Not many. But there were enough in the universe and the Doctor thought Rory could understand that he wasn’t alone.
The Doctor slowly began to shut the link. Rory was stronger than he sometimes gave him credit for -- another one of Leadsworth’s few surprises. While he was still connected to Rory, the Doctor made it a point not to look too deeply across into his mind. Privacy, for one thing. Safety, for another. Rory didn’t need a Time Lord sorting things out in his head, aside from this gentle little nudge in the right direction, and when he felt that Rory was calming down, he severed the connection. The Doctor sucked in a quiet breath and opened his eyes slowly. Rory Williams! Not only just the boy who waited. The boy who would; all the things he was capable of, all the things he would do and think and feel starting this moment on! Tomorrow. Months from now. The future that he knew was laid out before Rory, even if he couldn’t see those tangents anymore himself.
He slowly pulled away from Rory, although he didn’t try to disentangle the human’s fingers from their bruising grip around his wrist. Humans needed a physical contact he’d found. Since most of them weren’t very psychic, it did make sense they valued touch as much as they did.
The Doctor waited for Rory to open his eyes.
“Hello,” he said, offering him a small smile. He reached out and patted Rory’s hand around his wrist. “Now I think you’re getting it.”
Amy and Molly were worth it. Family generally was. Good thing to have, a lovely family and really, you had to focus on what was right in front of you sometimes. Or so he’d heard. Wasn’t much of a fan of it himself. The Doctor rather liked being twenty steps (or more) ahead because anything more…sedate was a little too human for his tastes, thank you. He was confident Rory could recover remembering what was important in his unfortunately short human life. One of the minuses of being his species.
Re: Subthread 1: Pre-fight Memory Download
The Doctor slowly began to shut the link. Rory was stronger than he sometimes gave him credit for -- another one of Leadsworth’s few surprises. While he was still connected to Rory, the Doctor made it a point not to look too deeply across into his mind. Privacy, for one thing. Safety, for another. Rory didn’t need a Time Lord sorting things out in his head, aside from this gentle little nudge in the right direction, and when he felt that Rory was calming down, he severed the connection. The Doctor sucked in a quiet breath and opened his eyes slowly. Rory Williams! Not only just the boy who waited. The boy who would; all the things he was capable of, all the things he would do and think and feel starting this moment on! Tomorrow. Months from now. The future that he knew was laid out before Rory, even if he couldn’t see those tangents anymore himself.
He slowly pulled away from Rory, although he didn’t try to disentangle the human’s fingers from their bruising grip around his wrist. Humans needed a physical contact he’d found. Since most of them weren’t very psychic, it did make sense they valued touch as much as they did.
The Doctor waited for Rory to open his eyes.
“Hello,” he said, offering him a small smile. He reached out and patted Rory’s hand around his wrist. “Now I think you’re getting it.”
Amy and Molly were worth it. Family generally was. Good thing to have, a lovely family and really, you had to focus on what was right in front of you sometimes. Or so he’d heard. Wasn’t much of a fan of it himself. The Doctor rather liked being twenty steps (or more) ahead because anything more…sedate was a little too human for his tastes, thank you. He was confident Rory could recover remembering what was important in his unfortunately short human life. One of the minuses of being his species.