Universal Displacement

Doctor Recommendation: Live A Little

The sky was dim and purple, with blazing stars and bright light from three large moons that spread across the horizon. If this was day, Sutton wondered if night was even something that existed here. Various alien races mingled the streets in what looked to be a downtown district center. The architecture was a bit grandiose, more so than the budget of the BBC show could ever have allotted, and the buildings almost shined iridescently. She'd changed into some normal clothes for the first time in too long, and was sitting with the Doctor and Rose in a small alien cafe, sipping on something that reminded her of tea. The Doctor had suggested it as the safest choice, and she had taken him up on it, not feeling particularly daring at the moment.

"So what you're telling me," the Doctor said, "is that you have the ability to alter the history or reality of a universe based solely on whatever you think is nifty. Or what other humans, from your universe, could believe."

Sutton snuck another sip of her drink before answering. The bowl-shaped cup was starting to cool already.

"That's about it," she acknowledged. "But, um, I don't think I can manipulate free will, if it makes you feel better."

One of the Doctor's brows rose high on his forehead.

"And how did you manage to learn that?"
She gave a sheepish grin and shrugged.

"I might have tried to get the librarian at Hogwarts to let me stay after the library closed. It didn't work."

Rose hadn't touched her own drink. She still eyed Sutton with a borderline suspicion.

"You tried to control her?"

"No, I-I mean, it didn't work! I just wanted to read for longer, it wasn't like I was trying to-to change her or make her do...do-"

A heat consumed her face as she dropped her head to stare into her cup.

"It was stupid," she muttered. Rose continued to look offended. "And I guess I shouldn't have done it. Not that she was particularly nice anyway."

"Wha' if she tried to do that to us?"

"I won't!"

The Doctor didn't seem to be giving the conversation his undivided attention. He was tapping his fingers on the table and staring out into the crowds of beings distractedly. There was a depth to his distraction, as if something were troubling him, or he was thinking hard about something. Sutton wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Docta'!"

"Right, right. She'll be fine, won't you Sutton?"

"I've been trying to not change anything when I end up places."

"See? She'll behave; everything's brilliant."

He hopped up then, his hands diving for his pockets as he spun on his heel.

"What'ya say we check things out a bit, eh?"

Sutton and Rose both stood with glances at each other. In that moment both shared the sentimentality that the Doctor was brushing off the conversation a bit.

They both followed the Doctor into the city. In contrast to the permanently dark sky, the local residents of the planet dressed in bright pastels. There were predominantly blues and reds and purples which all appeared almost washed out or watercolor. The local beings themselves were humanoid, Sutton decided, although they were much taller than the average human, and they did not have human facial features. They were more lizard-like than anything. And she'd never met a human with three eyes.

Having no valid currency for this planet, Sutton contented herself with window shopping. As per usual, the Doctor had an encyclopedia's worth of knowledge of the planet and freely explained the history, cultural norms, and what the future would hold for them. Sutton was just proud of herself for not gawking like she had back on Tatooine.