New York was lovely this time of year. The four time travellers sit in Central Park, lazing in the sun and reading. It was a lovely break from the monsters and running, well deserved, Peyton reckons. She intently reads her first edition copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, brand new too. It was her favourite book as a kid.
"New York growled at my window," the Doctor begins reading aloud again. Amy had only just got him to shut up five minutes ago. "But I was ready for it. My stocking seams were straight and my lipstick was combat-ready. And I was packing cleavage that could fell an ox at twenty feet."
"Doctor, you're doing it again," Peyton warns, without looking up from her book, lying on her front on the picnic rug beside Rory who appears to be dozing.
"I'm reading!"
"Out loud," Amy sighs, sitting back to back with the Time Lord, reading glasses perched on her nose. "Please could you not?"
"There's something different about you, isn't there?" The Doctor says, turning around to gaze at her scrutinisingly.
"What's the book?" Rory asks, clearly not actually asleep and just taking in the serenity of the park.
"Melody Malone," the Doctor replies. "She's a private detective in old town New York."
"She's got ice in her heart and a kiss on her lips," Amy recites dramatically, a quote from the Doctor's narration mere minutes ago.
"And a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden," Peyton adds in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, you've both read it?"
"You read it. Aloud," Amy snaps. "And then went 'Yowzah!'."
"Y'know, only you could fancy someone in a book," Rory props himself up on an elbow.
"I'm just reading it," the Doctor says quickly, clearly not a fan of the sudden protest to his reading habits. "I just like the cover."
"Ooh," Amy turns to him excitedly. "Can we see the cover?"
"No, no, I'm busy," the Doctor stows the book away from Amy's sight hastily, only making Peyton even more intrigued as to what could be on the cover. She places her bookmark between the pages. "It's your hair." He leans forward to sniff her hair. "Is it your hair?"
"Oh, shut up, it's the glasses," Amy huffs. "I'm wearing reading glasses now, on my nose, see? There you go."
"I don't like them. They make your eyes look all liney, don't you reckon, Peyton?"
The blonde girl keeps her mouth shut, pretending to be very interesting in the binding of her novel.
The Doctor lifts up Amy's glasses before adjusting them awkwardly. "No, actually, sorry. They're fine, carry on."
"Okay, I'm gonna get us more coffee," Rory says very quickly, hoping to escape this awkward situation. He gets to his feet. "Who wants more coffee? Me too, I'll go!"
"Rory?" Amy calls just as her husband turns to leave. The Doctor buries himself back in his book. "Do I have noticeable lines on my eyes now?"
"Yes," the Doctor says.
"No," Rory counters, still staring straight ahead.
"You didn't look."
"I noticed them earlier," Rory slowly turns back to her, stiffly. "Didn't notice them. I specifically remember not noticing them."
Peyton holds back a chuckle.
"You walk among fire pits, centurion," Amy glares over at him.
"Do I, have to come over there?" He asks with a smirk, walking slowly back to their picnic spot on the rock.
YOU ARE READING
The Time Lord's Apprentice
Fanfiction"But, you're impossible!" "Yeah, and the world is ending, I don't think now is the time." Peyton is an orphan, taken from her mother as an infant by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. She is raised separately from other children because she is spec...
