1Rom-coms, but The Doctor's Way!
Author Note: All familiar ideas stem from Russell T. Davies, not me. Like I said, this story follows directly on from 'Hide', reason being is because it worked for what I wanted to do here with the Doctor and Clara.
The Doctor rushed around to another part of Caliburn House in excitement, and Clara quickly caught up with him before he started his motor-mouth again.
"It's the oldest story in the universe, this one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events. War, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the hex, or he's..." he trailed for a second, throwing his arm around Clara's shoulders. "...thrown into it. Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space, across dimensions. This isn't a ghost story, it's a love story!" he finished, smiling. After that, he awkwardly retrieved his arm from around Clara, his shocked face a contrast to her smile. "Sorry." he muttered, leaving Clara alone with her thoughts.
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt the rest of your life. So. Tiny favour to ask..." the bow-tied alien said to Emma Grayling as he went to the pocket universe.
After he'd done what was needed, he and Clara went off in the Tardis - the blue box itself recovering from Clara's tailspin-like flying - ready for another adventure. Only this time, something was weighing on both their minds. Clara was in her bedroom, fashioned with scarlet and cyan walls which she'd painted herself.
"And to think, no help from the Doctor, thank you very much." she mused out loud as she thought back to that experience - he had engaged her in a paint-brush fight.
But then she thought back to how much their bond meant to her. Immature with paint though he was, he had trusted her from the moment they met, and of course there was the ordeal with her mum's leaf. With a tear rolling down her cheek, she remembered that's why two of the walls were scarlet - to reflect the red leaf. But then a happier memory crossed her mind concerning the Time Lord - one very recent one. The way he had put his arm around her at Caliburn House. A pink tinge crossed her face as she remembered the electricity going through her with just a simple touch on her collar area. The white light from the bulbs in her room suddenly tinted pink.
"Lay off, Tardis." she muttered, fighting back a smile. The blue box responded by playing piano and a whistling sound that went along to the notes. Clara blushed.
"No, I can't smile without him." she whispered - the brunette had recognised that the mocking was the seventies love song 'I Can't Smile With You'. The music stopped.
"Do I dare tell him? He's lived for so long, bound to have ghosts of women in his memory... surely I can compete?" she whispered again. The Tardis responded by a mysterious bleep this time - it was starting to warm to the new companion. It also knew that in the console room, the Doctor was having deep thoughts also.
"She truly is mysterious and impossible... was that the arm gesture a slip-up? A mistake? Have I screwed her up too early? Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy... all feisty but I managed to warp them... but then there's something in Clara... I'm starting to like her in a way that isn't-" but then the musing was stopped by a mysterious bleep. Almost like the old girl was saying 'I don't know'. "What don't you know, girl?" But a minute after the Doctor asked this, Clara walked in, muttering to herself. "Clara?"
"Doctor!" she exclaimed, turning a salmon pink. Both wanted to say something. "I-"
"Cl-"
"I, er..." but Clara's trail was interrupted by her tripping. The Doctor rushed over.
"You OK?" he asked worriedly, noticing how perfectly her insanely petite body fit in his arms. Brown eyes blinked up at him. Clara nodded as she steadied herself.
"What did you want to say?" the Doctor whispered gently in her ear. The small woman looked up at him, taking a deep breath.
"The way you put your arm around me earlier..."
"Oh! Sorry! Relief of solving a mystery and all..." the Doctor babbled, turning red.
"No, I liked it." she replied, her lips curving to show her teeth.
"You did?" And at this question, the Time Lord got a nod in reply. "So..."
"...what do we do?" Clara laughed, pink flushing her cheeks again.
"Well, you do seem to forgetting... whole of time and space..." the Doctor said.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" his smaller friend grinned.
"I guess... so, how about it?" But what he got in reponse was a hug and Clara's body straining upwards. He clicked. "Oh, sorry..." he whispered, bending down for her kiss.
"That won't get annoying." she answered back. With a caring expression he ruffled her hair, and leapt back to the console, warming it up for a journey.
"I'm an old-fashioned bloke, so lady's choice." the Doctor winked. Clara grinned.
"My choice, hmm? Well if you weren't a space-hopping Time Lord, I might be tempted to go for a nice night in watching rom-coms." she mused gently.
"Rom-coms, you say?" the Doctor said, an idea clicking in that brilliant head of his. "Tell you what dear, since I'm me, I'll surprise you with that theme." he chuckled. And with the familiar noises, the box whizzed through the continuum and landed in...
"Southern England!" the fez-obsessed alien announced. Clara smiled - she liked the south. "But not just any old time." he whispered, snaking his hands down the brunette's back as she smiled, her interest piqued now.
With a snap of his fingers, two wardrobes appeared and opened. "Gentry clothes are your clue!" he beamed and they climbed in, Clara with trepidation.
"You sure the wardrobes aren't jinxed to go to Narnia?" she asked as she changed.
"What?" the Doctor chuckled. "I haven't landed us in the forties, Clara!"
"Well, it's you! You never know what tricks are hidden up those sleeves." she said, stepping out of her wardrobe fully dressed in cyan bonnet and dress. The Doctor emerged in dapper fashion, waist-coat completing it all. Clara beamed.
"Well if we're like this, I would say..." but she was cut off as he opened the doors.
"Somerset, 1814!" he exclaimed. And even though the Tardis had told him that he had landed them in January, it was surprisingly sunny and with a nice temperature for that time of year. Clara was gobsmacked, and nudged her partner.
"You- but- why do I get the feeling that..." but a finger on her lips stopped that.
"My loveliest, dearest Clara, don't put the cart before the horse." he smiled.
And with that, they cloaked the Tardis, and walked around the location of...
"Bath!" Clara breathed, sort of realising where they were. The Doctor smiled. The nearest park looked pleasant, so they sat down. And the Time Lord emerged with his picnic he'd been keeping secret.
"Turkey sandwiches!" he said with zeal, and Clara gasped - he'd hidden her favourite from her! But remembering decorum, she nibbled them. "What's with the nibble?"
"Well, Doctor, we're in civilised culture." she shot back, cracking the facade for a moment by sticking her tongue out at him. He tickled her in response. "Stoppit!"
"Never, my dearest." he replied, out of the corner of his eye noticing someone.
"Surely..." he muttered. Clara picked up on his disturbance, stroking his shoulder.
"Surely what? Thought you saw a familiar face from your travels?"
"A familiar face alright... " the Doctor said. "Fancy a walk?" he asked. Clara nodded.
After a mile or two, it was then they saw a respectable-looking woman in a black bonnet and blue gown. The Doctor clearly knew who she was, and Clara had a vague idea. But before they could walk away subtly, the woman noticed the couple.
"Hello. Lovely day for a stroll, don't you think? " she asked. Clara nodded.
"It certainly is, Mrs..." the modern brunette trailed off here.
"Austen. And I'm not married, for clarity." the stranger replied. It dawned on Clara. "But I must be forgetting my manners. I didn't ask your names." Jane Austen said.
"Miss Clara Oswald." Clara said, shaking Jane's hand gently and grinning.
"Mr. John Smith." the Doctor said, following Clara's lead. Jane's eyebrow quirked.
"Separate surnames? I would've thought a pair like you would've been married." And at this, the pair in question coloured. "But of course, no rings on your fingers at present. So I can guess you are merely engaged?" Jane asked.
"Just entered the courtship, Miss Austen." the Doctor said, sparing a smile for Clara.
"Oh be inclined to call me Jane, Mr. Smith." Jane said happily. "Hmm, Smith... I might think about that soon." The Doctor grinned at this, knowing what 1814 would bring.
"Exercise and refreshment are the best things for a sunny day. Oh, and companionship. One can't ever leave out companions."
"Tell that to John here." Clara laughed. The Doctor laughed briefly. Jane looked questioning again - there was something about truly intriguing about the pair to her.
"The thing is that I used to travel before I met Clara, and she's fully willing to come on my travels with me, should I continue the habit. I made frequent companions on them before. I feel like I made good fortune that way, despite accidents." he breathed.
"Accidents? Oh dear. Well, as long they did you good. It's like I said in my second novel - it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune..." but the Doctor smiled and joined in her finishing the quote.
"...must be in want of a wife? Perhaps." he smiled back.
"We've both read 'Pride and Prejudice'." Clara smiled. Jane beamed.
"I'm honoured." the author said. "It seems my work is gathering quite an audience."
"More than you'd expect. But I have a feeling greater work could be on the way."
"You're clearly a fan, Mr. Smith. Well it was nice making your acquaintance, and I wish you happiness." Jane parted with a graceful wave, walking away.
Clara was gobsmacked, and even the Doctor was the slightest tad perplexed.
"Jane... Austen..." the smaller figure breathed. The Doctor winked at her.
"Also known in geeky literature circles as 'the godmother of rom-com'." he said.
"You... sneak!" Clara teased, as she fluttered her eyes at him. The Doctor laughed.
"I thought I'd go one step further." he said. But then Clara remembered something.
"Obviously it would be odd to call yourself 'the Doctor'..." she said.
"You pick up fast, my beautiful companion." he grinned. Clara blushed.
"B-but why the alias of John Smith?" she queried. The Doctor laughed again.
"Ever noticed how many John Smiths there are around?" he pondered.
"Good point. It's a good way to blend in, with probably the most common name. Why did you grin when Jane Austen said about using the surname?" the brunette asked.
"This is the first week of 1814 - quite eerily warm for it too. She'll start writing her fourth novel 'Emma' soon. The titular character befriends a Harriet Smith."
"Aha." Clara smiled back at him. And with that, the thousand-year-old ran off with the energy only he could muster in this regeneration. "Hey! Wait up, chin boy! You expect me to run in this? This dress! I ask you!" she said, pacing as fast as she could.
"Catch me, soufflé girl!" he raised his voice at her.
"Have you forgotten decorum?" Clara teased. The Doctor shook his head - in that moment, she reminded him of her Victorian self, the Cockney who put on a posh manner for a friend's kids. "Well, then!" Clara continued. "Tardis?"
"Tardis." the Gallifreyan smiled. "With tweaks - the old girl starts to like you at last."
"I noticed that." the petite woman replied. "The lights in my bedroom turned a romantic pink when I accepted my feelings for you." she said, turning red again.
"Well she can do anything, and I'm sure she will surprise us both soon." the Time Lord said as they walked back to the 'snog box'. He snapped his fingers, and it opened up, uncloaked. "Third room on the left, and surprise us." he beamed. The Tardis complied with a noise, and a light emitted from the left side of the main corridor.
"Doctor, what has the T- oh my stars!" Clara began to ask and then stopped as she saw the result. A nineteenth-century ballroom. And freedom for just two of them.
"At least this ballroom is peaceful." the Doctor mumbled, but Clara heard him.
"Did you have a bad experience in one on your travels?" she asked kindly.
"Clockwork androids..." he whispered. "But this is just us, and a lovely dance to do."
And with another finger-snap, a dimly-lit orchestra popped up. Luscious piano and harp was the music that the new couple swayed to, Clara's head propped up on the Doctor's chest and his head resting gently on hers.
"Doctor?" the small but feisty woman asked, her hair tickling his jawline.
"Mhm?" he replied, gazing down at her out of the corner of his eye.
"This is the best date I've ever had... and..." Clara stuttered, plucking up courage.
"What is it, dear?" he said, still gazing. He thought he knew what was coming next.
"And... although I've just acknowledged it... I think I love you." Clara beamed.
"Right back at you, my impossible girl." the Doctor grinned back. And with that they continued to dance in the 1814 ballroom, the Tardis lighting going pink. They both knew they were meant to be a couple, in Clara's heart, and both of the Doctor's.
AN: I wasn't a Doctor Who fan until recently, and started with Eleven, which led to me shipping Whoufflé like nobody's business! And I know the clockwork androids were under Ten's stint, but it went hand-in-hand with the Austen-ish ballrooms.