Chapter Text
David felt odd being back in his house again. It was almost like the TARDIS had become his real home, not here. Everything looked familiar as he walked through the sitting room and into the kitchen, but he no longer felt he belonged there. That feeling, coupled with the heavy air of foreboding he had been labouring under since they had left The Shadow Proclamation, made it seem like he was moving under water.
He checked the answer phone for messages, and then brewed a pot of tea for The Doctor. The Time Lord was immersed in the newspaper and barely acknowledged David as he tsked over some news item or another. Then started a pot of coffee for himself.
David took his suitcase upstairs, emptying out the dirty clothes and putting them into a hamper, and selecting some clean ones refilled the bag, zipping it closed.
When he came back down to the kitchen to do some washing up The Doctor looked frozen in place, the mug of tea halfway to his mouth, as he stared at the paper.
"Everything all right?" David asked taking the seat opposite him.
"Hmm?" The Doctor looked at him a moment, as if he had never seen him before, then quickly recovered. Looking at his hand and seeing the mug there, he finished the act of taking a sip of tea, "oh yes, I was just catching up on the news."
"You seem a bit distracted," David continued, "did you read something that was upsetting?"
The Doctor looked surprised that he was still holding the newspaper in one hand, "no, nothing like that," he attempted a smile, but failed miserably.
David gave him a moment to collect his thoughts by pouring himself some coffee, then ventured, "so what's bothering you?"
The Doctor sighed, leaning back and running his hands through his hair, "it's probably nothing. I am just a bit tired."
"Let me start then. Since we left The Shadow Proclamation, I've been feeling like some things about to happen, something potentially not good," David confessed.
"You too?" The Doctor's eyes got wide, "I keep forgetting about that little bit of Time Lord in you. I am beginning to wonder if more of that is coming out the longer you stay with me. Maybe it's the TARDIS or being near a full blooded Time Lord but you are growing in strength..."
The Doctor leaned forward, "but yes, I've been ignoring it, hoping it was just residual psychic energy from the recent events. Just now, sitting still, it hit me harder than ever."
"What is going on?"
"I don't actually know just yet," The Doctor admitted, "but if you are picking up on it too, it's very powerful."
Before David could say anything else The Doctor switched off the concern like someone turning off the light and with an almost forced joviality asked, "now! Where is it you want to go?"
"Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what's causing this feeling?" David shot back.
"No," The Doctor shook his head, "every time I promise to take you wherever you want to go, something interrupts it! But no more! This is probably nothing, or perhaps nothing major, or nothing major just yet. Either way it can wait."
"The TARDIS has been dropping hints like filling my room up with violets," David started, "but I know you can't stay there for very long because the energy's wrong...."
"She's been doing what?" The Doctor straightened up.
"Every time I go into the bedroom on the TARDIS, the room has been filled with vases, bowls and pretty much every sort of place you could put flowers," David explained, "the place smells like a flower garden."
The Doctor stared at him unblinkingly, so he continued, "I'm not as in tune with her as you are but I get the feeling there's a method to all this."
"She can be meddlesome at times," The Doctor nodded, "she likes things to be in harmony, peaceful, she knows you have some unresolved issues with Violet and the meta....I mean John, and she doesn't like conflict, especially if she feels it could be resolved. You know how females can be."
David snorted at that last comment, "you better not say that around a human one, you'd get your face slapped."
"I've had that happen more than once! Usually by someone's mother," The Doctor smiled, "anyway the point is; the feelings you and I are experiencing may not have anything to do with what the TARDIS has been decorating your room with, it may be completely unrelated."
"Agreed, but I keep thinking I need to revisit them sometime soon," David replied, "if not this time then sometime soonish."
The Doctor brightened, "you've decided, then?"
David smiled at the childlike enthusiasm on The Doctor's face, "yes, I'd like to see what Earth would be like in the future. I may be mixed blood, but I doubt I'll live as long as you do," he explained. The Doctor's smile faded a bit at that, but he still waited until David finished, "so I'd say maybe a hundred or two hundred years into the future."
"Why limit yourself to only a couple hundred years? That's a mere blink of the eye," The Doctor laughed.
"To you, maybe," David sighed, "to me that's years beyond my natural life span."
The Doctor thought about it, "it must be so frustrating knowing that."
"Sometimes, but it does make you do the best with the time you have," David smiled wistfully.
The Doctor drained his tea cup and stood up, "are you ready then?" he asked grinning widely, "on to the future!" he gestured at the TARDIS in the back garden.
"I think I am," David laughed, picking up his suitcase, "let's go."