Thank You, Doctor || Pluto and The Doctor
It had only been a week and a half since she had...left them. Pluto had asked the Doctor to take Tigris and Caspian on a long trip. Maybe two weeks time. Neither of them were opposed to the idea. In fact they wanted to get out of the house. They wanted to get their minds off things after crying their eyes out for a few days. Though they probably still would.
They were up in their rooms getting whatever things they may need. The Doctor stood in the living room waiting, his eyes downward. It had been very hard on him. And it still was. The pain in his chest hadn't gone away yet. Both his hearts seemed to have sunk a great deal. As had everyone else's.
Pluto sat on the couch eyes on the floor as well. His hands were tightly laced together, knuckles white. It was as if he was trying to keep himself from doing anything rash. His whole body was so tense. He was in so much pain.
The silence in the room was heavy and thick. It seemed to make it hard to breathe. But finally the Doctor looked over at him. "Pluto," he said to get his attention. Pluto looked up quickly when he heard the Doctor speak. He let his hands go loose as he sat up a bit straighter. "Yes, Doctor," he answered, his voice much more even than usual. He had been forcing his voice to stop wavering.
The Doctor stared for a moment, seeing how Pluto's eyes seemed to be so much grayer than usual. So much tireder. Which was saying something as he knew the god was exhausted a lot of the time. But now he looked like a mess. The sight of him made the Doctor so much sadder. He wished that somehow all of this weight could be lifted off all of them without hardship. Though he knew it couldn't. They simply had to wait it out. And even then it would never truly leave.
"It's a very heavy, dark thing isn't it...grief...Me and you know better than most," he said, his voice a lot more monotone than usual. Pluto glanced downward and gave a slight nod. "Yes...it is...I've never been able to warm up to it really...It's one thing I can't help but be immature about...I can't get over it, no matter how many times I feel it," he answered slowly.
The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows slightly and gave a small shake of his head. "No...it's not immaturity, Pluto. Everyone feels grief. No one expects it. Not even you. And you know for a fact that one day everything around here is going to wilt and die. But you still won't fully expect it even if you do know," the Doctor said in reply. Pluto stared and took in a deep breath. He nodded reluctantly.
"You loved her," the Doctor stated quietly. Pluto looked back at him, eyebrows knitted together just a little. "We all did...with all our hearts," he continued as he looked down for a moment, the same sadness obvious on his face. "And your hearts are broken...but you were happy...we were all happy...though for us it felt like such a short period in time...but it was worth it, wouldn't you say?" the Doctor said as he looked back up smiling halfheartedly.
"When she had to leave you back when you both first met, she was so sad for the longest time. It killed me to see her like that," he said his eyes filled with sorrow. Pluto looked at the Doctor, pursing his lips to try and keep himself together.
"But then you both found each other again...she was happier than she'd ever been," he explained once again giving another fading smile. The Doctor stopped talking for a moment as his blue eyes glanced down and then looked back at his friend. "Better a broken heart than no heart at all," he finally said. Pluto's expression became a bit more soft when he heard that. He was quiet and then he spoke. "Thank you, Doctor," he said giving him the same sort of halfhearted smile. The Doctor smiled back and nodded a bit. "You're welcome, my friend."
At that moment the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs made them both look towards it. Tigris and Caspian came down with bags over their shoulders. The Doctor walked over smiling a bit more than he had been before.
"Well, lets get going shall we. Places to be," he said in a much more cheery voice, as he clasped his hands together. Both the children smiled a bit at him. They both said bye to their father and then all of them walked out. The house was once again silent.
