Dec 22, 2023
@isbrilliant. call.
"Are you sure this isn't busywork?" Balfour didn't much trust the Doctor. Especially not when he'd sent the two of them to the arse end of London with nothing more than a load of technobabble to see them off.
seen from United States
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@isbrilliant. call.
"Are you sure this isn't busywork?" Balfour didn't much trust the Doctor. Especially not when he'd sent the two of them to the arse end of London with nothing more than a load of technobabble to see them off.
@stormlit asked: "Oh, we are in very real danger."
"No." Yes. Balfour reached back behind him, arm outstretched to try and figure out exactly where it was Molly stood. Without taking his eyes off of the statue before them. He took a step back, fairly certain that Molly wasn't directly behind him, trying his very hardest not to blink or glance away or trip. "There's two of us and only one of it. I'd call that perfect, wouldn't you?" Now, here was the question he really didn't want to ask: "Is there anything behind us?"
@yes7erdays / cont.
He wasn't good at this stuff. Feelings. Well, specifically he wasn't good at talking about them. Balfour felt things all the time - was drowning in feeling, actually, though he never knew what to do with it. That didn't make him stupid, of course. Just repressed. But he could see quite clearly what was happening here.
You leave with one Doctor, come back with another. The differences didn't matter much to him. Changing faces, he'd seen loads. But then, he'd never given much of a shit about the guy. But her? His heart was too big to sit here on this bench and pretend that he didn't see her hurting.
A few moments passed. Then a few more. Balfour eventually let himself look at her again, a strange expression upon his face as if he were thinking too hard about something he couldn't quite wrap his head around. As if he were grasping for the perfect thing to say to her. Everything he could say felt like a lie.
Hesitant, then, unsure that they were quite these people but unable to sit by and do nothing, he touched her shoulder.
@isbrilliant. call.
"I'm here to act as your escort. Just while you're around the facility." Babysitting, in other words. Balfour wouldn't call it that aloud, though; that wasn't a mistake he had to make to know she'd take offence to it. When he spoke again, it was with his most handsome smile and an easy tone. "I've been warned you're every bit as tricky as the Doctor." It was a compliment. Sort of.
@heartsdefine.
"It's Captain Sutherland now." Balfour wasn't sure how long it had been since the last handful of times Lin had seen him. For him, it had been years. For her? Who knew. It had been a long time since he thought he should keep track of those who travelled with the Doctor. Though, it hadn't slipped his notice that they were down a Scot and a nurse. "And I'm not here for niceties, I'm afraid. You need to come with me."
@savesomeone / cont.
"Yeah, I'll bet," he said with a soft laugh. There was no denying that Balfour was jealous of her. Couldn't help it. It always seemed to be the shit that came to Earth, all the bad stuff that they would rather all not be dealing with. The wonder was out there. All those places she got to run around with her Doctor. The nice stuff they got here usually only seemed to happen after averting the end of the world. Tonight? A light show that put the Northern Lights to shame.
Balfour was smiling as he glanced back to her. Still light, despite the day: "You guys taking passengers, or what? It's rubbish here."
@yes7erdays asked: "You were talking about me?"
"Oh, you jumped on that one a bit quick, didn't you?"
His smile was absolutely beautiful, all bright and happy and teasing. Balfour leaned back against her kitchen counter and, watching her still, popped a segment of the orange he was eating into his mouth. This felt like a gift. An obvious and open opportunity to poke at her, when it was so very often the other way around.
He nodded, then. Pulling apart another segment of the orange, he offered it out to her, always a soft heart even in the midst of all his awfulness.
"I've learned a lot about you today." Which, as far as accidental meetings with parents go, was a dream. Her dad was nice. They'd talked about golf courses and rugby and, yeah, Clara, but certainly not to the degree he was planning on torturing her with. All was fair in love and... bullying. "I'll never look at Blackpool Tower the same way again."
@librarychosen. call.
"Sorry, fella - heard you've been asking a few questions around here?" Which interested Balfour only because he was doing the same. Maybe they were after the same thing.