{a part of consultingmadmenhuntersrp}
Pleasure to meet you, I'm Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, formerly
the Brigadier of UNIT. Rather out of time and certainly out of place.
Tilting his head, the Brigadier considered that. It would be quite the shock, he supposed, to see how much UNIT had changed since— well, since he’d been…gone. No one he knew would be there, anymore, and a small pang of sadness hit as he realized just how much he’d truly lost. Steeling himself against it to consider it later, Alistair smiled at the Doctor. “It seems the best course of action.” He replied, carefully, choosing his words to present the proper face. Glad for the change of subject, he shrugged. “What’s recommended?” Alistair peered at the menu he’d barely glanced at. Frankly, food seemed to have changed a bit too, and he wasn’t sure he approved.
“Any of the sandwiches, and the grilled chicken is quite good,” Ianto said. He closed his menu, deciding on water and a plate of chips and perhaps a sandwich. Setting his closed menu down, Ianto glanced at the Brigadier again. He wondered how the older man was taking being thrown forward in time.
“I suppose I’ll be getting the grilled chicken, then.” Alistair replied, flashing a smile towards Ianto. The young man seemed to be rather curious about him, which he supposed was understandable. He didn’t think he was all that interesting, but his situation certainly was. “I’ll trust in your judgement, Mr. Jones.” Although, taking a glance around the establishment, most of the food appeared to be delicious. It didn’t seem as if he could take a wrong turn- unlike stumbling into the future with rather alarmingly quickly.
The Brigadier likes to travel, probably partially because he was raised in India for awhile before heading off to England for school. It’s one of his favorite things, actually, and back when he was in his proper time he always took a bit of time off when he could to go on vacations, and give himself a proper rest.
Ianto smiled a little at the Doctor’s flustered attempts to placate Idris. He glanced at the Brig, watching him. He knew how it felt to be placed in a world that was the same as his own but at the same time vastly different. Ianto spared a quick look out the window. It was a bright sunshiny day.
All of his inner alarms were going off and he couldn’t place why.
All of the attempts had clearly worked. She really wasn’t used to being human yet, the emotions were intense. Idris just smiled before digging around in the pockets on her dress. She pulled out what looked like more money than Idris should have had. She hugged the Doctor. “I’m sorry for being moody…being human is strange. As for the meal, I can pay.” Idris smiled wide, setting the money on the table. how she had come across all the money…well…she had gotten most of it back from when she first met Irene and Ianto. She hadn’t used the money yet, well she hadn’t used all the money yet. “Also it’s fine, I understood what you meant, I just let human emotions get the better of me…it’s been happening a lot.” Idris looked back at her menu. She had no idea of what to get. She peeked over at the Doctors menu, wondering if they had the same one. She looked back at her own. Maybe just something simple? Like…Chips?
The Doctor gave a sigh of relief. He leaned against her. “You don’t really have to pay. I mean after this I was going to take Alistair over to the UNIT base and talk them into giving him a proper job. ” The Doctor said, picking up his menu again. The Doctor straightened up again, trying not to fidget like a child. He straightened his already straight bow tie. “You have no problem with that, right? By the looks of it you’re somewhat short on money. A job should help out for the moment. Until I sort this mess out.” The last sentence was muttered as the Doctor absently stirred his straw through his glass of water. “So? What is everyone ordering?” He asked, peeking over the menu at the others.
Tilting his head, the Brigadier considered that. It would be quite the shock, he supposed, to see how much UNIT had changed since— well, since he’d been…gone. No one he knew would be there, anymore, and a small pang of sadness hit as he realized just how much he’d truly lost. Steeling himself against it to consider it later, Alistair smiled at the Doctor. “It seems the best course of action.” He replied, carefully, choosing his words to present the proper face. Glad for the change of subject, he shrugged. “What’s recommended?” Alistair peered at the menu he’d barely glanced at. Frankly, food seemed to have changed a bit too, and he wasn’t sure he approved.
Ianto started a little when he realized that everyone was staring at him. “Oh, I’m not a Companion. I’m sure the Doctor would like it if I was, but I’ve told him no.” Ianto shrugged as if this were fairly commonplace. “Menues?” he asked, holding them out and directing his companions attention away from him.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer their questions, he just didn’t want to answer why.
Idris pouted. The doctor was traveling alone? Alone. A L O N E. Alone. All Alone with no one but himself. So what did that make her? No one? She was a nobody? Even though she had gone out of her way to become somebody she was still just nobody! Idris sunk into her seat a bit. So much for a good evening. Right about now she was about ready to run back to…herself…and show him what it would be like without her! It’s not like his silly voice commands worked, she always made them work. She took a Menu, hiding her face behind it. “It’s okay General, you could have said in me, since I’m just a machine and not anybody. You know, just a nobody over here.”
The Doctor reached for his menu and froze when Idris spoke. He picked up the menu and paused, his eyes scanning over it. Though in truth he was re-accounting his words. What had he said exactly? Oh. Oh no. How could he forget she had human feelings now?! “Idris, when I met alone. I meant temporary travelers. Me and you are always together, right? We’re alone at the moment.” He replied with a smile. A hopefully effective recovery. He wrapped his arm over her shoulders and rubbed her arm, meeting her eyes. “Hey, would I EVER leave you behind if I had the choice?” The Doctor asked her.
Blinking a bit, Alistair grappled for words. He hadn’t exactly thought the words through, and he certainly hadn’t meant to offend, well, the TARDIS. Idris. God, now there was something that was taking him a bit longer to adjust to than he was used to. Accepting the proffered menu, Alistair smiled apologetically towards Idris. “I should have used a better choice of words, miss Idris, as you are certainly not a companion in the usual sense of the word. More of family, hm?” Perusing the menu after his amendment, the Brigadier glanced over the top of it at his companions. If, at all possible, this was stranger than finding himself landed at least semi-permanently in a different time.
Ianto wrinkled his nose. It wasn’t like he could call up Torchwood on a whim - as far as he knew, they were disbanded. He lead the others to a booth, letting the conversation wash over him in like he did before everything at Torchwood Three. He guided them into the booth, sitting down next to the Brigadier with the Doctor and Idris across from him.
Idris gave the Doctor’s cheek a playful and friendly pat. “You know you like me being human now.” She stuck her tongue out before sliding into the booth. She slid in first, patting the seat for whoever decided to sit next to her. “You look new. I don’t think I’ve met you, I am in fact the TARDIS. You can call me Sexy, or Idris. Whichever is more comfortable for you.” Idris smiled wide, waving a bit.
The Doctor’s cheeks grew slightly pink as he glanced away. “Idris, call her Idris.” He stated. He slid in next to Idris. “This is The Brigadier, Alistair. You haven’t met him as a person before.” The Doctor told Sexy. “Crew? Actually, I’m companion-less at the moment. People just tend to flock around me now. That and S- Idris would travel with me anyway.” He said, leaning back in the booth. His long legs bumping knees with Ianto. He sat up straighter now, to avoid doing so again.
“Miss Idris, then. A pleasure.” Alistair said, flashing her a smile. It wasn’t even that much of a shock, really. He’d gotten a bit used to the Doctor, honestly, but nevertheless, it was still exciting.”Yes, I’ve been in—” Cutting himself off, suddenly flustered, he searched for the proper words that wouldn’t sound…wrong. “…around you before. Ages ago, now.” He finished a bit lamely. ”Oh.” Alistair tacked on, latching on to the other topic of companions. Honestly, he’d thought the Ianto chap was the Doctors companion, and he glanced at the man sitting beside him in curiosity.
Ianto nodded, smiling at the Brigadier. “Doctor, it’s a pleasent little diner, they serve cheese toasties and various other sandwiches.” Ianto led the two others to the diner, noting that the Doctor was eyeing them a little bit uncomfortably. “Doctor. We’re not going to turn out to be something that’s going to threaten you,” Ianto said, opening the door to the diner. “It hasn’t changed much in the last few years.”
“cheese toasties? I love those!” Idris came bounding over, hugging Ianto and smiling as big as ever. She hadn’t meant to ease drop but the mention of food had peaked her interest. Idris had followed the Doctor, winding up finding the group at the exact timing of Ianto and his cheese toasties. “Can I join too? Pleeease?” Idris made the biggest possible puppy dog eyes. She wanted to badly to join them, she was tired of being cooped up! Nothing too exciting had happened since the party, and Idris wasn’t one that could just sit around. “I promise not to eat all the cheese toasties.”
“Right! Well, let’s invite the rest of London while we’re at it. Ianto, you call up the rest of Torchwood, I’ll phone the Winchester boys, and Sherlock’s friends. It can be a party!” He said sarcastically. Not that he minded Sexy joining them in the least. “Aw come on, Idris. You know you can join us.” He said with a slight genuine smile. She WAS his TARDIS after all. He pulled her into a overly friendly hug in greeting. Then The Doctor followed Ianto inside, instantly gaining some looks from the regulars. He cast a glance in the window to get a better look at himself. No, no new oddities. The time-traveler huffed indignantly and let the other’s pile in, taking a moment to glance around.
Staring in a cross between amusement and confusion at the latest addition, Alistair followed along sedately, not saying a word as he entered the diner with the others. The mention of all the other names made him curious, but he didn’t pry. It was hardly polite, and he’d rather a friendly dinner. “You’ve collected quite the crew this time around.” Alistair observed curiously. It was always interesting to see who the Doctor chose to associate with. It was strange, too, to think of himself as one of those odd ones now, which he certainly was. “And this is— your… TARDIS?” Narrowing his eyes- but not angrily, merely in curiosity- he observed her.
Ianto was not expecting to run into the Brigadier as he dragged the Doctor out the door, much less cause the man to fall. “I’m sorry, Sir,” he said, moving to assist him up. Ianto didn’t make it before he stood, dusting himself off. He bit his lip, not really sure how to react to the confident military man, only having been told a little bit of what the man was like by Jack, who hadn’t really talked that much about him. “If you’re worried about paying, it’s my treat,” Ianto offered. “I was just about to take the Doctor to the nearby diner.” He pointed at the little restaurant not far from where they stood. “It’s a nice little place, I would go there for lunch when I was still at One.”
“He claims I don’t eat enough. Like he’s my mum.” The Doctor said absently, straightening his bow tie. He patted the dust off himself. The Doctor acted completely obvious to most of their conversation, as he tucked in his shirt and adjusted his suspenders. “Right, how’s my hair? Don’t answer that. What do they serve there? Nothing good, I’m guessing?” The Doctor smoothed down his hair. His green eyes shifting up, flicking over Ianto then the Brigadier.
“Sorry about running over you, I blame him. ” He motioned to Ianto, half heartedly. He still had trouble believing both of them were here, now. Both were anomalies. Ianto was supposed to be dead, and Alistair was supposed to be an older man right now. He ignored those details for now.
“It’s quite alright.” Alistair said, a bit absently, but offering a comforting smile to the young man all the same. Blinking a bit at the generous offer he shook his head and waved a hand. “No, I couldn’t. I will, however, be glad to sit down with the both of you and have a nice meal.” Following Iantos arm, he smiled again. It was, actually, a diner he’d been to himself every now and then. A bit of comfort in a strange world. Attention caught by the Doctors rambling(still the same as ever, only a bit more…disjointed), the Brigadier raised an eyebrow at him and waited, as usual, until the opportune moment to break in with a few words.
Chuckling a bit at the end of the Doctors miniature rant, Alistair shrugged. “It’s fine, truly. The company is nice, it hardly matters how it came about.” Gesturing politely towards the diner with his hand, he tilted his head. “Shall we, then?”
