Doctor Who Fanfic: Carried Too Far 1/10
Jan. 17th, 2010 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteRating: Um, PG?
Author's Note: Yes. It is a story. That I wrote. And am posting. Nobody faint! Well, it's the first part of a story, in any case. The structure is the same as Like Nobody's Watching, except the common theme isn't dancing but ... well, see summary.
Dear Who Newsletter Monitor: Please do not link to this yet! I'll repost the whole thing when it's complete, and I'd rather you saved it for then.
Summary: Forced intimacy cliches are no match for the Doctor. Ten times the universe failed to get everyone's favourite Time Lord laid, despite its best attempts.
Poetry, like chastity, can be carried too far. - attributed to Mark Twain
I. Warmth
Despite the roaring wind outside and the snow that was steadily piling up at the cave entrance, Ian Chesterton found himself feeling uncomfortable warm. He was acutely conscious of Barbara's arms around him, of her head resting on his shoulder and the softness of her body against his. In the few months since they'd been dragged away from everything they knew, they'd attained a level of intimacy of he'd never dreamed of at Coal Hill, but this was the closest they'd ever been from a strictly physical point of view. Under the improvised blankets they shared she even had a hand resting on his knee.
The whole thing might have been slightly less awkward without the Doctor's elbow digging into his ribs.
"Hmph," the Doctor said. "Susan should have been back by now."
"If she has any sense," and privately, Ian sometimes wondered, "then she'll stay in the ship until morning instead of trying to come back here in the snow. How's your ankle now?"
"Perfectly fine," the Doctor said. "If we set out now, we could still be in the TARDIS before it gets properly dark. I'm sure I can stand -" he groped around for his cane.
Barbara stirred and sat up. "Doctor, you mustn't - I think it might really be broken."
Ian wished that he'd just slung the old man over his shoulder an hour ago when it happened and carried him back to the ship, but he was so stubborn about not wanting any help that it had seemed simpler at the time to just sit down in the nearby cave and wait for Susan to come back with medical supplies. That had been before it started to get dark, and before it started to snow, and before Ian had begun to wonder if Susan had returned to the ship safely. The planet they were on looked like Earth, but who could really tell? It seemed deserted by any life higher than the leafless winter trees, but Ian had learned not to take these things for granted. For all he knew, he was back on Earth in 1963 and they'd just landed in Greenland by mistake.
"Nonsense, my dear," the Doctor snorted. "I only tripped over. You shouldn't make such a fuss!"
"Here, let me have another look ..." Barbara leaned across Ian, in a way that made parts of her anatomy press against him distinctly. "Roll up your trouser leg and I'll see.."
The Doctor muttered something, but he pulled up the leg of his checked trousers nevertheless. It looked red and swollen, and the Doctor's wince of pain when Barbara touched it was visible, even in the half darkness of the cave.
"There's no way you can walk on that now," Barbara said. "If we had something to make a splint from ..."
"I think we'd better stay put until morning," Ian said reluctantly. "There could be animals roaming about for all we know."
"If there are," the Doctor said, "we should be worrying that they'll return to their lair. A cave like this would be an excellent shelter in the snow for some creature or another."
It was not a cheerful thought, but he was right. That settled it - worried as he was about Susan, Ian had to assume that she was inside the ship. He couldn't leave the Doctor and Barbara here defenceless while he went to look for her.
"It can't be helped," Ian said. "We're going to have to settle in here for the night." At least here they were warm under the fur coats they'd fortuitously found in the TARDIS wardrobe, and relatively safe for now. He was getting used to missing his supper.
"I suppose we should try to get some sleep," Barbara said, moving the coats so that they were all just about covered. She was practically sitting in Ian's lap now.
"I'll set off to look for Susan at first light." Ian was promising himself as much as the Doctor, although he could tell that the old man was more concerned than he let on.
Barbara snuggled closer to him with a sigh. The Doctor rearranged his elbow so that it dug into a different pair of Ian's ribs ribs.
Even assuming a twenty-four hour day, it was going to be a very long night.
Author's Note: Yes. It is a story. That I wrote. And am posting. Nobody faint! Well, it's the first part of a story, in any case. The structure is the same as Like Nobody's Watching, except the common theme isn't dancing but ... well, see summary.
Dear Who Newsletter Monitor: Please do not link to this yet! I'll repost the whole thing when it's complete, and I'd rather you saved it for then.
Summary: Forced intimacy cliches are no match for the Doctor. Ten times the universe failed to get everyone's favourite Time Lord laid, despite its best attempts.
Poetry, like chastity, can be carried too far. - attributed to Mark Twain
I. Warmth
Despite the roaring wind outside and the snow that was steadily piling up at the cave entrance, Ian Chesterton found himself feeling uncomfortable warm. He was acutely conscious of Barbara's arms around him, of her head resting on his shoulder and the softness of her body against his. In the few months since they'd been dragged away from everything they knew, they'd attained a level of intimacy of he'd never dreamed of at Coal Hill, but this was the closest they'd ever been from a strictly physical point of view. Under the improvised blankets they shared she even had a hand resting on his knee.
The whole thing might have been slightly less awkward without the Doctor's elbow digging into his ribs.
"Hmph," the Doctor said. "Susan should have been back by now."
"If she has any sense," and privately, Ian sometimes wondered, "then she'll stay in the ship until morning instead of trying to come back here in the snow. How's your ankle now?"
"Perfectly fine," the Doctor said. "If we set out now, we could still be in the TARDIS before it gets properly dark. I'm sure I can stand -" he groped around for his cane.
Barbara stirred and sat up. "Doctor, you mustn't - I think it might really be broken."
Ian wished that he'd just slung the old man over his shoulder an hour ago when it happened and carried him back to the ship, but he was so stubborn about not wanting any help that it had seemed simpler at the time to just sit down in the nearby cave and wait for Susan to come back with medical supplies. That had been before it started to get dark, and before it started to snow, and before Ian had begun to wonder if Susan had returned to the ship safely. The planet they were on looked like Earth, but who could really tell? It seemed deserted by any life higher than the leafless winter trees, but Ian had learned not to take these things for granted. For all he knew, he was back on Earth in 1963 and they'd just landed in Greenland by mistake.
"Nonsense, my dear," the Doctor snorted. "I only tripped over. You shouldn't make such a fuss!"
"Here, let me have another look ..." Barbara leaned across Ian, in a way that made parts of her anatomy press against him distinctly. "Roll up your trouser leg and I'll see.."
The Doctor muttered something, but he pulled up the leg of his checked trousers nevertheless. It looked red and swollen, and the Doctor's wince of pain when Barbara touched it was visible, even in the half darkness of the cave.
"There's no way you can walk on that now," Barbara said. "If we had something to make a splint from ..."
"I think we'd better stay put until morning," Ian said reluctantly. "There could be animals roaming about for all we know."
"If there are," the Doctor said, "we should be worrying that they'll return to their lair. A cave like this would be an excellent shelter in the snow for some creature or another."
It was not a cheerful thought, but he was right. That settled it - worried as he was about Susan, Ian had to assume that she was inside the ship. He couldn't leave the Doctor and Barbara here defenceless while he went to look for her.
"It can't be helped," Ian said. "We're going to have to settle in here for the night." At least here they were warm under the fur coats they'd fortuitously found in the TARDIS wardrobe, and relatively safe for now. He was getting used to missing his supper.
"I suppose we should try to get some sleep," Barbara said, moving the coats so that they were all just about covered. She was practically sitting in Ian's lap now.
"I'll set off to look for Susan at first light." Ian was promising himself as much as the Doctor, although he could tell that the old man was more concerned than he let on.
Barbara snuggled closer to him with a sigh. The Doctor rearranged his elbow so that it dug into a different pair of Ian's ribs ribs.
Even assuming a twenty-four hour day, it was going to be a very long night.