Time Agent [13]

3

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You walk into the TARDIS the next morning to see the Doctor lying on the floor with one arm stuck up the console. At the sound of the door shutting, she half sits up and waves at you with her free hand.
"Y/n!"

"Morning Doctor. Do you want me to wait a bit? You look busy."
She pulls her hand out and stands up
"No! It's okay, I'm just fixing a few things."
You walk with her down a corridor and she stops at a room with its door slightly ajar.
"This is your room now when you stay here. It does get hectic so feel free to rest when you need.
I need to go back before the TARDIS gets angry. I haven't flown her in a while and," she points finger guns at you, "gotta look good for the guests, right?"

You laugh as she wipes her hair out of her face, leaving a smudge of green oil across it. She pushes the door open and bows as you walk in and then begins to walk back.
"Come back to the control room when you're settled in! I'll give you the tour later."

"Okay!"
The bedside drawer catches your eye first, a beautiful bonsai tree on top of it, with two pink daisies blooming by the base of it's trunk. You smile, truly appreciating the TARDIS's sentience. Bonsais have always been your favourite. On top, is a painting of a field with two suns shining on it.

You walk up to see it closer and your fingers skim its frame gently as you turn around.
The bedsheets are a shade of deep purple, which contrast the slightly lilac walls. You inhale deeply, trying to disguise your wonder at the beauty of the room.

A curtain of lilac beads give way to a rack of clothes greater than you thought possible and you gasp at the beauty and variety of the clothing now yours. You smile even brighter at the sight of a leather jacket identical to the one you wore your first time on board.

A worn looking bookshelf is on the left of your bed and you squeal at the sight of Anna Karenina in the top corner. You were slightly unsure when you got home yesterday of your decision to take a pause from the normality you had gotten used to over the last two years. But here, when faced with the brilliance of what the universe is capable of, even with something as seemingly mundane as a ship knowing your favourite book, is enough to fill you with excitement for days at the thought of returning to the impossible.

With a childish vigour, you place your ballet bag on the foot of your bed and grab Anna Karenina from the shelf, skimming through the pages, feeling their realness and soaking in the magic of the words you love so much.

You take a seat on the bed and lie facing the ceiling, the book still in your hands. Growing up, the wonders of the universe lost their spark after a while, after being in the Agency and travelling with Jack. Getting stuck in 2024 so abruptly, hit you with a wave of mourning for what you knew. Now you have it back here, in the TARDIS, and with meeting Jack again, it didn't feel real.

The TARDIS hums around you and you sit up with a smile. She hums again and a beep on top of the bookshelf alerts you of a karaoke machine. You laugh and with your newfound vigour to squeeze all you can out of your new start with the universe, you bring it down and begin to sing along to all the songs the TARDIS plays. You sing loud and badly, happiness overwhelming technique in a way that makes your voice gruff and brittle. Your arms flail about. You're drawn into the feeling you've seen in Jack's eyes when he talks about the Doctor and the TARDIS. A tiny pocket of the universe containing more of a home than you could ever want.

The end of the karaoke session brings you back lying on the bed, now hugging Anna Karenina and you snap out of half hearted humming when you hear a knock on the door.

"Having fun? You've been a while." She asks with a smile.
You sit up with sparks of happiness in your eyes at the understanding of the breadth of this opportunity. "The most."