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All things considered, Fourteen is having a good time.
It was utter confusion at first, when they regenerated into their tenth face. To make things more convoluted, a time fissure appeared from nowhere, and through it, fell himself with the eleventh face. Eleven was clad in an old-fashioned coat and a black tie, grumpily stating that he had just been reading. However, their banter was cut short by another alien invasion in London, as always. And together they saved the day, as always.
Now they were walking along the riverbank. The Tardis picked up some turbulence a few blocks away. It might be the time fissure to take Eleven back.
“You are rather quiet today.” Fourteen broke the silence. He remembered how his older self loved to dance around exuberantly, flapping his arms while speaking his thoughts out loud.
Eleven eyed him wearily, “That’s what you’d look like when you are dragged out in the middle of the night. Why am I here anyway?”
“No idea. But glad you came. Although I have to say that was a pretty reckless move, holding them off by yourself, what were you thinking?!”
Eleven refused to answer and quickened his pace.
Fourteen was not happy at being ignored, “Seriously what is it with you today? You seem so different from when I last saw you.”
“Do you really want to hear it out loud?” Eleven gave a desperate sigh.
“This is what you’d look like isn’t it, if you didn’t regenerate into me.”
Eleven stopped in his tracks, his voice was not loud but cut through the winter night.
“Look I’m not sure how you did it. But now it is my cue to leave, to disappear eh? Which works I’d say, saves some people in the universe before I screw them up.” He continued forward, leaving Fourteen frozen in the spot.
“Wait no!” Fourteen blurted exasperatedly. “No I am your future! There were other faces and…” The truth suddenly dawned on Fourteen, and he said carefully with a small voice, “Before you came, were you in London, on a cloud?”
Eleven stopped and turned his head to Fourteen, “How did you know?”
“I… because I remember those times.” Fourteen is struggling with words, “Listen I truly am your future self, not younger, there were more and ...” Eleven looked at him incredulously, and Fourteen blabbers on, “but somehow the regeneration got weird and I returned to this previous face. My clothes even changed I, I don’t know why I consider myself fourteenth anyway, and then you showed up and…”
Eleven looked at him straight in the eye, his sulking countenance slowly dropped. There was a long silence between them.
“I’ve got a future, that’s nice.” He finally spoke with a bitter smile. He looked at Fourteen for a few more moments and added, “You do have some serious vanity issues don’t you?”
“Well,” Fourteen made a face, but glad that his former self believed what he said. “I still have this regeneration mystery to work out. Oh look there’s that.” They spotted the time fissure around the corner.
Eleven hmphed and resumed walking. Fourteen tried to keep the conversation a little longer before the parting but was not sure how to continue. He tried, “So how’ve you been? Did you finally join Vastra for her tea parties?”
“Nah, those were the days.” Eleven said. “Must’ve been pretty bad, I mean, if you still remember these times.” Eleven added nonchalantly, as he stopped near the time fissure and turned around to face Fourteen one more time. “And I assume I won’t remember meeting you, once I get back.”
“No, but you’d remember bits and pieces, like a story in your head.” Fourteen tried casually, not wanting to sour the moods. “Try and go down and take a stroll in the street some time. It’s nice at night. The Christmas lights are all on.” He added hopefully.
Eleven nodded with a small smile, before he turned and walked into the time fissure.
He woke up on the floor with the reading glasses still on, surrounded by the dim lights and a soft hum from the Tardis.
Outside, snow started to fall.