Oswalds and Roses | A Doctor Who Fanfic

►Chapter 4 - Same Mistake◄

The first night passed quickly. As they were all confused and tired they found bedrooms in the guest hallway quickly and got settled in even quicker.

The next morning the Doctor found himself awoken by a knock at the door. Usually he would have only slept an hour or so, but this place had a tranquilizing effect, he had slept nearly a full three hours. His shirt was no longer tucked into his pants and his hair was the literal definition of a hot mess.

At the sound of a second knock he rolled from bed and strode towards the door. There a tall woman holding a long piece of white cord in her hand. She gave him a wide smile before speaking. "Good morning Doctor, I am here to collect your measurements to make your suit for tonight's ball."

"That's really no necessary, I'd rather wear my own," He stated going to fix his bowtie, he quickly found it was not there.

"Please Doctor, we would like to share this piece of our culture with you,"The woman was not pushy, but she was eager, as most people had been around him as of late. People in this place were so excited to be around him, it was not something he was used to. It made him feel like they were keeping something from him, of course he knew this was unlikely, but he wasn't going to trust them. However, he understood why they were so eager to be around him and why they felt the need to share their conducts with him. So he stepped back from the door and let the woman in.

"If you could stand here please," The woman tapped a part of the floor and a small circle rose out of the floor. It seemed to not be supported by anything and yet it looked as steady as a chair. With caution the Doctor stepped onto it. No matter how much his arms waved as he circled on the thing it seemed not to move. He had seen this sort of contraption before, but where he had it had not been used for such frivolous things as taking measurements.

"Please keep still," Asked the tall woman. With him on the platform their heads were level, suddenly he thought about how if Clara stood on the platform they would likely be the same height also.

Always Clara. His thoughts always seemed to veer in that direction, to Clara. Things that had no relation to her whatsoever suddenly became about her. And when he was thinking about her it was impossible to get her out of his head. Impossible, just like she was. If there was a Clara in the universe for every hour he spent thinking about how Clara could possibly exist; there would be far more Claras than there would be Doctors.

"Can you raise your arms?" The tall woman snapped him out of his thoughts and he quickly raised his arms for her. She quickly wrapped her silver cord around his waist and grabbed the cord where it met itself. Releasing it a silver circle suddenly feel around the Doctor's feet. Where he saw there were a few other circle, she must have already started measuring. He then saw her stretch out the silver cord again and went on measuring his chest.

The measuring did not take long, perhaps ten minutes. After which the Doctor stepped off of the platform (which lowered itself to the ground), and the lady ran her palm over the circles. She too had the ethereal, metal design on built into her hand. Slowly the circles rose from the ground and created a almost human form. The lady compared it to the Doctor, after tweaking a few things she seemed satisfied. Giving the Doctor a smile she told him. "My partner will bring by the suit before the party," and left.

She was hardly gone long enough for the Doctor to breath before Rose rushed in. In her arms she held Kayson, wrapped up in knitted blanket that looked softer than baby penguin feathers. Taking a seat in one of the many plush chairs scattered across the Doctor's room she told him. "They came to measure me to, did you get a visit from Arthur yet?"

"No, who's he?" the Doctor asked taking Kayson from Rose to walk her around the room. He smiled at the small girl and bounced slightly as he walked.