Mythical Creatures Scene 6: Three Days
“Where do you want to go first?”
“I have no idea,” she laughed, shaking the water off her sandals. “You’re the one who knows what’s out there.”
“Then we’ll start simple. How about Paris?”
They watched the sun set and the full moon rise from Montmartre, leaning on the rail together in silence, and she understood why it was called the City of Lights. She let her hand wander over and take hold of his. When the last hint of sunlight was gone, they walked to the park behind the Basilique Sacre-Coeur, where they’d left the Tardis, and stood by the fountain for a moment. She was aching to kiss him, but she didn’t want to push it; not yet. Just because he’d asked her to come along, and knew how she felt, didn’t mean he felt the same way. But then again, he had brought her someplace romantic… She started to reach for him, still unsure but almost as afraid not to try.
Suddenly a large dog growled behind her, and she jumped and whirled around to face it. It was staring at them, eyes reflecting the moonlight, and it was between them and the Tardis. She started to back away and bumped into the Doctor; he put his hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t run,” he said quietly. “You’ll only attract its attention.”
“I think we already have its attention,” she whispered, but she followed his lead and circled away slowly. “God, I’ve never seen a dog that big.”
“It’s not a dog, it’s a werewolf.”Before she could reply, it barked, and she screamed. Then it lunged, and they both turned and ran.
They could not stay ahead of it for long. Letitia nearly tripped over a large stick at the other end of the park; she swiped it up and threw it, missing completely. Then she stopped in her tracks as the werewolf turned and chased the stick. Soon it returned, stick in its mouth, and sat in front of her.
“I think you’d better take it,” the Doctor suggested.
She did, and threw it again. They both began to laugh with relief, and they spent the rest of the night playing with the werewolf to keep it from hurting anyone else. In the morning, when it changed back, the Doctor told the man what he was and recommended locking himself up during the full moon, if he couldn’t find a loyal friend to keep him busy.
Letitia was too exhausted to protest when he gave her a private room in the Tardis.
* * * * *
After she had slept, he took her on a tour of the past. A vegetarian health retreat in the early 1900’s, the temples of pre-Columbian Mexico, the birth of humanity in Africa, the time of the dinosaurs (many people believed the monster in Lake Champlain, and its possible counterpart in Loch Ness, were holdout aquatic dinosaurs), the first life to crawl out of the sea, the primordial rains that formed that sea in the first place.
She stood on an outcropping of bare rock, water running through her hair and soaking her clothes. There was no oxygen yet; the Doctor had adjusted some controls to project the Tardis’s atmosphere a few feet outside the door. She held up her palms and felt the drops hitting them, opened her mouth and tasted the first liquid water on Earth. Then a thought hit her.
“We’re the only two living things on this planet,” she realized. She didn’t turn her eyes away from the rain, but her hand searched for his and grasped hard when she found it. “Life hasn’t even started to evolve yet.”
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What if it didn’t evolve out of nothing?” she breathed. “What if the rain is washing away some of our skin cells, and life actually evolved from us?”
“We’d be our own ancestors,” he smiled. “But no. It’s the wrong kind of cells. Bacteria came first.”
“We still could have carried it with us,” she said. “Wait.” She turned to look at him at last. He was just as wet as she, only he had a jacket to hide it. “You said our ancestors.”
“Time Lords evolved from humans,” he explained. “Most of them didn’t know that, and probably would have denied it if they had, but I have it on very good authority that it is the case.”
“Then we’re not so different, are we?” she asked, looking into his eyes. As she laid a hand on his chest, a shiver ran through her. The rain had seemed warm enough at first, but it was washing away her own heat.
“I think we’d better go,” he suggested.
“All right.” She let him guide her inside, and he showed her where to find dry clothes. When they had both changed (in separate rooms), he set her up on a plush sofa in front of a fireplace with a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa, then took a seat nearby and stared into the flames. As she gradually warmed up, she found herself studying him. It occurred to her that although she’d known him for twenty-two years, this was only the third day they’d spent together. The rest had all been in her mind.
He’d left off his jacket when he changed. Its absence made him seem more vulnerable, almost delicate, as if it were some kind of emotional armor. As if daring to be in her presence without it was a sign of significant trust.
“Will you come sit with me?” she asked.
He glanced up with a start, as if he’d been lost in thoughts of his own. She wondered what they were.
“Sit with me,” she repeated.
He gave her a weak smile, stood up, and moved over next to her. She let the blanket slip and wrapped her arms around him. This time, he thought, I would be the one taking unfair advantage. For a moment, he pulled his awareness inside his own nervous system; he needed to shut down a particular pair of nerves, to keep his body from responding to her proximity. It wasn’t difficult, though she could easily override the block if she tried. He held her close, keeping her warm, but nothing more.
It’s only been three days, she thought. Why should he be ready yet? And really, why should she? It was wonderful just to be near him, and they had all the time in the world.
* * * * *
When the Doctor awoke, he was surprised to find they were still on the sofa. He was leaning sideways against the back, and Letitia was curled up in the blanket with her head on his chest. He still had one arm around her. He could smell her hair and the residue of the essential oil blend she used as perfume. Jasmine and ylang-ylang?
Without thinking, he stroked her cheek, and she stirred a little. His hearts quickened, but the nerve block was still in place. Even so, he knew it would get more and more difficult to fight.
Forest was right; he had started flirting with Tansy. He simply wasn’t used to such visceral impulses. Under normal circumstances, they would fade with fulfillment, but Delavega had not been a normal circumstance. Followed by Letitia’s books, and then the vampire’s bite… he knew he couldn’t wait much longer. If this was how human men felt all the time, he was glad not to be one.
It didn’t matter what Letitia wanted; if he gave in too soon, he would only be using her, and the very idea was repulsive. He had to let her make the first move.
She began to stir again, and this time she woke fully. As she realized where she was, she craned her neck to smile at him.
“Get up, sleepyhead,” he said, pushing her away playfully. “We’re going to have breakfast on an alien planet.”
Scene Selection
1. The Earth Line 6. Three Days 2. Based on a True Story 7. Cassiopeia 3. Tempus Vivat 8. Connection 4. Green Light 9. No Happy Endings 5. Reunion Commentary