Lost in the Universe

xxxvi

"What do we do now?" Nina asked the Doctor as they walked throught the street. Nina felt horrible. She didn't know how much longer she could keep walking around the streets of England before her body completely gave out again. And she did not want to relive that. She subtly grabbed the Doctor's arm to steady herself, but the Doctor saw right throught her, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Are you alright?" he asked worringly. Nina hated having his attention on her, that's for sure, but for some reason, maybe because it was just the two of them, she didn't mind as much as she usually did. 

"It been a long..." she hesitated. Should she tell him she had just come back from the whole year-that-never-was episode? Would that make him worry a tad too much? She was just tired, it's not like there was anything phisically wrong with her. Except maybe for the hypoglycemia. And the deshydratation. And the overal body ache and exhaustion. But she'd be fine, she just needed some rest, right? There was no need to stress the Doctor out with this matter.  "Couple of days." she decided to go with. "I just really need some rest," she told him. 

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her closer to him. 

"Thank you for telling me," he whispered in her hair. The Doctor was relieved to say the least. He knew she was hiding something, she always was. But at lest she'd amitted that she was exhausted and that the last couple of days had been harsh -- even if he knew it was definitely more than just a few days. Nina wasn't one to talk much about herself, even less to admit her feelings -- at least not this Nina, not yet. He unwrapped his arms from around her, but kept one arm close to her, and Nina thanked him with a smile, grabbing it and keeping hold of it. 

They walked for a while until they passed right in front of a paper shop window, and something caught the Doctor's attention. He stopped and puled a post-it note from an advert for a small appartment building with one furnished room, shared kitchen and bathroom. Nina frowned in confusion until he showed her the note, which had the words 'This one, no 79a Aickman Road, Amy xx' on them. 

"Do we just follow it?" the Doctor wondered. 

"Well, if Amy wrote this, it's probably best if we do," Nina reasoned. 

They agreed to separate for a while. The Doctor went on a mission to find the nearest ATM so he could sonic it and get some money for the first month of rent. Yes, maybe sonicing an ATM was illegal, but what choice did they have? It's not like the bank needed that money, anyway. Nina, however, was to go directly to the house and talk to their to-be roomate, a twenty-seven years old man. 

It took Nina no time to find the place, having asked for directions only a couple of times. She knocked on the door lightly. 

"I love you," said a man as soon as he opened the door, fiddeling with a fluffy pink key ring that had one single key attached to it. Nina was taken aback. 

"Oh, well," she blinked. "Almost completely sure that was meant for the pretty girl who just left in her car, but we can forget it, if you want," she said trying her best to force a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Nina, your new lodger," she waved.

"I'm Craig-- what do you mean? I only put the advert up today, I didn't even write down the adress," he argued. Nina waved him off. 

"That's not important," she assured him. "I saw you needed a roommate, I hope you don't mind if me and my uh... my kind of boyfriend stick around for a while," she smiled. 

"I don't even know you," he frowned. "And, 'kind of boyfriend'?" 

"Don't worry about it," she told him. "He actually is coming in a moment, he wen't to get some money for the first rent," she told him. "Can I come in?" 

The man was left incredibly confused, but stepped to the side so the girl could step inside. 

"Lady, I don't even know if I want you and your kind-of-boyfriend to stay here," the man told her. A knock on the door made them both turn towards it. 

"That's him," Nina smiled. Craig walked to the front door and opened it, revealing a smiling Doctor with a paper bag. Nina walked right up and stood beside him. "Please tell me you didn't just put all the money in the paper bag," she mumbled to him. The Doctor made a face.

"Oops," he shrugged. "Here, have some rent," he handed the bag to the man, not even knowing how much was actually in it. "Is that a lot? I'm pretty sure that's a lot. Don't spend it all on sweets," he said as he walked inside, the flickering of the hallway lights catching the attention of both Time Lords. 

The Doctor turned back towards Craig and grabbed his arms, planting air-kisses on both of his cheeks. Craig didn't move a muscle during the whole process, but he could see Nina slightly cringing from behind her kind-of-boyfriend. 

"That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it? I'm theDoctor. Well, they call me the Doctor. I don't know why. I call me theDoctor, too. Still don't know why," he rambled. 

"I'm sorry, he's not very good with human interaction," Nina apologized and pulled the Doctor back. Craig nodded slowly. 

"Craig Owens," the man introduced himself to him. "And 'The Doctor'?"

"Yeah."

"Who lives upstairs?" Nina cut in, seeing where the conversation was going and decided she did not need Craig suspecting them from day one. 

"Just some bloke," Craig answered. 

"What does he look like?" The Doctor asked him.

"Normal," craig shook his head, not understanding what the interrogation was about. "He's very quiet--"

A loud knock came from upstairs. 

"Usually," Craig added, and then noticed the two people had walked into his flat. "Sorry, who are you two, again? Excuse me?" He called after them as they walked into the kitchen, which was in the same open room as the living room. 

"Ah, I suppose that's... dry rot?" Nina guessed. 

"Or damp," Craig added. "Or mildew."

"Or none of the above," the Doctor told him. 

"It's fine, I'll get someone to fix it," Craig reassured them. 

"No, I'll fix it, I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister." Nina's eyes were widening by the second, and she sent him a subtle shake of her head, pleading him to stop talking. However, he continued, only changed subjects. "This isthe most beautiful parlour I have ever seen. You're obviously a man ofimpeccable taste. We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can stay."

"You haven't even seen the room yet," Craig argued. 

"Right, the room," Nina pitched in once more, trying to get Craig's attention away from the Doctor as much as she could. 

"The room?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"Your room," Craig repeated. 

"Oh, our room," The Doctor finally understood, a blush creeping onto his face. "Yes, yes, our room. A room that's ours."

"Yes, Doctor, our room," Nina patted his arm in an attempt to make him calm down.

"Yes, take us to our room."