Still. (Tenth Doctor)

Matty...?

     It was cold, perhaps too cold to be outside. But, even as the girl sat in the top branches of a willow, her whole body shaking and turning pink, she refused to go back inside. Because for her, inside would be the tavern, full of creepy, mannerless men. She would rather be outside in her willow for as long as she could, however short of a time it may be. Time passed and she could hear the crickets chirping as it got later. She could hear distant, soft murmuring from inside the tavern, and the horses neighing from the tavern's stables, and, along with them, a man's voice.

"Now, don't say that! I'm sure that you're her favorite! Well, I don't really know, but- does she? Well then..." She had never heard his accent before, it was strange. Like a high-pitched donkey's. She slipped from her perch, ignoring the slight rip of her skirt against the rough bark of the tree. Her feet landed with a soft pat and she scurried towards the willow's low hanging leaves. And, as she peeked through them, she saw a man standing in the shadows of the stables. He leaned on a stall door, his feet crossed and his arms folded over the top of the door. His voice resounded along with the neighs of the ten or so horses that the tavern's occupants had brought. He seemed to be talking to the horse inside the stall, a brown spotted beauty, who was the only one that the tavern owned. His name was Matthews, she had named him herself.

"...oh,... Maybe not! You never know-"

"Are you talking to a horse?"

He spun around, his eyebrows raised in surprise. His mouth opened and closed before he gathered his thoughts, "Oh, well... yes. Yes, I was," He grinned, turning his head towards Matthews, "Oh!" He looked back at her, still grinning, "You must be Carrot Girl!" He held out his hand. "I'm the Doctor!"

She looked down at it, her brows furrowed in dismay. She had never met a man who had treated her as an equal, nor even tried to politely acquaint himself with her. She looked up at his grinning face and shook his hand. He had a strong grasp, and as their skin touched he inhaled softly.

"Your skin is freezing! Why are you out here in the cold? Oh, yeah... Matty said that you didn't like being inside there." He stuffed his hands in two symmetrical holes in his coat. He had strange attire...

"Matty?" She asked as a wisp of her hair came in front of her face.

"Matty? Matthews?" he looked back at the brown horse beside them. "Matty- no?" Matthews stomped his hooves and nodded his head. "See? He likes my little nickname!" She smiled at the strange man. Even the way that he looked at her was unusual. His eyes were wide as his grin crinkled his whole face.

She chuckled as "Matty" nudged the Doctor's shoulder with his head. The Doctor stumbled and grasped the horse's head with a laugh.

"He really likes you, Doctor...?"

"Oh, just the Doctor, thanks. And what's your name?"

"Ah," she whispered. "My name's Adonia." Her voice was soft and melodic. She smiled and dimples appeared on her cheeks.

"Adonia! Beautiful name. Now, I have a question for you," He stepped closer, his eyes widening unbelievably, he leaned towards her and one of his hands rested in front of her face. "A very important question, one that needs answering right now."

A/N: Hey there! This is a work in progress, and there may be slow updates, but I'll try my best to not to leave you hanging too often for too long. Now, all the fanfic author stuff: no, I don't own Doctor Who or any of its ideas or characters, I only own my plot, characters, and other stuff I might sprinkle in later. Don't steal my stuff, either. If I find you have, you'll be in a lot of trouble, and I will be VERY cross! Anyways, I'm a pretty cool person, so feel free to comment anything wrong with my story whether it be grammar or plot problems, OOC characters, or anything else. I promise I won't get offended.

-Scara

03/13/2019