Beta read by Kara MT.
Set after Time-Flight.
I've been working on this story for ages, and finally came to the conclusion that if I don't post something now, it'll never happen. This part can stand alone. I might eventually add more; I might not. If I do, it will get very shippy. If I don't go on, what you see is what you get.
The Doctor was celebrating.
He'd been hoarding a stock of the finest ginger beer for decades, in anticipation of a special occasion, and that time had finally arrived. He had managed to get Tegan home, even if it was by accident, and he'd managed to leave her there, even if by accident he had also failed to say an appropriate goodbye.
Yes, he deserved a treat. As many treats as he could drink before he passed out, in fact.
He sloshed a generous portion of the contents of the nearest bottle into his glass and then noticed that Nyssa wasn't keeping up. She was merely toying with her glass, lifting it and setting it down again, forming little wet rings on the kitchen table.
What had he been thinking before he looked at the rings? He couldn't remember, and settled for informing Nyssa, "Now that Tegan isn't around to hear it, I don't mind telling you I sometimes despaired of getting her home."
She nodded in a weary sort of way. "Yes, I know."
"How do you know that?" the Doctor wondered.
"Because you said it approximately three minutes ago," Nyssa said gently.
"Oh." The Doctor took another swig of ginger beer. He paused to marvel at how delicious it tasted before resuming, "Anyway, Tegan's home and it's just you and me now, Nyssa. Wherever you want to go. Whatever you want to do. Whenever." He spread his arms in an extravagant gesture, nearly toppling his glass in the process.
Nyssa performed a quick save and then finally tasted her drink. When she had finished the glass, she turned to the Doctor. "I can't travel with you any longer," she said baldly.
The Doctor blinked. "Why not?"
"Because," Nyssa said, pouring herself another helping, "it isn't proper. It was all right when Adric and Tegan were around. It wasn't just you and me then. But how do you think it looks now, with the two of us alone? I'll tell you: It looks... disreputable!"
The Doctor struggled to work his mind around her logic, which was decidedly foreign to him even after taking the potential effects of the ginger beer into account. "Are you saying you're concerned about what people will think?"
"Yes!" Nyssa tossed her head. "Yes, I am! Don't you remember that nasty little man at the hotel last week? How he looked at you and me and Tegan?"
The Doctor did indeed remember.
The receptionist's expert gaze encompassed the three of them. "Welcome to the Bradford Hotel. You're in luck; we've just had a cancellation and have a room now available." "We need two rooms," the Doctor promptly corrected. The other man frowned, looked from the Doctor to Tegan to Nyssa, and finally checked his records. "I suppose we do have a second room. If you and your..." He looked inquiringly at the Doctor and Tegan. "Tegan is my... niece?" the Doctor offered. "Oh, that sounded convincing," Tegan muttered. "We're just travelling companions," the Doctor stressed, shooting her a quelling look. The receptionist winked. "I understand. Let me assure you, we are very discreet here. You and your 'niece' and your other 'niece', I presume, are quite welcome. I'll make sure no one disturbs you; I'm sure you want your privacy."
At the time, Nyssa hadn't seemed unduly upset by the receptionist's insinuations, the Doctor thought, but then again, he was learning all sorts of new things about her tonight. She must be better at concealing her emotions than he had previously believed. She was so quiet and undemanding that he admittedly at times took her patience and good nature for granted. What was that old Earth saying? Still waters ran deep?
Nyssa was speaking again and she certainly seemed upset. "I couldn't even really blame that man because what else was he supposed to think, looking at us? Now that it's just you and me, more and more people are going to assume the exact same thing. Don't you agree?"
She was looking at the Doctor like she expected a sensible answer. "Ah, yes?" he guessed.
"Right!" Nyssa exclaimed. "That's exactly the problem. So you realise, as soon as possible you'll have to leave me on the nearest suitable planet."
Somehow, the Doctor had agreed to an action he had never intended to support. Perhaps worse, Nyssa was becoming rather worked up. He saw tears in her eyes, and her lips were trembling. He watched anxiously; if Nyssa cried, he was not quite sure what he should do. Then the ginger beer worked its magic, as Nyssa lifted her refilled glass and drained the contents. She did not cry, but instead drank at a steady pace.
Time passed and the Doctor mulled over how he never could stand to be alone. Now he was fast sliding in that direction. Most recently he had lost Adric, and Tegan couldn't wait to get away from him. He didn't think he could bear it if Nyssa left as well. That was the problem with his companions, always wanting to go their own way just about as soon as he had them nicely broken in. Even worse, Nyssa was one of the more promising of the lot, since unlike certain others she actually listened to him most of the time. It really wasn't fair of her to threaten to leave. It was an uncharitable thought, but then, he felt he had some right to be uncharitable. He'd invested a lot of time and emotion in Nyssa, and he hadn't yet received a fair return.
The Doctor and Nyssa sat glumly, imbibing several more glasses of ginger beer apiece. The drinks seemed to help the Doctor think, because after five additional glasses he had come up with a glaringly logical solution. Yes, he thought, it would work. Nyssa was quite amiable and they had always got on very well. She never argued with him and only rarely asked questions so foolish they made him want to tear out his hair in despair. He couldn't lose a paragon of a companion like her. There was really only one thing to do.
"You know," he informed Nyssa, blearily regarding her from behind his latest ginger beer, "we could get just married. If we were married, there wouldn't be anything improper about us travelling together, correct?"
Nyssa nodded vigorously, almost falling from her chair in the process. "Being married would make us very proper. I definitely wouldn't have to leave."
"Then it's settled." The Doctor tried to refill their glasses and realised only after several fruitless efforts that the final bottle of his precious supply was empty. "We can't drink to it, but we're engaged."
In the morning, the Doctor was sober. He hadn't even a touch of hangover, but for some reason a feeling of dread hovered over him.
He fought to remember: What had happened last night? Had they encountered any more monsters composed of bubble bath? Individuals named Smarte or Mertas or any other anagram of "Master"?
Oh, yes. He had overindulged in ginger beer and become engaged to Nyssa. That was all.
That was all?
He didn't want to marry Nyssa! Oh, he liked her very much and appreciated the fact that her voice never approached the decibel level of Tegan's finest efforts, but he had felt that way about Adric as well and wouldn't have wanted to marry him, either.
The Doctor could almost feel a noose tightening about his neck. It was all the fault of that wretched, tempting, seductive ginger beer, and if he hadn't run out of it last night, he would have downed another bottle on the spot to help him forget his current fix.
Then he calmed down and forced himself to engage in rational thought. Nyssa must have drunk almost as much ginger beer as he had. With some luck, she wouldn't remember a bit of their unfortunate conversation. And even if chance she did happen to recall the less illustrious parts, surely she didn't truly want to marry him any more than he wanted to marry her. She was certain to laugh off the entire idea, and then they would return to their old comfortable friendly footing.
Having thus reassured himself, the Doctor proceeded down the corridor to the console room in relatively good humour. After all, he had scored a stunning (if entirely inadvertent) success in transporting Tegan to Heathrow, and he was still proud of himself. In a modest way, of course.
As he neared his destination, he was poised to utter the words. Any of several phrases would work a treat. Perhaps he should go with, "This is a terrible mistake." Then again, "We're better off as friends" had a winning ring to it, and "I was drunk!" was the ultimate in honesty. Honesty was good. But then he stepped into the console room and caught sight of Nyssa's bright, expectant face and his hearts sank. Immediately he realised he couldn't say a word. Honesty would not be good in this particular case.
Again, he cursed that ginger beer.