Christmas Open Thread

[rude_not_ginger]

•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

Comments

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It might not be," the Doctor agreed. "But something alien is here."

He turned the detector back to face her. A small, red line cut the white psychic spikes running up and down the screen.

"Alien," he said. "And very close." He sighed. "Well, that's all part of Christmas when you're with me."

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

She shook her head, amused. Of course there'd be an alien, present company excluded. "I had a feeling we couldn't have an ordinary day. At the rate we're going, this'll become our own little Christmas tradition."

Quickly, she downed the rest of her drink. If she didn't enjoy it now, she had a feeling she wouldn't get a chance to a few minutes from now.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor did the same, taking in the last long drink of chocolate, and then tossing the cup into the nearest bin.

He gestured down the street and offered Donna his hand.

"Ready?"

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"Of course," Donna said after tossing her cup in after his. She didn't hesitate to take his hand, threading her fingers between his cold ones, and gave him a little squeeze. "Lead the way, Rudolph."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He immediately gave his nose a little rub. It was a bit red because of the cold, but it wasn't that red. Was it? In any case, it was his turn to lead and he gave her a grin.

"This way." He started down one side street, device ahead, Donna's hand in his.

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

She snickered to herself when she saw him do that. Leave it to him to misunderstand that of all things! But she figured he was just letting himself get distracted by this odd mission of his.

The side street was deserted, or nearly deserted as there was one person just rounding the corner ahead of them. Everybody else in town were sticking to the main streets. "So what sort of creature are we looking for, you think? One that encourages people to spend more on their credit cards than they're--ohhh!" she moaned after stepping into a dirty, slushy puddle she hadn't noticed. She could feel the cold creeping into her boots.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Might be," the Doctor said, stepping in the slushy puddle as well. It soaked through his trainers instantly, but he focused on the blinking light on his machine. "Or, it might be an alien hellbent on taking over the world. Not like we haven't dealt with that on Christmas before."

He gave her a wide, excited grin. "But! It happens to be in that department store over there. I think."

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"See, like I said. Tradition." She smiled anyway after she gave her foot a good shake. Walking would help fend off the cold and--.

"Did you say 'department store'?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. Then she narrowed her eyes, reading the sign of said department store--and her shoulders sagged. She'd hoped it would be a Selfridges but they were in the wrong part of the city for it. "Huh, don't think I've ever been to that one."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I think Rose used to work here," the Doctor said with a small sniff. It was the sort of place Jackie would shop all of the time. He gave Donna's outfit a quick look over and then shrugged, before heading off towards the main door.

He never could understand human fashion.

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"Oh? Did--oi, what was that look for?! I'm dressed well enough to go into this place, thank you!" And she was about to say something nice to distract him from thinking about Rose too.

She frowned and threw the door open, not waiting for him to go first--but she didn't get far. The store seemed to spread at least into the two-storeys and he had the psychic whatever device. Reluctantly she waited, her brief anger gone, and held her hand out slightly to retake his.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He took her hand naturally. Being her friend was a lot like breathing. In certain situations, it wasn't easy. But, in general, once he got back into the groove, he did it without thinking.

"Downstairs," he said. He took a glance at the large map before them. "Not accessible to patrons, it appears. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, I think."

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

She'd say the same thing about him and their friendship. She put up with a lot of his spaceman nonsense, but being in his world thrilled her--and she couldn't be happier seeing all that stuff and nonsense with him.

"For you? If it was, I'd have to wonder if your hot chocolate was spiked with something," she commented, eyeing the map thoughtfully. "Shouldn't be too hard though, not with everybody doing their last-minute shopping."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Fantastic."

He headed immediately for the nearest stairwell, pausing only long enough to grab a map, should he be stopped and asked where he was going.

"Right, it looks like we've got to go downstairs, about to the middle of the shop. Shouldn't be too hard. He stepped towards the door blocking the stairs downstairs and opened them easily with the sonic.

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"And what then?" she asked, following him into the stairwell. Her voice and footsteps echoed all around them. "This alien threat doesn't seem all that threatening yet. You sure that thing isn't picking up on some kind of disgruntled employee in an elf costume?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"No, too big for that," the Doctor said. He flipped the machine to audio as they went down the stairwell. A quiet beeping noise grew the closer they got to the alien threat.

"Well, it might not be threatening, but it's always best to check. With a level this high, it could end up extremely dangerous."

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

Donna frowned. The combination of a large alien plus a high psychic level really wasn't one she exactly fancied, but she steeled herself for anything.

"Doctor, there are a lot of people up there," she said just loud enough over the din of the beeping device, worry knitted into her brow.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"And if it's dangerous, we'll get them out," the Doctor said, looking over to her. "We won't let them get hurt, Donna, I promise. But we can't start a panic, either."

He soniced open another door. A large blast of psychic energy hit him as he opened it. He winced and rubbed his head. "Blimey, can't you feel that?"

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

She gave his hand a squeeze, more to reassure herself than anything, and nodded. "I know. Last thing I'd want is to start a panic over something that wasn't a last-minute sale."

But when that door opened, she barely felt a thing. "Feel what?" she asked, giving him a concerned look. "What's wrong, Doctor?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Psychic interference in there," he said, rubbing his temples in an effort to soothe out the pounding. "Heavy. Like something's dumping out all the bad noise it's taking in."

He kept hold of Donna's hand, but walked a little slower as he stepped through the door.

"If something goes wrong," he said. "You need to get up there, toss a fire alarm, and get back to the TARDIS."

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"I'll toss that fire alarm, but I'm not heading anywhere without you," she said defiantly. "Not when you're getting hurt like this."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Don't be stupid, Donna, we don't even know what's down here."

There wasn't time to argue, of course. And Donna was just difficult enough to make sure she'd get her own way.

He sighed, but opened the next door. The psychic energy dissipated as he stepped through.

"Wait." He turned back around. "Why put a door there, if there's nothing but a hallway?"

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," she replied firmly, pretending she hadn't just been called stupid. It'd take a hell of a lot more to stop her from leaving his side.

"Fire door, perhaps?" she added with a shrug. "There's another down the hall a ways. Why, are you feeling okay now?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

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.

[forever-noble.livejournal.com]

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?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Feels overwhelming, like a fog or a constant buzz. Ow." He continued to rub his temple, and then fished out the map, which he handed over immediately.

He shone the sonic out, like a torch, but the light seemed to get absorbed by the darkness in the room, making it go dimmer and dimmer.