bakerstreet | (no subject)

It helps that he admits that, but there's still the future. Their future, she corrects herself.

She's oddly content while they sit there, holding each other. More like this, that's what she wants. She's also trying to decipher what his scent reminds her of when he speaks. For a split second she thinks he means 'go' in a different regard. But she lifts her head and sees in his face what he means.

"It's finally hitting you. Can you stand?"

He nods in response to her first statement, and realises his mistake. He brings a hand up to his forehead for a moment. But she had asked a question.

"Not sure... but, I've no desire to stay on the floor."

He very shakily makes his way to his knees and then to a sort of standing position, with far too much support of leaning against the bed. He won't make it far without help.

"Easy now." River gets to her feet with relative ease, her arms held at either side of him in case he should fall.

"That's it, come here." River puts one hand at his back, ducking her head under his arm so she can help balance and carry. "Unless you'd prefer bridal style?"

The Doctor allows River to support him.

He huffs a bit of a chuckle at her last comment. "I'm not as light or frail as I look."

It's a slow process, though. Luckily the TARDIS has moved his bedroom next door, so at least they don't have far to go. Which he realises when he reaches the hall.

"So, did she do that for you or me?"

"And I'm much stronger than I look." Not nearly as much as she used to be. 200 did have its drawbacks.

"Hm?" She reaches out her free arm to the door in question. "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Not right now... Might later."

It's obvious from his slurred speech that he's fading quickly. But somehow he's still pressing forward.

He's a tenacious sod when he really wants his way.

"Okay sweetie, whatever you say." She can't see why it would matter, but there doesn't seem to be any harm in humoring him.

"Never seen you so eager to get to bed," she chuckles, guiding him with a little more haste. He could drop at any moment. "Easy now, nearly there."

Probably for the best. When they reach the bed, he falls onto it - slightly missing with a little more than half his starting to sink to the floor.

"Not... good..."

"Sweetie!"

She dives to grab him, lugging him up. "Okay, new rule. At least for the next 5 minutes, let me lead."

"Don't think I can argue with that."

He might be breathing just a little bit quick. Since it had scared the daylights out of him to nearly fall.

But somehow, with her help, he sort of moves himself so that he's actually on the bed now. He makes a very lame effort to shoo her away.

"Good enough..."

Too bad, because she's sitting herself on the edge of the bed and shooing away his gesture. "Shoes and jacket - on or off?"

He groans, but she's right.

"Off."

While she's busy with that he somehow gets himself under the covers. He sighs heavily.

"Just... made... it."

Because he can feel his brain pretty much shutting down for something akin to a reboot.

She makes quick work of unlacing his boots, gently placing them on the floor side by side. The jacket's next, glad he grants her the trust to do so. She folds the jacket over her arm, smiling at him.

"Get some rest, sweetie. I'll see you when you wake up."

He doesn't have any choice but to sleep.

But if River is paying attention, she might notice that the middle finger on his right hand is tapping. It's constant and if she's very good, she might realise it is a perfect metronome.

The Doctor is counting the seconds. Even in his sleep. Though she wouldn't understand - its especially in his sleep.

She notices the tapping almost immediately, glancing back curiously as she moves to hang his jacket somewhere. She opts for a high-backed chair, drawing it a little closer to the bed. With the jacket draped over the back, she sits on the edge of the chair, chin on her hand as she studies the pattern of his tapping.

It takes her a moment, but when it clicks, she smiles. "Ever the Time Lord." She can't particularly fathom why, but perhaps that's something she'll learn another day. Ultimately she proves too restless to just watch him sleep. Maybe the nearness of rooms was for her benefit, after all - she retrieves her diary and returns, alternating between reading, writing, and watching him sleep.

She may or may not be keeping track of time. But the Doctor is. Seventy-five minutes later, he is clearly forcing himself to wake up. It's not as fast as it would be had his body not been riddled with toxins, but it isn't as slow as River had experienced.

He sees the figure in the chair, but doesn't cognitively recognise it as River. No. It's the Veil. He slept too long, or the Veil figured out his trick and learned to move faster.

Either way he rolls to the other side of the bed to keep the distance between them.

"Well, aren't you getting clever? Oh, why don't you come over here. Come to this side of the bed. Come on. I'm waiting."

Then, he can jump across the bed and run to the other part of the castle. There's always a way out.

River looks up from an in-progress sketch, eyebrow arched in puzzlement. "Yes, I'm quite clever. How nice of you to finally notice." She closes her diary between her hands.

"Are you being fresh or are you sleep-talking?"

He shakes his head, trying to clear it.

"And you've learned to talk now as well. That, or I've been here too long..."

He notes that the creature hasn't moved.

"Well, come on, you'll never be able to reach me from there. And I'm not going to waste a confession."

Sleep-talking seems more likely, but doesn't quite explain it all. Very slowly, she puts her diary aside and gets to her feet.

"You have some very weird foreplay," she says casually, striding towards the bed. Is the toxin having additional effects, of the delusion variety? She's not following his request fully. She comes to edge of the bed nearest to her, just to see what he'll do.

He just gives the Veil a look.

"Oh, you know better than that. Come to this side of the bed. Come on. You'll never reach me from there!"

Maybe, maybe not. River moves to get up, hand grasping a pillow from the bed. She turns and passes the end of the bed, watching the Doctor expectantly. Who the hell does he think I am?

She lightly tosses the pillow at him.

He bats the pillow away.

"Nice try, but I already know it has to be your hands."

He jumps onto the bed and scurries across it to make his way to the door. He opens the door and makes his way down the TARDIS corridors. Of course, he's just seeing that blasted castle.

The TARDIS, though, always looking out for her pilot is moving sections about to get him to the console room.

"Seriously?" River looks up towards the ceiling, addressing the TARDIS. She shakes her head, then takes a deep breath and breaks into a run.

"A little help, if you please!" If the big girl really does like her, she hopes it'll allow her the same path he's just taken, if not a faster one.

The TARDIS debates which would be better for her Time Lord: letting River get there faster or following the same route. She opts for faster, but puts River on the upper level of the console room and allowing the Doctor to enter a few moments later on the lower level.

The Doctor, for his part looks around the console room, but doesn't see it. Not that he ever saw a control room type place in the castle, but when someone is having a PTSD-influenced hallucination, well the mind will make sense of what's around them.

"Oh! A control room! I never found you before."

And he'll just start flipping switches and changing settings. No, he doesn't actually know what he's doing. Might be best if some safety were engaged so that things don't go horribly wrong...

River skids to a stop when she realizes where the TARDIS has led her, miscalculating her momentum and slamming into a bookcase. That's going to smart later. She's rubbing at her shoulder when the Doctor enters. Now she's really concerned.

Quick as her bare feet will allow, she bounds down the metal steps. Ignoring the ache of her shoulder she pounds several keys on the console and tugs a lever, trying to undo his alterations.

"Wake up! I'm not about to spend the next two decades cleaning up after you!" She calls out to him.

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replies intermittent, going to a concert tonight

No worries! Have fun :D

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Enjoy the Concert?

Very much so! I slept til noon to recover from the fun :p