paixaorpg | Not Running into Strangers [Active]

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Not Running into Strangers [Active]

Character(s): The Doctor (Eleven) and Jenny
Content: Jenny and the Eleventh Doctor bumping into each other for the very first time.
Setting: Around and at the Cafe Ersesat (L7)
Time: Around Noon.
Warnings: Fast paced chatting, and probably a few other brain shattering moments.

Even though she had explored the city more then once before, it never stopped Jenny's overwhelming curiosity as she too her usual morning run everyday. No matter how many times she seems to travel through this place, she just couldn't brush off the brilliance of it. The city's layout, the design of the buildings, and even the fake plants always seemed to catch her attention. Perhaps the brilliance of this place would fade away at some point, but not yet, and as long as it continued to call out her curiosity, Jenny would continue to explore it and wonder about so many things. One of the many things she always seemed to wonder about was why all the inhabitants seemed to have blond hair and blue eyes like her, though it did make it easier to keep out of sight when she didn't want to be spotted. She just blended in perfectly. She was kind of like a needle in a haystack, except the needle was the same color as the hay, and therefore, even harder to find then it usually would be.

Slowing down to a walk outside the Cafe Ersesat, Jenny turned to look up at one of the many buildings, taking it in as she started walking backwards, not really paying too much attention to where she was going as she looked up at it. Finally feeling she had gotten a good enough look at it, she picked up her pace again, turning back around to return to her ru...SMACK!

Jenny stumbled back a little as she felt the impact of a body against her. She had never been one to run into people, but it seemed today was the exception, and before she had even gotten around to looking up at who she had run into, she had already gotten around to speaking up her apology to them.

"Oh, sorry! Wasn't trying to run into you. You alright?"

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The Doctor had been humming to himself as he walked around the city. Really, it was glorious. Whoever came up with this place had to be commended, especially concerning the jeweled plants - their design was both complex and completely natural-looking (well, natural as much as such obviously artificial things could look), and using them as currency? Well, that was sheer genius. The "plants" were plentiful as well as regenerative; that way, nobody had to go hungry or lack a roof over their head. All planets should adopt this! Well, not all planets. Some of them would figure out a way to hoard it, which would completely deflect the purpose.

Suddenly, he was very aware of being banged into, sending his thoughts crashing to an unceremonious halt. He stumbled back a few steps before he managed to regain his footing and adjusted his clothing, not really looking at who he was addressing. "You really ought to look where you're going," and never mind the hypocrisy of that statement, "someone could get hurt."

He finally looked up, fixing his bow tie, and... "Jenny! It's you! You look exactly the same. Come here!" He pulled Jenny into a hug, not really thinking about how different he looked at the moment, he was so glad to see his daughter.

Looking up to the sound of a stranger saying her name was odd enough, but when said stranger pulled her into an instant hug, she was completely thrown off, and instantly found her built in soldier reflexes kicking in as she just as instantly took hold of the strangers arm and twisted it behind his back, making sure to quickly maneuver herself away from getting pulled into the hug and behind him as well.

"What do you think you're doing? Wait, how do you know my name? Who are you? And what makes you think you can just hug me like that when I don't even know you?" She asked him harshly, the soldier in her kicking in. Though when she thought about it, his voice did seem familiar. Had she heard it somewhere before? Maybe over the journals? But even if she had, that didn't really give a stranger the right to get so friendly with her.

The Doctor yelped in pain as his arm was twisted. Why was she reacting like that? Didn't she know who he was? They'd spoken over the journals... and only spoken. And just once, at that. Old age; he'd been getting thick. Remaining calm, or as calm as he could with his own daughter reminding him why he'd mistrusted her at first (although he realized with a bit of a twinge that he didn't half blame her, given the circumstance), he began explaining.

"Sorry, I'm the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor." He looked over his shoulder and, despite the not wholly inconsiderable pain, gave a very wry smile. "We've spoken once. I just sort of forgot you didn't quite know this me yet. I suppose I'm getting thick." He cleared his throat. "Would you let me go now, please?"

Jenny stared at him for a few seconds before finally releasing him. She knew she had recognized his voice, but to think that it had been a version of her own father. She hadn't even considered that, and it took her a few more seconds of staring at him before she could open her mouth to speak again.

"So you're...my dad? Well...the future version of my dad." She said, still a little surprised, even as some guilt for her actions slightly came across her features. "I'm sorry about that. It's one of those reflexes that's a bit hard to stop, I'm afraid. Though to be fair, I could have ended up using a much worse reflex. I'm pretty sure it would have ended you on the ground."

She pauses as she looks at his arm. "Your arm alright? I know that little maneuver of mine can hurt a bit."

"Much better, thank you," said the Doctor, sounding relieved as he took a few steps away from Jenny and turned around, rubbing his shoulder. "Quite a grip you've got. I'd hate to think what would've happened if I hadn't known you." He kept his tone fairly neutral, but allowed the implications of his words to hang in the air for a moment as he listened.

"No," he replied cheerfully, "it's just fine. Maybe a bit stiff, but I've had worse." He rubbed his hands together, happy to see her despite the rough start. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Come on, let's eat lunch. You can tell me what you've been up to." Alright, so it wasn't his most subtle moment, but he really did want to relax and have a nice conversation with her, especially after the way things had ended the last time.

Most people don't try to hug her when they don't know her, and in reality, that's what had sent her over the edge, though she wasn't about to say that to a version of her dad.

She was glad when he switched the topic, and she instantly switched her current expression out for her usual bright smile. "Alright, that sounds great!" Better to move on then stay at her rather unwelcome welcoming.

"You've got to tell me what you've been up too as well, okay? I want to hear everything! Everything that's happened since you left Messa." She told him cheerfully. She had always been curious about her dad's travels, even going so far as to ask his younger self and any companions of his that she had met to tell her their stories, and she knew this older version of her father would certainly know more.

It had been the easiness of the movement, rather than the instinct to defend herself, that troubled the Doctor. But really, it was time to move on. "I will," he told her, to an extent. Spoilers, you know." He didn't want his younger self accidentally finding out anything he shouldn't.

He grinned despite the thought, leading her to the cafe. "Brilliant! I've never tried this place before. I've never tried any place before, not like this." He gestured to himself in order to indicate his current self and swung open the door, striding through. "D'you know if this place has got fish sticks and custard? I love that stuff." Really, it was fantastic. WHy hadn't he tried it before? Oh, right; he'd been hung up on bananas. He wondered how he felt about them now...

"Donna's already informed me all about the spoilers. She's told me what I'm allowed to tell dad, and what I'm not allowed to tell him. Uh, the younger version of you, I mean." Having two dads was going to get confusing.

She laughed as she listened to his talk about food. She had never eaten at the cafe much, having always eaten elsewhere or having made her own meals, so naturally, all she could do was shake her head. "I don't know, but I suppose we're going to find out, aren't we?" She answered as she sat down at an empty table.

"Well, that's a relief," replied the Doctor. He really should have expected that from Donna. Granted, there were some things he wouldn't tell Jenny, anyway, but it was nice to know he didn't need to be as careful as he'd originally thought.

He sat down to join Jenny, smiling at the waiter. "Hello, there," he told him, "we're here to eat, and your name tag says David. Nice name." He took the menu offered him with another smile and a nod, looking over. Damn. No fish sticks. However, this place at least had custard, so that was a point in its favor. He murmured thoughtfully to himself before addressing David again. "I'll have some oolong tea, please." He grinned at Jenny. "Oolong. Isn't that a great word?"

Again, Jenny found herself laughing. "Yeah, I suppose it is." It was amazing how different her dad was now, and in some ways, it was still so confusing to see him like this. She had gotten so used to his previous reincarnation, and though this one was no doubt the same in some ways, she couldn't help but like some of the differences.

"Just a water for me." She told the waiter. Perhaps many would have thought her order plain, but after being born on Messa, water just always seemed to be such a great thing.

"So, care to tell me some stories, or do you want to ask about me first? I imagine it's been awhile for you considering how you reacted when we first spoke. Probably haven't seen or heard from me since Messa. yeah?" She didn't really care which order it went in. She had never been bothered about talking about herself, and she wanted to hear her father's stories, but she was sure there would be plenty of time no matter who went first.

Jenny laughing. That was a nice sound, and one the Doctor had never thought he'd hear again after she'd died protecting him. He'd carried that guilt, silently, along with everything else he'd gathered over the centuries, kept it close and quiet and had never said a word. He never would have, either, except that now... he was here, and so was she.

He shifted his thoughts once she'd spoken and gave another grin. "Oh, I dunno... why don't you tell me what you've been up to?" More than just Paixao, which was intriguing in and of itself, had she survived being shot? But no, that was impossible; if she had been alright, wouldn't her face have changed?

So he wanted to hear about her first. She couldn't say it was surprising to her. After all, if she had figured it out correctly, the last time he had seen her, she had been considered dead. He hadn't been there for everything else that had happened afterward.

"Well, I'm sure you know most of what happened on Messa already. There isn't really a whole lot to follow up on after that. A couple hours after you left, I woke up, gave the boys a scare, hijacked a shuttle, and then next thing I knew, I was here in Paixao, meeting up with your younger self, as well as Donna. Because Donna remembered me, she was the whole reason that the other you even gave me a chance. Wasn't easy though. It was like having to go through everything that happened on Messa between us again."

As he listened to her story, the Doctor suddenly felt better, much better. He'd thought her dead, but here she was - and alive in her timeline, too! He grinned and gave her a nod of approval. "Hijacking a shuttle! Good for you!" At least, good if nobody got hurt, but from the sounds of it, she'd just had a good bit of fun before whizzing off to have an adventure. And here, she'd found one - and so had he! Really this whole thing was just fantastic.

"That must have been hard for you," he told her gently, remembering the way he'd acted. "Well, you needn't worry about that happening with me." The big, goofy grin was back again, along with the sunny tone he usually kept in his voice. "So! Jenny! Messaline! Well, we've already talked about that, but never mind. What else have you been doing?"

"Around here? You know, exploring, helping people out, running. When I was here last time, Dad...I mean your younger self, Donna, Rose and I had been exploring the castle that had popped up. It was quite amazing to see inside. I ended up popping back to the shuttle during our explorations though. I was only there for a few minutes, but when I returned here, it was months later. Thankfully, I've still got my key to the TARDIS though, so I wasn't completely locked out when I got back. Really, you wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to get the key in the first place. Actually, I imagine you could believe it, couldn't you? It was your past self after all." She ranted on, not really paying attention to the fact she was going into her high speed chatter.

"As I said before, there really wasn't a whole lot for you to catch up on." Really, she had probably spent most of her first visit just arguing with his younger self, not to mention, trying to get some trust from him. Once she had accomplished that, she had spent the rest of her time exploring, and at times, getting into a bit of trouble, but this version of her father didn't need to know that.

"Oh, the castle! I haven't been inside - well, really inside - just yet. I've just been exploring the city." The Doctor knew that the city was inside the castle, but he had yet to see any of the other worlds he'd heard were floating around in there with them. But Jenny ending up right back where and when she left? That was even more interesting. Maybe he'd still get back to Amelia in time, after all. Of course, there was always the possibility that she'd show up here, which could be fun, along with ridiculously dangerous.

The Doctor listened to his daughter ramble on, perfectly happy to listen to her talk. Of course, when she stopped, he sipped the tea that arrived and pondered on what to tell her. "Well, I suppose I ought to catch you up now, then," he began. "Basically, I've been out saving the universe, exploring the universe, and... running." Frankly, he didn't quite know where to begin, but he figured that would be a good start.

"Well, that's not telling me a whole lot, now is it? What happened after you left Messa? How...When did you change? What about Donna? Is she still traveling with you?" She asked in quick succession. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, and other things that she wanted to tell him, but first, she wanted to hear more.

At Jenny's questions, the Doctor hesitated. Not because he didn't trust his daughter, or because of any fear of spoilers... he just didn't want to talk about it. His expression grew serious as he thought of the ways he could explain what happened without going into too much detail. "Bad day," was what he finally settled on, his eyes giving away just how bad it had been. "As for Donna... well. Time she moved on. They all do." He tried to grin at that, even as he remembered the lump in his throat as his best friend pleaded with him to let her keep her memories. It had been the only way to save her, and enough had died that day. More than enough.

Forcing a laugh, the Doctor gave a cheerful-seeming smile as their drinks arrived. "I'm hungry. Are you? Well, of course you are, we're in a cafe. I'll have the ham and cheese omelet," he told the waiter, "and mushrooms. Wait, no mushrooms, they're rubbish. I dunno; are they rubbish? Maybe. Tell you what, I'll have the mushrooms on the side and figure it out for myself." He looked questioningly at Jenny, his mood hidden for the moment. "What are you having?"

Jenny was just about to ask further questions after seeing his expression, but when the waiter arrived and he instantly changed the subject to food, she went with the flow, deciding that she would have to question him further about it either later or another time.

She glanced at the menu and chose the first thing she spotted of interest on it. "You know, I think I'll have the grilled chicken club." She told the waiter, not really trying to add to it. She was still getting the hang of the whole ordering thing, plus, she was still learning what she liked and didn't like, not that she'd found anything that she didn't like yet.

The Doctor was relieved when his daughter dropped the subject. He really hadn't wanted to elaborate, especially when it - and indeed, several - of the wounds were still raw. Donna. Adelaide. Gallifrey. He mentally shook away all those memories, those terrible thoughts, and sipped his tea in silence for a few moments as he awkwardly tried to think of what to say.

"How are they?" he asked at last, gesturing. "I don't have any memories of being here in the past, none at all. And that's weird." Really weird, and not in the this-is-going-to-be-fun-way. Well, maybe a little.

"Well, I suppose that's not too surprising. This place can be a bit on the strange side after all. There are tons of possible explanations. The list would take forever. But as far as I'm aware, everyone has been doing alright. I haven't caught up with them quite yet, but I will, and then I'll have an update for you. Really, we try to make the best of situation. Find new things to explore. Have a bit of fun. Do an awful lot of running, but I suppose that's not something that change too much." She told him, a grin curving to her lips with the last bit.

"Great! Right. Good." Okay, so he wasn't doing a terribly good job on the conversational front, but when he'd been snatched from not only his timeline, but his universe, it was a fair enough job. Even now, even for him, this was a lot to take in, and he wasn't certain it was going to be solved in an hour (otherwise he would have done it already and maybe found a companion; he'd done enough of traveling by himself for now). "At least everyone's alright. Can't ask for more than that except maybe a few Jammie Dodgers."

"Jammie what?" She asked, completely confused by the term. She had never even once heard it before, however it was never unusual for people to pull up terms she had never encountered before.

The Doctor stared at his daughter, his jaw slightly slack and his eyes widened in mock-horror at this bit of news. "You," he began in a low voice, pausing for dramatic effect, "don't know what a Jammie Dodger is?" Granted, he couldn't have expected there to be much in the way of biscuits on Messaline, but at the least, his younger self could have educated their daughter properly.

"No, I don't. Now are you going to explain, or am I going to be kept wondering?" She asked, laughing slightly at her father's reaction. "You should remember, I'm still learning."

"Jammie Dodgers are the best bloody biscuits in the world, and I can't believe my younger self hasn't introduced them to you yet." He scrubbed a hand through his unruly hair, looking positively bewildered for a moment. "Or is he still hooked on bananas? Blimey, all I ever seemed to eat were bananas. Well, that and Christmas dinner." He chuckled at the memory of finally letting himself be talked into having dinner with someone. "Anyway, there's got to be a place where we can get some around here."

Again she laughed. "I'm pretty sure he's still hooked on bananas, but I'm up for trying if we can find a place to get them. But maybe later?" This version of her father was certainly fun.

"Ah, the banana phase. I remember that," said the Doctor, fondly. "It lasted two regenerations. I don't even know if I still like them. I should find out." Come to think of it, bananas sounded pretty gross, all yellow and mushy and not like custard at all. Still, new mouth, new rules. Who knew? He might like it, and he was willing to try just about anything (except for carrots, evil things they were) at least once.

"Well, never know until you try, right? Who knows, maybe you'll end up loving them for a third." To be quite honest, Jenny still hadn't gotten around to trying bananas herself, mostly because they always seemed to be gone before she could get to them, but she didn't mind, there were still a lot of things for her to try after all, and she was more then willing to explore her taste-buds, even if it would take a bit of time.

"Maybe," said the Doctor, doubtfully, "I dunno. Come to think of it, they sounds pretty disgusting." And a bit boring, but he wasn't about to rub it in, especially with his younger self being so close. "Oh, well. I know there's a store around here where I can probably buy some if I need to." He'd finally learned to start carrying money around, now that he knew a bit about it. He still didn't really like the idea of money, but at least it was useful in certain worlds.

He looked up as their food arrived, grinning. "Ah! Lovely. I'm starving."

"Well, I suppose you won't know whether they're really disgusting or not until you try them again." She told him simply. She also couldn't help but look up as the food made it's arrival, a grin on her face that just seemed to match his own. "So am I. I've been running around quite a bit the last few days, so I haven't gotten much in the way of a bite to eat. Until now obviously." She always did have a tendency to be so caught up in what she was doing to eat a whole lot, so eating full meals always seemed to be a rarity.

"Oh, don't do that. Always make sure you eat properly," said the Doctor, eyeing the mushrooms somewhat warily. He wasn't certain how he would feel about them, to be honest, but there was only one way to find out. The Time Lord gingerly picked up his fork and speared a few of the odd-looking little things before digging in. "Not back," he said, swallowing. "That's a relief. New mouth, new rules. I always hate that bit." He smiled affectionately at his daughter as he sprinkled the rest onto his omelet. "How's yours?"

"I eat when and what I need to. I just have a tendency to get easily distracted and forget sometimes." She took a bite of her club, taking in the explosion of flavor in it. "It's fantastic! Though to be fair, I'm not really too picky when it comes to food." She finally answered. She was pretty sure her lack of a picky attitude towards what she ate had something to do with her unusual birth, but she never mentioned that.

"You don't want to do that," the Doctor chided, gently. Looking at Jenny, it might be easy to forget how utterly young she was, but he knew the truth, and that naturally meant he could pull the "worried parent" card all over again. He nibbled at his omelet tentatively and was relieved to discover it wasn't absolutely hideous. "That was a close one," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Does that mean you like it?" Jenny asked, completely ignoring his earlier words, and going with the subject change. Changing subjects always seemed to be easy when her dad was involved, and she had to admit, it was a handy piece of knowledge at times. Though it was just as handy when her dad went and changed the subject himself during these times.

"Yes, it's good! Omelets are brilliant," the Doctor responded, grinning. It should have been obvious enough; the Doctor loved custard, which eggs were obviously a part of. Still, he was relieved; it was quite difficult for him in the beginning of each of his regenerations, when he was still getting used to himself. "I'm glad you like yours, too."

Now onto the subject he'd been wanting to ask for a bit. "What have you been up to in here? Keeping out of trouble?" His eyes twinkled as he spoke; naturally, he expected Jenny to have run into a good deal of trouble.

Trouble? She has no idea what you're talking about there. She never gets into trouble ~~much~~.

"Oh, you know, just exploring. How can I not explore a place that has so much to see?" She replied with a grin. Oh, that was definitely the grin of someone who was more then happy to get into some trouble if it came to it.

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Not Running into Strangers [Active]

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Sorry for the late reply ^^;

No worries! <3

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