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eponymous_roseTitle: Higher Education (3/5)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eponymous_rose
Word Count: 864
Rating: G
Characters: Fifth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa, Adric (this chapter)
Summary: The spaces between, the things the Doctor can do that nobody ever questions - the easier lessons learned amid the adventures and the danger.
(Sometimes he dreamed of the years, the centuries that had come before, the times he'd run and would have kept running until somebody pulled him back.
And sometimes nobody pulled him back because he never got around to running in the first place.)
"No, I mean it!" Tegan protested. "What do you do for fun?"
The Doctor planted both hands on the TARDIS console, glanced up at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Apart from cricket, you mean."
"Cricket doesn't count," Tegan said, and with a great effort the Doctor refrained from replying to that particular remark. "I mean, it's getting downright weird, isn't it? You're just dashing around the universe, saving things and playing cricket. You've got to have some sort of hobby!"
He sighed and checked the multiparticular wide-range scanner - which was, he realised after a moment, still on the blink, just as it had been the last twelve times he'd checked. "Just how bored are you, Tegan?"
She cleared her throat, straightened, then shrugged. "Bored enough that I'm pestering you for a change."
"Ah," said the Doctor, and flipped a switch back and forth, mostly out of curiosity. Nothing happened. "That explains it."
"I mean, Nyssa's busy doing something with a bunch of wiring that looked overly complicated, and Adric's-" Tegan shuddered theatrically. "I think Adric's doing sums again. For fun."
"And so you thought I wouldn't be busy," the Doctor guessed.
"Well, you aren't, are you?" Tegan raised a hand before he could protest. "Come on, Doctor, you've been fiddling with that multiparticular wide-range scanner for ages."
The Doctor gaped at her. "With that what?"
Tegan cleared her throat and glared at him. "I'm tempted to get insulted over that expression you've got on." She smirked. "I've been reading the manual."
"You have been bored," the Doctor noted, and flipped the switch again for good measure. "Well, I suppose we've had enough of a break, lately. Gather up Nyssa and Adric and we'll figure out where to go next."
"You'll let me pick?" said Tegan. "Even if it's all just a cunning deception to get you to find a new hobby?"
"Within reason," the Doctor hastened to add, but, judging by the grin that spread across Tegan's face, reasonability was about to become something of a shaky concept.
Twenty minutes later, relative time, they were participating in a cooking contest on Ranabilinoth, the planet of delicacies and gourmet fare.
Centuries under his belt, and the Doctor had never really managed to teach himself to cook - it had always seemed like the sort of thing other people did, people who stayed at home and ate their veggies and became Lord President. It wasn't him, not at all.
"Besides," he told the Kharxax Whisk as it autonomously whipped a bowl of ingredients into a froth, amid murmurs from the audience. "Why bother if you've got a perfectly good food machine on hand? Much less time-consuming. Much less confusing."
"Doctor," muttered Adric, on his left, "is mine supposed to be smoking?"
Nyssa peered over his shoulder at the notes he'd scribbled on the tablecloth. "It should say 'light and fluffy', Adric, not 'light on fire'."
Adric scowled at the messy handwriting. "Oh," he said.
Tegan, the Doctor noticed with a sort of vindictive glee, wasn't faring much better - her Lapadallian Pancakes were coming out blue instead of red, and the polka-dots were hardly what anyone might call evenly spaced. She caught his furtive glance and sent it flying back to him with added venom.
He smiled, retrieving his Pan-Galactic muffins from the oven. "What do you say, Tegan? No more of this trying to convince me to attempt new things?"
Her reply, which would undoubtedly have included instructions more detailed than the reams of recipes on the table before him, was cut short by the arrival of the Judges, a race of creatures with taste buds so sensitive that they were, as the saying went, an intergalactic cooking show phenomenon waiting to happen. They were tall, muscular creatures, with enough teeth that a whole chicken - tastefully prepared - could act as a light appetiser.
One leaned in to the Doctor. Its breath was vaguely reminiscent of chocolate sauce. "Are these your muffins?" it growled.
"Yes," said the Doctor, in a voice that absolutely did not squeak.
"They smell divine," said the Judge, and the audience cooed appreciatively.
"Well, uh," said the Doctor. "I'm not really-"
"I'll tell you what," the Judge said, with a conspiratorial wink that was about as subtle as a major asteroid impact. "If you're ever stuck for a job, come see us. We could use a few experts around the place." With that, and another thoroughly inconspicuous wink, the Judge wandered off, pausing only to cast a disparaging glance at Adric and Nyssa, who were now attempting to beat out the flaming remains of Adric's treacle pudding.
Tegan glanced at the Doctor. The Doctor glanced at Tegan.
He smiled.
Tegan sighed and dumped her azure pancakes into the bin. "All right, Doctor. There's no need for you to get insufferable over it."
The Doctor felt his grin widen. "No hard feelings, eh, Tegan? Have a muffin."
Author:
eponymous_roseWord Count: 864
Rating: G
Characters: Fifth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa, Adric (this chapter)
Summary: The spaces between, the things the Doctor can do that nobody ever questions - the easier lessons learned amid the adventures and the danger.
(Sometimes he dreamed of the years, the centuries that had come before, the times he'd run and would have kept running until somebody pulled him back.
And sometimes nobody pulled him back because he never got around to running in the first place.)
"No, I mean it!" Tegan protested. "What do you do for fun?"
The Doctor planted both hands on the TARDIS console, glanced up at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Apart from cricket, you mean."
"Cricket doesn't count," Tegan said, and with a great effort the Doctor refrained from replying to that particular remark. "I mean, it's getting downright weird, isn't it? You're just dashing around the universe, saving things and playing cricket. You've got to have some sort of hobby!"
He sighed and checked the multiparticular wide-range scanner - which was, he realised after a moment, still on the blink, just as it had been the last twelve times he'd checked. "Just how bored are you, Tegan?"
She cleared her throat, straightened, then shrugged. "Bored enough that I'm pestering you for a change."
"Ah," said the Doctor, and flipped a switch back and forth, mostly out of curiosity. Nothing happened. "That explains it."
"I mean, Nyssa's busy doing something with a bunch of wiring that looked overly complicated, and Adric's-" Tegan shuddered theatrically. "I think Adric's doing sums again. For fun."
"And so you thought I wouldn't be busy," the Doctor guessed.
"Well, you aren't, are you?" Tegan raised a hand before he could protest. "Come on, Doctor, you've been fiddling with that multiparticular wide-range scanner for ages."
The Doctor gaped at her. "With that what?"
Tegan cleared her throat and glared at him. "I'm tempted to get insulted over that expression you've got on." She smirked. "I've been reading the manual."
"You have been bored," the Doctor noted, and flipped the switch again for good measure. "Well, I suppose we've had enough of a break, lately. Gather up Nyssa and Adric and we'll figure out where to go next."
"You'll let me pick?" said Tegan. "Even if it's all just a cunning deception to get you to find a new hobby?"
"Within reason," the Doctor hastened to add, but, judging by the grin that spread across Tegan's face, reasonability was about to become something of a shaky concept.
Twenty minutes later, relative time, they were participating in a cooking contest on Ranabilinoth, the planet of delicacies and gourmet fare.
Centuries under his belt, and the Doctor had never really managed to teach himself to cook - it had always seemed like the sort of thing other people did, people who stayed at home and ate their veggies and became Lord President. It wasn't him, not at all.
"Besides," he told the Kharxax Whisk as it autonomously whipped a bowl of ingredients into a froth, amid murmurs from the audience. "Why bother if you've got a perfectly good food machine on hand? Much less time-consuming. Much less confusing."
"Doctor," muttered Adric, on his left, "is mine supposed to be smoking?"
Nyssa peered over his shoulder at the notes he'd scribbled on the tablecloth. "It should say 'light and fluffy', Adric, not 'light on fire'."
Adric scowled at the messy handwriting. "Oh," he said.
Tegan, the Doctor noticed with a sort of vindictive glee, wasn't faring much better - her Lapadallian Pancakes were coming out blue instead of red, and the polka-dots were hardly what anyone might call evenly spaced. She caught his furtive glance and sent it flying back to him with added venom.
He smiled, retrieving his Pan-Galactic muffins from the oven. "What do you say, Tegan? No more of this trying to convince me to attempt new things?"
Her reply, which would undoubtedly have included instructions more detailed than the reams of recipes on the table before him, was cut short by the arrival of the Judges, a race of creatures with taste buds so sensitive that they were, as the saying went, an intergalactic cooking show phenomenon waiting to happen. They were tall, muscular creatures, with enough teeth that a whole chicken - tastefully prepared - could act as a light appetiser.
One leaned in to the Doctor. Its breath was vaguely reminiscent of chocolate sauce. "Are these your muffins?" it growled.
"Yes," said the Doctor, in a voice that absolutely did not squeak.
"They smell divine," said the Judge, and the audience cooed appreciatively.
"Well, uh," said the Doctor. "I'm not really-"
"I'll tell you what," the Judge said, with a conspiratorial wink that was about as subtle as a major asteroid impact. "If you're ever stuck for a job, come see us. We could use a few experts around the place." With that, and another thoroughly inconspicuous wink, the Judge wandered off, pausing only to cast a disparaging glance at Adric and Nyssa, who were now attempting to beat out the flaming remains of Adric's treacle pudding.
Tegan glanced at the Doctor. The Doctor glanced at Tegan.
He smiled.
Tegan sighed and dumped her azure pancakes into the bin. "All right, Doctor. There's no need for you to get insufferable over it."
The Doctor felt his grin widen. "No hard feelings, eh, Tegan? Have a muffin."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 08:43 am (UTC)also:
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-10 06:10 am (UTC)Thanks! :D
no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 11:21 am (UTC)By the way, pudding on fire? That reminds me of the time that I tried to make a microwave melt chocolate and then asked the teacher: "Is that supposed to happen?" when it started producing smoke. I suck at cooking. xD
no subject
Date: 2008-03-07 01:19 pm (UTC)Now I feel like baking something.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-08 10:44 am (UTC)