Drabble: Tourist

[lindenharp]

Title: Tourist
Rating: G
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Eleventh Doctor
Genre: drabble
Words: 100
Spoilers: None, if you know who's been cast to play Eleven.
Summary: "I need a tourist."
Disclaimer: I am not the BBC.
A/N: Written for kensieg in response to the prompt: "How Jack met Eleven".

A breeze and a young man entered the office. The breeze stirred the stacked brochures; the man stirred Ianto's suspicions. He looked ordinary, but...

"I need a tourist."

English, Midlands accent... sounds drunk, but he isn't. "A tourist?"

"Someone who travels about, sees the sights," the man explained. "Are you a tourist?"

"No, sir. I live here."

"Oh..." He sounded forlorn.

Jack entered, carrying a bag. "Chinese takeaway."

The stranger studied him. "Are you a tourist?" He punctuated his question by collapsing.

Jack felt for a pulse, then gasped, as if stung. He sighed. "No. I live here now, Doctor."

Comments

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

lovely! And the subtext in the last line! I'm sure that Jack was hurt that the Doctor in his new incarnation didn't recognize him. Also his chagrin that he is now a resident in the 21st century.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

*beams* I'm glad you liked it. Jack will feel better once he realizes that the Doctor has just regenerated, and is in a mental fog.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

LOL! Oh, Jack. Oh, Doc. But you'll muddle through together . . .

I really hope Eleven has Jack -- or *someone* -- at his side when he regenerates. I hope Unca Rusty isn't so mean as to have him go through it alone. :(

[helygen.livejournal.com]

Oh I like it!
Will there be more?

[garpu.livejournal.com]

At first I thought of The Colour of Magic. Jack's line totally changes the tone, however.

[kaffy_r]

The way you can design a drabble - design it as surely as an architect designs a room, or even a home - is on display here. Absolutely marvelous.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Awesome :) Reminds me of the opening of "Christmas Invasion." (Which you probably intended.) "Oh, yes -- Merry Christmas!" *clunk*

And the title did not make me think of "tourist entrance" before I'd even clicked on the fic. That's my story and I'm sticking to it :)

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

I think he's had someone with him during most of his regenerations. And in most of those cases, it's been harder on the companions than on the Doctor.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thanks! If by "more" you mean Eleventh Doctor stories, probably not (until I see Matt Smith in the role). If you mean more drabbles, yes. I still have several more prompts to write.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

*nods* It would be funny if it wasn't sad. Eleven is looking for a companion to travel with. In his confusion, he doesn't recognize Jack, but some kind of homing instinct brings him to his friend's doorstep.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Thank you very much.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but Ten's a lot more . . . alone than your average Doc, y'know? Even more so than Nine, in a way.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the opening of "Christmas Invasion." (Which you probably intended.)

Guilty as charged. :-)
I needed Jack to discover the Doctor's identity as quickly as possible. A reason to check his pulse seemed easiest. The mental confusion has been in every regeneration scene I've watched.

"Tourist entrance"? Sorry, I don't understand that reference.

Thanks for the kind words!

[helygen.livejournal.com]

I meant more of this, but it's pretty much perfect as a one-shot. I look forward to the rest of your prompts :)

[adjovi.livejournal.com]

wonderful! such great emotions packed into so few words.

[kaffy_r]

By the way - is the kittie in your icon part of your household? What lovely glowing green eyes she has! (I'm assuming she's a she, because torties are almost always female.)

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

True. Nine repressed a lot of those feelings.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

And Ten's been kicked in the teeth, emotionally, about a couple dozen times *since* he was Nine. That can't have helped him . . .

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Yes, Emily is one of the two cats I belong to. She does have lovely green eyes, but the icon picture has been enhanced using GIMP (image manipulation software). I added a turquoise-tinted glow effect to each eye.

If I did it correctly, the undoctored image is here. She's on top of the bookcase. I call Emily my mountain cat, because she loves high places.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That's one of the things I find challenging about drabbles -- they force me to choose which words are absolutely essential to the story.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

He never does seem to have an easy regeneration, does he? And didn't Romana's go perfectly?

And -- here, I looked it up for you.

Jack:(as they step on the invisible lift) This is the entrance for tourists.

John Hart: I remember the last time you said that.

XD

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

I look forward to the rest of your prompts :)

I offered five prompts, and only four were claimed. If you'd like to suggest one, just post it in the Drabble Meme thread.

[lindenharp.livejournal.com]

And didn't Romana's go perfectly?

*nods* She "tried on" a half dozen bodies before
settling on one.

And -- here, I looked it up for you.

Thanks. I had forgotten that bit of dialogue.

[kaffy_r]

Heh - Finnegan, our Tortie of blessed memory, used to freak us out when she'd find a way to climb onto the very narrow top of the French doors in our old apartment. We still can't figure out how she managed either the climb or the balancing act. Loving heights must be part of the genetics.

Your eye augmentation is awesome.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

She "tried on" a half dozen bodies...

I haven't seen the scene, but I've heard about it. Poor Doctor -- he never gets to do that until later, when he's in his wardrobe :D

"Tourist entrance" has come up a number of times in the fanficrants and badfic_quotes comms (often at my instigation), usually in posts for which this icon is appropriate :D (speaking of Captain John, again...)