The Lord and her Lady |Thasmin|

Part 24

The Doctors POV

I open my eyes, and four things become immediately clear to me.

Thing number one - my eyes have been shut for a considerable amount of time. I must've collapsed, unconscious.

Thing number two - The location I shut my eyes in is not the same as the location I opened them in. I have been moved, presumably by Yaz and River.

Thing number three - Yaz and River are somewhere nearby, talking in hushed voices. However, I cannot see them.

Thing number four - I'm lying on an uncomfortable stone floor. I am sore.

I sit up, rubbing my pounding head feeling quite sorry for myself.
I glance around at my environment, craning my neck in an attempt to spot Yaz or River.

"She's still sleeping." River's disembodied voice whispers from somewhere I can't see.

"Pathetic." Someone scoffs.

"No, we haven't tried waking her, she'll need her strength."

"She's too weak to face this. All the sleep in the world couldn't prepare her. Her mind is weak, this will break her." Yaz's voice laughs humourlessly.

This must be the Ellari in my head, Yaz wouldn't say something like that...
Or would she? Maybe it's what she says when I'm not around. Maybe she and the others laugh when I get things wrong.

"Shut up." I say sharply, cutting through my own thoughts and bringing myself back to reality. I stand unsteadily, only to be hit square in the chest by another person's body against mine, almost knocking me straight back down.

"Doctor-!" Yaz gasps, grasping onto me tightly. I smile to myself, brushing her soft hair with my hand.

"Hi, Yaz." I whisper, kissing her cheek as we pull apart. I look up, stood beside River is a woman around Yaz's age, smiling somewhat uncomfortably.
She's tall, dressed in a stone grey shirt and a black pair of shorts, with a sage green headscarf wrapped tightly over her hair.
River steps forward and pulls me into a hug too.

"You scared the crap out of us, don't do that again!" She says sternly, I nod, glancing over her shoulders at the young woman standing patiently.

"This is Sohla, she's researching the Ellari here at the University." River notes my curious expression.
Sohla steps forward, smiling warmly. She extends a hand to shake mine.

"With your help, I think we're close to a breakthrough. This parasite has been terrorizing our planet for too long... We've lost so many people who believed the taunts. It gets to you after a while." She sounds tired. Upon seeing her face closer I notice the bags under her eyes, she's young and beautiful, but her skin is beginning to wrinkle, presumably from stress. I smile reassuringly.

River and Yaz begin explaining what I missed.
According to Sohla, something about the frequencies from the Ellari's 'voices' and the sonic in my head didn't quite mix well and I ended up crashing over onto a very unprepared Yaz.

"You're heavy" Yaz helpfully adds as River fills me in.
I cock my brow at her and she shrugs defiantly, crossing her arms and turning her head to badly disguise a giggle. River carries on pretending not to notice.

"So we carried you the rest of the way up - and yes, you're quite heavy - but you seemed properly out so we just waited for you to wake up. We decided it'd be best to let you sleep since you never do." River concludes.

I take a moment to get a good look at our surroundings.
My coat has been laid out as a makeshift sleeping mat in the middle of a large circular room, marble floor branches every which way as far as the eye can see down long wide halls.
The ceiling is a large glass dome allowing faint blue light to shine onto us. Yaz and River seem to be getting on better, I suppose they had to while I was out of commission.

"Right. Best get on then, people to help!" I smile, brushing my coat down and swinging it back over my shoulders.
I walk ahead a few steps, following the group and then stop to take another look around, Yaz stops too, waiting up for me. The large foyer is breathtaking, but not as enchanting as Yaz.
For the first time since this morning we have a moment where there isn't much else to do, no conflict or danger. It gives me time to truly appreciate her beauty.

Her chestnut hair is in a braid, hanging loosely over her shoulder. Her choice of clothing today is a grey tweed blazer over a plain wine red t-shirt, paired with a suitable pair of black jeans.
She chose a lipstick that almost perfectly matches the colour of her shirt, along with very little extra makeup. I smile fondly to myself and take her hand, jogging with her to catch up with the group.

Sohla begins briefing us on her findings and as she does all I can hear is my thoughts running a mile a minute through my head, none of which I can get to stick.

"You have no idea what you're doing. You're making it up as you go." Yaz's eerily realistic voice chides in my head.
I know it isn't real but it's enough to mess anyone up, hearing the person you love say such cruel things...
I screw my eyes shut tightly, Yaz glances over, concern plastered all over her face. I feign a smile that I'm sure she sees right through.

"You know I'd never say things like that." She tells me in a hushed voice. I cock an eyebrow.

"How do you know what things you're saying?" I ask, laughter racking my chest slightly, she shrugs.

"You're one of the most self-loathing people I know, Doctor, I'm pretty sure you're hearing my voice say all sorts of shit, if my experience is anything to go by." She smiles, she knows me frustratingly well.

Yaz's POV

We turn a corner and Sohla opens a door leading to a scientific-looking lab.
Along with all the microscopes and computers, my attention is immediately drawn to a large mechanical device, almost resembling an X-ray machine. The Doctor gasps softly beside me and hurries over to inspect closer.

"You've got a plasma distorter!? High tech stuff! I've never even seen one..." She exclaims. River gasps and joins The Doctor, muttering excitedly about 'a new model'. I love seeing this side of The Doctor, childish and unabashed joy.
It's even nice seeing River like this. Our friendship started out rocky but I see why The Doctor likes her so much, and she works so hard, she deserves a break, if only for a minute or two to geek out about alien mechanics that I don't understand.

Sohla takes a seat behind her desk, groaning under her breath and reclining in her chair. She must be working so hard to help with her research, all that on top of hearing the Ellari in her head constantly... She's probably exhausted.

"I've been using the Plasma Distorter to take images of people's brain activity while the Ellari are aggressive, I just can't transcribe the readings, I was hoping you could." She sighs, reaching for a collection of papers with strange writings.

Sorry for the shortish chapter, Syd has been threatening me to upload and I've been meaning to for a while!!
(Juggling multiple active fics is tricky!) I hope you're all staying safe, enjoy your weekend!