"Huh. Admittedly my contact with those from other planets is very limited, but I never would've guessed."
Billy pictured all those spaceships and laughed. "I've only gotten as far as building a flying car. Maybe it needs racing stripes."
There was also all the repair work he did for their Zords, but he wasn't sure that really counted. He stopped to note how crisp and fresh the bread was, mulling over everything he was learning.
"So...you have friends? More people traveling through time like you?"
"Oh yeah, absolutely. Everything is faster with racing stripes, that's scientifically proven. More or less." The Doctor licked the bread before taking a bite, freezing mid-chew at the next question. He gave a slight shake of his head, using the fact that he hadn't swallowed yet as a way to bide his time. When he finally had a free mouth he shrugged, his eyes suddenly ever so serious.
"These days it's pretty much just me." He offered a slight smile. "I pick people up sometimes."
"When you have the whole run of the universe as partners to choose from...I guess there's always something new to learn."
No matter how old and wise you are. Billy fell silent for a little while, thinking this over. He'd thought a lot about their one mission over the past year. He remembered the thrill of it, and he thought things through again and again, trying to think how he would've been a better help if he could do it over. Or even if there was more he could do.
But he pulled away from those thoughts with a thin smile. "So when you have all the time in the universe, grilling a random teenager you dragged along last year is something to do, huh? Hope I've been some help."
The melancholy left, at least visibly, as fast as it had started. The Doctor was nothing if not good at burying his pain. Well, maybe not that good, but he certainly never stopped trying.
"Last year, was it? Oh. Sometimes time can slip away from me." That was a very clumsy metaphor, but since there were no pedantic Time Lords around to correct him, the Doctor didn't bother looking for a better one. "But yes, of course you were. You were brilliant. And that technology you're working with, as a twentieth century human? Billy Carston, let me tell you, if I wasn't in the room I'd be calling you a genius."
Billy's gaze dropped to the table, a little bashful smile playing across his face.
"It's really not that much. But you asked me before where the wrist device came from...I built them myself. I thought it would help the team to be able to communicate across long distances. And then my wiring accidentally tapped into Zordon's dormant teleportation grid, so after some debugging they teleport anywhere on Earth too."
He twisted his wrist a little self-consciously.
"I couldn't learn everything from you of course, Doctor Genius, but I'm curious: aside from the spaceships, what was your best project?"
He badly wanted to learn from the Doctor, of course, but couldn't look too eager.
"That's fascinating. And very impressive, I might add." The Doctor looked at the wrist device, the tip of his tongue peeking out between his lips as he inspected it, although he didn't reach out just yet. He could have a closer look later.
"My best project? Depends on your point of view. I tried mixing bananas and tomato juice recently and that turned out delicious, but I don't know how much of a scientific advancement that is going to be seen at. One time I used my name and a psychic network to make all of Earth save themselves. That was very impressive. You've got to love humanity, don't you?"
Billy laughed. "I don't touch food experiments. I've learned that it never ends well for me. But that...that's amazing. You save people without us knowing that we're ever in trouble?"
Why? He liked humanity and liked to help out, apparently, but it seemed there had to be more to it. Billy's reasons were similar, but he'd had the toys to play with as incentive too. The TARDIS had to be better than any toy, of course...
"I guess you never stick around long enough for the newspapers to notice you."
"You knew at the time. You just forgot afterwards. The year was erased. The year that never was." The Doctor shrugged, looking off to the side and lifting a hand to pinch his earlobe between two fingers. "Usually only some know. But some people know of the Doctor. If you get high enough, deep enough." He made a face. "It's usually better when they don't know."
For a moment he paused, then he continued. "They only tend to notice when I can't save everyone."
Billy listened with a heavy heart. He'd never come close to fully understanding, but he could see loneliness when it was in front of him.
"Well...for what it's worth, Doctor, thank you. You probably don't hear that as much as you should."
And Billy knew, because one of the things about the secrecy oath was that no one could know just what he did every day. Sure, people thanked the Rangers, but in the public eye they were just masks and suits. He knew it was better that the press wasn't able to hound them, but it was a little lonely sometimes.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and frowned. "I can't imagine dealing with all that on your own. At least I'm on a team---when we fail, we fail together---but you..."
He lifted a hand as if to reach out, but had second thoughts. "I'm sorry, Doctor."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Billy pictured all those spaceships and laughed. "I've only gotten as far as building a flying car. Maybe it needs racing stripes."
There was also all the repair work he did for their Zords, but he wasn't sure that really counted. He stopped to note how crisp and fresh the bread was, mulling over everything he was learning.
"So...you have friends? More people traveling through time like you?"
no subject
"These days it's pretty much just me." He offered a slight smile. "I pick people up sometimes."
no subject
"When you have the whole run of the universe as partners to choose from...I guess there's always something new to learn."
No matter how old and wise you are. Billy fell silent for a little while, thinking this over. He'd thought a lot about their one mission over the past year. He remembered the thrill of it, and he thought things through again and again, trying to think how he would've been a better help if he could do it over. Or even if there was more he could do.
But he pulled away from those thoughts with a thin smile. "So when you have all the time in the universe, grilling a random teenager you dragged along last year is something to do, huh? Hope I've been some help."
no subject
"Last year, was it? Oh. Sometimes time can slip away from me." That was a very clumsy metaphor, but since there were no pedantic Time Lords around to correct him, the Doctor didn't bother looking for a better one. "But yes, of course you were. You were brilliant. And that technology you're working with, as a twentieth century human? Billy Carston, let me tell you, if I wasn't in the room I'd be calling you a genius."
no subject
"It's really not that much. But you asked me before where the wrist device came from...I built them myself. I thought it would help the team to be able to communicate across long distances. And then my wiring accidentally tapped into Zordon's dormant teleportation grid, so after some debugging they teleport anywhere on Earth too."
He twisted his wrist a little self-consciously.
"I couldn't learn everything from you of course, Doctor Genius, but I'm curious: aside from the spaceships, what was your best project?"
He badly wanted to learn from the Doctor, of course, but couldn't look too eager.
no subject
"My best project? Depends on your point of view. I tried mixing bananas and tomato juice recently and that turned out delicious, but I don't know how much of a scientific advancement that is going to be seen at. One time I used my name and a psychic network to make all of Earth save themselves. That was very impressive. You've got to love humanity, don't you?"
no subject
Why? He liked humanity and liked to help out, apparently, but it seemed there had to be more to it. Billy's reasons were similar, but he'd had the toys to play with as incentive too. The TARDIS had to be better than any toy, of course...
"I guess you never stick around long enough for the newspapers to notice you."
no subject
For a moment he paused, then he continued. "They only tend to notice when I can't save everyone."
no subject
"Well...for what it's worth, Doctor, thank you. You probably don't hear that as much as you should."
And Billy knew, because one of the things about the secrecy oath was that no one could know just what he did every day. Sure, people thanked the Rangers, but in the public eye they were just masks and suits. He knew it was better that the press wasn't able to hound them, but it was a little lonely sometimes.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and frowned. "I can't imagine dealing with all that on your own. At least I'm on a team---when we fail, we fail together---but you..."
He lifted a hand as if to reach out, but had second thoughts. "I'm sorry, Doctor."