My Favorite Martian (Clara, Zal, 4)

When was the drawing point between a soldier and a civilian? That was a thought going through Zalatar's mind as he continued his usual monitoring for any signs of the Doctor or other alien species. So much had happened to him during his stay on Earth under the command of Clara Oswald as recompense for his exile. He began to feel a little different about things he was raised to believe in. Honor. Dignity. Sacrifice. What did it really mean to hold these things in high regard?

As these thoughts plagued his mind he'd almost missed the sudden odd signal coming through the divide he was using to scan the many information hubs and the like throughout earth. The sound of it was strange, certainly alien, but nothing he'd ever heard before. He tried using the scanners in his suit to verify but he discovered something off. The sound was coming through a signal that, oddly enough, was making it's way through time itself. There was only one possibility: the Doctor.

Zalatar wasted no time and sprang to action, getting up from his sitting area in the junkyard base he made and hurrying for Clara's home not too far. He did as he usually would when traveling outside the dump and stayed out of sight, taking back alleys and smaller streets to avoid detection. Afterwards he'd reached Clara's complex and tried to find her.

He looked around before finding a few stones and tossing them up towards her window, obviously trying to not shout or anything for fear of investigation by the other tenants.

With enough effort Zalatar managed to gain his commander's attention, much to his relief. He felt silly needing to throw stones just to gain attention when, were they on any other planet, he could've simply called.

In any case he called up "I have found a signal, Commander Clara. I believe it is the Doctor's transport."

As he called some of the other tenants on the nearby floors began to wonder what it was speaking in such an odd way. The odd hissing and monstrous voice that came with it. Zalatar didn't think to hide himself as he was too busy trying to deliver news for Clara.

Seeing where she instructed him to go Zalatar made for the front door. His getting through the first door was bad enough as he was too tall but walked right through and broke the glass overhead, but then came walking up the steps. Obviously a heavily armored Martian walking up steps would cause a lot of noise, enough that one older man exited his room only to catch a quick glance before Zalatar went up to Clara's floor. he freaked before running back into his room for his medication, thinking he was going crazy.

When he finally came to Clara's room he tried to walk in but was too wide. He had to resort to stepping in sideways before finally entering all the way. He took a moment and surveyed her apartment, both out of curiosity and to make sure they were alone, before he looked back to answer her question.

With a low hiss he said "I located a strange sound through the information and communication waves. The fact that it is interfering with these could mean a temporal interference via time travel. The sound was something of an odd horn. one I've not heard before."

Hearing the sound on the laptop Zalatar gave a higher hiss before saying "Yes, that's the sound. This confirms it then, Commander. The Doctor is close. Possibly on his way here."

Zalatar almost smiled at this but, being a warrior in front of his commander, he avoided it. Besides as grateful as he was he still had to deal with whatever the Doctor had in store for him. he was sure whatever means of restoring his honor with him would likely be more to his tastes than everything he'd been dealing with Clara.

But the celebration was cut a little short when a knock on the door came, Zalatar looking towards it and hissing before drawing his weapon for it.

After Clara told him to drop his weapon Zalatar gave a grumbling hiss as he agreed. She then dealt with pushing him into the other room to hide while trying to be quite about it. Easier said then done. He fumbled a bit, his armor the main thing keeping him so heavy, before he finally made it inside and sat and waited to hear who it was. Should it be the Doctor he had no problem walking out to greet, otherwise he would be ready.

Once Clara opened the door there was a collective "Happy Birthday!" as he family stood there with open arms and gifts under their others. They stood there giving collective "Hellos" and little comments here-and-there.

Not long after Clara's grandmother asked "Well....are you going to let us in, dear? We can't celebrate out in the hall."

Everyone in the hall came in and took seats while getting comfy in the apartment. As they did Clara's father often glanced back just to make sure she was fine in the kitchen while talking with everyone else. Zalatar, still hiding in the backroom, listened as best he could through the doors to overhear the conversations between Clara's family. It was a little hard with the helmet on though.

When Clara came back with the bad news about the souffle her father said "Well that's alright, Clara. We can make for another desert. Maybe brownies or cookies like when you were younger."

"Oh those were always nice." her grandmother commented. "Though, granted, I did think you used to put a little too much chocolate chips whenever you made them."

They had a little laugh before Clara mentioned the surprise, to which her father said "Well we wanted to see our little girl on her birthday. I mean you were always off doing lord knows what, so we never had time to really set any plans."

"Where were you by the way, Clara?" her grandmother asked. "Off and about with some nice, young man I take it?" she finished with a giggle.

Zalatar had his head close to the door as Clara entered. There was a brief clang of metal hitting against wood that made the family look back with confusion as to what she was doing. Zalatar hissed in anger before letting himself relax while Clara dealt with calling the doctor.

As he listened Zalatar gave her an odd look when she mentioned him in the message. More the way she said it. Though he couldn't blame her for hiding a warrior of prowess like himself. Though he wished he could display it in front of humans more often, just not in this case.

When Clara came back everyone looked and smiled while she asked where they left off. Her grandmother was about to speak when she noticed something.

"Does anyone hear that?" she asked. "It sounds like steam escaping."

What it was really was Zalatar's breathing and hissing. He didn't realize how loud it was until she mentioned, making him try to be softer with it. Though being in armor all the time did tend to make someone exhausted.

"A restaurant?" her father asked. "And after all the trouble we went through to get here? Come now, Clara. That's a little rude, don't you think?" Zalatar backed up a little before bumping into a dresser and making a little bump. He turned and realized what he did before hearing her father ask "Is somebody else here?"

Before Clara could give any excuse her grandmother asked "Oh, Clara? Are you hiding some man in your house because you're shy about it?" She had a coy smile before asking "Is he ugly? Or just too handsome you don't want to share?"

Zalatar, feeling the nee to hide better, did something he knew he'd regret. By the time Clara or anyone else would come investigate they would find no sign of anything of the Ice Warrior. In reality he'd clumsy stuck his armor into the closet before exiting from it and hiding somewhere else in the apartment. But where?

While her family still sat in the living room confused, Clara would hear a hissing coming from the bathroom. When she would further investigate a lizard clawed hand would be resting in the tub with the shower curtain pulled in front so she could not see the full body of Zalatar sitting in the tub. A pair of red eyes peeked out to see her, letting him confirm he was safe to speak but very quietly.

"Forgive me, Commander." he softly hissed. "I did not want to make any further noise. But please, do not come closer. I do not wish to be seen in my.....condition."

As soon as Clara was speaking with Zal her father walked down the hall and called "Clara? Everything alright?"

Zalatar shrunk back when her father came, thankfully he not seeing him or what Clara was doing. When they went back to the living room Zalatar kept listening from the bathroom, still keeping himself hidden.

When Clara asked where they were her father said "We were at the part where you wanted to go all the way to a restaurant to eat."

"Oh come now." her grandmother spoke up. "It's her birthday after all. I say we go."

The two bickered a little for a few moments before an agreement was made. They would go but Clara would agree to make dinners for when both of their birthdays came up as repayment. At first everything seemed in the clear, Zalatar relaxing when he heard what they were going to do, but then...

"Before we go, I just need to pop into the bathroom." her grandmother said as she started walking towards it.

Zalatar, hearing this from Clara took a moment to think of where else to hid. Of course he told her not to look while he did before he indicated he was ready. After that Clara's gran heard her mention not using the shower tap even though, as Clara pointed out, she wasn't using it anyway.

Her gran used the bathroom and finished without anything going wrong. However she did keep smelling the place as it seemed off. She knew it wasn't from her yet it seemed like it was all around the house too.

When she went back to Clara and her father she said "I think you should put some candles in here, deary. It smells awfully rank. You didn't happen to have any animals in here, did you?"

Despite this and whatever excuse Clara made they eventually left. Zalatar still waited until Clara would tell him, one way or another, the coast was clear. He still stayed silent as he hid where he decided to go.

Zalatar stayed quiet while Clara was explaining everything to him about when to leave, waiting for the right signals and so forth. The entire time he stayed quiet to be on the safer side until the phone would ring. When mention of the door came he took that mental note and held onto it while hearing Clara leave.

Finally he came out from hiding, which was under Clara's bed. The naked Ice Warrior in the meantime browsed about in his commander's home, taking note of how small it was and yet still managed to fit so much inside. He eventually found pictures of Clara and his family, looking over them with his own reflection from the frames staring back. Seeing all the different tender moments between Clara and the others made him question if this was what families on Earth were like.

The phone rang and Zalatar figured it was Clara calling to give his signal to leave. With that he slipped back into his armor before making for the door. Funny enough someone was passing by, a young teenage boy who noticed an open flat door and figured it was an easy way to find something to steal.

The minute he opened the door he was met by a heavily armored Martian who looked down at him with red eyes and hissed. The boy ran in fear while Zalatar closed the door and, trying to stay as careful as possible, made his way back to the dump to await Clara.