- thirty-seventh year waiting -

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[dictated]

[alone on a bed in the medbay on Eleven's TARDIS, Rory Williams wakes up from a week-long sleep. He feels extremely disoriented and doesn't really remember collapsing in the castle lobby--there's so many new memories to process this time around, two thousand years' worth and then some--and he's got a pounding headache. But both of these are minor concerns when, upon regaining consciousness, the first thing he realizes is that he has a heartbeat. A pulse. And he's breathing. Not because he can, but because he has to. Which can only mean one thing:

He's gone home. And he's come back human again.

The realization hits him like a sucker punch to the chest and he makes to bolt upright into a sit, grabbing frantically at his right hand to check for the hinge--except his head throbs like it's been hit with a sledgehammer and a wave of nausea crashes over him. He sinks back onto his bed with a groan, squeezing his eyes shut and grimacing in pain. Okay, maybe the headache's not such a minor concern after all.

Swallowing to wet his dry throat, he croaks out:]

Amy? ... Doctor? Wha ...?

((open like an open thing! Rory's back from a trip home and has been canon-bumped up through Series 6, Episode 7: A Good Man Goes To War. He's no longer an Auton (buh-bye plasticness and handy gun in his hand!) and brings with him a metric fuckton of new emotional baggage courtesy of the Doctor and River Song))

Comments

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

Well, my perspective is that she'll definitely notice if we ... [vague hand motions] you know ... act differently around each other. And she'll want to know why.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

Just how fatherly do you plan on acting?

[She arches a brow at him]

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[makes a face at her like she's insane, but it almost immediately turns more thoughtful]

Well--I don't know--I don't if I--I don't know how. [more hand waving] But we know, so that'll ... that'll change how we act. Around each other. Even if we don't do it on purpose.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

How about we cross that bridge when we come to it?

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[he squirms a bit uncomfortably]

This isn't going to end well.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

I'm not expecting you to do anything Rory. You're the only one who can decide what you feel is right in this situation.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

I've already said I'm not going to tell her ... it's not my secret to tell. It's just--[he shrugs miserably] If--when--she does find out ... I don't know what I'm going to do.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

Just hope she doesn't have easy access to weapons at the time?

[That's a joke]

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[he huffs in vague amusement]

You have seen her nails, right?

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

[She laughs]

Hide your sword.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[laughs too, just a little]

I won't--I'll put it back where I found it. [his expression sobers slightly, again] If the Doctor comes back for us. It was in the wardrobe room, somehow. [looks up at her] The same sword.

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

[she can understand that]

Okay, then. Our room it is.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[his smile turns grateful, and then he's shifting to slip gingerly back off the bed before turning and holding his arms out to help her off as well. He's still squinting and he looks terrible, but still better than he did when he first woke up (crying aside0]

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

[Amy lets him help her down, then pick up her crutches and hand them to her, and she tries to give him a reassuring smile in turn as she gets them situated beneath her arms. She doesn't feel the reassurance or the smile at all, but she wants to make the effort for him]

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[he doesn't really feel the reassurance either, but he DOES feel the effort, and that's what he appreciates. As a result the silence between them is about as comfortable as it can be; Rory stretches a little, then touches his hand to the small of Amy's back to let her know that it's okay to go ahead, and that he'll be right behind her]

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

[she sets a moderate pace for Rory's benefit; the TARDIS takes them straight to the console room, much to Amy's relief, so from there it's only a short walk from the Doctor's room to the lift, and then down the corridor to their own room. She assumes Rory meant their castle room and not their room in the TARDIS, anyway. At least both of them would have the air of a room not lived in much lately]

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[oh, Rory definitely meant their castle room. It's grown to be a real home for him, the best one he can hope for here, and he craves the familiar comfort of it. He gives Amy a small kiss to her temple as he moves past her to get the door open, then walks ahead inside to hold it for her. The tension in his body melts a good deal as he looks around the room]

It's a bit musty ...

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

Yeah... well.

[after a second's consideration, once she's inside the room, Amy heads over to the kitchenette to put the kettle on. They both could probably benefit some tea. She knows she sure as hell would]

I haven't been here in a week.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[it doesn't immediately occur to him that she's making tea for the both of them, or that he can even drink it. Probably he'll accidentally starve until he remembers that he actually needs to eat and drink to stay alive now. While she's doing that, he moves across the room to open the drapes a little and the windows too, to let in some fresh air]

Was that how long I was out, a week? [and before she can answer] Well, that's pretty standard though isn't it.

[hulloeverything.livejournal.com]

[he sighs softly, taking a step back to give Rory some space.]

Thank you, Rory. [he pauses, running a hand through his hair] You could think of blaming those who took her in the first place.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do. I really do.

[there's a vicious bite in his words and in the set of his jaw when he says that, but it almost immediately deflates back to quiet emptiness. He looks at the bottle in his hand and moves to hold it in his lap]

But it's like River said. [miraculously, his voice doesn't crack on 'River'] They never would've taken her in the first place if it hadn't been for you--doing what you do.

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[she says it lightly enough, as she sets her crutches aside and gets herself in a good balanced position to reach the kettle, fill it up with water, and set it on the eyes--but she still doesn't feel any lightness at all. And she's aware that they're both sort of stalling for time, but she doesn't care]

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[windows opened and drapes fluffed, Rory turns back around to face Amy and just sort of ... stalls. Literally. He's hovering awkwardly by the window, hands frozen in mid-wring, and watches Amy putter about the kitchenette for a full minute before he realizes he's failing in his husband duties]

Um--do you--do you want any help ...?

[too-fairytale.livejournal.com]

[she glances over at him, and then ends up... not looking away. It's so *weird*, seeing him with an actual flush of life to his skin after all the time he spent as plastic, and it makes her heart constrict]

No, you go--lie down.

[nurse-boy.livejournal.com]

[he squirms beneath her gaze; after several seconds he looks down, checking himself over for an unsightly stain on his clothes or anything that would cause her to stare like that]

... You're staring.