He didn't feel the need to lift his head, even as the doors to the TARDIS opened, and then closed again. He just kept working; after all, in this place, at this time, there were only three people who could have gotten inside, and since two of them had opted to spend the day getting married, there was only one person it could be.
'Hello, River...' He said, a tad flatly as he edged his way around the control column, tapping away randomly at the controls. He still didn't know what some of them did, but he found that the TARDIS had a way of creatively interpreting what he did into something that was at least interesting. Lovely old girl...
'Wrong,' A decidedly Scottish voice sighed. This caused the Doctor to look up, and blink in surprise. Amy leaned herself against a nearby railing, really looking quite lovely in her wedding dress.
'Pond?' The Time Lord cocked an eyebrow. 'I'm hardly an expert at these wedding things, only had a couple myself, but I thought it was customary for at least the bride and groom to remain
--
them until they were finished, yes?'
'It's still going on, and it's still close by,' She shrugged. 'You didn't park this thing too well. Anyway, I'm not running away or anything, I just... need a place to hide for a bit, if that makes sense?'
It didn't, but nothing would stop the Doctor from talking, 'Well, you picked the right spot. This place has been my place to hide for... ooh, ages. No better place to ignore your troubles than right here.'
'Yes, I know,' Amy drew in closer, having to hike her dress up a little to climb the stairs to the control room. She looked down at herself, all near-luminous white and lace, and felt herself begin to frown; wedding dresses might look nice, but they weren't exactly geared for the functional stuff, like moving around.
--
this one could do with some pockets...
'I just...' She stopped, sighed and tried to reorganize her thoughts. What
--
she just? What was it she was feeling? It was an odd sensation, and one she wasn't entirely at home with; looking around, she felt as though this might be the last time she was ever in this place, seeing this man. She sighed again.
'I'm feeling a little too earthbound, you know?'
'I
--
know,' The Doctor said, giving her a significant look from over the top of the array of flashing lights. 'Why do you think I have a time machine?'
'I noticed,' Amy nodded. There was a moment of silence, slow and awkward for her, merely quiet for him. He looked up at her again, seemingly surprised she was still here.
'Come on now, Pond,' He smiled, the same vaguely chastising smile she had seen him use a hundred times before. It struck her that she might not see that smile again, and her heart skipped a beat. Leadworth was too small...
'I get that you're nervous,' He continued, winking. 'Hell, I was too the first time. But, it's too special a day to spend it cooped up in a blue box with an old man. Go. Have fun. Dance, laugh, cake, whatever you want. Be wedded, Pond! I swear, I won't be in here too much longer, you'll see me around.'
But that wasn't exactly true, was it? It was entirely possible that, after today, he would be gone from her life forever. She'd seen the TARDIS' visual records, she knew there had been others in this control room with him before, and that there would likely be others after her, but did it have to be so soon? She hadn't spoken to Rory- her
--
by god!- about the possibility of continuing her travels in the TARDIS, how could she? The Doctor had only started
--
again a half hour ago, and now she could remember two timelines; one where he'd never come for her, where he'd been nothing but a dream and she had never seen the stars, and one where he had... although granted the latter tended to skip a few beats where the Pandorica was concerned.
After all that, after two universes and remembering him back into existence, could he just fly away and leave her to Leadworth and her new marriage?
Even at the prospect, she felt something almost akin to claustrophobia, on a universal scale. Before her eyes, her personal world was shrinking back down to just Leadworth and that silly little house that now had just the right number of rooms. And she couldn't even feel
--
about that, because she wasn't
--
to! Who was she to feel like she was losing
--
She'd been given an opportunity to see things no human being would see again for thousands of years,
--
she'd now get to go back to her home, and her husband, completely unscathed. Not all of the Doctor's friends had been as lucky as she, yet she still felt awful at the prospect of leaving it all behind.
...
--
it did her any lasting damage, too.
A familiar little impulse fluttered through her, something the rational part of her mind tagged immediately as entirely too selfish to become a complete thought. Still, it stuck with her; fourteen years of waiting, countless brushes with death, one near-derailed wedding... And he would be gone by morning.
No repercussions...
'It's all a bit permanent, don't you think?' Slowly, Amy rounded the control panel, getting closer to her target with each shuffling step. She thanked god she hadn't opted for heels with this white cloth casket she was wearing, 'The rest of my life... One guy.'
'Barring a divorce,' The Doctor said, apparently before he had thought it through, even a tiny bit. He looked up, a kind of muted horror on his face. He winced, 'Um, wow... Didn't mean
--
'Well, neither did I,' Amy arched an eyebrow, maintaining eye contact with the Time Lord as she closed the last few feet between them. She found herself smiling; this close, it was hard to forget the innumerable times she had seen this man divested of his dignity. That kind of thing stuck with a person, especially in the moments before, well...
She laughed, a tad nervously, 'No, I'm really more worried about the fact that I'll only get to sleep with Rory from now on. I never got to sow my wild oats or nothin'!'
The Doctor exhaled suddenly, back straightening as he stepped stiffly away from the console. He adopted a low, warning tone, 'Amy, not this again...'