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The first time Charley noticed them was when the Doctor was instructing the R101 crew to scare hostile aliens with roaring. She truly thought it was just some weird play of light, it simply wasn't possible.
And yet less than half an hour later in the cargo hold of the doomed ship she saw it again. The Doctor, speaking horrible predictions with freezing anger, was baring their inhumanly sharp teeth.
She had no idea what to make of it.
At that moment, she was scared of them just as much as for them and given the situation wasn't inclined to pursue the matter now.
There were a few instances when she thought she saw it again and then a few more when she knew what to look for. The Doctor’s hope had always seemed endless even though their patience hadn’t but every once in a while someone stupid enough would try it really hard. To see her sweet and kind friend snarling and baring their teeth, usually on her behalf, was certainly a sight.
If she was honest with herself, it was terribly fascinating.
***
Even after a while her curiosity still wasn't waning. If anything, it only grew, transforming into strange thoughts that came just before she would fall asleep and followed her into her dreams, which were now filled with sharp bright edges and wide Cheshire cat's smiles.
(Which was honestly an improvement considering that usually, she dreamed of burning hot metal crashing around her again and again and again.)
When she woke up after one such dream drenched in sweat, she decided it wouldn't hurt to maybe just ask.
So she did just that next time they stopped to catch a little break from their adventures.
She found the Doctor in the console room sitting in a chair with a book and a teacup almost full and judging even by a single glance absolutely cold. She then sat in an unoccupied chair opposite of them and mustered all her resolve.
"Is everything okay, Charley?" The Doctor quite uncharacteristically noticed her fidgeting almost immediately.
"Oh, yes! Perfectly!" She answered a bit too quickly. "I just wanted to ask you something."
"Oh, of course. I'm listening." The Doctor put the book away.
"It's nothing important. It must be just some silly trick of the light." Why was it so hard? "But I think… I think I noticed your teeth."
"My teeth?"
"Very sharp ones."
"Oh," now it was their turn to sound embarrassed. "Huh."
Charley waited for them to elaborate on that.
"It really is silly." The Doctor smiled shyly. "Well, you see, I do indeed have a set of very sharp teeth."
"But your teeth are normal now?"
"And now," the Doctor bared their teeth which were suddenly long and pointed. "They're not"
To see them up close and absolutely real was making Charley very excited, the feeling she usually attributed to the adrenaline of life-threatening situations.
"How's that possible?" Absently she started to raise her hand to their face and had to stop herself.
"Well, the thing is, to put it simply Time Lord's bodies aren't entirely physical." They explained waving their hands around, narrowly missing the cup perched precariously on a side table. "There's a bit too much of us to fit in just three dimensions, which is telling if I'm honest. Therefore, it takes a bit more. And sometimes with so much happening something manages to slip away."
"That sounds incredible!"
"If they make you uncomfortable, I'll try harder to control myself."
"Oh, um," even satisfied with the Doctor's answer, she was still terribly curious. "Quite the opposite, actually."
They gave her a tentative smile. "Would you-- would you like a closer look?"
"Yes, please!"
Chuckling at her enthusiasm the Doctor stood up and after a moment of inner calculation kneeled before her. At some point in her life, she would have found it utterly scandalous if a bit amusing but now she couldn't stop herself from putting her hand on their cheek, completely fascinated. Her heart ready to jump out of her throat; she pushed slightly to make the Doctor turn their head and get a better angle at their canines. Their other teeth were pointy too and there were so much of them. Almost too much, it seemed. The way they were set they just wouldn't fit in the shape of the Doctor’s jaw.
Of course, she thought, rolling her eyes inwardly. It's bigger on the inside.
With so many questions in her mind, only one managed to pass her very confused brain-to-mouth filter. And of course, it was the stupidest one.
"Are there actual vampires in the universe?"
"Well, ah, of course,” the Doctor too needed a second to rearrange their thoughts, "but not exactly in a way that humans came to imagine them. There are numerous species, who take nutrition from different high-protein bodily fluids of others; and species with sensitivity to light wouldn't be rare at all, I suppose. There's also a surprising amount of races with an allergic reaction to Earth's garlic, which is fascinating!" They grinned excitedly again showing those teeth. "But all combined and with a mortal fear of religious symbolism, no, I don't think so."
Charley missed almost everything they’d said, her eyes locked on their teeth, her fingers so dangerously close to their lips.
"They are very sharp, yeah?" She asked.
"Extremely," the Doctor smiled even widely and then ever so gently bit on her thumb.
It didn't hurt at all but the sudden shock surged through her body and made her swallow her breath and yet still wasn't enough for her to remove her hand.
The Doctor, still on their knees between her legs, slowly released her finger with a strange glimmer in their eyes and inched closer.
With their face so close to hers and their hands fidgeting anxiously right above her thighs as if they couldn't yet bring themselves to touch her, they asked: "Can I kiss you?"
That took her by surprise. It wasn't that Charley didn't like kissing per se, just that the Doctor's familiar and rather sudden approach to it was a bit fast for her comfort. It was so much nicer when they not only warned her beforehand but also actually asked for permission.
"Yes." She found herself responding and not a moment later the Doctor gave her a quick chaste kiss, almost a peck.
"Okay?" They asked and as much as Charley was grateful for their concern, she was far too much excited to stop at every single turn.
"Yes." She huffed.
The Doctor grinned and closed the distance between them once again, now more throughout.
It wasn't the best kiss she'd ever had -- not that there was much competition, though the Doctor's more enthusiastic kisses never made it to the top -- but it was certainly the nicest one.
The Doctor's cold lips on hers felt wonderful and then they shifted slightly and bit down on her bottom lip making her shudder and pull back.
"Oh," was all she could say, feeling the similar waves of shock crashing down on her.
"'Oh'? Is that a good 'oh' or a bad 'oh'?" They asked with hopeful cheerfulness.
Charley took a few seconds to calm down a bit and think about it.
"It's a good one, for sure."
The Doctor nodded excitedly.
"Still curious?" They asked.
"Rather."
"Great!" They smiled and climbed onto her lap.
After a bit of wiggling, they moved on to kissing her neck.
"Are there really species with an allergy to garlic?" Charley asked through mind-clouding excitement, her hands firmly holding the Doctor by their waist, able to almost feel their skin through a thin satin shirt.
"Yes!” They pulled away from her just a little to make room for some elaborate hand-waving. “It does tend to make encountering them a bit weird, especially if someone had garlic bread for lunch. Also, the fact that they're not pleasant people."
"That someone by any chance wouldn't be you, would it?" She quipped.
"How dare you, miss Pollard? I'll have you know that I am a perfectly capable time and space traveller and such a hiccup would never happen to me,” That had them cross their arms in feigned exasperation while also upsetting their balance so that Charley had to hug them more securely. “Well, maybe once."
"Still, it sounds highly unlikely-- the garlic allergy, of course. I'm not sure I believe you, Doctor."
"Why, Charley? I thought you trusted me!" And then they licked their teeth.
"I do! Of course, I trust you!" She buried her face in their chest, her cheeks flushed. But then, after a few moments, she stubbornly looked up and squinted her eyes at them. "I just don't believe you."
“I understand the appeal,” They sighed and shifted uncomfortably, suddenly very serious. “But to chase after such things deliberately, no, I’d rather we do something more relaxing.”
“Like what?” Asked Charley carefully, sensing their disturbance without the ability to place it.
“Like this.” They said and nuzzled her neck once more. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” She whispered as they sighed again, now more deeply and content, wrapping their arms around her.
Sometimes even the most capable time and space travellers needed their rest, she decided quietly. And with their weight grounding her so snugly, she slowly drifted off to peacefully dreamless sleep.