[voice]

All right, then, just a moment of your time. Just a moment. I want to hear everything you know about vampires. Myths, truths, personal experiences, doesn't matter. 'M trying to get a wide viewpoint.

[accidental voice]

[ You know, it's a mark of how much the Doctor has run into Abed lately that he doesn't even feel surprised when he sees Abed dressed up in a strange costume. (The Doctor is in TARDIS blue text, Abed in DARSIT red.)]

Oh, is it the Pillow Lord again?

I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else, good sir. I am Inspector Spacetime. I'm looking for a young constable named Reggie - have you seen him?

[ The Doctor sounds amused.] No luck. I've been hearing a lot about you, Inspector.

Really? Curious. I have not been to this planet before. Though perhaps my future self has been here in the past...

Never realized how disorienting it is to hear that one from the other side. We might have more in common than I realized.

Are you a time traveler as well?

Been known to do a bit of travel through space and time, yes.

( This got a bit long; cut for length )

[video]

[ Not many people in the magic shop where the Doctor works, not today. When you can create things with the wave of a finger, supplies are a laughable idea. Gives him time to think, though. He's got a deck of cards and is building a card pyramid, very carefully. The device is propped up somewhere, focused on it. ]

[ Carefully he sets another triangle, and then he speaks. ] I've never claimed to see the whole universe. Can't do that in 900 years. Can't do that in 9000 years, honestly. So I've never seen a little world like this one, with its careful boundaries and barriers. Talk about controlled immigration. [ There's the flash of a smile with no humor in it. ]

Lately I've been wondering how many more of these places there are. Doubt this is the only one. Once one being figures out something like this, others follow. They ape. [ He leans in close to his card tower and adds another card, but then the shopbell rings as someone comes in, and the whole thing falls to pieces, and he's left with the one card in his hand. He flashes it to the camera, but it's only the very boring Nine of Clubs. ]

The City is like a spiderweb strung across time and space. Catches people here and there. I keep waiting for the spider to show up.

[ He starts gathering up the cards, and after a moment, shuts the video feed off. ]

[voice]

No, you're not allowed in the TARDIS. No, you can't just take a quick look. And no scribbling on this box or I will make you wash it off. I'm not kidding.

[ ooc: Voice/video/action all welcome! Come help the Doctor defend the TARDIS ahahaha. Or be the problem. ]

[video/action]

[ This is a quiet video, at first, just the quiet sound of air circulating, like slow breathing, and a glimpse into a strange room with oddly organic ceiling supports and green lighting on gold walls. Then the Doctor steps into view, his face backlit with strange shadows in the half-dark of the room. He smiles, and pats one of the coral supports, his face quite tender in expression, as if greeting an old friend. Then there's a loud electronic noise from out of frame left. He looks alarmed a moment and disappears out of frame, talking. ]

There now, old girl. What are you fussing about?

[ ooc: Open action in the TARDIS for Who crew; feel free to make your own threads and do whatever, I'm not going to subscribe to comments. Video for anyone else, or action if you just want to wander in, why not! ]

[voice]

[ The Doctor did not intend to make this post, which is why it doesn't really seem to be directed at the network. ] --Why would anyone want a picture of your mum slapping me? In what world does that makes sense?

[ But then he pulls the device from his pocket and speaks into it brusquely. ] Anyone's got photos of me, I don't want them. Haven't seen any worth keeping.

Except -- [ He pauses, and then continues more quietly. ] Less you find one of a planet with orange sky. Might want a look at that.

[video]

[ Although the video seems focused and intentional, it seems, somewhat oddly, focused on a fish tank (and among the aquarium decorations, there's a little blue box). There's a little splashing sound and then you can see the Doctor, his face distorted through the water, because he's on the opposite side of the glass from the device. ]

That gold one [ he points ] seems the most jumpy. Think I'm going to call it Jenny.

[ Coming around to the other side so he isn't so distorted, the Doctor picks up the device and puts it almost right up along the glass, like some kind of really weird nature documentary. He speaks off-screen, the camera following the fish as they go about their dull days. ]

Feeling a bit like a fish in a bowl myself. [ The camera pulls back enough so you can see him put a finger on the glass. The fish don't notice. ] Not that they notice. Or care. That's the beauty of being a fish: living in the moment. It's always the same moment to them. Never gets dull that way. They wouldn't even try to eat me. [ He might sound the smallest bit disappointed. ]

[ The video flicks off abruptly and voice remains for just a second. ] Going out, I think. Don't wait up, Rose. Get some sleep.

[ ooc: Open for action around the City if you'd like. ]

[voice/action]

[ The Doctor seems to be in some kind of busy public place, and you can hear people chatting all around him. The clink of glasses seems to indicate some kind of restaurant or bar. It is one of the City's many bars, and the Doctor hops up on the bar stool. There's a rustle of his jacket as he pulls a photograph free from an inner pocket, and he addresses the bartender. ]

A pint, please. And can you look -- just a second, really look. Have you seen this girl about anywhere? Average height, blonde. Name's Rose. Probably not using her last -- [ The bartender says something inaudible, sounding disbelieving. ] Yes, she looks like Rose Tyler because she is. Now have you seen her? Think hard.

[ The bartender answers in the negative. The Doctor (or Lieutenant John Tyler, as he currently believes himself to be), sighs. He drinks his pint. Third bar tonight with no luck. By the end of tonight, he's going to have found her, or gotten extremely drunk. Which seems to be more likely. ]

[ Rose, Rose, why did she run off to this City? He doesn't know. But he's determined to find her and get her out. ]

( voice; locked to Tosh; )

[ ooc: Gothic Romance curse with the Who/TW cast. Open to action in any one of the City's various City bars if you'd like. ]

[voice/action]

[ Another accidental post, Doctor? Not exactly. He intended to lock it to Rose but the device has other ideas. ]

Are you sure they sell this thing in the market? I can only find orange. No pink. Really, you'd look like an overstuffed pumpkin in one and overstuffed strawberry in the other. No offense.

[ ooc: The Doctor is suffering from the curse today! Please feel free to run into him out and about and be complimented and then insulted. Or the other way around, he isn't picky. ]

[voice]

[ At first, there are just little domestic sounds -- someone wandering around the kitchen, open the fridge, shut the fridge. And then the Doctor begins to speak to himself. ]

So they've all gone home, our visitors, and left us here behind. Back to their worlds, back to their adventures, and we're left cooling our heels in this forgotten corner of the universe. Playing domestic for a bunch of bored madmen. Great. Always how I imagined life. Usually I'm liberating places like that.

[ A pause. ] And the milk's gone off. Tastes like sand. Oi, hold on, is my device recor--

[ Yes, Doctor, it was. ]

[voice]

[ There are some fumbling noises and then the sound of a thump: someone setting a box down firmly. The Doctor mutters: ] Lot of extra folks about today. Strange.

[ Well, he's busy moving. Not that he has that much stuff to move. When you wear the same leather jacket every day... Anyway, feel free to catch him in the hallway or later tonight when he's out in the City. ]

[ ooc: Open for anything, fourthwall away! Voice, video, action, it's all good. ♥! ]