Shattered

"Not really a stationary home per-say..." Sonya said with a shrug, thinking back to the TARDIS she had arrived in with a wry smile. Oh the Doctor would be red if he knew she had taken it. "Just the TARDIS for me. You know how I am, I don't like to sit in one spot for too long. It's killing me to just be in here." She said dryly, casting a smile at Arthur, her eyes shining with amusement. "But I suppose I should be off. Dunno what I'll do, but I'll think of something. Usually comes to me eventually..."

Mal huffed and stood from where she sat when she saw the time. Oh crap, she had an early morning to wake up too considering she actually has a job to attend to. She removed the duck blanket from her shoulders, folded it and slung it over the chair. "Yeah, I have to shower and try to sleep. Er, I mean sleep. But thanks for the coffee and your blanket and... you know, saving me." Mal swallowed heavily and looked at Arthur with widened eyes. Yeah, that hit her pretty hard right then, the realization that she could have bloody died tonight. It caused her to shake. She didn't want to make a scene so she started walking towards the front door. Clearing her throat she called back, "Thanks again. See you later, Sonya. Don't be a stranger, a'right? "

Arthur watched Mal move for the door, his eyes narrowing. "You're shaking." he observed. "The shock must not have passed yet, sit back down. There's plenty of time left. s'pose you should stay as well Sonya. Do the whole 'I care' thing that always manages to elude me..." it did tend to come across that he didn't care about... well, anything. "Milk." he stated as though it were a fact in itself that explained everything, "You need warm milk. It makes everything feel better. Except emotional turmoil. And physical wounds. But it should make you warm."

Sonya eyed Mal as she tried to walk out, her entire body trembling like a leaf as she did. "He's right, Mal. Sit back down, don't worry about it." She murmured quietly, walking over and taking the girl's hand gently to lead her back to the chair she had just vacated. "Listen, your with friends that tend to stick around. In a way, you honestly think we'd let anything happen to you?" She asked brightly, a wry smile crossing her face as she gently brushed a hand over her head before walking over and shuffling through her bag for a moment then pulled out a small book. "I know it seems a bit childish... But here, it always kept me company when I was younger and scared." She said finally, walking back over to Mal and placing a worn children's story book on her lap.

Mal began to protest but Sonya had already grabbed her hand and led her to the chair. There was nothing really left to do but sit back down, and it would feel better than stand here and allow her head to swim. Sighing, she brought a hand up to rub her face before looking at Sonya attentively. "I don't know what I think half the time. I just hope you wouldn't let anything happen" She said with a short laugh. Her hands wrapped around the book and she stared curiously at it. Starting from the back, the fingered her way through the pages until she got to the beginning and began to look it over. "Thanks, I think. What is it, exactly? And please don't say a book." An amused grin crossed Mal's face before it fell again.

"A big book," The Stranger suggested with a shrug as he passed over a glass of warm milk with a cookie. "You might not want the cookie, I have no idea how old it is," he added as he wandered off to the window, glancing out over the city below. "I love this view," he muttered.

Down below, he could see the city working like clockwork. Most of the lights were out by this time in most houses but people still scurried through the streets, living their pathetic little lives. He lit a cigarette and opened the windows to let the air in revealing a small but attractive balcony which he stepped out onto so as not to fill the apartment with smoke. "I paid extra for the balcony," he said but he said it quietly enough that it was impossible to tell who it was directed at if anyone.

He dropped the cigarette off the edge and watched it plummet to the dark road below then stepped back inside, leaving the window open for air. He forced a smile onto his face which managed to seem warmer than he had expected.

Sonya gently ran her fingers down the front of the cover, a small smile playing around her lips.
"It's a translated book of old Gallifreyan fairy tales. It's my favorite to read because of it being so vastly different from the ones you lot have here." She leaned back and glanced over at Arthur curiously, something was on his mind. Taking mental note of his expression, she reminded herself to talk to him about it later when she got a chance.

Mal wrinkled her nose at the cookie and nudged it. She then shrugged and proceeded to eat the cookie and drink the milk anyway. She'd consumed way worse in her past. The book was now open in her lap as she skimmed a few words and blinked. "Already I'm slightly scared. Your fairy tales are talkin' 'bout some alien coming to get you at night if you don't go to sleep." Mal then laughed and shrugged, "Well to be fair I grew up with stories like that too."

Arthur's phone rang. There was a moment where he just looked at it. "But my phone never rings..." he muttered. He picked it up regardless and held it to his ear. "There are people in your apartment," the muffled voice at the other end said. Arthur turned away from Mal and Sonya and walked out onto the balcony. "I know," he said back into the phone. "Surrender the girl, or it's war, Jurgens." Arthur pulled the phone away from his ear. "Then this is war." Arthur hung up practically throwing the phone away as he re-entered the apartment.

Sonya looked up from the book she was showing Mal and flashed a curious look at Arthur as he walked back into the room. "What was that about? You look like you swallowed something slimy and it's stuck in your throat... Frustrated, that's the word." She said to herself, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck in embarrassment before looking back over at him with a frown. "Your a private person, I respect that and all, but if someone is bothering you... It sort of becomes my business too you know." She added quietly, standing up from the arm of the chair and walking over so she could stand next to him, staring out the balcony doors with her arms crossed over her chest. "So an explanation would be nice for once, rather than the whole, 'It's really nothing.' crap you usually give me."

Arthur swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, you have a right to know this one. The phone call was from some-one who knows you're here. You in particular," he pointed at Mal. "I presume they're a friend of your earlier acquaintance. I'm very eager to meet them though because they just made the biggest mistake of their life..."

Mal wasn't paying much attention when Arthur's phone rang. She was flipping the pages of the book casually, glancing up at Sonya every so often when Arthur reentered, drawing Sonya's attention. Mal was still busied with the book until it was mentioned Arthur could be keeping something to himself. She raised her head, eyebrows knitted together as she listened.

"Wh-what? Me? What the hell would they want me for? I-I don't even know anyone! Why do they have your number? Oh god, I'm going tah bloody die! Screw this, can't I just hide under the bed?" Mal swallowed heavily and had tensed up. The previously settled nerves rose up again and caused her to shake in nervous anticipation. This was not good, not at all. Who were these freaks coming after her?

"No." Arthur said simply. "There's no room under the bed, that's where I keep the lasers. Besides..." He put his hand on Mal's shoulder, "I've already saved your life once, what makes you think I can't do it again." Arthur came close to a smile then but his lips just wouldn't do it so he just nodded instead then turned away again.