Tales from the TARDIS • Doctor Who

ELEVEN

ONESHOT ELEVEN
❝The Room Time Forgot❞

[Doctor x Rose Undertones & Whouffaldi!Friendship]

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"Is it alright if I stay the night?" she asked as her hands brushed the metallic surface of the console. Clara had been whisked away by the Doctor on another of his wacky adventures. He had taken her to the luscious but deadly jungles of Nuevo Oceania; they had tackled poisonous flora and just as deadly fauna, risking everything just to steal a bar of gold that if found by wrong hands would start the destruction of the third bountiful and glorious Human empire. Luckily, they had found it in time and managed to evade death by the luscious locale surroundings only to return to the TARDIS, the Doctor planning to return her all hot and exhausted just in time for Clara to teach her tenth grade English class.

Beside her, the Doctor was carried away, pressing buttons so they could begin the sequence to return Clara a minute after she left. The Doctor hesitated, looking over to his companion, hands frozen over the lever that would send them whirring back to the twenty-first century Earth. "Why do you want to stay?" the Doctor asked, grey eyebrows quirking up with curiosity.

"Well I am exhausted and I can't go back and teach looking like I just spent a day in a deadly jungle!"

"Well you did just spend a day in a deadly jungle," the Doctor pointed out, hand gripping the lever but never pulling it. Softening his gaze, the Doctor nodded, "You may. Showers are down that corridor, take two lefts, a right, and a left and go through the big doors. The laundry and wardrobe are another left and there should be a spare bedroom down the stairs and take a right."

"Okay," Clara nodded, feigning confidence in remembering the directions which had already struggled to cling to her memory. She sent the Doctor a small smile before taking off down the corridor in search for the showers. She passed silver walls with multicolour doors, each leading off into various eclectic rooms, many looked unused. The showers were easy to find, big blue doors that slid open when she walked past to reveal an extravagant washroom that would suit a mansion or Buckingham palace. "Wow," Clara's voice echoed through the steamy white room. Showerheads glistened in the soft white lights; pristine water cascaded from water features and her nose caught the soft scent of soap and shampoo. She felt so out of place, damp hair clinging onto her sweaty forehead and makeup clumped and running from the intensity of her jungle exploration. She walked further into the room, stopping in front of no shower in particular before shedding her clothing that stuck to her sweaty skin and turning on the shower, warm steam rising as the sound of rushing water filled the room. With one step into the cascade, Clara was overcome with tranquillity; all her worries and fears vanished down the drain, anxiety about leading a double life, exploring all of time and space for days on end halfway through lunch, expecting to return to reality and finish conversations that she hadn't had for days yet to everyone else she hardly ever vanished for more than five minutes.

After treating herself to a luxurious shower filled with exotic shampoo and towels softer than anything she had felt before, Clara worked her way to the wardrobe. She was expecting a closet but was met with a room even larger than the shower room, clothes from every corner of space and time, filled racks and piled onto the floor. Her brown eyes widened at the site, hands gripping her towel that was wrapped around her body as she began her search for something decent. She passed multi coloured scarves, suits she remembered from his past regenerations and others that would make an historian jealous. She reached a section dedicated to pyjamas and after picking her way through she found a nightie and slippers. Happy with her choice, Clara got changed and spent her leisurely time wandering through the room on her way out. By the time she got out her mind was clear and empty of the directions the Doctor had given her earlier. Eyes growing wide once more, Clara surveyed her choices of direction her gut instinct decided on the stairs but instead of descending, she ascended, climbing flight upon flight until she reached a silver corridor lined with generic doors coated in blue. She had no idea if she was going in the right or wrong direction but Clara didn't worry too much, she sent a silent plea to the TARDIS, wishing that she would send Clara in the right direction.