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

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro trots with him. That's one thing about being with the Doctor, you never just walk anywhere. "What's wrong/" He's looking around, expecting something to jump out at them. His hand is hovering over the Doctor's shoulder just in case they have to get out fast.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Psychic energy signals," he says, showing Hiro the screen. "They've spiked. It's not like anything I've seen before. Not for this area of the universe, at least."

He nods down an alleyway. "Shortcut."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Do you know what it means?" He follows the Doctor down the alley, keeping an eye on the device.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Not a clue," the Doctor admitted. "Not yet."

He raised a hand, watching it move through space and ripple through time.

"Can you feel that?" he asked. "Time's changed. Right here, it's moved. It's solidified."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

With Hiro's ability, he felt it quite clearly, but he's not sure what happened because he's never felt it before. "Yes, I felt it, What is it?" He's not sure about solidified time, but he's very curious.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor nodded, impressed. "Make a Time Lord out of you yet, Hiro," he said.

He held out a hand, gesturing for him to do the same. Right there, you can feel how time ripples around us. That means we've moved into a fixed area of time, bit like sticking your hand in gelatin.. Like an incident that can't be changed. Except! We're at Christmas in 2009. Nothing that significant happens."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I would be honored," he bows.

Hiro puts his hand up against the field, then begins to press through. "It is unusual." There's a tingling in his arm. "Does this mean something has changed from the original Christmas?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor grinned. Hiro certainly had the ability, which was rare, very rare in a human. He wished the high council were around now and could see just how advanced his favorite species could become on their own.

"I think it does," the Doctor said. He fumbled in his pockets, eventually producing a small key on a string. He offered it to Hiro.

"Put this around your neck. It has a perception field, should help with the interference as we pass through it."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro nods and puts the key around his neck. "We should press forward then?" As he pushes even more, the tingling becomes more pronounced. It's not painful, but he's very aware of it. It isn't as hard to get through as it was before he put the key on.

"What has come here? This cannot be of human design. At least not present-time design."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"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.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro suddenly stops in the middle of the field and reaches up to where something doesn't look right. He sees something that is totally strange to him. Where he is looking it's night and people are walking by, then he sees another area.

"Doctor, this field is folded time," he says quietly. His fingers slip through and open another fold - this one leading to a sunshiny day. Although all of them are obviously during the winter possibly the same day over several years or maybe a few hours. He doesn't let the folds move any farther apart than what his fingers fit through. After all, he might freak someone out by sticking his head out of seemingly nowhere.

He continues to push through behind the Doctor, trying to see what the device says, but he's a bit too short.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that's very bad," the Doctor says. He doesn't reach out and touch the altered time in the way Hiro did, he's not entirely sure he could take the twisting of time around him. This, right now, is difficult enough.

"Someone's taking the combined powers of the residual human psychic energy and using it to fuel this obstruction in time. Why?"

He lowers the device so Hiro can see it, too. It's blinking in red, the little swirly Gallifreyan language telling the Doctor that time is very, very fouled.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I have never seen this kind of thing before," he says in a quiet voice. "Is someone trying to bleed off this energy?"

Hiro looks at the device but he can't read the Gallifreyan. "What is that spike?" He points to a regular pulse that is showing up on the readout.

Hope your holidays were wonderful!

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ooooh, that's not good," the Doctor said. He shook his head. "Time energy readings off the chart. We might be able to follow this."

He gives Hiro a grin and nods. "Ready?"

Re: Nice and quiet which I like. Yours?

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Yosh!" He's not completely sure what they're going to face, but he's more than willing to go. He feels his best when he's helping others. He has no idea what they're facing, but still he wants to find out what it is and what he can do to help.

Exhausting! Ready for the holidays to be over!

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor pushes through the time disruptions, wincing through the pain as he makes it towards the spike in the system. Oh, this is not going to be fun, not with the height of the energy focus.

"Right, we're going to need to keep moving. No matter what happens outside of this time area, keep moving until we reach---"

Reach what? What could be causing this?

Re: Exhausting! Ready for the holidays to be over!

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"The center, I suppose," Hiro finishes. It doesn't hurt him, but he can see the pain on the Doctor's face. It makes him feel uncomfortable - energy tingling on the exposed areas of skin. He can feel hairs standing on end on his arms and the back of his neck. He still gets glimpses of other time as they shoulder through, but he doesn't push any of them open for another peek.

Suddenly he stumbles as they seem to reach the center and he's no longer pushing against temporal energy. He looks around to see if he can see what's causing this.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"There!"

At the center of the rippling energy, the Doctor can see the tip of a white-hot crystal, poking out of the sky like it had been nailed right into reality. What it was, though, the Doctor had no idea.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro stares at the crystal. It's singing.

"What is that?" Part of him wants to touch it, but the heat from it keeps him back.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I dunno," the Doctor says. He puts a hand to his forehead. "Ugh, my head."

He doesn't expect Hiro to hear the singing, of course. He knows he's a time sensitive, but that sort of aptitude isn't something he'd expect in someone who wasn't a Time Lord by birth.

He reaches out a hand. "If something happens, I need you to restart time, yes?"

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Are you ok?" He looks worried. If the Doctor is having so much trouble with this thing, it can't be good, despite how pretty it is.

Hiro nods. "Yes, I will." He prepares himself.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"That singing," the Doctor says. "I know you can't hear it, but it's practically vibrating through my skull."

He reaches out for the crystal, letting his fingers curl around it. Nothing happens, not yet.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I can hear the singing. It just does not hurt." He notices the Doctor's hand on the crystal. "It is not hot? It feels warm here."

He reaches for it, still feeling warmth, but it isn't as he feared.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor turns back to Hiro, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "That's...really impressive," he says. "I've met quite a few human time travelers, but none with your aptitude." There's more concern in his voice than just pride. That sort of aptitude could be abused if someone got their claws into him.

"No," the Doctor said. "It's actually cold. Like a block of time-frozen ice. The time in the air around it is compensating, trying to actualize the time differentials."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Honto?" Hiro bows at the compliment. "I am honored you would think so."

Fascinated, Hiro peers into the crystal, though he ignores the impulse to touch it. "Is it some kind of beach head? Is something trying to use it to lever an opening into time here?" He's still ready to restart time at the Doctor's word, but he's always curious, so he can't ignore what's going on around them.