| Date: 19 December 2007
Characters: The Ninth Doctor, Estelle Cole Location: outside Link to IJ: thread #14919 |
 He hadn't left this place yet and some part of him regretted it while the longer part was looking on it as a vacation. Maybe his pysche had created this place to prevent it's fracturing. He almost liked that idea, except it meant that some people he'd met weren't real.
On the other hand, it meant that some of the people he'd met weren't real. The Doctor whistled absently, juggling apples as he headed out of the hotel and onto the street. |
 Estelle had gone back to the park she'd found to pick some of the flowers. She paused and watched the man juggling with a smile.
"You're very good," she said. |
| "Don't know many jugglers, do you?" he said with a warm smile. |
| She shook her head.
"Only one who performed at a local fair," she said. |
| "I'm not that good," he assured her, "I can teach you." |
| "Oh yes please!" she exclaimed, looking for someplace to put her flowers. |
| He waited until she had before tossing her a piece of fruit. |
| She caught it without bobbling, switched it to one hand and got ready to catch another. |
| He tossed her the next one, carefully beginning to explain the mechanics. |
| She listened just as carefully, tossing the apples straight up experimentally. |
| "Try not to concuss anyone." |
| "That would be the tricky part now, wouldn't it?" she asked, stepping back and away from him. She took a breath and looked like she was about to start when she stopped.
"You don't intend to eat these, do you?" |
| "Not after you bruise 'em all up," The Doctor promised. |
| Estelle laughed, eyes sparkling.
"That's exactly what I was about to suggest. OK, here it goes." Another breath and she tossed the apples. She actually managed a loop and a half before dropping one of them. |
| The Doctor scooped it up and handed it back to her. |
| "Thank you," she said, trying again. "How long did it take you to learn this?" |
| "About 20 minutes when I was nine." |
| "Oh."
She tried again, doing better but still dropping. "Twenty minutes, huh?" There was a determined expression on her face. |
| "Young muscles." |
| "And how many apples were you juggling?" |
| "Wasn't apples. It was time spheres. And 8." |
| "Show off," she said with a grin; she kept trying. "What's a time sphere?" |
| "A small isolated galaxy stopped in time. Like a snowglobe." |
| This time she dropped an apple because she was too busy staring at him. |
| "...What?" |
| "A whole galaxy in a snowglobe?" she squeaked excitedly before chasing after the apple that was rolling away. |
| "Well. Not really a snowglobe." |
| "But really a galaxy?" |
| "Well, yeah," he looked confused. |
| She beamed at him.
"Are you an alien?" |
| "Depends on where we aren't, don't it?" |
| She thought about that, nodding in assent.
"Are you from Earth?" she asked, rewording the question. |
| "Nope. Guessing you are then? When?" |
| "I am," she said as she started juggling -- or attempting to -- again. "1941. Cardiff." |
| "Cardiff?" |
| She managed to not drop the apples this time.
"Yes?" |
| "I'm sorry." |
| She frowned, partly in concentration, partly at his response.
"Why are you sorry?" |
| "Cardiff," he said sympathetically. |
| "I quite like Cardiff!" she exclaimed and tossed an apple gently at him. "It's a lovely town!" |
| He caught it, "How are your eyes?" |
| "My eyesight is fine!" She tossed the other apple at him, grinning. "I even have the government tests to prove it!" |
| "They test girls for that?" |
| "They test girls who work for the war department for that!" |
| "Why?" |
| "... to make sure our eyesight is OK?" she said, reaching for one of the apples she'd just tossed at him. "Well, and I did express an interest in learning how to fly." |
| "Why?" |
| "Why what?" Without thinking, she bit in to the apple, crunching happily. |
| "Why'd you want to fly?" |
| "To do my part!" she said earnestly. "There's a rumor that they're going to organize a women's auxiliary squadron to do ferrying. Someone said they wanted trained pilots, but I figure they can use all the help they can get, right?" |
| "By not having to train people?" |
| "What?" she asked confusedly. |
| "What are you actually doing?" |
| "I work as a secretary in the Cardiff war office." |
| "Why not London?" |
| "I wanted to go! My parents wouldn't let me." |
| "Because Cardiff is so much safer?" |
| "Well, relatively," she said with a small smile. |
| He raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't Cardiff being bombed too?" |
| "Not yet," she said, paling. |
| He frowned, "Oh." |
| She took a moment to let that sink in before a determined expression crossed her face. |
| He raised an eyebrow at her. |
| "They won't win," she said simply. |
| "How do you know?" he asked with interest. |
| "I don't," she admitted. "But have you met us? We're a stubborn lot." |
| "Humans or the English?" |
| "Well, the English specifically." |
| "You're tough." |
| "Yes, we are," she said with a nod. |
| "Are you worried?" |
| "You'd have to be a head-case not to be worried," she said. |
| "Head-case bein' the technical term there." |
| "Exactly," she said with a grin. |
| He raised an eyebrow, "You're a bit odd, aren't you?" |
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