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crack_van2013-05-02 01:47 pm
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-05-02 01:47 pm
Entry tags:
"Ossia and Encore to the Square Root of Three" by savvyliterate (M)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: River Song/The Doctor, Amy Pond/Rory Williams
Length: 16,413 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Namesake
Why this must be read: One of the frustrations of "The Power of Three" was that we were supposed to believe the Doctor had more or less hung around the Ponds' house for a year without once seeing River--and from Amy's point of view, no less. This clever and emotional take on the "Year of the Slow Invasion" not only fixes that issue--it also takes the idea of "fixing" to a whole new level. Bonus points for the short and sweet epilogue, lovely characterizations, crackling dialogue, and a much-needed dose of heat.
She materialized at the entrance to the park. Slowly, carefully, she did a sweep of the area. Nothing out of the ordinary. No aliens, no unusual human behavior. Just dozens upon dozens of little black cubes heaped upon window ledges, cars, postboxes, doorsteps, tucked into flower pots and more. Warily, she approached one and picked it up.
“Good morning, dear!”
River looked up to see the Doctor perched atop the jungle gym, lanky limbs entwined around the bars. He lay on his stomach, peering at the cube with a magnifying glass. “Good morning, sweetie,” she said slowly and did another scan of the area. “Where are my parents?”
“Sleeping, I imagine! They do entirely too much of that. So much of the universe to see, and they waste approximately 30% of their lives sleeping. And what were you up to?”
“Sleeping!” She approached the jungle gym, more than annoyed. “Doctor, I’m not even dressed.”
“Please, River, we’re in a public park.” He glanced up and spotted her dressing gown. “Oh.”
“I am going to get a cup of coffee from my parents, and then I’m going back to bed.”
“You’re not even curious about these?” He waved a cube at her.
Actually, she was curious. Extremely so. But the Doctor was being petulant, and she was standing in an old dressing gown and wool socks in a public park at the crack of dawn. The cubes didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, so coffee first.
“Doctor!” Amy’s voice echoed from across the street, and River turned to see her parents rushing across bearing cubes of their own. “River! Oh, Doctor, did you drag her out of bed as well?”
The Doctor saluted them with his cube. “Invasion of the very small cubes. That’s new. Come along, Ponds. All of you.”
“Does he call random people Ponds as well?”
And for the first time, River noticed Brian Williams standing just behind Rory, holding a cube of his own. Her breath caught. No, she wanted to say. No, she wasn't a stranger. She had spent as much time in his house as a child as she had in Tabetha and Augustus Pond’s.
“Oh, sorry.” The Doctor scrambled down from the jungle gym and waved his hand absently at River as he strode toward the TARDIS, studying the cube. “Dr. River Song, Brian Williams. Brian, the wife.”
“You’re married?” Brian gasped.
“That’s not even half of it,” Rory muttered, sotto voce.
Ossia and Encore to the Square Root of Three
Pairing: River Song/The Doctor, Amy Pond/Rory Williams
Length: 16,413 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Namesake
Why this must be read: One of the frustrations of "The Power of Three" was that we were supposed to believe the Doctor had more or less hung around the Ponds' house for a year without once seeing River--and from Amy's point of view, no less. This clever and emotional take on the "Year of the Slow Invasion" not only fixes that issue--it also takes the idea of "fixing" to a whole new level. Bonus points for the short and sweet epilogue, lovely characterizations, crackling dialogue, and a much-needed dose of heat.
She materialized at the entrance to the park. Slowly, carefully, she did a sweep of the area. Nothing out of the ordinary. No aliens, no unusual human behavior. Just dozens upon dozens of little black cubes heaped upon window ledges, cars, postboxes, doorsteps, tucked into flower pots and more. Warily, she approached one and picked it up.
“Good morning, dear!”
River looked up to see the Doctor perched atop the jungle gym, lanky limbs entwined around the bars. He lay on his stomach, peering at the cube with a magnifying glass. “Good morning, sweetie,” she said slowly and did another scan of the area. “Where are my parents?”
“Sleeping, I imagine! They do entirely too much of that. So much of the universe to see, and they waste approximately 30% of their lives sleeping. And what were you up to?”
“Sleeping!” She approached the jungle gym, more than annoyed. “Doctor, I’m not even dressed.”
“Please, River, we’re in a public park.” He glanced up and spotted her dressing gown. “Oh.”
“I am going to get a cup of coffee from my parents, and then I’m going back to bed.”
“You’re not even curious about these?” He waved a cube at her.
Actually, she was curious. Extremely so. But the Doctor was being petulant, and she was standing in an old dressing gown and wool socks in a public park at the crack of dawn. The cubes didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, so coffee first.
“Doctor!” Amy’s voice echoed from across the street, and River turned to see her parents rushing across bearing cubes of their own. “River! Oh, Doctor, did you drag her out of bed as well?”
The Doctor saluted them with his cube. “Invasion of the very small cubes. That’s new. Come along, Ponds. All of you.”
“Does he call random people Ponds as well?”
And for the first time, River noticed Brian Williams standing just behind Rory, holding a cube of his own. Her breath caught. No, she wanted to say. No, she wasn't a stranger. She had spent as much time in his house as a child as she had in Tabetha and Augustus Pond’s.
“Oh, sorry.” The Doctor scrambled down from the jungle gym and waved his hand absently at River as he strode toward the TARDIS, studying the cube. “Dr. River Song, Brian Williams. Brian, the wife.”
“You’re married?” Brian gasped.
“That’s not even half of it,” Rory muttered, sotto voce.
Ossia and Encore to the Square Root of Three