Tag: Borrowers

Minisode: From Nothing

BTaS Canon: Yes

Timeline: Within the first two weeks of Zepheera’s acceptance aboard the TARDIS

Insp. by this post

Part 2 of 2

Zepheera
eagerly hurried onto his hand and climbed up his arm to his shoulder, holding
on to the collar of his button-up as he carefully stood. He returned to the
screen, clicking it on. A brief flash of what he had been looking at earlier
appeared before he switched away from it. It lasted less than a second and
looked a lot like a woman with fiery red hair. Zepheera knew better than to
pry, and focused her attention on what the Doctor was doing and saying.

”Have
you heard of the Hubble Space Telescope?“ he asked, pulling up an image of
the machine.

Zepheera
sat down a little ways away from the Doctor’s neck so he could see her more
easily if he wanted to, tilting her head slightly at the picture. "A
little,” she replied.

“Well,
put simply, it does exactly what the title says: orbits the Earth, capturing
light from across the universe. Launched in nineteen-ninety, ten years ago for
you, and in two thousand three, it’ll point itself someplace a bit
peculiar.”

With
the push of a button, the screen changed to an image of the night sky, big old
full moon and all. “Right about…" the Doctor muttered, working the
controls until a minuscule square appeared to the left of the moon. “Ah, there
we are. That tiny area in the sky. What do you see?“

Zepheera
squinted. The square was probably the size of her hand, give or take, but from
this distance it seemed even smaller. "Nothing,” she answered as soon
as she was sure.

“Nothing.
Totally blank to the naked eye. Not even a star. And yet, Hubble kept on
looking. Looking and looking for four months, seeing all it could see until…“

Click.

Zepheera’s
vision filled with a gorgeous assortment of colorful dots, all different sizes
and colors and shapes. Her breath caught and her eyes widened. The Doctor
paused to let the image sink in before he continued emphatically.

"Each
and every one of these dots is a galaxy.” He
gesticulated widely at the screen. “Each galaxy can potentially hold up to
a trillion stars. And each star could potentially
have its own system of planets, any of which could potentially hold life.”
Another pause for emphasis. “There are over ten thousand galaxies pictured
here. And all from what looked like a tiny speck of absolutely nothing to Earth.

"And
that, Zepheera,” he said, turning his head to look at her, “is how
big the universe is.”

The
look on the borrower’s face was nothing short of amazed. Her hand covered her
mouth and her eyes shone with tears, which she blinked away when she felt his
eyes on her. Such a revelation would have made almost anyone else, borrower or
not, feel insignificant and tiny. But in Zepheera, it inspired hope and the
confidence that anything and anyone, no matter how small or seemingly
unimportant, could hold all the potential in the universe. She felt lighter
somehow with this new knowledge.

“Ten
thousand, you said?” she finally piped up, wiping a stray tear away with
the heel of her hand.

The
Doctor smiled warmly at her. “And more.”

She
lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Can we see them?”

Smile
widening, he brought a hand up for her to climb on. Once she was settled on his
palm, he held her in front of the monitor. “Where would you like to go
first?”

Nearly
overwhelmed by the choice, Zepheera considered carefully. They all looked so
unique and unbelievably intriguing. But she came to a decision, motioning for
the Doctor to lift her higher until she could reach the middle of the screen.

“There,” she announced, pressing her finger on one of the closer
galaxies, a round bright orange one.

“Brilliant
choice,” he agreed, ruffling her short hair with his thumb. She batted the
digit away half-heartedly, fatigue seeming to have finally caught up with her.
“We’ll go first thing in the morning. You should get some rest.”

Zepheera
nodded heavily, and the Doctor began to carry her out of the console room. She
insisted that she could make it back to her room on her own, so he stopped a
few steps into the corridor and lowered her to the floor

“Good
night, Zepheera.”

“Night,”
she replied over her shoulder as she started off. “And,” she began,
turning around suddenly. The Doctor was about to stand and leave her to it when
her voice made him freeze. “Thank you.” She smiled genuinely, albeit
sleepily, and the Doctor returned the gesture.

Without another
word, the two went their separate ways, both eagerly awaiting the morning.

Minisode: From Nothing

BTaS Canon: Yes
Timeline: Within the first two weeks of Zepheera’s acceptance aboard the TARDIS

Part 1 of 2

Every
person in the universe, once in a while, has a sleepless night when every nook
and cranny of their mind is haunted by a single thought. An inexplicable
philosophy conjured up from nothing, a question ceaselessly asked. For them,
this thought fills their senses and thwarts any attempt at sleep. Tonight was
one of those nights for Zepheera.

She
didn’t know what had woken her, but once she found herself awake she was
restless. She tossed and turned, and the thought
refused to quiet down. It was a question that she’d never given much consideration, but was difficult to ignore now that she was with the Doctor.

Finally,
she could take it no longer.

Shivering
slightly, Zepheera padded her way down the long corridors of the TARDIS. She
hadn’t bothered to change out of her pajamas, a thin, dark robe over a
long-sleeved lavender shirt and baggy red plaid trousers. Something was on her
mind and she was sure she’d never sleep until her thought was appeased.

She
stuck by the walls by force of habit—it was an easy way for her and the Doctor
to navigate the halls separately without worrying about…unpleasantness. Even
so, she was confident the Doctor always watched where he stepped when she wasn’t
with him. She flinched slightly when she was close enough to the wall. A
strange feeling overcame her and a chilling mechanical groan echoed through the
colossal halls. It was as if the TARDIS itself was anxious. Perhaps this
feeling had stolen the borrower’s sleep.

By
and by, she rounded the corner to the darkened console room where she found the
Doctor standing in front of the screen. It was hidden by the console from where
Zepheera stood, and she could plainly see the Doctor illuminated by it. He
might have angled himself this way so he’d be able to see if Zepheera came in,
she supposed. But whatever was on that screen had his attention in thrall;
she’d never seen his eyes so…mournful, and
with such longing.

After
a short moment of watching him curiously, Zepheera caught his attention by
clearing her throat. He blinked, reality hitting him hard, and immediately
found his tiny companion in the entrance. He frowned in concern.

“Zepheera,”
said the Doctor gently, flipping the screen off and stepping away from the
console. Pocketing his hands, he took a few shuffling steps toward her and
dropped to his knees. “I thought you were asleep. Something wrong?“

Zepheera
awkwardly shifted her feet. "Oh, no, nothing like that, I was just—I
couldn’t sleep and I was thinking…This is probably gonna sound
stupid…” She trailed off, lowering her gaze to her hands as she
intertwined her fingers.

By
then, the Doctor was lying flat on the floor, head and shoulders propped up
slightly by his elbows. He hated looming over her. It made him feel
ridiculously intimidating, and it wasn’t very conducive for conversation either.
“What is it?”

She
took a steadying breath. “I was wondering…just how big the universe
is.”

It
was a simple question, but it felt silly to ask. She felt like a human child
asking their parent if there was indeed such a thing as Father Christmas.

“Oh…bigger
than you can imagine,“ he answered with a kind grin.

A
relieved smile parted her features. She should have known the Doctor wouldn’t
judge her, especially since the average borrower’s world was much smaller than
Zepheera’s had been even before she met
the Time Lord.

"Can
you show me?” She met his eyes once again as she asked, her own brimming
with curiosity.

The
Doctor considered this, biting the corner of his lip as he thought. Suddenly
his eyes lit up and refocused on her.

“C’mere,“
he said, reaching a hand towards her.

Would you catch a borrower if you saw one, let them go, or try to get them talking?

Hmm. Not gonna lie, pretty much every time I’m alone in my dorm and something moves or falls over, I usually form a quick plan for what I’d do if it were caused by a borrower. Ideally, I’d want to befriend the little person, or at least talk to them, but if it seemed that they were just too scared of me I wouldn’t make them stay against their will.

woah I’m invested in this story now, what’s goin on with them cats?

In reference to this post

Honestly, it didn’t start off as anything that dramatic or angsty. There were a bunch of GIFs of David Tennant/the Tenth Doctor with cats, and a little streak of cute Zepheera-Visions came to mind. But that last part turned out much longer than I thought it would be when I started writing it, and I had no idea it would dive so deeply into Zepheera’s attitude toward the felines. It just happened, and looking back I don’t know where else this could have possibly gone.

As for the cats themselves, I assume they’re some alien race of psychic or telepathic cats who lure the Doctor into this bizarre state, and for whatever reason don’t affect Zepheera the same way. As of right now, this is the last appearance they’ll make, but who knows? Maybe in the future I will be motivated (or prompted) to write more about these felonious felines!

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Zepheera-Vision — Cats (4/4)

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

In the depths of the TARDIS, a black and white tuxedo cat lounged on a table. It had just woken up from a three-hour nap and thoroughly groomed itself when a small grey tabby kitten appeared in front of it, drawing its attention. The kitten mewed at the cat, crying for help as it was lifted even higher. The cat watched lazily as the man underneath the kitten slowly straightened and removed the kitten from his head, staring at the cat owlishly as he did so.

This room, as well as several others throughout the TARDIS, was crawling with cats of varying ages and breeds, the younger ones nipping at the Doctor’s ankles while the older ones kept a nonchalant eye on the Time Lord. Such had been the state of the TARDIS for about a week.

“Doctor!” a hushed voice rang out somewhere above his head. His eyes darted around looking for the source, ending the staring contest between him and the cat–which he rather resembled in his black suit and white button-down.

“Up here!” the voice hissed again, leading him to look up at the air vent high up in the wall above the table. Seeing who was calling him, the Doctor grinned without reaching his eyes.

“Zepheera!” exclaimed the Time Lord, shifting the kitten in his hands to a shoulder as he climbed up onto the table. This put him at perfect eye level with the vent. 

“I haven’t seen you in days!” he remarked, seemingly emotionally unaffected by this fact. “How’ve you been? Are you eating well?” He stuck his fingers through the slats, as though trying to reach the very small woman inside the vent, but they were too big to make it past their second joints. But the borrower, all four and a half inches of her, would make quick work of the small space, he thought absently.

Zepheera scrambled back a few inches deeper into the vent at the approach of his digits. “Don’t do that!” she scolded, masking her fear.

The Doctor blinked slowly, a slight frown pinching just above glazed eyes. The fingers withdrew until their tips rested at the bottom of the vent’s opening, allowing him a place to rest his chin as he peered into the vent. “Zepheera, what’s the matter?”

She had to bite back a scoff at that. It should’ve been rather obvious to him why she was so wary, why she had spent the last few days hiding out in the depths of a ship she’d come to call home, sneaking food from the kitchens the few chances she got. If she were honest, a small part of her had missed living like this, like a proper borrower; but the illusion was broken by the need to hide from her best friend and the legion of cats he’d brought on board.

“I’ve contacted Torchwood,” she informed him rather than answering his question. “Captain Jack Harkness, you once told me he could be trusted. The TARDIS is set to pilot itself to their headquarters as soon as it receives their signal.”

“What’d you do that for?” asked the Doctor, more curious than concerned.

“Because I can’t very well fly this hunk of metal myself, can I?” Zepheera snapped, crossing her arms. “I’ve half a mind to make you teach me, once you’ve got half a mind.”

The Doctor tilted his head, clearly confused, and the little grey tabby mewed and crossed to his other shoulder.

“Look…You’re not yourself, Doctor,” she explained, placing her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if it’s the cats or the planet we were on or something else, but this isn’t you. And I just. Can’t. Handle this. Not on my own.”

For all her efforts to make him understand, she received a pair of big brown puppy-dog eyes in return. “No no, but the cats are friendly!” he insisted, breaking her heart a little more with each word. “I’m sure they’d be friends with you, too, if you’d just–”

He was cut off by the borrower suddenly lunging forward until her little fists slammed into the metal slats of the vent. The Doctor flinched back in surprise, blinking at her sudden outburst. Zepheera forced herself to slow her breathing, calm herself down, remind herself that it wasn’t the Doctor talking–not really.

“I would never befriend a cat!” she practically spat, venom coloring each word. “Not after what happened to Kernel…” Her voice trailed off at the mention of his name, and she squeezed her eyes shut to push back the memories and tears. He had only been ten years old…

“Your brother,” the Doctor replied at length.

Zepheera’s head snapped up. “Yes. You remember him, you remember me telling you about that!” Despite the grisly memories this situation had roused, Zepheera smiled for the first time in a week. “It’s still you.”

The Doctor didn’t respond; his brow was knit tightly together, as though he were trying to remember how exactly he knew what he’d said. Before he could even think about answering the borrower, the TARDIS rumbled and the familiar sound of the engines in flight rang throughout the beautiful machine.

“That’ll be Jack,” she remarked, backing away from the vent slowly. “I have to go. We’ll be there soon, and I’ve got to show them where you are.” Having warned him fairly, she turned to go.

“Wait!” the Doctor called after her. “Why won’t you come out? It’s all they want, and it’s all I want, so would you just…come out? Please? You don’t have to hide.”

Zepheera kept walking despite the chillingly familiar words, never once breaking her stride. “I’ll stop hiding once you understand why I have to.”

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions too!

okay, how bout 11?

In reference to this post.

11. “Stop manhandling me. I can get there on my own.”

It all happened so fast.

One minute, John Smith had been patiently scouring the internet for signs of danger–signs he would never have thought to look for if not for Zepheera, the four and a half inch tall woman who had turned his life on its head. The next, his apartment door exploded and heavily shrouded figures burst in.

John flew to the nearest window with a fire escape, narrowly dodging capture, and ran like he never had before. He didn’t stop until he’d put three blocks between himself and the building, collapsing against the wall of an alleyway, breathing heavily from the exertion and adrenaline.

A squirming against the right side of his chest elicited a surprised gasp from John. He knew exactly what, or rather who was struggling in the breast pocket of his shirt, but he barely remembered putting her there. He didn’t even think about it; the second he realized there was danger, his hand had been there to scoop up the borrower and ferry her to the pocket. Like some hidden instinct. 

As he reached in delicately and lifted out her rumpled figure, he received a scathing glare from Zepheera’s intense, deep violet eyes. Before all the trouble, she had set strict ground rules for personal boundaries between her and John, detailing exactly how dangerous the human hand could be to someone like her, and how unpleasant it was to be grabbed by one. 

He withered a little under her scrutiny.

“Sorry,” he muttered, sliding his back down the brick wall until he sat on the ground, letting the tiny woman off by his feet.

She nodded in acknowledgement of his apology once she was on solid ground, straightening her clothes and hair before regarding him again. “Did you get the watch?”

John heaved a disappointed sigh, running a hand down his face. The fob watch. Two days ago, it had been nothing more than an old relic he kept lying around, but now it seemed that the entire goddamn universe was after it. After him. And he’d gone and left it with the bad guys.

“Damn it, John…” Zepheera grumbled, massaging her pounding temples. “We can’t leave it. There’s every possibility they’ll find out where we hid it.”

John nodded, having finally caught his breath. “Alright, let’s go.” Without thinking he reached for her again, stopping only when she jumped out of the way.

“Stop manhandling me!” she scolded, and he drew his hand back like she’d burned it with her words. “I can get there on my own.”

John’s eyes widened. “What?”

“They could still be there! If they get a hold of that watch, that’s bad, but if they have the watch and you, that is the nightmare scenario. They want the Doctor, John, and that is the one thing we /cannot/ allow them to have.” Letting out a resigned breath, she looked up at him with a slightly softened expression. “You need to run. Go, find somewhere safe to hide. I’ve added a number to your mobile that’ll link you to the TARDIS, call it once you’re secure. I’ll find the watch. Alright?”

The human’s mouth was dry. He hated the idea of leaving Zepheera on her own with those things. She was so small and could be hurt so easily. Then again, he had no doubt she could use her size to her advantage.

“Alright.”

Zepheera-Vision — Cats (3/4)

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“Come on, Zepheera, just say hello!”

The borrower in question stared up at the Doctor with affronted incredulity.

“This isn’t funny anymore, Doctor.” Her voice was so quiet and close to breaking that she finally elicited an emotional response from the Time Lord. He looked confused, but it was something, and she latched on to the chink in the armor she seemed to have found. 

“I dunno if this is just you getting me to try new things or…or forget about my past, but this is just…” She heaved a deep breath to release some of the tension building up in her chest. “Doctor, you know exactly why I have a problem with cats, why a significant part of our friendship hinges on the fact–the fact–that you are not a cat person!”

“I’m not a cat person!” insisted the Doctor, his voice going a bit squeaky in the half-shout. The volume of his voice did nothing to faze Zepheera, who placed her hands on her hips and shot him a disbelieving look. The Doctor blinked, eyes trailing back to the kitten he was still holding and petting.

“Well…maybe I’m a kitten person.”

Zepheera groaned miserably.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Final part next Saturday!

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions, too!

18 sounds about right

Based on this post

Cybermats! Zepheera silently cursed, turning to run away from the rat-sized mechanical extensions of the cybermen. They were scouts for the most part, but she knew firsthand that they had a bite to them. Her stomach turned at the memory. 

A glance over her shoulder revealed there were four cybermats chasing her inside the walls, and she only had one electromagnetic charge that might not even work! She’d modeled it off a similar device she’d seen the humans use to fight off cybermen, but she hadn’t had time to test it out before the whole place had been overrun by the cyber-vermin in pursuit of her, separating her from the Doctor. 

She had no need to worry about him, he always managed to find a clever way to escape certain death. She could only hope some of that luck had rubbed off on her, because being four and a half inches tall chased by four foot-long bitey machines, Zepheera was beginning to question her chances.

Rounding a sharp corner, she caught sight of a power outlet a few yards ahead. There! She just needed to make it to there. She risked one more look behind and picked up speed. The cybermats were gaining a little too close for her liking. The second she ducked past the wires connected to the outlet, she activated her charge and thrust it towards them. The miniscule device magnetized itself to the wires and blasted them with its power, creating a surge that effectively knocked out all four cybermats before they could chew their way through to Zepheera. 

She allowed herself a triumphant “Woohoo!” before climbing her way into the room outside.

The place was empty, had long been evacuated. It was pitch dark, the boarded-up windows allowing in no light; evidently, her charge had knocked out the room’s power as well. She made a mental note to make more of those devices as she crept carefully toward the nearest door. She needed to find—

Before she could finish her thought, she was swept up in a tangle of limbs and giant fingers. She began to struggle immediately; the place had been full of humans before the ambush, and she was most definitely not in the mood for this.

“Get your over-sized mitts off me!” she demanded as the hands cupped around her, allowing her to reach the small knife kept hidden in her boot. Not nearly large enough to do any human real damage, but it was enough to sting, and sometimes that was all a borrower needed to stay alive.

She’d only just got her hand around the handle when her captor replied: “Easy there, pipsqueak, it’s just me!”

Looking up and seeing the Doctor’s familiar silhouette filled her with equal amounts of relief and annoyance. “I thought I told you not to call me that. Or sneak up on me and grab me when I’m not looking!”

“Well sor-ry for checking to make sure my friend didn’t get nibbled by cybermats!” Despite the sarcastic tone, there was actual apology in his eyes. “I was worried.”

Zepheera sighed, unable to stay mad at him for long. He wore his hearts on his sleeves, and she never once doubted that he truly cared about her. “Yeah, well I didn’t. See? All four limbs. Fine. No nibbles off me. Get us out of here, big fella, I’ll tell you all about it!”

Thanks for the prompt @nightmares06!

Zepheera-Vision — Cats (2/4)

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“Oh! Hello, little fella,” the Doctor softly greeted the dark, pink-ribboned kitten who’d managed to climb onto his shoulder. It mewed timidly as it looked down from its precarious perch. “Yeah, I bet it does look high,” replied the Time Lord, “but don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

“Doctor, what is a cat doing in my spot?” Zepheera demanded, tired of being continuously ignored.

This time, the Doctor actually spared her an exasperated glance. “Don’t exaggerate, he’s a kitten not a cat. And it’s my shoulder.”

“Where I sit! A lot!”

Another mewling cry escaped the kitten as its balance wavered; it was trying to crawl down the slope of the Doctor’s raised elbow with some difficulty. Its paw slipped and the Doctor’s free hand swung in to catch it before it fell. “Ooh! Careful. See, what’d I tell ya. I’ve got you…” Using both hands to support the small feline, he cradled it close and turned to look down at Zepheera, whose back was pressed firmly against a junk-filled box on the nearby table.

Oblivious of her skeptical scowl, he smiled and said, “Come on, Zepheera, just say hello!”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Next Saturday!

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions too!