first_in_time | New Lives and Mourned Pasts

The trip was long but at least they had jobs to go to and somewhere to live even if it was small. They each had one suitcase half filled with clothes and a life they were leaving behind. Once they were left in the by the side of a dusty road on the outskirts of a small country town Barbara walked with Ian to their new home, unconsciously holding onto his hand as she had done so many times before. Their real estate agent waited at the door of their new home to hand them a set of keys. He wished the newly weds ever lasting happiness then left them to it.

"It seems I've missed my own wedding," Barbara said with a sigh as she put the suitcase down in the middle of the almost empty lounge room and chuckled a little. She was tired and felt dirty from all their traveling.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

splendid_roman

"I suppose they want to get away from adults." Which would be why they'd been so unhappy to see their teachers. "What was different about the back of the dance hall?" he asked frowning, not sure what she was getting at.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara smiled and blushed. "Boys."

From:

splendid_roman

"Ah," he said in understanding. "I must never have been in the right part of the dance hall. I assumed all the girls would be inside."

From:

first_in_time

"Usually you got invite outside," Barbara explained, "so the girls were inside but then some of the boys took them out. There was once a boy who I thought was very dishy and he invited me to the back of the dance hall. Except all he wanted to do was drink the scotch he'd smuggled out of his father's cabinet. I think it's safe to say that after the hangover I had, I haven't dared to touch scotch since," Barbara giggled at her story.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian chuckled. "I remember those sort of boys." Needless to say Ian hadn't had much to do with them. "I'll remember never to offer you scotch."

From:

first_in_time

"I'll happily stick to wine and enjoy the occasional gin and tonic," she told him and grinned, leaning in close to put a soft, delicate kiss on his cheek. "I'd happily sit out the back of dancehalls with you. Or on the tops of hills in the evening."

From:

splendid_roman

He grinned. "That's just as well." Now that they were alone again, he kissed her on the lips and put his arms round her. It was getting chilly and she was warm to cuddle.

From:

first_in_time

Ian's lips and his arms made her feel safe and loved. She pushed herself into the kiss, returning what words alone failed to express adequately. Barbara pulled Ian toward her, not realising that she was slowly starting to lean backwards.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian was following her, not wanting to stop, and not conscious of anything except the way she made him feel. He didn't realise she was leaning backwards until she fell backwards.

He let go of her so they could both sit up again. "Perhaps we should go home where we can do this in the warm."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara lay back on the grass for a moment. "Perhaps we should," she agreed after a moment of what seemed to be contemplation before sitting up. "I'll take the basket if you'll take the coats?"

From:

splendid_roman

"All right." He picked up his coat and waited for her to get up so he could pick up her coat and hold it out for her to put on.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara put their left over things in the basket and stood up. When she saw Ian waiting, she put one arm in her coat then the other, switching the basket from hand to hand. Once they were ready to go, she held onto Ian with her free hand.

"The stars are already out. It's going to be a beautiful night."

From:

splendid_roman

"You can see so many more of them here than you can in London," Ian said, looking up at the sky and relying on Barbara to lead him down the hill. The lack of ambient light was definitely making a big difference. "We should come back one evening after sunset to look at the stars."

From:

first_in_time

"Or we could lie on the grass in our back garden. We have one of those now," Barbara added and squeezed Ian's hand. The old fence sprung up before them and she had to let go of Ian's hand to climb over it.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian turned his attention to where he was going and climbed over after her, taking her hand again afterwards. "Of course we do." He'd got used to living in a flat - before they were travellers in space and time. "We'll buy a picnic blanket and lie out on it."

From:

first_in_time

"It's different, seeing the stars from Earth instead of the TARDIS scanner," she said after a moment of comfortable silence, "makes me feel more like I'm at home, I suppose. We should take time to look at them most days."

From:

splendid_roman

"The TARDIS scanner was like looking at a television, it's different looking at them in person. And we can't see the same constellations from anywhere except here." It was good to be see the familiar constellations again.

From:

first_in_time

"How many constellations can you see now?" Barbara asked and looked back up at the sky.

From:

splendid_roman

This time he stopped when he looked up. "There's the plough." He traced it with one finger. "And cassiopeia's a sort of W shape." He traced that one too.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara stood a bit closer to see where his finger was tracing.

"Oh! I see it. It's over there," she told him and traced it with her own finger.

From:

splendid_roman

"Yes!" He smiled and moved closer to her so he could see what she was seeing. "When we go to the library let's see if we can find a book with constellations in, then we can see if we can find them. I am a bit rusty with recognising them."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara loved how excited Ian was about start constellations, and she found herself taking on a little of his excitement.

"Alright, we can do that. I'm keen to see what else is in the stars," she said and took up his hand to gently tug him toward home. "Aside from the Doctor of course."

From:

splendid_roman

"There are planets too." He looked back down and let himself be tugged. "I can't remember which of them can be seen when, but we can look that up too. And there'll be meteorites, at the right time of year."

From:

first_in_time

"I told you that you'd fall back into being a science teacher quickly," Barbara told him with a grin, "you're almost back to your old self."

From:

splendid_roman

Ian smiled back. "I was thinking that the school needs a science club, to keep the children off the streets and persuade them that science can be fun, even when the curriculum bores them."