Chapter Text
The Doctor had been having a perfectly nice day when the TARDIS lurched violently to one side, her circuits sparking and hissing. She had only been standing there, silently contemplating where to take Yaz next and now she was gripping onto the console’s edge so she didn’t get flung across the floor and into a coral strut.
“Bloody ‘ell, girl!” she yelled in alarm. The timeship whined and then began to vibrate ominously, the sensation getting worse until the Doctor was gritting her teeth. It seemed to carry on forever, and just as she began to run through what possible repairs she’d done last that may have possibly gone skewiff, the vibrating stopped and one side of the console exploded in a sea of smoke and sparks. Then everything in the console room dimmed.
She stayed still for a moment, crouched, and then heard Yaz’s footsteps pounding across the honeycomb floor as she came rushing in.
“Doctor, what was that? What happened?” Yaz’s hair was slightly damp and her clothes were dishevelled, clearly having been caught out in getting ready. The Doctor gingerly released her vice-like grip and looked up. The tree-like coral struts were flickering sporadically.
“I don’t know,” she replied, standing up and brushing herself down. “I don’t like not knowing and - aw, no, not the dispenser!” Face crumpled in disbelief, she prodded the broken mechanism sadly and then yelped, drawing her hand back sharply. Greyish smoke began to billow from the other side of the console and the TARDIS groaned in warning in her head.
Yaz stepped next to her, concerned. “Doctor?”
“Oufonkthetoudisishbwadachmeh,” the Doctor said. Yaz blinked at her. “What?” The Time Lord removed her burnt finger from her mouth with a slight ‘pop’, frowning. “I said, I think the TARDIS is mad with me.” Yaz pulled a confused face. “Why would she be mad at you? Did you break the helmic regulator again?”
The situation was giving the Doctor an eerie sense of deja vu and she shook her head lightly as if chasing away a stray piece of hair, not liking the feeling at all. In her mind’s eye she briefly saw blue-green lit coral, rustic grating and tangled wires. The old, knackered out jumpseat that squeaked slightly when-
“Are you alright?” Yaz put her face in her line of vision, looking concerned now. Apparently she’d been staring off into the distance for a moment there.
“Eh? Um, no, it’s not the helmic regulator, I tuned that up after our visit to Solaris.” She tapped at a few dials that now read nothing. “Can’t even tell where we are.” In a lower tone, more to herself she added, “I think the old girl still hasn’t forgiven me for when the swimming pool flooded the library. Took ages to dry out her circuits…”
Yaz walked slowly around the console towards the entrance. “Then we could at least go and look?” The Doctor hesitated at this. She was getting an unpleasant feeling of foreboding at the back of her mind. It was her then inhaling a lungful of acrid smoke and the clanging noise from her ship that made her decision. She sped up to catch up with her companion. “Wouldn’t hurt I suppose,” she coughed, switching to her respiratory bypass to stop her eyes beginning to stream. Yaz pushed open the door with its usual creak. Dappled light streamed in along with the sound of chatter and faint birdsong, and she craned her neck to peer out.
“Doesn’t seem like we’re anywhere dangerous,” she said, stepping out cautiously, the Doctor following her, blinking at the bright midday sun. They had landed in the middle of a rough pathway in what seemed to be a very spacious garden. It was flanked at the sides by trees in full leaf, and couples and families sunned themselves as they sat around on the grass, picnicking by the neat, elaborately styled flower beds. To her right, the Doctor could make out a tall fountain at the end of the winding path. On her other side, she glimpsed high-rise buildings. Something about it made her feel on edge. She stepped onto the path, shutting the door behind her with a soft snick .
“Oh I know this place, we came here once on a day trip when I was younger. It’s Hyde Park, isn’t it?” Yaz said, turning around slowly on the spot to take in her surroundings, smiling. The Doctor sniffed, breathing in the warm floral summer air. Yaz looked at her and tugged off her jacket, draping it over one arm. “Must be the middle of the holidays or something. Busy,” she commented brightly.
“Yeah,” the Doctor replied faintly, not really listening but thinking off into the distance. Yaz caught sight of her expression. “You don’t like London?”
The Doctor mentally dressed herself down - Pull yourself together mate, it’s not like you’ve even been here before. Just a capital city, is all. Nothing more, nothing less - and then schooled her features into something happier. “No, just used to visit it a lot a while back. Had friends here. London’d out now, me. And it’s nice to see the rest of the country y’know.”
Yaz turned to watch a family nearby play with their gaggle of small children. “Wonder when we are?” The Doctor gave her an encouraging smile. “Oh, I’m sure you can figure it out somehow, Yaz. We don’t always need me. Besides-” The beginnings of her warm ramble were drowned out by a loud ticking whir, and they were shadowed as the sun became partly eclipsed by the object above them.
“Doctor, is that a-”
“Zeppelin,” she finished quickly with a huff, feeling herself go hot and cold at the sight of the dirigible. “Yeah.”
Yaz was shielding her wide eyes with an arm as she stared up. “I thought zeppelin transport ended in Germany after the Hindenburg disaster?”
The Doctor continued to stare with her, watching the airship’s plodding progress across the blue cloudless sky. Her insides went all funny when she saw the Vitex logo splashed across the side of the grey tarp. “It did,” she replied grimly, breathing slowly through her nose as her pulses jumped. “But this isn’t your Earth.”
Yaz dropped her arm and squinted at her. “What? What do you mean, ‘not my Earth?’”
The Doctor didn’t answer her but turned around to face the TARDIS, studying the paintwork as her mind raced. “We can’t be here,” she murmured, and pushed the door. It stayed shut. It didn’t budge even when she fished out her key and slid it hastily in the lock. She had to dial back the urge to whack the door and settled for rubbing the blue panels a little harder than normal instead, swallowing as she fought the plethora of emotions fighting within her. Were they here, then? The Doctor reached out to the TARDIS and found her quite silent, humming faintly at the back of her mind in a low power trance-like state. This was entirely the wrong universe for her as an energy source but aside from feeling slight splinters of pain, her ship wasn’t actually dead. Like last time. But in any case, they were now both locked out until the TARDIS decided she was safe and had finished doing…whatever.
Fiddlesticks.
The Doctor turned sharply on the spot and looked around, eyes darting about when she noticed her companion had moved. She then spotted her a little way off, chatting to a balding man in t-shirt and khakis.
Sodding parallel universes . Would they ever let her alone?
The Doctor wasn’t quite sure why she felt so apprehensive. Maybe it was the nerves at perhaps acknowledging the pleasant tingle of hope deep down within her. She’d moved on, hadn’t she? And besides - the chances were so low it was practically negligible. Like Yaz had said: when were they? It irked her that the energy of this universe was throwing her senses off and she couldn’t ground herself enough to think straight. Obviously given the sunny health drink logo, it was after Pete had made his millions, but that didn’t mean much. It was hard to tell exactly how tech would progress here but she did notice that no-one was sporting those blasted earpieces. It could be when her former-former- former self was here (but not ‘here’) with Rose and Mickey in tow. Or it could be years in the future, could even be-
“2024. August 2nd, to be precise.” Yaz came striding back over. “Feels a bit weird to be asking what date it is, but that guy didn’t seem to care much. I mean, he also hasn’t noticed the bright blue police box in the middle of Hyde Park either, so…”
“You get used to it. And people don’t question the TARDIS even if they are smart enough to see her,” the Doctor offered distractedly, mind processing this new information. So that was some fair time in the distance…
She inhaled deeply, catching the scent of fried food and candy floss on the gentle breeze.
“We’re, erm, gonna be here a while until the TARDIS lets us back in, so. Might as well kill time here.” Her stomach growled and she realised the last thing she'd eaten had been a handful of biscuits with a cuppa of her favourite brew, and that was about 7 hours ago. “Tell you what, I’m starving. Oh, look!” She squinted in the distance at what looked like a pop-up building surrounded by milling people and scattered picnic tables. “Let’s go over there, that looks nice!”
Her coat billowed behind her as she set a steady clip, Yaz trotting alongside, jacket slung over her shoulder. “If we’re not meant to be here, then why has the TARDIS shut us out?”
“Because she’s not meant to be here either. The energy of this universe is wrong for her and she’s taken some damage falling through.”
“This universe?” Yaz prompted once more, clearly not dropping the subject any time soon.
The Doctor relented with a stifled sigh. “You ever read His Dark Materials ? It’s like that, only we don’t have Will’s knife.” Yaz made a noise of recognition and avoided the low yew hedge the Time Lord just vaulted over in favour of the designated path. “A parallel world?”
“Exactamund- oh, I promised I’d never say that again - yeah. Who knows what or who we could run into here,” she supplied airily, ignoring the twist her hearts gave. I do.
They came to a slow stop in front of the rustic-looking food kiosk, the only person in front of them a girl currently reading off her order to the staff manning the front.
“What’re you having? I’ll pay.” The Doctor shoved a hand into her pocket, double-checking that she did in fact have Earth currency this time around - it didn’t seem likely the quaint food stall would accept an unlimited credit stick - and found a stash of notes plus some change next to an overripe banana and her battered psychic paper wallet. She pulled out the crumpled notes and blew on them. “Hm. Bit dusty, but they’ll do.” She sped-read the hanging chalk-written signs. “D’you think they’ll make me a fried egg sandwich if I ask? Got a craving again.” Yaz smiled warmly at her. “I think the best they can do for you is a hotdog,” she replied conversationally.
“Eurgh. Think I’ll pass on the Cyberman meat for once.”
Yaz reeled off their orders to the apron-wearing brunette and handled the money just as the girl in front made a low noise of irritation in her throat. She turned around, looking apprehensive, and leaned in towards the Doctor. “S’cuse me, could I borrow a few quid? My dad didn't give me enough.”
The Doctor flashed her a friendly smile as she reached back into her pocket again. “‘Course. Easily done,” she quipped, scraping the coins together in her palm and handing them over. As she did so she discreetly studied the young woman - a teenager. Her slightly straggly, dirty blonde chest-length hair was pulled into a messy half-up half-down style, and she stood, hip cocked, in her pale wash jeans. A white t-shirt emblazoned with a flag and some slogan was tucked into them, and the whole look was mostly overlaid with a baggy denim jacket featuring vintage patches. However, what stood out most to the Doctor was the teen’s round, oddly familiar face and piercing blue eyes. The girl sagged a bit in relief and gratefully accepted the money. “Aw thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” She rolled her eyes affectionately. “Dad is useless with money, always has been. He’d forget his own head if it wasn't screwed on. I was only sent here to get archberry ice-cream and chips.” The term for the ice-cream flavour didn’t register with the Doctor; it was clearly something that only existed in this universe, much like the girl who mentioned it. The Doctor brushed aside the brief flicker of recognition. It was just her mind being a stubborn piece of work and playing tricks on her again.
“Well, he sounds like a man after my own heart.” The blonde studied her in return as she placed the coins on the counter. “I like your outfit. Especially the coat. It’s a bit” - she made a vague waving hand gesture, grinning now - “Spock. But cool.” The Doctor was briefly transported back to an old hospital basement with another certain blonde, and her spine stiffened a bit at the phrasing. Yaz watched her curiously from the corner of her eye.
“Thanks,” she replied, making sure her voice was level and pushing all emotion deep down again. It doesn’t mean anything, stop over-analysing things. “Charity shop. Find anything there.” Her tone was overly casual.
The girl was about to respond when the brunette staff member said “Here you go, love,” and placed a tray laden with a cardboard boat of thickly cut chips, plus two small paper cups of a pinkish frozen treat complete with plastic spoons into the serving niche. The Doctor’s nose prickled at the tang of vinegar that wafted towards her and her stomach growled louder, protesting now.
“Well, nice talking, but I better get these to my mum. Cravings, you know.” She looked back over her shoulder as she picked up the tray of goodies and turned to leave. “I’m Mia, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. This is Yasmin Khan and I’m the-”
“Mia!” The interrupting voice completely shattered the rest of the Doctor’s introduction. It was distant but loud enough for her brain to become a screeching record as she whipped around in the direction of said voice. She would know it anywhere. Mia rolled her eyes again, brows raised as if to say ‘see?’ and then bounced off carefully. The Doctor suddenly forgot how to breathe, respiratory bypass seemingly failed her. She watched like a hawk as the girl’s careful, red Converse-footed steps took her down a path to - well - herself.
Or, rather, himself. Or was it themselves? Blimey, all these pronouns were confusing…
Her mind was a tumult of screaming sound and colour as everything clunked into place like pennies in an arcade machine slot.
She sensed Yaz shifting closer to her. “Doctor, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Her tenth incarnation’s metacrisis stood next to a low railing - had he always been that skinny? - clad in a loose, pale blue open-necked shirt and a pair of light chinos. Battered white converse completed the look, she noted with a smirk. She briefly thought, a bit bemused, how odd it was to see her younger self in something other than four layers of shirt, suit and long coat, but the thought was derailed as she took in who was beside him.
In hindsight, it should have been incredibly obvious who it was, but her senses were still playing catch up at the sight of her former companion. Rose was tucked into the side of her counterpart, wearing a flowing sunflower-yellow maxi dress. The hem of it flicked in the early August breeze and as she leaned in to say something to him, the Doctor noticed the rather pronounced swell of her stomach. Her hearts gave a funny kind of squeeze, especially when he seemed to laugh at whatever Rose had said, his palm coming down to lay over her bump somewhat protectively. She was radiant in her pregnancy, and appeared to be quite far along now.
“Ohhh, you clever things,” the Doctor breathed fondly to herself, as Mia presented her offering to the two of them with a mock-bow, shrieking a bit as he reached out to affectionately ruffle the girl’s hair in a typically paternal way. No, not ‘the girl.’ Their child . Their daughter.
They all looked so beautifully, blissfully happy in a way that made the Doctor’s eyes almost hurt to continue looking at them. And it wasn’t even in the stinging, ‘the one adventure I can never have’ heartache kind of way anymore - enough time had passed for her to rationalise things, as she always had to- but rather like she was intruding on a private moment. She was grateful when the server called their order, forcing her to tear her gaze away from the three of them now sitting on the grass.
Yaz’s eyes flicked from the family the Doctor seemed to be fixated on (and trying to hide the fact but doing a pretty poor job of it) to her unreadable expression as she passed the Time Lord the panini and a take-out cup of tea (and for herself, a croissant and coffee). The Doctor seemed consumed in thought as she plopped herself down in one of the few spare benches and took a sip.
Yaz fiddled with the paper sleeve of her cup. “I remember your friend Jack talking about parallel worlds. He mentioned a name.” At this the Doctor unwrapped her lunch and shoved it in her mouth, staring ahead. She didn’t like pressing her too much, particularly when the Doctor seemed to want to keep so much close to her chest, but if only she’d let her in sometimes. It was often like getting blood from a stone.
“Is that her? We’re in that world right now?” The Doctor stole a furtive look at them but then looked away, cheeks bulging as she chewed the far too large bite she had taken.
“You gonna talk to her?” Even as she said this Yaz felt an uncomfortable pang. When she studied the Doctor’s face as she looked on at this old friend, it was clear there had once been something deeper.. She was pretty sure it was like looking at a mirror whenever she glanced at the closeted Time Lord.
“Rose wouldn’t want to talk to me now.” Yet she was looking off into their direction again, and so didn’t notice the small and maybe slightly sad smile her companion now wore. “She has a family with…” she trailed off, and then took another bite of the panini.
Of course, the sight of them made her genuinely happy, she realised now that the tenuous bubbles of anxiety had abated. She hadn’t even been sure they would be able to have children when she’d dropped them off at Dårlig Ulv Stranden - but it also hadn’t been the most pressing issue at the time. They had each other and that was enough. And judging by their close-knit family unit and aura of domestic content they were giving off, it had all worked out just fine.
Yaz watched as her mouth curved into a smile. It was like watching the sun’s rays break out from behind the clouds after a rainy day, and she found herself smiling with her.
“I don’t think they need to see me,” she said, correcting her earlier statement. “Not this daft old face anyway.” The Doctor chuckled to herself at the thought of Rose seeing her appearance now and also the way she had quoted herself.
“So what, we're just gonna sit here?” Yaz stated flatly, rubbing pastry flakes off her fingers as she rubbed the tips together.
The Doctor gave a little half-shrug, balling the foil wrapper up in a loose fist and putting her cup down.
“I mean there’s no chance of us being recognised since I’m from her future now. We could go for a tour of London but…The only problem would be them seeing the TARDIS so we might have to keep an eye on the…” She then trailed off and looked off to somewhere just over her shoulder, stilling like a dog that had caught a scent.
“Oh, now you shouldn’t be here, should you?” the Doctor muttered to herself, slowly getting up from the bench and bracing her hands on the top of its worn wooden back.
Yaz craned her neck around to peer in the direction she was staring at. “Something up?”
“Oh yes,” the Doctor replied with a smile in her voice, honeyed eyes glimmering as they briefly flicked back to Yaz.
“I think I can just about see her - or him, wouldn’t want to assume, of course,” she began rambling cheerily, moving round the bench now and pointing at a copse of trees next to a group of rowdy students. “Look for what’s kinda like the heat haze you get off the tarmac when it’s been a really hot day.” Yaz squinted in the direction of the Doctor’s arm and although it took her a few moments to pick it out amid the mix of foliage, she indeed saw a shimmering haze that distorted the background of green tones.
“What…?” Yaz began to prompt, but her ears pricked at the familiar whine of the Doctor’s sonic. “There, I just adjusted the frequency a smidge so we can see a bit better.”
Next to an untidy shrub, the small, flickering form of a… something appeared. However, despite whatever the Doctor had done, the creature still seemed like it was only half-way through into this world. Its outline was hazy and amorphous, a mixture of fur, scales and feathers sliding in and out of focus over its ethereal hide, like a static-y television on which someone kept flicking through the channels. If Yaz didn’t know any better, she’d think the being was confused and having obvious trouble deciding on its appearance. Was part of it broken somehow? Was it even living?
“Zaraphox. A juvenile, though, which I think we should be glad of. The adults can be a bit more…unpleasant, shall we say.”
Yaz felt a tinge of pity for it despite the Doctor’s explanation.
“Can we help it?” she asked, watching the alien gambol over a path and nearly run into a couple, before darting between a boy’s legs and then stopping by a large rose bush.
The Doctor’s tone was curious. “What makes you think it needs our help?”
Yaz gestured at the Zaraphox, which was now taking on a haze of various animal patterns. At one point she swore she saw brilliant orange eyes, like those of a fantastical beast. “I don’t know, but something doesn’t seem right with it.” She gave the Doctor a piercing look. “You said it wasn’t meant to be here anyway.”
The Doctor made a small ‘o’ of realisation with her mouth at Yaz’s words. “Well, yeah, but the poor thing is just lost. They usually travel in close-knit packs, the Zaraphox. And what you can see, it’s perfectly normal for one that’s still growing up. They feed off the traces of neural oscillations - completely harmless, of course. I’m not surprised he or she ended up here given how many kids are about.” She finished her spiel and then looked at her companion. “Brainwaves. Thoughts,” she clarified, seeing Yaz’s slightly confused expression. “That’s why everything is quite basic and well - imaginative. A bit confusing for it though, it has a lot of potential subjects to choose from.” She lowered her voice and began to slowly pad in its direction. “Maybe if we can just get a bit closer…” As if hearing her words, the Zaraphox started up on a run again on its many changing legs, and then veered off wildly to the right, taking off at such a speed that all the Doctor could see was a blur.
Running right into the path of where her former companion, other self and daughter now sat, blissfully unaware.
“Oh, bugger.” She took a deep breath and then charged after it, kicking up blades of grass, Yaz hot on her heels.
*
“There you are,” he said as Mia came trotting over. “Was starting to wonder if I’d have to send out a rescue squad.” She offered their food over and dramatically bent into a bow. “Your victuals, my liege.”
“It’s Hyde Park in the height of summer, love, stop worrying.” Rose reminded her husband after laughing softly at Mia, and took the proffered paper cup of ice-cream from her daughter. “Thanks. I’m glad they didn't run out today. I could have murdered someone otherwise...” she muttered, eagerly spooning it into her mouth.
“I can’t help it, I’m surrounded by my two favourite jeopardy friendly girls,” he teased fondly, reaching out to rumple the top of Mia’s head. She drew back with an indignant noise, batting his hand away. “Dad, no , stop. I just did that, spent ages on it.”
“Oh, alright,” he conceded, sotto-voce, folding himself to recline on the grass, Rose and Mia following suit. He shoved a chip in his mouth.
“So who was that you were talking to?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the food kiosk.
“Am I not allowed to talk to strangers?” Mia replied, pushing her luck a bit with her tone. She noticed the look her mother quickly threw her way.
“Cheeky. You forget what my life’s been like. For all we know they could be Slitheen,” he enunciated the last word in his typical fashion, raising his brows slightly before donning a pair of sunglasses.
“Well it was two very normal and noticeably slim women, so I doubt it. I like the blonde one though. She reminded me of you a bit.”
“I...remind you of a random blonde woman,” he deadpanned, one eyebrow cocked yet again. “Blimey, I know ageing as a human is strange, but this is just madness.”
Mia threw a burnt chip end at him. “I just meant…well, I liked her coat anyway. It reminded me a bit of the one I saw in those old pictures of yours. It was grey though, and it had a hood.”
He scrunched up his face in a sort of sad way. “Aw, don’t remind me of the old coat. I loved that thing.” He looked contemplative for a moment, a small crease appearing between his brows, adding to a face which was already a bit more lined these days.
The banter was cut short as Rose shifted, making a face and a small pained groan. “Everything alright?” he asked, concerned, hand instantly on her upper back.
“Yeah ‘m fine, it’s just, the little git insists on sitting right on my bladder today,” she replied, breathing a sigh through her nose and rubbing a spot on her bump.
“Rose, please don’t refer to our unborn son as a git,” the Doctor said with a slight laugh in his voice.
“Well it’s true! He’s jus’ like you already, I can feel it. All bony arms and legs,” she groaned, leaning back on her elbows to get more comfortable. At this, he took her discarded spoon and daubed a bit of the now melted leftover ice cream on her nose.
“Oi! Ya gonna have to get that off me now, y’know.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” he grinned, his tone dropping a bit. He cupped her cheek and she leaned forward, inviting him to wipe the sticky smear off but he dipped in and licked it off instead. She squeaked in surprise and then laughed, wrinkling her nose and falling into him.
“Oh my god, we’re in public? Don’t be gross. I’m supposed to be the teenager here,” Mia muttered, averting her eyes from the two of them, who were now giggling hysterically and falling about. She felt eyes on her and looked over her shoulder to see the blonde and her friend from earlier watching them rather curiously. It didn’t exactly put her on edge, per se, but from what her parents had told her about their former lives, anyone paying too much interest was someone to be watched back in return.
“Graske got your tongue, Mia?” They had (thankfully) stopped fooling around and now her dad was eyeing her. His own gaze followed where she’d been looking. The slight frown returned again. “Are they bothering you for some reason?” She didn’t fail to notice how he sat up a little straighter, the cadence of his voice changing, the hint of his slightly tightened jaw.
“No, I just…” Mia trailed off, shaking her head to herself, noticing the blonde woman rise to her feet. “It’s like - and I know this is gonna sound mental - but it’s like I know her or something.”
Her mum made a bemused noise and when she turned to glance at her, she was smiling to herself. The same could not be said for her dad, who now seemed just on the side of twitchy. It was reminiscent of how he got sometimes when he and her mum got home after being briefed on an assignment (Which was usually followed by him being soothed by his wife, at which Mia made sure to leave the room, even as it warmed her deep down to see her parent’s relationship so alive this many years down the line). She looked away from the duo and plucked at a blade of grass by her trainers.
“Want me to go and talk to them?” At this Rose poked his upper arm. “Is that necessary? London is chock full of odd people, even here. Woman’s probably staring because she’s a fan or something.”
"Orrr maybe because she's never seen such a devilishly handsome pair as us two," he grinned. She rolled her eyes at him affectionately.
"Doctor," she said emphatically, tipping her chin down as she stared meaningfully.
“I’m just offering," he parried back. "Besides, there could be something here, you never know.” His voice was light and airy now, and she squinted at him suspiciously.
“I thought this was just a nice and normal day out. Are you now telling me there’s actually an ulterior motive for me bein’ here?” He had the decency to look at least a bit sheepish.
“Wellll,” he drawled, but stopped at his wife’s expression.
“I shoulda known. ‘The Rose Garden’, honestly, I ask you...”
“It’s a rather well cultivated and curated collection for a public park though! A wonderful display of many varieties that the family Rosaceae has to offer.” He sniffed and mouthed thoughtfully at the ice cream spoon. “After all: did you know that the rose family includes strawberries, plums, apricots, apples, quinces and rather horribly-”
“Um, maybe your ‘motive’ is coming right for us?” Mia interrupted as she spotted a blur pelting in their direction, followed closely by the two women. They motioned as if going to circle around the three of them, following the same path of the blur that now wasn’t a blur, but it changed tack and came to a stop right next to her, and as a result so did they, screeching to a halt in front of them all.
Mia could feel its eyes on her - even though there weren’t any currently visible- along with the cautious, fixed stare of the grey-coated blonde and her friend.
“Right, uh, sorry for gatecrashing your little gathering like this, but, slight problem here,” she said, sounding nervous as she stepped forward, an odd silvery tube with a bright coral-like end in her tight grip.
Mia looked down next to her - at the most curious amalgamation of feathers and wings covering a tusked creature along with mottled blue shimmering fur that shifted and almost seemed to glitch with each of its harsh breaths - and then to her parents. More specifically, at her wide-eyed dad who was now openly gaping at the blonde.
“You,” he stated faintly.