Tag: Tenth Doctor

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.”

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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!

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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!

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So…guess who’s been binge-watching Jessica Jones…

And guess whose brain has been popping out plot bunnies for hours, too.

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minor JJ spoilers under the cut

  • the Doctor and Zepheera landing in New York (probably to see a Broadway show or something nice and relaxing) but they run into Jessica or someone else who knows Kilgrave
  • the Doctor being confused for Kilgrave in any way, and then he has to be a part of some plot to lure him out of hiding (kinda like that one time in Classic Who, with Two and Salamander)
  • Jess whaling on the Doctor thinking he’s Kilgrave before realizing he’s not him and whisking him away, leaving Zepheera behind wherever Jess knocked the Doctor over
  • just Jess and Zepheera interacting in general makes me giggle morbidly

Or worse…

  • the Doctor needs to become human again for whatever reason, but something goes wrong while his biology is being rewritten, giving him mind control and a false history he believes shaped him into a psychotic sociopath
  • the ‘Kilgrave’ version of the Doctor doing what Kilgrave does while Zepheera watches helplessly from a safe distance
  • Zepheera following Kilgrave and Jessica and Reva as he makes Jessica dig up a strong box that contains a little yellow flash drive and an old fob watch
  • Zepheera approaching him after the bus crash, trying to get to the pocket watch when in a daze Kilgrave declares that she’s not real and orders her to go away
  • Zepheera finding Jessica after months of searching, only to become what Jess believes is an alcohol-induced hallucination

I need sleep…

JUS TTHE OTHER DAY I WAS THINKING “what would john smith do with zepheera how would this situation be handled” I CANT BELIEVE THIS IM PSYCHIC

borrowedtimeandspace:

One of us must be, that’s too funny! 

I wrote that Zepheera-vision a few days ago and was just going to keep it in my drafts for a rainy day, but then I hit 20 followers and didn’t know how else to celebrate. I’m glad you liked it!

John Smith is a hidden gem, and one that I’d like to work with more now that I think about it. The fact that he is entirely separate from the Doctor leaves his personality wide open.

In a modern-day scenario like in the ZV, Zepheera would take on a normal role as a borrower just as John Smith would become an everyday man with an everyday job. Depending on how far John’s work was, she might follow him just to make sure whatever it is they’re hiding from doesn’t find him. But if that’s too risky of a journey, she might call in a favor from a borrower in the area.

The ZV also depicts a situation that is taking a turn for the worse. Maybe their pursuers are on their trail and she needs to convince him to leave or come back with her to the TARDIS, but either way she has no choice but to reveal herself. Clearly John doesn’t take it very well at first, but he can’t help warming up to this strange little woman who thinks he’s some kind of doctor.

Though she disapproves when he calls her cute, she can’t stop him from thinking it almost constantly.

Zepheera-Vision — Human Again

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“Calm down, John.”

“What? Calm? I am calm. Calm and perfectly…sane. I mean, any normal bloke would just imagine a four inch tall woman telling him he’s actually an alien from outer space. And offering said tiny imaginary woman beans on toast is only polite, logical, and-and-and–” John Smith stammered as the more than slightly burnt toast jumped straight out of the toaster, throwing him off his already flustered rant. He tried to catch the flying bread in a knee-jerk reaction, succeeding only in hurting his fingers and swatting the food across the counter, thankfully away from Zepheera.

“This is crazy!” he snapped, throwing his hands in the air in utter exasperation. With a white-knuckled grip on the counter, he rounded on the self-proclaimed borrower. “More than that–it’s impossible! There’s no such thing as aliens, and I’m not even sure if you’re real! Tiny people just don’t exist. And even if they…if you are real, then…why me? Why did you have to come to me??” John squeezed his eyes shut as though it would make everything go away, anxiously rocking back and forth a little. This was all too much for him to handle at once.

But a light touch brushing against his knuckles made his eyes snap open and focus on Zepheera, who had laid her own tiny hand on his. His breath caught; she had looked small before, but now in direct comparison to his hand he felt so terribly large. He couldn’t help but stare in wonder at how she somehow found the nerve to approach a comparative giant who could hypothetically grab her at any time, one who had been shouting at her not a moment ago. For that, John thought she was an extraordinarily brave figment of his imagination.

“I’m real,” she promised. He watched as she leaned down and took hold of his first finger where it sat curled in a formerly tense fist. She lifted it, uncoiled it, and laid the very tip of it against her cheek, half-leaning against her shoulder. John could feel her soft, fine hair, her miniscule ear, the warmth of her skin, and he could no longer deny her existence. When she saw the recognition in his eyes, she shifted the finger against her shoulder–to sit more comfortably, John could assume.

“I know it doesn’t make sense, but you need to understand that it had to be you. You don’t know it yet, but we’re friends, you and I. I’m supposed to be watching out for you in case of trouble. And I’m afraid, John, that we really, really need to talk.”

Zepheera’s voice was so kind and sincere, and a small part of John could not resist that look in her teeny violet eyes. “Shall I get started on those beans then?”

She smiled, sending a bubble of warmth through John’s heart. He’d made her happy, and for whatever reason he was extremely proud of that. “Yeah, I think you better had. Gonna be a long chat.”

John waited for Zepheera to fully let his finger go before carefully lifting it away and walking to the cabinet by the stove.

“And that’s four and a half inches tall, thanks very much!”

Despite himself, John giggled at the correction.

Bonus post celebrating 20 followers! Thanks so much, you guys!

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Zepheera-Vision — Cats (1/4)

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“NO.”

The Doctor’s attention snapped from the kitten in his hands to the borrower putting a safe distance between herself and him. “What! I didn’t say anything!” His wide grin belied his indignation.

“You KNOW how I feel about cats, Doctor!” Zepheera glared at the bundle of fur he held as it glanced around meekly. She wasn’t fazed, not even by the little pink bow around its neck. “I thought you hated cats.”

“Oh, don’t listen to ‘er, Jacks,” he cooed, lifting the kitten to his face. “She’s just being grumpy today.”

“No, don’t name it! You are NOT keeping them!”

Her protests went ignored as the Doctor looked fondly down at the other half-dozen kittens circling his feet, crying for his attention. The only solace Zepheera could find in the situation was that they were too young to jump onto the table she currently stood on; and even then, she kept as far from the edges as possible.

Beginning to feel desperate, Zepheera tried a different angle,

only slightly emboldened by the barrier of junk between them. “Doctor. If I wanted to bring a Dalek onto the TARDIS, let alone seven, you’d say no. Because the Daleks are predators and would be a threat to AT LEAST one of us!”

Still, the Doctor didn’t respond, lost in the fluffy cuteness that surrounded him.

Part 2 next Saturday!

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