The Bookworm Strikes Again (open)

[first_in_time]

Who: Barbara and Anyone
Where: The Media Library and possible roaming
Summary: Research, tea, discussion and all that jazz. Feel free to simply come and bug her.
Warnings: None

After watching the Daligig slaughter the previous crew twice, Barbara went in search of any kind of material on the Daligig, Stacey, pod-popping and the crews which had traveled on Stacey. She didn't expect to find much more than what GLaDOS had told her but it was worth a look. Especially with all this talk of rebellion and distrust.

So, in a corner of the Media Library Barbara sat with piles books, stacks of visual recordings and audio recordings, plus pot of tea which had been sitting empty for a while. She was lost in her own world, memorising what she could and trying to gain a better picture of the ship, the war and everything else which could be considered relevant.

Comments

[first_in_time]

"You could leave a trail of bread crumbs but I wouldn't put it past the Doctor to follow you and eat them all." She grinned.

[splendid_roman]

"I wouldn't put it past him to untie the string too." He smiled. "Perhaps I should see if there's anything on Stacy first, before I try the TARDIS."

[first_in_time]

"Maybe you should." Barbara's fingers brushed against the sides of the ring box. She still hadn't looked inside - perhaps she should?

She held it up and carefully lifted the lid. The box looked a little loved, she didn't want to rip the lid from its hinges. Barbara expected something lovely inside; an elegant band with colourful stones arranged in some kind of pattern but when she found it nothing, she was surprised at how disappointed she was.

"It's empty," she frowned with sagging shoulders. "Why would I have an empty ring box?" It didn't make any sense to her

[splendid_roman]

"I don't know." He felt a bit guilty about making her disappointed at the lack of a ring inside. She'd understand if they reached the point where he could give it back to her, but that wasn't yet. He didn't want to scare her away.

"Perhaps it's somewhere else on the TARDIS. Maybe you kept the ring somewhere else and only the box in your room."

[first_in_time]

Barbara shrugged a little. It didn't really matter. If there was a ring in the box and she had worn it about Stacey, she'd only have lost it or damaged it.

She reached across Ian to put the little box on the stand by his bed, "I can't even remember what the ring looked like, so it hardly matters. I'll leave the box here seeming as you remember."

[splendid_roman]

"If it's from the live you might have lived, then you wouldn't remember because you haven't lived it." He frowned, because it was all very confusing. "It doesn't matter." He patted her on the leg and stood up to put the sword back in the scabbard. "When we beat the Ohm and get our worlds back we'll get to go back there."

[first_in_time]

"Back to London and Coal Hill, or back to the TARDIS with Susan and the Doctor?" She smiled and stood beside him.

[splendid_roman]

"I don't know." He hadn't really thought about it before. Home had just been an abstract concept. "Either I suppose. But I'd like to go home, check it's all in one piece." He smiled.

[first_in_time]

"See if Big Ben's on time and the Thames is still full?" she smiled back and went to the door. "If we do ever get Earth back, do you think Howard might want to come back with us?"

[splendid_roman]

That was an idea. He hadn't thought about it before, but he did now, as went back out into the corridor, still carrying the sword. "I don't know. It would be very different to what he's used to."

[first_in_time]

"Definitely. No one there trying to hurt him, steal from him, lie to him, keep secrets from him," Barbara shut the door to Ian's little room and looped her arm around his as she walked by his side. "I'd like to show him a world such as that."

Of course London wasn't perfect, but it was a great deal better than Stacey, or the California Howard described. "Even if he doesn't ever completely trust us, I'd like to at least give him an opportunity to relax for once."

[splendid_roman]

"I'm not sure he'd ever quite get used to it and trust us." It would probably be good for him and maybe he would relax after a while. "But he would be in another country in another time. It's almost like being on another planet."

[first_in_time]

"He has told me that he's got no intention of returning home," she told him conversationally, "so he'd probably end up on another planet, anyway. He might as well come with us. We can give him a roof over his head and food to put in his stomach, clothes for his back."

Clearly, Barbara hadn't finished looking after and mothering Howard yet.

[splendid_roman]

That was interesting, although not surprising given that Howard hadn't thought much of his home. "And where were you thinking he would live exactly?"

[first_in_time]

"You've your own apartment or flat," she couldn't remember which it was, "he could stay there. It wouldn't be as scandalous for him to live with you. I'll of course help with everything. The food bills, clothing, and his education if he wanted one." Barbara was only saying the first things which came into her head in that moment. It was only Ian, after all. They knew each other well enough for her to be comfortable pouring out any thoughts she was having at any time.

"Although, I doubt he'd want us doing it for long. He'll be up on his feet as soon as his able, and living on his own in little time."

[splendid_roman]

"Maybe." He was dubious about the idea, not least because he had other ideas about who he wanted to live with when they got home. "But there's no point counting our chickens yet. Let's wait until there's a home to go to first."

[first_in_time]

Barbara smiled at the floor as they walked, her free hand grasped at his arm, too, so that she were almost hugging it. "Why are you always so practical?"

[splendid_roman]

"It's just who I am?" he hazarded. "That's why you l-like me."

[first_in_time]

"It could be, but I'm fairly certain I like you for many reasons," she said casually, missing anything Ian might have been hinting at. "And I like to think that you'd feel the same or similar about me."

[splendid_roman]

"Maybe I only like you for your history knowledge," he said, grinning.

[first_in_time]

"If that's the case, I don't know how you can stand in sight I me on board a ship with little or no history," she grinned back, letting go of his arm.

[splendid_roman]

He gasped, put a hand over his heart and said theatrically, "You've discovered my secret! And I've been keeping it from you all this time!"

[first_in_time]

"Then why did you follow me here?" she replied just as playfully, hands on hips as she stopped to the side of the corridor.

[splendid_roman]

"You've got me. I'm just stalking you." He put his hands out together in front of him. "You can arrest me now."

[first_in_time]

Barbara made a show of patting down her pockets. "It appears that I've left my hand cuffs in my other trousers, so I'll have to let you go." Her tone suggested she was upset over that but her grin didn't.

"You should think more about who you stalk. There are far more interesting people on board then I."