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

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

The hot chocolate had been left untouched, the Time Lady preferring to bury her hands into the pockets of her coat. With collar pulled up high and a scarf wrapped securely around her neck Romana only looked up to the sky, her expression lacking any sort of reaction.

Sparing just a glance to the Doctor she sighed. "Honestly, Doctor, why is it that you trouble yourself with these silly little human holidays? From what I can see it's nothing more than an excuse for commercial sales and increased profits for business and companies alike. Everything seems to be marketable." And to her, it made it all dreadfully boring, not to mention a waste of time.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"It's not that silly," the Doctor said with a small, petulant sniff. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and toyed about with the device in his hands.

"Sure, it's a bit commericalized by this point in history. But you can't deny the air of good feeling, the actual spirit of Christmas. Oooh! It's all but permeated every fiber of the whole planet this time of year!"

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

"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."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

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.

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

"Of course you won't. Just like you wouldn't corrupt the Interactive Simulator on Argolis when we visited Mina and Pangol just the other week because you were insistent on upgrading the programming by yourself."

Just ahead she could see some children having what seemed to be the time of their lives as they romped about in the snow. A pair of dogs, a Labrador and a Golden Retriever, were amongst them, encouraging their actions with loud barks and happy tail wags. She couldn't help the slight smile that appeared on her lips at the sight. It was a comforting thought knowing that this time warped realities and the universe threatening to collapse were not a part of their plans for this winter's day.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ow!" The Doctor swore under his breath as the small device in his hands exploded. Well. So much for that brilliant idea.

He sighed, and turned to see what Romana was looking at. A few children, a few dogs, everyone enjoying the season.

"See, that's what I love about this place," he said. "All the little things that build it. Little moments."

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

She managed to refrain from saying I told you so. But only just barely.

"Have you ever thought of staying here on this planet? You really have grown fond of this world and it's inhabitants."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Nah," the Doctor said. "Staying in one place? Could you imagine that? Imagine me? Living in a house? Me! In a house! Would never work out."

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

"The house probably wouldn't be standing for very long," she smirked just a bit.

She tugged a bit again at the scarf she wore - which may or may not look just a whee bit familiar to the Doctor as it is really big on her - before looking up at him. "Do you think Adric would have liked it here?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Oh, he liked Earth well enough," the Doctor said. "Always enjoyed eating nibbles at parties. He'd probably love a good Christmas turkey."

Talk about Adric always made the Doctor sad. Such an unnecessary death of such a beloved companion. Too quick, no chance to stop it, to pull him back, to save him.

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

The silence that had fallen lasted for a minute between them. Snow falling and memories coming back just didn't sit well with the ex-Lady President.

"Well, this is your holiday. Is there something you want to be doing?"

A distraction is always best at times like these.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Turkey," the Doctor said. "You know, I'd love a good turkey. Last time I had one at Christmas it looked pretty on the outside but the inside was raw and disgusting. Fancy a Christmas dinner?"

[tastefulfashion.livejournal.com]

"I suppose dinner would be a good idea." While Romana wasn't very hungry at the time, it never hurt to make it a point to have something to eat every now and again. When she looked back up at the Doctor she couldn't help but feel that slight pang of guilt for bringing up the boy around him. He might have gotten better at masking his emotions but the Doctor would always be a sentimental old fool.

... And perhaps she was too, in a way.

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips just as she took it upon herself to link her arm with his. "Where is it that you had in mind we should go?"