Doctor Who | On Holiday

[eponymous_rose]

Title: On Holiday
Author: eponymous_rose
Word Count: 400
Rating: G
Characters: Tenth Doctor



The Doctor wondered - he really, really wondered - what it was that made mothers lose their children in his general vicinity.

"Hey," he said in what he hoped was an appropriately soothing voice, and offered the sniffling boy a handkerchief; the kid stared at the offering as though it were some strange alien creature. "Lose your Mum? We'll just wait here for her, then, shall we?"

It was easy enough to strike up a conversation after that: the boy's name was I-don't-talk-to-strangers, and he was this many years old, and could say the alphabet backwards if he started with 'C'.

The Doctor introduced himself, bragged about being able to say the alphabet backwards all the way from 'D', and eventually, in the meandering way of children's conversations the universe over, the topic came round to employment.

"But what do you do all day?" The boy's eyes were suddenly wide. "You don't give shots, do you?"

The Doctor pulled a face. "Of course not. Not that kind of Doctor. I-" He paused, considering. "Well, I suppose I mostly take people on holiday."

"On holiday," the boy said, dubiously.

"Yes," the Doctor bristled. "On holiday. We go all sorts of places-"

"I've been to France," the boy said, as though that settled that.

"And when do you go on holiday?" said a voice behind him, and the boy brightened instantly at the sight of a smiling woman the Doctor assumed was his mum. "Thanks for watching him."

There was a strange, knowing look in the woman's eyes, a look of- well, of familiarity more than anything. She didn't seem at all worried at having left her son in the hands of a madman for the past half-hour, in any case.

"Er," said the Doctor. "My pleasure."

The woman smiled again, ruffled her son's hair, then reached out and touched his arm; the Doctor took a step back, grinning nervously. "Well," she said. "It's nice to know there are still a few kind strangers this side of the universe."

"Ah," said the Doctor, wittily, but the woman and her son had already melted back into the crowd. Shrugging, he started off down the road again, already rifling through his pockets for the TARDIS key, and after a moment realised he was grinning.

That was the funny thing about time travel, after all, running into best friends you hadn't met.

Comments

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

yes!