#timesfed

x. for the doctor,

@timesfed

❝ if this is some kind of recruitment drive then, i'm sorry, but i'm really not interested. ❞ belinda's finally getting back to normal. finally getting her life back on track. she's back to work, she's got a new flat with a flatmate who actually shares their granola, and she's put it all behind her. the adventures. the losses. the stars. and then unit came knocking. whisking her back into a world of monsters and aliens. leading her down hallways that display things she's never seen before - weapons and armour - until she's finally left with ruby in some kind of command centre. christ, it's like a movie. ❝ i'm just a nurse. i can't help you. ❞ @timesfed

what could have been read as an innocent request feels so much deeper coming from padmé. "try not to get yourself killed" is more often remarked with offhand indifference, with humor, placed as an amused warning that hides more than it says. not here. not with padmé. their tone is softer, smoother, weighed down with rocks and tied into the knot of their brow as they stare at the jedi before them, begging arra to come back, not die, try not to get yourself killed. in return, arra, moved, ignores the tightness in her chest and eases forward, entering the senator's personal space if only to lock their eyes and assure padmé without a shadow of a doubt that she will come back. "you have nothing to fear," arra eases off her tongue, a hand darting into padmé's grip to cling to her fingers and squeeze lightly. "they don't expect me to be gone long, and the moment i return to coruscant, i will be back here to see you. you have my word." arra's brows settle over her eyes, and the longer she stares into padmé's eyes, the more certain she becomes of her language. "i will not die, senator. i will be back." then, with a softer, airier voice, "— wait for me?"

x. for rose tyler,

❝ right. sorry. ❞ like a child being reprimanded by a teacher, belinda suddenly averts her eyes. finding a somewhat redundant switch on the tardis console suddenly very interesting. how long has it been? a year or two for her, maybe, but seemingly longer for them. and, sure, she had wanted to go home. to hug her nan and listen to her mother play and laugh at her dad's terrible jokes but - she missed it. the thrill of adventure. the beauty of the stars. so when that blue box appeared on her street again, well, she couldn't ignore the way her heart leapt. ❝ i just didn't - you're different - ❞ and she knew that they change. seen it in the barber's basement. it's different to see it up close. to expect one face and be greeted by another. ❝ what happened? ❞

"hate t'break it to you..." leaning on the tardis' center console — careful not to lean on any buttons or switches that might accidentally send them into flight — she quirks a brow at him. flashing him one of her wide grins. "but you've already got one of those," she's seen it once or twice; especially in the old him. he'd gotten better at hiding it since he regenerated, or stifling it. but she could still see the shadows in his eyes, or the way he set his jaw when someone got him really cross about something. a reminder of how much he'd gone through before they met — a story he still hadn't told her in full, with all its gory details. "you're not darth vader, but i definitely wouldn't want to be on your bad side."

it is a perfectly timed question. the two stand together on a rocky cliff overlooking the distant water that surrounds atlantis, and kida has been silent for a while. karlach's question interrupts her lengthy stare, her lost gaze, her distant thoughts and wandering mind. have you ever seen the world beyond atlantis? kida shakes her head, then sits, motioning for karlach to do the same beside her. "i have not. my father forbids it. even having a guest like you upon our land is frowned upon, as he worries outside interference will lessen the sanctity of our people and our history. he is concerned that, with outsiders stepping in, or me stepping out, that we will start to lose what makes us special. our history, our culture..." though kida continues to address karlach, she stares out at the water beyond. "and i suppose, in a way, he is right. our isolationist tendencies have kept us alive for thousands of years, our way of life, preserved, but..." now she looks at her new friend, her expression sad. "i would very much like to see other places. where you come from, for instance. places beyond our city and beyond our waters. it's... complicated." though she smiles, it is weighed with woe. "perhaps if you describe it to me? describe where you come from, what it looks like and feels like to be there? maybe that will paint me a good enough picture so that i do not need to go after all. could you do that for me?"