Well, that would've been a good moment for an intro sequence. Aaaand now I've got the Doctor Who theme stuck in my head. Great. I hope writing that inflicted that on you all.
There was an awkward pause after the sequence of what's. "What?" 'John' added, unaware of Madame V's glare. Of course he'd be here.
"Oh, we were just about to go out-" Unfortunately, David does not have the sheer charisma of the one and only, the man, the myth, the embodiment of a space weird kid-
"Oh, well, can't hurt to have some help now, can it?" Would he turn down the help? The smile...
"Wait, Blue Box Tech Repair, right? I thought I recognised you from something else." David recognised. Phew, lucky.
Ah, taking that up as a hobby had come in handy. No trace of what he actually was.
Jordan and Hunter shared a look. That face. Maybe it was a coincidence- strange, saying that back in December would've caused some sort of- nevermind...
Jordan tried to hold eye contact with the girl in front of her, who looked like she was about to burst into pure energy. And here comes the most awkward part to write: the awkward moment.
Jordan resisted the urge to mess with her own hair. Blackish-brown eyes, her hair was a mess, always kind of a mess. But that's already been stated, soooo... yeah, one pane of her glasses still cracked. If she can get through the first few minutes just fine, she'd probably default back to her more calm self and be just fine.
Jordan tried to talk, but her lips just wouldn't move. There was a look of suspicion in Hunter's eyes. That man. That grown up. The basic outline of the clothes looked like 'The Doctor', the face... that would make that girl an alien too. Ugh, space cooties!
Jenny kept her smile at its usual size. What was that weird song from that one video Rose showed her? Right, the one about being unable to fix things?🎵 There's no point worrying about things you can't fix 🎵 No, wait, that song was about, what was the human term... toxic positivity? Right, emotional, she can be that. Already had to balance out emotions. Having a family. Being a person, bit of a hard thing to do. But she'd had experience.
"Uh, hi-" Jordan tried to get out as Jenny put out a hand to shake. "Uhh.."
Jenny quickly brought out a crumpled note, holding it out in her hand. Too many awkward moments in school, was a faster way to introduce herself. Besides, she already had this way of saying hi to new people. Which this was. Besides, she got to draw! Hands were kinda hard though. But it didn't mean she couldn't try!
Jordan looked down at the note, Hunter getting closer to be able to read it, but with that handwriting... 'Hello, I'm Jenny! I'm '15', only child, i like reading, dancing (despite what my cousin says, I CAN dance, I don't look like a giraffe, my dad does!) I like reading, going for runs, I think I'm good at sitting still, wanna say I'm a good listener, might say I'm a bit too-- high energy, but I'm happy to be friends! If you want me! PS: Turn the note over!'
Jordan turned it over, and there it was: a small list, titled: List Of Friends.
...It was empty.
Heh, teenagers can be cruel, can't they? Jenny may have been lying with that. As long as it guaranteed she made friends... after all, when you learn from someone who's a good liar... sometimes... nope, she didn't have less-than-innocent intentions. She's not entirely like her dad. Ok, maybe she arguably had a few friends at school, but this is a chance for a new best friend! Would it be new best friend if she hasn't had a 'best' friend before?
Right. Jordan Sands. Could apparently socialise just fine, just had trouble with new people. Bookworm, preferred staying inside. And that was nothing without mentioning what was likely a missing mother, based on the fact she only saw a dad and two kids. Wait, bad assessment. It could be so many things. No, said, dad did mention his connection with David was losing a wife- horror fan, allergies, what even were allergies, she kinda just heard it and her brain skipped it... maybe a trip to the TARDIS's library? Or the biggest library in the universe? Or The Eye Of Orion? Besides, they both had ponytails! And brown eyes! And wore clothes! Ok, she needed to be a friend first, think of a trip location second.
Hunter. Hunter, Hunter, Hunter. Who names their kid Hunter? Horror fan, all things gorey, prankster, apparently not a good track history with school, something about dealing with grief. Hmm, maybe the Anur System... if the inhabitants didn't find them horrifying. Still. New friends!
"So, I'm.. Jordan." Jordan put on a smile, "and this is my brother, Hunter."
Jenny was in glee at his suspicious look. Or was it suspicion? Not quite getting a grasp on it. Maybe he wasn't thinking what she thought he was thinking?
"Nice to meet you! No wait, it's great! I mean fantastic." Jenny began to grin. "I'm Jenny."
Jordan felt a change in her hearing. It was like there was something... new. There were more hearts beating than there should be. She probably just hadn't slept well.
Unfortunately, this soon resulted in all five being crammed into the van. I write crammed, but it would be more accurate to say that 'John' and David took the front seats, leaving the three kids in the back.
Hunter immediately pegged the blonde as weird. She was skipping! Skipping! Who in their right brain would skip?! And that guy had the face from some of the pictures!
"Dad, dad, he's an ali-"
"Hunter, I don't want to hear another 'they're an alien' accusation." David didn't even turn his head back. One too many times.
'John' put on a grin. Don't ask why he's grinning. It's probably not the right reaction to this. "Don't worry, I get that a lot."
Hunter tried to hush his tone as he pouted, trying to whisper to Jenny. After all, she sounded English. Maybe she knew something about what happened in November...
They went over a bump, and Jenny really wished she'd plugged herself in. Seriously, basic human rules in a car. She quickly grabbed at the plug, before, y'know, plugging herself in.
Jenny crammed her hand into her pocket, clicking down on a button. Of course, who would notice a small green glow in her pocket for only a few seconds? Hunter quickly noticed he had full bars. There had to be a conspiracy! This girl obviously had space cooties!
Jenny awkwardly smiled. First time sitting in the back of a vehicle with more than one person anywhere near her physical age.
Cue the van radio, and a selection of CD's.
🎵 Doctor In Distr- 🎵
Skip! Probably one from one of John's CD's...
🎵 Tinky Win- 🎵
Skip!
🎵 Shake it to the right~! 🎵
Skip! Jenny and John almost shuddered at that one.
🎵 I can't decide! 🎵
Skip!
🎵 I rememberrrrr! Doing the time warp! 🎵
Finally.
Let's just say it was a painfully musical trip. Especially with Jenny humming 'We Didn't Start The Fire'. At least, what she could remember.
Once in town, Jenny was resisting the urge to just skip around, admiring the scenery. And it seemed people were setting up early... a whole new experience.
Hunter had sunglasses on, Jordan had her hoodies sleeves rolled down, pushing her glasses up her nose. Why was she wearing dark colours- well, colors for some of you, but still. Dark colours when it's sunny and warm.
There it was, the old village square, causing at least a few looks of admiration. Jordan's was subdued. Wolfsburg. A classic location in such good condition... but after a while... she got used to moving around. Could be out of there in a few weeks, for all they knew. Maybe they would be back to the last place. And by last place, I mean the place spent most of the first chapter.
Hunter still had some excitement left in him.
Jenny? It's an old human location, apparently important to some people. Earth. Again. But she just has to wait a few months- a tiny little bit of her lifespan- how long was she even gonna live? Can she regenerate? Erupt in a ball of flame and come out renewed? Would hers even look like that? Why always earth? Same time, same places. Sure, she'd gotten to be off-world before, but then there was just another slip, encountering the next... version. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair. They were meant to be an adventuring duo, father and daughter. But it's hard to complain when you get back someone who was there your first day alive. A family.
David was currently looking at a large sign at the entrance of the village square. "Hey," He called, making the three teens and one fellow adult look over at him, "Hmm, Properties by Paulina, hey, um, I'll catch up with you guys later. And Hunter?" He jokingly pointed towards him. "No bringing home any aliens, vampires, or anything else."
'John' gently hugged Jenny, who eagerly hugged back. "You know what I've told you."
"No talking to strangers, if you're running from an explosion, grab the nearest persons hand and tell them to run, no bringing home strange furry creatures, even if you know the species, don't let anyone wander off if you're taking charge, don't always let your curiosity take control of your actions, being scared isn't bad, scared makes you fast, and fast is good, time isn't your boss, try not to squeeze what Rose makes too hard, don't squeeze anyone too hard, don't be lasagna, never call you Professor, know when to set boundaries-" Jenny rapidly listed off. Great, she'd managed to remember. Usually she'd have stopped paying attention when he started talking. Can you blame her? He does talk a lot. Then again...
Jenny spun 180 degrees, trying to look at the list Jordan was holding. Why not help out? Right, she'd already probably been lumped in with what her dad said earlier.
"You wanna check out the library after we're done with this?" Jenny innocently asked, skipping alongside, trying to keep her pace to Jordan's walk, trying to remember if she'd brought her wallet. When your dads dropped four credit cards, you kinda realise you might wanna be careful. A quick jab of her hand into her pocket... phew. Right next to her sonic. Her sonic. Felt nice to think about.
Jordan took a second to think. This girl already came off a little... weird. Then again, maybe that didn't need to be stated. "Sure."
Jenny tried to not squeal like an excited child, but the feeling? It was there.
And finally, this impromptu trio could split up.
As the three of them walked further into town, Jenny resumed skipping around, smiling and saying 'hello' to locals, not even badgering people with questions. Why? It was just another human place.
Unfortunately, it took them around two sentences to practically come back together like an old Lego minifigure from your childhood, and yes I'm using a LEGO analogy because I've established Jenny has some sort of collection, there it was, a large brass statue of 'The Protector Of Wolfsburg', depicting a wolf-like creature standing on its hind legs.
Knowing Jenny, she's wondering if this is something alien. At least then it would be something she could claim to be used to! Maybe Loboan, maybe Lupine Wavelength Haemovariforms, or Were Lords, or the Werelox, or even loups-garoux, maybe some Vulpanans, maybe Wereloks! Or even the Lytean Change, maybe some sort of Vulpimancer hybrid? Maybe an old genetic manipulator... maybe it was blood-related! That would be something new! Or... maybe using a superstition at the edge of the universe had kicked this off. Is that why dad brought her here? That would explain the book of 'Aliens That Suspiciously Resemble Humanities Fictional Monsters' wow. Was this what it was like to be slow to figuring something out? It... kinda sucked. And why such a specific book?
In front of the statue, there stood a man with dark hair in a ponytail, saying "Behold," in a thick accent. But his body language made him seem older than he actually was, and his skin was just a tad pale... "The great beast still reigns supreme!"
From wherever he was standing, 'John' scoffed. Oh, to be one of the only people who knew. Just because he was only human-shaped didn't mean he wasn't a person. And then there's all the other species... it was like there was something in his head, a memory that he just couldn't place any twelve fingers on. So many memories, he needed a bigger head! Or an even bigger brain... maybe it was time he finally watched Megamind.
Jenny's eyes almost seemed starry at her own thoughts, then getting distracted by a trick the man did with his hat... but then there was that... look in his eye. That couldn't be suspicious, right? Nah, it wasn't like a look could be that important, right? Right? Right?
Hunter proceeded to exclaim, finally smiling, "This place is awesome! I'm gonna cruise around!"
"No cruising! We have a list." Jordan pulled a small piece of folded up paper from her jackets pocket. She looked up at one of the shop signs, "Here's the market." She squinted at the sign, "I think."
Jenny's head turned as she saw someone in the faint distance... a man in his forty's, green eyes and bouffant, curly blonde hair, who might say he had a noble brow, a firm mouth, and a face beaming with a vast intelligence, with a very familiar teenager behind him, slipping along, hair self-curled and basically all over the place. Had to be just after Golden Futures for him- She didn't even have the jacket yet! It was her less cool past self! Maybe, if she crossed her own timeline, took the risk, but if someone were to interrupt- a little more time with...
Jordan didn't feel right reaching out yet. Physically. But that's when she saw... it. A blue box, pulsing in and out of existence... and a blonde girl getting in just before it started. But only from the side, from too far away to see anything outside of her specifically being blonde.
"Uh, Jenny?" Jordan was clearly confused, having just seen the same thing... Jenny just had to stare for too long, likely caused the perception filter to fail... or it had just malfunctioned. Maybe it wasn't her 'fault.'
Jenny had to resist perfectly enunciating a '!' verbally, turning around. "We both didn't just see that blue box, right? And that we shouldn't maybe start talking about that in the library, after we get done with that list you're holding?"
Jordan normalised, almost staring over where the box once was. "Yeah." Was all she came out with. That was not gonna the most shocking thing she would see today.. or hear.
Jenny became aware of her surroundings again. Was that before or after the dinosaurs? Ugh, too many thoughts! Hehe... Jenny flashed a grin, hoping that would convince Jordan she hadn't secretly been spying on her past self. She could still remember the sound of the demat...
Hunter kept his eyes on a Wolfsburg Beast poster. Perfect excuse to have a werewolf movie marathon... and, eventually, he went into the market. Great. Not that he'd enjoy it.
Jordan's view was focused on various biscuits, not understanding the words written on the packet, while Jenny was trying to not move too much, "Uh.. do you need me to translate?"
Jordan rose an eyebrow. "You know Romanian?"
"A little." Jenny had a smaller smile than before. "Got bored during a school project, kinda drove my cousin up the wall with it... well, I say cousin, it's... complicated." Jenny rubbed the back of her own head awkwardly.
"Sure." Was all Jordan said as Jenny looked at a packet that roughly translated to something involving chocolate, maybe she wasn't paying the most attention. Why couldn't it just be the transparent kind of packet? TARDIS Translation Microbes, don't fail her now! Jordan looked away. Not a fan of chocolate.
"You don't like chocolate?" Jenny gave her a small look.
"Don't like the taste."
Meanwhile, with the dads with dead wives, more than one if you happen to be a two-hearted alien who's lost track of how many incarnations he's had, just don't ask why they're still specifically walking with each other...
David walked up the few steps that lead to the door of Properties by Paulina, a blue door with a note attached. 'Be back in a jiff - Paulina' He peered in through the small window, only seeing the weirdly pitch black of the closed real-estate agency.
'John' immediately began to think. In a way, he spent a lot of his time thinking. That meant David may be thinking of selling the property. Wait, that was the obvious answer. Great. He came late to the realisation. Not new. Could probably mentally slap himself without Donna around to call him a dumbo for that.
Back in the shop, with Jordan and Jenny's 'totally didn't catch a glimpse of a time slipping younger Jenny and an earlier version of her dad but Jordan only saw the TARDIS vanishing and totally isn't thinking of the fact the blue box is real, meaning that John very much could be The Doctor, and what the fuck does that mean about Jenny, not mentioning this could validate a lot of her and Hunter's old searches, or the fact she is actively standing around what is likely an alien' situation, turning the corner, Jordan trying to focus with her right eye after that football incident a couple chapters ago, and... cue a large hunk of meat being dropped onto her. Seriously, how does that happen?
"So sorry!" Her gaze lifted to a tall boy who at least had to be around their age... well, specifically physical age.. brown eyes, with darker brown hair... seriously, there's a strange amount of brown eyed characters here. Three in one place.
"I am so sorry, so sorry." He smacked his head, thankfully wearing reasonably sized blue gloves, "I am big klutz."
Jordan could feel the disgust building up in her... no, wait, that was drool in her mouth. Can't grit her teeth without it showing, but the urge... that could've described her at some point. Seriously, this was arguably embarrassing. Jordan let out an "Ugh, can you get this off of me?"
"Please, forgive me." The boy said, bending down, taking the meat back into his arms as Jordan stood up, picking the basket as she did.
"Thanks, uhh..." She trailed off, not knowing his name...
Taking a second to realise what was as going on, Goran spoke "Goran." He placed the meat down on the counter, "My name is Goran."
Jordan noticed his gloves still had meat juices on them, not even offering out her hand. Not that she would anyway.
Jenny, however, happily stuck out her hand, "I'm Jenny!" she shook his gloved hand... and all three realised what just happened. Meat juices.
Jenny quickly pulled back her hand, not even missing a beat as she rubbed her hand on the outside of her jacket. She could clean it later, ignoring a mildly disgusted sound from Jordan.
"Umm.. I'm Jordan." She adjusted her glasses again, seeming disinterested.
Jenny looked over at the list again as Goran went back to work. Maybe he'd want to hang out at some point. Now, to look down at her own arm, pull at her jacket sleeve, check her slight off-looking watch...
Jordan tried to not huff, to hold in a sigh, to awkwardly figure out a way to get rid of the built up drool in her mouth, letting out a frustrated groan as she almost shoved the list into Jenny's hands, who took a second to realise she's being handed something, officially taking on 'girl who holds list' duty.
"Thanks." Jordan said to Jenny.
Jenny's smile became a small grin. Felt nice to hear that outside of the family.
"..Do you need any help?" Goran asked.
"No, we're fi-" Jordan, unfortunately, would find a downside to this friendship, and an upside to having an energetic friend when she was tired.
"Sure! I mean, we could probably use the help. Could probably be faster than me trying to translate." Jenny quickly lied. This was her chance to make another friend, right?
Jordan felt slightly mortified. Great. Another person. One energetic person who she might try and consider a friend? Ok. A complete stranger who dropped meat on her?! Just great.
Jenny handed the list to him, and he seemed to recognise the handwriting. "Ah. Madame Varcolac." Yet another wolf howl, and yet only Jordan heard it. "She can be very difficult to understand." Jordan just smiled a little.
At least sometime within the next five minutes...
"Aye, so Jordan, you are American?" He walked to her side, saying something to Jenny, who picked up three oranges, before picking up a fourth for herself. It's like Rose said, she needed to eat healthy now and then. No producing pudding from the TARDIS food machine at least once a day. Apparently normal Time Lords just go months without eating... but when you're the daughter of a Time Lord who's anything but normal... why be the standard? Also, apparently the standard is a bureaucrat, and having to learn what bureaucrat meant, and when you could see all of time and space instead... seriously, being anything but a 'proper' Time Lord just seemed like the best choice.
Jenny quickly noticed something at the other half of the store... Hunter, climbing a ladder, which was shaking... yeah, it was one of those ones someone's meant to hold.
Jordan's big sister instinct kicked in, almost dropping the basket to run towards it, heartbeat rising.
"What are even you looking for?" Jordan asked, almost groaning.
"Eye of newt." He said as if that was normal. Horror fanatics... then again, she was one too.
Jenny held the fourth orange to herself as Jordan barely even reacted, turning to Goran. "Yeah."
"I have always wanted to go to America," Goran admitted.
Jordan chuckled, "Really?" Hunter made a 'bleh' sound at the conversation, and Jenny simply kept holding the orange, not quite sure what to do with it, she offered the list to Jordan...
"Mind if I?" Jenny held out her arm.
Jordan transferred the basket responsibility to Jenny, sliding it over to her arm as she took the list. 30 years ago isn't the 70s... It's the 90s. The Mummy is 25 years old. Jurassic Park is over 30. The Wii is a retro console! At least, for people in this current time period. Is the past actually better? What would Jenny know, it's still... earth... ok, maybe being in the TARDIS for a bit and just simulating an adventure couldn't hurt. Maybe pop back to Rose... yep, she's attached.
"I used to want to get Punk'ed and sing 'Take me out to the ballgame'." Jordan couldn't just let herself have a small smile, as Jenny began humming what vaguely sounded like the tune of it, and let out a small laugh, trying to keep her mind off of the fact The Doctor, something she looked up last year during a minor dip back into her conspiracy days, is very much real, and this blonde is apparently his daughter, who is just holding the basket and an... orange.
Teenage fantasises.
Jordan shook her head, not even bothering with maybe saying something rude, "No, I wouldn't say it is." She shrugged in a 'whatever' fashion, "I mean, I used to want to play in the Soccer World Cup." She looked towards the fruits and vegetables, Jenny moving over to Goran to show him the list, despite the fact she could maybe read it herself.
Jenny spoke up, "Maybe you will!"
Jordan shook her head. "Eh, doubt it."
"Jordan-" He bumped into the basket, "Sorry. Maybe while you are here, I can show you around Wolfsberg? It is a very beautiful town, especially at night."
"Sure, why not." Jordan let herself think, as if her ideal situation wasn't having a few friends around, maybe a few books, plenty of movies to watch together, maybe a pet, some hot chocolate, some popcorn, maybe a glass of milk towards bedtime... what? Some vegetarians eat diary.
Ok, two possible friends, great. Didn't need many. Look, maybe she'd consider sealing a friendship with Jenny if there was a pet involved. Then again, there's always benefits to having a more.. confident friend.
Look, she didn't know if she'd even get to spend her whole summer vacation there, could end up with her family facing the same money problems- no, no, no, no, no! For once, she didn't have to take care of her little brother, she might get a few more people to watch movies with. Maybe not at night though. That's her time. Some alone time.
"Sure. Do you mind if I just... don't say much?" Jordan said. "Or just speak about what's on my mind?"
"Why not?" Goran smiled. "Maybe tomorrow?"
Jordan mentally let out a sigh. Great. She talked to someone. "Maybe the day after?"
"No problem."
Jordan proceeded to make her way to the door, before pausing and realising they hadn't paid yet, money still in her pocket.
"She's..." Goran whispered to himself.
"A vegetarian." Hunter 'gently' placed the banana peel behind the older boy. Where did he get the banana? They're in the same store. "Don't try anything funny."
Jordan went to get the items rung up, before Jenny piped up after seeing that, towards the cashier. "Uh, did a Doctor leave something here for safekeeping, maybe, like, twenty years ago? Blue eyes, blonde hair? Maybe brown?" She put on a grin. "Meant to pick it up for him."
The cashier looked at her in a confused fashion, before pulling out a dusty, decayed in places, sealed together by way too much duct tape. Go go gadget tape remover, maybe.
"Wait, if your dad is Scottish, why are you english?" Hunter asked, hoping to catch the blonde off guard.
Jenny turned around, the box pressed against the front of her torso, too wide to just tuck under her arm, looking at him as she moved her head to the side, not facing the side, more of a tilt. Great, she couldn't think of something to say. Come on, excuse, excuse, don't just say you're an alien yet, that's for the reveal!
"Oh, you know, after enough travels... guess I can kinda just took on the accent." Way to play it cool, Jenny.
Hunter gave her another suspicious look. Little did he know... but there was something slightly off about those eyes. The pupils looked a bit... animal-like? Then again, there was that remark about how similar humans and mammals are, so maybe she was just seeing things.
Now, let's get to the darn scene I've been aching to write: the library!
It's a funny thing. Jordan felt almost used to moving, but this was the first time in a few years. And she'd made a friend on what she might as well be day one. That's the weird thing about this decade, it feels like it's going on forever, but they're already almost halfway into the decade where almost everything has gone wrong. And sometimes it just didn't feel like the world was getting any better. Maybe if her brain could just shut off, she could take a second and forget, focus on the idea of aliens. A younger her would've loved to meet aliens. The three minute eclipse, that had to be something. And now she's in a library. With an alien. Who looks completely human. And now she's on her phone, trying to not think about what this could mean, trying to read downloaded copies of books. And wow, one pane of your glasses being broken can be annoying when you can't get it off your mind. Honestly, working at a library didn't seem so bad. It had been something she'd always wanted. Then again, that requires talking to multiple strangers. And snarky remarks seemed like just a great way to get fired. One long conversation after another, maybe empty. Being a public librarian was mostly customer service. Maybe in the cataloguing, receiving, processing part of library work... it was rare to find one that was actually quiet. Maybe IT, maybe systems? Academic libraries don't exactly require as much interaction...
Jenny had a stack of books next to her, ready to talk, but was in the middle of a book
"Where is he?" Jenny kept flipping through a random picture book, probably for kids.
"Where's who?" Jordan looked up from her phone.
"Waldo! He's nowhere in this book!" Jenny sounded almost... genuinely confused.
"...That's not a Where's Waldo book." Jordan pointed out, trying to remain chill.
"Well, how do you know? Maybe you just haven't found him yet." Jenny was almost innocent.
"He's not in every book." Jordan couldn't help but have a small grin.
"...My cousin lied to me!" Jenny sounded so angry over something so unimportant, but her demeanour quickly shifted. "So, you wanna know? About all that stuff?" Jenny couldn't help but be eager.
Jordan swallowed down her anxiety. Maybe it was the tiredness talking, maybe it was a younger part of her waking back up, but she came off... chill, maybe even apathetic. "Sure."
"Well, first of all, yeah, I'm an alien. Gallifreyan, actually, but I was born on Messaline, so that's it's own thing, haven't been back since."
"What does... TARDIS mean?"
Jenny suddenly grinned, suppressing a small giggle. "It stands for Threshold and Ridiculous Domain of Insanity and Supercool!"
"...Really?" Jordan wasn't sure if it was the tiredness talking, but she might just let her go on.
"No, it's Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. I just thought mine was cooler. Well, my dad sometimes says it's just 'dimension', but it doesn't matter." Jenny pulled a glass of water from her pocket, placing it down at the table.
"Where did you get that?" Jordan questioned, and basically, rather than keep repeating myself, she's tired for most of this chapter.
"My pocket." Jenny said in the most casual way.
"How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket?" Jordan kept her almost deadpan tone.
Jenny looked almost smug. "Skills."
Jordan was now seriously confused, reverting her position to staring at her phone, barely listening to whatever Jenny was rambling about. This girl was pretty much a ball of sunshine.
Jenny went on and on... and on... and on... and- you get where I'm going with this. Dinosaurs on a spaceship, a giant space library, which did wake Jordan up a little, something involving Agatha Christie books, vampire-like aliens in Venice, in another time, an awake Jordan would be confused as hell, questioning things... but then she perked awake... what was that sound?
Two beating hearts in that chest. Since when did her hearing get so good? No human would have two hearts. Why can she hear that? Why did any sound sound so much sharper for a few seconds?
Something about pirates, pirates and singing, talking fish, mindswapping, a musical situation, crossing one's own timestream, Jordan was usually a listener, not that she minded it, but it was more like... well, being tired as a freaking alien rambled . Evil snowmen, memory loss, a 'ghost' hunt...
"Cool," evil snowmen, "cool," memory loss, "cool," hunting 'ghosts', "cool," a t-rex in Victorian London, "cool." What sounded like something about heists, "No doubt," Robin Hood, "no doubt," creatures without bones, "no doubt." Metal people rising from graves...
Jordan finally woke up a little, eyes wide, almost... a bit disturbed. But... damn. Some people would kill to see what this girl is probably talking about, she was still tired, but she tried to stay aware. She should be scared. This is a flesh and blood alien, sitting right apart from her, eating half of an orange. Who tries to open an orange from the top? Who holds a penlight to it, holds a button, causing it to split in half?! How does she know she won't get probed, abducted, skinned!? What if she got replaced by a clone? What if she was lost in time? What if she got eaten? What if she got horribly mutilated into another species?
"Then there was that time with the river Thames, no wait, might've been after the Fisher King," Jenny kept rambling, something about binding a moving statue, creatures made from dried rheum, a weird landlord, a bald man with invisible hair and a woman who served chips, nice lass, a police woman, a grandfather, and a man with a camcorder, interviewing aliens, an organisation ripped apart, and an evil member of a species called The Stenza, bonded to 'companions', a race between ships, a ghost monument, big spiders, that caused a slight shiver for Jordan, a busted 'sonic', which Jenny showed hers off, something about it not making any noise, not waning to get attention, something about 'Kerblam', trying out a fez, not liking it, a 'Solitract', sorry, but Jordan just couldn't keep up, blowing her nose into some tissue. Mostly dry.
"What's that?" Jenny asked. How could she not know what blowing your own nose looks like?
"Just allergies." Jordan let out a small, annoyed groan.
"Oh, allergies. I get that, I mean, aspirin almost killed me one time, and then there was that time with the apple juice, cousin never lets me live that down-"
"Wait, cousin?" Jordan finally remembered the note from around the first thousand words or so of this chapter, trying to forget about the fact this girl could be killed by Aspirin. "Wait, you're an alien and your dads-"
"The Doctor. Travels time and space, messes around, been part of it for a while now,"
"But you said you had a cousin." Jordan tried to not focus on the fact this is a time travelling alien.
"Well, I say cousin, more like part of the family that kinda took us in... long story," Jenny resumed rambling and talking, a conspiracy nut, an old mad scientist with a fresher look, a 'Rani', something about a Tesla, Jordan genuinely might've dropped off at this point, but we're saving her falling asleep for later, and she's just... ugh, too tired to tell this girl to shut up, something about fears. Jenny just didn't shut up. Something something rhino people, a fugitive, Pra..x..eooos.. alien salt and pepper shakers with whisks and plungers...
Jenny took a deep breath, she hadn't realised Jordan was barely listening. Something about sea aliens, cyshhhbberrrr-stu..? Flux?
"Then there was that stuff in November, the Meep, kinda had an accident with a spaceship, then there was the Toymaker-"
"Wait... the stuff in November? With the spaceship crashing? And the cracks in the ground?" Jordan felt almost like a kid again.
"Yeah! I was there! Bit of a crazy fifteen hours." Jenny kept a casual attitude. "Are we... friends now?"
"If it means you won't abduct and probe me, yeah." Jordan was half-sure that sounded sarcastic.
"Ok, new best friend." Jenny smiled again. "You, uh... want this half of the orange?"
Vitamin C. Eh, she could use some.
A human. From America. Sharing fruit with an alien. In a library. In Romania.
"Sure." Jordan awkwardly picked up the half, skin and all as Jenny passed it over, noticing the way those teeth seemed... sharper than a humans normally would be, and the pupils were around.. maybe 0.73 millimetres thinner than Hunter's. Ok, maybe that was a hint to something. And why was Jordan's hair so wild? Did she just not care? Or was it something else?
"So... come on, can I know anything about you?" Jenny had more thoughts in her mind. Izzy, Gabby, Cindy, dad's house in Williesden.
Jordan opened her eyes a little... Jenny had read through ALL those books. What. The. Heck.
"Hold on, is speed-reading some sort of alien thing you.. do?" Jordan ignored the question. For now. It's gonna be over twenty words before we get back to that, sorry.
"Yeah. Kinda realised I wouldn't be able to hide it. That's what I get for picking a library, thought I should just reveal it." Jenny kept her little smile up.
Jordan hadn't had any of these 'tell someone about you' moments since, like, the first day of a new school. Right, focus on that instead of the fact this was a real alien excitedly asking her things like this.
"I.. like books.." Jordan begun, and it was if Jenny was BRIMMING with the urge to say 'me too!'. "..I'm not big on animals." Jenny's face tried its best not to drop. "I like... horror." Who wants to admit certain interests? Sometimes you just don't want to tell people.
"Oh, cool! Never actually seen a horror movie before." Jenny tried to imply something. "Or been involved in horror." She quickly added, half-sure Jordan might've not been listening to her. She didn't know.
Jordan had things to worry about. She didn't even know if she could afford college.
Now, let's get us another skip to the next scene, back to Wolfsburg Manor! Why? Because I said so!
Jenny did a small spin on one foot, admiring the room. "Wow!"
Jordan looked through the few DVD's she brought with her. Why did she? Hunter forgot to bring the DVD player. You don't just expect to be moved somewhere new and have a TV already there. How did Dragomir live so long? Why did he have extra rooms prepared but they didn't know about him? "I thought you've seen the stars, why is my room exciting you so much?" Jordan arguably found the place a bit creepy, Jenny just didn't seem to get it.
"First time I've been in a friend's room." Jenny reminded her. Or was it a reminder? She was just saying. For Jenny, she'd never mentioned any 'friends' her age. More on that next chapter.
Right, right. How old was this girl? Or was she younger than she was? Do 'Gallifreyans' age faster than humans? She could be talking to a toddler... or an old woman.
"How old are you? Don't tell me I'm talking to an old lady." Jordan was half sure she sounded snarky.
"Uh, around fifteen, I think. According to my dad, I'm technically a baby." Jenny said far too casually.
Jordan blinked. A space alien. Who looked like a human teenager. Who was apparently a baby. Maybe by Gallifreyan standards? She had no idea how to reply, so she kept filtering through DVD's. Benefit of being smart and a bit tech-savvy... piracy! Well, more like just accessing free movie sites and hoping she didn't get a virus.
Look, Jordan could be a horror fan around her brother, but she had to grow past that... right? Screw it, she would've asked Tina and Debbie if they'd want to watch it with her if things weren't going the way they were, but they may end up getting scared. Maybe Becca, if she wasn’t too ‘scared.’
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oYPpUyYaG
"You ever seen The Thing?" Jordan tried to be nonchalant. Ok, sure, she'd made herself some coffee, now she's just tired faster.
Little do we know of who'll be playing the role of lupus in fabula in this, of course, this may be applying to two characters, depends if you've seen the original film, which, even if I'm departing further from because screw you Nickolodeon, still.
"Nope." Jenny had a small grin on her face. Again.
This could go two ways: she manages to terrify an alien, or just get an alien to watch a horror movie with her. Or end up with Jenny recounting meeting a very similar species and end up giving Jordan a wake-up call that very dangerous species are out there, and result in a terrified Jordan. Or maybe she's just too tired to care.
Let's see, shall we! Jordan pressed the eject button on the player, opening the DVD case with around a second of effort, a click into the middle, pull the side of the DVD up with her fingers, sliding one through the hole, sure the bottom was a bit scratched, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem... she placed it down on the tray, hitting the eject button again, hearing that good old sound, picking up the remote, before laying back in bed... before realising Jenny was sitting closer to the foot of the bed.
"You sure you don't want to be here?" Jordan's eyebrows rose.
"I'm good down here." Jenny kept on smiling as the trailers came to life on the TV, removing her hair tie. Time to stop thinking.
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