kore_logs | A Return to 'Normal'

Entry tags:

A Return to 'Normal'

Who: Mina, the Doctor
Where: Mina's house
When: Night of day 85
What: After the Doctor's return to sanity, he talks with Mina.
Warnings: none

After the Master had come and assisted the Doctor in repairing his shattered mind and memories, the Doctor slept nearly 48 hours. Part of that was doing his best to fix the remaining cracks and holes still exposed in his mind, and the rest was out of pure exhaustion.

That morning, Donna had laundered his clothes, and he slowly began eating again, and spent the afternoon fixing a few things that had been mostly repaired in Mina's kitchen. Donna had left in the late afternoon, after the Doctor's insistence he was fine, and he waited for Mina to wake. His pin-striped trousers had seen better days as had his button down shirt with his sleeves rolled up a bit as he sat in a chair flipping through a book in Mina's room.

Privacy? What was that to the Doctor? He had a distinctive disregard of boundaries which was rather ironic given his own in the TARDIS to his companions. Lucky for him, he had a ship that knew what they were, and kept those traveling with him, away.

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"I'm sure I'll have plenty of distraction when I step out of here. Probably have an entire queue waiting to have a word." Of course this was all speculation, and even though Mina thinks everyone would be OK to his return, he had his own doubts.

His hand moves slightly lower, where her shoulders connected and massaged there, "I drank all your tea." As far as it came to food, Mina was in short supply which was made only worse with the Master devouring the biscuits Donna had made. He needed to gain weight and replenish his energy.

"Mmm."

She didn't care about that, particularly. Except for the part where tea was always a good excuse to have company. And right at the moment, she had all the company she desired.

Mina closed her eyes, leaning her head back slightly, arching her spine like a cat. "I suppose we'll have to come up with a strategy to get you back into the world," she mumbled. "Not that I mind having you all to myself."

That earned a grin, "Might as well just put myself out there. I've never been good at subtle." Even when he was trying to be quiet or sneaky, it didn't always go to plan. Case in point: nearly destroying the town.

"Did you see the TARDIS...?" His beautiful blue box, visible through the ripped open barrier; he wondered if anyone else saw it.

She pulled back a little bit, opening her eyes so she could look at him. "No," she admitted, genuinely regretfully. "I didn't. Was it here?"

Mina would have liked that. But she supposed it was for the best that she hadn't seen it. Nothing more dreadful in this--or any other--world than a sense of false hope. It was fun to fantasize about flying off with him, but better, in the end, to be realistic.

They were stuck.

They were indeed stuck. "It was... when the barrier was opened, you could see it. Waiting. She's always patiently waiting. I think Fortescue saw it, as she was by me when everything failed... Oh!" He sits up, "Jubilee! Is she alright?"

He scrubs at his face, groaning, "I'm afraid I used her... I'm bloody rubbish."

Mina reached out, planting one hand on his chest and gently guiding him back down. "I told you, no one died." She wasn't particularly bothered that he'd used the girl. The world more or less functioned on people using one another. Simply the nature of the beast. She'd either get over it, or she wouldn't.

"Have you thought about what you're going to say?" she asked. "You have the luxury of time. Only two...well...three people know you're back."

"Yes, but is she...?" He's pulled back down to the bed, and he lies there for a moment, mind racing.

"I dunno. I might not say anything. Does this sort of thing need a public apology? I'm not used to my plans not working..." At least Mina knew his ego wasn't completely damaged by the scientists. "It might be a matter of time before the Master spreads his own lies anyway."

"A public apology might not be the worst idea in the world," Mina said. Which was, of course, easy for her to say when it was someone else who was doing the apologizing.

Back home, if a Kindred royally fucked up like that, and if the Prince didn't execute him (or her, she supposed, but it was almost always a him) on the spot, he generally lost some standing in the city. Some of his status. Some of his respect. It was a sort of unspoken, public shaming that lasted until he either left or earned back the goodwill of the population.

A public apology was doubtlessly a form of that.

There was a bit of a defeated groan as he stared up at her ceiling, "Tomorrow, then." There were too many people he was concerned about to ignore this, anyhow. He needed to check on Jubilee, especially. Then maybe Sharon could help him piece things together.

Overwhelmed by curiosity, he reaches out and looks at the ring around her neck, "Is this your wedding ring?" There seemed to be alot they didn't quite know about each other, though the Doctor supposed Mina got a taste of his past the day he returned. All his previous regenerations were so very exposed and raw with the barriers all ripped apart.

That was a curious, male tactic, wasn't it? The abrupt change of topic was enough to give her whiplash.

She glanced down at the ring. At one point in her life--or unlife, perhaps--she'd been fiercely territorial about it, but the last few months had chipped away those feelings. It was still hard for her mind to grasp the concept of Tom, fully accept that he'd been a lie. But it seemed her instincts were ahead of the curve on that one.

"Yes," she said evenly. "I don't know why I bother to keep the damn thing." It wasn't worth much money. Silver. Not even sterling. The best an army officer could afford, she supposed. And there was nothing ornate or pretty about it. It was just a plain band. The chain was probably finer.

"Because it has value to you." He replies simply, well knowing the sentiment. When Rose left, he refused to let anyone use her mug in the kitchen, even himself, and then felt slightly offended Martha had used the same lotion once. Luckily he bit his tongue on that one and realized he was being ridiculous.

He nearly wished he could say the same for his own marriage, but none of it was based off of love. They got along alright, but they were very different when it came down to the Time Lord politics and school of thought.

Releasing the ring, his fingertips traced one of her collarbones that was peeking out from her shirt.

Mina watched him, eyes roiling like the ocean. Not anger or sadness or lust or any other simple emotion. More like a storm of thousands.

"The sentiment attached to tokens dies," she mused. "When you learn that everything you thought you believed about that sentiment was built on a lie. I think it's more old age and habit than value."

She unfastened the top button of her shirt. If he wanted collarbone, he could have collarbone.

"Then why do you continue to wear if, if it has no meaning? It's not especially pretty, per se." He wonders if he's treading on dangerous waters, and pulls his hand away. It was a topic he probably shouldn't have brought up, but when had that ever stopped him before?

It was a good question, and it didn't offend Mina overly. It did make her wonder, though.

She looped her thumb through the chain, lifting it up and away from her skin. The ring bobbled a little bit, but she pulled the chain tighter and it came to rest. "I suppose it's a reminder," she said, "of why I chose the path that I chose. Even if the marriage turned out to be a sham, it brought me to where I am today."

Admittedly, Cape Kore wasn't where she wanted to be. But by and large, Mina liked the person she'd become over the years.

He nods, assuming that meant something good and he stretched out his legs before him. "I used to carry little things like that around, but I'm afraid everything was confiscated from me. My pockets were completely empty last time I checked."

He would've been concerned about losing the TARDIS key, although, not so much after Professor River Song had told him he could open the doors with a snap of his fingers -- and it had worked! Momentarily, he dwelled on her, wondering who she was to him, but then turned back to Mina.

"Soldiers do that," Mina said, with a bit of a nod. "For luck. For remembrance. Or whatever else." She played with a piece of his hair for a moment. And she couldn't help but wonder about his tokens. Who did they remind him of? She'd heard so many names and places and things she couldn't even describe, in all of his rambling. And none of it meant a thing to her.

The question became of how brave was she?

Well. Mina's ego wouldn't allow her to back down.

"Who was Rose?" she asked quietly.

Now that was a good question and he's very quiet for a moment and replies softly, "A very good friend of mine." Which was true, but in reality, she was much more than that. "I was angry, bitter, and lost after the Time War. She was the first person I met afterwards... I rescued her from Autons, and she stayed with me for a while. She saw me through a regeneration - to what I look like now," He grows quiet as he thought about his travels with her.

It hadn't seemed as long ago as it really was, "And then I lost her to an alternative time line." He inhales slowly and releases a sigh, "I was stupid, really stupid in letting her help me, but she's fine. More than fine, really. On the beach of Bad Wolf Bay, I said goodbye."

Mina was reasonably certain she could read between some lines. Men were men, Time Lords or not. But the fact that she saw what she saw didn't bother her all that much. Quite the contrary. It made him easier to understand. He was still a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, of course. But little bits and pieces? She'd take little bits and pieces.

And enjoy the ride.

"You spoke of her quite a lot over the last few days," she murmured, absently running her fingers through his hair. "And regeneration too. Tell me. What did you look like before? When you met her?"

"She was... pretty important to me." He comments and then rubs at his eyelid, "Ohhh, I dunno! Big ears, shorter hair - but not ginger - longer nose, northern accent, blue eyes, really great teeth... Still tall."

He vaguely wondered what he'd look like in his next regeneration, but shrugged it off. "It's a bit dodgy, the process. I've been blonde, curly hair, short, tall, straight hair barely any hair..." There's a playful shrug, "Rose's face..." He remembers her shock upon his regeneration, "Well, she was surprised."

"There are Kindred who can do that," she commented, trying to match his light, playful tone. While fully aware that neither of them were feeling particularly playful. "Change their faces. It's not like what you would call a 'regeneration' I suppose. Just a brief spell to look like someone else. Although there was one Kindred I knew who was a master at it. Joseph Brown. Doctor Brown. He was a primogen...a senator...in Chicago. Like me."

What was it they used to whisper in those final days? 'We have ninety nine problems and all of them are Doctor Brown.' Perhaps more like twenty six problems, but still. They had been him.

She frowned, withdrawing a little as her eyes dimmed. "It turned out he was a time traveler. Like you. Well. Not quite like you. He was...an enthusiastic amateur. Which, unfortunately, led to a complete and total disaster."

"Can you do that? Temporarily? Mine is a way to cheat death, if you will." Just like her, he enjoyed hearing about her past and different species. It was an entirely new world to him and one of the only things keeping him from going mental in this place. He still had so many questions.

"'Enthusiastic amateur'..." He mused outloud, "I suppose that's what they called me in the Academy."

"I was being generous when I called him an 'enthusiastic amateur,'" she said dryly. "By about the time I arrived here, he was known as the world's greatest fuck-up."

Mina didn't understand it all herself, so she spoke haltingly, considering her words carefully. "At some point, in my future, I suppose, Doctor Brown decided to build a time machine. I don't know how or why. All I know is that when he used it, he traveled back in time and collided with a creature known as 'the Baron.' A True Fae. Like m-"

She almost said Like me. But that was the Queen talking, not her.

"Like the thing inside of my," she amended. "And when he collided with the Baron, he shattered himself. Into, at last count, at least twenty six different incarnations. Probably more. And they were scattered through time, all across the earth. And some of them went mad. Others assumed new identities. And some...well, in the end, they all found each other again. Because one of them landed in ancient Rome and founded a cult of vampires, dedicated to chaos and destruction. It was because of that cult that my order formed. To combat them. And both groups existed well into my time. When I had the misfortune of encountering them."

"I've been to ancient Rome. I can't say I recall anything about that during my visit." There were plenty of other things, including his causing Volcano Day, but nothing related to vampires or supernatural beings.

"So... a warrior, then? You?" He offers an amused smile. "With that face, really?" Now he was teasing, knowing first hand how tough and commanding she could be. He had no doubt in her ability to lead or get the job done.

The flattery was sweet, if not misplaced. She smiled ever-so-slightly. "Not always. When I was very, very young, I worked as a footboy to a countess who lived in a country estate outside of London. And I was a cabinboy for a little while. But the army paid better. And it was more exciting."

She enjoyed excitement a bit too much for her own good back then. And perhaps even now, although she wanted to believe she'd developed a better sense of self control.

"I didn't know it, at the time," she murmured, "but I met my first vampire in the army. He was old. So old and so studious that he'd learned to walk in the daylight. And so old that he'd forgotten he was a vampire at all."

Mina hesitated for a moment, curling her lower lip under her teeth. No one knew, outside of Jacqueline and Rosa. And she hadn't said it aloud before. "His name...at least, what he thought his name was...was Tom Barrett."

It takes a moment for this to register, and the Doctor sits up on his elbow, looking a bit shocked, "Your... husband? Was he the one that 'created' you?" He wasn't sure if that was the right terminology, even Time Lords said "birth".

She certainly did lead an interesting life.

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