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“Doctor”
“Yes?”
“You mentioned the TARDIS was… alive.”
The Timelord glanced over to his companion. She sat in the chair against the railing, her legs pulled up and crossed and hands laying over one another.
She had been very interested in the TARDIS. It made sense that she would appreciate the finer machines knowing where she came from, but she was always more interested in the inner workings–the controls than her sentience.
“Yes, yes she is.” The Doctor put a hand firmly on the panel edge as he fiddled with some of the many controls.
The centre column chugged up and down idly, whirring and wooshing quietly as she drifted through space.
“You also said she has a sort of universal translator that she prods into my brain?” Her thoughts flashed back to an adventure, in which the Doctor disdained that Valarie already had an installed translator. Stopping him from boasting about his beloved ship.
“Well yes, but not your mind. At least I don’t think so. Why?” He turned to face her, leaning on the console gently so as not to accidentally press, flip, or wind anything.
She paused, questioning if she should share or not, but found no reason not to. “Can she invade my dreams?”
Her question was less than expected, often the first question he heard in that category was; Does she watch me? Or Can she tell what I’m thinking right now? But that was a new question.
He pondered before speaking–a rarity for him. “I’d say she's definitely capable of it” There was little the ship wasn’t capable of, aside from speaking.
Valarie’s eyes drew from the Timelord and landed on the column. The lights around were a warm bluey-green lit by the wall lights that circled the console room, they felt almost like eyes watching.
“Has she been bothering you? I always tell her not to push boundaries–” He was about to turn back around and scold the machine but Valarie stopped him.
“No! No, not at all, It explains a lot though.” She pushed herself up, mentally preparing for wherever this conversation could possibly go.
He looked on in interest, physically holding back from asking what she meant by biting his inner lip, presumably out of respect. Thankfully since she’d started travelling with him he’d seemed to only grow more aware of her boundaries, even explaining his past so she felt more comfortable–despite the travesties of it.
She smiled and leaned on the console, “She’s been showing me memories of Mum.” Valarie said lowly.
The Doctor’s eyes grew sad, he took them off her and toward the screen before him. He watched the Gallifreyan ring symbols swirl around on the spacey background, but they stopped spinning after Valarie finished her sentence.
“I see,” He said. “She isn’t doing it maliciously–”
She looked at him, “I didn’t think she was.”
The lights dimmed slightly, the hue shifting ever so slightly more blue.
“She’s trying to help, to cheer you up.” He gently dragged a hand across the monitor’s side.
Valarie figured. the TARDIS was a cleaver machine. She definitely knew that she wouldn’t intentionally show her memories to hurt her.
The Doctor took her silence as a part to continue, “See, her mind is spread throughout all of time and space, every moment that was, is or will be.” he waved a hand as he spoke as if painting a picture of it all.
“She tries her best to check in with you, figuring out what she can do to help when you’re feeling down. Understanding when you are feeling happy.” He glanced at her reaction.
Valarie took a breath and let it out, “I just want to move past them… keep the memories of course, I do like them,” She chuckled. So did the Doctor.
The lights winded to a warm orange and a feeling of apology waved over her, the sense coming from the entire room. Understanding Valarie pressed a hand against the router, mouthing a thank you.