starter for @callfromthevoid that i’ve owed them for 1432898 years
The truth was, the Doctor often found he couldn’t keep up with Void, no matter how hard he tried. This body was (mostly) human and had limitations, especially now. It lacked one heart, one sense, and the incredible ability to keep going for days with barely any rest. To say it was vexing wouldn’t even begin to cover it.
So occasionally, while the Doctor catched up on the sleep he’d neglected for a week or two, Void would slip out of the TARDIS and go on his own adventures. He’d read a couple thousand books. He’d entertain himself in ways that including harming himself and others more often than he should. The Doctor was aware of this, even if it had never been explicitly discussed, and although he didn’t like it. he was well aware there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Until now, the arrangement had worked as well as he could’ve expected.
The Doctor had woken up due to an intense feeling of distress. It’d taken him a couple seconds to pinpoint the TARDIS as the source, and a lot more than that to wake up completely and decide to go ahead and investigate the matter further. He specifically remembered cursing Void for being unable to attend to their ship while he was trying to get some rest, and cursing him some more just because he could and he’d stubbed his toes with some door or the other.
And then the smell had hit his nostrils, metallic and pulsing and full of bad memories, and the Doctor had forgotten everything and started to run towards the source.
It became a hundred times stronger when he finally kicked the door of the bathroom down and fell to his knees in front of the bathtub, the sound of two faint hearts overpowering the strong beat of his own, and he reached toward the only source of warmth he could find, the skin moist and sticky once he touched it.
“What have you done, you idiot. What the hell have you gotten yourself into.” It came out softer than he had intended, his voice dripping with worry as his eyes filled with tears he didn’t allow to fall.
The Doctor had lost many people in his life. He didn’t think he’d stand losing this one.
















