amberfocus | Pushing the Boundaries (2/3)

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Ch. 1:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/104382.html

                                                                        Chapter Two

“I’ll only get to have an hour with her,” the Doctor said nervously pulling at his bow tie.

Donna lightly slapped his hand away. “Leave it,” she said straightening it back up. “You undo it one more time and I’m not tying it for you again.”

“I’m 904 years old, Donna. I think I can tie my own tie,” he muttered.

“You think a lot of things,” she said.

“Yep. Big ol’ Time Lord brain is constantly thinking.”

She smoothed her hands down over the shoulders of his jacket and eyed him critically. “You know for a skinny streak of nothing, you look quite dashing in a tux."

“Why, Donna Noble, was that a compliment?” he asked her with a grin.

She took a step back. “Don’t get used to it,” she said with a toss of her carefully coifed hair. “And don’t let it go to your head. It’s already big enough as it is,” she told him but her smile softened her words.

“You best go get dressed,” the Doctor said. “It’s almost time to go.”

“Yes, well,” said Donna, “about that. I can’t get the corset tightened properly.”

“Oh. Well, I can help you with that. I mean…I won’t look or anything. Just grab the strings and pull. I was forever doing that with Rose. Least until we…well, never mind, you don’t need to know about that.” He was starting to babble. “Of course, Martha never needed a corset. She was so tiny she fit into the period dresses just fine…” He trailed off at the thunderous look on Donna’s face.

“Are you implying that I’m a bit big?” she growled at him.

“What? No!” he looked at her horrified. “You’re just, well,” he gestured helplessly at her chest and hips, “curvier. Like Rose was. Well, more than Rose was, I mean you’ve got far more on…top.”

She glared at him. “And that’s another thing. You seem to be staring far too much at what I have on top lately.” Her hands went across her chest and her glare deepened.

“Donna Noble, I have not!” he declared adamantly. She just looked at him. “Well, it doesn’t mean anything,” he admitted sheepishly a moment later. “I mean, they’re there and they kind of…well, you know, say hello rather loudly at times.”

“Say hello? My breasts do not ‘say hello,’ to anyone!”

“Sure they don’t. And they won’t be saying to the ambassador of Mon’tec Rief, ‘hey there, look at me, fancy a shag, I’ve got a spare couple of hours,’ or anything like that,” he told her.

Donna narrowed her eyes. “You know, alien or no, when it comes right down to it you are still such a…a…man!”

“Thank you.” He grinned cheekily at her.

“And that wasn’t a compliment. Now come along and help me with that stupid corset and don’t you dare have any conversations with my chest,” she told him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he told her. With a smirk on his face he followed her to her room and waited while she stepped behind the Japanese screen and wiggled out of her shirt and bra then pulled the corset around her. She backed out from behind the screen and he quickly pulled the laces closed, tying her up tightly. She dashed back behind the screen.

“You can go now,” she said dismissively.

“What about the buttons on the back of the gown?” he asked. “You’ll need help with those.”

She sighed irritably. He heard the rustle of fabric as she removed her trousers and then pulled the dress over her head. “You know, sometimes I think you have all these difficult dresses just so you can sneak a peak at your companions in a state of undress.”

“I do not. They’re authentic period pieces!” he said only feeling slightly guilty about her comment. It was true that if he’d wanted to he could have found dresses in the future that looked authentic but were much easier to put on and didn’t require so much fussing. But he liked historical accuracy and it had absolutely nothing to do with his pretty female companions needing help with them. Usually. Rose had been an exception. Rose had been an exception for everything.

She emerged from behind the screen, the front of the bodice held firmly to her chest and turned so he could do up the back of the gown. His fingers fumbled for a moment as he remembered doing this same thing for Rose nearly four years ago now, the first time he’d gone to this ball in his last body. He sighed as he got the hang of the little buttons and began the tedious process of doing them up.

Finally he was done and he tugged the fabric down a bit then smoothed it into place. “Well, let’s see then,” he told her. She turned around and put her hands on her hips daring him to make a snarky remark. He didn’t.

“You’re lovely,” he said softly. “The Ambassador won’t know what hit him. And hopefully neither will my former self. He always did have a bit of an eye for a nicely filled corset.” He blushed then as he realized what he’d just said.

Donna smacked him and he yelped. “You had to go and ruin it.”

“It was just an observation, Donna!” he insisted.

She raised her hand again and advanced on him. “Observe this, sunshine.”

He retreated rapidly to the door. “I’ll just wait for you in the console room then, shall I?” He dashed away as if demons were chasing him.

Donna laughed softly to herself. The Doctor really was too easy a target.

It would be a bit longer before the Ambassador to Mon’tec Rief would appear at the ball even though it was already in full swing when they arrived. The Doctor was glad of this because he needed Donna on full alert if his plan to sneak time with Rose was going to work. A distracted Donna was worse than no Donna at all when it came down to it. And the Ambassador was a sure-fire distraction to his normally down to earth companion.

“There they are,” the Doctor said grabbing Donna’s arm in his excitement.

“What? Where?” she asked picking up on his emotion as she gazed about the room.

“They just came in the door. Over there. The blonde girl in the blue dress and the bloke in the leather jacket,” he said.

“Huh. You could have dressed for the occasion,” she chided him.

“I changed my jumper. And those were my best jeans, I’ll have you know.”

“She’s young,” Donna blurted a moment later. “I never knew she was so young.”

“Age never mattered with us. We were just…us,” he said wistfully. “I miss her.”

Donna turned to look at him and he shrugged, a bit embarrassed. He could see Donna’s eyes tearing up just a little bit. “Anyway, you’ll get to dance tonight,” she managed to say. She turned her eyes back to the couple. “You were a right looker, weren’t you? You never said.”

“A looker? With those ears and that nose?” he protested.

“She certainly doesn’t seem to mind,” Donna said watching as Rose gazed up at the other Doctor. “You’re gorgeous.”

He snorted. “Hardly.”

The look Donna gave him was rather dark. “If you had looked like that I would have come with you the first time.”

“Donna Noble, are you flirting with me?” he asked astonished.

“Nope. But I’ll be flirting with him,” she said.

“But he’s me!”

“Just far more attractive.”

“But I was all nose and ears. I was…I was…well, I’m pretty now!” he protested.

She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, you are. But he’s…rowr,” she said.

“Did you just make a tiger noise?”

“Oh, honestly. It’s not like my flirting with him comes to anything. You told me that already. So let me have my fun.” Her eyes went back to the couple. “Blimey, she’s in love with you! And look at you. You’re smitten.”

“I told you. We were together. This night…was the start of that.” His voice was heavy with emotion. He turned to her again. “Thank you, Donna, for helping me tonight. For giving me this chance with her.”

She reached over and gave him an impulsive hug. “You know I’d do anything for you, you crazy Martian,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I know.”

Donna waited until Rose stormed away from the other Doctor and made her way to the buffet tables. When her Doctor followed the young woman out onto the verandah she made her way over to his former self. He was stewing already. He might look different but from the full head of steam building up on his sulk and the expression on his face, she could tell he was the same man now that she was looking for it.

“Lovely evening,” she said joining him by the wall. “Quite the turnout, isn’t it?”

The Doctor turned to look at her, his eyes focusing first on her face, then trailing down her body, lingering a moment on her cleavage on both the way down and on the way back up before glancing at her face again and flicking his eyes away dismissively as he turned his gaze back on the entrance to the verandah. “The event of the century,” he said shortly. She was surprised by his harsh Northern accent, but it only registered momentarily because of his attitude.

If there was one thing Donna hated it was people treating her dismissively, especially when she looked this hot. Prat, she thought loudly. He glanced at her suddenly and she wondered if he had heard her thinking. She knew that the Doctor was somewhat telepathic, but wasn’t sure exactly how much. He gave her a slightly curious stare but again his attention was drawn off in the direction Rose had disappeared in.

She tried again. “Such a happy event for Earth. The final ratification of the Nine Star League took place just last week. The negotiations were very fierce, but in the end everything was sorted out quite nicely.”

“Were they?” he asked disinterestedly. She sighed. He was giving her nothing to work with.

“Yes. My…brother had quite a hand in brokering the accords,” she said nodding to her version of the Doctor who was just making his way out onto the verandah that Rose had entered a short time ago. She was quite proud of her Doctor for those accords though she’d never let him know. “I think they signed it in the end just to get him to shut up. He’s got quite the gob on him. Think they were in fear he’d talk them to death.

“Runs in the family, then,” muttered this Doctor rudely. Oh, she wanted to smack him. If he’d been her Doctor he’d be rubbing his arm and giving her his injured puppy look right about now. Instead, knowing how important it was to this man’s future self, she tried again.

“My name’s Donna,” she said with her best smile.

“Oh,” he said straining his neck to see if he could catch a glimpse of his missing companion. Donna rolled her eyes.

“And you are?” she asked him.

“Not interested,” he said bluntly turning the full force of his steel blue eyes on her. Oh, he was so getting a smack later tonight for that comment. She didn’t care if it was a different him that made it. And this him was not going to get away from the sharp end of her tongue.

She snorted at him and he had the nerve to suddenly look hurt. Her Doctor had mentioned he was sensitive about his looks and now she’d just dismissed him. Served him right. Git.

“You may not be just a skinny streak of bacon now, there may be something to actually hold onto with you, but I’m still not interested in getting a leg over. I’m just making polite conversation. Well, my end’s polite. Yours, not so much,” she snapped at him.

She walked away from him then. “I certainly hope that was enough time. Infuriating alien,” she muttered. Then she caught sight of the Ambassador of Mon’tec Rief arriving and she decided her Doctor would simply have to fend for himself. Now here was a man who deserved her attention. And as he turned his eyes on her and his face lit up, she knew she would not be dismissed again tonight.

Ch. 3:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/138108.html