faithfulskeptic | • o p e n p o s t [ memes & psl ]

[ There's a part of her that almost thinks it's a joke, this mystery postcard. Maybe that's the part of her that wants to write off that whole weird experience as just... some kind of strange hallucination.

That's easier said than done. She'd had a tox screen run on herself after, in case she'd been drugged, and come up clean. She's still got that inexplicable x-ray hidden away in a folder somewhere.

So she shows up. Not without some uncertainty, this whole thing has been strange from the beginning. But it's lunch in a normal restaurant, how weird could it get? ]

[The Doctor arrives - late. A half-an-hour late. Finally around 12:30, he waltz's into the restaurant, in those blue-pinstripes of his, asking the waiter if there's a Scully here. The waiter gestures over and remarks how she's been waiting. The Doctor, proceeds to walk over, one of his hands holding onto the baby, who seems a bit older and is now walking and has very red hair growing in. Fred is also wearing a new necklace.]

Hallo, sorry about being late. Got a bit caught up in sight-seeing and so many shops at the Smithsonian!

Blimey, we could have spent all day in the shops.

[Fred makes a bit of a Gallifreyan that roughly translate to 'we did spend all day in the shop' and then squeaks 'hi' to Scully in English]

Right! This is Fred. Fred - Scully, Scully - Fred. Excuse me waiter, we'll need another seat. Sorry about that, Jack's off at - insert bizarre alien world name here- it's a big casino planet and well- Fred's not hold enough yet for that.

[ Ah, yes. She'd been preoccupied wondering how strange it'd be to have him show up again, she hadn't even considered that he might... not.

She's already picking at a salad casually when he finally shows up. With a special guest. Extra unexpected. She blinks a bit owlishly. ]

Hello, [ she says reflexively, then pauses. ] The same Fred?

Mmmm.

[The Doctor remarks casually and finds his seat and Fred decides to hop onto her dad's lap. Fred stares back owlishly at Scully.]

Uppose we don't need that extra seat.

[Fred smiles playful upwards. She's a big girl! The Doctor glances at the menu and over at the waiter]

Can we start off with a selection of tea and treats?

[The Doctor's attention finally settling on Scully]

Right! Good to finally, propertly meet you.

[Offering a handshake across the table and given a look on his face, wondering if she will shake.]

[ She'd nearly given up on him showing, but here they are and she's not sure what to say. She does shift to take his hand and shake it.

Kid or no kid, he seems normal enough. Human enough, she should say-- no indication that he's a medical mystery. ]

Definitely better circumstances than last time. I...

[ She hesitates. She still doesn't know what to make of last time. ]

I haven't heard anything else about it. From the hospital.

[ She's got no idea if that's a good or bad sign. ]

[The Doctor gives a hardy but friendly handshake back. With a bit below average human temperature. Someone is a bit on the cooler body temperature side. The Doctor beams]

Yes! Absolutely!

And thank you for not giving me any medication. And you won't.

[A quick non-suggestive wink of the eye. Then remarks in a whisper]

Can't have my blood laying around. Would change human evolution.

I guess that's for the best... I'm not sure I want to know how you managed it, though.

[ The rational side of her is still screaming that none of this is possible. It's weighed out, just barely, by the fact that she remembers every bewildering moment of fleeing in-- in a spaceship. ]

I'm not sure it wouldn't just be written off as contamination, but.

[ Maybe it's for the best that they don't have to find out. ]

I'm not looking to alter your DNA. You lot do that enough when you get out in the universe.

[The waiter comes back with the tea tray, with associated teas, some crackers, cheese and chocolate. Ten makes a 'what is this' sort of face at the waiter.]

Wut no scones or cucumber sandwachies?

[The Waiter simply remarks this isn't London.]

... Right, sorry. Don't come here often.

[Then is asked if those are wanted]

Nah. When in Rome - eat whut the Romans eat.

[There's a glimmer in those brown eyes that he's really been with the Romans. The Waiter leaves and Ten picks out a tea bag for himself and adds exactly three sugars and Fred picks out a tea bag for herself and The Doctor pours for both of them.]

What exactly is it you did before you met Mulder.

Edited 2022-04-11 01:22 (UTC)

[ If he's really an alien, she's curious about why he comes off as so English. But maybe that's a question for another time. Or at least later. It's hardly the most pressing thing.

And besides it looks like he's starting the interrogation. Scully arches an eyebrow. ]

Before we were partners I was teaching at the Academy, for a little while. Forensic pathology.

[The Doctor pauses sipping on his tea. Scully will see a sudden darkness in those brown eyes. The look of someone who has seen many dead bodies - and might even be haunted by some of those. Fred looks confused. Ten finally takes a sip of his tea]

Why did you choose that profession?

They recruit for it.

[ She knows it unsettles people, what she does. It's honest work, and important, and she's not ashamed of it; she's good at it. But it's not exactly a great topic for polite company. ]

I'd been in medical school and wasn't sure clinical practice was the right choice. I thought the Bureau would be a way to distinguish myself, a different way to help people.

[The Doctor beams]

Can't argue helping others out.

[Ten raises his tea cup and Fred follows and they seem to be waiting for Scully]

[ What she said is true; there are other factors, of course, reasons she'd been looking to leave the medical field that she prefers not to get into. But her desire to do something good is as genuine as it gets.

After a moment she lifts her cup too in a vague toast. ]

He and I have been working together for years, you know,

[ she points out. She can't help feeling a little bit judged, as if she's the newcomer here. ]

[The Doctor sips for a moment on his tea. Yeah, he knows. Mulder talks like they're an old married couple in a some ways]

How long?

[Then takes some chocolate to nibble on and makes an ick face]

This isn't cocoa this is just a bunch of condense sugar and milked down cocoa!

[A short pause]

You know you're allowed to ask me questions, if you want.

[ Sometimes Scully is guilty of the same. She'll protest when people make assumptions about them, but privately she has to acknowledge their relationship is... a bit more intense than you'd expect from just coworkers. ]

Six years, more or less?

[ Not always on the X-Files, not always even literally partners, but a long time nonetheless. ]

I'm hardly sure what I should be asking. You've made it pretty clear you don't want proof of... who you say you are, floating around. It's.... How much has Mulder told you about our work?

Six years. Blimey, that has to seem like a lot for you.

[The Doctor is wide-eye at the thought and looking beyond her. Trying to understand what six years on the slow path is]

Least it's in good company. Always better with two.

[For a moment, The Doctor grows a bit sad. Because he thinks about the girl who told that to both this face of his and the face before that. His Rose. Even with being with Jack and having a child, The Doctor still does miss his Rose, who is trapped in another universe with his Meta Crisis counterpart. There is a deep exhale. Fred is eyeing upwards and is confused and concerned]

...You're not ready. Not yet, anyways. The majority of you haven't evolved to the point of being able to accept beings different from yourselves. And I think we both know what happens when a large number of humans don't understand or are afraid of something or an idea. Like whut you lot did to Nicolaus Copernicus. Everything has its time.

[The Doctor beams]

But you will be one day!

[But he won't say when because he's not going to change the future]

Just - that he tries to uncover the truth because of his sister.

Six years is a lot but four hundred isn't enough?

[ It gets a wry smile, though. He's got a point-- even if society has changed considerably since Copernicus, she can't imagine even friendly contact wouldn't cause a certain measure of chaos.

The thing is it's never been civil alien contact that concerns them. Not when the files are full of... everything in them. Not with everything they've learned about the human collaborators working for colonization. Scully has no intention to give anything away about Samantha that Mulder hasn't shared-- more than, that she doesn't want to speak about her own experiences-- but surely some of the broad strokes he must know already, if he's spent so much time with Mulder. ]

You seem confident that we'll have a chance to get there.

Exactly!

[The Doctor gives Scully a cheeky grin]

Six years on the slow path, blimey!

[The Doctor is recalling back to his Third when he did spend many years on the slow path on Earth.]

That's definitely longer than four hundred for me.

[That may or may not be true but it is the general idea. There's a playful twinkle in The Doctor's eyes]

Did you not look at the front of your postcard?

[Ten picks up the menu and proceeds to read though in the meantime]

Edited 2022-04-11 21:25 (UTC)

[ That's an interesting thought, one that's easier to look at as sort of a logic experiment; of course a different species might have a different perception of time, of course relativity of lifespan plays into it. That's a whole other question. ]

I looked at it, I didn't entirely understand it, [ she admits. Pauses.

Curiosity wins out. ]

How old are you?

It's an Earth colony in the Fifty-First Century out in this -insert constellation- That's where Jack came from. We just came from thar because we thought Fred should know where her family was from.

[The Doctor pops his mouth, his mind still debating on a few items on the menu. Fred has her hand on what she wants. The Doctor is also purposely making silence too and puts the menu down again]

Nine-hundred and three.

[And gives the cockiest smirk. Fred perks in interest, apparently this is the first time hearing this]

[ She looks down at her hands, considering that a moment. There are just about five hundred other questions on the tip of her tongue-- how you measure time objectively if you're an alleged time traveler, whether he gets asked that often since he didn't pause to convert to Earthly years. ]

You don't look a day over four hundred, [ she jokes instead. In fairness he looks much younger than that photographer in New York who'd claimed to be well over two hundred years old, but that's a memory she'd prefer not to dwell on. ]

How long does your species live, on average?

No, no. I look nothing like when I was four hundred. [He remarks back in playfully insulted]

[The Doctor signals the waiter over]

We'll have the Shrimp Spaghetti and Bacon Cheeseburger.

[The Waiter takes the menu and The Doctor waits till they walk away. Takes a long sip on the tea cup and then adds more hot water and stirs the tea bag. How to answer that? Ten seems to eye around for anyone else in ear shot. Fred seems very curious in the answer and looks up with wide and curious eyes. In loud whisper remarks]

Up to twelve millennium.

[Depending on the length of each regeneration. That is more the question]

Edited 2022-04-12 01:41 (UTC)

[ She can't help drawing a sharp breath. Twelve thousand years is-- it's an incomprehensible amount of time. Not that she can make much sense of nine hundred years either, but good God. Twelve thousand years.

After everything in New York, she can't help wondering how anyone can stay sane, over that many years, but that's hardly something you can say to someone's face. ]

Sorry, it's-- that's just a lot to take in.

What about... others?

[ Other aliens, she means, but can't bring herself to say it aloud. ]

I walk in eternity.

[The Doctor remarks in a rather dry tone. Because a part of him now, hates that idea. Ten's eyes dart in thought and Fred is watching closely. In a loud whisper remarks]

I was so much younger when I said those words... And much more foolish.

[The Doctor's eyes seem to change and grow hard. He's lost so many friends. Ten looks down at Fred and Romana II was the one his Fourth face spoke that too. He's lost so much and the traveler. The man without a home, is starting to grow weary from eternity. Granted now, there is Jack and Fred, both of which will probably out-live The Doctor because Ten knows in his hearts, that he doesn't 11,097 years left. He's on his Tenth regeneration of Twelve. Technically, if he wasn't lying to himself, this is really his Eleventh Face but enjoys denying War Doctor. But he knows in his hearts that he's nearing his end. His real end. Though that's alright. After all, the 12,000 years was staying on Gallifrey were nothing happened.

Fred knows something is wrong and makes a concern face and bonks The Doctor's nose and shares some comforting telepathic vibes. At the very least that did help him get out of his a bit and gives her a weak smile.

The Doctor signals for some wine and after a few glasses continues.]

Depends on the species, hundreds to up to a thousand years.

[Fred squeaks 'what about Jack?']

I don't know. He's very unique.

[ The dramatic phrasing doesn't really mean much to her; but there's an air of... sadness? Remorse? The scale of time is wildly different but even she knows that feeling, looking back on the sense of invincibility common to the young; the way things that seemed so simple and certain become anything but.

She's quiet, leaving him room for those thoughts-- watching him and Fred with a sort of quiet indulgence. She does like children, generally, even if she's not quite sure what to make of this oddly quickly-growing one. ]

That's not exactly what I meant-- just. There are more out there?

[ Does he know, she wonders, about the things happening here-- the experiments, the conspiracies, the shadowy plans? ]

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ooc we dont have a canon answer on where this is located >:

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