The Other Tyler - rewrite

A Cup Of Tea

FILLER

-

It was almost an hour after he and Rose dropped Adam home, that the Doctor found Mei. She was in one of the small kitchens the Tardis kept around, her hair wet from a shower and starting to curl. There was a nearly empty cup between her hands, but she seemed completely out of focus.

He wasn't sure whether to interrupt or not, but found himself reaching for her without meaning to. The moment he touched her shoulder, her blue eyes snapped to him, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"Adam gone then?" she asked, as the Doctor took the cup from her and made his way to the kettle, another cup appearing beside it for himself.

"Yeah, Rose and i took him home, had a bit of fun with the finger snapping," he admitted, grinning as he prepared the tea.

"I don't doubt," Mei laughed, "Still think we should have tossed him in a black hole."

The Doctor gave her a mock scolding look over his shoulder, then jumped as he caught his hand with the kettle. Mei spluttered with laughter as she watched him wave his hand in the air, hissing 'hot hot hot' like a little kid.

"Are you alright?" she asked after she calmed down.

"I'm fine," he nodded, carrying the cups over to the table, sitting across from the brunette, "Its been a while since I've burnt myself. I haven't been clumsy in ages. Not the last two of me anyway."

Mei realised as soon as he had said it, that it hadn't meant to come out. And she knew by the way his muscles coiled that he was waiting on her to ask questions. And she would have, if she didn't remember all the times he could have asked her but let it go. So this once, she decided to repay the favour.

"Is Rose away to bed? I wanted to apologise for snapping at her."

Giving the brunette a small, relieved grin, the Doctor nodded, "She said she was pretty tired and she'd see you after no less than eight hours sleep. She also muttered something about a German shepherd, some meat and a film called Cheaper by the Dozen.

Mei grinned, "Yeah, it's a long story, don't worry about it. Just leave her be, i'll talk to her later."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, lost in thought as they drank their tea, occasionally sneaking glances at each other.

"So where would you like to go next?"

Mei chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, "I'm not sure really, i think i'd like another trip to the past but i also want to go to another planet. There's so much to choose from, you've given us so many options. I'll never have time to see everything."

"It's a time machine," he grinned, "You have all the time in the world."

The brunette gave an unladylike snort, though the Doctor found himself thinking the way she scrunched up her nose was cute, "You might, Mr Immortal Alien, but we humans only have a life span of eighty to ninety years, and i'm already a third of my way through that. Unless you can suddenly turn me into a vampire or something, i've got a time limit."

She hadn't meant to upset him, but Mei could tell by the way the Doctor's eyes had darkened, that she'd said something wrong.

"I - I'm sorry," she frowned, "I didn't - are you upset with me?"

"No," he shook his head, looking into his cup, "It's just sometimes - sometimes i forget you don't live as long as i do."

"Well i might not live a forever like you do," Mei reached over and took his hand in her own, "But my forever, i'll spend with you, if i can."

The Doctor said nothing, only smiled and tightened his fingers around his own, as if scared she would slip away.