"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."
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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."