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doctor who (dk) the ninth doctor

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[The Doctor is in a relatively good mood, and it may have something to do with the fact that he's got one of his companions with him. This companion is a fluffy black cat named Mortimer, who is currently lapping up a saucer of milk. The Doctor shakes his head as he watches him.]

Dunno how you can stand the stuff. All the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow.

Suppose it's a good thing we restocked the kitchen, though. 'Course, it's gonna have to be restocked every couple of weeks now that we've got so many mouths to feed. [He doesn't sound overly frustrated by this, however. Quite the opposite, in fact.] Remember when it was just you and me? Blimey, seems like forever ago... [he trails off, brooding for a moment. Then he turns his attention to Mortimer again, since the cat is demanding it by plopping down onto Nine's lap.]

Speaking of new companions, d'you think we ought to get another cat? Seems like you could use a feline friend, and maybe one who's mum won't try to claw me to death. No more domestics for me, thanks!

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I don't believe you. When's the last time you slept properly? [like he's one to talk]

...And you mean aside from the anger management? Er...I suppose I'm trying to get her to branch out a bit. Make new friends, that sort of thing. She's got the tendency to get attached to one person, and that's dangerous on the Plane. The last bloke she was attached to left, and I think it made a big impact on her mind. Makes her easier to manipulate, too -- think that's part of why she trusted Crane so much.

Really, Thete, just because you're having problems, it doesn't mean everyone else is.

A dependent personality. A vampire with a dependent personality. Oh, you do know how to pick them, don't you?

And just 'cause you've got a better mask than mine doesn't mean it never slips.

...What d'you mean?

[With a sigh] If you must know, it's... my head. This conversation keeps reminding me of something---someone---that it's really in my best interests not to think about. The less you ask me about it, the less of a problem it will be. So if we could move on?

[he looks rather guilty, and nods] Right, sorry. Er...how's the University coming?

[One of these days, Braxiatel is going to have to thank Pandora for letting him get out of this conversation with a neat little feint.]

[A soft laugh] I believe we were discussing Diva. And Omega? I'm meant to be doing something about all that. I can't quite figure out what.

Edited 2010-05-20 06:07 (UTC)

[sighs] I don't know, to be honest. I was hoping you'd have some ideas.

I don't think he likes me much more than he likes you. And I doubt that he'll listen to me if I lecture him on the differences between the vampires of Diva's world and the vampires of ours. Prejudices, especially those from personal history, run deep. You, for example, are on record as having been unfairly suspicious of Ice Warriors. [Braxiatel loves Ice Warriors, so he clearly doesn't approve of this.]

[the Doctor is going to ignore that comment there] I think he'd like anyone more than he likes me. But no, I doubt a lecture would help.

Still...I mostly just wish we wouldn't fight constantly. Can't even bump into him without pushing his buttons, and I don't mean to. ...Most of the time. I wish he didn't want me dead. That he didn't think I was unworthy of being a Time Lord.

[a long pause] I'm tired, Brax.

[Braxiatel looks at the Doctor. His hands are linked together, but his smile is warm.] Oh, Thete. You're one of the most worthy Time Lords I know. If I had to select only two of us to survive, you and Romana would be my choices for Gallifrey's future.

[raises an eyebrow of disbelief] Romana I can see, but me? I am the last, Brax, and Gallifrey hasn't got a future. 'Cause of me.

No, Doctor. Gallifrey does not have a future because its own arrogance and madness. It falls of its own failings. The universe survives because of you.

[the Doctor is laughing now, and it's rather manic] He wouldn't believe me. I told him, and he wouldn't listen...

[stern] Doctor. [He puts his hands on the Doctor's shoulders, meeting his expression, his voice firm, his eyes calm and unmoved.] Calm down.

[Because if he is honest, he has to admit that these flashes of manic behaviour have scared him, and this is all he can think to do to bring his brother back down to the ground.]

[he's startled out of it by the touch, and manages to take a deep breath] Sorry, I just...I broke, during the argument, and told him things. Things I don't want to remember...[he's very blatantly not meeting Brax's gaze, despite how close he is]

[And Braxiatel, still concerned, does not let go.] The things we do and see done in wars make us all want to forget.

[shakes his head] Imagine the worst possible thing you could see in a war and multiply it by infinity. That's what I can't forget, no matter how much I try. No matter how much I want to remember it differently...

If I may point out, you can't actually multiple anything by infinity. Unless you've been getting into esoteric branches of mathematics again. [His flippant pedantry done, Braxiatel lets go of the Doctor, but stays close.] You needn't tell me anything. But I'll listen to what the future may hold.

[the Doctor rolls his eyes at the technicality, but then he reaches out for Brax again -- almost like a kid would reach for a teddy bear] It wasn't Gallifrey or the universe, Brax. It was Gallifrey or all of creation. All of Time.

[Braxiatel allows this, because above all else, the Doctor is family. In dark hours, Braxiatel has been comforted to know that the Doctor will always be out there, somewhere, alive and living freely no matter what happens to Brax. The least Brax can do in turn is to be here right now for the Doctor.]

[Quietly,] That... is a very significant thing for the Time Lords to deem unnecessary.

[The Doctor is grateful for it, and holds onto him tightly, as though Brax is the only thing holding him together -- which isn't far from the truth] Everything's unnecessary when you're a being of pure consciousness. Why worry about a thing like Time when you could rise above it? Least, that was the popular theory. [he's laughing again, and it's no less manic than it was before] ...The Theory of Rassilon!

[Braxiatel starts to worry that he is going to have to hypnotise the Doctor into calming down. The Time War, for whatever reason, does not scare him.] It's been considered before. As I recall, we always rejected it, save for the Celestis during that particular knot of continuity we call the Second War in Heaven. I also seem to recall that such an existence is reliant on physical beings thinking of them, which makes the destruction of time and space rather idiotic, in my opinion.

[As always, Braxiatel can't approach the problem directly. But this is all he can think to say.]

[The Doctor's not really paying attention again, but Brax's voice is soothing. Not soothing enough to stop the laughter completely, though.] Yep, I think "rather idiotic" sums the whole thing up. But no, Lord President Rassilon insisted that was the only way to come out of the War alive -- it wasn't just Daleks, Brax. They were just the beginning.

But out of all the horrors...the Deathsmiths of Goth, the Skaro Degradations, the Hordes of Travesty, the Could've Been King and his Army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres, and the Nightmare Child...Rassilon was the worst. The Time Lords were the worst. So I stopped them. And now it's just me.

What Gallifreyan naming schemes. [He allows himself that moment of dryness before he tries to find a reply for the Doctor. His voice is just beneath hypnotism; he doesn't dare try it, lest it fail and make things work. But it's the most calming voice he has to work with against what he has to say.]

We have always been the worst. The most despotic, the most corrupt, the most arrogant, the most powerful. Because there was never anyone to stop us, and we would never let go of what we had come to own. That was Rassilon's gift to us. Power, and lives long enough that we can almost forget the guilt of misusing it. Is it so surprising that his plan would drag down the rest of history for the sake of our survival?

As I said, Doctor. You are my choice for Gallifrey's future.

[there's silence for several moments from the Doctor, before a noise escapes that sounds suspiciously like a sob. Because he's finally allowing himself to cry -- because it's Brax. Family. And his family believes in him. Eventually, after a concerned mew from Mortimer, he speaks.]

You'd be mine, you know. You and Romana.