Part One

When Clara eagerly opened the TARDIS doors to see what lied behind them, she didn't quite expect to see the entire surface of the alien planet to be covered in a vast array of flowers.

Her brows raised at the sight, taken aback, and that was when she was bombarded by the maddening smell. Her nose twitched and she barely managed to suppress a sneeze. To be honest, the view was nice and all, but she wasn't really impressed.

Clara turned to look at the Doctor, who was staring at her with rapt attention, mouth gaping wide and the lines of his forehead more pronounced than ever. It was obvious to see that he was waiting for her to jump in delight or gush over how lovely she thought the place was. Which didn't come as a surprise, as he usually did this; he was rather full of himself, after all.

"Well?" he finally prompted, when the silence dragged on for too long. "What do you think, Clara?"

She turned back towards the planet, looked at him once more, and shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay."

"Okay?" His voice raised a pitch defensively. "Okay? Clara, this planet is by far one of the most visited out there! Lots of travelers come here because of the sights, not to mention the"—here he paused to take in the smell of the flowers in his own exaggerated way—"smell! And you think it's okay?"

"Not really a flower girl, Doctor," she said with another shrug of her shoulders. Her arms wound around themselves, tucking snugly under her elbows as she leaned against one of the open TARDIS doors. "Plus, my nose is a bit sensitive. The smell is nice but, well, pungent."

The Doctor sniffed at this, pride wounded, mumbling something under his breath about impossible girls and repeating the word pungent over and over. She had a feeling that her impossible girl title wasn't exactly a good thing this time around, but didn't care too much. In her opinion, his reaction was entertaining as per usual.

"Let's go elsewhere, then," he said, turning to enter the ship, but Clara stopped him, rolling her eyes. She knew that if she didn't, he would be in a mood the entire trip. And she really didn't want him ruining this Wednesday for her.

"We can check it out, you big lug," she said. "No need to be so melodramatic."

"I wasn't—"

"Uh-huh. Of course not. Let's go."

"Hmph. Fine."

All in all, the trip wasn't off to a bad start. The planet wasn't horrible. It really was gorgeous, with its rows and rows of different types of flowers. Just flowers, nothing else. The smell had been overwhelming but Clara got used to it eventually. In fact, she was a little glad she stopped the Doctor from whisking them away from here, but she'd never admit it.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a bunch of bright, blood red flowers, resembling tulips, and made her way to them. "Ooh, these ones are rather pretty. Could I possibly nick one—"

"Oi! Don't pluck any!" The Doctor interrupted quickly, slapping her hand away.

"Ow," she yelped, massaging her hand. Somewhat dramatically as the slap hadn't hurt, but still. "What was that for?"

"Plucking flowers here is illegal, Clara," he said, as if it should be common knowledge for her. "Do that and you get capital punishment." Here he took his thumb and swept it across his throat, making a very ridiculous face that was apparently supposed to look like a person dying a horrible death.

Clara frowned at the new information. "Yes, thank you for informing me of this now, Doctor."

"You're welcome," was his answer. Had he realized she was being sarcastic? "Now then, come along. Lots of flowers to gaze at, so little time."

"'So little time'?" she parroted questioningly. "We've got a time machine."

"Yes, well, this is getting a bit dull for my tastes. Not as much running as I'd like."

"There is never enough running for you," she scoffed, but followed him all the same.

"Not true!" he was quick to say. "There was one time..."

"Uh-huh. Go on."

"I'm thinking, Clara."

"Yes. And not coming up with anything."

Cue a dirty look thrown her way; however, it did nothing to damper her smile, her eyes locked straight on his. He was the first to look away.

"Shut up," the Time Lord mumbled sullenly, acting very much like Angie when she loses a fight, and walked a little faster. Clara frowned, trying to keep up. What a child.

The silence was short, for that was when Clara spied the most lovely flowers she had ever seen. They were a soft petal pink, opening up beautifully with something yellow in the middle. Hard to describe, as she had a feeling they weren't found on Earth. Or, at least, not during her time.

She tugged on the Doctor's jacket, uncaring of his answering grumble. "Doctor! This way."

"Clara, what—?" he began, but she was already off. "Oh, alright." He came up from behind, stopping beside her. "Now, what is the— oh. Oh, hello there, beautiful."

Now it was Clara's turn to be confused. "Doctor?" The Time Lord had suddenly dropped to his hands and knees, inspecting the flower thoroughly at eye-level.

"Just getting a closer look," he told her over his shoulder. "It looks familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on when I saw it. Or what type of flower it is." Humming thoughtfully, he brought one of the flowers closer by its stem and sniffed it deeply.

Clara's eyes widened as a noise sounded, almost like a bag inflated with air being popped. Soon tiny balls of yellow—pollen, perhaps?—seemed to leave the flower, swirling near the Doctor. Some began moving towards her, and she cautiously began stepping back.

"Doctor?" she called out in alarm. What had happened? Was he hurt somehow? Could it be illegal to even smell flowers here?

The Doctor coughed loudly, a hand swatting away the possible pollen madly, and got up from his crouch. "I'm alright, I'm alright," he said. It was followed closely by a sneeze. "Hadn't expected that."

"Yeah, I could tell," she said dryly, though concern was much too obvious in her tone. She cleared her throat quietly, pushing past it. "What was that? Pollen?"

"Would appear so," he said, surveying the flower, though now at a good distance. "It came from the centre of the flower...the yellow that looked like part of the colouring of the petals is gone." He hummed thoughtfully again, hand coming up to rub his chin. He always looked stupid doing that. "It's all very familiar."

"Familiar? Of what?"

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his hand dropped from his chin as he turned to look at her as if he had never seen her before. Much like when he had rang her doorbell a thousand times and gaped at her their first meeting (though it had been the third time he had encountered her, even if she had not known it then), wearing monk clothing. Clara raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh."

Her eyes narrowed. "'Oh' what?"

"The flower."

"Yes?"

"It's... I remember what type of flower it is now. And its properties."

"And?"

"And you might not like what I'm about to tell you." He paused, then said, "You definitely will not like what I'm about to tell you."

"Doctor, what is it." Curiosity, and fear, was getting the better of her now.

"This particular flower is called tulrim. Not found on Earth, obviously. It's native to Upluna, where the males aren't exactly the most faithful. However, the females don't have much use for the males once the, ahem, mating process is over and done with. But when the females are pregnant, they are most vulnerable." The Doctor paused, sheepishly clearing his throat. "Tulrim comes into play then. Simply get the male to inhale it, and it immediately releases its pollen into the air. Not harmful but it— well, when exposed to the pollen, the male gets attached to the first female he sees."

Clara closed her eyes, trying to remain calm. "Define 'attached'."

"Uh, they tend to get clingy. And possessive. Very possessive." He winced after saying that, and his companion had the urge to just walk away from the situation entirely. But, unfortunately, that wasn't an option.

"Alright. Okay," she muttered, crossing her arms and trying to achieve some semblance of calm. "That's...fine. How long until the, the effects wash off?"

"Usually for the duration of the pregnancy. So about two weeks Earth-time."

She nodded slowly. "Great. What do we do?"

The Doctor cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Yes. Well. I don't think the effects are taking place. For me, I mean. Uplunians and Time Lords don't have the same physiology, biology, or—anything, really. It might not affect me at all. Or I might only end up with a mild cold." With this, he brought out the sonic screwdriver and waved it over himself as best he could, squinting at the glowing green end afterward. "Hmm."

"So?" she questioned, impatient.

"The sonic doesn't detect any changes. That doesn't make any sense. How could the tulrim not affect me whatsoever?"

"Well, you said Uplunians and Time Lords aren't similar at all, yeah? That could explain it."

"But for it to have no affect on me? It doesn't add up." The Doctor knocked the sonic against his forehead, frowning. "Think, Doctor. Think. What're you missing?"

Clara exhaled heavily. "Can we just go now, Doctor?" She didn't want to stick around the planet any longer. Who knew what other alien flower they might mistakenly stumble upon?

"Yes, yes," he mumbled, sounding sidetracked. Then he shook his head and, surprisingly, bent down again, plucking the offending flower from its stem.

Clara's eyes widened at the sight. "Doctor, what are you doing? You told me that plucking a flower equals capital punishment, remember?" She even imitated his previous motion of swiping his thumb across his neck, though didn't attempt the stupid expression.

"Yes, I did. Good, you were paying attention," he said quickly, beginning to walk towards the TARDIS rather hurriedly. Clara followed not far behind, struggling somewhat due to her vastly shorter legs. "But I need this flower, to examine it more thoroughly. I know I'm missing something."

"So what? You won't get capital punishment because you're a Time Lord or got—got—sprayed or whatever?"

"No, I'll still get capital punishment. But not if we get to the TARDIS within," he spared a glance at his watch, "oh, twenty seconds."

Barely a millisecond passed, and sirens began to blare, as if someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation. The Doctor grasped tightly onto Clara's hand and they were off, running at breakneck speed. The tulrim was resting in his other hand.

Thankfully, they made it into the TARDIS moments before the sirens were upon them, scanning for the possible perpetrators of the grave crime committed. However, their problems were far from over.

No, they had just begun.

A/N: Originally a short one-shot that was requested on Tumblr, but I decided to expand on it. I changed up the ending and edited/revised it a little. Not sure when the next part will be, but I have got a good chunk of this story planned out!

Anywhom, I hope you enjoyed this first bit. Please do favourite, follow, and/or review, as feedback would be much appreciated!