trans_9 | And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me...

Entry tags:

And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me...

Any other day, maybe, the Doctor might be wandering the ship, looking for something interesting to pull apart or poke his nose into. He still hasn't had a chance to inspect the brain of the ship, after all, and there's that great big city he'd like to explore as well...

But right now, he'd rather not. He's tired and annoyed, and any place he could wander, it wouldn't be far enough. So instead, the Doctor has sprawled on his back, halfway upside down, on one of the couches on the Obs Deck. It seemed as good a place as any to sit still for a while - maybe not the place to go if he wanted to be alone, but he'll take company over quiet just now.

He doesn't actually seem to be paying attention to anyone who might be in the room, though. Instead, he's playing with an unidentifiable bit of patched-together technology - it's got buttons and flashy lights and a little dish and there is absolutely no outward indication of what it actually does. It's... entirely possible it's not meant to do anything, at least at the moment; he just wanted something to do with his hands, though someone to talk to (or talk at) would undoubtedly be a better distraction.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

'Well done'.

That was not a phrase she heard very often. Even successfully commanding a winning battle earned her a 'Thank you, your Highness'. She was expected to be able to win, and only thanked, however that was such a basic part of the court culture she never even thought that a 'well done' might have been more appreciated by her than a thank you. Even now she was blind to that as she swelled with pride.

Of course that made her want to hear it again. Positive re-enforcement could work wonders on a girl who only knew cruelty. "The other Doctor mentioned the Void, and said we are travelling through it. Perhaps you can tweak the device for higher accuracy of these... energy signatures? Limiting the field of battle limits the unpredictable factors. Since we are immersed in the Void, you may be able to calibrate the device more carefully."

The Doctor smiles a little, pleased that she's offering suggestions now that she's grasped the concept. Not that it's anything he couldn't have thought of himself, of course, but that's not the point. She's interested, and she wants to talk about it, so he's happy to have the conversation with her.

"Technically and theoretically possible, however... I didn't exactly build this out of the most sophisticated equipment. Mostly stuff I had in my pockets, a couple things I picked up on my way to the bus..." He trails off for a second, frowning at the device and making a few mental calculations. "If I wanted to refine it, I'd need newer or better technology to patch in, or replace some parts altogether. Still, there might be something I could use on the ship, if I went looking. Bit of a mixed bag, from what I've seen..."

"I have not explored the engineering sector since I got these," she tapped her sunglasses. Yes, she had swiped these from the Weapons and Possessions room, but she had been searching the Engineering Department first for someone who could build her a pair, or the lenses that could be placed directly on top of the eyes.

"If Engineering is any where near as diverse as the rest of the ship, however, I believe that you will likely have luck if you just ask around."

"Oh, I'm sure," the Doctor says brightly. "They're very clever down there. I still wish I could get to the supply rooms on my ship..." The last part comes out in a half-mutter, more to himself than to her. He seems to remember that being unable to use his TARDIS wasn't half as annoying when he was working for UNIT, but... well, it's been a long time since then. Maybe he'd just forgotten.

He shakes his head a little, glancing up to those sunglasses of hers. "So what do those do?" he asks brightly, before she can ask him about his ship. "Or... what're they for, anyway? Something to do with the vampire thing, yeah?"

Nanashi wasn't one to give up an interesting like of thought. Especially not when she suspected that she might be deliberately turned from the subject. That did not mean she would not answer his. "These are normal sunglasses, from what I have been told. They merely make the light on this ship more bearable. We are not meant to have such light about us."

Dismissing the topic of her sunglasses she backtracked, "You said that you have a ship as well. Are you to mean that this ship of yours is somewhere on Stacy?" He was intending on hiding something, she could feel it. What was it though?

Well, so much for that diversion. He sighs a little, barely audible, and pauses for just a moment before answering her.

"Well, yeah," he says breezily, like the question surprised him and the answer doesn't matter. "There's a whole hangar full of ships down there - only makes sense that they'd have grabbed mine too. I was standing right next to it..."

Except that you say 'ship', and no one thinks 'police box'. The Doctor's fine with that. Sure, if he couldn't get onto the TARDIS, the chances anyone else could are infinitesimal, but he's still a bit protective of her... just in case of that little, outside chance.

Nanashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I suppose you are right. Stacy seems to try to bring with people anything useful of theirs. What kind of ship might it be?"

She leaned in, interested, always curious to see if there was more that could help her. Of course she carefully masked it as an innocent curiosity- which she was feeling a decent amount of as well.

"It's... Well, it's a time machine. Time-and-space machine, called the TARDIS." He shrugs a little, with a faint, fond smile. He loves that ship like nothing else, and it shows when he talks about it, even as vaguely as he is now. "I don't expect you'll have heard of it before. Not many people have."

Nanashi shook her head, "No, we have nothing of the sort back home. Time travel was just an idle fancy. One I was never truly interested in. I had far too many other things to worry about." She smiled at his smile. It was a common reaction for people to have. It seemed to make things more relaxed. "It sounds like you are very fond of this ship." Something she would have to keep in mind for later.

"Well, aren't most people?" he asks with a soft chuckle. "I mean... maybe you don't have timeships where you're from, but surely you've got the regular sort. Ask any captain - we get attached, and I've had... well, the better part of my life, at this point, to get attached. So... yeah, just a bit."

Fond, it seems, might just be an understatement. But it's not as fun rambling about the TARDIS when he's not showing her off to a new travelling companion, so after a moment, he tilts his head to one side and goes on, "But you said you had other things on your mind. What sort of things?" Ordinarily, he'd be visiting new worlds every other day, and that was when he bothered to linger. But if he can't do that... quizzing random crew members about their own lives and homes will do for now.

Nanashi shook her head, "Captains in my country do not keep their ships very long. The waters around the entire contenent are too wild to pass by water craft- though many still try. I know there is a team working on an air ship, but to little success. I have been requesting that their reports contain a cover page including only how high they have gotten off the ground. It has been zero for some time now."

She sighed, "That along with countless other little tasks are part of what have been on my mind. The other part mainly pertained to keeping my country safe. I was a Queen on my planet. The vampire queen. Between running a country, avoiding assassinations, and fighting a war, I barely had time to sit with my children at night and hear their stories." A pang of sadness struck her as she thought of her adoptive children.

The Doctor smiles a little sadly at that, nothing but sympathy in his eyes - especially since the chances her children are on the ship, or at least awake and on the ship, seem slim.

"I'm sorry," he says gently. "I know how that is. Not that I was ever... Well, I wasn't at war, or ruling anything, I was just never very good at..." At being a father. Not that many Time Lords ever were; his species had been many things, but nurturing was never one of them. Still, he could wish that he'd been better at it.

He shakes his head after a moment and goes on quickly, "Anyway. With a life like that, this ship might almost seem like a holiday, I would think..."

He was holding something back. She wanted to ask about it, but it seemed too out of beat for this conversation to ask directly. If it wasn't war, or ruling, what else had she mentioned? Children?

Nanashi shook her head sadly, biding her time before investigating further, "At first it did, but when you have lived for so long and been so consumed by work, it becomes something you miss greatly. There is this little voice in my ear that keeps urging me forward, wants me to do something, anything to remain busy. That is why I have picked up a rather busy schedule, giving myself few breaks." She sighed, using the slow release of air to help her calm her heart beat, which had begun to rush with the thought of Kano's voice in her ear. At least now that she was more settled, more sure of what to do, he was speaking to her less often.

"Still, I feel almost useless without having my strategical advice used. There was so much during the last battle that could have been fixed to make our attack more effective, and more data that could have been recorded if we had a team for that primary purpose. We did not lose any lives this battle, but only just barely." Now, to turn the conversation back to children. She manages this without a single suspicious change in expression or tone. It helps that she is actually speaking the truth, "It breaks my heart that the children on this ship must see the war, but they are all very brave and very capable. That does not mean that the loss of a single one of their lives would not hurt me terribly. It somehow seems more unfair that their lives my be cut short before they have even the chance to fully mature. And so many of them have not truly been able to enjoy their childhood. A wasted childhood seems to me the greatest tragedy. Even among the training and studying, I believe in making time for just... fun. Do you not agree Doctor?"

"Well, that's understandable. I get the feeling a lot of life on this ship involves... long periods of quiet in between things like that last battle, doesn't it? Not so bad, as these things go, but a bit dull if you're used to a life like yours."

Or his, for that matter. He can't help but find it a bit unsettling that nothing's even tried to eat him recently, barring that one Ohm. Not that he particularly misses that or anything, but it's still odd, for him.

Her question startles a laugh out of him. It's not often people ask him if he approves of fun. More often, they're disapproving when he doesn't take deadly peril and so on quite seriously enough. The Doctor nods a little, holding back a grin. "A better question to ask might be whether I believe in growing up. And the answer to that would be... no, not so much. There's always time for fun, even - maybe especially - in the middle of all this."

Nanashi could definately try to eat him, if he wanted, but while she was curious about the taste of Time Lord blood, she would rather wait for a chance to turn him into a Seritavi. She could tell that he would not be one of those that took kindly to it, but she just liked the idea of having power over someone she deemed worthy enough to actually consider an adversary.

"Growing up is a tragedy all of it's own, really." She paused, observing the doctor for a moment, seeming to size him up before saying, "Do you have any children, Doctor? They are such a blessing, and they never stop teaching you how to still have fun." She looked terribly sad as she said the last of this, as she thought about how much she missed her children and how once you have grown up, all your life is filled with nothing but either putting your feet in people's faces to lift yourself up, or having someone put their foot in your face.

He blinks a little, and nods after a moment, with a tiny smile. "I have a daughter on the ship, actually. Jenny. She's... Actually, I have no idea how old she is anymore. Younger than she looks, anyway."

There are - were - other children as well, long ago, and even more lost than Jenny had been, but... he doesn't talk about them, if he can help it. Jenny's easier, and it doesn't hurt that he smiles when he's thinking of her.

"It's funny, I didn't think I'd see her again, before I found her here. So there's one good thing about this place, at least..."

Nanashi smiled sadly, putting her hand on his shoulder, "You are truly bless then, Doctor. Spend what time you can afford with her now, before it is too late. I do not know how time travel works, but as far as I know, once you have lived through a moment, that moment is gone. Even as an immortal, time is precious. I can imagine that even if I got to experience the exact same thing a second time, I would feel differently about the experience than I did the first time. And Jenny too will keep living and changing."

She squeezed his shoulder gently, "You are lucky, if you have had the chance to go back and forth in time. I am stuck outside of time, watching it all pass me. Still, I doubt that you being able to move through time lessens the importance of spending that time with your child."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I am so sorry about how much she tl;drs

no subject

The look on his face in that icon... <3

XD It is one of my favorite faces.

I love all your icons really. Sorry, Nanashi likes her Dramatic Speeches XD