Grasping at Grace (and Growth)

Dept. of I Like This

2012-05-17T05:27:49Z

Today had sunshine, pork chops, cake and a firetruck

It also had Thai peppers, a new tea strainer (that's really, really large), Thai eggplants, a Japanese maple syrup Swiss roll cake, some crazed last minute demands from work that I was able to meet, one less day until Mission Surprise Mom, some very nice spaghetti squash (with butter and maple syrup - hey, more maple syrup!) to go with the pork chops and salad, and, all in all, was a better day than it could have been.

The firetruck was in a funeral home parking lot. It was surrounded by many uniformed Chicago firefighters, and bedecked in bunting, and I felt vaguely guilty at being very annoyed that I couldn't get out of the parking lot because of it because, hey, it was a departed firefighter being honored, no doubt about it, but yeah, still, annoyed.

(I'd been there to offer my respects to a colleague whose parent had died, then had to sit in the parking lot to have a mobile conversation with my boss, who needed to fill out a form on how I do one of my regular beat duties because TPTB apparently needed it, which parking lot delay led to my being trapped by firefighters and bunting-bedecked ladder trucks and where did this sentence start, anyhow?)

Once I got out, though, I realized I was close to the local Korean humongo-mart,(which may be one of my favorite places these days) and that's where I headed, to get the foodstuffs and the tea strainer. I was a happy shopper - happy enough that, when I got home to yet another request for information from my poor editor, I only kvetched a brief while.

And sunshine, there was, indeed, a world of sunshine. And that was very good.

comments

Dept. of May Birthdays

2012-05-13T01:05:32Z

Happy Birthday to All

To everyone on my friends lists who has or will celebrate a birthday this month, I'd like to extend my very best wishes and congratulations. I'm glad you were born, and glad I've had a chance to meet you via Teh Intarwebz. Each of you is a wonderful addition to this earth. May your life only get better from now on, and may your birthday be, or have been, a good day for you.

To sunnytyler001 (May 3), may this year bring everything that you hope for, and more. I don't watch Game of Thrones, but I love reading about it in your posts, because of your love for it. Happy Birthday!

To jjpor (May 5), one of the best Whofic writers it's ever been my pleasure to read, many belated happy returns of the day. The respect I have for your writing abilities has only increased the more of your work I've read. You're also a dab hand at reviewing (something I'd say even if you hadn't occasionally reviewed my work.) What's more, you've helped increase my love of the Seventh Doctor.

To tartantartesque (May 5), a TWoP friend from surprisingly long ago and far away; wherever you are, whatever you are doing, may fortune favor you in the coming year. Best wishes, even if you don't know you're getting them!

To smartie56 (May 6), my birthday wish is that you never get bored in the coming year, and that any and all excitement comes from good things, not observed knife attacks on buses. Heh.

To calapine (May 9), I hope you've finally gotten a chance to see The Avengers, or will soon, and I hope the year brings more Tory and LibDem defeats, good television, good fic and good videos. Happy Birthday!

To deathpixie (May 10), I hope work becomes less stressful, you and your roomies find a good house, the Jays play well all season, and that the year, in short, is great.

To jrsz (May 14), who hasn't been around lately, I hope that means your life is so fantastic that you don't have time to post. Best wishes!

To st_aurafina (May 14), who makes me smile with her writing, and fills me with respect for how she helps other people, and lives her life, may your birthday have everything you want, and may the coming year be filled with good health, love, and laughter.

comments

Dept. of Two Cheers for Various Things

2012-05-10T04:52:32Z

( Just To Save Bandwidth )

( ... )

comments

DW Fic: Hearts and Moons Recall the Truth (Ch. 16)

2012-05-06T23:08:49Z

Story: Heats and Moons Recall the Truth
Author: kaffyr
Chapter: Sixteen
Characters: Jack/Rose/Nine
Rated: PG13
Edited by: The near-numinous buckaroobob , aka dr_whuh
Summary: A cold and beautiful world, a market, a bolt of silk, and three people walking through the doors of their memories.
Author's Notes: In which Jack learns Hilda's clever, clever plan, learns more about Lizhbau and moves a step closer to the Doctor.
Previous Chapters: Accessible through this link, and also this link.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were otherwise, no Whoniverse characters are mine. They are the sole properties of the BBC and their respective creators. I intend no copyright infringement, and take no coin. I do, however, love them all, and thank the BBC for letting me play (and create the occasional original character) in their sandbox.
_______________________________________________________________________________
( It's amazing what you can find )

comments

Dept. of Victory is Mine!

2012-05-05T06:01:17Z

Chapter Sixteen

I can haz done?

I Can Haz Done!

BB needs to edit, and let me know if it doesn't suck, if I did indeed get it right.

If so, then it's up, and on to Chapter Seventeen.

I can be writer nao plz Y/Y?

I can?

w00t!!1!

comments

DW Fic: Hearts and Moons Recall the Truth (Ch. 15)

2012-04-25T05:37:46Z

Story: Hearts and Moons Recall the Truth
Author: kaffyr
Chapter: Fifteen
Characters: Jack/Rose/Nine
Rated: PG13
Edited by: the incomparable buckaroobob aka dr_whuh. Thank you, love.
Previous Chapters: Prologue and One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen
Summary: A cold and beautiful world, a market, a bolt of silk, and three people walking through the doors of their memories.
Author's Notes: In which the Doctor falls, and Rose rises; the one strangled and muffled by silk, the other prodded by stubborn determination.
I am beyond abashed, racing headlong into sick embarrassment, as I note it has been one year and four months since I last updated this story (surely, surely that's wrong; surely it was only a month or so ago) and four years, four months since I started the story for a long-ago ficathon. All I can say in my defense is that I have never, ever, entertained the thought of giving up; Jack, Nine and Rose deserve far better of me, and so do you, Patient Reader. Wait, are any of you still out there?
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were otherwise, no Whoniverse characters are mine. They are the sole properties of the BBC and their respective creators. I intend no copyright infringement, and take no coin. I do, however, love them all, and thank the BBC for letting me play (and create the occasional original character) in their sandbox.

( Read more... )

comments

Dept. of Weekend Endings

2012-04-23T04:57:54Z

Cake and Writing

Although the weekend has been less than stellar (I had to work Saturday and, although the assignment was fun, and I got a good story out of it, and there will be OT pay, it was work), it has not been unproductive.

For one thing, I finally moved off the dime a bit on Chapter 15 of Hearts and Moons - by realizing first that it was far too long at this point, when I hadn't nearly gotten to the end, to be anything but unwieldy as a chapter. (Does anyone else have the problem in multi-chapter fics of writing progressively longer and more densely-packed chapters, generally as they get to know their story, characters and environment better? Just me?)

So I split it at what seemed to the be opportune place, and realized with a certain amount of relief that doing so gave me enough room at the end of the new, shortened Chapter 15 to reintroduce one character who I needed to bring up to date. I realized that, of course, by going back over my timeline chart. I was horrified to realize I had gotten so involved in one character's subplot that I'd left another one roughly 12 hours behind the times. Hence my post of a couple of days ago. Now, I only have to fix the other three or nine plot points I realized I'd left dangling.

Still, progress is progress.

( And then there was cake. )

comments

Dept. of Visual Stimuli, Speculative Fiction Category

2012-04-20T23:39:56Z

Heading Hunger Gamesward

Yes, I'm aware that's not quite a word. Heading to see the movie anyhow. By myself, as it happens (which doesn't bother me, since I rather imagined BB would not be interested.) But it's sort of on a whim, and it's definitely the first time in a long time that I've attended a movie by myself. This should be interesting. All the popcorn for myself. MMMmmmm/

Possibly a review afterward; my fingers and hands are tired, though, after a lot of typing today. We shall see.

comments

Dept. of Riting Iz Hard

2012-04-20T05:45:35Z

Augggh! Timelines!

Keeping them straight! Multiple characters, multiple events, multiple locations ... even with a chart, it's ... aaauuuggghhh!

Thank you. Goodnight, America, and all the ships at sea.

comments

Dept. of Victory is Mine!

2012-04-16T04:02:18Z

I Can Haz Proper Cutz Nao!!

Yes I can! I am the proud fixer of the stupid LJ "scissors icon" cut denoter on my journal. I know that sounds rather silly, since I was directed to the fix by other people (thanks sallymn and ljgeoff , for pointing me in the right direction), but here's the thing. Although the patch was already and ready to paste into the space awaiting it in the CSS coding area , and I knew I could use it, because my journal is in the right LJ style, I needed to find the right code for my journal's background color, because I don't have a plain white background.

And no one had said where I could find that.

Well. Did I let that dissuade me? Not at all. I figured out where to go to look for the coding, figured out (sort of) what the hell "layers" and "children" were, then clicked through to where I figured the color codes were. I couldn't find anything that looked like my shades of green, despite knowing I was in the right place. And then I thought it through some more, and realized I'd been looking at the proper code as I sat there. I tried it out, and - yay! - it worked.

So, even though I'm sure I've used the wrong terms to explain what I did, and even though I still retain my membership in the Sub-Luddite Club, I erased the damned scissors, and I am proud. Excuse me, while I shake my head at myself. Heh.

And speaking of shaking one's head at oneself, I've had a couple of weird dreams lately.( And I shall proceed to tell you at boring length about them. )

No I didn't get much more written on "Hearts and Moons," why do you ask?

comments

Dept. of Two Cheers for Various Things

2012-04-13T05:04:01Z

Just To Keep My Hand In, You Know?

And the DW icon is not an illustration of my mood. I simply like it; it soothes me. Although I suppose I am rather pensive.

     ( Thoughts on writing )
********

   ( Operation Surprise the Hell Out of Mom )

********

    ( A bit about The Hunger Games )

comments

Dept. of Can't Keep My Eyes Open

2012-04-02T22:18:05Z

Sopor Beckons, Kaffyr Tries to Give Her the Finger

Yes, I did get to bed a little late last night — a tad past two a.m., which once would have been normal, but has not been for the past six months — but there is absolutely no reason for this sudden weariness, now so intense that I can barely keep my eyes open, much less think and write. It came upon me as I was driving home from an assignment this afternoon, and now I'm finding it nearly impossible to put words in order to make sentences to put together to make paragraphs.

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa *snore*

Help.

comments

Dept. of Weird Smells In The Kitchen

2012-04-02T06:13:47Z

Not So Much "Weird" as ... Really Awful

*enters, stage left, bathed in a soft sheen of culinarianistic effort*

Well, perhaps it's just the capsicum.

( I am nothing if not polite about bandwidth. )

comments

Dept. of Hello, Is This Thing On?

2012-03-28T05:41:08Z

I Had So Many Things To Say

But I couldn't find the time or the inclination. It's been one of those ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ ~~months~~ ah, fuggit, one of those periods of times.

Still, a few things make a post, don't they? Let's see.

Birthdays! There are, and were, birthdays!

Many past happy returns of the now-bygone day to james_davis_nicoll (18th May), who almost single-handedly keeps me informed and amused about a plethora of fannish and general things. His cats, too; my world would be a little less richly wonky without James' cats, and his occasional contretemps with brassy squirrels.

Happy birthday, too, to robling_t (just yesterday, 26th March); may your Muse be beneficient this year, and may life be good to you.

Nor can I forget to wish all the best in the coming year to mostlikely2 (22nd March), one of the people still most apt to challenge the way I think, and one of the writers who can move me to tears of joy.

Other Things!

( Yes, other link-heavy things! )

comments

Dept. of Welcome to the Working Week

2012-03-06T00:37:50Z

In Which Your Humble Servant Attempts to Get a Move On
(And also, Several Things Make a Post)

If I could be as assiduous about my work as the little lady in my Dreamwidth icon, I would be happy. More likely, I'll resemble the little Tanuki in my LJ icon. So I shall simply be pleased that I am working ... and here, of course, I have to wonder why I spend so much time obsessing about how I don't work to what I consider my optimal level, and so little time actually, you know, working. I am forced to put it down to the fact that my human clockwork is wonky, and that this is one of the symptoms. Today, at least, my obsession is tinged with good humor. And that is no mean feat.

Enough of that.
( Tell me about my eyes ... er, read under cut )

* Not for your arteries, of course. Oh, my lord, the super creamy high fat content is heavenly.

comments

Dept. of Nataldalia

2012-03-01T16:37:41Z

Happy Birthday ...

... to filkerdave . Hope your day, and the coming year, is filled with music, family, and time to take wonderful pictures of the world around you.

comments

Dept. of Birthdays and Saturdays

2012-02-25T22:35:05Z

Sun and Sedentary Pleasures

I got up today, and didn't get out of my jammies until First Born came to visit around 2 p.m. And I didn't really feel guilty; the sun was shining through the south windows, the cats were generally happy, and the only fly in the ointment was BB having to deal with a low level cold. My mother called and we had a lovely chat, my brother later called and we had a brief chat as well. In between, BB, FB and I caught up with each other.

(The poor lamb is dead tired; ever since returning from London, he's been involved in a play where the director has, for reasons known only to god and the devil, decided on a seven-day-a-week rehearsal schedule. So it's been up at 6, work until 6, go directly to rehearsal, get home at 11 and to sleep at midnight, wash, rinse, repeat. On paper, it doesn't sound too bad for a month and a half. In reality, he's got bags under his eyes and he looks exhausted. But the play starts Thursday, so there's an end to it - although he promptly signed up to do a teeny-tiny bit with Red Moon Theater as a one-off. It's good to see him reviving his theater work, but ... health, my son, health!)

And of course, all the while, I sat here at the 'puter and perused the world beyond the screen, which always makes me happy. Now, if I could just get back on the fic horse. The beast is here, and in the corral, and happy to see me. I believe it's even saddled. I just have to get the step-stool and clamber on.

While I'm rambling about next to nothing ... you may be breathless with excitement to learn that BB and I watched Cowboys and Aliens last night. It was great and good fun, totally illogical, and, as BB pointed out, very Spielbergian, despite being Jon Favreau's baby.

Kid? Check.
Dog? Check.
Kid and dog in danger? Check.
Enigmatically good preacher? Oh, definitely, check. (Clancy! Brown!)
Bad guy turned hero for no reason than because the script says so and the actor's good enough to pull it off? Check.
Rotten secondary main character (Ford's wonderfully scenery chewing Colonel Dolarhyde) who is turned into a relative cream puff by coming into close proximity to aforementioned kid? Check.
Completely unworkable and illogical aliens, both good and bad? Check, and check.
Merciless, theivin', smelly, sneaky, cowardly, murderous outlaws and snivelling brat of a bully (Dolarhyde's son, Percy) turned into better people by the end of the movie, courtesy of fightin' said eeeevil aliens along side native Americans right out of central casting, all singing and drinking together in Doc's (yes, Doc's. Oh, the cliches, and oh, how I loved them)? Check, and again, check.

So, yeah, what a completely sugary piece of forgettability. But it made me smile. Perhaps in part because Daniel Craig was wonderful eye-candy His eyes. They're so ... blue. He holds himself with a stillness that stays with you, even in a piece of ephemera like this.

And finally we come to the birthday wishes:

To jessalrynn, (25th Feb.) many happy returns of the day. May all the rough spots be smoothed out, may the vicissitudes of money and muse and family and life in general transform themselves into good things for you in the coming year!

To maruad, (25th Feb.), may the coming year be artistically fertile and may we continue to enjoy your often wise and witty comments here online. You are always a pleasure!

And finally, to rosa_acicularis , (26th Feb.) Happy Birthday tomorrow, to someone I always love to read, whether it's fic or commentary.

comments

Dept. of Things That Have Happened Lately

2012-02-23T06:09:48Z

In Which I Battle Inertia, and May Not Be Losing.

I don't have that many new and wonderful things to report, really. Little things, mostly.

Like Passports Canada finally being able to get my money for my new passport. Now all I have to do is wait (interminably, it seems) for the passport to arrive. If it isn't here in another week or week and a half, I'll start bugging them about it.

( Work-related navel-gazing. )

Like running across this at Boutique Sally Ann* and knowing - immediately - that I had to have it. Even if there was no krafayis in the window because it was just someone's student art project. Yes. Yes, I am that much of a dork. And I'm glad. Proud. (Also, I love the colors. BB scanned the canvas and emailed the image to me, so I had to resaturate it a bit to get the colors back to what they actually look like in 3D, but, yeah, nice and bright and cheery.**) It's been sitting on my desk. I'm going to put it on the wall above the desk, next to the Dalek victory poster. Yes. Yes, I am.

( Art. Sublime Art. And Foolish. )

Hmm. One housekeeping thing. One rather surprisingly serious thing. One Who thing. There's a nice balance for the evening.

Oh, hell. Forgot some belated birthday wishes, to some very interesting, nice people:

Happy belated birthday, (20th Feb.), to wiggiemomsi , whose cheerful online presence is always appreciated; and to misscam , (20th Feb.) whose trenchant comments on life, fandom, Norway and everything else are equally appreciated . Hope your various days were excellent!

* That's the Salvation Army thrift store to those of you who aren't aficionados of The Best Place In The World To Get Everything From Clothing and Shoes to ... well ... everything. I must do a post on my love affair with the Sally Ann someday.

** Decided, on the basis of a comment over on LJ by the delightful maruad, to add this concerning the art above: According to a site I visited, Van Gogh described the painting ""The Church at Auvers," which he painted in 1890 only a few months before his death, thusly to his sister: "A large painting of the village church, executed so that the building appears purplish against a sky which is the deep and simple blue of pure cobalt; the windows seem stained with ultramarine; the roof is part violet, part orange. In front, there are flowers growing in the grass and some sunny, pink sand."
In looking at that description, and at pictures of the actual painting, it becomes clear to me that whoever painted my little painting (I'm thinking acrylic on canvas; definitely canvas, but I could be wrong on the paint) loved brighter - some would say more garish - colors. The sky is closer to turquoise than cobalt, and the other colors are similarly altered. I don't mind; the colors of the rather not very good copy appeal to me, as beautiful as the original is. Here's an image of the original, or at least closer to the colors of the original: ( Yet another cut, to save bandwidth. )

comments

Dept. of Friendship

2012-02-18T19:25:36Z

Happy Birthday lyricalviolet.

Almost six years ago, I ran across the revived Doctor Who, and Doctor Who fandom on the Internet. Among the many reasons I'm grateful, is my introduction to lyricalviolet.

Back then she was funny, generous, intelligent, talented, kind, brave, creative, worried about how she would make her way in the world, but determined to do it nonetheless. She was, and I think she knows what I mean, never afraid to Jump.

After more than half a decade, what do you know? She is still all that, and more. I am so glad I know her. Happy birthday, Jae! You are a gem in the diadem of the vast universe, and some day I hope to drink too much wine with you, and enjoy in person the friend I've been so lucky to know through my screen.

comments

Dept. of Nataldalia

2012-02-18T00:10:32Z

How Wonderful! People Were Born!

And I know a few of them, and want to wish them all the best on their birthdays. They're coming up, mostly, but I am horrible about these things (as I have mused and whinged about in the past); I'd rather give you advance wishes than no wishes at all, because you're all notable people of great worth, and I am very happy to have met you here on these Intarwebz.

So happy birthday, cygnia (18th Feb.)! You don't drop by often, but when you do, I'm always pleased to read what you have to say — and usually end up with a big grin on my face.

Happy birthday to you, too, wendymr! (18th Feb.) You helped bring me into the vibrant, friendly and creative world of online Doctor Who fandom. You encouraged me (in ways direct and indirect) as I very nervously took up writing fiction again after years away from it, and I can never thank you enough for that. We may disagree on eggnog, but I look to you to avoid putting North Americanisms in my work, and for truly interesting insights into the confusing world of Brit/American language barriers. May the coming year be filled with great fanfic, friends and everything else you want!

Happy birthday to marence , (18th Feb.) who shares my fascination with Doctor Who, River, and adventures into meta. May your year be free of pain, full of joy and loads of great reading and conversation!

And to trobadora , (19th Feb.) who is a lively participant in many an enjoyable DW discussion, many happy returns of the day. I look forward to seeing you more around these parts!

Nor can I forget jrittenhouse (19th Feb.). Many happy returns of the day, sir. I wish you a year that is as filled with happiness and peace as possible; it's more than time for that!

comments

Dept. of I Like This

2012-02-04T18:54:24Z

For Your Consideration

sarah531 has written a brief, but very thoughtful, analysis of Amy Pond's place in the Whoniverse, and some of the imagery employed in her presentation. I like her powers of observation here - she caught both tiny pieces of imagery I completely missed - and big honking patterns that were there in front of me that I never noticed, as well. I like what she has to say, and I think y'all should go over and see what you think as well!

comments

Dept. of I Am Stepping in It, Probably

2012-02-02T03:49:43Z

Sherlock: A Question of Time. Or Possibly Geometry

( Watch the next series? Of course I'm going to watch the next series. )

comments

DW Stocking Offering: Sonnet for Canaana

2012-02-01T23:30:16Z

Story: Sonnet for Canaan
Author: kaffyr
Characters: The Doctor, the TARDIS and the rest of us
Rated: Gen
Word Count: 289, per Google docs
Edited by: unedited; all mistakes are my own.
Summary: The Thief's not tame, but worth it nonetheless.
Author's Notes: This was written for canaan 's 2011 fandom_stocking. I am not a poet, god knows, and know only the bare minimum necessary to cobble together the most common type of sonnet. And yet it seemed best to me to talk about the rhapsody of loving Doctor Who in verse. I labored over this (which probably shows, and is no predictor of quality) but I hope it reflects at least a little of the love I hold for its multiplex subject, as well as the occasional awe in which I hold it.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were otherwise, no Whoniverse characters are mine. They are the sole properties of the BBC and their respective creators. I intend no copyright infringement, and take no coin. I do, however, love them all, and thank the BBC for letting me play in their sandbox.

( Our lives are ruled by minutes, seconds, hours )

comments

DW Fic: Unto Us the Future

2012-01-30T01:08:16Z

Story: Unto Us the Future
Author: kaffyr
Characters: The Eleventh Doctor/River Song
Rated: PG
Word Count: 221, per Google docs
Edited by: Unedited. All mistakes are my own.
Summary: Time enough later to think of the impracticalities, the dangers, the probable heartbreak. Right now, they cradled enough joy to power the universe.
Author's Notes: This was written for sahiya , for the 2011 fandom_stocking fun. It was the first story I wrote for this year's effort, and I confess I'm rather fond of it. She had hoped someone might write a kidfic with River and Eleven; this little vignette, essentially a double drabble, presented itself to me promptly, and left a smile on my face. I hope it left one on hers - and yours.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were otherwise, no Whoniverse characters are mine. They are the sole properties of the BBC and their respective creators. I intend no copyright infringement, and take no coin. I do, however, love them all, and thank the BBC for letting me play in their sandbox.
____________________________________________________________________

He didn't think, as he looked down into the cradle, of all the impracticalities, all the impossibilities. He spared not one precious moment on the muddled timelines, the realities that broke or might have broken in the past, and the future, and the never-quite-was-except-that-it-was, to bring this to pass. Nor would he flee from any heartsbreak that might yet - would inevitably, he knew - come to pass.

She didn't care, as she pulled her wrap about her and arose from her bed to join him, about the blood and the pain - so much more, and so much longer, than they had anticipated, courtesy of their byzantine and contentious biologies. She dismissed the fractured memories of her nightmare childhood and embraced the fearful love that threatened to explode her hearts right here, right now.

They reached for each other, clung together in joy and took strength from one another, casting off weariness and worry to embrace wonder.
Then she bent down, picked up the little one who slept there, and brought her up to be with them. He looked at her, and at the woman who held her.

"Child of the TARDIS," he whispered to them both. "Next stop, everywhere!"

Around them, the TARDIS thrummed with a joy so intense that the stars beyond Her doors were surely dancing.

comments

DW Fic: Matched Set

2012-01-25T05:06:22Z

Story: Matched Set
Author: kaffyr
Characters: Donna Noble, the Tenth Doctor
Rated: G
Word Count: 281, per Google docs
Edited by: Unedited; all mistakes are mine.
Summary: The Doctor is subjected to an ... unsettling ... radical makeover.
Author's Notes: This was a stocking stuffer for livii in the 2011 fandom_stocking. As a former redhead myself, I empathize with Donna's amusement.
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were otherwise, no Whoniverse characters are mine. They are the sole properties of the BBC and their respective creators. I intend no copyright infringement, and take no coin. I do, however, love them all, and thank the BBC for letting me play in their sandbox.

*****************************************************

At first she thought he'd been sulking since they escaped — which would have been no surprise, since the Doctor's sartorial pride had presumably been sorely wounded. After a while, though, she realized he was stealing glances in various reflective surfaces in the console room and ... wait, was he ... primping?

Donna simultaneously rolled her eyes and grinned.

"So, spaceman."

"What?" He looked at her almost guiltily.

"Isn't there something you can do about it?"

He made a little moue, and shrugged. "Weeeeell, yes, certainly I'll do something about it. On the other hand, it was done as an honor to you."

She snorted. "Just because members of the Aeolinian High Court travel in color-coordinated pairs doesn't mean they can kidnap and do extreme makeovers on a couple of off-planet visitors. And since you got the worst of it, I'd think you'd agree."

"Be fair, now, they thought we were visiting royalty, not just any old Earth girl — "

"Oi! Watch it with the 'old,' Mars boy."

" — any young and extremely attractive Earth woman and her Time Lord."

"My Time Lord? Not bloody likely," she muttered, with only the barest hint of regret.

"Of course not!" he agreed, too quickly. "Still — and not to repeat myself, but it's a point worth making — this was done to honor you." He hesitated, slightly glum. "Since they apparently don't think much of brunettes."

Donna quirked a smile. "Yeah, well, I can't accuse them of bad taste for liking redheads, I suppose."

She wasn't going to tell him how oddly attractive he looked as a ginger. She would rather have died.

-30-

comments