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“Hey, you alright in there?” Oof, right, The Doctor thought. Slightly clumsy, that. Maybe, tack on a term of endearment? Sound a bit concerned? But of course, not too concerned. They only jogged inside the house a few minutes ago without a word. This is not a Life or Death situation here. After all, while traveling in the TARDIS, The Doctor and Y/N have suffered at the hands of much worse than the bitter cold of Northern Earth. There was the planet of Triozaid where Ryan nearly grew a third arm and Graham nearly lost a leg in return. That was only a couple of days into Y/N’s travel on the TARDIS, and well, it truly set the mood for their adventures together.
But this was the kind of adventure that The Doctor didn’t quite understand. The gears in The Doctor’s brain seemed to move at speed all night, trying to keep up. She thought she had a handle on humankind and interacting with them. In fact, she was a pro at that. But she certainly did not have a handle on the charade her human companion was asking for that night.
“Be my fake partner,” Y/N had pleaded earlier, while The Doctor circled the TARDIS console. She didn’t look up as she pushed a few buttons, mumbling to herself on setting the right course back to Y/N’s hometown. “Please.”
The Doctor had easily agreed, thinking it would be easy. But that was before they had met Y/N’s parents - two people who were still very skeptical of her, to say the least. Waiting outside the house, they stared at her with polite eyes that had flames behind them. Quite uncomfortable and quite unnecessary, really.
Rubbing her hands together and shoving them back in her coat pockets, she questioned why she agreed to this. Even a Time Lord couldn’t regulate their temperatures this much. But she recalled the way Y/N looked at her, eyes wide, asking her to do it. She couldn’t say no.
So, there she was, about to wander their parents’ neighborhood to look at Christmas light displays in what seemed to be the coldest Earth weather physically possible. This had to be on par with Antarctica. In fact, Y/N’s parents knew what they were doing. Bundled up in parkas and various pieces of winter wear, they looked like scientists going on an expedition. She looked rather odd in her capris pants and light coat. Sure, she looked great and rather stylish, but now probably wasn’t the right time, was it?
One of Y/N’s parents cleared their throat, eyes trailing over the Time Lord’s outfit. “Doctor, are you sure you don’t want to borrow a beanie?”
The Doctor shook her head. She’d be fine. Though, glancing around the quiet neighborhood, her breath left her mouth in puffs of smoke. Christmas sure was a joyous Earthen holiday, but she would have to convince Y/N to spend it in a better place next year.
As she considered the thought, the door slammed shut. Her human companion walked out with a gray throw blanket over their shoulders.
“Finally, sorry,” they mumbled, holding it around their shoulders with one hand. The other immediately grabbed The Doctor’s as they gave her a reassuring smile. She was going to be okay. In fact, she might even enjoy it.
The Doctor and Y/N gave Y/N’s parents some space as they wandered up the road, an endless stretch of different Christmas light displays.
“You look rather warm,” The Doctor whispered.
Y/N glanced up at her, snapping their gaze from a beautiful display of white Christmas lights on a Victorian home. Their lips curled into a smile as they nodded. But not warm enough, they thought.
“Well, let me know if you need more warming up, right?” The Doctor whispered.
Despite the frigid air, Y/N felt the warmth of her words run down their spine. As they walked down the street, they wrapped the blanket around the both of them, pulling her closer.