Mirrors - AU RP for alainn_aislinn

[thecricketer]

The Doctor is fairly certain he is going to crash.

He is, honestly, more worried about his ship than himself, and desperately tries to steady her as they rip through Time and Space and something else entirely, something he can't quite discern. Her distress pricks his mind like needles, and his fingers are going numb on the controls.

Eventually he realises that he's done all he can, and simply holds on.

When he opens his eyes he's still more or less upright, and those his swiftly beating hearts echo the state of the TARDIS, she is undamaged. With a quiet sight of relief he straightens, and crosses over to the doors.

He isn't sure where he is, and there's really only one way to find out.

Well. One proper way.

Comments

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

His eyes widened slightly, as if he was bewildered by the very idea.

"I...for me, yes. Never mind that she's more than just a ship, I couldn't just..."

((Ugh. That...that's not fair, strawberries aren't meant to cause pain. *snuggles you lots*))

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

Another tilt of her head. "Couldn't what?"


((NO. It's not. *winces* At least they don't leave a bad taste in your mouth when you throw them up? I feel human enough to walk home now, but not to work out. *staples you to the internetz*))

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

A shift on the stool, a clasping of his hands.

"...Stay. In one place. Not for... Not if I couldn't leave."

((...I suppose that is a good side? *hugs you* I hope you feel more and more human and the ickiness goes away. *is stapled*))

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"Why?"

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

A slight tilt of his head as he considered how to explain, brow furrowing faintly.

"I...I've been travelling for a very long time. It's very much a part of who I am."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"And you cannot travel without your ship?" She frowned some, fingers dragging over the wood of the bar.

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

A rather long pause, which he filled with another small sip of his drink. The liquid barely seemed to have diminished since it was served.

"I cannot leave Earth."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"There is a great deal of Earth to see," she pointed out.

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"And I never tire of it," he said earnestly. "I simply...it would be strange, staying on one planet, and..." A slightly lowered voice, a more deeply furrowed brow.

"I do not like the feeling of being trapped, no matter how spacious or wondrous the cage."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

She frowned more at that, understanding the feeling.

"Perhaps your ship is fine."

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

A faint smile, rather grim, but grateful and hopeful.

"Thank you. I...very much hope she is."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"And if she is, you will go?"

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"Not immediately," he said softly.

"Well, this is an entirely different universe, who knows what could be different..."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"But eventually. You will go."

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"Everyone leaves, eventually," he said quietly, gaze sweeping his hands, still folded neatly on the bartop.

"...You could come with me, for a while."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

She stared at him, then shook her head. "I can't leave. I wouldn't survive."

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"Mine has," he said softly, leaning forward slightly. "Not...with me, but...travelling. She's managed."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"You said she had...You said Byron was...alive." Her voice was tight.

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"...Yes, but he doesn't always..." He sighed, running fingers through his hair.

"They've found other methods. As could we."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"What methods?" She seemed both genuinely confused and curious.

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

"...I know there are artist colonies." A hand through his hair, the rest of his fingers tapping the wood.

"It wouldn't be hard to stop at one. And you could come back here, of course...minutes before you left, if you liked." All right, perhaps he was exaggerating how precise he could be, but he could probably get her back within a few days of the date.

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

She watched him, suspicious of some sort of trap in what he was offering. "Why would you offer this?"

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

He leaned forward, settling his elbows on the bar. Sincerity was the best he could offer, really.

"I'm very curious about you. I want to know how you're different from the Asilinn I know, how you're the same.

"I've seen...I've seen how eager she is to discover, to learn, to know. I would like to offer you the same because I...rather like you as well. I'd like to see you smile again."

[alainn-aislinn.livejournal.com]

"I would like to see....this sort of thing, I suppose." She tried to be diffident about it, but there was an intrigued look in her eyes.

"Has she ever taken you anywhere?"

[thecricketer.livejournal.com]

His eyes widened slightly.

"Take me?" After a moment his lips quirked, realising his surprise was, in fact, rather amusing.

"She's offered to show me her home." A brightness in his eyes, endlessly curious, deeply touched, as he remembered.

"Things...keeping coming up. He's been there, if I recall." Such an odd feeling, to be even faintly jealous of yourself.