rude_not_ginger | Christmas Open Thread

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Christmas Open Thread

•deck•the•halls•

• THE DOCTOR LEARNS THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS •

~•~

Christmas Eve. 2009.

The Doctor loved Christmas! Back when he was a wee Time Lord, the first place he ever landed was London on Christmas Eve. He promised himself he'd never miss another Christmas ever, but that promise went into the same pile as "Lose weight" and "Regenerate a better hairline" and "Stop leaving companions in other universes". But the Doctor had never quite gotten the hang of New Years'. (He once spent several hours commiserating on the similarity between the confusing nature of New Years and Thursdays with one Arthur Dent, who will sadly not be appearing in this piece of narrative. -editor)

But! Through all his travels in space and time, he still hadn't quite figured out what Christmas was for exactly. Except as a yearly excuse for turkey, too much wine, and plum pudding (all of which the Doctor approved of). This year, though, as he strode the streets on this wonderful Christmas Eve, the Doctor decided he would figure out exactly what Christmas was all about.

This may or may not have included use of a intergalactic manipulative detector and a full pack of radio stellar isotopian crystals. Oh, and a cup of hot chocolate. In a festively-coloured cup.

There was a lovely light snow, and the Doctor grinned madly at the stars. Christmas. This year, he was going to figure out what it was all about.

~•~

OOC: Open thread, feel free to tag in as if your character is a passerby or as if your character is a long-standing companion! I'll be working on this thread up until the New Year, most likely! Everyone from any verse (or no verse!) is welcome, just let me know if you'd prefer it from a community or specific universe! And, for this thread, threadhopping is totally welcome!

Happy Holidays, everyone! &hearts

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"Bit like riding a bike," the Doctor said. He paused. Wrong vernacular for her time. "Bit like retransmitting a subspacial conductor. It'll come back to you once you start."

He slid backwards easily, having never really lost his ability to skate (except embarrassingly briefly during his sixth incarnation while he was trying to show off for Evelyn).

"You can do it."

"What?"

The Doctor spun around, running back to Jo and looking where she did. He saw nothing at all where she was looking.

"It might," he said, his voice concerned. "Might be trying to lure you away. What does it look like?"

"Oh, it's not the name I'm worried about. It's the spirit. Every person, even the Grinchiest of Grinches, they feel it. And that!" He held up the device again. "Is what I'm going to find. Might take me all night, but that's all right."

"That's easy for you to say," she said. She was starting to gain some speed now, only stumbling a couple dozen times and feeling ridiculous for it.

Still, at keast they were getting closer to the tree, even if it was slow-going.

The Doctor scratched behind the dog's ear. "You hear that? I'm not grown up enough to take care of you. She's so mean." He grinned back to Dorothy, then straightened, focusing again on the device in his hand.

"So! We'll have Rudolph here lead the way, shall we?"

"No, no, no, my fault. So sorry!" Alan reached out to steady the hapless pedestrian he had nearly run down. "Spend so much time here avoiding oncoming motor vehicles I completely forget about the walkers. You all right?"

He bent over, more wind taken out of him from the abruptness of the interruption than the run itself. When he looked up, the stranger was still somewhat preoccupied with his PDA.

"Need some help?" he asked. Being helpful was the least he could do.

"Whatever you say," Romana replied with a half-hearted shrug of her shoulders. While she did find the scenery to be pleasing to the eye with the snow, it still didn't damper her own view on this holiday. Not to mention the last time they spent this holiday together it hardly ended on a good note.

She took a few steps ahead of him, gazing around, as if to study everything before them. Romana did not even look back to him when she added, "You'll overheat the crystals if you keep on pressing that button."

Edited 2009-12-22 02:55 (UTC)

Dorothy made an effort to fake an offended look. "I'm not mean! I don't have a mean bone in my body. You better watch what you say about me, Stringbean, or you'll be the one sleeping in the doghouse tonight."

But she could never stay mad at him for too long. Especially when it was fake. She leaned over and peered at the weird device.

"Depends. What exactly is that and what's it leading towards?"

"The spirit? I.. I cannot honestly answer that. Maybe people affect each other?" he replied, sipping from his cup. He had never seen it like that. Marco was an angel, a pure Christian, so for him, it was about Jesus.

But he knew it was not only about that.

"Right" Brigitta nods wryly; following him with a faint bounce in her step- though she still keeps fixing the snow below with a beady kind of intensity; half expecting it to turn into a giant-frog thing of something. She still hasn't quite got the hang of Christmas spirit.

...Her eyes do widen at the rink though; yay sports! "Can we go on that? It looks fun."

She shook her head. "I know he's not really there." So she wasn't going to let it lure her away. Besides, he wasn't doing anything, just standing there and looking at her.

"He looks like someone I used to know," she replied. "What does it look like to you?" Maybe knowing that would tell her something, although she wasn't sure what.

She took a step closer to him, reaching a hand out, wandering, if she touched him, whether her hand would go straight through him.

Lucy decided not to mention that she did have one Christmas like that, because it had been with Harry and thinking about him hurt too much. She pushed her hair away from her face--new hair, to go along with a new Lucy--to hide her momentary discomfort. "When has that ever been Christmas for you?"

It would be a very cold day on Venus before the Doctor ever truly thought Donna was stupid, of course. But some habits died hard, including that one where he was rude to everyone within a five-foot radius.

"Maybe," the Doctor said with a nod. "But yeah, a bit better."

He stepped back through the door and put a hand to his head. The throbbing was especially loud here. He reached out a hand to touch the wall.

"The psychic energy dissipates once we walk out the door, which could mean---" His fingertips went through the wall, like an opening was there, but cloaked.

"I asked," he said, with a small smile.

The Doctor understood that initial feeling. Not from his own child, he didn't realize how important she was until she was gone, but from his granddaughter. All tiny and young and impossibly wide-eyed. He'd aged quite quickly in his first form, but she never let him feel his age, she made him feel important and special.

And then, she was gone, too. It was hard, knowing she'd never spend another Christmas with him. Knowing he'd never be able to feel that feeling of alone, gone with the presence of a loved one. He'd always be alone.

"I remember," he said, a small nostalgic smile on his face. "The first time my---" Think about how old you look to this woman, Doctor. "---daughter experienced Christmas. She told me it was like magic was bundled up in a couple of hours. I always loved it, but I could never explain it like she could."

"Fine, I'll give you back the telly," the Doctor said, grumpily. "But you can't watch children's shows all day. You need some sort of intellectual stimulation---Oh, no. I sound like professor Borusa."

He sighed before pulling out the sonic and giving the small device a few prods.

"Like some sort of a shield over this area," he said. "Blocking out view of psychic phenomenon." The Doctor had a feeling this had very little to do with his desire to find the true meaning of Christmas.

"Not really," the Doctor said. "I just ran out of adapter cables."

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Must be north of this area. I wonder what sort of a psychic phenomenon could be---"

He turned the corner to see a wide, open area with a small band, some dancing shoppers, and a huge Christmas tree. The collection of people alone would explain the psychic collection. It made the Doctor grin.

"Definitely not from this planet or time," the Doctor agreed with a nod. "The question is, when? Or what?"

The time interference was raw against the Doctor's mind, but he was far more adept at repressing such pains than Hiro. One day, the Doctor imagined his companion would probably become more powerful than the Doctor himself, his innate abilities and his human creativity working together.

But for now, the Doctor would protect him.

He pushed through the field, holding the device out to check the range on the signal. It fizzled and rippled with the changing timelines.

"Well, on this side of the planet, that's probably for the best," the Doctor said. He gave his device a small shake. Something rattled within, which wasn't a good sign, but the detector seemed to be working perfectly well.

"Actually," he said. "You seem like a foot-oriented sort. Looking for the fastest way around to the other side of the Capitol without causing too much of a fuss. Barack and I have always got along, but the number of times Michelle's slapped me..."

But, then again, it was always the women, wasn't it?

The Doctor tried not to think about the last Christmas they spent together. The one where he very nearly lost her, hell, lost the whole universe to his greediness. It was also the first time he told her he loved her, another reason to be rather embarrassed about the time. He was very good at repressing his emotions. Sharing them was a difficulty.

"What are you talking about? Of course I won't." Then again, as he spoke the crystals did seem to be getting far too hot in his hands. He was right, though! She didn't know what she was talking about.

"A few times."

Most recently, with Rose, Jackie, and Mickey. Sitting around a table, picking at a clearly underdone turkey, and grinning madly about a successful regeneration and a new start at life. It all felt so good and so right, then.

"But things don't last."

And how's he supposed to deny that sort of enthusiasm?

"Oh, all right." He grins madly at her, and then half-hops over to rent them a few pairs of skates. They're the old-fashioned sort that strap over the shoes, something the Doctor completely prefers considering his love for his trainers.

Donna frowned thoughtfully as she watched his fingers slip through the wall. Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure what it could mean, with the exception of possible danger to the pair of them.

...Or perhaps whatever was sending out that energy was using the fake wall to hide. "Where's that map you grabbed earlier?" she asked suddenly, wanting to know if there was a specific room the alien was in. "And why is the energy just in this area? Does it feel menacing or anything?"

"Actually it is. Talking's a bit like that, too. You can go ages and ages without it but the moment thoughts come to your mind, words come out of your mouth. Well, if you want to, that is."

He looked back to the tree, and then skated a little closer to Jim. He didn't know what, exactly, would be hidden within that tree, or if it was what was dangerous, but the last thing he wanted was to put her in danger.

The Doctor put a hand on Jo's arm.

"Nothing," he said. "It's not there for me, it's---"

The moment he looked back, though, he saw Donna. Standing there, in a silly holiday hat, looking sad. She was transparent, obviously unreal, but something about the way she stood there made it almost irresistible to go towards her.

"I can see it," he said. "Looks like an old friend of mine. You have to fight it. We can do it."

The Doctor grew up in a world with a religion completely different to Earth's, though he did know about the Christian mythology and respect it (if grudgingly, considering how many years he spent sorting out that Crusades business).

"Maybe," he said, slipping on his glasses as he looked down at the device. It blipped strangely at him, the readings unusual. "Maybe not."

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Page 11 of 21

Christmas Open Thread

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aaaargle the holiday traffic ;;

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Tell me about it, man. Five hours on the Beltway, me.

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