I've walked in your footsteps all day

[comeonthensexy]

Once Merlin had fallen asleep (or passed out, whichever), the Doctor had a room made for him in the TARDIS and brought him there, taking his boots off and tucking him in.

Then he went back to the control room, and plunked down on one of the chairs as he took a deep breath. Right, then... What was Merlin? He would have to ask him a few questions, but, obviously, he had lived for a very long time and that had to mean... Well, obviously he was capable of using all kinds of energies that was surging through the universe, and had an unusual connection to anything in it.

Unusual, not impossible, but it had been a long time since the Doctor had run into one of those. He had never taken one onto the TARDIS either. And this was Merlin, so there would obviously be something in that and...

Oh, this was exciting. Very exciting. Another person, another mystery, and if he had a say he would keep Merlin around and eventually things would become clear. And he had a feeling it was going to be brilliant.

He might as well be vibrating with anticipation.

But, Merlin was probably going to be asleep for a decent while, and so he stood up to find a quick adventure somewhere.

By the time Merlin woke up, though, he would be standing at the controls sporting a differently coloured shirt and bowtie.

Comments

[unwaning]

Unsurprisingly, Merlin slept through the day, and it was well into the next one before he so much as stirred from his deep slumber. Consciousness came to him in stages--an impression or two slipping past the sleep-induced haze whenever he opened his eyes, until the ceiling slowly came into focus. Merlin blinked at the unfamiliarity of the bed, the room he was in.

"What--?" His voice was surprisingly rough, too, when he spoke. Merlin slipped out from underneath the covers, pulled on the boots by the bed, and stumbled his way around. It was only when he found the control room and the Doctor that everything came back to him.

Merlin rubbed at his eyes. "How long have I been out?"

[comeonthensexy]

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed brightly and spun around to face Merlin properly, leaning on one hand against the control panel. "You're awake." A pause. "Very good question. Long, that's about as much as I know for sure. Went for a couple of trips that took a decent while, must have spent at least almost a day on those."

Merlin would soon enough discover that when it came to normal passage of time, the Doctor only kept track of it when he had a time limit to do something.

[unwaning]

Merlin ran a hand over his face and mussed up his hair even more. Clearing his mind of all the cobwebs that had gathered since he fell asleep took so much effort, the Doctor could probably hear his mental gears creaking from the strain as they reluctantly started back up.

"So basically around a day...or just over a day," he finally guessed. That was fair, Merlin supposed. He really was asking for trouble when he interfered with something as powerful as a volcano eruption. By all accounts, he'd gotten off lightly...but only because someone had pulled him away.

Merlin hesitantly looked up at the Doctor again, too baffled to even feel angry.

[comeonthensexy]

Well.

The Doctor hardly needed Merlin to bring it up to know what he wanted to ask. So he was just going to go right to explaining, and moved to sit down in the chair again, folding his hands in his lap.

"A few reasons," he started, oh so clearly marking the change of subject (shhh). "One, there are certain points in times that are fixed, points that you can't change because if you do, you'll mess up a too big portion of history and we can't have that, and saving someone who's meant to die is dangerous even in a regular point in time so let's not even get started on the fixed ones. The question is if we're both somehow a part of that fixed point in time, or if there's some other timey wimey thing going on there. Haven't figured that out yet.

"Two, you're interesting and I didn't feel like just letting you die, which, honestly, you probably were going to if I let you keep at it, which leads me to three. The TARDIS exists across all of time and space. She knows everything, and she was the one who brought me to that point in time for a reason. I think that reason was you. You're not supposed to die yet, there's something about you. And here we are."

He spread his arms out, raising his eyebrows.

[unwaning]

"Oh, I'm not supposed to die yet?" Merlin snapped, eyes flashing gold for an instant as his temper flared. Nothing broke, thankfully, but Merlin couldn't tell if it was because he was still low or if it was because he'd caught himself in time.

He flung a hang out in exasperation. "Who gets to decide that, anyway? Haven't they tired of dictating my life already? What if I chose to stay there so more people could escape?"

It wasn't fair to pin the blame on the Doctor--normally he wouldn't blame the man for wanting to save him, because he would have done the same--but Merlin didn't really care at the moment. After this many years alone, he wasn't supposed to die. How much longer would he have to wait?

[comeonthensexy]

And there was the anger. It was really only a matter of time, so the Doctor stayed calm, dropping his arms back down and just looking at Merlin for a moment.

"Were you listening at all?" he said. "All of those people were supposed to die, that's the horrible truth. I couldn't let you save them, because I'm supposed to keep time intact. Had I let you, it would have broken."

With a sigh, he stood back up. He would probably have been able to figure out a way to fix it, but in the end, that would likely mean those people just dying anyway. There wasn't a point in risking it.

He had halfway stepped around Merlin when he paused and looked at him. Really looked.

"For how long have you walked Earth?"

[unwaning]

It made too much sense. After working with the Old Religion for so long, Merlin knew how these things worked. Some things simply were supposed to happen. He just didn't want it to make sense when he was looking for something, anything, to be angry at.

He sank down onto the steps, pillowing his head in his arms.

"I don't know. Back then, we didn't really keep track of the dates like they do now and I was in that grove for--a long time," Merlin said restlessly, hands twisting together. "I think it was around 1100 when I got out, but it--it took a while before I really came to my senses."

[comeonthensexy]

After a moment, the Doctor sat down next to Merlin and pressed his fingers to his lips, resting his arms on his knees.

"So about nine-hundred years, then." A bit of a pause as he slowly dropped his hand down. "I'm twelve hundred."

Huh. Then Merlin would be the oldest he had travelled with, unless he counted those years that Rory didn't usually remember, which he wasn't sure he could really do. Rory didn't normally feel or look old, after all, but Merlin definitely did.

[unwaning]

900 years. It sounded like a long time when it was actually put into words like that. Merlin shrugged, uncomfortable.

"Probably about right. I stopped counting after a while." He stared down at the floor. "Does...traveling in the TARDIS make it easier?"

Sometimes he felt like his own travels did. Then, there were the times homesickness--the need to belong somewhere--hit him so hard he didn't know if the wandering actually helped in the end.

[comeonthensexy]

The Doctor shrugged.

"It keeps you busy, so I'd think so." He looked at Merlin for a little while, and smiled, just slightly. Merlin at least didn't seem angry anymore, so... "Want to come with me?"

He had promised he wouldn't be alone, and... maybe they could help each other.

[unwaning]

"Doesn't make you forget, though," Merlin said to cover up his surprise. It was true, he did want to ask if they could make a trip into the past, but it sounded like the Doctor was offering much more than just one trip.

"You're asking me to come with you--just like that?" Merlin glanced around curiously. Now that he thought about it, the Doctor had been alone at Mt. Teide...and he hadn't seen anyone else in the TARDIS all this time either. It was...strange, for a lack of better word. The TARDIS was spacious, Merlin had seen that much, yet the Doctor traveled alone? That didn't sound quite right. "There isn't anyone else?"

[comeonthensexy]

Nothing could just make you forget, so the Doctor didn't bother answering that one. And he hopped up as Merlin asked, as if needing to clarify, and was about to move away but then. Paused, at the next question.

"Not anymore," he said, and moved to fiddle with the controls. "Used to be! I've had many travel with me through the years. But no one can stay around forever. So!" He turned around and leaned back against the panel. "What do you say? All of time and space, anywhere and anywhen you want."

He might as well be standing with a fishing rod and a bait to wave in front of Merlin.

[unwaning]

All of time and space, anywhere and anywhen. Who in their right mind would say no to that? Yet, Merlin found himself hesitating. What if Arthur returned while he was off with the Doctor? As much as Merlin resented being forced to wait for all this time, he didn't think he'd ever forgive himself if he allowed that to happen.

He wasn't supposed to die yet, the Doctor had said. Merlin was almost certain he knew why. Surely, surely, if the Doctor and his TARDIS were so aware of the flow of things, they'd bring Merlin back when it was time? Merlin's hand touched the TARDIS' wall again, feeling that comforting hum through the metal. Somehow, he found the strength to make his decision. It wasn't a crime to do something for himself, and what was a little more time onto the 900 or so years?

"Okay," Merlin said, giving the Doctor a weak sort of smile. "I don't suppose you know a good place to stop for food? I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

[comeonthensexy]

Completely involuntarily, the Doctor grinned and pushed off the panel to spin around and face the controls again. Food, hm? Well...

"Feeling adventurous, or would you rather have something familiar? We could visit another planet, if you'd like. I know a couple of places."

[unwaning]

Merlin blinked at the Doctor a bit owlishly.

"Hang on...another planet?" This set of another round of internal speculation, as Merlin finally got what traveling with the Doctor might actually entail. "I mean...I figured the TARDIS to take you to other places, too, but not...that."

[comeonthensexy]

The Doctor paused in surprise for a moment, and then snapped his fingers and pointed at Merlin.

"Right, I did specifically only mention time travel. All of time and space, Merlin. I really meant it."

[unwaning]

"That's...really something."

Merlin was quiet for a second. When he looked up again, his eyes had regained some of its mischievous spark from before. "All right. Surprise me then."

[comeonthensexy]

His lips spreading to a wide grin, the Doctor clapped his hands together and pretty much hopped to put in the coordinates. Oh, he loved surprising people, it was the greatest thing.

"You're going to love this."

[unwaning]

This time, the Doctor's enthusiasm was contagious. Smile brightening just a bit, Merlin hopped to his feet and approached the control area.

"So this is how you navigate her?" he asked, circling around the main pillar curiously. He was too tired to get a good look last time, but this time--he'd watch while the Doctor steered.

[comeonthensexy]

"Yep," the Doctor said as he moved around, and stepped past Merlin. "It's constructed to be controlled by six people, but!" he whipped around to face Merlin as he slammed his hand down on a button, and grinned. "I've learned to do it by myself."

It took a lot of moving around. Obviously.

suddenly, account change

[dragonspeak]

"Sounds like a handful," he commented as he watched the Doctor fluttering about the controls. One man handling a job for six. Merlin thought he could relate a bit. Especially the part where there should have been others around.

"Do you teach all your companions to steer with you? Or just take them along for the ride?"

Aw yeah

[comeonthensexy]

"I just take them along." The Doctor pulled a lever, and then stopped, leaning against the console again. "After a while they tend to pick up a thing or two, but it takes time to really learn this thing."

And he's had centuries.

[dragonspeak]

"What's happened to them? Your companions."

Probably not the safest topic to broach, but he remembered the Doctor mentioning it before. He was older than even Merlin; the warlock wondered just how many the Doctor had lost before this.

[comeonthensexy]

Definitely not the safest topic to broach, and for a moment, the Doctor's mask fell, a deep line formed on his brow and there was no hiding the sudden pain in his eyes. He was quick to turn away, though, and quick to gather himself together as he fiddled with the controls some more. Too soon, too soon, but--

"A number of things," he said as he pulled the scanner down, standing on his toes instead of pulling it down far enough for him to look into it without trouble. "But the short version is; some leave, some get left behind, and some..."

There was the slightest crack in his tone there, and he didn't continue as he fiddled for a moment longer, and then waved at Merlin to come closer. Rory and Amy didn't die exactly, but it felt like it to him. How could it not? He saw their gravestone, their tomb. And what's the alternative - me standing over your grave? And he did. He did exactly that.

"Come look at this, Merlin," he said instead, as he took a step back and smiled. "The Time Vortex."

[dragonspeak]

Merlin finished the sentence for the Doctor mentally. And some are lost.

Hearing the hitch in the Doctor's voice, Merlin decided, was something that sounded extremely out of place. It would have been naive to expect someone who had lived even longer than he had to not have his own scars, but Merlin thought he vastly preferred seeing the Doctor enthused and cheerful. He let the topic drop, crossing the space to peer at the screen.

"What is a Time Vortex?"