Summary - A strange man fell into the Reader’s backyard asking for hyperspecific food and help with an upcoming alien attack. What other choice does the Reader have but to help this stranger?
Warnings - none that I think of, canon typical antics
Word Count - 2,149
A/n - Gender Neutral Reader. No use of Y/n. Not Requested. Canon Divergent. Grumpy!Reader x Sunshine!Simm!Doctor. Proofread but not beta read. I hope that you enjoy :)
Also, I have some Tennant!Master x Reader and Tennant!Master x Reader x Simm!Doctor fics that I am working on and I thought that it would be cool to write a solo Simm!Doctor x Reader. I hope that you enjoy :)
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If you had not witnessed what had happened yourself, you would have sworn that the man currently dusting off his trousers in your back garden had just climbed over your fence in an attempt to break into your home. Strangely, though, that is not what you saw. Instead you, after getting some shopping delivered, observed a man in a Victorian-looking outfit fall from the sky and land far too close to the cherry tree your father had planted to lighten up the place when you had moved in. The man then jumped up onto his feet like falling from the sky happened every day.
You had been observing the man just over the sill of your kitchen window for the past couple of minutes, unsure of what to do. The man fell from the sky and looked completely unharmed, there weren’t any protocols to follow that you were taught in school about how to deal with a situation like this one.
You ducked under the sill when the stranger looked your way, just in case he was here for ulterior motives. When you peeked back out through your window, the unbelievable man seemed to be talking to a couple of birds that landed on the edge of a water basin. When you were young, the birds would always stop by that basin mid-journey, but since you have moved in, no birds stopped by even though you restored the basin to how it looked in your youth, built birdhouses around your back garden and left piles of bird seed throughout your yard. You couldn’t help but let out a huff of jealousy that this stranger could convince the birds to talk to him, let alone show up, when you have had no luck in that department for months.
The man laughed at whatever the birds had chirped. Then he gestured to you and seemed to tell a joke that had the birds roaring with laughter, if birds could roar with laughter. You stood up to your full height, rolling your shoulder contemptuously, then leaned against your window sill annoyed with the stranger’s easy way with the birds. The man seemed to fully notice you now that you weren’t trying to hide, so he waved a genuine wave in your direction but his smile was sad as if he hated himself for having scared you before. You found yourself waving back but quickly stopped when the man’s smile appeared to lighten.
The man said farewell to the birds and strode over to the backdoor of your house. He knocked in the “Shave and a Haircut” rhythm before holding his hands behind his back and looking up at your house. He probably meant no harm, you assumed, but there was no way that this man was normal. He literally fell from the sky and he didn’t even have a scratch on him.
You walked over to your kitchen door, briefly stopping to arm yourself with a newly purchased knife first. Then you opened the door slowly after taking a tentative breath. If the stranger did try something, at least you had a weapon behind your back.
“Hello! I am kind of in a hurry, which is not ideal given the circumstances, but can you help me? I think you are just who I need!” You tightened your grip on the knife.
“Oh! God! Oh god, no. Not in a creepy way! I don’t want to hurt you.” The man held his hands up defensively and laughed awkwardly.
“I promise.” The man softly uttered the promise. He looked at you with soft, hopeful hazel eyes that seemed hard to hide secrets. You considered him and everything that happened since he fell from the sky for a moment. Then you found yourself caving to the man’s hopeful demeanour.
“What do you need?” The stranger’s face instantly broke into a soft smile.
“Firstly, just something to eat and drink.” The man still held his hands up in a defensive gesture. The man looked apologetic, confused, broken and just lost, definitely not the type to hurt you. So even though it was probably incredibly stupid, you let the unbelievable man into your home.
After some trial and error, the strange man finally found food that he found acceptable and didn’t make him sick. He made an American-style breakfast, with gigantic waffles, fried eggs(more over medium than sunny side up), and crispy bacon. You don’t know how he made the majority of the food, given the fact that you didn’t own a waffle maker straight out of a continental hotel breakfast bar or any bacon in your kitchen, but you turned your back on the stranger once and he had said items. Finally, once everything was cooked and plated, he drenched his entire plate in soy sauce. You had heard of people dipping their eggs in soy sauce, and in theory, it sounded good. However, this man’s plate practically turned into soup due to the amount of soy sauce he had poured onto his food. The man made you food, as well, while he was making his own but you made sure to make your desired alterations. You weren’t in the mood to eat waffles swimming in soy sauce.
As the man shovelled food into his face like he hadn’t eaten in days, you tentatively placed a corner of your waffle in your mouth. It was buttery and warm, you could almost taste the love put into the dish. You looked at the man again. There was something different about him, but you couldn’t tell what it was, other than the obvious. There was something bigger, deeper, than the obvious, though. Whatever made this stranger different excited you and you hadn’t felt excited in a long time. The exciting man was unexpected, however, and you didn’t know if you were ready for someone as exciting as this man in your life right now. You reassured yourself that the man would only be in your life for this meal and this meal alone, but maybe you could allow yourself to open up to him slightly.
You placed the knife you had been holding behind your back, and in your lap while the stranger was in your home, onto the table. Close enough for you to grab if you needed but you were starting to believe what the man stuffing his face before you was saying. He just needed help and wasn’t going to hurt you.
“Thank you. I promise that you won’t regret that.” He looked up, alerted by the noise of the knife hitting the table, and he smiled his soft at you.
“Don’t mention it.” You mumbled into your food. There was a moment of silence, except for the sounds of eating, until the man cleaned his face with a napkin and spoke up.
“If you don’t mind me asking, whose house is this?”
“Mine.”
“Well, yes, but …” The man looked around your kitchen and then back to you, trying to politely insinuate that you couldn’t afford your home. ‘Trying’ being the operative word because the man was definitely failing at being polite. You sighed, why not unload your baggage onto a stranger?
“It was my great aunt’s. I spent a lot of time here when I was young and when she passed I inherited it. Given the state of the world right now I’m not going to turn down the opportunity to own a home that I can actually afford.”
“It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, though.” You glared at the man fiercely. He asked and you answered, why did he have to criticise your family and way of living in the process?
“I don’t mean to be rude, I just mean that I can help.” The man quickly tried to correct your interpretation of his statement, but you remained reserved. He was a stranger after all. Best not to get too comfortable.
“I don’t need your help.”
“But -” You cut the man off before he could make another inappropriate comment about the state of your home.
“I don’t know you.”
“But we could get to know each other.” The man leaned forward over the table, he had a hopeful smile ghosting over his lips. You retreated backwards into your seat, though, away from the man’s hopefulness. His personality excited you, yes, but what if you were hurt by him like you were hurt by others in the past? You didn’t want to feel that disappointment again. For some reason, you wanted to be held in high regard by this man but the fear that he was simply using you, like other people had, kept haunting your mind. So, you broke eye contact with the man and peered over to the vintage clock on your wall.
“I thought you said that you were in an emergency?” You mumbled passive-aggressively, but the man didn’t seem to notice or care about the sudden change in your demeanour. He seemed more grateful that you reminded him of his true reason for interrupting your day.
“Right! Do you have the time? My own watch doesn’t seem to be working properly.” The man tapped the face of his watch a couple of times and even from your seat across the table you could hear the small crunch of broken glass and gears. You showed him the time on your phone out of convenience.
“Oh god!” The man exclaimed, but then another thought visibly popped into his brain and took over.
“Why do I keep saying that? ‘Oh god?’ Is that from my future or past? Or is that just me? I don’t think that’s me.” The man looked to you like you might have the answer he was desperate for, but you had no idea what he was talking about. This was just another strange occurrence from the strange man.
“Who are you?” You asked exasperatedly. How could someone like him be real and in your kitchen and want your help? In your mind, he could do so much better than you.
“The Doctor?”
“Doctor Who?” A knowing smile crept across the man’s face.
“Just The Doctor, love.”
“‘Just The Doctor?’ Who calls themself ‘The Doctor’?” You retorted, mimicking his Manchester accent.
“Me. I’m The Doctor.” His face shifted as if he just realised something. “Hm, apparently I’m confident in this regeneration.” This man was unbelievable.
“How do you exist?” You asked. You were hitting the threshold of where you were beginning to feel out of your depth.
“Easily. It’s called breathing.” The man smiled at you widely, showing off the roundness of the apples of his cheeks. All you could do was sigh, overwhelmed.
“You are completely ridiculous”
“Ridiculous? Ridiculous. Interesting. Fun! I’m ridiculous!” The man’s face rapidly shifted from offended to curious to ecstatic within moments.
“I didn’t mean it as a compliment.”
“Oh, well, I’m taking it as one.” After taking one final bite of food, the man jumped up from the table and bounded out your door. The man was so much, in a good way, but you weren’t prepared for something like this to happen today. You leaned back into your chair again and sighed deeply with your eyes closed, revelling in the stillness in your kitchen without the stranger in it with you. You frowned. Then you opened your eyes and looked at the aftermath of breakfast. You realised that you missed that man. No, you hadn’t known each other for that long, but ‘The Doctor’ whoever he was brightened your day, even if you wished to deny that fact.
“Well, come on.” The man suddenly popped his head through the door, the expectation that you would simply follow him, and curiosity that you hadn’t done just that, was etched deeply into his face.
“What?” You barked back. The man rolled his eyes and sighed. The act seemed to fit his style. You would have to tell him in future.
“I am freshly regenerated, there is going to be an alien attack in 15 minutes, and I would like your help, again. So, will you help me?” The man confidently strode back into your kitchen as he spoke. Then he held his hand out for you to take, that soft, hopeful smile of his was back and as effervescent as it was before. He was completely ridiculous, but your life had been missing ridiculousness for a long time. Maybe, just maybe, he would be good for you.
“You better not get me killed, you ridiculous man.” You placed your hand into The Doctor’s palm. The Doctor’s smile then grew into a joyous one as he rubbed his thumb against the back of your hand softly.
“I’d never let that happen. I promise. Now let’s get going.” Before you could respond, The Doctor ran out of your kitchen, pulling you out of your chair and along behind him toward an apparent alien attack.