"I never liked the quite before."
He smiled meekly at her, gaze turning from the open TARDIS doors to his companion. “The silence of space can be somewhat unsettling for many people. But I’m glad you like it.”
She full on laughed at that. “Are you sure?” she teased, moving away from the door and the cold air of space. Slowly dancing closer to the console. “Thats almost to big of a span for me to choose from. How bout you pick this time?”
He shook his head in mirth. “Nope. I want this to be special. You pick wherever you want to go, even if it’s someplace we’ve never been to before.” He wanted their first date to be the best she’d ever had, and he worried he might get it wrong without her input.
Claire began to walk around the console, considering his question. It was not an easy choice. Pressing her lips together she looked up at him. “Wasn’t there a ppanet you told me about that you can sit and watch a star be born every few minutes?”
The Doctor beamed, always impressed by her memory of the thousands of places he told her about. “There is,” he agreed. “And it is very romantic. We can go there no problem. Perhaps we could take a picnic?”
“I would really like that,” she said, happy under his impressed look. She slid back from the console, leaning back against the railing to give him the space to do his work.
“Great,” he smiled brightly. “Maybe you could get a picnic basket ready while I get us there? The basket is in the kitchen cupboard, and there should be a blanket in there somewhere, too…”
She followed his directions. It took a bit of searching but she soon found the basket on one of the top shelves. Pulling one of the chairs she climbed up to get it and began to fill it with food. She found some jamie dodgers and the basics of making sandwhiches. When she turned back around the blanket was resting over the back of the chair.
Trying to balance everything in her arms she ran back to the console room. “Ready.”
The Doctor piloted and landed the TARDIS in the meantime, waiting by the doors and straightening his bow tie. The Time Lord hadn’t been this nervous in a while, but he knew it was for all the right reasons. He smiled at Claire when she made her way into the console room.
“Good. Let’s go.” He opened the door for her, holding it until she had passed through it.
Claire ducked under his arm to step onto the new planet. The weight of the basket and blanket keeping her jumping to a minimum. She couldn’t help the excited energy that filled her every time.
Spreading her arms wide she worked to pull her eyes away from the sky and back to her time lord… her date. “Pick a spot.”
The Doctor peered around until he finally let his eyes settle. “There,” he decided. The spot would give them the widest angle to view the spectacle with, and also keep them close enough to the TARDIS that if they had forgotten anything, it would only be a matter of popping back inside. He took the blanket from Claire and shook it out, laying it out for the two of them to sit on.
She followed close behind him. Standing back as he spread the blanket out. Claire sat at the edge of the blanket. She opened the basket and began to pull out their small meal. Her elbows supporting her weight, she turned her attention to the alien planet. “This place is really beautiful.”
The Doctor began to pull out food, helping Claire arrange the food in front of them.
“I’d hoped you’d like it,” he smiled, averting his gaze to the scenery. “It’s always been one of my favorite places.” And she was one of the only people he’d ever brought there.
“I can see why. I love it,” she trailed off. Her hand inched across the blanket going to the package of jamie dodgers. Snatching one and putting it in her mouth. She smiled and held one out to the time lord with her.
The Doctor flashed a smile at Claire, accepting the cookie he held out to her. He popped it into his mouth, smiling as he chewed on it.
“I’m glad you like it,” he told her, once he’d finished with his cookie. “I was worried you might not like it as much as I do.”
Her eyes had turned back to the night sky. Darting around, she tried to commit it all to memory. So focused on that she nearly missed what he had to say. “Now why would you think something as insane as that?”
He shrugged, reaching for another cookie. "Hey, humans aren't the only ones who have silly worries, you know." In truth, he'd been worried because he wanted to impress her.
