don't let the bad things rule your life [OPEN]

[selfrespecting]

Who: Martha Jones Liddell and OPEN.
Where: Various places around the mansion.
When: 6/6 - 6/10
Rating: PG-13 (possible nakedness?)
Summary: Martha is a member of the large, mysterious Liddell family, and is cursed to be Year of the Nightingale.
The Story:
1.

While the mansion was packed full with family members, both those she knew well and those that she didn't, Martha couldn't quite understand why they had so many regular humans here with them. It was only bound to lead to trouble, and as much as she tried to keep away from them for both their safety and her own, there was only so much that she could do to keep to herself.

Especially with the existence of that clinic. Some years back, she had dreamed of being a doctor, up until her family had told her that it wasn't practical, that no one who was cursed could ever hope to examine people. That kind of close contact was asking for trouble.

Which didn't stop Martha from wandering the first floor, circling ever closer to the clinic. At the very least, maybe she could take a look inside...

2.

The inevitable happened.

Finding herself in animal form, Martha knew there was only one thing she could do. Fly, fly away as fast as her wings would take her. A bird slipping inside and hiding the rafters, that wasn't particularly strange, and yet still she sought the areas outside, believing that would be more safe.

She searched out her other family, not the Liddells but these other songbirds who were only animals. Yet at least she could blend among them, chirp and sing (only the males were supposed to, but who would know the difference, really?) and hope that nothing about her stood out. All she had to do was wait for everything to blow over, wait for herself to change back, and then she would sneak inside and get herself some clothes. Bloody hell, this was already a mess.

3.

Wild card! Other places Martha can be found: her room on the eighth floor, the diner, the library, and wandering in the woods. If we discussed a particular thread idea while plotting, feel free to give me a starter with that scenario.


Prose or brackets, past or present tense, I will match you! ♥

Comments

[selfrespecting]

Martha tended to pride herself on her ability to blend in well enough to even hide from some of her family members, but that never quite worked with the Doctor. He knew her too well, could somehow spot her from a mile away even when she had placed herself among other nightingales.

In a way, though, she appreciated that at least someone was able to do that. She chirped in greeting and then took flight so she could make the long trip down to where he waited, also in his animal form.

She landed a few inches away from him and readjusted her feathers, then nodded in greeting.

"As well as I can be, given the circumstances. What happened to you?" Maybe it was just her, but it seemed like a lot of them had been changing more often then usual these past few days.

[likesimpossible]

Oh, well, all things considered, Martha was rather good at keeping herself to herself, but that never really quite worked with the Doctor, at least not in the same way that it did with other people. Maybe it was because he knew her just a bit too well, or maybe it was just his natural skills at- Well, something coming into play. But either way, Martha wasn't hard to find, not for him.

Once she landed a little closer to him, he nodded in return, smiling as best as he could, what with his bear features. At least, his lips turned up, so hopefully the desired effect was there. "Oh, you know, the usual. Walked into someone and tried to make a quick escape before they saw anything."

At least it was purely by accident that he'd changed, but still, he didn't really like it.

[selfrespecting]

It was strange to see a red panda trying to smile, but Martha at least got the idea. The Doctor only meant well. She couldn't even begin to try and smile back, not when she had a beak, and so instead she just hopped closer to him to show her interest.

The usual, indeed. Martha nodded and let out a tweet that did a surprisingly good job of sounding long-suffering. It had become something of a talent of hers, to express her emotions through bird call.

"Same here. I don't know why that's been happening so often lately." But it made her nervous. Just like carrying on a conversation with the Doctor in the middle of the mansion when they're both in animal form made her nervous.

"We should probably move to a place where we can transform more safely."

[likesimpossible]

Well, that was a problem with being animals. It wasn't so easy to communicate expressions with a bird's beak or bear's face. But they managed, because what other choice did they have?

He understood what that tweet was supposed to mean, and if it was a talent of hers, expressing herself through bird sounds, deciphering those sounds was one of his. Or that just came with the territory of being friends, and more importantly, being related.

"Do you think we ought to be worried about that, because now that you mention it, it is happening more and more often."

He nodded, though, knowing she had a point. "Right, hiding place or something, then. Or at least, a room no one's using. Come on, then." And it would be slow going, at least for him, because of his stubby appendages and all.

[selfrespecting]

Should they be worried? Martha didn't know. Maybe everyone was just having a bad weekend, and things would be back to something at least slightly more covert before long. "It's difficult to say. I wonder if the mansion's playing tricks on us."

It certainly seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes. Martha realized that this was the only building sizable enough to house the entire Liddell family, but sometimes she wondered at the logic behind living in a place like this.

A room no one was using shouldn't be too hard to find. Martha was more concerned with whether or not they'd be able to turn the doorknob. Maybe they could find one that was ajar, although that would require a lot of luck.

Unlike the Doctor, Martha could fly rather quickly. She didn't want to leave him in the dust, though, and so instead of spreading her wings and taking off, she hopped after him. "Honestly, would it really hurt people to be just a little more careful...?"

[likesimpossible]

"Well, that would be a first, the mansion playing tricks." The Doctor didn't even attempt to hide his scoffing response to that. "But why now? What's different about this?" It wasn't every day that the Doctor didn't have an answer for something.

As for the issue of who would turn the doorknob, if they came to a door, the Doctor figured that if he hurled himself at said door enough times, it might open. It might also attract attention, and that was not something he wanted.

He glanced back at Martha, that attempt at a smile showing up on his face again, and he laughed. If bears do laugh, at least. "You do realize who you're talking to, don't you? I mean, of course you do, it's me, but that's just it: I'm not the best at being careful, and I wouldn't want to either, really. Maybe it's the same for the rest of them."

Although, he did think he was just a cut above the rest, in terms of his recklessness and almost complete disregard for being careful.

[selfrespecting]

"Could it be that it's some kind of event? They're usually a bit more clear than this, though..." Martha would have to get a hold of her mobile, once she had thumbs again, and see if anyone had made some kind of announcement about there being an event on. Something that made people extra clumsy and prone to running into each other.

Or a bad luck event, perhaps? That didn't seem beyond Wonderland's capabilities.

"Maybe it's given us all bad luck for a spell," Martha suggested out loud as they approached the stairwell. It was a long way up to her room, but the two of them could make it, couldn't they? Martha could always rely on her wings if she got tired of jumping from stair to stair, at least.

"And I expect it from you!" she pointed out with a twittering laugh of her own. "Not so much everyone else here..."

[likesimpossible]

"Could be that, but this does seem a bit vague, doesn't it? Even I'm still not sure what the point of it all is." Any day that something left him confused and unsure of what exactly was happening was a rare day indeed. He'd never really been fond of the vague, because when things were vague, that usually meant there could be more than one possible explanation, and sometimes, narrowing that down was just a bit problematic.

Maybe it was a bad luck event. That could explain some things, for sure.

"But if it were just bad luck, then wouldn't more bad things be happening? I haven't heard anyone complaining that their luck's gone completely bad, but then again, I haven't exactly been listening either. As far as stair-hopping went, at least he wasn't growing tired yet, but there was only so much hopping his stubby little legs could take.

Hopefully it would be awhile before that happened, or at least not before they reached Martha's room.

"I do try, honestly, I do, but you know how that works. I can't help it!"

back from hiatus, sorry for delay!

[selfrespecting]

Oh, of course The Doctor couldn't help it. That was what he said, at least, but Martha didn't believe it for a second. He was just endearing and cheeky enough to get away with it, that was all.

"True, it seems like people just keep running into each other. I haven't heard of any other bad things happening," she agreed. No matter how Martha looked at it, none of this really added up.

"I hope it's some kind of event, so that we can stop changing every two seconds, at least..." Maybe that was wishful thinking, though. It might be a good idea to hide out in her room for a few days, just to be sure.

This one task of getting up the stairs was hard enough, and Martha continued to hop, hop, hop, until she reached a landing, then turned to the next part of the stairs and kept it up. Right now, she was relieved that birds didn't sweat, but she was definitely panting. She planned to take a nice bath after this to cool off, regardless of what form she was in at the time.

no worries! we can handwave the remainder of this, whichever you prefer!

[likesimpossible]

Oh, it was more than not being able to help it. His particular brand of cheeky fell more along the lines of talent, although saying that to anyone would mean he was also arrogant, which he definitely was not. Or so he claimed.

"I suppose, though, if all that happens is that we change, then it's not so bad." At least, to his knowledge, nothing terrible had happened to any of their family members, and he hoped it would stay that way.

"Right, you and me both, because this constant changing is growing very, very old." And the other thing that was growing old was having to clamber up the stairs. One thing was certain, red pandas weren't very much the most agile nor graceful creatures out there. "Why couldn't I have been something a little bit faster?" He knew there wasn't much point in complaining, and yet he couldn't quite hold it back.

[selfrespecting]

It seemed plenty bad to Martha. On top of being inconvenient, it could also become dangerous if their family secret got out. She didn't know how it hadn't at this point -- maybe the family heads would decide to do a lot of memory wiping after all this. That rubbed Martha the wrong way too, but she had no control over it, unfortunately.

She could have expressed her concerns, but they were all things that the Doctor knew already, so it would be a waste of breath.

Instead, Martha chattered out a laugh in response to that question. "I don't know, but at least you have cuteness on your side. You know, that can be a real defense mechanism in the wild," she teased.

While a nightingale might not be the most impressive animal, Martha didn't mind the lot she'd been dealt. At least she could fly. At least she could pretend she was free.

[likesimpossible]

Well, maybe it was bad, and maybe it was even completely and utterly terrible, but the Doctor really did prefer to at least try and look for the silver lining in situations like these. Perhaps nothing about this was ideal, but a lot of things fell into that category, and people usually managed to survive all right.

It was good to see Martha laugh, or at least attempt one given her bird form, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself too. "Suppose so, though I'd rather have longer legs. And really, a defense mechanism?" He wrinkles his nose a bit at that. "But never mind that, I think we're almost there."

If not for the blasted stairs, they would've made better time, but still, all things considered, they managed as well as they possibly could.

[selfrespecting]

They had actually made good time, and no one had run into them on the stairs either. All things considered, this had gone rather better than expected. Had the Doctor actually been good luck for once, instead of getting Martha into more trouble?

She stepped out onto the eighth floor and peered up and down it before moving toward the wall. At least they would be less conspicuous that way. Though she still glanced over her winged shoulder at the Doctor as she walked.

"So if you could choose what animal you turned into, what would it be?" she asked. They didn't get any choice in the matter, of course, but it was still a popular topic of conversation among the Liddells.