rude_not_ginger | Christmas Open Thread

•deck•the•halls•

• THE DOCTOR LEARNS THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS •

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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.

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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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Rose would not at all be surprised if the Doctor had a lot of words like that. He probably still remembered them all, too.

With a mission in mind, she switches the Styrofoam cup to one hand and hooks her other through one of the Doctor's arms, directing him down, well, hopefully down towards somewhere they could buy marshmallows.

"Christmas is about company... or something," she suggests, not entirely sure herself. Then, after another beat, she gives him a funny look and asks with suspicious interest, "Psychic detector?"

"Mmmm." He reaches into his pocket and produces the small device again. "The Christmas spirit, I think, is comprised of human thoughts. Psychic energy. So! Use this, find the source, and you've found the meaning of Christmas."

He makes a little face. "Arguably one of my more convoluted plans, but I think it should work out. Or take us somewhere interesting, at least."

Since the best part about adventuring was if they didn't end up where they were supposed to, they always ended up somewhere fantastic.

Somewhere that involved running, no doubt - not that Rose had any problem with that. She was always up for a good adventure, especially with the Doctor. Better with two!

Still, the chance for adventuring aside, she did have a tiny problem with the Doctor's plan. She takes a sip from her hot chocolate, then tells him with a strange look, "I don't think that's gonna work. I mean, you'll probably find people celebrating Christmas with it, yeah. But it's... The meaning of Christmas sorta changes for everyone. You can't really just... pin it down, 'specially with that... detector-thing."

Her strange look hadn't faded. Hopefully she hadn't offended him and his little ~~toy~~ gadget, but really, someone had to tell him, right? Though it probably wouldn't stop him from trying.

Pin it down, maybe not, but the Doctor was undeterred. "Well, I can at least get a general idea, maybe work out the meaning from there. Look, when it comes to the scientific method, sometimes you have to get part of the answer before you find the rest of it."

And if there was one thing the Doctor was excellent at, it was the scientific method. Well, excellent at following and ignoring it, depending on his mood.

And, to his surprise, a beep came from his detector. He looked down at the small screen, where a violently red dot blinked from the center.

"That's odd."

Exactly what she expected from the Doctor. It was good to know that some things never changed.

At the beep, Rose jumps - just a smidgen - in surprise, then peers over at the blinking dot along with the Doctor. "What's odd?" she asks. "What is it?"

"Alien interference," he said, showing her the light. "I had it installed after the Sycorax. Thought it might be a good thing to add on, but I didn't expect to actually find something this year."

He looked up to the sky. "2009 was so quiet! Hardly a blip on the map. Well, except for celebrity deaths. Not a good year for that at all. But! No alien invasions. Not in a historical way, at least."

He raised his eyebrows to Rose. "Maybe we should...just not worry about it."

Rose raises her eyebrows right back at him, trying to hold back the smile creeping back into her face. She twirls herself away briefly to toss her now empty cup, then turns back to face him, grinning again in full.

"Sure, we could not worry about it. But where's the fun in that? I'm sure you'll find some sorta meaning of Christmas on the way." Maybe their alien guests just wanted some plum pudding.

The Doctor bit back a grin, trying to put on as disinterested a face as he possibly could.

"Yeah, but we've got---"

He tried to think of something, anything more interesting than this. He couldn't.

"Shopping to do! For the season!"

That's enough to give Rose pause, and she sinks back on her heels to contemplate the offer. "Well, if you're buying then that's a hard offer to pass up." She has seen him get money before, though she wasn't sure how much he actually wanted to hold up this searching for the Christmas spirit gig.

She then wrinkles her nose. "But if you're not, then the aliens are still looking better. Who knows, they could be after the Christmas spirit, same as you. Wouldn't do us any good."

Shopping was a bit far-fetched, even for him. But there was nothing more fun than taking things that should've been serious (like, hmm, alien invasions), and turning them into a game. He grinned madly at her.

"Oh, all right, twist my arm. This way. Signal's fairly strong, so it shouldn't be too hard to miss, I think."

Score one for Rose - the Doctor could break so easily with a little nudge here and there. And if she was really trying from the start to get him after this alien business, she would have had it in the bag right from the start. The ability of Doctor-Swayer was always good to have in one's skillbank.

"That's more like it," she replies, alert and ready for... well, whatever could be a problem, really. Or not a problem. Though, when he turns for the direction, she hesitates, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Maybe we should get you a Santa hat. Something festive. That would help things."

Nonetheless, she follows after him.

"Ooooh, I'd like a Santa hat," the Doctor said, tossing the last bit of his drink into a rubbish bin and taking her hand again. "Something with a little sprig of holly in it. Very festive."

He glanced down at the detector, checking the alien signal again. "Right! So! We've got a Christmas invasion to deal with, well, again, so! Let's see. Looks like it's coming from the eastern part of the city."

Christmas Open Thread

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ffff I should go to bed but who cares

sleep is for the weak!