up the tome and thumbed through it, past the section with recipes and the journal entries from her Grandparents.  She read of Alberich’s ale-soaked adventures time and time again, but with the last entry blank - save for the solitary title line reading, “A Brew Worthy of Brewhalla”, she surmised she was missing an integral piece of the puzzle.

After a few moments of skimming, Bathildis resigned to exhaustion.  It crashed over her like a sudden wave.  She closed the book resolutely and set it gently back on the bed.  She headed toward the door and opened it pausing only for a stretch and a yawn.  There would be time for this tomorrow.

The common area that connected the apartment’s three identical bedrooms was as she had left it.  The dim hearth practically moaned for fuel.  Books lay strewn out everywhere, and trash was on every surface.  A thick coating of dust lined the edges of the domicile.  In her mourning, she had really let the place get out of hand, but at the moment she was so torn up that she could hardly care.

Her dog, a pudgy little pug, lay asleep on a bag of grain in the corner, snoring away.  The other family pet - a magical elemental made of living stout beer - was nowhere to be found.  This wasn’t uncommon; however, as it would often find some stein to sleep in, giving a fright to anyone mistaking the stein to be full of drinkable brew.

She crossed the room, careful not to wake her pup.  When she reached the door to her own room and opened it, she was in for a shock!  Bubble - the stout alemental was floating there looking up at her!  He quickly dove in, propelled by magical fizzing bubbles, embracing the brewer in a tight hug around knees.  Ok, that’s odd.  He’s never done THAT before.  Must be missing da' as much as th' rest of us…

Unsure what to do, she gently pat the semi rigid crest that made up Bubble’s head.

“Oi, Bathie!  I’ve missed ye lass!”

Bath’s eyes went wide and her jaw slackened in horror.  She stopped petting Bubble immediately, throwing her hands in the air.  Was exhaustion finally catching up to her?  She was delirious?  She could have sworn that she had heard her father’s voice.

“Oof, I ain’t usualleh used t’ this perspective!  Oi, tha’s offputtin’!  Ach... Um Bathie, take a peek a few degrees doon South, would ye?

Curious albeit terrified, she risked a downward glance.  Bubble was staring back at her, that blank faceless expression glued to her own.  Glowing amber eyes seemed to intensify for a moment, but then returned to their normal state - as normal as a living beer monster could get at any rate.

The glow intensified as he spoke again.  “There we go!  Now I can see yer loveleh, freckled face again!”  The alemental did not have a mouth, so Bathildis assumed it was speaking telepathically.  She let go of Bubble and nearly fell down as she scrambled backwards through the door frame!

A million emotions and thoughts passed through her mind as she attempted to make sense of what was happening.  She thought to flee, talk back, strike out, start writing a book on communication with the Alemental species… She clearly wasn’t thinking straight.  The Dwarven woman was all but paralyzed in the middle of the common-room despite having four directions she could run.

Bubble slowly propelled himself forward.  “Oi, sorry lass!  I just realized…”  A familiar grunt could be heard, though Bubble just hovered.  “It’s me!  It’s yer da’! … Alberich!”

Bath lost control of her body.  She sank to her knees and tears began to well up in her eyes.  I’ve lost my damned mind!  My parents are dead, and now I’m talking to beer!  They’ll have me in the feckin’ ward in a matter of minutes when they find out!  She began sobbing and laughing hysterically.

Bubble put out a hand and touched her shoulder.  “Bathie…”

Bath recoiled at the touch and clambered backwards on the flats of her palms, putting a few more feet between her and the alemental.

“I know how this looks, lass, but it’s true!  It’s yer da’!”  Bubble held both hands out to his sides, as if to say ‘ta da!’.

Bathildis shook her head.  “No, I dunnae want any trouble!  Please wha’e’er ye are, jus’ leave me alone!  We’ve been through enough!”

Bubble visibly sank at that.  “...Oi,” after a moment’s pause, “I’m sorry fer wha’ I had t’ do t’ ye an’ yer Grandda’.”  Bubble stopped hovering and just sort of plopped into a puddle on the stone floor, as if mimicking Bathildis’ sitting position.  “Lass, this is bigger than all of us.”

Bath shook her head.  “No!  Even if’n ye are who ye say, ye ain’t gettin’ off th’ hook tha’ easy.”  A fire suddenly ignited within her as anger returned.  She sat up-right, crossing her legs in a way that would allow her to scramble to her feet if need be.

“Aye, I deserve tha’...”  Bubble returned to hover again as the fizz reappeared beneath him.  “But hear me oot, lass.  This even pertains t’ ye.  It’s why I’m callin’ oot t’ ye.  WHICH by th’ way ain’t easy t’ do.  I ain’t sure how much longer I can keep th’ connection t’ Bubble ‘ere.”

Bath quirked a brow incredulously.  “Say wha’ now?  Ye ain’t Bubble?”

“Wha’?  Clean oot yer ears, girl!  I told ye it’s yer da’!”  Bubble plants his fists confidenty on his midsection.

Bathildis’ eyed Bubble skeptically as a hint of cautious curiosity flashed in her eyes.  “Prove it,” she finally resigned climbing slowly to her feet.  If’n he were gonna attack me, I guess it would’ve happened by now.  She started to show confidence again, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest.

At the same time, Bubble’s shoulders sank again.  “Oi, how am I gonna d’ this?” he pondered aloud as the emotionless alemental scanned the room.  “Oi!” his eyes glowed brightly as the idea struck.  “Go get th’ book!  Th’ tome!”

Bath glanced over Bubble one last time, making sure he wasn’t up to anything.  Finally, fear aside, she beckoned him to follow her to Ablerich’s room.  As the two crossed the common area and back into the empty bedroom, Bubble left a haphazard trail of beer behind in his wake.  Pugpug continued to snooze peacefully.

Upon entering the room, Bubble darted in under Bathildis’ arm.  He looked over the bed and spoke without turning to face her, “Good!  Ye got it all.  Grand work ye lot! I knew I could trust ye!”  The alemental quickly darted to a nigh-empty desk against the wall and opened one of the drawers.  “In here, Bathie.”

Bath furrowed her brow, sighed, and entered the room.  “Ok, ok.  Hold yer rams.  This better be good.”  She pondered as she approached the desk.  She never snooped in it once so whatever lay inside was the key to Bubble’s - or her grief-strickened mind’s - wild claims.  She tentatively reached in and withdrew a stack of papers and three framed portraits.  A family portrait from several years back, a suggestive photo of a young Dwarven woman in skimpy clothing, and a photo of Alberich and his two brothers in their youth laid fanned out in Bath’s hands. She made a show of not allowing the alemental to see them.

Bubble prodded the drawer.  “Ok!  Ye seen those before?”

Bathildis shook her head.

Bubble slowly listed out, “Should be a portrait o’ me an’ m’ brothers, us as a family, an’ somethin’ special yer mum sent me on one o’ m’ trips.”

Bathildis hastily dropped the three portraits on the desk!  “EWWWW Da’!”

A small, drowned chortle escaped from Bubble.  “There, lass!  There’s yer proof!”

“Ach… Gross!  Have ye no shame?”

“D’ ye believe me now, Bathie?”  Bubble tilted his head.

The two stood in silence for several minutes before Bathildis finally nodded.  “Ok. I believe ye, but I still ain’t sure if’n I’m even awake right now…how is this possible?  Yer dead!”

"Ain't dead… ain't completely at any rate!  M' body is, sure, but I ain't reached m' final stop yet, either," Alberich chucked boisterously.  "Bah!  Anyhow, I'm wha' ye'd call an Alemental Laird now.  M' spirits been planted in some magical brew like ol' Bubble here, but… like th' biggun' o' all th' alementals.  I'll explain it all another time.  All ye need t' know is I call on ye like this from time t' time, s' long as ye keep Bubble 'round!"

"Tha's… amazin'!" Bath's momentary astonishment quickly gave way to sorrow, "Why'd ye wait this long t' contact me?"

"Still figurin' this all oot, m'self.  Ain't been made o' magic beer b'fore, lass!" Alberich chuckled through Bubble.

"Ok, but…" Bathildis interjected, but was promptly cut off.

"Bathie.." Alberich interrupted.  His tone was much more serious now. "I understand ye have questions. Khaz knows I want t' tell ye e'erthin', but I'm almost oot o' time.  Listen. This is important."

Bathildis frowned in silent resignation.  She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before giving a curt not.

Alberich continued, "Look inside m' armor, lass.  Have ye seen th' inscription inside?"

Bathildis slowly turned to face the bed.  She approached it with reverence.  It seemed to give off a warm glow as it reflected the room's lit sconces on it's ruddy surface.  She reached out and traced her fingertips across the rough surface of the breastplate.  Grabbing hold of the sides, she carefully picked it up and flipped it over, searching inside.  Bubbles eyes glowed in the reflection as Alberich watched in silence.

After about a minute of searching, she felt some scratches within.  "I - I think I found it." She carefully held it close to a light and read it to herself.  "Oi, these are jus' numbers!?"

"Aye," Alberich confirmed.  "Each sequence is a page in th' book!  It ain't a complicated code.  I know ye'll figure it oot. Consider this a gift from yer da', Bathie.  Another adventure fer ye an' yer friends!"

Bathildis glared daggers at Bubble, "Bah, why couldn't ye stay home?  Posh on yer adventures!  Ain't tha' what got ye killed?" She barked!

"Bath, ye cannae rot away in th' safety o' th' Modan yer whole life.  Ye cannae be afraid o’ all th' things the world has t' offer.  Look at all ye accomplished jus' a few years back!"

"S' ye came here t' lecture me?" she pouted defensively.

"Nae Bathildis.  Yer free t' decide what ye do with this… just remember tha' I love ye.  I want ye t' realize yer true potential is all."

Bathildis once again reached the verge of tears.  She stared at the armor for a moment.

Suddenly another familiar voice spoke up.  Bath's deceased friend Burly, a Dark Iron brewing prodigy taken at a very young age, could be heard shouting at some distance. "Alb!  Alberich!  Tell her t' stop bein' a ninny an' just go!"

Alberich chuckled forcing Bubble to gurgle in kind. "Oi, Burly says hi!"

Bathildis shook her head in further disbelief, "B-Burly!?!"

As suddenly as everything had happened, Bubbles eyes returned to normal.  He tilted his head, and started making high-pitched gurgling noises.

"Da'!?  Burly?!" Bath cried out, hugging Bubble tight.  Bubble cocked his head from one side to the other, hurled a stream of brew down Bath's shirt, then collapsed into a puddle and slinked away to disappear into Alberich's mug.  The lid clanged shut after him.

Bathildis snatched up the mug and tried to pry the lid off!  Nothing.  She shook it violently, but Bubble noisily protested within.

She sighed and set it down on the desk next to the family portrait.  Exhausted, conflicted, she turned to gaze upon the armor again.  She studied it in silence for several minutes, milling around in thought.  Finally, she placed it on the desk, picked up the brewing journal, and set to scouring through it's pages.

[the-doctors-strays-blog]

Regeneration

with travelxhopefully, from ryanxsinclair - dropped

“Right, so you used to be a bloke. That I get. What I don’t get is why you were glowin’. It was right freaky.“

Oh, she had been glowing? Makes sense, she supposes. It tended to linger for several hours, keeping on changing in the ‘background’ so to speak.

❝ Residual regeneration energy. See, when we’re mortally wounded or jus’ get too old, we regenerate. Create a whole new body and keep on keepin’ on. It releases a massive amount of hormones called lindos, burning every cell in me body and rewritting my DNA, my brain and my personality. S’why I was a bit confused when we first met. My brain was still cookin’, rewrittin’ itself and changin’. ❞

Lots of information. Slow down a bit.

❝ It ain’t the first time I’ve done it either. First time bein’ a woman, though. ❞

Oh my stars! M’travelin’ through the universe with a video game character, Ryan thought. It was like when you ran your character off a cliff, but the game didn’t save right and you ended up at the bottom, with one less life than before. Nice, easy short cut. Or like reincarnation.

As always, the Doctor was speaking like she was on fast forward, but he caught most of it, even the nonsense words like ‘lindos’. After what he’d seen of the Doctor before, he decided to just take her word on it. She died an old Scottish bloke and turned into a pretty blonde. Okay. She was alien, after all, so why not? “Wait, your whole species does it? Doesn’t that get confusin’, everyone changin’ their face? And do you have a choice, or is it a sort of random avatar sort of thing? And the glowin’ light, if it was healin’ you, then why’d it float away like that?”

❝ Yep! At first, yeah, but we’ve got a way of just… knowin’ who’s who. Can’t really explain it. ❞

For a second, she paused, trying to come up with a good way of putting it. Oh! She’s thought of what to liken it to.

❝ S’like when y’get your hair cut. Or change your clothes. Y’look a bit different but it’s still you. It’s a gamble really. Though I ‘ave seen a few choose what they wanna look like. I never really bothered t’ try. ❞

She gave a shrug at that. Why bother? Let it happen and what she got, was what she’d stick with. It didn’t matter to her what she looked like, so long as she kept on being the Doctor and helping those who needed it. That was all that mattered.

❝ Dispersing, I guess. Eventually it just fades. Very handy though. Helped me survive crashin’ through the train roof. Never wanna do that again. Y’think that crane was high? Should’ve seen how far I fell. Still, can’t blame her. I’d toss me out too if I got wrecked. ❞

“Getting a haircut doesn’t normally involve dyin’. That would be a really, really bad haircut.” Ryan leaned against one of the golden, crystalline columns that lined the TARDIS’ console, trying and failing to picture the Doctor as anyone else than she was now. He believed her, entirely, he accepted it, but it was hard to imagine. She was the Doctor. “Sort of a big change, whole new body.”

An entire world where people just grew a new body when they died, lived their lives over again. That had to be incredible - your loved ones never actually being gone, just changing a bit, and knowing that if you messed up being young you could try again eventually.

“Doctor,” he began, with a weighty pause after, for it felt a bit strange asking - maybe she didn’t have a world, maybe her whole race just went bouncing about in space in blue boxes, “maybe before you take us home, could we stop off on your world? Planet of the Face-Changin’ Time Ladies, that has t’be cool.“

❝ True. ❞

Was her only response to the hair cut comment. It sure would be a bad hair cut. Going in to get it done and bam! You’re dead. Awful business. Anyway. Moving on. She simply nodded as Ryan spoke again, silently agreeing. A very big change indeed, over and over again. It never got any less painful but it was better than alternative.

❝ Yeah? ❞

She answered, resting back on the console as she waited. Something in his pause had her a little concerned. Was he going to ask a heavy question? It sure felt like it. Annnnd he did.

Any traces of happiness drained from her face at the question he asked; Gallifrey. He wanted to visit Gallifrey. Of course. She should’ve seen that one coming. Talk highly of your species and they’ll wanna visit your home for tea and biscuits. Her tongue darted out, wetting dry lips and lowered her head, turning her attention to her boots.

❝ ‘fraid not. I mean, it is cool. It used to be cool. But… ❞

She shook her head; she couldn’t, for multiple reasons.

❝ I can’t go back. I won’t go back. Sorry. ❞

Ryan looked at her in concern - he hadn’t imagined that she’d react like that, drawing into herself. He’d always gotten the impression that she didn’t tend to head home very often, but he’d just figured she was like the people who’d left Sheffield after school and now only ever came home for Christmas, and sometimes not even then.

“M’sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just figured, we go to all these places, and your world…” This ship… Her ability to cheat death and survive a fall through a train… All the beautiful insanity of this life, on the TARDIS… How could her world not be cool? “It was just an idea, s’fine,”he shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing, and not missing the way she looked down at her boot, which wasn’t nothing, “Are you, you know, fine?”

Oh. She didn’t mean to make Ryan feel bad. It just brought up bad memories she’d rather not think about but… maybe she could give the vaguest of explanations so that the other could understand why she didn’t want to return.

Her head lifted, forcing a smile back on her face.

❝ S’okay, you didn’t upset me. I just… ❞

Another pause, struggling to find the right words to say. Funny, that. The Doctor struggling with words when she’s always so bubbly and talkative. But talking about Gallifrey is something she needs careful words with.

❝ It was beautiful. The second sun would rise in the east and it’d make the forest glow like it was on fire. And one of the moons shone so bright you’d see it up there with the sun. At night, the sky would turn a warm orange, and you’d see all the stars the universe had to offer. All the stars we were only allowed to watch. Oh, but the golden fields, and the slopes of red grass I used to run through when I was a kid. ❞

A pained but adoring smile on her lips. It was beautiful, and they were good memories. But it also hurt. She spoke lovingly of it, even if there was sadness in her eyes. She’d love to return, but there was a reason she left in the first place.

❝ I’d love to take you back there but they won’t welcome me back with open arms. Why would they? I stole a TARDIS and ran away. Broke their rules. But who needs ‘em, am I right? I’ve got you guys ‘n’ the whole universe out there to explore. ❞

That wasn’t all but it was all she was willing to say right now. A grin was back on her face, wiping away any sadness she had displayed. Focus on the good things. Her fam. The TARDIS. And their adventures. It was all she needed.

“You stole the TARDIS?“ Ryan blurted, almost more surprised that he wasn’t surprised than he was surprised about that particular revelation. Why did that fit so well? He’d never been quite able to imagine the Doctor picking the TARDIS out of a line of blue boxes like a car lot, and her confusion over the controls had dissuaded a theory that she’d built the ship herself. But stole it? It suited, somehow, her way of approaching life, breaking the rules and putting them back together for the better. “So what,“ he joked, “you afraid you’ll go back and get her repoed? Sounds really amazin’ though, your world. You know, sometimes I think Graham still half-believes you’re joshin’ on the whole alien thing.“

He strolled around the console. Flying around the universe in a stolen time machine with a blonde alien who sounded like she was from Yorkshire. He’d never get used to this, he never wanted to get used to this. “What d’you mean though, only allowed to watch? Why’d they go and build a bunch of time machines if they weren’t goin’ to use them? S’like those people who buy action figures only to stick the boxes on a shelf.” He’d once made his mate Mike livid when he was about ten and he’d pulled one of his ‘collector items’ off a shelf to play with it. Mike had only ever come round his place after that - Ryan was half sure Mike, or Mike’s dad, had secretly banned him from their house.

There was a simple ‘yep’ and a nod in reply to his question, a smile on her face that showed that she didn’t regret it for a second. The TARDIS was her ship, her home, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. It gave her a chance to explore everything she had dreamt of visiting, to take part in traditions and meet new species. Who wouldn’t love a ship that can give you everything you’ve ever wanted?

❝ After everythin’ we’ve seen, it’s hard to deny that I am. ❞

She shrugged a shoulder. It’ll sink in eventually. Sometimes it takes a while, and sometimes they get into it immediately. She’s pretty sure that Graham is on board with it all, even if he still questions her choices of running into danger sometimes. Less so now, thankfully.

❝ ‘Cos of the damage the Time Lords did. They changed events, took part in wars, messed with things they shouldn’t have ‘n’ it caused the Eternal War. Minyans almost went extinct after we gave ‘em technology that couldn’t use responsibly and the Time Lord’s meddlin’ on Klist accidentally reversed evolution for the inhabitants there. Drove ‘em all mad.  After that… Rassilon issued the non-interference policy. Only allowed to observe ‘n’ not get involved. ❞

A rule which the Doctor breaks frequently despite saying they weren’t going to interfere. Sometimes she just can’t sit back and do nothing when there is injustice happening to the people in front of her. Especially when it takes lives. The only times when she can’t do that is when it’s an event that is a fixed point in time. An event that she can’t interfere in no matter how much she wants to.

❝ You can guess how much they must’ve loved me, eh? They forced me t’regenerate and exiled me to Earth when I broke the policy. So, y’know. Try t’avoid ‘em. ❞

Non-interference. That was so not the Doctor, no matter how much she might insist that they not interfere on different planets or different times they nearly always ended up fixing something, changing someone’s life, saving someone. He could see why she didn’t get on with her people and beyond that… they’d executed her. And for what? Saving people. Although it wasn’t the same as it was on Earth, being executed when she could just take on a new body, all of his desire to see her world flickered to nothing in a moment.

“That’s horrible,“ he said. “That wasn’t when you fell through the train though, yeah? ‘Cos you said the TARDIS was explodin’. How long ago was that then, the whole exile thing?“ She’d gone through a few regenerations, he knew; there was the grey haired Scotsman, and a few she’d mentioned before that one in her various stories.

“I mean it could be worse though, Earth. All the worlds in the universe and you seem t’come here a lot.“ Other than mistaking a hotel tycoon for Ed Sheeran, she almost got more pop culture references that he did. And they ended up on Earth nearly every other trip - although maybe that was for their sake. He almost wondered if she’d spent more time on Earth than on her own world - maybe Graham was right, maybe she wasn’t as alien as she liked to claim.

[tenyearsapeasant]

40. Marriage

When a man is grown he must want a wife; when a woman is grown she must want a husband. From presidents and princesses to smugglers and country girls, most everyone follows the rule. It's hard to imagine what the future of our species would be like if we stopped getting married.

In Libeishang, marriages were often arranged by the parents.

1. Taking a wife

I saw a wedding during my first winter in Libeishang. Zhang Qingkui was twenty-one, and marrying Ju Heilan, a woman from Gaokeng. She was nineteen.

At the time, we had just passed the peak of the Cultural Revolution. There was a fervor for new customs in the villages. Ju Heilan walked into Libeishang with a set of brand new red clothes. Qingkui's family hadn't set out a lavish feast; instead they shared a modest meal with just the two families.

When Ju Heilan was in Gaokeng, she became good friends with many of the sent-down youth. After all, they were about the same age, and had worked together. Soon after her marriage, one of the male sent-down youths stopped by Libeishang on the way back from the commune. They chatted in her house until lunch, when the couple invited him to stay for lunch.

When Qingkui's mother heard of this she was furious. How could they casually invite a young man from Gaokeng over for dinner? She was suspicious of something, and inquired loudly about it all through the village. She even sent someone to Gaokeng to investigate the situation. Later she realized it was all a misunderstanding. That sent-down youth might still be oblivious to the disturbance he caused in Libeishang that year.

By the summer of 1970, when Zhang Xiantong was getting married, the old customs were beginning to come back.

Zhang Famao was a major figure in the village and was quite busy managing the festivities. He found some dirty old gongs from somewhere in the production team's storehouse and cleaned them up. He got two old men to carry them and stand by the entrances to the village and Xiantong's house.

An old bronze gong.

The man standing at the village entrance kept watch on the road from Gaokeng. The moment the bride appeared, he began to strike the gong. The sound traveled into the village, setting off a flurry of activity. The children, even more excited than usual, ran back and forth, breathlessly reporting the latest situation.

A particularly energetic round of gong-ringing was followed by the sound of firecrackers. This meant that the bride had already crossed the threshold into the village. The children, red-faced, ran back from the entrance to Xiantong's house shouting, "She's coming, she's coming!"

The bride turned the corner, and the gong holder at Xiantong's house began to strike his own gong. Famao took the cigarette out of his mouth. This was in preparation for setting off an extra-long string of firecrackers that was one thousand firecrackers long. When the bride was about ten steps from Xiantong's door, the crowd began to cheer. The firecrackers were lit, and the bride stepped over the threshold in a deafening wave of sound. She was followed by a few of Xiantong's younger relatives, who he had sent ahead to escort the bride and carry the dowry.

Zhang Xiantong was wearing a new black suit, with a black hat to match. He didn't usually smoke, but he had a cigarette tucked behind his ear, and was joyfully handing out cigarettes to his guests.

At the time, the custom of welcoming the bride with suona (trans: a traditional Chinese horn) had not yet returned. But the villagers knew that Xue Zhiming and I could play a bit of harmonica, so our duty was to substitute for the suona. We stood by the door and played some songs of the revolution when she stepped through. But the firecrackers were too loud, and I couldn't hear what I was playing at all.

The bride rested a short while before coming into the front room with the groom. Xue Zhiming and I were huffing and puffing on our harmonicas. I don't remember what song we played exactly, but it was probably something like the soaring "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman." When we finished, the ceremony officially began. Famao was the MC. He beamed as he pronounced, "In the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy of the People's Republic of China..."

The newlyweds paid their respects to the sky, the earth, their parents, and each other. Famao finished with "Bear a son who will be successful...let us deliver the bride and groom into the bridal chamber."

There were three tables set out for the feast. We seated ourselves excitedly. The first round of drinks had barely been poured when a villager shouted, "Bride, bride! Come refill the wine!" We fell silent, looking at the door. The bride did not come out.

Only after the third round of drinks and countless summonings did the bride demurely step out of the bridal chamber. She had changed out of her bridal clothes. She took the tin decanter and shyly poured wine for us. Some of the mischievous villagers intentionally withdrew their bowls at the last second. Then wine would splash onto their clothes, and they would heckle her, asking her to wash their clothes as if she were their wife. The laughter during the feast seemed to shake the shingles on the roof.

The next day, when we were working in the fields, a villager told me, "Old Xia, that thing you played at Xiantong's wedding yesterday sounded pretty good!"

Xue Zhiming and I knew that we weren't good at harmonica. In Shanghainese we'd call it "呀呀污(ya ya wu, mediocre)." The villager was probably impressed by its novelty.

A National Light brand harmonica in C.

2. Marrying away daughters

Our neighbor Zhou Enshao was contemplative in the wake of Xiantong's wedding. He said, "I can't believe the bride's father didn't ask for a bride price. Maybe it's because he's a Communist, and has no interest in it."

Curious, I asked, "What's a bride price? The man's family has to give the woman's family something?"

Old Zhou said, "Of course! Take my daughter Nianying for example. I don't know how much love and care we've put into raising her. When she leaves for another family, shouldn't we ask for a bride price? Nianying's seventeen now. I've already gotten someone to write a list of the bride price, and arranged a marriage with the Liu family of Gangkou village. As long as they finish paying the bride price, she'll get married when she turns eighteen next year.

I was skeptical. Wasn't this just another way of selling your daughter? I asked Old Zhou, "What sort of thing is on the list?"

He smiled, saying, "Six hundred yuan, a hundred and twenty pounds of pork, ten pounds of moon cakes, two new sets of khaki clothes, two new coats, two hats, and some other things that I can't remember."

He stopped and thought for a bit, and continued, "They say that 'You can't see raising a daughter as investing rice, and you can't see feeding a pig as investing feed.' Can this bride price pay for the cost of raising Nianying?" He sighed. "And now they're just going to take my daughter away."

The women in Libeishang were expected to spend their twentieth birthday in their husband's house. If she wasn't married by then, she would go hide in the mountains for a day instead of staying in her own home.

The next year, Zhou Nianying was married on time. Zhou Enshao was an outsider in Libeishang, so there wasn't much ceremony about it. His son-in-law brought a few relatives from Gangkou and escorted Nianying to her new home.

Soon after Nianying's marriage, Zhang Baimao's daughter Sanying was going to be married. Baimao was pretty well off, and had prepared a dowry far ahead of time.

The day before her marriage there was a "face revealing" ceremony. This began with Sanying sitting on a bench while her mother removed extra hairs on Sanying's face with a thread. This marked her passage into womanhood, and it was now appropriate for her to threadher own face.

On the morning of Sanying's marriage, her dowry was placed in the hall. I remembered seeing some boxes, as well as some makeup. According to tradition, the bride was not supposed to set foot in her own house on her wedding day. So she had to stay in her bed. Her family helper her wash up, get dressed, and eat breakfast in bed. Her mother sat by the bed, providing advice about what and what not to do. She talked about how to manage the relationship with her husband, and with his parents, and such. They realized it was coming time to say goodbye, and tears welled in their eyes. The daughter was the first to cry.

Just then there was some hubbub outside. Apparently the escorts from the` groom's wedding party were here. When her mother heard, she quickly dried her tears and put herself together to welcome them.

The groom's party had also brought the last of the bride price. They had put it in the hall, and a few dogs were circling it, sniffing it curiously. The wedding party was sitting around the dining table, drinking, smoking, and snacking on peanuts and pastries. The leader finished his cigarette and stood up, saying, "Let's go. There's still much to do when we get back."

The others stood up too, and carried the dowry out. Sanying's mother cried out, but quickly dried her tears. According to tradition, she began to sing the story her daughter's life. "Sanying, you life has been so hard, when you were born your mother didn't have any milk..." At this, Sanying also began to sob. Her father walked in, dressed neatly. He put new shoes on her feet, picked her up, and walked towards the village gate. Her mother followed behind, crying, "One year you fell in the pond, and I had to come save you. You were holding on to my clothes so tightly..."

Outside the village threshold there was a shiny tandem bicycle. This substituted for the traditional palanquin. The groom's party stood next to the bicycle. Sanying's father brought her over the threshold and placed her on the back seat. Her mother sang by the threshold, "Show piety towards your parents-in-law and wake up early, and be thoughtful when you're taking care of your husband..."

By now the mother's tears had dried.

Outside the threshold, one of the groomsmen who knew how to ride a bike rode off along the road. The rest picked up the dowry and jogged after them, fading into the distance.

After her marriage, the daughter was to stay for two nights with her new family before coming back for a night. This was called "the third day." Of course she was overjoyed to be back. Even though they had only been separated for two days, there was much to talk about. Sanying's old friends in Libeishang had mostly gotten married already, and swarmed her when she left her house. "How is it? Does your husband treat you well?" "Are the in-laws mean to you?" "Do they like your food?"

For Sanying's parents, her return at the end of the third day marked the conclusion of her marriage ceremony.

In my latter years in Libeishang, the traditional suona had been reinstated. During important ceremonies like marriage, the villagers would always have some on hand. The sound was loud and high pitched, and generations of people had associated it with celebration. Nobody asked me to play harmonica for these ceremonies again.

Suona, which the villagers called 哈叭, haba.

As the traditions began to come back, the bride prices became more and more elaborate. The monetary price grew to eight hundred yuan. They began to include two or three hundred pounds of pork. Khaki cloth was no longer fashionable, and that switched to polyester. Moon-cakes would start at a hundred pounds.

The groom's side would say, "How are you going to eat a hundred pounds of moon-cakes?"

The bridal side would respond, "We'll take less, but only if you give us sixty yuan."

Some people say that Chinese people are born businesspeople, natural merchants like the Arabs. Maybe this has some truth.

I once had a template for these bridal price lists. The villagers asked me to write them on red paper. I've tried looking for it since, but to no avail. I hope it's hiding in a corner somewhere, waiting to jump out at me and give me a good surprise.

3. Dating

Marriage in Libeishang was managed by the parents. After initial negotiations, the prospective partners would go through a simple dating process.

The young man would be brought by his father to the young woman's house. They would chat with her family for a bit, drinking water or wine and eating dried fruit.

When they had gotten comfortable, the woman's parents would bring her out of her room, wearing a clean set of clothes. She'd blush and look down, and sit on a bench far away from her future husband. Occasionally she'd sneak a glance at him.

The man stared at his future wife, but she would look down, making it hard to see her face. The hall was also quite dark, and the woman would be backlit, so she was almost a silhouette. What a shame.

After a short time, the woman would go back into her room, and the man and his father would take their leave. If they didn't oppose it then it counted as agreement.

After this, the two families would begin negotiations about the bride price. This involved arguing over every item on the list, and attempt to find a solution that was beneficial to all parties involved. Finally the terms were written down on paper, which was effectively a binding contract. Can you say that the villagers lack the "contract spirit" of Westerners?

Speaking of which, I've been on such a date before.

I have a cousin who worked in Jingxian prefecture, near Nanchang. She brought the wife of the director of the prefecture lumber industry's to Shanghai to see the doctor in about 1974. She stopped by my house, where my mother asked her if she could get me re-stationed to Jingxian. After all, Jingxian was closer to Shanghai, and was right on the railroad.

At the end of the year, my mother sent me a letter, asking me to go to my cousin's house in Jingxian on my way home. She said the transfer to Jingxian seemed to have progressed.

It's hard to disobey your mother. It was on the way, so I went to Jingxian. My cousin and her husband welcomed me warmly. He told me, it was hard to get me transferred to Jingxian, but it would be easy if I began to date someone here. So they had arranged a date with some vice director's daughter for me.

Oh! So this was happening. I had not prepared myself at all.

The next morning, the girl came to my cousin's house. She introduced the two of us and left.

The girl looked down, blushing, and didn't say anything. It was just like the expression on the Libeishang girls' faces. She didn't respond to any questions I asked her, so I just talked to myself. I found this boring to say the least.

After about half an hour, the date was over, and the girl left. My cousin came in and asked me how it went. I could only tell the truth, and also mentioned that I wasn't in a hurry to leave Yongfeng. I asked her to not find any more girlfriends for me. I told her that I had plenty of income in Yongfeng to live on my own. I also recounted an instance in which my aunt, who was living in Hangzhou at the time, sent me some money. After some discussion with the local postman we decided to send it back. I asked my cousin to not worry about me.

This was my only such date.

When I was in Jingxian, my cousin brought me to see the director's wife that she had brought to Shanghai. She was very friendly with my cousin. When they saw each other, she said, "Too many people have been giving us gifts recently. There are too many pastries to eat, you should take some."

My cousin repeatedly refused, at which the director's wife said, "I don't have any choice. Our chickens are eating these pastries now because otherwise they'll go bad."

When I heard this, the first thing that came to mind was the old saying, "The stench of wine and meat hangs around the Zhu family door, while the poor die of starvation on the street."

[crassussativum]

ooc- Enemies and Allies: Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The clinic where they found Beacon was on a tiny asteroid outpost with an unpronounceable name. It was cobbled together out of a fair number of rundown looking prefabs but in better shape than Crassus would have thought one could be and staffed by more people than he would have reasonably expected. Two or three nurses, not closer to the ten that he spotted and Beacon wasn’t the only doctor making the rounds. He was the only turian though, the rest of the patients and staff either human and batarian with a few krogan milling about. It should have been a nice mixing pot of hate and discontent across species but everyone was behaving themselves. Still, Crassus found his hand resting atop his sidearm and he saw Mav doing the same.

Beacon noticed Mav and dropped a whole tray of instruments in surprise as he backed away from them. “What are you doing here?”

“Me? Well, I was hopin’ you’d maybe be willin’ to restock my med-kits. See, I got in a real bad fight and-”

“A fight? A fight? By all the Spirits Mav there’s a price on your head for what you did!” Beacon hissed at him, his eyes wide and his mandibles flared as he bent to pick up the tools of his trade. He never took his eyes off Mav.

“That was fast.” Mav tapped his talons on the butt of his gun. “How much?”

“Enough to build an actual clinic and have plenty left over to retire comfortably.”

“Careful now, talkin’ like that makes me think you’d sell me up the river. You don’t want me to think that, Argos.” Mav drawled, his eyes narrowing at the other turian.

Beacon paled at the use of his given name and dropped his tools again, scrambling now to gather them. “No, no of course not. We’re friends, Mav, aren’t we friends?”

“Y’know, I dunno.” The smaller turian hummed. “See, I don’t have a lot of friends to begin with and I’ve lost three of them this week alone. I’m startin’ to think the big guy here might be my only friend and I know he don’t like me much. But you wouldn’t sell me up the river for a little bit of slaver credits, would you, big guy?”

Crassus twitched his mandibles and shook his head. “No, Mav, I wouldn’t.”

“Nah, nah you’re good like that.” Mav nodded his head a few times and took a couple of steps closer to Beacon. “But I’ve got more problems than a price on my head, Argos. I stumbled across Fiend’s ship the other day. You wanna guess what I found?”

Beacon’s shoulders hunched up. “I can’t imagine.”

He took another step. “I found her dead,” He said. “With a hole in her chest as big as me. With a Geth arm at her feet. And that’s really not even what’s got me so upset, Argos. Fiend was followin’ a signal, my signal it so happens. My signal that I’ve never used. Can you imagine why that might rub me the wrong way?”

Beacon sprang up from the floor at the same instant Mav reached for him and Crassus reached to pull his gun from its holster. The two struck out at each other but it was the smaller turian that fell back clutching at his neck.

“You fucker!” He hissed and stumbled on his feet. “What’d you jab me with?”

Beacon held both hands up at chest level, one empty and one holding a hypo-syringe. “Just a sedative!” He yelped. “Just a sedative! By the Spirits, Mav you bring nothing but trouble and I just don’t want any trouble here. This is a safe, neutral space, and I want it to stay that way.”

“Then I’ll drag you outside and beat you.” Mav snarled but already he wobbled on his feet, moving backwards to lean himself against the wall. “Holy fuck, I can’t believe you stuck me with that shit. Big guy, shoot him for me.”

Crassus blinked, looking down the sight of his gun. “He’s one of ours.” He said tightly.

“So shoot him in the leg then.”

He lowered his gun by a degree as Beacon stared at him like he really would shoot and not just to wound. “Drop the syringe and keep your hands where I can see them.”

“You’re no fun, big guy.”

“Thank you, thank you.” The other agent stammered and did as he was told.

“Ah, fuck you, Argos, you sneaky little shit.” Mav muttered and slid down the wall he was leaned against. “That… that is real fast actin’… fuck.”

“It’s meant for krogan,” Beacon told them, his tones almost apologetic but not quite.

“Y’know I’m torn between bein’ proud of myself that you think you needed somethin’ that strong for me, and bein’ pissed that you used it on me.” He said, his head starting to dip toward his chest.

“After what you did, yes, Mav, I think that sedative was needed to contain you.”

“Didn’t come ‘ere to ‘urt you, jus’ to talk.” Mav slurred. “Fuck.”

“Mav?” Crassus knelt beside him, keeping his gun pointed at Beacon and felt around his throat for his pulse. It was slow but strong.

The smaller agent blinked at him, eyes dull and pupils blown wide. “Don’t let nobody kill me, big guy.”

“I won’t.” He promised as Mav’s head tipped down the rest of the way. He stood again, putting his body between the smaller turian and the other agent. “Kick that syringe toward me and then sit on the floor.”

Beacon caught the syringe under his foot and then kicked it over. Crassus kept him pinned with the gun as he picked it up and scanned the label, beyond relieved when he saw that it was just a sedative. He put it in his pocket for safe keeping.

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know for a fact that Mav’s a danger.” He said defensively.

He flicked his mandibles lightly in agreement. “He did only plan to talk to you… As far as I know.” He amended after a moment because he didn’t think one could ever predict Mav’s reactions to things.

“About Fiend? I haven’t seen her in months.” Beacon said.

“I don’t think that matters,” Crassus muttered. “Mav tells me you’re the only agent with semi-regular contact with every operative in the Terminus. That you might potentially be the only one with the knowledge of how to covertly pull that special signal and repurpose it.”

Beacon’s mandibles fluttered. “It… it is something I could do, yes.” He admitted at length. “And yes, I would have the time to do it. At one point or another I’ve treated every operative for injuries. But I didn’t do it. I have no reason to.”

“Not even for money? Your clinic here isn’t exactly top of the line.”

“I wouldn’t sell out my own.” The other agent hissed. “Not even for better equipment or supplies. The clinic makes due, the mercenaries I treat pay well not to be outted or killed on the operating table. And as I told Mav, this is neutral ground in every way. I’m just here to treat sick people.”

Crassus’ mandibles worked along his jaw. Of course he and Mav both had expected denial, but he heard no hint of falsehood in Beacon’s tones. He seemed genuine enough even if he had drugged Mav…

“If not you, with the means and opportunity to do so, then who?” He asked and let it leak into his tones that he didn’t strictly believe Beacon but that he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Oneiric or Nival could.” He said, again at length in a way that made Crassus feel all kinds of suspicious. “But… but I would put my money on Nival before Oneiric. He suffered a severe brain injury some years ago and he’s never been all that right to begin with. Do you understand what I mean?”

“No, I don’t think that I do.”

“I mean that he was always a little odd but he’s outer colony and-” Beacon looked up at him and seemed to just notice that his paint was outer colony “-and I mean no offense by that, just that… well, he’s odd. Very odd. And that was before a mercenary fractured his skull so badly we had to pick pieces of it out of his brain. The last time I happened to treat him, he was showing signs of mental and cognitive deterioration along with paranoia. I reported it, of course I did, but he went to ground.”

Crassus heaved a sigh. “So of course you know no way to contact him.”

The other agent shrugged. “I suppose, you could try to call him, but he won’t answer. And I mean you specifically. He’s terrified of Mav, like most of us are...”

He glanced over his should at Mav passed out against the wall. Chin touching his chest and drooling as he breathed heavily, he couldn’t be called scary. But he was akin to a sleeping varren, just a moment away from destruction.

“What makes you think I’m not as dangerous as he is?” Crassus asked.

Beacon blinked. “You didn’t shoot me when he told you to.” He said and slowly got to his feet, hands still held aloft. Crassus kept him in the sights of his pistol.

“You’re Blackwatch, too.”

“I’m not sure that distinction matters to Mav.” The other agent said. “He doesn’t see enemies or allies, he sees people for what they are, he holds them accountable for their actions regardless of consequences and that’s what makes him so dangerous. If I were you, I’d ask for a different partner because Mav will get you killed in short order.”

Crassus thinned his mandibles along his jaw. “How long until the sedative wears off?”

Beacon’s mandibles fell along his jaw in a resigned way and he wondered if that warning had been genuine, too. “Around two hours for him. He’ll wake roughly; nauseated, disoriented and moody. He might experience some vertigo off and on for a few days. Try to keep him sober for at least a day. Easier said than done, I know, but for his sake, try. And then try to convince him to lay low. The price offered for his head is high but it’s pennies compared to the one for him alive.”

[iblogwithgrace]

Ever drank Zobo from a bottle and as you approached the bottom, you were filled with dread because the bottom was filled with sand? Well you can make your own Zobo. I'll show you how later in this post. For now,here's a bit of a story.

As a child, someone made this drink for me and I ended up being hospitalized. That experience alone scarred my Mom to the point it made her ban the drink in our house. Nobody made it for us, and we were expressly prohibited from drinking Zobo outside the house. Well,everything changed about two years ago when my aunt fearlessly taught me how to make Soya milk and gave the Zobo recipe after that. But, I didn't quite get it,so I turned to Dunni and some other Pros including my aunt for their own recipes until I perfected my own. It will excite you to know that I made bottles Zobo for my mother before coming back to Abuja in January,and she actually drank it. If you are Nigerian, you'll understand that feeling of joy. 

Knowing who I am, you wouldn't be surprised to know that I did a research on Zobo leaves aka dried roselle calyces, in order to justify the drink. The following is what I found out:

Botanically, it is known as the Roselle plant. It is a specie of the Hibiscus plant known as the Hibiscus Sabdariffa. It is known by different names around the World,so it is not limited to Nigeria alone.

Some People use it as a diuretic, and others, as mild laxative. I like to use it as a soothing drink for sunny days instead of indulging in carbonated drinks. In many places like Senegal,people use the fresh leaves to spice up meals like fish and rice.  Our brothers in the Sudan make drinks from the sorrel and in Trinidad and Tobago they make Karkade Tea from the leaves. Goodness me,can you even imagine waking up to that glorious aroma?

You might be happy to know that per 100g of Zobo leaves contains about 49 calories. It is very rich in calcium,magnesium,vitamins A and C. And,some swear that it has anti oxidants,enzyme inhibitors,tartaric acid,maleic acid, and citric acids, and the fact that it eases constipation, bloating,weight loss and high blood  pressure and so on.

INGREDIENTS:

1 full big cup of Dried Zobo/Sorrel leaves.

1 medium cup of Crushed Pineapples or thoroughly washed Pineapple back(optional).

2 peeled oranges/lemons with their juices.

3 very big Thoroughly peeled ginger which you've already blended

1 tablespoonful of Zobo pepper. But the blended up Ghanaian/Cameroonian pepper in your Kitchen cabinet can serve if you like spicy Zobo.

Any Flavour. I used 1 Pineapple and 1 Cola flavour from all time favourite Jolly Jus.

How to:

The night before you make your Zobo,wash the ginger. In a clean bowl,pour water into it and add the ginger and let them soak till the next day before peeling and blending it. This helps the back come off easily,and gets out all the dust in hidden places

  Carefully pick out the dirt from the Zobo leaves. You'd be surprised what you find in the midst of those leaves(I found some sticks,flowers and a bone in mine). 

Wash them in a bowl of water,carefully repeating this method and avoiding the bottom of the water because that's were the sand and dust residue is. Tip: don't bother about the Zobo essence you see as you wash the dust off the leaves.

Add the pineapples, the ginger, the leaves to a big pot,add water (half of the pot) and place on high heat. After 5 minutes,add the flavour. Allow it to brew for 25 minutes on very high heat. Depending on how you like it,you can add more water if you like it watery,or leave it if you like yours thick.

Pour out the items from the pot into a tiny teeth sieve,make sure you place a clean container underneath the sieve. After the drink cools down,pour out the drink into containers,and place them in the fridge. 

Please,there is No need for sugar. Jolly Jus has got you covered.

  Enjoy,and Serve as you want to.

The general perception is that if you are pregnant or have low blood pressure you should check with your doctor first before consuming this drink.

Aside: This Foster Clark's was a little bit of a scam as far as i'm concerned. I found Jolly Jus more effective than this expensive thing. I emptied it into the pot and couldn't taste anything,my brothers and sisters it vanished with the wind. I had to quickly add the two small satchets of Jolly Jus (which is N50 for one,while this thing costs N120).

Currently Listening to: Rumour has It by Adele.

[paigenotblank]

Accidentally Ours (5/7)

Pairing: Tenth Doctor x Rose Tyler

Rating: Teen

Written for a prompt for Ten x Rose kid fic/family fic where they adopt kids left orphans that they meet on their travels / and also a prompt for Ten x Rose with a mix of adopted and biological kids (@tinyconfusion​). Tagging @doctorroseprompts​ and @timepetalscollective​ which I think both had those prompts.

Trope: Accidental Baby Acquisition

Warnings: Kid Fic/ Baby Fic/ Pregnancy Fic

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

AO3 / TS

Melody celebrated another birthday, and another, and then another, with no sign of the future Doctor.

The day after Melody’s 4th birthday, the Doctor took his family on a picnic to Aessith, a beautiful planet where faeries existed. Well, they weren't faeries exactly, but the inhabitants were petite humanoids with colorful skin tones that matched a set of gossamer wings. And if his daughter thought they were faeries, like from her favorite book, who was the Doctor to burst her bubble? Rose usually said, ‘the first in line,’ but not today. Not on her birthday trip.

Rose stretched out on the blanket and gave the Doctor a kiss. “Thank you for this. It’s gorgeous here.”

“Mmm. Yeah, it is. It’s a shame that in a hundred years the planet is mostly destroyed by a civil war.”

Melody clambered over them both and threw her arms around the Doctor’s neck. “Thank you, Daddy! When will we get to see the faeries?”

“Anything for my best girl. And, erm…” The Doctor looked around the empty park. “We’ll go into town to meet some locals after you finish eating your lunch.”

Rose wrapped her arms around the both of them and smirked. “I thought I was your best girl?”

The Doctor swallowed heavily and he darted a glance between Rose and Melody. “Oh, well, ah…”

Melody laughed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, Mummy. You’re not a girl.”

“I’m not? Well then, what am I?”

“You’re a grown up.”

The Doctor and Rose both laughed at her logic. “That’s true. My mistake.”

“Oh! Mummy, Daddy, look faeries! Can I go say, ‘hi?’” She pointed to spot over his shoulder and he turned to see an Aessithian man and woman walking along the footpath with a small toddler between them. The other family waved at them.

“I don’t see why not, but come straight back. No wandering off.”

“Okay.” She kissed each of her parents before scrambling off the blanket to introduce herself to the faery family.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rose and tugged her onto his lap. He growled in her ear, “You’re my best grown up,” and dropped kisses along her neck.

Rose giggled but let her head fall to the side to give him easier access. “Shut up. I was jus’ teasin.’”

“Always trying to get a rise out of me.” He pulled her more firmly onto his lap and ground himself against her bum. “But the secret’s out - it doesn’t take much.”

She patted the side of his face. “Was never much of a secret, dear. And behave yourself, we’re about to have company.”

The Doctor snapped his head toward a rapidly approaching Melody, who was dragging along her new friends, and pasted a bright smile on his face. “Hello.” He helped Rose up and then stood beside her with his hand extended. “I’m the Doctor and this is my wife, Rose. I see you’ve met our daughter, Melody.”

The other man, a lovely shade of lavender, returned the handshake. “It is a pleasure, sir. I am Oswald, King of Aessinth.”

“Oh!” Rose quickly curtsied, knowing from experience that it was better safe than sorry when it came to royalty.

“No need for that, my dear. We don’t stand on ceremony.” The Queen reached out a pale blue hand to Rose, who was struck by the shining beauty of the other woman’s sapphire hair and matching eyes. She stood straight and proud, though only reached Rose’s shoulder.

King Oswald, who stood at about the same height as Rose, introduced his family, “My wife, Queen Arabella, and our precious daughter, Princess Clarabelle.”

The toddler rounded out the look of her family with her pink candy floss complexion, magenta hair and sparkling emerald green eyes.

“It’s lovely to meet you. I was jus’ telling my husband that you have a beautiful planet.”

“Thank you. It’s not often we get off worlders anymore.”

“Really? But it’s so beautiful here. I’d think that you’d have loads of tourists.”

“We used to, but with the current political climate and our planet’s threat level at critical,” the king’s eyes narrowed slightly, “it is very unusual to see families visit at all.”

The Doctor and Rose looked nervously at each other and down to Melody. Rose pulled her closer to her side. The Doctor tugged at his ear. “Oh, er, I hadn’t realized. Not always the best at checking alerts before setting off on a trip.”

“You should really take your family and go.” The king eyes skittered around the clearing before whispering to the Doctor, “It’s not safe.”

Rose pointed to the princess. “Surely it can’t be that bad if you have your daughter out for a stroll?”

“It’s not by-” The king glanced over his shoulder, at a guard Rose hadn’t noticed before, and pasted on a false smile. “It is our duty to carry on normally for the sake of the people.”

When she examined the faces of the king and queen, she could clearly see signs of stress. “Yes, of course.” Nodding she began to clean up their picnic.

The Doctor picked up Melody into his arms. “Right, well, thank you for the warning. We wish you the best, but we’ll leave directly.”

The king and queen smiled brittlely and tightened their hold on their daughter’s hands. “It’s for the best, but please come back for a visit after all this passes.”

“We certainly will. Melody’s quiet enamored of it here.”

The Aessinthians smiled a genuine smile at that and looked in fondness at the outgoing little girl. “The girls can have a tea party.”

“Yes. Thanks again and it was lovely to meet you all.”

The Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand. “I’m so sorry. I checked that I had the right coordinates. I should have triple checked.”

“It’s fine, no harm done. We’ll just be more care-”

They had just approached the park’s exit when a blast rang out followed by a blood curdling scream. The Doctor knocked his family to the ground and threw himself on top of them while scanning the park.

Rose struggled to pull herself from under him.

“Rose, don’t look.”

“What happened?”

“The...the king…”

“Is he…?” Rose craned her neck to see.

The Doctor panted harshly in her ear. “Don’t look! We have to get Melody back to the TARDIS.”

“But what about the queen and Clarabelle? We have to help them.”

They heard a wail and a scream from the queen, “NO! NO, DON’T. PLEASE...SHE’S JUST A BABY. HELP! PLEASE!”

“Doctor, we have to help them.”

The Doctor’s eyes were wild. “Rose, please. I need you both safe.”

Rose firmly pressed her lips to the Doctor’s. “I’ll take Melody to the TARDIS, but see if there’s anything you can do for them.”

He sighed in relief and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Be careful though, yeah?”

“Always. You too.”

They shared another quick kiss, before Rose got to her feet with their daughter and briskly but cautiously made her way back to the TARDIS.

--

Rose was pacing back and forth in front of the time rotor and chewing on her thumbnail. She debated going out after the Doctor, but they had a rule about leaving Melody alone in the timeship. Not that she liked leaving the Doctor alone when she knew there were bad people with weapons around either.

Five more minutes. I’ll give him five more minutes an’ then I’m goin’ after him.

She’d made three more circuits of the console room when the Doctor burst through the door clutching Clarabelle. Rose rushed over to him and he handed her the toddler.

“What ha- Where’s the queen?”

The Doctor paused briefly in his race around the console, features hardening, before shaking his head and continuing dematerialization.

When they were safely in the vortex, he collapsed on the jumpseat. He had his head in his hands, elbows on his knees, and was breathing harshly. Rose sat down next to him, shifting Clarabelle in her arms so that she could rub the Doctor’s back. He didn’t often let people see him like this, didn’t often allow himself to break down like this, and Rose loved him even more that he trusted her enough with his heartsbreak.

“I...She…” He took a deep breath and met Rose’s gaze. “She begged me to take her and Clarabelle with us. I set off a smoke bomb. Got us all out of there and a bit of a head start. We were nearly here, when the rebels caught up to us. She gave herself up to them as a distraction so that I could get Clarabelle away.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Plan?”

“To rescue her.”

“Rose, she’s-” He glanced at Clarabelle. “I promised her, we’d take care of Clarabelle as if she was our own.”

Rose’s hand flew to her mouth and she clenched the young girl closer.

“I know it’s a big decision and we didn’t discuss it, but-”

“Of course, we will. There’s no question. I just...I can’t imagine. The poor darling, losing both her parents, and so young. How do we even…”

“We love her, like we did with Melody. That’s all we can do. All any parent can do.”

Rose nodded. “We’ll have to restrict our travel to planets that’ll be accepting of her species. Oh god, Mum!”

“I’ll make her a shimmer for when we visit Earth and other xenophobic planets.”

“A shimmer?”

“It’s a sort of cloaking device. It’s used all over the galaxy by aliens trying to integrate into populations different from their own.” He studied her. “When she’s wearing it, people’ll see only a human toddler with dark hair and doe eyes, round little cheeks and a button nose. Her true form’ll be hidden.”

“Mum’s gonna freak.”

“Why? She’s been hounding us for another grandkid for ages.”

Rose rested her head on his shoulder and chuckled. “I don’t think adopting a faery princess was exactly what she had in mind.”

“Jackie’ll love her.”

“She will.” Rose stood and turned to the Doctor. “C’mon. We should explain what we can to Melody and set up her old cot for Clarabelle. I think both girls will enjoy the company.”

He wrapped his arms around Rose and their newest daughter. “I love you, Rose, so much. I don’t tell you nearly enough.”

His words and the love she could see shining in his eyes, brought tears to her own. “It’s all the more special when you do.”

--

Melody and Clara were jumping up and down, completely unable to contain their excitement. “Hurry up, Nana!”

Jackie, the last one out of their little group, pulled the door to the flat closed behind her. “I’m coming. I’m coming. You girls ready?”

Melody and Clara nodded with huge smiles on their faces. “Yes!”

The girls had been begging their parents to go trick or treating for weeks, and they’d finally agreed to visit Jackie for Halloween.

The Doctor had on his usual brown striped pinstripe suit, but Rose in the spirit of the holiday got dressed up in the pink satin 50’s dress she’d worn back when they met the Wire. Rose snagged Clara’s hand and trick or treat basket before she had a chance to run off. “Melody, no runnin’. We’re going all together.”

Melody turned and tapped her foot. “But you guys are so slow.”

Rose raised an eyebrow at the 6-year old. “We don’t have to go at all.”

“Sorry, Mummy.” She sheepishly walked over and took Clara’s other hand.

Jackie glanced nervously at Clara who was without a shimmer for the first time on Earth, not counting the few times she’d been without in the safety of Jackie’s flat. “An’ it’s safe for her to be like that?”

The Doctor looked down at his little Aessithian princess in all her pink glory. “Safest night of the year for it. She looks like any other 4-year old in fancy dress.”

“Bloody good costume. She’s not gonna fly off is she?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes at his mother-in-law. “When have you ever seen Clara fly? Her wings are vestigial.”

“What?”

“Non-functioning. They just look beautiful. Don’t they darling?” He tickled Clara’s ribs causing her to giggle.

Melody dropped her sister’s hand and knocked on the first of Jackie’s neighbor’s doors. She was vibrating with excitement waiting for it to open.

A short, thin woman in 6-inch heels and leopard print, from head to toe, answered the door.

“Trick or Treat!” Melody called out and glanced meaningfully at Clara.

“Trick or treat!” Clara held up her little jack-o-lantern bucket.

“Oh, and who do we have here? Is that Melody Tyler from next door?”

“Yes, Mrs. Clarke. And Clara.”

Mrs. Clarke’s eyes widened as she looked at the tiny faery. “That’s a lovely costume, dear.”

“I’m a faery princess.”

“I can see that. And you, Melody? What are you dressed as?”

Melody glanced down at her outfit and up at Mrs. Clarke, giving her the look that her mother normally described as ‘dribbled on your shirt.’ “I’m dressed as a human.”

“Didn’t you want to dress up for Halloween?”

“But I am dressed up. I’m not normally a h-” Rose nudged her and cleared her throat. “I mean, I’m dressed like my favorite character from Harry Potter. Hermione. She’s also a human.” Melody gave the older woman her best smile and threw in a few eyelash flutters.

Oh, she learned that from Rose. The Doctor choked on his laugh and turned it into a cough.

Mrs. Clarke darted a glance from Melody to the Doctor and frowned. “Oh. Okay.”

Melody’s eyes brightened. “See my scarf? It’s in Gryffindor colors because Hermione is a Gryffindor.”

“I thought she was a human?”

“She is. Gryffindor is just the name of the House she’s in at her school.”

“Ah.” Mrs. Clarke smiled at that.

Melody ran her eyes up and down the neighbor. “Why’re you dressed like a Hydraxian marpletorp?”

The other woman’s smile drooped. “A what?”

Rose covered Melody’s mouth with her hand. “It’s just a character from a tv show she watches.”

She looked down at her outfit. “I’m supposed to be Peg Bundy.”

The Doctor nodded. “Oh, yes. Molto bene. You look just like...like, er, Meg, ah, Peg Bundy. Well done.” He turned to Rose. “Is Peg Bundy a Hydraxian marpletorp because really the resemblance is uncanny?”

“Doctor.”

Melody, still with Rose’s hand over her mouth, lifted her plastic bucket once again toward Mrs. Clarke, Clara following suit. The woman deposited chocolates in both girls’ pumpkins and closed the door mumbling to herself.

The girls turned to their mother. “Look, Mummy, chocolate. Trick or treating is brilliant!”

Rose rubbed the back of her neck and gave a small smile to both her daughters.

Jackie stood gaping at her daughter. “Blimey, Rose. An’ that was just the first one.”

“It’s gonna be a long night.” With a shake of her head, Rose took the hands of both girls and headed for the next door down the corridor.

--

By the time Melody was seven, Rose had stopped fretting everyday about the future. That's not to say that on rare occasions, when all was quiet and she was alone with her thoughts, she didn’t sometimes think about the fact that the future Doctor still hadn’t returned for Melody. But with two rambunctious children and a husband that rarely slept, those quiet times were far and few between. She didn't know if it was worse to think he wouldn't be coming back for her and the implications of that or to think that each day they spent with Melody was one day closer to the unknown end of their time together. She’d become very adept at taking each day as it came and making sure her family never felt anything but secure in her love for them.

Rose reached up to put another bauble on the tree.

“Rose, should you be doing that?”

She rolled her eyes at her mother. “I'm barely three months gone, I think I can handle decorating a Christmas tree.”

“Himself should really be helping you instead of just lazing about.”

The Doctor was spread out across the floor of Jackie’s lounge wearing a bejeweled plastic princess crown and coloring with Clarabelle.

“Mum, he’s keeping Clara occupied, which is a much harder job.”

Jackie crossed her arms looking unconvinced.

The Doctor winked at Rose and offered Clara a different colored crayon. Rose shook her head fondly and went back to decorating.

“Nana, why do you look different in all these pictures?”

Jackie crossed over to were Melody was seated at the table looking through photo albums of Rose’s childhood. “Wha’s that, sweetheart?”

She flipped through pictures of Rose and Jackie at different ages and pointed out the differences. “See, Nan, you don't look the same in these two pictures.”

Jackie smiled. “Well, in that one, see that’s your mummy I’m holding, it was right after she was born and I was only 20. But this other one was your mummy’s 18th birthday. I’m older in that photo, but I don’t look too different from now, do I? Still, I look good for bein’ a gran twice over.”

Jackie sucked her stomach in and Rose laughed. Jackie scolded, “Hush you. You’ll see one day.”

“Stop it. You still look great, Mum.”

The Doctor looked up from his coloring and grinned. “You’ve got good genes, Jackie.”

She shook her head at the Doctor, but was pleased all the same.

“But Mummy and Daddy still look the same from when I was little.”

“That’s because you see them everyday. And it doesn’t help that your father seems to only own one suit.”

“Oi! I own more than one suit. Is it my fault that I look smashing in this one?”

Jackie rolled her eyes.

The Doctor waggled his eyebrows at his wife. “Rose thinks it’s foxy.”

Jackie held up her hand. “Stop right there.”

Melody went back to studying the photographs before turning back to Jackie. “Nana, when was this one taken? I don't remember it.”

Melody handed Jackie the photo she’d taken of Rose and the Doctor at Christmas dinner right after he’d regenerated. They were leaning into each other both wearing paper crowns and had huge smiles on their faces.

A small smiled tugged at Jackie’s lips. It was obvious how in love they were even then. The idiots.

Jackie handed Melody back the photograph. “That was before you came along. Your mum and dad’s first Christmas together.”

“Second.”

Jackie frowned at the Doctor. “Second?”

“Yup, back when I was big ears and leather, I took Rose to Cardiff at Christmas to see Charles Dickens. So technically that was our first Christmas together.”

“Charles Dickens?” Jackie’s jaw dropped.

Rose called out from her spot by the tree. “He meant to take me to Venice. We only accidentally landed in Cardiff and it was pure luck that Charles Dickens was there at the same time. ‘Side’s, Doctor, it was Christmas Eve, so I'm not sure it counts.”

“Oi! Of course it counts. It was 12:05 Christmas morning when we got back to the TARDIS.”

Rose gave the Doctor a tongue touched smile. “If you say so.”

Melody tugged on Jackie’s arm, her brow creased with concentration. “What’s wrong now, sweetheart?”

“How many years ago was this? I’m seven and a half now, and you said I wasn’t born yet. So how long ago was it?”

Jackie thought for a second before replying, “Next week it’ll be exactly eight years ago.”

Melody held up the photo and looked between it and her mother now. Jackie leaned over Melody’s shoulder and did the same.

“Can I see that, Melly?”

The little girl handed Jackie the photo.

Jackie walked over to Rose and held it up right next to her. Her gasp had the Doctor scrambling up off the ground. “Rose. You-” Jackie couldn’t get the words out and instead waved the photo at her daughter.

Rose took the picture from her mother. “What’s wrong?”

“You haven’t aged a bit since you started traveling with this one.” She poked the Doctor in the chest.

“What now?” He leaned over Rose’s shoulder.

“Look at the picture of the both of you from eight years ago.”

“Okay?”

“Rose still looks exactly like she did when she was 20. She’s nearly 29 and she don’t look a day out of her teens. And don’t ‘good genes’ me this time.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed as he studied the picture. He looked up with panic in his eyes. “Medbay. Now.”

He slapped the photo back into Jackie’s hands.

“Mum, watch the girls for a mo.’”

Jackie watched wide-eyed as the Doctor pulled Rose toward the TARDIS.

--

“Say something.”

The Doctor could barely look her in the eye and when he did she was hit with a wave of guilt so strong he couldn't hide it over their bond. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why’re you sorry?”

“I never wanted you to…”

“What?”

“Losing everyone you love. You live as long as me, and-”

Rose hopped off the exam table and knelt in front of him. “I won’t be losing everyone I love.”

“Your mum-”

“I lost my dad when I was a baby. And as for Mum, yeah, I don’t want to think about it, but humans are generally expected to outlive their parents.”

“Not by millennia. And...the kids.”

Rose bit her lip and nodded. “That is gonna be hard. We’ll get through it together, though, yeah?”

His eyes still avoided her, but he nodded. “Yeah.”

“The girls are gonna want to go off at some point and have their own lives. Maybe…” She licked her lips. “...Maybe we could stretch out visits to get more time with them. And we’ll make every moment we do have with them count.”

Finally a small smile pulled at his lips. “Yeah. Yes.”

“It’s not all bad, right?”

The Doctor saw the worry on Rose’s face and he pulled her into his arms. “Course not. I get you for a lot longer than I ever let myself hope.”

“I promised you my forever, and now I get to keep it with yours.” She nuzzled into the crook of his neck. “You’re stuck with me.”

He giggled bubbled free. “Stuck with you, Rose Tyler, that’s not so bad.” He kissed her on the forehead. I love you. He stood and offered her a hand. “C’mon. Let’s get back to the girls.”

Rose chewed her thumbnail. “What am I gonna tell Mum?”

“She already knows or at least suspects. You saw her out there” He rubbed his jaw. “‘Sides it doesn’t matter what we say, I’m still gonna get a slap out of it.”