Backwater Nexus. The Black Dog. Stories Exchanged

[dens_extra_pups]

TARDIS: *arrives in the Backwater again. Unlike her last visit, this time, she lands nicely in the Question Square*

Requiem: *picks it up in passing and carries it along to the Black Dog, then parks it on the porch, tells Sparky to let it alone, and goes on inside*

Doctor: *emerging a few moments later, carefully adjusting his jacket and looking around* ... Well, alright, then.

chest pocket: *peep?*

Doctor: *quietly* No, we're not lost, Candy.

chest pocket: *pip?*

Doctor: Of course I know where we are, Sugar.

little sisters: *both peek, and then withdraw*

Doctor: *soft chuckle* Let's go get a treat, then... *will move to head for the door*

Black Dog: *pleasantly full and thrumming with conversation, laughter, arguing... and somebody's screeching*

Doctor: *attention going to the screeching*

dark-haired guy: *sitting and talking to a dark-haired woman as one dark-haired baby watches another holler with visibly enjoyed temper*

Doctor: *very soft snerk, will look around to see if he can find a place to sit and people-watch*

blue bot: *lady's voice. In passing* Blackout's at the bar. She's got your tab.

Doctor: Er... Thank you. *will begin making his way to the bar*

puppy: *giant black Malamute* *play bows in front of the Doctor, curly tail wagging*

Doctor: *expression lights up and he moves to carefully crouch* Well, hello!

puppy: I'm Pooka! I'm the black dog!

Doctor: *much gentle smile* Hello, Pooka.

Pooka: *wag wag wag* You have somethin' on your butt.

Doctor: ... I do? *going to try and get a look at his own butt now* *startled sound. Wasn't expecting to find a second black and white dog... One who has latched onto his coattails*

Pooka: *laughter* Yup! You got Lumen on your butt!

Kouji: *wuff wuff wuff!*

Pooka: Eeep! Kouji! Run, Lu!

Lumen: *laughs and lets go of the Doctor's coat before scampering off*

Doctor: *can't help it, has to laugh at the cute*

little sisters: *peep? Peep?*

Doctor: *quietly, to the glimmersprites* It's alright. I got punked.

little sisters: *snuggle cuddle*

cloaked bot: *in passing* Blackout's at the bar. She's got your tab.

Doctor: *nods* That's what the blue lady said, too.

little green andalite: *as she skitters by* -So hustle, gramps.-

Doctor: *not even fazed by that, will resume his trek to the bar*

bot: *falls right across the Doctor's path, gasping*

girl bot: *hipshot* That's all you can take? Whatta wimp.

Doctor: *curious and interested look* Did he lose a fight?

girl bot: *looks down and snorts, hands still on hips* Nah. He wanted a kiss.

bot: Weeee... *pass out*

Doctor: *amused snerk* I see. Carry on, then. *will move to get around the passed-out bot and aim toward Blackout*

Blackout: *hand goes down as the Doctor reaches her, then scoops him up and sets him down by a human-size table next to a thin old man with a long white moustache*

Doctor: *doing his best not to squawk at being lifted* *as he's set down* Thank you, Blackout.

Blackout: *snort* Order. Doctor, Don Quixote de la Mancha. Don Quixada, Doctor.

Don Q: *inclines his head* Please forgive me for not bowing, my friend. But right now I count myself blessed to find myself sitting upright.

Doctor: *pleasantly surprised* Oh? Might I ask why? *moving to sit in a chair*

Don Q: Ah, I'm recovering from employment-related injuries.

Blackout: He got his aft handed to him fighting a giant feral ape. *elbow on counter and hand on her energon cube. In which something appears to be swimming*

Doctor: Ah... Well, it sounds like an interesting story, at any rate.

Don Q: No. It sounds like something from an insane romance. *winces as he moves and something pops* Yet my back tells me it was very real.

Doctor: *chuckles* Sir Quixada, I have seen all of time and space. At this point, it's the actions of supposedly higher functioning species that surprise me the most.

Blackout: All of time and space in your reality. *fishes Mini-Constructicon out of her drink and then leans over to drop him on the floor*

MC: *staggers off* Weeeee!

Doctor: ... *snerks, shakes his head. Will order some food for himself and his glimmersprites, asking Nem to give him what's good* As I said, it's the actions of other sentient beings tends to surprise me the most.

Don Q: Still, an old man who rides over the countryside fighting bandits and chasing distempered beasts nearly as large as milady Blackout...

Doctor: I've seen the birth and death of entire planets... and that was just in one lifetime.

Don Q: *curiously* Are you Cybertronian, then? Or of the Guardian Fae?

Doctor: No... I'm a Time Lord, from Gallifrey.

Don Q: Ah, this is the first that I have heard of that world and its people.

Blackout: He's going to keep coming back to your story till he gets it, Quixada.

Don Q: *wince* *busted*

Doctor: Why don't we exchange stories over our meal, then?

Don Q: Oh. I'm really not comfortable speaking about it. I...

Blackout: He's got a book in his house and they sell for five coppers.

Don Q: *ruefully shakes his head up at his large friend* You are as bad as my wife, milady.

Blackout: I'm older, but she's got a good start going. *drink*

Doctor: *sincerely* It can't be any worse than my wife when she gets going...

Don Q: Ah you are married, too, Señor?

Doctor: More or less... It's rather complicated due to fluctuations in the overall timeline.

Don Q: *thinks this over. Then, gravely* Are you equally matched?

Doctor: No. The last time I saw her, she was two hundred. And I'm... *doing math* approximately eleven hundred years, counting this regeneration.

Don Q: *even more gravity* Old men should never marry young women.

gravelly voice: *from behind the doctor* Tell that ta my second wife.

Doctor: *blinks and turns to see who's speaking*

Blackout: Sit down and shut up, Kup.

Kup: *grey-haired guy who looks human, but wouldn't read as human if someone scanned him with the right equipment. Bright blue eyes, and a million-dollar grin aimed up at Blackout* Hey, you invite me out here just ta insult me?

Blackout: *take Kup. Sit Kup by the Doctor*

Kup: Thought so. *checks the mug at his place and finds it empty* Awww.

Doctor: *much amusement* Well, what were you expecting?

Kup: Anybody else'd 'a had joe waitin'. *offers a hand and a grin* Name's Kup.

Doctor: *will reach to shake Kup's hand* I'm the Doctor.

Kup: *slight start and a studying glance, but then turns his attention to the other man at the table* Who's yer friend?

Doctor: *turns slightly* This is Señor Alonso Quixada.

Kup: *offers his hand, then looks confused at being bowed to* Uh. Yeah, hi.

Nemesis: *sets three plates of food onto the table*

Don Q: Many thanks, gracious lady. *wincing slightly from forgetting that he shouldn't bow*

Kup: Nem, yer beautiful. :D

Doctor: *to Nemesis* Thank you.

Nemesis: *snorts at them all and walks off, her hand going out in passing to squeak the little yellow guy sitting on an overturned mug at the end of the bar*

Kup: *as he attacks his meal of silibacon and scrambles* As I was sayin', 'Lonso. My wife'd have somethin' ta say about yer theory there.

Don Q: *as he looks up from bowing his head. Dolefully* Most young wives do.

Doctor: *soft chuckle* Not only would River have something to say, she wouldn't hesitate to say it.

Don Q: Do you think that mine would, Señor? *tastes his meal and sighs*

Doctor: Well, I can't form an opinion on the matter if I haven't met your wife.

Kup: *points his fork toward a distant explosion* There's mine.

Don Q: o.0

Doctor: ...

Blackout: *snerk*

Kup: She's redecoratin' the ruins.

Blackout: Playing with some of my brats. *sips from her cube*

Doctor: ... Do I want to know?

Kup: She said somethin' about playin' with RPGs. And it wasn't role playin' games. *EAT*

Doctor: ... *headshake, will get Candy and Sugar out, since he sees that there's things on his plate that they like*

little sisters: *sniff. So much begging!*

Kup and Don Q: *have stopped eating to watch the tiny things with curious interest*

Blackout: *leaning her cheek on her fist and watching the little things too*

Doctor: *will talk softly and kindly to the glimmersprites as he cuts some of the meat up into pieces and carefully scoops some of the scrambled eggs onto his spoon for them*

little sisters: *eat so pretty*

Kup: *voice hushed* What are they?

Doctor: They're glimmersprites. Natives of the planet Terra in the Quadriate sector, I'm told.

Don Q: What are they for?

Candy: *sees food on sissy's face. Gently washes and peeps*

Sugar: *waits patiently, one tiny paw on sissy's shoulder*

Doctor: They're pets.

Don Q: But pets are kept for a purpose.

Kup: *chuckles* Not all the time. Mine's a freeloader.

Don Q: Ah, will you explain that term, Señor?

Doctor: Candy and Sugar are for companionship.

little sisters: *look up and peep when they hear their names. You wants us, Host?*

Don Q: Ah. Some ladies from the land that I come from kept small dogs or birds for a similar reason. My own pets have jobs.

Doctor: *nods, stretching his leg out a bit. Blinks as his foot collides with something big under the table*

something: *soft, quizzical, cackling sound*

Don Q: *looks under the table* Lay down, señorita. You are not wanted.

Kup: *great interest* That a slaggin' hyena?

Don Q: She is. They use them for hounds and mastiffs on the world where I now reside.

Doctor: *amused chuckling* And it seems she's keeping you company as well.

Don Q: *wryly* Aldonza set her at watch over me.

Kup: *snerk*

Doctor: Well, at least she's behaving nicely.

Don Q: *slips a bit of meat under the table* Señor Charlie provided us with the best.

Kup: *leaning slightly to the side so that he can watch the big animal carefully take the meat and set it nicely between her paws before putting her chin down on it* She looks scared.

Don Q: She is not accustomed to being indoors. *returns his attention to feeding himself*

Kup: Kinda reminds me 'a this time my old buddy Grimlock wound up in this DivaCon lady's treasure room. Big dumb mook was shakin' like a badly balanced gyro by time we coaxed 'im outta there.

Doctor: Oh? Why?

Kup: Grimlock was a Dinobot. *snerks* 'N that lady collected life-size crystal-lattice figurines.

Don Q: *wince wince*

Doctor: Everyone needs a hobby.

Kup: Nawww. I don't have one. *eat eat*

Don Q: *thinks about this* I used to read disreputable books. And course hares. Now... ah. I'm not certain I have a hobby any longer.

Blackout: You write.

Don Q: But that brings in gold.

Doctor: Who said it couldn't be a hobby since you make money on it?

Don Q: Does that not make it a career?

Doctor: Only if you let it.

Blackout: *snerks and has a drink from her cube* My brats bring in profit. So does the cow.

Kup: *cofffeeee*

Blackout: It's fun, right?

Don Q: Well, it is relaxing.

Doctor: Then it counts as a hobby. One that happens to bring in money as well.

Don Q: *brightens* Ah. Very well, then.

Doctor: *curiously* What do you use to write on, Señor Quixada?

Don Q: *sets down his fork and then sits back a bit to reach into his belt bag and extract what looks like a largish pocket watch* *holds this out* Here is my writer, Señor. It is the most up to date model from my new world.

Doctor: *interested perk* I haven't seen one of those since my third regeneration!

Don Q: It is far quicker than forming the letters by hand. *quiet chuckle* And more enjoyable to read. *reaches into the purse again and pulls out a small, fat magazine of rough paper that's tied together with a twist of grass cord. Holds this and waits till the Doctor has finished with the writer*

Doctor: *soft, pleased hum as he finishes studying the typewriter and offers it back to Don Q*

Don Q: *carefully returns the writer to his purse, and then offers the book* This is the last one that was finished. *it's pretty clear that typed strips of paper were glued onto larger paper and copied by some crude method to form the pages*

Doctor: *curious, will reach for the book*

Don Q: *hands it over* The events chronicled in this one are all a month old. The newest book hasn't been printed yet.

Kup: Kinda reminds me 'a the Great Book the Sevateem.

Doctor: ...I remember meeting the Sevateem.

Kup: Leela was pretty proud 'a her book. *grin* 'N some old fart in a scarf kept tellin' me I taught 'er the wrong alphabet.

Doctor: *calmly, as he offers Don Q. the book back* Because you did.

Kup: It worked fer her language.

Don Q: *absently takes the book as he looks from Kup to the Doctor*

Doctor: It made teaching her the Gallifreyan alphabet even more difficult!

Kup: I thought that was you, ya *bleepity bleep*.

Doctor: *calls Kup something mildly insulting in Gallifreyan, though with the way his eyes are dancing and the fact that he's struggling not to smile, it's clear he's just saying it to get a reaction*

Kup: The girl wanted ta write. She said you wouldn' show her, so I gave 'er a good alphabet that worked. *eyes are also dancing, but he's scowling ferociously*

Don Q: *eating and watching*

little sisters: *peep and hug each other*

Doctor: Your alphabet is almost as terrible as your language, Kup. *so amused*

Blackout: *rumble* Cybertronian glyphs aren't bad.

Kup: *snerkle sputter*

Doctor: That wasn't the alphabet Kup taught to Leela.

Blackout: *frowns down at Kup* Do I want to know?

Kup: No. *laughter gets away*

Doctor: *laughs as well*

Blackout: *thumps the counter* Spill it.

hyena: *growls*

little sisters: *dive into their host's jacket*

Doctor: *startles at that, will focus on comforting the glimmersprites*

Don Q: *stern and soothing words to the hyena, telling her to settle down*

Kup: *drinks coffee to chase away a choke*

Blackout: *absently gives Cow a boot since other pets are being interacted with* Stop stalling.

Doctor: It involved pictograms...

Blackout: Which pictograms?

Kup: *gesturing to the Doctor not to tell the story!*

Doctor: They involved Kup gesturing and Leela drawing the gesture.

Kup: *exasperated* They did not. I drew everythin' I could think of, 'n she told me what they meant!

Doctor: Including at least two varied depictions of bottoms and this. *lifts an arm with fingers bent*

Blackout: *rumble of laughter*

Kup: .>.>

Doctor: *calmly lowers his hand and works on eating*

Kup: That means "arm"!

Don Q: *gravely* That is not what I have been told the meaning of that gesture to be.

Kup: Well it's what Leela said it meant. *doesn't look toward a small robot voice chanting "bad wolf"*

Doctor: ... *attention going to that voice*

Dalek: *one foot tall and painted to look like the TARDIS. Is wearing a neon orange cat collar with rhinestones and a jingle-bell on it. Is also holding up a set of keys on an Autobot logo fob* *intently* Bad wolf bad wolf bad wolf... *pauses behind two people sitting over on the dark end of the bar*

Dennis: ... *staring down the hall toward the private rooms and holo rooms* It's ghosts, I know it.

Denpup: Naw. It's goblins.

Dennis: You yahoo, you can't see through goblins. *pause and shiver* They're chittering...

Denpup: Insecticons? *shrug*

Dennis: You can't see through Insecticons either. *pause* You're shaking.

Denpup: So are you, dork.

Dennis: Am not.

Denpup: Yes you are, and you haven't said anything better than ghosts.

Dalek: *watches them wrangle for a moment, and then holds up the keys* EX-TER-MIN-ATE!



Continued here.