Yowzah Oneshot Collection (2)

93(G)

              Paper, China, Pearls

                        leiascully

"Doctor Song!"

River waited. The anthropology students had learned early that it was best to come to her, rather than expecting her to dash about the entire site. She was involved; she was authoritative; she did not dash. One of her student assistants came over, walking quickly, cradling something small. River took it gently from the student's cupped hands. It was a small stone tablet, cut and half-sanded, still a bit bumpy under her fingers. There were runes carved into it, ancient ones. Pan Leica was an old planet, and this was an old language. Very old indeed, and yet the message was surprisingly up to date.

"Can you decipher it?" the student asked eagerly.

"It's a bit of nothing," River said, running her hand over the runes. "A little note, perhaps, unfinished. Still, well done. I'll add it to the catalogue, shall I?"

"Yowza," the tablet said. The channels of the carving were smooth to the touch, carefully polished, and River couldn't help smiling to herself. Underneath were the coordinates in slightly rougher runes. This wasn't for the catalogue, and it wasn't from the Leicans. There was one person in the universe who would have left this message, and it was for her eyes only.

Another mystery, another breadcrumb. Another artifact to flummox ordinary minds. An invitation, left just for her, in the merry chase she and the Doctor led each other through time and space.

+ + + +

River sat at the table in the café, sipping at her cup of tea and taking the occasional nibble at one of the ginger scones from the tray. The little stone tablet lay on top of her diary. She set down her cup and traced the letters again with one fingertip. Flirting was ever so much more fun when it spanned the whole of time and space. The Pyramids, now that had been a real coup, and she couldn't wait for the Doctor to divine the true meaning of Stonehenge, not to mention the other notes she'd left around the universe. She cupped her hands around her teacup and gazed at the tablet. The "yowza" sent a little frisson up her spine every time - it was really rather sexy for something she'd picked up at work.

She had programmed the coordinates into the vortex manipulator and materialized in the middle of a busy London street. It had been raining - was still raining in a drizzly, misting, London sort of way, fog winding through the city as if it were trying to recreate past glories. The windows of the café had absolutely glowed against the grey light. She'd pushed her way through the crowd, which hadn't seemed at all startled to see her appear out of nowhere, and taken a table. It seemed like the Doctor's sort of place. For a Time Lord, he was awfully fond of domestic comforts. Tea and scones and a warm place out of the wet - that was the Doctor's way.

River was halfway through the scone before she caught the faint familiar noise of the TARDIS landing somewhere close. She put the scone down deliberately, brushing away a few crumbs. She swirled the tea in the pot and poured an extra cup, adding two cubes of sugar and a slice of lemon. The bell over the door jingled and she looked up to see the Doctor. He swaggered in, gazing at her with mischief in his eyes. She could almost hear the thought go through his head - Doctor Song, I presume - but then his expression softened.

"River," he said in a soft throaty voice.

"Hello, sweetie," she said.

He slouched into the chair across from you. "I see that you got my message."

"You left it in a rather conspicuous place," she told him. "Quite in my way. I could hardly have missed it."

"Well, you graffitied the oldest cliff in the universe," he muttered. "I think we're even."