realityshifted | (no subject)

[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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[Watching the Doctor, something occurs to Braxiatel. He leans forward.]

Doctor. Did you expect to survive what you did to end the War?

[the Doctor suddenly looks incredibly awkward] Does it matter?

Yes, Doctor. It does.

Why? [he sounds genuinely confused here]

[mildly] It means you can't harass me about trying to have Hulzarrian carp for dinner.

[That's what he says, but what he means is that he understands. That he has nearly done the same. That only the Doctor's intervention stopped him.]

[The Doctor nods, catching Brax's meaning and looking haunted...remembering his last regeneration.] I explained the War to a particularly stupid ape once, and he pointed out the fact that I survived. Told him it wasn't by choice.

Humans are... young. They have a different sense of perspective.

Of course, some of them are simply idiots. A lot like some Gallifreyans that way.

[darkly] He was keeping a museum of alien artefacts. Anything he didn't understand, he locked it all up underground, and used what he did understand for money. And d'you know what he did when he found out I was the last of my kind?

He tried to collect you as well. [Braxiatel takes a sip from his drink, eyebrows raised.] I know the type.

[nods] Sort of. But that wasn't even the stupidest bit. I wasn't the only alien they were keeping down there. They'd been trying to torture information out of the creature, but it only responded when they shoved me in a room with it...[he still remembers the complete fear and panic that had overwhelmed him then, and he shuts his eyes briefly]

Ka Faraq Gatri?

[the Doctor nods again, and opens his eyes. The pain is back.] They'd trapped it. The Dalek's weapons weren't even functioning. We...we talked. Then I tried to finish it off, but the stupid apes stopped me. That's when they asked me about the War...when they tortured me. But then the alarm sounded. The Dalek had escaped.

[he pauses to take a long drink] I told them to release me if they wanted to live.

[Braxiatel's eyes flicker to the Doctor's at the mention of torture.] I hope it killed them.

[And the worst part is that, as distant and dry as his delivery is, he means it. Whatever humans dared to torture the Doctor deserve death. That it would be by the Dalek they kept prisoner, well, that just adds the ironic touch.]

[frowns] No, van Statten's still alive. The Dalek killed 200 of his people, but...he's still around somewhere. Think his own personal assistant chucked him out and gave him a memory wipe.

Took another assistant of his as a companion, actually, after I'd killed the Dalek. Adam. Wasn't the brightest bloke, but I...needed someone. And then he betrayed me.

[As mild as before, careful not to reveal what he might or might not want the Doctor to have done.] And what did you do to this traitor?

[the Doctor grins, and it's a bit dangerous] Nothing at all! Just dumped him off back home. He's living the quiet life now, keeping to himself.

'Cause if he doesn't, someone's gonna find out he's got a chip in his head. Bet he's been found out already, considering all you've got to do is snap your fingers, and his head opens up. [he had fun with that, yes he did :|]

How cruel of you.

[But his tone passes no judgement.]

[shrugs] He did it to himself, far as I'm concerned.

Just desserts?

He said he wanted to stay behind. "Absorb the culture." I believed him. Then he went and got a chip in his head. And d'you know what he did next? Downloaded information. Only the stupid ape hadn't realised it could be uploaded from him.

Adam's brain told the Editor every bit of information about me I'd given him. Including information about the TARDIS, and he nearly stole her from me. Took the key right out of Adam's pocket.

That would count as absorbing the culture, from a certain point of view.

[dryly] The one time I haven't appreciated a good pun. Adam set new records all over the place.

He wasn't one of the ones you kidnapped, I hope.

Oi, I didn't kidnap him. He just insisted on coming along, and -- like I said. Needed someone. Hadn't had a companion since...before I regenerated. Before the War.