thescholarlystrumpet:

Meeting Out of Order
Unrated 

Clara and The Doctor. Jane Austen. Timey-wimey things.

Set somewhere between Last Christmas and Magician’s Apprentice.

On AO3 HERE

*** 

“Okay, I’ll do the talking this time, right?” Clara straightened her skirts and looked pointedly at The Doctor as she wrapped on the door with the silver knocker.

Still fiddling with the beeping gadget in his hand, he made a half-hearted sound of agreement.

“Doctor,” she said firmly.

He looked up. “Yes, alright, fine. But I don’t see how I was supposed to know they were in mourning. They should put up a sign.”

Clara heaved a fond but exasperated sigh. “The door knocker was covered in a black cloth. It was a custom around this time.”

“So, they might have eccentric decorating tastes.”

“And the whole family was dressed in black,” she added.

“So am I,” he pointed out.

She had to concede that one. He looked quite dashing in it, actually. Not that she ought to notice that. They practically lived together for days at a time, now, but he still kept so much distance between them. She knew they cared for one another but he didn’t seem very keen on any physical expression of that, beyond hugging. They did still do the hugging. Not as often as she’d have liked, but it was something to get her through the lonely nights. She knew the timing was not ideal for what she really wanted (what she had always wanted, now that she was being a bit more honest with herself). Perhaps it never would be.

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