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

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

She let out a puff of breath, trying not to sound a little annoyed or impatient. "The tree, Doctor. Large, very visible, and organic."

For a genius, he could be really dense sometimes.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor turned back around and grinned.

"Ah."

Without hesitation, he grinned back to Jim, and then started towards the rink at a run. He hopped onto the the ice and slid towards it.

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

Jim took off at a sensibly more sedate pace, and still managed to fall spectacularly a few meters from the edge of the rink.

This was what she got for not having skated since she was a kid.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor slid to a stop, and then slid his way back to Jim, offering her his hand.

"It's easy, once you get the hang of it," he said. Just push out with one foot, out with the other."

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

"I used to be really good at this," Jim said as she accepted his hand. "But there wasn't much call for skating in Starfleet."

Tentatively, she slid one foot out on the ice again, and then the other, with slightly better results.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"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."

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

"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.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"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.

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

She didn't notice that, being too focused on not falling again, but she would have been amused if she had (or maybe annoyed - it's a toss-up). She was too good at getting into and out of trouble in one piece on her own (or mostly, as Bones had often bemoaned).

"When did you do all your skating, anyway?"

As far she knew, there wasn't an ice rink in the TARDIS. ...As far as she knew.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"The 1700's." Because that was, obviously, a reasonable answer to her question. "No better time for frozen lakes and slippery slopes.

Speaking of, the Doctor felt his foot hit a wet patch, and he slipped, tumbling backwards onto the ice without any grace whatsoever.

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

Which would have been funny if it didn't completely mess up Jim's balance, too, which made for a very interesting and messy tangle of Time Lord and Captain.

At least he was fallible, even if he did have to bring her down with him to prove it. "Maybe you should have practiced in the 1700s some more."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's pretty much what they said in the 1700's, too," the Doctor said, wincing. He gave Jim a small, awkward smile, and struggled to get back to his feet before offering her his hand.

They were at the foot of the tree, now. A large, organic mass pulling in all the psychic energy. But why? And how?

The Doctor aimed the detector at the tree, then slowly lowered it towards the ice. The beeping light signaling the strength of the radiation grew the lower he aimed it.

"Oh no."

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

She absently rubbed an elbow that got pretty banged up on the way down. She's not as young as she used to be.

...God forbid those words ever cross her mind again. Not until she's at least fifty and a cougar. "What is it?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Do you know about icebergs?" the Doctor asked, taking a step back. The ice below them was thinner here and it cracked beneath his feet.

"How much of them we see over the waterline?"

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

"Not very much?" she guessed.

Random factoids about icebergs somehow don't come in handy much, in space.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Just the tip," the Doctor said, peering over the edge of the water. "The weight keeps most of the iceberg submerged."

He nodded to the waterline, where below them streamed out branches and branches, like the tree had been growing outward beneath the water.

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

"So you're saying it's a tree iceberg?"

...That didn't much sense. At all.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"No, I'm saying it's very big," the Doctor said. "And hidden to most of this population."

He stepped closer to the edge, but the ice below him began to give and he skated back.

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

All very illuminating in the 'makes no sense' way. "Do you know any more about it, or is that it?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It's where the energy signal is coming from," the Doctor said. "And it's growing larger under there. Gathering more power, gaining strength."

He looked up to the tree. "What looks like a tree but isn't?"

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

Deadpan. "A fake tree."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor made a small face.

"Yes, Jim, very witty. But I was thinking of a species more alien in nature."

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

Sigh.

"What looks like a tree but isn't, Doctor?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor looked over to Jim. Did he really prompt that often? He must've, thinking back on it.

"I-I don't actually know, that's why I was asking."

[kirk-it.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes, he did prompt that often, and she would appreciate it if he cut back on that.

"What if it's just hidden in the tree? Or the tree's some kind of... illusion?"