Water Hazard (6th Doctor)

Oh, right. The English Channel. That was there. Annie Maldonato grimaced and kicked at a tree. "Idiot!" she muttered to herself. "You walk all this way and forget ya 'ave to cross the bleedin' English Channel!?" The young woman with the highlighted hair, dressed in her usual black jacket, purple tank-top, torn jeans and high-top Chucks sat down in a huff, setting her backpack next to her.

She was in the outskirts of Dover, having made her way from Blackpool, through Stafford to Northampton, to London, then Ashford, quite literally walking across the entire country, and finally here without once ever remembering there was a watery landmark blocking her way.

"Alright. No swimming, obviously. Ya don't even know 'ow. What about the ferry?" she thought, then closed her eyes as she shivered. Trusting her life to a bunch of metal loaded down with cars? They probably sunk all the time! Would there be enough life preservers for everyone? Nope, nope, nope. Not risking it. Plane? Well, she couldn't afford that. That's why she'd walked in the first place! With a distressed groan she fell backwards into the grass and covered her eyes with arm. "I'm an idiot, s'what I am. The biggest idiot in the entire country. The biggest idiot in the entire country who's now stuck in Dover! Ugh..."

Woosh
Woosh
Woosh
Woosh
Woosh...

Creeeeeak

The Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS's front door, his eyes flicking this way and that to check his surroundings.  He was in the middle of a forest, near a cliff, by the ocean "Huh...This definitely isn't the Andromeda constellation..."  He pulled back into the TARDIS and gave the console a good glare  "What's the big idea?  Dumping me in the middle of nowhere."  He strode over to the monitor and gave it a harder-than-needed yank to position it where he could see it.  "I was looking for one of the most technologically advanced societies of this time, and I'm in the woods.  Now what backwoods, Podunk, uncultured ball of rock have you lan-"  He read the information on the monitor.  "...Ah, 21st Century Earth.  Of course."

Tugging his coat and raising his chin, he turned and strode back to the door.  "Well, I guess I could look around.  No harm in it, after all."  He locked the door behind himself and strode out, looking about at the trees.  Despite his earlier accusations about this place being Podunk, he rather did enjoy the nature when it came right down to it.  He looked around found, a short distance away, a town.  Ah, civilization!  He smiled to himself and, flipping the colored umbrella around his wrist once, gave a one footed hop and headed down the small incline.

Just on the outskirts of the town, he saw his first sign of life (that wasn't travelling 30 miles an hour in a car).  He gave a wave to the woman a hearty wave and a big 'ol smile, quickening his stride and approaching quickly.  "Hello there!  Might I venture to ask where exactly this is?"  He came to a full stop, as always blissfully unaware (or blissfully uninterested) in how conspicuous his bright, multicolored, patchwork outfit made him look.

Annie pulled her hand away from her face and for a moment caught herself wondering when the circus had come into town. Or maybe she was having a really weird dream after falling asleep in the grass. She pinched her cheek and winced a bit. Nope. There really was some curly-haired, probably colorblind stranger with an umbrella standing over her.

She sat up and raised an eyebrow, looking from the man to the town, "Uhh... S'Dover. Well, outside'a Dover, by the English Channel." The woman pulled her backpack over and rummaged about, pulling out a map a few seconds later. It had her route across the country, from Blackpool to their current location drawn in black marker as she pointed to the town on the map. "Right 'ere, see?"

"Are ya, like, a street performer who got lost or somethin', mate?" She seemed more concerned someone might be lost than anything else, even if she was having a hard time taking her eyes off his clothes. The idea someone could put together an outfit like that was hard to believe...

"Ah, perfect!" He took one side of the map in his own hand and walked around it to stand next to the woman and look it over. "Aaaaah, Dover. That does explains that taste of chalk in the air. I did so miss it! Ah, Dover!" He took a deep breath in and sighed contentedly. "A street-, a STREET performer!?" He raised his voice, straightened up and stomped his foot. "...Yes. A street performer. I guess you could say that."


Then he took another look at the map, and then at the woman, and the backpack on her back. "Hold on, this line...Did you walk all this way?" He relinquished the map and stepped back, taking another look at her. She did look a bit worse for wear, and with the backpack, she looked like she was at the most bussing it.

"My word, young lady, that's the spirit! Freedom and the wide open road! Nothing but you and the infinite sky above! Wandering free and clear, living each day for what it is!" Running from bloodthirsty aliens and thwarting galaxy-threatening, murderous plots! ...Well, ok, that last bit was probably just him. Good thing he didn't say it out loud. That would have been awkward. Well, then again, it'd probably be awkward if he were wrong. Not that he was wrong, he was 100% certain that she'd walked all this way. Well, 95%. Maybe 80. 60 at a minimum anyway.

Annie blinked a few more times. Well, he certainly had the personality of some of the buskers she'd met. "Um, yeah, I walked most'a the way. Hitched a bit, too." she rubbed her neck. "Mostly it was less about, y'know, the freedom thing an' more about not 'avin' the money for any other kinda transport. I'm just a chip shop waitress."

She paused and frowned, "Well, was. Suppose I did leave without any word. 'ell, didn't even tell me parents I was leavin', just packed up and started bookin' it." the woman turned and looked at the man beside her, offering a hand, "Oh, sorry. Me name's Annie. Annie Maldonato. Nice t'meet ya, whoever ya are."

The Doctor, listened, nodding. "Oh, yes, yes, I fully appreciate that. Working in a "chip shop" can't possibly compare. You know, I left my home in much the same way that you left yours. Well, I had a mode of transport prepared, but, well, that's a story for another time." He turned, hooking his umbrella around his wrist and taking her hand in both of his in order to shake vigorously, giving her a big smile.

"Annie! Marvelous to meet you, I'm the Doctor. I'm a traveler!" He paused only for a moment, to look up towards the sky in pensive thought. "Also, I'm a performer. I'm a travelling performer." He nodded to himself. It made perfect sense. Absolutely perfect. He crossed his arms behind his back, looking about. The highway was fairly close by, and he could hear the cars zipping by. "Well I simply must ask, my dear; what caused you to flee your home? If you're willing to speak of it, of course. Please, feel no pressure. If you prefer, we can simply go for a good cup of tea. I'm sure we could find a good place around here somewhere. What do you say? On me!" The Doctor bounced a bit on his toes, and rocked back to his heels, still smiling cheerfully at the young lady before him.

Annie chuckled a bit as she found her hands being vigorously shaken. The man had an excitable energy about him that was practically contagious. She could feel her dour mood lifting, a smile flicking to her lips as she nodded, "A travellin' performin' doctor? Must be a story behind that, too."

She shrugged, a bit sheepishly as she packed her map back up and pulled the backpack back over her shoulders, "Well, uh, wasn't tragedy or nothin'. Y'know, wasn't bein' abused or 'ad me 'eart broken. I've just always wanted to travel. See the world. Long as I can remember, that's all I've dreamed of. Realized I was fed up'a only seein' me 'ometown every day so I packed me things and started walkin'. Simple as that. Was on me way to Paris when I got stuck 'ere." the woman shook her head, muttering to herself, "Forgettin' about the bloody English Channel... Know exactly what mum'd say. S'just like you, Annie, always leapin' ahead without thinkin' first..."

Annie started walking, taking her time as she started heading back to the town, planning to take up the offer of tea. She could use a nice cup. "So, what about you? Get sick'a bein' a normal doctor or what? And ya didn't really give me a name. Doctor who?" she asked, glancing back at the odd man.

((OOC: I'm sorry if this seems short and/or crappy. It's literally the third time I've had to type it up due to computer issues.))

The Doctor shot the woman another supportive smile. "Yes, well, we don't always need some great duress to start our travels. Sometimes we go simply to go." And sometimes we go to ensure that several warring factions of Time Lords don't get their hands on a particularly important, powerful artifact. But that was neither here nor there.

The Doctor followed alongside Annie, taking big, slow, bouncing steps and swinging the umbrella up over his shoulders. As they walked, he made it a point to look at absolutely everything. Trees, ferns, discarded crisp bags and soda cans. Whatever there was to look at. When she asked him the ever present question, he turned his head back to her. "Just the Doctor, thank you." He responded cheerfully. "I suppose you could say that I got "sick of" being a normal doctor. Let's just say that my people were less than hospitable, so I decided to put my practice on the road." He shrugged, then smiled, looking around at the buildings for the nearest place that could provide them with a good cup of tea.

"Ah, this should do." He indicated literally the first cafe that he saw, pivoting around to head to the entrance and just sort of assuming that Annie would follow.

"Well, 'just The Doctor' certainly sounds like a stage name." Annie nodded, following along. She was a lot less interested in the plant life or garbage refuse around the, but noted that 'just The Doctor' seemed to have wide eyes for everything.

Stopping for a moment to look at the building, she nodded and followed The Doctor inside, taking a table by the window, she sat her backpack by her side with a sigh of relief, "Almost wish I'd packed a bit less. You're a travellin' performer, yeah? Where d'you keep all your stuff? Ya seemed to just come outta nowhere in the woods, there. Which woulda been a bit more scary if ya didn't look like all the bad fashion'a the 1970s threw up on ya." she chuckled playfully. "Good costume, though. Two thumbs up for originality." Annie smiled, raising the digits.

The Doctor thought about it for a moment.  "Hm, yes, a stage name.  I suppose that's somewhat accurate."  He pulled out a chair and flared his coat out behind himself in order to sit down properly.  He listened to her for a moment, nodding.  "We would always rather bring too much, we can always get rid of some stuff along the way.  Myself?  I've got a travelling vehicle of sorts, I keep everything in there.  And I'm not terribly scary.  Not to a random passerby, at least."  And then came the comment about his coat.  Of course there was a comment about his coat.  There was ALWAYS a comment about his coat.

"And I'll have you know this is the HEIGHT of fashion, thank you!  I know an entire planet's worth of individuals who would pay a bounty to get their hands on this coat."  Actually, several already offered a bounty.  His coat was considered a top class trophy in several constellations.  Some bounties were even large enough that one could buy their own planet with it.  He turned his nose up in response and went silent.  Until the waitress came.  Then he ordered himself a good old English black tea.

Annie chuckled, assuming the coat comment was a joke, and ordered some tea with milk when the waitress arrived.

She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table and smirked, "So, you keep everythin' in your vehicle? Where is it? I mean, ya seemed ta just be kinda wanderin' around the forest earlier. The discarded crisp packets and other trash sure seemed t'be interestin' to ya."

The woman reached back and scratched the tattoo on her neck, "Where do ya travel to, anyway? C'mon, give us some stories. One experienced traveler to the newbie, eh?" she grinned, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

The Doctor sniffed lightly at the comment about the trash, and then broke his silence.  "I was simply thinking of the hubris and wastefulness of humankind.  The hubris of the most dominant species on a planet and their ability to damage their planet by their own sheer laziness."  He raised his tea and took a large, bold gulp from it.  Then, he took a few moments to look his tea buddy over.  He tapped his foot on the floor.  He drummed his fingers on the table.  He worked his face through several different contortions.  All the while, his mind was racing.

After he'd woken up from...well, from dying, he had decided to take a break from "companions."  After the shock of nearly losing Peri and the inevitability of his meeting with Mel, he figured this time he was out of the loop of necessity and had finally managed to obtain his bachelorhood, as it were.  At the same time, it was soooooo boooooooring.  He glanced around the tea house and leaned forward over the table.

"What would you say if I told you that I was an alien?"  He whispered.  He held up his hand, the look on his face really, truly serious.  "And that I could prove it?"

Annie sat there watching The Doctor so some sort of facial yoga, sipping her tea for a bit and tilting her head, wondering exactly what was going through his head. With the foot tapping and the finger drumming he was nearly a soft symphony. She recalled another thing her mom would say a lot, whenever her dad would get lost in thought and forget to talk. "His thoughts are so heavy they're weighing down his tongue." she remembered and chuckled briefly before The Doctor spoke.

She almost believed that she'd been right and the guy was a nutter, but there was something about the look on his face... She couldn't shake it. He seemed completely sincere. Maybe he was a nutter, but he was one that totally believed what he was saying, at least. But still, aliens? True, she believed there had to be life out there somewhere in the universe. The place was just so large it seemed a bit egotistical to assume mankind was the only thing in existence. But still...

Annie sipped her tea and leaned in, whispering as well. Funny how infectious it was. When one person started, anyone else in the conversation always seemed to follow. "Well... I'd say you'd 'ave to 'ave some really good, 'ard evidence, mate. An' no probes. I see a probe an' I am gone."

"I must be going mad." The Doctor said aloud to himself, tucking the corner of his mouth and shoving his hand into his pocket. Determinedly, he dug around for a few moments. Then he withdrew a banana and set it on the table, and dove back in. Next came a small bluish crystal in generic diamond shape, a strange, small, technological doodad which the Doctor suddenly remembered was broken and in need of repair, and finally, his goal. "Ah-hah!" From deep within his pockets, he withdew: A stethoscope! He reached across the table and placed the ear buds in Annie's ears and brought the listening end up to his chest, about where his heart was supposed to be. If he were human. And indeed it was there.

Then, once he'd given her a good listen, he moved it to the other side of his chest. And again, there was the sound of a second heart, thumping away just as merrily as the other one had been. After he'd allowed her to hear the second heart, he moved it to his wrist. Thump-thump thump-thump. Thump-thump thump-thump. "You can check your own if you need to compare. But I've got two hearts. How's THAT for "really good, 'ard evidence, mate"?"

Annie furrowed her brow, watching the man across the table pull bits of oddity from his pockets, then suddenly reach over and put a stethoscope in her ears. She closed her eyes and listened. Regular heartbeat, yep... and then another, second regular heartbeat.

She pulled the medical device from ears and raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking, "Alright, I admit that's weird, but... I mean, that doesn't necessarily make ya an alien. Maybe you're just some medical oddity, y'know? Or ya got a wonky stethoscope an' it's givin' an echo..." The girl with the multicolored hair sat back, brow furrowed as she thought of it, glancing up at him occasionally. Surely those were much more likely explanations than something extraterrestrial. "I mean, ya look completely human!" she gestured to him. "Sure, ya dress weird but so does me mum an' she's no alien. An' what kinda alien would... ask me to 'ave tea with 'em?" Annie asked, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than anything.

The Doctor sighed. A skeptic. Of course. Skeptics were the life-blood of the universe. They were brilliant, they fueled inspiration and progress and advancements in society. They weeded out needless superstition and hoisted curiosity and discovery to a pillar high above the dregs of ignorance.

They also made convincing people that he was an alien more difficult than it needed to be. He waved slightly. "Keep the stethoscope. And, I'll have you know that I don't look Human, you just so happen to look Time Lord." He relaxed back into his chair and bounced his leg somewhat impatiently. "Very well, I'll give you much more definitive proof shortly. After tea, of course." He raised his cup into the air and sipped at it once more. It was actually almost gone, anyway. Just then, the waitress came by with their check, and he immediately snatched it up. Bleh. Tea prices were ridiculous these days. He reached into another pocket and pulled out a bank card that was mysteriously blank on one side. She glanced it over and nodded cheerfully as The Doctor wrote in a nice tip on the receipt.

After she left with the check and card, he wove his fingers together and rested his chin on them, staring across the table at Annie. "So, you were headed to Paris, were you?"

Unsure what to do with the stethoscope, Annie just dropped it into her backpack along with her other things, looking up to see her drinking companion flash around a blank piece of paper. She narrowed her eyes curiously and tried to get a better look at it, but as far as she could tell it was just... blank. And yet the waitress seemed to accept with a smile. She was about to ask about it when The Doctor mentioned Paris.

Annie nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I was. First stop on me world tour. I wanna 'ave coffee in a little cafe, wander 'round the streets and just kinda absorb the culture. But I wanna avoid doin' touristy stuff, y'know?" she paused, gathering her thoughts. "I feel like... the tourism industry is kinda like a mask a city puts on. Blackpool's got a big tourism thing in the summer, so I've seen it all me life. So the way, I think, to really see and feel a city is to get lost in it a bit. Immerse yourself."

She blushed a bit and looked down, lifting her cup to finish off her tea, "I dunno. Probably sounds a bit funny, talkin' about it like that. Romanticizin' a bit, I imagine."

The Doctor smiled at the young lady. "Ah yes, the purposely built tourism spots are one thing, but there's always more than meets the eye. I always search for the things that people don't usually see. And I think taking a trip to Paris sounds wonderful at the moment. So, if you'd like, I believe I can get you there. Might even be able to give you the grand tour. The real grand tour. Not that ridiculous bit where you sit on a bus and listen to some naff plonker go on about a bloody hunk of metal." He reached out to talk the blank card from the woman and quickly scribble "The Doctor" on the signature line of the receipt.

He sat back and finished the cup of tea, crossing one leg over the other. "So what do you say? I can give you a lift over to Paris, and all I ask is that you let me prattle on about information I find interesting as we walk about. Does that sound fair? "

"Yeah, that sounds great." Annie nodded quickly, then bit her lip. She was getting a head of herself again and forgetting the entire reason she wasn't already across the channel and on her way to Paris herself. She sighed a bit and slumped in her chair.

"There is one problem..." she admitted slowly. Her issues were not something she liked to talk about. Frankly, they were a bit embarrassing. Childish, she sometimes thought. "I don't... like water. I almost drowned once when I was little and ever since I just... can't go near things like lakes or oceans or rivers... And I don't do boats. Which is why ya found me poutin' in the woods. So unless ya 'appen to 'ave a plane around..." she shrugged helplessly.

The Doctor gave a big ol' smile for Annie. "I can get us to Paris and you won't have to see much as a drop of the Channel. I suppose this means you're not one who enjoys fishing..." He frowned only slightly. They never liked fishing. Perhaps he'd have to track down the Brigadier General. Surely he'd be a man who'd enjoyed catching a proper dinner. "Well no matter. If you're ready to be off, then we should be off. Best not to keep Paris waiting! It doesn't know what it's missing without the two of US there!"

With that, the Doctor stood with a flourish and headed back to where they'd come from: the forested area outside Dover proper. He bounced along happily at a fairly good pace, weaving his way back through the normally homogeneous woods by following the telltale (and fairly shameful) trail of litter he had spotted along the way. And then, a good distance into the woods, he finally came back to the blue police box sitting unnaturally on top of a small hill. Without missing a beat, he turned a key in the lock and walked into the box, leaving the door slightly ajar for Annie to follow.

Annie grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, following the Doctor back into the woods. She was curious just how he planned to get them to Paris and when he stepped into the police box, Annie stopped, confused. For one, she was pretty sure they didn't even use those things anymore. Secondly, she was even more sure that even when they did they didn't have them set up on a hill out in the woods. Finally... how was an old police box supposed to get them across the Channel. Surely he was just having a joke with her now.

With a sigh, Annie walked up to the door, "Doctor, this isn't funny. I thought ya were actually gonna 'elp me trav-" she stopped as she pushed the door open and looked in. She pinched her cheek again, just to be sure, then backed out. With wide eyes she walked around the police box, looking for... however that trick was done. Mirrors or something? Eventually she gave up and took a deep breath, stepping inside and looking around. "What.. What is this? It- It's smaller on the outside! How's that possible?" the waitress looked to the traveler and covered her mouth, "'oly crap, you're actually an alien." she whispered.

"Well if there's one thing I'm not it's a liar. Welcome to the TARDIS.  Time and Relative Dimension in Space,"  The Doctor said as he whirled around the central control, warming the old girl up. "Do watch your back."  He flipped another switch and the doors closed behind Annie.

The Doctor turned and looked at Annie, smiling brightly and leaning back against the segment of the control panel nearest the doors. He figured he should give her a few moments to get used to the TARDIS. It could certainly be a shock to the system to process this much information this quickly. ...Well, 30 seconds was plenty of time, right? "Right then, prepare for a nice, smooth trip to Gay Paris!"  He called triumphantly, reaching  down and flipping a switch. The TARDIS kicked into high gear and, with a great jolt, began its smooth-as-sandpaper trip to Paris.

((I figure this is add good a place as any to stop this particular episode, unless you had something else. I'll start us up a thread a bit later today for a continuation in Paris, and we can figure out what to do from there!))

((Sounds good to me. Looking forward to it!))