Yowzah Oneshot Collection (3)

170(G)

                   Human Nature

             AmaranteReikaChan

The light in the TARDIS was dimmed as it was on a regular basis when the ship wanted to simulate the illusion of night for the human companions travelling inside. They grew ever so confused if they didn’t know when they were supposed to be sleeping. The TARDIS learnt early on that when humans are tired and confused they can become rather irritable, which in turn led to her thief being irritable who made her irritable also.

Best to avoid the whole cycle and just tell them when to sleep in the first place.

The Doctor, however, didn’t adhere to the TARDIS’s allocated ‘nights’. Since he didn’t have to rest as often as his humans he simply went by his body’s instructions. When he felt tired, he slept. When he didn’t, he ran around the universe having adventures – day or night.

Tonight, like most other nights, his wife was on board.

River sat in the small chair beside the secondary control panel by the railing, reading a book – or as the Doctor had called it, ‘a pointless old dreary boring archaeologist’s plaything’.

“So,” the Doctor announced loudly as he came bounding up the stairs, returning from the kitchen where he’d been snacking on his beloved tea and jammy dodgers, “I was thinking!”

River raised her eyes to him momentarily before returning to read the next line. She replied absentmindedly, “Yes, you tend to do that dear.”

He huffed at her. “I wasn’t finished. I think we should go watch the meteor shower on Haedroxi. They say, that when the hundreds of comets pass by it lights up the sky in all colours of the rainbow! Red, yellow, purple, green! What do you say?”

He clapped his hands together with excitement. They both knew it was unquestionable she’d even decline, but he always asked anyway.

She smiled across at him.

“I say there are more than four colours in the rainbow,” she teased. He shot her an irritated look. River closed her book and dropped it on the seat as she stood. “Let’s go then.”

The Doctor beamed widely and began inputting the coordinates. He was roughly half way through the process when he became aware of River’s movements. She was pacing around him, walking from one side of him to another and watching him with an indiscernible gaze. He was unnerved. He’d learnt long ago that anything indiscernible concerning River usually meant trouble.

He turned around, his back against the console, enabling him to keep her in his line of sight at all times. She was visually inspecting him, he knew that much. He just couldn’t work out why. He gulped. The semi-circular motion she walked in reminded him of a cat circling a mouse, waiting to pounce.

Or a tiger hunting its prey.

Or Rosanna, the Saturnynian fish-mother.

Not promising.

“Just thinking,” River answered his unspoken question. She ceased circling and approached, coming to a halt a hair’s-breadth in front of him.

He stood up straighter.

He froze when River ran a finger down the buttons of his vest, watching the expression on her face warily. He was quite looking forward to this planet, and so he really didn’t want her to start going about distracting him. But, she had that look in her eye. That twinkle that he always associated with mischief.

“I much prefer your previous outfit Doctor.”

“Which one?”

River eyed him disbelievingly. “The last one you wore with this face, stupid.”