#secondofeternity

STARTER. ( closed. ) // @secondofeternity​ liked for a starter.

Starter for @secondofeternity {12 and Susan}

This was the moment that Susan Campbell had been clingy to all week. It was the moment when she heard the familiar whirring of the TARDIS outside and a knock on her front door. It was a soundscape that indicated that this was finally the weekend. Her Grandfather had finished lectures for the week and was going to come and visit. This moment had always been the highlight of the week for Susan but now she'd learnt to appreciate it even more. There would be an extra pair of hands in the house and that was invaluable in times like this.

They weren't planning on going on an adventure like they used to. She'd instead roped her Grandfather in to helping her look after the baby.

David, her husband, travelled for work. It had never bothered Susan before as she would occasionally go on little trips with her Grandparent while he was away but it had recently been the cause of much discourse.

The sound of a baby throwing a full blown tantrum could be heard even from the pavement and as Susan opened the door, the screaming got a whole lot louder. She looked exhausted, hair messy and bags of tiredness under her eyes. Behind her, the house was a mess. She'd usually make sure that everything was spotless and a pot of tea was ready on the coffee table before guests came... but not anymore. Sighing, she immediately passed the Doctor the baby.

@secondofeternity​ asked: “several bad choices have lead me to this moment”

“Sir,” JARVIS interrupts, his insistent tone drawing Tony’s focus as an alert pops up on the holographic display along with the readings that show a sudden spike of an unknown energy as it began to coalesce in a surprisingly focused spot in the middle of the workshop. “An anomaly has been detected on sensors.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Tony huffs as he sets his tools down from where he had been making adjustments to the new gauntlet he was working on for the next model of his suit. He hurriedly plugs the gauntlet into the reactor in his chest, standing from the workbench just as a strange grinding noise echoes throughout the workshop.

The appearance of a strange blue box appearing out of thin air has to be one of the weirder things he’s seen lately, but at least the timing was better than it also could have been. For one, at least he was in the workshop to deal with the security breach immediately, so hopefully no one could take off with any of his tech. For two, at least no one was here but himself and the bots, because the last thing he needs is to be distracted protecting Pepper or Rhodey from some unknown in a place where all of them have ever only felt safe.

When the box finally solidifies, and the echoing grinding noise finally stops, he lifts his gauntleted hand, activating the repulser in preparation to defend himself and his tech. 

Only he hadn’t expected the older man with curly white hair to step out of the box, look at him clearly in alarm, and say that...

He can’t quite help himself with the bemused huff that escapes him, a wry smirk tugging at one corner of his lips, though he doesn’t yet lower his hand. 

“You don’t say,” he drawls sarcastically, one brow quirked as he studies the other man warily. He doesn’t see any signs of a gun or any other form of weaponry, but that doesn’t put him at ease either.

@secondofeternity​ asked: “Let’s see what we can find around here.”

Layla hums softly in agreement before hopping up onto one of the stone pillars that had been knocked over at some time in the past, grinning once she realises that this new vantage point gives her a height advantage over the Doctor - enough so that she can reach out and ruffle the floof of hair on his head.

“I will know it when I see it. Unfortunately, the Seeker was quite thorough in trying to destroy all of the Osirian technology left in the universe when Father woke. Odd to think that in linear terms, that was only a few years ago. In his perspective then, I was not even born yet.”

Starter for @secondofeternity from post X

Mind racing, hands shaking and hearts beating against the inside of her rib cage.

Staring down the sight of a hand gun was not how a younger Susan would have expected her first time back in the TARDIS to go.

Being abandoned had been the worst pain that Susan had known at the time. She was a child, left alone on a strange planet, entirely abandoned by the one person in the universe who she had given up everything for. She'd left Gallifrey for him. Left her home for him. He'd repaid her by leaving her behind. That had been the start of a slippery slope of resentment towards the Doctor. That hatred had only been heightened by the preventable death of her son and the more recent death of her husband. That was when her revenge started to come to fruition.

She had to kill the Doctor. How else would she get closure?

After years of looking for him, following every lead and unusual signal imaginable, she'd finally bumped into him again. Her Grandfather. She hadn't been able to bring herself to do it at first. It was strange. She'd planned this for so long and yet, when the time came, she struggled to do it. Now that they were in the TARDIS, readying to go on an adventure, she'd finally plucked up the courage to pull out her gun.

   The concept of a 'guilty pleasure' is largely foreign to River - why should she feel guilty about anything that brings her pleasure? - but if she were to have one, it would without a doubt be her taste in music. She's a sucker for 20th century earth music, specifically the likes of Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Elvis or anything else equally as sappy romantic and easy to dance to. Although aware of the Doctor's altered musical tastes, the record is set in the player and the needle placed on top in the hope that the familiar notes will persuade him to dance.

   She doesn’t realise her mistake, or rather her thoughtlessness, until her body is pressed against his, her right hand resting on his left shoulder, her left hand curled loosely at the base of his neck. The absence of his hands around her is the first thing that gives away his discomfort, followed swiftly by his wide eyes and stiff body, and compounded by his helpless question as he tries, and fails, to decide where to place his hands. Stupid stupid stupid. She, of all people, should have known better than to assume this face would be like the last, that he would know how to move in time with her, that he would even want to. River desperately wants to pull away, silence the music and pretend this never happened, but such a response would speak so clearly of her vulnerabilities that she can't bring herself to. Instead she reaches for his hands.

   "Here." One hand is returned gently to her waist, the other is taken in her own, lacing their fingers together, their new position freeing up his shoulder to rest her head against it, breath against his neck, all the better for hiding her face.