(ᵃᵘᵗᵒᵖᶫᵃʸ) тнє ωσяℓ∂ ιѕ мιηє

          ❛ you know —- that look. it’s a good one. i think. ❜

        he lifts his hand to gently cup her cheek, thumb running over the curve of it. he’s wondering, at this point, how she hasn’t noticed the fact that he’s so much different, but he supposes that his smile is what does it. or maybe clara just isn’t as smart as he had always believed.

                                 ❛ of course it is. you ready to go? ❜

                                                                 ❝  ANY DECENT HUMAN could take one good look at you and tell something’s very seriously wrong.  ❞

        ❛ alright, fine. if there is something wrong with me, you figure it out. after all, you’re the clever one here. ❜

           and there he goes again kissing her ( careful doctor, it’s something clara can get very addicted to. )  ❛ you have a look. ❜

          he raises a brow at her. ❛ oh really? what sort of look? ❜

            her eyes lower to their hands, gaze fixed even as the tardis materializes throughout space & time. although eventually, a few moments later she finally does look upwards, dark hues connecting with a lighter pair. her head cocks slightly, lips pressing together and a brow raising. ❛ is there something on my face ?❜ 

           he can’t help himself. he dips down to press a soft and gentle kiss to her lips before pulling away and giving her a soft smile. ❛ no, why? ❜

         ❛ months? has it really been that long? i’m sorry, clara. ❜

         it doesn’t matter how many times she’s watched him at the console, clara is always in awe and it’s always clearly written upon her features. following his instruction, she takes the lever within her grasp & with a flash of an almost giddy smile, she pulls it & the familiar whooshing starts ; a sound she absolutely loves.

❛ amazing, huh ?  —- maybe i just have the special touch.❜ & there’s a waggle of her brows.

at least she’s amusing to keep around. there’s a soft chuckle that leaves his lips and he reaches to press his hand over hers gently. he looks over her quietly, running his thumb across her knuckles lightly, feeling each one. ❛ you definitely do. ❜ it isn’t long after that that the machine makes its materialisation in another area of space & time, but he acts none the wiser, continuing to gaze over her. he doesn’t think this will be too awfully hard, but he’s surprised that this change in his actions hasn’t really affected her judgement making.

                 ❝    Same old cockiness,  that’s nice to know.  —————  As for  ME,  I’ve been just  fine.  Work,  friends  —————  How long do you want the list to be before you doze off?    ❞

           ❛ you know me, i want to hear every gritty detail & more, after all i like learning about you each & every day. as for right now it’s starting to sound like you hate me. what’s with that? don’t remember hurting you. ❜ 

             despite the fact that clara did in fact want to spend every waking moment with the doctor, she has a terrible tendency where she’s unable to say no to him. even if she were to think about it, she would still say yes regardless. lips tug after their kiss ( not that she’s been counting, she hasn’t, but that makes two ) and she follows him to the console, hands clasped in front of her.

❛ how about you show me something incredibly awesome !  somewhere you haven’t taken any of your companions to yet. ❜

      taking her somewhere he hasn’t taken anyone else sounds like a challenge, but a challenge he is willing to accept. really he’s been a lot of places over the years, & he has in fact traveled to planets that very few beings know about. he decides he’ll take her to a luxury planet. so that she can see that he isn’t all for danger all of the time, & so that she can fall in love even further. he doesn’t see the harm in it. his fingers dance over the console quickly and then he points at the lever & peeks at her.

              ❛ first off, i’m taking you to an amazing planet. second, you should know you’re the only one who’s really ever picked up how to pilot a tardis & i’m glad to have been the one to teach you. ❜

           she nods, eyes flickering and her tongue darts out only to look back up at him, with a warm smile now present. ❛ you know what ? yes —- i’ll do it. i’ll stay with you. ❜ she’s glamoured by the idea and maybe that will be her downfall. but for the moment, clara knows exactly what she wants and that’s this.

       there’s a smile that comes across his face & part of thinks it may very well be genuine. she’s picked the right answer, there’s nothing that can stop him from being happy about that. he moves forward at that, pressing his lips to hers as if he’s been doing this for years. it’s a fleeting kiss, one that isn’t supposed to mean too much. then he pulls away, moving to the console, starting to slowly press in commands.

        ❛ where to then, miss oswald? all of time and space is ours now. ❜

            she removes her hand from his cheek and her expression relaxes to something a little more neutral. that is until she has to replay his words in her mind just to make sure that it’s real. ❛ are you being serious ? actually properly serious ?  ❜ she shakes her head, a soft chuckle escaping. & her fingers move upwards to run against her bottom lip. ❛ i —- i’d love that, really. but what about my job, my friends & family,  my life outside of you ? shouldn’t i have a healthy balance between the two, my normal life and this ?  ❜

          he watches her quietly, worried about the expression on her face. he doesn’t understand how he wasn’t specific enough for her, but he supposes he can try to be even more so. ❝ you could, but that would be boring. you don’t have to, you can just have this. this is all i have, after all. ❞

           ❛ —– huh. ❜ it’s more to herself than to him, her eyes scanning his with a tiny bit of concern written upon her features. ❛ if you’re not sick, are you dying ?  ❜ her breath hitches as he leaves a kiss against her forehead, eyes lowering for a brief second only to go back up as the weight of his next words truly hit her. ❛ that sounds pretty serious, doc’. everything alright ?  ❜ her tone is light, lips quirked and brows slightly creased.

          his gaze moves from hers a bit, directed toward the ground as he smiles just barely. his face relaxes before he starts to speak. ❝ no, it’s not really all that serious ... just, clara, i’d like it if you’d stay with me for more than a day. i want to travel with you every day, i want to be able to have you here with me. i know that’s a lot to ask, but here i can give you things that i can’t give you whenever we’re apart. here, in the tardis, i can give you what you want, i can give you us. we can go to the lake district & have our scones, we can go to france & eat souffles, we can go to any planet you want any time you want, as much as you want. just stay with me. ❞

            it’s everything clara hoped for, but regardless she’s still completely on the fence. it’s all too sudden, too sweet and that is what worries her. expressive brown hues reopen a few seconds after he pulls away meeting his & she can’t help the soft smile that tugs even if she wanted to. regardless of her uncertainty, clara did enjoy the kiss. and she certainly wouldn’t complain if it were to happen again.

          her eyes still remain upon the doctor’s features, and her own hand moves upwards to sit atop of his against her cheek. clara’s brows crease ( only slightly ) and her head cocks just barely at his words, that sounded a little too good to be true. ❛ that depends —- are you sick ?  ❜

      there’s a soft chuckle at that, his head just barely tipping into her touch. the feel of her hand against his cheek is warm, sending a soft ripple of that warmth through his body. he may want to harm her to a point, but he still finds he’s very attracted to her & the warmth of the kindness that she represents. ❝ no i don’t really ever get sick. it’s a nice part of being a time lord. ❞ he moves forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead. ❝ i have something important to ask you, & you don’t have to answer today, but i’d like one soon. ❞

             ❝    .  .  .  I  was  doing well. Not having so much fun anymore.  DIDN’T EXPECT  to see  you  again.    ❞

      ❝ come of it, love, you know you’ve missed me dearly. what’ve you been up to other than cutting your hair? ❞

            her skin ignites, her mind  focusing on the entire situation at once. it’s the way his fingers graze her skin ( which has happened before but not like this, it’s never felt this way ) that sends a shiver down her spine & she’s so transfixed. she should know better, she usually does. but instead of her mind having complete control, it was her heart. and her heart said yes. which to clara, was all that mattered for the moment. the repercussions she’d deal with later on.            ❛ how —– ❜ it’s all clara manages to get out before she finds their lips connecting in the kiss. whether it was his doing due to the hand at the back of her neck or on her own accord, she wasn’t sure, clara finds herself kissing back. eyelids flutter instinctively and the brunette focus is on the way his lips feel against her own & the way he tastes. something which she may have dreamt about once maybe twice in the early stages of their friendship.

           very few things are beautiful to him anymore, but he finds himself not having to press his hand to the back of her neck anymore because she’s finally kissing him back, & he thinks that’s something to be treasured. his fingers move through her hair a bit, slowly but enough for it to be a sensual sort of touch, & then he pulls back, his gaze on hers again. he wants her to enjoy this to the point that she can’t stand it, because he can use that against her. a hated kiss would do him no good.

             he moves his fingers through her hair for a moment before he cups her cheek gently, a smile moving over his lips. ❝ would you believe me if i told you i’ve been imagining what that would be like for a very long time? ❞ he’s letting her think he loves her, & maybe somewhere he does, but now he just wants to use her.

            her breath hitches at the movement of his finger along her jaw and clara’s eyes lower from his face for a brief moment, just to make sure that the doctor’s touch was real, that it was actually happening. but as soon as she’s convinced herself that this is real, her eyes go straight back to his features, landing on his own pair of green hues.

  maybe he had a point, she did want more than to just be an english teacher. it wasn’t that she was settling, no — she loved inspiring. she loved inspiring her students with her stories. of course she doesn’t expect many to believe her, why would they ?  ❛ i LOVE my job. the teaching, the inspiring. it keeps me grounded. ❜ it also reminds her that this, travelling with the doctor, is merely a hobby. it isn’t as though clara can spend the rest of her life being in the midst of time and space. ❛ have you forgotten ? i’m an incredible liar. ❜ and he was right, sometimes clara just can’t help the way she looks at the doctor, as if she wanted more than just their friendship. at first she did. she couldn’t help it, but it was easy to fall for him. but clara learnt to try and keep that locked deep down. of course that façade slips, she’s only human. but when it does slip out, she’s convinced he doesn’t notice. ❛ you notice ?  i like dressing up, i always have. you know, i am a girl after all. — they think you’re my boyfriend because we spend so much time together. and that one time where i needed you to pretend to be my boyfriend. it wasn’t my fault my family were getting close to calling an intervention. i’ve just let them believe that we are, it’s easier that way. ❜ she doesn’t respond, she has no need to. he was right after all.

           ❛ it passed my mind once or twice, but i had to keep those feelings at bay. it’s impossible. you’re impossible. ❜ 

      funny how the impossible girl is now calling him impossible. IT’S TRUE though. how possible is it for an alien from outer space to come & swoop down to earth, snatching up humans & making them fall in love with things that could never be theirs - that they could never understand. the problem is that clara understands it all far better than anyone else. clara knows him. she’s a WEAKNESS, a liability. there’s danger in her which is why he finds her so addicting.

     his hand slides slowly to the back of her neck, fingers spreading out over the skin, feeling her incredibly human pulse. there’s still space left between them and just enough for tension to build. he moves his head down, eyes still open as he keeps his eyes with hers. his lips hover near hers, and they moves into a small smile. he breathes his next words carefully. ❝ it’s okay, clara, you don’t have to anymore. we can be impossible together. ❞ he’s then lowering his lips to hers, somewhat forcing her to kiss back by the way he presses his hand against the back of her neck. he wonders if he pressed hard enough if her bones would snap, & what a terrible kiss that would turn out to be.

            whatever space that was between them was diminishing every second that passed by and even though clara appears brave she’s more uncertain than anything else. she’s not fearful, she never is when it’s just them. but it’s the way that the doctor moves the hair back onto her face, or the way that he’s looking at her that’s sending her mind into a spiral. ❛ what do i want ?  ❜ clara firmly believes she knows the doctor to a t, but this, this is different. this is something else, something she’s not used to when it comes to him. something she doesn’t really know how to handle, but she’s not scared. not in the slightest. not yet.

      his index finger moves along her jaw slowly; a movement that, if he were the same doctor as before, would have been completely banned. the movement holds sentiment, but it is more of a sensual variety. his face loosens a bit, his jaw tilts forward a bit & his eyes connect with hers very slowly. 

        ❝ you want more than to be an english teacher, i can tell you that for sure. you want me to drop you off for your job, but i can tell that’s a lie that you tell yourself to make me believe that you actually have friends and a life outside of ME. & that’s a funny lie, clara, but as far as lying to me goes you’ll have to try better because i INVENTED the rule book on lies ... you look at me more than your best friend all of the time. i act like i don’t notice because a lot of people look at me the way you do & i never care, but with you i actually do. & there’s also the fact that you get dressed up every single time we go out. dress, skirt,              you know you rarely wear anything around me that isn’t something you would wear if we went out on a date. your family thinks i’m your boyfriend, your coworkers too probably. so you want to know what you want? you want to be more than just a boring little human in her boring little human world where all you really have is your father & a group of teenage brats who give you as much respect as that girl angie did. with me you feel like you’re powerful, like you can do something           ❞

       a pause to let his point sink in for a moment as his palm moves over her cheek. he cups it carefully, keeping his eyes on her. ❝ you want me, you want us, because i’m the only one who can make you feel special. ❞