ADIUTRIX | DOCTOR WHO

↳ oxygen #1

"Space, the final frontier."

The Doctor began his lecture to a hall full of eager students. Though he often deviated from his original topic, most times just going in tangents about whatever was in his mind, Ophelia could tell this particular subject of outer space would hit a little too close to home.

"Final because it wants to kill us. Sometimes we forget that, start taking it all for granted." His mind went on auto pilot, rattling off what everyone knew to be necessary for such trips. Each point of hope got a little chalk star on the black board. "The suits, the ships, the little bubbles of safety, as they protect us from the void. But the void is always waiting."

"So, how does space kill you?"

As a rocket got poorly drawn by him, Ophelia's mind went to these movies she'd watched with Bill where a guy with breathing problems blew up entire planets just because, honestly most of that movie had been overlapped by very biased comments on Carrie Fisher. Her train of thought got cut off by him dramatically turning to face his audience.

"I'm glad you asked. The main problem is pressure: there isn't any. So, don't hold your breath or your lungs will explode." The time lord turned back to his space diagram and began to connect dots using stars. "Blood vessels rupture. Exposed areas swell. Fun fact!" Though fascinating, what he said wasn't very fun. "The boiling temperature of water is much lower in a vacuum. Which means that your sweat and your saliva will boil, as will the fluid around your eyes." Every once in a while his eyes would face students, who looked equally fascinated and horrified. "You won't notice any of this because fifteen seconds in, you've passed out as oxygen bubbles formed in your blood. And ninety seconds in, you're dead." The Doctor smiled which made Ophelia instantly smile as well, in spite of what had been said. Behind him, a crude outer space representation was turned into a connect-the-dot skull. "Any questions?"

A girl, Emely, raised her hand.

"Yes."

"What's this got to do with crop rotation?" Nardole just raised his eyebrows at him, standing at the back of that huge lecture hall.

"I dunno." The Doctor's answer seemed a little shaky. "But space is great, isn't it?"

It had been more or less a month since their adventure with John's Monster House (as it had been filed away somewhere along with an entry on dryads), and Ophelia had reached a hesitant agreement with Nardole. They weren't exactly best friends because Bill had claimed that position, they'd become allies in making sure the Doctor was okay. During the days, given their time lord had seemingly gotten over whatever made him like that a month ago, she would do her job as a teacher's assistant. They'd mostly spend hours talking while grading papers if not in classes, where her front row seat was always saved. If meetings were too long, people could see them passing around notes and holding their laughter. For a while figuring out this new dynamic had been enough to keep his mind distracted. It had been so long since someone had taken permanent residency with him that he had fun giving her tours of his TARDIS, the ship taking a liking to its new inhabitant as well. None of those two gallifreyans were made to be alone. Nardole took over at night when both disappeared to take care of a certain vault, which she'd only seen from afar.

"You're missing it, aren't you?" The oldest companion asked as a gentle autumn breeze reached them.

Whenever all three roamed around together during daytime, people steered clear of their path. Though the female part kept on giving smiles to every passer by, she had grown to be a very beloved figure at Saint Luke's.

"Crop rotation?" He asked confusedly, neither of his friends being able to tell if it was fake.

"Space." Nardole's deadpan tone killed their conversation.