It was really nice of Desdendelle to invite her over for tea, the Aviator thought as she walked down the Generic Grey corridors of HQ. The Floater really did make the best tea, she wasn't exaggerating when she said that. For some strange reason, Zeb had declined to come along. Oh, well. More for her.
Hopefully the Librarian wouldn't be there, the smug bastard. The Aviator’s face felt hot just thinking about him. Authors above, but he made her so angry all the time, it was a wonder she hadn't punched him more than she had.
She arrived outside RC log10e and went in without knocking, like Des had said. She stopped short when she saw the Librarian sitting at the table— alone. She did a quick sniff to be sure, but it was already fairly obvious Desdendelle wasn't there.
The Librarian looked from his tablet up at her entrance, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I suppose you think this is funny?" the Aviator snapped. "You sent me the message, didn't you? Well, ha ha, very funny. What, did you want to tell me how much of a stupid ape I was for falling for your trick?"
"I did not send any message," the Librarian replied, standing up in an attempt to seem more authoritative. Though the Time Lord wasn't quite as tall as the Lady, he still radiated his centuries of experience. And haughtiness, but that goes without saying. "My partner left not several minutes ago, saying he was going to your response center for tea."
The Aviator and the Librarian stared at each other for a while. "Our partners set us up," the Aviator finally said, feeling her face heat up. "Guess you get out of being punched for now."
"Your primitive, violent tendencies once again show your immaturity," the Librarian said cooly. "It's no wonder you joined the DMS. Anywhere else would not have been able to hold your attention. I wouldn't expect any less from a human."
"You—!" The Aviator strode over and made to jab a finger against the Librarian's chest, but he caught her by the wrists. She tore herself free. "You're an asshole," she spat, feeling her hearts beating faster. What was the deal with this Time Lord?
Unbeknownst to the Aviator, the Librarian was having a similar reaction. This girl never ceased to get on his nerves. She was immature, intellectually inferior, and, he felt it was important to remember, not a real Time Lady. And yet there was something about her that drew him to her, something he might not have noticed had it not been for his partner's silly mocking. Maybe it was her willingness to stand up to him, something not many people bothered to do. Maybe it was the memory of the first time he'd seen her, vulnerable and scared and searching for answers, and how vastly different that was from the real her. Maybe it was seeing just how much she had changed since then, how strong she’d become.
For a moment, his emotions got the better of him, and he let a brief feeling of attraction pass from him to her.
The Aviator suddenly froze, her face flushing when she felt the Librarian's emotions. Was she just imagining things, caught up in the moment as she was? But no, the feeling was definitely there. Before she realized what was happening, she was leaning in, and the Librarian was doing the same, and suddenly their lips had met.
It lasted barely a second, but when they pulled back, both their faces were red.
"Um," the Aviator said, feeling like her brain had short-circuited.
The Librarian moved his hands from her wrists to around her waist. "So eloquent," he murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Tell me, have you always been so good with words, or is that a regeneration-specific trait?"
"Oh, shut up," the Aviator said, and leaned in again.
Their second kiss lasted much longer than the first, and both Time Lords were pressed so close together they could feel the pounding of each others’ hearts. When they came up for air, the Librarian leaned his forehead against the Aviator’s, sending her the memory of the first time she’d punched him.
“You deserved that, you know,” the Aviator murmured.
“I did,” the Librarian agreed, leaning away slightly so he could look her in the eye. “But that’s not important. It was right after that when my oh so subtle partner began his teasing. Do you remember?”
“Of course I do,” the Aviator said, only a little annoyed. “Perfect recall. Do you remember?”
The Librarian raised a delicate eyebrow at her. “Are you going to shut up on your own or do I need to do that for you?”
“How about you answer some questions instead?” the Aviator said, pulling away and sitting at the table. “Like why you’ve always been so hostile to me if this is how you really feel?”
The Librarian sat as well, interlacing his fingers. “Simple. Because you are not a real Time Lady.”
“Again, not really something I had any control over,” the Aviator reminded him. Her irritation was so great the Librarian could feel it, and he winced.
“To be fair, I am not entirely sure why I have indulged in such follies as…”
“Snogging?” the Aviator suggested, raising her own eyebrow. “If it makes you feel any better, you were pretty damn good at it.”
“Why, thank you. I’m sure our partners would be delighted to hear that.” The Librarian sighed. “I will not sugarcoat things. Quite frankly, I have not the slightest idea why I seem to find you attractive. You are not learned, you are immature, and you certainly have an inflated sense of self-worth.”
“Look who’s talking,” the Aviator said, scowling at him.
The Librarian held up a hand. “Allow me to finish,” he said. “Despite this, your dedication to and adeptness at your job are certainly admirable, and I have grown to respect you in the course of our time working together. If you had been born a Time Lady, I am certain you would have been on par with, if not above, most of your peers.”
“Gosh, thanks.” The Aviator peered at the Librarian. “How old are you, anyway? Like, exactly.”
The Librarian shrugged. “About three centuries. I am not very old by Time Lord standards. The age difference is negligible when you take into account our life spans.”
The Aviator smiled. “I’m not so sure my parents would see it that way, but alright. They’ll be all, ‘couldn’t you have gone for someone who isn’t an entire century younger than you?’”
The Librarian, whose hand had been inching across the table towards the Aviator’s, froze. “Parents?” he nearly stammered.
“Oh, right, you were Loomed, weren’t you?” the Aviator said, deliberately misunderstanding his cause for hesitation. “Well, you see, when a mummy and a daddy love each other very much—”
“I am well aware of how sexual reproduction works,” the Librarian snapped.
Both Time Lords blushed suddenly.
“Well, I don’t know about going that far,” the Aviator said, taking the Librarian’s hand and grinning mischievously, “but would you like to take this to the couch?”
She’d barely finished speaking before the Librarian’s mouth was on hers.
Meanwhile, back in RC 3-Apple-14…
“So,” Des said, pouring a cup of tea for himself and a bowl for Zeb and sitting down in the armchair, “how long do you think it’ll take for them to realize they’ve been tricked?”
“Oh, not long at all,” Zeb said, lapping at his tea. “The real question is, what will they do when they realize it?”
“Probably do unspeakable things to us,” Des said cheerfully. He sipped his tea and sighed contentedly. “I bet Arinaviator punches Librarian again, how much do you want to bet?”
“I’m not taking you up on that,” Zeb said, laughing so hard he nearly upset his bowl. “Say, want to watch something while we wait for them to hunt us down?”
But as Des and Zeb waited, neither of their partners came bursting into the response center, demanding to know what the big idea was. After an hour had passed, they began to get worried.
“You don’t think they’ve killed each other?” Zeb said, his ears flicking in agitation.
“Or at the very least tried to.” Des stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “Or perhaps they— nah, they wouldn’t…”
“Wouldn’t what?” Zeb asked, fairly certain he knew what Des was talking about but wanting confirmation.
“Never you mind. What say you we go back to my RC to make sure nothing’s happened that requires a trip to Medical?” Without waiting for Zeb, Des got up and hurried to the door. Zeb followed at his heels.
When they opened the door to RC log10e, both their mouths fell open.
The Aviator’s and the Librarian’s coats had been carelessly tossed on the floor, and the Time Lords in question were on the couch— or, rather, the Aviator was on the couch. The Librarian was more on the Aviator. His hands were tangled in her hair, and they were kissing with a passion that made Des and Zeb feel very uncomfortable. Neither of them had been expecting an outcome like this.
“Is this a bad time?” Des said lightly.
The Librarian leapt up as though stung. “You— what are you—?” he stuttered, for once lost for words as he fumbled to re-button his shirt, which was nearly hanging off his shoulders. His normally-tidy hair was mussed and there was a pink tinge to his face. “You said you would be gone for tea!”
“That was an hour ago,” Des said, averting his eyes from a very red-faced Aviator when she sat up to reveal she was wearing a tank top that only barely qualified as decent, showing off her nice figure. “Don’t tell me you two were—?”
“That is absolutely none of your business,” the Librarian said, doing up the last button and grabbing his longcoat off the floor. Without a second look at the Aviator, he strode into the RC’s other room and slammed the door shut behind him.
Des turned his head to the Aviator, though he still kept his gaze away. “Explain?”
“Not really sure I can,” the Aviator said, still blushing furiously as she grabbed her discarded shirt from the back of the sofa and shrugged it on. “One minute we were insulting each other, and the next—” She shrugged, grinned, and would have blushed even harder if that were possible.
“So, you and him, huh?” Zeb said, shaking his head. “Well, it’s about time!”
The Aviator’s fingers slipped as she was doing up her shirt. “You—?”
Zeb nodded. “Seriously, it was so obvious you two liked each other, even I could see it, and I’m not very good at spotting that sort of thing.”
“I thought it would take longer than this, honestly,” Des said, breathing a small sigh of relief when the Aviator was finally covered. “Mind you, now Librarian’s going to make life miserable for interrupting his… fun.”
“I’ll see if I can’t get him to take it easy on you,” the Aviator said, retrieving her own coat and pulling it on. “He’s really not that bad once you get to know him.”
“I’m so sure,” Des said dryly. “When you say ‘not that bad’, you mean ‘not that bad a kisser’, I suppose? Because he’s still an asshole.”
The Aviator lobbed a ball of lint at his head. “Shut it, you,” she said, but she was smiling.