Vera

Everything will be okay. We will survive this.

[livingwiththedrums]

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Could've sworn I made one of these already but here we go again I guess- Hello! I'm Aviva, the mod for this blog. This is a roleplay blog for my character, Vera, a Time Lady who can hear the drums and is trying to get her memories back. THIS VERSION OF HER EXISTS IN THE TIMELINE OF THE YEAR THAT NEVER WAS. As such, please be aware that this blog will include the following subject matter:

fictional genocide

murder

panic

manipulation

memory loss

If any of this distresses you, please do not read my posts on here. Your mental health is important, more important than the stories I tell.

[tremastersweb]

"Alright! Four it is..."

The Doctor scurries into his TARDIS, leaving the door open to ease his own work. The empty containers were... to the right? Yes. Surely they should be to the right.

He walks briskly across corridors, almost passing the workshop, then he gasps, turning back on his feet. Well, it will only be a second. He knocks on the door, before opening it.

"...Vera? Hello! It's me. The Doctor. Is all going well over there?"

He walks a bit closer, observing her and her work, offering her a small smile, certainly not his usual bright one.

"Did you find the water dispenser, in the end? Ah, I had the chance to visit your TARDIS, well, she seems to be alright."

As he speaks, he tries to remember the exact room he had stored the containers. He's almost got it.

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera looks up from her project and smiles. They’re back, they’re safe!

“Welcome back! I’m doing okay, I had a snack and some water and I’m almost done fixing our fuel problem! How did the rescue mission go?”

[tremastersweb]

"...Ah."

His smile grows, one to distract from thinking of all that's happened, all he's learnt, all the delay. Of course she'd think that, by now, they'd have Arthur. He hides his hands on his back in shame, tilting his head and avoiding her gaze.

"There's... still a bit to go, I'm headed to the storage room to retrieve something, but don't worry, we'll... get there in no time. I just wanted to make sure you're alright, too."

He sways a bit on his feet, now looking at them, and... aha! Three rooms ahead. Right. He pats her shoulder, before swiftly turning around.

"Glad you're taking care. And thank you, for all your help. Ring me when you're done, yes? Well, must dash!"

He closes the door behind him, before rushing to the target room.

[livingwiththedrums]

“Oh… well, uh… okay… bye then…”

…This is taking a long time… She’s worried they might not make it in time… She tries not to think about that, though. Back to work she goes!

[tremastersweb]

"Alright! Four it is..."

The Doctor scurries into his TARDIS, leaving the door open to ease his own work. The empty containers were... to the right? Yes. Surely they should be to the right.

He walks briskly across corridors, almost passing the workshop, then he gasps, turning back on his feet. Well, it will only be a second. He knocks on the door, before opening it.

"...Vera? Hello! It's me. The Doctor. Is all going well over there?"

He walks a bit closer, observing her and her work, offering her a small smile, certainly not his usual bright one.

"Did you find the water dispenser, in the end? Ah, I had the chance to visit your TARDIS, well, she seems to be alright."

As he speaks, he tries to remember the exact room he had stored the containers. He's almost got it.

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera looks up from her project and smiles. They’re back, they’re safe!

“Welcome back! I’m doing okay, I had a snack and some water and I’m almost done fixing our fuel problem! How did the rescue mission go?”

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera! Everything alright over there? We're about to move now, so far everything is clear, although if you were to exit the TARDIS I'd advise you to bring a lantern, ah, and it might be a bit tight to move there, but... well, all of them are together now!

- The Doctor ( @tremastersweb )

oh! hi, Doctor! we're doing okay! i should have a backup power supply ready for the van in about... 30 minutes, at least! how are you and the Magister doing? was the rescue mission a success?

[tremastersweb]

Is that so? You are quite handy, did you know?

We're... alright, just a slight delay, we'll be loading in on fuel soon as well, that is if there's still any left, so with both your aid and that, we should be just fine!

Getting to Arthur will take a bit still, I'll... inform you when I can, okay?

[livingwiththedrums]

okay, stay safe... let me know if you need anything else.

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera! Everything alright over there? We're about to move now, so far everything is clear, although if you were to exit the TARDIS I'd advise you to bring a lantern, ah, and it might be a bit tight to move there, but... well, all of them are together now!

- The Doctor ( @tremastersweb )

oh! hi, Doctor! we're doing okay! i should have a backup power supply ready for the van in about... 30 minutes, at least! how are you and the Magister doing? was the rescue mission a success?

[livingwiththedrums]

jumper cables… where’s a set of jumper cables when you need them…

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right!"

The Doctor announces himself, entering the room and immediately starting to pace around.

"We should have enough fuel for about four hours and a half of travel, counting the extra. Will that be enough?"

He glances at the Magister, then at his phone, in so avoiding further eye contact.

"I have filled this van's deposit. And moving the TARDISes, you'll need help with that. I should check on Arthur as well..."

He stops and leans against the wall, noting then Vera's presence, and gives her a wave.

"Ah, Vera! Was the sandwich good?"

( @tremastersweb )

"Four and a half?"

He leans forward in his seat as the eye contact breaks, moving to grab the phone and a few extra bits off of the table... it was a bit of a mess, unusual for him, but considering the circumstances, probably understandable.

"That should be enough, yes... ah, so long as the van's engine is turned off when loading the other TARDISes... and we should probably see if we can find a gas station somewhere on the way so that we are not stranded on the mountain in plain view, especially if we end up needing to do a supply run in the future..."

He trails off, moving to grab a pen and a notebook, scribbling down notes on what they need to get done.

"But yes, that should be enough to get to the other TARDISes and up to Arthur..."

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera is furiously typing away ideas on her phone. She looks up, nods, and goes right back to typing. She makes a separate list for supplies they might need.

[tremastersweb]

"Good! Positive points for my theory."

The Doctor looks around, for the look of it, the two of them had eaten. At least he had the security that the Time Lords with him would not run out of fuel. If needed, he had prepared extra.

"Then, we should get moving, the more time we lose the more at risk he is. We do have a map, yes? It'll be a question of luck, but..."

He thinks for a moment, then glances at Vera.

"...perhaps we can find a way to modify the vehicles so they function with electric charge? Oh, there should be something in the workshop, now that'd take a while to properly adapt, to build an electric motor potent enough, but it'd come in useful in the future, should we need to move again. We'll just have to find more fuel, for now..."

[livingwiththedrums]

A generator… She doesn’t have much experience repairing a TARDIS, let alone modifying one… if anything, the van would be easier to modify since it’s a basic Earth vehicle. There’s still the issue of her not knowing how they work… But she can change that! There has to be a car manual somewhere around here, right? If not, there’s always the internet… If it’s just a matter of making a battery and charging it, she could probably manage that… More and more ideas- she types them all up before she can forget. She pulls out a notebook and pencil and starts sketching out some of her ideas that can’t be translated into words. Blueprints. She quietly mutters to herself, stuff like “maybe?…” and “no, we don’t have the parts for that…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hm? Oh, yes, a map, theres one in the van I was using, it's how I got here from England in the first place, that along with my phone."

He holds it up slightly and gives it a wiggle.

"Which I have actively tracking his GPS location, as well as any service data changes, and his battery percentage... well, we shouldn't have any issues locating him once we're there..."

He stands, moving to one of the drawers, pulling it open and rustling around in the items inside, eventually pulling out a spare battery that he'd gotten from somewhere, glancing at Vera for a moment as she starts muttering, then turning his attention back to the battery.

"This one's about ready to pop, I was thinking that if we get caught out by surprise we could set it off and throw it to get their attention off of us, just enough time to make a run for it back to safety... I don't see that happening, but surprises have been known to occur..."

He nods, then moves closer to pass it to him.

"You best keep hold of it, however, hm? I wouldn't trust me with a possible live explosive if I were in your shoes, after all."

He places it in his hand, fingers grazing over his as he does so, then moves back to the table.

". . . Yes, converting one or both of the vans to electricity, perhaps then linking them to one of the TARDISes for power so there's no risk of running out could be a good idea... I'm sure one or both of mine would be happy to give, they're... my last contact with them was this morning and they're both dealing with a buildup of surplus electricity... "

He taps his fingers against the table in thought, that same rythm, again.

"Before that however, it would be a case of making batteries and installing them to work with the engines... certainly an idea for later, but for now, as you said, fuel, yes."

[tremastersweb]

The Doctor is about to interrupt him, losing his words at the gentle touch, managing only to mutter a "why...", then immediately rolling his eyes as he quickly turns around and stuffs the battery into his pocket. He paces around, silently noting his lack of a sonic screwdriver, but he'll figure it out, batteries are not that hard to pop anyways, and...

He glances at him once again, his eyes trailing to the source of the cursed rhythm, one he'd rather forget, but he understands his counterpart lacks that privilege. He sighs, resetting the uncomfortable memories that permeated his head, then approaching the Magister again and placing his hand over his tapping one, looking him right in the eye.

"Then let's go. Map, possible gas station locations, TARDIS repositioning, off to Arthur."

He lets go and swiftly approaches the door, glancing at him once more.

"...There's no time to lose."

[themagisterprotocol]

He turns his head, staring directly at the hand on his own in silence, not taking the Doctor's words in at all, at least not until he'd let go.

He blinks in surprise and gently cradles his hand to his chest, rather confused, but watches as he moves, dropping his hand after a moment, then grabbing the phone, stuffing it in his pocket, and moving to follow him out of the room, pausing just before he reached him and turning to Vera.

"Did you want to come along as well, or did you wish to remain here and work out the details of your project? Oh! But if you do remain, you said the tracker works? We may need it, if possible."

[livingwiththedrums]

She looks up from her sketches and notes.

“The tracker should be fully functional, let me know how it goes! I should probably stay here, I’d only slow you both down… Besides, building stuff is what I’m good at! Hopefully I can solve our fuel problem soon.”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right... I do hope that you have fun working out your newest puzzle, but er- just... where is the tracker, dear?"

He smiles at her, then looks at the wall, there! No looking at either of them! Much less awkward! Oh! Was that dent in the ceiling always there?

[livingwiththedrums]

“Oh, right- um- one sec-“

She leaves the room, then comes back with a small device that looks like a tiny satellite dish attached to a Gameboy. She hands it to the Magister.

“Here! It should have enough power for a 12 hour trip, but after that it’ll have to come back here so I can recharge it. Stay safe, please… Good luck…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Of course, thank you, my dear, that should give us plenty of time."

He gently takes it and tucks it into a pocket, patting her head once he had.

"We'll keep ourselves safe, and we'll be back with Arthur before you know it... and in about an hour the TARDISes should all be in the back of the van, so if you need to go to yours or one of mine, it'll just be a quick walk out of the TARDIS, no worries about leaving the safety of the van..."

He sighs, then turns, slowly walking out of the room.

"But you keep yourself and Miss 'Lin fed and otherwise looked after while we're out, okay?"

[livingwiththedrums]

"I will, don't worry!"

She smiles and goes right back to working on solving their fuel problem.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right!"

The Doctor announces himself, entering the room and immediately starting to pace around.

"We should have enough fuel for about four hours and a half of travel, counting the extra. Will that be enough?"

He glances at the Magister, then at his phone, in so avoiding further eye contact.

"I have filled this van's deposit. And moving the TARDISes, you'll need help with that. I should check on Arthur as well..."

He stops and leans against the wall, noting then Vera's presence, and gives her a wave.

"Ah, Vera! Was the sandwich good?"

( @tremastersweb )

"Four and a half?"

He leans forward in his seat as the eye contact breaks, moving to grab the phone and a few extra bits off of the table... it was a bit of a mess, unusual for him, but considering the circumstances, probably understandable.

"That should be enough, yes... ah, so long as the van's engine is turned off when loading the other TARDISes... and we should probably see if we can find a gas station somewhere on the way so that we are not stranded on the mountain in plain view, especially if we end up needing to do a supply run in the future..."

He trails off, moving to grab a pen and a notebook, scribbling down notes on what they need to get done.

"But yes, that should be enough to get to the other TARDISes and up to Arthur..."

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera is furiously typing away ideas on her phone. She looks up, nods, and goes right back to typing. She makes a separate list for supplies they might need.

[tremastersweb]

"Good! Positive points for my theory."

The Doctor looks around, for the look of it, the two of them had eaten. At least he had the security that the Time Lords with him would not run out of fuel. If needed, he had prepared extra.

"Then, we should get moving, the more time we lose the more at risk he is. We do have a map, yes? It'll be a question of luck, but..."

He thinks for a moment, then glances at Vera.

"...perhaps we can find a way to modify the vehicles so they function with electric charge? Oh, there should be something in the workshop, now that'd take a while to properly adapt, to build an electric motor potent enough, but it'd come in useful in the future, should we need to move again. We'll just have to find more fuel, for now..."

[livingwiththedrums]

A generator… She doesn’t have much experience repairing a TARDIS, let alone modifying one… if anything, the van would be easier to modify since it’s a basic Earth vehicle. There’s still the issue of her not knowing how they work… But she can change that! There has to be a car manual somewhere around here, right? If not, there’s always the internet… If it’s just a matter of making a battery and charging it, she could probably manage that… More and more ideas- she types them all up before she can forget. She pulls out a notebook and pencil and starts sketching out some of her ideas that can’t be translated into words. Blueprints. She quietly mutters to herself, stuff like “maybe?…” and “no, we don’t have the parts for that…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hm? Oh, yes, a map, theres one in the van I was using, it's how I got here from England in the first place, that along with my phone."

He holds it up slightly and gives it a wiggle.

"Which I have actively tracking his GPS location, as well as any service data changes, and his battery percentage... well, we shouldn't have any issues locating him once we're there..."

He stands, moving to one of the drawers, pulling it open and rustling around in the items inside, eventually pulling out a spare battery that he'd gotten from somewhere, glancing at Vera for a moment as she starts muttering, then turning his attention back to the battery.

"This one's about ready to pop, I was thinking that if we get caught out by surprise we could set it off and throw it to get their attention off of us, just enough time to make a run for it back to safety... I don't see that happening, but surprises have been known to occur..."

He nods, then moves closer to pass it to him.

"You best keep hold of it, however, hm? I wouldn't trust me with a possible live explosive if I were in your shoes, after all."

He places it in his hand, fingers grazing over his as he does so, then moves back to the table.

". . . Yes, converting one or both of the vans to electricity, perhaps then linking them to one of the TARDISes for power so there's no risk of running out could be a good idea... I'm sure one or both of mine would be happy to give, they're... my last contact with them was this morning and they're both dealing with a buildup of surplus electricity... "

He taps his fingers against the table in thought, that same rythm, again.

"Before that however, it would be a case of making batteries and installing them to work with the engines... certainly an idea for later, but for now, as you said, fuel, yes."

[tremastersweb]

The Doctor is about to interrupt him, losing his words at the gentle touch, managing only to mutter a "why...", then immediately rolling his eyes as he quickly turns around and stuffs the battery into his pocket. He paces around, silently noting his lack of a sonic screwdriver, but he'll figure it out, batteries are not that hard to pop anyways, and...

He glances at him once again, his eyes trailing to the source of the cursed rhythm, one he'd rather forget, but he understands his counterpart lacks that privilege. He sighs, resetting the uncomfortable memories that permeated his head, then approaching the Magister again and placing his hand over his tapping one, looking him right in the eye.

"Then let's go. Map, possible gas station locations, TARDIS repositioning, off to Arthur."

He lets go and swiftly approaches the door, glancing at him once more.

"...There's no time to lose."

[themagisterprotocol]

He turns his head, staring directly at the hand on his own in silence, not taking the Doctor's words in at all, at least not until he'd let go.

He blinks in surprise and gently cradles his hand to his chest, rather confused, but watches as he moves, dropping his hand after a moment, then grabbing the phone, stuffing it in his pocket, and moving to follow him out of the room, pausing just before he reached him and turning to Vera.

"Did you want to come along as well, or did you wish to remain here and work out the details of your project? Oh! But if you do remain, you said the tracker works? We may need it, if possible."

[livingwiththedrums]

She looks up from her sketches and notes.

“The tracker should be fully functional, let me know how it goes! I should probably stay here, I’d only slow you both down… Besides, building stuff is what I’m good at! Hopefully I can solve our fuel problem soon.”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right... I do hope that you have fun working out your newest puzzle, but er- just... where is the tracker, dear?"

He smiles at her, then looks at the wall, there! No looking at either of them! Much less awkward! Oh! Was that dent in the ceiling always there?

[livingwiththedrums]

“Oh, right- um- one sec-“

She leaves the room, then comes back with a small device that looks like a tiny satellite dish attached to a Gameboy. She hands it to the Magister.

“Here! It should have enough power for a 12 hour trip, but after that it’ll have to come back here so I can recharge it. Stay safe, please… Good luck…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right!"

The Doctor announces himself, entering the room and immediately starting to pace around.

"We should have enough fuel for about four hours and a half of travel, counting the extra. Will that be enough?"

He glances at the Magister, then at his phone, in so avoiding further eye contact.

"I have filled this van's deposit. And moving the TARDISes, you'll need help with that. I should check on Arthur as well..."

He stops and leans against the wall, noting then Vera's presence, and gives her a wave.

"Ah, Vera! Was the sandwich good?"

( @tremastersweb )

"Four and a half?"

He leans forward in his seat as the eye contact breaks, moving to grab the phone and a few extra bits off of the table... it was a bit of a mess, unusual for him, but considering the circumstances, probably understandable.

"That should be enough, yes... ah, so long as the van's engine is turned off when loading the other TARDISes... and we should probably see if we can find a gas station somewhere on the way so that we are not stranded on the mountain in plain view, especially if we end up needing to do a supply run in the future..."

He trails off, moving to grab a pen and a notebook, scribbling down notes on what they need to get done.

"But yes, that should be enough to get to the other TARDISes and up to Arthur..."

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera is furiously typing away ideas on her phone. She looks up, nods, and goes right back to typing. She makes a separate list for supplies they might need.

[tremastersweb]

"Good! Positive points for my theory."

The Doctor looks around, for the look of it, the two of them had eaten. At least he had the security that the Time Lords with him would not run out of fuel. If needed, he had prepared extra.

"Then, we should get moving, the more time we lose the more at risk he is. We do have a map, yes? It'll be a question of luck, but..."

He thinks for a moment, then glances at Vera.

"...perhaps we can find a way to modify the vehicles so they function with electric charge? Oh, there should be something in the workshop, now that'd take a while to properly adapt, to build an electric motor potent enough, but it'd come in useful in the future, should we need to move again. We'll just have to find more fuel, for now..."

[livingwiththedrums]

A generator… She doesn’t have much experience repairing a TARDIS, let alone modifying one… if anything, the van would be easier to modify since it’s a basic Earth vehicle. There’s still the issue of her not knowing how they work… But she can change that! There has to be a car manual somewhere around here, right? If not, there’s always the internet… If it’s just a matter of making a battery and charging it, she could probably manage that… More and more ideas- she types them all up before she can forget. She pulls out a notebook and pencil and starts sketching out some of her ideas that can’t be translated into words. Blueprints. She quietly mutters to herself, stuff like “maybe?…” and “no, we don’t have the parts for that…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hm? Oh, yes, a map, theres one in the van I was using, it's how I got here from England in the first place, that along with my phone."

He holds it up slightly and gives it a wiggle.

"Which I have actively tracking his GPS location, as well as any service data changes, and his battery percentage... well, we shouldn't have any issues locating him once we're there..."

He stands, moving to one of the drawers, pulling it open and rustling around in the items inside, eventually pulling out a spare battery that he'd gotten from somewhere, glancing at Vera for a moment as she starts muttering, then turning his attention back to the battery.

"This one's about ready to pop, I was thinking that if we get caught out by surprise we could set it off and throw it to get their attention off of us, just enough time to make a run for it back to safety... I don't see that happening, but surprises have been known to occur..."

He nods, then moves closer to pass it to him.

"You best keep hold of it, however, hm? I wouldn't trust me with a possible live explosive if I were in your shoes, after all."

He places it in his hand, fingers grazing over his as he does so, then moves back to the table.

". . . Yes, converting one or both of the vans to electricity, perhaps then linking them to one of the TARDISes for power so there's no risk of running out could be a good idea... I'm sure one or both of mine would be happy to give, they're... my last contact with them was this morning and they're both dealing with a buildup of surplus electricity... "

He taps his fingers against the table in thought, that same rythm, again.

"Before that however, it would be a case of making batteries and installing them to work with the engines... certainly an idea for later, but for now, as you said, fuel, yes."

[tremastersweb]

The Doctor is about to interrupt him, losing his words at the gentle touch, managing only to mutter a "why...", then immediately rolling his eyes as he quickly turns around and stuffs the battery into his pocket. He paces around, silently noting his lack of a sonic screwdriver, but he'll figure it out, batteries are not that hard to pop anyways, and...

He glances at him once again, his eyes trailing to the source of the cursed rhythm, one he'd rather forget, but he understands his counterpart lacks that privilege. He sighs, resetting the uncomfortable memories that permeated his head, then approaching the Magister again and placing his hand over his tapping one, looking him right in the eye.

"Then let's go. Map, possible gas station locations, TARDIS repositioning, off to Arthur."

He lets go and swiftly approaches the door, glancing at him once more.

"...There's no time to lose."

[themagisterprotocol]

He turns his head, staring directly at the hand on his own in silence, not taking the Doctor's words in at all, at least not until he'd let go.

He blinks in surprise and gently cradles his hand to his chest, rather confused, but watches as he moves, dropping his hand after a moment, then grabbing the phone, stuffing it in his pocket, and moving to follow him out of the room, pausing just before he reached him and turning to Vera.

"Did you want to come along as well, or did you wish to remain here and work out the details of your project? Oh! But if you do remain, you said the tracker works? We may need it, if possible."

[livingwiththedrums]

She looks up from her sketches and notes.

“The tracker should be fully functional, let me know how it goes! I should probably stay here, I’d only slow you both down… Besides, building stuff is what I’m good at! Hopefully I can solve our fuel problem soon.”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right!"

The Doctor announces himself, entering the room and immediately starting to pace around.

"We should have enough fuel for about four hours and a half of travel, counting the extra. Will that be enough?"

He glances at the Magister, then at his phone, in so avoiding further eye contact.

"I have filled this van's deposit. And moving the TARDISes, you'll need help with that. I should check on Arthur as well..."

He stops and leans against the wall, noting then Vera's presence, and gives her a wave.

"Ah, Vera! Was the sandwich good?"

( @tremastersweb )

"Four and a half?"

He leans forward in his seat as the eye contact breaks, moving to grab the phone and a few extra bits off of the table... it was a bit of a mess, unusual for him, but considering the circumstances, probably understandable.

"That should be enough, yes... ah, so long as the van's engine is turned off when loading the other TARDISes... and we should probably see if we can find a gas station somewhere on the way so that we are not stranded on the mountain in plain view, especially if we end up needing to do a supply run in the future..."

He trails off, moving to grab a pen and a notebook, scribbling down notes on what they need to get done.

"But yes, that should be enough to get to the other TARDISes and up to Arthur..."

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera is furiously typing away ideas on her phone. She looks up, nods, and goes right back to typing. She makes a separate list for supplies they might need.

[tremastersweb]

"Good! Positive points for my theory."

The Doctor looks around, for the look of it, the two of them had eaten. At least he had the security that the Time Lords with him would not run out of fuel. If needed, he had prepared extra.

"Then, we should get moving, the more time we lose the more at risk he is. We do have a map, yes? It'll be a question of luck, but..."

He thinks for a moment, then glances at Vera.

"...perhaps we can find a way to modify the vehicles so they function with electric charge? Oh, there should be something in the workshop, now that'd take a while to properly adapt, to build an electric motor potent enough, but it'd come in useful in the future, should we need to move again. We'll just have to find more fuel, for now..."

[livingwiththedrums]

A generator… She doesn’t have much experience repairing a TARDIS, let alone modifying one… if anything, the van would be easier to modify since it’s a basic Earth vehicle. There’s still the issue of her not knowing how they work… But she can change that! There has to be a car manual somewhere around here, right? If not, there’s always the internet… If it’s just a matter of making a battery and charging it, she could probably manage that… More and more ideas- she types them all up before she can forget. She pulls out a notebook and pencil and starts sketching out some of her ideas that can’t be translated into words. Blueprints. She quietly mutters to herself, stuff like “maybe?…” and “no, we don’t have the parts for that…”

[themagisterprotocol]

"Right!"

The Doctor announces himself, entering the room and immediately starting to pace around.

"We should have enough fuel for about four hours and a half of travel, counting the extra. Will that be enough?"

He glances at the Magister, then at his phone, in so avoiding further eye contact.

"I have filled this van's deposit. And moving the TARDISes, you'll need help with that. I should check on Arthur as well..."

He stops and leans against the wall, noting then Vera's presence, and gives her a wave.

"Ah, Vera! Was the sandwich good?"

( @tremastersweb )

"Four and a half?"

He leans forward in his seat as the eye contact breaks, moving to grab the phone and a few extra bits off of the table... it was a bit of a mess, unusual for him, but considering the circumstances, probably understandable.

"That should be enough, yes... ah, so long as the van's engine is turned off when loading the other TARDISes... and we should probably see if we can find a gas station somewhere on the way so that we are not stranded on the mountain in plain view, especially if we end up needing to do a supply run in the future..."

He trails off, moving to grab a pen and a notebook, scribbling down notes on what they need to get done.

"But yes, that should be enough to get to the other TARDISes and up to Arthur..."

[livingwiththedrums]

Vera is furiously typing away ideas on her phone. She looks up, nods, and goes right back to typing. She makes a separate list for supplies they might need.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?

[themagisterprotocol]

"Perhaps, but if there is a problem, my dear, it's mine to deal with..."

He hums, pulling two small items off of the table, clicking them together, then glancing at the phone, pulling the wire out, and sliding the object into the phone's charging port.

"You have other things to be worrying about than my problems, such as looking after yourself and figuring out your memory, you don't need to solve everyone else's problems on top of your own."

[livingwiththedrums]

“But- I can’t just sit back and- not help, I have to do something- Everything’s getting worse, and it’ll get worse faster if I just let it!”

Louder louder louder shut up shut up- she lightly smacks the side of her head. It only makes her head hurt more. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t she just have a conversation without the drums getting louder? For once? That’d be wonderful.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Well, you are helping, by staying safe and looking after yourself, I worry for you, truly, I do, and you making an effort to look after yourself helps me more than you could imagine."

He turns to face her slightly and smiles slightly, then sighs.

"That's just going to make it worse, dear, trust me, you start off smacking your head, and then you're smashing it into a wall just to get it quiet, and then your head hurts for another reason, just as painful, if not more."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Nothing is working- they've been really loud lately and it's freaking me out- I think helping makes them quieter but I don't really know? I- I want to help, I need to help-"

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He's worried, she needs to get it together. She's silent for a few minutes, just focusing on her breathing before speaking again. Her voice is much quieter now.

"...if I don't help, I feel useless..."

[themagisterprotocol]

He hums and nods slightly at her words.

"And as I said, looking after yourself is helping, it gives me less to worry about... ah, however! If you must help in other ways, I am certain that we could find something for you to do that will help, one which also gives you the time to look after yourself and work out your memories..."

He eyes her up for a moment, then leans back in the chair, threading his fingers together.

"But as it stands, my main worry is you and your health, physical and otherwise, by looking after yourself, you truly are helping much more than you could ever realise."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Making the tracker felt... good, like I was doing something right for once... Researching the virus kind of makes me feel the same, except I'm not making much progress... I don't want you to be in pain, I don't want to lose any of you... I need to do whatever I can to help get us through this..."

She looks up from the table. Finally voicing her thoughts seems to have quieted the drums a little.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, placing his hands behind his head as he looked at her, glancing towards the computer after a short moment.

"Then we can find other things for you to do... if you're not making progress with the... well- that doesn't matter, there's a year, and there's certainly more than just me here, there's Koschei, the Master, the Crystal, 'Lin, Robin, the Doctor, and the cats, we can find you something to do that isn't a wild goose chase..."

He looks at her again.

"Besides, this virus is only temporary in my case, and... well, it's very unlikely that if you managed to work it out, that the Master would be able to remember it once the paradox comes to an end... there's plenty of other things you could be doing instead that help with this year."

[livingwiththedrums]

“…like what?…”

She’s been so focused on trying to cure the virus that she hasn’t considered many other ways she could help. The Toclafane tracker was honestly just something she thought up on a whim. Maybe pushing herself makes it harder for her to come up with new ideas? That would explain a lot…

[themagisterprotocol]

"Well, right now there's a few things we need to do... your tracker's going to come in very useful for that, but... hm..."

He frowns and looks at his phone.

"Well... for one, once we get back to your TARDIS, can load her onto the van, and I do wish to remove mine and the Master... er- the Crystal's from her docking bay, for ease of going between them beforge we go... once we have that sorted, and are able to get up to the mountain, we will likely need to give him some medical attention... hypothermia... hm..."

He tilts his head slightly, then looks up at her.

"Toclafane trackers are great and all during this, but there are other safety things to put in place, the TARDISes only have access to so much chemicals to make foods, and 'Lin's medication is important, we're going to have to start going on food runs a lot sooner than later, and there are other dangers out there, like the military, or Saxon deciding to simply... blow the cities up... perhaps some sort of radio? I'm not sure, but I'm certain you have ideas... or will, anyhow?"

He sighs, letting the quiet settle for a moment, before perking up a little.

"Oh! But once we do have them all together, I'm sure that Koschei would love help with something or other... I know I used to tinker a lot when I was younger, and I'm sure he's found some new project to mess around with..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Oh, a radio should be easy! I could probably just... tweak the tracker, add some extra functionality, and bam, we're all set! We might even be able to communicate with other groups of survivors more securely than through Tumblr!"

She didn't realize there was a limit to how much the replicator could provide, but it makes sense. Getting the chemicals they need should be easy, depending on how thoroughly other survivors have looted the nearby buildings. Or maybe if it's just the chemicals, she could find a way to reconstruct things into... other things? Recycle chemicals to create something more useful, something the replicator could use? Is that possible? So many possibilities... She starts tapping away at her phone, making a list of everything before she can forget. Again.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?

[themagisterprotocol]

"Perhaps, but if there is a problem, my dear, it's mine to deal with..."

He hums, pulling two small items off of the table, clicking them together, then glancing at the phone, pulling the wire out, and sliding the object into the phone's charging port.

"You have other things to be worrying about than my problems, such as looking after yourself and figuring out your memory, you don't need to solve everyone else's problems on top of your own."

[livingwiththedrums]

“But- I can’t just sit back and- not help, I have to do something- Everything’s getting worse, and it’ll get worse faster if I just let it!”

Louder louder louder shut up shut up- she lightly smacks the side of her head. It only makes her head hurt more. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t she just have a conversation without the drums getting louder? For once? That’d be wonderful.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Well, you are helping, by staying safe and looking after yourself, I worry for you, truly, I do, and you making an effort to look after yourself helps me more than you could imagine."

He turns to face her slightly and smiles slightly, then sighs.

"That's just going to make it worse, dear, trust me, you start off smacking your head, and then you're smashing it into a wall just to get it quiet, and then your head hurts for another reason, just as painful, if not more."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Nothing is working- they've been really loud lately and it's freaking me out- I think helping makes them quieter but I don't really know? I- I want to help, I need to help-"

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He's worried, she needs to get it together. She's silent for a few minutes, just focusing on her breathing before speaking again. Her voice is much quieter now.

"...if I don't help, I feel useless..."

[themagisterprotocol]

He hums and nods slightly at her words.

"And as I said, looking after yourself is helping, it gives me less to worry about... ah, however! If you must help in other ways, I am certain that we could find something for you to do that will help, one which also gives you the time to look after yourself and work out your memories..."

He eyes her up for a moment, then leans back in the chair, threading his fingers together.

"But as it stands, my main worry is you and your health, physical and otherwise, by looking after yourself, you truly are helping much more than you could ever realise."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Making the tracker felt... good, like I was doing something right for once... Researching the virus kind of makes me feel the same, except I'm not making much progress... I don't want you to be in pain, I don't want to lose any of you... I need to do whatever I can to help get us through this..."

She looks up from the table. Finally voicing her thoughts seems to have quieted the drums a little.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, placing his hands behind his head as he looked at her, glancing towards the computer after a short moment.

"Then we can find other things for you to do... if you're not making progress with the... well- that doesn't matter, there's a year, and there's certainly more than just me here, there's Koschei, the Master, the Crystal, 'Lin, Robin, the Doctor, and the cats, we can find you something to do that isn't a wild goose chase..."

He looks at her again.

"Besides, this virus is only temporary in my case, and... well, it's very unlikely that if you managed to work it out, that the Master would be able to remember it once the paradox comes to an end... there's plenty of other things you could be doing instead that help with this year."

[livingwiththedrums]

“…like what?…”

She’s been so focused on trying to cure the virus that she hasn’t considered many other ways she could help. The Toclafane tracker was honestly just something she thought up on a whim. Maybe pushing herself makes it harder for her to come up with new ideas? That would explain a lot…

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?

[themagisterprotocol]

"Perhaps, but if there is a problem, my dear, it's mine to deal with..."

He hums, pulling two small items off of the table, clicking them together, then glancing at the phone, pulling the wire out, and sliding the object into the phone's charging port.

"You have other things to be worrying about than my problems, such as looking after yourself and figuring out your memory, you don't need to solve everyone else's problems on top of your own."

[livingwiththedrums]

“But- I can’t just sit back and- not help, I have to do something- Everything’s getting worse, and it’ll get worse faster if I just let it!”

Louder louder louder shut up shut up- she lightly smacks the side of her head. It only makes her head hurt more. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t she just have a conversation without the drums getting louder? For once? That’d be wonderful.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Well, you are helping, by staying safe and looking after yourself, I worry for you, truly, I do, and you making an effort to look after yourself helps me more than you could imagine."

He turns to face her slightly and smiles slightly, then sighs.

"That's just going to make it worse, dear, trust me, you start off smacking your head, and then you're smashing it into a wall just to get it quiet, and then your head hurts for another reason, just as painful, if not more."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Nothing is working- they've been really loud lately and it's freaking me out- I think helping makes them quieter but I don't really know? I- I want to help, I need to help-"

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He's worried, she needs to get it together. She's silent for a few minutes, just focusing on her breathing before speaking again. Her voice is much quieter now.

"...if I don't help, I feel useless..."

[themagisterprotocol]

He hums and nods slightly at her words.

"And as I said, looking after yourself is helping, it gives me less to worry about... ah, however! If you must help in other ways, I am certain that we could find something for you to do that will help, one which also gives you the time to look after yourself and work out your memories..."

He eyes her up for a moment, then leans back in the chair, threading his fingers together.

"But as it stands, my main worry is you and your health, physical and otherwise, by looking after yourself, you truly are helping much more than you could ever realise."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Making the tracker felt... good, like I was doing something right for once... Researching the virus kind of makes me feel the same, except I'm not making much progress... I don't want you to be in pain, I don't want to lose any of you... I need to do whatever I can to help get us through this..."

She looks up from the table. Finally voicing her thoughts seems to have quieted the drums a little.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?

[themagisterprotocol]

"Perhaps, but if there is a problem, my dear, it's mine to deal with..."

He hums, pulling two small items off of the table, clicking them together, then glancing at the phone, pulling the wire out, and sliding the object into the phone's charging port.

"You have other things to be worrying about than my problems, such as looking after yourself and figuring out your memory, you don't need to solve everyone else's problems on top of your own."

[livingwiththedrums]

“But- I can’t just sit back and- not help, I have to do something- Everything’s getting worse, and it’ll get worse faster if I just let it!”

Louder louder louder shut up shut up- she lightly smacks the side of her head. It only makes her head hurt more. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t she just have a conversation without the drums getting louder? For once? That’d be wonderful.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Well, you are helping, by staying safe and looking after yourself, I worry for you, truly, I do, and you making an effort to look after yourself helps me more than you could imagine."

He turns to face her slightly and smiles slightly, then sighs.

"That's just going to make it worse, dear, trust me, you start off smacking your head, and then you're smashing it into a wall just to get it quiet, and then your head hurts for another reason, just as painful, if not more."

[livingwiththedrums]

"Nothing is working- they've been really loud lately and it's freaking me out- I think helping makes them quieter but I don't really know? I- I want to help, I need to help-"

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. He's worried, she needs to get it together. She's silent for a few minutes, just focusing on her breathing before speaking again. Her voice is much quieter now.

"...if I don't help, I feel useless..."

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?

[themagisterprotocol]

"Perhaps, but if there is a problem, my dear, it's mine to deal with..."

He hums, pulling two small items off of the table, clicking them together, then glancing at the phone, pulling the wire out, and sliding the object into the phone's charging port.

"You have other things to be worrying about than my problems, such as looking after yourself and figuring out your memory, you don't need to solve everyone else's problems on top of your own."

[livingwiththedrums]

“But- I can’t just sit back and- not help, I have to do something- Everything’s getting worse, and it’ll get worse faster if I just let it!”

Louder louder louder shut up shut up- she lightly smacks the side of her head. It only makes her head hurt more. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Can’t she just have a conversation without the drums getting louder? For once? That’d be wonderful.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Hey, you uh... want some sandwiches? The Doctor made some, he said something about testing spread theory, I'm not sure what he meant by that, but... um... they look good!"

( @livingwiththedrums )

He hums as he types something away at a laptop... or, well, it looks like a laptop, if a laptop had been pulled apart and connected to several others with exposed wiring, a bit of a mess and possibly a hazard as well, not that he seemed to care.

"Ah! Vera, my dear, sandwiches you say? That sounds..."

He glances at a clock and then turns to face her properly, he looks a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary considering the circumstances, then holds out a hand to accept one, the bandages on his hands were fresh, suggesting the last set had become unusable... again.

"That sounds quite nice now, actually, I haven't eaten in a few hours and obviously hadn't noticed... spread theory? That sounds... very silly."

A small grin twitches on his face at that.

"That's just like him, however, isn't it?"

[livingwiththedrums]

She winces at the sight of the fresh bandages. He must've gotten worse again... She passes him a sandwich.

"Is it? I uh... don't know much about him... I didn't know there were theories on uh... sandwich spreads... Are there? The Doctor says confusing things sometimes-"

She takes a bite of one of the sandwiches. It's alright, a decent sandwich. Monch. Monch. Monch. She makes a mental note to inform the Doctor as he requested.

[themagisterprotocol]

He accepts it and carefully unwraps it, taking note of just how well it had been wrapped before taking a bite and humming thoughtfully, before swallowing his mouthful.

"Mmh, indeed, he can be rather the..."

He lets his words die and sighs, glancing back at the mess of computers and tapping something.

"Well, there are theories now, apparently, my dear... if anyone would make them, it would be him..."

[livingwiththedrums]

"...Are you doing okay? I mean- aside from... you know.... everything that's going on... Sorry I could've phrased that better-"

She fidgets with the wrapper from her sandwich. Morale has been lower than ever, understandably so, but Vera's been doing her best to change that, on top of trying to fix everyone's problems at once. It's been very draining.

[themagisterprotocol]

"Ah... I am doing well dear, yes... well, as well as I can be."

He hums and pulls a spare office chair out, pushing it in her direction and wincing as a claw gets caught on it, getting pulled out from its retracted position and carving through the bandage, a fresh spot of blood making itself known on the clean fabric.

He lets out a slight hiss and pops his finger in his mouth, a similar response to getting a papercut, annoyance.

"How about you? Are you doing okay? Resting enough?"

His voice is muffled, but his eyes are trained on her, genuinely curious about her health and wellbeing.

[livingwiththedrums]

"I, um... could be worse, I guess..."

She hasn't been taking good care of herself at all. She's barely getting any sleep, she forgets to eat sometimes...

"Shit- are you okay? Should I get more bandages?"

She doesn't want to worry him any more than she already has. She's done enough.

[themagisterprotocol]

He sighs, pulling his finger out of his mouth, the claw having retracted once again.

"Mmh, I do thank you for the offer, my dear, but I shall be fine, the feeling has been lost in my fingertips now, so it no longer hurts, I'll replace them when they're no longer usable..."

He glances at her, as if judging her appearance, then sighs.

"But you could also be much better... sit down, my dear, I'm almost done transferring this tracker to my phone, you shouldn't keep on your feet when there's a perfectly good chair free, hm?"

He turns back to the computer, tapping something else, and then plugging his phone into a wire, a pop up showing on its screen as soon as he does so, an installation progress bar.

[livingwiththedrums]

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean there isn't a problem!!"

He's getting worse. She needs to be working harder to fix this. Fix what she did. She can't let him get any worse- She sits down and just sort of stares at the tabletop- or maybe the space above it? It's hard to tell. She's taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself, trying to quiet the drums. When did they get so loud?