Credit to doctorrsong
The Doctor furrowed his brows as he flicked another switch. He knew River was watching him in that particularly unnerving way of hers, but he wasn’t entirely sure why.
He honestly still wasn’t quite certain what to make of her. She proved to be very much a mystery to him. She was constantly setting him off balance but damn him if he didn’t love it just a little bit. She was a puzzle, and he was determined to solve her.
He bowed his back as he bent over the console, pretending to study some of the controls while he looked at her through his fringe. She was leaning back against the railing, looking as much at home as he did when he stepped into the TARDIS.
He didn’t know why, but that didn’t bother him as much as it should have. He tried to act like her mere presence in his ship was an affront, but he simply didn’t feel that way. He felt like she had a place her, as much as he didn’t understand it.
He watched as she pushed away from the railing, her heels clicking on the glass floor as she approached him. He straightened to his full height when she stopped in front of him.
River smoothed her hand over his chest and his breath caught at the sensation. She always touched him this way, as though she was used to having her hands on him. It made him wonder what kind of things he got up to with her younger self. Really wonder when she looked at him with that secretive smile.
His eyes traced over her face, taking in the way those full lips curved as she smiled. They were very distracting, her lips. Watching them form words and sentences had side-tracked him more than once. Well, and then there was her voice. That was a distraction all on its own… not that he would admit to that. She just had a certain tone she used only for him, and even though he pretended he hadn’t noticed, he certainly had noticed.
His gaze moved to her eyes, studying the way they crinkled at the corners while she grinned up at him. Really, the way the light hit the green of her eyes was something that shouldn’t catch his attention as much as it did, but he couldn’t help it. They were like a galaxy all on their own, and he would be foolish to abandon his admiration of them when he hadn’t quite memorised the way her eyes darkened when he was around.
Because of his daydreaming, he didn’t notice her hand curling around his sonic until she pulled it from his coat pocket and bounced a step back from him.
“River!” he gasped indignantly when he found his voice again.
He reached a hand out to make a grab for her, but she danced away from him, staying just out of his reach. He grunted when the TARDIS lurched, causing them both to stumble, before he hurried back to the console. He needed to stabilize her before they ended up landing in a supernova. That would be bad. Very bad.
“You’ve never minded me taking it in the past,” River said when he looked at her again. She was up the stairs now and her fingers were curled around his sonic. She didn’t look like she was going to relinquish it any time soon.
“You’ve never taken it before!” he countered, his voice taking on the sulking quality she always managed to bring out in it. It was frustrating, really, to not know what she knew. He slammed a lever down at the way her brows raised. That was her I-know-something-you-don’t look. He hated that look. Hated the way she could get him so riled up with so little effort. But she was so very intriguing.
“I haven’t?” she asked after a beat.
“Of course not! Why would I let you take my screwdriver? It’s mine.”
“Yes, sweetie,” she replied, smiling slowly. “I know it’s yours. That’s why I use it.”
His brows drew together, uncomprehending. “What are you talking about? What are you using it for?”
