Probably the time I asked David if his flight got in safely. And he paused, carefully dissected the dumbest question ever asked of him, looked at me, and in the most gentle way humanly possible only reserved for speaking to children…told me it did.
Or…waking up on my 30th in Greece and cry-watching the sunrise. Whatever.
Treat, please. Will x Holly. "You're wearing my sweater." + Game Night.
Game Night. 1 / 2
Pairing: Will Burton (The Escape Artist) x Holly Shawcross(True Love)
Rating:Teen
Word count: 1.5k
Summary: Will and Holly are part of a group of friends whomeet every week to play board games. Although there is more than friendship growing between them, their pasts prevent them from acting on their feelings.
A/N: I also wrote a fem!Will x Holly version of thisprompt: Sweater Weather
Some details might escape you if you haven’t seen the shows, but I think you can still enjoy the story.
○ Trick or treat prompts
○ All my autumn fics
Available on Ao3
🍂
“You don’t have to do that,” Will said as Holly washed the glasses used by their friends.
“It’s no bother.”
He cleared the table and threw away empty bags of crisps and pretzels.
“How was your week?”
She interpreted his question as a sign that he didn’t mind her staying after the others had left.
Holly worked part time at an immigration center, teaching English to newcomers. As Will wiped crumbs off the table, she told him about a teenage Somalian refugee who drew comic strips of his journey to England. She’d put him in contact with a gallery where she’d once exhibited her own work.
“Did you paint anything new this week?” Will asked.
“Yeah. Christmas cards. I need to stock up my online shop in time for Cyber Monday.”
“But you loved painting Autumn stuff.”
“I know, I really did.” She pouted.
She washed another glass, and Will sided up to her with a towel to dry it.
“I nearly drank my paint water again this week.”
“I told you to stop using that mug.” He bumped her with his shoulder.
“But I love it!” She bumped him back with her hip.
He shook his head fondly.
She asked about his own week, she remembered he had a meeting with a new client yesterday. He lost his smile.
“The man’s a serial drunk driver and he’s killed someone because of it, and I swear his breath smelled of gin when we met.”
“Jesus. Did he drive to the appointment?”
“Thank God, no. His solicitor got him to start the 12-Step Program.”
“That’s good. There’s hope.”
He nodded, his lips in a tight smile.
“You must think I’m naive,” Holly said.
“No, no, but he’s probably only doing it to get a reduced sentence.” Belatedly, he added, “But I think it’s great that you still have faith in people.”
“I have to. Don’t you?”
He didn’t answer. He had seen too much in his career. That lost puppy look in his eyes tugged at her heartstrings.
She had to believe people could make amends and change, otherwise there was no hope for her after what she’d done. And what he’d done.
She wondered if he knew that she’d slept with one of her students, the way she knew he’d killed his wife’s murderer, by unearthing five-year old headlines on Google. They’d both moved elsewhere, to Cambridge, to put it all behind, so she never brought up the subject, never asked him if he really did it. Who they were now was all that mattered.
“I think some people can become better persons,” he finally admitted.
She touched his arm lightly, a shy show of support, and he surprised her by putting his hand over hers. His thumb brushed across her knuckles, and her arm goose-pimpled from the contact.
She loved these moments, when it was just the two of them and they talked about more personal things, unlike when the others were around.
Will and Holly were part of a group of eight friends who played board games every week. Lately, when the game was at Will’s, she made sure to arrive a little early and found some excuse to stay after the others had left.
Will had joined the group six months ago (one of their members had a baby and couldn’t come to their weekly games anymore so he introduced Will as his replacement). Maybe it was a professional quirk, Holly was a teacher after all, but she immediately took him under her wing, explaining the rules and the inside jokes, and going out of her way to include him in the group. She was only being nice, but somewhere along the way being nice turned into being infatuated.
Jamie’s arrival from his football practice interrupted their moment. They jumped apart and quickly finished cleaning up the kitchen.
Will saw her to the door. The temperature had dropped significantly, and Holly was only wearing a thin raincoat.
“It’s alright,” she said, “the bus stop’s only two blocks away.”
“I don’t want you to catch something, I need you to win the next game. Here.” He removed his grey jumper and offered it to her.
Holly walked to the bus stop with her nose under the collar. Unlike her who shopped at charity shops, Will had the means to buy high quality clothes and this jumper was no exception, a blend of cashmere and wool as far as she could tell. She rubbed her cheek against it. His cologne lingered between the stitches, warm and woodsy, and with the smell of rain in the air, it reminded her of the forest in autumn.
She wore his sweater all week. It kept her warm when she painted or read with the windows open. She became so used to it that she still had it on when they met at Patrick’s house for the next game night. Will didn’t notice however. Even if it was half past seven, he’d obviously come straight from court and his brain was still occupied by work. His hair was messy as if he’d tugged on it.
He sat down next to her without a salutation, and pulled a pre-packaged cheese sandwich and a green apple out of his coat pockets.
Every other week, they played Dungeons & Dragons. Patrick— a stocky, dark-skinned accountant who’d initiated the game nights with his sister Sabrina— recapped their latest quest. Everyone organized their dice, figurines and character sheets on the dining room table. Everyone except Will who was munching absentmindedly on his stale sandwich.
“Will?” Patrick repeated.
He blinked out of his thoughts and looked around as if he’d forgotten where he was. “Uh?”
“That weapon you found at the cave, was it a knife or a sword?”
“In the game,” Jasna, another player, specified.
“Yeah, sorry, erm…” He looked through his notes and answered them.
“Long day?” Holly whispered to him.
“Aye.”
“Relax.” She leaned well into his personal space and loosened his tie.
He didn’t say a word, only turned his torso towards her, offering better access. She hadn’t planned on taking it all off, but now her fingers worked at the knot. The silky material glided under his collar and wrapped around her fist.
“You’re free from work now.”
As he took his tie from her hands, his fingers deliberately brushed against hers.
“Are you wearing my jumper?”
“Have been since I got here.” She chuckled. “Sorry, I’ll give it back to you.”
“There’s no rush.”
Holly’s character was a Wizard and Will’s a Rogue. Because they always sat next to each other, they often separated from the rest of the gang to conduct their own mission. They made a good team. Will was a great strategist, always a step ahead of everyone, even the Dungeon Master. He would lean towards Holly, and whisper to her their next move. Her own strength was thinking outside the box, using her character’s spells in creative ways.
“Holly, you can’t use the Glyph of Warding that way,” Patrick said.
Will put on his glasses and looked through the Player’s Handbook. “Objection.”
Patrick groaned.
Will recited the description of the spell, “You inscribe a glyph that harms other creatures, either upon a surface or within an object that can be closed to conceal the glyph. Did you not say just 10 minutes ago that Mordenkainen closed the portal? Accordingly…”
“Why are you always defending her and not us?” Sabrina asked.
And that was the thing, wasn’t it? Holly’s weakness. It’s why she’d had an affair with a married man, an underage student and an older woman who called her her Muse. If they made her feel just a little special… But he was a widower, a single father and a workaholic, but she could feel it, like the pull of the undercurrent before a big wave. She was wary of that pull now— three years of therapy had taught her that at least—, but the more she resisted it, the more delicious it was. And really, it didn’t help that he wore such tight jeans.
Sometimes, she drew their D&D characters together.
“Holly, here’s what I’ll do, if Modenkainen is still in this plane, you can use the glyph on his portal.” Patrick rolled a pair of twenty-side die. “And you got it. Damn it.”
Holly and Will high-fived.
The game continued as they ate junk food, drank cider and generally drove Patrick crazy with their antics. “You can’t drug the elves to get in the castle!”
“What was the point of going all the way to Yesterhill to get these pastries, then?”
“I didn’t make you go there. By the way, Jerome, did you hide your tail?”
“Yeah, I shoved it up me arsehole.”
The whole table burst out laughing.
By the end of the night, they’d reigned in their hilarity enough to defeat a dragon and a horde of banshees.
“Same time next week,” Jasna said as she put on her coat. “It will be Halloween, so you’d all better dress up. Just kidding.”
Much to Holly’s surprise, Will offered her a ride home even though her flat wasn’t on his way.
Street lights glistened on the rain-sleek pavement and the wind carried dead leaves across the road. The full moon shone a warm, benevolent yellow over the river Cam.
Although they were silent, the car was brimming with some kind of energy. Will nearly missed a red light even if his eyes were trained on the road, Holly kept squirming on her seat, and they repeatedly snuck glances at each other. He missed the exit for her neighborhood, and they had to drive a while longer. She didn’t mind. She wanted him to keep driving. All night. Anywhere, out of town. They’d talk of nothing and everything.
He stopped in front of her building and killed the engine. She unbuckled her seat belt but didn’t leave the car. She didn’t want to have to wait a whole week before seeing him again.
“So…” he said.
“We’re here.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Not at all. Oh! I have something for you.”
He reached for something on the back seat and handed her a paper bag. She unwrapped a set of mugs labelled “paint water” and “not paint water”.
“I saw them in a craft store window. Thought of you.” He tugged on his earlobe, watching her reaction. “Do you like them?”
Holly didn’t know what to say. It made her so happy that he’d thought of her. She cradled the mugs to her chest and nodded. She remembered something Karen had once said, that she wanted someone who would love “all her nerdy little things”. Holly had found that someone.
She tentatively leaned over the gear stick to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head at the same time and her lips landed right on the corner of his mouth. They both laughed nervously.
“Sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
“I should give you back your jumper.”
She took off her scarf and raincoat. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach when she gripped the hem of the sweater; she caught the hem of her tank top as well and pulled it all up over her head.
Will’s eyes widened when he saw her bra. Her chest heaved with quick breaths.
“Holly…” He swallowed thickly. “You’ll get cold.”
And she did, for his rejection was like a bucket of iced water to the face.
“Right.” She hastily put her raincoat back on and rushed outside the car with a mumbled goodbye.
“Oh, come on!” Amy groaned. “You know what I’m talking about, it’s in almost every rom-com. Did They or Didn’t They. The tension?”
The Doctor scrunched his nose, putting away the plate he just washed. Amy leaned on the counter while he cleaned up after lunch, “My life is not a rom-com, Pond. Maybe more like a sci-fi, or those very funny ones about road trips.”
“She’s your best friend and your roommate.” Yeah, she is. Rose has been living with him for a few months since she moved out of her mum’s. What did have to do with anything?
“So?”
Amy rolled her eyes, a common occurrence when he was being particularly evasive. But the Doctor didn’t have to tell her everything, she was just really good at putting two and two together. “You really are thick, aren’t you?”
“But I am mindful in the most useful of ways,” he pointed out, tapping the tip of her nose with a soapy finger. She batted it away, hiding the smile peeking from her lips.
“I beg to differ.”
The Doctor huffed, wishing Rose was there to save him from his prying friend. “Why are you interrogating me anyway? Where’s Rory?”
Amy shrugged and examined her nails closely. Her silence was enough to tell him she knew, but wouldn’t admit it. He must be asking Rose the same thing Amy was. Ever since they got engaged it was like a never ending game of match maker for them.
Ha! That was funny, he should tell Rose about it later.
“Why are you always interfering with my love life?”
She perked up. “So you agree it’s a love life?”
“Amy.” He moved towards the sofa in the living room after drying his hands, Amy plopping down right next to him.
“But don’t you like her?” she pouted.
“Of course!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “She’s wonderful.”
“But if you like her, why won’t you do anything about it?”
The Doctor sighed, pretending to mull it over. “If I ever do anything about it, you’ll find it out, eh?” He bumped her shoulder, and she bumped it right back “Clever Pond.”
“Fine.”
“Are you going to help me clean up the flat before Rose comes back?”
Amy patted his knee as she got up, smiling infuriatingly as she left him to tackle the mess of his and Rose’s flat. “You’re on your own!”
Tagged by: the lovely Mel thank you! @mel-loves-all
Relationship status: married
Top 3 ships: I’m not much of a shipper actually but Ten x Rose (DW), Aziraphale x Crowley (Good Omens) and YoungHo x JooEun (Oh my Venus) cause their chemistry is through the roof!
Top 3 rarepair ships: again not too much of a shipper but Hardy x Hannah makes my heart beat, not rare but crossover(Broadchurch x SDoaCG) Aiden Hoynes x anyone ! (politicians husband). A crack one: Matt x Dom (Muse)
Lipstick or chapstick: Lipstick!
Last Song: Centavito - Romeo Santos
Last Movie: The princess switch
Currently Reading: Assortment of fics and rereading Good Omens
If you had to pick 1 favorite episode from each season (that you’ve seen) which would you pick?
Oooooh goodness....let’s see......
1: Rose (It’s hard to pick one, but that’s it I think.)
2. New Earth
3. Human Nature/Family of Blood or Blink?
4. Partners in Crime or The Unicorn and the Wasp?
5. Vincent and the Doctor
6. The Doctor’s Wife
7. ....I honestly don’t remember any of these well enough to remember if any of them were likable.
8. Mummy on the Orient Express (for the setting....predictable, me)
9. The Woman Who Lived? Maybe?
10. The Pilot or Thin Ice or The Doctor Falls?
Whewww that made me think...I almost want to watch Moff’s era again since I’ve only seen each ep once and I barely remember anything about Eleven, but....nah, probably won’t. :p
sternziege replied to your post “Question… When answering questions or talking about the Doctor what...”
don't think it would be inaccurate to use He for 1-12 and then She for 13, honestly. I think in this particular case "they" might get confusing, and it's not specifically that the doctor is Gender Neutral or other non-binary, it's just specifically that the gender of the time-based individual you may be referring to has changed.
meanwhileinpetesworld replied to your post “Question… When answering questions or talking about the Doctor what...”
Ive been using He/Him for 1-12 and both They/Their & She/Her for 13. I’m curious as to what everyone else uses as well
thesnuggliestduckling replied to your post “Question… When answering questions or talking about the Doctor what...”
I’ve been using he/him for 1-12, she/her for 13, and they/them for generalizations across the board. Or you can play the Avoid-the-Pronouns game. I don’t think they/them is any more confusing than having more than one character go by she/her, plus it’s something that I’m sure most NB people would be thrilled to have more normalized.
Hmmm okay. Thanks for your opinions. I guess I’ll start using he/she for the proper incarnations and just use ‘they’ when talking about the Doctor as a whole or if a specific one wasn’t identified. 😃
@creativebec replied to your post “Long time no see”
Does this mean you're one step closer to being a doctor Ash ? #iknownothing
@timelords-wizards-winchesters replied to your post “Long time no see”
Omg congratulations!!!!
@skyler10fic replied to your post “Long time no see”
YAY congrats!!!
@stars-and-the-moon0728 replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congrats!! You’re a badass!
@benty67 replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congrats to you! Glad all your hard work and dedication paid off. Hope you can take some time to kick back and relax a bit now. You more than deserve it.
@takanomeofgallifrey replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congratulations!!
@whoinwhoville replied to your post “Long time no see”
That’s wonderful! Congratulations!!!
@lots-o-huggindoctor replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congrats!!!!
@meanwhileinpetesworld replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congratulations!!!! ��
@osnes-tveit replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congratulations!!!! All the hard work paid off!
@rvde-and-not-ginger replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congratulations! ����
@blueboxesandtrafficcones replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congrats!
@tenroseforeverandever replied to your post “Long time no see”
Congratulations! Brilliant you!
Thank you all so much!!! <3
@creativebec: yep, I’m one step closer to being a doctor :) I’ve got my Master’s degree, and after another three or four years of research and writing a thesis, I’ll have my PhD in chemistry :)
