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The Doctor is making breakfast.
Yaz shoots to her feet quickly because while the Doctor’s culinary skills are improving, no one should trust them in the kitchen. Alone. Which they clearly are because Yaz just heard Dan running past. He’d knocked on her door to wake her up - for which she’s glad because it gives her enough time to quickly change and rush to the the kitchen herself.
When she gets there, Yaz is ashamed to say that she is more than surprised when nothing looks particularly damaged. There is none of the carnage she’d been expecting and the Doctor turns briefly around to grace them with a warm smile.
”I’m cooking breakfast,” they declare, ”cos I’ve got a feeling it’s somebody’s birthday today.”.
Dan and Yaz exchange a look.
”It’s not my birthday.” Dan responds.
”Or mine.” Yaz confirms.
The Doctor deflates as quickly as the air mattress Yaz had once tried to inflate. She’d never quite managed to find the hole but it must have been there. Sonya had gotten on and the thing had deflated within five seconds.
”Can it be mine then?” the Doctor wonders. ”I’ve always wanted to make something for my birthday. Scrambled eggs is probably the standard somewhere - or it should be.”
The Doctor looks at them expectantly.
”Well sit down then.” they command, ”Breakfast is ready.”.
”But Doc, it’s midday.”
”So?”
Yaz was right. She was right all along because the pan behind the Doctor suddenly goes up in flame. She despairs then, wonders why she ever thought travelling with this mad alien would be fun.
”Uh, Doctor?” Dan says when it becomes apparent that Yaz isn’t going to say anything, her face buried in her hands and soft groans emanating from where she’s sat.
”Yes, Dan?” the Doctor responds, still grinning like a lunatic.
”Behind you.” he points.
The Doctor turns around, blinks and then looks at him again. Then they turn around again, blink and hastily turn off the power. Something that sounds like a smoke alarm sets off and the ground seems to move under all their feet, like a wave.
When Yaz and Dan have recovered, it’s to see the Doctor gently stroking the wall of the console room. Their eyes are closed and their face is scrunched up in a way that makes them think they’re really concentrating on something.
”How did we get here?” Yaz asks puzzledly.
”Emergency Protoco-”
The Doctor abruptly cuts off, staring at the walls again. Yaz and Dan exchange their second look of the day. The most in an Earth day has been 12 and the least was 5. This is shaping up to be a possible new high score day.
”Anyway,” the Doctor says, back with them now, ”since breakfast didn’t go that well, I thought we could have a day out instead!”.
Look 3.
Neither of them have much confidence it’s going to be a fun day out - those usually result in them poking their noses into things, angering the bad guys, escaping by less than a millimetre and lots and lots of running. For now, they seem to have retained some sort of Plot Armour but how long it will last they’re not sure. Still, it’s the Doctor’s day and they will admit to themselves that they enjoy it sometimes.
”Where are we going?”
”I’ve always wanted to go to Funfair.”
”A funfair?” Dan asks, unable to believe his luck. How much trouble can the Doctor get up to in a little funfair on Earth? Actually, that isn’t too reassuring - if there’s one thing the Dan knows about the Doctor, it’s that trouble finds them no matter where they are.
”Funfair?” Yaz asks at the same time, unsure what exactly the Doctor is talking about.
”It’s- oh, I don’t want to spoil it!” they run around the console, expertly flicking switches and flipping things before pausing to reach for the lever.
”Ready?” the Doctor smiles lopsidedly, eyes brimming with excitement and Yaz cannot deny the effect it has on her. She smiles back unconsciously and maybe a bit too besottedly if the look Dan shoots her is any indication.
”Maybe I should stay here,” he teases as the Doctor calls out a warning, ”so you can have a little date.”.
Yaz tries to shove him but the TARDIS lurches and she goes slamming into his side, both of them tumbling gracelessly to the floor. They lay there for a bit, laughing all the while and when the ship finally stops shaking, Yaz almost doesn’t want to get up.
But then there’s a soft hand on her elbow and the Doctor’s helping them both to their feet, a concerned expression on her face.
”I’m alright.” Dan assures before the Doctor can say anything and Yaz nods her head.
”Come on then!” they say, rushing for the door.
”Won’t we stand out?” Yaz asks.
”No!” the Doctor cheerfully responds, just as Dan mutters: ”Yes!”.
The Doctor glares at Dan before their lips tilt into a fond smile. They shake their heads ever so slightly and stride over to the door, pushing it happily open. Why are they so impulsive?
It would have been Look 4 but the view before them is too enchanting for that so they’ll call it Look 3.5.
”Where do we start?” Yaz asks as they take it all in - from the Highway sign, presumably the company, to what must be the tallest Ferris wheel she’s ever seen. She knows the answer, even as the words fall out of her mouth.
They’re still staring straight at it.
They’re all ready to get on the wheel until they realise that only two of them are allowed on at the same time.
In the end the Doctor insists they go, distracted by something or the other. Both of them are ready to argue but they’ve already gone in the other direction.
”Meet you back here, yeah?” Yaz calls but there’s no response. Dan shrugs at her and together they get on, deciding to enjoy this while they can. She cannot stop herself through from looking out trying to spot the Doctor but as they move higher and higher, she completely loses them.
”Enjoy it, Yaz.” Dan chides, ”Look how cool this is - can you see the lake there?Ooh, that looks like a ghost ride.”.
”Went to Thorpe Park once.” Yaz responds, ”The ghost ride was such a ripoff. Can you see those dodgems?”.
”Nice. Can you see that unicorn?”
”A unicorn? Where? Is that a pirate hat?”
”Yeah, the unicorn with the pirate... What? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
”It’s coming this way!”
Yaz tries not to lean back as the barge carrying the unicorn approaches. Dan reaches for her hand, muscles tense, ready for a fight. They’re not really in the best position, the Ferris Wheel has just locked into position and is unlikely to move for the next 20 minutes or so. There’s no way down.
”Any chance it’s just some bloke dressing up?” Dan suggests.
Yaz sends him a flat look.
”Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
The unicorn is speaking or communicating somehow and not for the first time, Yaz is grateful for the TARDIS translating circuits. She can hear something, but it’s jumbled, too quiet for her to understand.
”Sorry, mate.” Dan says, ”We can’t hear you.”.
The unicorn stops and tilts their head a bit before starting again.
”Apologies,” they say, ”human hearing range now catered to.”.
”No problem.” Yaz responds, waiting. Their voice is so formal it’s funny, even as they continue.
”This is a robbery.” they continue. ”Please hold still as your ship is searched.”
”Why?”
The unicorn lowers their head and Yaz hears a sharp intake of breath as Dan realises how sharp that horn-looking hook is. She grips his hand tighter, wondering just how they’re going to get out of this one.
”Ahhh.”
The unicorn doesn’t respond but they didn’t particularly expect it to.
The Doctor isn’t expecting to run into any trouble - it looks like it might be one of the rare peaceful trips they sometimes manage but the minute they caught sight of the horn, they knew something was up.
They’d been trying an archery activity - shoot the target for a prize and whatnot and they’d somehow managed to hit near the centre so they’d gone round to the side to pick up a prize and were strongly leaning towards a sparkly purple party hat and an accompanying party horn when they spotted it.
A sharpened Narrse horn.
They pick it up, nodding to the owner as they walk out - ignoring the way their eyes widen. They clearly know something but the Doctor can wait to interrogate them - first they need to find Yaz and Dan, then the hornless Narrse and then they can figure out what the stall owner knows.
It’s a struggle to make their way through the crowd but this body has sharp elbows and the Doctor is more than ready to use them in order to get where they need to be as quickly as possible - both to evade their tail and solve this mystery quickly.
They’re running for the last stretch because something feels wrong and sure enough, when they look up, Yaz and Dan are gone.
The Doctor quickly whips out their sonic screwdriver, intent on tracking their companions down.
They’re moving quickly, too quickly to be of their own accord so they must be in a vehicle of some sort. If they were going through the crowd, there would definitely be some noise so it’s either under of over. Seeing as they were at the top of the wheel, the Doctor’s pretty sure it’s up.
They raise their sonic and sure enough it begins to track their paths. The Doctor takes advantage of the crowds now, trying not to be too conspicuous, even as they follow the trail.
It’s more than enough for anybody to handle and the Doctor is expecting to run into a dead end at any moment, to get kidnapped by someone or the other - maybe the archery stall owner? - but after nothing happens in the first two dead ends, their nerves go up.
At least Dan and Yaz’s vitals are good, even if they’re probably a bit worried about something.
They don’t know how long that will last for though so they keep walking, ignoring the scuffles they hear behind them. Archery stall owner is still on their tail but they’ll deal with that problem later. The Doctor doesn’t have time to be distracted by stalkers.
They've got to find their friends.
A small pulse passes through the sonic and the Doctor’s face tightens as they realise their friends are now relatively still. Hopefully, the monologue of whoever decided to take them will last longer than it takes for the Doctor to find them.
The Doctor speeds up.
Dan is definitely not having the best of days.
Emergency Protocol something has made him feel slightly sick - a feeling that pervades even now and his side still stings a little from Yaz’s elbow. Also, they’ve just been kidnapped by a pirate unicorn and Dan has no idea how long it will take for the Doctor, their ride out of here, to find them.
But honestly - a pirate unicorn. He tries not to snort. How is he ever going to look at those unicorn onesies the same way again?
”Where are you taking us?” Yaz tries. He raises an eyebrow at her, doubtful that the unicorn will respond.
”Witnesses must be silenced.”
Yaz scoffs.
”Hear that? You don’t know yet, do you?”
Dan sends her a quelling look. There’s no point in trying to get their kidnapper angry - it probably won’t end well for them. Reluctantly she closes her mouth.
”We have arrived. Welcome to the Steam Room.”
That doesn’t sound good. It doesn’t sound good at all. He repeats that to Yaz that when she asks, unwilling to lie to her. He’s right as well, as they get off, he’s immediately hit by how hot it is - it feels like he’s baking. Dan’s face must be red because he might just melt on the spot and Yaz’s hand suddenly feels very sweaty in his.
”Yaz, I think we’re here.”
”They did say that, Dan. The Doctor had better hurry up.”
”Excuse me?”, the unicorn turns to face them. ”Did you say Yaz, Dan and the Doctor?”
”Yes.” Yaz says slowly and they look at each other panickedly. Later they’ll agree that it was definitely enough to make Look 4 - seeing as the Doctor isn’t here, they’ll count it as another half-look.
”Yaz and Dan, human space-time travellers and the Doctor?”
”Yes.”
The unicorn’s body language changes almost instantly, they look more tense now and Dan grips Yaz’s hand harder. If they need to run, he’s not leaving her behind.
”You can take me home.”
”Probably.”
The unicorn shakes their head but nothing happens. They try again and the pirate hat falls off. Then they kick it straight into the fire. The unicorn canters over to them and Dan realised that it’s not angry, it’s excited.
”Tell me about your adventures as we go to your ship!” the unicorn pleads. ”I only know a few.”
They proceed to rattle off at least twenty titles, only one of which they think they could know.
”-AN? YAZ? D-”
”Here!” Dan responds as Yaz moves closer to the unicorn.
The Doctor approaches weirdly and Dan cannot help but be concerned. They look so uncomfortable right now that Dan knows something must be wrong.
”I’m sorry.”
Everything doesn’t go black.
Everything sharpens.
A figure emerges from behind the Doctor, a bow and sharpened arrow in his hands.
”I couldn’t lose them.” the Doctor explains mournfully. And then they strike, paralysing the scowling humanoid in a second. They use the other hand to touch the person’s temples and they abruptly sinks to the ground as the Doctor remove their fingers.
”I’m glad that worked.” the Doctor huffs. ”Venusian Aikido only really works on humanoids but I knocked them out just to make sure.”
They turn towards the unicorn.
”A Narrse! I think I might’ve found your horn but we should probably wait until we get in the TARDIS to try and bond it to you again.”
”Are we just going to leave that here then?” Dan asks.
”We should.” Yaz mutters darkly.
The Doctor chews their lower lip thoughtfully. Yaz tries not to blush but both Dan and the unicorn are watching her so it clearly isn’t working.
”We need to hurry. This temperature - it’s way too hot for a Narrse. But they’ll boil.” the Doctor says, casting a look towards the unconscious humanoid, ”We shouldn’t leave them here.”.
They all smile at that because there is an emphasis on the word here. The Doctor’s eyes are slight with mischief and Dan, Yaz and the Narrse are more than happy to watch their respective threatener and jailor wake up secured to a barge many, many metres above the ground.
The Doctor points their sonic at the side of the barge and turns to the Narrse.
”By your leave, my lady.”
The Narrse laughs gleefully and they watch in satisfaction as ‘Smuggler’ comes up on the side. The Doctor knew ’Highway’ was familiar but they hadn’t quite been sure why.
They should have known.
”Are you sure?”
The Narrse has insisted on keeping their hook and nudges their horn into Dan’s hands when the Doctor refuses to take it for the third time.
”This isn’t my time yet this is my time.”, the Narrse responds and the Doctor seems to understand, nodding their head in acquiescence.
Look 5.
”Goodbye, my friends.” the Narrse calls. ”Know that you may call on Yanor whenever you find yourself in need.”
“Yanor the first.” the Doctor mutters as they watch their friend grow smaller and smaller.
They smile.
Outside, Yanor turns to watch the TARDIS begin to fade, turning only when it disappears.