Yowzah Oneshot Collection (3)

98(G)

embracing moments that seem to be still

                  jammiedaleks

River was just about to lose herself in the plot of a good book when a loud thwack snaps her out of reverie. Alert, her eyes scan the TARDIS library for signs of danger, but see nothing unusual between the giant columns of haphazardly stacked books. Resting her book and forearm on the plush sofa arm, she resumes reading.

“No no no no NO, you can’t do that!” A yell of frustration emanates from the direction of the paperback fiction piles, followed by several more thwacks of paper versus floor.

River delicately flips a page, paying the commotion no heed.

The lamp beside River’s sofa begins to rattle slightly as loud footsteps approach. Looking up, she catches a glimpse of a thunderous expression as the Doctor marches past her and out into the hallway. River merely smiles and lowers her gaze back to the page.

“I give it fourteen seconds,” she says aloud to the empty room. The screen on a metallic sphere floating by River’s head flickers to life and starts a stopwatch.

She manages to get two more sentences read before he re-enters the room as dramatically as he left it.

The Doctor makes a beeline for River upon spotting her. He flings himself onto the sofa, head hanging over the back as he sighs gustily. The sphere beeps twice, flashing 00:00:13.48 rather gleefully. Fiddling with the hem of his brown tweed jacket, he raises his head to look over at River.

She pays him no attention.

He shuffles ever so slightly closer to her side.

Still no response.

He continues to inch his way closer until they are barely millimetres apart. Anxiousness radiates off of him as he waits to be noticed. He sighs again, louder this time, and his foot taps out an impatient rhythm on the floor. Finally, River relents.

Without looking over at him, she asks casually, “Something the matter, my love?”

Instantly the Doctor leans into her and buries his face into her shoulder.

“How could she do that to her main character, River, it’s just cruel! Hundreds of pages worth of struggle and growth, only to snuff it in a car accident on the last page? Who does that?”

River pats his arm sympathetically. “Was it Jodi Picoult?”

He hums a mournful sound of affirmation, and shifts slightly so that he can press his nose against her neck for comfort. He breathes deeply, and River’s skin tingles delightfully in response. She runs her hand down his sleeve to brush against the back of his hand, but pauses as a thought suddenly occurs to her.

“I thought you didn’t read the endings?”

The Doctor grumpily sits up and jams his hands in his jacket pockets. He fishes out a severely crumpled piece of paper and drops it into her lap. River carefully balances her book on the armrest and picks up the balled up paper. She unfolds the page and read its contents, valiantly trying to keep the laughter out of her voice.

“’Win a fabulous family holiday to Utah’,” she reads, and beside her the Doctor scowls. “’Enter a competition to win an exciting trip to the setting of best-selling novel Hold Your Breath, complete with five nights at a luxurious hotel and a guided tour of the Kennecott Copper Mine.’ I have warned you, ripping out the literal last page of a book doesn’t guarantee you’ve removed the last page of the story. It’s a lucrative spot for advertisers.”